ISW mourns the passing of Shobha Shastry, a staunch ISW supporter and life member, who touched people far and wide with her selfless service to the community. We will miss her vivacious personality and generous spirit. Om Shanti. A compilation of memories of Shobha from the ISW community in celebration of her life is on the ISW Website. 

ISW will be holding a celebration of Shobha's life on April 8th from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at the ISW India Center. More info and registration on the ISW Website.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Shobha for the education of Shobha's granddaughter Suhana Sundari Sullivan may be made to a college fund set up in her name. Please mail checks to:

Kasi Viswanathan
Account owner FBO Sahana Shastry
The Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan 
C/O 44 Carriage Hill Rd, Northborough, MA 01532

Thank You.  Any questions please contact president@iswonline.org

Shobha Shastry

Shobha Shastry was born in Mosur, Chennai to CM Krishna Shastri and Shivagami Sundari Iyer. She is survived by her father CM Krishan Shastri, Daughter Shyla Shastry, Grand-daughter Sahana Sullivan, Brother Ravi Shastri, Sister-in-law Malathi Shastri, Nephew and Niece Mahadev and Revathi Shastri respectively. She is predeceased by her husband Sharad Y. Shastri and her mother Sundari Shastri. She passed away peacefully on March 23, 2022 in Marlborough, MA.

Shobha’s childhood and youth were highlighted by enjoying life and laughing with friends - charming others with her strong, loving personality. She was an artistic savant, specifically in painting and

drawing. Her creative genius also manifested itself in the theater, as she cultivated and honed her acting skills, displaying her adept ability to capture an audience and win others over.

At the age of 19, she was engaged to Sharad Y. Shastry of Vellore. Shobha moved to the United States and married Sharad in Westborough, Massachusetts when she was 24. Shobha and Sharad were married for 25 amazing years until his untimely passing.

Shobha had numerous achievements but, most notably, was the founder and CEO of Alankar Event Planners and Decorators, providing wedding services, decorations and mandaps in New England for 25 years and helping thousands of couples get married. She was one of the first female Indian American entrepreneurs in New England and was known for her gold-star service, always fulfilling her commitments to her clients. In addition, she was a part of many other non-profit organizations such as the Indian Society of Worcester and Tamil Sangam.

The spirit of Shobha could be described in many ways. She was an inspiration to all with her generosity and her ability to accept everyone as if they were her own. Shobha was a carefree, fun-loving, selfless, larger-than-life character whose devotion towards others was boundless. The happiness she brought to everyone was unparalleled and her presence alone could light up an entire room.

Her wake will be held at Rice Funeral home located on 300 Park Avenue, Worcester, MA on Sunday, March 27th, 2022 from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The family will be holding the funeral as a private ceremony. They respectfully ask those who would like to pay their respects to attend the wake. In lieu of flowers, if you would like to make any contributions in Shobha’s memory to her granddaughter’s college fund, please contact her brother, Ravi Shastri, or Kasi Viswanathan.

ISW WEW: The Next Generation Speaks: What drives them, motivates them, and keeps them going!
By Kalyani Kanuri

As part of ISW’s ongoing series of Women Empowering Women (WEW) panel discussions, this month’s event featured an impressive panel of young women. Held on March 5^th via a Zoom session, these young women of South Asian heritage offered unique perspectives and valuable insights on how they decided on a career path, what motivates them, and what keeps them motivated. The program was kicked off by Snehalata Kadam, chair of WEW who gave an overview of WEW’s core mission and the importance of learning from these young talented women. This discussion is aimed at helping students in making educational and occupational choices based on the experiences of the panelists.  The impressive panel consisted of Amee Desai, Gayathri Nandyalam, Kavya Ragunathan, Rhea Vyas, Sneha Hingorani, and Shubh Agrawal.

Kavya completed her undergraduate studies at Boston University and worked for a few years at the Broad Institute where she realized her love for research.  She is a first-year doctoral student at Duke University studying developmental and stem-cell Biology.  She moderated the event and asked the panel thought provoking questions while also providing her insights. Throughout her childhood, Kavya wanted to pursue a career either in PR or communications. But when she listened to a lecture on neuroscience in college, she fell in love with it and that got her thinking about a career in science. Kavya provided wonderful recommendations on career choices and talked about the importance of personal wellbeing. She is a huge believer in the importance of carving out personal time which is as essential as eating and sleeping

Amee, recently finished her master’s in health care administration at the University of Connecticut and has been working as a Team Lead at Definitive Healthcare for the past two years. She always knew that she wanted to pursue a career in healthcare although she was not sure if she wanted to focus on the administrative or clinical side. Amee credits the wide range of classes offered at UConn for helping her decide to focus on the administration side of healthcare. Amee encourages students to be open minded and take a variety of classes before deciding on a major.

Gayathri is a senior at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), studying Computer science and is interning at Microsoft this summer before returning to Georgia Tech for her master’s in computer science. Growing up she wanted to study medicine and become a either a neurologist or a cardiologist. She participated in a lot of premedical programs but in her freshman year at college she had a change of heart after taking classes in computer science, entrepreneurship, and leadership. She has found a common connection between her two passions of medicine and computers and would love to utilize her computer skills to make an impact in the medical field. She encourages students to be open minded and explore various courses before deciding on a career path.

Rhea teaches first grade while also pursuing her Master’s in Moderate Disabilities at Worcester State University. From a young age, Rhea knew that she wanted to make an impact on our youth and pursue a career in teaching. Growing up she felt the pressure from the South Asian community to become either a doctor or engineer. With the encouragement and support of her parents, she overcame these pressures and followed her passion and became an elementary school teacher. Rhea has a special interest in urban education which stemmed from growing up in New York City. She encourages students to follow their interests and not to compare with their peers.

Sneha is a third-year medical student at Drexel university’s College of Medicine in Philadelphia. Throughout her undergraduate years, she explored options such as physical therapy, Physician assistant but eventually decided to pursue a career in practicing medicine. She worked in a clinical setting during her gap year between her undergraduate studies and medical school. She felt that that time away from school helped her develop immensely both on a professional and personal level. She feels that it was one of the best decisions of her life.

Shubh worked as a high school counsellor for a few years before deciding to pursue a degree in clinical psychology. She received her bachelors from Brown University in Health and Human Biology and is currently pursuing her doctoral Studies at William James College. Her long-term goal is to help the South Asian community as she feels that there is a dearth of Clinical psychologists focusing on the unique challenges of our community. She also emphasized the importance of selfcare and the need to prioritize health and wellness especially in our younger generations.

Overall, this WEW event was very informative as the participants did an excellent job articulating the considerations behind their career decisions. The panelists provided invaluable advice and guidance to our younger audience. 

 

New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill (new name)

Free ISW organizational membership passes permits  general admission to the Garden.  We can email an e-ticket to you, 24 hour notice would be appreciated. 

New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill has gifted two ISW organizational membership passes  to ISW, which can be used by our members. Please show the printed tickets  upon arrival at the Garden for free general admission to Tower Hill.  Complete this form  AND send email to schoollead@iswonline.org.  If you are not an ISW member, do consider becoming one.

One membership card admits three individuals for FREE, we have two, so 6 can visit per day.  10% discount at The Garden Shop at Tower Hill with presentation of membership card (three individuals per card). Savings on classes, tours and workshops, and  Discounts at local participating nurseries upon presentation of membership card, plus FREE gardening advice through the HORTLINE, open every Wednesday from 12noon–4pm. Call 508.869.6111 x104 or email hortline@towerhillbg.org.

Hi everyone, my name is Tanu Nekenti, and I’m here to give you a little recap of last Saturday! If you didn’t already know, the India Society of Worcester (ISW) kicked off the new year with an extraordinary event called The Harvest Festival! It took place last Saturday, February 12th, 2022, from 2-6 pm. The event was a virtual program streamed LIVE on ISW’s Facebook page.

India is popularly known as the land of festivals, considered a colorful nation where people celebrate with full vigor and joy. Harvest festivals are celebrated with great enthusiasm to mark the beginning of the new spring and are celebrated in most of India as the new year by Hindus. Being the cheerful nation that India is, the most vibrant harvest festivals of India involve interesting mythological legends and joyous celebrations. They are as incredible and diverse as their people and landscapes and let you experience the beauty of Indian culture. India has 29 states, and every state celebrates harvest festivals at different times in the year. The first yield of the crop is a delight for the people, as it marks a time of prosperity for the farmers. This leads to them celebrating it cheerfully as a festival.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, we could not gather in person as in previous years. However, we invited the extended ISW community to participate virtually in the cultural event and dance competition. This was met with astounding participation.

The show lasted nearly three hours and was emceed by Tanushree Nekenti and Kunal Chauhan. It featured a variety of acts, including Indian traditional dances, semi-classical dances, and Bollywood medleys. Participants included many energetic individuals from all age ranges. All the dances were brilliantly choreographed and incredibly entertaining for both young and old.

As mentioned earlier, each and every single contestant brought a fantastic talent to this one-of-a-kind platform. There were four very accomplished judges to judge the competition: Hema Iyengar, Shaila Verma, Sunita Ramnani, Srinivaas A.B. They did a spectacular job with the judging, though I know it must have been tough for them, as all the performances were absolutely magnificent! However, since it was a contest, the judges identified these gems from the participants.

Age Category - Below 9 years

1st place - Jhankar by Shaswati Basu - Performers - Gavishi Joshi, Rohini Patel.  

2nd place - Bollywood Beats by Shaswati Basu - Performers - Shivani Suresh, Ayushi Dasgupta, Saanvi Karuturi, Thenammai Valliappan  

3rd place - Disco by Ekta Jain -

Performers - 

1.Riya Thiagarajan
2. Isabel Thomas 
3. Pihu Mangarhe
4. Jasmin Grover
5. Niyati Dosala
6. Kaira Agarwal
7. Shanvika Potli
8. Jia Gadhia

Age Category - 9 to 12 years

1st place - Tapori by Ekta Jain. Performers - Naksh Parwani, Neil Dixit, Neil Dave, Anish , Saahith Karthik, Ruhan Lawana  

2nd place - Dancing Divas by Adilakshmi. Performers - 

Sai Jayita Vootla, Pallavi Padala, Pragathi Senthilkumar, Sravya Gollapudi, Tanvi Padmaraju, Tanvika Chintalapudi

Age Category -13 to 17 years

1st place - Kathak Kunj by Shaswati Basu. Performers - Aishani Mukherjee, Safalta Sanjay Shukla, Samvriddhi Sanjay Shukla, Mihika Sengupta, Saanvi Basu 

2nd place - Tarana by Mona Mitra. Performers - Prisha Kumar, Miley Arora, Sanvi Kumar, Dia Arora 

Age Category - 18 and over

1st place - North and South by Ekta Jain. Performers - Geena Virmani, Jyoti Grover, Namita Khungar, Neetu Gupta, Nipun Asija, Manasa Singamsetty, Vaishali Sharma , Ranjan Sharma

2nd place - Agary Nandini by Priya Asthana and Sadhvi Majumdar. Performers - Priya Madhan/Priya Asthana 

Congratulations to everyone, the contestants and the winners. All of you are winners in our hearts and performed magnificently! 

All of the contestants and participants brought sensational talent to this one-of-a-kind platform. We thank our participants for sharing their talent and love with us. We also thank our choreographers, emcees, organizers, sponsors, and especially the audience at home; we couldn’t do it without you! I had a great time watching and participating in this amazing event, and I hope you had fun too! If you missed the event, you can still view it on Facebook on the ISW page. We hope to see you at future ISW events as well.

~ Tanushree Nekenti

Deadline for PVSA award extended to Feb 28, 2022

Thank you for your volunteer hours.

We hope to track the hours to recognize the amazing volunteers who contribute to India Society of Worcester

Try and fill it at the end of each quarter in 2021

Additionally, if you want, you can allow ISW to share your info to be considered for the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA). The PVSA recognizes incredible individuals who are committed to a high level of volunteer and service with a PVSA medal and a letter from the White House. More info at:

https://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/eligibility#volunteers

To be eligible for President’s Volunteer Service Award, one has to be a  US Citizen or permanent resident.

If volunteers have volunteered for other organizations that do not have this PVSA program, we can combine it , depending on verification, as long as there is no duplication.

Hours Required to Earn Awards in Each Age Group

Age Group                        Bronze                 Silver                                          Gold         

Kids (5–10 years old)     26–49 hours      50–74 hours                              75+ hours 

Teens (11–15)                 50–74 hours       75–99 hours                           100+ hours 

Young Adults (16–25) 100–174 hours 175–249 hours                        250+ hours

Adults (26+)                    100–249 hours 250–499 hours                      500+ hours 

ISW re-launches multiple LGBTQ support 

---Vivian Saravanan, Shiamin Melville

Lambda is a peer-led safe space for LGBTQ+ youth of South Asian origin to connect with peers for informal discussion, support, and connection with the larger community. While the group is tailored to the South Asian LGBTQ+ experience, all are welcome!

Meetings occur every Wednesday from 8:00 - 9:00 PM via Zoom and feature activities and topics chosen by group participants. 

We recognize the individual talents and creativity of our youth and hope to provide a safe space for them to not only have fun but to feel welcome taking initiative in planning group activities. This is also a great leadership opportunity for older South Asian LBGTQ+ youth and adults.

To join our weekly meetings, or talk more about becoming a peer leader, please email lambda@iswonline.org.

ISW Family of LGBTQ+ Support Network

 The ISW Family of LGBTQ+ Support Network is a support group for family members of LGBTQ+ people meeting periodically. The aim of the support group is to provide an open forum for the discussion of touching issues raised by the intersection of Indian culture and LGBTQ+ people. An adult facilitator will be present to lead discussion and provide referrals to pertinent resources. 

For more information, send email to friends_of_lambda@iswonline.org

ISW Advisory board

School Counselor Shubh Agrawal, MEd, Harvard Teaching Fellow

Ami Popat-Jain, PhD

Pediatrician Dr. Sahdev Passey, MD,

Numerous resources through CenterLink and OUT MetroWest.

Enrollment is open, starting February 1, 2022

18 sessions, schedule determined by Tutor and parent.

Prepare your child for the second semester academic year.  Math, English, Spanish, French, Speech & Debate, Chess  and many more.  Tutor and Tutee will meet via zoom once a week for 18 sessions. One-on-One, no group classes.

Cost - $90 (18 sessions at $5 per session ) - ISW member

A separate registration is required for each subject

Funds collected are to be allocated to ISW Building Expansion.

Use ISW membership email id to login.  ISW Membership can be completed/renewed here.

We would also love to hear back from you, so please fill out the survey

ISW STRONG

--Ragini Seth

India Society of Worcester is back on the TD Garden floor after a 3 year hiatus. Not one but two performances

On Wednesday February 2nd Boston Celtics play against Charlotte Hornets: Darshana Jani’s group performs the pregame show.

On Thursday March 3rd Boston Celtics vs Memphis Grizzlies: Jasmine Shah’s group and Ekta Jain’s group perform the pregame show.

Three of our best choreographers are putting ISW back on the TD Garden map. We will have over 500 of our community members going to the games to watch their kids perform on the floor that the Celtics play. It is indeed a proud moment for all of us to keep the tradition going that was started in 2011. When we asked if we could schedule a pre game performance, Marc Rogers, our Group Celtics coordinator, did say we were his favorite group. He was amazed that we were coming in for two days. Yeah we are ISW STRONG. For more information please contact the choreographers directly.

Feb 2nd, 2022 Wednesday

Darshana Jani @508451-3190

March 3rd, 2022 Thursday

Jasmine @ 603-930-3783 and Ekta Jain @ 508 488-7775

Affinity Networking: a ISW-Women Empowering Women (WEW) event

By Snehalata Kadam and the WEW team

On January 8 th 2022, we organized an online event called ”The Art of Self-portrayal: defining your presence”.

The event was an interactive, inspirational conversation attended by members of the community. The participants were from diverse professional backgrounds, for instance: an oncologist, leading a drug discovery company, a mental health professional and an entrepreneur. They provided an unique perspective on the theme by sharing their journey with us. The take-home message of the event was that being confident and prepared enables you to succeed in any professional setup. All participants interacted and left with a smile on their face.

WEW team members Kalyani Kanuri and Neha Kaushal did a great job engaging the attendees and carrying the conversations forward.

The WEW initiative is part of ISW’s 2025 strategic plan focusing on ELEVATING, EDUCATING and EMPOWERING women.

For ideas and suggestions, contact Snehal at

isw-wew@iswonline.org 

The 15th Annual India Society of Worcester Christmas celebrations were held at the newly expanded India center on December 11, 2021 following the CDC guidelines.  Families dressed in Christmas colors in Indian attire, from women in their colorful Saris, to men in their suits and cultural garb, kicked off the 2021 Christmas season together!.. Christmas lights with the sounds of joyous Christmas carols sung rang through the hall bought Christmas Spirit.  After 2020’s Drive-thru Children’s Christmas Gifts pick up,  in the midst of the Pandemic , many families wished to attend the in-person 2021 event  but the registration has to be closed early to limit the audience to maintain Social distancing in the auditorium.. 

This year’s Christmas Story was shared by Mr. Justin Joseph, Professor of communications at Boston University bringing the significance of birth of Jesus Christ to bring Peace and Hope in times like this . Mr. Puneet Kohli , President of ISW along with Family cut the first Christmas cake following ISW Christmas  tradition  with greetings to the community, Dr, Jagan Srinivasan , VP ISW, presented the 2025 ISW  Vision  and Mr Rajoo Ananth,  Chair , ISW Crisis  committee , shed some light on community care for hurting families in the pandemic   Also ISW  presented a donation to the T&G Santa Fund  to reach out to community around us to share the love.      The appearance of Santa Claus, bought Cheer and Joy to the children as they received Christmas presents and took pictures with Santa.  The families was also given to-go boxes with Indian food to enjoy at home with their families.  

ISW Christmas 2021 - Event photos
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1U2YJs62ExBZGCagOqw3FzfwEvpkurUxT?usp=sharing


ISW Christmas 2021 - Photos with Santa
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19OrLeYLb0uewDrNM-K1Pnsm-wOJOQ2UU?usp=sharing