Akshaya Patra Foundation of USA held a fundraising concert featuring a fabulous New England Music group Saptaswar on May 20, 2007 at the Keefe Technical High School in Framingham, MA.  The event raised over 5000 dollars that will help provide midday meals to children in India.

The group features some of the finest talents in the New England area. Whether it is greatest hits of this century like Kajra re or the melodious numbers from the 60s the singers were able to recreate the magic of Bollywood and Kollywood right in New England.  Mohan Somasundaram  who put this group together is a faculty at the UMASS Medical School in Worcester. Mohan’s passion for Indian Classical and Contemporary music was  responsible for his bringing together very talented musicians from within the Indian community of New England area under the “Saptaswar: Music Group with a Cause” banner – musicians who have the passion for music and who are serious about performing as a group.  Since then, Saptaswar has been performing Bollywood songs, South Indian Film songs, and creative musical numbers in public and private venues in Central Massachusetts. 

The lead female vocalist Sudha (lakshmi) Rao was in great form and presentation many of the famous hits from the past and present including Vasikara, Babuji Dheere Chalna, Kajara Re and others. The lead male vocalist Raghu Saranathan also superbly rendered many a fine hits including Yeh Ratein Yeh Mausam and others. The other vocalists Vinay Mishra,  Rahul Bharadwaj, Shailashree, Shikha  and Kriti  along with Sudha and Raghu presented a wide range of super hit songs including Adnan Sami’s Kabhi Nahi, Yeh Mera Dil (Don), Kaike Pan Banaras Wala(Don),Chand Sifarish(Fanaa), Pal Pal Har Pal (Munnabhai), Kaise Paheli hai (Parineeta), Pehla Nasho (Jo Jeeta Woh Sikhandar), Yah Ali (Gangster), Chinna Chinna Asai (Roja), Roop Tera Mastana (Aradhana) , Dam Maro Dam (Hare Rama Hare Krishna), Rang De Basanti (Daler Mehendi). The grand finale was a medley of all time favorites including Mera Nam Ching Ching Chu, Ina Mina Dika, Piya Tu, Ramaiyaa Vastavaiya and Ai Meri Zohrajabi.

The presentation owed a lot to the amazing instrumentalists who accompanied the group including Harshal Tole on the Tabla, Christie Matthew on the Keyboard, Hiral Parikh on the drums , Raj Alur on the Guitar, Roshan Alur on the saxophone.  Swathi Subramanium served as  MCee for the show.
“It was very gratifying to hear all the wonderful compliments on the show” said Anu Chitrapu who conceptualized the event. She along with other volunteers Saloni Fadia, Anil Saigal and others did a fabulous job of putting together a very professional event.

Shikha Bhatnagar, the executive director for Akshaya Patra USA introduced the organization. The Akshaya Patra Foundation currently provides 5,69,895 hygienic and nutritious meals to underprivileged school children everyday across ten locations in India. The Akshaya Patra Foundation functions on a model of public-private partnership where the Central Government, State Governments and Corporate have come together with Akshaya Patra to support the Mid Day Meal (MDM) program. Akshaya Patra is supported by the Deshpande Foundation. To learn more about the foundation or to donate to this cause please check out their website at http://www.akshayapatra.org/.

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