Chicago Chapter of Hindu Education Foundation (HEF) organized Guru Vandana program on May 15, 2010 to honor school teachers in Schaumburg area. Children from Abhimanyu Shakha of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) conducted this program at Palatine Library.

On behalf of HEF, Mr. Mohan Sundr started off the program by explaining the importance of Guru Vandana. Chief guest Mr. Ed Rafferty, Superintendent of Schaumburg School District 54, inaugurated the program by lighting a lamp in front of Saraswati the Goddess of education. Later in the program he spoke about the need for families and teaching faculty to work together to improve the success of our schools. He appreciated the message of tolerance and pluralism that Hindu Education Foundation was championing.

 Group of Kids from Abhimanyu Shakha recited Shlokas (Verses in Sanskrit) followed by a beautiful devotional song to praise Gurus by Mansi & Shreya Kathuria on Harmonium and Flute. And then kids felicitated their respective teachers by presenting a personalized Memento to them. Around 22 teachers from Schaumburg and surrounding area schools were present at this program. Afterwards, kids presented an informative slideshow of Posters on various aspects of Hinduism and Indian culture.

Students from Gauri Jog Indian School of Dance presented a beautifully choreographed fusion of Indian Classical Dance Kathak and Western Dancing. To add some bollywood touch to the event, Priyanka Bhargava, Jhanvi Shah, Ravi Patel & Prem Shah performed a dance to latest tunes. It was followed by a devotional song and dance on Lord Krishna by Abby Mohan, Neeti Joshi, Meera Patel & Venya Joshi. Everyone was thrilled by all of these dances.

Guest of honor Mrs. Karen Strykowski, School District 54 board president, addressed the audience, She appreciated Hindu Education Foundation for organizing the event honoring teachers and making them aware of Hinduism and Indian culture. On behalf of HEF, Rao Addepalli gave vote of thanks to all who participated in this program. After the program, teachers and attendees gave a great feedback about the program.

Pictures:
http://www.hssus.org/gallery/v/MWEST/Guruvandana/

Video:
http://www.megavideo.com/?v=PCYIUY3C

Abhimanyu Shakha celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi by having Ganesh Puja in our Shakha today. Around 60 swayamsevak attended this Samoohik Ganesh Puja with great enthusiasm and devotion. 

Ganesh Puja 2009

Anil ji Deshpande conducted the Puja in perfect attire of a Pundit ji. All the kids as well as adults were able to follow the simple Puja directions and recital of Shlokas.

Puja concluded with Aarti and joyous ringing of bells. After Shakha prarthana, Lord Ganesha blessed every one with a big plate full of Prasadam prepared by various Sevikas.

Here are some moments captured from this wonderful Ganesh Puja event:

http://www.hssus.org/gallery/v/MWEST/AbhimanyuGaneshPuja09/

Hindu Education Foundation, Chicago Chapter with the help and participation from Abhimanyu Balagokulam Shakha, from North West suburb of Chicago , conducted Guruvandana Program (Teachers Appreciation Day) on May 31, 2009 at Palatine Public Library.

Guru Vandana

The Honorable Mayor of Hoffman Estates, Mr. William McLeod inaugurated the event by lighting a lamp in front of Saraswati Devi’s moorty. Teachers from schools from Northwest Suburb of Chicago attended the program. Total of over 100 participants attended the function.

The program began with an Exhibition on 5000+ years of Hindu contribution to world culture and civilization. Balagokulam kids gave a guided tour of the exhibition to The Mayor, Teachers and attendees, explaining each exhibit and answering their questions. Parents were also present to provide any clarifications.

After the exhibition, the Mayor and the Teachers moved to the main hall where Guru Vandana function was conducted. Prakash Saunshi coordinator for this Guruvandana program provided an introduction. He explained the goals of Hindu Education Foundation and the importance of Guru Vandana program. HEF had launched Guru Vandana event nationwide to bring students, teachers and parent together  as one large family. He informed that kids had put forward their desire to conduct the entire function end-to-end by themselves! In the spirit of the agreement, Prakash ji handed over the podium to the kids!

Priyanka Bhargava took the podium and provided an overview of the program. She invited The Mayor Mr. William McLeod to innogurate the Guruvandana Program by lighting of lamp in front of Saraswati Devi’s moorty.

Kids explained significant of lighting lamp and said that as light removes darkness, knowledge also removes ignorance. They   informed teachers about Hindu concept of Guru trinity, ’Mother, Father and Teacher’ who play important role in child life.

This was followed by group of kids from age 6 to 14 years reciting shlokas on Lord Ganesha,  Sarswati Devi and on Guru. Kids provided an explanation and significance of each of the shlokas. This was well received by the teachers and the audience.

After this all the kids were invited to present the memento to their teachers. The memento was specially designed for each teacher with their name and a personal message from the child to his/her teacher along with their photograph. Many teachers were visibly moved by the memento. This was followed by a group photograph.

After this Kathak Dance was performed by Radhika. This beautiful classical piece was choreographed by Gauri Jog. The dance told a beautiful story of playful  Krishna trying to grab butter hanging above and convincing his mother, Yashoda. Radhika’s dance won the heart of ever one in the hall.  Our special thanks to Gauri ji of Indian Dance School (www.gaurijog.com) for making Radhika available for this program.

Group of kids performed Jai Ho dance from Oscar winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire. It was an outstanding performance which took the audience by the storm! This was a fitting end to the cultural program designed, choreographed and performed by the kids.

Manish Joshi program coordinator invited The Mayor to the podium to provide his feedback.

Mayor William McLeod said:   “An outstanding event and thank you HEF for having invited me to this event. Several Indians and other communities have moved to this Chicago suburb because of its great educational system. This is because of dedicated teachers we have in our community. India and Hinduism have demonstrated strong ethical environments and shared quality in the diverse ethnic society. We do have common things to share amongst others. Our heritage, tradition, diverse background is excellent. Thanks to Hindu Education Foundation for pulling this tradition and hoping to continue every year.”

Various Indian organizations were represented which include Jalaram Mandir president Chiraybhai Parikh, Nita Virani of Art of Living and C V Desai of Ekal vidya (One teacher one school).

Teachers provided their feedback and expressed to attend such wonderful event in future. Teachers also commented that they learn more about Hindu culture by this program and  visiting  the exhibition of Hindu contribution to world culture and civilization.

For pictures visit: http://www.hssus.org/gallery/v/MWEST/Guruvandana+Abhimanyu+Shakha+Chicago+2009/

This program provided a great insight into Surya Namaskar Yagna, and inspired everyone to bring Surya Namaskar into their daily routines.

Reported by - Mithul Garg

Abhimanyu Shakha participated in a Clothing drive for providing immediate relief to Bhutanese Refugee families in Chicago area. Members and friends of our Shakha were able to bring Clothing at a short notice and were also able to deliver them to these families very quickly.

We would like to thank all those who contributed to this Clothing drive. Special thanks to Hari Om Mandir members for contributing to this Clothing drive.

Click here for picture from this event

One of the sanskar we get in shakha is sense of giving. Throughout the year, we offer our time and talent (tan and man) towards shakha. Once a year, we have this sacred occasion of Guru Dakshina Utsav to offer monetary contribution in addition to our involvement in shakha work. This Guru Dakshina Utsav was held at Abhimanyu Shakha on Dec 7th. 56 Swayamsevak and katyakartas attended this Utsav and offered their samarpan to our Guru which is Dhwaja. Several swayamsevak sent in their contribution even if they were not able to attend this Utsav.

Distinguish guest Vakta for this event, Jayaram ji, delivered an appropriate Baudhik on the importance of Guru and Shishya relationship. Kids sang several Sangha geet while everyone offered their samarpan one by one. Many swayamsevak offered their involvement with our shakha work as part of their samarpan. A great amount of money was collected as part of Dakshina. Couple of karyakartas brought sweets and pies to distribute to all attendees.  In all it was a great success.

What could have been better way of celebrating Diwali than sharing the joy of this Hindu festival of Lights with the less privileged people of our local community. So Abhimanyu Shakha in Chicago Vibhag conducted a Diwali Food Drive and collected several bag full of non-perishable food items and essential toiletries. Several local Food pantries in surrounding communities were contacted and one of them housed inside a Church in Elk Grove Village was very excited to be the beneficiary of this Food Drive.  

In preparation of Diwali celebration, Moms and Sevikas from Abhimanyu Shakha organized Toran Making Activity for kids. They planned for this activity in advance by collecting and preparing the required material.

Kids enjoyed making Toran using flowers made out of wool. They also learned that Toran is a traditional way of welcoming God and Goddess to one’s home especially during Hindu festival of Diwali.

Click here for Pictures for this event

Toran Making

Abhimanyu Shakha celebrated Raksha Bandhan Utsav on this Sunday Aug 17th with a total Sankhya of 32. Mahesh ji, visiting from Rochester Minnesota Shakha, tied Rakhi to Dhwaja. Sneh ji enlightened everyone with a great Baudhik on Raksha Bandhan. Kids and adults tied Rakhis to each other. Sangeeta ji brought yummy Gulab jamuns for everyone. Many kids visited their local Library and Park District and tied Rakhis as part of Outreach effort in local communities.

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Rakha Bandhan Utsav