- Dr. Gautam Baruah

Exersise and charity work are two strong pillars of our existence.
Bibhash and Deepika Barua of Chicago should inspire all of us to keep up our exercises to remain fit. In his own words:
“I try to fit in one yearly exercise routine to raise funds for different causes. This time it happens to be March of Dimes. Our team raised over $8000 on a cold Sunday morning, April 28, 2012”

Jayanta Lal and Gina Barua are no strangers to marathons. This intrepid duo ran the St.Jude's Children Hospital country music marathon held on the 28th of April in Nashville They covered the distance of over 13 miles in 3.5 hours. There were over 31000 participants from all over the United States. Proceeds from the race will be used for research in children's diseases.

Education is a right not privilege of every human being. Education for underprivileged children is the key whether we are addressing healthcare, poverty, population control or human rights issues in developing countries like India.

I have been running for 5 years and I am actively involved with my running club of 400 runners. I was born and raised in Jorhat, Assam. I used to play table tennis for Jorhat District and league cricket for a club and school. Because of problems in Assam and the lack of good colleges, I attended high school and engineering college in South India. After completing undergraduate studies in India, I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, and completed his graduate studies in Civil Engineering and Business (New York).

I love Assam, its culture, lifestyle, and the Assamese people. I have visited Assam almost every year since I moved out of Assam in 1985. My 10-year-old daughter Mayher loves to visit Assam and would like to travel there on her own. My wife Purab Kaur is from Ludhiana and works as a Brand Manager with Acco Brands.

• Projects Supported: Asha Darshan Trust – Assam, India 
  (http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=284)
• Charity Asha: http://www.ashanet.org/;   http://ashanet.org/chicago/blogs/teamashachicago/

Asha had 70 runners for the 2011 Chicago Marathon, including 25 runners from the Bay area. Total charity amount raised by Asha runners was appr. $100k;

• Races Run: Chicago Marathon (2011, 2010, 2009, 2008), Chicago Half, Southwest Half and Splish Splash Half Marathons (2011), Chicago Half Marathons (2010, 2009), Rock & Roll Chicago Half Marathon (2010, 2011), and others.

Charity page - http://ashanet.org/chicago/blogs/teamashachicago/runners/Amarpal-Matharu/

• Board Member (2011- present) - www.evanstonrunningclub.org
• Miles run this year: 450 miles. The human body is incredible. If interested, send me an e-mail and I will try to motivate you to jog/ run and lead a healthy life style!

Project engineer with the consulting firm CH2M HILL. The firm employs over 30,000 employees globally, in full-service engineering, construction, and operations.

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