Indian Association of Sacramento (IAS) hosts ‘Meet and Greet’ event

Venkat Nagam

Over 75 Indian Americans including representatives from IAS supporting organizations took part in the ‘Meet and Greet” event organized by the Indian Association of Sacramento (IAS) in Sacramento on Thursday, April 21 2022, held at Zoroastrian Center in Rancho Cordova.

YK Chalaamcherla Folsom City Council member and Prof Shyam Goyal, a retired professor from the University of California at Davis & member of the Gandhi Statue For Peace Committee, were the guests of honor for this event.

The American national anthem was sung by Nishanth Karanam. The national anthem of India, ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was beautifully sung by Ranju Varma and Nishanth Karanam, remembering the emotions about the nation’s history, traditions, and sacrifices that brought India to the brink of freedom. The audience cheered with the slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. MC of the event Pushpa Venkateshan welcomed the audience.

The audience was mesmerized by watching a tribute to late legend Lata Ji singing performance by Sohini Chakraborty, and a tribute to Bappi Lahiri Ji singing performance by Shivesh Sinha and congratulated both the singers.

Speaking on the occasion, YK appreciated the audience and IAS supporting organization’s representatives for taking part in the meet and greet event. YK suggested the audience take part in mainstream American local events and also invite fellow Americans to IAS events as part of cultural exchange. Prof Goyal said he felt happy to be part of the IAS meet and greet event. He said he came to the USA 52-years ago and most of the audience in the event venue weren’t born at that time.

Ajit Natu, IAS Board of Trustees Chairman and Past President, coordinated the questions-answer session with the audience. Several participants have clarified their questions on IAS events, and IAS supporting organizations’ event coordination without conflict. Ajit Natu said, “An event calendar is available on the IAS website, and open for IAS supporting organizations to enter their event dates”.

 “I am happy to all IAS supporting organizations representatives have come together for this meet and greet event. I am hoping to see you all on the upcoming IAS India Day to celebrate India’s Independence Day in mid-August”’, said Vandana Sharma, President of IAS. She spoke about IAS’s mission and vision. IAS Executive officers Vandana Sharma, Ranju Verma, Gobi Ramaswamy, and Shekhar Tiwari expressed sincere thanks to the audience for attending the IAS Meet and Greet event on a weekday.

Bulbul Kadakia, IAS Meet & Greet event lead, spoke about IAS Activities, Introduced the IAS Executive Committee, Board of Trustee Members. Kadakia thanked Food Committee Lead Jay Srivastava, Co-Lead Venu Acharya, and volunteers for making delicious Indian food arrangements for the audience and he thanked all volunteers for their help in the event coordination. Jay Srivastava delivered a presentation on IAS involvement in fundraising activities from its inception in 2006 till today, and highlighted the oxygen concentrator assistance that has been provided to Indian Hospitals, and mask supplies to several local hospitals and institutions in the middle of the Covid 19 pandemic.

All the member organizations were given an opportunity to introduce themselves and also share about their upcoming events.

Several participants said, “Meet and Greet Event, which is an initiative of the IAS strengthened the feeling of inclusiveness among the supporting Indian American Associations community here at Sacramento, and reinforced the support structure between local Indian American Organizations”.

Gobi Ramaswamy, Treasurer of IAS thanked all the distinguished guests, organization/community local leaders, singing performers, media coordinators, annual sponsors, and IAS supporting organization representatives for making the event successful.

Established in 2006, the Indian Association of Sacramento is one of the largest umbrella organizations in the Indian community. Since 2006, the IAS has been organizing India Day annually, which showcases India’s cultural heritage and history. Since its inception, IAS has raised over $290,000 in funds for helping out several non-profits in and out of the USA. In the last two years, IAS raised over $60,000 funds and assisted needy people living in Greater Sacramento with face masks, meals, groceries, medical and school supplies and supplied Oxygen Concentrators to India during India’s second wave COVID-19 crisis in 2021. IAS suggested the readers visit the IAS website: http://www.iassac.org/ & FB page https://www.facebook.com/IndiaDaySacramento for more information about IAS and its events/activities spread throughout the year.

This article’s author Mr. Venkat Nagam is presently acting as Media Coordinator for IAS. The views in this article are the author’s own and do not represent those of this publication.