NEWSLETTER
June 2026
Maina Foundation
Bollywood Breast Cancer Bash
Welcome to the Maina Foundation Newsletter!
Dear Friends
Groucho Marx has the best quote about time flying— Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana. This quirky quote made me smile and I hope it does the same to you.
In all seriousness, this year has really flown by and part of the reason was because we at Maina Foundation were very busy planning our major fundraiser of the year.
For the first time in the eighteen years of Maina Foundation’s existence, we had a fundraiser in Southeast Connecticut. It was titled Bollywood Breast Cancer Bash.
At first the name sounds entirely contradictory. How do you mix breast cancer with Bollywood, or how do you combine breast cancer with ‘bash’ which is usually a party?
Well, somehow, we managed to do this on May 16. In an event that was enjoyable, but also thoughtful, moving, joyful, and sad. Thanks to an amazing set of inspiring speakers, and a dance choreographer who ignited the room with her passion, we spent an unforgettable evening with some of our Maina Foundation family.
Our only regret was we couldn’t have all of you, our many wonderful supporters, there to be with us.
Guests were welcomed by Maina Foundation founder, Alka Shrikhande, who spoke movingly of her mother who died of breast cancer being the inspiration behind the founding of the organization.
“Our mission is to remove obstacles faced by women so no lives are lost to breast cancer,” Alka stated.
Alka went on to elaborate on some of the organizations Maina Foundation collaborates with including hospitals in India, the Metropolitan Hospital in New York City, and Hartford Health in Connecticut.
Our keynote speaker was Dr. Anitha Srinivasan, MD, the Chief Medical Officer of Metropolitan Hospital, a cornerstone of NYC Health + Hospitals—the largest municipal health system in the nation. You can read more about Anitha in our October 2025 newsletter.
Anitha has spent much of her career supporting breast cancer patients as a surgeon, as the founder of the hospital’s nationally accredited Breast Cancer Center in 2017, and now as Chief Medical Officer.
Anitha has been a dedicated supporter of Maina Foundation and on our Scientific Advisory board since the organization’s founding in 2008.
She spoke eloquently about the statistic of breast cancer being the commonest cancer amongst women globally with over 2 million women being diagnosed annually, with about 670 000 women dying from it every year.
Countries such as India, where much of Maina Foundation’s work is done, have among the highest mortality from breast cancer largely because of an access problem. Women are often diagnosed too late in the stage of disease which leads to the high mortality.
Maina Foundation has worked closely with hospitals in India to conduct door-to-door campaigning to raise awareness. In the Metropolitan Hospital in New York City, which doesn’t turn any patient away, Maina Foundation has been helping for over ten years to allow the hospital to do more complex testing, especially on Hispanic women who often present with more aggressive breast cancer at a younger age.
On a more positive side Anitha described doctors now having a better understanding of the biology and genetics of the disease, with the availability of multi-modal treatment and targeted chemotherapy with precision medicine.
“The obstacle is always logistical, financial, and the system,” Anitha concluded. “The work we and Maina Foundation do is impactful, and we hope it goes on for many years.”
Our next speaker was Dr. Sujata Kulkarni, a psychiatrist by training who spoke movingly about her beautiful daughter, Nayana, being diagnosed and eventually succumbing to breast cancer.
Dr. Sujata Kulkarni, MD is one of our board members, who joined Maina Foundation in 2021. She is a retired psychiatrist whose poignant talk on losing her daughter, Nayana, to breast cancer, moved many in the audience to tears.
Sujata described how Nayana’s passing has spurred her in finding joy in working with Maina Foundation after her loss. She works tirelessly for the community Maina Foundation serves on programs for awareness and the importance of early detection and treatment of breast cancer to save lives.
Dr. Shilpa Thakur, MD is a physician, wife, and mom to two lovely young women. At the age of forty-one she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This diagnosis not only affected her but her entire family as well. It also made her a more thoughtful physician and an ardent advocate of breast cancer awareness and education. She currently works at a healthcare company ensuring women have access to life saving screening and treatment.
She spoke movingly of her diagnosis and the ‘sunflowers’ who surrounded her and helped her recover.
Dr. Gagan Sahni MD, FACC, FACP, FiCOS is a Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine, and Director of the Cardio-oncology Program at Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, NYC.
Dr. Sahni established the Cardio-Oncology Program at The Mount Sinai Hospital in 2013, that exclusively takes care of cancer patients with cardiac disease, especially during and as a results of their cancer treatments. Under her Directorship , the Cardio-Oncology Programs at Mount Sinai has now been awarded the prestigious “ Gold Center of Excellence“ status by the International Cardio-Oncology Society acknowledging its exceptional cardiovascular care of oncology patients.
Some of the highlights of the evenings included a solo and group dance by Vaishali Sagar, henna by Manjiri, food by the Curry Queen in Old Saybrook, décor by Décor by Design, and great music by DJ Amit.
The event successfully raising enough money to match the $15, 000 donated by a previous donor. It also raised awareness of the presence of Maina Foundation in Northeast Connecticut.
The evening was covered in the Patch, an online newspaper, which can be read here .
Thank you to EVERYONE who attended and helped to make the event so successful!
Thank you for reading.
NEWS!
Breast Cancer Awareness in Collaboration with Maina Foundation
The menace of breast cancer needs awareness, early detection and adequate treatment facilities.
AIIMS Raebareli and MAINA team including pathologists, community specialists, surgeons, radiologists and oncologists, nursing staff have come together to educate the rural women by guiding through ASHA workers.
Our strategy of 3Es- Empower through the tool of self-breast examination, Educate, regarding early symptoms and treatment of breast cancer and Examine, by examination of suspected cases by trained doctors. Awareness camps to train the health care workers (ASHAs, ANMs) via projecting videos, small group discussions and self-directed learning through pamphlets have been instrumental in recruiting and guiding patients and ensuring follow-up. In the first phase, a total of 80 health workers were trained.
To our Maina Foundation newsletter readers, thank you for reading and your valuable support! Please consider forwarding this newsletter to anyone who may benefit from this information.
Manju Soni, pen name MJ Soni (she/her), is the author of DEFYING APARTHEID , her part-memoir about being a doctor activist in apartheid South Africa.
Her debut mystery, to be released in July 2026, is THE MASALA CHAI MYSTERY CLUB , and is perfect for fans of Only Murders in the Building and Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club.
Set in coastal New England, it features a retired librarian and her chai-loving friends who involve themselves in solving the murder of their much-despised HOA president when his death has an uncanny similarity to their most recent book club read. https://mjsoniauthor.com/
We thank you for your continued support!
For more information on Maina Foundation, and to help its mission, go to https://mainafoundation.org or contact us at 860-434-3985 or info@mainafoundation.org
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Donations can also be mailed to:
8 Peppermint Ridge, Old Lyme, CT 06371, USA