Khanak Enthralls Capacity Audience in Atlanta

On the eve of August 28^th, 2022, Support A Child (SAC) hosted a fundraising event, Khanak— The sound of the Divine and Folklore at Berkmar High School.

The Indian classical dance encompassed the magnificence of Natya, Nritta and Nritya. And the graceful choreography was made possible by Kalandi Center of Performing Arts.

VHPA in 1985 had parented and since has had fleshed out SAC to build life of children coming from very challenging social, financial, and family backgrounds. Orchestration of SAC campaign is based on the five pillars: quality education, safe shelter, nourishing food, health and sanskaar (values) for hoisting children in coming unstuck.

Kalanidhi Center of Performing Arts is based in Kanpur India and the artists are currently in USA performing the program in various states to raise awareness for Support a Child initiative under the tutelage of Dr. Sucharita Khanna. The showcase of art is based on vespers for various deities through Bharatnatyam which is then followed by folk dances from different parts of India and is performed by Shriya Agarwal, Aparnika Sahu, Urvashi Misra, Ishita Agarwal, and Kalyani Vatsala along with Dr. Sucharita Khanna.

The two-hour program in Atlanta, Georgia was split in two-part series from 5pm to 7pm.

Part I of the show was representation of Goonj and Dhawani through dance.

Goonj: vibration of the universe, the holy chant of Aum

Dhawani: sound of divine trilogy (Shiv, Vishnu, and Shakti) the union of mind, body and soul

Part 2 was Jhankar, the rhythm of Folklore, and included Kashmiri Rauf, Assamese Bihu, Marathi Lavani, Gujarati Dandia Ras and Garba, and Rajasthani Ghoomar which was preceded by brief narration of various indigenous dances.

Out of 324 initial registrations for the show, 350 attendees made an appearance to assent and laud this beautiful alliance.

With an earnest goal of $4500 for the year 2022, VHPA pioneered the program with gratis and acknowledged willful donations and pledges for the annual fundraising. VHPA members were chuffed to have had garnered thirty-three pledges and can be coined as one of the spectacular performances presented for the occasion.

Mention and plaudits for the various volunteers: –

Program concept: Smita Daftardar, Aditya Trivedi, Manju Tiwari, Neetu Sharma

Hosting of artists: Vineeta & Sanjay Gupta, Manju and Shyam Tiwari

Food for artists: Veena and Madhav Katdare, Sabitha and Ragu Veera Raghavan

Logistics: Jayant Daftardar, Sanjay Gupta, Umesh Panwar

Marketing: Surendar Dhar

Backstage: Sarika and Anil Jaswani, Gopender Sharma

Control Room: Rakesh Gupta, Rajesh Chatakara

Support: Balvihar teachers and VHPA Atlanta chapter

Emcees: Vanika Guglani, Viswas Shrinathan, Rishi Rana, and Balvihar teachers and student body with whose collective effort the program was a bountiful success

Figure 1Goonj -vibration of Aum

Figure 2Shiv, Vishnu and Shakti

Figure 3The holy trinity-mind, body, and soul

Figure 4Dhawani and Goonj an expression of dance – Bharatnatyam

Figure 5Rajasthani Ghoomar – Folk Dance

Figure 6Maharastrian Lavani

Figure 7Rajasthani Ghoomar – folk Dance

Figure 8Kashmiri Rauf – Folk Dance

Figure 9Volunteers , Teachers, and Students

Figure 10SAC Volunteer Group with Artists on stage

Figure 11Emcees-Vanika Guglani, Viswas Shrinathan, Rishi Rana

Figure 12Audience and VIP  attendee panel