It began with a simple psyched up phone call from my friend Jyoti – She asked if we wanted to organize a Diwali Morning Classical Music Concert for benefit of Asha.
I was excited at once and suspicious at the same time about the ‘how to’ aspects of the organization including ‘who is going to sing on such short notice’.
With Diwali merely a month away, I suggested that we take a survey to find out if people like the idea at all and will they be willing to come … so we sent a survey asking people if they would like to participate in Diwali morning concert. We got response from about 80 people and 8/10 willing volunteers – and more importantly from Gadre Kaka.
He wrote in the email that “Diwali morning concert is an excellent idea and could be the start of an enduring tradition.” He also expressed his willingness to sing for the concert.
It began there and escalated to a mad dash to organize the concert with just 25 days for preparation until the day of the concert :) We sent out the first survey on Sept 23, 2009 and had the concert on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009.
Things were happening so fast, it felt totally crazy and it was a lot of work for sure - but that is one of the best Diwalis that I have spent...as if it was by magic, out of nowhere the volunteer team came together and played their part to make things work ... it would not have been possible without that kind of magic within such short time :)
Working together with the volunteer team for such good cause is a lot of fun and brings out a happiness that is difficult to put in words ... it is simply amazing... you will need to experience it yourself to know what it is ! :)
With the solid encouragement and blessings from Dr. Sharad Gadre, the concert was a huge success. On the basis of 'volunteer spirit for a good cause' from everyone - including artists, music system operators, volunteers and organizers, we raised $1160 for Asha out of the 2 hour concert. Pratidhwani graciously provided us their music system and the technicians to set up the system.
We did not sell any tickets for the concert but suggested a donation of 10 dollars per person for Asha and people gave much more than that.
The atmosphere was positively charged with good vibes and concert was a delightful experience for everyone.
This year we got the Diwali Concert approved to be an official annual Asha event. I think with that we have taken the first baby step towards making it a long lasting tradition in our region.
And once again the magic is happening ... We were scrambling to find artists when Gaurav decided to sing for the concert this year and brought in the 'performing team'. Shailendra has once again helped us to get the Pratidhwani music system for this year's concert. Prema helped us get the auditorium booking done at Microsoft ... and there are so many more volunteers that I want to thank that it is worth writing a separate post for that.
If you would like to take part in the volunteer effort for this event this year / in the future, let us know. We would love to have more volunteers added to our team ... more the merrier :)
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