The Akron Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR), presented Manju Rastogi the national DAR Americanism Medal at the 120th State Ohio Conference in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, March 30, 2019. She was honored again at the local Community Awards Presentation held at Fairlawn Country Club and hosted by the Akron Chapter, DAR, Cuyahoga Portage

Chapter, DAR, and the Lafayette Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution.

NSDAR is a volunteer women’s service organization that actively promotes patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America’s future through better education for children. The Medal is awarded to an American citizen who must have shown outstanding qualities of leadership, trustworthiness, service and patriotism. They must have actively assisted other immigrants to become American citizens or displayed outstanding ability in community affairs, preferably with emphasis on the foreign born community.Understanding firsthand the challenges and difficulties of being an immigrant and starting over in a new country, led Rastogi

to seek out the Bhutanese refugees in Akron’s North Hill. She visited the women in their homes, learned their greatest needs, and develop programs that would bring positive changes to their lives. She started DAWN (Developing Alternatives for Women in New Communities), which became a non-profit organization in 2013. The programs teach refugee women sewing skills and provide community support. Today it includes refugees from other countries and young girls. DAWN’s goal is to help the women develop marketable products and generate income for their families. Under Rastogi’s leadership, DAWN has expanded to address other needs such as access to food and household supplies from the Akron-Canton Food Bank and leadership training. Through her efforts, these vulnerable women have become more confident and independent and able to assert themselves in mainstream America.

Born in India, Rastogi did her B.A. from St. Mary’s College, Shillong, India, and arrived in the U.S. almost 50 years ago. She had her own financial planning company for 30 years and was a Chartered life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Consultant for the American College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Many mentors helped her achieve her goals. She was one of the founding members of the Association of Asian Indian Women in Ohio (AAIWO).

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Manju Rastogi awarded DAR Americanism Medal

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Editor’s Note, CommunityResources.....................2 Community News & Events............................3

Community News & Events............................4

Community News & Events............................5

Community News & Events............................6

Religious Corner & Recipe.….......................7

Future events................8

INSIDE

Continued on page 6...

Prof. Sree Sreenath, President, Sewa International, and long-time faculty at Case Western Reserve University, was inducted on April 16, 2019 into the Cleveland International Hall of Fame by Ramesh Shah. A total of six inductees were selected from among 150 plus nominees. The event was held at the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott at Key Center.

On receiving the honor, Prof. Sreenath said, “I am honored and humbled by this recogni t ion . I am thankful to the Board o f D i r e c t o r s o f S e w a International for entrusting me with a wonderful opportunity to serve. I will continue to work for the good of humanity.”

“This recognition of Sreenath ji does not come as a surprise to those of us who have worked with him, and whose leadership has guided us this past ten years. His energy, his intelligence, and his ability to deal with issues big and small with grace and calm is a matter of pride for us,” said Arun Kankani, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Sewa International.

Prof . Sreenath earned his BE in Electrical Engineering from Bangalore U n i v e r s i t y, a n M E i n E l e c t r i c a l Engineering from the Indian Institute

of Science, Bangalore (now Bengaluru), and his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. He teaches in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Case Western Reserve University where he is also the Director of Case GEMNI (Graduate Engineering & Management National and International) Program. His research interests are in the areas of complexity, with applications in Systems Biology (leukemia, prostate cancer and hydrocephalus), global issues, and, sustainable development. He served as the Co-Director of UNESCO GENIe Program – an international network of educational institutions (1996-2006), and as the

Director of the Complex Systems Biology Center (2007-2016) at the university. He has been a consultant to several developing countries on matters concerning water management, energy, and policy development.

Prof. Sreenath has been President of Sewa International since 2009. A Hindu faith-based charitable nonprofit specializing in disaster recovery, education, volunteering, and development, it has 43 Chapters across the country and has served in rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts in 25 disasters worldwide. In the Cleveland area, Sewa provides tutoring services in Euclid High School and Garfield High School through its ASPIRE (Achieving Student Progress, Instilling Resilience and Excellence) program. Prof. Sreenath has also served as an officer in several cultural and community organizations in Northeast Ohio, including the Kasturi Kannada Association of North East Ohio, Sri Venkateshwara Temple, Richfield, Ohio, and the Federation of India Community Association (FICA), Cleveland. He is on the Executive Committee at NAVIKA, a national Kannada Cultural Organization. A practitioner of Vedic Math – the ancient Indian system of mathematics -- he has developed a curriculum to educate children in the U.S. using this method. Prof. Sreenath lives with his wife Shobha in Solon, Ohio, and has two adult children -- Apurwa and Abhijit.

Prof. Sree N. Sreenath inducted into the Cleveland Int’l Hall of Fame

Ramesh Shah (left) inducts Prof. Sree Sreenath into the Cleveland International Hall of Fame

Photo credit: Dan Hanson of ClevelandPeople.com

2 Who We Are

www.ficacleveland.org

FICA STAFF

THE LOTUS

AdministrationBoard of TrusteesMr. Sudarshan R. Sathe (Chairperson B.O.T.)chairman.ficacleveland@gmail.com

Mrs. Mona Alag (Vice Chairperson B.O.T.)vicechairperson.ficacleveland@gmail.com

Mr. Dharminder Kampani (Secretary B.O.T.)botsecretary.ficacleveland@gmail.com

Members Mrs. Gunia BafnaDr. Sanjay GargMr. Sujit GhoshDr. Chandra HariaDr. Chittaranjan JainDr. Sadhan JanaDr. P. KondapalliDr. Satish MahnaDr. Shubha Sen PakrashiDr. Sanjay ParikhDr. Rupesh RainaDr. Prasanta Raj

Executive BoardRitu Mahna (President)president.ficacleveland@gmail.com

Ameet Bathiya (Vice President) vicepresident.ficacleveland@gmail.com Utkarsh Hazarnis (Secretary) secretary.ficacleveland@gmail.com

Hemant Kanodia (Treasurer) treasurer.ficacleveland@gmail.com

Sujata Lakhe Barnard, Past Presidentlakhe4fica@gmail.com

OfficersSmita Samant Shaifali Bathiya Dr. Rajesh Sharma Yatish DesaiSamir GautamGaurav Kapur

Members at LargeAbhijeet Runwal Sarla VennaShailja Mude

India Cultural Garden Raj Pillai - Chair pillairp@yahoo.com|440/724-4398

Shiksha Daan Sanjay Garg - Chair sangarg@aol.com|440/590-1261

Project Seva Harsha Rane, Chairperson 440/567-0972

Helping HandsMala Garg (Chair)Poonam Punwani ( Secretary)

Lotus Team Editor, Cheryl D’Mello Lotus.ficacleveland@gmail.com

Editorial Team Swati Desai Sujata Lakhe Barnard

Business Managers Ajay Chandra Nehal Shah

Design and Layout Masumi Dhawan Publisher The Federation of India Community Associations (FICA)

FICA Sister Organizations

Association of Asian Indian Women of NEO www.aaiwo.org | Lynette Sequeira

American Federation of Muslims of Indian Originwww.afmi.org | Dr. Razia Ahmed

Association of Indian Physicians of Northern Ohio (AIPNO)www.aipno.org | Dr. Mona Gupta

American Society of Engineers of Indian

Origin (ASEI)www.asei-usa.org | 440-734-1830

Bengali Cultural Societywww.bcscle.org | Soumitra Ghosh

Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation Sreedhar Nair

Gujarati Samaj of Grtr. Clevelandwww.clevelandgujaratisamaj.org | Nilesh Patel

Guru Gobind Singh Sikh Society www.clevelandgurudwara.org

Guru Nanak Foundationwww.gurunanakfoundationrichfield.com

India-Ohio Chamber of Commercewww.indiaohiochamber.com | Radhika Reddy

Indian Christian Association, Michael Sreshta

Jain Society of Greater Clevelandwww.jsgc.org | Jitu Shah

Kasturi Kannada Society www.kasturikannadasangha.org | Meena and Humchad, President

Kerala Association of Ohiowww.kaoh.org | JayaKumar

NEO Marathi Mandal (NEOMM)www.neomm.org |Shekhar Ganore

Marwari Association | Sushila Mohanka

Orissa Society of America | Birendra Jena, (330) 544-1725 | birendrajena@hotmail.com

Punjabi Cultural Societywww.guidestar.org | Burjinder S Dhanoa

NEO Telugu Assn (NEOTA)Telugu_Mitra@yahoo.com | Prasad Muvva

NEO Tamil Sangam (NEOTS)www.neo-ts.org | Jayabalan Sankarasu-bramnian

South Asian Bar Association of Clevelandsabaohio@gmail.com | Ruchi Asher,http://ohiosaba.weebly.com/

NEO Sri Lankan Association (NEOSLA) Cleveland_Lankans@yahoogroups.com

Editor’s NoteLearning About Our New World

Dear friends,

Recently, I was fortunate enough to be part of the Cleveland Humanities Collaborative Thematic Seminar “Reading Social Justice: The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards” at the Case Western Reserve University campus. For one week 19 of us: academicians, college administrators, community workers, and activists from diverse backgrounds, met and discussed the four prize winners of the 84th Annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards is the only American book prize focusing on works that address racism and diversity. In 1935, Poet Edith Anisfield Wolf used her own fortune to start the prize, later entrusting it to the Cleveland Foundation. The awards ceremony which is free, will be held on Thursday, September 26, 2019 in the KeyBank State Theatre of Playhouse Square in Cleveland. It draws some 1,400 attendees and the awards are a testimony of Clevelanders’ enthusiasm for the written word.We read “There There” a fiction book by Tommy Orange, “The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War,” a nonfiction book by Andrew Delbanco, “Wade in the Water” a book of poems by Tracy K. Smith, and “Shake Loose my Skin” a collection of poems and writings by Sonia Sanchez who won the lifetime achievement award. These writers address different experiences – the Native American experience, the story of slavery before the Civil War, and poems that directly confront and address the African American experience. In 2017, “The Association of Small Bombs” a book by Karan Mahajan (an Indian American writer) was one of the award winners for fiction. For more information about the awards, go to https://www.anisfield-wolf.org/

The four books, used as a platform for dialogue, spoke to

us in different ways. Guided by two coordinators, we had intense discussions about the content and their relevance in our lives as Clevelanders. We shared about belonging to different ethnicities and groups, some more marginalized than others. We shared feelings of being an immigrant, issues of identity and of “being othered,” experiences of racial and gender discrimination and injustice. Through videos and statistics, we saw the significant disparities between communities and learned of terms such as “redlining.” We heard from activists, working hard for more equitable treatment of minorities. I spoke of the immigrant experience, of entering this country as an adult with only some knowledge of its complex history. As immigrants, we perceive the vast differences that exist in communities around us, the great divide between the suburbs and the inner city, between rich and poor, and the disparities in the treatment of minorities and poor communities. It is all very different and new for us. Often many of us are so wrapped up in our survival -- and success, that these issues are not a priority.After several rounds of engagement, our group decided that we all needed, in some way or the other, to address complex issues of inequality and racism that are so obvious. I realized that if we don’t educate ourselves about the history of this country and the culture we live in, we sometimes fall into the trap of stereotyping people who are different from us. I was grateful for the opportunity to learn about the many disparities that exist in our society, and how we can, in our own way, work to eliminate these. Becoming aware of pressing issues is the first step. Only after that can we decide what action we want to take – even if it is one step at a time - to overcome obstacles, racial biases, and prejudices not just towards ourselves, but towards others as well. That is our call. Let’s answer it as best we can.

Cheryl D’Mello, Editor, The LotusEmail: Lotus@ficacleveland.org

Advertisers please contact:

Ajay Chandra: (614) 937-1652

Nehal Shah: (216)374-9552

Community Resources Receive The Lotus in your email inbox

Sign up at:

http://www.ficacleveland.org/fica/lotusPage.html

Or email us at: lotus.ficacleveland@gmail.com AAIWO (Association of Asian Indian Women of Ohio)Free confidential counseling by a profession for women

and children in the Asian Indian community.

Call their helpline: (440) 218-6959___

Meet Up Group for WomenWomen age group of 25-35 are invited to join meetup.

com a growing group of Asian Indian women meeting at different restaurants in Cleveland to network and socialize. Let’s get together for fun, laughs, to make new friends and network. We will help each other to accomplish our goals and also give a helping hand to

other women in our community. https://www.meetup.com/Asian-Indian-Womens-Group-

Meetup/events/261546137/-----

Saheli: Support Group for Divorced/Widowed WomenA summer is picnic is being planned. Contact Neeru

Vakharia at: nkvakharia@gmail.com

3FICA MattersTHE LOTUS

www.ficacleveland.org

Minutes of the FICA Annual General Body Meeting held on May 5, 2019 at Inchin’s Bamboo Garden, Lotus Banquet Hall in North Olmsted

FICA List of Staff and OfficersExecutive Board

Officers

Members at Large:

TRIBUTE TO BRADEN BIRD

Fundraiser for Leukemia Society

University Hospitals

Signature of Solon

September 28, 2019

Details to follow

Harjit & Mona Alag

• Ritu Mahna (FICA President) welcomed all the attendees. • Sudarshan Sathe (FICA Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairperson) congratulated the 2018 committee for their accomplishments and success for all the events via a video message. • Ritu Mahna provided an overview of all the events accomplished in 2018. • Hemant Kanodia presented the financial report for 2018. • Shaifali Bathiya, Harsha Rane, and Ramya Patki, shared their progress on the new FICA website. All attendees gave feedback to the team and congratulated them on their progress. • Harsha Rane presented the annual report for Project Seva and thanked everyone for their donations. Project Seva is looking for more corporate sponsorships for the year 2019. • Mona Alag shared progress on the India Cultural Garden and the FICA building. This year FICA plans to celebrate the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. • Sanjay Garg gave an overview of all the activities carried on by Shiksha Daan

in the year 2018. Shiksha Daan team encouraged everyone to participate in the annual Cleveland Marathon and be a part of the Shiksha Daan team.• Swati Desai gave an overview of The Lotus community newspaper and discussed some of the challenges such as receiving articles and sponsorships.• Mala Garg introduced “Helping Hands” a new initiative by FICA to support South Asian women in Cleveland and its suburbs against domestic violence. • Ritu Mahna announced new office bearers for FICA for the year 2019. • Vice-President – Ameet Bathiya • General Secretary – Utkarsh Hazarnis • Executive Committee Member – Neha Shah• Shailja Mude and Sarla Venna are new members at large • On August 25, 2019 FICA will host an Anand Mela in celebration of India’s Independence Day Celebrations.• The meeting was adjourned after thanking the FICA President. This was followed by refreshments.

utKaRSH HaZaRniS

Ritu Mahna (President)president.ficacleveland@gmail.com

Ameet Bathiya (Vice President)vicepresident.ficacleveland@gmail.com

Utkarsh Hazarnis (Secretary)secretary.ficacleveland@gmail.com

Hemant Kanodia (Treasurer)treasurer.ficacleveland@gmail.com

Smita Samant Shaifali Bathiya Dr. Rajesh Sharma Yatish DesaiNipa Turakia

Gaurav Kapur Abhijeet Runwal Sarla VennaShailja Mude Samir Gautam

Nehal Shah

www.ficacleveland.org

4 THE LOTUSCommunity Events

About 120 Cleveland State University (CSU) students participated in the Holi Festival celebration alongside

Euclid Avenue on April 25, 2019. The CSU Campus Activities Board purchased about 300 lbs. of colored powder for

the event which was a collaboration between the Indian Student Organization and the Center for International

Services and Programs (CISP)

Seema Das (left) with Hon’ble Guest Parma Heights Mayor Mike Byrne and Gargi Chowdhury at Holi Humgama.

Photo credit: Cheryl D’Mello

Saga Beatopia stages first Holi Hungama

Parma Heights Mayor Michael P. Byrne inaugurated SAGA’s Holi Hungama 2019 on April 27, 2019. Over 400 people attended the event and played with Holi colors.

There was food, merchandise booths, face painting, balloon artists, cultural events, DJ music and raffle prizes. This was

the first event staged by Sagabeatopia, an organization founded by Seema Das, Gargi Chowdhury and Ananya

Biswas. For more info please visit www.sagabeatopia.com

On Saturday April 13 2019, Tirthankar Mahavir Swami’s birth was celebrated at the Jain Temple located in Richfield, Ohio. Over 250 Jains and non-Jains attended this event. The event began

with the Bhagwan Mahavir Janam Puja/ Snatra Puja, lunch, General Body Meeting, then various performances by kids and adults in Jain dramas, Jain skits, Jain dances, Jain quizzes, etc. more.

A group singing a Gujarati song at the Indian Christian Association Easter celebration held on April 27, 2019 at the Advent Lutheran Church in Solon with Michael Sreshta on

the saxophone

Cleveland State University’s Levin College partnered with the Cleveland Asian Festival and OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates,

Greater Cleveland Chapter to present a panel: AsiaTown and the Asian American Experience on May 16, 2019. Asim Datta,

former President of FICA (4th from right) was one of the panelists along with Johnny K.

Wu. Lisa Wong, Angelin Chang, Chris Tanaka and Anne Pu.

Dr. Ramaswamy Sharma and Dr. Dass represented the Indian community at a prayer service held by Bishop Nelson Perez in memory of the victims of the Sri Lankan bombings and the Synagogue shooting in California

Photo credit: Cheryl D’Mello

Project Seva – Service at West Side Catholic Center

Project Seva is the service arm of the Federation of India Community Associations (FICA). In the month of May, Project Seva increased their outreach to Cleveland’s local homeless community by signing up for service at the West Side Catholic Center on Lorain Avenue, which serves as an emergency homeless shelter. This shelter houses about 40 families at a time, primarily women, children and men accompanying families. It also serves as a center for serving meals and other services for the local homeless community. Project Seva members led by Satish Parikh, have signed up to serve hot breakfast every second Sunday of the month to Center residents for this year. A hot breakfast was also served on Mother’s Day.

We have also provided a bulk load of women’s and children’s clothing and hygiene packages to the Center. Many community members have come forward to help us with this effort and we would like to sincerely thank everyone for their continued support (see photos on page 4).If you wish to contribute towards our efforts in any way, please reach out to me at: hrane05@gmail.com

HaRSHa Rane

Project Seva volunteers at the Westside Catholic Center: (from left) Dhiren Nanek,

Ashok Sheth, Satish Parikh, Pragna Parikh, Mina Sheth and Bharti Manek

(From Left) Harsha Rane, Swati Desai, Satish Parikh,

Taru Patel and Bindu Patel

5

www.ficacleveland.org

THE LOTUS

Grooves and Gamakas was presented by Cleveland State Univ. faculty and students along with Dr. Padma Sugavanam (vocal)

Fresh marigold garlands frame the picture of Sri Sankaracharya on a small altar in the kitchen at the downtown Cleveland Comfort Inn Hotel. Suresh Ganesh, the owner and operator of Sankara Catering from Pittsburg, stirs a large stainless steel pot of curd rice. For the two weeks of the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival (April 17 to 29, 2019), he has the job of fee-ding about 2000 people every day, with help from Ra-mila, who has come from Chennai, India.

“I cook, with passion, with my heart,” said Suresh. He also prays to Sri Sankaracharya before he starts cooking. Suresh was born and raised in Mumbai, In-dia. He came to the U.S. and did his MBA. After many years in a corporate job, he started his own catering company which he has run for the past 19 years. He travels all over the U.S. cooking only vegetarian food for large events.

Head cook for the Festival for 15 years, he lists some of the items he cooks every day for two weeks: curd rice, sambhar, vadas, chow-chow made with chayote vegetable, Potato bhajji, rasam, and pickle.

In the early years of the Festival, Gomati Balasubra-maniam used to cook for 800 people. But once the numbers grew to 2000, Suresh, a professional cook, was hired. She continues to order the raw food pro-ducts for the 12 days: 2000 lbs. of rice from Costco’s,

150 lbs. of toor dal (split pigeon peas), 100 lbs. of moong dal (split green gram), 100 lbs. of channa dal (split chick peas), 2 ½ cases of tamarind from Kamdar stores in Chicago. From Cleveland’s Westside market come cases of fresh vegetables – cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, etc.

For the first time ever, the opening weekend events on Saturday, April 20, 2019 were held at the Wolstein

Center, CSU. “We needed more space but were concerned that it would be empty. But when we saw the crowds, we were almost in tears…. it was amazing to see a huge jump in attendance from 2,500 last year to 4,800 peo-ple! It was the biggest crowd ever!” exclaimed Rad-hika Balasubramaniam, who has seen the crowd grow from the initial group of 50 people over the years.

Suresh was also taken by surprise – half way through cooking the dinner, he found there was going to be an extra 1000 people! He quickly got into the act and whisked up some more huge portions.

D. Shridharan of Chennai, who is in charge of hospi-tality at the Festival, was honored as a volunteer with the Dr. G.V. Memorial Award.

“Eight years ago when I visited my son Prof. Niga-manth Sridhar, I was bored sitting at home. Once I was introduced to the Festival, I began volunteering and thoroughly enjoy it,” he said.

He is one of the thousands of attendees who come for the yearly pilgrimage to Cleveland for the largest In-dian classical music festival outside of India.

Feeding 2000 vegetarians a day at the 42nd Cleveland Thyagaraja FestivalCHeRyl d’Mello

Suresh, the Head Cook with Ramila stir up piping hot delicious vegetarian meals for 2000 people for 12 days at the

Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival

Shiksha Daan participates in the Cleveland Marathon

Shiksha Daan, a service initiative project of the Federation of India Community Associations (FICA) which is a 501(c)(3) registered organization. Contributions to Shiksha Daan are tax deductible. The Committee welcomes any suggestions you might have on what more they can do to have the local Indian community more visibly involved with the education and development of Cleveland area youth.

As part of Shiksha Daan’s annual fundraiser, Team Shiksha Daan – Sanjay Garg, Chair of the Shiksha Daan Committee, along with his wife Mala, their daughter Aditi and granddaughter Lilly participated in the Cleveland Marathon 5k walk on May 18, 2019 (see photo on page 4). Please consider making a contribution to Shiksha Daan as part of this fundraiser activity - this is our only fundraiser activity through the year. We appreciate all your generosity and support in the past and hope that you will continue that for the future. Donations can be made directly at:https://www.paypal.com/cgi- bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick& hosted_button_id=29VLUYD4QKQAL

or send a check made out to “FICA - Shiksha Daan” to Shiksha Daan, C/O Vinod Nagpal,18195 Brickmill Run, Strongsville OH 44136 by June 30. Please make a

note when making the contribution through the website or check that this contribution is in support of the Cleveland Marathon Fundraiser.

Sanjay gaRg

Sanjay Garg, Chair of the Shiksha Daan Committee, along with his

wife Mala, their daughter Aditi and granddaughter Lilly participated in the Cleveland Marathon 5k walk on

May 18, 2019

Radhika Balasubramaniam and her parents: Gomati and Balu, who helped

initiate and create the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival

6

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THE LOTUS

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Manju Rastogi awarded DAR Americanism Medal

When she was President, AAIWO created a scholarship endowment at the Cleveland Foundation for Asian Indian women. She continues to volunteer for other community service projects as well. Her daughter, a psychologist and art therapist, is a professor in Cincinnati and her son is an ER Physician in Portland, Oregon.

While accepting the Medal, Rastogi said that DAWN was made successful by the community support in the form of donations of new sewing machines, fabrics, supplies, silk sarees from donation drives at Shiva-Vishnu and Balaji Temples and Kent State Fashion Design School, First Congregation Church of Hudson, and St. Mary Catholic Church in Hudson. Additional funding was provided by Sheila Schneider, the Knight Foundation, Hillier Family Foundation, Akron Women’s Endowment Fund, Millennium Fund for Children, and Bath Volunteers for Service. She also credited the volunteers who devoted their time to teaching and directing the

women. The project has been donated to the Bhutanese Community Association of Akron and will be run by women in their community as of June 15, 2019.

“This was truly a community effort - both mainstream and Indian,” said Rastogi. “We live in a country that gives you the freedom to be a good citizen. It is up to you to follow your own path and make your life. Get involved with the community in what interests you and become a reliable volunteer. It helps your family and is a great way to learn. Being a volunteer with AAIWO and all my volunteering experience helped in the making of DAWN.”

Rastogi who lives in Akron, will be moving to Cincinnati, Ohio. She can be reached at mrastogi@aol.com or visit www.dawn-creations.org if you have questions or would like to volunteer.

SAC (Support a Child) will be organizing an event: “String puppet with a live dance performance” at the Bamboo Garden hall in North Olmsted on Sunday, August 4, 2019, from 4-7 p.m. for the fundraising of Support a Child (SAC) movement. This show is produced by the group “Dhaatu” from Bangalore, India. The entrance fee for the event is $25 for adults and $15 for kids, which includes a free dinner. Dr. Vikas Jain is the Cleveland, SAC coordinator.

The mission of SAC is to provide education (up to high school), boarding, lodging, medical care and Samskara (values) to children from under-privileged backgrounds in India. For $250 a year one can make a difference in the life of an underprivileged child. There is an option to strengthen girls through the Support a Child (daughter) program.

SAC program was started by the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) in 1985. The organization has been supporting more than 1000+ boys and girls all over Bharat. Today, many of these children are working as teachers, engineers, doctors and other professionals. With the help of reputed service organizations like Sewa Bharati, Sewa Dham, Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Kalyan Prathishthan, etc. the SAC team has selected more than 28+ hostels/schools and institutions from 18+ different states.

Donors are connected directly to their supported child and every year and a progress report of the child is delivered to the donors address in America. Those interested can contact Dr. Rasmi Jain at (440) 668-1966, or Mr. Akshay Dhariwal at (614) 390-4419. All donations will be exempted from tax under 501(C) rules of America.

SAC Event

Continued fRoM page 1

Community News

The Akron Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR), presented Manju Rastogi the national DAR Americanism Medal

7THE LOTUSReligious Corner Recipe Corner

Prayer Service held for Victims of Tragedy

On Sunday April 28, 2019, Bishop Nelson Perez held a service of remembrance for the victims of the bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019 and the synagogue shooting on April 27, 2019 at Poway, California at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland at 7:30 p.m. There were 15 local religious leaders and representatives of faith communities. Sri Lankan community members – both Buddhist and Catholics - sang hymns and read prayers. About 100 people attended. There were prayers and reflections from various religious leaders. Dr. Pasan Wanigarathne, Buddhist Sinhala Community; Rabbi Stephen Weiss, Senior Rabbi, B’nai Jeshurum Synagogue; Dr. Zeki Saritoprak, John Carroll University of the Muslim community; Rev. Sharon Core, General Presbyter, Presbytery of the Western Reserve; Rev. Hratch Sargasyan, St. Gregory of Narek, Armenian Apostolic Church; Dr. Steve Bailey, District Superintendent, United Methodist Church, East Ohio Conference; Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham Allende, North East Ohio Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Rev. Michael Anthony Howard, United Church of Christ.Two representatives from the Asian Indian community were Dr. Ramaswamy Sharma, Priest-Manager of the Shiva-Vishnu Temple, and Dr. Gurdas Singh Dass, President, Interfaith Conference of Religions of Greater Cleveland and President, American Sikh Council.Bishop Perez said, “All traditions say the same thing: do not let evil take a hold of our heart. All traditions say to forgive. The lack of forgiveness only destroys us. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”

Prayer by Dr. Ramaswamy Sharma, Priest-Manager of the Shiva-Vishnu Temple

Om Saha Nau-Avatu |Saha Nau Bhunaktu |Saha Viiryam Karava-Avahai |Tejasvi Nau-Adhii-Tam-Astu Maa Vidviss-Aavahai |Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Om, May Ishwara Protect us allMay Ishwara Nourish us allMay we Work Together with Energy and Enthusiasm,May our knowledge be Enlightening without giving rise to Hostility,

Om, Peace, Peace, Peace to All!

Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥSarve santu nirāmayāḥSarve bhadrāṇi paśyantuMā kashchit duḥkha bhāgbhavet Oṁ Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ May all be prosperous and happy May all be free from illnessMay all see what is spiritually uplifting May no one suffer Asato Ma sad gamaya Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya mrityor ma amritam gamaya om shantiLead us from evil to good from fear to trust, Lead us from darkness to light, from hatred to loveLead us from death to immortal life Peace Peace Peace unto ALL

Prayer by Dr. Gurdas Singh Dass, President, Interfaith Conference of Religions of Greater Cleveland and President, American Sikh Council

The Sikh Community of Cleveland and American Sikh Council (ASC) is shocked at the mass murder committed by terrorists through a series of coordinated bombings which has rocked churches and several hotels in Sri Lanka, killing almost 300 people on Easter Sunday April 21, in the South Asian Island nation. More than 500 people have been injured in the worst attack of its kind. Nearly all victims were Sri Lankan, and dozens of foreigners were also killed. The blast targeted four hotels, including the Shangrila Kingsbury and the Cinnamon Grand in the capital of Colombo.

The American Sikh Council stands in solidarity with all the people of Sri Lanka in prayer and condemns this heinous crime in every possible way. Our heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to the families of the victims of this horrifying and extraordinary terrorism. The American Sikh Council (ASC) stands against all kinds of terrorism and all terrorists must be denounced in the strongest possible terms and brought to justice. We, the Sikhs, pray to almighty God to give strength to the families of the victims to bear such a big loss and give peace to the departed souls.Please see photo on Page 4

Rakesh Shirish Engineer was born in Cleveland on February 7, 1970. On May 10, 2019 he passed away in his sleep at age 49. He is survived by his wife, Nivi, his three sons, two younger brothers, and his parents, Harsha and Shirish.

In his youth, Rakesh participated in FOGANA competitions, was a member of the Gujarati Samaj, and was well-known for his mischievous spirit. He had a love for Indian food and learned how to cook his favorite dishes from his mother. Growing up in Cleveland, he developed a sense of responsibility towards the Indian community and their well-being.

Rakesh was known for giving medical advice. He spent his professional life of 18 years as an Emergency Physician at the Cleveland Clinic, serving as an Assistant Professor, organizing medical conferences, and conducting research to advance the medical field. He is known for the care and attention he gave to his patients, the time he spent by their sides, and for following-up with their other doctors.

“A long time CWRU SCM faculty member, Rakesh was very involved in directing third and fourth year rotations for Emergency Medical students prior to the Lerner College Program Formation,” said the Dean of the School of Medicine, CWRU.

Rakesh’s dedication to his work was surpassed only by his devotion to his family and friends. He always had time to spend with his boys, coach their sports teams, and find ways to make each day count. Whenever a friend needed advice or help, Rakesh would make himself available. He also found time to serve on the Board of Trustees for Ruffing Montessori School. He knew how to live a balanced life with family, friends, work, and recreation, including cheering on Cleveland sports teams. His thoughtful care and joy for life will be deeply missed by those who knew him.

Religious Corner

Obituary

CHeRyl d’Mello

Curd rice is popular in South India and helps with digestion. Eat it either with a cooked vegetable or with some mango pickle.

Ingredients:2 cups of rice 2 ½ cups of yogurt1 cup of milk (2%)Salt to taste1 tablespoon of cooking oil1 ½ tsp of mustard seeds½ tsp of Hing (Asafoetida)2-3 thin green chilies chopped fine1 inch ginger chopped fine5-6 kari patta leaves (curry leaves)A handful of chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves for garnishing

Directions:• Cook the rice till it is soft, well cooked and cooled. Mix the yogurt and milk and stir it into the rice.• Add salt to taste.

• In a vessel, heat the oil• A d d t h e m u s t a r d s e e d s , asafoetida, green chilies, curry leaves, and ginger till it sputters.• While still hot, remove and pour over the rice and curds. Mix well.• Garnish with cilantro. Enjoy with some spicy mango pickle or cooked vegetable!

Curd Rice (Thayir saadam)

RECIPE CORNER

goMati BalaSuBRaManiaM

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www.ficacleveland.org

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