The Sunday had arrived, the 21st of September, the day Marathi Mandal of Switzerland had selected to  celebrate Ganeshotsav along with the Maharashtrian Diaspora in Switzerland.

The morning began early for most enthusiasts, with the program scheduled to start at 11 am. Members of the Executive Committee and key organizers too had an early morning start, beginning the day with picking flowers, preparing “panchamrut”,  “Naivedya” and setting up the hall.

The first participants arrived at 11 am sharp. And many of them joined hands to help in organizing the last bits. Whilst all others were busy with the set up, Treasurer Deepa Deodhar, took the effort to register all the attendees, collect the attendance fees. It was a pleasurable sight to see so many people turn up at the event. All had donned lovely colorful Indian dresses, some even taking the efforts to dress in a Saris and come to the event. Special mention for family Pisal, who drove in from Lausanne with 2 young children to attend the Pooja

In the mean time, preparations were ongoing for the pooja. The Joshi family from Basel had volunteered to do the pooja. As usual Vaibhav Abhyankar was with the deity helping to do the pooja.

After the initial drinks and breaking the ice session, the Ganesh aarti was sung by one and all. Following the arti, everyone was treated to a sumptuous meal of Maharashtrian food. What was very motivating was many ladies volunteering to serve the snake of people queuing up to have lunch. One of the highlights of the lunch was that everyone had the opportunity to have a second round. Thanks to Snehal, everyone also enjoyed a round of very tasty Shrikhand. We also thank Tejashree Kuvalekar for the Lovely Painting that she gifted the Mandal and for her kind support.

Now that the pooja and lunch was past, it was time for folks to settle down a bit and get ready for the entertainment program. This year it was decided that we would bring in a local artist to perform at the function. Thus, Poonam Panchwagh and her disciples, brought for us their dance, Kathak.  After an hour plus of stories of different Indian themes depicted thru dance,  Poonam concluded her performance.

Following the dance performance, warm tea, a welcome in a cold country, and snacks were enjoyed by all. A special note of thanks to Gauri Abhyankar, Vaishnavi Arondekar (Anisha and Neha Arondekar) for preparing and serving the tea for all the folks.

Thus went by the Sunday, pleasantly spent, enjoying Marathi delicacies, gappa tappa in Marathi, whilst also giving prayers to the Lord of wisdom.

Thanks to members of the EC and organizing committee for the wonderful program. A special thanks to all participants who brought their enthusiasm to make it a wonderful experience.

 

Date  : 5th May 2013

Place : Basel

Time  : 11 am to 5 pm

** Food was organised by Marathi Mandal switzerland for all members who have paid fees for 2012.

 

Following was the  agenda

1.Meet and greet¨
2.Lunch
3.GBM starts (presentation of presidents report,secretary s report,treasurer report,election for available posts)
4.Tea and closing

5. New AGBM Council selection process was decided

6. New AGBM Members were decided after 1 month of the meeting with coordination from Mr Sant Kaka

 

 

Picnic Basel 

 

 

Picnic was on Sunday, 25th June 2013 12 noon  
The organising committee of Marathi Mandal Switzerland invited families and  friends to celebrate the arrival of Summer-2012 with its  “Annual Picnic”. We meet at Deodhar Villa in Bommingen with Mouth watering Misal and other marathi recipe to serve. We gathered and played indoor games due to bad weather. It was a awesom experience.