Rajiv Dayal is the President of the India Society of Worcester, Inc. and the Treasurer of the Mohegan Council, Inc (Worcester Council of the Boy Scouts of America). He lives in Shrewsbury, MA with his wife Priti. He has two children Priyanka and Akshay and a son-in-law Jack McCluskey. Rajiv is a CPA and a partner at Cohen Cohen & Company, a public accounting firm in Boston, MA. Rajiv is also a registered representative of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a broker/dealer (member SPIC) and registered representative.  He talked to Lokvani about the 50th anniversary of ISW.

I feel a sense of pride in what ISW has achieved over the last 50 years. Personally, I feel honored at being elected President at this special milestone in ISW's history.

 

A few college students in the Worcester area, who missed social interaction with people of Indian origin and above all missed Indian food, established India Society of Worcester in 1963. In its initial years, the Society remained small as it celebrated Diwali, India Day and other programs. In those days, the members used to cook food at home for these programs. With an influx of Indians in Greater Worcester area over the last two to three decades the membership of ISW has grown and it has expanded its outreach within the Indian community. Over this time ISW has increased the programs it offers for fulfilling the social and cultural needs of the residents of this area. A significant milestone was achieved in 2004 when ISW realized its dream of building a Cultural Center in Shrewsbury, MA.  

 

We are proud of all the Indian Organizations in the area that offer a range of services to the Community as they try to meet the needs of the Indian Communities.

We at ISW are especially proud of how we are able to reach the different demographics of the Indian Community. Indian heritage brings with it many languages, customs and religions. So, for young children we have a Language and Cultural School that teaches 7 Indian languages in addition to exposing children to Indian history, its culture and traditions. For the youth of our community there is IYG (India Youth Group) and for senior citizens there is a group called Humrahi. We also offer Yoga classes, a weekly free medical clinic called Free Health Stop, and a Crisis Committee, which works behind the scenes to help those in need. We celebrate a range of Indian festivals including Diwali and Christmas. We are especially proud of "our home" India Center, which I believe, is unique in providing both religious and cultural activities to the community.

As the Indian Community expands in this area over the next decade or two we will continue our focus of trying to reach all demographics and sections of the Indian Community. We hope to be able to expand and mold our programs to meet the needs of the community. As always, we will strive to intregrate with and serve the larger community we live in. The services of our Free Health Stop and the Crisis Committee are already helping us towards this goal. We are open to new ideas as we try to meet the needs of all sections of the Community.

Any successful organization like ours, which is completing 50 years since it was founded, is built on significant contributions and leadership from many individuals. These would include its founding members, its past presidents, members of the Executive Committees, Board of Trustees and an army of volunteers who have contributed both time and money over the last 5 decades. Please visit our website at http://www.iswonline.org/ for a history of our organization. We hope to be able to draw upon the ever-increasing members of the Indian Community in the future and would urge everyone to volunteer and give back to the community.

This year we hope to celebrate the past and also lay a foundation for the future of the Society. We started the celebrations with Showcase India on April 27th, a program organized by IYG  (India Youth Group). This year's program featured a special dance competition called Sanskar.

Another interesting project we are working on is an exclusive ISW documentary film - The Indian Immigrant Experience. The documentary will tell the immigrant story through the eyes of the Indian community in the area. For a trailer of this documentary please visit our website at http://www.iswonline.org/. Our India Day celebrations are on Sunday August 4, 2013. We are also planning other events in the month of July at the India Center. The details of these and other events in this semi-centennial year will continue to be posted on our website at http://www.iswonline.org/.