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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Dr. Satheesh Ambadi With Narendra Modi,
Sateesh Ambadi, President of India Association
Prime Minister of India
Welcome to Discover India 2015. It is my great pride and privilege to extend a hearty welcome to you to this event. The theme for this year’s event is “Rhythm of India”, through which we aim to showcase not only the great traditional arts and culture of India but also make a sincere effort to highlight the relevance of India to the present day world. Through its thousands of years of history, the contribution of India and Indian culture to the world heritage is unmatchable and invaluable. India is known as the land of Yoga, Meditation, Ahimsa (non-violence), and the home of natural medicinal therapy like Ayurveda. But, equally adept in conventional medicine, India is today the world’s second most sought after destination for medical tourism. Perhaps a most visible depiction of contemporary India is through Bollywood songs and dances. In addition, India has produced the heads of leading technology companies. Information Technology or IT has become synonymous with India or people of Indian origin. And, how about Space missions? India has demonstrated to the world that it can send missions to Mars and launch satellites
Discover India 2015
into Space at a fraction of the cost elsewhere. The Discover India aims to showcase these and other achievements of India and Indians who make an impact to our rhythm of life.
Odissi dance guru Shri. Pabitra Kumar Pradhan. Discover India 2015 is most colorful due to the presence of these invited experts as well as several local artists and talents.
We thank the Scottsdale City Council for allowing India Association to hold this event at the beautiful Scottsdale Civic Center Park. We are honored to have several dignitaries and internationally acclaimed artists grace our event. First of all, our thanks to Honorable Consul General of India, San Francisco, Shri Venkatesan Ashok, to graciously accept our invitation to be the chief guest for the event. I also thank Mayor Jim Lane of Scottsdale who will deliver the host city address. We thank the Arizona Commission on Arts Executive Director, Robert C. Booker and his team. We are also very fortunate to have internationally acclaimed author, Shona Patel, visit the event and sign her books. This year, the Discover India is rich with performances of several invited artist such as sitar maestro Aloke Dasgupta, Kathak exponent Shila Mehta, Tabla exponent Aditya Banerjee, Pakhawaj master Raju Deshmukh, and
At this time, let me also thank the countless volunteers, youth team members, and our hardworking Board of Directors who made all the planning for this event and executed it smoothly. I personally thank a few individuals , who are the leaders of the Indian community, and worked selflessly to make this event exceed its goals. My thanks to our media partners and event coordinators. Finally, my sincere thanks to our most generous and kindhearted sponsors whose contributions made this event feasible.
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I consider your presence at the Discover India as the greatest validation of all our efforts.
Thank you and Wish you and family a HAPPY DIWALI! - Dr. Satheesh Ambadi President, India Association
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MESSAGE FROM Consular General of India Venkatesan Ashok, Consular General Of India, San Francisco
I am delighted and honored to be invited by the Indian Association of Phoenix to participate in Discover India 2015 on November 1, 2015. India is a palimpsest on which many cultures, traditions and religions have made their imprint. India, through millennia, has been a place where diversity in culture, religions, and languages have peacefully coexisted and grown.
“I am delighted and honored to be invited by the Indian Association of Phoenix to participate in Discover India 2015 on November 1, 2015. India is a palimpsest on which many cultures, traditions and religions have made their imprint.
I hope Discover India 2015 will offer you the taste of India, and inspire the wish to seek out much more about this mysterious land where you can ski in the Himalayas, engage in whitewater rafting and paragliding, soak up the sun in southern beaches, see amazing temples, palaces and forts, or simply drift down the backwaters in your own private houseboat, while pampering yourself in an ayurvedic spa treatment that brings wellness to the mind, body and spirit. I wish to applaud the efforts of all of you in this community to join together to light the lamp of India in your hearts. It is wonderful to see the IndianAmerican community, particularly the second and third generations continue to embrace the traditions and values of India, while living, studying and working in the United States of America. India and America are two great democracies and growing friendship and understanding between our two nations will be of benefit to the world as a whole.
Wishing the event all success, Venkatesan Ashok Consul General of India
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India Association Board Members -2015
Satheesh Ambadi President
Shobhana Bhatt Vice President
Rachel Misra Secretary
Anjali Gupta Director - Youth Committee
Aditya Kattamuri Director - Web
Anish Shah Director - Fund Raising
Ashish Parekh Treasurer
Youth Committee Board Members -2015
Pratyush Ambadi President
Kripa Agarwal President
Somil Jain Co-Event Coordinator
Karthik Rajkumar Vice President
Sree Lakshmi Membership & Volunteer Coordinator
Anivarya Kumar Secretary
Esha Seth Director-At-Large
Harikrishna Kommineni Treasurer-Liaison
Shardul Kothapalli Director-At-Large
Abhi Chadha Event Coordinator
Shivam Sadachar Publicity Coordinator
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recitals in 17 cities in Germany under the series ‘Culture on Wheels’. In 2009 she was one of 7 International fellows invited to the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) conference – New York USA, which was attended by delegates from 35 countries.Selected awards include: The Nrtiya Praveen Award in Allahabad, India; Outstanding Group of Young Persons’ Award in Kolkata, India; Senior Fellowship Award in New Delhi, India; Kala Gurjari Award in Mumbai, India; The Overseas Natya Award, Texas, USA. Shila Mehta is an internationally acclaimed Kathak dancer and choreographer. She is celebrated for her well-rounded style that spans the breadth of the Kathak dance repertoire encompassing technical precision, command over rhythm, and captivating expressions. Her dance is visually stunning, energetic and innovative, which has resulted in a number of invited performances, and prestigious awards across the globe. Mehta has conceived over 200 Kathak dance compositions, many of which are included in her Authored book ‘Practical’s in Kathak’, and have been met by audience appreciation for new perspectives on traditional themes. Mehta’s productions are known for encouraging modern day audiences to connect with key societal issues and to engage people of all ages. Past presentations include: Expression, Mood Spectrum, Abhisaar, Panchtatava and Blue Jackal. As an artist registered with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), at the invitation of the Government of India, she performed Solo-Kathak Discover India 2015
Mehta’s dance background has been influenced by a number of leading exponents in the Kathak field, most notably the Late Pundit Prahalad Das, Pundit Vijai Shankar, Pundit Birju Maharaj, Pundit Suresh Talwalkar, Pundit Chitresh Das, Shrimati Kumudini Lakhia and Shrimati Kalanidhi Narayana. Highly regarded as an educator, Mehta has supported numerous students in realizing their dance aspirations including advancing groomed soloists and teachers in India, USA and Europe. Her passion for preserving and developing the Indian Classical Arts has also been realized in the founding of the Nupur Zankar Academy of Performing Arts and Research Centre, Mumbai, which has been established for over 30 years and is recognized as a leading cultural arts institute of India. Marking her contribution to the field of Indian Classical dance, Mehta continues to be a sought after performer, choreographer, and dance instructor in India and abroad.
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Best Wishes to India Association Indo-American Foundation of Arizona Minaxi Patel President, IACRF
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Jagdish Sagar Chairman, IACRF Board of Trustees
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ARTISTS at DISCOVER INDIA 2015
TAAL SAMRAT
ADITYA NARAYAN BANERJEE Aditya is a Masters in Instrumental Music (Percussion) from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. He was born in a musical family at Serampore, West-Bengal, India. His father and sister both are sarod players. His uncle Sri B.B.Banerjee was a senior most disciple of Sitar Maestro Pandit Ravishankarji and “A” graded musician of AIR, New Delhi. Aditya turned to tabla an early age of five when he started his training under guidance of Sri Shivshankar Karmakar, a prominent disciple of Late
Ustad Karamatullah Khan of Farukhabad Gharana. Since 1990 he has been under able guidance of the great tabla maestro Pandit Swapan Choudhuri, a great Exponent of Lucknow Gharana. Aditya is “Sangeet Prabhakar” from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad and M. Music from Trilokya Sangeet Parishad, Kolkata. He also completed a music appreciation course from West Bengal State Academy & is also a computer hardware and software engineer.
Aditya got “Rastrya Gaurav Award” the year 2007 from India. Aditya performed in WHITE HOUSE with Pandita Tripti Mukherjee as the First Indian Instrumentalist ever play there. Aditya got the award “Acharya-Var” in 2008 & “Acharya Varistha”from “Pandit Jasraj Institute for music research, artistry & appreciatio” by the hand of “Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj ji” July ‘08 & July’12 respectively. Aditya got “TAAL MANI” award from “Sikshayatan Cultural Center” New York Sep ‘08. Aditya Performed at Hereford, U.K. in World Music Festival for the Royal Family of Great Britain Nov’02. Participated in The Parliament of World Religion, Capetown, South Africa with Pandit Jasrajji Dec’99. Put his name in Limca Book of Records along with Pandit Ramesh Narayan for playing 36 Hrs at Pune film and Television Institute Last year. Got Taal Samrat award from : All India Journalist welfare society in Jabalpur , MP this year March. He played lots of artists like Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Rajan & Sajan Mishra, Pandit Ronu Majumder, Pandit Ulhas Bapat, Vidwan Balmurli Krishnan, Anup Jalota, Gulam Ali. Hariharan, Jazz Guiterist like Larry Coryall etc. Further details pls visit :- http://adityanarayanbanerjee.webs.com Discover India 2015
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SITARMAESTRO MAESTRO SITAR
ALOKEDASGUPTA DASGUPTA ALOKE Aloke Dasgupta, Though grounded in the Maihar gharana of Baba Allauddin Khan, Aloke has rapidly assimilated phrasing and tonality from other gharanas, to pioneer a versatile originality. He is among the most remarkable and innovative sitar players in the North Indian classical style. Aloke started his lessons in sitar at the age of eleven, with his late uncle Shri Binoy Dasgupta. Then he continued with Pandit Jogesh Bannerjee, Professor Shiba Prasad Chakraborty, Smt. Kalyani Roy and finally received his Taleem from the renowned master Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.
Aloke has performed in ESPN’s “Sideline”, Disney’s “The Zach and Cody Show: The Suite Life on Deck”, and his music has been featured in the award-winning movie “Outsource” as well as “Ocean of Pearl”.
Maestro Dasgupta has played on NBC and CBS television and his performances have been broadcasted live in major cities of U.S. and India. Aloke has performed in ESPN’s “Sideline”, Disney’s “The Zach and Cody Show: The Suite Life on Deck”, and his music has been featured in the awardwinning movie “Outsource” as well as “Ocean of Pearl”. In 1995, Aloke was presented with the prestigious SOPAN award in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, instituted by leading intellectuals of Bengal, for creative excellence in music. Today, Aloke is much sought after performer world-wide and, along with his wife, classical vocalist Sanjukta, runs the Raga Ranjani School of Music in Los Angeles area for last 26 years. He has many well acclaimed CDs in his name.
Aloke has a Masters degree in Ethnomusicology from San Diego State University, USA and Aloke made his debut in 1981, at the New York Folk Festival. He has toured with India’s greatest violin virtuoso Pandit V. G. Jog. Having recorded or performed for Ozzy Osbourne, Mick Jagger, and Gwen Stefani, to name a few. He has continually been chosen to perform for Cheap Trick’s ‘Sgt. Pepper Live!’ shows by legendary Beatles’ sound engineer Geoff Emerick.
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ARTISTS at DISCOVER INDIA 2015
ODISSI DANCER
PABITRA KUMAR PRADHAN Mr. Pabitra Kumar Pradhan started receiving
Mr. Pradhan is currently performing and teaching in Southern California from June 2015.
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his training at Orissa Dance Academy at the age of fifteen. This extremely talented professional Odissi dancer and teacher is teaching and performing for the last 20 years. Few match Pabitra Kumar Pradhan in the mastery of movement and in-depth knowledge of Odissi dance and theory. Bestowed with a captivating stage presence, Pabitra has featured in major festivals and has performed widely in major cities like Raipur, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Tanjavur, Pondicherry, Bangalore, and New Delhi. Being a talented performer and excellent instructor, he is bestowed with the unique talent to choreograph new items keeping intact the essence of Odissi. He has been awarded the Senior National Scholarship from the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD). As a soloist, he has performed in the prestigious ‘Dhauli Mahotsav’ and ‘Nritya Pratibha’ organized by Sangeet Natak Academy. He was sponsored to participate in the 20th spring Friendship Art Festival, Pyongyang, North Korea; the 14th International Festival of Dance and Music, Thailand; and Festival of “Days of India in Germany”. He has performed in major cities in USA and UK, as well as in the 2nd and 3rd International Odissi festivals in Glasgow Festival and at the Shanghai Trade fair. He is the recipient of “Sanjukta Pratibha Samman” and is auditioned artiste of Doordarshan.
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Classical Vocalist Dr. Rewa Natu, is a classical vocalist based in Pune. She was initiated and inspired in the field music by her father Pt. Vinayak Phatak, famous tabla artist. She has earned a Masters degree in Music (First Class) from the SNDT University, Pune and Sangeetacharya (PhD) from the Akhil Bharatiya Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. She has got guidance from Late Pt. Dattopant Agashebua, Late Pt. Sharad Gokhale and Dr. Digvijay Vaidya. She presently is learning music from Dr. Vaidya. She is an empanelled artist on All India Radio and has performed in renowned music festivals such as the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsava (Pune), NCPA (Mumbai), Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre (Mumbai), Karnatak
Sangh (Mumbai), Licchavi Samaroha (Delhi & Muzaffarpur), Sawai Gandharva Mahotsava (Kundgol), Saptak (Nagpur), Sursagar Mahotsava (Chinchwad), Dargah Festival (Miraj), Deval Club (Kolhapur) Diwali Pahaat Programs (Australia) to mention a few. She has received many awards such as the Late Pt. T.D.Janorikar award & the Lalkaar Puraskar. Having received highest marks in the Sangeetacharya Exam she was awarded nine awards including the Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Award & Pt. Vinayakbua Patwardhan award. Rewa ranked first in the All India Radio classical music competition and bagged the National Scholarship. She was winner at the Discovery of India contest held by the Nehru Center, Mumbai.
SRI RAJU DESHMUKH
PAKHAWAJ EXPONENT Sri Raju Deshmukh trained in the art of playing both the tabla and the pakhawaj at a very young age from his Guru Sri Chuttanlal Pakhawaji of the Benares Gharana. This art was passed down to him in the classical music tradition of GuruShishya Parampara. Sri Deshmukh earned his music degree from M.S. University of Baroda, India. He has continued his pursuit of this art by learning from the legendary tabla maestro Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri, Director
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of Percussion at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California. Sri Deshmukh has also trained with late Pt. Ashoke Maitra, the seniormost disciple of Pt. Swapan Chaudhuri, both of the Lucknow Gharana. To ensure continuity of the tradition, Sri Deshmukh teaches with dedication and sincerity, explaining every minute nuances of the Gharana to all his students. Further, Sri Deshmukh has founded Kala Eternal Rhythms, a school of Indian percussion and classical music, to provide opportunities to young musicians to continue to explore the art form in the Midwest. In the Chicagoland area, Sri Deshmukh has performed with numerous global collaborations and has accompanied many world-renowned musicians, including, Pt. Birju Maharaj and Sri Purushottamdas Jalota, among others. 20
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ASU Andaaz: Bollywood Dance Team. Andaaz is Arizona State University’s premiere competitive Bollywood dance team. Last year, the team won first place at a national intercollegiate competition in Pennsylvania along with a number of other awards, qualifying them for the championship competition in Phoenix called Bollywood America.
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Andaaz is known for its innovative ideas in the dance community, while still fostering family relationships between members. The team’s mission is to spread South Asian culture to audiences throughout the valley as well as around the country.
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Hearty Greetings to Discover India!...
Arathi School of Dance P h o en i x/ Tu c s on , A r i z on a L as V eg as , N evad a
Dances of India 480.940.2301
A rath iSch ool @gm ai l. c om ww w. A rath iS ch ool .c om Discover India 2015
T a u g h t 33b y D i s t i n g u i s h e d K a l a s h r i A sh a Go pal www.azwishesh.com
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