Simmering Laughter and a Promising Singer Save Indian Mothers

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By Jawahar Malhotra

SUGAR LAND: It may be one of the most casual of galas in the desi stratosphere of fundraisers that mark almost every month – except for the summer holidays – of the calender. That may also explain the hub-bub of camaraderie and commotion that reverberated in the reception area during the social hour before the Save A Mother Glitz & Glam Gala started.

It was like a homecoming of sorts, since the Houston Chapter of the Save A Mother charity had their gala last year. And by the way, all Houston Chapter Board members but the treasurer (Nat Krishnamurthy) are women, as it has been since it started.

There was a pent up outpouring of support for the nine-year-old charity which operates in India helping to educate and empower village women on maternal healthcare and to reduce infant mortality where they live. In the last three years, the new programs that have been started focus on population stabilization and TB control. The structure is simple, with a project manager, accountant and field officers, all dealing with field facilitators.

Save a Mother founder Dr. Shiban Ganju was on hand, as usual, at the Gala to describe his vision. Ganju is a graduate of AIIMS, Delhi and has specialized in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology for years, with a practice in Homewood, Illinois a southern suburb of Chicago. Ganju’s younger brother Tej and sister, Veena Kaul live in Houston. Kaul started the local chapter in 2009 and has been the president since.

Ganju noted that SAM was now one of the better NGOs in India serving 3 million people in Uttar Pradesh and has just started a program in Telangana state. The work is endless, as he noted that “we can start 1 village a day but we will still need 1640 years to reach them all!” He noted with much satisfaction that through SAM’s efforts infant mortality rates are down by 90 per cent; contraceptive acceptance is up 10 per cent, and institutional deliveries are up 90 per cent in the areas served by the NGO.

“It only takes 25 cents per capita per year to reduce infant mortality,” stated Ganju. He added that SAM had $310,000 in the bank to continue ongoing programs, had zero administrative costs and was expanding into Varanasi slums which have a population of 150,000. At the end of the evening, after a call for donations, the gala netted $70,000.

In the last few years, delightful entertainment has been the hallmark of the SAM galas and this year emcee Preity Bhagia, looking iridescent in a sparkling sequined gown, introduced Shreya Kaul, a 20-year-old who has taken a sabbatical from college to give her singing career a chance to take off and has a 70,000 fan following on social networks. She sang Beyonce’s number “Halo” and soon had the audience clapping to the beat. Later in the evening, she sang another few numbers, a couple of them in Hindi.

The other entertainer was the standup comedian Rajiv Satyal, who has visited Houston for other events twice before. The slightly built, bald, 41-year-old comedian hails from Hamilton, Ohio of a Punjabi family and noted that he was married in Austin where his wife Harsha Mistry is a Gujarati, though the couple now lives and works in Los Angeles.

Satyal soon had the audience in stitches and his brand of humor on the immigrant experience and how they are navigating the current political climate in America. He was funny and had everyone in titters throughout the evening. He used himself as a foil – like comparing his bald head with that of Ganju and the receding hairlines of others – to develop a monologue that poked delicate fun and yet no one took offensively. Satyal is scheduled to be in Houston for another event in a couple of months.