A Music Concert to benefit visually impaired hosted in Chicago

Chicago IL: The Blind Foundation for India (BFI) hosted a Musical Program on Saturday, March 31, 2012 at the Avery Coonley Performing Arts Center, 1400 Maple Avenue, Downers Grove, IL The event “Sunehare Geeton ki Shaam, Ankhon ki Roshni ke Naam” was organized Dr. Manu Vora, Dr. Dipak Shah and Dr. Sheela Shah for the benefit of Blind Foundation for India’s projects in India.

The program started with dinner from 6:30 – 7:30 pm and Musical Entertainment commenced at 7:30 pm. The evening program included Mr. Malik Miraj of Hyderabad, India, a winner of Laughter Channel, dance performances by Soorya Dance School of Northbrook, and melodious songs by Drs. Dipak and Sheela Shah. They were accompanied by Mr. Hitesh Master and Orchestra Sa Re Ga Ma.

The purpose of the Music Program Sunahare Geeton ki Shaam , Aankhon ki Roshni ke Naam was to enjoy the evening of entertainment and provide a helping hand to improve the plight of over 15 million blind people in India. The cost of a Cataract operation in India is $20 as compared to $4,000 in the United States. The Blind Foundation for India (BFI) is a registered 501 (c) (3) charitable organization in operation since 1989. The mission of BFI is to prevent and cure blindness, and educate and rehabilitate permanently blind individuals in India. We should know, one out of three blind persons in the world are in India – It is estimated that 15 million blind people are in India. Every year, 3 million people develop cataracts in their eyes. There are 2 million children in India. Only 5% of them receive any education.

Dr. Manu Vora, Ph.D., M.B.A, recipient of many medals and adjunct faculty at various Universities is the President of BFI. According to him, the seeds of helping blind people were planted in 1959 when he was blinded during Diwali festival by fire cracker and lost his vision for 24 hrs.

To date, BFI has raised over $3.5 million to benefit over one million people with visual impairment in India. With support from BFI, medical partners in India have performed over 100,000 free Cataract operations, examined over 500,000 school going children in public schools for eyesight issues, provided 10,000 Braille kits and donated 104 mobile vans to transport eye doctors to villages and patients to eye hospitals for Cataract removals.

BFI has 7 Directors, 15 Jr. Advisors, and 300 Key Volunteers throughout USA, The India Setup is; 70 NGOs, Overseas Coordinator is Mr. Kishor Shah (Rajkot,Gujarat) aged 90 yrs., and a Field Officer in Mumbai. NGOs provide yearly report on use of Vans and also submit report for the Cataract Operations and Child Sight Projects year round. There were Platinum Sponsors, Gold Sponsors and Silver Sponsors for this evening’s event.

Dr. Dipak Shah and Dr. Sheela Shah are Dentists themselves and busy in their practice. They are from Bombay and both are practicing Dentistry in Chicago for the last 30 years and perform professional music since childhood. They took advanced training in music in Chicago for the last 10 years. They have performed traditional and Bollywood music shows. Their hobby is singing and organizing Musical Programs for the past 20 years and they have special concern for Blind People and are always ready to help them. They have arranged similar program for BFI in the past.

Hitesh Master and his SARAGAMA orchestra had a wonderful musical concert. Hitesh Master was on the keyboard, Kafi Khan on Octapad, Richard Christian on Tabla and Congo. The SARAGAMA orchestra started the concert with Ganesh Vandna and which was followed by songs sung by Dr. Dipak Shah and his wife Sheela Shah. Dr. Rajendra Shah and Mrs. Trupti Kuvadiya performed their duty as Emcees in a graceful yet light manner.

The entire program was very well organized. Right from 6-30 pm a sumptuous Dinner was served along with soft drinks. The Musical Program started with Lamp Lighting by Dr. Dipak Shah, Dr. Manubhai Vora, Dr. Ashok Ray and Mrs. Purnima Ray. Thereafter, Dr. Manubhai Vora briefed the audience with his short informative speech, where he gave glimpses of BFI activities, formation, development, work done so far and what remains to be done. He demonstrated these details through a slide show.

After his speech, Dr. Ashok Ray addressed the audience, wherein he described how and why he became the chief guest of this program and emphasized the need for extending support for the upliftment of needy Blind population. The flow of songs from old to the latest started making the audience go down memory lane and appreciate the voices of Dr. Dipak Shah and Dr. Sheela Shah. Some of the famous songs they presented were:
‘Shaam Mastani Hosh Diye jaa…..’, ‘Is Dil mein Kya rakha Hai…..’, Khamosh Hai Ye…..’, ‘Ayega Ayega Aane Wala Aayega….”, ‘Lalne Wale Chai Kahan …..’, ‘Tum Na Jane Kis Jahn Me Kho Gaye…..’, ‘Tere Mast Mast Do Nayn……’ , ‘Nile Nile Ambar ………’, ‘Halta Hai ye Dil Mera……’ and many more. Songs were sung from Saygal to hemantkumar and Joharbai, Suraiya, Shamsad Begam,Gita Dutt etc.

In between the songs, Mr. Malik Miraj from Hyderabad presented mimicry and made the audience laugh with his jokes and also presented some songs in the voices of different Filmy actors like-Manojkumar, Shashi Kapur,Shammi kapoor, Rajesh Khanna etc.

There were two Dances presented by students of Soorya dance school. They enthralled the audience with their beautiful performance and their colorful costumes. Soorya Dance Academy, is located in Northbrook. Their guru is Ms. Jinoo Varghese, who teaches them classical and non-classical dance styles of India. They performed a Fusion Dance item, “Tu Hi Tu”, which was a tribute to Women. They also performed “Mere Dholna” in Kathak Style. They were honored to be a part of this charity event. Dancers were: Serene Philip, Alisha Jacob, Jasmine Jacob, Priyanka Abraham, Jubia Lukose, Jennifer Kannookaden and Neha Haridas.

Dipak Shah in his Vote of Thanks, thanked all those who have helped make this event memorable including all the Sponsors, Caterers, Performers and the audience. On this Occasion, Asian Media Chairman Shri Suresh Bodiwala and Editor Shri Jyotikumar Chokshi were present to cover the entire event.

Photographs and Press release by: Asian Media USA

Suresh Bodiwala
Chairman
Asian Media USA
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