Attendees: Vikas, Anand, Shanmugha, Radha, Jerry, Sally, Kabir, Natarajan, Prashant, Sonia, Neelakshi, Radhika, Uma. We welcomed Vanita Gangwal, who joined the SU student community this semester.

In keeping with the new tradition, Vikas chaired the meeting.

The meeting began with three items on the agenda

1. The forthcoming Holi/Basant event being organised by Asha. Kabir shared the details of his meeting with Liz Olivieri ( previously done through email too)

Discussed the options available for the venue.

The Underground or PERC Place in Schine.

It would not be possible to use the Quad or the space in front of NewHouse since that would disturb academics. Many other spaces across campus were not available for the same reason.

There was discussion was about using PERC Place - some members felt that the space was not good for dance performances; that the stage construction would not be appropriate; that there would not be enough space etc. etc. At the end of the discussion PERC Place was crossed off the list, in spite of the free catering option that came with it. The Underground was felt to be too small and therefore also rejected by the group for a venue.

At the end of discussions, it was decided that the group would explore the options of Goldstien Auditorium, Schine Centre or the SkyBarn, South Campus as venues. Veronica and Kabir were entrusted with the responsibility of finding out more about the venues- what would it cost (especially for a ticketed event) in terms of rent, equipment, setting up the stage, food stalls etc.

The idea of hosting the event with the help of one of the Fraternity Houses on campus since they seem to have garden space etc. Prashant to follow-up on this suggestion and discover what can be done.

Festivities that will be part of the event.

Originally it had been proposed that the event be a day long one, and should include stalls for mehndi, rangoli, palmistry, games of chance, selling of craft items along with flying kites and playing holi with colours and water. The day would end with dance performances by students.

After what Liz Olivieri had said, it seemed best to drop the holi playing and kite flying bits - problems of getting permission, no space, organizing difficulties.

Anand shared details of those who had responded so far to our email asking for volunteers for the dance performances. The responses were:

Samantha: Bharatanatyam recital and willing to choreograph a dance.

Sejal Sangani: mehndi and participation in a dance.

Sujata Singh: rangoli

Anupam and Trishul: garba

Radha said she was willing to choreograph a dance number if we were able to find enough volunteers to dance.

Action: Another email message on the listserv asking for dance/ performers volunteers - specifically asking for classical / folk dancers and instrumental and light vocal musicians. The Indians listserv needs to be kept in a state of hyperactivity in the months leading up to the event.

Vikas shared with the group details about getting craft items from India. It was deemed too expensive and not worth the investment at this point to actually get stuff from India. The earlier suggestion of checking with Handicraft shop owners in Ithaca or Syracuse to set up stall for the day at a charge of $150-$200 seemed better - less of a hassle for the group. At the same time, members of the group were willing to dig into their personal hoards and contribute to Asha's craft stall - feeling that the idea was a good one and we need to explore selling Indian handicrafts as a possible avenue for raising funds in the future.

Action: remind Pradeep{ Pardeep ;)} about checking with the Ithaca shop people and also games of chance.

Other suggestions:

At the end of the dance performances, the floor would be opened up for a dance party.

Screening a movie or "Chitrahaar" type of film i.e lots of Hindi film songs while the mehndi, rangoli stalls are in operation.

Cost of Ticket

It was felt that unless the group came up with an amount to be raised through this event, putting a price on the ticket was not appropriate. The group agreed on a minimum of $3000.00 to be raised.

After much discussion the group reached agreement on a $1.00 cover charge and coupon booklet worth $10.00. The coupons would be for buying good/services at the stalls. A separate amount of $10.00 will be charged for the evening's performance.

Nataraj and Kabir will be responsible for the publicity for the event.

Vikas will prepare a budget for the event and share it over email.

2. Report on Ananya and TRY

Radha visited both the projects on her recent trip to India - feels very positive about them.

Ananya has acquired land and has great plans with it. Work is going on excellently. More and more people are hearing of it and coming with children to be admitted, which is difficult since Shashi Rao is keen on keeping the numbers small. Ananya seems to have a good fund raising network and seems assured of funding support fairly regularly

TRY on the other hand operates on a much smaller scale. They seem to function pretty much year to year. TRY operates out of a house in a colony on the outskirts of Chennai and presently houses 12 children. Chandravel shared his vision and long term plans with Radha. He is presently involved in setting up an Income Generating Program for the women and wants clarification regarding the money Asha Syracuse has sent him. The group felt that the money should be used for the children and not for the IGP.

3. Administrative Issues

Nataraj had sent out an email at the end of the last semester about some Administrative Issues, which need discussion. Since most meetings henceforth will feature the Basant event prominently, it was suggested that we have an out of schedule meeting at someone's house and complete that discussion.

4. Status of the Film Festival - last report was from Pradeep. Needs update.

5. L.Subramaniam may be visiting US in the first 3 weeks of May and is willing to do a performance at a very low price. If the chapter is interested in hosting him for one performance, Radha will find out more about this. A date after May10 was suggested.

Next meeting is on Friday February 8, at 5pm in Schine. Anand will book the room for the semester.

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