May 19th, 2020

  Dear Friend,

During these times of social distancing, we hope to continue keeping the ISW community engaged with eSandesh, Facebook and updates to our ISW website. Surprisingly, there is a lot going on in our community and we will share this with you on a regular bi-weekly basis in this newsletter. If you would like to include an event or share some news about things going on with you or your community, please use this form to submit. We look forward to hearing from you!

Update on ISW Cultural and Language school

We are not done with the ISW school as yet!!

May 16/17 was the last day of our Language classes and we ended the semester with two months of online classes. Starting next week, we are beginning free ISW Masti classes offered by our awesome ISW student teachers. One can enroll for 6 FREE sessions starting May 19th, until the end of June 2020. For more information, click here. We will also offer ISW Summer classes in July 2020, on writing, conversational Hindi, math tutoring, the schedule will be posted.

Finally, in appreciation of the ISW School teachers, we are supporting the Mass.gov COVID19 fund in a collective ISW group donation at this link. Do support us!

Ruchi Chauhan & Shiamin Melville, school@iswonline.org

Virtual Antakshari

During this Social Distancing time, let's get together virtually and sing some Bollywood numbers and many other songs and spend an evening in music and melody.   घर    बैठे क्या करे ? खेलते है एक खेल !  खेलेंगे हम    अंताक्षरी , सुर संगीत का मेल !!Save the date - June 20th, 2020  Zoom details will be posted soon. For further details and to register, please visit ISW Website or

Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/2299950696979909/

Sarita Deshpande and Amita Rao, cultural@iswonline.org

Have you completed your 2020 Census yet?

by Yashvardhan Chauhan, Shrewsbury High School

Have you completed the 2020 Census yet? If not, you still have plenty of time as the U.S. Census Bureau has extended the deadline to complete the 2020 Census from the end of July to October 31st in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It's now easier than ever to complete, since for the first time you can choose to respond online, by phone, or by mail. The more people who complete the census using these methods, the less people will have to go door to door, which is especially important during these times of social distancing. Additionally, the survey only consists of 12 questions and should take no more than 10 minutes in total to complete. Not only that, but unlike in previous years there will no longer be a question about citizenship status on the 2020 census, which means that there really is no reason not to fill it out. The census counts everyone citizens and non-citizens alike.

Although some may still view the census as an unnecessary hassle, it is of far greater importance than many individuals realize as it provides critical data that helps determine where billions of dollars in federal funding go. Perhaps just as importantly, the census also determines the number of seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives, which mirrors the number of delegates each state has in the Electoral College (which is the group that decides who becomes the president and vice president of the United States). As such, the census is critical in ensuring that each and every state is represented fairly at the national level.

ISW COMMUNITY NEWS

Beloved ISW Volunteer, Dr. Lal, passes away

It is with heavy heart and sadness that we share this news with you that Dr. Dhansukslal Mandalaywayla (Dr. Lal) passed away on May 18, 2020 at 4:45 AM at the UMass Medical Center due to complications of COVID-19 Infection.

Carolyn and I had known Dr. Lal for last 15 years when he started volunteering at the Free Health Stop at the India Center. He had been the backbone of our free health care services at the India Center. He was very caring, loving and a dedicated person to his family, his patients, and the profession of medicine. He had always gone above and beyond providing health care to his patients. He was a great teacher and a mentor to our medical students. Besides being a great physician, he was a loving father, grandfather, and a dear friend. He would be dearly missed. May God rest his soul in comfort and peace and give strength to his children, grandchildren, and all of us to cope with his loss. Memorial Services for Dr Lal will be announced later.

Carolyn and Sahdev Passey

ISW Community Members Virtual Offerings

To help community members at home under the state mandated Covid crisis related social distancing, several community members are offering a range of virtual activities to keep you and your family engaged. The activities range from online music and dance classes to wellness, yoga and fitness sessions. For a full list of offerings visit the ISW Website . To add your offering to the listing, please fill out a submission form here We also encourage our members who might need counseling or support during these times to reach out to the Crisis Committee at crisisteam@iswonline.org

ISW kids win in Mass Science & Engineering Fair

The ISW community was well represented in the Massachusetts State Science and Engineering Fair which was held virtually this year. Arnav Mishra, son of Neha and Amit Mishra, a sophomore at Shrewsbury High School and a member of the IYG group bagged a First Place Award. Arnav’s award winning project was titled “Helping the Deaf and Blind, One Step At A Time” and used multiple types of sensors to provide sensory feedback of the surroundings to visually handicapped. Other winners included Gaurav Savant, son of Shrikant and Sapna Savant, who studies at Worcester Academy, and Amrita Thirumalai, daughter of Ajai and Sridevi Thirumalai and a student at the Massachusetts Academy of Math & Science.

Shrewsbury High School winners in State Fair

Three Shrewsbury High School students placed in the 2020 Massachusetts Science & Engineering Fair which was conducted virtually this year. Students were asked to submit a short video presentation along with electronic copies of their abstracts and observation/data notebooks. In addition to Arnav Mishra, other SHS students included Alina Shkurikhina and Zoe Rudnick. Separately, Adita Dosi a freshman from SHS also qualified for the International Science and Engineering Fair, the first for the school since 2009. 

Please check out ISW website and ISW FB page for other online event updates.