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| Hindi Manch Sahitya Sammelan – A Literary Journey |
Syed Ali Rizvi
12/12/2013
(This article is sponsored by Masala Art)
After a few years of doling out funny and entertaining events for the young, the not-so-young and everyone in between, New England Hindi Manch took on a bold step of presenting a “Sammelanâ€, entitled, Hindi Manch Sahitya Sammelan, on the 8th December 2013 at the Thoreau Auditorium in Concord. The event by all accounts was a hit as any previous programs brought to the audiences of the New England area.
Said Preetesh Shrivastava, the President of New England Hindi Manch, “We had been approached by many people, but were not sure if we could handle an evening of serious readings, but a short-survey gave us a very positive feedback. We are glad that we did it. We reached out to those with literary yearnings and in a short time, with the help of our excellent volunteers, managed to put together a show to cater to our mixed audienceâ€.
In all 10 local poets (established and upcoming), 2 short plays and 2 songs were presented. The segments were spaced like “poems-songs-plays†to break monotony and to keep everyone engaged. The experiment worked. With groups of 2-3 poets reciting their own writings intermixed with songs and short plays, everyone sat glued to their seats mesmerized by the surprisingly well-rounded presentations.
In the first segment, to get the event going, Mr. Harish Dang of Sounds of India, who has been serving the community with his radio program for over 38 years, beautifully read lines from classical, evergreen poems by Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Niraj.
Mr. Syed Ali Rizvi, one of the key MCs of the event, eloquently outlined the New England Hindi Manch mission, journey and highlighted the day’s event and logistics. This was followed by a lamp lighting ceremony and honoring sponsor, Mr. Sanjay Thakkar. The chief guest was Mr. Alok Misra of International Hindi Association.
Amidst rounds of thunderous applause, the first Kavi-baithak was conducted by Syed Ali Rizvi. He provided a captivating peep in each presenter’s journey into the world of literature and poetry. Mr. Subhash Sehgal, Dr. Kumkum Parikh Malik and Dr. Muneebur Rehman presented their serious and heart touching poems on Truth, Mother and philosophical twinings respectively. Mr. Subhash read a poem on Truth, Dr. Malik had wonderfully crafted lines on “aspects of Mother†and Dr. Muneeb gave us glimpses of some delicate philosophical thoughts. Everyone really enjoyed the depth of these awesome presentations. A beautifully rendered song by our talented Shraddha Agarwal added a musical sprinkling.
Preetesh Shrivastava, who had worked organize this flawless event, introduced the new team –the Hindi Manch Sahitya Vibhag (HMSV), that will oversee the future events that are planned to keep the literary audiences engaged around the year. The Hindi Manch Sahitya Vibhag comprises of Mr. Sudhanshu Misra, Mr. Syed Ali Rizvi, Ms. Shubha Chungi, Ms. Jaya Pandey and Mr. Sanjay Jain. They will collectively plan future events with the support of the infrastructure of Hindi Manch. Jaya Pandey, who provided much needed backend support, said that the HMSV looked forward to support from our “shrota†and “artistes†to help us continue these gatherings. For further information, one can reach the HMSV at hindimanchsahityavibhag@gmail.com.
Mr. Bhanu Vadhera then conducted the next “Kavi-Baithak†with Mr. Sudanshu Misra and Mr. Maneesh Shrivastava. Both eloquently presented their poems amidst rounds of applause. Sudhanshu’s poem, a tribute to his wife of many years, was well applauded. Maneesh’s literary prowess was evidenced by the serious issue that he highlighted in his poems.
This was followed by a short Hindi play, Neend kyo raat bhar nahi Aati†("नींद कà¥à¤¯à¥‹ रात à¤à¤° नहीं आती ") written by Surendra Verma, Directed and Co-Directed by Mohan Dali and Preetesh Shrivastava respectively. The talented cast included Ruchi Dhonda (woman), Sanjay Kudrimoti (husband), Rohini Pola (wife), Shridhar Pola (man), Sana Qazi (girl), and Tanisha Garhwal (child). The well-rehearsed and beautifully presented play kept the audience glued and engaged. The local talent portrayed the characters with such finesse, that it was hard to believe that these were not professionally trained actors.
In the post-break sessions of the event, Mr. Praveen Misra with professional ease, conducted the session of the third “Kavi-baithak†with Mr. Anil Malhotra and Mr. Arun Choudhury. Arun Choudhury in his serious Hindi presented a very literary work. Following him, Anil Malhotra read some of his touching poems including one that he wrote on his daughter’s sixteenth birthday. Mohan Subramanian, the “Mukesh of New England", sang a song in his captivating, melodious voice.
In the last “Kavitri-Baithakâ€, three graceful poetesses’ showcased their literary works. Mr. Syed Ali Rizvi in his own unique Lucknowi andaaz introduced all the presenters. Meenu Singh, a recent welcome addition to the Boston horizon, read in perfect urdu with poise, a nice poem on how and what womenfolk look in a partner. Sharda Jha presented two poems in her elegant and simple style. Her writings reflected her emotions on things that have influenced her growing years. It was a touching moment, when Ali Rizvi recognized a few couplets in the honor of her brother who had instilled this love of literature into Sharda Jha.
The last of this Baithak were the poems of Sunayana Kachroo, who is a very well read poetess and has written many poems on several subjects ranging on practically most social issues. She read a few poems from her first book, “Waqt-se-Pare†– “Beyond Timeâ€. Sunayana has mastered yet another art of reading her poems that are perfectly synchronized with dance expressions by seasoned dancers. Her last poem was pre-recorded, but superbly crafted into a Nritya and performed gracefully by teenager, Ilina Shah. One could “listen†to the poem just by her dance and expressions.
To ensure timely recognition of all those who were involved in the Hindi Manch Sahitya Sammelan, Preetesh Shrivastava, President of New England Hindi Manch called and thanked everyone without whose support this could not be possible; the performers, volunteers, artistes, etc: Mr. Mohan Dali (who was sorely missed), Dr. Pradeep Shukla, Ms. Shubha Chungi, Chaitanya Godsay, Javed Wahid, Anish Khanzode, Gayatri Aryan, Chirag Parikh, Sudanshu Misra, Syed Ali Rizvi, Jaya Pandey, Sanjay Jain, Jharna Madan, Suman Garhwal, Shriniwas Sane, Rohini Pola, Suraj Kapur, Seema Agarwal, Dilip Pai, Gopika Narula, Dilip Acharya, Java Joshi, Malini Vardharajan, Sunayana Kachroo, Hetal Joshi, Anupam Wali, Neelam Wali, Shekhar Shastri, Sneh Jaysinh, Avinash Agarwal, Shraddha Agarwal, Kumkum Parikh Malik, Maneesh Shrivastava, Sharda Jha, Vikas Rana, Smitha Bhardwaj, Satish Palyam, Ashutosh Patel, Khushi Solanki, Sachin Bhate, Sunanda Sahay, Mansee Sridhar Pola and Vijay Ejenkar. Specially recognized were Sanjay Thakkar (New York Life), Anil Saigal, Ranjani Saigal, Manish Arora, Sushil Bhatia, Harish Dang (Sounds of India), Yogi Sood, Upendra Mishra, Syed Ali Rizvi, SPS Alfachem, Gunjan Radio , Shishu Bharti, Indu Anand, Prakash Jha, Smita Boutique, Noreen, Café India, Pushpa Karn, Vinod Kapoor, Masala Art, Java Joshi Art, Shraddha Agarwal and Razia Mashkoor. Alok Bhaskar and Jharna Madan tremendously helped with a promotional video for the event and social marketing.
The only one left out was New England Hindi Manch President, Preetesh Shrivastava himself and Ali Rizvi, at the spur of the moment, thanked him for what he is – a hardworking-visionary, stand-up comedian, producer, director, writer, team player all rolled in one and blessed him with an apt couplet:
दà¥à¤† करो की सलामत रहे पà¥à¤°à¥€à¤¤à¥‡à¤¶ की हिमà¥à¤®à¤¤, ये इक चिराग़ कई आंधियों पे à¤à¤¾à¤°à¥€ है।
The last short-Hindi natak, “hari Ghaas pe ghante bhar†was also directed and co-directed by Mr. Mohan Dali and Preetesh Shrivastava. The play written by Surendra Verma was brought to live with superb acting by a class of actors rarely seen in home-grown production; Sanjay Jain (old man), Jayshree Shahane (old Woman), Sanjay Jain (Adult), Shraddha Agarwal (woman), Puneesh Choudhry (Man) , Gopika Narula (woman), Ajai Jaysinh (vendor) and Satish Palyam (newspaper boy). Excellent make-up was provided by Ambika Wali Patel, Nisha Wali and Malini Vardharajan. Everyone did great justice to their respective roles and it was an experience to see an engaged audience that had sat for over 3 hours, enjoying the serious play. For plays, Professional stage décor and lightening was provided by Shriniwas Sane and his talented team. The Sound and recording for the event was by none other than Javed Wahid and Anish Khanzode-always a flawless arrangement.
The event was well covered by our media partners -anchor Jharna Madan and her TV Asia crew, India New England, Lokvani, Sounds of India and Gunjan Radio.
Those who came to the event, enjoyed every moment of it. The organizers were overjoyed with the numerous thanks they received for yet another event well done. The HMSV is already gearing for another event…..soon.
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