08/21/2026
🇮🇳 15th August 2026 – A Proud & Honorable Celebration of India’s 80th Independence Day 🇮🇳
Nearly 300 members, families, and friends came together to celebrate India’s 80th Independence Day, making it an evening filled with patriotism, culture, talent, and community spirit.
A heartfelt thank you to the incredible women who initiated and led this celebration—Dr. Lakshmi Katikaneni, Stephanie LeVan, Chetna Dugal, Nivedita Pandey, Hetal Singh, and Priyanka Dhende, with the support of Arjita Gupta, Dr. Pooja Pradeep. Your leadership and dedication made this celebration possible.
🙏 Special thanks to Charleston Southern University and Stephanie LeVan for welcoming IAGC to their beautiful campus and supporting our community.
🎖️We were honored by the presence of our Guest of Honor, Dr. Shikhar Mehrotra, Chair of Pharmacology & Immunology, an accomplished innovator, researcher, and outstanding mentor. We sincerely appreciate him taking the time to join our community and share this special occasion with us.
🎤 A big thank you to our wonderful MCs, Dr. Kavita Talaviya and Lavya Garg, who beautifully connected generations throughout the evening.
🎶 Our cultural program featured 17 amazing performances spanning dance, music, and singing, with participants of all ages. Congratulations to every performer, parent, teacher, choreographer, and volunteer who made it possible!
A special thanks to Priya Shah for helping coordinate the kids’ performances and making their participation so special. 🇮🇳❤️
🍽️ A huge shout-out to Saya Foods and our incredible volunteer team for helping prepare, organize, and serve dinner to nearly 300 guests smoothly and efficiently.
🌟 We are especially proud of our young volunteers, who stepped up to help with setup, coordination, guest support, and activities. Your enthusiasm and willingness to serve are a true reflection of the future of our community.
Volunteer team included - Purshottam Meena, Prakash Yadav, Vijay Yadav, Govardhan Reddy, Nanda Ragala (BoT Sec), Rajitha, Dr. Pritt Verma, Subodh, Vikram Dhende, Murali Srinivasan, Ajit, Haseen, Shravan
Hannan Abdul, Arsh, Bhuvnesh, Manvi Singh, Jiya Patel, Hari Priya Patel, Jinal Patel, Nikita Sounderrajan, Alisha Patel (Special thanks to her for capturing all videos throughout the event)
Together, the team helped serve nearly 300 guests smoothly, efficiently, and without unnecessary delays or chaos - an accomplishment in itself!
Our membership verification and dinner-tagging process was also managed wonderfully and almost single-handedly by Rakesh Garg. Thank you, Rakesh, for taking ownership of such an important responsibility.
❤️ This is what community looks like.
From planning and performances to food distribution, membership, volunteering, and cleanup, so many people stepped forward and took ownership. Together, we created an evening that celebrated not only India’s independence, but also the strength and unity of our community.
Finally, thank you to all IAGC members, families, volunteers, performers, and supporters whose continued involvement makes events like this possible. Your membership and support help us preserve our heritage, connect generations, and build a stronger community.
Vande Mataram! 🇮🇳
Jai Hind! 🇮🇳
