CHICAGO: In the wake of a fairly enthusiastic response to its novel program – Chai Aur Gapshap Tea & Talk – launched early this month, Hindi Lovers Club under the leadership of Gurbachan Kaur has decided to make it a monthly feature of the Club activities.
The introductory meeting was at Ganesh temple on Devon Avenue in Chicago and the monthly meet will be also at the same place, said Ms Kaur.
The main organizers – Gurbachan Kaur and Sanjana Das – decided that to make the meeting more purposeful and interesting, it should have an interesting topic and have healthy exchange of ideas among participants. The Club team will be choosing a subject for each session. The meet this Friday December 29 evening will pick up the interesting topic of ‘Aging and Youth.’
The launch meet was attended by a good number of members and invitees from Chicagoland who sought to recreate that “back home” environment finding support and learn life’s practical tidbits.
For this meeting “home” away from “home, each participant introduced himself/herself. All were in unison of gaining comradeship and insights by sharing their thoughts and reflections. Together with sipping tea, participants determined how the “talk / gapshap” should be conducted in future meetings.
The meeting ended with participants joining in a dance routine led by Ms. Reemlee Chowdhury, Director of Culture In Motion.
One participant mentioned what Dale Carnegie observed “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving”. So the group is open to all who want to join, maintain the importance of privacy and respect of individuals’ identity, uniqueness and comments.
Ms. Sanjana Das will incorporate the suggested topics from the group and facilitate the conversation. Tea & Talk/ Chai aur Gapshap, will meet every fourth Friday of the month at the temple. The next meeting topic is ‘Aging and Youth’. The objective is to review perception of aging, impact of ageism and cross-cultural view of youthfulness.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
