Awards given at Raksha’s “old school Bollywood style” fundraiser
Community Change Award winner, Dr. Sujatha Reddy, with Vijaya Bakshi and Aparna Bhattacharyya.
(Photography by Vinod)
On November 3, 2011, close to 300 community members joined Atlanta-based community organization Raksha as they held their 14th annual fundraiser Ek Shaam Raksha Ke Naam, An Evening in the Name of Raksha (protection). Seasons Event Center in Patel Plaza was the scene of a silent auction, dinner, entertainment, and dancing.
Shayl Patel and Kishan Bhut, as emcees, made a grand entrance and enthralled the guests with their fresh energy and comedic performances. Raksha debuted a Public Service Announcement that was directed by Aqsa Zareen Farooqui and produced by Darija Pichanak. The show began with the beautiful talent and voices of Lamhe, Georgia State's a capella group, followed by a lovely dance performance by Divya Srivastava of Geet-Rung School of Dance.
Himmat Award winner, Deputy Sheriff, Lt. Jeremy Brown.
Aparna Bhattacharyya, Raksha's Executive Director, began with an audio of a client reading one of her poems about her experience with the court systems. Then Aparna introduced Deputy Sheriff, Lt. Jeremy Brown, winner of the 2nd annual Himmat Award for his work with Raksha's clients as well as all survivors of domestic and sexual violence in Gwinnett County. Aparna and Vijaya Bakshi introduced the winner of the Ramesh and Vijaya Bakshi Community Change Award, Dr. Sujatha Reddy for her tireless work to ensure access to health care and medical clinics in the South Asian community. Dr. Reddy spoke about how important and difficult Raksha's work is. She talked about her own experience helping survivors of domestic violence and stated she would always be there to help Raksha.
The second half of the evening featured dance by Geet-Rung and Bollywood classics sung by Rekha Pallath, Sunny Sachdeva, Rafiq Batcha, and Deepa Patel. The emcees joined in with Rafiq for an impromptu performance Gangnam style, and everyone danced the night away with DJ Jaz.
Website Bonus Feature
Link:
Poem, "The Noble Path" by Prof. Bellamkonda K. Kishore about Dr. Sujatha Reddy
http://www.atlantadunia.com/dunia/Features/F172.htm
Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.
