“ Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Henry Ford

These true words by Henry Ford resonate so well with the journey of the Hindi Language Academy. It beautifully describes all the steps of our amazing journey so far. How an idea brought together so many people under one umbrella, how they all went above and beyond to nurture and implement it, and how it all turned into a beautiful and supportive learning community of Hindi Language and Indian culture, where we all learn, support and grow with each other in a fun and productive way.

It is our 4th year of operating this unique initiative and this year we decided to celebrate it through our first in-person community event post-Covid, “ Bharat Utsav- Celebrate India” on 8th October at Docherty Memorial Park, Hillsborough NJ. No need to say that by God’s grace, ESHA’s founder Late Shri Ved Chaudhary Ji’s blessings and with everyone’s love and the community’s support this unique event was a huge success in more than one way. A huge shout out to our “Pillars of Strength”- our teachers for pitching in every possible way, taking care of minute details from food to dance to craft to Mehandi to decorations to outdoor games; you name it and they got it all covered. We are very thankful to each and every one for the amazing help and support in planning and implementing the whole event. We are very lucky to have dedicated teachers such as  Neetu Ji, Parinitha Ji, Deepika Ji,Rubina Ji, Renu Ji,Vineeta Ji, Bhanu Ji, Manju Ji , Bhavna Ji,Garima Ji, Avani Ji, Mamta Ji & Soma Ji. 

A round of applause for Rubina Ji and Bhavna Ji for the concept and implementation of our unique “Auto Rikshaw” Photo booth, and for taking care of our in-house dance workshop. Not only students but teachers also danced to Rubina Ji’s tune:)

Thanks to Garima Ji for bringing all the “Realias”(India’s authentic stuff) and being part of the dance workshop.

Hats off to Parinitha Ji and Neetu Ji for singlehandedly taking care of everyone’s Mehandi needs and later on amazing craft activity along with Renu Ji. Their booth was never empty!!

A big Thanks to Deepika Ji for gearing up all the kids and teaching them our unique traditional games of India – Kho Kho, Tug of War, Lemon, and spoon race, all kids immensely enjoyed it !!

We are also thankful to all our parent volunteers who helped us with food, decoration, and managing the kids during various activities – Natraj Ji, Binod Ji, Ronit Ji, Sandeep Ji, Hemant Ji, Roshel Ji, Shishir Ji, Padma Ji, Bharti Ganesh Ji, Shatorupa Ji & Nivedita Ji.

We are very grateful for our sponsors- 1) AUM Dance Creations 2) JEI Hillsborough 3) Montgomery Township Republican Organization (HLA does not endorse any political party, they were there like any other vendor) 4)Arya Dance Academy; for their generous donation and show of support.

Besides our own in-house dance workshop, everyone loved Arya Dance Academy’s fun Bollywood dance workshop for kids and adults. We thank them for their generous support and for being part of the event. Any parents who are interested in teaching dance to their kids please do check them out, they have just opened a new studio in Hillsborough, NJ.

 If  there is a talk of Sports in India, Cricket will always be part of that conversation so how could we not include a cricket workshop for kids? A big shout out and thank you to Coach Colin of Cricklanes Sports Academy for teaching kids the basics of Cricket and keeping them engaged in a fun and productive way. For all those who are interested in teaching Cricket to their kids please contact coach Colin at criclanesinfo@gmail.com 

We are also very proud and pleased to announce that some of our students Soumil Girdhar, Aarnav Vyas, Rithwik Aggarwal, and Nishka Sriram were awarded their Seal of Biliteracy certificates by  Arun Sharma Ji, our parent organization ESHA’s president. 

“ Pehle pet pooja, phir kaam dooja” No Indian celebration is successful without food and ours was no exception. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed Chole- Puri, Zalebi, Masala tea and of course kid’s favorite Pizza. No need to say everyone worked up quite an appetite after getting engaged in so many games and activities, at that point the sight of food was very welcoming. 

Overall a great first successful outdoor,in-person event from beginning to end, very smooth, neat and organised. Everyone who came to attend, enjoyed one activity or the other. We really missed all those who couldn’t attend due to one reason or another.

Last but not the least, we are very grateful for Arun Sharma Ji’s constant help and support during the event and in the running of HLA. 

 Our heartfelt & sincere  Thanks to Mamta Ji ( Principal & Co founder), Avani Ji ( Educator & Co founder), Soma Ji ( Educator & Co founder) for taking care of all the aspects of this event and HLA  from start to finish, from planning to implementation and from an imagination to a complete vision. 

Looking forward to another successful and productive year!! Enjoy the pictures and videos of this wonderful, multifaceted event!!

By : Soma Vyas