On September 7, singer Jayateerth Mevundi and flutist Pravin Godkhindi enthralled an audience of more than 500 AIM for Seva donors, committee members, and volunteers at the Santa Clara Convention Center. In the concert titled Hé Govind, Mevundi and Godkhindi performed musical compositions and devotional songs addressed to Krishna from a variety of Hindustani Classical and folk styles. The concert was organized by the Bay Area chapter of the nonprofit organization AIM for Seva (AIMS) as its annual donor appreciation event.
Swami Dayanand Saraswati founded AIMS in India in 2000 to educate children from rural parts of India and afford them the basic skills and facilities that would help them lead a dignified life. Over the past two decades, the organization has expanded to include a network of almost 200 hostels, schools, and healthcare facilities across 17 Indian states. AIMS also draws considerable support from diaspora communities in countries like the U.S., where it operates 28 chapters.
A Focus on Rural Youth
Before the concert, one of the chapter coordinators Vijay Kapoor thanked the audience for their generous contributions. He also recognized San Jose high schooler Ishan Davé, who visited an AIMS chatralaya (hostel) in Manjakkudi, Tamil Nadu last year as part of the organization’s Global Youth Leaders Program (GYLP). Since his visit, Davé has established Aionix, a nonprofit that works towards empowering elders with digital literacy skills. Moved by his experience teaching children at the chatralaya, he made a donation of $5000 towards AIMS at the event.
Like Davé, Bay Area resident and author Neerja Raman also visited a chatralaya in Yelahanka near Bangalore. Apart from providing access to food, healthcare and education, she was happy to see that the AIMS model created space for community members to step in and volunteer as dance instructors, or English and computer skills teachers.
Raman has previously conducted research on sustainable development for more than a decade at Stanford University. Drawing on her experience, she believes that true sustainable development in India is only possible if rural communities are robust and self-sufficient.
“I think that the urban-rural divide is greater in India, and I don’t mean economy-wise, but in their mindset,” she said. “If I visit a rural area in India, basic security and healthcare are still not up to the mark. That environment isn’t providing them with a full view of the opportunities that they have, and that’s where AIM for Seva steps in.”
$107,000 Raised
Another donor Zarina Kazi expressed kinship with AIMS’ because of her own experiences in community service as a registered nurse. Her affiliation with with the organization started in 2006, through her support for AIMS’ Shamlaji hospital near Ahmedabad, which caters to the needs of the region’s tribal communities.
“AIM for Seva as an organization is very close to my heart, in the sense that it does what I – as an individual – cannot do,” she said. “So I feel very good about supporting this organization.”
Over the course of the evening, many other donors pledged their support to the organization; the Bay Area chapter raised $107,000, far surpassing their goal of $75,000 for the night. According to chapter coordinator Rani Goel, AIMS always receives substantial donations from the Bay Area diaspora community, with dozens of benefactors pledging more than $100,000. Now however, the fundraising is all the more critical for the organization because of the new projects under construction.
“We are building complexes that have a school from kindergarten to 12th grade, a girls’ hostel, a boys’ hostel, and some residences for teachers on campus. So it’s a self-contained unit where the children can study, we take care of their food, their housing, their books, their uniforms,” she said. “It’s a more holistic environment where they learn other skills like gardening, farming, and computer skills as well.”
A Musical Performance Fit For The Gods
After the fundraising, singer Jayateerth Mevundi and flutist Pravin Godkhindi took the stage. Mevundi is the torchbearer of the Kirana gharana of Hindustani Classical music. He studied under Shripati Padigar, a disciple of the great Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, who also belonged to the same gharana. Among other honors, Mevundi has received the esteemed Pandit Jasraj Gourav Puraskar award.
Pravin Godkhindi is one of the most celebrated Hindustani Classical flutists who has also scored music for multiple films. He also is the winner of two National Awards for his compositions for the films Beru and Vimukthi.
He introduced Hé Govind as a “bouquet of various genres of songs across Hindustani Classical” dedicated to Krishna. Narendra L Nayak accompanied the duo on the harmonium, Ishaan Ghosh on Tabla, Sukaj Munde on the Pakhawaj, and Suryakant Surve on the side rhythm.
The first composition in the raga Brindavani Sarang set the tone for the call-and-response nature of the concert; also called a jugalbandhi, this type of performance involves two or more musicians improvising in tandem one after the other, introducing new melodic lines and ornamentations with each repetition.
Over the next hour they performed a bhajan, an abhang, and other forms of devotional music. Mevundi’s vocal brilliance and Godkhindi’s precise control over his instrument were on display as they performed a thorough examination of each composition through their improvisation. The delighted audience met their brilliance with exclamations of joy and resounding applause, and a standing ovation at the conclusion of the event.
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