The Ninash Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, formed in 1996 in memory of Nina J. Malhotra. Nina was passionate about education and children abroad. Since her own life was cut tragically short by cancer, her husband, Dr. Ashok Kumar Malhotra along with his sons Raj K. Malhotra and Ravi K. Malhotra, created the Ninash Foundation to perpetuate Nina's goals and values, especially her passionate support for the performing arts and literacy throughout the world. Nina, combined with her husband’s name, Ashok made up the “Ninash” foundation.
- To mitigate suffering for the socially and economically disadvantaged within the United States and Abroad
- To provide educational funding for individuals within the United States and Abroad
- To contribute funding for the advancement of medical and scientific research within the United States and Abroad
- To assist the cultural community within the United States and Abroad by providing monies for operating and capital expenditures
Oneonta’s Sister City Dundlod (India) Opens High School for the Underprivileged Children
The Ninash Foundation started the New Year 2007 by inaugurating its fourth Indo-International School in Dundlod, Rajasthan, India. This is the first High School built by the Foundation. The first Indo-International Elementary School in Dundlod that opened in 1996 with 50 nursery and kindergarten children had grown by 2006 to the 7th grade with 350 children. To provide easy access from the 8th to the 12th grade within the premises of the existing elementary school, the Indo-International High School was built during 2006 and was inaugurated by Dr. Ashok Malhotra and Ms. Linda Drake on January 3, 2007.
The New High School is equipped with 10 rooms with a three-room science wing named after Susan Van Cott of Unadilla. The funding for the wing was provided by her husband Craig Van Cott. Other major contributors to the Indo-International Schools Literacy Project in India have been the Riverside Elementary School, the Center Street Elementary School and the Greater Plains Elementary School of Oneonta as well as the Cooperstown Elementary School and the Gavilan Peak School of Arizona. Alongside these contributions, an author from Holland donated royalties from her newly published children’s book to support the four Indo-international Schools of the Ninash Foundation.
Mahapura (Rajasthan)--Indo-International Culture School
Ashok Malhotra and. Linda Drake were accompanied by Suzanne Miller and Walter Vom Saal from SUNY Oneonta, Mr. Mike and Tunde Whelan (film makers from Albany), Ravi Malhotra and Erica Epic (from University of Rochester), and Rita Dasgupta and Ranjit Dasgupta (from Calcutta University). All of them participated in the New Year’s Eve celebration at the Indo-International Culture School in Mahapura (Rajasthan) where 40 children of the school provided entertainment to the guests and the local community. Moreover, to celebrate the ending of a successful year of spreading literacy in India, delicious Indian food was prepared at the Culture Preservation School and served to American guests and 150 members of the local community.
Kuran (Gujarat) – Indo-International School
The second Indo-International School in Kuran, Gujarat, is located in an area completely devastated by the 2001 earthquake. The school, which was built with the financial help from donors in Oneonta and other upstate New York communities, currently enrolls 205 impoverished children. During our visit, the 205 children demonstrated their skills in yoga as well as entertained the guests through music and dance performances.
Mike Whelan and Tunde Whelan, escorted by Ashok Malhotra and Linda Drake, visited all of the four Indo-International schools (two in Dundlod (Rajasthan), one in Kuran (Gujarat) and one in Mahapura (Rajasthan) in order to create a documentary on the ten years of accomplishments of the Ninash Foundation. The documentary will show how the Ninash Foundation helped spread literacy among the poorest of poor children and raised the standard of living of the villages by boosting their economy as well as enhancing social integration among various classes.
Future Ventures
The Ninash Team further explored the possibility of helping five other schools in the Northern and Southern parts of India. These are well-established schools that are functioning efficiently with minimal resources. The Ninash Foundation plans to raise funds to help these schools in the following areas by establishing:
- A library
- A computer room
- A Project Hunger to feed children
- A play ground
- A regular visit to the school by a Doctor
- A fund to buy supplies for children
The Ninash Foundation adopted Asha Ka Jharna, a school for mentally and physically handicapped children in the village of Navalgarh (Rajasthan) by providing funds to purchase a dairy cow for the mid-day meal program.
Members: Christina Malhotra, John Koller, Miriam Forman and Ravi Malhotra
