8th of March was International Women’s Day and the Gulmohar Centre celebrated this day by organising a special event on Sunday, the 12th. There was a lot on offer: A mela exclusively by ladies showcasing their culinary specialties, art and craft skills, poetry and prose reading. Complementing these was a Tandoori nite in the courtyard, with a spread of tasty dishes from the club kitchen.
At the poetry and prose recitation and reading, select works were rendered with confidence and feelings by the ladies. Ms. Anshupriya Prasad presented a wonderfully evocative piece of prose written by herself, Mrs. Mehta was equally expressive while reading a published piece, winning loud applause. The evening flowed effortlessly into poetry reading. Dr. shweta Mathur Lall, Dr. Shehla Ahmad, Divya Tyagi, Mrs. Pratima Chaturvedi and Mrs. Indu Bhardwaj recited original poems written by themselves. Ms. Alka Sharma recited an evocative poem penned by Radhey Shyam Prakalp jee, followed by Mrs Prabha Mehta and Mrs. Pushpa Mishra, Mrs Madhu Bhandari, Mrs Ruby Jain and Mrs Neetu Jain read out prose with great confidence.
While the ground floor hall had an air of intellectual gravitas, the lawn was a beehive of activities. From vibrant cushion covers and potlis by Mrs.Kharbanda to handmade journals, homemade South Indian savouries made by Mrs. jayshree Sankaran, to Mishti Payesh by Malvika Thakur, to banana bread and fudge from Meera Butalia, paintings from Anjali Gupta and Charu Gupta, Macrame (hand made) by Sunita Chawla to exquisite sculptures by Mrs. Kumud Grover, the ladies of Gulmohar Park showcased their talent and the excitement was palpable. 5 graceful ladies who wore Indian attire with elan won appreciation all around.
The competitions were ably judged by Sh. Subhah Vasishtha, Ms. Kanta Joshi, Ms. Aruna Gupta, Ms. Kumud Grover and Mr. D Ranganathan. No event at the Gulmohar Centre is complete without delicacies from its kitchen. And it was no different this time around. People flocked to the Courtyard to enjoy a variety of delicacies from the kitchen and the bar menu.
When the curtain came down, there were happy faces all around, as always. And no one was happier than Nirupama Verma, the Convenor- Events, who put it all together, with great support from the Gulmohar Centre Managing Committee.
