Atlanta Hindu Vivah’s Hindu Singles Spring
Mixer Attracts Many
By: Sudhir Agarwal and Mahadev Desai
Pics. By: Kailas Pramodh

On a crisp sunny Sunday afternoon, after the first snowfall of 2020 in
Atlanta, just the previous day, more than 70 singles gathered at Keswick
Park Community center, Chamblee to mix and mingle and hopefully meet the
match of their dreams!
The event on Sunday, 9th February was made possible by the tireless efforts
of around 20 volunteers who are the backbone of Hindu Vivah’s Atlanta
chapter. They work on a very tiny budget and help by chipping in so that the
event can be offered free to participants. But, based on feedback received,
future events may have to be offered at a nominal charge to cover venue
rental and ancillary expenses.
This was Atlanta Chapter’s 9th Hindu Vivah singles event in Atlanta, despite
the chapter being fairly new. Its first event was held in April 2017 at
Holiday Inn, Roswell, and followed by two more in 2017. The highlight of the
February 2018 event, was that the singles who had met at the first event
returned as newlyweds to share their stories and experience of Atlanta Hindu
Vivah! They had fortunately just clicked at first sight, so they came to
thank AHV for providing the forum to facilitate their special
meeting. Encouraged by their success story and gauging the need for
continuing such events, several more mixers were held in 2018 and 2019.
How the event played out
It began with an Ice breaker, where Sheila Devlia and her team from Z
Fitness Dance and Nutrition got the participants grooving to Bollywood and
Latin numbers in Zumba style. The main introductory activity was group-wise
speed dating. All the participants, who were identified by first name only,
had been divided into groups according to age, starting with mid-20s all the
way to over 50! Vivah events use the ‘round robin’ format whereby every
woman briefly meets every man in her own group first and then moves on to
the next age group. As an added benefit, the format of group speed-dating
allowed people to meet and make friends with attendees of their own gender
as well.

After the initial round came the social hour where participants informally
mixed and mingled over delicious refreshments lovingly arranged by a
dedicated volunteer. During the social hour, some participants paired off
and went out for further chats. Those who stayed back enthusiastically
participated in “Desi Chat”, an Indian version of the board game, “Taboo”.
Before exiting, each attendee indicated to the volunteers the name of the
ones whom they were interested in. Only when there was a match from both
sides, contact information was shared with that pair.
Who were the Participants?
Most of the participants were programmers, analysts, and engineers with a
few doctors as well. People whose parents migrated from all corners of India
showed up. Participants themselves who had grown up in many different cities
and countries, also attended. While most participants live in Atlanta, a few
had flown in from other parts of US.
Increasingly popular and growing is the middle-aged or elderly group,
widowed or divorced, empty-nesters or with grown up children off to college,
now hoping to find a companion outside of their workplace or through
bar-hopping. Many are prominent community members and were very glad that
Hindu Vivah had taken this initiative and urged the organizers to widely
publicize their events.
How it started and what is planned further
Hindu Vivah ( www.hinduvivah.org
) is a US based non-profit organization started in November of 2016 in
Dallas, TX to facilitate the meeting of Hindu singles for the purpose of
matrimony in a wholesome, structured, alcohol-free environment. A second
chapter was organized in Houston, TX, and Atlanta, GA is the third.
Currently, there are chapters in Austin, TX, Washington DC, and Bay area,
CA, Michigan and New York/New Jersey. Chapters can be established in other
states where the Hindu community feels the need but it should be noted that
starting one requires a very dedicated volunteer force.

These meets help break the ice and introduce Hindu singles to each other, at
which point Hindu Vivah’s work is done, and the singles are left to decide
what further steps they need to take in their search for a life partner. For
the first time in Atlanta, volunteers were experimenting with facilitating a
one-on-one meeting in a centrally located restaurant for the two way
matches.
Atlanta volunteers hope to organize 3 to 4 such events every year provided
there is enough interest and more community leaders and sponsors come forth
to help.
Upcoming Hindu Vivah Events
Houston, TX – February 22, 2020
Dallas, TX – March 8, 2020
Austin, TX – March 30, 2020
Bay area, CA – March 30, 2020
New York/New Jersey – April 21, 2020
The next Atlanta event, for summer quarter, is being planned in May or June
2020. Please look out for announcements in local media or visit
https://hinduvivah.org/atlanta-chapter . To volunteer, or sponsor an
event, please email:
atlanta@hinduvivah.org .
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Mar-04-2020