“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.” Thus said Scientist of Millennium Dr. Albert Einstein about Mahatma Gandhi.
The emotions were mixed when the members of the Writers’ Forum, Kuwait (WFK) gathered on 19th October’18 at Party Hall of Avanthi Restaurant, Salmiya to celebrate 150th Birthday of Father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
It was a celebration through poetic verses and the event was of its own kind. 16 Poets recited their poetry in 6 Indian languages with immense patriotism, honoring the occasion and held the audience spellbound.
At the outset Joint Secretary of Forum, Sunil Sonsi welcomed the chief guest and the audience. He highlighted the significance of the occasion to all Indians and stressed that the occasion should be celebrated as a festival to remember the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.
Following the welcome address by the Secretary, the President of the Forum, Ms. Maimuna Ali Chougle felicitated the Chief Guest - Second Secretary, Embassy of India Honourable Mr. Sibi U.S. The event was inaugurated by the Chief Guest by lighting the lamp joined by the President of the Forum Ms. Maimuna Ali Chougle, Vice President; S. Qamar Minto, Sunil Sonsi; Joint Secretary and Ms. Nazneen Ali; the Finance Secretary of the Forum. This was followed by National Anthem.
President of the Writers’ Forum, Ms. Maimuna Ali Chougle in her speech, shared her views on Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence with the audience. She advised Indians to thwart attempts by the divisive forces and work for national integration based on teachings of Gandhi ji.
Honorable Chief Guest, Mr. Sibi U.S. expressed his appreciation and admiration to the Writers' Forum to organize this program on a very short notice.
Rajiv Athavale & Ms. Chhaya Athavale, then presented devotional song which was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India in 41 countries in the world on 2nd October’18
Host for the event, Sunil Sonsi invited Chief Guest and Ms. Maimuna Ali Chougle; the President of Forum to grace the stage. The function was presided over by S. Qamar Minto; a senior Urdu poet. He then invited the Hindi poetess and compere for the evening, Ms. Mudhulika Mohta who invited the poets to recite, along with a brief Introduction of each poet. Her wonderful command over Hindi, English and Urdu left the audience spellbound.
The most remarkable feature of the evening was not just the presence of 16 poets but the fact that their creative and original expressions were there in different languages of India. Presenting poetry flowing in diverse Indian languages from one platform is the spirit of WFK
The following poets recited their original works: Aamir Diwan, Sunil Sonsi, Ms. Nazneen Ali, Ms. Madhulika Mohta, Dr. Radhika Bhardwaj, Ms. Parul Chaurvedi & Umesh Sharma (Hindi), Shabbih Ahmed, Sabir Omer Galsulkar, Sayeed Nazar Kadpawi & Shakeel Jamshedpuri (Urdu), Tushar Mishra (Oddiya), Ms.Chhaya Thakkar (Gujrati), Ms. Preeti Rajgolikar & Milind Rajgolikar (Sanskrit) and Vibheesh Tikkodi (Malayalam).
The evening concluded with the presidential remarks by Mr. S. Qamar Minto who overwhelmingly lauded the efforts of the Writers Forum and appreciated each and every poet for his / her contribution to the occasion.
Vote of thanks was rendered by Ms. Madhulika Mohta with a special gratitude to His Excellency the Ambassador of India, Mr. K. Jeeva Sagar and all the Embassy officials for their cooperation, support and guidance.
She also thanked participants and audience for encouraging the efforts of WFK for organizing such events in future too. A special thanks was conveyed to Mr. Ali Chougle for his continuous guidance in organizing such events by WFK.
The melodious session of poetry left an imprint on the hearts of the audience which will be remembered for a long time to come.
Finally, the guests and members of WKF enjoyed the delicious lunch served by Avanthi Restaurant.