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Welcome address by Mr. Prithvi Kumar, President, IANH

A Honey Bee Visits 2 Million Flowers
To Collect Just 500 Mg Of Honey.
Our Workload Is Nothing Compared to the honey bees.
However, at IANH We Keep Working Hard to be Successful…

IANH is the grass roots organization committed to excellence in community service achieved through hard work and perseverance.

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. Wish you a happy Deepavali, New Year and Ramzan EID. On behalf of the members and the Executive officers of the India Association of NH, I welcome you to celebrate an evening of entertainment and community dance with us.

The ‘Deepavali’ festival is celebrated in India on the night of the New Moon in October or November. Young and old, rich and poor take part in the celebrations much like the Christmas in the West. To the business community, Diwali marks the beginning of a new year. Some spend the night chanting the glory of the Lord while others simply enjoy the company of friends and relatives in the comfort of their homes. Light bulbs, candles, and fire crackers dispel the darkness of the night and bring happiness. There is significance to this practice.

‘Deepavali’ derived from the Sanskrit words; Deepam, meaning ‘Light’ and Avali ‘Row.’ The celebrations last for four days during which a home is illuminated by candles and light bulbs. Light bulbs that are used for this purpose come in different sizes and shapes signifying the diversity. However, it is the collection of energy from these light bulbs that expels the darkness and brings happiness, thus implying the theme; “Unity in Diversity.” This concept is deep routed in our culture since India offers home to people of many faiths where we understand and respect one another. The spirit of Deepavali lies in caring for each another, especially those who are less fortunate.

The NH Indian American community carries this spirit through community service organized by our association at the Nashua and Manchester Soup Kitchens sixteen times a year. Volunteers prepare and serve a hot meal to the guests. You are invited to join the team of volunteers at any time. Our service to the community extends to other areas as well. Recently, the IANH Public Service group in partnership with Saheli Boston launched an initiative focusing on skill building opportunities for women and elderly. Our goal is to help them provide necessary skills to meet the challenges of life. Service activities like this make an impact on someone’s life. Then there is an annual cultural event of dance and music from India to entertain the senior citizens at the Hillsborough County Nursing Home. And the list goes on…

IANH organizes education workshops and competitions that provide an excellent learning opportunity to children of our community to enhance their verbal and quantitative skills in a competitive setting. Last year, young adults from our membership formed their own group and held regular meetings when they discussed topics of mutual interest. Today, they regularly volunteer at the IANH service activities and events by taking on responsible tasks as managing events.

You will soon be watching the one of the best cultural programs choreographed by our members. I request you to sample the authentic food from different regions of India at the food court located in the cafeteria. You may also want to take time out to browse through the display of goods and services by the members of our community. I request you to stay for the door prize drawing at the conclusion of the program. Please retain your ticket stub; you could be a lucky winner of the Barnes and Noble Gift Certificate.

I request you to leave the soda cans, cups, and plates in the designated area and keep them out of the auditorium. If you need help, please contact any of us.

Thank you. God Bless you and God Bless America

Prithvi Kumar, President, India Association of New Hampshire

October 27, 2007, Nashua New Hampshire

Acknowledgements to the Volunteers of IANH

IANH acknowledges and profusely thanks the following volunteers whose tireless efforts have made the program a huge success. We hope you continue to participate and make your valuable contributions.

Youth group Volunteers:

Amritha Mangalat, Sathvika Reddy, Meghna Chandra, Anjuvarshini Balaji, Rohan Vaswani, Mallika Prabhakar, Akash Ravi, Vignesh Dharmarajan, Nikhil Kumar, Anirudh Dwarakanath, Shayan Banerjee, Anjana Mangalat, Siddhi Salvi, Sarena Patel, Aishwarya Ravi, Lekha Nair, Rishi Desai, Radhika Akhil, Jayanth Dabbi, Mayank Dubey, and Pratheek Kalyanapu

Adult Volunteers :

Ravi Vyapuri, Vandana Dhakar, Kala Kumar, Karthi Chandra, Tony Epaphras, Sujatha Prasad, Puneetha Palakurthi, Prasad Kalyanapu, Tej Dhakar, Usha Dwaraknath, Seshadri Dwarakanath, Deepa Mangalat, Prasad Dabbi, Rajany Akhil, Brajesh Shah, Barinder Ahluwalia, Monica Deshpande, Mohan Chandra , Sudhakar Tadepalli, Ajit Kumar, Lalbarani, Nupur Banerjee, Lakshmi Narasimhman, Sharada Gupta, Preeta Kumar, Sashi Mangalat, Sukanya Tadepalli, Kumari, Nitya Dhakar and Prithvi Kumar.