H i n d u T e m p l e A n d C o m m u n i t y C e n t e r O f M i d - M i s s o u r i 2006, Holly avenue, Columbia, MO 65202-2043

http://shanthimandir.missouri.org (573) 814-1286

Shanthi Sandesh

V O L U M E 1 , N U M B E R 3 A U G U S T 2 0 0 6

T his third issue of Shanthi Sandesh focuses on youth

interests and activities within HTCC and beyond. The task of keeping youth engaged during the summer is both fun and challenging. HTCC’s Youth Activities Committee has excelled in this task with a host of special activities including the Desi Tennis Tournament, Moviemaker Workshop, Basic Computer Skills Workshop, and Math Workshop. Also slated for August are a Chess Tournament and a Tennis Clinic. The committee plans to wrap up a very productive summer with the Youth Day celebration on Saturday, August 19, an outdoor fun and games picnic to recognize the accomplishments of our youth.

The lead article in this issue is appropriately on Cricket - Then and Now, the all-

consuming game played in India and in much of the Commonwealth nations. With the World Cup but months away, cricket fever reigns supreme. Thanks to the efforts of a few diehards, we may soon be able to play cricket matches in Columbia. Stay tuned! Games I Played when I was a Kid takes us back to a time when fun and games were low-cost, mentally refreshing and physically demanding. No X-boxes for this crowd!

The summer break has allowed us to undertake time-intensive volunteering projects to improve the Mandir infrastructure. Our frontage now sports a 60-ft long colorful flower bed. In addition to providing us fresh flowers for devotional programs at the Mandir, the bed also improves drainage by directing flow

away from the building’s foundation. Our Operations and Maintenance committee ably led this landscaping effort. We also invested in a new multimedia computer and put in place a local area network at the Mandir with wireless access to the Internet. This wireless network facility will allow us to undertake educational projects of service to the community around our neighborhood.

A team of HTCC Officers including Kattesh, Chandra, Gagneesh and Inder visited with several Jefferson City families to have ongoing discussions with them on Mandir activities. The visit was very productive and resulted in several new members including one lifetime member. We hope to continue this dialogue regularly. Through such interactions and the participation of Jefferson City

Continued on page 3...

Message from the Executive Board

CRICKET - Then and Now Vairam Arunachalam

M ove over, baseball! Did you know that cricket is

the most popular bat and ball sport in the world? In fact, in countries such as India, it is by far the major draw for most people, rich and poor. Though cricket is not officially designated as the national sport of India, it nevertheless holds an exalted position in Indian childhood and life. Cricket: A Way of Life Growing up in India, it is

almost impossible to avoid cricket as it is everywhere! Neighborhoods, alleys, parks, beachfronts, and “grounds” most weekday evenings and weekends are fair game for impromptu and/or organized

cricket activity. Many children returning from school run hurriedly through their chores before they are released for some fun and exercise with a cricket bat and a ball. This was certainly my

observation and experience from growing up in Chennai (formerly Madras) and Salem, from my summers in

Hyderabad, and from my intermittent travels to Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Goa, Kerala, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), and Assam. Wherever I went, I would see intense games in progress, with emotions strung high and many outcomes seemingly at the level of predicting world peace! Needless to say, when there were big games in progress against one of the leading cricket-playing nations, almost the entire country would seem to be absorbed in the game and how India was doing. People would walk on the streets listening to the radio commentary or hang out and watch TV coverage in stores or friends’ houses. Many times, depending on

Continued on page 5...

Inside This Issue

Cricket! 1-5

Is the Budha Relevant? 2

SaReGaMa 3 Games I Played 4

Computer Workshop 4

Tennis Quiz 5

Kite Flying 6

Bal Sandesh 7

Vaishno Devi Temple 8

Tirupati Balaji Temple 8

Ten Solar System Facts 9

Math Workshop 10-12

Games in Ancient India 11

Moviemakers 12

Upcoming HTCC Events 15

Victorious Indian cricket team Colorful blooms adorn the Shanthi Mandir

P A G E 2 S H A N T H I S A N D E S H

Is the Buddha Relevant? - Philip Jones

G autam Buddha was born approximately 2550 years

ago. Is the story of his life and his primary teachings relevant to our lives in the 21st century? This was the question explored in a talk at Shanthi Mandir (the Hindu Temple and Community Center) on June 18th, 2006. Although Buddha is now deeply

revered as a spiritual teacher, the simple humanity that he shares with each of us was the source of his spiritual quest. Before he became Gautam Buddha, the Awakened One, he was known as Siddhartha. Shortly after his birth his mother died and he was raised by his aunt. His father, a king, could not protect him from this loss. But, he provided Siddhartha with the finest things and attempted to protect him from the other difficulties of life. Nevertheless, Siddhartha became acutely aware of these miseries, particularly sickness, old age and death. He realized that the pleasures of the material world were not a satisfactory refuge

from these difficulties. And so he began his spiritual search. If we look at our own lives we find that we experience the same difficulties that Siddhartha did. We are also subject to

sickness, old age and death. We also seek relief from the stresses of life through the pursuit of pleasant experiences. Yet, just like Siddhartha, we can never seem to find lasting relief from these stresses. Often the pursuit of relief seems to just keep us running from experience to

experience in hopes that the next thing will provide us with the contentment that we are seeking. But this very seeking leads to more turbulence in our lives. In looking at this situation,

Siddhartha was facing the fact that suffering and dissatisfaction are simply a part of human life. This was the first step in beginning his spiritual search. Just like Siddhartha, we may experience a significant change in our lives due to illness, war, the loss of a job, a geographic relocation or the loss of a loved one. And in the same way, we may begin to search for peace and contentment through spiritual means when we face these difficulties in our own lives. When Siddhartha had

completed his spiritual search, he realized four truths which seem simple but have much depth to them. By directly realizing these truths on his own, Siddhartha became Buddha and then went on to share what he had realized for the remaining forty-five years of his life. The first truth is There is Suffering - a simple acknowledgement and acceptance that suffering and dissatisfaction are part of human life. The second truth Buddha

realized is that There is an Origin or Cause for Suffering. Although he understood that an infinite number of factors may be involved in causing a single event, it is the way that we relate to the event that leads to the origin of our experience of dissatisfaction or suffering. If we wish that what is occurring in the present moment of our lives were different from the way that it is, then we are at war with life and are creating a layer of suffering on top of the unpleasantness we seek to avoid.

We do not experience dissatisfaction or suffering every moment of our lives. There are times during the day when we feel peaceful and content. By examining his own life, Buddha realized the third truth that There is Cessation of Suffering. He found in his own life, and hundreds of thousands of his followers have found in their lives, that it is possible to live with equanimity in spite of the ups and downs that are a normal part of human existence. Then Buddha reflected on the

factors that had contributed to his own spiritual liberation. This led to his realization that There is a Path Leading to the End of Suffering. This Path has come to be known as the Noble Eightfold Path. It involves three inter-related practices. • Developing a generous and

ethical life; • Training the mind, through

meditation,to rest in wholesome or skillful states, such as loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, while seeing each moment as it is.

• And, coming to see which thoughts and behaviors lead to suffering and which ones lead to contentment.

These insights further guide one's life towards peacefulness and equanimity. Realizing these truths and putting them into practice made a difference in Siddhartha’s life. As Gautam Buddha, he would encourage people to see if these truths were relevant for their own lives by inviting them to "Come and see." In the end that is all any of us can do, just come and see for ourselves☯

Phil Jones is a Buddhist teacher associated with the Show Me Dharma insight meditation group in Columbia. SaReGaMa

The thought manifests as the word; The word manifests as the deed;

The deed develops into habit; And habit

hardens into character. So watch the thought

and its ways with care, And let it spring from

love born out of concern for all beings.

The Buddha

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , N U M B E R 3

members on HTCC Committees we can provide programs that meet the needs of our members in Jefferson City and other outlying areas.

On the devotional front, the 2006 Samuhika Satyanarayana Puja in May was very well received, even with the last minute change in the Pujari for the devotional event. In Mid-June we were fortunate to commemorate Buddha Jayanthi, even if belatedly, with a well attended talk on Is the Buddha Relevant? by Philip Jones of the Show-Me Dharma community. The devotional calendar for the fall is loaded - we start with Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi in August, Dussehra in September, and Diwali in October. Tentative dates for these celebrations are included in this issue. More details on these celebrations will be coming your way soon.

Ganesh Chaturthi 2006 (August 27) will mark the one-year anniversary of Shanthi Mandir. You will recall that the first event at the Mandir was the Puja on Ganesh Chaturthi day on September 7, 2005. While we plan on a strictly devotional celebration to mark the occasion, plans for a social event possibly in conjunction with an annual dinner, is slated for January 2007 (the one-year anniversary of HTCC). We would welcome ideas for this celebration.

Please contact us if you would like to help us organize this event.

As we prepare to achieve several important Mandir and HTCC milestones, we would appreciate help with our 50/75 Campaign. We would like to see our membership grow to include 50 lifetime members and 75 annual members before the end of 2006. Our robust current membership roster, detailed on Page 15, suggests that this is a very realistic target for Year One. We would greatly appreciate assistance from everyone in bringing their friends into the HTCC community. Only through sustained support of the community can we improve our services and grow our devotional, service, educational, and youth offerings. We have clearly made a positive impact on the Columbia community during our first year. Given the enthusiasm, desire for community service, and expertise level of our membership, we expect to do even better in the months and years ahead.

HTCC has also been actively involved in networking with other community groups in the city to facilitate our integration with the community service infrastructure in Columbia. The Mandir recently hosted George Mummert’s Religions of the World class from the Moberly Area Community College. Gopal was invited to lead Woodcrest Church’s monthly Dine and Discuss group’s meeting in July. The discussions centered on the basic tenets of

Hinduism and current projects at Shanthi Mandir. Our Service Programs Committee is working on developing several new community service projects for HTCC members to participate in. These activities will allow networking with other social service groups within the city.

The recent light-classical concert SaReGaMa was a very successful event. The funds raised exceeded our expectations. Additionally the improved awareness of Shanthi Mandir and its services, as well as the spiritually uplifting experience that this event brought about were by no means insignificant accomplishments. We offer our sincere thanks to Sandhya and Raghu Pandurangi, Anil Datar, and Madhu Vora for the generous donation of their time and talent.

A trip to our web site will undoubtedly impress the visitor with the wide range of program offerings for all age groups and interests, be it devotional, service or educational. We welcome you to participate in the Mandir activities of interest to you. As always, if you have ideas for new programs to serve our community, please do not hesitate to let us know. We have a “Comments/Feedback” form online as well as a box at the Mandir for providing us your feedback. See you at the Mandir!☯

Vellore S. Gopalaratnam Inder Khurana Visala Palaniappan Anuradha Rajagopalan

Message from the Executive Board Continued from page 1

SaReGaMa - A Classical Music Concert Indu Chandrasekhar

S unday, July 23, 2006 marked a special day for the Hindu Temple and

Community Center of Mid-Missouri. The morning featured the spectacular vocal performance of light classical music by Sandhya Anu Pandurangi, a former Columbia resident. Thanks to the organization of Shuba Ratneshwar and many others, Columbia families were able to enjoy a classical Indian concert of professional quality in their own back yard. Sandhya Pandurangi’s interpretation of

Hindustani and Carnatic music spanned over half a dozen languages and several more raagas, which are the Indian equivalent of musical scales. Her accompanists, Madhu Vora on the Harmonium and Anil Datar on the Tabla, added greatly to the dynamic quality of Pandurangi’s performance. As a professionally trained singer, Pandurangi has given concerts across the United States, and the Hindu Temple is grateful that Columbia is one of those cities. Madhu Vora, a mechanical engineer from

Flemington, New Jersey, mesmerized the audience with his beautiful elucidation of Indian music, a talent he has cultivated himself.

Anil Datar, from Chicago, Illinois, has accompanied several leading artistes visiting the United States for performances. He can transition seamlessly from classical vocal to dance music. After singing by herself a song that covered over ten ragas, Pandurangi told the audience why the piece was incomplete; without the accompaniment of Harmonium, Tabla, Tanpura, and other musical instruments, the song is bare, empty; the song may be the soul, she said, but the soul only exists with a body. Luckily, those present at the concert were able to enjoy a stunning interaction between the soul and the body on stage for multiple songs.

Guests were also able to enjoy a satisfying meal cooked by none other than

their friends and fellow concert-goers at the Shanthi Mandir. The organization of food was placed in the hands of Uma Srinath and Sandhya Sharma, and the Mandir is grateful for their help and for the generosity of several families who volunteered to share their kitchens with the Columbia community. With over 100 people in attendance, the

concert represents one of the bigger events to have been held at the Mandir since its inception a year ago. Thanks to the donations from friends, families, local businesses, including Comfort Inn of Booneville, Days Inn Conference Center and Travelodge of Columbia, and Taj Emporium, Inc., of Columbia, the Hindu Temple and Community Center raised over $1,200. Thanks to these funds, members of the Hindu Temple and visitors alike can expect several new improvements at the Shanthi Mandir. The success of this concert is also an indication of the success of the Temple itself, and as the Indian community in Columbia continues to grow, we hope the Temple will persist in the hearts and minds of Columbia’s residents as a center for religious and cultural enrichment☯

P A G E 4 S H A N T H I S A N D E S H

Games I played when I was a kid! Jyothy Bathini I would like to share with you my

memories about the games I used to play with my friends as a kid. I am sure that most parents can relate to my childhood experiences. About 25 years ago in India, very

few homes had television. We used to have just one Channel on TV, the famous “Doordarshan”. Can you believe it? We did not have the Kids channel, Cartoon channel or movie channel back then. We kids used to eagerly wait for Sunday to watch the Tom and Jerry Cartoon (I think it was a one-hour program) and the weekly movie. VCRs were found only in very rich homes and we had not yet heard of Computers, DVDs and TV games. I know what you are thinking - “Is

she kidding me”? No cartoon channel, no DVD player, no computer, no Nintendo! Sounds like a MISERABLE and BORING life.” Am I right? But you know what? I think that they were the most fun filled days of my life. You see, I had a big group of friends .We used to hang out together in the evenings after we got back from school and played a variety of games, both outdoor and indoor. Outdoor games, which we girls

loved to play, were Thokkudu-Billa (Hop-scotch), skipping with rope (we would jump in pairs or 3-4 girls at a time), Tennicoit (Ring), Flying disc, bubbles etc. We also used to play House where we would pretend we were living in a tiny Doll house and would also cook food

and brew tea/coffee. Cricket, Gilli-danda, Marbles,

Kabaddi were some of the games played exclusively by boys. Those little guys just wouldn’t let us play these games with them. There were lots of other games though which boys and girls liked to play together. Chor-Police (Hide and seek), “Ank-mi-choli”(blind-folded-catch game), Four Corners, Kho-Kho, shuttle, Banda-Nela (as we called it in telugu, though there were many other versions of this game), Dog-in-the-Bone, Tug-of-War, “Catch and Catch”, “Hopscotch” were to name a few. Oh, these games were so much fun. We would return home really exhausted and very, very sleepy. There were many indoor games

we played, as we got older. They included a lot of the board games likes “Dayalu/Pachisi”, “Snakes and Ladders”, “Chinese Checkers”, “Scrabble” etc. Card games like “Donkey”, “Bluff”, “Sequence” and Carrom were my most

favorite games as a kid. At birthday parties or summer picnics when lot of friends got together, we used to play “Anthakshari”, “Word game”,”20 questions” and “Charades”.

Last but not the least, there were many “silly games” we played as kids thinking about which puts a smile on my face even today. One such game I can think of right now was the “make-your-friend-laugh-without-touching-them” game. I used to always lose when my brother played it with me, as he is a master at making silly faces/sounds and cracking jokes. I am sure I have missed

mentioning many other games but it felt wonderful reminiscing about all those marvelous moments and sharing them with you☯

Computer Workshop Kirthi Rangnekar

B eginner’s computer skills workshop was held for three

days - June 26th to 28th from 9.30-12.30pm. The workshop had eight participants. The

Workshop Curriculum Included: a) Basic computer skills b) Basic computer terminology c) Microsoft Office Programs (Beginner WORD, EXCEL, POWERPOINT) The learning highlights of the workshop were to

create documents in Microsoft Word, prepare appealing presentations in PowerPoint,

create and use spreadsheets to perform calculations and to create charts in Excel. The participants brought their

own laptops and worked on it while instructions were given on the overhead projector and also on a one-on-one basis. At the completion of the workshop, each participant gave a PowerPoint presentation and displayed the knowledge gained to the audience that included parents and friends. A small award ceremony was held where everyone got a small token for attending the workshop. The children will receive certificates on “Youth Day” - August 19th, 2006.

The children enjoyed the workshop and wanted to extend it. All in all - lots of learning and fun ! Given the level of interest, HTCC is considering offering a follow-up Advanced Computer Skills Workshop☯.

The PC generation

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 1 , N U M B E R 3

how long I would be staying at a place, I found that I could readily make friends just by picking up a cricket bat and walking to the center of the cricket action in the neighborhood. Sooner or later, I would be invited to – and made an integral part of – the game, so much so that it would seem like I knew my teammates for years, when in fact it may sometimes have been just a few days or weeks! Given my particular skills (when I was younger!) of bowling at high speeds and of batting skillfully with plenty of luck and with no apparent fears (against vengeful bowlers!), I was particularly taken to the game and found it easier to survive those thrilling moments and to keep teams and relationships intact. Overall, I made new and lasting friends through this wonderful game that also captures so many elements of India’s vibrancy, energy, diversity, and enthusiasm. During my formative years (which I would

personally define as entire childhood, but particularly ages 10-15), I also discovered that cricket was a good way to keep fit, particularly with intense bowling and fielding. I developed agility, confidence, and strength that helped with other sports such as tennis and even more sedate activities such as chess. I must also note that it did not affect my academic progress in any negative manner. In fact, it only made me more well-balanced and able to focus more keenly on complicated topics such as Indian history, math, science, and accounting.

Indian Cricket Standing Indian cricket is going strong, with many

successes to its credit. India has won several one-day games and test cricket matches against leading cricket-playing nations such as Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and West Indies. While there is still a long way to go (India is currently ranked 4th in the world in Test cricket and One-day cricket), India remains a competitive cricketing nation and will be a team to watch out for in the next World Cup to be held in the West Indies in 2007. Of course, the top seed and the team to beat will be Australia. So, I am sure India will be chalking up their plans to pull off an entirely plausible victory. With cricketing heroes such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid,

Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, I would personally rank India 2nd in explosiveness of ability (next to Australia) and 1st in upset potential to win the World Cup! My personal thought – and one that I will leave you with – is that Sachin Tendulkar will likely be making the 2007 World Cup his last one. Knowing what he is capable of, I predict that he will help India grab the cup this time! (For more information on cricket, please visit http://www.cricinfo.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket.)

Cricket in Columbia and the USA As I ruminate on what cricket portends for

the USA, I must say that the potential is high, particularly in college towns and especially in the larger metropolitan areas with higher concentrations of South Asians in the population. However, given cricket’s perceived slowness (relative to, say, basketball or football) and sometimes

indefiniteness (particularly in Test cricket, rather than One-day cricket or Twenty20 cricket), it may obviously not receive the level of recognition in this country that other established sports do. Having said that, I do believe that cricket in this country is what we can or will make of it. As my friend, co-founder of Columbia’s Rock Quarry cricket pitch,

and currently Vice President of Major League Cricket in the USA, Paul Fehler, has indicated, Columbia would be a model community for such growth and introduction of cricket. In this regard, as many of you may already

know, we have a concrete cricket pitch in Rock Quarry Park. With some work, that park can be a suitable venue for hosting games. Another option – and one that has been used for some time now by our MU Cricket Club and others – is to play on the astro-turf at Stankowski Field. We have tried both, and have experienced positives on both fronts. However, my efforts to organize a youth cricket league have met with rather limited success. Hence, regardless of the suitability of these venues, the onus is on the community to decide what, if anything needs to be done to move cricket forward in Columbia, whether it be with youth or adults. I remain open to suggestions and cooperative efforts to make this work. You can reach me at vairama@hotmail.com. Happy cricketing!☯

Continued from page 1

Cricket facts about India Vikram Arunachalam

• Highest Test score: Virender Sehwag, 309 runs • Highest One-Day International (ODI)

score: Sachin Tendulkar, 186 not out • Highest career total runs in tests: Sachin Tendulkar, 10,469 runs • Highest career total runs in ODI: Sachin Tendulkar, 14,146 runs • Highest batting average for tests: Rahul Dravid, 59.38 • Highest batting average for ODI:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 48.90

CRICKET - Then and Now

1) When was the first Wimbledon championships held?

a) 1891 b) 1883 c) 1877 d) 1902

2) When was the last wooden racquet used in tennis championships?

a) 1988 b) 1992 c) 1975 d) 1980

3) How much money has Pete Sampras earned in his career?

a) £ 40 Million b) £ 38 Million c) £ 29 Million d) £ 35 Million

4) How was tennis first played? a) With a glove b) With a human hand c) With a paddle d) With a wooden racquet

5) Bonus! How many tons of Kent strawberries are ordered for Wimbledon each year

a) 30 b) 21 c) 18 d) 24

Tennis Quiz - Ashwath Kumar

Tennis Quiz Answers: 1. 1877 2. 1988 in Wimbledon

Championships 3. £ 38 Million 4. Using hands and hitting the ball on

a wall 5. 24 tons of Kent strawberries

Howzaat! He’s gone...

P A G E 6 S H A N T H I S A N D E S H

I am inspired to write this article owing to my recent trip

to the Gulf of Mexico with my friend and his family. We were enjoying the waves on a sunny day when I realized that my friend and his five-year old daughter were not with us. Where were they? I turned my head, only to see that they were busy flying a Barbie kite. My friend was teaching his daughter to fly a kite in the cool wind that helped lift the kite high. They flew it for long time, forgetting the fatigue of travel, as we watched the flying kite and the joy on their faces. The kite reminded me of my childhood, my home town, and my country. I am from the city of Lucknow

where kite flying is a very popular sport. Kite flying is not only popular in Lucknow but it is popular all over India, primarily in Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat,

Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra. The kite is known as Patang in India and the art of kite flying is known as Patang baji. Besides India, kite flying is a popular sport in China, Japan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Afghanistan,

Pakistan, USA, Germany, England and many other countries. Kite flying came to India from the far-east in the early 16th century and became a favorite sport of the Mughal aristocracy. The Mughal emperor of Delhi and Nawab of Lucknow gave kite flying new dimensions. During their time, the sport was so popular that it took the form of competition and in some places in India such competitions are held even to this day. A kite flier from Lucknow calls his kite a kankawa and himself as kankawabaj. In India kite flying goes on throughout the year but the most suitable weather for kite flying is from February to March and August to September

when cool breezes help to fly a kite. It is an important part of various celebrations including Republic Day, Independence Day, Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami, Sharad Purnima, Dussehra, Diwali and many other festivals. In Rajasthan and Gujarat, the season of kite flying begins with Makar Sankranti, in central India after Dussehra, in north India after Raksha Bandhan and in Lucknow after Jamghat, the day after Diwali. Kites in India are often made of paper, light strips of wood and string. Kites come in different sizes, colors, and designs and the cost varies accordingly. However, the sport remains affordable to all. Kite flying has always been a

great source of inspiration to scientists including Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Graham Bell and the Wright brothers. It has also served as inspiration for modern aviation. Kite-flying has been a source

of great joy since the ages regardless of race, caste, creed, age or financial status. For a person such as I, who has never flown a kite, the simple joy lies in observing the flying kite, which imparts a great message of life. The light kite, tethered by a thin string flies high, effortlessly defying gravity. This gives a feeling of tremendous joy and peace to the flier as well as to the observer. Likewise our souls are tied with the unseen string of time and space in the hand of the Almighty. Like kites, we sometimes face the rough waves of time, trying to understand the meaning of

existence as we share the joys and sorrows of life with fellow human beings, fulfilling our karma. Also, like kites we can soar higher, freeing ourselves from the gravitational force of worldly

attachments, becoming lighter, and rising higher and higher towards the infinite power of the universe, towards God☯

Kite flying in India - Shefali Srivastava

Kite flying knows no age

Tennis Tournament Senthil Kumar

A s a part of ongoing youth activities, a tennis

tournament was organized on June 17 in the Cosmopolitan Park tennis grounds. Several children and adults participated in the tournament. The tournament was played in 3 sets between the players. All the participants were very enthusiastic, active and exhibited good sportsmanship. Some parents also played alongside and that served as a motivation for the children.

The objective of the tennis tournament was for everyone to have fun and enjoy the sport, increase their competitiveness and improve their standard. Also, it was to promote and highlight the benefits of playing tennis – a very active and a healthy sport for everyone. Thanks are due to the parents who brought their kids early on a Saturday morning at 6:00 am. Overall, the tournament was well attended and everybody had lots of fun.

The kids and adults had a delicious treat of Pav-Bhajji, Indian Lassi and fresh Lemonade. Our thanks to Kalai Kumar for providing a sumptuous breakfast feast. We plan to hold more such events and hope to see more participation from kids, youth and adults in future.

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 1 , N U M B E R 3

Newsletter of Bal Sabha of Columbia, MO August 2006

Summer is almost over, and we have the August Bal Sandesh issue out, with poems and articles written over the vacation. Inside you will find poems on topics ranging from weather to school, two temple articles, Junior Science – Planet facts and a few articles on Math workshop. Bal Sandesh thanks all those who submitted articles. If anyone has any written or drawn material that they wish to submit, please do so

at any time – there is no set day to submit. All articles will be printed in ensuing issues of Bal Sandesh. Another reminder to those who want their achievements chronicled in Bal Sandesh web page- please send them to Ashok or Hema Srinivasan by email. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your summer!

Editors

EDITOR’S NOTE

Bal Sabha Kudos!

President Bharath Srinivasan

Vice President Uma Srinath

Secretary/Tresasurer Kalai Kumar

Cultural Secretary Surya Mantrala

Bal Sandesh Coordinator Hema Srinivasan

B al Sandesh congratulates all the members for their daily successes and

accomplishments. Here are some, by no means all, of the success stories of the last quarter. Chess

Vikram Arunachalam won the Missouri Class D Chess Championship title in the Missouri class championships tournaments held June 10-11, 2006. Vikram also tied for first place in Class D of the St. Charles Open held July 15, 2006. Congratulations to Vikram. English Achievement Awards Meghna was one of five finalists from Hickman in the National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Awards in Writing competition. Meghna also placed 5th in the National Spanish Exam, Level 4. Meghna went to the district choir festival and qualified for the state level. She also got a Superior rating in the piano Federation and Guild

competitions. Summer Math 2006 competition Congratulations to all the participants of the Summer Math 2006 competition held on July 21 at the Shanthi Mandir. The 16 participants ranged from 4th to 7th grades. There were winners by grade as well as over all winners. The overall winners were: 1st place, Nikhilesh Sharma; 2nd place, Maya Cutkosky; 3rd place, Vikram Arunachalam; 4th place, Ashwath Kumar; 5th place, Nidhi Khurana. Kudos to Ashok Cutkosky for conducting another highly successful Math Workshop. Boone County Fair Congratulations to Suryanshi Rawat. She had 3 of her 4-H projects selected for State Fair (Sedalia). The Projects were done as part of 4H Activities: “Sewing” and “Exploring 4H”. Her winning Projects were “Special Occasion Dress”, “Terrarium” and “Decorative Bottle”. Congratulations to Tia Rawat (3 years). Tia was judged as the 3rd runner-up in the Little Miss Boone County Contest (age group: 3-4 year olds)☯

I went to India in the month of March. I went to a lot of places in

Delhi and nearby places like Agra to see Taj Mahal, Mathura (birth place of Lord Krishna), Vrindavan (where Krishna played with his friends) and Akshardam (Swaminarayan temple). The Taj Mahal is in Agra. It is made up of white marble with lots of colorful designs. It is very beautiful to see the Yamuna river near it.

At Mathura we went inside a jail where Lord Krishna was born. There we can still see the prison chains. From Mathura we went to Vrindavan where we saw small small trees. It is the place where Lord Krishna played with his friends. It is believed that even today Lord Krishna plays flute at

Continued on page 9...

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Thoughts are but dreams till their effects be tried. William Shakespeare

My India Trip Naimish Mani

1st Grade, Paxton Keeley

Current Office Bearers

P A G E 8 S H A N T H I S A N D E S H

T he Vaishno Devi temple located in the northern

Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, is recognized as one of the "Shakti Peeths“ of Goddess ' Durga'. It is one of the oldest temples of India and Navratri is the best time for pilgrimage to visit the temple. It is located on the triangular hill

Trikoota Bhagwati, in a cave which enshrines Vaishno Devi, a manifestation of the three forms of mother Goddess Shakti - Mahalakshmi, Maha Paarvati and Maha Saraswati. According to legend, Vaishno

Devi was also called Trikuta, sought her father's permission for doing penance to marry Lord Vishnu. When Rama was searching for Sita he met Trikuta. She expressed her willingness to marry him. Rama assured her that in 'Kaliyuga' he would manifest as 'Kalki' and

would marry her. Rama asked Trikuta to meditate in a cave. Vaishno Devi decided to observe the 'Navratra' for the victory of Shree Rama against Ravana. Hence Ramayana is read during Navratri. In another legend Bhairon

Nath, a tantric (demon-God) tried to behold Vaishno Devi. With his tantric powers, Bhairon Nath was able to see her going towards the Trikuta mountain and chased her. The Goddess meditated in the cave at Adhkawari. It took Bhairon Nath nine months to locate her. Vaishno Devi blasted an opening at the other end of the cave with her trident when the tantric located her. On arriving at the Holy Cave, she assumed the form of Maha Kali and decapitated Bhairon Nath's. Bhairon Temple is now located at the place his head fell. It is

believed that the Yatra is complete only after visiting the shrine of Bhairon while returning. The shrine is in a 100 feet long

cave with a narrow opening. Inside, there are three natural stones or pindies representing Maha Saraswati, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Kali, which represent creative, preservative, and destructive aspects of the Super Power. The cave has a natural source of cold and crystal clear water whose origin is unknown. Indian spiritual tradition

propounds four objectives of a human life - Dharm (Righteousness), Arth (Material Pursuits), Kaam (Contentment) and Moksh (Enlightenment). Vaishno Devi is believed to grant all the four boons or fulfill everything a person wishes for in life, in a righteous way when they visit Her. ☯

Vaishno Devi Temple - Trisha Chaudhary, 5th Grade, Mill Creek

L ord Venkateshwara temple is one of the most famous

temples worshipped by all Hindus in India. It is the abode of the Hindu God Vishnu, also known as Venkatachalapati, Srinivasa, Edukondalavada (The Lord of Seven Hills), or Balaji. The temple is located on the

seventh peak, Venkatachala (Venkata Hill) of the Tirumala Hills, on the banks of Sri Swami Pushkarini at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. Due to the location of the temple atop the Tirumala Hills, it looks like the temple is resting on Adi Sesha or Sheshnag (the serpent on which Lord Vishnu reclines). Tirupati means holy

city or holy place. Tirupati was developed mainly by the contributions made by kings like the Pallavas of Kancheepuram, the Cholas of Thanjavur, the Pandyas of Madurai, and the kings of Vijayanagar. Mythologically, when Goddess

Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu

came down to earth and was doing penance in the forests, the Lord came looking for her. Upon reaching these hills, He took the human form of a man named Srinivasa. Here He met the Narayanapuram princess Padmavathi, to whom he proposed marriage. For His royal wedding, Srinivasa, borrowed funds from Kubera, the celestial God of Wealth. Kubera, in turn insisted that the loan be repaid with due interest. At Govindaraja Swamy temple he is believed to be still collecting the loan with a brass measure. Devotees also visit Goddess Padmavathi temple after worshipping Lord Venkatesa. The Temple complex consists

of three 'Prakarams' or enclosures. The outermost enclosure the 'Sampangi Pradakshinam' has gold covered 'Dhwajasthambam' or the banner post. It also has, the statues of Krishnadevaraya (Vijayanagara King), Todarmal, the minister of Akbar. Next is the 'Vimana Pradakshinam' with its several small shrines and the sacred well. The innermost enclosure is

the sanctum sanctorum or 'Vaikunta Pradakshinam' with its golden gates houses the presiding deity or Moolavar, the black idol of Lord Venkateswara, standing directly beneath a gilt dome called the Ananda Nilaya Divya Vimana. The view of the deity with ornaments is beautiful. Ordinarily, He wears a gold crown with a large emerald embedded in front. On special occasions, He is adorned with a diamond kiritam or crown. On His forehead, lies the naamam comprising two vertical white strokes (tiruman) with a red kasturi tilak in the middle. The day starts with the Suprabatha darshanam and ends with the Ekanta seva when the Lord is put to bed in a swing cot suspended by gold chain. Some people sacrifice all their

hair at this temple which is a symbolic sacrifice of the ego. The Shastras, Puranas, Sthala Mahatyams and Alwar hymns declare that, in Kali Yuga, one can attain mukti (salvation), by worshipping Lord Venkateswara. He is also described as the great bestower of boons. ☯

Tirupati Balaji Temple - Ipsha Chaudhary, 6th Grade, Gentry

"Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana, Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani" - Thou hast power only to act, not over the result thereof. Act thou therefore without prospect of the result and without succumbing to inaction.

Bhagavad Gita

P A G E 9 V O L U M E 1 , N U M B E R 3

Bal Sandesh Poets

Ten Solar System Facts - Suryanshi Rawat, 4th Grade, Mill Creek Earth is the only planet with living creatures: Earth is the only planet that gets enough of everything. That is how life is possible on earth. The sun is a star: It is true. It just doesn’t look like one because it is our closest star. When the moon covers the sun it is called an eclipse: An eclipse doesn’t happen very often. When it does one part of the earth gets completely covered in a shadow. And that spot turns dark and cold, as if night had come early. Earth is the third planet from the sun: The first planet from the Sun is Mercury then Venus and then Earth. The sun is often spotty: Spots appear on the suns surface sometimes. They look dark because they are cooler than the rest of the sun.

Nothing could live on earth without the sun: The sun is constantly making energy. This keeps its gases hot and glowing.

Stars begin to die when they run out of gas to make energy: The middle of the

star begins to shrink, but the outer part expands making it much larger. Very heavy stars end their life in a very huge explosion called SUPERNOVA: This explosion BLOWS away all the outer parts of the star. And all that is left is a tiny hot shell from the core. Craters on the moon are scars from space rocks crashing into the surface: When a rock smashes at high speed it leaves a saucer size dent on the moon. Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system: It is called Olympus Mons and it is 3 times as tall as Mt Everest - the tallest mountain on earth. Olympus Mons is an old volcano that hasn’t erupted for millions of years.☯

Blue dashes through the waves,

Splashes on the sky, It gives you the butterflies. Blue is icy-cold weather,

A mystery unsolved, The rainiest day in the year. Blue wraps itself around tiny

little blueberries, It is the slightest bit of tears streaming down your face. Blue is a sad, depressed,

stressed person, A mermaid swimming in a

pool, The secrets of shadows,

BLUE IS COOL!

Thunder and lightning is every where.

Sometimes thunder makes me scared,

when the thunder is loud. I always see lightning first and

the thunder last… Because light is faster than

thunder. Going outside the house, could

be electrically shocking, this - thunderous lightning.

That is always so frightening and a mystery to me.

Thunder and lightning brings darkness.

With lightning and thunder comes rain….

And the sky gets bright again.

5th grade was a year of fun, Having recess in the sun,

Math first and then reading, You might get caught if you are

cheating, Having friends is the best,

And during Read Aloud you get time to rest,

But as quickly as it started, Even like the battles we

charted, The year is by,

I’ll have to sigh for this was the best year ever!

The rain drops fell; ole gramote tears….

Hitting every thing on the ground,

Everything that was in its way, Making the earth damp in its

course, Bringing thunder, lightning, or

may be hail, Yet only if it pleases,

Then it shows down. Slowly falling and

splashing Finally raindrops stop

coming, Like magic in a bottle It had left its spread. And all was quaint

Blue Trisha Chaudhary, 5th Grade

Mill Creek

Thunder and Lightning Rishav Choudhury, 1st Grade,

Lee

Memories Niyati Rangnekar, 6th Grade

Columbia Independent

Rain Drops Neeta Thawani, 6th grade

LSE, Booneville

night with his friends (who are in the form of small trees).

Akshardam is a very nice place. It is built with pink and white stones. It is built without using any steel. It represents one of our ancient architectural skills.

One of the things which I liked is Gajendra peeth. It is a path where you can come

around the temple by seeing lots and lots of elephant sculpture. Each sculpture talks about elephant and nature, elephant and

man, elephant and God etc. If you happen to go to Delhi you have to visit this temple. We also went to places like Jantar Mantar, Bahai Temple, Birla Mandir. I enjoyed my travel in the newly built New Delhi metro line. We even traveled in a rickshaw drawn by a man. The ride was fun. From there I went to my grandpa’s house. We went to Vivekanada

Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, and to Kovalam beach. We went on a small boating ride at Veli near Thiruvananthapuram.

We went to see the big Car (a temple float) festival at Suchindrum. We went to Bangalore to my uncle’s house. I enjoyed the Visweswaraiya Museum, Lal Bagh, Kemp-Fort where I saw a huge statue of Lord Shiva and Ganesh, and the Manjunatha temple.

Overall our India trip was very exciting and we enjoyed it a lot (except for the mosquitoes which seemed to like us!)☯

My India Trip Continued from page 7

P A G E 1 0 S H A N T H I S A N D E S H

Editorial Staff Phone E-Mail Ashok Cutkosky 445-2854 asho44124k@yahoo.com Maya Cutkosky 445-2854 Sheela Lal 445-9290 pyari_ajnabi@hotmail.com Vidya Mantrala 446 0865 Meghna Srinath 446-8403 meghna022@gmail.com Anchal Sethi 514-0486 danzingdivas@yahoo.com Adithi Vellore 446-0063 vsadithi@aol.com Parent Advisor Hema Srinivasan 445-2854 srinivasanh@missouri.edu

Bal Sandesh needs your help! We welcome submissions of all types (reports, poetry, short stories, artwork, puzzles, jokes etc.). Work can be submitted to the Editors or the Parent Advisor. We prefer electronic version of the submission (e-mail or diskette). Artwork can be submitted on paper. Older kids interested in volunteering to serve on the editorial team should contact the Editorial Staff or the Parent Advisor.

Bal Sabha meets every fourth Sunday of the month from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. at Shanthi Mandir

Maya Cutkosky, 7th Grade, Smithon

T he week of July 17th Ashok taught his fourth summer

math program with his great teaching skills. We learned several tricks and formulas, ranging from probability to geometry.

Everyday, classes started with going over the homework

(If needed) then learning XYZ. After he taught us XYZ, he would do a problem to show us and then give us a problem to solve. He helped us when we can not do it.

He would then go on to ABC. At the end of class we had a

competition where the winner got candy. He’d put a question on the board and who ever said the right answer first won. He had to split us up into teams in order to know who was first.

Homework was given to improve our skills. It did help us study for the test.

The test, at the end of the week, was not a test but a competition. The problems were all learned and the computation easy. They were, however, confusing as they are in the real competition. Throughout the week we took notes. A sheet of paper was also necessary to do the problems for most were not easy to do in your head☯

Math Workshop: Student Perspectives...

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be

counted. Albert Einstein

Vikram Arunachalam 6th Grade, Gentry

T he New Horizons Math Workshop was held at the

Shanthi Mandir. The Math Class was taught by Ashok Cutkosky. There was a wide age variation among the 19 children attending the classes ranging from those entering 4th grade to those entering 8th grade.

In this math class, we covered Probability, Counting, (I know it sounds easy, but it is not like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…there are hard formulas!), and Geometry. I also learned Pythagorean Theorem, Factorials, Permutations, and Combinations. Additionally, I learned some new math words, such as inscribed and circumscribed.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this class! Thank you Ashok and Hema aunty for coordinating this class! Also, thank you to Anchal for answering questions when Ashok was busy☯

P A G E 1 1 V O L U M E 1 , N U M B E R 3

T he present-day versions of Chess, Snakes and Ladders, Playing Cards,

Polo, the martial arts of Judo, Tae-Kwando and Karate all had their inspiration from similar games in India. Buddhist monks who traveled to preach outside India and Mughal invaders are believed to have carried ideas for these games to distant lands.

CHESS Chess originated in ancient India and was

known as Chatur-Anga - Meaning 4 bodied, as it was played by 4 players. From this name we have its current name Shatranj. One such instance is in the Mahabharata when Pandavas and Kauravas played this game. The other term

Astapada meaning eight steps, which was also used to describe this game in ancient India, perhaps was a description for the eight steps (Squares) which the modern Chessboard, has. The modern Chessboard is chequered with 64 (8 x 8) squares in all, with eight squares on each side. The old English word for chess which is Esches, possibly stems from this eight squared aspect of the game as did the Sanskrit word Astapada.

PLAYING CARDS The popular game of cards originated in

ancient India and was known as Krida-patram in ancient India. The game of playing cards was also one of the favorite pastimes of Indians in ancient times. This game was patronized especially by the royalty and nobility. According to Abul Fazal's description of the game, the following cards were used. The first was Ashvapati which means 'Lord of horses'. The Ashvapati which was the highest card in, the pack represented the picture of the king on horseback. The second highest card represented a General (Senapati) on horseback. After this card come ten others with pictures of horses from one to ten. Another set of cards had the Gajapati (Lord of elephants) which represented the king whose power lay in the number of elephants. The other eleven cards in this pack represented the Senapati and ten others with a soldier astride an elephant. Another pack has the Narpati, a king whose power lies in his infantry. We also had other cards known as the Dhanpati, the Lord of treasures, Dalpati the Lord of the squadron, Navapati, the Lord of the navy, Surapati, the Lord of divinities, Asrapati, Lord of genii, Vanapati, the king of the forest and Ahipati, Lord of snakes. The game of playing cards had been

invented by sages in ancient times who took the number 12 as the basis and made a set of 12 cards. Every king had 11 followers, thus a pack had 144 cards. In Indian (Hindu) courts we have packs with 8, 9 and 10 sets apart from the usual 12. The numbers were derived from the eight

cardinal directions Ashtadikpala, for the pack with 8 set, from the nine planets Navagraha for the one with 9 sets and from ten incarnations Dashavatara of Vishnu for the pack with 10 sets. As cards were played by members all

strata of society we find different types of cards. Some cards were also made of ivory, tortoise shell, mother of pearl, inlaid or enameled with precious metals. The cards were of different shapes; they were circular, oval, rectangular, but the circular cards were more common. The cards were usually kept in a wooden box with a lid painted with mythological figures.

MARTIAL ARTS Ancient India claims to have been the

origin of Judo and Karate. Something similar to karate was called Kalaripayate. The weapons of war, for instance, the

javelin (toran) and the discus (chakra), were also, frequently used in the sports arena. Lord Krishna wielded an impressive discus or Sudarshan chakra. Arjuna and Bhima, two of the mighty Pandavas, excelled in archery and weightlifting respectively. Bhimsen, Hanuman, Jamvant, Jarasandha were some of the great champion wrestlers of yore. During the era of the Rig - Veda,

Ramayana and Mahabharata, men of a certain stature were expected to be well - versed in chariot - racing, archery, military stratagems, swimming, wrestling and hunting☯

Sports and Games in Ancient India - B.S. Balaji

Music creates order out of chaos: for rhythm imposes unanimity upon the divergent, melody imposes continuity upon the disjointed, and harmony imposes compatibility upon the incongruous.

Yehudi Menuhin

The musical program SaReGaMa at Shanthi Mandir. Classical vocalist Sandhya Pandurangi was accompanied by Madhu Vora on the Harmonium and Anil Datar on the Tabla.

The Integral Life Center, Sri Aurobindo Study Circle, is planning a celebration of Shri Aurobindo Ghose's birthday on Saturday, August 19 from 3:00 p.m – 5:00 p.m. at 12151 Andrew Sapp Road, near Ashland, Missouri. Interested persons please contact Kate Walker at Integrallife1976@yahoo.com for further details, or call 657-9277 (local call). We will have a meditation, discussion of Shri Aurobindo’s Yoga, and a community potluck dinner. There may also be some entertainment. Come join us for a fun and enlightening time. (Kate will be out of town from August 4th through August 12th) so please contact her before or after those dates. For more information on Shri Aurobindo’s yoga, visit: http://www.miraura.org/

P A G E 1 2 S H A N T H I S A N D E S H

T he moviemaker workshop underway since mid-June has

nine motivated moviemakers including five youth and four adults. The workshop is expected to wrap-up in late August with an informal party open to the public, where teams will show off their moviemaking skills. Working in three teams of three members each, the teams recently completed their first project – a 60 second commercial. With an emphasis on creativity, the teams developed the themes for their commercial while at the same time learned hands-on skills of seamlessly integrating digital video, still images and digital audio clips. Incorporating narration, self-designed titles and preset transitions, the teams were quick to take on their challenging projects.

Coming close on heels of the July 4th celebration, Team 1 comprising Adithi Vellore, Sangita Sharma and Molly Bishop used their first project - a commercial for Bishop Fireworks, an imaginary company.

Meanwhile, Arjun Khurana, Jasmit Khurana and Nandhu Radhakrishnan of Team 2 put together a fast paced commercial Hey could Columbia be your next home? to sell Columbia to potential residents. And finally, Team 3 comprising Anchal Sethi, Kirthi Rangnekar, and Senthil Kumar tackled a more serious theme for their commercial - The Global Warming, no doubt inspired by Al Gore’s recent production The Inconvenient Truth. The workshop class has met for

four instruction sessions to date besides numerous team meetings to plan and execute their projects. Ron Widbin, the local Feature Reporter for KMIZ television and a faculty in the Columbia Public Schools system presented the first of several planned guest lectures for the workshop. He provided valuable tips on putting together feature stories. By using several of his past and upcoming stories he illustrated important points about producing short features for TV. Other presentations by the team of instructors comprising Gopal and Balaji were dedicated to audio, video, and still image file formats and their attributes, pros and cons of compression formats, audio editing with GoldWave, video editing with Pinnacle Studio, integration of PowerPoint presentation into movies with VidShot Capturer and use of Microsoft Moviemaker to create titles and credits. Time

permitting, additional guest lectures are planned for August on special topics of interest to the group. Currently the teams are working

on their second project – a 10 minute documentary or story of their choice. Enchantment in Words; is the

Team 1 documentary highlighting the benefits and opportunities available through reading. It provides a balanced perspective on reading and includes several interviews with teachers and Literacy Corps volunteers. Shanthi Mandir is the

documentary from Team 2. It traces the birth and evolution of Shanthi Mandir and HTCC. The feature will also detail current programs offered at Shanthi Mandir. Interviews with members and the public will provide the platform for the story. An Insight into a Missouri

Farming Community is the title of the documentary from Team 3. The feature plans to document one rural family’s story on farming in Missouri. Challenges related to drought and global influences on present day farming will be among the issues addressed. All finished projects from the

three teams will be viewed in late August during an event open to the public. Plans are afoot to invite guest lecturers to critique the deliverables during the public presentations which will also serve as an informal party to wrap-up the workshop☯

Budding Moviemakers of Columbia Vellore S. Gopalaratnam and B. S. Balaji

T he week of Summer Math 2006 –New Horizons- has

been a great success. It was attended by 19 enthusiastic students ranging in grade level from 4th to 8th grade. In spite of this large age range, there were still some areas of new material for all. I gave problems and found out something that was not known to the class as a whole and went over those topics. In addition, there were problem sets given everyday for people to work on. The class covered probability and counting (also known as combinatorics) on Monday, geometry on Tuesday, algebraic reasoning on Wednesday and on Thursday miscellaneous tricks for

solving problems quickly. The students were all eager to

answer questions and learn the material, which was largely outside of the scope of current school math classes. All the topics covered will greatly aid in developing a greater understanding of the concepts that will be presented in the regular school classes as well as competition venues. Every day, there were practice count down

rounds. On Friday, there was the usual

Summer Math contest on the topics covered during the week with a countdown round and award ceremony attended by some of the parents. Some of the parents helped in making the ribbons awarded to the students. I also want to thank Anchal Sethi and my mother for their help. Some of the more advanced

students in the class were interested in continuing the program so I will continue classes for another week from July 24 -28 concentrating only on contest type problems and tricks for solving them☯

Math Workshop Instructor’s Perspective

Ashok Cutkosky

Guest lecturer, Ron Widbin with the

Moviemaker Workshop class

P A G E 1 3 V O L U M E 1 , N U M B E R 3

What does the Operations and Maintenance Committee do? (No, we are not the cleaning ladies)

Meera Chandrasekhar

T he Operations and Maintenance Committee

oversees the day-to-day maintenance of the Mandir. While each group that uses the Mandir cleans up to leave the Mandir attractive to the next group, the weekly and seasonal upkeep chores are coordinated by the Committee. Two large groups of families

help with weekly cleaning and mowing. Over 20 families have signed up to clean the Mandir on a rotating basis. Over 15 individuals/families have signed up to mow. We heartily thank these volunteers. They help keep the Mandir in ship-shape. It might be hard to recognize the effort that goes into a clean, well-kept facility – but if the job were not done, you would know right away! Have you noticed the beautiful flowers

blooming in the front of the Mandir? After a mound of mud was shaped into a 2-foot high berm, weed-control fabric and mulch was laid down by Shram Daan volunteers in April. A group of planting volunteers (including several children) arrived on three different Saturday mornings to plant perennials and annuals – including cosmos, daisies, lilies, petunias, marigolds and begonias. In June other volunteers cleared a triangular space by the mailbox and planted canna lilies, chrysanthemums and other plants. Four little Rose of Sharon saplings were planted along the east side of the Mandir. Volunteers water the plants during the week. Thanks to the care, the plants have taken off, and devotees can use “home-grown” flowers for Mandir activities. Interested in helping? We would like to

expand the cleaning group and the mowing group. Since each family is assigned one

week, the current cycle requires a family to clean only once in 5 months. The larger the list, the less frequent your turn! The same holds for mowing. Since mowing is a seasonal activity, we are looking for 6 more mowers this year – so each volunteer’s turn comes only once this summer. Your

time commitment for either cleanup or mowing is approximately 2 hours if one person works – less if your family or a friend helps! This is a great way to get your whole family to work on a volunteer project together.

Interested in other maintenance activities? We have been tossing around the idea of holding a garage sale / “mela,” and need volunteers to help organize one. If you are interested, or have experience, we would like to hear from you. Please contact one of our committee members.

Operations and Maintenance Committee: Meera Chandrasekhar and Jasmit

Khurana, co-chairs; Kavita Katti, Shuba Ratneshwar, Ram Ramaswamy, members; Visala Pal, ex-officio member; Sunder Lal, Yard and Garden sub-committee chair☯

Anna Daan Project at Shanthi Mandir Please keep in mind our ongoing collection of non-perishable food items for donation to the Central Missouri Food Bank. Your contribution of a can of food or packet of pasta is greatly appreciated. Please remember this continuing service project, Anna Daan, whenever you visit Shanthi Mandir for any of the regular activities such as Bal Sabha, Bal Puja, Bhajans, Kirtan or during the Temple Open Hours, or other special events

P A G E 1 4 S H A N T H I S A N D E S H

HTCC Statement of Accounts and Quarterly Fiscal Report For the period April 1 - June 30, 2006

Prepared by Visala Palaniappan, Interim Treasurer, July 16, 2006

Balance Forward (on April 1st, 2006) $27,267.58

Quarterly Revenues Membership: Lifetime Family Members (LFM) 6 @ $1,000 $6,000.00 LFM via installments (1 at $ 500) $500.00 Annual Family Members (AFM) 6 @ $50 $300.00 Annual Individual Members (AIM) 1 @ $30 $30.00 $6,830.00 Donations: Cash Donations $741.00 Check Donations $161.00 $902.00 Special Events: Satyanarayana Puja $612.00 Is the Buddha Relevant? Talk $22.00 Desi Tennis Tournament $7.00 $641.00 Facilities Use Donations: Dance Classes (April – June 2006) $260.00 Bal Sabha (March and April 2006) $40.00 Pongal dance practice/Microphone use $45.00 $345.00

Total Quarterly Revenues $8,718.00 Quarterly Expenses

Dell computer $1,109.97 Start-up costs $335.65 Maintenance and supplies $552.47 Upgrade and repairs $99.20 Garden/landscaping $245.05 Utilities (+ Internet service/installation) $1,140.84 Postage and stationery $23.40 Special events $660.37 Printing $162.15

Total Quarterly Expenses $4,329.10 Net Income $4,388.90 Ending Balance* $31,656.48

Kirtan

S pecial Kirtan was held in June at Shanthi Mandir with the local Saint Louis Smagham group. They

started with 45 minutes of Wahe Guru Simran and 10 to 15 minutes of silent Meditation. This was followed by Shabad Kirtan and ended with Anand Sahib Shabad. Kirtan was followed by Ardas and Hukhum Nama from the Shri Guru Granth Sahib. The special Kirtan was very well attended and concluded with Langar.

Kirtan is a regular event at the temple and is held every first Sunday of the month. Everyone is invited and welcome to join us. Contact details: For Kirtan & program: Kuljit 442-4471 For Langar: Rajna 256-5802 For all other matters: Chandra 446-5960

* $20,000 invested in 2 CDs (8 Month maturity @ 4.65% APR) Statement of Accounts and Quarterly Fiscal Reports will be included in every issue of Shanthi Sandesh. This will provide transparency and accountability to our operations. It will also facilitate HTCC Members in providing input to the Executive Board on budget and program priorities.

The Financial Policy Committee is working on developing a set of transaction processing guidelines for HTCC. We are also examining the possible adoption of Quickbooks to replace Excel for maintenance of accounting records. Changes, if any, will be made gradually.

Food ‘N Thought Brunch Workshop - Yoga and a Healthy Lifestyle

The second in the Food ’n Thought HTCC Brunch Workshop Series is tentatively scheduled for September 2006 (either 9th or 16th). It is titled “Yoga and a Healthy Lifestyle”. Details will be forthcoming by late August via direct e-mail to the Friends of the Mandir. Flier for the event will also be posted on our web site when the details are finalized.

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Lifetime Family Members

1. Agrawal, Kul and Archana 2. Arunachalam, Vairam and Alagu 3. Bhattula Ravindra and Vijaya Kattumuri 4. Chandrasekhar, Holalkere and Meera 5. Chaudhary, Kunal and Ritcha Mehra 6. Cutkosky, Dale and Hema Srinivasan 7. Dhand, Rajiv and Upinder 8. Gangopadhyay, Keshab and Shubhra 9. Gopalakrishna, Srinath and Uma 10. Gopalaratnam, Vellore and Anantha 11. Gowda, Bhaskar and Shoba 12. Katti, Kattesh and Kavita 13. Khanna, Sanjeev and Vinita 14. Khurana, Inder and Jasmit 15. Kulkarni, Rajesh and Indira 16. Kutikkad, Kiratadas and Geetha 17. Lal, Sunder and Nila Gupta 18. Loyalka, Sundarshan and Nirja 19. Malhotra, Anil and Kusum 20. Mitra, Ranadhir and Roma 21. Naik, Yogesh & Rashmi 22. Palaniappan, Kannappan and Visala 23. Panneerselvam, Ayyakannu and Gandhi 24. Patel, Nitin and Harsha 25. Raghuraman, Kannan and Anandhi Upendran 26. Ramachandran, V and Anuradha Rajagopalan 27. Rangnekar, Nitin and Kirthi 28. Rawlani, Ramesh and Chandra 29. Sadhu, Vijay and Smita 30. Satpathy, Sashi and Namita 31. Sethi, Sanjiv and Punam 32. Sethi, Yash and Anjna 33. Sharma, Krishna and Sandhya 34. Singh, Amolak and Kuljit

Annual Members for 2006

1. Anand, Satish and Sushma 2. Bal, Sharanjit and Ranjit 3. Basu, Asit and Sandra 4. Batchu, Sudhir and Priya 5. Bathini, Venkat and Jyothy 6. Chandrasekhar, Anand and Chiengkham Baccam 7. Choudhry, Prabir Kumar 8. Elangovan, Bala and Abi 9. Faizer Rumi and Archana Ramaswamy 10. Ghosh, Arkashubhra and Anuprita 11. Goel, Shyam and Nitu 12. Jain, Arun 13. Jashnani, Ghanshyam and Leela 14. Jonathan, Roberts and Sangeeta 15. Kumar, Adarsh & Sangeeta 16. Kumar, Senthil and Kalai 17. Lakshmanan, Soundhra 18. Mahal, Satnam and Jasvir 19. Mantrala, Murali and Suryamani 20. Menon, Vinay and Kavita 21. Nair, Satish and Jyotsna 22. Nathan, Vivek and Manjula 23. Neupane, Prakash and Kamala 24. Puri, Ravi and Mona 25. Radhakrishnan, Nandhu and Selvi 26. Ramaswamy, Ram and Indira 27. Ratneshwar, Srinivasan and Subbalakshmi 28. Rawat, Gagneesh and Aditi 29. Raychaudhuri, Aniruddha and Sriparna 30. Sehgal, Om and Santosh 31. Srinivasan, Bharath and Manjula Narasimhan 32. Srivastava, Shefali 33. Srivatsava, Pramod and Rama 34. Subramanian, Krishna and Raji 35. Thawani, Ravi and Meena 36. Thirumaleshwar, Laxmish and Shantha 37. Tolani, Bhisham and Rajini 38. Viswanath, Dabir and Pramila

Thank You!

The HTCC is grateful to the following families who have signed up as members as of July 31, 2006. The membership drive will continue through out the year. If you would like to sign-up as a member, please visit our web site and download, complete and send off your membership application with appropriate dues. We sure would appreciate your support for all our activities. Please also consider upgrading your annual membership to lifetime membership. The lifetime dues provide the HTCC with a strong ownership base and steady stream of revenue for delivering quality devotional, education, service and youth programs.

Upcoming HTCC Events

Youth Day Mark your calendar to join us in recognizing our youth on Saturday, August 19th,2006: Youth Day will be celebrated at Shepard Blvd shelter from 5:00 -8:00 p.m. Fun games and other activities are planned. The participants in several HTCC youth summer activities (Desi Tennis Tournament, Computer Workshop, Math Workshop, MovieMaker Workshop) would be awarded certificates.

Devotional Calendar

Janmashtami Celebrations 6:00 pm - 12:00 midnight Sunday, August 20, 2006 Janmashtami Special Bhajan 7:00 - 8:30 p.m Thursday, August 24, 2006 Ganesh Chaturthi 7:00 - 8:30 pm Sunday, August 27, 2006 Temple will open every day during August 27 - September 5, 2006 for Aarti from 7:00 -8:00 pm. to observe Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi Special Bhajan 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Thursday, August 31, 2006 Jagran Saturday, September 23, 2006 More details to be announced later

Diwali/Lakshmi Puja Saturday, October 21, 2006 More details to be announced later

More details with regard to all these events will be forthcoming weeks prior to the event. Stay tuned! Please also visit our web site for details.

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Shanthi Mandir Hindu Temple and Community Center

of Mid-Missouri (HTCC) 2006 Holly Avenue, Columbia, MO 65202-2043

http://shanthimandir.missouri.org, (573) 814-1AUM (286)

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. (Note: Holly Avenue is immediately before the Sunrise Optimist building)

Please visit our web site and send us your e-mail address if you would like to be included on the Friends of the Mandir distribution list to receive timely program notices.

Current Programs at the Mandir (July 31, 2006)

Devotional Programs Open prayer time/Aarti Tuesday 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Sai Bhajan Thursday 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Venkateshwara Suprabhatam/Vishnu Sahasranaamam Saturday 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Open prayer time/Aarti Saturday 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Kirtan (Monthly event) 1st Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Educational/Youth Programs Tamil Classes 1st /3rd Sunday 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Hindi Classes 2nd/4th Sunday 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Bal Puja 2nd Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Bal Sabha 4th Sunday 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Service Programs Shram Daan (Labor Donation) Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Narayan Seva (Sai Group - St. Francis Home Lunch) 2nd Sunday 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Non-Perishible Food Collection (Ongoing continuously)

Fitness and Cultural Art Programs Bharata Natyam classes (instructor fee required) Wednesday 4:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Shanthi Sandesh is a quarterly publication of the Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC). It is published on behalf of HTCC by it’s Public Relations and Publicity Committee. Editors: Gagneesh Rawat/Arkasubhra Ghosh/Balaji <shanthimandir_news@mchsi.com> or <shanthimandir@yahoo.com>

Another new acquisition at the Mandir, the temple bell adds to its traditional ambience. We are grateful to Kumar and Rama of Chennai, India for donating the bell to Shanthi Mandir. We are also thankful to Jayanth and Kavita of Chicago, Illinois for facilitating the very timely transportation of the bell to Columbia.