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Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation Raises $80,000: Onassis Earrings Fetch $8,000 inTiffany Cushion Drop earrings.

A pair of earrings that once belonged to Jacqueline Onassis fetched $8000 for the Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation during a Nov. 8 fundraiser at Gaylord’s restaurant here that by the end of the evening succeeded in raising more than $50,000.

Computer entrepreneur Raj Kapur was so moved by famed Hindi film star Sunil Dutt’s plea for contributions to help ease the suffering of cancer patients in India that when organizer Arun Puri called for donations he leaped to his feet and astonished the nearly 200 present with his contribution of $11,000.

Sizable donations, probably the most generous ever offered in lump sums since the foundation was instituted 15 years ago, came pouring in. On behalf of the Tandon family, Juggi Tandon matched Kapur’s contribution by presenting a check for 11,000.

Within a matter of minutes the contributions had approached nearly $30,000 when Kapur, declaring he had become “motivated,” offered up the earrings which he had only recently purchased at an auction along with other items from the Onassis collection.

Hollywood film producer Raju Patel (“The Jungle Book”), after having already donated $5000 and unable to resist such a prize, snapped them up for $8000 and, after donating the money to the foundation, presented the earnings to his wife, Dimple.

Famed Hindi film star Sunil Dutt arrived at Gaylord’s shortly before 8:30 that evening and, after greeting those guests who had already arrived, was asked by the organizers to conduct an impromptu Aarti ceremony.

With Puri, his longtime and most devoted supporter in the Southland at his side, Dutt lit the lamp resting in front of a portrait of the goddess Laxmi while Reshmi Shah, the lead singer of Dr. Mahesh Vyas’ band, sang “Om Jai Jagdish Hare.”

“Now we should have a good evening,” Dutt proclaimed once the lamp’s flame was burning brightly.

The evening’s main entertainment was the singing of several Hindi songs by famed playback singer Sharda, winner of several Filmfare Awards who that night sang an original song she had written for the occasion and dedicated to Sunil Dutt.

When she came off the stage at the conclusion of her performance, Dutt immediately rose from his seat, crossed the room and, in the presence of everyone, thanked Sharda with a loving, enveloping embrace.

Puri, who served from 1985 to 1990 as the foundation’s Southland chapter president and was reelected to the position last year, kicked off the main part of the evening after the dinner had been served by explaining that this year’s contributions would be used to purchase a mobile hospital.

“Just like a doctor making house calls, this mobile hospital will be making house calls in the slum areas of Bombay,” Puri told the gathering.

When he was invited to speak, Dutt first complimented the crowd by asserting that “you work much harder than the Indians back home,” a remark that back home,” a remark that prompted spontaneous applause and a grateful “thank you” from one of the women in the HEART LINK DROP EARRINGS.

He then pointed out that it has been through the generosity of Indo-Americans over the past 15 years that more than $2 million has been raised “and I feel very proud to be an Indian because even though you are over here, you have not forgotten India and you have not forgotten the pains of India.”

The Nargis Dutt Foundation “is above politics, is above religion,” and is “for mankind, for human beings, to wipe their tears and bring happiness in their homes,” he maintained. “If we can spare one family pain and sorrow in India, then that is our greatest contribution.”

Dutt appealed for more than simply writing out a check and sending the money to India, “because we have plenty of money in India,” he said. “We must send those things which are not available in India, such as the (medical) equipment that we can’t make in India.”

In the weeks prior to the annual banquet, the organizers had become worried that hardly anyone would show up, since this year the venue had been moved from Orange County to central Los Angeles in order to attract for the first time more people from the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas.

“We were extremely happy with the turnout” that drew nearly 200 that evening,” Puri told India-West.

As far as receiving more than $50,000 in contributions, “we were definitely pleasantly TIFFANY KNOTS EARRINGS,” Puri admitted. “Our target was to collect $50,000 and that was largely wishful thinking on our part before we started the event.”

Article copyright India-West.

Article copyright India-West.s