Until 1994, there were very
few Maharashtrian families in Kansas City and surrounding towns like Lawrence and Topeka.
The number might be within 15 total. The families
were celebrating our festivals like
Diwali and occasions like New Year's day at someone's house or in club house. Since 1994, due to
the improvement in the technical
field in Kansas City, more and more people especially in
software engineering field started coming to Kansas City. Some of them came directly from
India and some
moved from other states.
Due to the increase in the number of Maharashtrians in the last couple of years,
it became impossible for the person who was hosting the function, to invite
everyone for celebrating festivals like Diwali.Mrs. Manda Shuke felt very bad about
leaving many people uninvited to our festivals. She decided to do something
about this and started circulating the idea of forming Maharashtra Mandal in
Kansas City. Later in early 1995 at Mr. Pravin Kulkarni’s house where Mr.
and Mrs. Shuke were invited for dinner along with other friends, Mr. and Mrs. Shuke
and Mr. Pravin Kulkarni discussed to establish Maharashtra Mandal. Mr. Kulkarni immediately
greeted the idea . Afterwards Mr. Limaye, Dr. Chhatre and Mr. Sane were among others to
welcome the thought of forming a mandal. They suggested that Mr. and Mrs. Shuke take leading part in organizing the mandal. Later when requested by Mrs. Shuke, Mr. Sanjiv Shelar agreed enthusiastically to join us and shared the
responsibility of being the treasurer for the
mandal. Mr. Pravin Kulkarni worked as an
active member in the committee until he left for
In the mandal, there never had been any formal election. All the committee members have the equal status. They all work together and take the decisions jointly. This tradition is still continued. In forming Maharashtra Mandal, Mrs. Manda Shuke played a key role. She worked hard and patiently organized the menu and refreshment in all our programs especially in 1995, 1996 and 1997. She has been giving valuable suggestions , encouragement and advice in all our entertainment programs. Her dedication is really appreciated.
However every member whether in committee or outside committee has contributed in forming the Mandal successfully. Ladies are working hard in preparing food at every occasion.
Our Mandal is affiliated to Brihan
Maharashtra Mandal of North
America. We are member of Brihan Maharashtra Mandal since May 1998.
Our Mandal is also registered as Non Profit
Organization with
Check
the programs in the mandal for the years 1995 , 1996 , 1997 , 1998 , 1999 , 2000, 2001, 2002
Programs hosted by the Mandal :
Following is the list of programs that took place since 1995 :
Year 2002
Sankranti and New Year
Party
Saturday,
January 13th, at Fountainbleau Hall, Introduction by
Sandeep Rao and
participation by members.
Gudipadwa
Saturday,
March 24th, at
Sankranti and New Year
Party
Saturday,
January 13th, at Fountainbleau Hall, Introduction by
Sandeep Rao and
participation by members.
Gudipadwa
Saturday,
March 24th, at
Picnic
Saturday, June 16th, at
Ganesh Chaturthi
Saturday, August 25th, at
Diwali
Saturday, November 10th, at
Gudipadwa
Saturday,
April 8th, at
Swati and Dhananjay Daithankar
Picnic
Shubhangi Sakhalkar and Sucheta Bhagat
Ganesh Chaturthi
Babasaheb Purandare
Vasant Potdar
Diwali
Gudipadwa
Saturday,
March 27th, at
Picnic
Saturday, June 5th at
Ganesh Chaturthi
Sunday, September 19th, at the
Diwali
Saturday,
November 13th,
Programs
Gudipadwa
Saturday, March 28th, at
Shelar and participation by
members.
Swarsangeet
Saturday, June 13th at
Picnic
Saturday, June 27th At
Lecture by Prof.
Date
Wednesday,
July 1st on “ Origins of Universe” at Arvind Shuke’s house.
Lecture by Vasant D. Bhat
Saturday, July 11th, on “ Astrology
” at Sanjiv Jadhav’s
house.
Mukhavte Ani Chere
Sunday, August 23rd, at
Ganesh Chaturthi
Saturday, August 29th,
by a group
of ladies led by Priya Sane.
Diwali
Saturday,
October 24th, Hindu Temple. Program "Barney Songs" by kids
(ages from 1 yr to 3 yrs), SnowWhite and Seven Drawfs (ages from 4 yrs. to 7 yrs.), songs on
keyboard played by Greg,
Taekwondo show by kids. Dinner was prepared by a group
of ladies led by Preeti Potnis.
Programs
Gudipadwa
Saturday April 5th, Gudi installation, Music by Anupama Sahasrabudhe from Louisville,Kentucky, dinner
prepared by ladies.
Picnic
Saturday, June 14th, At Clinton lake
Bloomington Park
Prof. Ram Shewalkar’s lecture
July 28th
,on “Yogeshwar Shrikrishna”
Ganesh chaturthi
Sunday, Sept 14th, Puja, aarti, movie - Lapandav displayed by Mohan Ranade
from Philadelphia.
Diwali function
Saturday, November 8th,
Hindu Temple, Entertainment program by children arranged and directed by Anita
Date and Sandhya Rao.
Programs
Gudi Padwa
Saturday March 30th, Gudi installation, Music by Anagha
Deole, Tabla accompanied
byMahesh Desai. The dinner was prepared by all ladies
in the mandal
Picnic
Saturday June 22nd, At Shawnee
Mission Park
Swarvel
Saturday
August 10th, Music concert by Ranjana Joglekar and Mukund Phansalkar visitingartists from
India.
Ganesh Chaturthi
Saturday Sept 21st at Mr. and Mrs.
Shuke's house.
Diwali function
Saturday Nov 9th, At Hindu temple,
Dinner catered partly by Sujata Halarnkar and SangeetaBhatnagar
and by India Palace, Katha kathan by Sanjiv Shelar
Programs
Gudi Padwa
Saturday-April 1st, Gudi was erected in Hindu Temple hall
, Dinner was prepared byall ladies in the mandal.
Picnic
Saturday- June 24th, At Clinton Lake
in Lawrence.
Ganesh Chaturthi
Saturday- September 2nd, Ganpati puja, aarti at Hindu Temple, Fancy dress competition forchildren, Bharat Natyam by 8 year old Manasi Desai
daughter of Girish Desai
our ex-member, Koli nritya by seven lady members
directed by Deepali Mahabaleshwarkar.
Diwali function
Saturday- 21st October, Dinner
catered from India Palace, Standing comedy by Patrick Correia our member.
