Community Across America
April 2, 2010
India Post 15
www.indiapost.com
NJ group plans mega event to teach Hindi in Atlanta India Post News Service
NEW JERSEY: Yuva Hindi Sansthan, a New Jersey based organization, will hold a two week Hindi language learning and cultural program for middle school students in Atlanta, GA from June 19 to 28. Making this announcement at a recently held community awareness event in Mountainside, NJ, Manju Tiwari, an Atlanta based Hindi teacher and coordinator of the language and cultural camp appealed to the
heritage language among youngsters and members of the older generation. "Starting with Georgia, our goal is to campaign for introducing Hindi in the public school curriculum all over USA," said Tiwari adding that the Indian American community must work unitedly to inspire and encourage the younger generation to learn and use our heritage culture, especially when the US government had publicly announced its intention to include Hindi in the school curriculum.
Searson said that Kean University will hold a two-week summer Hindi camp from May 24 to June 5, during which students will learn to communicate in Hindi Indian American community of New Jersey to support the program which aimed at preserving and promoting the heritage language among the younger generation. Yuva Hindi Sansthan (YHS) strives to create opportunities to improve the communicative capacity of youngsters in Hindi through youth-centered workshops, meetings, cultural events, and other educational, academic and community-oriented activities. YHS is working to improve positive attitudes toward the preservation of the
Echoing the sentiments of Tiwari, New Jersey Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula underscored the importance of learning a heritage language in USA. "Hindi is spoken by more than a billion people around the world. It is the national language of India and listed by the US government as a strategic language. It is our duty and responsibility to work for motivating people for learning Hindi irrespective of which language we speak at home," he commented. On behalf of New Jersey Assembly
Holi celebrations by Bihar Cultural Association SURESH SHAH
Akshaj Kumar, Shreelekha Mohanty, Mohan Pallakal, and Gopi Jagarlamundi
CHICAGO: Holi celebrations hosted by Bihar Cultural Association of North America (BCANA) and enlivened by M3 Orchestra on Saturday, March 13 turned out to be a huge success. The skillful music provided by the M3 orchestra made for a perfect accompaniment to the masterful singing by the singers. Shreelekha Mohanty roused the audience to the dance floor with her melodious waltzinspiring Asha Bhonsle hit songs and Ajai Kumar enticed the audience to burn the dance floor with his rendition of popular Holi songs. Mohan Palakkal brought the freshness of the latest melodies to life while Ashok Menon provided a perfect counter balance with his impeccable delivery of golden Rafi numbers.
The M3's orchestrated performance was led by Amit Kumar on keyboard providing a solid base fundamental to the show, Ken D'Souza on guitar providing the perfect cords and bass for each song, and Gopi Jagarlamudi on dholak bringing forth the folksy percussion that is the real essence of Holi. Ten year old Akshaj Kumar, son of Amit Kumar, brilliantly played the drums depicting a level of maturity beyond his tender age. Anchoring the musical ensemble, Rachana Nair was instrumental in creating a lively and interactive environment in which the audience felt as much a part of the musical show as the performers. The colorful and fun-filled evening was closed with a vote of thanks by the President of BCANA, Punyadeo Sharma.
YHS Community Awareness Meeting March 21
Chivukula presented a proclamation supporting the mission of Yuva Hindi Sansthan. Dr. Michael Searson, Director, School of Global Studies and Innovation, Kean University, Union, New Jersey, outlined various programs that his institution launched to promote global education. "We are very much interested in working with the Indian American community for starting successful programs that would enrich the cultural experience of our students. A number of foreign language programs are already running at Kean that allow students to learn and explore other cultures." Searson said that Kean University will hold a two-week summer Hindi camp from May 24 to June 5, during which students will learn to communicate in Hindi. "We will not charge any fee for the program and plan to offer an iPod or a Flip Video Camera as an
added incentive to continue practicing the language. The participants will learn about future opportunities to travel to India and further study of Hindi in the Himalayas," he said. Extending his support for the cause of promoting Hindi, Dr. Sudhir Parikh, publisher of News India Times group of publications informed the audience that he was planning to start the publication of a Hindi newspaper in New Jersey. The event was hosted by Dr. Harmesh Mittal, owner of Raagini restaurant. For information about enrollment to Atlanta Summer Hindi camp Manju Tiwari can be reached by email: msrtiwari@gmail.com, and for information about enrollment to Kean Summer Hindi Camp, Ashok Ojha, Program Director may be contacted at: aojha2003@yahoo.com