[On this Saturday 28th day of July, Uttaranchal Association of North America had just celebrated 10th anniversary of its existence in United States. On this special occasion some renowned personalities of this Himalayan state came to bless us and to share their knowledge and love with US. Here one of our own Mr. Deep Thapliyal, host of cultural programs shares his thoughts on this 9th annual convention of UANA.]

As the dust settles on a day when we got to be up close and personal with the maestros of Uttarakhand, I am humbled as a person and proud of the land I come from. The sheer presence of these amazing dignitaries of our land amongst us was electrifying.

Dr. Pathak with his phenomenal knowledge of our land and his spell binding ability to knit the words together around what seemed like a photo album will leave an everlasting memory in my mind.

Girda, as he is affectionately called, was so easy to relate to as an elder of our community. He has this uncanny ability to say the right thing at the right time in the right way. He left me with this feeling that the time is slipping by and there is this urgency to do it NOW for Uttarakhand. He is a true activist and a poet artist revered amongst Uttarakhandis.

Narendra Singh Negi ji. THE most popular celebrity of our land left me speechless with his amazing voice, artistic flair and deep understanding of the needs of Uttarakhand. This combination of being a celebrity and still being grounded as a social worker and activist was an eye-opener for me.

What struck me the most was the humility of these dignitaries. This humility probably comes from our culture and partly from being amongst the people where there is a need for development/upliftment.

Chandrakala Pandey ji’s Kathak performance provided unending grace to the occasion.

Apart from these guests who came from India we had Dr. Pandey, Dr. Jha, Dr. Prabhu Negi, Dr. Bhakuni, and Dr. Tariyal amongst us.

I am not sure if we will ever be able to put together such a group of people for any gathering. Those who attended this event have enjoyed a once in alife time opportunity.

The delays and technical challenges of the evening that the organizing team had to deal with were all non-factors by the time Girda and Negiji started their jugalbandi. The ever melodious songs ‘Thando Re Thando’ and ‘Dhebra Harch gyani’ rendered by the maestro himself will remain etched my memory for ever.

Kudos to the team from UANA who made this unique interaction with the maestros possible. I will certainly hope that there will be another occasion like this.

– Deep