2009 Annual East Coast Camp
The East Coast Camp was conducted this year in the beautiful Alpine Lake RV Resort in Corinth, NY from July 2nd to July 5th. The Camp was a great success with over 400 participants attending the camp. Since the camp was held for three days, there were many activities that took place at the camp during these three days. Some of the major highlights were a two hour cruise in Lake George, Hawan, Presentations by two speakers, Kids cultural program, two main cultural events one by Arti Kaul and another by Deepali Wattal that enthralled the audience.
To hold an event of such magnitude requires a lot of effort and dedication. This year the camp was conducted by a young team and this team did a tremendous job and received compliments from all over the place for their effort. Not to be forgotten is the effort by the volunteers who stepped up to help the core team at the camp. Their effort is greatly appreciated!!
Events and Activities
Day 1 (Thursday July 2nd):
The day was overcast but as we moved closer to the start time, the Weather Gods finally smiled on us and the clouds cleared up, soon Sh. Inder Kaul got busy at the registration desk to receive the guests. By the end of the first day we already had more than 200 participants in the campus.
The event was started by a Ganesh Stuti performed by Sh. Rabinder Kaul.
This was followed by kids’ parade. All the kids participated and marched on the tune “Kadam kadam badaye ja” with flags and banners like “We are the promise”. All the kids were excited and watching these small 1-2 years old along with big kids was as much fun. They all went on the stage and expressed their feelings on Kashmiri values. It was touching to see how much they value the culture and love to come to camp each year.
Later in the evening talented singers from the community took the stage one by one and sang melodious songs both Kashmiri and Hindi.
One of the major highlight of this evening was the hilarious skit presented by the Michigan team.
Day 2 (Friday July 3rd):
All the participants gathered at the Lake George in the morning as required and took cruise on Lake. The camp organizing team had chartered this cruise for the camp participants only. The beauty of Lake George was inspiring and reminded people of Dal Lake. Soon people were heard humming Kashmiri songs. After taking permission from the captain to use the PA system, the people who were humming were requested to sing on the PA system and out came the Kashmiri melodies one by one. Many people were requested to sing and they obliged.
The evening at the camp site was dedicated to the kids cultural activities. Everyone had wonderful time seeing these talented kids blessed with dancing and singing skills. From singing kashmiri songs to a very professional Bharat Natyam dance, a vast range of talent was displayed. The kids show pleasantly surprised many of us and made all of us proud. The colorful costumes and beautiful make up did reflect the efforts that their parents had put in too.
Not to forget Cricket, while the Kids cultural program was going on in the evening, the cricket field was experiencing an epic battle for the ‘TRATBUZZUN CHAMPIONSHIP”. The two teams contesting were ‘Team GAGRAI’ and ‘Team VUZMAL’. The first day belonged to ‘Team Gagrai’ led by Manik Kuchroo.
The after dinner event belonged to Mrs Arti Tiku Kaul who was welcomed and introduced by Ms Deepali Wattal. Arti ji started with everybody’s favourite Lal Vakh followed by many Kashmiri songs, some of which were requested by the audience.
Day 3 (Saturday July 4th):
Hawan:
Hawan was performed in the morning by our priest Sh. Balasubramanyam Dixit. The Hawan added a very pious and a religious touch to this event. Apart from the regular puja at Hawan, participants also chanted Kashmiri bhajans at the end. Prasad was distributed at the end of the Hawan.
Speakers:
After the Hawan, Dr. Nirmal Mattoo was welcomed on to the stage by Sh. Anil Kachroo to chair the program of our two invited speakers Prof. Subhash Kak and Sh. Sanjay Kaul.
Prof. Subhash Kak took the audience on an intellectual journey of our Kashmiri Hindu heritage and the relevance of Hindu astronomy. The subject of his talk was “Evolution and Contemporary Relevance of Kashmir History and Culture.”
Sh. Sanjay Kaul presented on the changing demographics of Kashmiri Hindus in Kashmir and options that our community can have moving forward. The subject of his talk was “Kashmir Conflict and a Way Forward”.
Both the presentations were well attended and kept the audience engaged. This was evident from the Q&A session after the presentations.
KOA Annual Meeting:
KOA executives held the annual meeting at the camp followed by fund raising at the event. This was later followed by KOA recognitions.
The cricket field was experienced another epic battle for the ‘TRATBUZZUN CHAMPIONSHIP”. The same two teams contesting were ‘Team GAGRAI’ and ‘Team VUZMAL’. The second day belonged to ‘Team Vuzmal’ led by Ashim. Based on unanimous decision, it was decided that Sh. Vijay Kuchroo be declared the man of the match for an unbiased and a “no nonsense” umpiring.
At the end of the day, Deepali ji took the stage and mesmerized the audience with her golden voice. Deepali ji sang both Kashmiri and Hindi songs showing her versatility. Deepali ji left her audience wanting for more and promised that she would be performing at various places in US.