NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Michelin-starred chef, humanitarian headlines Alpharetta gala supporting underserved children’s education in India
Alpharetta, GA, August 28, 2026— More than 200 guests filled Phase Events on August 10 for “An Evening with Vikas Khanna,” a fundraising gala hosted by Leap to Shine, the GuideStar Platinum-rated nonprofit dedicated to bringing quality digital education to underserved children in India. The evening combined live music, a candid on-stage conversation with the celebrated chef and humanitarian, and a series of tributes to the donors, artists and community leaders who sustain the organization’s work. Dinner served by Peri Peri added to the unique culinary experience, apt for the event.
The program opened with remarks from Durgesh Das, co-founder and chairman of Leap to Shine, who shared his own story of growing up in a small town in Chhattisgarh, India, and attending a government school before eventually helping build an organization now serving thousands of children. Das outlined the evening’s two fundraising priorities: a Higher Education Scholarship Program in Mumbai, run in partnership with CORP India, supporting 17 recent high school graduates — many of them young women — with college and coaching fees paired with mentorship; and a Girls’ Education Program in Vadodara, Gujarat, developed with the Trust for Reaching the Unreached (TRU), which provides 95 girls with safe housing, meals, healthcare and uninterrupted schooling. Both programs, Das noted, will also be paired with digital devices for participating students.
Milaap: A Musical Convergence
Following Das’s remarks, the evening turned to music with a performance called Milaap — Hindi for “harmony” or “convergence” — a fusion piece blending a popular Hindi film song with Indian classical tradition. The 20-minute set featured four local musicians with international credentials: Gurinder Negi on guitar, Sai Ravishankar on flute, Amol Khanapurkar on tabla and vocals, and Niraj Sharma on percussion. Sharma also introduced a video presentation of Leap to Shine’s original theme song, inviting guests to raise their phone flashlights during the screening.
Photographs by: Aubrey Photography and Sumis Photography.
A Conversation With Chef Vikas Khanna
The evening’s centerpiece was an on-stage interview with Chef Vikas Khanna — an eight-time Michelin-starred chef, restaurateur behind Bungalow in New York, author of 40 books, filmmaker, and a longtime member of Leap to Shine’s advisory board — conducted by fellow advisory board member and gala host Vindali Vartak.
Co-founder Keyur Shah welcomed Khanna to the stage, introducing him not just as a celebrated chef but as his “Veerjee,” his big brother. Their bond, he shared, was forged during COVID, when Khanna fed thousands, supplied oxygen cylinders, mobilized the Indian Task Force, and raised money for those in need.
Over roughly the next 40 minutes, Vartak and Khanna covered ground spanning his childhood in the Golden Temple kitchens of Amritsar, his early struggles before establishing himself as one of the first Indian-American chefs to earn a Michelin star, and the influence of the women in his life, including his grandmother, mother, sister Radha and his collaborator Mysha. The conversation also touched on his humanitarian work with Feed India, which served more than 25 million meals during the COVID-19 pandemic, and his work as a filmmaker on three features — “The Last Color,” “Barefoot Empress” and “Imaginary Rain” — each centered on women navigating social and economic barriers.
Lighter moments included Khanna’s reflections on his on-screen chemistry with fellow “MasterChef India” judge Ranveer Brar, and a story about actor Shah Rukh Khan, who once described dining at Bungalow as feeling “like I had entered someone’s temple.” The evening also included an audience Q&A, where Khanna fielded questions with sharp wit, warmth and quick thinking — leaving the room with as much substance as laughter.
Recognizing Leap to Shine Champions
Following the interview, Leap to Shine leaders — Durgesh Das, Keyur Shah and Vindali Vartak — took the stage to honor several individuals central to the organization’s mission and to the night’s success.
Among those recognized were the artists of Milaap and members of the Octaves Artists group — Dr. Asmita Joshi, Sri Saigonkar and Pavitra Shetty — who, together with Milaap performers Amol Khanapurkar, Sai Ravishankar and Gurinder Negi, have made Leap to Shine their nonprofit of choice for the past three years, raising more than $50,000 through community concerts including Gul-e-Gulzar in 2026 and an RD Burman tribute in 2024.
Longtime supporters Raj and Nita Sardana were honored for their sustained commitment to the organization. Raj Sardana is the founder, chairman and CEO of Innova Solutions, the Atlanta-based technology and workforce solutions firm he grew from a small staffing company in 1998 into a global organization of more than 50,000 employees; he was named one of Atlanta’s Most Admired CEOs by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2023 and has been recognized by Forbes as one of the country’s most successful immigrant entrepreneurs. Alongside Nita Sardana, he co-founded the Innova Foundation, which has supported organizations including the YWCA’s Teen Girls in Technology program and the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
The gala also recognized Dr. Jagdish Sheth, the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, and his wife, Dr. Madhu Sheth. A faculty member at Emory for more than three decades following earlier appointments at MIT, Columbia and the University of Southern California, Dr. Jagdish Sheth has authored or co-authored more than 300 papers and books, including “The Theory of Buyer Behavior” and his autobiography, “The Accidental Scholar.” He received India’s Padma Bhushan honor in 2020, and Emory established the Dr. Jagdish N. Sheth Endowed Professorship in his name last year. Through the Sheth Family Foundation and the Madhuri and Jagdish Sheth Foundation, Dr. Jagdish Sheth and Dr. Madhu Sheth have supported more than 50 community, academic and healthcare organizations in Atlanta and beyond.
In the evening’s closing tribute, Das joined Shah and Vartak to present Khanna with Leap to Shine’s Global Humanitarian Icon Award, thanking him for his time, honesty and heart on behalf of the organization and everyone in the room.
In one of the evening’s most meaningful moments, Leap to Shine presented co-founder Durgesh Das with its Lifetime Impact Award, honoring nearly two decades of visionary leadership and service — mobilizing people, building partnerships, raising millions, and inspiring others to believe that together, we can do more. The award was presented by two people especially meaningful to Das: Mayur Kapani, CTO of Intercontinental Exchange (owner of the NYSE) and a longtime mentor; and Chef Vikas Khanna, whose humanitarian work organizers said embodies the award’s spirit.
The stage then turned to the Leap to Shine volunteers who made the night possible behind the scenes. The volunteer team — Gauri Vyawahare, Reetika Datta, Prasanth Masina, Rohit Sawant, Arvind Malhotra, Archit Patel, Amit Vyawahare, Arin Patil, Akansha, Dipali, Komal Patel, Gaurav Bhatia, Mini Brown, Mamta Khairajani, Rosie Das and Suparna — were called on stage for recognition and a group photograph.
The program also thanked the night’s sponsors: Charter Global, Innova Solutions, Ziva Hospitality/Desi Tadka, Peri Peri, Sheth Family Foundation, Harry Norman/Kalpa Kapani, Pyramid Consulting, Prince Limo, Amazing Energy, 1cupChai, CodeRabbit, Tanishq, Sumis Photography & Shantanu Make, KG Music & Opulence, Herbal Love Alchemy, Ikaara Restaurant, and Aubrey Photography — for, in Vartak’s words, “believing in this mission and standing behind it, literally and figuratively.”
The evening closed with table-by-table photographs alongside Khanna, capping what organizers called one of the most memorable fundraising events in Leap to Shine’s history and a reminder, as Das told the audience earlier in the program, “to never forget your roots, and to remember what a little support can do.”
Leap to Shine is a GuideStar Platinum-rated nonprofit providing digital education to underserved children in India. More information on the organization’s programs, including its partnerships with CORP India and the Trust for Reaching the Unreached, is available through the organization directly.
