Pratham Boston Gala 2010 - a memorable evening celebrating children’s education with Anupam Kher

A world famous Bollywood actor, renowned activists, professors, doctors, students, and professionals from all walks of life came together on September 25, 2010 for the third annual Pratham Boston Gala at the Marriott hotel in Cambridge. Over 200 guests came together to support a cause very close to all our hearts – education and empowerment of underprivileged children in India.

Established in 1994, Pratham is the largest NGO working to provide quality education to the underprivileged children of India. Pratham has reached over 30 million children across over 21 Indian states.  Pratham’s most recent accolades include winning the CNN-IBM Indian of the Year award, Henry R Kravis Prize in Leadership, and Indian Express Innovation Award. Pratham Boston is a part of Pratham USA with a mission to raise awareness about the problem of illiteracy in India and also to raise funds to help achieve Pratham’s goal of “Every Child in School and Learning Well”.

Anupam Kher, one of the greatest actors of contemporary Indian cinema and recipient of the Padma Shri Award, who is also the Goodwill Ambassador for Pratham Education Foundation, spoke at the event. "I have always been drawn to the cause of children's education. By becoming Pratham's public face, I hope to augment in its fund raising, capacity enhancement and other initiatives dedicated to the cause of children's education," said Mr. Kher. He shared inspiring stories of his early struggles and perseverance and how he never stopped dreaming.  He exhorted everyone to “Dream! My friends, Dream!” inspiring everyone present to believe in and work towards Pratham’s mission and dream of “Every Child in School and Learning Well”.

Dr. Madhav Chavan, co-founder and CEO of Pratham, shared perspectives from the ground as a keynote speaker.  Dr. Chavan described the challenges he faces as he collaborates with the government to educate underprivileged children. He elaborated on how the economic growth in India is not sustainable if the education doesn't reach the millions of children in rural and urban areas. In his motivating and inspiring speech, Dr. Chavan said that "Mahatma Gandhi walked for 23 days and picked up a fist of salt. This changed the history of India. You don't need to walk now. If you just pick up a book and help a child with it, the history of India will change again". He emphasized the support provided to Pratham by hundreds and thousands of volunteers. He called to the stage and recognized eight rising stars of Pratham, who had made an impact through their work in Pratham India and were now in the Boston area. These included Pushkar, Deepak, Vidur, Marc , Ron, Shriram, Rusik, and Sukhmani. Boston is proud to have these young leaders as a part of our community.

The evening was kicked off by the Boston chapter President, Vikas Taneja, who introduced the transformational power of Pratham as he had seen from his own eyes. Recalling a recent visit to the Pratham Council for Vulnerable Children in Mumbai, Mr. Taneja shared how children who used to live a life of hard labor and homelessness had found new hope and happiness at Pratham.  “Child by child, teacher by teacher, village by village, Pratham is making change happen,” he said.

Recognizing milestones closer to home, Professor Srikant Datar, a professor of Accounting at Harvard University, was a special honoree. He oversaw the launch of a Harvard Business School case on Pratham, a case highlighting the successes of Pratham as well as the challenges it had moving forward. Professor Datar shared the touching story of how the HBS Pratham case made a deep impact on his students and many continue to find creative ways to give to Pratham.

Supporting the event, the corporate sponsors were EMC, Boston Consulting Group, English Helper, Marriott and Bollywood Grill.  A Pledge Drive was held to raise funds for Pratham, in which audience generously contributed. Three anonymous patrons matched the donations made during the Pledge Drive, quadrupling the impact of the donations. A silent auction was also held, offering unique items donated by businesses, volunteers and artists supporting Pratham.

The event was a wonderful showcase highlighting Pratham’s wide ranging efforts to bring literacy to millions of children all over India.  The event also underscored the tremendous support in the Boston community to further the cause of literacy around the world.

If you would like to be a member of Pratham family, check out http://www.prathamusa.org/dnn/Chapters/Boston/tabid/62/Default.aspx

Together, let’s build a more literate India and empower the dreams of the children who are the future of India.

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