News India Times
October 9, 2015
10
– that’s all you need to know
Community
Lending Their Voice To Change Children’s Lives
By Ela Dutt
undreds of Indian-
Americans, old and
young, are looking for-
ward to seeing their
singing idols,
Sukhwinder Singh and Kanika
Kapoor, at the gala Oct. 4 in
New Brunswick, New Jersey,
but not just for the entertain-
ment value.
According to organizers at the
U.S. chapter of Share and Care
Foundation, the non-profit that
is involved in numerous educa-
tion projects in India, most of
the 1,800 seats at the State
Theater are sold because peo-
ple want to contribute to a
good cause as they enjoy
choice entertainment.
“The difference between this
and other entertainment is the
focus on “forgotten children”,”
Tejal Parekh, senior operations
manager at SCF told Desi Talk.
“Sukhwinder and Kanika are
lending their voices to change
lives and futures of a new gen-
eration of children” The gala is
geared towards raising money
mainly for SCF’s education
project in 24 villages in
Maharashtra’s interior focused
on children who have dropped
out of school in the 7th Grade.
Parekh said a very large num-
ber in the 1,800-strong audi-
ence expected is Punjabis
because of the entertainers.
Singh is from Amritsar, best
known for his signature num-
ber “Chaiyya Chaiyya”, which
he won the Best Male Playback
Award at the 1999 Filmfare
Awards; and singing “Jai Ho”
from the film Slumdog
Millionaire, for which he won
an Oscar and a Grammy. He
has several other hits and has
also recorded Tamil songs for
music maestro A.R. Rahman.
The younger Kapoor has a
classical music background,
and gained fame after her 2012
music video “Jugni Ji”, featuring
Dr. Zeus; “Baby Doll” in 2014;
and “Lovely” another Dr. Zeus
collaboration; and the 2015
release”Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan,”
to name a few.
“Singh loves kids. He was
invited to the Indian Idol com-
petitions for juniors, and they
all sang his songs to compete,”
Parekh recalls, and on their
tour of the U.S., they have
committed to d this Share and
Care appearance.
H
Amputee Mountain Climber For Women’s Empowerment
By Ela Dutt
I
t takes certain chutzpah to
climb Mount Everest with all
your limbs intact. But
Arunima Sinha has an extra
dose of that courage accom-
plishing the climb with just one
leg. The 29- year old has many
firsts to her name - the world’s
first female amputee to climb
Mount Everest, Mount
Kilimanjaro in
Tanzania, Mount
Elbrus in Russia, and
Mount Kosciusko in
Australia. This
December she sets
out to conquer
Mount Aconcagua in
South America, and
will then tackle
Mount McKinley
(now Mount Denali)
in Alaska.
The recipient of
many awards and
recognition from the govern-
ment of India and elsewhere,
including the Malala Award, she
has authored a book entitled
“Born Again On The Mountain,”
which was launched by India’s
Prime Minister Narendar Modi
Dec. 12 last year.
Sinha, a motivational speak-
er, arrived Sept. 25, and has
been speaking to youth at sever-
al venues in the tristate area
about her experience after she
was thrown off a train in 2011 by
a gang of robbers, losing one leg
and suffering serious bone
injuries all over her body. She
was scheduled to speak also at a
gathering hosted by Share and
Care Foundation, a non-profit
based in Paramus, N.J. Sept. 29.
“As they say, when God closes
one door he opens ten others,”
she told Desi Talk. “I knocked on
those nine doors and one of
them was mountaineering.” She
said Share and Care does good
work with youth and its goal of
building leadership among girls
was a worthy cause she would
like to support.
Dr. Ketki Shah, chair of the
Women Empowerment initia-
tive started last year by SCF, says
Sinha’s inspiring story was
important for the new initiative
to build leadership qualities
among girls and women from
low income and tribal house-
holds.
“She is a living example of
what women can achieve
despite great odds,” Dr. Shah
told Desi Talk. The SCF’sWomen
Empowerment initiative
includes self-defense training,
gender equity and equality
issues, and livelihood projects
involving training of women.
The women’s leadership initia-
tive near Vadodara, Gujarat will
be implemented through a
series of “Dream India” camps.
Several girls will be selected
from low-income and adivasi
areas for a week-long training
for leadership. Those who show
extraordinary promise will then
participate in subsequent
camps with the opportunity to
take up mountaineering. Which
is where Sinha’s inspiration
comes in. A motivational speak-
er, along with her many other
accomplishments, Sinha is
already involved in several ini-
tiatives such as setting up the
Saheed Chandra Shekhar Azad
Viklang Khel Academy and the
Prosthetic Limb Centre Society
in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. She is
a brand ambassador for the
Karnataka Government’s sports
and adventure department, and
for Modi’s Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan’s U.P. chapter.
How TheWest
Was Won
Continued from page 6
“It is believed that the
21st century is India's cen-
tury. I have faith in the
nation because India is
youthful. (Because) 65 per
cent of our population is
under the age of 35,” Modi
said towards the end much
to the jubilation of the
crowd. People stood up
from their seats – threw up
their hands in support and
shouted "Hail to Modi."
Outside the venue the
atmosphere was not as
electrifying.
About 100 pro-Khalistan
protesters, those who were
present, said, had gathered
to decry Modi’s address.
Supporters for the Sikhs
for Justice, with anti-Modi
and anti-India placards
and banners in their hands
stood outside the SAP
Center where Modi paid
compliments to Martyr
Bhagat Singh who fought
against the British. Those
words perhaps did not
reach the ears of the pro-
testers. Many of them dis-
played posters of Khalistan
that read ‘India Go out of
Khalistan.” The organizers
hired a helicopter to fly
one of such protest ban-
ners.
The Alliance for Justice
and Accountability, a
group opposed to Modi,
said its demonstration was
attended by around 3,000
protesters, according to
police estimates.
Describing itself as a "large
progressive umbrella
group," the AJA said sever-
al lawmakers had not
attended the event, includ-
ing Rep. Zoe Lufgren, and
that Rep. Mike Honda, and
candidate for Congress Ro
Khanna had issued state-
ments on the event.
Modi’s meeting was
attended by a host of U.S.
lawmakers, including Rep.
Tulsi Gabbard from
Hawaii, the first Hindu to
be in the U.S. Congress.
