Vision-Aid’s Jewel of Justice – A visual treat raising funds for the visually impaired

Remarkably raising the bar again for the 15^th year in a row, Vision-Aid staged its annual (2022) show “The Jewel of Justice – the saga of Kannagi” by producer and choreographer Ramachandran Muralidaran on July 31^st 2022, shattering records on all fronts – whether it was the quality of the production, the number of tickets sold, the fund-raising or the slick and seamless coordination of a complex hybrid event by a team of over 50 volunteers.

This year’s show was offered for the first time, in its illustrious history of staging these magnificent events, as a hybrid event – with in-person attendees joining the live screening in Watertown and online audiences from all over the world joining on Zoom.

"Both I and my daughter Amrita Saigal have participated in a past presentation of this spectacular creation. For me the role of Kannagi will go down as the favorite character I ever played. We know how difficult a production this and to see it pulled off so beautifully was indeed thrilling to watch" said Ranjani Saigal. "Vision Aid is very close to our heart. Ranjani has been the producer of several of the Vision Aid shows with the very first one being the Ramayana. We are also delighted to sponsor a center in Pune in the name of Ranjani's father, Dr.R.S.Ayyar. I have visited the center and I am so impressed to see its progress" said Anil Saigal. 

The Keynote speakers Mukesh and Priti Chatter delivered an inspired keynote with both speakers taking turns to speak about different aspects of Vision-Aid’s mission and its noble model of volunteerism which stands as a beacon of light in these troubled times.

Priti Chatter started out by asking the audience to close their eyes for a moment to realize how many of us take our vision for granted, and then walked the audience through a whole thought process – covering Vision-Aid’s 3 pillars of Enable, Educate and Empower, eloquently explaining how a systematic and well thought out set of interventions could offer deep impact to the visually impaired.

Mukesh Chatter offered an inspired message of hope in these troubled times – emphasizing how love and compassion for others reinforces our faith in humanity. The positive energy in the theater and on zoom was palpable and audiences deeply resonated with their messages.

Chairman Emeritus Puran Dang delivered the vote of thanks and added “The Annual Function of Vision-Aid was an eye opener which showed the spirit of our devoted team to create an amazing Dance Story and a spectacular show. We are grateful to our Donors and Sponsors who opened their hearts for the noble cause of Vision-Aid. God bless the Vision Impaired who will be able to lead dignified lives “

Vice Chair Veena Handa requested the Chief Guests to present Shefali Bakre and Janya Utkarsh with their received the US President’s Gold Volunteer Service Award.

Vision-Aid Advisory Board members Meetu and Ram Gupta recognized several outstanding volunteers as Vision-Aid Ambassadors - Jeyanthi Ghatraju, Vaidehi Moorthy, Viritha Reddy, Sarayu Gadam, Hamsa Shanmugham,  Abbinayya Appusamy,  Anushka Diddee,  Shreeya Gomathinayagam, Ananya Kumar and Sofia Vempala.

Matching grant of $50,000 

One of the highlights of this year’s annual event was the generous matching grant offered by Mukesh and Priti Chatter who offered a matching challenge for event attendees. Every donation made to Vision-Aid between July 31, 2022 and August 7, 2022 will be doubled up to $50,000. The matching campaign is still running and Vision-Aid welcomes donors to take advantage of it. More details can be found here https://indianewengland.com/priti-mukesh-chatter-announce-generous-matching-grant-for-vision-aid-annual-event-with-over-1200-viewers/

Vision-Aid placed the spotlight on several new and exciting projects. One of them is a project being undertaken jointly with the Perkins School for the Blind. The Vision-Aid India and Perkins India teams are working in Agra, UP on the Perkins-led project called Project IDI, to identify children with multiple disabilities and visual impairments (MDVI) so that appropriate interventions could be offered to hundreds of vulnerable MDVI children in the region. A team from Perkins joined the annual event and Paige Klotzman, Program Manager, Perkins India, said “It was truly an honor to have Perkins highlighted so prominently, and to take part in lighting the lamp. In addition to enjoying an astoundingly creative show and tasty Indian food and tea, it was a pleasure to learn about Vision-Aid's impact in different areas, including the AI smart glasses. And wonderful to meet more of the Vision-Aid team and large army of volunteers. It was a beautifully heartfelt keynote from Mukesh and Priti -- which only allowed me to appreciate more the reasons our partnership works so well - Our alignment in taking a holistic approach to improve the lives of people with visual impairment. And a desire for everyone to be treated with humanity.”  

Vision-Aid announced the creation of a new "named center" - "Kamala-Thiruvengada Chari Vision-Aid Resource Center" at Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai, India. This center was dedicated to the loving memory of Mrs. T. Kamala & Mr. R. Thiruvengada Chari by their daughter Dr. Kastoori Iyengar and son-in-law, Dr. Rangaprasad (Ranga) Sarangarajan who live in the Boston area. 

Dr. Kastoori Iyengar said “We want to thank you for a well-planned event yesterday. Our children were amazed about the details of what Vision-Aid does, we are excited to be part of it.”

Vision-Aid also announced the creation of another new "named center" - "Amiya Kumar Ghosh Vision-Aid Resource Center" at Sankara Nethralaya in Kolkata, India, in loving memory of Mr. Amiya Kumar Ghosh of Kolkata, India, by his family here in Kolkata, USA, and Australia. This is supported by the Saxena Family Foundation, USA. 

Dr.(s) Kastoori Iyengar and Rangaprasad (Ranga) Sarangarajan

About the Dance Team

The mastermind behind the show is Mr. Ramachandran Muralidaran, who produced and choreographed the entire event with the able support of his talented wife Chithra Muralidaran and daughter Kavya Muralidaran.

Jeyanthi Ghatraju,  founding Artistic Director for Vision-Aid shows since 2009, who worked closely with Artistic Director Sripriya Natarajan Moorthy worked as Mr. Muralidaran’s two hands in Boston – meticulously helping a team of over 50  dancers from across New England over several months to practice and perform for the show. Other Artistic Directors include Marishakthi Muthuswamy, Aishwarya Chakravarthy, Shruthi Lakshmi Narayan and Chitanya Gopu who made significant contributions.

The dance team was supported by a very dedicated team of videographers Krish Velmurugan of @Krispfotos , Kanth Ghatraju and Maneesh Srivastava. The spectacular visuals and graphics conceived by Mr. Muralidaran, transported viewers across the boundaries of space and time to witness the saga of Kannagi from the 5^th century. The Online Zoom experience was efficiently managed by Sanjay Jain and other Vision-Aid Board members. The in-person opening segment of the Vision-Aid event was live stream to the Zoom audiences by Vision-Aid Board Member, Sanjay Kudrimoti ( @Fotu Duniya – The Picture World)  and Krish Velmurugan of @KrispFotos. Both of them along with Asrah Rizvi (daughter of Vision-Aid Board member and Past President, Mr. Syed Ali Rizvi and Dr. Deeba Hussain), captured beautiful memories for the in-person attendees. Meyyappan Meyyappan of Kolam Media Creations fame, designed the colorful graphics and eye catching brochure. 

Ways You Can Support Vision-Aid

Vision-Aid matching campaign is still running and Vision-Aid welcomes donors to take advantage of it to help Enable, Educate and Empower the visually impaired.  https://visionaid.org/how-your-donation-helps/

|