SILVER SPRING: Youth and community affairs Committees’ joined hands in a very unique activity on July 14, 1990 at Guru Nanak Foundation of America, Silver Spring, Maryland. They held first ever MELA on the premises of GNFA
Despite the inclement weather the local community attended the mela very enthusiastically, It rained intermittently all day and at times it really poured but the foresight of the management paid dividends. The management had erected five tents for the convenience of the attendees. Montgomery county councilman Ike Leggett attended the Mela along with many neighbors of the Gurdwara Sahib. Also in attendance were other American friends of the community members and the local press.
Food stalls were open from 11 am to 4 pm. People enjoyed typical Punjabi snacks like chaat, gol gupay, kulfi, chholay bhatooray and kurry chaul etc.
Kids had all kinds of games and fun arrangements like balloon races, sack races, kid city stuff and dunking booth. Adults played volleyball all day and had fun in musical chair competition and of course the highlight of the day was live entertainment program in the evening.
The weather turned nasty when it came time for live entertainment and it seemed that the entertainment will have to be cancelled or moved indoors. People did not give up hope, they waited and fortunately it cleared around 4 pm and the entertainment started on time with a dance by girls. After some solo dance, songs and ladies Giddha when the audience were really into it and enjoyed the show once again the clouds rolled in and it started pouring again. People huddled under the tents. Surprisingly the spirits were so high that they made use of time even in the pouring rain by getting into spur of the moment song competitions under the tents like it happens on marriages in Punjab. Once the intensity of the rain decreased everybody was requested to go into the langar hall for rest of the program and there occurred the finale with captivating Bhangra. The audience were so taken by the entertainment that at the end everybody joined in with the performers in Bhangra.
Last of all the organizing duo of Rupinder Kaur, GNFA PRO and Sonia K. Singh the Youth Coordinator of GNFA thanked the gathering for making the event a success, especially when the weather ‘wasn’t very cooperative.
The after fact response has been so good that some people acclaimed the Mela to be a combination of cultural program and annual picnic, two of GNFA’s annual events. Some people wanted it held again soon.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 10, 1990
