St Louis MGC marks 27th anniversary

ST LOUIS, MO — Mahatma Gandhi Cultural Center of St. Louis (MGC) celebrated its 27th anniversary with live entertainment and dinner fundraising program on August 12 in St. Louis, MO.

This program attended by over 200 residents of the Indian-American community of greater St. Louis area started with snacks and social hour at the lower level of MGC.

This was followed by the main program at the upper level which was inaugurated with opening remarks by the president of MGC, Dr. Girdhar Sharma. One of the original founder members of MGC, Dr. Kamal Yadav, addressed the community and reminded/ enlightened the audience of the origins of this community center and Hindu Temple of St. Louis.

Gandhi Center honored Drs. Lata & Ranjit Bagwe, Dr. Elly Barua Bhuyan and Drs. Uma & Satya Sagar, and presented plaques for their exemplary contributions to the community. Dr. Vijayakumar Buddhiraju, treasurer of MGC, updated on the current status of MGC followed by the fundraising drive for MGC which was spearheaded by Dr. Sharad Parikh.

Audiences donated about $51,000 to MGC for its maintenance and upkeep. After vote of thanks by Anjan Roy, a dinner was organized by Dr. Vijayalakshmi Buddhiraju on behalf of MGC for all the guests present in this program. All the speakers unanimously recognized the unrelenting efforts of Dr. Raghunandan Dundoo in running and maintaining Gandhi Center since its origin.

A live musical entertainment, “Sureeli Shaam”, was also organized with a superb performance by vocalist Sunil Mungee, a disciple of musical maestro Padmashri Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki.

He and his team of instrumentalists, including Vyas on percussion instruments tabla/dholak, etc., captured the audiences with their performances. Sunil Mungee sang various Bollywood classics and ghazal numbers. Entire Gandhi Center board collectively thanked all the donors and patrons of MGC for their support to MGC in this special program.