Samyuktha Natarajan, a rising junior at High School North, organized a benefit concert in her family’s backyard and raised $1,”500 for a school in India. She learned of the immediate need for funds through her relatives in India who volunteer their time at the school. Originally she and her brother Chaitanye, a rising eighth grade student at Community Middle School, were going to go to India and volunteer. When plans for the trip fell through they decided to raise funds here.##M:[more]##
The benefit was for the Jeevan Gnanodaya School for the Deaf and Mentally Disabled, an institution located in the small town of Chengalpattu, near Chennai, India. Founded in 1989, the school provides specialized education, shelter and vocational training to deaf, mute, and mentally disabled children from poor, rural backgrounds. The school, which grew from five students to close to 150 in a short amount of time, provides the children with hearing aids and specialized speech therapy sessions by trained professionals.
Samyuktha Natarajan, who has played the cello since fourth grade, is in the school’s orchestra program. She also volunteers at HomeFront and Shadow Buddies. Most of her friends play musical instruments.
Musicians included High School South students Abhijit Sundararaman and Pranav Venkatraman, both freshman. High School North students included Abinav Janakiraman, sophomore; Kevin Maa, freshman; Linda Maa, senior; Keshav Prasad, freshman; Samyuktha Natarajan, junior; Freddie Huang, freshman; and Anant Gharpure, senior. Community Middle School students include Radhav Prasad, sixth grade; and Chaitanya Natarajan, eighth grade. Millstone River students include Sanjna Ravichandar and Ashritha Raman, both fifth grade. Also, Mahashreya Sundararaman, a South graduate, and student at New York University; and Radhika Gharpure, a North graduate and student at University of Pennsylvania.
“Most of the musicians live at Crossings at Grovers Mill and at Walker Gordon. We’ve all been family friends for a long time and we wanted to do something to benefit a charity,” Samyuktha Natarajan says. “They all play musical instruments so we pulled them all together. Since we knew them and since we were growing up as friends it was better dynamics.”
The musicians practiced for five to six hours a day for three weeks. “They dedicated close to 70 hours to the project,” Samyuktha Natarajan says. “So many people were willing to give up their time.”
More than 80 people attended the concert, Discover the Rhythm Within, held on August 15. “People were extremely generous and gave donations as well as paying $5 a ticket,” Samyuktha Natarajan says. “One family gave $100. We raised a lot more than we expected.”
