Samarpanam 2010 Annual Report
March 18, 2011
A humble offering…
HTCC Fifth Anniversary Special Issue kammya @vay< pué; #it sa ywakamae Évit tT³tur Évit yaT³tur Évit tt kmR kuéte yt kmR kuéte td AiÉsm pxte
Kaama maya evayam purusha iti Sa Yatha kaamo bhavati tat kratur bhavati Yat kratur bhavati tat karma kurute Yat karma kurute tad abhisam padyate
You are what your deep, driving desire is; As your desire is, so is your will; As your will is, so is your deed; As your deed is, so is your destiny
BRIHADARANYAKA UPANISHAD (4, 4.5)
Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC)
PAGE
SAMARPANAM
Contents Daily Prayer Page …..……………….…………….………….……………………………. Message from the Board of Trustees ……………..…...………………………….. Map and Direction to Shanthi Mandir ………………………………………………… HTCC Benefactors ……………………..…………………….....………………..……….. Silent Auction Donors 2010 ……………..…...………………………….. Report from the Executive Board …………….……………………...………………. In Memoriam ………………………………….………………………………………………. HTCC Helping Hands …..…………………………………………………………………. Our First Five Years at the Mandir ……………………………………………… Mandir - Fulfillment of a cherished dream …………………………………………. Medium Term Plan Committee …….…...……………………………………… A foreword to the Committee Reports………..……………………………………..…. HTCC Executive Committee …………….………..………………………………………… Capital Campaign .………………………………………………………………………….. Communications ………...…………………………………………………………….. Cultural Programs …..…………………………………………………………………… Devotional Programs …………………….…………………………………………………. Educational Programs ……………………….………………………………………….. External Relations …..…………………………………………………………………… Facilities and Renovation …………..…………………………………………..…… HTCC Fifth Anniversary Celebrations Organizing/Support Committees ……. Reminiscing …………………………………………...…..…...…………………………. Together We Can Competition Entries …….…...…………………………………. Financial Policy …..……………………………………………………………………. Operations and Maintenance …..…………………………………………………….. Publications …..…………………………………………………………………………… Safety and Security ..……………………………………………………………………… Library …..………………………………………………………………………….……….…. Membership …..………………………………………………………………………………. Scheduling ..………………………………………………………………………………. Service Programs …..……………………………………………………………………. Youth Activities …..……………………………………………………………………...…. HTCC Calendar of events 2011 …..………………………………………………… HTCC Directory 2011 …..……………………………………………………………….. South Asian Student Association (SASA) …..……………………………………. MUDRA …..…………………………………………………………………………………. Raagas of Columbia …..………………………………………………………………… Cultural Association of India …..……………………………...……………………….. The Vedic Society …..…………………………………………………………………… Current Programs at Shanthi Mandir …………………………………………………
2 3 3 4 4 4 5 9 10 11 12 14 14 15 17 18 23 24 25 26 26 27 29 31 33 34 34 36 36 39 39 40 43 44 47 48 48 49 49 50
Our Advertisers AC Cleaning 38 Advanced Vision 37 All Phase Heating and Cooling 32 Andrew Stone Optometry 30 Baymont Inn/Comfort Inn 37 Boone County National Bank 16 Columbia Center for Neurology 37 Columbia Daily Tribune 7 Curries/Kabir Catering 8 D’s Services Co 41 Days Inn/Travelodge 38 GI Lab Staff at VA Hospital 30 Gujarati Samaj of Mid-MO IBC Innovative Designs 37 Inside Columbia 22 Joe Machens 8 Kids Parties Inc 8 Kumon Center 19 Landmark Bank 20 Lifescapes 35 Little Gym 41 Missouri Cancer Associates IFC Nanoparticle Biochem 41 NEMS-MEMS Works LLC OBC Parker Funeral and Crematory 38 Perfect Eyebrows 38 Robinson Orthodontics 35 Seema Enterprises, St. Louis 21 Taj Emporium 42 Tryps 35 Ultramart Arena IBC
IBC - Inside Back Cover IFC - Inside Front Cover OBC - Outside Back Cover
Shanthi Mandir
Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC) Columbia, Missouri
PAGE 2
SAMARPANAM
Daily Prayer Page Morning Prayer This prayer is to be recited soon after waking up. KARAAGRE VASATE LAKSHMI KARA MADHYE SARASWATI KARA MOOLE STHITA GAURI PRABAHATE KARA DARSHANAM On the tip of my fingers resides Lakshmi, the Goddess of prosperity and wealth. In the middle of my hands is Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge and learning. In the palm of my hands sits Mother Gauri, the Goddess of protection. Visualizing in this manner, I take darshan of my hands every morning. Meal Prayer This 24th verse from the 4th chapter of Bhagavad Gita is to be recited before every meal. BRAHMAARPANAM BRAHMA HAVIR BRAHMAAGNAU BRAHMANAA HUTAM BRAHMAIVA TENA GANTAVYAM BRAHMA KARMA SAMAADHINAHA The act of offering is Brahman (The Supreme). The offering itself is Brahman. The offering is done by Brahman in the sacred fire which is Brahman. He alone attains Brahman who, in all actions, is fully absorbed in Brahman. (As we chant this prayer we are offering the different types of food to Brahman). Gayatri Mantra The Gayatri Mantra can be recited anytime, but is ideally suited during morning prayer-time. OM BHUR BUVAHA SUVAHA THATH SAVITHUR VARENYAM BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI DHIYO YONAHA PRACHODAYATH We contemplate the glory of Light illuminating the three worlds: gross, subtle, and causal. I am that vivifying power, love, radiant illumination, and divine grace of universal intelligence. We pray for the divine light to illumine our minds. Asotoma Sadgamaya Prayer This Prayer is typically recited as a conclusion to a meditation/prayer session ASATOMA SADGAMAYA THAMASO MAA JYOTHIR GAMAYA MRITHYOR MAA AMRUTHAM GAMAYA AUM SHANTHI SHANTHI SHANTIHI Lead me from the unreal to the real. Lead me from darkness to light. Lead me from death to immortality. May there be peace everywhere. Night Prayer This prayer is to be recited at bedtime. KARA CHARANA KRITHAM VAAK KAAYAJAM KARMAJAM VAA SRAVANA NAYANAJAM VAA MAANASAM VAA APARADHAM VIHITHAM AVIHITHAM VAA SARVAMETAT KSHAMASVA JAYA JAYA KARUNAABDHE SRI MAHA DEVA SHAMBHO Oh Lord, please forgive me for all the wrong actions that I have committed with my hands, feet, speech, body, ears, eyes and mind. Please pardon me for all the wrong actions that I have done knowingly or unknowingly. Victory to You, oh Lord of compassion and mercy.
PAGE 3
SAMARPANAM
Message from the Board of Trustees
O
n the fifth anniversary of our Hindu Temple and Community Center (HTCC), we pause to reflect upon the ideals that gave impetus in establishing Shanthi Mandir five years ago. We cannot state them more succinctly than Bhartṛhari, the renowned 5th century author and scholar. In his Niti Shatakam, a treatise on morals, he says: “I bow to thee, who are an abode of virtues. May I be graced with the company of noble souls, humility towards others, a hankering for knowledge, love for partners in life, aversion to evil, devotion to God, and the ability to control my mind.” On numerous occasions, we have gathered at the Mandir, to pray, to commune, to learn and to serve. Many learned men and women from India and elsewhere have graced the temple to share their insights; workshops and classes have enriched our mind; serving the community as a part of other similar groups has enhanced our self esteem. We invite everyone to the temple with open arms. It is the house of God. As Adi Shankara teaches us: “Aham Brahmasmi.” As God resides in all of us we become one with Him in his presence; the temple is the perfect place for such union. With great pleasure we welcome Archana Ramaswamy and Rumi Faizer as the new Trustee Family of the Hindu Temple and Community Center for the year 2010. Thank you for joining the HTCC community. We invite you to take a leadership role in the affairs of the Mandir. We urge the membership to read Samarpanam, which summarizes who we are, where we are and where we are going. We have embarked on plans to repair and renovate the existing infrastructure, as we plan for a dream temple for the future. With your support and participation we are certain to fulfill this goal. We wish you a happy and peaceful 2011.
Map and Directions to Shanthi Mandir
Board of Trustees*
Holalkere R. Chandrasekhar 2 Meera Chandrasekhar Balakrishnan Elangovan Srinath Gopalakrishna Anantha Gopalaratnam Vellore S. Gopalaratnam Nila Gupta Arun Jain Leela Jashnani 3 Kattesh Katti Inder Khurana Jasmit Khurana Kiratadas Kutikkad 3 Sunder Lal Nirja Loyalka Anil Malhotra Kusum Malhotra Ritcha Mehra-Chaudhary Moonmoom Mitra Ranadhir Mitra1 Kannappan Palaniappan Visala Palaniappan 3 Harsha Patel Nitin Patel Ravi Puri Anuradha Rajagopalan V. Ramachandran Archana Ramaswamy Gagneesh Rawat Chandra Rawlani Ramesh Rawlani Toshi Sehgal Sanjiv Sethi Krishna Sharma Bharath Srinivasan Hema Srinivasan Ravi Thawani Dabir Viswanath 1.Trustee President 2.Trustee Vice-President 3. Elected Trustee * Does not include four trustees who opted not to serve on the Board
Directions: Take Exit 127 on Interstate 70, Head north on Rangeline Street, Right at first traffic light on Vandiver Drive, Left on Parker Street, Right on Holly Avenue, Shanthi Mandir sign will be visible on the right after 5-6 homes.
PAGE 4
SAMARPANAM
HTCC Benefactors Thank You! Donor Acknowledgement, January 1– December 31, 2010 We gratefully acknowledge the following monetary donations made during 2010. If we have inadvertently made an error in not including your name, please let us know. We will correct the error at the earliest available opportunity with our apologies. -
$49 Kulkarni, Rajesh and Indira Nistala, Ravi and Puja Radhakrishnan, Nandu and Selvi Dhand, Rajiv & Upinder Kumar, Senthil & Kalai Mohan, Amitabh Parashar, Tarang Pennathur, Shiva Kumar Vellore, S. Arthi Kumar, Lalit and Arpita Satpathy, Sashi and Namita Sharma, Krishna and Sandhya Katoch, Bandhana Jashnani, Ghanshyam and Leela Tolani, Bhisham and Rajini
$100-199 Ranganathan, Raman and Anusha Subramanian, Krishna and Raji Bhalla, Sandeep and Sarmistha Manusmare, Purushottam and Usha Sahota, Pradeep and Shaku Sankarnaryanan, Kannan Nagarkar, Sushama Srinivasan, Bharath and Narasimhan, Manjula Krishna, Gopal & Santosh Marathi Mandal of Mid Missouri Chaudhary, Kunal and Ritcha Mitra, Ranadhir and Roma
$50-99 Bal, Sonny and Dana Rangachari, Lakshmi Singh, Amolak and Kuljit Paul, Kamalendu Rao, Samir and Shraddha Sudha Patney and Niraja Loyalka Vandrangi, Krishna and Palavalsa, Kavitha Nair, Satish and Jyotsna Rawlani, Ramesh and Chandra
$200-499 Batchu, Sudhir and Priya Parikh, Ravindra Shukla, Shivendra and Asha Gopalakrishna, Srinath and Uma Thawani, Ravi and Meena Anand, Satish and Sushma Kannan, Prashanth Mantrala, Murli and Surya Ratneshwar, Srinivasan and Subbalakshmi
$500-999 Mahal, Satnam and Jasvir Palaniappan, Kannappan and Visala Shankha, Banerji Basu, Asit and Sandra Malhotra, Anil and Kusum $1,000-1,999 Sehgal, Om and Santosh Aggarwal, Kul and Archana Gupta, Ghanshyam and Manorma Vishwanath, Dabir and Pramila Sethi, Yash and Anjana $2,000-2,999 Khanna, Sanjeev and Vinita Rawat, Gagneesh and Aditi Sethi, Sanjeev and Punam Kutikkad, Kiratadas and Geetha Loyalka, Sudershan and Nirja Khurana, Inder and Jasmit $5,000-5,999 Faizer, Rumi and Ramaswamy, Archana Chandrasekar, Holalkere and Meera Elangovan, Balakrishnan and Abirami Gopalratnam, Vellore and Anantha
Silent Auction Donors 2010 (4th Anniversary Celebrations) We would like to thank the following families for in-kind donations to the Silent Auction organized during the Anniversary Banquet. The Silent Auction generated more than $1,100 to benefit HTCC. Anonymous Donor Batchu, Sudhir and Priya Chandrasekhar, H.R. and Meera Chaudhary, Kunal and Ritcha Gopalaratnam, Vellore and Anantha
Jashnani, Ghanshyam and Leela Loyolka, Sudarshan and Nirja Sharma, Krishna and Sandhya Viswanath, Dabir and Pramila
Let us also develop a culture of regular small donations at Shanthi Mandir
Thank You!
Use birthdays, anniversaries, festivals and other special milestone events in the family to make regular donations to the HTCC. Please also consider setting up autopay from your bank for making other regular monthly contributions towards operating expenses of the Mandir.
Remember “it takes just drops of water to make up the ocean”!
PAGE 5
SAMARPANAM
Report from the Executive Board D
uring the past five years we have been in existence, the Hindu Temple and Community Center of MidMissouri (HTCC) and Shanthi Mandir have come a long way in providing dependable service to our community. Our Sustaining Members include 67 families/individuals, representing almost two-thirds of our membership. HTCC has an active committee structure in place to involve all interested members in its governance. We have 16 standing committees that help us operate effectively. The Elections Committee is holding elections for the various open offices. We are pleased to report that the transition of the officers has been very smooth during the past 5 years. Our devotional, educational, service, outreach and youth programs have served Mid-Missouri's Hindu community and Columbia residents very well. The Mandir is now the hub of activity not only on weekends but also on weekdays. Devotional programs such as Kirtan, Sai Bhajans, Venkateshwara Suprabhatam/Vishnu Sahasranaamam, open prayer hours, and Bal puja are operating on a regular basis for nearly 5 years. We feel ecstatic yet grateful at the heavy turnout and community participation in the various Mandir events - New Year Puja, Maha Shivaratri, Shri Rama Navami/Akhand Ramayan, Gita Paath, Janmashtami/Shri Krishna Jayanthi, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navaratri Puja/Devi Jaagran, Karva Chauth, Skanda Sashti, Deepavali/Lakshmi Puja, Guru Nanak Jayanthi, and Samuhika Satyanarayana Puja. At least 4-5 talks are scheduled each year covering topics engaging from religion to values, science to health and stress management. Tamil language classes and the yoga classes are very wellreceived. We are also experiencing growth in the cultural programs including violin and vocal concerts. It is heartening to watch our youth engaged in service programs such as
storage facilities, weather-proof double door entry, and a fully ADA compliant facility are few other additional benefits that we can reap as we systematically develop our long-term plans. The HTCC Board of Trustees (BoT) has also formed a committee to address our long-term plans for a future permanent temple. We want our membership to be engaged in our future plans and a vision for a temple structure and for associated operational financing. While we are very pleased with our Our Capital Campaign that started accomplishments, we need to on Ganesh Chaturthi day (2010) has proactively develop a strategy for made steady progress. Our target is to the future. raise $150,000 by the end of 2011. We have operated the Mandir on a The success of our capital campaign is 100% volunteer basis to date. The important to planning process. We time demands on some of our appeal to you to open your hearts to volunteers have grown to levels fulfill this shared vision. Donations to that are impractical to sustain HTCC are tax-deductible per IRS 501 without relief of some kind. As we (c) 3 designation awarded to us. grow, we will need to plan for We are looking forward to a employing a manager and a priest, memorable 5th Anniversary banquet. at least on a part-time basis. This Judging by the success of the support arrangement will need devotional program to celebrate the 5th adequate sustained funding. anniversary, we are confident that the annual banquet will reflect the enthusiasm of the committee members organizing it. We greatly appreciate We are delighted with the progress your constant support, encouragement made by the HTCC Medium Term Plan and volunteering to serve the Implementation Committee (MTP) with community. With a steady list of plans to renovate Shanthi Mandir to accomplishments during the past five serve us safely for the next 10 years years, we believe that are now poised (see page 12 for details). Many of you for growth to serve our community have provided feedback on the even better in the years ahead. As we drawings at various open houses held stand at this important crossroad, at the Shanthi Mandir. Replacement of the Mandir needs your continued the four small rooms on cinder blocks support. with a more efficient continuous concrete floor slab structure will enable us to extend the prayer hall to accommodate more devotees Executive Board comfortably at special pujas and Inder Khurana1 festivals. The renovation plans will Meera Chandrasekhar2 also bring the Mandir facilities up to Manjula Narasimhan3 current codes for safe operations - exit Ravi Thawani4 doors, electrical, plumbing and sewer 1. President 2. Secretary systems. A larger kitchen and pantry, 3. Treasurer multi-stall restrooms, new shower and 4. Vice President The Food Bank, Narayan Seva, Anna Daan, Adopt a Spot, Shram Daan, Clean-up Columbia, Elder care visits, Beat the Heat, CROP Hunger Walk, and Sharing the Warmth. At the same time, our information-packed quarterly â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Shanthi Sandeshâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, and dynamic website not only keeps our members informed but also helps to network with city, interfaith and service groups.
PAGE 6
SAMARPANAM
In Memoriam W
e are deeply saddened with the loss of two of HTCC Honorary members—Gerald Barrier and Art Robbins and HTCC members Kala Gupta, Sarla Devi Nagar and Maniben Patel. They all were great friends and strong supporters - the HTCC community misses them all. rofessor Norman Gerald Barrier, a dear friend and Honorary Member of HTCC, passed away on June 6, 2010 in Columbia, Missouri, after an eight-month battle with brain cancer. Professor N. Gerald Barrier, Emeritus and Middlebush Chair in the Social Sciences (2000-2005) at the University of Missouri-Columbia, was an eminent historian and scholar of India. During our last annual banquet, he was inducted to honorary membership of HTCC in recognition of his accomplishments and service to the Indian community in Columbia and to the HTCC. At the University he taught a revised course on Gandhi and His Times and two new courses: The Partition of India and Women in Indian History. Barrier's research focused on recent Sikh history. After publishing a co-edited volume on Sikh identity in 1996, he wrote an article on Sikh politics and organizations, published in a volume celebrating the life of JS Grewal (the most eminent Sikh historian of the modern period), and wrote several reviews and review articles for scholarly journals. In 1997, Barrier gave a keynote address at the International Sikh Studies Conference, the University of Michigan, and presented papers on contemporary Sikh legal cases relating to Gurdwara governance. He has co-edited the volume of proceedings from that conference, consisting of 16 chapters on Sikh identity, and wrote the introduction, revised keynote address, and an article on the Fairfax Gurdwara case where he served as a major expert witness (politics, authority, and congregational practice). Another major contribution of Barrier is the South Asia Books, arguably the largest and most comprehensive resource of publications from and about India in the United States and Canada. His generous donation of hundreds of books on Indian philosophy, culture, history, literature, and fine arts has enriched our library at Shanthi Mandir. He will be greatly missed by all of us. r. Arthur J. Robins, 89, died on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. His long and active life was marked by a fascinating and varied career in academics, public service and community activities. His travels abroad cultivated an enduring passion for South Asian arts and culture. After retirement as professor emeritus of Psychiatry in 1991, Dr. Robins remained active at the university, teaching in the Honors College until spring 2010. He has been ardent supporter of the Cultural Association of India and many India-centric activities in town, including the HTCC. He was recognized with an Honorary Membership of HTCC during the 2009 Annual HTCC Banquet. Art will be greatly missed. ala Gupta, 63, passed away Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010, in Columbia, surrounded by loved ones. She was born on Sept. 5, 1947, in Muzzaffarpur, India, and married Mangal Gupta on Aug. 21, 1972. She later moved to the United States and began a 38-year career in nursing, working in local hospitals. She was a regular volunteer reader during the annual Akhand Ramayan Paath at the Shanthi Mandir. She was also passionate about cooking, gardening, nature and spending time with family and friends. Kalaji will be greatly missed by our community. arla Devi Nagar, 86, of Columbia passed away on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010, at Parkside Manor. Sarla was born March 26, 1924, in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India, and was married on Feb. 28, 1951, to Murarilal Nagar in Jallandhar. She received her Master’s in Hindi from Agra University and lectured at Kanya Gurukula Dehradun. She came to the United States to join her husband in 1951 and began working at the Library of Congress. She continued her studies at Teachers College Columbia University in New York and received her Master’s degree in education in 1956. She studied at the University of Missouri and received her Master’s degree in library science in 1968. She served as the curator of South Asian art at the Museum of Art and Archaeology of the University of Missouri for many years. Sarla is survived by her husband, Dr. Murarilal Nagar of Columbia; sons Hari Washington Nagar of Houston and Siddhartha Kumar Nagar of Maryland ; stepson Ramakant and wife Indubala.;and three grand children. hrimati Maniben Patel, mother of Dr. Nitin Patel and mother-in law of Dr. Harsha Patel, passed away in February 2011. She was born in Burhanpur, India in 1913. She was raised in a family of ten – seven brothers and 3 sisters. Since childhood, she was gifted with a melodious voice and with the ability to memorize the lengthy prayers and mantras. After her marriage, she became the pillar of the Patel family. And yet she maintained and nurtured the relationships with her mom’s side of the family. She was active in the social and political events happening in India before India’s partition. She participated in the freedom movement side-by-side with her father-inlaw. She engaged the women in her village and empowered them to pursue the goal of freedom from the British. Once in the U.S., she adapted to the new ways of life. She was a proud mother of one son and three daughters, a grandmother of 12 children, a great-grand mother of 16 children, and great-greatgrand mother of 2 children. She was a symbol of unconditional love.
P
D
K S
S
SAMARPANAM
Thank You! We deeply appreciate the Columbia community for the kind expression of sympathy in our time of sorrow. Thanks for keeping Kalaji in your thoughts and prayers.
Kala Gupta (1947-2010)
Always in our thoughts, Forever in our hearts. Mangal, Leena, Amit, Anil and Lisa
Best Wishes and Congratulations to HTCC on its Fifth Anniversary
The Viswanaths
PAGE 7
PAGE 8
SAMARPANAM
Best wishes to the Hindu Temple and Community Center of MidMissouri (HTCC) on their Fifth Anniversary! Curries and Kabir Catering Specializing in Children’s Parties We plan and implement crafts, games, learning activities, and decorations so you can relax and enjoy your child’s party! 573-529-3020 Amy Messner amymessner@ymail.com
Stephanie Ross rossgirl@mchsi.com
Joe Machens Toyota Scion appreciates all of our friends in the Hindu and Indian Community 900 Bernadette Drive, Columbia, MO 65203 (573) 445-4450 www.joemachenstoyota.com
PAGE 9
SAMARPANAM
HTCC Helping Hands is heartening that, into our fifth year Ioftaspeople a temple, we have a steady group from among our members, who are committed to volunteering their time and effort towards the maintenance of the Mandir as well as to promote the various devotional, educational and service programs at the Mandir. It is even more noteworthy since several of the service programs which are undertaken outside of the auspices of the Mandir have been initiated and executed by our youth and young adult membership. The latest of the several service programs undertaken by the youth members of the Bal Sabha, was the Beat the Heat project which, in July 2010, collected fans to help the less fortunate in Columbia to get relief from the Missouri summer in collaboration with the Voluntary Action Center. Six members of Bal Sabha concluded that it would be better to collect money since the dollars would enable the VAC to purchase more fans at a negotiated price with the manufacturer than would be accomplished by them. Within a week the youth collected $660 for an extremely grateful VAC. It is now the third year that HTCC has participated in the annual CROP Walk. The CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walk is an annual event that combines fun and fundraising to raise awareness and funds for international Aarti Nagarkar Abi Elangovan Aditi Rawat Ajit Vasudevan Alagu Arunachalam Amit Patel Anand Chandrasekhar Anantha Gopalaratnam Anmol Sethi Anuradha Rajagopalan Archana Ramaswamy Arjun Khurana Aroor Annaya Rao Aroor Sudha Aswath Kumar Bala Elangovan Bandhana Katoch Bharath Srinivasan Bimal Balakrishnan Chandra Rawlani Dabir Viswanath Dale Cutkosky Deepa Viswanathan Divya Nagarkar
and caps for donation to the Salvation Army and The Wardrobe, both of which help those in need. The other service programs which are now an intrinsic part of our Mandir are the participation in the Clean-up Columbia every spring as well as Bal Sabha’s Adopt a Spot cleaning around Ridgeway Elementary School twice a year. In addition the monthly volunteering at the Food Bank and lunch service at St Francis House take place with unswerving regularity and dedication. It goes without saying that the numerous operations of the Mandir would be near impossible without the hundreds of volunteer hours that members provide to keep the relief and development, as well as local hunger-fighting. The local CROP premises clean through the weekly cleaning, or the many hours of Shram Walk took place on October 3rd and Daan to grow a colorful garden full of HTCC was once again well flowers and to help out with bigger represented through several youth of Bal Sabha as well as many adults. Our repair and maintenance projects through the Seva Day which is held in youth walkers did a splendid job of raising in excess of $500 for the cause spring and fall. Martin Luther King has summed up which supports local food pantries as the value of service most eloquently. well as provides support to global “Everybody can be great, because hunger issues. Another program was the Share the anybody can serve. You don't have to Warmth project through which the have a college degree to serve. You children of Bal Sabha have tried to fill don't have to make your subject and the need for warm clothing that exists verb agree to serve. You only need a in the community, during winter. This heart full of grace. A soul generated by is the second year that youth called on love.” family and friends to clean out their closets and collected coats, gloves
Gagneesh Rawat Geetha Kutikkad Harsha Patel Hema Srinivasan Holalkere Chandrasekhar Inder Khurana Ipsa Chaudhary Jasmit Khurana Kalayarsi Kumar Kattesh Katti Kavita Katti Kiratadas Kutikkad Krishna Sharma Kuljit Sandhu Kusum Malhotra Leela Jashnani Manjula Narasimhan Maya Cutkosky Maya Ramachandran Mayukh Ghosh Meena Thawani Meera Chandrasekhar Mythili Ramachandran Nahush Katti
Namita Satpathy Nandhu Radhakrishnan Neil Kotandeniya Nidhi Khurana Nilotpal Sanyal Nirja Loyalka Nitin Patel Pranavi Tella Prerna Srinivasan Punam Sethi
Savitri Kotandeniya Senthil Kumar Shiva Pennathur Shreyas Srinivasan Shuba Ratneshwar Siddharth Kutikkad Sonal Ghosh Srinath Gopalakrishna Sumidha Katti Sunilima Sinha Rajagopalan Thiruvengadathan Surya Mantrala Sushama Nagarkar Raji Subramanian Tarang Parashar Rajini Tolani Toshi Sehgal Rajiv Mohan Trisha Chaudhary Rama Kannan Uma Srinath Ramesh Rawlani Urmila Kutikkad Ranadhir Mitra V. Ramachandran Ravi Thawani Vairam Arunachalam Reshma Khanna Vellore Gopalaratnam Ritcha Mehra-Chaudhary Vikram Arunachalam Sandhya Sharma Vinita Khanna Sanjeev Khanna Visala Palaniappan Sanjiv Sethi Satish Anand
PAGE 10
SAMARPANAM
Our First Five Years at the Mandir T
he long held dream of a Hindu Temple for Columbia was at last realized when a small group of devotees came together, pooled their funds, gave generously, and made it happen. A property was found that contained a former church building and some out buildings at 2006 Holly Avenue. The group organized legally as Shubh Kaam, LLC, and in September 2005 bought that property to be the Shanthi Mandir and to be for “the exclusive use of the Hindu Temple and Community Center (HTCC) for its tax exempt worship and service activities ... made available to HTCC free of rent.” It was the plan of the Shubh Kaam, LLC members to deed the property and its monetary assets over to HTCC once the tax exempt application for HTCC was approved. Shubh Kaam’s members also paid for all the initial upgrades and repairs necessary to bring the property up to code and make it suitable for use as Shanthi Mandir. On September 7, 2005, the day the keys to the property were received, the first worship was held in Shanthi Mandir, most appropriately on Ganesh Chaturthi since Lord Ganesh is the remover of all obstacles. Members of the Mandir rose to the challenge and immediately set to work. Shanthi Mandir was up and running strongly by the end of 2005. From that beginning Shanthi Mandir has grown and flourished to become the vibrant home of Hindu worship and service that we have today – five years later. Looking back over the history of the Mandir as presented in the past issues of Samarpanam, the annual reports and Shanthi Sandesh, the quarterly newsletter it is clear that something amazing has taken place. During those five years the members have taken an aged building in need of much repair and upgrading and created Shanthi Mandir, a welcoming place of worship. But Shanthi Mandir is not only a physical place. Shanthi Mandir is also the people, the community of members brought together by the spirit of their religion and a unity of purpose in a common endeavor to which they are committed. One has only to attend any Mandir event to witness the smooth cooperation and devotion of the congregation. Shanthi Mandir and HTCC are multifaceted entities with a wide scope of purpose and action as will be seen in the following summary of its life span thus far. Devotional Programs: Shanthi Mandir is first of all a place of worship so devotional programs were organized at once. Pujas were performed and festivals observed. The first Samuhika Satyanarayana Puja was conducted by Srinivasji, the priest from the St. Louis Hindu Temple on December 17, 2005. By the end of 2005 a schedule of regular
ongoing activities was in place: Sai Bhajans, Venkateshwara Suprabatham and Vishnu Sahasranamam, Shram Daan (Volunteer Service), Bal Puja, and Bal Sabha. Kirtan, open prayer hours on Tuesdays and Saturdays, Amritvani and a Bhagawad Gita Study Circle soon
Sandra and Asit Basu are Sustaining Life members and strong supporters of the Mandir. Sandra reminisces our first five years at the Mandir. appeared on the list of regular ongoing, weekly or monthly programs The year 2006 was a crucial first full year of Mandir operation. In many ways it set the pattern for the future. The year began with a New Year Puja on January 1, starting a tradition that was repeated in each following year. Samuhika Satyanarayana Puja was repeated in 2006 with the additions of Maha Shivaratri, Shri Rama Navami, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navaratri Puja/Devi Jaagran, Karva Chauth, Deepavali Lakshmi Puja, Skanda Sashti, and Guru Nanak Jayanthi. In January, 2007 an HTCC First Anniversary Puja was performed and an Anniversary Puja became an annual event. Over the years a few more annual pujas were added to the list. Akhand Ramayan, a twenty-four hour reading of the Ramayan was introduced in 2007 and also Guru Purnima Bhajan, Vijaya Dashami/ Dusshera, and Dhanur Maasa Puja (Thiruppavai). By 2009 the number of annual pujas and festivals celebrated had reached fifteen. Of course, the Ganesh Chaturthi is also celebrated as the anniversary of Shanthi Mandir. Shram Daan: Volunteer service is so entwined with the purpose and spirit of the Mandir that is can also be considered devotional. Turning the old church building into Shanthi Mandir was a tremendous job, done through member’s investment of a good deal of ‘sweat equity’ in doing the countless tasks involved. Just some of the jobs to be done were: installing the main altar and deity pictures, upgrading the flooring, installing new kitchen and audio and video equipment, general clean up and painting, decorating of the prayer hall, landscaping, electrical, drainage and water line improvements. Much of this work was carried out with member labor willingly volunteered. That spirit has continued throughout the years as evidenced in the rotating schedule of members who clean the Mandir each week, who see to the outdoor mowing and snow removal and landscape work and the member-tended flower garden that beautifies the grounds and provides flowers for worship. The first
Seva Day was held in summer of 2009 when a group of members spent the day doing needed maintenance including power washing the siding, trimming trees and shrubs, planting new trees and other yard work, rearranging library furniture, doing indoor housekeeping chores. Again in the spirit of the Mandir, it was quickly decided to have two Seva Days each year, spring and fall. Through the massive volunteer efforts of members operation costs have been kept low and affordable. Members also provide and serve the food for prasad and meals at the Mandir and clean up after. Shram Daan extends beyond the Mandir to many Columbia causes. Members, both adult and youth, give a great many hours to community service on a regular basis at the Central Missouri Food Bank, at St. Francis House, with the Clean up Columbia Project, and Adopt a Spot around Ridgeway School. Causes such as Crop Walk, Habitat for Humanity, Diabetes Walk, Eldercare visits, Beat the Heat Fan Program, winter clothing for Salvation Army and others have received help from Mandir members. A continuing collection of canned and non-perishable food for the Food Bank is done with a barrel container near the entrance where members may leave contributions whenever they visit the Mandir. Administration, Membership and Finances: Bringing a successful Mandir program to fruition, of course, required leadership and administration. A TownHall meeting on November 13, 2005 by consensus chose the official name of Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC) and set up an interim Executive Board and Interim Board of Trustees charged with taking care of operations until after elections to be held once the HTCC membership drive was completed early in 2006. Documents applying for 501(c) 3 tax exempt status were prepared to be filed with the IRS and a bank account in the name of HTCC was opened. Committees were set up and new members were sought. The Constitution and By-Laws were first approved January 14, 2006. They were amended at the first General Assembly meeting of the HTCC held on Sunday, October 21, 2006 at Shanthi Mandir and again in April 2010 by our General Assembly via electronic balloting. Approval of the application for tax exempt status (under IRS Section 501(c) 3), was received in mid-March of 2007 and according to plan Shubh Kaam LLC members transferred the “Shanthi Mandir Property” to “HTCC”. With ownership of the “Shanthi Mandir Minor Subdivision” property in the name of HTCC, a Capital Campaign was launched (Continued on page 13)
PAGE 11
SAMARPANAM
Mandir –Fulfillment of a cherished dream... T
he discussions began around kitchen tables and in basements more than 15 years ago. The Indian community, which was about two thirds of the strength that it is today, needed a temple and a community center where people could gather. Yes, Tamil classes were in full swing and families took turns hosting Bal Sabha. Sai Bhajans took place on Thursday nights at the various devotees’ homes. Pongal was celebrated, as was Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi and Saraswati Puja. Yet everyone felt the need for a place to gather. Anantha Gopalaratnam, who along with her husband Gopal, is one of the Board of Trustees, reminisces, “whenever we needed to worship in a temple or needed to hold a religious ceremony, we would travel to Kansas City or St. Louis or bring a panditji here.” Of course everyone managed without. They prayed and worshipped in small groups or with their own family members. Visala Palaniappan who, along with her husband and children, moved here in 1998 from Maryland, shares “It was somewhat of a setback to come here and find that there was no temple. Of course, we managed but in my heart of hearts, I always wished for one. It was always, always at the back of my mind.” So when, in 2005 as Gopal likes to say, “the stars lined up”, Visala and her husband joined 11 other very willing families and pooled resources ranging from $5000 to $15000 to buy the Foursquare Gospel Church on Holly Avenue. Shanthi Mandir became a reality. It was an exciting time. The building immediately required, among other things, new fire alarms, new wiring, new carpet, and repairs to the parking lot. A band of dedicated volunteers chipped and scrubbed and repaired and painted and donated time, energy and a lot of effort. Office bearers needed to be appointed and roles and responsibilities needed to be delegated. Visala shares, “I come from a background of education and knew nothing about accounting, yet I volunteered my time and became the Treasurer. I learnt along the way and within six months of spending my time learning about accounting. I was offered a job at Nora Stewart Early Learning Center doing – what else – book keeping!” Is that divine intervention, one wonders. “One has to believe in the system and in the larger process,” she says. “We have to believe in the Divine - that It will guide us at all times.” Chandra Rawlani, who moved here in 1998 along with husband Ramesh, concurs. “When we began this endeavor, I was asked to chair the devotional committee. At the time I was working all kinds of shifts at Boone Hospital; I worked nights as well as days. I agreed to take on the responsibility and became very worried as to how I would
Shanthi Mandir and the Columbia community provide me with a secure feeling. It is hard to leave all that.” Chandra is not surprised at the emotion. “During our first two years in Columbia, I hardly knew anyone and I was very shy. When we joined on as trustees, and I took on the responsibility of chairing the devotional committee, I began to meet many interesting people and my whole sphere widened a lot.” Service is a hallmark of the Hindu way of life. Chandra believes this to be true. “I do my work at the temple with devotion and love as I would in my own home. It is my second home and I love doing it!” As for the future, it is wonderful, says Visala. “We are flourishing and growing.” Chhote Sarkar, a spiritual seeker from Indore visited during the temple’s first and Sushama Nagarkar presents another second anniversary celebrations. Chandra him what the future held for the perspec ve on our 5 year journey. asked Mandir. He predicted the temple would Sushama spoke to several community grow bigger in the very same spot. He was members and brings out the essence not wrong. It was in 2006, during the first and spirit of the Mandir anniversary of the temple, that Gopal told Steve English of the Missourian that the main goal at the time was learning how to sense of community here – we celebrate serve the community better with the two with one another and there is a lot of main goals being worship and service. At participation at all levels.” He makes this time, both those goals are being another important point. “The Mandir is a successfully achieved. Expansion was hub of activity. It does not belong to any certainly not on the agenda then, although one deity as most temples elsewhere do and while the focus is always on devotion, Gopal had recognized that the location had much potential that had yet to be realized. there are subtle changes in the how with In the last five years, the scope and size of each puja or prayer or celebration. It is amazing!” The thought is echoed by Visala the activities increased far more rapidly than what the current facility can who says the place is a wonderful avenue accommodate. “After a deliberative process for people to come together. “I am always that lasted over two years, we are ready to surprised at the number of people who proceed with planning of renovations to the contribute and come in for the events we Mandir,” he says. organize there,” she adds. Not surprising, “As we grow the activities to better serve considering that families like the Sethi’s the Columbia community at large and also drive in all the way from Kansas City with plan for more spacious and safer Mandir, their two small children. Anjna and Yash there will be many challenges. Primary Sethi moved to Kansas City over a year among them would be moving from an "allago from Columbia but find it very hard to volunteer operational model" to one where move on and away from their life here. “Shanthi Mandir made a huge difference to we may need to employ a "priest and a manager" at least on a part-time basis,” he our lives in Columbia,” shares Anjna. “We visualizes. There is no doubt in anyone’s did not have to go very far to be able to mind that the challenges can be tackled socialize with great people and at a wonderful venue. Even my mother who is a with the strong community support that the regular temple-goer in Delhi preferred to Mandir has been blessed with. After all, for visit this temple above all the ones she many, it is a home away from home. goes to back home.” In fact the couple is so By combining a place of worship with a attached to the community here that they community center, Shanthi Mandir lives up are still not sure if they want to leave. “The to this tenet in many ways. Columbia community is like our extended “A religion that takes no account of family. We felt very welcome and very practical affairs and does not help to involved. We have not made a move to get solve them is no religion” -Mohandas involved in KC because we would rather Gandhi drive back to Columbia,” she adds. “Eventually if we continue to stay in KC, we By combining a place of worship with will become a part of the north Indian a community center, Shanthi Mandir community, but I am a little wary of all the lives up to this tenet in many ways. politics that goes on in those places. manage. God took care of it. The following year I got a day job with hours such that I could manage both responsibilities. I suppose when one does something with devotion, doors open. If we learn to give it time, things take care of themselves.” And now Shanthi Mandir is all of five years old. With over 100 members, the community has grown strong and cohesive and the temple is alive and buzzing with activity. For many, it is a home away from home. Gagneesh Rawat and his family moved to Columbia from Edison, New Jersey over six years ago. “Yes, we went to the temple in New Jersey, and got together for celebrations and prayer. Yet each community stayed to itself and rarely mingled with one another. This place is a very wonderful change. We have a real
PAGE 12
SAMARPANAM
Medium Term Plan Committee T
Members Vellore Gopalaratnam1 Ravi Thawani2 Bimal Balakrishnan3 Meera Chandrasekhar Leela Jashnani Kiratadas Kutikkad Nitin Patel Anuradha Rajagopalan, Chandra Rawlani 1. Chair 2. Secretary 3. Architect Consultant
he HTCC Medium Term Plan Implementation Committee (abbreviated MTP Committee for convenience), an ad-hoc committee, was formed in September 2010 to follow up action taken by HTCC’s Board of Trustees (BoT) at its August 2010 meeting. The BoT voted unanimously to accept and proceed with the recommendations of the BoT Committee on Property Exploration/ Options which included expansion/ renovation of Shanthi Mandir. The MTP committee developed detailed plans during the last quarter based on plans first proposed by the HTCC Facilities and Renovations Committee in October 2006. Current plans include fencing the Mandir lot, expanding the parking lot and renovation of Shanthi Mandir. A 3D architectural rendering of the renovation and detailed blueprints for the renovation have been prepared with input from committee members, an architect, a draftsman and several contractors. Three community open houses are scheduled during February-March 2011 to share the renovation plans and solicit additional input for fine-tuning the plans. After incorporating community feedback, the revised blueprints will be used for soliciting cost estimates from several contractors. The MTP Committee will make its recommendations to the HTCC Executive Committee and the HTCC Board of Trustees for approval after competing bids are evaluated. We look forward to your thoughtful input to plan for a better, more spacious and safer Shanthi Mandir. Our community deserves no less. The highlights of the Shanthi Mandir renovation plans are detailed below: Main prayer hall – Floor area increased
Renovation Footprint (shaded area represents current footprint )
by 67%, multiuse hall with vinyl back floor, functionally improved use of space, option of an accordion partition Kitchen – Floor area more than doubled, full-wall pantry, food service counter, greatly increased counter and overhead cabinet space, double appliances and sink to serve the Mandir more efficiently Restrooms - Greatly expanded Men’s: 3 urinals and 2 stalls Women’s: 4 stalls, powder area Unisex: ADA stall, ADA shower, and changing station Storage - 30 ft2 closet, 120 ft2 second story storage room New roof and suspended ceiling Aesthetically upgraded exterior Full ADA compliance Entry Foyer - Weather protected double door main entry, abundant coat and shoe racks, floor sink for washing hands and feet Exit doors with panic bars – Fire code compliant Electrical, Plumbing and Sewer building code-compliant High efficiency gas furnace and air conditioning units (two in series to provide optimal efficiency) Tankless hot water heater Security alarm system Option of fire protection sprinkler being considered New garden shed floor-slab with option for a 225 ft2 outdoor storage shed Oldest structurally deficient part of the structure on cinder blocks razed. This eliminates inefficient use of space No loss in momentum or services as we renovate Renovated building will be current code compliant, easier to maintain and marketready. Concurrent with the Mandir renovations, plans are in place to upgrade the parking lot to accommodate up to 50 vehicles as well as provide for a fenced entry to the parking lot to enhance safety
SAMARPANAM Kannappan of the Houston Meenakshi Temple on December 4, 2005. Lectures on with targeted goal $250,000 for medium Buddha, Meditation and Stress term repairs/renovations and long term Management, Bhagavad Gita, Divine planning. Mother and Quality eye care delivered at a The first election of officers was low cost, and Food n Thought Brunch mandated by the constitution to take place Series have enlightened attendees. once the approval of the tax-exempt status Several musical concerts have taken was given. A General Assembly meeting place at the Mandir with light classical held on September 15, 2007, the day of vocal music, violin and other instruments Ganesh Chathurthi and also the second and dance. Some of them were fund anniversary of the inauguration of Shanthi raisers that brought in good amounts for Mandir, returned the Interim Officers of the the Mandir. Other fund raisers were tulasi Executive Board as the first elected plant sales, a garage sale and mela and Officers of the Executive Board: Vellore S. Rainbow II Dance performance by Soorya Gopalaratnam, President; Anuradha Performing Arts group held at an outside Rajagopalan, Vice-President; Inder venue. Khurana, Secretary; and Visala An important educational facility is the Palaniappan, Treasurer. Arun Jain and HTCC Library, the collection of which was Sudarshan Loyalka were chosen as begun soon after the Mandir opened. The Elected Trustees. library was inaugurated following the first Officers are to serve in staggered terms anniversary puja in 2007. A good thus in 2009 elections were held for Vicecollection and the shelves to house the President and Treasurer and one Elected volumes were acquired by the Library Trustee. Ravi Thawani was elected the committee. This was greatly enlarged by new Vice-President and Manjula generous donations of books from Dr. and Narasimhan the new Treasurer, with Leela Mrs. Robert Bussabarger and Professor Jashnani the new Elected Trustee. The Gerald Barrier. The library currently is next elections in March 2010 brought in housed partly in the prayer hall and mostly Inder Khurana as President and Meera in the Education Center behind the Mandir. Chandrasekhar as Secretary and Das The youth group was very involved with Kutikkad and Visala Palaniappan as the cataloging and arranging the books. Community Outreach: Cognizant of the new Elected Trustees. role of Shanthi Mandir in the ColumbiaWith no rent or mortgage payment and so much of the maintenance work done by wide community and beyond, HTCC has throughout sought to take part in such volunteers, the Mandir’s finances have programs as the Columbia Interfaith been in good shape throughout. Member Council; the Columbia Values Diversity donations and membership fees have covered expenses and allowed for savings. events; programs at the public schools, the University of Missouri and colleges and The membership has continued to grow. universities in surrounding areas; and the At the end of 2006 there were 41 lifetime City of Columbia Human Rights Office. family members, 31 annual family Presentations have been given to many members and 5 individual annual groups. In January 2008 HTCC President members. By the end of 2009 there were Dr. Vellore Gopalaratnam was given the 66 Lifetime Members and 30-35 Annual 11th Annual Columbia Values Diversity Members. About 150 families take part in Award which is presented to an individual Mandir activities. As 2011 begins a new Capital Campaign who has made significant contributions in promoting appreciation for diversity and is underway to make major renovations to cultural understanding in Columbia. In Shanthi Mandir. Plans have been drawn, discussions are ongoing and the hope is for November, 2009 HTCC hosted the Interfaith Thanksgiving of the Interfaith renovations to begin in summer. Educational, Cultural and Special Council of Columbia in Stotler Lounge on Programs: Tamil classes were offered the MU Campus. Communications: A Shanthi Mandir within the first few months of Shanthi Mandir’s beginning and Hindi classes soon website was set up almost as soon as the Mandir was in place. In the final month of followed. Classes in yoga, Bharata 2005 two single sheet Shanthi Mandir Natyam, Tabla, Carnatic vocal music and classical music have been given at various Updates, the second on under the title Shanthi Sandesh, were published times. The Bhagawad Gita Study Circle mentioned with the devotional programs is containing schedule announcements and updates on the Mandir. Early in 2006 certainly also a part of the educational. Shanthi Sandesh officially became a Some classes and workshops have been quarterly publication with a new multipage especially for youth: origami, movie magazine format, containing articles by making, computer skills, creative writing, members on diverse subjects, reporting on math, art, photography, Odissi dance and events and news of the Mandir and the others. Indian community and providing schedules Many events overlap between cultural, of Mandir related activities, all in a very educational and fund raising. The first colorful and professional layout with many lecture in the Mandir was a town hall style photographs. It was available both online lecture forum titled “Hindu Temple, and in print. Bal Sandesh, the tri-yearly Community Activism and You” with Sam
Our First Five Years… (Continued from page 10)
PAGE 13 newsletter published by Bal Sabha youth group since January 1998 was made an integral section of Shanthi Sandesh “while retaining the flavor both in style and substance of Bal Sandesh.” Another publication that appears yearly is Samarpanam the annual report of HTCC in spiral booklet form. Iit contains reports of trustees, officers and committees, the financial reports of the organization, an overview of the year’s activities and lots of photographs. It is financed by advertisements and donations. Youth: The Youth Program is a very large part of the total program of the Mandir. Bal Sabha and Bal Puja have been in existence for many, many years begun by parents for their children long before the Mandir came to be. Now the group has a permanent home in the Mandir for its educational and religious meetings and programs. A summer program of workshops and classes and simple fun has kept the young people occupied since the first summer of the Mandir. The youth are also active volunteers both inside the Mandir and in the community often taking the lead in raising funds or collecting goods for charitable causes. There are recreational programs – picnics, bike rides, chess and tennis tournaments and other activities. It is the youth who with adult assistance make the clay Ganesh idol for the Ganesh Chaturthi. Anniversaries: A bit about a tradition that begun in 2007. The Ganesh Chaturthi in September marks the anniversary of Shanthi Mandir. Another anniversary that has been observed is the HTCC anniversary. The HTCC First Anniversary was celebrated in January, 2007 with a gala banquet in an off site venue with catered dinner and entertainment. It is also a fund raising event for the Mandir. At the Banquet the annual report, Samarpanam, is released. The banquet has become an annual event now held in March for better weather. At the Third Anniversary Banquet in 2009 four friends of the Mandir, Dr. Robert Bussabarger, Virginia Morgan, Murari Lal Nagar and Arthur Robins were inducted as Honorary Members of HTCC. The next year Dr. Gerald Barrier was inducted as an Honorary Member. An anniversary puja is also celebrated each year at the Mandir on a date close to the banquet date. ******* It is not possible to list here all that has been accomplished and experienced in these five years. This quote from the Board of Trustees’ message on the second anniversary in the Samarpanam annual report for the year 2007 is still apt at the five year mark “…we want to express our great satisfaction in seeing the Temple become a hub of a wide spectrum of activities, propounding spirituality and devotion to the Almighty, and promoting the spirit of service to the community as we envisioned at the outset.”
PAGE 14
SAMARPANAM
A Foreword to the Committee Reports… A
s we celebrate the successful growth of the past five years and look forward to the future of HTCC with excitement, we must acknowledge the meticulous planning and hard work, provided by the members of all the sixteen Committees, that goes in to make HTCC & Shanthi Mandir the Spirit of our Community! Our visionary founding leaders have created an organizational structure that has served us well so far and will continue to do so in the future as we embark on to our next phase of growth. Their vision was to have a community that has a focus on devotional, educational, cultural, youth programs, community service and worship. The Six (6) core committees that allow us to meet these goals of HTCC are Cultural Programs, Devotional Programs, Educational Programs, Service Programs, Publications and Youth Activities Committees. The other ten (10) committees help support the key functions of these six core committees. The members of all the HTCC Committees are volunteers, have a genuine desire to serve and a vested interest in the success and well being of our Mandir and the Community. It is no wonder that the committees are so effective and efficient in
to HTCC members. The ongoing activities are Language Classes, Yoga Classes and Bhagavad Gita Study Circle. Service Programs Committee, besides executing regular service programs, introduces a few special projects each year which may lead to those programs becoming part of the Mandir's regular programs. Some of the recently introduced programs are “Sharing the Warmth”, “Crop Hunger Walk” and “Beat the Heat” programs. Publications Committee produces the quarterly newsletter “Shanthi Sandesh” All the HTCC Committees focus on now available in PDF format on the Mandir providing all of us with a Safe, Clean, Website and also shares it with all the Functional Mandir and Programs to members and friends of the Mandir via educate, nurture & empower youth to snail mail. make a positive impact in the community! Youth Activities Committee serves to encourage, challenge and engage the young members of HTCC to participate in Devotional Programs Committee, a very active committee, helps organize and youth centric activities like Summer celebrate all the major festivals of India. It Workshops, Anniversary Contest and Youth Day/Picnic. The objective is to even keeps our Mandir open regularly for open prayers on Tuesdays and Saturdays. involve, mentor and reward the youth. We sanguinely hope you will join one or Educational Programs Committee more committees and contribute to a fosters the development of educational community with a focus and purpose! programs. It is responsible for presenting Together we can! Yes we sure can... and maintaining language classes, seminars, retreats and wellness programs their operations. As you browse thru this issue of Samarpanam, we encourage you to please take a few moments to read the activities of each committee and notice how “service” fits into their programs. Cultural Programs Committee proactively schedules programs by local and upcoming budding artistes that represent all parts of India. This helps connect all the members with their rich Cultural Heritage.
HTCC Executive Committee Comprises Executive Board (elected) and Committee Chairs (appointed) HTCC Executive Board President – Inder Khurana Vice President – Ravi Thawani Secretary – Meera Chandrasekhar Treasurer – Manjula Narasimhan
HTCC Committee Chairs Capital Campaign – H. R. Chandrasekhar Communications—Gagneesh Rawat Cultural Programs – Hema Srinivasan Devotional Programs – Chandra Rawlani Educational Programs – Visala Palaniappan External Relations – Leela Jashnani Facilities and Renovation – Kiratadas Kutikkad Financial Policy – Krishna Sharma Library – H. R. Chandrasekhar Membership – Inder Khurana Operations and Maintenance – Shuba Ratneshwar Publications – Tarang Parashar Safety and Security – Kiratadas Kutikkad Scheduling – Anantha Gopalaratnam Service Programs – Mayukh Ghosh Youth Activities – Nandhu Radhakrishnan Assistant Treasurer: Kusum Malhotra
PAGE 15
SAMARPANAM
Capital Campaign W e began the capital campaign in 2010 with a goal to raise $150,000. The remarkable success of the devotional and service activities conducted at the temple and the overwhelming response by the community convinced us that we had outgrown our current facility. By unanimous approval of the Board of Trustees and the membership, a committee was formed to prepare concrete plans for repair and renovation of the temple. As a companion effort, an energized Capital Campaign Committee set out to solicit financial support by our members and supporters. Thanks to these efforts we have achieved a measure of success towards reaching our target. The accompanying graphics show the progress over time. We hope that a greater impetus will come as the plans for renovation become a reality. HTCC serves over 150 mid-Missouri
families who frequent the temple. We also serve the larger Columbia community via our service programs and by participating in various interfaith initiatives. We began with 12 trustees in 2005. Currently the trustee number has grown to 30. In addition, we have 3 elected trustees. We inducted 4 honorary members last year. There will be an addition to this number this year. Our total membership is just over 100 out of which 67 are life members. This gives us the hope that the number of families with the trustee status can double in due course. At this time we appeal to our members to keep upgrading their donation status as often as possible. Considering the donation pattern, we hope to see contributions growing substantially in the months to come.
Members H. R. Chandrasekhar1 Inder Khurana2 Chandra Rawlani Dabir Viswanath Sudarshan Loyalka Elongovan Balakrishnan Kusum Malhotra Kattesh Katti Vellore Gopalaratnam 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
We are making good progress. Thank You! But we do need your support on an ongoing basis...
Contribute Generously to our Capital Campaign! As you contemplate making donations to our Capital Campaign, please consider the following facts... Donations to HTCC are tax-deductible. HTCC is exempt from Boone County property tax. Shanthi Mandir property is wholly owned by HTCC, a non-profit corporation. Purchases for HTCC are exempt from Missouri sales tax. Each year, since inception, we have logged in in excess of 15,000 volunteer hours keeping our operational costs to a minimum. This is the equivalent of 7.5 full-time employees HTCC serves over 150 Mid-Missouri Hindu families and also the larger Columbia community. We have approximately 100 member families/individuals including 66 life-time members. 100% of donations made to the Capital Campaign will be available exclusively for capital expenditures.
Capital Campaign Target: $150,000
PAGE 16
SAMARPANAM
PAGE 17
SAMARPANAM
Communications T
he Communications Committee continues to play a focal role as it communicates and publicizes the various HTCC programs to the “Membership” and “Friends of the Mandir” and is thus involved with every temple program offering. The primary goal of the Committee is to keep the membership informed and updated on the temple events. The committee’s objectives are specifically to: Maintain a dynamic and informative “Shanthi Mandir” website. Flyers for the upcoming events are posted and website updated frequently. Send timely e-mail notices to Membership & Friends of the Mandir and Publicity for temple events Maintain email database for Membership and Friends of the Mandir Lists Dynamic Shanthi Mandir Website The event information is updated on a regular basis. It has been one of the most frequently visited website on COIN. The temple site http://www.shanthimandir.missouri.org is simple yet provides the necessary information on HTCC objectives, HTCC publications, upcoming events, and archives. We encourage all our patrons to visit the site regularly so that they can keep in touch with the future plans of HTCC and also read about past events. Timely email notices The Committee helps other committees publicize their activities and events to the community in a timely manner via e-mail notices, flyer distribution and announcements. The committee sends timely emails to membership for the various HTCC devotional, cultural and special programs. The committee also sends out email notices to all in the “Friends of the Mandir” database four times a year during the “Shanthi Sandesh” newsletter quarterly publication. Email Directory upkeep and maintenance The Committee has been meticulously maintaining the membership email directory and keeps it current in collaboration with the Membership Committee. Our community has been growing and so has the mailing list for “Membership” and “Friends of the Mandir” which has increased to around 150 and 500, respectively. Common housekeeping tasks These appear to be harmless and not
urgent but are very essential to ensure timely receipt of Mandir emails. The Committee reminds all members to make sure our email address shanthimandir@yahoo.com is added to your contacts list. This will ensure that all Mandir emails are delivered to your Inbox. Changing your email address – Remember to send a one line email with your new email address and we will update our records. Moving out of state or country – If you no longer wish to receive the Mandir emails, just send us an email and we will take your email address off from our mailing list. The Committee will be looking at ways to avoid some duplication in member email addresses and will work closely with the Membership Committee and the Executive Board members for a better solution. We would love to hear from you - if you have specific requests or suggestions, please contact one of the Committee members. We welcome your opinion and any suggestions for improvement. Please email the Committee members at shanthimandir@yahoo.com and we will get back to you. The temple continues to be the focal point for worship, community service, education and youth activities and we all feel blessed. We are thrilled and delighted as we celebrate our fifth Anniversary. We need you, your leadership and your ideas to help us communicate more effectively and to provide services and information that add value to you all. Please come and join us…
Members Gagneesh Rawat1 Meera Chandrasekhar2 Geetha Kutikkad3 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison 3. Web Master
PAGE 18 Members Hema Srinivasan1 Manjula Narasimhan2 Bimal Ray Shuba Ratneshwar Shubhra Gangopadhyay 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
SAMARPANAM
Cultural Programs C
ultural Programs committee encourages culture that originates from India or of interest to the members of HTCC that as appropriate to a Hindu temple. In that line we have the ongoing Dance, Tabla and music classes at the temple; Bhakti Geetams on Saturday evenings and cultural programs to accompany, augment and enhance the devotional part of the festivals like Krishna Jayanthi, Ramanavami, Dasara and New Year. We also work with other related groups interested in a similar culture, such as Cultural association of India, Raagas of Columbia, Mudra and Vedic Society. During 2010, we hosted several special events: 1. Violin Concert: A classical violin concert of Purnaprajna and Shiva Narasimhamurthy on Mridhangam on April 24 2. Double Feature: On May 16, we had two concerts by Guru Prasanna Kasturi ( vocal) and
Guru Seema Murthy ( vocal) both individually accompanied by Savita Vishwanathan on violin and Ravishankar Subramaniyan on Mridhangam. 3. Feast for Thought: A philosophical lecture and discussion on Advaita and Gita by Dr. Avinash Sathaye on September 25. We plan to schedule 2-4 special cultural programs in a year at the Mandir in addition to the regularly scheduled events. We would like to especially encourage budding artists of both Indian music and western music in our community by featuring them on Bhakti Geetams. It is an excellent venue to share your musical or theatrical talents with rest of the HTCC community. Cultural Programs Committee always welcomes any ideas, suggestions or requests from the community. If you would like to volunteer to be on the cultural programs committee, please do let us know.
Janmashtami celebrations at the temple: Lord Krishna is all decorated; Matki breaking: Kids are all excited and waiting to gather the candy loot.
SAMARPANAM
PAGE 19
PAGE 20
SAMARPANAM
SAMARPANAM
PAGE 21
PAGE 22
SAMARPANAM
PAGE 23
SAMARPANAM
Devotional Programs T
he 2010 was another wonderful year for the HTCC Devotional Committee. The various devotional events were well attended with a high level of participation, support and involvement from the members and the community. The success, participation and heavy interest have prompted the committee to add Holi celebrations to our calendar. We are planning to celebrate Holi –“the festival of colors” for the first time at the Mandir in March 2011. The successes during the past 5 years have only been possible due to the blessings of the Almighty and the dedication of the numerous volunteers. Thank You! The 2010 Devotional calendar started with New Year Puja with a session of meditation led by Kate Walker and followed by reciting shlokas and singing bhajans. The Maha Shivaratri celebration in February was led by Srinath Gopalkrishna and was very well received. The puja started with the Shri Ganesha Pancharatnam (recited by shloka class youth) and concluded with the recitation of Shiva Gayatri, Aarti and Prasad. The Devotional component of HTCC 4rd Anniversary celebration held at Shanthi Mandir comprised a Havan led by Shivendra Shukla and a program of Puja and Bhajans performed by Parikhji, Sunitaji and Surinderji from Chicago, IL, followed by Aarti and Parsad. The next major temple devotional celebration was Akhand Ramayan, the uninterrupted 24-hour long reading of the Ramayana, held at Shanthi Mandir. Shuklaji officiated the devotional ceremony and many dedicated readers took turns reading the Ramcharit Manas. Devotional committee sincerely thanks each and every one who participated in the puja for their sincere efforts in making this event a great success. Sri Rama Navami was celebrated under the leadership of Hema Srinivasan. This year on May 1 we initiated a new program titled Akhand Gita Paath. This program entailed the recitation of Shri Hari Gita (chapter 1-18) by all devotees unison followed by the singing of Shri Krishna vandana, Gita mahima, and Aarti. Janmashtami was celebrated with great joy and high spirits at the Mandir. Hema Srinivasan started the Puja with recitation of shlokas and was followed by Aarti. There
was a lot of excitement as children reenacted the Matki breaking ceremony. Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most popular Hindu festivals. An idol of our beloved lord Ganesha was modeled from clay by youths and adults. The idol was decorated and worshiped for 10 days from Ganesh Chaturhi to Ananth Chaturdashi. Aarti was performed on all 10 days and the celebration concluded with Visarjan. We thank to the Marthi Mandal for their participation in hosting the puja. Another big devotional event of the year was Durga Puja. The Program started with Kalas Sthaapna by Sateesh Bhagwat. Nilotpal officiated the puja and chanted mantras, Chandipath and asttorasatanaam stotra. The program concluded with bhajans and Aarti. On the 10th day the Dussehra festival was celebrated. Shanthi Mandir was decorated and women dressed in all their finery gathered to celebrate the Karva Chauth, the festival that holds tremendous social and cultural significance for married Hindu women. In the evening ladies do Gauri puja, katha and exchange Thalis. Deepavali, the festival of lights was celebrated at the Mandir. The Mandir was decorated with, lights and diyas to welcome the wisdom and remove the darkness. Adults and children alike worshipped Goddess Lakshmi by reciting shlokas in her praise. After the prayer every one enjoyed the fireworks. The celebration concluded with Prasad Guru Nanak Jayanthi, one of the most important festivals in the Sikh calendar, was also celebrated. The prayer was led by our guest Gyani Bachetor Singh of Kansas city. The prayer started with Japji sahib followed by kirtan, Anand sahib and Ardas. For the past five years, the committee members have been actively involved in keeping the Mandir open for prayers on Tuesday and Saturday evenings and Saturday mornings. Devotional programs such as Sai Bhajans, Venkateshwara Suprabhatam/Vishnu Sahasranaamam, Kirtan are a regular event on the Mandir calendar. We invite you to attend and participate in the Mandir events regularly and encourage you to share this information with the new families moving to the Mid-Missouri area.
Members Chandra Rawlani1 Kusum Malhotra2 Inder Khurana3 Hema Srinivasan Kuljit Sandhu Meena Thawani Nirja Loyalka Punam Sethi Srinath Gopalakrishna Vinita Khanna 1. Chair 2. Secretary 3. Executive Board Liaison
Above: Havan being performed during the 4th Anniversary Devotional Program Below: Devotees read the holy book “Ramayana” during the non-stop 24 hours Akhand Ramayana
List of festivals/devotional events celebrations in year 2010 New Year Puja Maha Shivaratri HTCC 4th Anniversary Akhand Ramayan Sri Rama Navami Janmashtami Ganesh Chaturthi Durga Puja Karva Chauth Deepavali Guru Nanak Jayanthi
Jan 01 Feb 13 Mar 13 Mar 20, 21 Mar 27 Sept 04 Sept 11 Oct 09 Oct 26 Nov. 06 Dec. 04
PAGE 24 Members Visala Palaniappan1 Ravi Thawani2 Abirami Elangovan Anand Chandrasekhar Sushama Nagarkar 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
SAMARPANAM
Educational Programs H TCC Education committee fosters the development of educational programs for adults and children. It is responsible for presenting and maintaining language classes, seminars, retreats and wellness programs to HTCC members. The goal is to provide intellectual, organizational and logistic support to the on-going efforts. Committee members meet on an asneeded basis, mostly via e-mail communications.
The committee supports several on-going programs at the Mandir.
Tamil class is a regular program that meets twice a month on 1st & 3 rd Sundays from 3- 4:30pm. Classes are taught by volunteers and free to members of HTCC. The education committee is very grateful to the dedicated instructors who work tirelessly with the children.
Yoga classes convene every Saturday at the Mandir from 10:00 am-11:30 am. Kate Several interesting educational seminars Walker of Integral Life Center instructs the have been organized. One such talk was class. Kate engages her students with on Astronomical Dating of Ancient Indian pranayam, asanas and meditation. A free Events: Mahabharata War and Vedic seminar on Hatha Yoga is offered to literature by Professor Amitabha Ghosh. He members once a year. mapped out scientific data on puranic literature using astronomy. Dr. Ghosh gave a detailed description on when the Mahabharata war took place. Another interesting presentation was a seminar on Siddha Yoga by Mahendra Joshi. He covered a range of topics from ‘What exactly is God to Kundalini – The Cosmic Shakti within you.’ The slide show presentation was very informative. He concluded that God is a ‘State of Being’ an eternal bliss that one can obtain by practicing Siddha yoga.
Bhagvad Gita Study Circle gets together on Tuesdays from 7:00 – 7:30 pm. Annayya Rao Aroor leads the discussion. Each week, members recite a slogam and discuss the meaning of the verse. We have had a energetic year with lots of activities to enhance the educational events at the Mandir. The committee is thankful to all the HTCC members for their active participation and continued support. We request new members to stop by and check out the programs that are being offered to you and your children.
Pictures (clockwise from bottom) 1) Tamil class students and teacher-parents - big smiles (learning is fun when we are friends) 2) Yoga class in session - performing “Warrior pose” with Instructor - Kate Walker 3) HTCC members with Prof. Amitabha Ghosh after his talk on Astronomical Dating
PAGE 25
SAMARPANAM
External Relations O ur year began with preparations for the HTCC 4th Anniversary celebration. We had a very successful event with a Silent Auction for raising funds, Awards, unveiling of Samarpanam (annual publication), Dinner and a wonderful Cultural program. Also, in January we participated in the Diversity Breakfast celebrations held by the city of Columbia.
religious and cultural activities held during the celebration which culminated in the sharing of foods brought by the various communities, as a part of the Thanksgiving celebration.
Columbia Climate Change Coalition led by Monta Welch. A conservation related movie was presented at Shanthi Mandir and in the evening we observed an hour of Black Out when all lights and other power consuming appliances were turned off. This was an indirect contribution to family time or dinner by candlelight. Local restaurants and other businesses also participated in the event.
We will also be participating in a Panel discussion held by the University Multicultural and Diversity Center to enlighten a group of students on some aspects of various religions and cultures.
The State teachers association brought visitors from all around Missouri to the Mandir for an informative session on religious studies. Dr. Gopal and Leela Jashnani hosted the group. We had very good participation and healthy discussions about the various aspects of Hinduism and Indian culture in general.
In summary we have participated in several activities around the community and hope to make progress by bringing various activities to our community and participate in activities throughout the Columbia community at large. We need more members and wider participation so please consider volunteering your time and talents and recommend your friends who can do so to join our committee.
As the year 2011 began we started our planning meetings for organizing our annual celebration to be held on March 18th. We are celebrating the 5th In April we celebrated Earth Hour by anniversary of our Temple and Community participating in activities organized with the Center which has come a long way in the help of a local organization known as past 5 years. We are now making future plans for renovations of the temple and will need all your support to make this project successful.
In November of 2010 the Ecumenical Interfaith Thanksgiving was organized by the Interfaith Council of Columbia and members of our committee participated in the discussions held by the planning committee. The celebration took place on November 21st at Memorial Union on the University Campus. Several members of HTCC participated in
Members Leela Jashnani1 Meera Chandrasekhar2 Gagneesh Rawat H.R.Chandrasekhar Ranadhir Mitra Shuba Ratneshwar Surya Mantrala 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
PAGE 26
SAMARPANAM
Members Das Kutikkad1 Ravi Thawani2 Anand Chandrasekhar Sanjeev Khanna Vellore Gopalaratnam 1. Acting Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
Facilities and Renovation T
his committee is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the Shanthi Mandir with the help of valuable volunteers. Several ongoing and badly needed repairs and renovations necessary to keep the Mandir in a safe and usable condition were undertaken and implemented by the committee members. The committee scheduled and coordinated several Shram Daan sessions to accomplish the following tasks during the last calendar year. Helped with weeding of the Front berm, flower box near the driveway entrance as well as those along the fence on the east side Coordinated the repair of the fence in the back to enhance security of the Mandir premises. Got quotes from several contractors to install a perimeter fence to increase the security of the Mandir premises. This fencing project will be coordinated with the proposed Mandir renovations planned for the upcoming year. Coordinated the repair and patching of
the parking lot on a temporary basis. Plans for expanding the parking lot to add an additional 20 – 25 spots are also in the works. A new door for the garden shed was fabricated and installed by the committee members.
HTCC Fifth Anniversary Celebrations Organizing/Support Committees The ad-hoc committee planning for the HTCC Fifth Anniversary Celebration has been toiling for several months, to make sure that the celebrations go without a hitch. Even with the best of planning, we can almost always do better. Should have any ideas to improve the event, please pass them on to any of the HTCC officers. We will try our best to implement all good ideas next year.
Organizing Committee
With Support From
Ravi Thawani (Chair) Meera Chandrasekhar Vellore S. Gopalaratnam Leela Jashnani Hema Srinivasan Nitin Patel Kiratadas Kutikkad Anand Chandrasekhar Surya Mantrala Rajini Tolani Kusum Malhotra Ranadhir Mitraji H. R. Chandrasekhar Nandhu Radhakrishnan Gagneesh Rawat Chandra Rawlani Bandana Katoch Tarang Parashar Shiva Kumar Pennathur
Amy Messner Stephanie Ross Anantha Gopalratnam Abirami Elangovan Alagu Arunachalam Krishna Sharma Inder Khurana Shubha Ratneshwar Vinita Khanna Reshma Khanna Meena Thawani Neeta Thawani Punam Sethi Sandhya Sharma Dabir Viswanath
PAGE 27
SAMARPANAM
Reminiscingâ&#x20AC;Ś
The journey of the last five years
Left to right and top to bottom: (1) and (2) Shanthi Mandir, a gift from Lord Ganesh, opens its doors on Ganesh Chaturthi, September 7, 2005. A brass idol of Vigneshwara and a lovingly made clay idol of the Lord gives spirit to the Mandir. (3) The first Bal Puja with a spartan altar lacked little in enthusiasm. (4) Balaji family relax after the altar wall is adorned with images of all deities, barely a couple of months after the Mandir opened its doors. (5) Installing laminate floors at the altar and new carpeting rejuvenates the interior.(6) Landscaping berm in the front enhances the hydraulics of the Mandir lot. (7) Much needed parking upgrade with resurfacing brings life to the exterior. (8) The young and young at heart volunteer during Shram Daan to stripe the parking lot. (9) The landscaping volunteers work their magic to bring curb appeal to the Mandir. (10) The Devotional group is ready for celebration with a colorful rangoli. (11) and (12) We end 2005 with the first Samuhika Satyanarayana Puja at Shanthi Mandir. (13) Sa Re Ga Ma was our first major fund raising foray. (14) Our first garage sale raised funds for the Mandir while building camaraderie. (15) Tamil classes predating the Mandir were among the first educational programs at the Mandir. (16) Hindi classes soon followed with parent-teachers. A community with a focus on devotional, educational, cultural, youth programs and community service was ready to serve Columbia!
PAGE 28
SAMARPANAM
Left to right and top to bottom: (1) and (2) Summer youth workshops have focused on promoting a “healthy mind in a healthy body” concept with popular math and yoga offerings. (3) Youth day is one day set aside for family fun and recognition of youth accomplishments. (4) Community service is one of the pillars of Shanthi Mandir with Bal Sabha youth participating in the city’s Adopt-aspot program at the Ridgeway Elementary School. (5) “Sharing the Warmth” has been a recently added service project where youth from the HTCC Helping Hands service group collect and donate winter clothing to other service organizations such as The Wardrobe and the Salvation Army. (6) Bike trip and picnic at Rocheport was a fun activity for our youth. (7) Monthly service of lunch (Narayan Seva) at the St. Francis Home has grown as a staple of the Sai Bhajan group. (8) Govinda’s treat (Pinata filled with candy) has become a fun addition to Janmashtami celebration at the Mandir. (9) HTCC youth and parents alike have rallied to make Ganesh idol making an annual affair in the week leading up to Ganesh Chaturthi. (10) Ganesh Chaturthi is a special festival near and dear to our hearts, marking the anniversary of Shanthi Mandir. (11) Shanthi Mandir has brought the community together to celebrate all major Indian festivals. (12) and (13) Akhand Ramayan, the reading of Tulsi Ramayan nonstop, has become a Rama Navami special event. (14) Youth enjoying setting off sparklers during Deepavali. (15) Bhog follows most major pujas. (16) HTCC has been actively engaged in the interfaith Thanksgiving celebrations in Columbia, hosting the city-wide event in 2009. (17) A multi-family Havan marked the devotional fifth anniversary at Shanthi Mandir in February 2011. (18) Youth assemble souvenirs for raising funds marking HTCC’s Fifth Anniversary. Educating and nurturing our youth to grow into caring and compassionate individuals has been a goal at Shanthi Mandir.
PAGE 29
SAMARPANAM
Together We Can…. 2011 HTCC Youth Competition Entries
On top: On left: Together We Can Plant a Meadow Together We Can Help Each Other Tia Rawat,2nd Grade, Mill Creek Nila Palaniappan,6th Grade, Smithton
HuHot Mongolian Grill and BBQ Restaurant has provided a $25 Gift Certificate and 2 T-Shirts for the youth entries published in Samarpanam. A big Thank you to HuHot! We appreciate your support for local community events. Congratulations kids and youths - You just won a lunch. Together We Can Vishnu Arunachalam, 2nd Grade Mill Creek Elementary
O
Together we can make a difference! Tia Rawat, 2nd Grade Mill Creek Elementary
Together we can do much more! Suryanshi Rawat, 8nd Grade Jeff Junior High School
Alone you can make a difference, Alone you can do small things, ne day, my friends and I were playing Together we can make a BIG difference! Together we can do big things. four squares. One of my friends hit Together we can accomplish our dreams, the ball too high that the ball flew up, hit a Alone you can think of a few ideas, Together we can be a team. Together we can think of many ideas tree nearby and got stuck. “Oh, oh, you hit Together we can recycle, reuse, and the ball too high and now it is stuck. We Alone you can help reduce waste, reduce are going to get in trouble,” I said. We Together we can keep our planet green And help end animal abuse. came up with a plan to get the ball back by and great Alone you can be bright and turn off a light, ourselves before we got in trouble. Four Alone you can help an animal, Together we can turn off a thousand lights! people stood at the bottom of the tree and Together we can provide them all a shelter. three people climbed on top of them. Two You can save energy alone, But together we can save the ozone! Alone you can kick the ball and miss, people stood on top of them and one Together as a team we can pass, score person (me!) climbed to the top. “I almost Together we can make the world a better and win! place, got it, I almost got it,” I cried. My hands Together we can win the race. touched the ball. The next second, the ball Alone you can be bored slipped out of my hands and hurled down. Together we can play and have fun! Alone you can plant a tree, Together we can plant a forest! One of the four people at the bottom left to Together we can share and care and help run after the ball. Guess what, that was the Together we can get the job done, each other end of our human pyramid! All of us came Together we can have fun! And make our world a nicer place tumbling down, falling on top of each other. Let us join hands and gather Yes - together we can make a big We learned a lesson that day: Together we We can do so much more when we are difference… stand/can, divided we fall/can’t. together…
PAGE 30
SAMARPANAM
Colorectal Cancer Awareness month
GI lab staff at Harry s Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital
Best Wishes from the Mitra Family Sathya Dharma Shanthi Prema Ahimsa
Truth Right Conduct Peace Love Nonviolence
Values to live by
PAGE 31
SAMARPANAM
Financial Policy T
he Financial Policy Committee (FPC) oversaw the HTCC record keeping and HTCC cash assets for 2010, interacting with the Executive Board officers (President Inder Khurana and Treasurer Manjula Narasimhan). The FPC has conducted the year-end internal audit of the attached balance sheet of HTCC and verified various expenses and entries. We report the following: Proper books of account as required by HTCC board and law have been kept by the Treasurer so far as appears from our examination of the books. The balance sheet and revenue and expenses account dealt with by this report are in agreement with the books of account. The expenditures were justified and recoded. The major expenses were the utilities, upgrades and repairs. Member donation is the major source of revenue. The donors are acknowledged as per mandated by HTCC practices. Among the HTCC activities the annual celebration was the single event that generated the highest surplus. Excluding the Anniversary celebration expenses the average monthly expense was around $1350.00. Charitable donations and interest income were sufficient to cover Mandir operation expenses in 2010. A detailed report of HTCC finances for the 2009 is alongside. HTCC has $244,514.67 as FDIC insured cash in a two local banks. Significant increase in cash accounts is due to the fundraising effort begun in the fall of 2010. We anticipate that major portion of the cash on hand will be utilized for major renovation of HTCC facility in 2011.
Members Krishna Sharma1 Inder Khurana2 Kannan Raghuraman Ravi Thawani Surya Mantrala 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
2010 Financial Report
Period: January 1, 2010 – December 31, 2010
Prepared by: Manjula Narasimhan, Treasurer, HTCC Executive Board Dated: February 23, 2011
Balance Forward (From December 31, 2009) Interest Income Interest from CDs and Money Market account Membership Dues Annual Family Member (AFM) Annual Individual Members (AIM) Upgrades to Lifetime membership (AFM to LFM)
$192,066.84 $7,984.69 $7,984.69 $2,370.00 $1,300.00 $120.00 $950.00
Donations
$52,243.24
Capital Campaign
$36,957.00
Other Charitable Donations
$11,140.00
Prayer Services/Hundi Facilities Use Other Revenues Fourth Anniversary Celebrations Miscellaneous Revenue TOTAL REVENUES Expenses Administrative Charges Bank Charges Insurance and Fees Garden/Lawn/Snow Clearance Maintenance and Supplies Printing and Mailing Start Up Special Events Fourth Anniversary Celebrations Upgrades and Repairs Utilities TOTAL EXPENSES
$2,631.24 $1,515.00 $14,257.92 $13,568.00 $689.92 $76,855.85 $345.52 $75.00 $698.00 $878.24 $857.45 $1,416.08 $389.00 $2,488.17 $8,126.35 $3,688.97 $5,445.24
ENDING BALANCE (December 31, 2010) * Includes $587.17 in uncleared checks and $121.09 in uncleared deposits.
$24,408.02 $244,514.67
*
PAGE 32
SAMARPANAM
PAGE 33
SAMARPANAM
Operations and Maintenance F
ive years and going strong— many thanks to all of the volunteer families who have helped keep the Shanthi Mandir beautiful, clean, and tidy! The main responsibilities of the Operation and Maintenance Committee are the upkeep of the Mandir, both indoors and outdoors, and to assist in fund-raising events. The Committee has been successful in accomplishing these goals. Mandir Upkeep and Cleaning – Thanks volunteers! Our sincere thanks go out to all of these volunteers for taking on this work and doing such a wonderful job. The families that have signed up take their work very seriously and continue to do an excellent job. We have had people visiting from outside Columbia asking us which "cleaning service" we use!! Also, the frequent vacuuming and wiping down of counters by groups that use the Mandir makes weekly cleaning of those areas real easy. There have been many changes in the Mandir over the last few years that have made cleaning easier; e.g., the flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms were replaced with new linoleum. Other changes and maintenance work that have been carried out since 2006 include removing, cleaning, painting and putting back the acoustic tile ceiling of the Prayer Hall. The interior walls of the Prayer Hall were also painted. The trailer at the corner of the lot which was being used to store Mandir supplies was deteriorating and so it was removed. All supplies are now stored in the closets and cabinets of the Educational Center. The lock on the main entrance door to the Mandir was also replaced with a new one. During the year 2010, we have also started using biodegradable products for serving food and beverages. Go Green! Cleaning schedule posted online The cleaning schedule with the current list of families continues to be posted on the Shanthi Mandir website under the Shram Daan page. We also have the schedule put up on the Prayer Hall bulletin board. The volunteer families are requested to check the schedule regularly. Also families are requested to put a check under each chore and an initial at the end after the clean-up has been done. Please
let us know if you swap dates with another family so that we can keep track of schedules. Yard and Garden In 2006 the Committee organized the planting of a garden on the berm in front of the Mandir and in the triangular spot by the mailbox. The hard work has paid off since then and we now get to enjoy a regular crop of bright perennial and annual flowers. These flowers are also used in the temple for all events. Every year we have had several volunteers including children who come to help with the yard and garden. They pull out weeds, clear the dead plants, and plant new ones. This year it was no different. In spite of their busy schedules volunteers took some time out twice a week in the evenings to help with the garden. Last year the group that worked hard on “Seva Day” also did some landscaping around the air conditioner unit and planted four Japanese pine trees. This group is planning on having “Seva Day” twice a year in the future, during early spring and early fall. We hope more people will join in this wonderful effort to keep the Mandir in good shape. Regarding mowing the yard, in the summer the Mandir continues to use a contractor to mow the yard every alternate week. A few HTCC members take turns mowing in the intervening weeks. Here again, we need more volunteers to help out. We need you… In the last five years the number of volunteer families that clean the Mandir on a weekly basis has been somewhat up and down. We started off with 20 families signing up in 2006, then 26 families in 2007. But in 2008, 2009 and 2010 there has been a decrease in the numbers. We need you… please come and volunteer at your Mandir. Concluding Note Thanks once again to the volunteer families who help keep the Shanthi Mandir so clean, neat, and tidy! Again, we cannot stress enough the need for more families to volunteer for the cleaning and upkeep of the Mandir.
Members Shuba Ratneshwar1 Meera Chandrasekhar2 Anantha Gopalaratnam Ravi Thawani 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
PAGE 34 Members Tarang Parashar1 Meera Chandrasekhar2 H. R. Chandrasekhar Ajit Vasudevan Vellore Gopalaratnam 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
Members Kiratadas Kutikkad1 Ravi Thawani2 Krishna Ramesh 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
SAMARPANAM
Publications T
he Publications Committee delivers A hard copy of the newsletter is also “Shanthi Sandesh” an informationsent by postal mail to the membership. If packed colorful quarterly newsletter in a you wish to receive a hard copy of the timely manner both on the Mandir web site newsletter, please provide us your and in hard copy format. mailing address. Printed newsletter The newsletter includes information on copies are also available at the temple. the temple celebrations, special events, Remember to pick one up on your next upcoming events schedule, a lead article visit to the temple. every issue and articles on Bhagwadgita, The newsletter submission guidelines Yoga, Health and others. The youth are also available on the temple website continue to express their thoughts in the at http://shanthimandir.missouri.org/ Bal Sandesh section of the newsletter. SSGuidelines.pdf These are contained in the center 2-4 pages of the newsletter and include poems, The Publications Committee welcomes articles, book reviews and kudos feature articles from our readership for information. inclusion in future editions of Shanthi Sandesh. Please send your ideas and suggestions/feedback to the Publications Shanthi Sandesh is featured online on Committee at tarangparashar@yahoo.com the Mandir website at http:// shanthimandir.missouri.org. or shanthimandir@yahoo.com.
Safety and Security T
he Safety and Security Sub-Committee is responsible for ensuring that the Shanthi Mandir building is safe for the use by the community and it complies with the applicable City codes and regulations.
The following items were completed with regard to safety of the Mandir during the last year: The fire extinguishers at the Mandir were inspected and two new ones were purchased to comply with city regulations. An annual safety inspection of the Mandir was completed. Several safetyrelated items at the Mandir, such as signage, were brought up to the code based on the recommendations from the fire department.
The committee members helped with the parking at the Mandir during many of the festival celebrations. Volunteers guided traffic and provided shuttle service between the Mandir parking lot and the Optimist Club parking lot.
SAMARPANAM
PAGE 35
Best wishes to Shanthi Mandir for all the endeavors that lie ahead
PAGE 36 Members H. R. Chandrasekhar1 Manjula Narasimhan2 Arjun Khurana Brishti White Maya Cutkosky Nidhi Khurana Prerna Srinivasan Urmila Kutikkad 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
SAMARPANAM
Library W
ith the major donations to our library by Professor Robert Bussaburger and Norman G. Barrier, now our library can boast about a handsome collection of books on the art, archeology, history, music, politics and government apart from an extensive collection on religion and philosophy. For example, we have multiple copies of the text and commentaries on the Bhagawadgita by many authors. Our goal is to have all the library books readily catalogued and made accessible to our members in the Educational Center located behind the main Shanthi Mandir. If the repair and renovation of the temple proceeds smoothly, the burden of space limitation will be lifted to some extent making this dream possible. Currently the Educational Center carries the burden of hosting various activities and also serving as a storage place. We seek volunteers
from both the adult and young members to help us in carrying out our mission. We deeply miss Professor Norman G. Barrier, one of our honorary members and a big contributor to our library.
Membership Members Inder Khurana1,2
1. Acting Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
As of March 1, 2011, the numbers of members in different categories of membership are: Sustaining Family members (SFM) Sustaining Individual members (SIM) Annual Family members (AFM) Annual Individual members (AIM) The schedule of membership fees is as follows: Sustaining Membership: Individual (SIM Dues $600); Family (SFM Dues $1,000) Annual Membership: Individual (AIM Dues $30); Family (AFM Dues $50)
The Committee requests annual members to become sustaining members annual members to renew their 2011 memberships all members to update their email addresses if there are any changes existing members to approach nonmembers to become members by highlighting the service, worship, cultural programs and youth activities undertaken under the umbrella of HTCC.
Membership dues are crucial for maintaining our operations. Therefore, growth and retention of members are keys to our success. When you read this issue The Membership Committee is needing of Samarpanam please remember to invite a Chair and a few members to help in your friends to attend functions of HTCC. recruiting new members, providing updates The HTCC events are posted on the web on membership renewals, sending thank and emails are regularly sent to members. you notes, keeping accounts, and above All members and non-members are all replying to all emails. welcome to attend HTCC organized events.
SAMARPANAM
PAGE 37
PAGE 38
SAMARPANAM
Congratulations on a Jubilant 5th Anniversary and many more to come Ghansham & Leela Jashnani Days Inn Travelodge Columbia, MO
A.C. Cleaning & Lawn Service 1810 N. Charleston Circle Columbia, MO 65202
Licensed ď ? Bonded ď ? Insured
Professional, Efficient Service Call us for a FREE estimate (573) 886-9664 Office (573) 876-9628 Pager
Residential & Commercial Cleaning, Lawn Care and Snow Removal Services Available
New Location 2537 Bernadette Square (opposite Target) Columbia MO 65203 Virtually painless, Beautiful eyebrows in 5 minutes No appointment necessary for threading
PH : (573) 445-5051 / (913) 980-0778 EMAIL: eyebrows.threading@yahoo.com
PAGE 39
SAMARPANAM
Scheduling S
cheduling has become a routine matter. The Mandir continues to be open 5 days a week at specific times (please check current programs). Saturday tends to be the busiest day.
Committee coordinates actively with the Devotional Program Committee to ensure that Shanthi Mandir is available during times when the events are planned by the Devotional Program Committee.
The Mandir regular events hold priority in terms of scheduling. The regularly scheduled events have fixed time assignments that can be found under the â&#x20AC;&#x153;EVENTSâ&#x20AC;? page and reviewing the calendar on that page. The Scheduling
All other requests for use of the temple building are accommodated around the planned events. The HTCC Events calendar can be found at http://shanthimandir.missouri.org/ Calendar2011.pdf
Service Programs T
he Service Committee contributed to the following programs during the year 2010. Monthly volunteering at Central Missouri Food bank (1st Tuesday of every month): This is 1 hour volunteer work at the Central MO food bank by several people on behalf of HTCC. The tasks are diverse and this Shram Daan activity is performed amidst mutual conversation and camaraderie. This work is truly a rewarding experience for the soul. Clean-up Columbia program (April 2010)This is an annual event conducted by the City of Columbia. There are two teams from HTCC that participate in this activity, one around the Mandir and the other is a youth team in Ridgeway. The task in this event is to pick up any roadside trash in the city supplied bags. It is a great way to contribute to the clean-up efforts. Many of our kids attend Ridgeway School and feel good with a sense of accomplishment by cleaning the area surrounding their school and the immediate neighborhood. The same is true for the volunteers helping with cleanup around the Mandir area. CROP walk in Columbia (October 2010) The CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walk is an annual event that combines fun and fundraising to raise awareness and funds for international relief and development, as well as local hunger-fighting. The local chapter of CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) organized the Columbia CROP Hunger Walk on the 3rd of October. This is the 3rd year that HTCC participated in the walk. 25% of the money
raised by the Columbia CROP Hunger Walk is used to partially support the Loaves & Fishes Soup Kitchen and the Russell Chapel Food Pantry. The rest of the funds are used to support global hunger education and in support of refugees, disaster relief and self-help projects in more than 80 countries Registered walkers have their friends and family make donations to the cause and sponsor the walk. Prerna Srinivasan, Bharath Srinivasan, Nila Palaniappan, Visala Palaniappan, K .Palaniappan, Suryanshi Rawat, Gagneesh Rawat, Ravi Thawani , Meena Thawani, Sonal Hate and Mayukh Ghosh registered to walk on behalf of HTCC. They were supported by several other walkers from HTCC. Our youth walkers did a splendid job in raising more than $500 for the CROP walk this year. The walk routes had a short walk option of approximately one mile and a long walk option of three miles. The walk routes were designed around the downtown area with the First Christian Church as the start and finish locations. The total amount collected during the Columbia CROP Walk was just under $19,000. The walk was an enriching experience in near perfect weather conditions and helped create awareness for a very worthy cause.
Members Anantha Gopalaratnam1 Inder Khurana2 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
Members Mayukh Ghosh1 Manjula Narasimhan2 Anantha Gopalaratnam Bandhana Katoch Chandra Rawlani Nilotpal Sanyal Pranavi Tella Rajini Tolani Senthil Kumar Shuba Ratneshwar Sushama Nagarkar Tarang Parashar 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
PAGE 40 Members Nandhu Radhakrishnan1 Ravi Thawani2 Gagneesh Rawat Aditi Bandyopadhyay 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison
SAMARPANAM
Youth Activities T
he HTCC Youth Activities Committee (YAC) serves to encourage, challenge and engage the young members of HTCC to participate in youth centric activities like Summer Workshops, Anniversary Contest and Youth Day/Picnic. The objective is to involve, mentor and reward the youth. During the year 2010, the committee only hosted the Annual Math workshop in the summer. Eight participants benefited from the Math Workshop conducted by Ashok Cutkosky. The committee has usually hosted multiple summer workshops during the past couple of years that has benefitted our youth in various diverse areas like Tennis, Chess, Computers, Data Wizardry, Moviemaker, Arts (Greeting Card/Wall Hangings), Crafts, Origami and Yoga. The Youth Day was hosted at the Dexheimer Shelter, Cosmo Park on August 28, 2010. The potluck dinner was well received and attended as usual. Apart from the dinner, various activities like volley ball, kite-flying, and the traditional tug-of-war kept the enthusiasm flow going. During February/March 2010, the Committee organized the 4th Anniversary Contest with the theme “Be the change you want to see” in Visual Arts, Literature and Music. There were several entries received and most were published in “Samarpanam”, the Annual Report for year
Big Smiles - Someone sure is having a great time
2009. All participants were awarded a “Certificate of Recognition”. This year also the Committee has announced a contest under the theme “Together We Can” to coincide with HTCC’s 5th Anniversary celebrations. The submitted entries are in the process of being screened, and selected ones will be published in “Samarpanam”. We need your feedback and support to be able to offer more workshops and youth enrichment activities. Please assist the committee in one of following ways: The committee would like to hear from the members of the community about their interests and to provide feedback and ideas on programs they wish to be hosted/ organized by the YAC. Adults and children interested in serving the office can contact the committee at htcc.youth@gmail.com. The Committee also invites members to share their talent with our youth by offering their artistic talent/skill via a summer workshop. Please contact the Committee at htcc.youth@gmail.com.
The food is definitely yummy. The kids enjoying the delicacies...
PAGE 41
SAMARPANAM
Congratulations!
to HTCC on their 5th Anniversary
Nanoparticle Biochem Inc Serving All Your Nano Needs
Nanoparticle Biochemicals Inc (NBI), USA (www.nanoparticlebiochem.com) In Partnership With Nanobio Chemicals India Private Ltd (NCIL), India (www.nanobiochemicals.com) serve as trusted and reliable resources for custom synthesis and supply of nanoparticles, nanobiochemicals, antimicrobial nanomaterials, and fine biochemicals to researchers in Academia Private Industry Government Agencies Non-profit Corporations Contact Us For All Your Nanoparticulate Needs Serving Your Nano Needs
HEAD QUARTERS: 209, Alton Buildings, 301 Business loop 70W, Columbia, MO 65211, USA Telephone: 001-573-639-2615 E-mail: info@nanoparticlebiochem.com www.nanobiochemicals.com
HEAD QUARTERS: 209, Alton Buildings, 301 Business loop 70W, Columbia, MO 65211, USA Tel: 001-573-639-2615 E-mail: WhiteH@missouri.edu AFFLIATE: Nanobio Chemicals India Private Ltd 217/7 1st Cross Ganesh Marg Hindwadi, Belgaum 590 011, INDIA Tel: 011-91-831-246-6522 info@nanobiochemicals.com www.nanobiochemicals.com
SAMARPANAM
Congratulations to HTCC on its Fifth Anniversary!
HTCC Devotional Programs Committee
PAGE 42
Committee members and volunteers pose with the Shri Sateesh Bhagwat of Chicago, IL, following the HTCC Fifth Anniversary Devotional Puja and Havan at the Shanthi Mandir on February 26, 2011. Pictured from left to right: Sateesh Bhagwat (who officiated the Puja), Tarang Parashar, Inder Khurana, Jasvir Mahal, A. R. Aroor, Ramesh Rawlani, Chandra Rawlani, Vellore S. Gopalaratnam, Pranavi Tella, Anantha Gopalaratnam, Meena Thawani and Punam Sethi. Other active HTCC Devotional Program Committee members not pictured include: Kusum Malhotra, Hema Srinivasan, Krishna Ramesh, Kuljit Sandhu, Nirja Loyalka, Srinath Gopalakrishna, and Vinita Khanna.
SAMARPANAM
PAGE 43
PAGE 44
SAMARPANAM
HTCC Directory 2011 The HTCC Directory for 2011 has been updated to include information as of March 6, 2011. Addresses and phone information are not included in the web version of this report for privacy reasons. They are included in the print version available at Shanthi Mandir. Honorary Members Bussabarger, Robert Morgan, Ginny Art Robbins and Norman G Barrier, our other Honorary Members, are deceased.
Nagar, Murarilal
Sustaining Members Aggrawal, Kul and Archana
Khanna, Sanjeev and Vinita
Radhakrishnan, Nandhu and Selvi
Anand, Satish and Sushma
Khurana, Inder and Jasmit
Raghuraman, Kannan and Anandhi Upendran
Arunachalam, Vairam and Alagu
Krishna, Gopal and Santosh
Bal, Sharanjit and Ranjit
Krishnan, Hari and Latha
Ramachandran, V. and Anuradha Rajagopalan
Banerji, Shanka K
Kumar, Senthil and Kala
Ramadoss, Umasankar and Sasi
Basu, Asit and Sandra
Kulkarni, Rajesh and Indira
Rangnekar, Nitin and Kirthi
Batchu, Sudhir and Priya
Kumar, Lalit and Arpita
Ratneshwar, Srinivasan and Shuba
Battula, Ravindra and Vijaya Kattumuri
Kutikkad, Kiratadas and Geetha
Rawat, Gagneesh and Aditi
Bhaskaran, Rajagopalan and Vasanthi
Lal, Sunder and Nila Gupta
Rawlani, Ramesh and Chandra
Chandrasekhar, Anand and Chiengkham Baccam
Loyalka, Sudarshan and Nirja
Sadhu, Vijay and Smita
Mahal, Satnam and Jasvir Kaur
Sahota, Pradeep K and Shaku
Malhotra, Anil and Kusum
Satpathy, Sashi and Namita
Mantrala, Murali and Surya
Seghal, Toshi
Manusmare, Purushottam and Usha
Sethi, Sanjiv and Punam
Mitra, Ranadhir and Roma
Sethi, Yash and Anjna
Mohan, Rajiv and Sunilima Sinha
Sharma, Krishna and Sandhya
Naik, Yogesh and Rashmi
Singh, Amolak and Kuljit
Nair, Satish and Jyotsna
Srinivasan, Bharath and Manjula Narasimhan
Chandrasekhar, Holalkere and Meera Chaudhary, Kunal and Ritcha Mehra Cutkosky, Dale and Hema Srinivasan Dhand, Rajiv and Upinder Elangovan, Balakrishnan and Abirami Faizer, Rumi and Archana Ramaswamy Gangopadhyay, Keshab and Shubhra Gopalakrishna, Srinath and Uma Palaniappan, Kannappan and Visala Gopalaratnam, Vellore and Anantha
Subramanian, Krishna and Raji Panneerselvam, Ayyakannu and Gandhi
Gowda, Bhaskar and Shoba
Shukla, Shivendra and Asha Patel, Nitin and Harsha
Jain, Arun
Tejwani, Lokesh and Varsha Pherwani Pendurthi, Chalapathi Rao and Kavita
Jashnani, Ghansham and Leela
Thawani, Ravi and Meena Puri, Ravi and Mona
Katti, Kattesh and Kavita
Viswanath, Dabir and Pramila
PAGE 45
SAMARPANAM HTCC Directory 2011 (continued 2/4) Annual Members for 2011 (list includes some 2010 Annual Members yet to renew for 2011*) Aroor*, Annayya Rao and Sudha
Kumar*, Rajesh and Aruna
Senthilkumar*, Annamalai and Smruthi
Balakrishnan*, Bimal and Lakshmi Nair
Nagarkar, Sushama and Aarti
Srikanta, Nangangud and Hemalatha
Bomb, Ritin and Kavita
Parashar, Tarang
Singh, Sunil Kumar and Deepika Menon
Ghosh, Mayukh and Sonal
Pennathur, Shiva Kumar
Tella, Pranavi
Guha*, Subharup and Aditi Bandyopadhyay
Premnath, Venkatesan and Vasanthy
Thakkar, Mahesh and Jollyin
Puttur, Santhoshkumar and Shuba
Thiruvengadathan*, Rajagopalan and Rama Kannan
Gupta, Ghanshyam and Manorma Raikhanghar*, Sunil and Komal Gupta, Mangal
Tolani, Bhisham and Rajini Ramaswamy, Ram and Indira
Jain, Nishant
Vasudevan*, Ajit and Deepa Ramesh*, Krishna
Joshi, Mahendra and Anita
Yaddanapudi, Sridhar Rao*, Samir and Shraddha
Katoch, Bandhana Sengupta*, Shramik Kumar, Adarsh and Sangeeta
PAGE 46
SAMARPANAM HTCC Directory 2011 (continued 3/4)
This page is intentionally left blank due to the abbreviated web directory
PAGE 47
SAMARPANAM HTCC Directory 2011 (continued 4/4)
Ah< inivRkLpae inrakar êpae ivÉuTvac svRÇ sveRiNÔya[am! , n cas'gt nEv muiKtnR mey> icdanNdêp> izvae=hm! izvae=hm! . Aham nirvikalpO nirAkAra roopO vibhutvAca sarvatra sarvEndriyANam , na cAsangata naiva muktir na mEya: cidAnandarpa: ShivOham ShivOham .
Thought-free am I, formless my only form, I am the vitality behind all sense organs of everyone; Neither have I attachment to anything, nor am I free from everything; I am all-inclusive; I am Auspiciousness. Auspiciousness alone.
South Asian Student Association (SASA) S
South Asian heritage in the ASA was established in 2004 as community that are able to handle SANGAM which aimed to promote our particular needs as people of South Asian culture for the students of South Asian influence and the University of Missouri, Stephens background. College, and Columbia College. We hoped to attract the student body by To program events reflecting and providing them with informative and revealing the rich traditions of the social events related to South Asia in South Asian culture, history, and order to enhance a greater awareness philosophies to give mainstream of South Asian culture among society a more complete picture of students. the world outside of their dominate Our organization has evolved since culture. its establishment. The overall purpose of South Asian Student Association (SASA) is to organize students of the South Asian race through tradition and heritage. In order to do this, we have listed five integrated goals, which further focus our activity. To establish a social network for SASA students for the exploration and relief of shared culture To educate people and create experiences. awareness that discrimination To provide a support network for transcends the polarization of black/white issues and to work for South Asians at the University of accurate inclusions of South Asian Missouri – Columbia and others of
culture, history and issues into society’s cultural awareness To bridge the schisms found among the various cultures we represent as South Asian college students in order to work more effectively towards establishing a true community, as well as lending more strength to our collective voice to address issues that affect us as a whole. SASA welcomes all students interested in learning more about South Asian culture and issues to become members and participate in our events. We represent South Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal. We are inclusive off all the religions represented in the South Asian region including Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Sikhism. We hope to build stronger ties with the University of Missouri and the greater Columbia community.
PAGE 48
SAMARPANAM
MUDRA
M
UDRA is a unique organization on campus and aims to create a global dance scene at MU. MUDRA has both performing and non performing members from MU campus and Columbia community coming from different countries like US, India, Russia, Georgia, Mongolia, China to name a
few. Any MU student can join the organization to nurture their love for classical dance and music. MUDRA is also very keen on using the language
of dance for philanthropic and fundraising activities. We have organized dance performances by renowned artistes across US and arranged dance workshops and lecture demonstrations by them. Regular activities Weekly classes on Odissi, a beautiful classical dance form of Eastern India taught by Aditi Bandyopadhyay (www.aditibandyopadhyay.net) at the Memorial Union on MU campus. Fees for the classes are $40 for each semester (Fall and Spring). Classes are free for Summer semester. There is also a nominal annual membership fees. Please visit MUDRA's website at http://mudra.students.missouri.edu for further details on our classes and membership. For enquiries related to classes and general interest, contact us at mudra.fall2008@gmail.com Performances by MUDRA in Spring Semester, 2011 1. Performance by MUDRA at MU International Night, at Jesse Auditorium on March 19th, 2011.
2. Performance by MUDRA at Spring Dance Sequence at Stotler Lounge, Memorial Union on April 5th at 7.30pm organized by Unions Art Council. 3. Performance by MUDRA's instructor Aditi Bandyopadhyay at St Louis Indian Dance Festival, 2011 on April 15th, 2011. Special Event organized by MUDRA in Spring semester, 2011 1. Dance performance by Guru Prasanna Kasturi, on April 24th at Jesse Wrench Auditorium (Time to be announced).
Raagas of Columbia R
aagas of Columbia promotes classical music, dance and other cultural and educational heritage of India. Hema Srinivasan, Shuba Ratneshwar, Anand Chandrasekhar Manjula Narasimhan, Rajagopalan Thiruvengadathan, Dabir Vishwanath, and Anandhi Upendran are the original founders of the organization that started in year 2009.
The inaugural program of Raagas of Columbia was the Saxophone concert of Dr. Kadri Gopalnath accompanied by the renowned violinist Kanyakumari and accomplished Mridhangist B. Harikumar. Videos and Audios of that program are available for a nominal charge at the Mandir. The proceeds from the videos benefit Shanthi Mandir. A short synopsis of this
concert appears in the Feb 2010 issue of Shanthi Sandesh. In April and May of 2010, we hosted Dr. Purnaprajnaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s violin concert and the vocal concert of Saint Louis Duo, Guru Prasanna Kasturi and Guru Seema Murthy. Raagas is continuously working to bring Indian classical music programs to Columbia.
Left to right: Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, violinist Kanyakumari, Shiva Narasimhamurthy, violinist Dr. Purnaprajna and Guru Prasanna Kasturi
PAGE 49
SAMARPANAM
C
Cultural Association of India
ultural Association of India (CAI) is the first International Student Organization at the University of Missouri, Columbia (MU). It was formed on October 4, 1957 to let the students from India to organize and pursue their cultural traditions; however as faculty and staff of Indian origin started to join MU, the organization began to include them adding new programs and events as it grew. Thus for the past five decades, the CAI has been involved in organizing and participating in dozens of events on MU campus, in the public schools, and in Columbia and neighboring towns all round the year.
♦ Participation in Diabetes Walk fundraising event and others ♦ Promotion of diversity on campus through International Night, International Welcome Party etc
Special Events: ♦ Bringing in famous artists of India for performances on campus (Ravishankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivakumar Sharma, Shahid Parviz, Ronu Mazumdar, Barun Pal, Mohan Singh, Lalitha Krishnan, Vinayak Torvi, Annual Activities of CAI include: Padmini, Indrani Rahman, Amita Dutt, ♦ Commemoration of the Republic Day Raja and Radha Reddy troupe, to name and Independence Day of India ♦ Celebration of Holi, Baishakhi & Diwali a few from the past) ♦ Promotion of local talents in performing ♦ Hosting diplomats and dignitaries (had 3 ambassadors and 4 consuls of India; arts by staging INDIA-NITE - a song, renowned authors Drs. Subhas Kak and dance, skit cultural extravaganza in the Robert Kanigal and several MU fall, and a classical song, dance, dignitaries, among others). instrumental music event SARGAM in ♦ Shram daan and fund-raising for the winter. victims of natural disaster (responded to ♦ Presentation of India’s History, Rocheport-Missouri flood, Latur and Religions, Culture, and Display of art and Craft on MU campus, public Schools Gujarat earthquakes, India/Indonesian Tsunami) and City events.
CAI Officers 2011
Thanks to the enthusiastic and ever expanding Indian Diaspora, the CAI, from the first seed planted way back in 1957, has consistently flourished and branched out like a Banyan tree, providing multiple platforms to organize and further the diverse cultural heritage of India in Columbia – promoting crosscultural understanding in the community in more ways than one. Irrespective of religious faith and nationality, the membership of CAI is open to anyone interested in India or in her diverse culture. Website: http://web.missouri.edu/ ~umcmedmayur/ Email: mayor@missouri.edu
The Vedic Society T
he Vedic Society, a student organization of University of Missouri, is dedicated to promote spiritual awareness and harmony, by emphasizing the need to recognize the spiritual basis and relating it to life for the upliftment of personal and social wellbeing. The word Veda, to which the organization owes its name, is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘Vid’, which means to know and thus literally translates in English as knowledge. The Vedas essentially refer to a body of knowledge, consisting of eternal universal self-evident truths that were directly experienced by seers called ‘Rishi’s and compiled in written form much later. They are the fountainhead of Indian culture, the basis
Weekly Meditation/ Meeting 6:00-7:30 PM on Fridays (Jan 21-May13, 2011) Faculty Lounge, S304 Memorial Union (MU)
of all philosophy and religious traditions that go by the name Hindu and the source of the spirit of universal Vedic Society Prayer May He, who is Father in heaven of the Christians, Holy One of the Jews, Allah of the Muslims, Buddha of the Buddhists, Tao of the Chinese faith, Great Spirit of the native Americans, Ahura Mazda of the Zoroastrians and Brahman of the Hindus, lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. May the all-living being manifest Himself unto us and grant us abiding understanding and all-consuming divine love. Peace, peace, peace be unto all.
acceptance that marks Hinduism. The philosophical part of the Vedas, called the Upanishads or Vedanta, contains the essence of all religions and thus, without denying any religion, serves as a great means of harmony, especially necessary in modern time. The activities of the Vedic Society are primarily directed towards encouraging students and others to manifest spirituality in their personal life, to find
out spiritual solutions to the various problems of life instead of mere quick but temporary ones and help others do the same, in the spirit of harmony. Weekly Meeting: Study and discussion of different spiritual topics, understanding their connection with the problems of life and well-being; Meditation; Prayer. (See here) Spiritual Talks and Workshops: Occasional talks, Meditation and Yoga workshops by invited guests. (See here) Trips: Occasional trips to spiritual places and talks. MU Events: Participation in various oncampus events throughout the year. Membership of the Vedic Society is open to any person or family, student or non-student, from any country, caste or religion. Donations will be sincerely appreciated. Website: http:// vedicsociety.students.missouri.edu/ Email(vedicsociety.mu@gmail.com) or call 573-5294054 to join or know more details.
PAGE 50
T
SAMARPANAM
Current Programs at Shanthi Mandir
hese regular programs held at Shanthi Mandir are open to all interested. While all these events are compatible and support HTCC goals and objectives, events not organized by HTCC are appropriately listed. The contact information for each activity is provided. Please visit our web site at <http://shanthimandir.missouri.org> to be informed of special festival celebrations, puja’s and other educational programs such as short courses and workshops scheduled at various other times during the year at the Mandir. We strive to keep our web site up-to-date on an ongoing basis.
HTCC Organized Regular Events Open Prayer Time (Every Tuesday and
Saturday from 6 pm- 8 pm, Aarti at 7:45 pm)
Shanthi Mandir is open for devotees to meditate, offer their prayers, and participate in the Aarti. We will have CDs of Bhajans and other devotional songs handy that can be played during prayer times. Please help us in volunteering to keep the Mandir open at these times. If there is interest in this type of open prayer time, and we receive adequate volunteer support to keep the Mandir open, we will consider longer and more frequent access to the
Mandir. For more information contact: Chandra Rawlani at 446-5960 Shram Daan (Every Friday from 6 pm to 8 pm and every Saturday from 10 am – 12 pm at the Mandir)
Volunteer and service projects at the Mandir and at other locations as required. For more information contact: Vellore or Anantha Gopalaratnam at 446-0663.
Suprabhatam and Sahasranaamam Prayers (Every Saturday from 9 - 10 am) The Saturday morning prayers are dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara, another form of Lord Vishnu. He is also known affectionately as Balaji or Srinivasa. These recitations are in Sanskrit, the language used for most Hindu scriptures. For more information contact: Vellore S. Gopalaratnam at 446-0663.
Events Organized by Other Groups Bal Puja* (2nd Sunday from 10 am – 1 pm at
the Mandir)
Bal Puja meetings are intended to create an awareness of Hinduism among community youth. Specifically, Bal puja meetings focus on Hindu Gods and Goddesses, mythology, tales, beliefs, rituals and practices. The meetings offer an opportunity to provide the core essence of Hindu faith and philosophy and to explain how mythology and varied practices emanate from the core essence. For more information contact : Punam Sethi at 514-0486 or Inder Khurana at 874-9647 Bal Sabha* (4th Sunday from 3 – 5 pm at the
Mandir)
The objectives of the Bal Sabha of Mid-Missouri are: (1) To create among youngsters an awareness of India's history and culture, (2) To provide youngsters an avenue to research topics related to India and present it to Bal Sabha membership, (3) To provide youngsters a means of acquiring knowledge about India from their peers, and (4) To provide youngsters a means of being involved and to serve the Columbia community. Bal Sandesh is published along with the HTCC quarterly Shanthi Sandesh. For more information contact: Ravi Thawani at: 660-8825317. Bharata Natyam Class* (Every Wednesday
from 5:30 – 8:30 pm at the Mandir)
This dance class is privately conducted by the Soorya Dance Company of St. Louis. It is hosted at the Mandir for the convenience of many HTCC families and because it is in support of some of HTCC’s mission. Instructor fee is required. The class makes regular donations for facilities use to cover operating costs. For more information contact: Manjula Narasimhan at: 445-0033.
Carnatic vocal music classes* (Typically on
Sundays from 1pm to 3pm)
Kirtan* (1st Sunday from 10 am – 1:30 p.m.) The Kirtan program brings together local Sikhs and other followers of Guru Nanak Dev. Hymns and prayers are recited. A sacred pot-luck lunch called Langhar concludes this program. Sukhmani Sahib is read. It is the name given to the set of hymns divided into 24 sections which appear in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Holy Scripture. The word Sukhmani literally means peaceful mind. This set of hymns or Bani is very popular and is frequently recited in Gurdwaras and at home. For more information contact: Kuljit Sandhu at 442-4471 or Chandra Rawlani at 446-5960. Sai Bhajans* (Bhajans Thursday from 7 - 8
pm. Narayan Seva 2nd Sunday from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm at the St. Francis Home on Rangeline)
Sai Bhajan Group meets for a sing-along devotional program every week and on preannounced special festivals. It is a nondenominational group. All interested persons are welcome to attend. Followers of Bhagawan Shri Satya Sai Baba strive to live the five important human values. These include: Truth (Sathya), Righteousness (Dharma), Peace (Shanthi), Love (Prema) and Non-violence (Ahimsa). The group also cooks a complete vegetarian lunch every 2nd Sunday and serves it at the St. Francis Home, a local shelter for the homeless. For more information contact: Anantha Gopalaratnam at 446-0063.
Tabla Class* (Typically 2nd and 4th Sundays— but schedule and locations change as convenient) . Contact Pradeep Sahota at 8740443.
Tamil Language Class* (1st and 3rd Sunday
from 3– 5 pm at the Mandir)
Tamil Classes have been held in Columbia since 1996, hosted at participating families homes predating Shanthi Mandir. The hosting of these classes in Shanthi Mandir since October 2005 has allowed a better learning experience, given the state-of-the-art audio-visual infrastructure at the Mandir. Children learn conversational Tamil so that they are comfortable talking to relatives back in India, learn rudimentary written Tamil, learn the culture through language and songs, develop a strong peer support structure, and generally have fun during the social time following each class. Classes are taught by volunteers. For more information contact: Visala Palaniappan 446-1962. Yoga sessions (instruction fee required): Typically Saturdays from 10:15 - 11:45 am. Contact: Visala Palaniappan 446-1962.
* Facilities use and infrastructural support provided by HTCC but not organized by HTCC
Serving the Columbia community with convenience store and gas station! ULTRAMART ARENA
Shell
3101 S. Providence Road Columbia, MO 65203 Ph: 573-443-3144
The Executive Committee on behalf of the
Gujarati Samaj of Mid-Missouri Â
Congratulates the
Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC) Shanthi Mandir On the occasion of their
Fifth Anniversary Celebrations
Way to go!