“2009 UANA Tri-state Local Chapter Holi Hangama”
Holi Ke Rang Tri-state UANA ke Sang
UANA HOLI FUNCTION Held on 14th March, 2009 in New Jersey , USA
Fords, New Jersey – March 14, 2009
UANA, the community organization in North America for people with roots in the Uttarakhand region held their Holi celebration hosted by the Tri-State Chapter on the 14th of March, 2009 in New Jersey. The celebration was held at the Royal Albert Palace in Fords, New Jersey. The event that was the first large scale event organized by the Tri-State Chapter that was recently formalized by the parent organization UANA, headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia. It was graced by the participation of UANA board.
The celebration had both a cultural as well as community organizing and fundraising theme. Guests started at the entrance with the colors of Gulal to the faces and Holi embraces. The program started with a Ganesh Pooja. That was followed by the traditional singing of Baithaki Holi in the pahadi style. This was followed by the cultural show performed by kids as well adults from the community including folk and popular dances. Additionally, the show also included very colorful and expressive dance performances by the highly regarded Arya Dance Academy and Sonia Dance School.
UANA National Director and communication coordinator, Dr Gopal K. Dhariyal, introduced UANA Tri-state local chapter team to the community: Local Chapter President- Mr. Nitin Bhatt (NJ), Local Chapter Vice President - Mr. Anup Uniyal (NY), Local Chapter Secretary - Dr Kumud Sanwal (NJ), Local Chapter Treasurer - Mr. Kewal Negi (PA); Local Chapter Board of Directors - Mr. Bhupender Bohra (PA), Mr. Pritam Dimri (NY), Ms Gita Khanduri (NJ), Mr. Ramesh Patwal (NJ). Local Chapter Board of Advisors: Mr. J P Nautiyal and Mr. Mayaram Sundriyal.
Dr Dhariyal noted that in a short span of four months since the inception, the diverse and yet aligned local chapter team has done a truly phenomenal job. He then invited UANA Tri-state local chapter President, Mr. Nitin Bhatt, and UANA National President Dr Jagdish Bhandari to say a few words. Both Mr. Bhatt and Dr Bhandari thanked the community member for their active involvement, and selfless volunteers for their countless efforts to make this event possible. Dr. Bhandari also introduced other members of UANA national board that attended this event: Mr Mohan Barthwal, Mr. Vinod Jakhmola (Treasurer), Mr. Sunil Kala (Vice President), Mr. Prakash Khanduri, Dr Harish Pant, Ms Runjhun Saklani (Secretary), and Dr Sanjana Raturi; and special guest from Virginia, Dr Ajay Adhikari, a past UANA Director and son of UANA's founder late Sri Lal S. Adhikari.
The event was attended by an overwhelming crowd of over 200, and everyone including the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. It also put all in touch with their cultural roots and heritage. The attendees included families from Tri-State, as well as community members from Canada, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, and Connecticut. The whole program was articulately compered by our own Pritam Dimri. The final part of the program was dancing with DJ Jai Gulrajani playing a mix of rhythms, which was enjoyed by all.
The Tri-State local chapter is honored and privileged to organize the major festivals in a true pahadi traditional way to bring awareness of our rich cultural heritage and timeless traditions to our younger generation. These programs, in addition to serving as a platform for bringing people together and reinforcing the social bonds, also instilled a sense of community service in the youth who took charge of selling raffle tickets as one of the fundraising activity at the event. In addition community member made donations as well as pledges for future contributions towards the charitable projects being undertaken by the Tri-State chapter.
UANA Tri-State local chapter has pledged to “help those who need it the most” as one of their major objectives. There was an excellent power point presentation by Prema Bohra and Ramesh Patwal with a passionate appeal for donation to help in a small way the community can. A raffle was organized with all the proceeds going towards charity. The generous donation from kind donors surpassed all of our expectations. All this was made possible with the love, affection, active involvement, and continued support of the community members.
Some of the projects and initiative supported by UANA Tri-State chapter are
1. Jeevan Jagriti - Sponsor the education expenses of unprivileged children in Uttarakhand.
2. Women Shelter - Provide financial support to a Women Shelter in Uttarakhand, built to help the orphans (girls and women) who were rendered homeless by fate & had no source of income.
3. Awareness Camps – The aim is to create awareness among community/students in rural areas of Uttarakhand about health, education, and career guidance by forming alliance with local NGO's.
4. Swagat USA - create a group of community members who can provide support and guidance to students visiting North America..
For details about these projects, as well as upcoming events, please visit UANA Tri-State Local Chapter web site: www.tristateuttaranchal.org
This holi mela was covered by India era media group. We thank Indian era media group for their support. Some of the event photographs can be seen on their website: www.indianera.com/slideshow/200903/1401/index.asp
For more photographs of this event and video, please visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Tri-StateUttaranchal/2009Tri-StateUANAHoli14thMarch2009NJ#
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=88f546880269a3cf&sid=8AcN2bdi0at2Gr
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Uana1Events&view=videos
2009 Tri-State Holi Mela Volunteer Committee
Thanks to all the organizing team members for their efforts, ideas and coordination of the event.,
Anup Uniyal, Gita Khanduri, Kanti Barthwal, Anup Uniyal, Nitin Bhatt, Kewal Negi, Bhupender Bohra, Ramesh Patwal, Pritam Dimri, Gopal Dhariyal, Prema Bohra, Ritu Negi, J.P. Nautiyal, Mayaram Sundriyal, Runjhun Saklani, Anita Dimri, Tanvi Sharma, Rachna Pant, Divya Joshi, and Bhawana Bist.
About UANA
Uttaranchal Association of North America (UANA) was formally established in 1998 in Fairfax, Virginia, registered as a non-profit, tax exempt organization. UANA represents the cultural interests and development of Uttarakhand, previously known as Uttaranchal
UANA headquarters are located at:
10560 Main Street, Suite
LL-1
Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone: (703) 273-7982 | Fax: (703) 995-4545
email:
info@uttaranchal.org