Hindu Family Camp 2011

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) Pacific Northwest group organized a three day Family camp from May 6th Friday to May 8th Sunday in Fort Flagler staff in Washington state. It was exclusive annual event for the families to spend three days together with lot of fun filled shakha activities, games and of course with delicious Indian food (thanks to all the volunteers who prepared the food all the three days). Participants really enjoyed all the three days without thinking about other day to days things running at home. Though it was rained on Saturday but we didn’t miss single planned activity those three days. There were around 60 participants most of them are from Subramanya Bharathi Bellevue shakha, the remaining participants are across in and around Seattle/Vancouver areas.

As per the HSS tradition the three day camp started with registration on arrival and followed by dinner. Next day Saturday we had lot of fun. Though it was raining some of the planned shakha activities are held indoor and all the khel activities are held in outdoors. After the entire morning shakha activities and fun filled volley ball, baseball version of KhoKho (thanks to Anil ji) and tug-of war( thanks to lava ji) games everybody so tired and after lunch we had half an hour yoga nidra program (thanks to Parag ji for conducting), that helped everybody to recharged their batteries for the fun filled after noon activities. People didn’t control their emotions and have enough fun while playing jeopardy and also really enjoyed the charcha programs followed by Mahakhel game.

Then more important program of the camp program was Ranjan Sabha. We had number of planned items and as well as on the fly people came with entertained items from small three years kids from tarun gana to all the way to purush and mahila ganas. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed each and every activity during the Saturday night.

Finally we concluded the Family camp on Sunday after-noon. Thanks to Anil ji for taking the role of Samaaroh ki vaktha and giving nice suchanas and followed by wonderful lunch. All in all it is really nice three day fun filled camp. Most of the members are thinking about every year family camp timing instead of early May if we plan in early June it can help two ways to come more people. The weather will be much better and most of the middle and high school students can finish their exam before the camp and they can have more fun.

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Hindu Family Camp 2011

Seattle Sakhi Sammelan

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), Seattle organized the Sakhi Sammelan on Saturday, March 12, 2011 at the North West Arts Center in Bellevue, WA. It was an exclusive event for Hindu women. The goal of the Sammelan was to bring women together for a fun experience while learning something new. Despite the gloomy, rainy weather the turnout for the Sammelan was really amazing. There were 71 participants.

As per the HSS tradition the 5 hours long event started with participant registration, exactly on time at 1:00 pm. During the next 5 hours all participants enjoyed various activities including games, yoga, jewelry making and more. After registration the event took off with introduction about Sakhi Sammelan by Karyavahika, Sonal ji & instructions given by Mukhya shikshika, Abhirami ji. It began with a melodious sangheek geet about “Stree Shakti” by Falguni ji. Then it was time for introductions – getting to know each other and make new friends in the process. Each participant introduced herself to the larger group. For the next 35 minutes all women played some group games conducted by Uma ji and Shruti ji. The walls of the hall echoed the energy dispersed with the physical activity. The warm up with the games was just enough to get the participants ready for the next session. Next half an hour the Yoga session was conducted by Meera Venkatesh. She taught the participants various relaxation techniques to calm down the body. After the relaxing as well as refreshing experience of the Yoga session it was time to have a heart to heart talk about how to communicate with your kids. School counselor,Chris Gentes discussed various strategies of communication with kids at different stages of life. The lecture was very insightful with Chris sharing her own experiences about her children.

After all that physical activity and food for the brain it was time to have a break and food for the body! During the break all participants relished the taste of spicy ‘Misal-Pav’ with hot tea and cookies. The Purush gana of Bellevue shakha assisted in serving the snack. It was 4:00 pm – time for the jewelry making session! For the next 30 minutes participants were engrossed in creating their own necklaces made of beautiful beads with the guidance of a professional jewelry maker, Sushma Minnal. Proudly and rightfully everyone displayed their final product around their necks. Now it was time for the dance competition! This was an exclusive event organized for the first time by HSS to bring out the creative talent of the participants. All participants were divided into 6 groups. Each group was given a folk song in one particular language. Participants were given only 25 minutes to listen to the song and choreograph it with their team. It was a very challenging task, but indeed it did help them discover their hidden talents and/or display the talent that they already had in them. All groups performed their group dances within the next 20 minutes. The competition was judged by 2 professional dancers – Lakshmi Sanjay and Chandrayee Bhattacharyye. Both judges were accomplished dancers judging an amateurs dance competition, but they applauded the team spirit with their encouraging words. The Rajsthani team won the competition with the Marathi team as the runner up.

The concluding session of the event began with a Vaiyaktik geet sung by Deepa ji. West Coast Sambhag Sevika Pramukh, Anjali Patel, a resident of California, gave a very inspiring speech. Her simple demeanor and down to earth wisdom touched everybody’s heart. All visiting guests and winners of the dance competition were presented with certificates by HSS. Abhar Pradarshan was done by Pooja ji. The event officially came to an end at 6:00 pm with the Dhwajarohan and Prarthana conducted by Sangeetha ji.
The event was an obvious success with the team efforts of HSS Karyakartas and the zealous participation of all the mahilas gathered together to have a fun experience. Indeed it was an exclusive event for the women. Hopefully they will cherish the memories of this event and come back for more next time.

Bharat Mata ki Jay!

Sakhi Sammelan