After the stupendous response to the Kavi Sammlean that was organised in Feb, RWCS organised another one on 30th April. The venue was shifted from the lawns to the newly renovated Gangotri Hall at the last minute thanks to the inclement weather. Called Ullas 2023, the Kavi Sammlean saw an impressive line-up of poets.
The turnout of residents, young and old, slowly crossed 200. Chairs were frantically added, not at the back but also in between the rows to accommodate the people. Excitement was rife in the air and the anchor built up the air by telling the audience about the poets.
The poets on stage were Kusha Kushwaha, Vikas Bakhol, Deepak Gupta, Rajesh Chetan and the show-stopper, Padamshri Sunil Jogi. Manju Sharma, former Principal of Degree College was present.
The program began over an hour late as the chief guests, OSD Avinash Tripathi and ADCP Shaktiman Awasthi, were late. The guests were welcomed by RWCS President Govind Sharma with flowers, speeches and the lighting of the lamp.
The program was quite entertaining though some of the filler jokes left some guests (especially ladies) cringing. This begs the question of whether it is civilised to insult a section especially women to make a joke.
It seemed that some in the audience were aware of the poets with Rajesh Chetan being encouraged by people to recite his famous poem ‘Vanvasi Ram’. He obliged and was given thunderous applause.
However as the clock struck 9 PM, it seems that the hunger of the guests got the better of them and the elderly started exiting the hall to enjoy the scrumptious spread arranged on the lawns.
The most famous of the poets, Sunil Jogi, who is a Padmashri awardee, came to the stage last at 9:45 pm and commented that he is being welcomed by a tired audience. He remarked that he was told that the program would end at 9 PM and said “…Mera swagat hua hai baasi taliyon aur thaki shrotra se…”. Yet he obliged the audience with his famous poems, even though his cult-status satirical piece ‘Sab Kuch Dawa Dol Hai…has already been recited by the anchor as an introduction.
Even as one sampled the amazing food, one heard nothing but praises about the program.
