Newsletter May 2010

An article about Ekal Vidyalaya is sponsored by Copper Pages on Lokvani Website

ver 110 New Schools In Tribal Areas
Saptaswar Press Release 
10/03/2007

(This article is sponsored by Copper Pages)

(About Ekal Vidayalaya

Ekal movement aims to help eradicate illiteracy from rural & tribal India by 2011. The Ekal Foundation is the biggest non-governmental education movement in the world and has now reached all states in India. At present, with the help of over 23,189 teachers, 5,000 volunteers, 20 field organizations Ekal Vidyalaya movement strives to create a network of non-formal schools that will not only provide basic education but also provide health care, village development & empower education. For further information or any concerns you may have please contact Ram Nehra, VP New England area, at 401 848 2024. Last year Ram Nehra raised over 132,000$.

On the evening of 22nd September, more than 1000 people gathered at the Natick High School to witness and participate in the Saptaswar Interactive Musical Night.

This was an event of live music and dances by more than 300 artists/stage performers and was arranged by Saptaswar - our most popular New England music group, along with well-liked dance groups from the New England area.

On-stage audiovisual displays coordinated by Tej Singh & group (Video, Light and Sound Moderator) were projected simultaneously on 5 drop-down screens that were well placed within the auditorium, providing the audience a colorful and psychedelic ambience.

Bright, ethnic, high-fashion costumes with very innovative choreography were the other highlights of the evening. The recreation of Mughal E Azam settings on stage, the colorfully decorated auditorium and the lobby areas were the work of Shobha Shashtry (AlankarDecors). And the coordinated display of movie clips by Dr. Anil Chawla that accompanied some songs being performed made the entire event perfectly “bollywoodish’.

The large scale of the program was made possible by the generous sponsorships of many individuals, and such sponsorships also allowed for the release of a colorful descriptive event brochure & purchase of ultra-modern gadgets. Charitable donations from Hemant Gupta and Arun Agrawal helped acquire specialized light & sound system for the event.

The Saptaswar Interactive Musical Night was held to raise funds for the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, an organization that endeavors to create a network of non- formal one-teacher schools (Ekal Vidyalayas) to eradicate illiteracy and educate and empower children in rural and tribal India, thus helping children from the poorest and disenfranchised population of India. Cost of adopting each Ekal school is a dollar-a-day or $365 a year, which helps support a single teacher instructing 30 children.

The music group Saptaswar, managed by Dr. Mohan Somasundaran, set the pace for the evening and performed in two segments. The performing group comprised of Christy Mathew on keyboard, Hiral Parikh on drums, Raj Alur on guitar, Roshan Alur on the saxophone, and vocalists Sudha (Lakshmi) Rao, Raghu Saranathan, Vinay Mishra, Rahul 
Bharadwaj, Shikha Vajpayee and Sailashri Parthasarathy. With each performance, they had the audience enthralled and joining in as they presented some ever-green old and new bollywood numbers. Christy Mathew's innovative remix version of the popular sixties seductive number 'Roop Tera Mastana' not only surprised and fascinated the audience but had them singing along as well.

Bharati and Mitali Biswas’ group opened the dance segment with Om Nama Shivaya (Banaras) and danced to live music by the Saptaswar group for songs reputed for their heavy orchestra element like Woh Kisna Hai (Kisna) and Mitwa (Lagaan).

Jasmine Shah’s ‘Aangikam Dance Academy’ performed Barson re Megha (Guru), Rangde (Thakshak), O Sikandar (Corporate) and Mangalam Ganesham (Dev).

Swati Mukherji and Sunita Malhotra (Indian Association of Merrimack Valley) presented dances from Mughal E Azam (Pyar kiya to darna), Dil hi to hai (Laaga chunari mein daag) and Shri 420 (Ramayya Vastavayya); and a fashion show through music and enactment of Bollywood heroes & heroines taking us from the golden years of black- and-white cinema to the hip-hop beats of today.

LEHEREIN – a group of choreographers that support noble causes, brought the stage to life with nearly 60 dancers who seamlessly shuffled through a medley of songs depicting the journey of Bollywood times form the early fifties to its current days.

Darshana Jani’s ‘The Performing Arts of New England’ showcased younger artists dancing to yet another medley of more recent blockbuster hits.

The audience was also uplifted by the immense energy of Bhangra dance & music that was performed by two groups. Reshma Singh’s ‘Bhangra Beats’ had many adorable children dancing with vigor to bhangra hits from old and new films.

Rohit and Priya Bhambi’s ‘Boston Bhangra’ item was an interactive one, with the audience participating with great enthusiasm as Rohit skillfully involved and guided them through the various Bhangra vocals and moves.

And under the able hands of the emcee, Swathi Subramanian, this program of interactive dance & music was perfectly knit together while keeping the audience drawn in.

A large group of dedicated volunteers (Amit Roy, Nikki Khatra, Ruchi Munshi, Sadhna Gupta, Vaibhav Dabade, Bikash Verma, Dilip Verma, Sukumari Mohan, Rishi Kapoor, Vishvajit Puri, Himani Chawla and others) along with few Natick High School staff & students ensured that there were no hiccups and glitches with any segment of the program.

Good, sumptuous food, catered by Gourmet India was served under canopies.

The success of the program was seen as the audience continued to cheer all through the evening while simultaneously reeling in sponsorships for Ekal Vidyalaya schools. An astounding 110 EKAL schools were sponsored by truly altruistic members of the audience, bringing the collection to over $40,000 by the end of the night. This was an enormous achievement which was also largely in part due to the extremely benevolent & philanthropic hand of Smt. (Dr.) Savitri & Shri. Prabhu Hingorani of Massachusetts who unwaveringly matched every school sponsored during the program.

The Interactive Musical Night by Saptaswar under the dedicated & sound leadership of Dr. Anil Chawla & Dr. Mohan Somasundaran, provided a memorable and unique experience for New Englanders. And the coming together of this group has helped in funding education for over 3500 tribal children in India, a success that is gladly shared & celebrated by all who participated in this event.

For further information on EKAL or SAPTASWAR please visit www.saptaswar.org.

 

EVF USA received Champion of Literacy 2007 Series Award in Houston

Congratulations to Jugal Malani, Pradeep Gupta the joint CEO’s of Unique Industrial Products of Sugar Land and Ramesh Shah the philanthropist & National Secretary of EVF USA, for receiving the Champion of Literacy 2007 Series Award on Friday, June 22. The Unique Industrial Products was recognized for being an exemplary philanthropic company for supporting and promoting the efforts of Ekal Vidyalaya, a global organization that helps educate underprivileged children in India’s countless villages and rural landscape. They are following the great leader Swami Vivekananda’s message, and together they are making a difference.
  
“If the poor boy cannot come to education, education must go to him.” 
 
“The poor, the illiterate, the ignorant, the afflicted – let these be your God. Know that service to these alone is the highest religion.” 
- Swami Vivekananda
 
Ekal Vidyalaya is a unique concept that is bringing non-formal education to the doorstep of a villager, where children are offered five years of schooling free. Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation is committed to the eradication of illiteracy from remote and tribal regions of India. This is more than just a literacy program; it is a people’s movement striving to bring value-based primary education, hygiene, healthcare, women’s empowerment and community development. In USA our theme is “One Sponsor, One Dollar a Day, One School, A Village Transformed, India On The Rise”. 

Villagers' Own Schools: The village plays a significant role in the Ekal Vidyalaya process. First, villagers are surveyed to gauge their interest in non-formal education. Where there is sufficient interest, villagers are encouraged to form a committee to oversee the school. The committee nominates two potential teachers. With Ekal Vidyalaya Team and the selected teacher, the village committee helps determine the location and timings. The committee is also responsible for generating interest in the educational process and in addressing any issues that may arise during the school year.  

The Best Guarantee: The best guarantee of Ekal Vidyalaya's success is the involvement and participation of the villagers. Before it selects a village, Empowered Committee ensures that the village has sufficient interest in the process. The Ekal Vidyalaya belongs to the village; thus, village involvement is important to the Ekal Vidyalaya's development. In addition, a group of dedicated full-time workers help maintain the schools' regularity and consistency in the level of education. Furthermore, prominent urban families serve as 'caretaker families.' They regularly visit the schools and interact with the villagers. Community involvement and participation thus proves to guarantee in Ekal Vidyalaya's success. 

Ekal’s cost-effective methodology and dedicated staff allows Ekal to run an entire school for merely $365 per year. This budget includes educational materials, teachers’ remuneration, and administrative costs. Ekal schools have an average of 30-40 students between 4-15 years in age. The focus is basic literacy and character building. All study materials are provided free of cost to the students. 
 
Every project has its own challenges and over the years our biggest challenges have been to find dedicated teachers and then train them in their own area. Now a day’s biggest challenge is to find dedicated volunteers to reach more places and also to monitor quality progress. Besides that ‘Middle Schools’ programs by Ekal are under consideration where the emphasis will be on creativity and teaching courses for economic self sufficiency. 
 
Ekal’s core philosophy is to inspire educated Indians, both in India’s cities and abroad, to invest in the education of their rural counterparts. The NRIs in USA can support EVF USA by donating just one dollar a day ($365 per year); they can sponsor one school and transform an entire Indian village. Their donations are tax-deductible - Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Tax ID 77-0554248. We request our patrons to ask their family members, friends and colleagues to join the movement and if there is a corporate matching program, please let us know. There are many organizations and foundations they give grants for education, if they are aware of these please let us know and we will contact them. Also now Federal employees can make direct payroll deduction and help Ekal movement.
 
At present Ekal Vidyalaya Foundations have been established in Australia, Canada and Hong Kong. We urge all NRIs to join the movement because this is our India - this is our community. Other countries are very impressed by the Ekal movement and we have been receiving enquiries from them to know the process so that they can adopt this model for rural and tribal areas of their countries.
 
EVF USA is holding fund raising events in all 14 regions. Where ever you are, you can make a difference. Visit our web site for the date, time & location for the event in your neighborhood.Please click - Musical Concerts in my region

 

Ekal Vidyalaya implementing Gandhiji's Concept

Gandhi Memorial Society, INC based in Jacksonville, USA says that Ekal Vidyalaya is implementing Mahatma Gandhi's concept of basic education on a voluntary effort basis among the deprived children. They have appreciated the work of Ekal by sponsoring 3 schools for one year.

 

Rice Club Donation

The RICE club has been busy collecting contributions from friends and families. At this time, the total amount is sufficient to fund three schools. I am still getting a few private donations and am raising money through sales at my school.

Arjun Mathur

 

Ekal Florida region completes 5 successful fundraising programmes

Dear Ekal Supporters,

We just completed 5 concerts with Sanjeevani's group which is as follows:

Orlando: April 9, attended by 300 audiences.

Jacksonville: April 10, attended by 300 audiences.

Tampa: April 11, attended by 900 audiences.

Orlando Private concert: April 14, attended by 150 audiences.

Ocala: April 16, attended by 200 audiences.

We partnered with local Gujarati Samaj chapters at Jacksonville, Ocala and Tampa. Sri Ramesh Bhai Shah also attended Orlando, Jacksonville and Tampa program. In all programs numbers of attendees were twice than previous years.

Sanjeevani takes audience down the memory lane with some vintage songs from Noorjahan, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Sanjeevani's original songs.  Amit Mehta also sang and that provided the variety the audience typically looks for.  The program was well received by the audience. Sanjeevani also sang Telgu, Gujrati and Marathi songs on request of the audience.

Sanjeevani did a good job of promoting Ekal through appeals between the songs. She also kept the audience engaged and connected with them through dialogues. She invited audiences to the dance floor and also sang dudes with them.

All artists are very simple down to earth and very easy to deal. Dream out Loud DVD was played after 60 to 90 minutes of music.

We collected/pledged about 680 schools. Overall all 5 Florida program were quite successful.

Jawahar Taunk

 

Dr. Sudhir M.Parikh, an Ekal Volunteer in US, receives Padma Shri

President Mrs. Pratibha Patil on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 conferred Padma Shri Award to Gujarati-origin US based NRI Dr. Sudhir M.Parikh in an impressive function in Rashtrapati Bhawan. Dr. Parikh has already been honoured with "The Ellis Island Medal of Honor", the "Pravasi Bharatiya Samman" for his outstanding contributions in society and has become the only Indian American to receive all three most prestigious awards.

 

Ekal Fundraising Events in USA

List of Annual Fundraising Events to be held in USA in 2008

 

REGION	DATE	GROUP	CONTACT	PHONE No.	FOR DETAILS CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK
MID-WEST
CLEVELAND	5/30/2008	PANDYA GROUP	Shridhar Nair	440-759-1500
CINCINNATI	5/31/2008	PANDYA GROUP	Renu Gupta	513-860-1151	Event in Cincinnati
INDIANOPOLIS	6/1/2008	PANDYA GROUP	Kumar Dhave	317-889-7328
PITTSBURG	6/6/2008	PANDYA GROUP	Sanjay Mehata	412-276-2670
COLUMBUS	6/7/2008	PANDYA GROUP	Jagdish Phuloria	614-214-8778.
FLORIDA
OCALA	6/27/2008	PANDYA GROUP	Jawahar Tanuk	727-480-3829(cell)	Event in Ocala
TAMPA	6/28/2008	PANDYA GROUP	Jawahar Tanuk	727-789-9087(home)	Event in Tampa
ORLANDO	6/29/2008	PANDYA GROUP	Jawahar Tanuk	727-786-0017 (work)
PHILADELPHIA	7/13/2008	PANDYA GROUP	Sanjeev Jindal	610-812-2026	Event in Philadelphia
HOUSTON	7/19/2008	PANDYA GROUP	Praveena Danda	713-392-1977(Home)	Event in Houston
DETROIT	7/26/2008	PANDYA GROUP	Yash Lakra	Tentative/Not Finalized