Brihan Maharashtra Mandal of North America held its 16th biennial convention from 5-7 July, 2013 at Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence – RI. With two years in the making, 200 volunteers, 20 sponsors, and most importantly 3200 attendees - it was definitely a phenomenal convention! Attendees came from more than 10 countries including USA and India and participated in this grand community celebration. New England Marathi Mandal were the organizers of this event.

The highlights of the program were: finest entertainment from India and North America, first ever BMM Indo-US Educators Summit, a very successful business conference and college conference, CME (continued medical education) workshops for the doctors, fabulous food for all, and impeccable management of the whole program - which brought high praises from all attendees.

Providence city Mayor Mr. Angel Taveras inaugurated the event by lighting the ceremonial lamp. Speeches by BMM 2013 convener Mr. Bal Mahale, BMM president Mr. Ashish Chaughule, chief guest Mr. Mahesh Manjrekar (Film Director / Producer), and Key note speaker Dr. Bal Phondke reinforced the very essence of BMM conventions that began in the year 1981 and emphasized on the contributions of the Marathi community within North America and across the globe. Mr. Dnyaneshwar Mulay who is the Consul General of India, New York was also present at this occasion. Various local artists performed at the opening ceremony which comprised folk dances, drama, dances and comedy.

Another programming highlight of the first day was grand finale of the first ever Cosmos BMM SaReGaMa – a singing competition held across North America. Ravi Datar from Toronto, Canada won the first prize in this prestigious competition based on public voting and judges’ marking. Six finalists from North America performed at this event and were judged by acclaimed singers Padmaja Phenany-Joglekar and Rahul Deshpande. Famous music band from India led by Kamlesh Bhadkamkar accompanied the singers and made sure that all the songs strike a cord with the audience.  Popular actors Prashant Damle and Priya Bapat anchored the show and wowed the crowd with their beauty and wit.  

Celebrated Indian musician duo Ajay-Atul presented a special show for the BMM attendees at the convention. The much awaited show simply rocked the night! Famous singers Hrishikesh Ranade and Savani Ravindra accompanied the duo on the stage to present many popular songs. A full length commercial drama Family Drama, successful reincarnation of historic musical hit drama Sangeet Maanaapman, variety entertainment program featuring many young stars from television and movies Yuvankur, and 25 other educative and entertaining programs from India and North America proved to be crowed pullers. Great cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar was also present at this convention and was interviewed by D. Sanzgiri. Vengsarkar shared some real insight into cricketing world of the 70’s to 90’s and the audio-visual presentations glued the audience to their seat. The young adults in the community also enjoyed all three days with a very interesting programming line-up.

The BMM Indo-US Educators’ Summit connected educators and thought leaders from both countries to accelerate collaboration between the universities in India and the USA; a platform was provided for exchanging best practices, networking, and discussion on the future direction in Education. More than 70 educators from both countries participated in the Summit. BMM Business Conference focused on showcasing disruptive innovation, advanced technology, and integrated collaborative networks for R&D and commercialization. It hosted some very distinguished scientists, corporate executives who discussed parlayed and stimulated thoughts on path breaking research. Never before these business conferences at BMM conventions have received such applause from the attendees – despite very interesting entertainment programs going on at the same time, around 200-250 people gathered to listen to the business leaders.

The bazzar at the convention, BMM Expo hosted more than 50 vendors from US and India. It featured many services and products from jewelry, clothing, and books to community work, insurance, and real estate. Attendees kept all the vendors busy through-out the day.    

With kids taken care of by professionals, easy access to delicious food, wide choice offered for programs to attend, and special attention provided to all by caring volunteers / hosts – it was no surprise that everybody returned home with a big smile and long lasting memories. BMM 2013 touched everyone’s heart at all levels. Some of the responses received by the organizing committee are heart-warming:   ‘Maharashtrians have become Maharajas with this Convention’ OR ‘Convention team was excited, humble, genuinely helpful and warm.’ You can read more about the feedback at www.bmm2013.org

The Cosmos Co-op Bank Ltd. were the Mega Sponsor, and Kolte-Patil Developers along with Sanjivani Sable were the Mega Co-sponsor of this event. In addition Sugee Developers, Pinnacle, Bharati, D Y Patil, S P Mandali, MIT supported convention as major sponsors. All the sponsors and visiting artists from India as well as North America were satisfied by the response they received at the Convention.

The next BMM Convention will be held in 2015 at Los Angeles, CA.

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