Abhimanyu Shakha - Schaumburg

HSS MW SSV 2009

Shikshaarthis/Shikshaks:

There were 37 Shikshaarthis - including 10 Sevika Shikshaarthis. 

Shri Yogeshji Bhargav was Varg Karyavaha and Shri Chandakji was Varg Sarvadhikari

There were five full time Shikshaks and one Part-time Shikshika (Shrishji Apte, Digantji Dash, Paragji Singla, Advaitji Athavale, Darshan Soni and Priyanka Bhargava)

All the Shiksharthis were Shakha going Swayamsevaks and Sevikas and as a result the entire camp was very meaningful and inspiring.
Sampark and Sewa Worshop:
Two innovative and new Karyashalas were conducted during this SSV

Sampark Karyashala:  All the Shiksharthis and Shikshaks went to neighborhoods close to the campsite (~30 to 45 minutes driving distance away) to meet Hindu families and visit public places such as grocery stores and restaurants.  All in all - there were 8 cars/vans that left the campsite in a very orderly fashion and visited several communities near the campsite.  Later on there was an experience sharing during the Ratri Karyakram of how the visits to various families and business establishment well.  Overall this was a great workshop and brought out several meaningful questions, answers and experiences regarding Sangh work.
Sewa Karyashala:  Similar to Sampark Karyashala, on Thursday all Shikshaarthis and Shikshaks visited three locations to do Sewa.  Although it was difficult to engage in actual Sewa Karya due to constraint on time,

 Vyavastha:
The Vyavastha for the SSV was managed by Chicago Vibhaag Karyakartas and it was very well done.  The food came from 40 different Karyakarta families in the Vibhaag and it was very delicious.  Chicago Vibhaag Karyavaha Yogeshji Bhargav was at the campsite full time and was in charge of Vyavastha along with the Varg Karyavaha responsibilities.  In addition to the Chicago Karyakarta Team, few other Karyakartas and Sevika Karyakartis joined in the Vyavasthan efforts enthusiastically as they were present at the campsite. 

Sharirik:

Overall, Sharirik during the Varg was excellent.  Especially, all the Khel sessions were well planned and executed keeping in mind its usage in Shakhas.  All other Sharirik Vishays were covered very well - including Pada Vinyas, Dand, Achar Paddhati, Shikshan Vidhi, VyayamYog, Dand, Niyuddh, SuryaNamaskar and Yogasan/Pranayam.  Each Sharirik Kalansh was 25 Minutes instead of 22 or 23 minutes.  This was very helpful and overall Shikshak feedback was that it helped in covering more material.
Shririk Pradarshan during Samarop went well and it included Dand, Niyuddh, Khel, SuryaNamaskar, Yogasana and VyayamYog. 

Baudhik:

Ma. Yashwantji Pathak and Saumitraji visited the Varg.
Many of the Charchaa sessions were conducted by Chicago Vibhaag Karyakartas
Overall planning of the Baudhik sessions was done well - such as Parichay, Vaiktik Geet, AmrutVachan etc.

 
Pravasi Karyakarta Varg:

There was a Pravasi Karyakarta Varg from Friday noon till Saturday noon.  All sessions were separate for SSV and Pravasi KK Vargh except for one Vibhag-wise Baihak for 30 Minutes on Friday.  The Baithak was very helpful to all Karyakartas to see how the SSV Trained Shiksharthis can help in growing and strengthening Shakha activities in their respective Vibhags. 

All Pravasi KKs attended the Samarop on Saturday. 

Pictures:  http://www.hssus.org/gallery/v/MWEST/Sangh+Shiksha+Varg+2009/
Overall, the Varg was very inspiring for all Shiksharthis and Shikshaks…

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/

On the occasion of Holi and onset of spring, Sevikas of Abhimanyu shakha organized Face painting. Kids as well as adults enjoyed the face painting as you will be able to see that reflected in the pictures. Kids kept coming back for more and Sevikas continued to paint beautiful lotus flowers, butterflies and what not on their faces and hands. It was the best way to celebrate Holi - festival of colors !

Click here for more picture

Holi Face Painting

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

Today (January 12th) is the 12th Anniverasry of Abhimanyu Shakha. We are so proud of all who helped in building and sustaining this Shakha in Schaumburg area for the last 12 years.

Abhimanyu Shakha organized a great outing to Winter Wonderfest at Navy Pier on Jan 3rd. 10 families from our Shakha  participated in this outing and thoroughly enjoyed and geled togather.

Click here for pictures from this outing

Winter Wonderfest

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

It’s difficult to imagine what all shapes a simple sheet of paper can take if we put our creativity to work. A 10 year old Bala , Karthik, took up the Origami Paper Art Baudhik at our Abhimanyu Shakha in Schaumburg today. It was amazing to see how easily everyone was able to follow his steps to fold a sheet of paper and turn it into a Box. A big OM to Karthik !

Click here to see pictures from this event

Art of Origami

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.