MILPITAS, CA: SAI Global Mission hosted a Diwali Dinner Banquet featuring Shree Unnikrishnan and Band on Saturday October 21 at ICC, Milpitas. An evening filled with soothing numbers from Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada was a treat to over 500 fans who were part of the fundraiser.
SAI Global Mission is a non-profit organization changing and saving lives by providing free healthcare, education and food to hundreds of remote villages in India and Africa.
Unnikrishnan was born in a Tamil Iyer family to K. Radhakrishnan and Dr. Harini Radhakrishnan in Palakkad, Kerala. He started learning Carnatic music at age 11. He is a national award-winning playback singer for his debut film songs “Ennavale Adi Ennavale” and “Uyirum Neeye”. These songs were composed by A. R. Rahman, with whom Unnikrishnan gave most of his memorable songs.
He was the first male playback singer to get national award for a Tamil song. He was one of the permanent judges in the reality television show Airtel Super Singer on Vijay TV in both the seasons (2006, 2008 & 2010-2011) and 2008 Idea Star Singer on Asianet. “A trained Carnatic singer can sing any other form of music, but singers from other genres need to undergo training to recite the nuances of the Carnatic in a perfect manner,” feels P. Unnikrishnan, popular Carnatic and film playback singer.
A “musical delight” was delivered by singers Joshi, Pragathi Guruprasad and Sumithra Iyer. An excellent mix of old and new songs, melody and fast-beat songs kept the audience engaged throughout the program. There was never a dull moment during the entire duration of the program which lasted well over four hours. Besides performing his own chartbusters, UnniKrishnan paid rich tribute to legendary musician stalwarts like T.M.Soundarajan, KV Mahadevan, RD Burman, Ilayaraja and AR Rahman. The concert bore testimony to his versatility and virtuosity.
The evening began with Arvind Thiagarajan of Sai Global Mission welcoming the artists, sponsors and the audience. He went on to explain various initiatives taken by the organization which focuses on Societal Advancement Initiatives globally by offering free food/healthcare services. India remains the world capital for Congenital Heart Disease (CHD), with 300,000 children born each year, or 19.2/live-births, contributing to 10% of the infant mortality rate. Without medical/surgical care, over 25% of CHD children will die before their 1st birthday; many more will die in infancy or in the preschool age.
Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital was launched in Naya Raipur (Chhattisgarh) in December 2012 to break the vicious “health-poverty cycle” affecting the underprivileged particularly in rural areas. Since February 2014, the hospital has provided free-of-cost primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare exclusively to poor children with CHD (no billing department or payment counter in the hospital).
What the Hospital needs now to save more lives of children with CHD. The evening fundraiser served as a tool to achieve the noble goal
• The hospital needs 2 more operating theaters ASAP to meet the ever-growing waitlist of CHD patients
• Each operating theater costs about $360K to construct and equip for cardiac surgery
• Hospital maintenance costs also need to be addressed, since the patients are treated free-of- cost.
If you would like to contribute to this noble cause or volunteer please visit their website http://saiglobalmission.org
India Post News Service
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