Can you take a taxi or drive a car from the US to Rajasthan? Over 500 people did that when they came to the Grand Hyatt Hotel near Grand Central for the much anticipated Children’s Hope Gala, An Evening in Rajasthan. This was a social event with buzz and did not disappoint with the crème de la crème dressed in their royal best. The women guests were greeted with flowers, bindis and bangles, and the men were welcomed with bandhini scarves being put around their necks.
The ambiance of royal Rajasthan had been created with strobe lighting of turquoise and pink on the columned walls, and with yards and yards of multicolored silks of beautiful Rajashtani hues. Golden pots of rose petals decorated the venue of an ancient bazaar where you could buy Rajasthani crafts and puppets, gourmet chocolates and vegetarian cakes, silver jewelry and all the luxury delights of silent auction items.
Cocktails were under multi-hued parasols with embroidery and mirror work, and the menu for the evening included everything from Indian street foods to Pan Asian appetizers to authentic Rajasthani delicacies. The entertainment included traditional Ghoomar dances as well as Bollywood inspired folk dances performed by Rujuta Vaidya’s dancers as well as the music of Aakash Ahuja, a wonderfully talented young tabla player who is only nine years old.
The evening’s host was Sarina Jain, the fitness celebrity who is herself Rajasthani. Dr. Dina Pahlajani, president of Children’s Hope India, spoke about the many projects undertaken by this NY based non profit group.
The chief guests were Padmaja Kumari Mewar from the Royal House of Mewar, Rajasthan, and the Consul General of India, Ambassador Prabhu Dayal. Over 500 people from the worlds of finance, medicine, arts and business were there to support the cause of health and education, including designer Rachel Roy.
Padmaja Kumari, looking elegant in a rose saree, told the assembled guests, “It is indeed an honor to be here this evening celebrating not only the glorious culture of Rajasthan but also celebrating you for your generosity in support of Children’s Hope India, which in turn supports so many aspects of children’s lives, as we have just seen in this moving video. What strikes me the most is that CHI programs also support an intangible but no less important aspect: namely, children’s self worth.”
The evening honored AJ and Poonam Khubani, Founders of Telebrands International and Ravi Akhoury, former Chairman & CEO of Mackay Shields and a trustee of AIF and Rubin Museum, and Virginia Akhoury with the CH Lotus Award for philanthropy. The Making a Difference Award was presented to Dr. Surendra Kaushik for the educational opportunities provided to young women in Rajasthan through the Helena Kaushik College.
The wonderful multicolored evening raised a whopping $ 500,000 for children’s Health and education – and still counting, as the pledges come in. It was a magical evening, a trip to Rajasthan and back in the course of just a few hours.
(Children’s Hope India is a volunteer organization of Indian women professionals in New York that has been raising funds for children’s health and education since 1992. It supports over 20 projects across several major cities in India reaching out to over 20,000 children per year. www.childrenshopeindia.org)
