Kerala Association Of Greater Washington (Oldest Serving Organization in Virginia Maryland DC) Baltimore and Washington Metro Area in the USA

Past Events.

KAGW & Malayali Community Breaks New Ground in Humanitarian Mission
at The DC Central Kitchen on New Year Day !!!

KAGW organized and coordinated an effort on behalf of The Greater Washington's Malayalee Community to volunteer and prepare one day's food for the homeless people of this area at the D.C.Central Kitchen on January 1, 2010.

Despite extraordinary challenges presented by the date, the program was a tremendous success. There was a record turnout of upwards of 60 people. KAGW was also able to collect $1,000 as a donation towards the expenses of the event, which was handed over at the function. A special note of thanks to St.Gregorious Church, Silver Spring and FOKANA for their active support to KAGW in this venture.

It was a huge corroboration of the commitment of Malayalee Community in this area to selfless volunteerism and sacrifice when they came out to help the needy, on New Year day when most people would be relaxing after New Year eve's celebrations. We are proud as an organization to represent such a community that need no further proof for its remarkable dedication to uplift the destitute and the poor.

KAGW Xmas Celebrations.

The Malayali community of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia Celebrated the Christmas and New Year in a spectacular manner on December 5th 2010. The event was graced by the presence of the chief guest John P McDonough, Secretary of State, MD who declared Dec 5th as Kerala Association of Greater Washington day in honor of its distinguished service to the community..

Fr.KP Varghese delivered the Christmas message. There were a diverse set of programming from the area participants ranging from very traditional nativity scene enactment to Christian variety dance form Zion Manavalan and mainstream Malayalam and Bollywood dances and song medley. The night ended with a sumptuous lunch and DJ. It was a record breaking Xmas program in many ways with over 650 people attending the event.

KAGW would like to thank you all, the committee members, the program instructors, the stage and food volunteers and all others who helped make it a grand success. Most importantly, KAGW would like to thank the community for continuing to demonstrate this spirit of unity in coming together and celebrating as a single unit on these festive occasions. See Album

KAGW's Kathakali workshop.

KAGW conducted a Kathakali workshop and demonstration on October 2nd, Gandhi Jayanti day at Thomas W Payle Middle School, Bethesda, MD.

It was performed by a group of dedicated artists who came from the reputed Kerala Kalamandalam institution. It turned out to be a very authentic and genuinely fulfilling program presented in front of a very passionate, attentive audience. Kathakali is Malayalee’s own art form and people across the world watch the Kathakali figures and its unique makeup as exciting iconic images. The intention of this program was to enhance the awareness of Kerala's cultural heritage to expatriate communities like ours and we hope that was definitely achieved. It was gratifying to note that those who attended enjoyed the program and conveyed their thanks and appreciation to us as well as the artists.

On behalf of KAGW, I would like to express our sincere thanks and appreciation to Mr. Unnikrishnan Pillai and Ms. Valsala Sekhar . Special mention goes to the local artist, Manju Nair for taking up the challenging role of Damayanthi with such a short notice and doing with great grace and skill. The narration of C.V. Kaladharan (Writer, Critic of Indian Performing Arts) amplified the program.

The performance by Kalamandalam C. Shanmughadas (As Kattalan) was electrifying. Of course, the work of Kalamandalam T.R Sukumaran (Chutti artist/make up man) was beyond description.

Thanks to everyone who generously donated towards the honorarium to the artists. Once again, it was proved that we as a community genuinely care about our heritage and the need to promote and preserve culture, art and heritage for future generations. KAGW is beholden to this great community for their sincere appreciation and participation for such events that others might neglect as commercially insignificant. This strengthens our resolve to do the right things to safeguard our traditions and values while overlooking the monetary returns.

Onam 2010 - KAGW DOES IT AGAIN !!!

We had a terrific day with more than a thousand people in the audience. One of the largest ever crowds witnessed for an Onam event in Greater Washington area and perhaps across the continental United States.

We extend our sincere thanks to the audience?.This event would not have been possible without your support.

We would also like to sincerely accept that there were shortcomings, flaws and gaps. As always, please crack your whip and pull us back in the right direction if we tend to stray asunder. Send us your specific feedback so that we can understand and prepare to overcome them in the next event. That is the most rewarding recognition we can expect to receive from you.

KAGW would like to thank the 275+ strong professional and amateur artists who made the ?Uthradam eve? a memorable one to all Washingtonian Malayalees with their talents - THIRUVONA PULARI 2010 was a sensation in many ways.

KAGW Salutes behind the scenes Volunteers
Our event was a true success at many levels. First, we were able to create the ambience of Onam and our theme THIRUVONA PULARI 2010 to the fullest. Secondly, we did it with grace, charisma and impossible chemistry. Finally, we stayed true to our schedules.

Every single individual program went as planned in a timely manner.

Herndon High School auditorium was soon full. The crowd was eager and the cell phones off. When Padmashri K S Chitra walked on to the stage, it was spellbinding.

It was no surprise that the audience wanted to forget everything else around them. Chithra's voice carries the audience's mind and spirit into a meditative mood, a place of peace, entering the most majestic, fulfilling dimensions of innervations

A few of the lucky guests were able to take a picture with Chithra as she was preparing to leave after the show.

The two raffle winners of the day were Murali Mooliyil and Seema Manoj

Murali Mooliyil the Onam Ipad winner told KAGW "I'm thrilled to have won this very special gift. Firstly it comes as an ONAM gift which brings childhood memories - rare occasions of getting gifts...at least for my generation!!! Secondly though not a high-gadget person, iPad was one of the gadgets I thought to have especially in my current biz development/sales job.

KAGW's Day to play - A report

The greatest community sports day ever in the history of the Washington Malayali Community !!!

KAGW proved yet again to meet the needs of the Malayali community whether it is for ladies, youth or just the young at heart. KAGW stands by the community and for the community

The day started at the Richard Montgomery high school ground track where the children had the opportunity to enjoy a great day under the sun competing in various track and field events. The kids sprinted and jumped and even raced with a spoon, all for the cause of winning in a tough, but recreational, environment under the scorching heat of the mid day sun.

Parents had their own share of fun , participating in events like 200m, 100m and 50m dash. If anyone had the expectation that this would be a friendly match, they would not have gotten it any more wrong; fierce competition ensued under intense, unforgiving sun.

Tennis: Kids were ready and lined up at 10:30 am to receive coaching by the famous tennis player Mr. Chandra Sekhar and his daughter Sonia Sekhar. During the coaching, we witnessed some future tennis stars in the making

Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch. (Orson Wells)
Later at around noon, everyone was treated to a great buffet lunch that included food and soft drinks on demand. The delectable feast was prepared by KAGW vanitha vedi.

The gourmet food was irresistible; you could not blame the participants for feeling a bit overwhelmed and drowsy after filling their stomach.
And just after lunch everyone was ready for basketball and Twenty20 cricket.

Basketball is in our youth's blood. It is our obligation to let it flow in full force When we had to move the designated volleyball matches out of the indoor arena to a different location, the KAGW PR team responsible for bringing the basketball teams knew they had done their job very well. The basketball courts were filled with hundreds of aspiring youngsters in various teams vying for the coveted KAGW best team in 2010 prize. (selected pics)

Volleyball The glitz, glamour and the Twenty20 cricket comes to town The spirit of Twenty20 cricket sans the cheer girls and celebrities was in full exhibition at the track and field grounds in the afternoon. 4 teams participated in a knockout format. Two teams from Baltimore and a couple of other teams made of players from both Virginia and Maryland participated in a 12-over per side game. There were breathtaking individual and team performances.

At the end, it was not about the X's and the O's or the strategy. It was about the team that had the most stamina under the sapping heat to stay the course. Ultimately, the young Jaguars cricket team led by Riyo Rajan emerged the winners in a fiercely contested final with the "Kerala Express" team.

The day was a colossal success with kids, families and the community joining together in friendly rivalry and competitions. Well done and thank you to everyone who took part. Enjoy our pictures below from the event. Special thanks to the participants and volunteers for making the day a huge success. KAGW Family Fun Community Sports Day was a massive event and what made it really successful was the huge community participation and support.

More pictures at
Geetha's Page and Praveen's Page

The prizes will be distributed during the "KAGW Onam Mela with Chitra" on August 21st 2010.

TalentTime 2010 - A special report....

Thank you .... ... for taking part in the the KAGW TalentTime 2010 held on 10th & 17th of April and supporting our efforts in hosting a fun filled, enjoyable talent show for our kids in this community .It gives us great pleasure as organizers to watch and experience the astounding response from the parents and kids alike, throughout the program.

While we wholeheartedly congratulate our winners, we would also like to highlight the importance of participation equally. Sometimes you have to do the same thing several times to learn, experience and improve performance. We hope that these competitions teach the kids the most significant lesson in their life - the value of persistence. "It is as important to enjoy the ride as it is to come first".

To quote Calvin Coolidge -30th President of the United States, 1872-1933 - Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race

We had a total of 160 entries in the "Talent Time 2010" competitions this year. The performances were diverse, creative and amazing. There was a wonderful, festival experience and ambience to the event. The literary competitions were held on April 10th and performing arts competitions on April 17th.

The highlight of the grand finale on 17th was the little prince/princess and Kerala Queen competitions. We were a little apprehensive during the planning phases, about the little prince/princess program since this was the first time ever that such a contest was being held for children of that age group in this area. All our fears were allayed quickly when we saw the overwhelming participation; new walk in registrations were coming in even until a few minutes before the event.

The Kerala Queen was a mesmerizing affair as always; the audience was captivated by the quality of the contestants and their competitive spirit.

Kalyani Pillai of Virginia, a 7th grader, was awarded the Kalathilakam title for the 2010 Talent Competition conducted by KAGW. She won this title three years in a row and is very proud about of this recognition. She is very thankful to KAGW for organizing an event like this to promote and sustain the cultural aspirations of the Malayalee children born and brought up in the U.S.

Joel Thomas of Maryland, an 8th grader, was awarded the Kalaprathiba title. He has participated in the KAGW TaletTime competition for the past 4 years and won Kalaprathibha for 2 years. Joel enjoys participating in the competition and is thankful for the platform that KAGW is providing to the kids of Washington Malayalee community

It was exciting to see the winners accepting their certificates and trophies with full pride and honor. Congratulations to all the winners, but again most importantly, a big hand to all the participants for their display of boundless energy and talent.

Nothing is more gratifying to us, as organizers, than watching a happy kid, cheerfully enjoying the occasion alongside a content, smiling parent.

A special thanks goes out to all of the sponsors who helped out. We wouldn't have had near the success if these companies didn't help support us. M&T Bank, Art of Living Foundation...

The big winners of the day were:

•Kalyani Pillai, KalaThilakam

•Joel Thomas, KalaPrathiba

•Merin Mani, Kerala Queen of Greater Washington

•Tessa Joseph, Lilttle Princess

•Jinu Manalel, Little Prince.

KalaThilakam

Kala Prathiba

Little Princess

Little Prince

Kerala Queen

Soup Kitchen

The Metropolitan Washington's Malayalee Community was invited to volunteer for preparing one day's food for the homeless people of this area at the D.C.Central Kitchen on January 2, 2010. KAGW coordinated this effort along with KCSMW on behalf of Metro DC Malayalees this year.

The united effort by KAGW and KCSMW made the event very successful. Our sincere thanks and appreciation to all the volunteers who helped us make it a huge success.

Special thanks to those who donated to the cause also. The menu consisted of Rajma, Penne Pasta, Garden Salad, Tortilla and Bananas.
Click here to see the pictures from the event.
Click here for pictures provided by Mr. Babu George, President of KCSMW.

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