"A developed India makes a strong India!" – This was the sentiment expressed at the Republic day celebration held on January 26, 2003 at Tufts University in Medford. The Indian Society at Tufts (ISAT) and the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) came together to organize the celebration of the 53rd anniversary of the Republic Day of India. The program commenced with the beautiful rendition of the national anthem of America and India by a group of young children. Mr. Apparao from the IDRF talked about the welfare work done by IDRF in India. Some of the other speakers were: Prof. Saigal who heads the mechanical engineering department at Tufts University, Mrs. Ranjini Saigal the co-founder of Lokvani, and the ISAT president Lakshmi Subramanian.

The chief guest of this function was Mr. Upendra Mishra, publisher of the ‘India-New England News’. Mr. Mishra gave out prizes to the winners of the IDRF essay contest on this occasion. The award winners included: Lekha Nair and Sanchay Jain from the elementary school category, Sai Niranjan Tenneti, Swati Rathore, and Yeshaswini Mohan from the middle school category, Sukanya Basu, Sudipta Veeramachaneni, and Alok Dobriyal from the college category. The award winners talked about their essay briefly.

The IDRF is an organization that aims to serve the economically and socially disadvantaged people in India. The Indian Society at Tufts is a graduate student organization at Tufts University.

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