Dr.Mohan Sawhney(2L),Anu Aggarwal, Lata Krishnan(C)
The great hall at Union Station was the setting of an elegant event as guests in black tie and traditional Indian attires came together to celebrate the seventh Annual American India Foundation-Chicago gala Bow Ties and Bangles.
On a mild Saturday evening, guests descended down the marbled steps at Union Station to not only revel in the accomplishments made over the years for the organization that was established at the initiative of former President Bill Clinton in 2001 and has since raised over $75 million; but to also raise funds to continue their mission of social and economic change in India. A who’s who of the Indian and business community were in attendance including AIF Chicago trustees-Anu and Arjun Agarwal, Nita and Mukesh Gangwal, Bulbul and Vimal Bahuguna, Reena and Harit Talwar, Seema and Raj Bhatia, Indian Consul General Mrs. Mukta Dutta Tomar; Gala Co-chairs were: Roger Hochschild (COO Discover), United Airlines, Dr. Sanjay Jha (former CEO Motorola Mobility), Richard Price (CEO Mesirow Financial), Miles White (CEO Abbott Labs), Zain Raj(CEO Hyper Marketing), Rohini Dey of Vermilion, Heather and Jim Welch, and so many more.
Dibya Sarang,Guest, Guest,Reena Talwar
The night began with a cocktail reception and passed hors d’oeuvres as guests mingled. Following the reception it was time for dinner which was a sumptuous 3 course meal catered by Food for Thought.
The emcee for the evening, professor Mohanbir Sawhney of Kellogg School of Business welcomed everyone as they were seated for dinner and gave a touching welcome of AIF Chairman(woman) Lata Krishnan(she’s a pretty big deal).
Ms. Krishnan addressed and thanked everyone for being a part of the evening as well as highlighting the accomplishments of the organization so far and a call to action to continue helping. “If I make a difference in one child’s life, it was all worth it.”
Mukesh Gangwal, managing Director at Huron Consulting Group also thanked guests for their support of the organization before introducing the honoree for the evening Chocko Valliappa-CEO of Vee Technologies and Sona Group.
The Leadership in Philanthropy award was presented to philanthropic couple Elissa Efroymson and Dr. Adnaan Hamid.
The spirit of philanthropy is to care, whether 1st generation or 3rd. You care and you gave and we share thiss honor with you, thank you.-Elissa Efroymson
A special dance performance by the Kathak Nritya Kala Kendra group got the guests warmed up for the entertaining live auction that followed.
The live auction included items such as Book Club(“The Ghosts That Come Between Us” by Bulbul Bahuguna) dinner for 20 at Medinah Club; Travel to experience India’s New Delhi in style; 2013 Discover BCS National Championship game for 4; Season of Golf; 16 Sky box tickets at United Center(Bulls or Blackhawks game) and a whirlwind trip to New York city. The bidding was fierce and one of the big winners that night was OfficeMax President and CEO Ravi Saligram. In addition to the silent auction guests also bid on several silent auction items as well Save a Child tiered donations. At that point guests were ready to dance to the beats of DJ Kucha who’s playlist included top 40 as well as popular Indian hit.Everyone had their hands up and were gangnam styling, fun night!
The generous sponsors for the evening included Deerfield based Beam, Crowe Horwath, Vee technologies, United Airlines, Elfroymson Family Fund, AGS Health, Abbott.
