VRINDAVAN IN TEXAS
THE DAY WE PAINTED THE TOWN RED!
On March 4, 2007 we had the largest gathering of Chinmaya Mission DFW members and guests at the Myers Park and Event Center in McKinney, Texas for our Annual Picnic. Along with the picnic, this year we also celebrated Holi, the festival that is a harbinger of spring, in true desi style. Everyone that came and stayed for Holi, left covered from head to toe in gulaal. We literally painted the town red!
We started the event off at 10 AM with opening prayers and the Walkathon. This was a fund-raiser organized by our senior Balavihar class, with help from other high school students, under the able guidance of teachers like Sunil Maini, Pankaj Asundi, Jayant Kulkarni, Sujata Kulkarni and Anjali Desai. The Walkathon trail wound around the rustic setting of the woods, pond and gazebo at Myers Park.
Shortly after the Walkathon started, guests started arriving at the Show Barn arena which was the setting for the indoor-outdoor picnic. The Barn was spacious enough to accommodate the 1100+ attendees while providing protection from the often whimsical Texas weather. As it turned out, we were blessed with a pleasantly cool, sunny spring day!
Guests were warmly welcomed and checked in by the Registration team. There was a whole array of morning snacks such as chutney sandwiches, cookies, brownies and chips that allowed guests to start ‘grazing’, as soon as they arrived.
The Barn was soon buzzing with a variety of activities ranging from the industrious Food Team boxing pulao and bagging hot baturas in preparation for lunch to the mela style booths set up by the Games Team. The mela included desi games with a modern twist like Shravana’s balance, nimboda-spoon race, candy catch, and the most popular one – placing a tilak on the poster of our own Acharya’s smiling face. By this time, our enthusiastic DJ, Gauthami Vemula had the Barn reverberating with the tune of many old and new popular desi numbers. You could not help but get caught in the festive spirit. Then it was time for the hula hoop contest, electric slide mixed in with some bhangra to the tune of dhol baaje.
Just as the food and fun was getting into high gear inside the Barn, the Corn Team fired up the grills to start roasting corn. The plan was to roast corn in batches and line it up with other snacks inside the Barn. That plan was quickly abandoned as the corn was picked up right off the grills by the eager crowd milling around. It was a sight to watch as kids and adults liberally sprinkled lime juice, chili powder and salt before biting into this simple yet delectable delight. The continuous stream of takers kept the Corn Team busy at the grills well into the afternoon.
For those kids who preferred a quieter pace, there was an Art & Crafts corner set up by Srividya Raghu and Madhavi Menta. There were many new artistic renderings created not only on paper but also on hands and faces using mehendi and paint!
Meanwhile, the super efficient Food Team spear-headed by Anjali Desai & Poonam Mehta had lunch set up “to-go”. Guests could conveniently pick-up a box and settle down anywhere to munch while still taking in the fun all-around. Our Security Team led by Sanjeev Khanna kept a keen eye to make sure that everyone was safe. At least one potential mishap was averted by alert volunteers. We also had a well-stocked Medical Team on hand to attend to minor scrapes and bruises.
Shortly after lunch, it was time for some Holi masti. Everyone got their ration of gulaal, the toughs were filled with water and in no time at all there was the air was as if filled with color! Everyone dived in, no one was allowed to be a by-stander. We were inspired by our own fearless Acharya who was “sharing” gulaal and water as freely as he does words of wisdom during his yajnas!
he water-weary Holi players left the arena to pick up welcome cups of steaming masala chai, dhokla and choose from a wide array of delicious mithais. All good things must come to an end. The Clean-up Team led by Madhavi Sankara restored order. Some guests chose to change out of the holi-drenched clothes before they left, but many more chose to leave in full Holi splendor, car seats not withstanding! For a short time, we got a glimpse of how the gopas and gopikas must have felt after they played Holi with the Lord himself in Vrindavan, without a care in the world!
