Says Arun Vadlamani, volunteer, Asha for Education (an action group for children's education in India), that not only will Team Asha run the tough 26 miles at the marathon, but it has already started a website to raise funds during the event. They call it a pledge drive, which is happening at www.ashanet.org/nycnj/marathon. Anybody interested in making a pledge may go the site and fill out the form. For every mile at the marathon, the donor must pledge at least a dollar. The suggested donation is $26 per donor.

All proceeds, says Vadlamani, will go towards promoting basiceducation for underprivileged children in India. Explaining the cause, another long-time Asha volunteer Sarabjeet Kaur, says in an online chat: ``We at Asha believe that education is the fundamental right of every child in the world. By running as a team in the marathon, we are not only participating in a world class event but also furthering the cause of children's education in India.'' All donations to Asha are tax-deductible and go directly to the projects being supported in India.

Team Asha includes Shankar Srinivas, Sridhar Desikan, Chris Christensen, Peggy Zier, Dorron Lemesh and Neena Pawla. Starting on the Verrazzano Bridge and finishing on the West Side of Central Park, New York, the marathon goes over very varied terrain and is extremely difficult. According to Shankar Srinivas, ``Some of us have been training for over a year for the marathon.'' He adds: ``Basic education for under-privileged children is a cause I've felt strongly about for a long time-strong enough to be willing to run 26 milesin order to raise awareness.''

Apart from Spice Week 99, Asha for Education has successfully organised many concerts and public events in the past including the extremely popular Surbahaar concert. And now it's over to Asha for Education again for ``a dollar a mile''.

And while the world watches the biggest marathon event on television, you can do your bit by going to the Asha for Education site and pledging your donation.