IAGB eNews, July 2019 No. 07

eNews

A monthly communiqué

July 2019 No. 07

EDITOR'S NOTE

IAGB had a busy spring and now even busier summer. We capped off the the previous quarter with two significant events on back to back weekends. On May 11th 2019, IAGB hosted the first ever 5 K Walk / Run event. Enthusiastic members of our community including children showed up bright and early for this inaugural walk / Run event. All the funds raised at this event were donated to MA Coalition for Homeless organization. The event was championed by Vaishali Gade from the IAGB Executive Committee.

Prag Singh led the Civic Engagement Forum the following weekend (May 18th, 2019). A panel of three existing and long time active members from our community in public service were invited to share their knowledge and experiences. A fascinating discussion enlightened the attending group about the intricacies of town elections, roles and responsibilities.

Summer is the time for our Annual Mega India Day Celebrations. It is an all hands on deck approach. EC members are involved in planning, fund raising, publicity among other things for this event. We appeal to the community to please sign up if you wish to volunteer for this event. We appreciate all the help that can be provided.

The EC is also preparing for the upcoming change of guard and forming new executive committee for the 2019-2021 term. We appeal to the community to seek more information and participate in the process. This organization is OF the India American Diaspora, BY the Indian American Diaspora and FOR the Indian American Diaspora.

In this issue you will find:

From the Director's Corner - Umesh Rao
IAGB Civic Forum - Prag Singh
Announcements
IAGB Upcoming Events
IAGB Recent Events
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.

IAGB Cheers the Indian Cricket team and US Women's Soccer team in the respective World Cups

US Women's soccer has always been the best it can be. As defending champions they bring glory back to US. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Indian Cricket team has had a good run in this year's world cup as of date. IAGB is wishing the team the best to lift the World Cup and bring glory to cricketing fans all over the globe.

-- SANJAY KUDRIMOTI

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S CORNER

Cultural Program at India Day 2019

UMESH RAO

It is a rare experience that India out of all the cultures from different countries gives us - an experience that is unique and diverse. Also, known as the 'Mother of all cultures', it is a perfect blend of diverse customs, beliefs, traditions and what not. Music, dance, painting, sculpture and other art forms, agriculture, science, and industry all sectors trace their roots back many centuries.

Along with being a part of this wonderful culture, we should make sure that we continue to create its awareness amongst the next generation as well as our local Greater Boston community.

The Indian diaspora feel proud to be connected to diverse cultural trends and often opt to be a part of showcasing the Indian cultural trend at IAGB India Day for the past 60+ years. We would like to welcome entries to our cultural performance section. We have an 'Open' theme this year. Performances may include, but will not be limited to, dance, music or skits.

The program will start sharp at 3:00 PM and end at 7:00 PM. We will open the dance floor to some grooving music later.

Some key dates to keep in mind

June 30 - Deadline for online submission of forms and links to YouTube videos for evaluation.

July 15 - IAGB Cultural Committee will communicate the selection of the group.

July 25 – All selected performers should have fulfilled the IAGB membership requirement by this date.

July 30 - Groups to submit final MP3 of their performances to CulturalCommittee(CC) for India Day program

IAGB is your community organization and so we look forward to your enthusiastic support and participation in our India Day 2019 Mela. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at iagb-cultural-team@googlegroups.com

- Umesh Rao

ANNOUNCEMENTS

INDIA DAY VENDOR & EXHIBITOR BOOTHS

Join us for a vibrant celebration of India's Independence Day at the Boston City Hall Plaza on August 17th, 2019

The early bird pricing for vendor EXHIBITION BOOTHS ended on July 7th. You can still reserve your spot today as there are few spots still open.

Pricing:

Exhibition Booth (all booths come with 10ft by 10ft covered tent, table, chairs) - $300

Exhibition Booth, quarter page ad in our eBrochure and pre-event publicity - $350

Please visit https://iagb.org/sponsorship/ for details and booth registration

YOUTH EXCELLENCE AWARDS

India Association of Greater Boston, known as IAGB, is inviting nominations for the prestigious “IAGB Community Youth Excellence” award. Anyone, including parents, friends and relatives, can nominate a student.

Students can also nominate themselves. The deadline is July 31, 2019.

IAGB will recognize a maximum of two students, who demonstrate extraordinary achievement in one or more of the following areas:

Community Service
Academics
Arts and music
Sports
Exceptional service of an altruistic nature for the greater good of the community

Eligible nominees must be rising junior or senior high school students of Indian origin, who reside and attend school in New England Area.

Required Documentation

Submit nominations with the following required supporting documentation by July 31 to iagb@iagb.org :

Student/school/town name, and student contact details (email, telephone number and address).
A one-page essay in Microsoft Word on: “How I plan to use my skills and abilities to give back to the community selflessly?”
List major achievements in detail, using separate pages for each area of achievement. Include any supporting documents such as images, videos, etc.
If nomination is made by someone other than nominee, include the name of the nominating person and contact details.

The awardees will be notified via email and recognized at India Day Festival 2019 on Saturday, August 17 at City Hall Plaza, Boston. If you have any questions, send an email to iagb@iagb.org . For more details on India Day Festival 2019 and sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.iagb.org

CALL FOR ART WORK FOR BROCHURE

Call for ART WORK for IAGB India Day brochure (Cover Page). Artwork will also be displayed on a major Boston area highway billboard! Art work should be in spirit of India Day showcasing vibrancy of India. Please respond to iagb@iagb.org by July 20, 2019

IAGB Forum: Local Civic Engagement

Keeping the spirit of “All Politics Is Local”, IAGB conducted the forum on local Civic Engagement on May 18 ^th . Panelists included Indian community members from town governance of Burlington, Ashland and Lexington. The panelists were chosen to represent the two key forms of town governance, namely Open and Close. The overall theme represented how the community can successfully collaborate internally first, and externally later, to form a cohesive bond of people and make its presence felt. Following is an overview of the panelists and their accomplishments:

Ms. Jayashree Voruganti: An IAGB Past President (2015-2017), she is currently serving as a member of the Burlington Town's Ways and Means (W&M) Committee, also known as Finance Committee, whose responsibility is to approve Town's budget involving town affairs. She also represents W&M Committee on the School subcommittee. She recently contested for the Town Meeting Member for Precinct 1.

Mr. K G Naryanan: He has been a very active member of local community in Ashland and Metro West Area. He is currently an elected member of the Board of Health serving in that capacity for 5 years. He is also an appointed member of Conservation commission serving in that capacity in 5th year and recently has become a part of member of Dementia friendly committee for over a year.

Mr. Ravish Kumar: Ravish is a Town Meeting Member- Precinct 7 for Town of Lexington since 2015. Ravish has also been actively involved with structuring and strengthening iGIG (Indian Americans Getting Involved Group) and currently serves as the First Vice- President of iGIG. He is also the Co-president of IAL (Indian Americans of Lexington) and part of the prestigious Lions White Tricorne Hat 2019 Selection Committee.

The discussion covered topics ranging from how best to participate in your own town governance to getting tax payers of Indian origins with no current voting rights (people on visa). Attendees were also keen to know more about how their tax dollars were put to use by town and how can they actively be involved in those decision makings. A lot of enthusiasm was shared across topics like how school committees’ budget is decided and how commercial taxes help town keep personal taxes low. How much time will a person need to take out to be actively involved in town garnered lot of response and interest both from panelists and participants.

An obvious reference was also made and discussed to the fact that as a community, Indian Americans, are clearly lacking in bringing their strength to the table. This has been a recurring them whether it is a local election or an election for State or Federal government. A grass root movement at local town level was picked up as a best stepping stone to create a larger and cohesive presence of community.

About IAGB:

IAGB strives to engage in a delicate balancing act. On one hand, we recognize the need to provide opportunities to our members to treasure and celebrate the native traditions and cultures while simultaneously encouraging them to blend in to become a single larger community with common goals and objectives in pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. To that end, be it honoring the Indian Americans in Civic Services or getting the visa camp to our area or taking the voice of first ever Indian American primary congressional candidate to community, IAGB has worked diligently to create a visible presence for community in state and give the platform to Indian American community in Civic Services area.

-- PRAG SINGH

IAGB INDIA DAY 2019 CORPORATE SPONSORS

India Day celebration has been made possible by support of number of great organizations and individuals every year. Corporate sponsors of India Day 2019 are Harvard Pilgrim and Healthcare, and Newyork Life Insurance Company. IAGB would like to extend a sincere thanks for their generosity.

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care(HPHC)

Headquartered in Wellesley, MA, Harvard Pilgrim and its family of companies provide health benefit plans, programs and services to more than 3 million customers in New England and beyond. A leading not-for-profit health services company, Harvard Pilgrim guides members – and the communities its serves – to better health.

Newyork Life Insurance Company

At the heart of New York Life is a commitment to be there for the customers when they need -whether today or decades into the future. NY Life has delivered on that promise for nearly 175 years by investing wisely, growing a diversified mix of businesses, and remaining true to the mission as a mutual company, accountable only to their customers, not to outside investors.

People come to work at New York Life to contribute to the financial goals of millions of families and businesses each day. NY Life has a diverse, nationwide workforce that allows them to support the communities where we work. New York Life has a dedicated South Asian Unit for the past 20 years.

One World Cuisine

For over 30 years, One World Cuisine restaurants group has provided Boston with distinctive culinary excellence from the Indian subcontinent. Over the years, the family of restaurants has grown to include diverse culinary concepts ranging from casual takeout, to fine dining and nightlife, to gourmet Indian groceries. One World Cuisine is constantly expanding and pushing the envelope of Boston’s restaurant trade through innovative concepts, unsurpassed quality, and impeccable service.

For corporate sponsorships, please reach out to iagb@iagb.org . The early bird pricing for vendor EXHIBITION BOOTHS ends on June 30th. Reserve your spot today to take advantage of this opportunity, before the prices go up. Any questions, send an email to iagb@iagb.org

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IAGB UPCOMING EVENTS

IAGB General Body Meeting

Stay tuned for the announcement with regards to Nomination Committee, IAGB General Body Meeting and Election of new Executive Committee for 2019-2021. Please watch this space and facebook and website. We encourage you all to get involved and participate,