So finally we made it to StoneGardens. We were all excited to start climbing but it took some getting used to wearing really tight shoes. After putting on the shoes and the harness we climbed the walls belayed by the trainers from the gym. Man, what looks so easy in videos can be super tiring. Your forearms get pumped in no time. Climbing is a great workout, no doubt about that. We were a group of 12 and all of us got try different routes a number of times. Some of us tried our luck in the bouldering section too. Feels weird to hang from the ceiling, not to mention the strength and stamina required. In short, all had a great time and we look forward to go there again.

This year, the University of Washington chapter introduced HY Socials, with the ice-skating event in Jan 2009. And, it was a lot of fun!

This time around, they plan to have a break-dancing session from Jeromeskee. This would be a introduction to break dancing and you don’t need to worry if you haven’t break-danced (or even danced at all) before. Kids are highly encouraged to attend cause it will be a lot of fun. It’s a beginner level class but it will be challenging for sure!

When - March 25, Wednesday - 7:45pm to 8:45pm
Where - Velocity Dance Center, 915 East Pine Street, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98122
How much? $10 per person

Our man, Jeromeskee has participated successfully in several b-boy titles throughout the world and has worked with and taught at many corporations and universities and holds workshop classes in Seattle every Wednesday to teach break-dance.

The Facebook page for the event can be found here.

Let us know if you need or can provide car pools.

Holi - the Indian festival of colors. The sheer name of this festival brings into mind a splash of colurs. So, when Hindu YUVA, UW decided to organize Holi celebrations for the first time, it had to be special. A flood of colors that Seattle’s grey skies has never experienced. An addition to the American red, blue and white. An event full of enthusiasm, joy, wonderful colors and some delicious food. Can you expect anything more? Oh yes you can. The event was organized at the Golden Gardens beach in Seattle. We decided to hold our weekly gathering - shakha at the beach too. We played some traditional Indian games like kabaddi and kho-kho. Playing these games on the beach sand made them all the more fun. We decided to light up some real holi fire near the beach. The lighting up of the holi fire turned out to be a good idea given the cold seattle weather. 
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Seattle Sakhi Sammelan March 14 2009

Seattle HSS for the first time organized and conducted the Sakhi Sammelan, an exclusive event for women on March 14, 2009. The goal was to have an exclusive event for Hindu women. So, the program was open to public. Arranged for the first time in a short span and blessed with bad Seattle weather on that day, the turnout for the program was amazing - there were 60 participants. The event lasted for 4 hours from 1:30 to 5:30 pm, and in those four hours, the women undoubtedly had a great time enjoying a beautiful geeth, a relaxing yoga session, arts and crafts, games, and quiz and more, the program was an obvious success.

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The UW shakha recently decided to have a social event at the Highland Ice Skating Arena. Ice skating was chosen because everyone wanted to do something new and adventurous. Most of the kids or youth had no prior experience with ice skating so they were a bit anxious.

Getting into the skates can take some getting used to, as we realised. They need to be real tight to protect your ankles and get a good grip! (if that makes sense). We had arranged to take a group lesson from an instructor. She was friendly and warm and tried to help us out. But it took us a while to getting used to standing on ice on blades. We learnt a few basic moves like the scooter, the glide and the twizzles. Of course falling is a part of the game. But that only adds to the fun. Who dares wins!

While we were struggling on our feet little kids were zipping by us. Boy those kids sure learn fast. But for our first session we did good, I think so. Reminded us of our inner child and the energy within us waiting to sprout. It was a challenge for our bodies, which are normally used to typing at a keyboard and we had great fun exploring our own abilities. This is exactly what the event aimed for, a bit of an adrenaline rush and a learning experience instead of the usual stuff-yourself-like-a-thanksgiving-turkey at any Indian restaurant routine. We look forward to organising more such events and expect more people to join us.

Whats next ? How about skiing ? Hmm… Watch out for the next announcement.