SANTA CLARA, CA: The Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation “Benefit Concert” was held at Santa Clara Convention Center on November 4 from 5 pm to 8 pm. The Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation, established in 1981, is a non-profit and charitable organization committed to improving medical care in India. It supports the advanced training of physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, purchases medical equipment in the USA and donates it to those who will use it most effectively in India for the treatment of poor cancer patients.
It is an organization that has been serving people for about 30 years and 100% of the proceeds reach the needy. The organization gets its administrative expenses from volunteer service, says Dr Bhupinder Bhandari, eminent gastrointestinal expert in Bay area and its San Francisco chapter president.
In India, officially more than 5 lakh people are known to die of cancer every year but unofficially millions of people lose their battle to the emperor of maladies. Cancer kills more people than AIDS, TB & Malaria put together and globally, 1 in 8 deaths occur due to cancer, says Mahesh Pakala, Vice president of San Francisco chapter.
NDCF provides bone marrow transplants, dialysis treatment, pediatric cancer treatment and palliative care among other treatments. The foundation is involved in Pediatric Palliative Day Care Center in Mumbai and is expecting to raise $36000 every year to provide the utmost care for tiny tots after rigorous treatment.
It is an active and total approach to care from the point of diagnosis or recognition throughout the child’s life, death and beyond. It embraces physical, emotional, social and spiritual elements and focuses on enhancement of quality of life for the child and support for the family. The foundation urges the community to come forward and help them in this noble cause, says Mahesh Pakala.
The evening was made memorable by Sitar maestro Ustad Shujaat Khan. He is one of the greatest North Indian Classical musicians of his generation. Khan’s music pedigree extends seven generations and he is the disciple of the great sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan. He belongs to the Imdad Khan gharana and his style of playing sitar, known as the gayaki ang, is imitative of the subtleties of the human voice.
Khan’s musical career began at the age of three when he began practicing on a specially made small sitar. By the age of six, he was recognized as a child prodigy and began giving public performances. He has performed at all the prestigious music festivals in India and has performed throughout Asia, Africa, North America, and Europe. Shujaat Khan has also collaborated with different genres of music. The Rain, an album featuring Shujaat Khan and the Indo-Persian Ghazal ensemble, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004 for “Best Traditional World Music Album”. He was moved by the organization’s effort and he welcomes their initiative and urged the community at large to help the noble cause. He urges youngsters to be persistent and hardworking to achieve success in all facets of life and give back to the community.
The event was a strong crowd puller and saw some eminent physicians of Bay area attending. They gave their views on the deadly disease and how the community can make a difference by joining hands with this organization.
Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service
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