“Shaam-E-Sangeet 2016” has raised $86,000 for a record number of 201 schools in just 4 hours! Fifteen additional schools were pledged with the funds that goes directly to Ekal Vidyalaya HQ, bringing it to a total of 216 schools in one night! The sponsors received wholehearted applause, thunderous claps went to four young children, Varoon, Veda, Isha and Kunal, who had made art and craft works especially for Ekal. The sale proceeds of the creations had helped to sponsor a new school!
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More than 400 dance and music lovers in Atlanta had attended the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA’s “Shaam-e-Sangeet” fundraiser program, which was conceived, choreographed and coordinated by Geet-Rung School of Dance and Music. The program had showcased the artistic talents of Atlanta together with the students of Geet-Rung School of Dance and Music and their marvelous presentations of old classics, ghazals, riveting dances, new upbeat foot tapping numbers and the vibrant grand finale, at the Impact Center at the Global Mall, Norcross, GA.
The vice president of Ekal Atlanta Rina Gupta and Rachna Gupta, Ekal’s cultural coordinator has welcomed the participants. Consul D.V.Singh along with Shiv Aggarwal and winners of Literacyhero.com’s championship, lighted the traditional diya (lamp), followed by Saraswati Vandana, a dance invocation to the goddess of learning.
Geet-Rung came together with myriad colors into the show, with colorful dances by Divya Srivastava and her students as well as a vintage repertoire of songs by Atlanta’s well known and popular vocal artists Pankaj Bhargava, Rekha Pallath, Saras Jain and Bhavika Merchant from South Carolina.
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Divya and her dance students had mesmerized the audience with their intricate footwork, soulful expressions, nuanced emoting and finesse and grace with the Bollywood medleys and laavani dances. Young singers opened the program with the popular prayer song, Itni Shakti Hamein Dena and followed later with Saancha Naam Tera.
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi ji called Ekal “a very successful mission” and acknowledged the relentless work undertaken by Zee TV’s head, Dr.Subhash Chandra for Ekal’s expansion. The Ekal program of free basic education for the children has been expanded to formalize vocational training, social empowerment and healthcare for adults. It is the largest grassroots non-government organization with chapters in Australia, Canada, Dubai, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States (42 chapters).
Indian Minister for Human Resources Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar has said: “Ekal’s is one of the most meaningful social impact work in the field of education.”
By Premji
