Welcome Community Awards 2017

Aruna and Raj Shah

It is our pleasure to welcome you the 3rd Annual Desh Videsh Media Group Community Leader Awards.

Over 24 years ago, Desh-Videsh began with a simple idea. We believed in a professional, inclusive magazine for Indians, Pakistanis, and Indo-Caribbeans that would offer insight into our culture and guidance for our youth and focus on the positives of our community. A lot has changed over the years, but those hallmarks resonate as strongly as ever.

Today, we join together in a celebration of the accomplishments of individuals who embody the same principles. This year’s awardees are all active participants in the community helping bring spiritual and cultural guidance for our youth locally as well as giving back to communities in our native countries. We congratulate them for their hard work and generosity, and we thank them for being positive roles models for our youth.

On this happy occasion, we turn to a serious matter. We received many nominations for Ms. Tanveer name to recieve the community award. She was chosen as an awardee, and I had the pleasure to inform her of this honor via phone. Being such a modest person, she insisted she had not done anything special. After I insisted, she agreed. For nearly two weeks, I did not hear back from her until Ms. Manju Kanindini called me to tell me Ms. Tanveer passed away. I could not believe what I was hear Welcome ing. It is with deep sadness that we present Ms. Tanveer’s family with a posthumous award for her dedication to our community.

Now let me return to the happy news. For the first time, we will present an Award of Excellence. This is a difficult task as so many individuals from our community have reached the top on their field. To narrow the field, we chose someone from our younger generation and achieved excellence. So to narrow it down we have decided that this award will be given to somebody from younger generation, below age of 16 and who has achieved excellence in more than one areas. After going through many nominations, we picked Sanjana Chandran. As you will read all about Sanjana in this book and presentation, at the age of 14 she has accomplishment many milestones!

Over the 24 years that Desh-Videsh magazine has been in print, the magazine has evolved. From a 24 page black and white magazine to a 148-page full color magazine with a glossy cover, we have grown alongside our community. You have supported Desh Videsh Media Group every step of the way, and words cannot express our gratitude!

We are even surprised that Desh-Videsh now serves over 75,000 South Asians living in the Southeast US. Our talented staff has worked hard to improve the magazine’s value each year, but credit for that growth goes equally to you, our readers and our advertisers. We value you telling us when we goof; such feedback enables us to correct and improve. But we also value the opportunity to serve you our mantra is to focus on helping each reader and advertiser, one at a time. Do that cheerfully and professionally and the overall growth take care of itself.

We’re not done yet. Important community-strengthening work remains. And we are never tired of seeking ways to connect with readers. So, again, thanks for your part in making this progress possible.

We hope to have the privilege of serving each of you for many years ahead.