BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE
Alpharetta, GA, September 22, 2025: On September 6, 2025, the Atlanta team of the One World One Family Foundation hosted Close to My Heart – Concert for a Cause, part of Sumeet Tappoo’s fundraising tour across 23 U.S. states in support of the Foundation, at Phase Events in Alpharetta, GA.
Traveling coast to coast, Tappoo has been using music as a medium to raise both awareness and resources for the foundation’s expansive humanitarian efforts. The One World One Family mission, founded by Madhusudan Sai, provides free healthcare, nutrition, and education across more than 30 countries. Its initiatives include pediatric cardiac hospitals, morning nutrition programs serving millions of children, and values-based education spanning from Grade 6 to doctoral studies, all aimed at supporting underserved communities worldwide.
Accompanying Tappoo on stage were accomplished artists in their own right: Rishi Singh on guitar, Pankaj Tiwari on guitar, Geetesh Yadav on bass guitar, Mukesh Chowdhury, Parth Dubey, and Keshav Mishra on keyboards, Rohit Gandharv on drums and percussion, Ajay Dande on percussion, and Manoj Kumar on live percussion.
The performance also featured world-renowned flute maestro Kiran Vinkar, who is visually impaired and moved the audience deeply with his rendition of Tu Hi Re from Bombay. Together, they created a seamless musical experience, blending individual mastery with collective harmony.
The evening unfolded like a gentle tide of nostalgia, each note rising and falling with the power to awaken memory. Music lingered in the air like an embrace, carrying familiar words and timeless melodies across the hall. It was not merely a concert but a weaving together of voices and hearts through songs that have stood the test of time.
For over two hours, the audience was taken on a journey through songs once played on gramophones, radios, and cassette tapes in homes across the diaspora. Pieces such as Raat Baaki, Tere Bina Zindagi, and Dil Kya Kare flowed into each other like chapters in a cherished diary. Each song evoked a different hue of emotion—longing, love, joy, and even playful abandon. The notes of Kabhi Kabhi and Tu Hi Re stirred quiet murmurs in the audience, many of whom mouthed the words softly, carried away by the familiarity of the tunes.
The program was not only a showcase of music but also a revival of cultural memory. Songs like Hai Apna Dil Toh Aawara, Deewana Hua Baadal, and Ek Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai were rendered with a balance of passion and restraint, respecting the original compositions while imbuing them with a contemporary resonance. Listeners swayed gently, some tapping their feet, others transported into recollections of their youth.
Particularly notable was the inclusion of Tu Hi Re, a song with a personal resonance in the artist’s life. As he performed, Tappoo shared that it was the very piece through which his wife first fell in love with him. The audience responded warmly to this revelation, adding an intimate touch to the evening.
Born in Fiji and based in Mumbai, Tappoo has performed more than 1,100 concerts worldwide, mentored by the legendary Anup Jalota, and has collaborated with many of India’s most respected music legends. As the Global Ambassador of the One World One Family mission, he uses his platform to raise funds for free healthcare, nutrition, and education programs in over 100 countries.
During his U.S. tour, Tappoo received several awards recognizing both his musical contributions and humanitarian efforts. Reflecting on one particularly moving moment in Alpharetta, he said: “During the concert, I had the incredible honor of being presented with a Medal and an Award from the United States House of Representatives. Adding to this privilege, I was also presented with an official Flag of the United States of America from Capitol Hill – a symbol of great meaning and respect. This special honor was bestowed on stage by the dynamic Congressman Rich McCormick.”
Other accolades from across the US included recognition from the State of California Senate, the Mayor of the City of South San Francisco, the Mayor of the City of San Bruno, the U.S.–Fiji Chamber of Commerce (Global Goodwill Ambassador Award), and the Sanatan Mandir San Bruno (Award of Outstanding Contribution to the Community).
Beyond the music, the evening highlighted the humanitarian initiatives of the One World One Family mission. Headquartered in California, the foundation supports nutrition, education, and healthcare services across underserved communities worldwide.
The scope of the mission’s work spans three key areas: in nutrition, it has provided more than 2 billion servings of morning meals to children to support school attendance and address malnutrition; in education, it has taught over 8,300 students across 21 campuses in India, from Grade 6 through doctoral studies, with allied institutions offering programs in MBBS, Nursing, and Allied Health Sciences; and in healthcare, it has delivered more than 3.4 million outpatient consultations and 1 million outreach screenings through free facilities that include multispecialty hospitals, rural clinics, maternal and child programs, and pediatric cardiac centers in India and abroad.
In India alone, the Sanjeevani hospitals have performed over 33,000 congenital heart disease surgeries or interventions, screened nearly 900,000 women and children, and supported more than 90,000 pregnant mothers. In Fiji, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and other nations, similar initiatives continue to grow, extending the mission’s global reach.
This blending of art and service set the tone of the evening. The concert was not only about preserving melodies but about channeling their resonance toward a cause that saves lives, as Atlanta lead RJ Patel noted. “One World One Family soon will become a household name because of the amazing difference being made in people’s lives across the world,” Patel said.
As the evening drew to a close, Sumeet Tappoo shifted from film songs to devotional renderings. The hall grew still as he sang Achyutam Keshavam Krishna Damodaram, each repetition carrying a depth of surrender. The rhythm of Dam Dam Dam rose and fell, eventually giving way to the Sufi strains of Dama Dam Mast Qalanda. rIt was a fitting conclusion—songs of love, devotion, and universality that brought the evening to a close, leaving the audience with familiar melodies echoing in their minds as the curtains closed.
