Founder Eye Foundation of America
Dave Vasudevan
CHICAGO: Bharathi Theertha, established in 2003 in Illinois, is a nonprofit organization to improve the education, environment and health of the poor in India. It recently invited and honored two distinguished individuals, Phani Kumar Dokka, Atlanta, GA and Dr. V. K. Raju, Morgantown, WV and honored them on September 1 and 2 in Naperville, a south west suburb of Chicago.
The objectives of Bharathi Theertha are to improve the education, environment, and health of the poor and deserving persons in India and the US by collaborating with like-minded people in India and USA. Dr. Prakasam Tata, President of Bharathi Theertha is an environmental professional with six decades of experience in the environmental pollution and water resources field.
He has implemented more than $1 million worth of educational, environmental, and health related projects in India. He has donated his ancestral home in Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh to Ramakrishna Mission and has plans to build a cultural and community center with skill development activities to benefit the local community in Vizianagaram.
Dokka is an IT professional and a highly accomplished author, Telugu poet, film director, anchor, singer, and mimicry artist. He has been serving Telugu communities for the past 25 years, including the teaching of Telugu to kids. He has received many awards including the coveted Golden Nandi Award given by the Andhra Pradesh Government, for “Pallaki (Palanquin). He wrote the script and directed another short Telugu film, “Amma Korika (Mother’s Wish),” which was recently released. These films were screened at Ogden 6 theaters in Naperville on September 1.
Dokka is a prolific writer and has authored six books of short stories, poetry “based on traditional rhetorical and prosodic and freestyle Telugu language”. Other achievements include 500+ stage shows covering singing, anchoring, mimicry, and standup comedy performances.
Rotarian Dr. Raju is a philanthropist and Founder-President of Eye Foundation of America. He is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at West Virginia University, Director of the Ocular Surface Research and Education Foundation and Chairman of Goutami Eye Institute in Rajahmundry.
He was given the International District 29, Vaidya Ratna (conferred by Sankaracharya of Kanchi), and Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Ophthalmologists of Indian Origin. He also established Charaka and Susruta endowed lectureships at various universities in the USA to advance medical ethics and teachings.
