November 15, 2010

Diwali fundraising concert held by AID-JHU

After a two-year hiatus, the Association for India’s Development at Johns Hopkins restarted its fundraising activities with a Diwali concert held Nov. 6 in Homewood’s Shriver Hall. About 170 people attended the concert, which featured Hindustani classical music by JHU’s Surageet; Raagapella, an a cappella group from Stanford University; and Band of Brothers, an American pop band. In addition, a photo exhibition on internally displaced people of India was showcased.

“The beauty of this [Diwali] festival is that it accepts and welcomes celebrations from all strata of society,” said Nishikant Deshmukh, a graduate student who is an officer of AID. “AID-JHU celebrated this Diwali by making this event multicultural and showing the broad and accepting India culture.”

As Indians celebrate Diwali by cleaning their homes, AID-JHU picked cleanliness and recycling awareness in India as the theme of the event by showcasing zero waste management, which is considered a model for solving the problem of waste disposal that India is facing.

The concert was sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations, Graduate Representative Organization and Office of Student Life. The funds raised will go toward grassroots projects supported by AID and to the JHU Haiti Aid Coalition.