If Aaam Aadmi Party was hosting fundraising dinners in Nagpur and Bangalore, here in the Capital we had a political fundraising dinner hosted by the ambassador of Sweden, Harald Sandberg, to celebrate strategic tie-up with the NGO, Operation Smile India. Smile has been working towards cleft palate removal in infants and young children and returning them their smile.
At the dinner at the Swedish embassy, it was an elaborate affair. The menu comprised salmon, especially flown in from Sweden, traditional Swedish meatballs, and an organic spread. Designer Samant Chauhan showcased his ‘Rajputana’ collection at the same evening here.
Many charitable people of Delhi graced this fundraising dinner and contributed their bit in the initiative of the Embassy of Sweden and Smile India. Notable among them were FDCI president Sunil Sethi, Iceland Ambassador Gudmundur Eiriksson, Danish Ambassador Freddy Svane, Nafisa Ali, Amir and Shivani Wazir Pasrich, Kandarp Singh of Tetra Pak India, Rahul Pandit of Lemon Tree Hotel and Dhiraj Bathija of Heel & Buckle.
Ambassador Sandberg and General Sandhu, trustee and representative of OS India, spoke about the cause and the fact that cleft globally affects two million children, with only 30,000 surgeries available and accessible per year. Their endeavour is to work towards bridging that gap considerably in India, and upgrade technology, medical staff and knowledge sharing globally.