Our Story
We are a team of women who met growing up in Ranchi, Jharkhand. After finishing School, we all dispersed around different places in India, and abroad. Living so far apart, meeting each other came rarely, but after hearing about our friend, Shivani, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, we all rushed to comfort her. She was living alone in the US, without the support of her family, while the tolls of the disease took effect on her mental and physical health.
Her journey of conquering the cancer was largely assisted by the early knowledge of her cancer, awareness, and then the steps towards becoming healthy again; if it weren’t for these, then her path could have gone a different route. After Shivani’s coming out of the experience in 2017, we got to talking about how to bring this awareness in our hometown of Ranchi.
Sparsh – a Touch of Faith, aims to bring awareness to the issues of breast cancer and acknowledging that early detection is key for the highest possibility to treat this disease successfully. Through regular breast cancer testing, and if detected, then the channeling to the right specialists, Sparsh wishes to reach out to the women in India without access to these resources and uplift them, with a Sparsh of Faith.
Meet the Team
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Dr Anannya Kar
President
Born and brought up in Ranchi, Anannya is settled in England- working as a Consultant on Obstetrics and Gynaecology. After finishing her medical training in Kolkata in 1998, she travelled to England for higher training- and since then has been working there.
One of her burning desires has been to “give something back” to the place where she was born- aligning with areas she specialises in – as well as resonates with areas of health needs such as cervical cancer. Anannya has been one of the founder members of SPARSH and is keen to use the NGO to further improve women’s health in India.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anannya-kar-01809762/
Dr Arunima Verma
Vice President
Born, brought up, educated and married in Ranchi. Did her MBBS from RIMS, Ranchi, MS(Gen Surgery) DMCH, Laheriasarai, MRCS(Edin), Fellowship in MAS Upper& Lower GI Surgery, UK. She worked in different parts of India and had also been trained in UK, but returned to her native state to impart services to the population she had grown from. She heads the Surgery Department of Tata Motors Hospital Jamshedpur and has been practising in Jamshedpur as a GI and Breast Surgeon for over 13 years.She has been actively involved in teaching and training of surgeons, and conducts health care awareness programmes with special emphasis on breast cancer. Using her medical knowledge and technical skills, she is one of the founding members of SPARSH.
Rinku Khemka
Secretary
Subsequent to her schooling years in Ranchi, Rinku moved to Kolkata to pursue Chartered Accountancy and on successful completion worked in Delhi for two years , post which she got married to Mr. Vivek Khemka and returned to Ranchi .She is currently a partner in C.A. Firm M/s PARK &Associates and also a Director in M/S Pulse Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.-a company currently operating in Grocery retail through its brand SUVIDHA Supermart in Ranchi.
In her endeavour for a greener earth, she became a part of the group “Green Guardian” and till date has helped plant more than 25000 trees in and around Ranchi since last 6 years. Her inner urge to help the rural women and children made her a part of the Annapoorna initiative taken by Ms Shivani Jha wherein they are providing monthly ration to the needy families in rural Ranchi.
Her passion to do something for a happier and healthy rural India made her be a part of Sparsh.
Shivani Jha
Joint Secretary
Brought up in Ranchi Shivani moved to Delhi University for college and obtained a Masters degree in Social Work. She worked in field of public health and nutrition for about 15 years before moving to USA. She is a breast cancer survivor and a Founder member of Sparsh. Post her cancer journey she feels passionate about working in field of cancer in her home country and state. Specifically she wants to spread awareness on early detection as an important step to cure in cancer.
Manisha Jalan
Treasurer
After her initial schooling years , Manisha moved to Gwalior and pursued a degree in the field of Commerce from Dayalbagh University, Agra .Marriage brought her back to Ranchi where she is settled as a homemaker , proud mother of three, with kids having flown the nest. Apart from pursuing her passion of handicrafts, she joined this group of enthusiastic ladies in forming SPARSH to engage her time in a worthy manner and find a way to give back to the society.
Dr Urvashi Priya Sinha
Operations Manager
Completing schooling & Medical graduation from Ranchi, MD from Pune, worked at Pune, Medanta, Gurgaon, Urvashi is presently working as a senior consultant Radiologist at Jamshedpur.
Born into a family of doctors, she saw the importance of health, the impact of sickness, at an early age. Having a supportive husband, two loving sons, who synchronised with her ideologies, helped her be a part of ‘SPARSH’, inspired by Shivani & fused with the ideologies of childhood friends.
Radiology helped her realise the importance of early detection, prevention of disease progression; financial & emotional impact of loss associated with the ‘now possible to conquer’ cancer.
She believes in the concept of “Consciousness, Energy, power of Faith & Love” , where WE ALL work together to recreate this beautiful life.
She believes ‘SPARSH’ & the team would reach out, saving one life, amounting to saving a family.
Believing in the intrinsic goodness of people, she believes, many, many more of you would reach out & be a part of our journey too for this noble cause.
Spradha Sinha
Strategy, Media & Communications
Spradha was born and brought up in Ranchi, where she completed her schooling. She did her Bachelor’s from BHU and Post Graduation in Garment Manufacturing Technology from NIFT Kolkata. After working in Delhi for three years, marriage moved her to Singapore, where she currently resides. She continued working in Singapore as a Garment Merchandiser but later quit due to family commitments. As her kids grew older, she began to devote her time to volunteering in NGO’s and developed a passion for helping people. She brings her enthusiasm for serving others to Sparsh and is one of our key founding members.
How do I get involved?
We are always in need of your donations. You can contribute donating time and / or money. As of now we are looking to raise funds for our next event.