LOCAL CHAPTER – UPDATES VSNA – Maryland Chapter By - Megha Kori, Youth Leader, VSNA-MD Deepavali celebration Meeting Minutes The members of the VSNA-MD Chapter enthusiastically celebrated Deepavali festival at the JSS mission in Gaithersburg, MD on Saturday, November 9th at 5:30 PM. Thanks to Mrs. Shashikala Auntie and Dr. Chandrasekhar Uncle for sponsoring this event and to the JSS management. We offer our respectful pranams to the Swamiji for allowing us to host this event at the mutt. The event was very well attended and the committee thanks all the participating families for their thoughtfulness and benevolence toward their Samaja. The main function began with an invocation song by Megha Guggari and the emcees for the occasion were Divya Katti and Parnika Murthy. Both of them did a wonderful job conducting the program. They deserve a big applause from all of us. Our treasurer, Mr. Girish Uppin Uncle, welcomed members to the Deepavali event. Kids and adults performed linga pooja under the guidance of Mrs. Jayashree Jagadeesh Auntie. This was followed by singing of devotional songs and the maha mangalaarti. We introduced a new series in Anubhava Goshti, Vachana discussion, entitled ALLEGORIC VACHANAS OF ALLAMA PRABHU. Dr. G. Jagadeesh Uncle conducted the vachana discussion on a selected vachana of Prabhudevaru. Tanuva tOMTava maaDi, manava guddaliya maaDi, Agedu kaLedenayyaa bhraaMtina bEra; oDedu saMsaarada heMTeya, Bagedu bittidenayyaa brahma bIjava; aKaMDa maMDalaveMba baavi, pavanavE raaTAALa, suShumna naaLadiMda udakava tiddi, basavagaLaivaru hasageDisihaveMdu, samate sairaNe eMba bEliyanikki, aavaagalU I tOTadalli jaagaraviddu, sasiya salahidenu kaaNaa guheshvaraa I made the body a garden and the mind a pick axe, I dug and got rid of the roots of illusion; I broke the worldly mud chunks and sowed the seeds of Brahma; From the well of non-fragmented expanse, with breath alone as the pump and from the depths of sushumna, I irrigated the garden; Concerned that the five bulls will destroy it, I installed the fence of balance and tolerance; Being awake all the time, I took care of the sapling, you see Guhesvaraa! [Reference: Sajjan Shiva: http://vachanaaweek.blogspot.com/search?q=Tanuva+tOMTava+maaDi]
The biggest attraction of the night was children and youth talent show. Nearly 20 children and youth showcased their talents in many ways. They did a fantastic job of demonstrating devotional songs, their skill with musical instruments and Bollywood dance. It was great! The talent show ended with a song by Nijaguna Prasad Uncle. Thanks to both parents and the participants for making it a memorable evening. We hope to see more talent at the next Deepavali function. Thank you to everyone who contributed to an amazing dinner – it was delicious!
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