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The ISW Chorus sings We Shall Overcome/Hum Hoonge Kamyaab at the Solidarity Event

On May 23rd, the ISW community held a Solidarity event, Hum Hoonge Kamyaab, as a tribute to loved ones and to show respect for the healthcare and frontline workers.

Did you know we have an amazing Botanical Garden in Boylston with many gorgeous gardens and trails within 15 mins from India Center in Shrewsbury. You are welcome to visit and enjoy the gorgeous flowers, trails, conservatories and outdoor art installations for FREE until June 30, 2021. A unique benefit for ISW Members only. For more info, click here.

Introducing ISW Women Empowering Women (WEW) - An interactive platform empowering women by transforming the I can’t to I can! India Society of Worcester (ISW) has launched a new initiative for women from all walks of life to come together and empower each other by sharing their life experiences. The first panel consists of New England women leaders sharing their experiences on multitasking with finesse. Click for info.

Prof. Snehalata Kadam, Lead Contact; Bhawna Sadhu, ISW Executive Board Member

A presentation and discussion by Donna Cox, Cox Tutoring Group on "How to tackle Standardized Tests and College Interviews". Click here to register for the event.

Join us in celebrating the ISW graduates from high school and college and blessing them as they move on to the next phase of their life. We wish them all success. Please submit the names of graduates and register on our website

We are excited to announce that we are working on a series of offerings for the summer for 6-8 weeks in subjects like Scratch programming, robotics, Arts & Craft and more. The classes will be online or in person will cost $40 for eight 1-hour sessions. Please fill out the forms on our website if you would like to be a volunteer tutor or to sign your child up for a class.

On May 22, we held the ISW School's Annual Day program at ISW India Center on the patio where attendance certificates were presented by the teachers. Almost 95 students attended with their parents in three shifts. Many donated toiletry items and cash contributions to support ‘Gifts of Hope’ a nonprofit started by Nalini Goyal, one of the ISW School founders. Five Hindi School graduates, Tanvi Gahlot, Leisha Gupta, Prachet Mahawar, Priyanshu Sahu, and Diya Sadhu were presented graduation certificates. We specially want to thank our 4 student teachers, Mansi Gera, Krishnaa Amin, Menaja Raja and Aanya Sachdeva as they complete their two year teaching tenure. More details here.

Registration for in person classes for the next session from September 2021 to May 2022 is now open. To register, please login with the email id used when you setup your membership. An in-person Open House will be held Sunday, September 19, 2021. Classes will begin September 25th or 26th based on language selected. Click here to register.  

ISW's FREE HealthStop, held in partnership with IMANE, is now open for in-person visits at the ISW India Center. Available to anyone regardless of their financial, immigration and insurance status. Not limited to the Indian Community. Walk-ins welcome, no appointment needed

ISW offers Free Online Yoga sessions for adults & youth

More info on how to join on ISW Website

ISW University presented online webinar on QI (key)communication skills for middle schoolers on May 8, 2021. Facilitators Dhruv Jagan and Aashi Gupta, 8th graders at Shrewsbury's Oak Middle School gave tips on how to strengthen student's confidence in speaking up and communicating. With better communications skills, students will then be less fearful of asking a “wrong question,” or feeling shy about asking a question or making a statement in front of a class. Click here to read the session recap.

Kanan Sachdeva, MBA, CFP®️, ChFC®️ and Patrick Herndon, Principal, Certified College Advisor held an online session to help parents navigate the world of financial planning for college. It was ably moderated by Mayank Jaiswal & Ramendra Chauhan. It is never to early to start planning. In case you missed it you, can view it on the ISW YouTube channel.

ISW Marathi language school organized a unique and first-of-its-kind Marathi spelling Bee “शब्दमधुरा”. The objective of this bee was to convey Marathi language’s richness to our next generation and help increase kids' Marathi vocabulary, in a competitive yet fun way. The bee, conducted online, was modeled after the popular English spelling bee that children all over the world enjoy and appreciate. ISW Marathi School hopes other schools will take up this approach to increasing Marathi fluency. Read all about it here.

ISW, in partnership with PelMeds, IAGB, IMANE, TAGB and many other community organizations, held a Covid Vaccination camp on May 2nd and May 23rd at the newly opened ISW India Center. With volunteers manning the desks and a crew of doctors administering the vaccines, the center was busy from 9 am to 3 pm. Nearly 300 people took advantage of the opportunity including community members from across MetroWest and eligible youth as young as 16. More photos on the website.

The ever popular Antakshari competition was well attended amid fierce competition. A tie for sixth place required a tie-breaker and Team Geet Gata Chal made it to the finals. Six teams were pitted against each other for the bragging rights for ISW Antakshari Champions. The event was ably moderated by Santosh Rao. The winning team was Geet Gata Chaal, followed by team Golmaal and with Team Tarane taking third place. View the video to find out more about the winners.

The ISW India Center reverberated with prayers, poems, bhajans as members attended a solidarity event in person and socially distant at the India Center that was also simulcast on ISW Facebook Live. The musical numbers included a compilation by the ISW School children singing "Hey Ram", a youth group of ISW singing a patriotic rendition of "Ay Watan" followed by a moving poem specially composed for the occasion by Asha Singh, a regular contributor to eSandesh and an ISW School teacher. It concluded with a rousing rendition of "We shall overcome/Hum Hoonge Kamiyaab" by a group chorus that gave you goosebumps. You can see the complete list of performances and the entire performance on ISW's Facebook Live.

I interviewed Mr. Sandeep Shah, the CEO and Founder of Skyscape, a telehealth company. Mr. Shah has been a pioneer in mobile access of healthcare information ever since the release of the first mobile devices. He has now developed an app, released last year, called Buzz which helps healthcare workers communicate. He gave great advice for high school students who are interested in technology and telehealth in the modern era.  

Tanvi Gahlot: What inspired you to create your company “Skyscape”?

Mr. Sandeep Shah: Well, while my wife was in training to become a physician I saw the struggles she faced. This was taking place right around the time mobile technology was making its first appearance around 1993. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to marry technology that could be carried and the information needed by a physician because they can’t always consult a book right when they may need some of the information. 

Find out the rest of his story and his advice to aspiring students on the website.