Indian Association of New Hampshire (IANH) celebrated the spirit of giving at its Dawat 2013 event on Saturday, March 30, 2013.  Suitably blessed with a great weather and a perfect venue, Alpine Grove in Hollis, NH, started to fill with wonderful people with a similar passion, who joined hands to help those less privileged.  This year’s beneficiaries of the fundraising were Nashua Children’s Home, Udavum Karangal and a multitude of IANH community services such as the Manchester & Nashua Soup Kitchens.

In an elegantly decorated hall at the venue, the evening started with people socializing and meeting up with their fellow community members over some finger-licking-good appetizers.  The event was graced with scintillating performances by top-notch New England singers Anuradha Palakurthi, Mohan Subramaniam, Valentino Almeida and Ujjwal Parikh that set the tone for the evening.  Soulful melodies of yore mixed with foot tapping dance numbers enticed the guests to get on their feet and show off their dancing skills.  

Adding variety to the evening’s agenda, Durgesh Vaidya, a known mimicry artist from the region, provided the fodder for laughter.  Shivani Shrivastava, a dancer par excellence, danced beautifully to some great bollywood tunes.  A very special thanks to all talented artists who took time out of their busy schedules and came to grace our occasion.

The dinner was an elaborate spread of vegetarian and non-vegetarian ‘tava’ dishes, accompanied by mouth watering desserts.  The guests enjoyed a leisurely dinner in the company of their friends and well-wishers.

Auction of various items, generously donated by community members, was yet another exciting time for all.  Ranjani Saigal with her presence and charm worked wonders.  It was indeed quite remarkable how gracefully Ranjani motivated and encouraged the audience to open up their hearts and of course their wallets to support such good cause.    

Everyone at Dawat Team wishes to sincerely thank each and every one who took part in our event. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their time, support and energy and being there for us as ever.

The evening also gave away IANH Service Awards to the young members of the community in recognition of the contributions made by these members by volunteering at IANH activities and community service activities.  The award program is intended to motivate youth members to volunteer in various community service activities.  

Last but not the least, a big thank you to all the volunteers, the entire team at Alpine Grove and Cafe India and events’ photographer Deepa Jacob, for their exceptional service throughout the evening.

In the end, it was a wonderful evening, with generous artists and guests who made a positive impact and helped make "Dawat 2013" fundraiser truly the most pleasant and successful one.  We raised over USD 14,000.  It gives us an opportunity to help in a small way, those less privileged.  We, at IANH, continue our work to support such causes in the community.

Thank you!

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