By Partha Sarathi Borah
Preparation for Assam Convention 2013
The Assamese community of Michigan (informally known as AAMI - Assam Association of Michigan) is very excited to host the 34th Assam Convention this year. Kickoff meeting was organized along with Diwali celebration on the 10th of November, 2012, to formally start the preparation for the convention. The web site http://www.ac-2013.com was launched on the first day of this year.. The site allows on line registration and payment, and program registration for those who want to perform in the cultural function, apart from giving very good information about the convention in particular and Detroit and Michigan in general.
For the cultural events, in addition to the well known singers, dancers, musicians and performers among our community in North America, we have extended our invitation to Simanta Shekhar and Subasana Dutta, both very popular singers in Assam. We are also planning other activities to make this convention enjoyable for every attendee.
Diwali Celebration
This year, Diwali was celebrated at the residence of Krishanu and Priyanka Kaushik on 10th November, 2012. Starting with fire crackers that everybody enjoyed, the celebration continued with sumptuous food, delicious sweets and a lot of excitement and chit-chatting about the upcoming convention. There was a logo contest to select the logo for the convention. Out of four submissions by Chiranjit-Anjori Bordoloi, Chandan Mozumder, Ritesh-Rumi Chakravorty and Manjit-Gayatri Gogoi, the one submitted by Manjit and Gayatri was selected through anonymous voting. This event was attended by a sizeable number of people from this region, including a few new members – Shammimul Haque and Harsha-Mollie Phukan...
Thanksgiving
This year, Istakur and Nazveen Rahman organized ‘Thanksgiving’ at their residence on 22nd November, 2012. Many members of AAMI family gathered to enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving dinner and enjoy the evening together. The celebration went on late into the night with wonderful Karaoke performances by our local singers. Everybody had a lot of fun.
New Year’s Eve
The AAMI family got together at the residence of the Kaushik family on Jan 31st to ring in the New Year together. After good food and chit-chat, everybody hit the dance floor around midnight and danced to their hearts content to the great song selection of several of our amateur in-house DJs.
Magh Bihu Celebration
Magh Bihu this year was celebrated at the residence of Krishanu and Priyanka Kaushik on 12th January. Most of the people living in this area attended the festival. It started with Agni Puja, followed by evening snacks with wide variety of delicious Pithas prepared by participant families and then followed by Uruka Feast in the night. Although the order was reverse of the traditional Bihu in Assam, the fun and Bhogali spirit was very much there. One of the highlight of the Bihu was a cake prepared by Gayatri Gogoi, on the icing of which she recreated scenes from Bhogali Bihu traditions to very intricate details.
Bihu Dance at Durga Puja & Diwali
It is a matter of pride that our Nasonis were invited to perform Bihu dance in three different occasions of Durga Puja and Diwali celebration. Vani Rao, Ashapurna Sharma, Mompi Bhuyan Borah, Deepshikha Sharmah, Anjori Dutta and Rumi Chakravarty performed on 21st Oct, 2012 at Durga Puja celebration organized by Swajan, on 16th Nov, 2012 at Diwali celebration organized by The Village Theater at Cherry Hill, Canton, MI and on 17th Nov, 2012 at another Diwali celebration at Durga Temple at Detroit.
