BY SANJAY PANDYA
Atlanta, GA, April 4, 2025: Like the first celestial event of the solar eclipse on Saturday, March 29, 2025, Atlanta’s Gujarati song and music lovers witnessed another miracle. For the first time ever, a local team of artists put together a musical concert, “Pagla Vasantna” (Footsteps of Spring), featuring gems of Gujarati poetry from the past 100 years!
Gujarati immigrants are known for their business acumen among the Indian diaspora. Gujaratis take pride in their entrepreneurial skills too! However, when it comes to fine arts like music, people hailing from Maharashtra or Bengal usually take the lead among Indian immigrants. Generally speaking, the Gujarati community doesn’t give much importance to fine arts—but this event disproved that perception. It was a proud moment for the Gujaratis in Atlanta!
On Saturday, April 29, 2025, the “International Gujarati Cultural Society, Atlanta” (IGCSA) successfully organized the light-classical musical event “Pagla Vasantna” (Footsteps of Spring) at Gadhpursham Swaminarayan Temple (1080 Beaver Ruin Rd., Norcross). Local singers and musicians (a crew of eight artists) presented an enchanting bouquet of Gujarati literary songs! A delectable mix of noteworthy composers like Dilip Dholakiya, Avinash Vyas, and Purushottam Upadhyay to modern music composers made it a very interesting and enjoyable evening. The three-hour event started at 4:00 pm and culminated in a joyful Garba/Raas with audience participation around 6:45, followed by delicious food from the temple!
The program began with Priyakant Maniyar’s famous Lord Krishna-Radha lyric “Aa Nabha Jhukyu…” followed by several well-known Gujarati ghazals from Mariz, Gani Dahivala, and others. The journey spanned from Balmukund Dave’s immortal classic love duet to the latest lyricist Padmashree Tushar Shukla’s “Puchhine Thay Nahi Prem” (Love happens… don’t question…). Lead male singer Ankur Joshi sang soulful ghazals and a beautiful duet with Mrs. Parul Sevak. Dr. Mona Shah delivered heart-tugging poetry, and Mita Mehta also shared some memorable lyrics.
Kavish Gandhi provided musical accompaniment on tabla, Tejas Chavan on synthesizer, Poulouse on guitar, and Jayur Patel on rhythm. Nimish Sevak hosted the event with composure and a literary flavor. Three young artists, born and raised in the USA and students of Mr. Joshi’s music school—though unable to read Gujarati yet—sang and played the flute using English transliterations, which greatly delighted the audience! All singers and the emcee worked every weekend for two months to put together this tasteful bouquet.
Gujarati literature has produced some noteworthy poets who can stand tall among Indian literary figures. IGCSA is proud of this heritage and is now showcasing these memorable creations with the help of local talents. Two years ago, the International Gujarati Cultural Society of Atlanta hosted a week-long “Gujarati Film Festival” in Atlanta, which was warmly received. Last year, IGCSA organized an outstanding event at the Best Western, Roswell, Atlanta: “An Evening with Noted Writer Madhu Rye & Iconic Gujarati Poet Shobhit Desai.”
The event was attended by Drs. Naresh & Asha Parikh of Georgi Clinic, Dr. Dhaval Shah of Peach Clinic, Drs. Sanjay & Amita Parikh, Dr. & Mrs. Jayprakash Desai, Mr. Jatin & Chaula Shah, Mr. Paresh Desai & Physicians Protection Group, and our beloved cultural ambassador of India, Mr. Mustafa Ajmeri—to name just a few among the audience.
