India Association of Minnesota

June 2023 Newsletter

1973 - 2023 India Association of Minnesota 50 Years

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Save the Date!

IndiaFest 2023 is Saturday, August 12, 2023

Watch your email and the IAM Website for details on volunteers, cultural auditions, booth registrations and much more.

IAM 2023 Scholarship Award

India Association of Minnesota (IAM) invites Minnesota based 2023 High School graduates to apply for its Annual Student Scholarship. These scholarships are part of IAM’s continued commitment to engage and recognize youth.

For students who have demonstrated excellence in General Academics, Community service, Entrepreneurial leadership, or Arts/Sports will be recognized for outstanding achievements. 

The awards will be distributed during India Fest on August 12th, 2023. Applications must be received by June 24th, 2023.

To apply Click Here

Flint Hills Family Festival

Saturday, June 3, 2023

Visit the IAM Booth



For over 20 years, the Flint Hills Family Festival has brought communities together through the power of the arts, welcoming over a million students, teachers, and families since its conception in 2001.

Visit in 2023 for more thrilling performances, student matinees, art-making activities, and workshops. During the Flint Hills Family Festival, exciting Saturday performances inside the Ordway are just $5 to attend. Plus, so many more free outdoor performances and activities throughout the Festival are interactive, kid-friendly, and free!

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

345 Washington St, St Paul, MN

https://ordway.org/festival/

Celebrating International Yoga Day

IAM Board Member and experienced yoga instructor Priya Gupta

will lead the yoga session

Date: June 15, 2023, 6:30 pm

Where: Maple Grove Library

8001 Main St, Maple Grove, MN 55369

You are invited to join with members of IAM to participate in the PRIDE Celebration!

Date: June 25, 2023

Time: 4:00 - 7:00 pm

Where: Maple Grove Central Park

12000 Central Park Way, Maple Grove, MN

Mental Health Awareness Event

IAM - WIN hosted an event at the Hamel Community Center on May 18, 2023. The topic for the evening was Mental Health Awareness. Tanwi Prigge welcomed the guests and the evening started off with social time and dinner from Best of India.

A panel discussion and Q&A was moderated by Sayali Amarapukar, PhD. Niloufer Merchant, Ed.D, LP, Dr. Enakshi Choudhuri, PhD, LPCC and Reema Bhattachanrya, Ms, LMFT spoke to the approximately thirty five attendees. The session touched on what does mental health look like, what does it feel like and how it manifests in different people. Also discussed was the culture and societal stigma associated with mental health. The evening wrapped up with some great questions from the audience.

IAM Participating in the Community

IAM Past Presidents Visit MIA

A few of the IAM past presidents and others were hosted by MIA Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer, Virajita Singh, to a viewing of the exhibit Chinese Ritual Bronzes. The guests were privileged to have Dr. Liu Yang, Chair of Asian Art and Curator of Chinese Art, speak with them about the exhibition. He graciously answered questions. Preeti Mathur, author of From Seven Rivers to 10,000 Lakes, presented Dr. Yang with a signed copy of the book in appreciation of his time. MIA guide, Debbie Hegstrom and Assistant Curator of the Indian Galleries, Pujan Ghandi, also spent time with the group.

IAM encourages the community to visit and support MIA.

To learn more about Liu Yang Click Here https://new.artsmia.org/

50th Anniversary Gala

Past Presidents' Messages

Current president Tanwi Prigge with the past presidents during the 50th Anniversary Gala on April 15, 2023. Many of the past presidents did a video. Unfortunately, the link did not work in the May newsletter.



Please enjoy it now by clicking this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt0aTPpnvR0

Friends of the Children

For thirty years, Friends of the Children has been working with children who face multiple systemic obstacles. Each child is paired with a paid professional mentor, "a friend" who is there for them through high school. This model has produced meaningful results; 83% earn a high school diploma or GED, 92% enroll in post secondary education, 93% remain free from the juvenile detention system and 97% do not become parents until after their teens.

Friends of the Children is now in the Twin Cities. Seeds to Harvest leader, Brett Buchner has been named CEO for the local branch. A Meet & Greet was held at J D Hoyt's on Friday, May 19, 2023. National President & CEO Terri Sorenson was the guest of honor. Terri's passion to help at risk children was evident as she addressed the commnity members and guests.

Congratulations to Brett Buckner and new board member, 2020 IAM President Sreeni Checka, as they assume their new responsibilites. Pictured above: Alice Northrup, Sreeni Checka, Terri Sorenson, Brett Buckner and Dr. Bruce Corrie. Community members and guests below.



https://friendsofthechildren.org/

EAAA AAPI Festival

On Saturday, May 27, 2023, IAM participated in the first annual Edina Asian American Alliance (EAAA) AAPI festival. It was a beautiful summer day at Rosland Park. It was a small event that had a great showing! Tanwi Prigge and intern Ananya Velpuri gave out candy and lassi samples. Other IAM members, Shanti Shah and intern Aditya Suresh participated in the event. CAAL, SILC and AshaUSA were represented, as well as several other Asian groups from all over the Twin cities. The program included speeches by Tanwi Prigge, Shanti Shah and MN House Rep Heather Edelson.

IAM History

Ravi Sura

IAM President 2008

"Ravi’s Ruminations." Yes, that was the title of my articles in the 2008 IAM Newsletters and yes, I do agree that it is a bit corny 🙂. But, apart from that, it was a wonderful trip down memory lane as I was just reading through that year’s newsletters - where IAM had come from (it was celebrating its 35th year anniversary then), what all activities it was doing to enrich the lives of the Indian-American community in Minnesota and to some extent, what it planned to do to stay relevant. I am very happy to see that that last question is no longer in doubt and in its 50th year of existence, IAM has become even more relevant, more encompassing and inclusive as well as a widely-recognized voice of the community in Minnesota. Kudos to all the dedicated volunteers, supporters and Board Members! The community thanks you for all your efforts.

My journey with IAM started in 2003 as a member and then as a Board Member from 2006 when Sandhya Gupta (President 2007) asked me to take on the role of Secretary. It was definitely a learning experience being on the Board, but also definitely enjoyable. Building on a solid foundation and as mentioned above, 35 years of experience, 2008 started out excellently with the First Lady of Minnesota, Mary Pawlenty, as the chief guest at the Annual Dinner. The popular Summer Picnic, in collaboration with the Programs for Indian Children and the always-exciting participation at the Festival of Nations were very successful. And, the fall Festival of India at the Landmark Center was so well-attended that the lack of space at the venue became the biggest concern. Perhaps one of the biggest achievements of the 2008 Board was instituting and awarding the Student Fellowship Program to encourage and support young community members. As a person who loves numbers and accounts, I have to point out that it was a matter of pride for the 2008 Board that the year ended with a net positive addition to the IAM corpus 🙂.

All of this obviously would not have been possible without a strong and involved Board. I would like to recognize three key people for their unflinching support and dedication to IAM and to whom I am deeply grateful - Raj Menon, Nagaraj Gurumurthy and Guptan Nambudiripad.

Looking back at 2008, one thing that stands out in my mind was that it was the last year of doing things as they were being done for quite a few years, and rightly so. It was the last year for the IAM Summer Picnic and the IAM Festival of India at the Landmark Center. Even the title of IAM Annual Dinner was on its last legs. IAM was poised to evolve into its new and better avatar especially with IndiaFest launched in 2009.

I will always remain proud and thankful for being a part of IAM and playing a small part in its growth story.

IAM Membership

India Association of Minnesota invites you to become a sustaining member of the organization. As the Indian population in Minnesota increases, it is more important than ever that the community be involved in the activities of IAM as it represents our common interests.

The benefits are many, including participation in the annual election of IAM officers and board members, running for a seat on the board or becoming a part of the IAM committees (Government Relations, Cultural, History and SAARI).

For more information send an email to contact@iamn.org and an IAM board member will contact you. To become an IAM member Click Here or click on the QRcode.

Welcome to new IAM members

SAARI

Juneteenth

June 19th is a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. The name comes from combining "June" and "nineteenth". Major General Gordon Granger issued an order on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for slaves in Texas, the final slaves to be freed. Celebrations and events in the Twin Cities to recognize the importance of this date in history will take place from June 17 - 19, 2023.

June is Pride Month

LGBT Pride Month is dedicated to the celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) pride. Pride Month was a result of the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969. Modern day Pride Month both honors the movement for LGBTQ rights and celebrates the culture. The first price marches were held a year after the riots,

In June 1999, President Bill Clinton declared "the anniversary of the Stonewall riots" every June in America as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month". President Barack Obama expanded the officially recognized Pride Month to include the whole of the LGBTQ community in 2011. In 2017, however, Donald Trump declined to continue the federal recognition of Pride Month in the United States. He later recognized it in 2019 in a Tweet later used as a Presidential Proclamation. Joe Biden recognized Pride Month in 2021 and vowed to push for LGBT rights in the United States.

Spotlight

Shehla Mushtaq

DesiStoriesAshaUSA

As a woman who has traveled the globe, Shehla identifies herself not only as a citizen of Minnesota, but as a citizen of humanity. “No religion is greater than humanity”*, which sums up Shehla’s character and the way she moves through life, to care for others in her community and in the world.

Shehla was raised in Pakistan and received her formative education at a Catholic Convent, St. Joseph High School. She has always cherished the time she spent there, recognizing the importance of values learned! Her global experience of other world religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, having grown up in an overwhelmingly Muslim country, combined with the values from her Catholic school education, combine to make her who she is today.

At the age of 19, she arrived in the US to obtain her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Electrical Engineering at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. She was struck by the individualism she saw in the U.S., in comparison to the strong family and community values in Pakistan. After a societal tug of war between going back to Pakistan to get married or pursuing further academics in the US, she gave in to pressure and went back to Karachi.

She spent a few adventurous years working with her elder brother at ‘Next Hardware Shop’, that they jointly founded, driving all over Karachi to pick up ailing hardware and repairing computers. Eventually, after getting married she returned to the US, and had her first child, a girl, shortly before the infamous Minnesota Halloween storm of 1991.

Shehla believes in, and promotes the power of ‘Connecting’ and ‘Serving’ at the most fundamental level…as a thinking and feeling human being. 

To read the entire article about Shehla Click Here

Upcoming IAM 2023 Calendar of Events

Event/Date/Venue

• Flint Hills Family Festival, June 3, 2023, Ordway Center
• Indiafest, Aug 12, 2023, Minnesota State Capitol Grounds
• Golf Tournament, TBD
• NonViolence Day, Oct 1, 2023, TBD
• Pink Garba, a breast cancer awareness event, Oct 28, 2023, TBD
• Dhanyawaad, TBD

Watch for coming events in future newsletters, on Facebook and the IAM website www.iamn.org.

Ananya Dance Theatre

2023 Shawngram

The two-week intensive in ADT's signature movement aesthetic, YORCHHA, and choreographic practice, SHAWNGRAM, will invite participants into building physical strength and emothional stamina through a daily movement practice.

Date: Monday - Friday, June 19-30, 2023

Time: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Community Showing,

Date: Friday, June 30, 2023

Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm

For more information click on the QRCode in the flyer.

https://www.ananyadancetheatre.org/

AshaUSA

AshaUSA invites you to the June Speakers' Series event: Take Charge - Sweet Conundrum: The Art & Science of Sugar Cravings and Control.

Date: Saturday, June 10, 2023

Time: 4:00 pm

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O52B-9yOiZ0 

Asian Fair at Plymouth

Come to enjoy tasty food, beautiful music, dances, exotic trinkets, fun games and many more at the first Twin Cities West Metro Indian Fair! Come to experience the diverse and rich Asian culture, learn the fun facts and have a blast! People of all backgrounds and ages are welcome! It’s a party for everyone! 

Date: Saturday, June 3, 2023

Time: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

Where: Hilde Performance Center

3450 Plymouth Blvd., Plymouth, MN

Mark your calendar, and spread the words!

Marathi Associaiton of Minnesota

Save The Date !!

Marathi Association of Minnesota is organizing a Picnic followed by Camping.

The picnic is open to both members and non-members

Saturday July 22 & Sunday, July 23.

To RSVP for the picnic Click Here

Minnesota Punjabi Sociery

Minnesota Punjabi Society invites the community to

Vaisakhi Night 2023

Date: Friday, June 2, 2023

Time: 6:00 pm

Where: Harriet Island Pavilion

200 Dr Justus Ohage Blvd

St. Paul, MN

Tickets: $20.00

includes dinner

Tickets can be purchased on line or at the event.

For more information www.mpsmn.org

Miscellaneous

Correction

Our apologies to SILC for the error on the organization name in the May newsletter.

The correct name is School of India for Language and Culture.

Happy Father's Day

June 18, 2023



Happy Father's Day to all the fathers everywhere. It is a day to celebrate the amazing men who provide care, guidance and inspiration to their children.

IAM wishs all the amazing fathers in our lives a very happy Father's Day and remember those fathers who are no longer with us.