Saheli held its second annual fundraiser at the Westin Hotel in Waltham on Sunday Oct. 2. The event was a glitzy glamorous affair.   The theme was evening was “Bollywood” and guests were encouraged to dress like their favorite Bollywood star. A red carpet was laid out upfront to welcome the guests and guests could register to be part of the costume contest.

The event opened with a welcome by the Co-Chairs for the fundraising event Niru Bhatia and Sweta  Mepani.  They gave a brief description of Saheli’s activities and talked about how the funds raised from the previous year were used.  Saheli has been doing phenomenal work for many years and the point was driven home squarely when a domestic violence survivor took the stand to tell her survival story and how Saheli helped her get back on her feet. “I had an MBA degree in India and was in a well paying job. I came to America after my marriage leaving all that behind and ended up with an abuser.   When I was thrown out on the street by abuser, I did not know what to do. I called the consulate in New York and they fortunately put me in touch with Saheli. They helped me get back on my feet.  They worked with ATASK to find me transitional housing.  Today I am proud to say that I am enrolled in school at Harvard and hope to be able to stand on my own soon”

A pledge drive hosted by Ranjani Saigal followed.  Ranjani exhorted the guests to consider Saheli as an investment rather than a charitable donation for often the victim is someone who may in your neighborhood.   The central act for the evening was a wonderful comedy show by Rajiv Satyal, a professional comedian who kept the audience entertained with his colorful, intelligent and often insightful jokes based on South Asian stereotype. 

Following the dinner, a silent auction conducted by Anjali Wali  and Raffle drawings helped support Saheli programs.  Another entertaining feature  of the evening was the costume competition. Lekha Autkar a “Sandya” look alike  had a well deserved win with her very creative costume while the couple winner were Dr. Seema Arora and her husband for their "Saira Bhanu Manoj Kumar"  look alike feel from Purab aur Pashchim. Dr. Seema Arora even wore a blond wig and carried an unlit cigarette to be as authentic as possible.

The best dresser of the evening for the evening was Devchandbhai Furia who looked an exact replica of Gandhi in his costume. He even copied the mannerism and in fact stayed in character for the entire evening. Chairs Niru Bhatia, and Sweta Mepani and team members Niloufer Moochala, Ranjani Saigal, Rita Shah, Pooja Oak, Shailesh Kumar, Manju Sheth, Nivedita Mehra, Eshani Shah, Seema Shenoy, Reshma Soni, Usha Vakil, Anjali Wali and Rekha Singh were delighted that their efforts help raise nearly 20k for a very worthy cause.

To learn more about Saheli and how you can contribute please check their website at  http://saheliboston.org.

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