Indian Women’s Association Sounds of IWA, Singapore February 2018 • MCI (P) 143/05/2013 iWA DHWANICare Connect Celebrate CONTENTS 9 17 1 Letter from the President 11 Music Gala 2 IWA Committee 12 Past Presidents Reminisce... 3 From the Editorial Team 14 Down Memory Lane 4 What we read in 2017 16 Willing Hearts A list of the books read in the Book Club 17 Trip to Melaka 5 What we watched in 2017 18 Fiddling with Riddles A list of the movies screened in the 19 Creative Hands Club: Movie Club Art For A Cause 20 Donor Event at SINDA 21 Festive Bazaar 22 IWA Events in 2017 24 Club Photos 14 6 What we talked about in 2017 The discussion topics in Adda Club 7 Tea at India House 8 Author Event at SMU 9 Entrepreneur Club Events 21 10 10 GGC Diwali ON THE COVER: 1st Row: Garima Lalwani, Sudeepta Dasgupta, Chandan Lehal, Tejashree Datey, Anuradha Shroff, Pallavi Agarwal 2nd Row: Kavita Daga, Gowri Aiyar, Preeti Dubey, Sukanya Pushkarna, Bhavani Bannerjee, Neeta Mirchandani, Gauri Savadi 3rd Row: Abhinika Mittra, Vidya Dasgupta, Seema Gupta, Rakhi Shankar, Jyoti Verma, Alka Joglekar, Richa Joshi-Kaul 4th Row: Bhanu Ramchandran, Raji Viswanathan, Neeta Kapoor, Nirupa Vasudev, Lakshmi (Lucky) Padmanabhan, Monica Dovedy, Padmaja Balaji 5th Row: Taniya Hathiramani, Selme Singh, Madhu Suri, Anshoo Berry, Shilpa Dikshit Thapliyal IWA Dhwani published by: Indian Women’s Association, P.O. Box no. 472 Orchard Post Office Singapore 912316 Link with us through www.facebook.com/iwasingapore www.twitter.com/iwasingapore www.youtube.com/user/iwasingapore Designed & printed by: Xpress Print Pte Ltd, 61 Tai Seng Avenue, Print Media Hub @ Paya Lebar iPark #03-03, Singapore 534167 IWA DHWANI 1 Garima Lalwani - President [email protected] With a background in Psychology, Garima has worked LETTER FROM with developmentally disabled adults and at a shelter for battered women. She has been an active volunteer with various other organizations. She translates her THE PRESIDENT passion in art and culture by volunteering as a Docent at Asian Civilizations Museum and Singapore Arts Museum. Dear IWA Members, distribution to low-income families ‘Understanding Depression’ to further for SINDA, art workshop for Jamiyah this awareness. Our author event saw want to thank you for giving my team residents and craft sessions for HOME book lovers and writing enthusiasts and me the chance to serve you. I beneficiaries. An IWA contingent will come out in full force to listen, share take this opportunity to reflect on the participate in the Chingay Parade and explore the topic of Legacies I year gone by. Keeping the guiding Singapore 2018 for the first time. These with three eminent authors. Evening principle of IWA of Care, Connect and activities helped with our and weekend activities like NEWater Celebrate paramount, we set out to (I)ntegration efforts with both local and plant visit, Botanical garden picnic, in work with a vision of IWA “WINS” where other expat communities. conversation with actor Adil Hussain, IWA would be a (W) welcoming place the Music Gala, gave an opportunity for all, find ways to engage, involve We continued to (N)urture our existing to working women and families to be and (I) integrate with local and expat relationships. IWA members helped part of IWA activities. We moved the communities, (N) nurture existing run the creative activities for SINDA’s IWA festive bazaar to a more central relationships with our partners and Project Give. Our members served location with better accessibility for (S) step up efforts towards member the community for Holi and Eid all, leading to a substantial increase in participation and volunteerism. celebrations with Siglap South CC. participation. Members donated TransitLink cards, Our team set about collecting computers and threw a Diwali party Over the last two decades IWA has information about what our members for TWC2 beneficiaries. They worked come a long way. Started as an wanted. It became clear that IWA with BSS, HOME and Swami HOME Expatriate Indian Women’s Club in members had varied interests with where needed. We helped spread the 1997, it became Indian Women’s a desire to have more hands on word about the prestigious Pravasi Association in 1998. As we celebrate engagement. There was a demand Bhartiya Divas organized by the High the completion of 20 years of IWA, I for weekend and evening activities. Commission of India. We participated would like to thank the efforts of all Member entrepreneurs wanted a in conversations initiated by National who have come before us, members, central location for the IWA bazaars. Integration Council and NIWC. With past presidents and their teams. Each With this feedback in mind, we fundraising from two successful year, IWA has gone from strength to set about planning the year. At the bazaars we managed to fulfill our strength. Our membership numbers membership lunch ‘Rendezvous’ donation commitments to our regular have seen a steady increase. The attendees heard directly from the partners, (SWAMI Home, BSS, HOME number of clubs and activities on Chairs and signed up for areas of and TWC2), raised the scholarship offer have gone up. Our integration interest. Empowered by information amount for SMU Vidya Scholarship efforts, volunteering opportunities about IWA and having made personal and donated to two new partners, and donation support for partner connections, members felt National Gallery Singapore and WINGS organizations has increased, leading to (W)elcomed. counselling fund to help individuals of a larger community footprint. Indian origin. We initiated several new relationships As IWA steps into its 21st year, we’ll this year. IWA members volunteered Sustained efforts by the team to continue to seek new ways to engage and engaged with organizations engage members by providing our members with the WINS approach. including the Yellow Ribbon Project, opportunities to attend interesting I encourage you, along with your Food from the Heart, Willing Hearts, events, volunteer, engage in friends and family members, to take Henderson Community Club, Nee stimulating discussion, learn, create, an active role by participating in the Soon CC, Babes Pregnancy Crisis socialize, and develop friendships association’s activities. I hope that you Support and MINDS Tampines. We along the way, led to a marked are as excited as I am for a fun-filled, participated in conversations initiated (S)tepping up of member participation. rewarding year ahead. by National Integration Council and We held about 115 events where more MCCY. IWA invited organizations than 2000 registrants were members. Yours sincerely, like American Women’s Association, Visual and Performance arts were Garima Lalwani American Association of Singapore, given center stage. Our artists came Kamala Club and People’s Association forward to engage IWA members to partner with us in more meaningful as well as the local community in ways. We started two new clubs, Acts PAssionArts plank art painting with of Kindness, to explore volunteering Siglap South CC. IWA supported two opportunities in Singapore and the plays, ‘Project Roop Kaur’ and ‘Mindless Travel Club, to explore the world Whispers’ which helped us raise around us. We undertook new awareness for mental health issues. initiatives like festive gift voucher IWA hosted a well-attended talk on 2 IWA DHWANI Get to know our Committee members... Sudeepta Dasgupta ***Gowri Aiyar – Advisory To is a full-time working mother of two, a - Vice President: Executive Committee: Sergeant in the Singapore Police Force and [email protected] Gowri has been an IWA volunteers as an animal rescuer at a local Sudeepta (aka Lokhi) is currently member since its inception. She organization. She has made full use of the one of the VPs of IWA and has currently holds the position of many opportunities that living in Singapore been so for the past 3 years. IWA has been IWA Advisory and has been a Bazaar Co- has given her and is an enthusiastic her second home in Singapore and she Chair. She loves belonging to this group adventurer who loves biking, kayaking and loves every minute of it.....from all the club of talented and like-minded women and mountaineering. events to the I-care and integration events. enjoys participating in the social and IWA to her is fun, friends, laughter and joy!!! cultural activities organised by IWA. In Abhinika Mittra – Membership: her professional avatar, Gowri coaches, [email protected] Chandan Lehal - Vice President: counsels and mentors high school students Membership is the lifeline of [email protected] for university admissions. IWA and Abhinika has been co- Chandan believes that her 11 chairing it for the past 4 years. years in Singapore in general Preeti Dubey – Advisory To In addition to increasing membership and 3 years at IWA in particular, Executive Committee: substantially, she has helped IWA integrate have been very enriching and a huge Life is about caring, connecting with the local community by tapping into learning experience. She has previously & celebrating! These three her close association with the Community served as IWA Secretary 2015-17 and as the words that IWA lives by, Centres to initiate several joint ventures. Music Club Chair 2015. She believes that created an instant connection with Preeti volunteering does as much for you as an & before she realized she found herself Vidya Dasgupta individual as it does for the community at as a committee member of IWA. She has – Membership Privileges: large. While it is challenging at times, it is served the organization as the Secretary, [email protected] infinitely more rewarding. Live, Laugh and Treasurer, and Entrepreneur Club Chair and Vidya is an entrepreneur and Sparkle! is currently Advisor to the committee. She the CEO of a financial consulting is a full time professional who is passionate company.