Following on the heels of previous year’s success, Dáwat 2012 preparation began with a positive vision and an aim to make it yet another impressive event.  For this year’s fundraiser Indian Association of New Hampshire (IANH) teamed up with Udavum Karangal (UK) and New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (NHCADSV) and thus reaching out to a wider group of people in need of that little extra help.

The turnout for Dáwat 2012 on March 31, 2012 at Alpine Grove in Hollis, NH set the ball rolling for a fantastic evening of Music, Dance, Food and of course the big ticket for the night, the Auction!  

IANH President Mr. Prithvi Kumar, welcomed the guests of the evening.  Emcee Jharna Madan with DJ Tej, took the ropes and got the night started.  The performer for the evening Anuradha Palakurthi, is a well-known playback singer in the New England area.  Adept at displaying an extensive repertoire ranging from Carnatic for arangetrams to expressive melodies in many Indian languages, Anuradha did not disappoint as she carried the guests into a world of classics and fast numbers and brought them jiving down on to the dance floor. Sankar Gangaikondan, another accomplished singer, who has performed extensively in the New England area and has sung with many bands, ably joined Anuradha, providing some excellent renditions mesmerizing one and all.

This year for the first time IANH introduced the 10 under 20 Awards, to applaud the contributions of the IANH youth members to the community while maintaining high academic standards and participating in extra-curricular activities. The winners of this year’s award for their exceptional achievements are Aamuktha Porika, Avvinash Radakrishnan, Kasyap Venuthurupalli, Mayank Dubey, Revanth Damerla, Saniya Shah, Sucheta Tamragouri, and Tejas Shroff.  Congratulations to all.

Guests helped themselves to appetizers/dinner, tastefully made by Café India, the caterers for the evening and at the bar, maintaining the ambiance of the evening, creating an opportunity to meet and socialize.  DJ Tej continued rocking one and all offering non-stop foot tapping music and ensuring complete entertainment to every music lover.

Ranjani Saigal with her infectious charm and wit ensured that she got everyone’s attention to the next big part of the evening – Auction time!  With items ranging from jewelry, clothing, gift cards, ipad3, a cricket ball and bat signed by none other than the great master, Sunil Gavaskar himself!!   She tugged every guest’s heart for the right reasons and the right way that many opened up their wallets to put the best bid forward in support of the wonderful charities that joined hands for the evening.

Yet another successful Dáwat event!  Dáwat 2012 raised over $15,000 for all the three charities involved. The fruits of labor are better enjoyed when every individual partakes in such events, comes together as a community and plays ones part to make a life little better in any small way they can.  A very big thank you, from the Dáwat team, to all those who donated their time, efforts as well as goods for auction and were ever so generous with their wallets for making this an exceptional experience.  

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