About: Kanwal

Tanwi Mookherjee Prigge serves as the Vice President, India Association of Minnesota. She started volunteering at a young age for Mother Teresa and Ram Krishna Mission. She has been a resident of Minnesota for the last 15 years. An IT professional, she believes in service to others through her profession and volunteer work. She enjoys working with children and women in various communities, through her volunteer work, drama/theater/music and encourages folks to step out of their comfort zone and have fun. She is excited about Outreach and Government relations this year with IAM, working with the Indian community and the community-at-large.

Rupali Gupta serves on the Board of Directors, India Association of Minnesota. She holds her MS in Regulatory Affairs from St. Cloud State University, MN. She is a seasoned regulatory professional, currently working as a Sr. Principal Regulatory Specialist at Medtronic. She has supported coronary, peripheral, diabetes and digital health medical devices. She was born in India and immigrated to the United States in 2008. Rooted in her cultural identity, Rupali became involved with non-profit organizations having a mission to support child education, women empowerment and community engagement. Following her great interest in dance, Rupali choreographed theme based dance performances for awareness towards child education, women empowerment, and Indian culture.

Today, on the show, we talk about India Fest 2022, being organized by India Association of Minnesota – learn about the event, all that the celebrations would hold. We also about Tanwi’s and Rupali’s journey – listen in to the rebroadcast for sure, today, 12th August, to our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, on MeraSangeet Gold – at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST

Neil Makhija is a public interest attorney and election law professor who serves as the Executive Director of Impact. He led Impact and its affiliates through the 2020 election on their mission to engage South Asian and Indian American communities and help them run for, win, and be successful in elected office.

Neil was born and raised as a son of immigrants in Carbon County, Pennsylvania and went on to earn his law degree at Harvard Law School. In his legal work, he has represented essential workers, consumers, and the public interest.

Neil has served as president of the South Asian Bar Association in Philadelphia and is a member of the board of trustees at his alma mater, Sarah Lawrence College. He was listed as one of the “40 under 40” influential people in Pennsylvania by City & State PA. In 2021, he was chosen as one of 13 Asian American civil rights leaders to meet President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House to discuss immigration and voting rights.

So, you know for sure, this conversation is one that is not to be missed at all. In case you missed it earlier, tune – in for sure, today, 9th August, on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, on MeraSangeet Gold – at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST

Vaishali Gade joined IAGB team in 2017 and now serves as the President. She earlier served as the Vice President of New England Marathi Mandal. Dancing is her passion and she has participated in many fundraising events to benefit area charitable organizations.

Maya Tamhankar is a Program Management professional, passionate about giving back to the community, and has been part of many non-profit organizations in the area. She now serves as Director, IAGB. She enjoys Indian classical music and dance and has dabbled in theater both on-stage and back-stage.

Nilesh Agrawal is a Senior it Project Manager and manages the database team globally as dba manager. He has over 20+ years of it experience. He now serves as a Director with IAGB and helps with their various initiatives such as civic collaboration. He loves music and sports.

Tanu Basu started with IAGB In her late teens, and is now running her 10th Executive term. Her Community Service ‘Mantra’ for this IAGB term is to be instrumental in enthusing the larger immigrant community to come together in synergy and also serve the Senior Community in the area.

On the show today, we talk to about the India Day celebrations and the many events that lead up to the day along with the ones that follow. So, in case you missed it earlier, tune – in for sure, today,5th August, on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, on MeraSangeet Gold – at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST

Abhishek Singh, President of Federation of Indian Association, New England, talks to us about the forthcoming India Day Celebrations.

Abhishek is a software engineer, entrepreneur, social activist, and a family man, as he says. He lives in Boston. He was awarded the Leadership & Community Service Award for his best contribution to the Indo- American Society by Mr. Randhir Jaiswal, Counsel General of India, New York, on the eve of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2021.

Abhishek provided humanitarian services to the Indian Diaspora when the world was grappling with COVID-19. He organized massive food drives. He urged the Indian Diaspora to uphold the principles of ‘Nation First, Always First’ and be a force for positive impact. He also organized the festival of lights, Diwali and urged people to recognize the importance of ‘Jyotismati’ or ‘inner light’.

On the show today, we talk to Abhishek ji about the India Day celebrations in Boston. For details about the event, and in case you missed it earlier, tune – in for sure, today, 4th August, on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, on MeraSangeet Gold – at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST

Madhusudhan Akkihebbal is an IT professional in the Greater Boston area, working in the field of Information Security. Over the past two decades, he has been part of several cultural, artistic and charity initiatives.

Madhusudhan has served as the president of Mandaara, New England Kannada Koota in Boston (2013-15) where he started new, useful initiatives. He is on the executive team at Chinmaya Mission Boston and is a founding member of RangaTaranga Boston, a cultural non-profit organization.

Last summer, he became a part of Samarthanam USA’s Board of Directors. Keen about music, he has also founded light music groups such as Lahari Boston, Kalarava and ChinmayaSwaranjali Boston (a devotional choir). Madhusudhan utilizes his free time on creative projects and volunteers for various community causes.

On the show today, we talk to Madhusudhan about the Samarthanam and Nazraana. For details about the organization and about the event, about Madhusudhan’s role and journey, tune – in for sure, today,19th July, on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, on MeraSangeet Gold – at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST

Saheli offers non-judgmental culturally sensitive services to domestic and sexual violence survivors from South Asia and the Middle East.

Saheli’s offers legal support including translation, accompanying survivors to court and police stations, and offering free family law legal clinics. It has an Economic Empowerment Program that gives clients tools and resources to live a safe, self-sustaining and empowered life.

Nirmala Nanguneri has had a career in the pharma industry for over 20 years. She is currently a Principal Investigator at the Tufts Medical Center as well as a co-Founder and CEO of Vindhya Data Science. She contributes to the cause of supporting women to have enriching and healthy lives.

Nirmala Nanguneri – on the board of directors, Saheli Boston, graces our show – So, to learn about all that Saheli does, the ways to reach them and much more, join – in for this wonderful conversation, in case you missed it earlier, this Monday, 18th July, on our Radio Show, From our Archives, on MeraSangeet Gold at 2:00 PM EST and on MeraSangeet USA at 5:00 PM – EST

Manoj Singh, an IT Consultant, has always had a passion for the arts. He has acted in several prominent plays, including: Mere Bachhe, Jisne Lahore Nahi Dekhya woh Jamiya Nahi and A Tryst with Destiny. He is a member of Natya Bharati, the Actors Center, and Storytellers Short Film Club.

In 2012, Manoj and his wife Geeta started Ceasar Productions – it has fast become DCs premier company for hosting South Asian TV Talk Show, Theatre, Music, Films and Book-Reading events. In 2018, they together started a Not for Profit 501 (c)(3) organization, DC South Asian Arts Council Inc under which they now host the DC South Asian Film Festival and DC South Asian Literary Festival and soon to add more year round programming.

Do not miss the DCSAFF Summerfest 2022 – July 16 and 17th at the AMC Wheaton Mall 9, Wheaton, MD. A special 15% discount to MeraSangeet listeners – to avail, use the code MERASANGEET15 https://dcsaaci.org/dcsaff/july-2022-schedule/

To know about the films being screened at the festival, about the selection criteria and much more, do join – in the conversation with Manoj ji – today, 13th July, on our show, Saat Samundar Paar, on MeraSangeet Gold – at 9:00AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – EST

Prem Chopra is an Indian actor in Hindi and Punjabi films. He has acted in 380 films over a span of over 60 years. Since 1967, he has been a leading villain in Hindi films and his peak period as main villain was from 1967 to 1995. After 1996, he appeared as a villain in very few films. He took up positive character roles from 1996 and started getting more positive roles from 2007. Courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prem_Chopra

This conversation was recorded many years back. It revolves around Prem Chopra Sahaab’s growing up days in Shimla, about his journey to Mumbai (then Bombay), his initial films, his family and so much more.

Do listen – in for sure to one of India’s finest actors, Prem Chopra Sahaab, today, 11th July, on our Hindi Radio Show, From our Archives, on MeraSangeet Gold at 2:00 PM EST and on MeraSangeet USA at 5:00 PM – EST