Hindi–Urdu Saanjhe Bol: “Where Wordsmiths Meet”
Dr. Nazneen Dalwai, Shamim Dalwai, Sandhya Bhagat, and Manju Tiwari during the program. (Photo: Vijay Tandon)
When memories meet thoughts and thoughts meet feelings, all a poet needs is a pen and paper—or a computer—to shape the feelings into a thoughtful sculpture. It is a scintillating experience for those who travel down memory lane when the poets pour their hearts out in the amazing confluence of two languages at the Hindi–Urdu Saanjhe Bol.
The fifth annual Hindi–Urdu Saanjhe Bol was organized on 17th December, 2011 at Fusion Events Hall, Brook Hollow Parkway, Norcross, and started sharply at 4:00pm. Around 35 poets from all age groups and walks of life rendered their poetry on this Saturday, which had perfect weather to bring people out of their houses in great numbers to attend this cultural event, which is an initiative of Sandhya Bhagat, director of Hindi drama group Dhoop–Chaoon (sunshine–shadows) and Manju Tiwari of Bal Vihar Atlanta, with the help of a number of culturally dedicated supporters.
The audience heard established as well as amateur poets, scaling their poetry from serious notes on corruption, poverty, and inflation to lighter notes on social networking and love. It was an overwhelming experience to listen to a couple of octogenarian poets recreating their times and stories like perfect wordsmiths.This time Saanjhe–Bol not only acted as a great platform for speakers of Hindi–Urdu from South-Asian countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, but also a few enthusiasts of Hindi from countries like Jamaica and Bhutan participated and recited their poems, showing respect and admiration for the language.
The organizers experimented by showing clips of various poetic works in television and cinema over the years and then doing a quiz about the names of real poets; the audience participated with cheer and were mostly correct. This item was greatly appreciated.
The program ended around 8:30pm and all attendees enjoyed mouth-watering home-cooked food provided by the organizers.
Hindi–Urdu Saanjhe Bol has helped those who want to do something for their languages and their rich cultural heritage. Every year new people join this event to strengthen the feeling that though we may be away from our homeland, we can still be rooted by learning the languages and connecting through poetry. To participate, please email hindi.urdu.sanjhebol@gmail.com.
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