CTTA Meet for VAANI

The Tea Trade has always been a pillar of support for VAANI. CTTA strengthened its support when it decided to flag off its celebrations by ‘the act of giving’. It pledged to do its bit to bring about some change in the lives of others. A Charity Tea Auction marked the beginning of this change. Through this auction, CTTA extended its support to the empowerment of the deaf children and their families in India. The proceeds of this auction went to VAANI - Deaf Children’s Foundation.

His Excellency, Shri M K Narayanan, Governor of West Bengal inaugurated the Charity Tea Auction. 50 lots of new season teas donated by various tea producers were on offer in the Charity Tea Auction, to be knocked down to the highest bidder.

The infectious enthusiasm of His Excellency, the Governor of West Bengal, in his role as a first-time auctioneer, caught on with the buyers as lot after lot of the finest tea the country has to offer went under the hammer and was sold. The entire auction lasted for a little over one hour.

In a little over one hour, the tea traders of the City of the Joy had effectively changed the lives of thousands of deaf children and their families.

Celebrating Life’s Blissful Moments with the B.RAT Pack

The B.Rat Pack – a famous jazz band from Bengaluru led by Stanley Pinto, Carlton Braganza and Venkat Subramaniyam, held a musical concert in aid of VAANI on Monday, the 28^th of March, 2011 at the ITC Hotel, The Sonar in Kolkata.

Even as an evening filled with retro music enthralled the audience, Brinda Crishna, the Director of VAANI, in her welcome address, shared that it is these finer moments in life that make us realize that there is an entire section of the society who can never participate in such evenings. The awareness generated by the support extended to the show by the sponsors of the event, the media, the performers and the audience was quite overwhelming, with everyone present uniting in the realisation of how integral the ability to connect with society is in our lives.

Powerful renditions of songs made memorable by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis were brought to life by Stanley, Carlton and Venkat. Alexis added her own charm to the performance with her soulful voice. The 350 strong audience made generous contributions to the cause of making a difference to the lives of the children who will never be able to enjoy evenings like this due to the invisible handicap –deafness.

Singers Usha Utthup and Sandeep Vyas attended the show to re-live the magic created by the Rat Pack’s legendary music and to extend their support to the cause of empowering deaf children and their families across India.