Lokvani Community Hero, Jharna Madan is a senior interior designer and project manager and a TV Asia correspondent in Boston. A passionate event planner, Jharna is involved in several community and charitable organizations in the Boston metro area. She is on the Steering Committee member of Hindi Manch and hasplayed a pivot role in the first Hindi Manch Rashtriya Mahotsav in 2018. Jharna also volunteers for Ekal Vidyalaya and initiated the Indiart Competition for the New England Area. She has worked with South Asian Art gallery and launched “Local Art for Local Causeâ€. Jharna is true believer and follower of the concept of Seva, and has tried to incorporate that in her life. Jharna lives in Reading Ma with her husband and 11 year old daughter Aaria.
So gratifying to see Sew We Care reach its one month anniversary. How did you get started with this effort and what have you accomplished so far?
Sew We Care, started with the amazing and guiding angel, Manisha Jain. Manisha made a post on facebook saying that she had started to make masks but needed help. I reached out and offered to help. I don’t sew but can iron and cut fabric. Manisha was very gracious and made a simple video for all of us to follow and once we posted that on facebook, one by one people started joining. Today we have about 150 selfless volunteers who are tirelessly working to produce these masks. It’s been such a gratifying month and I feel so blessed to be working along such wonderful souls and we are all bound by “Niswarth Sevaâ€. I am so proud, and my heart is overjoyed to share that we have completed and delivered more than 5,000 masks. We have another 3,000 under production.
You are now launching Care 4 Janitors. Can you tell us about that?
Care 4 Janitors, is one of the projects that happened organically. After being part of Sew We Care, I felt there were more needs to be addressed. A couple of us friends (Neha Patel, Ruchika Yadav, Twinke Morbia & Sneh Jaisingh), who felt the same, got together on a Zoom call to brainstorm. We reached out to Dr Ankit Patel, who is a dear friend to get advice on how we can help our frontline heroes and that’s how Care 4 Janitors was born.
CARE 4 JANITORS - Food For Fabulous Friends' is a small effort to show respect, gratitude & appreciation to the housekeeping and environmental services staff of the hospitals. These unsung heroes are working hard to maintain cleanliness and hygiene in healthcare facilities. Our goal is to provide them with a hot meal and at the same time help local restaurants to sustain their businesses.
To kick start this project, all five of us pooled in money and now we feel so blessed and fortunate that our community is coming forward and supporting this cause. I would like to give a special mention to Aarti Kapuria and the Operation Feed the Soul Campaign for being our inspiration.
As part of Hindi Manch you have been running virtual events to keep the community entertained. Could you tell us the efforts you have done and how it was received?
Hindi Manch always comes up with creative ways in keeping our community together.
We human beings are social animals, and we all are facing a pandemic, our emotional and mental well-being is being impacted. The whole idea of these virtual programs was to take a break, de-stress and rekindle the feeling of community. We started with a Sahitya / poetry event, which was very well received, and from the positive feedback of our community, the virtual programs grew. We have now successfully hosted 5 such virtual events. We have had participants from not just the United State & Canada, but also from India, Australia & Amsterdam.
Through our virtual events we have reached 52,000 people in less than a month. We have also had residents from different countries take Hindi Manch membership. This has been again a remarkable example of teamwork under the leadership of Hindi Manch President Preetesh Shrivastava.
Personally, you have been using the time to learn art. Could you tell us about that experience?
My inspiration to learn art is my daughter Aaria. Aaria has been learning art from Dr. Java Joshi for the last 6 years and has been growing exceptionally as an artist. Art for me is a form of meditation. For everyone who knows me, is aware that I cannot stay still. So, when Raksha Soni Ji started offering Art classes for adults, I grabbed that opportunity and enrolled. It truly is such a de-stresser and helps me keep my balance and recharges me.
You are working with Ekal to host the IndiArt competition you initiated a few years ago. Could you tell us about your motivation to do this competition now?
I have always gravitated towards art and art related projects. As an Ekal volunteer, I wanted to involve kids in the mission of Ekal and came up with idea of having an art competition for the kids to raise money for the education of rural children in India. This was another project that was received very positively by our community. We successfully hosted IndiArt competitions in 2014, 2015, & 2017.
One of the key missions of Ekal is to digitalize the 100,000 rural schools. Being home and witnessing the importance of digital education especially in times like this made me think about the all the schools that did not have the infrastructure. I reached out to the Ekal team to see if we can revive IndiArt to raise money to provide digital education to the rural schools in India.
I am excited that we are going to launch IndiArt 2020 in a big way. We are collaborating with a non-profit from India – Khulaa Aasman and this will be launched simultaneously in 52 Ekal chapters all over the United States.
What motivates you to give so much of your time to so many good causes?
Ever since I was a kid, I saw my parents giving back to the community and that’s where I got my inspiration from. And growing up, I realized, how blessed I was and felt the need for giving back and making this world a better place. But honestly, I also have a selfish reason, when I see a smile on someone’s face by an act I do – it gives me immense satisfaction and gratification and that’s what keeps me going and going.
What has been the biggest learning you have had during this special time?
These are unusual times for all of us. We are all in this together. I have been amazed at how adaptive and inspiring our children can be. They have so beautifully and seamlessly transitioned into digital education and virtual playgrounds. I am also amazed at how the community has come together to help out. I am so proud and blessed to be part of such a beautiful community.
Do you have any message for the community?
We can all help and make a difference. Every drop in the ocean counts. Every action counts it could be as simple as waving and smiling when you are out for a walk, writing a thank you note to the local postman and more importantly staying heathy and positive. This too shall pass, and we will all emerge more humble, wiser and thoughtful as a human race. Keep Smiling & Stay Safe.
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