FIA celebrates international women's day

Los Angeles, March 11, 2021
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh

March 8th – Brooklyn New York – Federation of Indian Associations of NY NJ & CT along with the Brooklyn Borough President's office and the Consulate General of India New York hosted a commemorative ceremony on the footsteps of the historic venue of the Brooklyn Borough Hall.  Consul General of India NY Shri Randhir Jaiswalji honored the distinguished awardees with a memento and applauded the honorees efforts and resilience to stay dedicated to their respective causes fields and careers even under unprecedented times of the pandemic.  The honorees two of whom stayed remote were honored with a memento and Citation from the Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams who extended his greetings for the honorees thru Dilip Chauhan who handles the South Asian affairs for the Borough President.  The seven awardees include:

1) Ms. Tejal Amin A Gold Medalist and Visharad in Bharat Natyam, founder of Ghargharika, Chairperson of Navrachana Education Society, Brand Ambassador of the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, Awardee of Glory Of Gujarat, Founding Director and Chairperson of Vadodara Marathon, Brand Ambassador for MG Motors’ MG Drive Her Back.

2) Dr. Uma Rani Madhusudana – serving at the health care frontline in Hartford healthcare, she became a Frontline Warrior who has been recognized and applauded as an unsung hero during this pandemic. Further extending her experience, she assisted with protocols regarding plasma- therapy in India. She will be now featured in a documentary, “Pandemic away from the motherland”, which has been shortlisted for Oscar.

3) Dr Abha Jaiswal - Dentist -Master in Sociology & in Public Health. She speaks 7 languages.She was recognized for playing a pivotal supporting role that of supporting her spouse on national duty that of diplomatic assignments; she has lived and learnt in culturally diverse societies in Asia, Europe, and the America.

4) Ms. Rashmi Aggarwal – Health care first responder who in her service as a nurse provided uninterrupted support and service to her peers and patients and who at the sacrifice of the family and personal time, continuously dedicated and served her time to those impacted by the pandemic.  

5) Ms. Sabina Dhillon, Esq – community attorney lauded for her pro bono services to the victims of the community and for her continuous selfless advice and legal guidance she has been providing to those not able to afford professional legal advice.

6) Mask Squad – A group of likeminded women who came together to help the community in need with sewing 3200 masks and share them with the first responders and with those in the most need of them at the height of the pandemic. Collectively the 40 organizations across the country, working together made the group a ‘Mask Squad’. From donating the masks to food donations to helping domestic violence survivors in emergency situations, the group of Mask Squad has made an impact. 

7) Rashaana Shah – Producer, Actress &  founder and Managing director of Mulberry Films a books to film tv and film development company. Her dedication and work with the kids programs including launching a channel (Indika) is an effort to provide children spiritual content thru vedic science.

Private dinner for the honorees was held at the Consulate General of India in New York where the awardees were greeted and congratulated by the Consulate.   Smita Miki Patel, Rohi Singh and the International Women's Day team were applauded for their efforts of putting together the International Women Day even while faced with the impacts and restrictions of the pandemic.  Jayshree Patel of New Jersey and Saku Patel of Connecticut were applauded and thanked for their generous support and sponsorship to make the event a grand success.