Fundraiser for grandma’s NGO with friends’ help

His grandma needed help. And 18-year-old Soumya Dasgupta was up for the challenge. To help grandma Gayatri Ray arrange money to build a school for underprivileged children, the former headboy of Vasant Valley School, put his leadership skills to good use, reports Tanya Ashreena.

His grandma needed help. And 18-year-old Soumya Dasgupta was up for the challenge.

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To help grandma Gayatri Ray arrange money to build a school for underprivileged children, the former headboy of Vasant Valley School, Vasant Kunj, put his leadership skills to good use.

His grandmother Gayatri Ray needed an additional 15 lakh rupees for her NGO -Aparajita Mahila Samiti - to construct the school.

Dasgupta contacted friends and classmates and asked them to help him raise the funds.

They readily agreed, and what resulted was a fundraising concert titled ‘With a Little Help from my Friends’, staged at the Shri Ram Centre on Wednesday evening.

“A lot of us were into performing arts," said Dasgupta. "So, we decided that a concert would be the best way to raise funds and showcase our talent at the same time."

The concert, organised by students of Vasant Valley School, Shri Ram School and St Thomas School, included an impressive mix of Western and Hindi music, jazz, hip hop, indo-jazz, Kathak, Bharatnatyam and Odissi dances and a self-composed English play.

Everything from sale of tickets - priced between Rs 200 and Rs 500 -to publicity and lights and sounds was managed by the students.

So, the occasional interruptions due to 'technical difficulties' were ignored, and every performance was appreciated.

"It is heartening to see otherwise privileged children come out of their comfort zones, and contribute to society," said Sheba Tendulkar, an audience member who got up to congratulate the children and their proud parents at the end of the show.

"Though we do not expect to raise much by staging this fundraising concert, we feel that it is great we highlighted the cause," said Tushar Mehta, a student who performed on the clarinet.

Bubbly teenagers, Ashrika Kohli, Mehr Chopra and Rhea Sadh, who staged a dance medley, said the experience of holding the concert was fun. "We plan to make this an annual fundraising event. We will come back next year," said Kohli.