The Twin Cities’ Fall was at its peak, Halloween was drawing near. The event list for TNID had been expanding since Spring. There was increased involvement in school district 287, which had requested support for students with unique sociobehavioral needs. Also in the pipeline had been a Health Fund for teacher wellness, enabling classes such as Yoga, Tai chi, etc. The TNID program to help with celebratory events for birthdays at a local care facility for substance abuse survivors had also gathered momentum. It was now necessary to refill the coffers so that the programs could continue being funded. A fundraiser by local poets did the trick. On Halloween afternoon, Fall brought in the cold, and TNID brought out the firepits. The outdoor event saw a collection of 14 poets and a very receptive audience. The reading was rung in by the well known artist-activist Dipankar Mukherjee. Soon, it was clear that the fires raging in the pits that warmed the audience reflected the fires that raged in the hearts of the poets, and warmed the souls of those present. While hot masala chai was served all through the chilly afternoon, the very successful program concluded with a delicious light supper by the courtesy of TNID volunteers. By the end of the two hour event, despite the bone biting cold, the event reached its goal and raised $10,000.
Watch the Recorded Event : TNID Fall Literacy Event October 31st 2021
From Santoshji" In his own words, Santosh believes he is just another human being who has a desire to see everyone happy. Has failed at but learned from many creative experiments such as start ups, directing stage plays, comedy skits, poetry events, cricket teams and event management. Likes personalities ranging from Sachin Tendulkar, Mithun Chakraborty, Kapil Sharma, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Mark Twain, Dev Anand to Javed Akhtar ! Interests include a wide variety of mismatches Sourcing, Offshoring, Finance and Investment, Poetry and Writing, Musical Events, Travelling and Public Speaking. Credit I got for the work that was actually done by my team is for successes such as 'Afsana Likh Raha Hoon', 'Funtakshari', 'Black & White', 'Maestros and Melodies' and 'Mehfil-ae-Minneapolis 1.0 and 2.0' Achievement in life is my lovely daughter - Sargam ! Unfulfilled wish list includes directing a non-fictional film....hopefully someday ! Biggest driver is to be surrounded by creative and positive souls !
Sushumna Tandon Aggarwal or Sushmi as she goes by was born in India and raised here in Minneapolis. She completed her Bachelor’s of Science in Biochemistry from University of MN, and MBA from University of St. Thomas. With about 25 years of working experience as an IT consultant, Sushmi currently works with a Fortune 500 company. She has been making a community impact for over 30 years. By serving through organizations such as the Hindu Society of MN, St. Paul Foundation and the latest in her role as the co – founder for the TheNeedINDeed. Sushmi has been writing for a couple years, formally sharing her creative work now for the first time
Satyendra Chaturvedi and his wife are a long time resident of the twin cities. A proud father of 2 daughters and grandfather to 4 grand children. He inherited his poetic skills from his father, Dr. Barsane Lal, who was a Padmashree Award recipient for Satire genre of poems. Due to this, in his young age, Satyendra Chatirvedi has had opportunities to interact with other poets. Growing up in an environment of poet lovers, ushered him into the art of writing. Mr. Chaturvedi has been able to continue his love for poetry by sharing his writing in family and community events. Title of today’s poem is “Chand”. In this poem Mr. Chaturvedi, describes and shares his feeling for “Chand”.
Gorinka started singing at the age of eleven, initially with her mother, Late. Mrs Aparna Hattangadi and then eventually went on to learn Hindustani classical from Smt. Sneha Ketkar and Shri. Rathin Sarkar. She also learnt Ghazals from Late. Pandit. Vithal Rao ji of Hyderabad who was considered to be one of the few maestros of 'Ghazal' and was the last court singer of the last Nizam of Hyderabad. Gorinka strongly believes that learning never ends and is now under the tutelage of Dr. Pooja Goswami in Minneapolis. Gorinka has sung in one Hindi movie (Bollywood Calling), with Hariharan and in a Telugu movie too. She had her own concert (Mera Saaya) in 2019 at Pangea World Theater and won a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board early 2021. Presently, she is working on a collection of seven original ghazals composed by her Guruji, Late. Shri Vithal Rao, with plans of having a ghazal concert early next year in Minneapolis. She resides in the Blaine with her husband, three children and two dogs.
There flowed the beautiful Rum River in front of my condominium in Anoka, Minnesota which inspired me to write my first poem रमता जोगी बहता पानी in 2011. Since then I have a collection of over three dozens poems. Several of my poems have been published in online magazine Webdunia, Hindi. Wrote opeds and letters to editor in Twin Cities news papers Star Tribune and Pioneer Press and in online magazine myvoice.opindia.com. Professionally, I worked as a metallurgist in aerospace and defense industries in California and Minnesota USA
Anu has just begun her happy journey of playing with the world of words! Her inspiration stems from home and she specializes in writing fictitious love stories and love poems and has successfully published them on online platforms and enjoys an ardent fan following, world over! Besides having a facet of an AA, aka amateur author, She also explores her creativity through music, cooking and other art forms! She is a performing artist and an entrepreneur and runs her own school for southern Indian classical music and a cooking school here in the twin cities.
Lakshmi is a twincities resident for 22 years and calls Minnesota her second home. She is a Nature lover, Music aficionado, creative artist and Philanthropist who loves travel, coffee and salsa dancing. She firmly believes that a mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.
Sangita Kalarickal has been wordsmithing since childhood in the forms of poetry and fiction. Her poems and stories have been published in various magazines based in the US and India and also in anthologies. She is also the chief editor of Broadcast, TNID newsletter Dr. Kalarickal works at Seagate Technology
IT professional by profession. Live in Eagan, MN with family since last 14 years. Born in Ayodhya, UP, grew up and went to school in Mumbai. Love outdoor activities, listening to sufi songs and spending time with family and friends.
Anushka is a junior at The Blake Upper School. Aside from poetry, Anushka enjoys playing guitar and stage managing for her school productions.
Cover art Acrylic on canvas: Sindhu Gupta
Brochure design: Sangita Kalarickal
Special thanks to Dipankar Mukherjee for all his support with the event