HASC YOUNG SCHOLARS - Hindu American Seva

HASC Young Scholars Program

As part of meeting President Obama’s goal to advance interfaith dialogue and community service on college campuses, HASC Young Scholars Program is designed to engage undergraduate and graduate students to promote interfaith dialogue and serve in community and refugee service projects. The program provides scholars an opportunity to help grow academically and professionally as well as build capacity for the non-profit organization, in accordance with university-based guidelines and program-based requirements.

The scholars are responsible for and engage in activities targeted to advance health and education outcomes in the refugee and low-income communities across the United States. Currently, our Young Scholars are engaged in serving the refugees, from Latin America to Middle East to South Asia, through the Interfaith Global Dialogue Project and the Bhutanese Service and Research Project.

Scholars are engaged in designing and planning programs to developing monitoring and evaluation protocols to track service activities, in addition to, conducting research on health issues and practices, socio-economic, political and humanitarian issues and developing best practices related to service learning. A key component of the program includes conducting outreach to civil society groups, business and faith, government and press communities on the local level to maximize impact.

HASC Young Scholars Program Staff

Lakshman Kalasapudi, Research Assistant, Bhumi Seva Initiative (BSI)

Lakshman Kalasapudi is a Telugu New Yorker who is a student, activist and traveler. He is studying South Asian Studies and Urban Planning at the City University of New York (CUNY). He has extensive experience in the South Asian community in New York and hopes to work with social justice causes in India and other parts of the Global South in the future.

Sai Santosh Kolluru, Research Assistant, Bhutanese Service and Research Project (BSRP)

Sai Santosh Kolluru is currently a third year student at Case Western Reserve University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Pre-Law. Sai was instrumental in developing education, job employment, ESL and computer literacy, and women empowerment programs for the Bhutanese population in Ohio. He subsequently founded Hindu YUVA, Youth for Unity, Virtues, and Action, a NGO focused on cultural and philanthropic activites with the concept of Seva, He is currently serving as a Research Assistant for the Bhutanese Service and Research Project for the Hindu American Seva Charities and is responsible for coordinating service programs both in Ohio and the national level.

Parija Sharedalal, Research Assistant and New York Coordinator, Health Education and Bhutanese Service and Research Project (BSRP)

Parija Sharedalal is currently a senior at Stony Brook University, New York. She is majoring in Biology with a concentration in Neurology and South Asian Studies. Parija is currently working as a Research Assistant for Stony Brook child temperament study and serving as the Seva Coordinator for Hindu Students Council National Body. As Part of the Young Scholars Program, Parija serves as a Research Assistant for Health Education programs and coordinating New York efforts for the Bhutanese Service and Research Project. In her personal time, Parija likes to read and go running. Her favorite books include Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, as well as the infamous Potter series. She strongly believes in Karma and lives by the motto “As she has planted, so does she harvest

Ragini Venkatasubban, Senior, Wichita State University

Ragini is a senior at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, majoring in journalism and following a pre-medical track. She was born in Toulouse, France to Hindu parents and immigrated to the US when she was 1 year old. At age 11, she started attending camps at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, an Institute of Vedanta and Sanskrit in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. She has been a children's camp counselor there for the past two years. Ragini holds an International Baccalaureate Diploma and hopes to become an E.R. doctor some day! She loves traveling and has been all around the world. Ragini has been learning many styles of dance since age 3, including ballet, jazz, hip hop, tap, bhangra and Bollywood. She is also a student of Indian classical dance including Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam. She is the co-founder and choreographer of Shocker Shakthi, a South Asian fusion dance team at her college. Ragini writes for her college newspaper and is a university ambassador. She tutors students and helps international students have a smooth transition to American college life. Ragini is involved in Indian Students Association, Asian Student Conference, and the Association of Hindu Students in America. She has a vision to work for Doctors Without Borders and the All-India Movement for Seva.

Kavin Vasudevam, North Carolina Coordinator, Bhutanese Service and Research Project (BSRP)

Kavin Vasudevan is currently a sophomore at Duke University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and Economics with Finance concentration. He has been working with the Bhutanese in the Durham/Raleigh region since September of 2009. His main involvement with the Bhutanese in the Triangle region has dealt with community integration, ESL, career development, and role of college in American society. Kavin has been a part of Hindu Students Association at Duke University since 2009 and the Bhutanese project in the Triangle area has been spearheaded by the HSA organization at Duke and the Hindu YUVA group at UNC-Chapel Hill. Kavin enjoys watching and playing basketball and has not missed a Duke basketball home game.

Supriya Prakash, HASC Research Coordinator

Supriya Prakash is a sophomore at the George Washington University, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History. Her main areas of concern are health, education and refugee resettlement, especially in the tri-state area and Washington D.C. She enjoys working with a diverse group of people and has attended several Latin American Health Fairs, as part of a broader initiative to promote the welfare of Hispanic communities across the country. Her experience interning at a Prosecutor’s Office in the Juvenile Department made her realize how imperative it is for non-English speaking parents to learn the language, in order to break the barriers of communication between parents, their children, law-enforcers and teachers. This in turn, would drastically lower crime rates, especially among juvenile populations. Supriya plans to coordinate efforts in D.C to teach different refugee populations English, provide people with yoga lessons, and ensure that children will develop into healthy and educated adults. She greatly enjoys public speaking, as she was an extemporaneous speaker on her high school’s Speech and Debate Team. She loves to play and watch sports, especially basketball, tennis and ice hockey. During her free time, she really enjoys playing scrabble and listening to J. Cole, Lupe Fiasco, Nas, Biggie, Outkast, as well as trance.