Abhimanyu Shakha - Schaumburg

On the occasion of Diwali – the Indian festival of Lights, our Schaumburg Shakha of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) is conducting a Food drive for the underprivileged community in Schaumburg, Elk Grove and Itasca Area. We encourage you to donate following food items for the community:

v Canned vegetables (no corn please), Rice and rice meals, Breakfast cereal (hot and cold), Sugar / Flour / Coffee / Tea/Vegetable oil

v Kids food items like Cookies, Granola Bars, Pop Tarts and Cereals

v Fruit Juice, Pasta Sauce, Noodles, Canned Tomatos

We are glad that Valli Produce in Schaumburg is participating in this Diwali Food Drive. Please contact your local Grocery store and invite them to participate in this Diwali Food Drive.

After a long time all the shakhas of Chicago Vibhag came together to celebrated Vijaya Dashmai Utsav in sanghik way. Here is the brief report of the great utsav and team work. The team had many tele-baithaks for planing and task allocation, a great team work was witnessed during and post the Utsav.

Vijay Dashmi Utsav Chicago2010

Utsav participation/level: Chicago Vibhag level (Abhimanyu Shakha - Schaumburg, Naperville Shakha, Lake County Shakha and Chicago Downtown shakha)

When: 17th October 2010; 10.30 am - 12.00 followed by snacks (arranged by Abhimanyu shakha) and networking time.

Where: Hoffman Estates park district gym, IL

Mukhya Shikshak: Dr. Prashant Ji Kodgire

Number of Attendees: 150+ ( in Ganvesh: Swayamsevaks: 55, in which Sevikas 15, Kishor and Balas: 42 and anya kshetra and public 43)

Pramukh Atithees: Saumitra Ji Gokhale, HSS and Dr. Bharat Ji Barai - Noted Philanthropist and well known Oncologist.

Pratyakshik/Pradarshan : Yogasan, Yogchap (Naperville Shakha), Dand Yog and Khel ( Abhimanyu shakha), Surya Namaskar and Shloka ( Lake County Shakha)

Utsav started with Sampat, Dhwajarohan, Shastra Pujan, Ekata Mantra, Pratyakshiks, Sanghik Geet, Amrutwachan, Parichay of Guest & Vakta, Vaiyaktik Geet, Bauddhik of Guest and Saumitra Ji, info about upcoming event and abhar pradarshan, Prarthana, Vikir and snacks.

HSS Full time volunteers Saumitra Ji Gokhale in his inspiring talk started with “We are coming to the end of Navratras, a period of wonderful nine days when the Divine is worshiped in the form of women — knowledge manifested as Saraswati, wealth manifested as Lakshmi and prowess.” he then continued further elaboration of similar concepts, need to unite and applauded the efforts of Chicago team for starting the tradition of celebrating the Vijaya Dashami utsav in the vibhag.

Dr. Bharat Ji Barai’s talk was very inspiring and liked by all. In his talk, he began with appreciation of HSS work in general an in Chicago area specifically, talked about current state of Hindus in America and in Chicago, shared experiences and offered all the help to the HSS team.

Both speakers, also stressed on the need to expand the sangh work in Chicago where the population of Hindus is over 1,55,000.

Pictures of the event are available at :

http://www.hssus.org/gallery/v/MWEST/Chicago-VijayaDashmi2010/

Video of this event:

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=YEW707YX

Ganesha is the generous god of wisdom and Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated to worship Lord Ganesha. It’s one of the most colorful public festivals. It was started by Shivaji, the great Maratha ruler, to promote culture and nationalism, the festival was revived by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak to spread the message of freedom struggle and to defy the British who had banned public assemblies. The festival gave the Indians a feeling of unity and revived their patriotic spirit and faith.

To continue this tradition, Abhimanyu Shakha in Schaumburg organized Ganesh Puja by kids on Sunday Sep 19th. Around 30 kids and 40 adults assembled to perform Ganesh Puja. Everyone came prepared with Puja samagree in traditional Indian attire to join in the festivity.

Manish ji Joshi conducted Ganesh puja as laid out in the Ganesh Puja Vidhi Booklet. Kids followed the Puja steps very keenly and performed it with utter devotion. Meaning of each Shloka was explained which helped kids as well as parents. Puja was followed with Prasadam, Poori-Bhaaji, Dhokla, Shrikhand and various sweets prepared by Abhimanyu shakha Sevikas. It was a great experience for all at Abhimanyu Shakha.

Ganesh Puja 2010

Thanks to all who came to attend this Puja.

Pictures from this event: http://www.hssus.org/gallery/v/MWEST/AbhimanyuGaneshPuja2010/

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

This year Abhimanyu shakha had tremendous participation in annual Surya Namaskar Yagna. Shakha team in association with Chicago Vibhag team launched this Yagna by organizing a Yoga Event at Hoffman Estate Village Hall right after Makar Sankranti on Jan 16th. Honorable Mayor of Hoffman Estate Mr. McLeod and others from the city and our Shakha participated in this event with great enthusiasm. Click here for the pictures from this event.

Hoffman Estates Yoga Event

Not only Abhimanyu Shakha members but Yoga classes from many local Temples also participated in this 2 weeks long Yagna. Conclusion of this Yagna took place with a 2 hour long Yogathon at Abhimanyu Shakha on this Sunday Jan 31st. A total of 3280 Surya Namaskars were performed by 51 participants in this event. Surprisingly many kids performed all 11 sets of Surya namaskars without missing any. For others, a parallel track for yogasana, pranayam and meditation was conducted.  Delicious Samosas and Sweet Barfi was served after the session. Click here for the pictures from this event.

SNY Conclusion

We are proud to share that City of Hoffman Estates proclaimed Jan 31st as Surya Namaskar Yoga Day. Initial counts of total Surya Namaskars for Abhimanyu Shakha is coming to 13000 or so ! Thanks to all Karyakartas and members in making this year’s Surya Namaskar Yagna a great success.

Hoffman Estates Proclaimation

Some of the sanskar we get in shakha are sense of connecting, sharing and giving. Throughout the year, we offer our time and effort (tan and man) towards shakha. Once a year, we have this special occasion of Guru Pooja Utsav to offer monetary contribution in addition to our involvement in shakha work.

Guru Pooja Utsav was held at Abhimanyu Shakha on Dec 6th. Around 45 Swayamsevak and katyakartas attended this Utsav and offered their samarpan (offerings) to our Guru which is Dhwaja.

Distinguish guest (Mukhya Vakta) for this event, Dr. Prabhakar ji Joshi and Savita ji Joshi, delivered a great lecture on the importance of Dhwaja in Indian culture and HSS. Kids sang several Sangha geet while everyone offered their samarpan one by one. A very good amount of money was collected as a result of this event. Thanks and congratulations to all parents and kids who contributed in small or big way for this event.

Click here for pictures from this Guru Pooja event

Just like last year, Abhimanyu Shakha conducted Diwali Food Drive with a renewed interest. Not only Food items but we collected cash donations from our Shakha members. Which helped us buy exactly those Food items which Food Pantry was running short on.

Elk Grove Food Pantry

We visited Elk Grove Food Pantry right after Diwali on Oct 18th and donated all the collected and purchased food items. We were fortunate to have our National Pracharak Saumitra Ji Gokhale accompany us for this visit. Nancy Clarbour from this Food Pantry was elated to see us again this year. She thanked a lot for remembering the Food Pantry and bringing essential food items on the occassion of Diwali. She was particulalrly excited to see our Shakha kids involved in this volunteer work.

HSS Abhimanyu Shakha in Schaumburg is conducting Food Drive on the occasion of Diwali festival for Schaumburg Food Pantry.

Schaumburg Food Pantry Letter

Please Bring Following Items to Shakha on Sundays in October:

Cereals, Peanut Butter, Jelly, Spaghetti Sauce, Fruit Juices

Canned Fruit, Snack Items, Crackers

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/

HSS Chicago Vibhag had their Annual Family Picnic on Saturday Agust 1st 2009. It was a full day event held at Deer Grove Forest Preserve in Palatine IL.

HSS Picnic 2009

The pictures of the event can be viewed here - http://www.hssus.org/gallery/v/MWEST/Chicago+Vibhag+Picnic+2009/

Over 120 participants of all ages, representing 42 families from across the Chicagoland area made the best of the rainy day. An unseasonably cold, windy, overcast and rainy climate failed to dampen the spirits of these enthusiastic picnickers.

The day started at 10AM with just a few karyakartas present in the picnic shed, wondering if anybody would show up in that kind of weather. People started coming slowly and within 30-40 minutes, the grove was filled with kids screaming and running around, and adults helping with vyavastha and chit-chatting with others.

All families were asked to register and the picnic officially started around 11 AM. We played the first game, which was actually a cleverly crafted introduction of the entire group. 3 ganas were formed to play various games. One group went on to play a game of Lagori, while the second group played kabaddi. A separate 3rd gana was made for the shishus and balas. 

Lunch was served at 12.30 and it needed no further evidence to the saying that the way to happiness begins and ends in stomach. All the families had contributed in bringing the food.

After the heavy lunch, some preferred to stay put and chit-chat, while most were off to playing more games again. We played volleyball, cricket, tag football, frisbees, etc. Sevikas made their own gana and played some light games. They were the group who enjoyed the most because they did not want to take a break even for the ice-cream! Others took breaks for ice-cream and then for tea.

The final session started at 3.30 PM and was the main attraction of the picnic, especially for the kids. We played various races, incluing freestyle running, lemon-spoon race, sack race, and 3-legged race. Finally there were two special races for the couples.  

We started the concluding session at 4.30. After a sanghik geet, Madhav’ji Naidu gave a bried concluding message. He talked about the purpose of coming together in functions like the picnic and weekly shakhas. The picnic ended with Prarthana.

As usual, it was a display of great team effort – the arrangements, the food and the cleanup.