To raise awareness about Hope House—a project inspired by the Oscar-winning documentary Born Into Brothels—event planner Lina Dhingra of KarmaPRO Entertainment Group partnered with local philanthropist Jason Wong to host a cocktail party and information night designed to launch a fund-raising campaign on Thursday.
Dhingra and Wong, friends who have volunteered together on several event committees in the city, invited about 100 guests to the Glass House, an 18,000-square-foot private home on the Bridle Path, to provide information and seek funding for Hope House, a safe haven for the children of prostitutes living in Calcutta’s red light district.
“We want people to feel like it’s their house,” Dhingra said of the home, provided by owner Binod Singh for the event. “I like this setup, inviting an elite group into a soiree to do ‘the ask’ rather than making cold calls. It’s a house to a house. It’s the perfect synergy.” Wong and Dhingra, together with a volunteer committee, are planning to host two gala fund-raisers for Hope House in Toronto in May—one at the Palais Royale on May 27 and a second V.I.P. event at the Glass House on May 29.
The film, which tells the story of the children in Sonagachi, the largest red light district in Calcutta, was directed by Ross Kauffman and photographer Zana Briski and won the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2005. “The film has created this movement all over the world. That’s how this event came to fruition,” Wong said. Since the film’s release, the nonprofit organization Kids With Cameras, founded by Briski, has spearheaded the drive to build Hope House. Construction begins in March.
For Thursday’s event, Dhingra used Buddha statues and rose petals to dress the home. “I went really minimal with the decor because the house is so beautiful and there are a lot of natural materials,” she said. “I went with the Buddha elements because it’s holistic, karmic, peaceful, and tranquil.” Buddha statues placed in sand sat near the front door and others topped a table in the kitchen area where servers from the Indian Rice Factory offered hors d’oeuvres like chicken ikka skewers, vegetable samosas, and marinated paneer tikka.
Photographs taken by children who appeared in the film could be ordered at Thursday’s event, and attendees watched a three-minute DVD about the project. Guests also had the chance to ask questions of Geralyn White Dreyfous, executive producer of Born Into Brothels and a founding board member of Kids With Cameras.
