Sewa International’s Boston chapter conducted its annual fundraiser at the Littleton High School by way of a maiden dance competition on November 13, 2016. With over 700 attendees, 17 participating dance schools and 40 competitive entries, the 2016 fundraiser was a grand success. A total of $33,500 raised will be used in 2017 for Sewa International’s community service projects.

This dance for Sewa program was organized to promote volunteerism and create an awakening among the masses of people to serve those in need. When the event was initially envisioned, there was a search for a name that truly reflected the ideology of Sewa International. Since this was a dance competition and all the participants were competing with the real goal of raising funds for the needy, Sewa volunteers felt that the real winner was the art of dance. So we decided to name it “Nrityameva Jayatey” said Shiva Ramakrishnan, a volunteer of Sewa International. The event received overwhelming support from the community. The message of Sewa International’s all-year programs and good-cause has started to resonate with the community to the extent that many attendees and participants cancelled other commitments to commit to Sewa’s cause and attended the event.

The program began with a melodious rendition of the invocation mantra. Sewa's youth volunteers Mehul Shrivastava and Devansh Apte welcomed the chief guest Shri Anil Shah, the audience, participating dance schools and the Judges. Shri Anil Shah, Founder and CEO of MRCC Software, spoke about the importance of community service and thanked Sewa volunteers for their efforts to serve the underprivileged. He encouraged the audience to contribute more of their time and resources for community service. The dance competition which was organized based on dancer’s age group and dance forms (Classical, Folk and Bollywood) was then kicked off with the 6-9 year’s age group going first. Group exhibit performances by Kolam Dance Academy and Nidhi Tabla group, dance performances by Devanjali Senthil Garg, Sreeja Puthumana, and Varshini Arumugham invited roaring applause from the audience. Shri Girish Mehta, founder of ICC and member of the national advisory board of Sewa International, distributed prizes to winners of the 6-9 year’s age group. Dancers in the 10-13 year’s age group then mesmerized the audience with their performances. The emcee for this part of the program was Ms. Shalini Kashayap. Shri Hemal Rathode, founder of Amrit Sabha – an adult day care center in Northborough and advisor in the  Sewa Boston team, while distributing the prizes to the winners of this group talked about how children in that age can make a difference in the community by their activism. Shri Preetesh Shrivastava and Ms. Yogita Miharia, emcees during the final segment of the program, enthralled the audience with their wit, humor and a strong message to get involved with Sewa. On the significance of volunteerism, Shri Preetesh explained how Sewa volunteers symbolize divine’s hands through which the divinity takes care of the needy. The competitions ended with high octane dance performances by the participants in the adult age group. This was followed by a prize distribution ceremony for above 13 years category which was presided by Dr. Java Joshi, founder of the Academy of Creative Arts. While awarding prizes to the winners, Dr. Joshi encouraged them to actively participate in the community service projects.

Sewa volunteer Dr. Sarva Kurella and Yoga Shikshika of Sewa Mrs. Samita Apte gave a presentation on various projects of Sewa such as Feeding the Hungry, Refugee Empowerment, Sponsor A Child, Arogya Mitra, Family services, and Namami Gange.  Along with the dance competition, Sewa also hosted Rangoli and Henna competitions and several people participated in them.

If women’s empowerment had another name, Nrityameva Jayatey would fit the bill rightfully! The panel of 13 judges and 6 advisers included 18 women. The program ended with a vote of thanks by Sewa volunteer Dr. Pramod Pandey who expressed gratitude to every attendee and participant in Nrityameva Jayatey for supporting Sewa’s cause, for without them, Sewa could not have achieved its goal for this fundraiser. Dr. Pandey also mentioned that Sewa Boston will fondly look forward to greeting each one of them in future events and invited them to become active members of the Sewa Boston team.

Sewa International is a 501(c)(3) Hindu faith-based nonprofit charity organization. Sewa International in the USA has 38 chapters in 22 states. Sewa is a word in Sanskrit language and translates to service above self - essentially Selfless Efforts for Welfare of All. Sewa International in the USA (started in 2003) is inspired by the international Sewa movement that began in India in 1989. Internationally, the Sewa movement is active in 21 countries.

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