Kavi Sammelan celebrates Hindi language

On the occasion of Hindi Diwas, September 11, a Kavi Sammelan was organised at the Seniors’ Leisure and Learning Centre, Epping, by popular poet Rekha Rajvanshi, and co-organiser and co-compere Swechchha Kulshreshtha. Twenty one poets from Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne participated in the programme as they entertained with their poetry, at times thoughtful and at other times full of humour, with topics that ranged from love, courage and youth and celebration of life in general.

Deputy Consul from the Indian Consulate in Sydney, Vivek Kumar, lit the traditional lamp and started the proceedings with Anil Verma, a poet and drama artist, reciting ”˜Vandana’.   Senior poet Om Krishan Rahat presided over the programme.

Subhash Sharma from Melbourne and Kishor Nangrani from Canberra, who write satire, were interstate guest poets. Subhash Sharma’s poems ”˜Maza Naheen vo aaya hai’, and ”˜laal-laal balon ne’ and Kishor Ji’s satire of ”˜sale’ and ”˜boomerang’ were thoroughly enjoyed. Dr Shailja Chaturvedi recited ”˜Prateeksha’, a beautiful poem, Abbas Raza Alvi read ’Patangen’ ; Rekha Rajvanshi’s geet ”˜Bachpan’ reminded everyone of the golden days of childhood; Dr Bhavna Kunwar and Sant Ram Bajaj’s poems were real hits with the audience. Swetchha sang two ”˜geets’ from her university years.

Young poets were also encouraged to participate in this Kavi Sammelan. Rahil Dhodhi and Divya Dhingra were budding writers who write beautiful prose. Divya, who came to Australia when she was very young, said after the show that her perfect Hindi was kept up by the efforts and encouragement of her family. “I started to write on family and friends’ birthdays and anniversaries and the word spread,” she said. Divya read a poem on ”˜father’, celebrating a special relationship that Australians celebrate as ”˜Fathers’ Day’. “Rekha aunty helped me along to develop my talent. It is such an honour to read my poem at the Kavi Sammelan,” she said.

Four Hindi HSC students of Indo-Aus Bal Bharati Hindi school – Aakanksha Jain, Puneet, Sanjam and Anchal Arora recited popular poems of Hindi Literature – ‘Khoob ladee mardaanee vo to Jhansi Wali Rani thee’. It was good to see that poets from local Sikh community such as Jasbir Walia, Harry Walia and 85-year-old Mr Iqbal took part as their writing and reciting impressed the audience.

The Kavi Sammelan was a proof of our love for Hindi, its literature, Indian traditions and culture, and though coming from diverse regions, we are proudly united through our national language.

About 200 poetry lovers attended this Kavi Sammelan and enjoyed a literary evening. The event was sponsored by The Indian Down Under newspaper, Sharma’s Kitchen, Mortgage Solutions, Sewa Singh, SBS Radio, Hindi Gaurav, Senior Citizens Hornsby, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan and Travel Hut. It was also supported by many local organisations.

Rekha Rajvanshi, obviously satisfied with the success of the event, said, “Although it’s an effort to bring across and motivate poets to come and present their poems, especially the young writers who can carry the legacy of our language and culture forward, it’s good to see that they can keep the language alive on this platform.”

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