Sweet start of Summer

A short account of 'school'z out' so far -
Last Friday was the first day of school vacation and we started with a play-date for Avi and Neev and later in the day a doctor's visit to see how well Avi is growing. At 9 he is 57 and a half inches tall, just a couple inches short to reach my height. We also got the boys typhoid vaccine capsules, a recommendation for travel to Bahamas (our upcoming vacation spot).
Saturday started with a Skype video call with parents in India. The day was spent at Taekwondo Academy making sandwiches for Raleigh Rescue Mission, a picnic at the park in the afternoon to meet RadheShyam Dwivedi Ji, a retired Cellular Biologist and very senior karyakarta of HSS who was visiting Sangh's Raleigh chapter from Washington. Evening was spent at a friend's place playing badminton , catching fireflies and having delicious dinner. We celebrated Father's day at midnight by cutting home-baked cake by a friend.
Sunday morning was spent calling home and wishing Dads a great day. Avi and Neev made 'My Dad rocks' and 'World' #1 Dad' cups for their Daddy and also gave him  couple of Polo T-shirts taking his advice for  gifting 'functional presents'. In the afternoon Avi had his summer recital for Piano and did a wonderful job playing 'finale from Scottish fantasy'. In the evening we also had the pleasure of hosting RadheShyam Ji at our home and that night turned out to be such a special one when Anurag and I got reminded of my Baba as we talked and listened to him. I was thinking of my grandfather so much on Father's day and here we were, having the pleasure of the company of this gentleman who seemed just like a shadow of him - accomplished , active and admirable on so many levels !
Monday was swim lesson for Neev followed by a trip to the library to attend a program on 'paying it forward' for children. Even after so many years I am still in awe of everything that the public libraries offer in this country - thank you Sir Benjamin Frankin !!
Tuesday was on the go again, starting with an early show of 'Lego movie' at Park West 14, a swim date with friends, library program on 'science magic tricks ' and music lesson.
Phew !
Did I mention that I was really looking forward to sleep in during summer :)

Avi and Neev's stage debut

On September 29th ,RTP chapter of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh organized a Dharma & Yoga Fest
at Hindu Society of North Carolina (HSNC) campus in Morrisville to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand.  HSS's "Balgokulam" presented a skit on his life. Avi and Neev both participated and made their stage debut. Weeks of long practices paid off in form of enormous appreciation from audience. The children were amazing, thanks to the dedication and hard work of the directors. I am so happy for my children to have gotten the opportunity to be on the stage but more for the learning and skills they acquired through this experience. Patience, discipline, dependability, confidence and humility are just a few to name but forging new friendships is the gift that not only they got out of it but also their Mom :) Here's to a season of more stage fun !!

Long weekend of fun with friends

It all started with the potluck dinner at our place on Friday with our 'Shakha' friends (Shakha means branch in Hindi and I am referring to our local branch of HSS - Hindu Swaymsevak Sangh where we go every Sunday evening to do yoga , play games and learn about various aspects of Hindu religion and culture). Yum dinner of Chole Bhature, Medhu Vadas, mango-peach salsa, vegetable Pulao, Raita and Kheer was followed by a really enjoyable session of piano and songs by some very talented friends in the group. Great evening indeed !
On Sunday we joined same group of friends and  'Kishores' (teenagers' group in HSS) for a day camp in Umstead Park. The kids went on a 3 miles long hike, did 'Charcha' (discussion) on various topics such as ways to stop companies to patent what has always been common knowledge in India about benefits and medicinal usage of plants and trees, what can be done to stop cow slaughtering and increase the milk production in India.  Kids showed a lot of interest and participation. After Pizza lunch and some games Anurag gave them 'Baudhik' (a talk ) on the life of Swami Vivekananda. A few Kishores were going to go to a sleepover afterwards and somehow everyone in the group got invited for this dinner. An impromptu plan turned out to be a feast and fun with a game of table tennis, piano, singing, 'antyakshari' and dumb-charades. Neev started 'antyakshari' by shyly singing Vivekananda song in his honey voice and got a round of applause by everyone. My sweet child hid his face but I could tell that he thoroughly enjoyed the attention.
All in all a great long weekend of some good discussion and fun with a great bunch of people !!

Dharma Bee Nationals, June15-16 , 2013, Chicago

More than 130 children competed to win the final round of the National Dharma Bee Competition that was held this year on June 15th at Best Western Expo and Conference Center , Hillside, IL.

Even though its just Avi who qualified to represent NC and SC in group 2 , the journey to learn about Swami Vivekananda's life and teachings turned out to be a great learning experience for our entire family. The event opened with lighting of the lamp by Sri Ved Nanda Ji, president of HSS USA and chantings by Yash Ji . The prayers go like this -

"Subham Karoti Kalyanam
Arogyam Dhana Sampadah
Shatru Buddhi Vinashaya
Dipa Jyotir Namostute

"I fold my hands before the light that brings prosperity, auspiciousness, good health, abundance of wealth and destruction of the enemy's intellect". Here, Darkness symbolizes enemy's intellect and with the arrival of light, darkness disappears. Likewise, light (God's Grace) destroys darkness (enemy's intellect).

"Deepajyothi Parabrahma
Deepajyothi Janardhana
Deepo Me Hara Tu Paapam
Deepaa Jyothir Namostute"

 "I fold my hands before the lord, the maintainer of this creation, in the form of this light. I adore this light, which destroys all the pains resulting from my omissions and commissions".

Nanda Ji is a great leader and an eloquent speaker and his inspiring speech was just what the children needed to start their day. 

The day of the competition was an intense but exhilarating experience for children of all ages where they got the opportunity to reflect their learning through cleverly designed test format by Dharma Bee team. The four sections of competition namely speech, written exam requiring  descriptive answers, poster board presentation and a team activity of 3 hours gave them a chance of  practicing all 4 aspects of Yoga – Gnana, Raja, Karma and Bhakti .

The next day children and their families were escorted on a field trip to Art Institute of Chicago where Swami Vivekananda gave his historical speech in 1893. It was surreal for the children to stand on the same stage which was graced by Swami Ji’s presence 120 years ago. 

After the visit to the Art Institute, we went to the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago where Swami Vivekanand’a large statue aggrandizes temple's beautiful lawns. The award ceremony featured the world premiere of the play “Swami Vivekananda’ by 45 children from Shakhas of Chicago area. In about 90 minutes ,children beautifully portrayed main events of Swami Ji’s life. The sequence of scenes was so seamless that nobody could tell they were rehearsed and prepared at different Shakhas. The ceremony concluded with award distribution by chief guests Tulsi Gabbard, congresswoman and Swami Ishatmananda Ji of Vivekananda Vedanta Society

We not only applaud the efforts of HSS in coordinating an event of this stature but also draw inspiration from it. The spirit of the organizers , coordinators, volunteers and parents was a reflection of the values inherent in Sanatan Dharma.  It brought us closer in that circle and reminded us that as parents we all have the great responsibility to preserve these values and pass them on to the next generation . In his concluding address,Ved Nanda Ji said , “ I am looking at this hall, packed with parents and children from all over the United States and I have a report to give and that is, the future of Hinduism is secure”.

We agree !!