Diwali is the festival of lights.  In India, it is also a festival of sharing the joyous spirit, celebrating with our friends and extended families.  The India Society has been sharing the Diwali spirit with our wider greater Worcester community for the last 8 years with a unique Diwali celebration at the beautiful Worcester Art Museum.

This Sunday, the museum was buzzing with activity, welcoming a record crowd for this year’s Diwali at WAM.

Pictures on Facebook Here

India Society President Puneet Kohli and past president Barin Bando kicked off the ceremony with a traditional lighting of the lamp in the museum’s historic Renaissance court.  This was followed by carefully curated cultural program from our leading dance and music schools that showcased the many classical and folk dances of India including Kathak, Kuchiudi, Baratanatyam and Odissi. The program also introduced the audience to Indian classical music performances in both the Hindustani and Carnatic styles.  

“An abundance of energy, enough to charge the whole block, families and couples alike engage and delight in the show of our celebration!” said an enthusiastic visitor.

The finale was a procession of dhol, tasha and lejhim by ISW’s own  team which left the audience  clapping, dancing and wanting more.

There was of course a lot more activity inside all parts of the museum.

Children could enjoy many activities including about India at Carolyn Passey's elaborate interactive activity station, learning Chess with  volunteers from ISW Sports team,  making sand art rangolis,  Madhubani art coasters, a  giant Lego lantern and more.  Many children and some adults with gleaming smiles proudly displayed their hands with intricate Henna tattoos.  

A special thanks to Troy Thompson of Troy B Thompson photography and the founder of www.noevilproject.org  who kindly captured and shared many memorable pictures of this event.  Watch for more pictures from Troy here soon.   

Indian artists  Sushmita Bando, Sunanda Sahay, Madhu Thube, Neha  Ujlayan and Rishi Gandhi showcased their original art in various forms for museum patrons.  

Finally – the museum café, in partnership with Bawarchi of Framingham, served delectable Indian fare.

“ISW now has many Diwali programs, but this one is my personal favorite.” said event chair Arathi Cowlagi. “It allows us to showcase Indian art in all its glory and to bring the light of Diwali to our whole community! What a perfect way to start the holiday season!”

Dhol-Tasha-Lezim on Ice
ISW Symphony at Worcester Railers

by Rajesh Khare

Thanks to ISW veteran Mr. Satya Mitra, the ISW Symphony Dhol-Tasha-Lezim team received a unique invitation to perform at the intermission of the Worcester Railers Ice Hockey game at DCU Center!

It was challenging for the team on multiple fronts. ISW Symphony organizers were short-staffed due to family situations and there was not much time for practice. This was going to be a new setting for the group and the audience was expected to be the broader community not familiar with Indian culture. The team was going to have to walk on ice with the instruments to reach the center and was given only 5 minutes to perform.

But the group members stepped up like never before! The Dhol-Tasha performers came up with a new compact sequence of beats that appealed to the crowd and showcased the Indian culture. They started with the “We will, we will, rock you” beat familiar to the sports crowd, evolved into the traditional Marathi Lezim beat, then played the classic Punjabi Dhol beats and ended with the thunderous signature beats of the Symphony team. The Lezim team had its own challenges. They had to come up with matching dance steps in a short timeframe and minimal practice sessions. And they did such a fabulous job that the Railers mascot also joined in with them!

Performance Team Roster:

• Dhol: Abhijeet Kaulgud, Rajesh Khare, Ranjit Mulay, Atharva Kamble, Prasanna Pawar
• Tasha: Arvind Kinhikar, Aditya Nene
• Zanja: Sharat Amin
• Tol: Sanket Gurao
• Lezim: Anjali Kinhikar, Anuradha Bhogle, Sarita Deshpande, Madhu Thube, Arti Khare, Saanvi Khare
• Abdagiri: Harsh Deshpande, Shaarav Khare

Team members in their own words:

Arvind Kinhikar:

Big thanks to ISW for creating this today’s unique opportunity and giving us this great platform “Symphony” to perform!  We are blessed with excellent leadership team and awesome team members loving music!  Enjoyed working with each team member!  Superb Tasha by Aditya!  Ranjit and Atharva brought a synchronized revolving dance while playing big dhol that to balancing on ice! great dance by Sharatji while playing Janz bringing huge energy, very synchronized rhythm dhol beats by Abhi, Ranjit, Rajesh, Atharva and Prasanna ,  very refreshing beats by Sanket who performed on a “Tol”…..and hats off to Lezim team (Anjali, Anu, Sarita, Madhu, Arti and Saanvi) who got ready on a very short notice. Saying here unique opportunity as we were pressure tested to perform in a shortest performance period of 4-5min against 20-30min that we typically perform! And to perform on ice!

Sharat Amin:

Loved it today with you all. Almost broke the ice in DCU center with our performance. It's a pleasure to be a part of this talented ISW Symphony team. Also welcome our new and young talented members. You all rock.

Ranjit Mulay:

This definitely was one of my favorite DTL experiences… thanks for the teamwork .. Arvind thanks for your guidance to get all the beats setup in the tight time frame… also want to thank our latest members Atharva and Aditya .. looking forward to learn more new beats from you both….

Prasanna Pawar:

So grateful to be part of Symphony DTL team. It was mesmerizing experience…

Abhijeet Kaulgud:

Tremendous experience. Thanks everyone as always

Aditya Nene:

Glad to be a part of symphony!

Sarita Deshpande:

Great teamwork by our Symphony DTL team!! It was fantastic experience to perform on the rink!!

Rajesh Khare:

What a wonderful experience for the Dhol-Tasha-Lezim team to represent ISW at the Worcester Railers game at DCU Center! Kudos to our fearless leaders Sanket Gurao, Arvind Kinhikar and Anjali Kinhikar and the entire team

On October 10th, ISW PEN had the opportunity to host the first ever Asian Business Pitch Contest in collaboration with ElevAsian at the India Center. The idea was to bring in early-stage entrepreneurs from near and far and pitch their ideas in 4 minutes, face questions for 4 minutes and convince the panel of judges. The Contest was set up in 2 tranches - New Business and Existing Businesses with 11 contestants in the first and 4 in the second category. 

The audience packed the ISW India center with folks networking both before and after the pitch contest. Contestants with existing businesses or products had an opportunity to showcase their products or services in an exhibitor space during the evening.

Greg Stoller and Andrew Goldberg from ElevAsian did an excellent job of running the contest and moderating the Q&A sessions. The contestants ranged from 17-year-old high school students to adults putting their best foot forward. The quality of the pitches were remarkable and matched up with seasoned business professionals.

The final winners of the new business track were:

• First Place $1000 prize: Julie Jain and Jai Khanna (1)
• Second Place $750 prize: Pranav Ramaswamy (2)
• Third Place $500 prize: Kashvi Vishal (3)
• The Existing Business Track winner of the $750 prize was Pinaki Majhi
• The Audience Favorite prize of $250 was split between Anjana Sudhir and Kashvi Vishal.

The judges for the event were:

• Ms. Geetha Sreedhar, Founder Tarmika (acquired by Applied Systems) and TIE Boston Board Member
• Mr. Sushil Tuli, Chairman, CEO & Founder Leader Bank; Director, Federal Reserve Bank, Boston
• Mr. Subramaniam “A.V.” Aiylam, Founder and owner, Spyglass Brewing; Co-founder CenteredLogic, acquired by Enea in 2015.

The entire event was live cast on Facebook and those who could not attend can view it at these links:

Asian Business Pitch Contest Part 1.

Asian Business Pitch Contest Part 2.

After the event, Greg shared his sentiments with ISW. "I was very impressed how much pride there is in maintaining the Indian culture and how that sentiment was seamlessly integrated into so many different ideas that were presented. Finally, it was wonderful to see such a wide range of ages, and I truly wish everyone the best of luck with either existing businesses or their new ventures."

Andy, the founder of ElevAsian was also very appreciative of the teamwork he experienced with the ISW team "...sometimes I forgot that the ISW team have demanding full time jobs. There were plenty of days when I emailed a couple of dozen times and the ISW team responded to many of them immediately and all of them in a timely fashion. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Kelly, Ragoo, Raj, and Ashish. I felt like we had an engaged partner who was invested in producing a successful pitch contest as we were. The pitch contest felt like a family occasion. The pride and joy of the Asian community was evident throughout the evening".

We look forward to the possibility of making this a regular event at ISW that fosters multiple entrepreneurs in the Central Mass area.

   

UPDATE

Hosted by the India Society of Worcester, GFWC Northboro Junior Woman's Club, and the Northborough Senior Center, the fun activities was kicked off with Laughing Yoga,  by Latha Radhakrishnan   The attendees enjoyed by being draped in colorful sarees by Shaila Bhatia, and Latha, Rangoli art displayed by  Neeta Karanjikar and Beena Krishnan, and a delightful dance by Sharada Cintakindi Dance troupe, residents of Northboro  It ended with Sweets and  Samosa from Kumars plus hot cider from Vickie at the Senior Center. Thakns to Linda  DiMare for supporting diversity in the community

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 7TH 4:30 PM AT THE NORTHBOROUGH SENIOR CENTER

Do come. This is one of our ISW mini Diwali celebration in the community. All are welcome, register at 508-393-5035

Hosted by the India Society of Worcester, GFWC Northboro Junior Woman's Club, and the Northborough Senior Center

• How to Drape a Sari
• Rangoli Art Demonstration
• Dancing and Singing Presentation
• Laughing Yoga
• Light Refreshments

Thanks to Pravin Trivedi from Humrahee for starting this collaboration with Northborough Senior Center.

ISW-WEW held this event on Saturday, April 30th from 3:00 to 5:00 PM.

The program began with welcoming the guests and a brief introduction about Women Empowering Women program’s mission and vision. The event was kicked off by our panelists introducing themselves, Mrs. Anjali

Arora, Mrs. Preeti Shah Tandon, Mrs. Anjali Paranjpe and Dr. Poornima Tekumalla to the audience and walking us through the career trajectory and the path they paved for themselves in corporate America, be it in the field of IT, Product Management, Finance or Science. It was fascinating and inspiring to hear about their career choices, and most of our panelists, uprooted themselves from well-established jobs and positions in India and started their journey in the US from the drawing board. Our event moderator, Snehalata Kadam, engaged our panelists by asking them about a time when they had to take some tough decisions while being in these senior positions, and our panelists had an array of answers, ranging from leaving workforce for a couple of months to reflect upon themselves to leaving their comfort zone of being in an organization for many years to taking some tough decisions in their personal lives or deciding between workload and picking up an MBA. While reflecting back on some of these decision points, our panelists had one consistent answer though – they all agreed that they made the right decision for themselves! A key aspect of this event was when the floor was opened to the hall full of audiences, that ranged from some teenagers, young professionals, parents and even grandparents. We had questions ranging from what is one soft skill you would say is necessary that we as women should learn, to a very interesting question to our women leaders on ‘what do you do for fun’?

If you missed out on the event, here is a link to watch the recording – ‘https://www.facebook.com/iswonline/videos/3575977052671859’

The India Youth Group ( IYG) is proud to announce our new executive

committee members.  Congratulations to all the newly elected members. 

• President: Dhruv Jagan
• Vice President: Tanvi Gahlot
• Co-Secretaries: Anushka Singh, Arin Shinde
• Project Manager: Sohan Hegde
• Treasurer: Aadi Yadav
• Co- Advisors: Shilpa Kulkarni, Usha Yadav

India Society of Worcester is partnering with the Asian Business Empowerment Council (ABEC) to gather responses for a questionnaire from Massachusetts Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander AAPI)-owned businesses. The Asian Business Empowerment Council (ABEC) has launched its 2023 Massachusetts AAPI-Owned Businesses Survey. This questionnaire provides AAPI- owned businesses with a way to share opportunities and challenges, and provide recommendations on how to improve business conditions across the Commonwealth. The survey should take about 15-20 minutes to complete and will remain open unti December 11, 2023.

Please Click here to take the survey 

Your responses will inform ABEC to help shape its programs and set its priorities for assisting AAPI-owned businesses over the next few years. So, please take the time to complete the survey so you can be counted, be heard and be supported! All identifying information, should you choose to share them, will remain confidential and will not be published.

We thank you for your time and participation.

By India New England News -September 29, 2023

India Society of Worcester will be awarded the prestigious New England Choice Awards this year on Oct. 29, 2023, at Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA, INE MultiMedia, a non-profit organization that promotes art, culture, education and empowerment, announced on Monday. Read the announcement here

Promotional Video

About ISW - INE Writes : 

With 2,500 Paid Members and an India Center Building Under its Belt, ISW Celebrates 60 Years

WORCESTER, MA–The India Society of Worcester, known as the ISW, is one of New England’s most vibrant Indian associations. It is primarily a cultural, social, educational, and charitable organization. Moreover, no Indian-American community organization has 2,500 paid members in New England, and probably in the entire country.

Also, ISW has built a 10,000-Square-foot India Center, a dream of most Indian community organizations in the United States. On Oct. 29, ISW will be honored with the Community Organization award at the annual New England Choice Awards gala at Burlington Marriott.

In an exclusive video interview with INDIA New England News, ISW President Puneet Kohli talks about ISW’s 60-year journey and what awaits during the next 60 years and beyond. To watch the full interview, please click here.

The ISW’s purpose is to encourage people with ancestral origin in India or people who are otherwise interested in India, to form an effective and cohesive group with the objective of retaining, facilitating, and fostering the cultural heritage of India; including ethnic arts, languages and religions of its people. The society adds to the richness of the cultural diversity of the region and is a window into the cultural heritage of India for the local community. The ISW is non-political and non-sectarian. It does not subscribe to any one religion and does not discriminate against any person because of his or her religious beliefs or ethnic background.

The ISW is run entirely by volunteers with patronage from its growing membership representing all regions of India.  Since its establishment in 1963, the ISW has become a conduit of Indian culture for young Indians born in the U.S.A., as well as the local communities in the region.  It is an outlet where the young and the old are able to showcase their cultural talents. The ISW also collaborates with other Indian organizations in the region and acts as an advocate for many global and community causes. The multidimensional nature of the ISW has drawn local city and state authorities, as well as businesses to the society. Today, the ISW is one of the most renowned organizations representing the Indian Community.

History

1963 – ISW was established

1987 : New constitution established and  ISW started creating new programs by bringing renowned artists to the Worcester area.

1963 – 1991 – Initial days of ISW as the organization which was founded by Mr Shyam Sharma evolved into a vibrant organization which started thinking about a community center.

1991 : In November of 1991, ISW acquired a 5-acre lot with existing buildings in a prime location in Shrewsbury, near Worcester.

1992-2004 – Seeding our roots by buying a 5-acre lot in Shresbury in 1991 and starting to envision a community center. Which was built and inaugurated in 2004.

2004 – 2022 – Growing the community and beyond. As the Indian community grew in multiples so did the activities of ISW. We launched our ISW2020 vision which resulted in 10 key initiatives and finally getting to expanding our center.

“We kicked off ISW 2025 which focused on 4 new initiatives – ISWSymphony, ISWUniversity, ISWPen, ISW WeW – these are focused on arts and music, expanded learnings like 3D printing, robotics, SAT classes etc.,” says Mr. Kohli. “Entrepreneur and Professional network and Women Empowering Women. We have been running close to 80+ events each year for the past 2 years around all the activities and initiatives I mentioned above. The focus now is to grow th reach to larger metrowest areas and bring other community organizations along with us. We currently serve over 4,000 people through our newsletter.”

The organization has about 200 active volunteers.

ISW is celebrating its annual Diwali Cultural program.

Please save the date, November 18th, 2023 

St. George Orthodox Cathedral, 30 Anna St. Worcester - MA

Register for tickets here

ISW Durga Puja 2023  Five days of celebrations

Scroll down and click on the PUJA  you wish to attend

Since there are multiple days/events, a separate registration is requested  for each day.  It will help us in setting up. Thanks

•  Friday Puja October 20th, 2023  6 pm-9 pm
•  Doors are open for worshippers.
• Devotional Songs by Raganjali School of Music and Mrs. Swati Panda.

• Saturday Puja  October 21st, 2023 12.30 pm-2 pm 
• Doors are open for worshippers

• Saturday Berklee School of Music October 21st 2023  6 pm-9 pm
• Evening aarti cultural program followed by dinner
• Dinner contribution  $15 per person

• Sunday October 22nd, 2023 12.30 pm-2 pm
• Doors are open for worshippers

• Sunday Philomela Live October 22nd 2023 6 pm-9 pm
• Evening aarti Cultural program followed by dinner
• Dinner contribution  $15 per person

• Monday October 23rd, 2023 11.30 am- 2 pm
•  Doors are open for worshippers

• Monday October 23rd, 2023 6 pm - 8 pm
• Doors are open for worshippers

• Tuesday Sindoor Khela October 24th, 2023 11.30 am- 2 pm
• Sindoor Khela &  Visarjan