(About Ekal Vidayalaya

Click to see a video about this movement

Ekal movement aims to help eradicate illiteracy from rural & tribal India by 2011. The Ekal Foundation is the biggest non-governmental education movement in the world and has now reached all states in India.  At present, with the help of over 23,189 teachers, 5,000 volunteers, 20 field organizations Ekal Vidyalaya movement strives to create a network of non-formal  schools that will not only provide basic education but also provide health care, village development & empower education.  For further information or any concerns you may have please contact Ram Nehra, VP New England area, at 401 848 2024. Last year Ram Nehra raised over 132,000$. More information at http://www.ekalindia.org )



On the evening of 22nd September, more than 1000 people gathered at the Natick High School to witness and participate in the Saptaswar Interactive Musical Night.

This was an event of live music and dances by more than 300 artists/stage performers and was arranged by Saptaswar - our most popular New England music group, along with well-liked dance groups from the New England area.

On-stage audiovisual displays coordinated by Tej Singh & group (Video, Light and Sound Moderator) were projected simultaneously on 5 drop-down screens that were well placed within the auditorium, providing the audience a colorful and psychedelic ambience.

Bright, ethnic, high-fashion costumes with very innovative choreography were the other highlights of the evening. The recreation of Mughal E Azam settings on stage, the colorfully decorated auditorium and the lobby areas were the work of Shobha Shashtry (AlankarDecors). And the coordinated display of movie clips by Dr. Anil Chawla that accompanied some songs being performed made the entire event perfectly “bollywoodish’.

The large scale of the program was made possible by the generous sponsorships of many individuals, and such sponsorships also allowed for the release of a colorful descriptive event brochure & purchase of ultra-modern gadgets. Charitable donations from Hemant Gupta and Arun Agrawal helped acquire specialized light & sound system for the event.

The Saptaswar Interactive Musical Night was held to raise funds for the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, an organization that endeavors to create a network of non-formal one-teacher schools (Ekal Vidyalayas) to eradicate illiteracy and educate and empower children in rural and tribal India, thus helping children from the poorest and disenfranchised population of India. Cost of adopting each Ekal school is a dollar-a-day or $365 a year, which helps support a single teacher instructing 30 children.

The music group Saptaswar, managed by Dr. Mohan Somasundaran, set the pace for the evening and performed in two segments. The performing group comprised of Christy Mathew on keyboard, Hiral Parikh on drums, Raj Alur on guitar, Roshan Alur on the saxophone, and vocalists Sudha (Lakshmi) Rao, Raghu Saranathan, Vinay Mishra, Rahul Bharadwaj, Shikha Vajpayee and Sailashri Parthasarathy. With each performance, they had the audience enthralled and joining in as they presented some ever-green old and new bollywood numbers. Christy Mathew's innovative remix version of the popular sixties seductive number 'Roop Tera Mastana' not only surprised and fascinated the audience but had them singing along as well.

Bharati and Mitali Biswas’ group opened the dance segment with Om Nama Shivaya (Banaras) and danced to live music by the Saptaswar group for songs reputed for their heavy orchestra element like Woh Kisna Hai (Kisna) and Mitwa (Lagaan).

Jasmine Shah’s ‘Aangikam Dance Academy’ performed Barson re Megha (Guru), Rangde (Thakshak), O Sikandar (Corporate) and Mangalam Ganesham (Dev).

Swati Mukherji and Sunita Malhotra (Indian Association of Merrimack Valley) presented dances from Mughal E Azam (Pyar kiya to darna), Dil hi to hai (Laaga chunari mein daag) and Shri 420 (Ramayya Vastavayya); and a fashion show through music and enactment of Bollywood heroes & heroines taking us from the golden years of black-and-white cinema to the hip-hop beats of today.

LEHEREIN – a group of choreographers that support noble causes, brought the stage to life with nearly 60 dancers who seamlessly shuffled through a medley of songs depicting the journey of Bollywood times form the early fifties to its current days.

Darshana Jani’s ‘The Performing Arts of New England’ showcased younger artists dancing to yet another medley of more recent blockbuster hits.

The audience was also uplifted by the immense energy of Bhangra dance & music that was performed by two groups. Reshma Singh’s ‘Bhangra Beats’ had many adorable children dancing with vigor to bhangra hits from old and new films.

Rohit and Priya Bhambi’s ‘Boston Bhangra’ item was an interactive one, with the audience participating with great enthusiasm as Rohit skillfully involved and guided them through the various Bhangra vocals and moves.


And under the able hands of the emcee, Swathi Subramanian, this program of interactive dance & music was perfectly knit together while keeping the audience drawn in.

A large group of dedicated volunteers (Amit Roy, Nikki Khatra, Ruchi Munshi, Sadhna Gupta, Vaibhav Dabade, Bikash Verma, Dilip Verma, Sukumari Mohan, Rishi Kapoor, Vishvajit Puri, Himani Chawla and others) along with few Natick High School staff & students ensured that there were no hiccups and glitches with any segment of the program.

Good, sumptuous food, catered by Gourmet India was served under canopies.

The success of the program was seen as the audience continued to cheer all through the evening while simultaneously reeling in sponsorships for Ekal Vidyalaya schools. An astounding 110 EKAL schools were sponsored by truly altruistic members of the audience, bringing the collection to over $40,000 by the end of the night. This was an enormous achievement which was also largely in part due to the extremely benevolent & philanthropic hand of Smt. (Dr.) Savitri & Shri. Prabhu Hingorani of Massachusetts who unwaveringly matched every school sponsored during the program.

The Interactive Musical Night by Saptaswar under the dedicated & sound leadership of Dr. Anil Chawla & Dr. Mohan Somasundaran, provided a memorable and unique experience for New Englanders. And the coming together of this group has helped in funding education for over 3500 tribal children in India, a success that is gladly shared & celebrated by all who participated in this event.


For further information on EKAL or SAPTASWAR please visit www.ekalindia.org and www.saptaswar.org

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