6 NRI PULSE February 2010........City News........

Senior Citizens Host “Mata ki Chowki” At Global MallBY MAHADEV DESAI

Atlanta: When I read the Senior Citizens Pro-gram (SCP) announcement of “Mata Ki Chowki”at Global Mall, I wondered if the popular dailysoap about a devotee of Mata Vaishno Devi, onthe Hindi channel Sahara One was being re-en-acted by the seniors in Atlanta. Even if that hadbeen the case, I would not have been surprised asthe SCP is well –known for its myriad diversity ofprograms spanning from visit to Bollywood flicks to Valentine’s Day celebrations to Fashion Showsby the Mothers and Fathers, Picnics, and youname it. Nevertheless, this recent “Mata KiChowki” event though not a soap on TV screen,was even better as the Seniors were delightfullytreated to spiritually uplifting Bhajans, some withpopular filmi drum beats adapted to devotionalsongs. It was clear the New Year had arrived forover 200 Elders at this Chowki at Global Mall asthey readied themselves for a plethora of 2010activities. Kudos!

The SCP volunteers Chinti Bali; Jyoti Dama;Isha Goyal; Minesh Modi; and Aruna Patel andRaj Razdan extended a traditional welcome on be-half of the SCP to a packed hall, with New Yeargreetings. SCP also welcomed the seniors of theBhutanese Families who have recently migratedto Georgia from Bhutan, and were attending MataKi Chowki.

Surinder Bahl, a community leader associ-ated with the Atlanta Chowki Group explainedthe significance of Mata ki Chowki, and his per-sonal immense interest and faith in “Mata VaishnoDevi”. He gave a brief background of the ChowkiGroup, which has been celebrating Mata ki Chowkifor the past ten years. Through these Chowkis,the group preaches about Mata, sings “Jagrata”,motivates devotees all over the world pay to pay

their respects through their prayers. Atlanta Chowki Group is spearheaded by

Inder Bery and has a team of dedicated, commit-ted and selfless mellifluous and devotional sing-ers-Inder Bery’s wife Kalpana Bery; Vinod Groverand his wife Santosh Grover; Harjeet; Kshama

Kakade and Kusum Bahl. Bahl added, “DivineMataji (Sherawali Ma) symbolizes the holy trin-ity of Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Allthe donations received by the Atlanta Chowki Groupare given away to various charitable organizations likeEkal Vidyalaya Foundation; Sankara Eye Foundation;Sanatan Mandir; Shiv Temple, etc., etc. “At the requestof SCP, contributions from today’s Chowki will bedonated towards the construction of the Shiv Mandirin the northeast Atlanta.”

The stage with diyas (lamps), stringed lights,fresh fruits and prasad (offerings) wore a festive

look in its ornate finery with Mataji’s dazzlingframed picture in the center of the Puja Mandapwith colorful fresh flower garlands, all gracefullyand philanthropically decorated by Atlanta’s pro-fessional wedding decorators Nita Govan who isthe daughter in law of the sponsors Naranbhai and

Malvikaben Govan.The congregation initially sat

in rapt attention at the beginninglistening to melodious prayerfulMataji, Krishna and Shiva devo-tional renderings, “bhaints”, to theaccompaniment of harmonium,drums and cymbals by Inder Beryand Surinder Bahl. Soon the fervor picked up at thebehest of Vinod Grover with clapping and singing.Panditji Kashi Nath also led the devotees in a rous-ing chanting of the dhoon, Shyam milade, Radhe

Radhe. Then the dancing (has to be Garba) bythe Elders as soon as Versatile KshamaKakade sang in Gujarati ‘Pankhida, Mahakali nejaeene kahejo, garbo rame re’. This generated intenseeuphoria and positive transcendental vibrations inthe congregation. The grand finale for this spiritualhigh being the “aarti” followed by prasad of halwa,chhole, fruits and dry fruits.

Five young girls (Kanchaks) who symboli-cally represent the Devi were invited near thestage and blessed with tilaks (vermilion) andprasad by the sponsors. The elders also availedthe opportunity to felicitate and bless AnuKathuria,who will soon be tolling her weddingbells. Such is the commitment and respect ofyoung Anu and her sister Neena for the elders,

that they generously donated their first salaryafter starting work to the SCP, for its potentialplan for a Senior Center.

Atlanta Telugu Community Celebrates Sankranti SambaraluAtlanta: Sankranti Sambaralu, an event orga-

nized by Telugu Association of Metro Atlanta(TAMA) on January 23 at Inde-pendence High School, Alpharetta,Georgia, to celebrate the festival ofSankranti, turned out to be a megasuccess with over 1000 people liv-ing in metro Atlanta, attending theevent.

The event was flagged off withjyoti prajwalana by esteemed guestsfrom Telugu community Dr. P.V. Rao,Dr. Hymavati Mikkilineni, Dr. SujathaReddy and TAMA president Mr.Madhu Tata followed by prayers toLord Ganesha and Goddess of pros-perity, Lakshmi.

Dances and shows describingthe joy and importance ofSankranti were performed by localkids, who were not only dressed intraditional Indian attires but alsoin attires reminiscent of memoriestypically associated with Sankranti like Haridasu,Dudu Basavanna, gobbemmalu etc, to a rousingreception by the audience.

Choreographed by professional choreogra-phers and enthusiastic mothers, our local childrenof various age groups entertained the audience

wonderfully with their graceful dances forSankranti songs from movies like Soggaadi Pellam,

Vaarasudochchadu, Neeke Manischchanu.Along with programs centered around Sankranti,

numerous kids performed wonderful dances to varioushit Telugu film songs, some solo, some group dancesand some medleys of popular numbers from movieslike Ready, Bommarillu, Magadheera, Koncham Ishtam

Koncham Kashtam, Saptapadi, Maska, Josh,Mallanna and even the Oscar winning song Jai Ho

from Slumdog Millionaire.As the local talent displayed their

singing and dancing skills that kept thepacked auditorium glued to their seats,one famous guest who graced the eventall the way from Andhra Pradesh,played it to the galleries with his razorsharp wit and rib tickling comedy. Andthis is none other than popular artisteGuruswamy who is fondly called as‘Reverse Gear’ Guruswamy, thanks tohis unique talent of singing any songwith as much ease in the reverse orderas singing it normally. Guruswamybrought down the entire auditoriumwith his funny poems, hysterical satireon the quality of Telugu cinema tunedto amazing perfection along the lines ofpopular number Anaganana Aakasamfrom Nuvve Kaavali, songs sung in thereverse order, comical jokes and much

more. He had the audience eating out of his hands for eachand every act of his and they didn’t stop asking him formore and more.

Guruswamy was felicitated and honored bythe guests and TAMA executive committee for hiscontribution towards the field of entertainment. He,

Dr. PV Rao, Dr. Hyma Mikkilineni, Dr. Sujata Reddy and MadhuTata lighting the traditional lamp. Photo by Bytegraph.

along with the other guests, released TAMA’sSankranti magazine Maa Oori Maata at the event.

While wholesome entertainment for the en-tire family was one of the highlights of this event,sumptuous and delectable food, served by twopopular local Indian restaurants, Sri Krishna VilasIndian Cuisine and Swathi Indian Restaurant, wasanother talked about speciality at the event.

Ladies from Atlanta Telugu Communityshowed off their traditional rangoli skills repletewith vibrant colors in the Rangoli competitionorganized by TAMA and sponsored by localfilm distribution company Ficus Media.

An event of this magnitude and grandeurwould not have been possible if not for theunstinted support from the kids and parents oflocal community, unfailing help from numerousvolunteers handling various tasks such as sound& lighting, photography, video recording,auditorum ushers, backstage volunteers, foodvolunteers among many other tasks.

The all new yet very enthusiastic executive com-mittee members of TAMA extend their sincere thanksto the audience that graced the event, talented partici-pants, guests of the event, Reverse Gear Guruswamy,grand sponsor of the event Prudential Insurance, vari-ous advertizers at the event and last but not the least,to volunteers that offered their voluntary support inmaking this event a grand success.

Raj Razdan and the volunteers with Inder Bery. Photos.byMahadev Desai.

Continued on Pg 17.....

Sponsors at the aarti.