The nagars of the Dallas-Fort Worth area gathered together on April 26th 2003 to celebrate patotsav. The venue was the banquet hall of a local Indian restaurant - Gopal.
Nearly 30 people from all over the D-FW metroplex area attended the function.
We had taken a color print-out of a Shiv bhagwan image and had used a thick cardboard backing to create a self-standing photo. We had also taken a cassette with some Shiv stutis that had been transferred from Mumbai via the Internet.
Color printouts and stutis transferred via the internet - a high-tech patotsav perfect for the 21st century!
After most of the people arrived and after some informal chatting, we lit agarbattis and played the stutis. This was followed by detailed self-introduction from all the attendees. It was wonderful to get to know fellow nagars in the area. An excellent dinner followed. The menu was very good - undhiyoo, mutter paneer, chhole, pav bhaji, puris, kadhi, pulav, basundi, gulab jambu, chhas and samosas - and the location was quite spacious.
After dinner there were some announcements and a round of applause for the event organizers. One of the attendees remarked that he had been in Dallas for 30 years and this is the first patotsav that had been arranged in all that time. We all left the hotel around 9:00 PM with plans for future events and gatherings.
- Harshal Chhaya, Plano TX
