HOUSTON: The spirit of Thanksgiving the day before was very much in the air as the India Culture Center Board came together with other friends and potential new members and hopeful Directors to meet at the home of their President, Jasmeeta Singh on the westside.
It was a sumptuous dinner catered by Bombay Brasserie on the backyard patio, despite a chilly night that had guests diving indoors for warmups between trips to the buffet line.
The arrangements were typical of Jasmeeta Singh’s style as she closed out her two-tenure as ICC President, which was marked by several successful events, despite the COVID restrictions. Most recently, the Building Bridges Cultural event on November 21 highlighted the outreach that the ICC has made to other communities. “It was not about me”, said Jasmeeta, “but it was about the Board who supported me and made all this possible”.
The dinner also acknowledged the role that the Indian Consul General Aseem Mahajan has played in helping to arrange for cultural artifacts and other support in holding the events.
In brief remarks at the dinner, Mahajan said the Indian Government would provide even more support in the coming year which will mark 75 year’s since India’s Independence.
“Bobby and I were delighted to host this wonderful event and took this opportunity to thank the people who really invested their time and efforts to this organization”, Jasmeeta acknowledged as she thanked each and everyone present. “It was a pleasure to host and thank our Consul General Aseem Mahajan with his lovely wife for their support to ICC”.
ICC board member Parul Fernandes (left) and President Jasmeeta Singh (right) at a face mask distribution with City Council member Amy Peck of District A (center).
HOUSTON: India Culture Center is continuing its mission to provide face marks and food distribution to assist the needy and first responders throughout the region, including Houston Police Department, City of Stafford and Fort Bend County.
May 5th – DeliveredMeals to Houston Police Department were Present were Ajit Patel and ICC President Jasmeeta Singh.
May 8- 1000 Masks Delivered at District F Council Member Tiffany D.Thomas, with ICC board members Gaurav Jhaveri, ParulFernandes, Nagraj, Sai, Nimesh Assistant, Jasmeeta Singh at theInternational District.
May 13th- Delivered meals to HPD continuously donating lunchfor four days. Present were Nisha Mirani & Ajit Patel.
May 20th-Donated 1,000Surgical Masks toStafford City-Elected officialspresent – Fire Chiefof Stafford Center,Larry Dicamillo,and CouncilMembers Alice CChen,KenMathew, SriKulkarni, Congresswoman Virginia and the ICC board, atthe Stafford City Hall.
May 20th– ICC webinar in collaboration with IACCGH withCommissioner Adrian Garcia from 2-3 pm.
May 29th- Donated 1,000 Surgical Masks and homemade masksto City Council MemberJerry Davis to serve the District B for ICC COVID-19 collaborative Initiative with CRY org. Present – ICC Bods- Gaurav Jhaveri, ParulFernandes, Trustee ManishaGandhi, President JasmeetaSingh and the CRY board.
June 24th- ICC mission of Mask Distribution, collaborating with City Council Member Amy Peck of District A for food Distribution. Present were board members Parul Fernandes and Jasmeeta Singh
June 24th – 1600 Mask Donation at Fort Bend County in collaboration with ICC Partnering organization North South foundation. Present Elected officials Judge KP George, Judge Juli Mathew, District Attorney Brian Middleton, and President Jasmeeta SinghICC BOD Parul Fernandes,Pavana Gadde, ICC Partnering org director NSF Sai. ICC is also hosting a free Bhangra and Zumba workshop on Sunday, Jully 12 from 5:30 to 66:30 pm via Zoom video conferencing.
STAFFORD: Blessed with warm temperatures and sunny skies, a stream of people came through the Stafford Civic Centre all afternoon long, till the late evening to participate in the first large community-wide event of the year, India’s Republic Day celebration. One of its two flagship events, the India Culture Center once again held the celebration of the 70th Republic Day with a now familiar setup of booths and stage shows, making it cozy for the regulars who attend and easier on the vendors who go through their often practised paces.
The organizers were likewise heartened by the turnout and especially that people lingered on till the end of the cultural programs which started after 5:30. “Success is sweet, but it’s sweeter when its achieved thorough co-ordination, cooperation, collaboration and teamwork,” said ICC President Nisha Mirani afterwards in thanking her Board and volunteers, and especially the 13 year-old Eesha Dhairyawan who assisted her throughout the day.
The doors opened at 2pm and right after the initial welcome remarks dived into the Mom & Me talent contest organized by Jasmeeta Singh who has often pulled together such shows for the ICC programs. The entries were six teams of moms and their young children performing dances, songs, musical instruments and other routines; all much appreciated by the audience.
Santosh Varma and Ajit Patel (he was dressed in a 70s style retro outfit) had organized an ICC Idol 2019 contest that projected many talented individuals and groups on stage. Other segments featured performers like the much-followed popular Mukhti Band of senior citizens who sat onstage and sang several songs while playing hand cymbals and other instruments.
Charlie Patel, Pramod Bengani and Ajit Patel organized the over 36 booth of vendors lined up in the back of the hall and the front lobby area. Particularly impressive were the large stalls of Unique Arts, a framed pictures vendor, and Archie’s Creations, an artificial jewelry vendor, both of Atlanta, who had setup enormous booths of wares. Two food booths – Tony’s Kitchen and Hot Breads – provided ready-made food for sale.
Dr. Raj Bhalla organized the Community Award Segment, which was held after the formal segment of the national anthems and speeches by ICC, community leaders and local elected officials including Stafford Mayor Leonard Scarcella, the Indian Deputy Consul General Surendra Adhana, Stafford Councilman Ken Mathew, recently elected officials Julie Mathew and Fort Bend County Judge K.P. George. Alice Chen, who is running for Stafford City Council Position 1 in the upcoming May 4 elections, made her rounds among the crowd. Also attending were the Fort Bend County Constable Pct 4 Trever Nehls and his twin brother Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls.
Rajiv Bhavsar and Dr. Falguni Gandhi coordinated the VIP seating and the ICC booth was handled by Hemant Patel, Dr. Sarita Mehta and Swapan Dhariyawan. Darshak and Mona Thakkar of Krishna Sound provide the sound system, Raghu Thakkar of Image n Motions the photography and Asit Patel did additional photo and videography.
The newly elected Executive Committee of the India Culture Center, (from left) Raj Bhalla, Santosh Varma, Pramod Bengani, Nisha Mirani and Hemant Patel pose with the two new Trustees Falguni Gandhi and Sanjay Sohoni. The third Trustee, Manisha Gandhi, was unable to attend.
HOUSTON: Just over a month ago, the India Culture Center held its annual Board elections and on in a follow-up round of elections on Sunday, January 6, in India House, the new Executive Committee and three more Trustees were voted in unanimously. Outside, on a crisp, sunny day, the grounds of the center were filled with players from a local Latino soccer league and the parking lot filled up with spectators and athletes.
To express the ICC’s confidence in the leadership from last year, the same Executive Committee was selected to move forward in 2019 with the exception of the Secretary Ajit Patel who was replaced by Santosh Varma. The others are Nisha Mirani, President; Pramod Bengani, Vice president and Hemant Patel, Treasurer.
The election of the Executives and three vacant Trustee seats were conducted by this reporter who has been an Election Commissioner for four years. The other two Commissioners – Sam Merchant and Girish Pandya – were unable to attend. In addition, it was disclosed that Trustee Raj Bhalla had taken over the remaining one-year term Director position of Harshad Patel, who has had to resign due to ill health.
The remaining EC position of Past President was thrown up for grabs as the 2017 president Falguni Gandhi was term-limited and had to withdraw from the Board, according to the Bylaws. The position would then fall back on the past presidents from previous years, but as both – Raj Bhavsar and Charlie Patel – are currently Trustees, the next in line would be Bhalla, who willingly accepted.
The final bit of votes involved filling the three Trustee seats. Nominations were made from the floor and Falguni Gandhi and Sanjay Sohoni accepted while Manisha Gandhi accepted via a telephone call.
With conclusion of the elections, the ICC Board held its normal meeting and discussed plans for the first flagship event: Republic Day celebration on Sunday, Jan. 27 Stafford Civic Center on Cash Road.
The India Culture Center Board takes a bow midway through the Indian Independence Day program last Sunday, August 19 at the Stafford Civic Centre Photos: Raghu Thakkar
STAFFORD:Sure you can convince a little kid to get dressed up and go onstage to prance around and sing the national anthem while the proud parents sit in the front row lip synching the words to them. But try doing that with the little tykes dressed up in white pajama-kurtas and salwar-kameezes and a saffron turban balanced on his head as they wave the Indian tri-color and sing the Indian national anthem – “Janna Ganna Manna” – and you certainly can imagine the hours of rehearsals and patient coaching that it took to the them there!
The mayors of Houston, Missouri City, Sugar Land and Stafford with the ICC organizers and the major sponsors of the Independence Day event, Jugal Malani and Swatantra Jain (on right) watch the stage show.
But there they were, in front of a large audience with many of their parents sitting cross-legged in the front excitedly taking their pictures. The occasion was the cultural program and bazaar held this past Sunday, August 19 at the Stafford Civic Centre on Cash Road as the India Culture Center celebrated the 72nd anniversary of India’s Independence. In an often-repeated festival held at the same venue for more than a decade, ICC organizers were thrilled by the estimated over 2,300 people who came to the event.
The Essay contest winners Arunima Para, Shriman Thandra, Vani Jain, Juhi Choudhury and runners up receive their awards.
This year’s event had large turnout of youngsters who were encouraged by their parents and the organizers who held many contests for them to participate in. Many were given a topic to choose from when they entered the venue and then spoke extemporaneously in the Extempore Contest (coordinated by Parul Fernandes and Sangeeta Pasrija). Others wrote essays (coordinated by Santosh Verma) which had been submitted and judged by a panel.
The highlight of the event came towards the evening when Jasmeeta Singh of Jaz Creations emceed the fashion show that she produced and choreographed featuring works by several local designers and make-up artists. The judges were International Bollywood winners Mayuri Rana and Ziva Malin.
The Extempore speech contest winners Shriman Thandra, Rayaan Lakhva and Diksha Chandra receive their awards.
Among the local leaders who attended and spoke were Mayors Sylvester Turner, Allen Owen, Leonard Scarcella and Joe Zimmerman as well as Sugar Land Councilman Himesh Gandhi and Stafford Councilman Ken Mathew. There were over 20 cultural dance performances including two thrilling Filipino items.
Among the more than 50 booths was one from the Guruvarappan Temple collecting funds for the Kerala flood emergency rehabilitation. There were also three food booths serving mouth-watering Indian dishes in the food court. Adjacent to that was the children’s crafts area where they could build or draw many other ideas.
After picking up a copy of ICC’s “Tarang” souvenir magazine, people could get a chance to play at the spot brain stimulator quiz conceived by Sanjay Sohoni. Dr. K. D.
Upadhyaya, dressed in a saffron jacket and a Gandhi cap, and Swapan Dhairyawan gave a heartful tribute to India’s 10th Prime Minister Atal Bihar who had just passed away.
Models in the fashion show take a bow with the organizer and choreographer Jasmeeta Singh (at the mic).
Event chair Pramod Bengani gave a poignant speech about “Life” and “Freedom” and how these have formed the backbone on which India has progressed from a nascent nation to the largest thriving democracy in the world. ICC President Nisha Mirani told the audience that the “achievements of the any organization multiply when they confer and work together,” referring to the other groups that had partnered with the ICC to bring this event together. And finally, event co-chair Ajit Patel thanked the audience, booth vendors, sponsors, and dignitaries for making the event grand.
The ICC Fashion Show winners: Reshma Mathews for Miss Talented; Priyanka Shrivaastav for Miss Facebook Popular and Amardeep Kaur Miss Super Personality.
Extempore Contest winners and their topics: Shriman Thandra (12) spoke on pollution in India; Rayaan Lakhva (10) on Indian flag and Diksha Chandra (7) on the Indian flag.
Essay Contest winners and their age bracket categories: Arunima Para (age 7-10); Shriman Thandra (age 11-14); Vani Jain (age 15-18) and Juhi Choudhury (age 19-22).
DUBAI: The International Cricket Council is likely to push for harsher punishment for ball tampering during its annual conference later this month.
Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal was charged for ball tampering in the second Test against the West Indies in St Lucia and the ICC said it is likely to push for upgrading ball tampering from a Level 2 offence to Level
The three poets (from left) Sarvesh Asthana, Gaurav Sharma and Sonroopa Vishal at the 11th annual Hasya Kavi Sammelan at India House on Sunday, April 22.
By Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON: This 11th annual Hasya Kavi Sammelan (Laughing Poet’s Society) organized, once again, by the local chapter of the International Hindi Association in conjunction with the India Culture Center was held again this year at India House on Sunday, April 22 in the late afternoon at 4:30, starting with a tea and snacks social hour.
Past IHA Presidents Sangeeta Pasrija (right) and Swapan Dhairaywan (left, currently the IHA national president) with current IHA Houston President Dr. K.D. Upadhaya (second on left) giving Charlie Patel a service award, presented by India Culture Center Trustee Dr. Raj Bhalla.
This popular annual function provided the audience of over 300 a chance to rekindle their attachment to the national language of the Old Country. The poetry, usually in the form of pankte or couplets, was equal parts verse and lilting song and patriotic, absurd, mocking but always engaging. For a non-stop 150 minutes, the three poets kept the audience engrossed and in stitches with laughter.
Event chair Rajiv Bhavsar offered thanks to the performers and audience
The main hall was filled close to capacity in rows of chairs with an estimated 300 people. In shudh (pure) Hindi, past IHA President Sangeeta Pasrija introduced the poets while IHA national president Swapan Dhairaywan and IHA Houston President Dr. K.D. Upadhaya welcomed the crowd. Upadhaya described the launch of IHA’s Hindi classes at India House, VPSS Haveli and the Gauriya Nath Mandir. Event Chair Rajiv Bhavsar appreciated the enthusiastic attendance and Charlie Patel was honored for his service. After the show, guests were treated to a buffet style dinner of catered by Madras Pavilion restaurant. Darshak Thakkar of Krishna Sounds provided the sound system.
The three poets and comedians – Sarvesh Asthana, Gaurav Sharma and Sonroopa Vishal – came to Houston after shows in Dallas and Indianapolis. Their next show will be in Detroit and then 20 other cities in the US till May 28 as part of a tour of 24 cities which have chapters of the Antharrashtriya Hindi Samithi (International Hindi Association) which organized the nationwide event.
This was the third visit to Houston by Asthana, who was the emcee of the show, introducing his other two poets. Both he and Sharma kept the audience entertained and howling with laughter with their one-liners, witty pankte and descriptions of absurd events. Sonroopa (as she is widely known) offered the more serious and lilting voice with poetry sang out.
Sarvesh Asthana of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh is a famous satirist who has participated in Kavi Sammelans and Mushairas since 1989. He is a highly celebrated Hindi poet and finds humor in the ups and downs of life. A law graduate and journalist by profession, Astana is widely published with six books and two documentaries and is a regular on radio and in two TV comedy serials, Hero Koun (Who’s the Hero?) and Miss Ramkalie. This is his sixth visit to North America and he has also performed in the UK, Thailand, Dubai, Indonesia, and Oman.
Gaurav Sharma of Mumbai hails from Rajasthan and is the son of renowned poet Shyamsunder Sharma. He is one of the most popular young humorist in India who has performed in over 2600 kavi sammelans and is known for his style of engaging humor and penetrating satire poetry and signature one liners, sometimes in the Marwari language. Since 2014 he has made 135 performances on Johny Lever’s live shows. He won the Laughter Challenge on Star TV, Comedy Ka King Kaun on SUB TV, and Hasya Kavi Muqabla on Zee TV. He has performed in over 32 countries, including multiple times in Canada and the US.
Sonroopa Vishal of Badaun, Uttar Pradesh (about 160 miles southeast of New Delhi), a gifted poetess, vocalist and ghazal singer with a melodious voice and spellbinding renditions, is a language and music graduate with a PhD in Hindi literature. She is a freelance writer, a director of three cultural and non-profit social organizations and has two published and co-authored several books. Sonroopa has recited her poems at India’s prestigious national Kavi Sammelan at the Red Fort; the Sahitya Academy and on TV shows. This is her first visit to the US and Canada.
While Astana and Sharma regaled the audience with their attire and witty delivery of daily events and other incidences, Sonroopa appealed to the romantic and feminine side, often with uplifting themes (“We don’t die because we drown, we die because we don’t swim”), ending with a poem entitled “Ladkiyan, Ladkiyan, Ladkiyan” (Girls, Girls, Girls) which interposed that line with a three adjectives that described what roles Indian females played. It received a standing ovation.
HOUSTON: The lingering effects of the ice storm, cold and rainy weather and people down with the raging flu virus were some of the reasons that affected the low turnout for the 69th Indian Republic Day celebrations that the India Culture Center held last Saturday afternoon, January 20 at the usual venue, the Stafford Civic Centre on Cash Road. All told, throughout the six hour event, about 1,800 people are estimated to have visited the setup of booths and a stage show.
The thin crowds were disheartening to both the organizers who had worked hard to organize the event, and the vendors who set up their wares and services. Many have been pleased with the attendance at ICC’s other signature event on the previous Independence Day and expected more of the same. But this one echoed back to the same event held in 2014 at the Bayou City Event Center near the Astrodome that also brought in dismal crowds, though the arrangements were well done. Then the reason was the event’s move to an unfamiliar and distant location.
Since then, the event was revved up with a huge digital screen backdrop onstage and contests for the children along with some better known performers to close out the evening, but this has normally been for the Independence Day program in August. The Republic Day program has always been less attended. Whatever the reasons, the Directors of the ICC were murmuring about what they could do to revive this celebration which, in New Delhi, is a massive parade of floats depicting all parts of the country, marchers, weaponry, fly overs and acts like motorcycle balancing riders.
Perhaps a parade and a fair atmosphere is what are needed. All the same, the organizers, led by new ICC President Nisha Mirani (who was the Event Chair along with Rafi Ansar) did an excellent job of bringing in kids and their parents for their parts of the stage shows.
The theme for the event was “Hum sub ek hai” (we all are one). Togetherness was the focus as the program began with the popular Ismaili matki band rousing the hall and was followed by speeches by Deputy Indian Consul General Surendra Adhana who talked about modern India and how NRIs have been instrumental in the process. He later said he felt he was immersed in the community after having been here just a year. Nira Patel emceed the show, alternating with former ICC Trustee Swapan Dhairyawan and Mirani. Young Esha Dhairyawan sang the Indian National Anthem and Shreya sang the American one.
Candidates running for political office, like former Harris County Sherriff Adrian Garcia, FBISD Trustee K.P. George, Toni Wallace and Juli Mathew had a chance to speak and meet with the community.
The Ismaili band also performed a patriotic performance onstage, with members dressed like Indian Independence heroes like Mahatma Gandhi. There were a total of 22 different dance groups performing but unfortunately, kids from two schools could not attend due to the flu virus which is three times more rampant this year than last. The musical portion (organized by Hemang Thakkar) featured two young singers, Akila and Sareen, who sang patriotic songs.
Towards the evening time, the crowd had grown a bit and the Antakshari (organized by Ajit Patel and Rafi Ansar) drew in a spirited participation. There were three teams onstage and the audience was the fourth. For an hour, it was a fun exchange between all the teams singing songs from different eras of Indian music. Each participant got a small gift bag from ICC Trustee Praful Gandhi.
The ICC Board and the Election Committee at India House with the newly installed Directors at the election held on Sunday, December 3.
By Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON: If all elections could be this amicable, there certainly wouldn’t be much to argue about and things could go much more smoothly!
As a member of the Election Committee for the India Culture Center, I had the duty of fielding all the nominations and ensuring there were no mistakes in that process. My other Committee members were Girish Pandya and Sam Merchant and the three of us conducted the election of upto nine Directors this past Sunday, December 3 at India House. A room full of ICC members, Directors and Trustees were present for the hour long process, following which the ICC held its General Body meeting.
This year, as last year, there were eight seats available for Directors for two-year terms and one for a one-year term, and two vacancies for three-year Trustee positions and one for two years. The ICC started advertising the election a month earlier and during that time, seven nominations were received for Directors and two for Trustees.
ICC President Falguni Gandhi opened up the meeting with a rundown of the long list of activities that the group had organized and participated in throughout the year. For the past few years, to follow its motto of being a communitywide umbrella organization, the ICC has made sure that some of its Directors are present at most Indian community event in the Metroplex, which makes for an impressive list indeed. The group is now preparing for one of its flagship events: the celebration of India’s Republic Day on January 20 at the Stafford Civic Centre on Cash Road.
The names of the seven who were nominated were read out and verified and all but two – Ajt Patel and Harshad Patel – were present and, as there wasn’t any opposition, there was no need for an election. One nomination was solicited from the floor and Nagar Raj agreed to be become a Director and he gave a short description of his community involvement and professional career. In addition to these three, the other newly elected Directors are Santosh Verma, Nirmala Patel, Nisha Mirani, Pramod Bengani and Dr. K.D. Upadhya. Two nominations for Trustees have been received for Praful Gandhi and Charlie Patel but these will be voted on during the Executive Committee election on January 7, 2018.
Following the election, Trustee Swapan Dhariyawan gave a report of the finances, a position that he will relinquish as he transitions to President of the Indo American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston next year. Many lamented his loss, but Dhariyawan, who has been an ardent supporter of the ICC, promised to help wherever he could.
STAFFORD:By 2pm, the parking lot was full and you had to go to the very far side to get a space, even as more people were pouring in. And it wasn’t just old-timers who knew what to expect, but lots of younger kids, many of whom were going to be on stage and their parents and friends who came to see the performances that would captivate the audience throughout the afternoon. An estimated 4,000 came to the event.
Once again, the India Cultural Center, the community’s premier umbrella organization, galvanized a myriad of groups in the metroplex to come together to celebrate India’s 71st Independence Day. The 7-hour long program was as much a celebration of how the huge number of Indian expatriates have evolved in their adopted home along the banks of all the bayous that fill up this region of South Texas. And a sultry Sunday afternoon, August 20, reminded the new Americans of the baking heat in the parts of India where they are from.
As expected, the back half of the hall at the Stafford Civic Centre on Cash Road was filled with an assortment of nearly 60 booths of non-profits and businesses alike, many repeats of past years, And further back, in the adjoining hall with tables to sit down and eat and were three food booths catering Indian delicacies. The foot traffic really got busy around all the booths around 3 and kept up till nearly 6:30 when the crowd thinned down.
The stage program began with a prayer by ICC President Dr. Falguni Gandhi, followed by a string of inspirational patriotic and devotional songs by kids from the Shree Krithi School of Music, Telugu Christian Fellowship, DAV Montessori, Houston Brethren Association and Swar Madhuri. The JVB Preksha Meditation Center presented a skit with a powerful message of universal peace and non-violence.
A cultural segment followed with 14 dance performances by kids young and old doing Kathak, Garba, Odissi, Bengali folk, Bollywood and regional folk from Karnataka (one of the highlights of the day) by groups from the Kathak Kala Kendra, Bollywood Shake, Infused School of Dance, HH Creationz, Laaya Dance Group, Navikarna, Indian Senior Citizens Association, Keka’s School of Dance, JAZ Creations and Bollywood Dancing. The segment was coordinated by Nisha Mirani and Nimish Sheth who kept the audience engaged with the flow of the program.
An Elocution (public speaking) Contest was conducted by Parul Fernandes and Pramod Bengani with Fateh Ali Chatur, Sai Rachakonda and Rahat Kalle as judges. There were 3 winners each from the junior and senior age groups.
Emcees Harshil Sheth and Nira Patel began the formal segment with a lamp lighting ceremony by Rajyashree Adhana (wife of Indian Deputy Consul Surendra Adhana) and Pallavi Dhairyawan (wife of event chair Swapan Dhairyawan). The National Anthems were sung by Malika Ghei (Indian) and Madhuri Maniar (US).
Event Chair Swapan Dhairyawan welcomed the crowd saying the ICC did its “utmost effort to preserve, spread and expand the rich Indian culture to our next generation.” Deputy Consul General Surendra Adhana stepped up to share the message from Consul General Anupam Ray. Dr. Falguni Gandhi stated the goals and vision of the ICC, saying it “helps to preserve the values of our culture and heritage and promote Indo-American friendship.”
Proclamations and warm wishes came from Leonard Scarcella, Mayor of City of Stafford, which was a joint sponsor for the event; US Congressman Al Green represented Sam Merchant and Missouri City Mayor Allen Owens, brought by Hasu Patel.
This year, the ICC gave awards to three individuals for their contributions: Stafford City Councilman Ken Mathew and Shiva Mathur of Shivangini School of Dance for Outstanding Community Service and Special Recognition Award for 16 year-old high school senior Syamantak Payra for his 200 awards for academic and extracurricular achievements. A surprise special Dedicated Award was given to Past President and Trustee Chandrakant (Charlie) Patel for his continued service to ICC.
The highlight of the event was the closing concert by the Riyaaz Qawali group of Varun Mehta and two other members of his troupe who presented a rousing performance of shabd, qawali, patriotic and devotional songs. Introducing the group Dhairyawan recalled the first time the group performed on the ICC Stage in January 2007 as students of UT Austin. Ten years later, they have come back full circle to the ICC stage more resourceful and mature and recognized all over the country for their soulful music.
The sound and PA system was arranged by Darshak and Mona Thakkar of Krishna Sounds; Photography was by Raghu Thakkar and videography by Gautam Jani. The ICC’s next planned event is the Diwali Mela at Jones Plaza on Sunday, November 12.
HOUSTON: India Culture Center Houston (ICC), is celebrating India’s 71st Independence Day on Sunday, August 20, at the Stafford Center, 10505 Cash Rd, Stafford. TX 77477 from 1pm to 8pm. This year the theme is “Magnificent India”.
The event attracts 3000+ people, it is free, and the facility has ample free parking.
As part of the celebration, an exciting Souvenir “Tarang” will be published. The ICC Board requests community support through Sponsorship, Advertisement, and Booths at the Event.
The Gold sponsorship is $2500 which entitles prime corporate booth, logo on flyer and media, digital advertisement on screen, full page souvenir ad, and segment sponsorship for prizes.
The Silver sponsorship is $1500 which entitles corporate booth, digital advertisement on the screen, and full page souvenir ad.
Booths are $600 (Corporate), $325 (Small Business), and $200 (Non-Profit). Digital advertisements are only $100.
More Information is available on http://www.icchoustontx.org/ or call Event Chair Swapan 281-3820348 or President Dr Falguni Gandhi 281-8444604
Looking forward for your support and participation for the community event.
HOUSTON: ICC has planned Quiz Contest during this year’s I-Fest, which is going to take place on August 20, 2017. The topic for Quiz is – Festivals of India.
We have invited entries from the interested participants from Indo-American society. There will be preliminary screening rounds conducted during which three pairs of final contestants will be short listed. These three finalists will contest from the stage on the day of I-Fest. Three rounds of 10 minutes each will be played and at the end winner and runners up will be decided. During the quiz contest, few questions will also be posed to the crowd to generate interest and enthusiasm. Prizes in the form of gifts will be distributed to the winners.
The idea behind the quiz contest is to generate interest, enthusiasm and awareness about the rich culture of India.
Date: August 20, 2017 Place: Stafford Center, 10505 Cash Road, Stafford, Texas 77477 Time: 4.00 to 4.45 pm Contact: Sanjay Sohoni – (281) 943 – 9758 / Falguni Gandhi – (281) 844 – 4604 Visit website to fill in the entry form: www.icchoustontx.org
HOUSTON: This year, during celebration of India’s 71st Independence Day on August 20th at the Stafford Center, India Culture Center will be recognizing children of INDO-AMERICAN heritage for their Elocution skills. This provides unique opportunity and platform for children to show-off their oratory skills to a large Indo-American audience. Please encourage your children to participate and win awards.
Prizes will be awarded to the BEST Speaker and runner up in 2 distinct age groups of 6-10 and 11-14
Participants have four different topics to choose from, 1. Describe your American Hero, 2. What does “Independence” mean to You, 3. The most interesting historical place in America which I have visited, and 4. How would you celebrate “ Independence Day” in America.
Participants must register for the event by July31st. For additional information, you may call Parul Fernandes at 713-662-3506 or Pramod Bengani 281-615-9079. Judges decision is final.
Most of the attendees at the sneh milan on Friday, April 21. Photos: Quaid Tinwala
By Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON:A few years back, during the Vaisakhi program at the Cullen Auditorium that she had coordinated for the Punjabi Society of Houston, Jasmeeta Singh created quite a stir by producing one of the best choreographed fashion shows the desi community had ever seen. It was set to a blend of music and dance – each model not only walked the stage but also performed dance steps – and was ahead of the crowd in theatrics and entertainment. Jasmeeta ended the show with a group performance, with herself as the lead dancer.
That was five years ago, and Jasmeeta had been organizing the annual Vaisakhi program and other functions for her Sikh community for a long time. In addition, she had volunteered for events as a director of the India Culture Center and she has been was the sole Sikh participant in the International Hindi Association’s Houston Chapter. And as a past director of the Interfaith Ministries of Houston, along with her husband, businessman Bobby Singh, she helped produce its annual Tapestry Ball and interfaith dialogues on Sikhism.
Dr. K.D. Upadhaya, President of the IHA Houston Chapter with Jasmeeta Singh and Sangeeta Pasrija (right) felicitated Parul Fernandez on her birthday
Nearly two years ago, the beautiful dynamo ventured into the world of haute couture fashion, with a glittering inaugural fashion and dance event and since then has had many more fashion shows, joining hands with ethnic groups across the Bayou City. She now conducts classes every Saturday at her spacious studio at 9703 Richmond at S. Gessner for those who are interested in pursuing a career in modeling. Her company, Jaz Creationz, is a unique modeling agency and dancing school that wants to create diversity in the modeling world by merging dance of different cultures together to form a common ground to build bridges between communities as well as learning poise and public speaking skills.
The ICC Board presented Jasmeeta with a token of their gratitude
And she still has time for the other passion in her life: to work within the community and help maintain its cultural heritage. A trained Kathak classical dancer who also choreographs the free flowing style of Bollywood dancing, Jasmeeta is known among the desi community for her focus on working with kids and perfectionism when it comes to undertaking a project, and has been active in other non-profit groups for many years.
Jasmeeta Singh, founder of Jaz Creationz in her studio on Richmond Ave at S. Gessner.
But what many may not realize is that Jasmeeta is also very fluent in Hindi and has been a part of the IHA’s activities for the past three years, often contributing to their poetry events and karaoke nights. She managed to merge the two in the sneh milan night (held each quarter) at her studio by hosting the get-together this past Friday, April 21 and most of the membership showed up for the mixer, karaoke night and dinner. And since most of the same people are also associated with the ICC, Jasmeeta was able to put together an evening which included all of her passions!
At the IHA/ICC Shaam-e-Ghazal on February 10, the performers in the back row (from left) Imtiaz Munshi, Nausha Asrar and Archna Panda with the organizing Board members Sangeeta Pasrija (second from left, back row), (front row, from left) Sanjay Sohoni, Dr K.D. Upadhyaya, Rajiv Bhavsar, Charlie Patel and Swapan Dhaiyrawan.
By Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON:IHA/ICC: Sometimes it’s hard to tell the two groups apart as many of their board members are the same and they seem to have a jolly good time working together, whichever the venue. It’s a seamless fit and if there’s any friction, the cheerful interaction of a few key individuals seems to brush it away.
If you add a Valentine’s Day party tagged “Sham-e-Ghazal” to it, the lovefest between the Boards knows no bounds!!
Sangeeta Pasrija (right), IHA National Director, and Swapan Dhairyawan, IHA National President, opened up the evening’s cultural festivities.
So it was this past Friday evening, February 10 when the International Hindi Association and the India Culture Center got together for the first-ever Valentine’s eve party at India House on West Bellfort. There was a back room for couples to have their Valentine’s picture taken by Raghu Thakkar (they got a copy just before they left) and libations (both soft and strong) and food aplenty. Madras Pavilion’s Mahesh Shah (who has supported the IHA and ICC for the past 7 years) made sure that the snacks and dinner items were in good supply and the gajjar halwa (carrot pudding) vanished as quickly as it was put out. He had to call his restaurant for more!!
Archana Panda, a poet from California, flew in for the event.
Though a collaboration, the event marked another step forward for the IHA Houston Chapter to re-ignite the public’s engagement with their matra bhasa – mother tongue – which has fallen into disuse over the many years in an Anglophone culture. The IHA’s magazine Vishwa, completely in Hindi, was at every one of the 25 tables that were spread out across the main banquet hall. Even while on vacation in India, Darshak Thakkar made sure to have someone to setup and handle the sound system and Gautam Jani, in his last stint before himself going to visit India, took video for the evening.
Local Houstonian Nausha Asrar recited poetry in Hindi, Urdu and English.
And the true champion of the night was Hindi itself, as spoken in all its intricacies and subtleties with a degree of difficulty that had many searching for their online dictionaries! Among the familiar supporters were many who seldom have attended a Hindi mela, but they too were surprised at their immersion and enjoyment of the language.
Sangeeta Pasrija, IHA National Director, and Swapan Dhairyawan, IHA National President opened up the evening with background of the IHA and concept for the event. Recognizing the vernacular, Dhairyawan noted the contributions of Hindi and Urdu in the popular Hindustani in common use. For some, just the use of tatha (and) and prantu (but) tickled their ears!
Imtiaz Munshi, a well-known local crooner, sang several Golden Oldies, which had the audience dancing away.
It was echoed by one of the poets, Archana Panda of California (who has been featured twice before at previous IHA events), who encouraged parents to speak Hindi at home so that their children would be exposed to the language.
Dhairyawan disclosed that the IHA soon plans to start Hindi classes at the VPSS. ICC President Falguni Gandhi welcomed in shudh (proper) Hindi the estimated 230 guests. At the tail end of the program, IHA chapter president Dr K.D. Upadhyaya announced that there were thoughts of creating a Hindi Bhavan (House) in the area.
The evening belonged to the two poets, Panda and local Houstonian Nausha Asrar, each of whom took two turns—the second being Performnance Poetry – to present their own creations in verse and in song. “Mein ankhons se sun sakthi hoon, tum ankhon se bolo” (I can hear with my eyes, speak to me with your eyes) started off Panda drifting into “tumne mujhe aaj chooya nahin, aise lagta hain ke naya din hi nahin hua” (you haven’t touched me today, it seems like a new day has not dawned). She sang some verses with happiness and vivre and the audience clapped along.
Asrar is no stranger to IHA mehfils (gatherings) as he has recited his amazing mix of Urdu and Hindi poetry on two other occasions too. He responded to Panda with “zaban ke koi ankahein nahin hoti, aur ankhon ke koi zaban nahin hoti” (the tongue has no eyes and the eyes have no tongue). He recited examples of Hindi, Urdu and English poetry (from Wordsworth’s “The Daffodils”) to share how the same feeling is expressed in these languages.
After dinner, the mood changed to Performance Songs and Imtiaz Munshi, a well-known local crooner sang several Golden Oldies while he accompanied himself on a keyboard and a karaoke setup. He got the pitch and tempo down to perfection as he Bollywood sang Rafi, Mukesh and Kishore oldies and had the backseaters dancing in the aisle, others dancing in the front and all begging for “just one more song”!
Two days later, the IHA/ICC group met again at the gorgeous and huge house of Falguni and Bharat Gandhi’s in Sugar Land for a celebratory dinner and another round of karaoke and camaraderie.
As I said before, it’s a lovefest and you can’t keep these people apart!! They are already planning the next free Holi ke Hindi Bol event at the JVB Preksha Center on Sunday, March 5, from 2 to 5 pm.
HOUSTON: International Hindi Association, Houston Chapter (IHA) and India Culture Center (ICC) proudly presents on Friday February 10, an evening filled of joy, entertainment and love by our own Houstonian Nausha Asrar and Archana Panda from California. This wonderful duo of poets will take you to a new height with their soft, passionate and absorbing Ghazals. In addition to this there will be interactive games and prizes to be won on Valentine’s weekend. To top it all there will be a melodious singer who will take the audience to another level with his soulful Bollywood Ghazals.
To make it more memorable this all comes with complimentary wine, sumptuous dinner and take away pictures at the program.
Also, when you attend this program you are furthering the cause of Hindi in America as this is a fund-raising event for IHA and proceeds from this program will be entirely used for ‘Prasar’ and ‘Prachar’ of Hindi at the newly started classes at VVM.
Do not miss this wonderful opportunity to enjoy and at the same time enhance the cause of ‘Hindi’ language.
STAFFORD: “Here they go again, changing up the rules of the festival one more time!” is the first thought that came to one’s head as the India Culture Center kicked off their celebration of India’s 68th Republic Day. This time, the emphasis was more on fun and involving the audience rather than just giving them a spectacle to look at. And based on the audience reaction, it certainly seemed to have paid off.
The event was held this past Saturday, January 21 at the usual Stafford Civic Centre on Cash Road, site of 12 years of R-Day and I-Day festivals. From 1:45pm till 7:30pm and an estimated 2,400 people showed up, despite a $3 per person entry fee, the first after 6 years of it being free to the public. The ticket stubs were put into a giant roller and every hour a raffle drawing was held for one of 6 Gold Coin prizes, courtesy of Chemmanur Jewelers in Little India. It was coordinated by ICC Directors Nimish Sheth and Dilip Dadhich and the Indian Seniors Citizens Association.
A segment which honored Women Who Made India Proud, portrayed onstage by volunteers and Board members of the ICC
The event kicked off with a few songs by the Ismaili Golden Club Matki Band, a group of 39 performers aged 55 to 81. It was their 5th year in a row to be at the R-Day program. This was followed up by a segment entitled “Women who Make India Proud” retelling the personal life stories of Sarojini Naidu, Kiran Bedi, Indra Nooyi, Chanda Kochar, Sania Mirza, Kalpana Chawla, Asha Bhosale and Sushma Swaraj and narrated in first-person by women dressed to correspond to the character. The segment was coordinated by Sangeeta Pasrija and ICC Secretary Sapna Shah.
This segued into “Live Antakshari”, coordinated by Ajit Patel and Manisha Gandhi, with two teams Deewane and Parwane competing on stage while the audience acted as Mastane. They participated in four rounds with a fully engaged audience. The competition was won by the Parwane team of J. K. Paras, Manmeet Patil and Monika Prakash.
The ceremonial lighting of the lamps followed, by Kirti Sohoni and Falguni Gandhi with the National Anthem of India sung by Eesha Dhairyawan and the US one by Paarth Maniar. Nira Patel and Harshil Sheth were emcees for the remainder of the program.
Event Chair Sanjay Sohoni welcomed the audience and described the importance of Republic Day and the of the event theme “Our India.” Outgoing ICC President Rajiv Bhavsar appreciated the year round support from his Board and community interaction at large, while incoming ICC President Falguni Gandhi stressed the need to continue the work and build on new initiatives. Deputy Indian Consul General Surendra Adhana spoke about the “Make in India” initiative and the long association of the democracies of the US and India. Stafford Mayor Leonard Scarcella, the longest serving Mayor in the country, spoke about the culture and vibrancy in India and the determination of the Indian community to succeed.
Community Service Awards were given to Scarcella; painter Anju Mittal; classical dancer Dr. Sunanda Nair; community organizer Harshad Patel; and Indo American News Publisher Jawahar Malhotra as their brief bios were read and Committee chair Col Raj Bhalla congratulated the individuals.
The fun began with the “Live Quiz” co-sponsored by Foundation for India Studies and International Hindi Association and coordinated by Event Chair Sanjay Sohoni in which two prequalified teams on stage competed against the audience. Trivia questions warmed everyone up, with token gifts given to audience participants. Five rounds of quiz covered many areas of Indian culture, geography and history. First place went to Nadir and Nazneen Hajiyani who received a cash prize, while runners-up were father and daughter team Shrikant and Anjali Vempati also received an award.
The cultural segment of dance and musical groups was coordinated by Swapan Dhairyawan and Nisha Mirani and had over 260 participants. It began with the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh presentation of the steps for Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation). The segment the turned to folk, regional, patriotic and Bollywood dance and music by the dance groups and schools HH Creationz, Kalakriti Performing Arts, SPARSH, Sunanda Performing Arts, Kathak Kala Kendra, Aradhan Dancing School, Dance with Dolly, Tarang, Shivangini School of Dance, Katy Balikas and Rice Riyaaz.
In a break from tradition, for the first time, the event highlighted the culture and music of another country, which this year was Turkey as performed by 40 high schoolers of the Harmony School with two thrilling numbers – an authentic Turkish dance and a number set to Country Music featuring Cowboy and Cowgirls. The Raindrop and Turquoise House also had a booth of Turkish artifacts and an Ebru artist making typical art designs.
As usual, the event also featured 38 booths coordinated by Charlie Patel and Pramod Bengani and a 36-page Tarang commemorative magazine coordinated by Swapan Dhairyawan and Hemant Patel. Suketu Kapadia, who has assisted in publication of Tarang for the last 4 years was honored. The sound system was provided by Darshak Thakkar, event photography and videography by Raghu Thakkar, Paresh Shah and Gautam Jani and the large digital backscreen was run by Luna and Yagnesh Patel.
HOUSTON:We are just few days away from I-Fair, India Culture Center’s signature event. The preparations for various segments like dance, skit, yoga for health, Antakshari, ‘Women who make India proud’, showcasing ‘Republic of Turkey’, live Quiz on ‘our India’, are almost in its final stages. These programs will certainly entertain the audience and will emotionally connect them to India.
ICC will recognize and honor few outstanding individuals from the community by awarding them ‘Community Service Awards’.
Consul General of India will grace the occasion and will deliver his congratulatory speech.
The commercial booths, as well as booths for religious, political and social organizations have all been allotted and will attract lot of attention. The food booths will provide variety of delicious food items at very affordable price.
This all is made available to the attendees just for $ 3.00 per person only.
And an ‘Icing on the Cake’ would be, quite a few gold coins to be won during the entire event on entry ticket raffle.
The new India Culture Center Executive Committee after they were elected on Sunday, January 8. New President Falguni Gandhi (center) is flanked by (from left) Election Commissioner Girish Pandya, Treasurer Sanjay Sohoni, Vice President Nisha Mirani, Secretary Sapna Shah, Past President Rajiv Bhavsar and Election Commissioner Jawahar Malhotra
By Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON:The Board of Directors of the India Culture Center convened to elect its new Executive Committee at its first annual meeting of the year at India House on West Bellfort this past Sunday, January 8.
The 2017 Board is made up of Dilip Dadhich, Pramod Bengani, Ajit Patel, Sangeeta Dua, Nimish Sheth, Kiran Shah with directors Sapna Shah, Rafi Ansar, Hemant Patel and Saundarya Sohoni who were re-elected and Nimish Sheth and Ina Patel who were newly elected just last month.
At the meeting conducted by the 2016 Executive Committee, Trustee Swapan Dhairyawan announced his resignation and he was immediately nominated and unanimously elected as a returning Board Director.
The 2017 Executive Committee election was conducted by Election Commissioners Girish Pandya and Jawahar Malhotra, while Sam Merchant was unable to attend. The new 2017 EC is composed of Falguni Gandhi, President; Nisha Mirani, Vice President; Sapna Shah, Secretary and Saundarya Sohoni, Treasurer supported by Rajiv Bhavsar as Immediate Past President.
The Board then accepted the nominations for three new Trustees for the three open spots and unanimously confirmed them – Lachhman Das, Col Raj Bhalla and Charlie Patel – who will join existing Trustees Parul Fernandes, Sangeeta Pasrija, Hasu Patel and Vijay Pallod.
The Board continued its plans for the first signature ICC event of the year, the Indian Republic Day celebrations at Stafford Center to be held on Saturday, January 21.
