A language, a community

A musing on the recent 50th anniversary celebration of MMLA (Maharashtra Mandal Los Angeles).

A single live rehearsal with the entire group together, just one day before the golden jubilee event– and an amazingly synchronized and energetic performance on stage! We all cheered loudly, watching our young adult daughters dance gracefully and seemingly effortlessly. In spite of varying college and work schedules, and not withstanding distances spanning from thirty to over three hundred miles, the young ladies had practiced for a few weeks using a combination of in-person and video sessions. Their choreography was both traditional and modern, their costume incorporated elements of the original Koli Marathi fishing tribe with a 21^st century vibe.

These young ladies share a passion for dance and have built a camaraderie and chemistry like no other! They are part of a generation of kids in the greater Los Angeles area who have grown up as part of the MMLA (www.mmla.org) community. The kids went to Sunday Marathi school, sang prayers and hymns at the festivals, orated, played music, acted and danced in the talent shows and, in that process, made life-long friends.

The mission of MMLA simply put, is to nurture and promote the Marathi language, and the art and traditions associated with the region that Marathi originates from. Spoken by millions in the state of Maharashtra, India the language can be found in pretty much every corner of the world from Alaska to Germany to Australia.

This year marks the 50^th year of MMLA and it is no small feat that a non-profit, community-based organization which is solely run by volunteers, thrives for so long! To mark the golden jubilee, a grand celebration was planned by the executive committee with a lot of support from enthusiastic community members. After many agonizing weeks of searching for a location that promised to meet most if not all of the criteria, the choice was Pasadena High School. While it did not have a state-of-the-art audio/visual system, the pristine mountain-view location, the theatre capacity and size of the venue were huge plus points.

The full day of celebration in pleasant So Cal fall weather included a parade, felicitation of past presidents, a fun quiz contest, a fashion show, hilarious spoofs on commercials, skits, songs, dances and lip-smacking meals. It gave me the goosebumps to see the very first president of MMLA (who served in 1973) share the stage with the current president to release the commemorative publication. And then to see our little girls who in their first ever MMLA event had performed a Koli (fisherman) dance as third and fourth graders, now present a fusion Koli dance as lovely young ladies!

Watching the milieu at dinner and the presence of all the young folks, gave us hope that the MMLA will continue strong, well into its century year in 2073!

~ AK Irvinekar