The Lotus has become the principal vehicle of communication for the Indian community in Northeast Ohio.
The Lotus is a monthly newspaper that reports on the Indian Community and its activities. It was started in 1967, and the oldest Indian Community newspaper in the U.S.A. and the only non-profit Indian Community newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Lotus, first ever community newspaper, is seeking Volunteers to help out with Marketing, Editing, Story writing, Local event reporting, Community outreach. Please send your interest, experience, availability and contact information to lotus.ficacleveland@gmail.com. You do not have to be of Indian origin, just interested in events, arts or anything influenced by and has the potential to impact people of Indian origin in North East Ohio.
About Advertising in The Lotus –
1. Please send inquiries for advertisement rates, obituary, etc. at this email address: lotus.ficacleveland@gmail.com2. Ads must be received by the LOTUS Editor in camera-ready high-resolution format (JPG, TIF, PPT, MS Word, PDF, etc.) or the format discussed with the editor via phone/email conversations.
3. Since 2019, LOTUS/FICA is published every quarter. This quarterly publication will be emailed or mailed as requested. FICA has decided to go Green and save paper and mailing costs. As of now, the families/businesses who have subscribed in the past are getting newspaper delivery at their home/business addresses. We are requesting and encouraging everyone to please opt for email copies instead of newspaper deliveries to your addresses. Please send your requests to lotus.ficacleveland@gmail.com.
4. Please be assured that it is our utmost desire and aim to have the quarterly issue distributed by the end of the month of that particular quarter. Please note: copies of documents that are not print-ready will result in blurry images for which we will not be responsible.
5. We hope that you will support the LOTUS, currently distributed to thousands of households and businesses which are primarily of Asian Indian heritage. In the future, we plan to distribute the LOTUS to libraries and other institutions which show interest in ethnic heritage.
Deepa Rao,
Editor-in-Chief
I live in Olmsted Township, OH with my husband, my mother-in-law, and my 10-year-old
daughter Anika Rao. I have been in the software industry for the past 20 + years. We moved to
Cleveland from San Antonio Texas 9 years back. In my spare time, I love to volunteer with non-
profit organizations. I am the current president of Kasturi Kannada Sangha (KKS), Treasurer of
Northeast Ohio Women in Technology (NEOWIT), Indian Ambassador – of Cleveland People,
Member- of the Association of Asian Indian Women in Ohio (AAIWO), HOA Board Member
Evan Miller Trail Community (EMT) and Key Communicator in Olmsted Falls School District.
It’s my privilege and honor to be a part of the Lotus FICA which has been serving Cleveland
Communities for the past 56 years. I am an avid reader and if I don’t have anything I love to
read. Looking forward to working and serving all the communities in and around Cleveland.. 
Sangita Bafna,
Managing Editor
My name is Sangita Bafna. I’m the past editor of Lotus. I’ve been a member of FICA for the last 30 years. My background is in marketing and communications. I’m looking forward to working
with Deepa Rao and the new Lotus team! 
Mrs.Tanmayee Dixit,
Managing Editor
Hi my name is Tanmayee Dixit. I currently live in Gates Mills with my husband Sandeep and
mother-in-law Meena. We have been on the East side for the last 20 years and have lived in Lakewood for 10 years prior. So I love both, the East and West sides of Cleveland and therefore
incapable of taking any sides. We raised our two kids, Uma and Kunal, let our dog Judo rule us while he was with us here in Cleveland, and made Cleveland our home. I love to meet new people and my idea of a great afternoon is to be surrounded by friends, drinking tea, and chit-
chatting on a wide spectrum of topics ranging from silly to essential and anything in between.
I am an IT consultant by profession and have been one for 20+ years.I look forward to connecting with the readers and working with this lovely LOTUS editorial team
Santosh Bhandari,
Managing Editor
Hello!
My name is Santosh Bhandari, mom to 2 handsome boys Tanay (aged 13) & Viaan (10 years). I live with my husband and kids in Twinsburg and have been in Cleveland for 17 years.
We as a family like taking trips and love trying different foods with ice cream being our all-time
favorite food.
I am a fun-loving, creative person and an artist by passion. Professionally, I have a degree in
graphic design with a recent certification in Data Science and am looking for a job in the field of
analytics. Excited to be a part of FICA’s Lotus team. 
Mrs.Pushpalatha Venkataraman,
Managing Editor
Hi All I am Pushpalatha Venkataraman, currently residing in Solon, OH.Married to Dr. Naveen Uli, a Pediatric Endocrinologist, proud mother of Dr. Nishanth Uli, and Amala Uli a chemical engineer. Working as a physician assistant in Psychiatry, interested in being part of the community programs.
Likes music, craftwork, painting, traveling, and making friends from different communities and of different ages. Excited to be a part of FICA’s Lotus team
