Holi in Bhojpuria style in Los Angeles
Bhojpuri Parivar Inc gets community together
Pichkari ki dhar, gulal ke bauchar, aap logan ke pyar, ehe ta ha holi ka tyohar!!
Artesia, California, March 25, 2014
NRIpress-Club
Bhojpuri Parivar Inc celebrated the festival of colors ‘Holi’ with grandeur and fun on March 22 at Artesia Park, California. ‘Holi’ is one of the most important functions for this association since its inception. Members of Bhojpuri Parivar Inc come together to put up the massive arrangement for its guests who enjoy free entry to the festivities and delicious Indian food
This year the celebration pulled hundreds of people from all over California which included more than 50% of attendees solely from the ‘Bhojpuri’ community. They especially came here to support the Bhojpuri Parivar’s commitment of preserving ‘Bhojpuri’ language, culture and tradition in US and Canada.
The event was called ‘Phaguva’ as this comes from Indian origin word ‘Phagun’ which means ‘Spring’, the season in which ‘Holi’ is played all over North India. The occasion witnessed people from all ages who had lots of fun with their families amidst ‘gulaal,’ ‘abeer’, ‘thandai’, ‘live music’ and ‘food’. To make the ‘Holi’ celebrations more colorful and exciting, famous Bhojpuri singer Shiu Balak sang Bhojpuri holi songs and shiv bhajans. Attendees couldn’t stop themselves from swooning on his melodious voice. Accomplished Tabla player Jitendra Shukla accompanied Shiu Balak to create a magical musical afternoon. Dr. Kanta Rai, Professor of Math in Cal Poly, Pomona and Vinod Kumar sang many melodious ‘Hori’ geet which took the crowd down thru their childhood memories lanes of ‘Banarasi Holi’.
The President of Bhojpuri Parivar Inc Mr. Rohit J Singh introduced and felicitated Shiu Balak, Jitendra Shukla, Chandrakant Patel, President of Overseas Friends of BJP, USA, & Mr. Simon Gounder, Executive Director for Global Aims USA, a non-profit organization, that works in under-developed and emerging countries to help poor families with medical & educational needs, who has joined hands with this association to embark a new journey towards their special cause and for their dedication and utmost commitment towards Bhojpuri Parivar’s goals.
Speaking about the ‘Holi’ function, Mr. Singh said “It’s an honor to invite people to be a part of Bhojpuri Parivar and celebrate this auspicious occasion with us. Bhojpuri Parivar wants to spread message of love and unity and we strive hard to connect everyone together and especially Bhojpuriyas of US and Canada. This is our one of the ways to promote Bhojpuri culture through colors and Bhojpuri music.”
Neeraj Pratap, senior activist of Fiji community of Southern California and member of Geeta Ramayan Mandali were present to congratulate the Bhojpuri Parivar Inc team on their great efforts.
Prominent people from India like Sheila Dikshit- Governor of Kerala, Lalu Prasad Yadav- former Union Railway Minister, Manoj Tiwari- Bihari Actor and a BJP candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Amarjeet Mishra- President of Abhyaan NGO & General Secretary –BJP, Mumbai Pradesh and Swami Chinmayanand Saraswati-former BJP member sent out a video message to appreciate the amazing work done by Bhojpuri Parivar Inc.
Amarjeet Mishra said in his message “I am very proud to see the inspiring work done by Bhojpuri Parivar Inc to keep Bhojpuri culture alive through its hard work. It’s important to have such organizations overseas so that the upcoming generations could become aware of its roots, the Bhojpuri language and traditions.”
The event concluded with many smiling and colorful faces who eventually headed towards vast variety of delicacies spread over the food counters. “We wish a very happy and prosperous Holi to all our fellow countrymen here and in India. We request those to join us who want to make Bhojpuri community strong and beautiful,” Mr. Rohit J Singh said in the end.
This function also marked the beginning of Bhojpuri Parivar Inc UK chapter.