India Culture Center Elects New Directors and Trustees

By Jawahar Malhotra

HOUSTON: In a fresh new approach to end-of-the-year board meeting, India Culture Center President Jasmeeta Singh went through a Powerpoint presentation to outline the achievements of the organization over the past 12 months, followed by the treasurer’s report.

Singh reported that with 50 new life and general members and collections from iFair and iFest, 2021 revenues were over $66,000 and net income was over $35,000, the highest in a decade. iFair was a Zoom event that raised about $12,000 while iFest, celebrating Indian Independence Day, was an in-person held at the Stafford Civic Centre and raised a record $50,000.

Apropos to the importance of the event, the meeting was held in a small section of the large hall at India House and featured a sumptuous lunch catered by Ashiana Restaurant for the nearly 80 members who attended, another record turnout, at least in the past decade.

The centerpiece of the meeting was the election of new Directors for the 7 vacancies and Trustees for the 3 vacancies. The Election Committee with myself as the Chair, Bangar Reddy and Hasu Patel called out the names of those nominated. These 6 Directors elected to two-year terms are returning directors Santosh Verma; Falguni Gandhi; Dr. K.D. Upadhyaya; Uma Mantravadi; and new directors Juli Mathew and Dr. Phaneendra Kondapi. The two Trustees are Praful Gandhi (returning for another term) and Charlie Patel. Filling out the seventh director seat was Sangeeta Dargan who self-nominated herself from the floor and was seconded and accepted.