Upcoming Events

20th Annual Celebration of Mahatma Gandhi Day and International Day of Nonviolence

Thursday, October 2, 2025, 5.00 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. (HST)

Biographies of our speakers and performers

	Hawaiian blessing by Dr. Kahu Kaleo Patterson Dr. Patterson is the President of the Pacific Justice and Reconciliation Center, an ordained priest in both the United Churches of Christ and the Episcopal Diocese of Hawaii. Has served many historic Hawaiian Churches, and former co-convenor of the Racial Justice working Group of the National Council of Churches. He has been an Indigenous representative of Church World Service and several United Nations General Assemblies, Pre-Cons, and meetings on Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights, Justice and Racism. Serving on the Executive Committee of the Native American Legal Rights Fund, Dr. Patterson has worked many Native American and Native Hawaiian issues and legal cases. Dr. Patterson has also served Hawaii Government and Church denominations as a mediator and arbitrator.
	Indian Spiritual invocation by Veda Das aka Devaji: Veda Das is an inspired practitioner of Bhakti Yoga for 50 years. Founder and President of Krishna Books which has printed and distributed over 15 million books on the science of self-realization authored by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Proactive vegetarian since 1970 founding several restaurants and now managing Creative cuisine a plant based catering service. Founder of Share Bliss! a movement designed to resolve conflicts through self-introspection.
	Dr. RAJ KUMAR Dr. Raj Kumar is the Founder of Gandhi International Institute for Peace (GIIP) in Hawaii. He is also the President of Indian-American Friendship Council (Hawaii chapter). In December 2014, Dr. Kumar initiated Senate Bill SB 332, through GIIP in the Twenty-Eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii. It was unanimously passed in the House and the Senate and signed into Act 5 by former Governor David Y. Ige on April 9, 2015, making Hawaii the first state in the nation to declare October 2 as “Mahatma Gandhi Day in Hawaii”. In December 2018, Dr. Kumar initiated House Bill, HB 349, through GIIP in the Hawaii Legislature. Again, this bill was unanimously passed in the House and the Senate and signed into Act 102 by former Governor David Y. Ige on June 21, 2019, making Hawaii the first state in the nation to declare “June 21 each year as International Yoga Day in Hawaii”. Dr. Kumar has authored numerous books. He has contributed several articles on faith, peace, nonviolence and health in Hawaii’s leading newspapers between 2005-2018.
	The Royal Hawaiian Band Founded in 1836 by King Kamehameha III, the Royal Hawaiian Band is the only full-time municipal band in the United States with a royal legacy and is currently an agency of the City and County of Honolulu. The mission of the band is to promote music, to preserve Hawaiian musical culture, inspire young musicians, and enrich the lives of the people of Hawai'i. Clarke Bright is the 22nd Bandmaster of the Royal Hawaiian Band and he was appointed as Bandmaster of the Royal Hawaiian Band in 2011.
	GUEST OF HONOR Senator Mike Gabbard is a former high school English teacher, community college instructor, guidance counselor and Dean. He’s also a former tennis pro, restaurant owner, musician and recording artist. He served on the Honolulu City Council from 2003-2005 and was elected in 2006 to represent West O'ahu in the State Senate. He has served as the Senate Agriculture & Environment Committee Chair since 2017. In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. In 2019, the GANDHI INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR PEACE worked with the Hawai‘i State Legislature to designate June 21 as "International Yoga Day" in Hawai‘i. Senator Gabbard was instrumental in Hawai‘i becoming the first state in the nation to officially recognize “International Yoga Day.”
	Janani Lakshmanan and Elizabeth Mager Aloha Natyam is a collective of Indian Classical Dancers from diverse training and backgrounds. We are eager to share the love of the beautiful artform Bharatanatyam with the community of Hawai’i, which inspired our name. Bharatanatyam is a storytelling dance form with its roots over 2500 years old. The style is characterized by rhythmic rapid foot movements, intricate hand gestures, and elaborate facial expressions. The performers are Janani Lakshmanan and Elizabeth Mager.
	Nilanjan Sarker Nilanjan Sarker grew up in India then moved to the USA after college, lived for more than 2 decades in San Francisco Bay Area since early 1990s and afterwards in Jan 2019, he relocated to Honolulu, Hawaii. He learnt Indian Classical Music for a few years but primarily perform as well as teach singing, semi-classical kirtans/bhajans/ghazals as well as contemporary Bollywood songs. He also plays and teach Indian style Harmonium (Keyboard). He also has yoga teacher certification from India and learnt and practiced various lineages of Buddhist and Vedic techniques of meditation, and holistic wellness. He has also composed a number of fusion songs and hosted musical or dance sessions and sound production and monitoring for others.
	Michele Santos Having spent her childhood living in Brazil, Sun Yoga founder Michele Santos found a special connection to Hawaii at the age of eighteen while attending Hawaii Pacific University. The light and warmth of the islands spoke to Michele and guided her to make Hawaii her home. She took her first teacher training through Bikram Yoga in 2007 and soon realized that yoga was her true passion finding great joy in fostering connections with her fellow practitioners. In 2012 Michele fulfilled her dream and founded a Hot Yoga studio; Sun Yoga is her labor of love, a calling from her heart, a unique practice that helps others fulfill their desire to feel happy and fit, experience peace, personal growth and heal within. Throughout the years of practice and many certifications & trainings, she discovered that yoga is much more than a physical practice for health and wellness. Yoga is a way of living. It is a gentle reminder that helps us to let go of the suffering that comes from living in the past, or the anxiety about the future. Yoga is the art being, living the magical present moment. For Michele yoga is love- a path of much aloha!
	Jared Yurow, Psy.D. Jared Yurow, Psy.D. is a student of Uncle Pono Shim of the Aloha Response and a Ho’oponopono student of Aunty Malia Craver of the Queen Lili’uokalani Children’s Center (now Lili’uokalani Trust). A licensed psychologist, he has worked for the Hawaii Department of Health for 30 years and currently serves as Chief Clinical Officer for its Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, Hawaii Psychological Association and American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. He is also a registrant with the National Register of Health Service Psychologists and an initiate of Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology. A past President of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Agency Directors (NASADAD) National Treatment Network and Vice-President for Treatment on the NASADAD Board of Directors, he is the recipient of four NASADAD awards, including the 2023 Lifetime Service Achievement Award. He has presented locally, nationally, and internationally on culture and its application to addiction recovery and its service system.
	José Barzola José Barzola has a passion for creating social change through nonviolence, nurturing relationships that transcend cultural barriers, and focusing on issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity. He is a highly organized higher education administrator with over two decades of experience and success in administration, student development within academic and student affairs. José has also been an affiliate faculty teaching courses on peace and conflict management, and a professional mediator and facilitator for over a decade both in New York and Hawai'i. He is currently Conflict and Peace Specialist at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa (UHM). José is also involved in the community outside UHM as a Peace Educator with Ceeds of Peace, and a Board of Director for the Conflict Resolution Alliance, two local nonprofits that aim to develop and support peacebuilders in Hawai'i.
	Adrija Halder She is a 7 years old girl from West Bengal, India. She loves to study; especially reading, and drawing. Now she is taking lessons in Singing, Ballet Dance, Piano, Swimming, Basketball and Shotokan Karate. Recently she sang at Chinatown peace festival and in a couple of other events, she performed two piano recitals in the schools. She has an interest in cooking and baking with her mom. She loves to play with her toys and spend time with family in her free time.
	Ramdas Lamb Ramdas Lamb is a professor of Religion at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, where he has been teaching for more than 3 decades. Prior to entering higher education, he was an Hindu sadhu (ascetic monk) for nearly 10 years in India. While there, the study and practice of the ashtanga yoga system was an integral part of his life and it remains a focus of much of his continuing research and teaching at UH.
	Dr. Abdul Karim Khan Dr. Abdul Karim Khan, originally from northwestern Pakistan, received a PhD degree in Modern South Asia under the guidance of the late Professor Jagdish Sharma at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. His doctoral dissertation deals with the Servants of God movement of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who was affectionately known as the Frontier Gandhi. For the past thirty years, Dr. Khan has been teaching courses in World History, Asian History, and Islamic History in the University of Hawaii System.
	Kusha Devi Dasi Kusha Devi Dasi is born and raised Kanaka Maoli Kahuna bloodline of the Keao clan from Hana. She lived in India studying Bhakti yoga for 19 years, spending 53 years with the Hare Krishna movement, and is the current Temple President of ISKCON Hawaii now going on her 7th year.
	Hong Jiang Ms. Hong Jiang is Associate Professor of Geography at UH-Manoa. As a practitioner of the Falun Gong (aka Falun Dafa) spiritual practice for over 20 years, she has been a force in the local community in spreading the message of peace, following Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance.
	Hong Jiang Robert Quartero is the Executive Director of Hui O Kahawai I Ka Poʻo Poʻo, a community-based organization dedicated to the promotion of a disease-free, regenerative lifestyle through community education, environmental stewardship, cultural preservation, and character development. As a practitioner and member of the Falun Dafa Association of Hawaiʻi, he integrates the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance into his work and community service. Robert is committed to fostering harmony between people, culture, and the natural environment, and he continues to build platforms that uplift traditional knowledge, spiritual practice, and nonviolence as pathways for collective well-being.
	Leticia Sharp Leticia Sharp has been trained for nearly 3 decades in sacred healing techniques including, Reiki, body work, sound, shamanic traditions, essential oils, crystals, and energy work. This was activated for her when she was 5 years old and she comes from a strong lineage of diverse healers. Leticia invites you to ignite your own unique light within and find your healing in this life.
	Closing remarks by Harendra Pannalal, MSE, PE, RME Harendra Panalal is President of GIIP. He holds BSE and MSE degrees from university of Michigan. He has been on the BOD of GIIP since its inception. All ancestors of his wife and him were born and raised as Jains. His family has lived in Honolulu for over fifty years. He is a retired mechanical engineer in construction industry. He is on the board of All Believers Network. He is also on BOD of two large condominium buildings in Honolulu.