INVINCIBLE SPEAR - Vision-Aid · largest vision-care settings and blind schools with many of the beneficiaries being from the poorest segment of society. Vision-Aid has developed

July 24, 2016Littleton High School TheaterLittleton, MA

July 21, 2019Littleton High School TheaterLittleton, MA

Vision-AidHelping the visually impaired live with independence and dignity

www.visionaid.org

Vision-Aid a non-pro�t serving the visually disadvantaged Vision-Aid a non-pro�t serving the visually disadvantaged

PresentsPresents

The Legend of Skanda

INVINCIBLE SPEARINVINCIBLE SPEAR

Madurai R Muralidaran’sBroadway Style Bharatanatyam MusicalMadurai R Muralidaran’sBroadway Style Bharatanatyam Musical

Design : Kolam Media Creations603.557.6931 [email protected]

32 The Legend of Skanda

INVINCIBLE SPEARINVINCIBLE SPEARThe Legend of Skanda


July 2019

Dear Friends: On behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito and I would like to welcome you to this year’s Annual Vision-Aid Celebration.

Vision-Aid continues year after year to work relentlessly on behalf of the visually impaired. Vision-Aid’s dedication to the underserved in the Commonwealth is both inspiring and telling of its central mission to improve the lives of the visually impaired. This year’s performance, “Invincible Spear - the legend of Skanda”, produced by Guru Madurai R. Muralidaran, will be a Broadway-style mega production, bringing to life the story of the Skanda - the valiant son of Shiva and Parvati!

Lieutenant Governor Polito and I would like to thank all of those

in attendance for supporting this worthy cause. Together, we can improve the lives of the underserved. Enjoy the show! Sincerely,

CHARLES D. BAKER

GOVERNOR

KARYN E. POLITO

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Thank you to our Gold SponsorsGeeta & Kamesh Aiyer

Arthi Baluchamy & Ulaganatha Boopathy

Mala & Amitabh Dugar

Ramani Foundation

Nirmala & Paramesh Garimella

Jeyanthi & Kanth Ghatraju

Carol & Gautam Gupta

Sanjay Thakkar (New York Life)

Satvir & Vinod Maudgal

Dr. Salil Midha

Sripriya N. Moorthy & Vijay Moorthy

Arshad Siddiqui, Paraza Pharma Inc.

Startup Leadership Program

Chetana & Harshad Sanghvi

Lakshmi & Purnanand Sarma

Lalitha Bala & Suresh Sriramulu

Sue & Lalit Sudan

Rita & Sushil Vachani

Vision-Aid Advisory BoardPuran Dang (Advisory Board Chair)Dr. Loubaina Buxamusa Veena HandaRam Gupta Dr. Deeba Husain

Vision-Aid thanks the Chief Guests

Nalini & Raj Sharma and our Grand Sponsors

Pratima & Venkat SrinivasanVandana & Vivek Sharma

Meetu & Ram GuptaVirginia & Subu Kota

Anuradha & Prashanth PalakurthiDrs. Suraja and Debasish Roychowdhury

Ranjani & Anil Saigal

Thank you to our Diamond SponsorsHarvard Pilgrim HealthCare

Veena & Pramod HandaRevathy Ramakrishna & Ramakrishna Raju

The Vision-Aid DirectorsThank you for your support

Syed Ali Rizvi PresidentDr. Bharti Gangwani, MD Board MemberNirmala Garimella Board MemberParameswar Garimella Board Member/Past PresidentUjwala Phene Asst. TreasurerDr. Aparna Raghuram Board MemberRamakrishna Raju Founder &Executive DirectorRevathy Ramakrishna Co-founder &Vice-PresidentRavi Rastogi Board MemberRita Vachani Board MemberSudhir Varma TreasurerSantosh Vempala Board Member

Thank you to our Platinum SponsorsTurkish Airlines

Dr. Deeba Husain, Ali Rizvi & SPS AlfachemAnonymous

Sushil Tuli & Leader BankKamlesh & Puran Dang, Minuteman Group

Ujwala & Kaustubha PheneDeepika & Amar SawhneyRosa & Santosh Vempala

Vision-Aid gratefully acknowledges our Corporate Sponsor for their generous support

Crossing Point Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

Turkish Airlines

Leader Bank




Scene 1: Skanda, the slayer of the demons

At a time when the world was terrorized by the rule of the De-mon (Asura) King Soorapadman, Destiny willed that Lord Shi-va and Goddess Parvathi would be united in wedlock to bring forth a Divine Child who would restore peace, happiness and h armony. With the charm and petulance of a child and the wisdom and valor of a hero came Skanda, the Lord, to slay the demons and bless humankind. Skanda is also known by many names – Muruga, Subrahmanya, Karthikeya, Shanmugha, Sar-avanaa, Velavaa….

S cene 2: The arrogant King of Asuras, Soorapadman holds court

The King of the Asuras, Soorapadman, is a merciless tyrant. Since he received a boon preventing his death by any existing deity or man, his arrogance knew no bounds! Convinced about his immortality, he sets out to control heaven and earth and tor-ments the mortal and immortal beings!

Scene 3: The Devas seek help from Brahma and Vishnu

Brahma, resting on His lotus seat, is paid court by the Devas, be-seeching Him to stop the terrorizing assaults of Soorapadman. He asks the Devas to seek guidance from Lord Vishnu, who ad-vises that only a child born to Lord Shiva and Parvathi, daugh-ter of the Himalayas, can stop the Demon King. Since Shiva re-mains an ascetic doing penance and has no interest in marriage, Vishnu asks Manmatha (Cupid) to use his lotus-tipped arrows to awaken love in Shiva’s heart.

Scene 4: Manmatha and Rathi travel to the Himalayas

Manmatha and his wife Rathi, travel to Mt. Kailash in the Him-alayas, where Shiva is deeply absorbed in meditation. Manma-tha’s arrow strikes its target, but instead of awakening love, the arrow awakens only Shiva’s anger that someone dared to disturb His tranquility. Opening His third eye, Shiva reduces Manma-tha to a pile of ashes. A distraught Rathi tells Shiva that Brahma and Vishnu were behind this ploy - they sought to hasten Shiva’s marriage for the benefit of the universe. Pacified, Shiva restores Manmatha to life and weds Parvathi in a grand celebration. From this union, will come forth the six-headed, twelve-armed savior, Skanda, originating as six sparks from Shiva’s third eye, each spark representing a sacred power.

Scene 5: Kaarthigai Maidens and the six infants

The six sparks are carried to a reed forest, where they take the form of six beautiful infants. They are discovered by the Kaarthigai maidens, who raise the children into fine youth with great affection. Goddess Parvathi then joins the six boys togeth-er, forming one Lord Skanda, with the wisdom of His six heads, and the strength of His twelve arms.

INTERMISSION

Scene 6: Narada creates competition between the brothers

Sage Narada, a great devotee of Vishnu but also the mischief maker of the heavens, comes to visit Mt. Kailash, where Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi now reside with their two sons, the elephant-headed Lord Ganesha and the youthful Lord Skanda. Narada brings with him the gnaana pazham-the fruit of wis-dom and advises Shiva to give it whole to one of His sons. Shiva devises a challenge to decide which son to give the fruit to! The fruit would go to the one who first circles the world. Skanda, confident of victory, sets off immediately on his vehicle, the pea-cock. Ganesha does not rush off, instead he says, “The whole world is contained within my divine parents,” and proceeds to walk around them. Shiva and Parvathi give the fruit to Him. When Skanda returns, He feels cheated. Discarding all His or-naments, He runs away to the Pazhani hills, where He is wor-shipped to this day by devotees carrying the kaavadi.

Scene 7: Pranava Manthram

The youthful Skanda challenges Brahma, the Lord of Creation to explain the meaning of the primordial sound, “Om’’. When Brahma is unable to reply, Skanda imprisons Him, saying Brahma is unfit to perform creation without this fundamental knowledge. Shiva comes to Brahma’s rescue. Free of any ego, Shiva requests Skanda to explain the meaning to Him. To Shiva’s utter astonishment, Skanda explains the meaning of OM with the expertise of an ascetic, thus making the father become his own son’s disciple.

Scene 8: Skanda receives his “Vel” – Invincible Spear

Parvathi deems that Her son is now ready to take on Soorapad-man and the other Asuras in battle. She presents him with the Invincible Spear or “Vel”, an embodiment of her own Shakthi, or strength.

Scene 9: The battle begins

With the aid of Lord Skanda, the Devas go to battle against the Asuras. Realizing that his boon did not protect him from Lord Skanda, the cowardly Soorapadman disguises himself as a tree. Skanda is not fooled and splits the tree in half with His Invinci-ble Spear. Accepting defeat, Soorapadman pleads to Skanda for a new life, repenting his past deeds. The ever merciful Skanda then turns one half of the tree into a peacock, and the other half into a rooster. Soorapadman absolves himself of his sins by forevermore being in the service of Lord Skanda.

Scene 10: Skanda woos Valli

Now a young man, both wise and victorious, Skanda falls in love with Valli, his devotee and the daughter of a mountain chieftain. Taking the form of a hunter and then of an old man, Skanda persistently woos her. He calls upon His brother Ganesha to come as an elephant to scare Valli and reveals His true form to her when she seeks His protection.

About the Production: Invincible Spear The legend of Skanda Choreographer and Producer : Madurai R. MuralidaranThe Legend of Skanda


7 Charmer Warrior

GuideThe endearing story of Krishna



Congratulations to Revathy Ramakrishna, Co-Founder of Vision-Aid, for being chosen as

“The Woman of the Year 2019”

Sushil K. TuliPresident/CEO

www.leaderbank.com781-646-3900

Lender NMLS# 449250

Thanks to the leadership team and volunteers for your dedication and commitment to enable those who suffer from vision related disabilities

in under-served areas.

Vision-Aid began its work with a modest set of services in one location in India in 2004 (In Vizag). By 2019, thanks to support from many donors and volunteers, programs now span across 10 different locations in India, offering a wide range of much needed services in some of India’s largest vision-care settings and blind schools with many of the beneficiaries being from the poorest segment of society.

Vision-Aid has developed a resource center model which can be implemented at scale, as more funding become available and we hope to keep expanding the network of resource centers in coming years, with your help and support.

Our Mission

Vision-Aid’s mission is to enable, educate and empower the visually impaired to lead their lives with independence and dignity.

Our Vision

Vision-Aid’s vision is to facilitate the creation of a network of resource centers in every major eye hospital and blind school in India. (The leadership team fully realizes that the long-term vision outlined here is an ambitious one in terms of its scope and reach but with your support we will do it!)

Vision-Aid Programs at work across India

Vision-Aid programs at work in 2019 – Featured Partners(for a full list please visit www.visionaid.org)

Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (Vision-Aid programs started 2004)Vision Aid Charitable Services Society (VACS) in Vizag is the flagship partner for Vi-sion-Aid USA. It operates a center in Dwarkanagar, Visakhapatnam, offering 4 compre-hensive courses in Computer Applications for the visually impaired. The Vizag team also offers training camps in surrounding blind schools and delivers online classes that are streamed to several remote locations. VACS also researches and assembles low cost as-sistive devices and has won several national awards for its innovative inventions – the Camera Mouse, Camera Cat and Vision Wand.

Chennai, India (Sankara Netralaya)The Vision-Aid Resource Center at Sankara Netralaya, Chennai was launched in De-cember 2018, and is off to a flying start in both the low vision functions which operate inside the main Sankara Netralaya facility in Chennai, and a dedicated resource center in Shenoy Nagar which offers a range of comprehensive interventions

Vision-Aid’s innovated low-cost assistive devices that received National and International level awards that include:

2019 Woman of the Year award to Vision-Aid Co-founder Revathy Ramakrishna2019 Derek Bok Public Service award to Vision-Aid Founder Ramakrishna RajuNASEOH BJ Modi AwardIndia NGO AwardNCPEDP Universalized AwardIIT Kharagpur Distinguished Service AwardRockefeller Bellagio Award NASSCOM Finalist Award(s) DSIR TePP Innovator AwardDSIR PRISM Innovator Award




Vision-Aid programs at work in 2018 – Featured Partners(for a full list please visit www.visionaid.org)

Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh(Vision-Aid programs started 2015)The Ahmadi School for the Blind in Aligarh is one of India’s oldest blind schools, being established in 1927. The school already has a computer training lab. Vision-Aid provides free laptops to the blind students in the school and has provided free training to its teachers using it Train the Trainer program.

Berhampur, Odisha (Vision-Aid programs started 2015)

Milton Charitable Foundation for The Visually Handicapped is a volunteer-driven, non-profit working for the welfare of the poor and down trodden, visually handicapped children and adults. Their center is located at Berhampur of Ganjam district Odisha. Starting in 2015, Vision-Aid began delivering courses in computer education to students at Milton School. Vision-Aid also supports vocational skills like candle making and in-cense sticks for blind.

Madurai, Tamil Nadu (Aravind Eye Hospital)In January 2019, Vision-Aid launched the Vision-Aid National Resource center for the visually impaired in the main campus of Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai. Aravind is the world’s largest eye care provider, with a global reputation for providing highest quality care to the poorest segment of patients in a sustainable manner. The new national resource center has 7 rooms and offers a wide range of interventions customized to visually im-paired of all ages – from infants to seniors.

Mangalore, Karnataka(Vision-Aid programs started 2013)

Seva Bharathi, a non-profit volunteer-driven service organization was set up in 1991 to help people in distress. Vision-Aid works with Seva Bharathi’s Roman & Catherine Lobo School for the Blind to offer computer training to school students as well as other local visually impaired residents in the area.

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (Vision-Aid programs started 2017)Vision-Aid started specialized computer training programs at Nethra Vidyalaya, a non-profit, which provides education for blind in India and is a part of the Jeeyar Educa-tional Trust (JET). Nethra Vidyalaya provides educational programs from primary level to high school, junior & senior college, where hundreds of blind students are being trained every year. Vision-Aid and Nethra has established a new training facility where Nethra’s students learn from Vision-Aid’s standardized computer curriculum as well as take advan-tage of Vision-Aid’s specialized education in Computer Programming and Spoken English.

Agra, Uttar Pradesh(Programs started 2017)

The Vision-Aid Resource Center at Agra was launched in 2017. This new Vision-Aid Resource center at the Louis Braille Blind School will bring to the students of the school, a range of capabilities, which will open up the digital world to them. The center includes new computers, software and network infrastructure, along with distance learning ca-pabilities which will allow the students in the blind school to access a variety of training programs offered by Vision-Aid.

New Programs in 2019

Vision-Aid sponsors conferences on Accessibility and DisabilityVision-Aid sponsors conferences on Accessibility and Disability. The Boston Accessibility Conference in 2017 and 2018 featured a keynote and sessions by world-renowned speakers covering a wide range of topics ranging from accessibility to the use of modern technolo-gies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help bring independence to the visually impaired. For details and videos visit www.visionaid.org.

Computer Programming and HackathonsVision-Aid runs regular semester long courses in Computer programming for the vis-ually impaired. Students are paired up with volunteer mentors and learn computer pro-gramming. Several students go on to complete hackathons. Vision-Aid has sponsored two hackathons – at IIT Madras in 2017 and at IIIT Bangalore in 2018 and 2019. Some students have gone on to secure IT jobs and purse their dreams in higher education in IT.

Residential Scholarship program Vision-Aid is excited to announce a new initiative for under-privileged visually impaired students in India – A scholarship created in the loving memory of Dr. Badar and Mariam Maskati of Mumbai. The scholarship fund to cover all the costs for such students ( such as travel, technology needs, assistive devices, including a smartphone, board, lodging and training), to undergo extensive residen-tial skills training for 6 months in the field of Computer Applications, Mobile Technologies, Coaching to help them succeed in Banking and Government sector exams and Spoken English/Soft Skills. The scholarship fund will enable, educate and empower the 10 selected visually impaired students starting in July this year. The scholarship awards are offered on a merit-cum-need basis. These scholarships are intended for visually impaired students from rural, semi-urban and under-privileged backgrounds that are likely to succeed in this rigorous training program and reach their full potential.

Initially, the target area is the greater Visakhapatnam (Vizag) region, but is likely to expand to other areas, where Vision-Aid operates centers.

Spoken English ClassesVision-Aid is starting spoken English classes at the Ahmadi Blind School in Aligarh, UP and at its Vizag center in 2019. The program will help visually impaired students improve their command and fluency in spoken English to help them become more competitive and confident in their job searches.

Conferences

Leadership Team : All the Directors and Officers listed work on a voluntary basis without compensation or personal benefit.

Vision-Aid Resource Center at Shroff Eye Hospital, Delhi The Shroff Eye care system is a power house for eye care in the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh regions of India. In 2019, Vision-Aid will join forces with Shroff to setup a state-of-the-art Resource Center for persons with vision related disabilities. Shroff will provide a dedicated space and qualified staff. Vision-Aid will provide Shroff with the funding, equipment, devices and training and expertise to establish the first phase of a Vision-Aid Resource Center at Shroff in the Fall of 2019. These programs will offer high quality, free and subsidized rehabilitation as well as devices for an estimated one thousand visually impaired persons in the first year alone.

Advanced Training in Accessibility Testing (Program starting in August 2019) In the summer of 2019, Vision-Aid is launching a program to train visually impaired students from all over India, in the field of Accessibility Testing, through its online academy. This is a field which has the potential to help students find jobs in the IT sector in India, and demand for the course has been very strong.




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Concept, Choreography, Music & DirectionMadurai R. Muralidharan is a well known performing dancer, choreog-rapher, composer, and musician, who has composed over 120 varnams, pro-duced several dance dramas, composed Pushpanjalis, Alarippus, Jathiswarams, Mallaris, Varnams and Thillanas in all the 35 thalams and Jathiswarams in all 72 Melakartha ragas, unprecedented in the field of Bharatha Natyam. His mu-sical compositions, over the years have travelled the length and breadth of the world.

Kavyalakshmi Muralidaran, a child prodi-gy, completed her arangetram when she was 8 under the guidance of her parents, Gurus Madurai R Muralidaran & Smt.Chitra Mu-ralidaran. She has toured all over the world and given solo and group performances apart from performing at premiere dance festivals and prominent sabhas in India. She majored in Visual Communications in Chennai and feels honored to participate in Vision-Aid’s Production.

Jeyanthi Ghatraju, a Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer with a mission to perform for charity, has been an Artistic Director of Vision-Aid productions since 2009. She offers Degree Programs in Performing Arts through her affiliation with Alagappa Performing Arts Academy at Natyajali dance school which is cel-ebrating its 25th Anniversary! She was awarded the coveted US Presidential Gold Service Award in 2013 and 2018 for her community service and a 2019 recipient of Massachusetts Cultural Council grant.

Sripriya Natarajan Moorthy, a dancer, teach-er and choreographer, has been actively in-volved in Vision-Aid productions since 2010, and served as an Artistic Director for the past four years. In 1999, she co-founded MIT Natya, one of the first collegiate Indian classical dance organizations in the US! She pursues advanced training under Guru Madurai R. Muralidharan and is Founder Director of Abhinaya Natyash-ala in Framingham, MA.

Hema Iyengar, an acclaimed Bharatanatyam dancer, is the Founder of Nritya-Anjali School of Dance and Co-Founder of Center for Arts and Wellness in Westboro,MA, with a vision to provide the community with a wider array of classical, applied art classes as well as wellness related services under a single roof. She works full time in a healthcare company, and has worked in Vision-Aid productions since 2009.

Thenu Raajan, the creative director, chore-ographer and instructor of Apsaras Acade-my of Arts in Bellingham, MA, has received accolades in India, Singapore and USA for her performances. She frequently performs for various charitable dance fundraisers in-cluding Vision-Aid. In 2011, Thenu Raajan received the Excellence award from Lokvani e-magazine for being a dedicated dancer in the New England area.

Kalpana Balachundhar runs Chandra School of Dance in Lexington,MA. She loves dancing, teaching and is constantly learning new techniques by attending various dance workshops.

Student Leadership Shilpa Narayanan, a recent graduate from Univ. of Connect-icut with a double major in Biological Sciences & Psychology, does research at Massachusetts General Hospital. She completed her arangetram in 2013. She learns from Smt.Sujatha Meyyap-pan and began her Vision-Aid journey in 2012 and performed at several events.

Ananya Venkatesan, a rising sophomore majoring in Com-puter Science at UMass, Amherst, learns Bharathanatyam from Smt.Sujatha Meyyappan. She has won many dance competitions and performed at Dhimahi Festival in Chennai organized by Guru Muralidharan. She is excited about her 6th Vision-Aid production!

Neha Pillai, a college student at Univ. of Massachusetts Amh-erst, has been learning Bharatanatyam from Guru Jeyanthi Gha-traju and did her Arangetram in 2012. She also completed a cer-tificate program in Bharatanatyam from Alagappa Performing Arts Academy.

Akshara Vuppala, a rising 6th grader at Hopkinton Middle school,Hopkinton, has been learning dance from Smt.Sripri-ya Natarajan Moorthy for over 4 years. She loves all artforms - dance, music, sketching and painting.

Aashna Diddee, an 8th grader at Westborough Gibbons Middle School, has been learning Bharatanatyam from Hema Iyengar of the Nritya-Anjali School of Dance for 8 years. She also learns guitar, violin, Hindustani classical vocal, and is on the track team at school.

Aarushi Iyengar has been learning Bharatanatyam from Guru Smitha Radhakrishnan of Natya Dance Studio since she was 5 years old. She loves reading and is very excited to be associated with a Vision-Aid production.

Abhilasha Banka, an 8th grader at Clarke Middle School in Lexington, has been learning dance for 7 years from Smt.Kalpa-na Balachundhar. She also enjoys outdoor activities, baking

Choreography and Production

Artistic Directors



and field hockey and is very excited to be participating in a Vi-sion-Aid production.

Abirami Tilak, a rising 5th grader, learns Bharatanatyam from Guru Smitha Radhakrishnan of NATyA Dance Studio in Natick. She is also a yogini, an avid reader, a pianist, softball player and learns carnatic music from Guru Tara Anand at the Anubhava School Of Music.

Akila Senthilkumar, 13 year old, is passionate about dance and learns from Smt. Thenu Rajan of Apsaras Academy of Art. She is motivated to perform for a good cause like Vision-Aid.

Amal Balachundhur, a rising 5th grader at Bridge Elementary School in Lexington, learns dance from his mom Smt.Kalpana Balachundhar. He has won prizes in various dance,Music and Math competitions. He won the “Geography Bee championship” in his school. He also learns Carnatic singing from Smt.Bhuvana Ganesh.

Ananya Kumar, is a rising 7th grader at Hopkinton Middle School. She is a disciple of Guru Sripriya Natarajan Moorthy and Bharatanatyam is her passion.

Ananya Suram learns Bharatanatyam from Guru Hema Iyeng-ar. She loves reading and playing outdoors. She is proud to dance in a Vision-Aid production.

Anika Nambiar, has been learning Bharatanatyam from Sripri-ya Natarajan Moorthy for 4 years. She loves dancing and is eager to be a part of Vision-Aid production.

Anjanadevi Govindaraj, a rising Junior at Nashua High School North, completed her Bharatanatyam & Mohiniyattam Arange-trams. She has learnt from Guru Sheethal Dwaraka & Guru Jothi Raghavan. She also learns Carnatic vocal music & Western Violin.

Anushka Diddee, a 6th grader at Mill Pond School in West-borough, learns from Hema Iyengar of the Nritya-Anjali School of Dance. She is artistic - loves to sketch, learns mehndi design, Hindustani classical music and plays violin & guitar.

Anvita Kalpande, a 13 year old, learns dance from Smt.Neena Gulati at Triveni School of Dance. She performed her aranget-

Brochure Design, Photo: Saravanan Meyyappan, KMC Videography : Nara Narayanan & Saravanan Meyyappan

Kolam Media Creations provides print design, photography and event videography services for arangetrams, dance shows, weddings. [email protected] | 603.557.6931

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The PerformersThe Legend of Skanda







ram in 2017 and has participated in many events like Sapta. She likes to draw, play the violin, and participate in Science Olym-piad.

Arushi Kalpande, a rising senior at Lexington High School, is a disciple of Smt. Neena Gulati, at the Triveni School of Dance for 11 years. She completed her Arangetram with her sister in 2017. She also participates in extracurricular activities like Quiz Bowl & Model UN.

Archita Nemalikanti , a rising sophomore at Hopkinton High School, is passionate about dance and is a disciple of Smt.Sripri-ya Natarajan Moorthy. She also enjoys playing the flute, partici-pating in Science fair and robotics, and playing soccer.

Ashvitha Eyalarasan, a 11 year old, learns Bharatanatyam from Smt. Kalpana Balachandar of Chandra School of dance. She is also a pianist, softball player and loves to spend time reading.

Avani Kashalikar, an 8th grader at Hudson High School, learns Bharatanatyam from Hema Iyengar at Nritya-Anjali School of dance. She also learns Carnatic vocal, plays the saxo-phone, enjoys theater and is excited about participating in this production.

Diti Pitre, a rising senior at Billerica Memorial High School, has been learning dance from Smt. Ranjani Saigal for over 10 years and completed her arangetram in 2017. Other than dance, Diti loves music and often enjoys playing the violin in her free time.

Dwiti Bhattad, a 7 year old, learns Bharatnatyam from Smt.Jasmine Shah. She also does yoga, plays soccer, ice skating and gymnastics and is passionate about reading and math.

Kaavya Kumaran, an 8th grader in Winchester, learns Bhar-athanatyam from Smt.Kalpana Balachundhar of Chandra Dance School in Lexington. She enjoys gymnastics and track programs and is excited about her 1st Vision-Aid performance.

Kaiyal Kumaran, a rising 3rd grader, learns Bharathanatyam from Smt.Kalpana Balachundar. She loves dance, tennis and swimming.

Manasi Danke, a rising senior at Worcester Polytechnic Insti-tute, is pursuing a BS in Computer Science & minor in Data Science. She did her Bharathanatyam Arangetram in 2013 under Smt.Ranjani Saigal’s guidance. She is passionate about social entrepreneurship and excited to participate in her 3rd Vision-Aid Production.

Medha Ramachandran, a rising 5th grader, learns dance from Smitha Radhakrishnan of NATyA Dance Studio in Natick. She loves cartooning, theater and ukulele.

Navya Kumar, a rising 4th grader at King Elementary in Fram-ingham, loves dancing and learns Bharatanatyam from Guru Sripriya Moorthy at Abhinaya Natyashala. Navya is very crea-tive and loves to draw, paint, play the piano and enjoys soccer.

Nikitha Ram, a rising sophomore at Shrewsbury High School, learns Bharatanatyam from Smt.Sapna Krishnan at Lasya School of Dance. She enjoys running for the school track & field team, plays volleyball, the violin and sings carnatic music.

Nithya Jonnavithula, a rising junior at Acton-Boxborough Re-gional High School, learns dance from Smt.Jasmine Shah at Aangikam Dance Academy and Madhubani art from Smt.Su-nanda Sahay. This is her 3rd year participating in a Vision-Aid production. She is on her school’s debating team.

Pavitra Balachundhar, a 9th grader at Lexington High School, learns dance from Smt. Kalpana Balachundhar. She is a com-petitive gymnast and enjoy western singing.She is excited about participating in her 2nd Vision-Aid production.

Prisha Nambiar, a rising 5th grader at the David Mindess Ele-mentary School, has been learning Bharatanatyam dance from Hema Iyengar of Nritya-Anjali School of Dance. An avid read-er, she learns Carnatic classical vocal, and loves creative arts like mehndi design.

Radhika Jaishankar, a PhD candidate at Northeastern Uni-versity, teaches Bharathanatyam in Ashland, MA. She secured MFA in Bharathanatyam from Kalaikaviri College of Fine Arts and has performed in many shows and won numerous acco-lades. She supports charity and looks forward to her 3rd Vi-sion-Aid production.

Ryana Nair, a 3rd grader, learns dance from Smt.Hema Iyengar as well as Smt. Jasmine Shah in Aangikam dance academy. Rya-na also loves to read, paint and learn piano.

Sakhi Kulkarni, a rising eighth grader at Robert Adams Mid-dle School, started her dance journey in Scotland and is cur-rently a disciple of Smt.Sripriya Natarajan Moorthy. She enjoys playing soccer and cooking, and aspires to become a surgeon.

Shakti Arun, a 11 year old, learns Bharatnatyam from Guru Vyjayanthi Prasad of Noopur Nritya Academy. An avid reader, she enjoys tennis and swimming and is looking forward to her first Vision-Aid production.

Shefali Bakre, a fun-loving and kind 13 year old, learns Bhar-athanatyam from Guru Anandini Chandrasekhar. She has per-formed in many cultural events and won 1st place in the Natya Rana competition. She leads her robotics team in national com-petitions.

Shreeya Selvakumar, is an enthusiastic 6th grader from Shrewsbury middle school, who enjoys playing with his puppy dog Simba, loves soccer, horse riding and has been learning her classical Bharatha Natyam from her Guru Hema Iyengar.

Siyona Bhagwat, a rising 5th grader, learns Bharatanatyam from Smt. Hema Iyengar. Both dance and sports, esp. Soccer, are her passions.

Shivani Suraj, a first grader, has been learning Bharatanatyam from Smt. Kalpana Balachundhar since she was 5 years old. She is passionate about dancing and excited to be part of this Vi-sion-Aid Production.

Shriyaa Anandakumar, a 6th Grader, learns Bharatanatyam from Smt.Sujatha Meyyappan and Carnatic Music from Smt. Aparna Balaji. She loves to draw, read, swim and play Violin. This is her 4th Year performing with Vision-Aid.

Vision-Aid thanks our Silver SponsorsSwathi Kiran & Veera Anantha Lakshmi & Muthusamy Jayaraman

Anonymous Parul & Neeraj KumarThomas Arul Rukmini & Vijay KumarVinitha Asija Dr.(s) Bela & Vinay Kumar

Kalpana & Dr. Balachundhar Anil MattaGeeta Kannan, Sudha & Sundar Balasuryan Radha & K.G. Narayana

Vidya & Narain Bhatia Revathi & Sasi PillaiAnjana Bose Meena & Ravi Ramamurti

Prameela, Sulochana & Srinivas Devadas Gautami & Venu RaoDr. Mukunda & Siva Dogiparthi (Sterling Smiles) Jana & Dilip Subramanyam

Latha Ganapathi Meena & Sundar SubramanyamDr. Bharti Nihalani & Kishore Gangwani Dr. Aparna Raghuram & Srivatsan Sathyamurthy

Kaustubh Garimella Dr.(s) Kastoori Iyengar & Rangaprasad SarangarajanRanga Geetha (In memory of late Smt.Kamala Chari )

Shriya Bala, a 6th grader, learns Bharatnatyam from Smt.Arch-ana Nayak.She like all forms of art, music and loves to read.She is also learning violin, Carnatic vocal and excited to be part of Vision-Aid production.

Shruthi Sivasubramanian, a rising senior at Shrewsbury High School, has been learning Bharatnatyam for over 9 years. She is a National Honor Society member and president and founder of her school’s Brain Bee Team. A black belt in Karate, she is also a Carnatic Singer.

Sprahaa Bhattad, a 6th grader, is passionate about various dance forms and learns Bharatnatyam from Smt.Jasmine Shah. She also learns ballet and does yoga regularly. She plays flute, learns jazz and enjoys gymnastics.

Tarika Sridhar, a rising Freshman at High School, learns Bharatanatyam from her mother/Guru Hema Iyengar since

the age of 3. She loves gymnastics and has performed for many charitable organizations, including Vision-Aid.

Vaidehi Moorthy, a rising 8th grader, learns BharathaNatyam from Smt. Sripriya Natarajan Moorthy. She looks forward to her 5th Vision-Aid production under Guru Muralidaran.

Viritha Reddy, a 7th grader from Lexington, learns dance from Smt.Kalpana Balachundhar. This is her first time performing in a Vision-Aid production and she is very excited about it!

How you can help• Make a pledge

• Donate your vehicle

• Shop online for us at smile.amazon.com and iGive.com and indicate Vision-Aid as your cause

• Volunteer with us!

Visit www.VisionAid.org

With Best Compliments from

Vision-Aid thanks Media Partners India New England News and Lokvani




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Mehendi Events,Weddings,

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Catalyzing Social and Economic Change in India

i

Dr.R.S.Ayyar – A Renaissance Man Dr R. Subrahmonia Ayyar was a founder faculty of the Indian Insti-tute of Technology, Bombay, where he served as the Dean of Academic Programs. He was a stalwart in the field of Structural Engineering. One of the first projects he worked in the final year of his college was to design the Gandhi Samadhi in Kan-yakumari. He was tasked to ensure that the sunlight lights the Samadhi on Oct 2.

He was a beloved and respected professor who made signif-icant contributions to the growth of Civil Engineering De-partment at IIT Bombay in its formative years. As Dean of Academic Programs, he was instrumental in introducing several far-reaching policies regarding the academic sys-tem of IIT Bombay. He was passionate about teaching and each student had a very special place in his heart. Students from IIT Bombay have had a transformational impact on the world at large and he felt fulfilled.A renaissance man, he felt strongly about empowering women through educa-tion. In the early 70s, he supported his wife, Smt. Parvathy

Ayyar, who was only a high school graduate at the time of her marriage, to further her studies and helped her realize her ambition of becoming a professor of English. He took a keen interest in his daughters’ and grandchildren’s educa-tion and encouraged them to study engineering.

Passionate about the arts, he also encouraged his daughters to study music and dance. He helped guide the first Vi-sion-Aid production of Ramayana, created by his daughter, Ranjani Saigal. A socially conscious teacher and research-er, he was also a gifted painter, poet and orator. Born in a very poor family, in a remote village in Kanyakumari Dis-trict, he overcame incredible number of challenges includ-ing Visual disability to achieve excellence. He never used his disabilities or challenges as an excuse to not achieve his potential.

His message - Work hard, think positive and do not let anything stand in the way of attaining your God given potential. We hope the gift we give in his name will allow many others who are visually challenged to unleash their unlimited potential.

-Anil Saigal, Ranjani Saigal, Amrita Saigal, Arun Saigal, Parvathy Ayyar




20 North Road. Bedford, MA 01730

Ph: 781.538.5906 or 781.538.6025 or Fax: 781.538.6047

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The festival of Holi is celebrated with color, with music and with dancing all day long. As the

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Choose from the wide selection of Indian dishes on our menu or make your special request to our chef! With complete cocktail, wine and beer service, Holi can assure your guests of the complete special event experience!


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EAT AND DREAMFood From Ancient Wisdom

LET THE DELICIOUSNESS JUMP INTO THE MOUTHAromatic dishes cooked with several spices, notably saffron. Nirvana's mission statement is to satisfy the bodies, minds and souls of the people with flavors & tastes of food. Or in other words, to make everyone happy. Whatever your age is, you want to enjoy tasty food made with love, Nirvana is a place that will satisfy your appetite and help you connect with food influenced by ancient wisdom.





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Royal Indian Bistro is a family owned restaurant and bar in the heart of Massachusetts serving authentic Indian cuisine in a pleasant, upbeat environment. We take great pride in delivering only the freshest ingredients and quality spices as would be done in a traditional Indian home.

We have worked hard to offer a menu that mixes both traditional and contemporary dishes, (both meat and vegetarian) available from mild to spicy and anywhere in between. We take special care of our vegetarian and vegan customers and offer gluten-free foods whenever possible.

On behalf of Royal Indian Bistro, we invite you to try some of the best Indian cuisine in the Boston area!

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தமிழ் மக்கள் மன்றம் தங்கைள அன்புடன் வரேவற்கிறது

அருந்தமிழ் வளர்ப்ேபாம்! அறெநறி காப்ேபாம்!அருந்தமிழ் வளர்ப்ேபாம்! அறெநறி காப்ேபாம்!

தமி

ழ் மக்கள் மன்றம்

TAM

IL MAKKAL MANDR

AM

TMM-USARegistered non-pro�t organization

http://www.tmm-usa.org/

தமிழ் மக்கள் மன்றம்Tamil Makkal Mandram

TMM Welcomes you all!

Tamil Makkal Mandram is proud to support Vision-AidBest wishes for the Grand Show of "Kamba Ramayanam" ( The Iconic Avatar )

THE MAHARAJARoyal Indian Cuisine

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Located in the heart of Harvard Square with stunning floor to ceiling

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Harvard Pilgrim understands there’s more than one way to better health and well-being.

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WE FLY TO MORE COUNTRIESTHAN ANY OTHER AIRLINE




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79 Laconia Street, Lexington, MA 02420

Tel: 610 731 5030 [email protected]

Design : Kolam Media Creations603.557.6931 [email protected]

Documents

INVINCIBLE SPEAR - Vision-Aid · largest vision-care settings and blind schools with many of the beneficiaries being from the poorest segment of society. Vision-Aid has developed