Category: Charity

By Jawahar Malhotra

HOUSTON: After the devastating and massive floods that recently occurred in the foothills of the Himalayas, especially in the state of Uttarakhand, many groups decided to help those who had suffered from the calamity. But one group sprang into action immediately as their headquarters is located almost in the heart of the affected region.

This group – the All World Gayatri Pariwar – has a history of doing charitable work ever since it was founded in 1946 by Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya on a small piece of land in Mathura and later established in Haridwar in 1971. The spiritual and social organization has since spread out over a large 150 acre area named Gayatri Nagar, with the headquarters known as Shantikunj, situated at the banks of the Ganges, about 4 miles from Haridwar.

Shantikunj is devoted to cultural, ethical, moral and spiritual awakening and developing divinity in mankind is its foremost and avowed goal. The AWGP aims to reach these goals by popularizing the Gayatri Mantra, Yagya and Sanskaars (sacramental rites) which invoke celestial thoughts and deeds in a process the group calls the Thought Revolution Movement. The Gayatri Mantra is highly revered and widely cited in Vedic literature and is uttered to invoke the Goddess Savitri. Yagya is the ancient ritual of offering havan samigri (herbal preparations) in fire accompanied by chanting Vedic mantras.

The AWGP has evolved into a global organization with Centers worldwide, with the vision of building a living model of a futuristic model guided by principles of human unity and equality. There are about 40 centers in the US and Canada, with a large temple in Piscataway, New Jersey. The Houston Center for Gayatri Consciousness has been for the past three years at 5645 Hillcroft, Suite 307, across from the Sai Baba Mandir in Little India, where a Shivaling satapna is scheduled for on August 9 through 11.

This past weekend, the Houston Center was visited by two roving emissaries from Shantikunj who have devoted their lives as volunteers for the cause. Onkar Lal Patidar and Pushkar Singh came to Houston from Piscataway as part of their North American tour which includes Austin, Dallas and San Antonio, to spread the gospel of the organization through the practice of yagyas, 24 of which were simultaneously performed last Saturday afternoon, July 6 at the performance hall of the ISKCON Center on West 34th Street. During the event, the two karya kartas (volunteers) sang devotional bhajans and guided the devout through the steps of the havans.

Their stay in Texas will coincide and culminate in a seven-day long Youth Camp in Hunt, near Kerrville, southwest of San Antonio, where adults and youth of all ages from the area will learn the steps and techniques towards the Thought Revolution inspired by the AWGP. These venues will also allow the groups to gather donations that can be sent towards the flood relief efforts being undertaken by the AWGP in Uttarakhand.

“There is a 24/7/365 disaster relief management team in Shantikunj,” said Garima Doshi, the Joint Secretary for the local Houston Center, who has been involved along with her husband Ketan with the group since 2006. “Of the over 1,500 people in Shantikunj Ashram, there is a team of 50 volunteers who work in seven department focused on the environment, social initiatives and so on.” Center President Bharat Tailor, Vice President Mahesh Patel, Trustee Sangeeta Tailor, Treasurer Deepak Khatri and their entire Board and volunteers are spearheading the local efforts to expand the AWGP’s programs in the Houston area.

NAPERVILLE: Recently, the Blind Foundation for India (BFI) organized a musical evening program at the Avery Coonley School’s Performing Arts Center, Downers Grove, Illinois.

Over 180 people enjoyed the musical evening with melodious songs by Dr. Dipak Shah and Dr. Sheela Shah. Young artists from the Soorya Dance School of Northbrook gave enchanting performances to enthrall the audience. Hitesh Master from the Sa Re Ga Ma Orchestra kept the audience engaged throughout the evening. Dr. Rajendra Dave and Dr. Kumar Moolayil served as Emcees for the evening.

    Through the musical Evening, BFI raised over $13,000 which will be used to fund a medical van in India.

Dr. Manu Vora, President of BFI highlighted the plight of over 15 million blind people in India which translates to 1 out of every 3 blind people in the world. He also shared exponential power of prevention such as $1 of Vitamin A drops administered from age 4-6, prevents the child from going blind. Also, in India it costs only $20 per Cataract operation, compared to $4,000 in the US, a multiplier of 200.

 BFI was established in 1989 with a mission to prevent and cure blindness and educate and rehabilitate permanently blind people in India. Over the years, BFI team has raised over $3.5 million dollars to examine eyesight of over a million people. So far, BFI has conducted over 110,000 free Cataract operations, donated 104 medical vans to transport doctors and patients, and distributed over 10,000 Braille Kits to blind children for their education. The current BFI focus is on prevention of blindness through Child Sight Projects. Over 500,000 children in government schools are examined for their eyesight and given necessary glasses, eye drops, Vitamin A, and performed Cataract surgeries in rare cases.

Dr. Shah and Dr. Vora thanked the Platinum Sponsor, Dr. Ashok Ray and Purnima Ray, all other sponsors, and the audience. Delicious Indian food was generously donated by the Ashyana Banquets’ Shikara Restaurant, Saffron of Westmont, Sai Saffron Sweets & Chat House, and Shree Indian Vegetarian Restaurant. The generosity of all the sponsors for this worthy cause was acknowledged and is highly appreciated.

For further information about BFI, visit www.blindfoundation.org

SUGAR LAND: Many of us are touched when we lend our hands to help others. The feeling of giving makes us even more emotional when it comes to a child. On Sunday, June 9, 11 year old Riya Desai from Sugar Land woke up early. She was thrilled knowing that her efforts were going to make a profound impact in the community. For the last 3-4 months, Riya made sure that every person she came in contact knew that she was raising funds for this year’s BAPS Charities walkathon. At the end of her efforts, she had collected $2500 to support this year’s walkathon benefiting American Diabetes Association and the Stafford MSD Education Foundation.

By 9:00 am there were over a 1000 people lined up in front of Sugar Land’s City Hall to get the walk started. Before the walk a moment of silence was observed for the four fallen heroic firefighters from a tragic fire at a motel off US59. BAPS Charities representative Nilkanth Patel stated, “Our community service providers play an integral role in keeping us all safe and this year we (BAPS Charities) have decided to give $5000 to the 100 Club’s Survivor Fund for the firefighters.”

Associate director of ADA walk, Katie McCoy said that “Working with BAPS Charities has been wonderful as this event raises awareness of diabetes and assists ADA to continue research in ways to prevent and cure diabetes.”

As part of raising awareness of this 5k walk, Riya Desai and volunteers of BAPS Charities brought sponsors like Piping Technology & Products, SDB group, Forge USA, Ansh Laboratories, Wedge Energy Services, 4th Dimension, Akshar/Shriji Properties, Bharat Patel and many others to contribute to this year’s walkathon. Dr. Atul Dhingra, COO of Sphier Emergency Rooms, was amazed of the turnout of the walkathon and commented, “It’s good to see that we have so many people out to give back to the community.”

Riya Desai was excited to watch the special addition to this year’s walk, the 5k run. As Rohan Jethva finished first place in the 5k run, he shouted, “WOW, this was so much fun and it was all for a great cause.”

Numerous volunteers were also there early to help make the day possible as well as participated in the event. Bharat Patel said, “We were able to help prepare the sandwiches for all the participants and it was great to see so many people here to create a positive impact one step at a time.”

At the end of the walk, Riya was exhausted but ecstatic that her efforts will go a long way. Similar walks took place in over 40 cities throughout North America wherein over 13,000 participants walked over 45,000 miles. In addition to annual walkathons, BAPS Charities hosts health fairs, Children’s health and safety day programs, education and career development seminars, disaster relief operations, blood drives and much more. BAPS Charities sincerely serves the community, by improving the quality of life of individuals and families.

For further information contact Viral Desai at 832-498-4725 or email media@houstonmandir.org

Click here for Collage

By Manu Shah

“Mera paas bangla hai, gadi hai, daulat hai…..tumhare paas kya hai”

“Mera paas maa hai”

HOUSTON: For a country whose movies are replete with dialogues like these, a chilling fact is that a mother-to-be dies every 10 minutes in rural India.  And the reason is even more disturbing – a sorry lack of basic health awareness and literacy. It is precisely to address and remedy this that Save a Mother, a non-profit organization was conceived by Dr. Shiban Ganju, a gastroenterologist based in Chicago and the local chapter of which is headed by Veena Kaul.

Kaul isn’t new to community service having been actively engaged in various charitable organizations like the Indo American Charity Foundation, Pratham and Friends Helping Friends.  Her interaction with several like minded people encouraged her to take on the charitable cause that her brother Shiban founded.   Having been through two miscarriages, pregnancy complications and two C sections, Veena could instantly empathize with the pain and grief that sometimes comes with childbirth.  She strongly believes that many of the things we tend to take for granted don’t even exist for several underprivileged people and with SAM, she could help them and be a part of something that is meaningful.

SAM has been holding a fundraising gala every year for the past 4 years to raise much needed funds and this year was no exception with friends, relatives and total strangers gathering at Le Virage on the Westside on May 10, for its 5th fundraising gala.

The day was not without its fair share of snags.  The afternoon saw the mother of all downpours but someone up there must have heard Kaul’s prayers and the deluge stopped for a few hours just enough for the evening to go smoothly as if the Gods were anxious to help with a good cause!

The evening began with a warm welcome by emcees Seema Khachru and Sangeeta Pasrija. A brief overview of the work done by the organization was outlined and this was taken up in depth by Dr. Rupa Iyer and Dr. Ganju. The concept, as explained, is to provide a simple and sustainable health module to mothers in rural India to ensure a healthy motherhood.  Health activists are trained and sent to different villages where they educate a mother on different aspects of pregnancy and childcare through the medium of flip charts and songs as well as provide for  free antenatal checkups. SAM has so far covered 1,000 villages with plans to initiate a much needed TB control program.

In a heartwarming statement that evoked cheers, Dr. Ganju mentioned that in the last three years, there has been a significant reduction in maternal mortality rates. The program proved to be so successful that it was picked up by UNICEF and the Gates Foundation.  A surprising fact that emerged was that it cost a mere $100 per village per year to run this program!

The highlight of the evening – the fundraising, was kicked off by Girija Patel and Priti Singh. They asked the gathering to take a long sip of water.  While most assumed  this was a way to coax them out of vast sums of money, it turned out to be a clever ploy to highlight the reason for this year’s fundraiser – it would help pay for three water treatment plants which would provide clean drinking water for a fraction of the cost to pregnant mothers.  Donations flew in from all corners of the hall and within a matter of 15 minutes, the tally rose to $18,000. This includes Dr. Ganju’s donation of $5,000. The final amount from contributions to the event was $65,000.

Two group dances by the students of the Shingari School of Rhythm and a fashion show showcasing the sartorial designs of Seema Khan provided the entertainment for the evening.

An event can only be possible and successful with team effort and community support and this point was stressed by Veena Kaul in her vote of thanks. A huge helping hand was given by Surender Talwar, founder of Event Group, in organizing this event.

Dinner catered by Le Virage was followed by dancing where the DJ worked up the gathering to shake a leg with him on the dance floor to popular Bollywood chartbusters. Few could resist this end to a highly successful evening.

For more information or to make a donation, please visit SAM’s website www.saveamother.org 

By Jawahar Malhotra

HUMBLE: Although located in the town with a forgiving name, there is nothing too forgiving for the uninitiated in the challenging 18-hole golf course located 45-minutes north of downtown Houston and just east of the Bush Intercontinental Airport. It is a well-respected course which area golfers love to try their shots at and has been the site for the Indo American Charity Foundation’s Annual Golf Tournament and where the third such was held this past Saturday, May 4 on a pristine you-couldn’t-have-asked-for-better-weather kind of golfing day.

About 50 golfers – mostly Indian American, but with several mainstream friends and colleagues in tow – descended on the golf links to take part in the Golfing for Giving tournament that lasted over four hours and raised over $12,000 for the coffers of IACF. The money will eventually go towards the many non-profits and education initiative that the IACF supports. Included, just for the fun of it, were a couple of non-golfers like IACF President Murthy Divakaruni and Pratham Past-President Swatantra Jain whose son Dr. Ajay Jain was the chair of the event.

Other IACF Board Directors Anu Bala, Surender Talwar, Vanitha Pothuri and this reporter handled the logistics of the event in registering the 12 teams and making sure they were well stocked with lunch, a goodies bag and dinner, which was catered by Madras Pavilion of Sugar Land. Talwar and I drove the entire links in a golf cart, handing out cold water bottles and taking pictures of the teams at the holes.

Three teams won for the first place and the tiebreaker was the total handicap, which gave the team of Pradeep Gokhale, Jorje Puig, Jose Madrigal and Ash Shah the final victory. The Longest Drive was won by Kirk Bolos and the Hole In One was won by Charlie Hall.

By Jawahar Malhotra

HOUSTON: “We hope that one day the India Studies program could grow into a magnificent place like this,” quipped Dr. John Roberts, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Houston, as he motioned around him at the opulent lobby and living room “to highlight its goals.” Standing on the marble steps of the foyer, he had just thanked the owner of the large house in the Memorial area for their generous gift of $100,000 to help the still nascent Foundation of India Studies grow further.

The homeowners, Dr. Arun and Vinni Verma had not sought out compliments for their donation and in the self-effacing manner which they prefer, made every effort to play the event down. They are a deeply religious couple whose convictions are readily visible in their home from the portraits of Radha and Krishna which are adoringly displayed throughout their spacious home, down to a jhula (swing) settee nestling a painting of the baby Krishna in the living room. A two foot tall anodized brass statue of Krishna playing the flute welcomes you in the foyer.

For the past three years, the Vermas have become widely recognized for the Ram Leela program held in the late Fall just before the Diwali festival. Last year, they took the entire celebration one step further by adding a Dusserah function at the Skeeters Baseball Stadium in Sugar Land attended by several thousand people, where eight-foot tall effigies of Ravana, brother Kumbhkaran and son Meghnath were set ablaze, followed by a huge fireworks show. This first ever event is still the talk of the town.

So, it was not unexpected that Arun opened up the dinner and dialogue event organized by the FIS with a reminder that this concluded the nine days of Ramnvami (celebrating the birth of the Lord Ram) and that the day, Thursday, April 25, was also an auspicious day since it marked the birth anniversary of Hanuman. To honor it, the chief guest, Dr. Renu Khator, President and Chancellor of the University of Houston, prompted Verma to recite the Hanuman Chalisa, a devotional hymn written by the sage Tulsidas. Verma asked her to step besides him to do so and they both recited the forty verses in rapidfire, as other Hindus from the about 60 guests joined in, while those from the mainstream listened and watched with rapt attention.

The Indian Consul General Harish Parvathaneni spoke eloquently in support of the FIS program, noting that its curriculum (which is still being put together) would have to perforce be very broad as India itself was so vast, diverse and ancient that it offered educators more than just a few angles to study. He reported that he had been discussing with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to establish an India Studies Chair and hoped to soon be able to bring in two visiting professors from India.

His remarks were echoed by Khator, who also noted that “the time was right for Indian studies to take off’ in the fourth largest city in the US. We have such a huge Indian population base with so many temples, restaurants and businesses that can support the FIS program,” she added as she enthusiastically welcomed Verma’s donation.

Dr. Roberts related how, while his community has been a part of this country for many generations, he had grown up in the segregated South without any exposure to courses that dealt with his African-American ancestry or culture. He pointed out that the FIS would provide an opportunity for future generations of Indian Americans to stay connected to their heritage. Roberts applauded the Vermas for the gift which will be directed to funding scholarships, visiting professors, lectures and programs dealing with Hinduism and spiritualism from the Vedas. He noted that several months back Dr. Durga Das Agrawal and his wife similarly created a $100,000 endowment to fund India Studies postdoctoral research.

Dr. Lois Zamora, of the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies at UH which includes the FIS, spoke about her plans for building an all encompassing curriculum. She also explained that a winter term study abroad program was being developed for those wishing to go to India and that she hoped some scholarship or support could be raised for about 15 people who make up the group.

She then asked Craig Wilson, son of UH Regent Welcome W. Wilson Sr. and involved in the family’s real estate business but also volunteers at UH to talk about his recent trip to Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Wilson explained that he would like to raise funds to help the people there with a community center and link that with the Jack Valenti School of Communication, of which he is on the Board of Directors.

The evening concluded with a buffet style vegetarian dinner served in the fragrant rose garden behind the Verma’s house.

Click here for collage

By Jawahar Malhotra

HOUSTON: It was a night to count the many blessings that had been bestowed upon those who came to the Hilton Americas Hotel downtown to attend Pratham’s Annual Gala last Saturday, April 27. They came to see history once again in the making as the local chapter of the international NGO raised a record breaking $1.3 million in donations, about $50,000 over last year.

This placed Pratham within range of the $1.5 million it raised total last year. This record amount raised the profile of the organization to fifth place among the 25 highest grossing charities in the Bayou City, much to the elation of the entire Pratham Board. “This will allow us to continue to help more children in India,” declared outgoing Pratham President Swatantra Jain, “just as we have helped 184,000 children so far out of child labor and sent them back to their homes.”

“Pratham reminds me of my own childhood,” went on Jain about his modest family background in the Punjab from which he moved to the US in 1978 with a dream, never forgetting the sacrifices his parents had made. “But education is more powerful than a dream,” he added, as it helped him to succeed in his career. “And everyone deserves a better future.” He quickly added that “those who waste their time get nowhere, but those who use it are considered wise.”

The other blessing for those who attended was that they managed to make it to the event despite the deluge of thundershowers that had engulfed the city that very afternoon and by reception time of 6pm had turned many parts of the city into a lake. Although it had been three long years since the city has seen such a rainfall, it did make it miserable for people to valet park and eventually many confirmed guests could not make it to the elegant black tie event. Of the over 800 people expected, perhaps 200 could not attend due to the weather.

Still, this did not dampen the spirits of those who did make it there and enjoy not only the speeches by Jain, Gala Chair Hemant Goradia, Dr. Rukmini Banerji, Director of Pratham India and the keynote speaker Dr. Madhav Chavan, the CEO and Founder of Pratham India but also the colorful and professional entertainment by local talent. The stage was festooned with many narrow spotlights, as if representing the points of lights that Pratham gives its children, and was colorful in the manner that these children and their dreams are.

The evening began  with local radio celebrity Meena Datt inviting KHOU TV Channel 11 news anchor Rekha Muddaraj to emcee the program, followed by the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by Bimla Jain and Indrani Goradia. Muddaraj introduced Swatantra Jain as “a passionate leader”, but true to his spiritual nature, Jain played down any accolades that were thrown his way throughout the evening, instead asking that attention be focused on Pratham and pledging to match every dollar raised that evening up to $100,000. He also made sure to acknowledge “the person most responsible for the success of Pratham these past two years, Brij Kathuria.”

Dr. Banerji who has been with Pratham for the past 16 years is originally from Bihar but studied at the University of Chicago. She responded to some questions submitted earlier in the evening and added that “once you have launched a village you will also be one with them. You can leave Pratham, but Pratham will never leave you!” She acknowledged that Pratham had given birth to many other enterprises and that other countries are looking to emulate the Pratham model, especially in East Africa and Pakistan.

On coming to the stage, Dr. Chavan looked none the worse after being on a trip to nine cities in the US since leaving Delhi on April 8 and arriving in Houston the day before. He recalled meeting Vijay Goradia in 1977 and receiving $125,000 in 1999 from him to launch his dream that would become Pratham. He then enumerated Pratham’s outreach programs: teaching children in villages and give them a head start through pre-school programs; volunteers helping teachers to teach correctly and making sure that children didn’t drop out.

An inspiring video clip showed how Chavan had come to the US to finish graduate work and then teach at the University of Houston only to return later to India and start a program that empowered people to help young kids learn.

Jain received an award for his dedicated service to Pratham and introduced the incoming President, Marie Goradia who took over the reins right after the Gala. A native of Mumbai, Marie has a PhD in molecular biology, raised two kids – Sitara and Kevin – and acknowledged that “the US had been very good to me, better than in my wildest dreams.” She thanked Jain for his resoluteness in raising the level of support for Pratham and promised to carry the torch.

A lively auction followed for several items, including an immense wooden statue of Ganesh donated by Surender Talwar, conducted by Dr. Subodh Bhuchar who has become quite good at doing so at many a gala, and in this one was able to raise almost $20,000. Dinner was catered by Daawat Catering and was accompanied by music by the Bollywood Strings doing several popular tunes. Divya Walia shared her experiences with Pratham children in India. Naach Houston presented the dance entertainment, both through a drama play onstage and then later through a lively group fusion dance.

By Sanchali Basu

HOUSTON: The Tagore Society of Houston held its annual fundraiser on April 13 at India House with a lot of dedication, enterprise and enthusiasm. The evening started with social networking half-hour around drinks and delectable appetizers provided by Nirvana restaurant. A Brahmasangeet rendition by Shyama Mishra accompanied on the violin by Biplab Samaddar set the tone for the evening.

TSH President Ruma Acharya welcomed the guests and thanked all the sponsors, donors, dignitaries and well-wishers. Ryan Walsh, special assistant to Harris County Judge Ed Emmett read out a proclamation declaring April 13 as “Tagore day”.

Neeta Shetkar gave an update of the year’s activities in the field of branding and education. She explained how TSH is actively involved in introducing Tagore to University level students with the Flagship Tagore Passport Scholarship, which is being implemented in partnership with the English Department of University of Houston; as well as to high school students via essay contests. Professor Wynan Herendeen Chair of the English Department, spoke highly of the society’s work and of his student Samantha Lay’s report that won the Passport Scholarship in 2012. In her absence he received her certificate.

The High School Essay contest winners could not be present due to college schedule, but the parents of the second place contestant attended the dinner and presented Neel Bhan’s winning entry to the audience.  This year, TSH is now trying to innovatively introduce Tagore and his works to Middle School level students.

Randy Bossarte, librarian of the Harris County Northwest branch was awarded a certificate for his involvement in the society’s book donation to the library. He mentioned that the book donation has aroused a lot of interest in Tagore amongst readers and they are expecting to increase their collection of Tagore works.

John Liner, a high school student from Cinco Ranch High School in Katy with a passion for composing music, who will be attending the Berkley College of Music next year, played an audio clip of his version of a fusion Orchestra Score, including some Rabindra Sangeet tunes, written in western notes. Till date, Rabindra Sangeet cannot be played by westerners since there are no notations available in the western classical style of music. Liner’s endeavor at such a tender age won him TSH’s Music scholarship to transcribe Tagore Songs into western notations.

Bulbul Sengupta, the retired Dean of Fine Arts at Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata, an acclaimed singer and recipient of the National Cultural Scholarship for advanced training in Rabindra Sangeet at Visva Bharati, Shantiniketan, in India was felicitated by the society for her accomplishments. She was very touched and reminisced about fond memories as a student at Shantiniketan with esteemed Rabindra Sangeet singers. She also captivated the audience by singing a few lines of Rabindra Sangeet.

Sailaja Bandyopadhyay presented an excellent audio visual about the plight of the “Baul” community in Bengal, which the society is trying to help by submitting a request to the Chase Community Drive. Dinner was served and the society’s plan of installing a statue of Tagore in Ray Miller Park was discussed.

Kathleen M. O’Connell, the keynote speaker then took the stage and gave an excellent overview of Tagore’s life, works, vision and achievements with a powerful slide show. She is a professor of comparative literature at the University of Toronto and a world renowned Tagore Scholar. Her association with Shantiniketan and Tagore dates back to her M.A. in Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University (India) in the mid-1960s. She received her Ph.D. in South Asian Studies from the University of Toronto, where she currently offers courses on Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray.

O’Connell’s writings on Tagore have been included in journals, encyclopedias, as book-chapters and in conference volumes. Her published book on Tagore “The Poet as Educator” is a study on the contributions of Rabindranath Tagore in the development of education in Bengal. Her speech emphasized Tagore’s education methods (Vishwa Bharati), where students are not restricted to the confines of a classroom, his cosmopolitanism (China Bhavan), rural development and economic sustainability (Sriniketan).

She also referred to his spirit of genuine international collaboration through his association with famous personalities of the time including Mahatma Gandhi, C.F. Andrews and Leonard Elmhurst. Tagore’s introduction of several new festivals including Halakarshan, Nabanna, Barsha Mangal, Basanta Utsab, Magotsab and Briksharopan was also highlighted in her speech as was his ever dynamic vision of culture which integrated several different dance styles, sculpture and paintings. The society concluded the evening with a special recognition of Kathleen O’Connell by presenting her with a certificate and flowers.

By Pramod Kulkarni

HOUSTON: Daya Houston has always had a serious purpose—helping South Asian families in crisis, particularly victims of domestic abuse. For its Spring fundraiser, the 17-year-old organization added music, beat and dance under the theme “Feel the beat … feel the need.”

The gala was held Sunday, April 14 evening at the recently renovated Crystal ballroom of the Rice Hotel in downtown Houston. The event raised $112,000 to support Daya’s numerous services to help victims of abuse and increase awareness in South Asian communities through seminars and public events.

Advisory Board Member Indrani Goradia, RYT, served as emcee for the event. As she welcomed the more gala participants, Goradia explained how Daya staff members and volunteers are fielding more than 5,000 calls for and have helped more than 300 victims through services extending from counseling to legal assistance and stays in transitional housing.

After a two-year pilot program, the Board made the decision in 2009 to buy a four-bedroom house to be used as Daya’s transitional home and embarked on a capital campaign to pay off the mortgage and own the home. Daya was able to successfully complete the capital campaign and take ownership of the house in 2012. Named Harmony House, the residence has helped several women and their children break the cycle of abuse

Under the chair of Vatsala Bhaskaran MD and Sheela Rao, the novel fundraiser included 20-minute interactive dance sessions by Salsa Grande with Michael O. Whitmire, Two-Step Houston with Vickie Dunn, and Bollywood dancing with Mahesh Mahbubani of Naach Houston. DJ Yogi-G provided the music and the spectacular pink and purple lighting around the room. A large number of attendees joined the instructors on the dance floor to either hone their skills in the three styles of dancing or learn the steps for the very first time.

Dinner for the gala included an Italian dinner catered by the Rice Hotel and exotic deserts by Rice Hotel’s Sambucca Grill, London Sizzler and India Mart. An interesting feature to raise funds was a variation of the silent auction, where the guest were able to donate direct services to clients in the transitional home and, as thanks, received donated gift certificates and jewelry with proceeds going to Daya.

The dance finale was a flash mob dance to the music of Disco Deewane, choreographed by Kavita Rao. Kavita also conducted a dance workshop to raise funds for Daya.  Ruchi Sharma donated photography services throught out the event.

The evening concluded with board member Vatsala Bhaskaran providing the vote of thanks. Daya’s Gala underwriters were Indrani and Hemant Goradia and an anonymous donor, who gave $5,000 each. Donors, who provided $2,500 each included Anju and Ajay Shah, Anuradha & Mani Subramanian, Lakshmy & PG Parameswaran, Padmini & Ranga Nathan, Prabha & Shesh Bala, Shazma & Arshad Matin, Sheela & Ashok Rao, and Vatsala & Vish Bhaskaran.

For more information on Daya, visit www.dayahouston.org.