New Jersey/Ahmedabad

As Chaalo Gujarat 2015 rolled into its second day of celebrating the many vibrant moods of Gujarat and its culture & tradition on a foreign shore, it was time to groove to the tantalizing beats of the tabla. A group of seventeen children aged between 6 to 14 years took to the stage to perform on behalf of the ”Tabla Taaleem Sanstha”.Earlier the day began with a touch of Bhajan and Bhakti set the perfect tone to the day as well from 10 AM onwards with an emphasis on performing Manav Dharma to take along the needy and the poor with love and compassion in the journey of life.

The Association of Indian Americans of North America (AIANA), the ideators behind the World Gujarati Conference that assembles non-resident Gujarati’s biennially, today brought together poetry at a literary session called ”Kavi Sammelan” in New Jersey. This was done to pay homage to prolific poet Late Aadil Mansuri who was remembered by Harsh Brahmbhatt in the company of popular gujarati poets Anil Chavda, Bhavesh Bhatt, Mukesh Joshi, Krushna Dave, Tushar Shukla.

Atra-Tatra-Sarvatra (Here-There-Everywhere), the spirit behind Chaalo Gujarat dominated August 1 as Kajal Oza Vaidya unfolded Gujarat’s treasure box, tracing its tradition on a world stage in an entertaining session. Young Sufi singers Mirande, Varenyam, Parth and Aalap delivered soulful renditions to an enchanted audience.

It was time then for Shri Puroshottam bhai Rupala to unveil ‘Chitralekha’ special edition in memory of its founder late shri vaju kotak and enthuse those present. Rib-tickling comedy from Vadodara touched a funny bone and packed in a punch as the ‘walking encyclopedia’ Mihir Bhuta delivered an enriching talk on The Mighty and The Almighty.

Sitar, guitar, drums and dumro struck chords in unison to evoke the scent of the soil as part of Maati Bani along with melody from acclaimed playback artist Parthiv Gohil in an individual performance.

Today’s celebrity to dot the show was Darshan Pandya from Tellywood. Fashion too reigned supreme with a unique background score composed by Maati Bani.

To sum it all, from love, marriage, music, jive, fashion and religion—it was a time to go whole hog for Gujarat. And New Jersey saw it all.

– DeshGujarat