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A monthly communiqué
February 2018 No. 1
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EDITOR'S NOTE
Happy President's Day from the entire IAGB team! Fresh off the high from an extremely successful Republic Day Mela - 2018, the team dove right back to prep on its next activity - Healthcare Proxy & Living Will workshop series. Simultaneously other teams are working on planning the next event, College Workshop and on upgrading the website to name a few.
In this edition you will see:
- Note From the Director's Corner - Lata Rao
- Guest Column From IAGB Member - Yogita Miharia
- Community Spotlight: Girish A. Mehta, Founder & Executive Director, Indian Circle for Caring, USA, Inc.
- IAGB Upcoming Events
- IAGB Recent Events (Repiblic Day Mela - 2018)
- Community Calendar
- Our Sponsors
- Our Media Partners
Like always we invite you to submit guest columns on diverse topics for inclusion in the newsletter. Your feedback and suggestions and welcome!! Please contact via
Email
if you wish to make community event announcements through this newsletter.
Please visit our
Website
to sign up for annual family/single or life membership of IAGB.
Contact Us
if you are interested to volunteer at our upcoming events.
-- SANJAY KUDRIMOTI
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IAGB mourns the tragic shooting deaths at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Yet again we mourn and yet again we bury the young. IAGB calls out for passing of some sensible laws on background checks for gun purchases, increased investment in helping patients with mental illness and some sensible laws for gun control measures. It is time to let CDC study the gun violence epidemic and come up with sound measures based on science and backed by data to prevent deaths of any child due to these senseless acts.
IAGB applauds athletes participating in Winter Olympics, Pyeongchang, South Korea
India Association of Greater Boston
joins the worldwide celebrations of
athleticism
and cherish its motto:
Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger.
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FROM THE IAGB DIRECTOR'S CORNER
Another successful event behind us, one of our Flagship events, India's Republic Day celebration at the Burlington High School. It was truly a team effort putting together an entire day of competitions and ending with an excellent cultural program. The competitions which were added on last year have become very widely appreciated and participation in them this year was amazing. There was no competition that did not have any participants, in fact there were several that came in to participate at the last minute.
As one of the leads of the cultural team it was a very difficult decision selecting just a few items from the number of entries received, which just proves that there is no dearth of talent in the New England area, but it gets harder and harder every year to turn away good, talented items, given our time constraints. The hardest ones to turn away are ones with our young children who are the future of our community. It is a matter of pride that we have so many youngsters who are so eagerly participating in keeping our culture alive. There are several talented choreographers in the area that are creating this possibility. We hope we can continue to help them all to showcase their talent.
We are now looking forward to hosting a very popular, much in demand Antakshari again this year...it also had its beginning last year, along with our various useful workshops, and of course, our biggest event for India's Independence Day. We look forward to continue making IAGB a exemplary organization for all South Asians. We welcome any and all feedback to make that happen.
-- LATA RAO
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GUEST COLUMN
Everyday is a fashion show and the world is your runway.
Contributing Author:
YOGITA MIHARIA
In the day and era of social media, we all want to make sure we are called fashionable. But what really is fashion? Fashion means what is popular today; it is fast moving, changing even more rapidly than ever before. Have you tried keeping up with the current trends? Impossible is all I can say! You are trying to keep up with what’s outside, out of your control. This brings me to style. Style is who you are, how you perceive yourself, what you want your identity to be to the outside world. It’s your relationship to yourself rather than to the outside.
Do not confuse fashion and style. Fashion is for achieving unachievable looks that you see on women with unrealistic bodies whereas style is about using and showing your best features. Fashion is defined by your clothes, by your accessories, by what is “deemed” fashionable. Style is who you are truly from within, and how you express yourself through clothing choices. Style enables you to love yourself, and dress to honor yourself. And this is why no two people can have the same style, but they sure can follow the same fashion trends.
Fashion is like the New England weather. It’s constantly changing! But that doesn’t mean style is stagnant. You change, your style changes, but it is always in sync with your unique self. Have you heard of the term “fashion disaster”. But never heard of “style disaster”, right? I hope you get my message.
In this issue, let’s talk about a fashion trend that I absolutely adore. I feel it is one of those trends that can look good on anyone. It has been seen since the medieval era. Made a comeback in the 70s, a brief comeback in early 2000’s and is back now. I somehow fell in love with it in the 90s, probably saw an old movie or magazine and just couldn’t resist the charm. Those were the days when I designed and made my own clothes. I used it on my outfits a lot, and was the only one to be seen donning it. Did I feel unfashionable? Not at all, it was my style and I loved it and so did everyone around me. So when I saw the resurgence recently, I was beyond excited! Any guesses what I am talking about? Yes, the “bell sleeves”. Aren’t they the cutest thing ever? The possibilities are endless with that one trend, so find the variations that you like, that bring out the best in you. The devil is in the details. It almost always takes your outfit up a notch. You don’t have to worry about the hemline working for you or the dress type working for an occasion. A small bell at the wrist can make your otherwise boring work shirt charming whereas a big flowy bell can make your date night outfit even more romantic. A layered bell will make your party dress pop out and short sleeves with bell will keep it out of the way yet make a statement. And don’t limit your imagination to just western clothes, visualize bells on your saree blouse and see the elegance multiply. The possibilities are endless! Don’t forget that sometimes less is more. Bell sleeves are enough adornment for your arms; don’t load your wrists with bangles when wearing them. A watch is all you need for a wrist accessory.
And now I am waiting for the bell bottoms to make a comeback, same concept but for your pants. What I think of them is a topic for another day!
“Dress to not just be noticed but to be remembered.”
Yogita Miharia
Members interested in submitting a guest column in our newsletter can send an email to iagb@iagb.org.
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SPOTLIGHT
eNews edition
shines
SPOTLIGHT
on an individual (or a team) who has (have) a positive and significant impact on the lives of New England residents.
IAGB
:
Welcome Mr. Mehta to IAGB Spotlight. Could you please talk about your path to forming Indian Circle for Caring.
Girish Mehta:
I have been fortunate to be living in United States for the past 50 years. When the time came to retire from my professional career in mid 2000s, I wanted to do something meaningful with my time in retirement. It started with the process of identifying community needs. We had community members that helped us with brainstorming and focusing on specific areas. We formulated the plan and ideas – what yet one more organization could do in a meaningful way. Then we formed a small team of people that were able to give time, skills and energies to serve the community. We decided to start the process slow and build the awareness and over time seek other like- minded individuals who are able to serve as volunteers in different capacities.
IAGB
:
What this organization does and what type of services it provides?
Girish Mehta:
Our evaluation back in 2007 was that Indian community was growing in Untied States and many were making US as their home country. As a result, we discovered that our community needed certain infrastructure and support systems. In our groundwork we counted seventy-five Indian organizations within just Massachusetts itself. They were in categories of religious, social, professional and networking, media and TV & entertainment and one sole services organization. So we knew that all the other categories of services such as social, religious, cultural etc. were being served by many existing appropriate organizations but when it came to an individual or family going through challenging or difficult situation that comes their way unexpectedly such as serious sickness, hospitalization, family crisis, accident or death of a loved one, no organization has within their charter to address those issues. So we decided that even though there are many Indian organizations we believed that this new organization will find its rightful place in the community.
IAGB
:
How do people avail the services of ICC and what if any financial commitment they have?
Girish Mehta:
Our service to the community has multiple approaches. Anyone at any time can request support from us and we do support them regardless of their status of our relationship. Even if we had never heard of them or they had not heard of us before their call, we still serve them. When help is sought, no questions are asked and help is provided. There is no membership fee or charges. We simply seek name and some demographic information. No fees, no financial transaction. The people who join us as members are encouraged to provide information and spread awareness about our organization. That way people can contact us in the time of their need. There is another component and that is to work with existing organizations. We have strong relationships with the leaders of many organizations such as IAGB, IMANE, Gurjar, etc. All these organizations have strong connection with the community and we have chosen to work with each of these organizations in a supportive mode without expecting any financial transaction between us. We hope and expect that they provide us the platform at many of their events and help increase awareness about ICC and its services The idea is to fundamentally help out each other. Today we have connections with about sixty organizations in our community. At times we use their resources so we can serve better.
IAGB
:
How does ICC gets funding and what are their major expenses?
Girish Mehta:
We serve the community and do not worry about money. Any out of pocket costs that we incur when we conduct Healthcare proxy workshops we bear it in addition to our time and resources. All our services are free of charge for the community. When we serve the client and family through the situations we talked about we serve from the goodness of our heart without any expectations of fees or charges or anything else in return. We have not organized a single fundraising event in the past ten years that this organization has been in existence. Even our website does not have a “Donate Here” button. Which in turn has so far served us well. We never had to ask for money. But our community has looked at what we do, appreciate what we do and on their own, unsolicited they are sending the checks and money to sustain us. We feel we are blessed as the community has seen what we do especially with in regards to our time and efforts and have come forward to support us. We are a registered 501©3 nonprofit organization and all charitable contributions that are made are tax deductible. When cash or checks are sent unsolicited we gratefully accept the donations and acknowledge them by sending them a thank you note and a receipt. Additionally, we list the name of each donor on our website under categories ranging from Inspiration ($25,000 and above) to Contributors (Up to $99) with many in between. Obviously with additional future contributions the category scale in the listing is upgraded. Further, in the true spirit of full disclosures and complete transparency we publish the updated financial statements with every expense incurred since year 2011 on our website. The biggest expenses that we incur are our program expenses. Other expenses include website maintenance, printing brochures and forms, marketing and promotions.
IAGB
:
Can you highlight your ‘Five-Wishes’ project?
Girish Mehta:
We selected a solution to prepare a healthcare proxy that does not require attorney’s services. It is a simple yet most comprehensive document in the United States. This document is called 'Five-Wishes'. We will be introducing this Five Wishes document in the upcoming IAGB Living Will series workshop in March. Thanks to its popularity we have been invited to New Jersey too where we will be conducting four workshops on Health Care Proxy later in March. We provide this document to the community members free of charge. During the workshop we inform, educate and empower the workshop attendees to use the document so they can prepare the Healthcare Proxy. When the attendees walk out of work shop they have a completed paperwork of Healthcare proxy that has full legal standing.
IAGB
:
Has ICC helped with funeral arrangements? Any information you can provide about this topic?
Girish Mehta:
In Massachusetts, funeral homes and crematories are separate entities. ICC has negotiated fair prices with some specific funeral homes and crematories. A basic funeral should cost about $3,500. There are some add on services offered which can increase the costs by up to another $2,000. In New Hampshire both these services are offered by same entity so the costs can be less by few hundred dollars.
IAGB
:
What is the future for India Circle of Caring?
Girish Mehta:
Presently we are trying to expand our ideas beyond the new England states. We are now replicating and mentoring to build similar organizations in collaboration with Sewa International -USA. We are preparing teams in eleven cities in eight states. Additionally, we are also engaging with like-minded individuals from across the country to assist them in opening ICC chapters in their geographic region. These chapters would be an extension of ICC and will be fully supported in their mission as an integral part of Indian Circle for Caring USA Inc.
IAGB interviewing team:
Sanjay Kudrimoti
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LIVING WILL & HEALTHCARE PROXY WORKSHOPS - MARCH 2018
In partnership with Indian Circle for Caring USA, Inc. (ICC), IAGB will organize a ‘living will and health-care proxy’ workshop. This workshop will be organized two locations, Chelmsford and Cambridge. Attendance is free for members, but seating is limited. The workshop will inform, educate and provide the documents to enable you to prepare your own documents. Sign up details are available on IAGB website and IAGB Facebook page. If you have any questions, please send an email at
iagb@iagb.org
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COLLEGE PREP WORKSHOPS - MAY 2018
In partnership with Dr. Anil Saigal and a Panel of parents whose kids are presently in college, IAGB will organize a ‘College Prep’ workshop. This workshop will be organized in two locations, venues for which are being finalized in a couple of weeks. Attendance is free for members, but seating is limited. The workshop will inform and educate about the next steps involved in the process of college admissions for your child(ren) and all the things you need to know leading up to that. Sign up details will be shared soon. If you have any questions, please send an email at
iagb@iagb.org
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ANTAKSHARI - MAY/JUNE 2018
IAGB will once again host its popular show, Antakshari. The Grand Finale is being planned for May/June 2018 and prelims and semi-finals will occur over the next few months. Stay tuned for more details on sign-ups and locations.
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REPUBLIC DAY MELA - JANUARY 27, 2018 GALLERY
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Every year, the India Association of Greater Boston (IAGB) organizes an event to commemorate India’s Republic Day and this year it was on January 27, 2018 at Burlington High School, Burlington, MA. The RD Mela in a unique day-long program featured multiple competitions and a cultural performance segment. Competitions included
Kids:
Elocution, Storytelling, Science Quiz, Geography Bee, Trivia Quiz. Essay Writing****
Adults:
Skit Enactment ****
Mixed Ages:
Art, Chess, Carrom, Poetry Writing, Photography.
The competitions were run in parallel from 1 pm to 5 pm. The cultural performances started at 5 pm.
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Sixth annual Health, Fitness & Wellness Expo 2018, the largest South Asian health fair in North America, will be held on March 4, 2018.
The expo is produced by The Mishra Group, in collaboration with INDIA New England News, INE MultiMedia, and IndUS Business Journal.
As in the past, Health Expo this year will focus on modern medicine, yoga, meditation, alternative medicine, physical fitness, beauty, anti-aging, and from onsite exercise training to keeping fit with Bollywood dancing and numerous workshops.
Venue: Burlington Marriott Hotel, Burlington, MA
Date: Sunday, march 4th
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Exciting opportunity to join Riverside Community Care as a Home Visitor!
The Early Head Start Home Visitor works one on one with low-income families from diverse ethnic backgrounds to provide in-home and some on-site educational services to support families with infants or toddlers, or pregnant women.
We are looking for a candidate that:
- Has a commitment to working with low-income and immigrant families and pregnant women.
- Has knowledge of community resources or how to access community and social services.
- Interested in establishing a caring and supportive relationship with the persons we service.
- Is familiar with child development and/or social services delivery systems.
- Can manage a caseload of 12 families, prioritize, plan work activities, set goals and objectives, and use time effectively.
- Has the ability to work with different computerized data systems to track all services to the families.
Candidates will need to have a valid Massachusetts driver’s license; have daily access to a reliable vehicle; be able to pass a criminal background check; and be legally authorized to work in the U.S. Preference given to persons who speak Spanish, Haitian Creole or Hindi/Nepali as the position demands.
Required Education:
- Must have a minimum of High School Diploma. A CDA (Child Development Credential) in Home Visiting or Infants and toddlers, Associate’s degree or Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education or related Human Services field preferred. Candidates without the necessary background must agree to enroll in a CDA class sponsored by the program.
Job Experience:
- Working with low income and diverse young children and their families preferred.
- Working as a Home Visitor, preferred.
Benefits:
- Paid sick days, vacation and personal days.
- 11 paid holidays.
- Access to health, short and long term disability insurances.
You can apply by emailing your resume to Nancy Fredericks at: nfredericks@riversidecc.org or Rebekah Simmons at: rsimmons@riversidecc.org.
474 Broadway, Somerville, MA 02145 617-629-6652 Fax: 617-629-6644 www.riversidecc.org
Federally Funded by the Office of Head Start
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Editor: Sanjay Kudrimoti
IAGB Communications
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