Vision-Aid’s “The Dance’s Pledge” rocks New England while celebrating 20 years of service to 100,000+ visually impaired

On Sunday July 21^st, 2024, Vision-Aid, a non-profit organization based in Lexington, MA, celebrated its 20th anniversary. The event combined dazzling entertainment with heartfelt stories of success, emphasizing the importance of enabling, educating, and empowering the visually impaired to live independent and fulfilling lives.

The highlight of the celebration was the signature Broadway-like production, “The Dancer’s Pledge,” which captivated the audience and received a standing ovation. The production, a testament to the genius of acclaimed producer, composer, and choreographer Kalaimamani Madurai R. Muralidaran, featured 50 volunteer performers who executed a flawless and expressive Bharatanatyam performance. Artistic directors Jeyanthi Ghatraju and Sripriya Natarajan Moorthy collaborated closely with Muralidaran and his daughter, the accomplished dancer Kavya Muralidaran, to deliver an unforgettable show that showcased the beauty of ancient Indian classical dance.

The event opened at 4PM on schedule and Volunteer President Lalit Sudan warmly welcomed sponsors, donors, volunteers, and guests. He highlighted Vision-Aid’s accomplishments over the past two decades and shared the organization's ambitious goals for the next three years. Vision-Aid aims to help an additional 100,000 visually impaired individuals in India, over the next 3 years, with a focus on services for children with Cortical/Cerebral Impairment (CVI), affordable AI-based Smart Vision Glasses, and expanded educational initiatives.

Chief Guests Dr. Kedar and Renu Gupta

The audience was inspired by the keynote address from Chief Guests Dr. Kedar and Renu Gupta, introduced by Vice Chair Veena Handa. The Guptas, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and authors of "Carving My Destiny," emphasized the critical importance of empowering the visually impaired to become independent and productive members of their communities. They praised Vision-Aid’s work, drawing parallels to their own success in the solar energy industry.

Community Support and Testimonials

The celebration featured a video from India New England News Mishra Group, showcasing testimonials from prominent members of the Boston community who praised Vision-Aid’s transformative impact on the lives of the visually impaired in India. Founders Ramakrishna Raju and Revathy Ramakrishna shared Vision-Aid’s 20-year journey from a single room in Ram’s father’s house in Vizag to serving individuals in 47 locations across India through partnerships with leading eye hospitals and institutions.

Honoring Leaders and Volunteers

Chairman Emeritus Puran Dang, Vice Chair Veena Handa, and the founders, honored past and current Volunteer Presidents Paramesh Garimella, Anu Chitrapu and Syed Ali Rizvi, for their dedication and contributions to Vision-Aid’s success. The current President, Lalit Sudan, was recognized for his leadership over the past three years.

Triple Impact Matching Grant

Vice Chair Veena Handa announced two powerful matching grant programs at the event. Donations of $200 towards Smart Phones were matched up to $25,000 by the Guptas and the Trees For Life Foundation, effectively tripling the impact of each donation.

Recognition of Youth

The Presidential Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) was presented to six youth ambassadors for their outstanding contributions to fundraising, creativity, and network-building. Congratulations to Amal Balachundhar, Shreya Kalavur, Dyuthi Prashanth, Siddhi Talekar, Prisha Mishra, and Amisha Arora.

Vision-Aid Ambassador medals were awarded to youth for their distinguished contributions to the Vision-Aid 2024 event , socializing the cause of the visually impaired in the New England community and their fund-raising efforts. Congratulations to Varaliika Satheesh, Sarayu Gadam, Charvi Veeramachineni, Prakshita Rajasekharan, Shlok Kudrimoti, Priyanka Joshi, Roopa Modha apart from Jeyanthi Ghatraju who continues to remain the biggest ambassador of the cause.

Event Logistics and Community Engagement

The success of the event was supported by over 50 enthusiastic and professional volunteers who assisted with logistics, seating, and capturing memorable moments. Their efforts, combined with months of planning and rehearsals, resulted in a celebration worthy of Vision-Aid’s 20th anniversary.

Testimonials from the Community

Several prominent community members shared their heartfelt testimonials, expressing their belief in Vision-Aid’s mission and their satisfaction with the impact of their donations.

The Dance Team

Shri Muralidaran was assisted in his choreography by his wife Smt. Chithra Muralidharan & daughter Kavya Muralidharan. The global premiere of the show materialized in New England with two leading Artistic Directors who were the driving forces for the show this year. Jeyanthi Ghatraju, the founding Artistic Director for Vision-Aid events since 2009, worked closely with Sripriya Natarajan Moorthy to forge a team of over 50 talented dancers from across New England.

They were ably supported by Senior Dance Teachers and Mentors – Roopa Modha, Priyanka Joshi, Kalaimangai Anbalgan and Shilpa Bhaskar Aravind

The dancers and performers in the show included –

The other performers in the production include

Senior dancers: Shwetha Choudhary, Hema Gopalan, Danush Datthathireyan, Manuel Jenkin Jerome, Priyanka Joshi, Shruti Kulkarni, Roopa Modha, Shruthi Lakshmi Narayan, Pawanahamsa Shetty, Abinaya Shine, Aruna Patibandla, Archana Menon, Anusha Yedla, Viswapriya Soundhara Rajan  

Ensemble Group A dancers:

Aarya Atale, Sarayu Gadam, Akshadha Ghantasala, Harini Jeyaraman, Kavya Krishnan, Archana Menon, Vaidehi Moorthy, Aditi Nair, Avantika Nair, Aruna Patibandla, Praksitha Rajasekaran, Varaliikaa Satheesh, Priscilla Srikanth, Sheethal Udupa, Charvi Veeramachaneni, Megha Veeramachaneni and Chetana Yella 

Ensemble Group B dancers:

Vanshika Kukunoor, Aarna Mahadevan, Akshaya Mavalur, Naomi Varughese 

Ensemble Group C dancers:

Aretha Aravind, Akshita Koganti, Maedha Naluvala, Sakthi Adhira Panchabakesan, Jhanavi Rajesh, Dhruv Koganti,

Monish Potturu, Dhanvin Yella, Subramaniam Moorthy (Subi Moorthy)

Vision-Aid thanks the enablers of the dance production –

Props by: Sreeja Pillai, Anuradha Gadepalli , Selvi Kasilingam, Sahana Udupa, Saritha Tummalapalli, Sunitha Rayanki,

Manuel Jenkin Jerome, Sripriya Balasubramanian, Sunitha Krishnapillai, Meena Shanmugam, Priya Vasudevan &  
Padmapriya Gurusamy

English narration, dialogs and subtitles: Vaidehi Moorthy & Sripriya Natarajan Moorthy

English dialogs performed by: Vijay Moorthy, Syed Ali Rizvi

Stage managers: Kalpana Balachundar, Viswapriya Soundararajan, Kavitha Sivasailam

Lighting: Raajan Narayanan, Shilpa Narayanan and Mark of NE Stageworks

Photography By: Krish Velmurugan of @KrispFotos, Sanjay Kudrimoti, Vasudha Kudrimoti and Shlok Kudrimoti of Fotu Duniya – The Picture World and Veerappan VS of VSSP Photography

Videography By: Fotu Duniya – The Picture World

Brochure Design By: Meyyappan Meyyappan of Kolam Media Creations

The Vision-Aid Volunteer team:

The tireless volunteer team at the event included Syed Ali Rizvi, Sunitha Mosurkal, Rohan Rastogi, Ujwala Phene, Vijaya Nelavelli, Aparna Raghuram, Srivatsan Sathyamoorthy, Swathi Raghuraman, Sujaa Raghunath, Sushma Sriram, Sriram, Reena Dass, Shilpa Atnoor, Deven Atnoor, Mayuri Shah, Itesh Shah, Sudhir Varma, Vimal Mannava, Neeta Agarwal, Ravi Rastogi, Kanth Ghatraju, Dr. Loubaina Buxamusa, Sonal Bakre, Shashank Bakre, Kanth Ghatraju, Vijay Moorthy, Hiral Desai Wakhlu, Ronak Wakhlu, Ishani Wakhlu, Dev, Rekha Palriwala, Herb Hickey

The Vision-Aid leadership team includes –

Board of Advisors

Puran Dang, Chairman Emeritus, Veena Handa, Vice-Chair, Ram Gupta, Ashok Khanna, Cynthia Asmus, Dr. Loubaina Buxamusa, Dr. Yogeshwar Dayal, Dr. Neelam Sihag, Dr. Deeba Husain, Vijay Narang, Dr. Suraja Menon Roychowdhury, Dr. Sabera Shah, Dr. Nilesh Sheth, Dr. Santosh Vempala, Dr. Bharti Gangwani

Board of Directors

Lalit Sudan, President, Ramakrishna (Ram) Raju, Founder & Executive Director, Revathy Ramakrishna, Co-Founder & Vice President, Sudhir Varma, Treasurer, Ujwala Phene, Assistant Treasurer,

Syed Ali Rizvi, Past President, Sonal Bakre, Dr. Arathy Kartha, Dr. Sanjay Kudrimoti, Dr. Aparna Raghuram, Dr. Ramkumar Ramamirtham, Ravi Rastogi, Dr. Sundar Subramanyam, Dr. Jaya Vatsyayan, Hiral Desai Wakhlu

Council of Ambassadors

Jeyanthi Ghatraju, Sandhya Subramaniam, Sailaja , Revathi Pillai, Dr. Monika Manocha Wadhwa, Dr. Vivek Badami

|