mami's abhinandan

was a great for all of us here. mami was felicitated at a grand and very long (4 hours!) programme at the hyatt regency hotel. there were over three hundred guest.. relatives, close friends, former colleagues and well-wishers of mami. there were swamis galore, and a string of speakers to speak about mami. a 600-paged abhinandan grantha was also launched on the occasion. those who stayed the whole length of the programme felt that every speech was like an enlightening prabachan, and did not feel the time pass by! muwa was also present for the entire duration!

the ceremony took place at the big hall in the hyatt regency hotel. there was a dais and two sets of chairs.. for the special guests and the 'organisers'

part of the organising toli.. the three siblings

mami and dr durga pokharel waiting for their turn to go to the stage, as shyam das vaishnav yawns and hem raj gyawali looks on

the three honorable swamis also waited to be called up to the stage .. meanwhile the hall started filling up

mr. purushottam sapkota was the mc

mami's revered ramchandra bhagwan, khaptad baba, and buwa were silently present on the side

small kumars did the shanti paath




















the two durgas on the stage.. dr. pokharel and mrs ghimire

swami prapannacharya as the chief guest lit the traditional panas





















following a welcome by nirmala pokharel, shiva gopal risalji spoke a bit about mami, going back to the days when she came back from england and joined padma kanya collge. he spoke about her contribution in the field of education through padma kanya college, her social service work, her commitment for tara gaon, her successful battle with cancer, and her post 'retirement' spiritual life...

it was while dr. govinda tandon, the chief editor of mami's memorabilia booklet, was talking about the book that dada came in briefly. dr. tandon explained that the book contained articles, poems, words of appreciation from 164 individuals. it also contained a motley collection of photographs from mami's life, and also featured some interviews on mami (including the famous dishanirdesh tv interview with vijay pandey), as well as some published articles of hers, and also images of some of the samman patras that she has received over the years

the audience...


muwa tries to be inconspicuous in the second row, meanwhile mr. vaishnav stifles another yawn.

former minister sahana pradhan, who along with mami and two others were the first batch of girls to appear for SLC. she gave a lot of credit for mami's success to muwa, the mother in law who dared to encourage her daughter in law to study, at a time when girls' education was still frowned upon. she said, while her own 'forwardness' could be explained to the fact that she spent time in burma, mami's was to be credited to the forward-thinking mother in law! muwa at that time started fidgeting this way and that, like she normally does when she is embarrassed or moved.

meanwhile the assistant minister, mr. shukla for tourism arrived. a seat was arranged hastily for him on the stage!

dr. durga pokharel, spoke about the 'political' side of mami's life with a glancing remark about her stint in the rashtriya panchayat, about how mami never took up the offers for various posts, whether ministerial or otherwise, and how she was a sort of victim of politics in education

after that there was 'ashirbachan' from two swamis.. one referring to mami as 'mataji' and the other one as 'dijju'. they implied that she had surged ahead in her spiritual pursuit. after that it was time for the actual abhinandan. swami prapannacharya gave mami the dosalla...

swami ramananda giri offered mami one garland...

.. and swami atmaram the other garland.

bhadra ghaley ji came forward with her own felicitation khada

then although there was a list of about a dozen organisations that were going to hand over felicitation citations, many people who had brought bouquets and khadas also joined the queue to meet and greet mami. much to the chagrin of the mc, who did not know who'd come and who'd not.

































meanwhile, muwa, sanimaiju and bindadi look on amused











by the end of the felicitations, mami was ear high in shawls, khadas and garlands, and the table was overflowing with bouquets and abhinandan patras





















mami flanked by her former classmate sahana pradhan, and close associates durga ghimire and nirmala pokharel

it was then turn for the lokarpan of the booklet on mami. swami prapannacharya did the honours

the three siblings, sit patiently at the back...

... as do the audience... ahh! no yawn!

the assistant minister then gets his turn to speak. he probably spoke for the shortest time! he urged mami to meet the political leaders and inspire them with her dedication and arti-buddhi. the mantri also managed to give credit to muwa for mami's success.. the third person to do so during the evening

a few people sneak in during the proceedings to get their copy of the book autographed by mami..

then it was mami's turn to speak.

mami spoke at length, urging the completion of her dream for tara gaon hotel village. aside from many other things she also spoke about the reasons why old age the 'best age' in a person's life

finally it was prava's turn to give the vote of thanks. and she did thank everyone in a cool and measured manner

the programme ended with jalpaan, that had to be heated and reheated. the guests, including dharma raj thapa, bid goodbye to mami.

as the crystal chanedlier tinkled away, the programme came to a close