Samarpanam2009Web

SAMARPANAM A humble offering…

Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC) 2008 Annual Report

March 13, 2009

Manu-Smriti (The Hindu code of conduct attributed to the ancient law giver Manu, 500 B.C.E.)

xÉirÉÇ oÉëÔrÉÉiÉç ÌmÉërÉÇ oÉëÔrÉÉiÉç lÉ oÉëÔrÉÉiÉç xÉirÉqÉÌmÉërÉqÉç | ÌmÉërÉqÉç cÉ lÉÉlÉ×iÉqÉç oÉëÔrÉÉiÉç LwÉ: kÉqÉïÈ xÉlÉÉiÉlÉÈ ||

satyaM brUyAt priyaM brUyAt na brUyAt satyamapriyam | priyam ca nAnRutam brUyAt EShaH dharmaH sanAtanaH | |

Speak and live a life of truth and do it in a pleasant and agreeable manner. Do not be arrogant of your abilities and act in a harsh manner with others. Even when others are wrong, do not rub it in and deride them. However, on no account should an untruth be told, though it may sound pleasant

to the listener. Such is the duty of one following the right path in life.

Daily Prayer Page …..……………….………………….……………………………. 2 Message from the Board of Trustees …………...………………………….. 3 Map and Directions to Shanthi Mandir ………………………………………… 3 HTCC Benefactors ……………………..………………...………………..……….. 4 Report from the Executive Board ……………………………...………………. 5 Our Honorary Member Inductees……………………………………………….. 6 HTCC Executive Committee ………………………………………………………. 7 2008 Highlights ………………………...……………………………………… 8 HTCC Volunteers ………….………………………...….…………………………. 9 Capital Campaign ……………………..…………………………………………….. 12 Cultural Programs …………………………………………………………………… 13 Devotional Programs ………………………..……………………………………… 14 Educational Programs ………………………..…………………………………….. 15 External Relations ……………………………………………………………………. 16 Photo Gallery …………………………...…………………………………………….. 19 I Have a Dream - Contest Selections …………………...…………………….. 21 Facilities and Renovation …………………….……………………………………. 27 Financial Policy ……………………...……………………………………………. 28 2008 Financial Report …………….…….…………………………………………. 28 Library …………………………………….……………………………………………. 29 Membership ……………………………………………………………………………. 29 Operations and Maintenance …………………………...…………………….. 30 Publications and Communications ………...………….………………………. 31 Safety and Security ……………...……………..………………………………….. 32 Scheduling ………………………………….………………………………………….. 32 Service Programs ……..………………..…………………………………………… 35 Youth Activities ……………………………...………………………………………… 36 Hinduism - Basic Tenets and Beliefs …………………………………………… 39 Current Programs ………………………………….….……………………………… 42 HTCC Directory …………………………….………………………………………….. 43 HTCC Calendar for 2009 ………………………...……………………………….. 47 Cultural Association of India …………………….….………………………………48 The Vedic Society ………………………………….….…………………………… 48

Contents

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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 HTCC ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2008

Message from the Board of Trustees

O n the third anniversary of our Hindu Temple and Community Center of mid-Missouri (HTCC), we extend our warmest welcome to all, particularly the newly

arrived students and families. The temple continues to grow as a center for a wide spectrum of spiritual, devotional, cultural, service and educational activities. Our service programs have made an impact and are recognized as such by the community. The number of our trustee families has grown and so has our membership. We are fortunate to invite four outstanding citizens of Columbia community as our Honorary Members. We welcome them and look forward to their participation in shaping and realizing the vision of service and inclusion set forth in our constitution.

These are tumultuous times indeed. We are witnessing unprecedented displacements on a global scale. It is heartening to report that the finances of HTCC are sound. We have no debts whatsoever and the balance sheet is steadily growing, thanks to the increased participation in most of our program offerings and the extraordinary volunteer service provided by various committees. Shanthi Mandir has seen expensive repairs and renovations in the past year. Yet our savings have grown by approximately $40,000. I urge you to look at various reports including the financial statement in this publication.

One of the immortal poems of Saint Kabir tells us:

Search not in temples and mosques Idols and holy shrines Nor in prayers and long fasts Verily you can find your God Where love and devotion dwells

May love and devotion dwell in our hearts and the Mandir!

Board of Trustees* Holalkere R. Chandrasekhar2 Meera Chandrasekhar Balakrishnan Elangovan Srinath Gopalakrishna Anantha Gopalaratnam Vellore S. Gopalaratnam Nila Gupta Arun Jain4 Kattesh Katti Inder Khurana Jasmit Khurana Kiratadas Kutikkad Sunder Lal Neerja Loyalka Sudarshan Loyalka4 Anil Malhotra Kusum Malhotra Ritcha Mehra-Chaudhary Moonmoom Mitra Ranadhir Mitra1 Kannappan Palaniappan Harsha Patel Nitin Patel Ravi Puri Anuradha Rajagopalan V. Ramachandran Gagneesh Rawat Chandra Rawlani Ramesh Rawlani Toshi Sehgal Sanjiv Sethi Krishna Sharma Bharath Srinivasan Hema Srinivasan Ravi Thawani Dabir Viswanath3

1. Trustee President 2. Trustee Vice-President 3. Trustee Secretary 4. Elected Trustee

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.

Map and Directions to Shanthi Mandir

Sign-up to receive quarterly updates:

Please send us your e-mail address if you would like to be included on the Friends of the Mandir distribution list to receive quarterly program updates. HTCC Members receive program notices more frequently as needed. Visit us at: http://shanthimandir.missouri.org

* Does not include four trustees who opted not to serve on the Board

PAGE 4 SAMARPANAM

HTCC Benefactors

$49- Agrawal, Ganesh and Nitu Amitabh, Mohan B. S. Balaji and S. Akila Chandrasekhar, Anand and Moe Gopalakrishna and Uma Srinath Khanna, Sanjeev and Vinita Kujala Gandhi and Siriyala Kumar, Adarsh and Sangeeta Mangunta, Lakshmi Nagarkar, Sushama Ramachandran, V and Anuradha Rajagopalan Ramdoss, Umasankar and Sasi Ramesh, Krishna Kumar Sharma, Krishna and Sandhya Thakkar, Mahesh and Jollyin $50-99 Basu, Asit and Sandra Cutkosky Dale and Hema Srinivasan Katti, Kattesh and Kavita Ratneshwar, Ratti and Subha Rawlani, Chandra and Ramesh Srinivasan, Bharath and Manjula Narasimhan

$100-499 Anand, Satish and Sushma Ghanshyam and Leela Jashnani Gopalratnam, Vellore and Anantha Gupta, Ghanshyam and Manorma Kurana, Inder and Jasmit Rawat, Gagneesh and Aditi Sankarnaryanan, Kannan $500-999 Loyalka, Sudarshan and Nirja Ramaswamy, Kasturi and Indira $1,000-1,999 Palaniappan Kannappan and Visala $3,000-3,999 Balakrishnan Elangovan and Abirami

Shanmugasundaram $5,000-5,999 Choudhary, Kunal and Ritcha Mehra Kutikkad, Kiratadas and Geetha Om, Sehgal and Toshi Puri, Ravi and Mona Sethi, Sanjiv and Punam

Thank You!

Contribute Generously!

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. • HTCC serves over 150 Mid-Missouri Hindu families. We also proudly serve the larger

Columbia community, which has come to rely on us as a dependable partner to enrich the quality of life in Columbia.

• We have approximately 100 member families/individuals including 64 life-time members. • To-date 29 families have contributed $5,000 or more. Out of this group 10 families have

contributed $15,000 or more. Contributions of $250 or more will be treated in a cumulative manner to facilitate potential donors.

• 100% of donations made to the Capital Campaign will be available exclusively for capital expenditures.

Thank You! Donor Acknowledgement, January 1– December 31, 2008

We gratefully acknowledge the following monetary donations made during 2008. 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.


Report from the Executive Board T he theme for our Third Anniversary

Celebration is “I Have a Dream”. This thoughtfully selected theme is intended to provide an opportunity for sharing new ideas and vision. This theme is also very timely given that the Mandir has now reached steady state operations. It is important for us to plan for the future with a view to provide our membership with the Mandir infrastructure necessary to accomplish the goals in the years to come.

It gives us great pleasure to formally induct our very first group of Honorary Members at the anniversary banquet. The distinguished group includes Robert Bussaburger, Virginia Morgan, Murari Lal Nagar, and Arthur Robins. Their varied contributions to enriching life in Columbia are highlighted on Pages 6-7 of this publication. Late in 2008, HTCC was the beneficiary of a generous donation of over 150 India-centric books by the Bussaburgers. This wonderful collection is now at the Mandir library for all of us to enjoy.

Last year saw an increase in our lifetime membership to 64, thanks to the efforts of our membership committee led by Dabir Viswanath. We already have several new members in 2009 in addition to the renewal of many of our 2008 members. Please remember to renew your membership, if you have not already done so. 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, cultural, youth and service programs.

Two major repair and maintenance projects were undertaken at the Mandir. During the summer of 2008 we hired contractors to remove the old Transite siding containing asbestos from the outside of the older front portion of Shanthi Mandir and replaced it with new vinyl siding. Ceiling tiles in the hallway and vinyl floor under the carpet in the service room were also replaced after a thorough asbestos inspection. In early 2009 we had to replace our main water line to the Mandir and the Educational Center to fix a leak that developed under the concrete slab of the Mandir. The

punishing deep-freeze in late January took its toll on the aging and corroding GI plumbing. This fix was long overdue, and provides peace of mind to some of us responsible for day-to-day maintenance .

In 2008 we welcomed four new trustee families swelling the trustee family ranks to twenty-nine — representing nearly half of our lifetime members. Details of capital and other donations during the year are presented on Page 4. Despite the expenses incurred from the repairs and upgrades cited earlier, these generous donations have ensured that we have a healthy growth in our cash assets as detailed by our financial policy committee on Page 28. Since all of our operations are managed exclusively by volunteers, we have been able to ensure steady growth of our balance for future capital investments. The need to proactively plan for our growth has become amply evident from the large attendance at many pujas and resultant issues with the cramped facilities and limited parking. The Board of Trustees has been in discussion on several options available to us as we grow to better serve the community.

Our regular program offerings in the devotional, educational, cultural, youth and service areas are continuing to flourish. The larger Columbia community too has come to rely on us as a dependable partner to enrich the quality of life in Columbia (including the City of Columbia, various faith and other social service organizations). We could not have done this without your timely support, encouragement and volunteering.

With regard to outreach and networking, HTCC participated in several programs, including “Sacred Expressions” a program facilitating local artists and scholars to explore religion, the arts and community through performances and discussions, in an evening of creative expression. HTCC also participated in

the CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walk for the first time. 25% of the funds raised from the Columbia walk are used to support Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen and the Russell Chapel Food Pantry locally. The rest of the funds support global hunger education, refugee support, disaster relief and self-help projects in more than 80 countries. The highlight of HTCC participation was

our strong youth delegation comprising eight members led by Prerna Srinivasan. The HTCC Service Programs Committee along with Bal Sabha and Bal Puja also undertook “Sharing the Warmth”, a service project to help out fellow Columbians by arranging for donation of winter clothing and related accessories to the Salvation Army.

Under Gagneesh Rawat’s leadership, HTCC also contributed to the interfaith thanksgiving celebrations in November 2008. HTCC will host the inter-faith thanksgiving celebration event in November 2009. We look forward to your active participation.

Shanthi Sandesh, the quarterly newsletter of HTCC completed three wonderful years of service to the community. In this short time it has excelled in its primary goal of keeping our community well informed about Mandir programs and services.

All in all 2008 was a very memorable year! Judging by the level of enthusiasm for organizing and participation in HTCC Third Anniversary Celebrations, 2009 promises to be just as lively!

See you at the Mandir!

Executive Board Vellore S. Gopalaratnam1 Inder Khurana2 Visala Palaniappan3 Anuradha Rajagopalan4

1. President 2. Secretary 3. Treasurer 4. Vice President

Monthly volunteering at the Central Missouri Food Bank by the HTCC Helping Hands crew has seen increased interest in 2008

PAGE 6 SAMARPANAM

Our Honorary Member Inductees Robert Franklin Bussabarger

“My interest in India and its arts developed from a mutual attraction to artifacts made of clay. To many Indians, the earth (clay) is a symbol for mother or life force. I went to India in 1961 on a Fulbright scholarship to make my own version of the creative process in pottery, to become a better teacher”– says Dr. Robert Franklin Bussabarger, a Ceramic Sculpture, Potter, Painter, Muralist and Author - an emeritus professor of Art at the University of Missouri, Columbia. “The traditional potters make pots, toys, practical objects and ritual paraphernalia, while the educated potters (ceramists) use clay as an artistic medium, expressing creativity and spirituality. The processes in Indian pottery have a centering theme that relates to potter’s wheel, the Sun wheel and cycles of life. The stylization

expresses a broader symbol of reality” he observed. Over the last forty years, he returned to India with his wife Mary Louise eleven more times - to research and exhibit his own

works in Calcutta (1962, 69), Mumbai (1969, 84, 88, 98), Baroda (1980) and New Delhi (1985). He co-authored a book, “The Everyday Art of India” with Betty Robins in 1968. His publications “Terracotta Horses for Gods”, “Mirrored Images” in Splendor of Tamil Nadu, “Photograph of Indian Folk Art”, “Folk Images of Sanjhi Devi”, “Terracotta Temples of India” and others archived in the Western Historical Manuscript Collection reveal the treasures of Indian Art www.system.missouri.edu/whmc We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Bussabarger’s donation of Art books to our Hindu Temple Library.

Virginia Morgan

“Ginny” as she is affectionately called by her friends, is a guiding teacher for Show Me Dharma Center and the former President of the Board of Mid America Dharma, the emerging retreat center for the Midwest area.

After working as a play therapist for acutely and chronically ill children for many years, she has shifted her focus to Dharma teaching, and to working exclusively for Dharma activities. She presented the well-appreciated Buddha Purnima talk in 2007 at Shanthi Mandir on Metta Bhavana (bringing loving kindness in our hearts and minds). She was also the driving force behind the hugely popular Krishna Das Kirtan held at Shanthi Mandir in August 2008. Ginny has been a very good friend for many HTCC members and a devoted well-wisher and supporter of Shanthi Mandir programs.

Murari Lal Nagar Dr. Murari Lal Nagar (Nagarji), born in Varanasi, India, obtained Sahityacharya degree from Varanasi; Masters in Sanskrit from Agra University; and a Ph.D in Library Science from Columbia University. He received a gold medal from Banaras Hindu University; and a Fulbright Scholarship and Smithsonian Fellowship. He joined the University of Missouri Columbia as South Asia Librarian in 1966 and became an honorary consultant to the MU library after retirement in 1988. An ardent devotee of Goddess Sarasvati, Nagarji has spent over 40 years in restoring, preserving and propagating the spiritual treasures of India, educating and enhancing knowledge on Indian heritage world-wide. He acquired Indian books and micro films at MU, one of the largest collections among US universities. He

contributed to over 30 books and 60+ papers on ancient Indian texts, including a rare document over 200 years old. A sample of his work is found at http://www.missouri.edu/~umcellislibraryoms/

He founded the International Council for Library Development (ICLD) in 1974, donating/purchasing books and journal subscriptions for libraries in India, also sponsoring cultural events in Columbia.

He compiled TULIP: a 2000+ page list of Indian periodicals, CDs with images of Goddess Sarasvati from all over the world. Nagarji and his wife Sarla Devi’s works on OM, Omkareshvara and Omkara Mandhata spanning thousands of pages with photographs and spiritual music is a treasure http://omshantimandiram.org/ http://groups.google.com/group/omkara-mandhata/; http://groups.yahoo.com/group/omgod/; http://groups.google.com/group/Om_One_God_Universal/)

Nagarji’s long scholarly career is admirable. His contributions have highly enriched Indian heritage. His donation to our Hindu Temple Library is gratefully acknowledged.


Our Honorary Member Inductees... continued from Page 6

Arthur Robins

Arthur Robins and his late wife Betty have been friends of Indian art and culture for decades. After retiring as a professor of Psychiatry in 1991, Art is teaching The Honors College at MU. Here is an excerpt of their relationship with India in Art’s own words. “In 1953, I came with my wife Betty to the University of Missouri School of Social Work, intending to stay only a short time. Before I knew it, I was here 17 years. India had a lot to do with why I stayed so long. In 1956, encouraged by the glowing reports of Profs. Noel Gist and Howard Hirt of their Fulbright experiences in India, I successfully applied for a Fulbright to India. The sojourn in India was beguiling and transforming for both Betty and myself. (Our experience is described in The Fulbright Difference, 1948-1992, R.T. Arndt and D.L. Rubin edited). The heady thrills of exploring Indian culture have not been matched on any of our subsequent sabbaticals in East Pakistan, Iran and Malaysia. We formed enduring relationships with kind, unpretentious people through whose eyes we saw not only India but also America. Betty was particularly fascinated by the art of India, which had so much religious significance that she developed a substantial knowledge of Hinduism. Our family members became honorary Ganeshites” Art and Betty have been ardent supporters of the Cultural Association of India and many India-centric activities in town, including our efforts to start the Hindu Temple in Columbia.

Comprises Executive Board (elected) and Committee Chairs (appointed)

HTCC Executive Board

President – Vellore S. Gopalaratnam Vice President – Anuradha Rajagopalan

Secretary – Inder Khurana Treasurer – Visala Palaniappan

HTCC Committee Chairs

Capital Campaign – H. R. Chandrasekhar

Cultural Programs – Hema Srinivasan Devotional Programs – Chandra Rawlani

Educational Programs – Arun Jain External Relations – Leela Jashnani

Facilities and Renovation – Ravi Thawani Financial Policy – Krishna Sharma

Library – Rajiv Mohan Membership – Dabir Viswanath

Operations and Maintenance – Meera Chandrasekhar Publications and Communications – B. S. Balaji

Safety and Security – Kiratadas Kutikkad Scheduling – Inder Khurana

Service Programs – Mayukh Ghosh (Manjula Narasimhan in 2008) Youth Activities – Nandhu Radhakrishnan

Assistant Treasurer: Manjula Narasimhan (Indira Ramaswamy in 2008)

HTCC Executive Committee

PAGE 8 SAMARPANAM

2008 The Highlights General Highlights • HTCC serves over 150 Mid-Missouri

Hindu families. We also proudly serve the larger Columbia community, which has come to rely on us as a dependable partner to enrich the quality of life in Columbia.

• City of Columbia’s Diversity Award to President, HTCC Executive Board during the 2008 Annual Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration

• HTCC Second Anniversary Celebrations - “We Can Make a Difference” brought together many of our friends from other faith communities as well.

• Samarpanam - The glossy HTCC Annual Report was released during the Second Anniversary banquet.

• HTCC T-Shirts and Polos available almost at cost helped project our identity during service projects

• Mandir played host to Krishna Das Kirtan bringing in over 140 devotees, mostly non-HTCC members.

Community Outreach (see also Service Programs) • City of Columbia Human Rights

Commission - “Let’s Talk Columbia” Panel discussion – Participation

• Columbia Values Diversity – Planning Committee and Organizational Sponsorship

• Hickman High School – Religious Studies Lectures/Mandir visit

• Interfaith Council of Columbia’s “We Give Thanks” Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration - Planning and active participation

• MU Center for Religion and the Professions – Group visit to the Mandir

• Sacred Expressions – Participation in the interfaith program organized by MU’s Center on Religion and the Professions

Membership Highlights • Lifetime Family Members: 62 • Lifetime Individual Member: 2 • 2008 Annual Family Members: 28 • 2008 Annual Individual Members: 6 • Access Data Base established

Infrastructure Upgrades • New vinyl siding, new acoustic ceiling

tiles for the hallway and new vinyl flooring for the service room

• Exterior painting of woodwork and trim

Service Programs Regular Programs: • Narayan Seva, Lunch service - Sai Bhajan

Group • Anna Daan food donation - Central

Missouri Food Bank, CMFB • CMFB Volunteering for repackaging -

HTCC Helping Hands • Adopt a Spot, Ridgeway Elementary -

Bal Sabha • Shram Daan – Volunteer projects at the

Mandir

Special Projects: • Clean-up Columbia – HTCC Helping

Hands • CROP Walk – Raised funds for

overcoming poverty • Sharing the Warmth – Winter clothing

collection for the Salvation Army - HTCC Youth/Bal Sabha/Bal Puja

Operations and Maintenance Activities Regular Activities: • Weekly Mandir cleaning • Weekly lawn mowing • Purchases and restocking supplies

Special Activities: • Gardening/Landscaping

Devotional Programs Regular Programs: • Sai Bhajans • Venkateshwara Suprabhatam/Vishnu

Sahasranaamam • Kirtan • Amritvani • Open Prayer Hours (Tuesday and

Saturday)

Pujas and Festivals: • New Year Puja • HTCC First Anniversary Puja • Maha Shivaratri • Shri Rama Navami • Akhand Ramayan • Guru Purnima Bhajan • Shri Krishna Jayanthi/Janmashtami • Ganesh Chaturthi • Navaratri Durga Puja • Vijaya Dashami/Dusshera • Karva Chauth • Deepavali Lakshmi Puja • Gurupurab/Guru Nanak Jayanthi • Dhanur Maasa Puja (Thiruppavai) • Samuhika Satyanarayana Puja

Educational Programs Regular Programs: • Tamil language classes • Hindi language classes • Yoga classes - Kate Walker

Special Programs: • Kirtan - Krishna Das • Bhagavad Gita Talk - Vinod Chopra

Youth Activities Regular Programs: • Bal Puja • Bal Sabha

Special Programs: • “We Can make a Difference” Contests • Build Your Own Computer Workshop • Wizardry Beyond Data Workshop • Know Your Voice Workshop • HTCC Math Workshop • HTCC Greeting Card/Bookmark Making

Workshop • HTCC Yoga Workshop for Youth • HTCC Youth Day/Bal Sabha-Bal Puja

Picnic

Publications and Publicity Activities • Maintain a very dynamic and informative

web site. • Shanthi Sandesh – The community-

centric quarterly newsletter completes 3rd successful year of service.

• Samarpanam – The information-packed Annual Report.

• HTCC Speakers Bureau established to better serve the mid-Missouri community.

• HTCC Presentation/Brochure (underway) • E-Mail notices to “Friends of the Mandir”

list • Media alerts and hard-copy notices for

programs • Maintain an up-to-date Photo Gallery

Cultural Programs Regular Activities: • Bharata Natyam classes - Guru Prasanna

Kasthuri • Classical Music classes - Shuba

Ratneshwar • Tabla classes - Sharad Sathe

Special Programs: • Ashok Ramani Vocal Music Concert • Balkrishna Ratnaparkhe/Nilotpal Sanyal

Fall Concert

Safety and Security • Fire inspection of Shanthi Mandir • Overflow parking – Standing

arrangement • Investigating safety and privacy fence

options Insurance coverage

Library • Approximately150 India centric books

were added to the HTCC Library collection - Donation received from Robert and Mary Bussabarger


HTCC Volunteers W hile financial resources are needed

to operate effectively, little can be accomplished without the selfless donation of time and effort of our Shram Daan (donation of labor) volunteer team. In addition there are numerous members and other individuals who volunteered their time in planning , organizing, executing and cleaning after the many events at the Mandir. We are truly indebted to all of you who gave us an invaluable resource - your time and effort! While every effort was made to recognize all the volunteers at the Mandir, please pardon us if we have inadvertently left out some of your names. We estimate conservatively that collectively all of us put in well over 15,000 hours of volunteer time during 2008. The

ownership equity of such devotion is immeasurable in monetary value!

Shram Daan (donation of labor – volunteerism) is a concept that has long been ingrained in our way of life. Mahatma Gandhi and Vinobha Bhave made volunteerism popular in pre-independent India and used it effectively to undertake social development programs in rural India. Self-help and helping others through community service are attributes that enrich all our lives. When you become part of the team, you have an opportunity to: support a cause you truly believe in, apply your skills and acquire new ones, make new friends and develop contacts, feel the personal satisfaction of helping others and of making a difference in your own

community. The rewards are as unique and personal as your reasons for wanting to volunteer. While our focus during 2006-2007 was largely on volunteering at Shanthi Mandir, in 2008 we have systematically made an effort to serve the larger Columbia community as well, as described on Page 35. Given our largely academic and physician membership, logical service efforts include projects to enhance the after-school educational opportunities and provide preliminary health care screening for those who need, but cannot afford them. We are a caring community that has much to offer Columbia. Let us team up to realize this as yet untapped potential!

Aarti Nagarkar Abi Elangovan Aditi Rawat Alagu Arunachalam Amit Patel Amolak Singh Anand Chandrasekhar Anantha Gopalaratnam Anchal Sethi Anil Malhotra Anjali Jain Anjna Sethi Anmol Sethi Anuradha Rajagopalan Archana Aggrawal Arjun Khurana Aroor Annaya Rao Aroor Sudha Arun Jain Ashish Upadhayay Ashok Cutkosky Aswath Kumar B. S. Balaji Bala Elangovan Balkrishna Ratnaparkhe Bharath Srinivasan Chandra Rawlani Dabir Viswanath Dale Cutkosky Deepika Upadhayay Gagneesh Rawat Geetha Kutikkad Harsha Patel Hema Srinivasan Holalkere Chandrasekhar Inder Khurana Indira Ramaswamy Jasmit Khurana Kalayarsi Kumar

Kannappan Palaniappan Kate Walker Kattesh Katti Kavita Katti Kiratadas Kutikkad Krishna Sharma Kul Aggrawal Kuljit Sandhu Kunal Chaudhary Kusum Malhotra Leela Jashnani Lokesh Tejwani Manjula Narasimhan Manjula Nathan Maya Cutkosky Maya Ramachandran Meena Thawani

Meera Chandrasekhar Milind Ratnaparkhe Mythili Ramachandran Nahush Katti Namita Satpathy Nandhu Radhakrishnan Naresh Kujala Nidhi Khurana Nirja Loyalka Nitin Patel Prerna Srinivasan Punam Sethi Raji Subramanian Rajini Tolani Rajiv Mohan Ram Ramaswamy Ramesh Rawlani

Ranadhir Mitra Ratti Ratneshwar Ravi Thawani Reshma Khanna Ritcha Mehra-Chaudhary S. Akila S. Naimesh S. Nitya Sandhya Sharma Sangita Sharma Sanjeev Khanna Sanjiv Sethi Saroj Mohan Sashi Satpathy Satish Anand Senthil Kumar Shreyas Srinivasan Shuba Ratneshwar Srinath Gopalakrishna Sriyala Kujala Sumidha Katti Sunilima Sinha Surya Mantrala Sushma Anand Sushma Nagarkar Toshi Sehgal Uma Srinath V. Ramachandran Vairam Arunachalam Varsha Pherwani Vasanthi Bhaskaran Vellore Adithi Vellore Gopalaratnam Vidhya Mantrala Vikram Arunachalam Vinita Khanna Visala Palaniappan

PAGE 10 SAMARPANAM


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PROUD SPONSOR OF HTCC ANNUAL CELEBRATIONPROUD SPONSOR OF HTCC ANNUAL CELEBRATION

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1900 I-70 Drive SW (I-70, Exit #124) (573) 445-8511

Congratulations to HTCC on their Third Anniversary!

PAGE 12 SAMARPANAM

Capital Campaign

Holalkere Chandrasekhar1 Inder Khurana2

Vellore S. Gopalaratnam Sunder Lal Kusum Malhotra Ranadhir Mitra Gagneesh Rawat Chandra Rawlani 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison

Please contact the Chair if you would like to serve on this committee. We appreciate your donation of time and talent to serve HTCC. Thank you!

W e are pleased to update the progress with our ongoing Capital Campaign.

During 2008, we have attracted another 4 families to the trustee-fold. This is in addition to the 12 original families and 13 other families that joined us in 2007. The families to join us are listed below. We proudly welcome the new families as HTCC Trustee families.

Chaudhary, Kunal and Ritcha Mehra-Chaudhary

Puri, Ravi and Mona Sehgal, Om and Toshi Sethi, Sanjiv and Punam

With these recent capital contributions, and several other additional donations (see Page 4 acknowledging HTCC Benefactors), we have, over the course of the last three years, exceeded the $150,000 mark in large donations In fact just since May 2007 (when Shubh Kaam

donated the Shanthi Mandir property to HTCC), we have raised more than $125,000. This represents approximately half of our Capital Campaign target of $250,000! Details of our financial report for the year are included on Page 28.

During the Capital Campaign drive in 2008, many other families expressed interest in making their donations during 2009. We will follow-up on these potential benefactors and get them on board as trustee families. We could use your support to expand our ownership base beyond the current 29 families. Please help us reach other friends who share our common goals with regard to the Mandir. The Capital Campaign will continue in earnest until we reach our target. We are grateful for your help in this campaign.

The Hindu Temple of St. Louis


Cultural Programs T he year 2008 has been a busy one for the

HTCC Cultural committee with several concerts held during the year. Our community witnessed a significant increase in cultural activities last year with many concerts and performances. Folks turned out in big numbers to attend these delightful and stimulating performances.

Concerts and Performances in 2008 Of note, are the Carnatic music concert

(Kutcheri) by Papanasam Ashok Ramani in April 2008 and the Hindustani music concert by Balakrishna Rathanparkhe with Nilotpal Sanyal on Tabla in November 2008, both sponsored by HTCC. In addition, we also had the concerts of Sreematihi Shyamala Sundaram in June, devotional music of Sri Krishna Das in August and the Bharata Natyam Program of Kalaimamani Padmini Dorairajan and Dr. Smrita Dorairajan in October.

Papanasam Ashok Ramani is a well-known Carnatic music vocalist who has won many prestigious awards beginning with Best Junior vocalist from the Music Academy, Madras in 1993 Yuva Kala Bharathi in 1994 and Isai Peroli in 1999. He is also the grandson of the famous 20th century composer Papanasam Sivam. Legendary Mridhangam player Sri Guruvayur Dorai accompanied him. Sri Guruvayur Dorai is the most senior and well-known Mridhangam artist. The list of vocalists he played with almost reads like the “who is who in Carnatic music”. It is a tribute to the support from our community that we can bring such artists from India for concerts.

Sri Ramakrishna Ratnaparkhe and Nilotpal are our local professional musicians both of whom have delighted us on many occasions

and we are proud to have hosted a fully fledged concert featuring them.

Sri Krishna Das is an extremely popular devotional musician and Mrs. Padmini Dorairajan is an acclaimed artist and an inspiring teacher of Bharatanatyam. We hope to see more of her performances in future.

All the five events were well attended and the cultural program committee is very much encouraged by the enthusiastic support for these programs from the community.

Cultural activities during temple events We continue our tradition of music, dance,

drama and art during Sri Krishna Jayanthi and Janmashtami celebrations at HTCC in which children of all ages participate to make it an all night cultural and devotional program. Cultural activities include music, dance, drama, talks and display of art. During Vijaya dasami, or dussehra, in keeping with our tradition, students of music are invited to perform a piece they have learnt and thank their teachers.

Dance, Table and Vocal classes Bharatanatyam classes by Surya Dance

Company continue as usual once a week at the Mandir and they have performed in several venues in and out of Columbia. This year, HTCC also hosts vocal lessons by Shuba Ratneshwar and Tabla Classes by Sri Sharad Sathe.

We appreciate the support from the community for these programs and plan to continue with at least two concerts next year. Look for showcasing local young musicians in 2009 by HTCC. We invite your suggestions for programs and participations in future. If you have specific requests or suggestions, please contact one of us.

Hema Srinivasan1 Shubra Gangopadhyay Anuradha Rajagopalan2 Shubha Ratneshwar Bimal Ray 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison

Open prayer during New Year Puja and kids performing “Krishna Leela” during Janmashtami celebrations

PAGE 14 SAMARPANAM

Devotional Programs T he year 2008 was another successful year

for the HTCC Devotional Committee. The committee members planned and organized various devotional events during the entire year. This is only possible due to the blessings of Almighty and the dedication of the numerous volunteers. The devotional committee members are very pleased and thankful for the outpouring of support and the involvement from the members and community.

The 2008 devotional calendar started with New Year Puja with a session of meditation led by Kate Walker and a fine devotional program (recitation of shlokas and singing of bhajans) put together by Hema Srinivasan. The March Maha Shivaratri celebration was led by Srinath and H.R. Chandrasekhar. The puja started with the Shri Ganesha Pancharatnam and concluded with the recitation of Shiva Gayatri, Aarti and Prasad.

On March 15, 2008, the HTCC 2nd Anniversary Devotional program took place at the Mandir. The devotional program was conducted by the priests Sant Naresh and Sant Jitender from “Prem Prakash temple” in Staten Island NY. The devotional songs and the sermon were inspiring. The next major temple devotional celebration was Akhand Ramayan held on April 12 and 13, 2008 at Shanthi Mandir. Shivendra Shuklaji performed Puja at the start of the program and also the final puja and mantras after completion of 24 hours of non-stop reading of Tulsidas Ramcharitmanas. Our thanks go to the many volunteers who made it possible with their several hours of non-stop reading and help with food preparation.

Janmashtami was celebrated with great joy and high spirits on August 23, 2008 at the Mandir. Hema Srinivasan started the Puja with recitation of shlokas and was followed by Aarti. There was lot of excitement as kid 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 our younger members. The idol was decorated and worshiped for 10 days from Ganesh Chaturthi to

Ananth Chaturdashi. Aarti was performed on all 10 days and the celebration concluded with Visarjan.

Another big devotional event of the year was Devi Jaagran which was celebrated on October 4, 2008 at Shanthi Mandir. Shri Satish Bhagawat from Chicago was invited to perform the puja. The program started with the Devi puja and then followed by chanting of shlokas and singing of Devi songs. The Mandir remained open for 10 holy days of the Navaratri and Aarti was performed every day. On 10th day, the Dussehra festival was celebrated.

On October 17, 2008 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 performed Gauri puja, katha and exchanged Thalis.

Deepavali, the festival of lights was celebrated at the Mandir on November 2, 2008 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 and distribution of sparklers to kids.

Guru Nanak Jayanthi is one of the most important festivals in the Sikh calendar. The festival was celebrated on November 22, 2008 at Shanthi Mandir. The prayer was led by our guest Giani Jagtar Singh from Kansas City. The prayer started with Japji sahib followed by Kirtan, Anand sahib and Ardas.

The fourth annual Samuhika Satyanarayana Puja was conducted on December 13, 2008 under the guidance of Shri Balkrishna Ratnaparkhe.

The committee also ensures that the temple is kept open for open prayer on every Tuesday and Saturday and Amritvani on third Saturday of the month. Committee also helps out with other related events held at Mandir including Sai Bhajan, Suprabhatam and Kirtan.

Chandra Rawlani1 Kusum Malhotra2 Vellore S. Gopalaratnam3 Siriyala Gandhi Srinath Gopalakrishna Vinita Khanna Nirja Loyalka Manjula Nathan Kuljeet Sandhu Punam Sethi Hema Srinivasan Meena Thawani

1. Chair 2. Secretary 3. Executive Board Liaison


Educational Programs S wami Vivekananda said - “Out of the past is

built the future. Look back, therefore as far as you can drink deep of the eternal fountains that are behind and after that look forward, march forward and make India brighter, greater, much higher than she ever was. Our ancestors were great. We must first recall that. We must learn the elements of our being, the blood, that course in our veins; we must build an India yet greater than what she has been…The more, therefore, the Hindus study the past, the more glorious will be their future and whoever tries to bring the past to the door of everyone, is a great benefactor to his nation."

As we near the 3rd HTCC annual celebration, it's time to reflect on the year gone by and the accomplishment that HTCC had in these young days of its existence. Throughout the year HTCC had been smitten by its theme and the clarion call of "We can make a Difference". The winds of change had swept the national political landscape and along with the rest, our community has responded in unison with a full throated cry of "Yes, we can"! It has been an exhilarating journey so far and we have made incremental progress on our goals to provide intellectual, organizational and logistical support to ongoing educational efforts by the HTCC.

HTCC has been on a mission to shine the light of knowledge on the darkness of ignorance that breeds suspicion and hatred. This year, just like the past few years, HTCC has worked to bridge that gap by participating in inter-faith activities of mid-Missouri and representing the Hindu faith in events like Inter-faith Thanksgiving.

Ananda Coomaraswamy once said, "A single generation of English education suffices to

break the threads of tradition and to create a nondescript and superficial being deprived of all roots — a sort of intellectual pariah who does not belong to the East or the West, the past or the future. The greatest danger for India is the loss of her spiritual integrity…The two great Indian epics have been the great medium of Indian education, the most evident vehicle of the transmission of the national culture from each generation to the next. The national heroic literature is always and everywhere the true basis of a real education in the formation of character." In a similar way, Bal Puja program has been having a long tradition of helping our youths to learn from the scriptures and epics, and introduce them to their Hindu identity. This year stories from the selected book 'Tales from the Indian Epics' by Dr. Chandrasekhar were read as part of a book club program in Bal Puja. Similarly, all throughout the year another program Bal Sabha has been helping the kids educate the community youth on topics on Indian culture and general interest.

Like past years, the Hindi language classes and the Tamil Language classes had wonderful participation and greater attendance. In some instance they have served the need of an outreach program with participation from the greater Mid-Missouri community and adults. The attendance and interest in these popular programs is steadily growing. Besides the yoga sessions, we also held a special event on Krishna Das Kirtan. The committee is thankful to all the HTCC members for their participation and support. We would also like to acknowledge and thank the members of all other committees that have helped and supported us in our efforts.

Arun Jain1 Aniruddha Raychaudhuri Sriyala Devi Kujala Inder Khurana2 Kalai S. Kumar Arpita Kumar Sushma Nagarkar 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison

Hindi and Tamil classes are a regular event at the Mandir (once every two weeks).

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." Albert Einstein

PAGE 16 SAMARPANAM

External Relations T he external relations committee was formed

just over a year ago in order to better address the growing needs for community relations and interaction with other religious and social groups. During the course of the preceding fourteen months we planned and organized events related to the temple and the community at large. The first task at hand was the 2nd annual celebration for the HTCC, which turned out to be a highly successful evening. The anniversary dinner and cultural performance was highly enjoyed by all the attendees and invitees (close to 300 people).

External Relations initiatives

MU School of Journalism students In March we had a request from a group of

MU students who were attending the School of Journalism and wanted to learn about the Hindu Religion as part of the curriculum for a class on Religious studies to visit the temple. They were accompanied by their teacher and her aide, Ms Debbie Blaisdell and Amy White from the school. Dr. Chandrasekhar and I hosted the group and provided some basic information about religion, culture and customs.

Center on Religion and the Professions

Later, in April, the department of Religious Studies and the Professions hosted a day-long series of discussions on religion, and its expression in daily life. The evening culminated with performances by several groups expressing religion through art and music. The HTCC youth performed two dances which were very well received.

Interfaith Thanksgiving celebration - 2008 The Interfaith community held a Thanksgiving

celebration in November which was attended by members of our community and there was interaction and exchange of ideas among individuals of various religious faiths. This annual event is hosted by various faith groups and in 2009 the Hindu community (we) has volunteered to host the event. We are inviting all our members to share their time and talent to make this a successful event.

Columbia Values Diversity Award - 2008 An outstanding community event held

annually highlighted the beginning of 2008. At the diversity awards breakfast last January Dr. Gopalaratnam was awarded the individual Diversity Award for his contributions to promoting the values espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King.

Plans for 2009 As the year came to an end we were once

again gathering to plan our annual event for 2009. We are also in the process of putting together a general overview of Hinduism, the religion, the culture and the customs embraced by its followers. We are also working towards outreach in surrounding communities. We are still seeking speakers, artists and all other talent to help us accomplish our goals. Hence please come forth and share your time and talent and recruit all your friends and family to do so. Thank you all…

Leela Jashnani1 Visala Palaniappan2 H. R. Chandrasekhar Vellore S. Gopalaratnam Arun Jain Ranadhir Mitra Gagneesh Rawat 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison

HTCC participated in the Interfaith Thanksgiving event 2008; Suryanshi and Nila performing Deepanjali Dance;

Shubha Ratneshwar along with the youth performers (Nila, Sidharth, Urmila, Aarti) singing “Hey Dayamai” - a prayer song for peace, togetherness and faith

HTCC is the hosting community for Interfaith

Thanksgiving 2009 celebration in

November. Please mark your calendars for this important event.


PAGE 18 SAMARPANAM

Taj Emporium Congratulates the

Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri on their 3rd Anniversary

Serving the Community for more than twelve years…

Thank you for shopping at Taj Emporium!! Chalapathi R Pendurthi

Come, visit us for… Fresh Vegetables every Friday Best Frozen Food Variety of Snacks and Sweets Ready to eat food Rice: Basmati, Sona Masoori, Jasmine, Ponni and Idly Rice The biggest selection of Movies in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and

Punjabi A wide variety of brand name instant mix foods, Dal’s, Flour’s, Oil’s, Seed’s,

Soup’s, Noodles, Nut’s, Ghee, Ketchup, Soji, Phoa, Papad’s, Tea, Coffee etc. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Taj Emporium Hours 1400 Fellows Place Monday: Closed Columbia, MO 65201 Tuesday to Friday: 4 pm to 8 pm Phone/Fax: 573/442-5201 Sat: 11 am to 7 pm, Sun: 11 am to 5 pm


Photo Gallery 1

Left • Ganesh Visarjan at Mandir • Maakhan Choor performance • Devotees performing Aarti • Priest performing Devi puja

Middle • Mandir passageway, • Ashok awarded for Summer

Math Workshop tutoring, • Chanting of slokhas by Akil,

Aswath E. and Kavin

Right • Devotees listening to prayers, • Matki breaking during

Janmashtami • Gyaniji chanting prayers

during Gurpurab celebrations

PAGE 20 SAMARPANAM

Photo Gallery 2


I Have a Dream Contest - 1 Left •Peace on Earth ... Earth will stay beautiful by Anjali Jain

•Peace on Earth instead of War by Siddharth Kutikkad

•Save the planet… by Shreyas Srinivasan

Right •All animals have a safe home by Suryanshi Rawat

•Go Green by Suryanshi Rawat •The dream journey by Suryanshi & Gagneesh Rawat

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.

William Arthur Ward

PAGE 22 SAMARPANAM

I Have a Dream Contest - 2

From the top-left, clockwise • The world held together by Ipsa Chaudhary. • I have a dream - a family vacation in India by Tia

Rawat • Worldwide friendship, Alternate energy, Recycle,

Olympics and Education System by Rohit Rao. • United we stand - everyone will live together

peacefully by Trisha Chaudhary

The “I have a dream” - HTCC Third Anniversary Contests included competitions in Visual Arts, Jingle Competition and Literary Arts. Age group classifications were Group I: 3 - 10 years, Group II: 11 - 18 years, Group III: 19 years and above.

All contest entries will be displayed in the lobby of the Peachtree Banquet Center on Friday, March 13th.

We thank Ozark Custard, LLC for awarding certificates for a free cone at Andy’s Frozen custard to all participants whose contest entries are published in Samarpanam.

A big Thank You!!!

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

Martin Luther King


I have a dream … a garden of humanity Prerna Srinivasan

If you had a gray rock in one hand and a brown in the other, how would you possibly know which is better? They’re both just rocks. You wouldn’t, unless you opened up each to find a beautiful treasure in one or the other.

But there was a time when people used to be judged by the color of their skin. Decisions were being made from outside appearance only and most of the time these were wrong. It very much goes by the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Another good example is an abandoned mine. If entrance was too scary then nobody would go inside to find the many riches hidden in its depths.

Only a few people were brave enough to go in and find this treasure. Amongst these were Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. When they came out and talked about equality, fairness and respect, then nobody believed or cared. All Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi asked and dreamed for was to one day see their children playing with friends, who didn’t analyze them through their skin color but through what they were like.

This is also my dream. Even today in some parts of the world, many people are being horribly and cruelly punished just because of their religion and/or skin color.

What if the world went into a crisis that only with the help of every single person on the planet, it could be solved? Would you not help just for the simple reason because the person working next to you was of a different skin color? Of course not!!!! (or at least we hope not...). We would work TOGETHER and try to stop it.

Columbia is a great place with great people but we can make it better. By respecting everybody’s beliefs and religion we can and will fulfill the dream that I have and the dream Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. once had....to be together.

I have a dream: a green planet and a good economy Naimish Mani Balaji, 3rd Grade, Paxton Keeley Elementary School.

I have a dream that one day the world would have such a good view of the economy that we can turn away a bad economy to keep away a depression. This will only happen if we listen to scientist, our buddy’s. We might accomplish this dream of mine even quicker. Right now, we are listening to scientists, but if we want to turn this bad economy away faster we need to act quicker.

Our No.1 problem is polluting. When we pollute, we are reducing the nature’s cleanliness, releasing bad gases and it is like a mess!

Problem No. 2 is releasing CO2 carbon-dioxide in to the nice world. CO2 makes winter colder and summer hotter. Spring hotter and falls colder than usual.

Problem No. 3 is trash, we throw away a lot of things which then go to a dump or the oceans. This trash then impacts the fish and shark species. It could make the animals die or poison them. When people eat this infected meat, they may get sick or die themselves. That’s why we really need to be careful about the earth.

So I call on all the presidents and heads of the state to get together and end this horrible bad economy. This is my dream and if we accomplish them every human, animal and living things might live forever. We shall soon finish and accomplish my dream. So world, please help us keep a good economy not a bad or horrible economy. World come together with the humankind and help. Let’s turn away a bad economy like we are in today. Let us have a fresh start to a good economy. With help, this dream could make a difference to a lot of people in the world. At the end may god help and bless us.

I have lots of dreams... Tia Rawat, Kindergarten, Mill Creek Elementary

I have a dream about making things right. I want to make my family proud and do projects and learn to do them right. I want to make my family really happy, that’s what I have to do in my first family dream, and I like that dream. It is a good dream.

When I grow up I am going to be a teacher. I also want to be an author and I also want to be an astronaut. I will teach kids and illustrate books and go in space and see aliens.

I have a dream to make the world better. I am going to care for my planet earth and bring honor to my country and the people.

I have a dream that everybody should have food, water, clothes, and house. It’s good to have the things that you need like water, food, clothes and a house and that’s how you stay safe and healthy.

I have a dream to go to India. I am really excited to see all my cousins at India. I hope I have lots of fun. I have a dream... Vishnu Arunachalam, 1st Grade, Mill Creek Elementary

I dream of becoming a great tennis player. I also dream of becoming a great chess player. I want to learn music and become a famous singer.

I have a dream of visiting India one day. I want to see the Aarupadai Veedu Murugan temple in Chennai that my grandma helped build. I also want to see my ancestral homes in Kanadukathan and Konapet that my parents talk so much about.

I hope all my dreams come true.

I Have a Dream Contest - 3

We are very appreciative of Amy Messner for offering her time and services (creative and artistic talent) at no charge for the HTCC Anniversary Celebrations. The kids sure are going to enjoy the many art and craft activities and create some take-away decorations/objects

PAGE 24 SAMARPANAM

I Have a Dream Contest - 4 I have a dream… to make the world gleam Suryanshi Rawat, 6th Grade, Gentry Middle

I have a dream To make the world gleam With less trash, And lots of cash More people with food, And less that are rude No people that are sad But lots who are glad I have a dream To make the world gleam…

I have a dream … to make the world GREEN Suryanshi Rawat, 6th Grade, Gentry Middle

I have a dream To make the world GREEN With everything clean No people littering And the whole world glittering Less energy used and No animals abused. No trees being cut down And no people with frowns I have a dream, To make the world GREEN…

I have a dream to make people gleam... Nila Palaniappan, Grade 4 Fairview Ele-mentary

I have a dream... I have a dream to make people gleam For everyone to have food, Fruits, veggies, milk and grains

I have a dream to make people gleam Everyone needs shelter, a home, a hut, a tent, a cabin, A place to be safe and secure.

I have a dream to make people gleam, For everyone to be warm, Clothes, pants, shirts, shoes and socks

From left to right in a clockwise direction: •Matki breaking during Janmashtami celebration •Crop for Hunger - HTCC Youth volunteers •Ganesha Idol making - Kids and adults at work

~ HTCC Event photographs

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced. ~ Swami Vivekananda


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PAGE 26 SAMARPANAM

Congratulations!

to HTCC on their 3rd Anniversary


Facilities And Renovations R enovations Committee had quite an

eventful 2008. “Shram Daan” allowed us to take up small upgrade projects at the Mandir in a systematic and planned manner. A recent water- main leak necessitated replacement of the very old galvanized iron water line to the Mandir and the Educational Center. The Committee has taken a wait and watch approach as the HTCC Board of Trustees decides on the future plans to accommodate growth in programs and attendance at the Mandir. Due to this reason, spending the approved amount of $30,000 on increased parking and security fencing was put on temporary HOLD. During summer 2008 the asbestos abatement

project was completed. The process included removal of the Transite siding on the exterior front portion of the Mandir and a thorough asbestos inspection of the entire Mandir. The hallway acoustic ceiling tiles and vinyl flooring in the service room (under the carpet) containing asbestos were removed and replaced. With the help of “Shram Daan” volunteers

several projects were undertaken and executed successfully: Landscaping in the front and around the Mandir including weekly lawn mowing, weed removal, planting of colorful “mums” and “bulbs” for the spring and summer color in the flower garden in front of the building, painting the Mandir exterior trim including doors, windows, wooden siding, front entrance and the sign board.

Chalk Boards were installed in the Mandir Prayer Hall and also in the Educational Center to facilitate teachers of Tamil & Hindi Classes. Regular monitoring of our utility bills allowed us

to detect a major water leak under the concrete slab floor of the Mandir. As a part of this emergency repair, we replaced the main water lines to the Mandir and the Educational Center. This investment will serve us well for the years to come. Taking advantage of the trenching due to the

new plumbing lines, we trenched in hard-wired telephone and Internet cables from the Mandir to the Educational Center. A small amount of work needs to be completed when the weather improves, allowing convenient high-speed Internet access and the security of a wired-telephone line at the Educational Center. In 2009 we will continue to make timely

repairs/upgrades to maintain a safe and welcoming atmosphere at the Mandir and the Educational Center. HTCC Facilities and Renovation Committee has presented details of comprehensive and pragmatic “Short Term”, “Medium Term” and “Long Term” plans to facilitate continued momentum in our activities, growth in our programs and attendance to the Board of Trustees, Executive Committee and to the General Assembly during the last two years. It is hoped that the Board of Trustees will, in 2009, be able to follow-up on these recommendations.

Ravi Thawani1 Vellore S. Gopalaratnam2 Anand Chandrasekhar Sanjeev Khanna Bharath Srinivasan 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison

PAGE 28 SAMARPANAM

D uring 2008, the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) met with the Visala,

Treasurer, HTCC, to discuss and review the revenues, expenditures and accounts. In addition, the Committee also conducted a year-end internal audit of the books.

The audit indicated that all the donations and revenue were appropriately documented. The expenditures were all justified and recorded. FPC believes that HTCC is a financially healthy organization.

Highlights of the 2008 financial report are include:

• The revenue in each of the eight preceding quarters typically exceeded expenditures.

• Capital campaign and other donations and revenue from special events were the major sources of income.

• Membership dues generated during the year 2008 was $7,360. This was less than the previous years reflecting the increased life membership and resulting reduction in numbers of annual renewals.

• As of Jan 1, 2009, the total cash assets of HTCC was $177,008. $150,000 of this amount has been invested in CDs.

• A total of $14,517 was spent on upgrades and repairs. This was the single major expenditure for 2008.

• An average monthly expenditure for routine operations in 2008 was approximately $1,500, which is consistent with the previous year’s expenditures.

Financial Policy

Krishna Sharma1 Vairam Arunachalam Visala Palaniappan2 Surya Mantrala Kannan Raghuraman Ravi Thawani 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison

2008 Financial Report

Balance Forward (From December 31, 2007) $138,257.12

Interest Income $2,696.71 Interest from CDs and Money Market account $2,69.71

Membership Dues $7,360.00 New Lifetime Family Members (LFM) $3,000.00

Upgrades to Lifetime membership (AFM to LFM) $2.50000

Lifetime upgrade installment payment $400.00

2008 Annual Family Member (AFM) $1,150.00

2008 Annual Individual Members (AIM) $210.00

2009 Annual Family Members (AFM) $100.00 Donations $52,809.27 Capital Campaign $43,500.00

Other Charitable Donations $4,050.00

Prayer Services/Hundi $2,969.77

Facilities Use $2,289.50

Other Revenues $10,435.33 Second Anniversary Celebrations $9,041.70

Other Special Events $1,393.63

TOTAL 2008 REVENUES $73,301.31 Expenses Start-up $806.74

Maintenance and Supplies $1,967.52

Upgrade and Repairs $14,517.45

Utilities $5,006.55

Second Anniversary Celebrations $8,775.78

Other Special Events $1,485.18

Printing and Mailing $1,036.98

Insurance and Fees $660.00

Garden/Lawn/Snow Clearance $294.01

TOTAL 2008EXPENSES $34,550.21

ENDING BALANCE (December 31, 2008) $177,008.22

Period: January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2008 Prepared by: Visala Palaniappan, Treasurer, HTCC Executive Board

Dated: February 5, 2009


T o augment the awareness and learning about Hinduism, Indian culture and heritage,

HTCC Library continues supporting educational and devotional activities among children, youth and adults. This year approximately 150 India centric books to the HTCC Library collection were added. Donations were received from Robert and Mary Bussabarger. These precious donations have enhanced the selection and range of reading material. We thank the Bussabarger’s for making this precious and timely donation of their collection to the HTCC Library.

The HTCC library has Shri Rama Charita Manas (Tulsi Das), Valmiki Ramayana, Mahabharata by Vyasa, Bhagawata Maha Purana, Sukhmani Sahib, Thirukkural, Samhita etc in original language and English translation. The library also has several publications of Bhagavad Gita, Amar Citra Katha, series on

Ramayana, Mahabharata, Krishna Leela, Panchatantra, Hitopadesh, Tales of Vikramaditya etc. for children and young kids. Additionally, one can find reference materials on Indian philosophers and leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, R.K. Narayan and V.S. Naipaul. The audio selection of library includes tapes of Bhagavad Gita and Shri Ramacharit Manas.

The Library Committee is in the process of assembling a team of young kids who will help in issuing/returning of the library books on Saturdays and Sundays especially on the days of Bal Sabha, Bal Puja and Hindi classes. Also, feedback, suggestions and ideas are being sought from the community members to better utilize and maximize benefits of the HTCC library for the community.

Library

T he activities of the Mandir in different areas such as service, educational, devotional,

and cultural and youth programs have been growing though the growth in membership was limited during this past year. The Lifetime Family Membership increased by 4 and Annual Family Membership by 6 during 2008. These numbers are a small increase compared to the potential that exists.

Indira Ramaswamy, Secretary, Membership Committee, moved to Atlanta, Georgia, recently, and as such it is now a one-man committee. The committee will be reconstituted soon, and the Committee Chair would like volunteers and suggestions.

During the year 2009, the committee plans to launch several new initiatives: • New membership Drive: Approach

individuals personally by e-mail and other methods, and highlight the Mandir’s accomplishments and its member’s contributions specifically in the areas of Service, Worship, Cultural Programs and Youth activities.

• Get a new member: Start an initiative where each existing member brings in one or more new members. The membership application form is on the Shanthi Mandir web site at:

http://shanthimandir.missouri.org/HTCCMembershipForm.pdf

• Upgrade to Lifetime membership: The committee requests Annual Members to become Lifetime Members. The committee will approach Annual Members on an individual basis during the next several weeks.

• Update your e-mail address: The Mandir communicates to its membership via email. The committee plans to remind the existing members to update their email addresses if there are any changes.

As of March 13, 2009, the numbers of members in different categories o f membership are: • Lifetime Family Members (LFM) 62 • Lifetime Individual Members (LIM) 2 • Annual Family Members (AFM) 20 (12*) • Annual Individual Members (AIM) 2 (2*)

*The numbers in the brackets additionally represent those annual members who are yet to renew their 2009 memberships. The Mandir activities have grown and thrived during these past 3 years due to the active participation and involvement of all of you. The Mandir needs your continued support in serving the Columbia and Mid-Missouri area families.

Membership

Dabir Viswanath1 Vellore S. Gopalaratnam2 Indira Ramaswamy3

1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison 3. Secretary (2008)

Rajiv Mohan1 Inder Khurana2 Ajay Sharma Mahesh Thakkar 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison

PAGE 30 SAMARPANAM

H aving established our primary activities in 2006, the Operations and Maintenance

committee continued to work on the upkeep of the yard and the temple building and running the garage sale every few years. Yard and Garden:

The wet spring pushed back our garden-planting days. A group of volunteers worked on the annual job of removing old growth and planting annuals. Both the annuals and perennials did well, as always, and we had a great crop of bright flowers all summer long. Cleaning/Mowing:

The volunteer group that cleans the Mandir on a weekly basis is now at 21 families, a decrease from last year’s number, since several families have moved from Columbia. The frequent vacuuming and wiping down of counters by groups that use the Mandir makes weekly

cleaning of those areas a snap. We continue to use a contractor who mows every alternate week, and our own volunteers, Ram, Bharath and Gopal take turns mowing during the intervening weeks. Mandir members have sponsored part of the contractor’s charge.

We are seeking more families to help clean, so our turns come less frequently – a turn once a year would be ideal! Remember, if you swap your assigned cleaning date with another family, do let Meera know so that we can keep track of schedules. The schedule is now posted on the Shanthi Mandir website under the Shram Daan page, for your easy reference.

We will be seeking sponsorships again to help offset the cost of mowing the yard. We welcome your help and your spirit of contributing to the upkeep of the Mandir!

Operations and Maintenance

Meera Chandrasekhar1 Jasmit Khurana1 Visala Palaniappan2 Kavita Katti Sunder Lal3 Ram Ramaswamy4 1. Co-chairs 2. Executive Board Liaison 3. Garden Subcomm. Chair 4. Yard /lot Subcomm. Chair

A BIG thank you to our volunteers!!!

Your regular Shram Daan efforts help routine operations and maintain the welcoming

ambience at Shanthi Mandir.

Shram Daan every Friday/Saturday Weekly cleaning of the Mandir

Gardening and landscaping Yard mowing/Snow clearing


Publications and Communications C ontinuing with the same sprit and dedication

the year 2008 has been filled with various accomplishments. This committee has a very focal role to play as it provides public relation services to all other committees of HTCC and is thus involved with every temple program offering. The prime goal of keeping the community well informed and updated on the various temple events and special programs via email, flyers, website, and community newsletter has been done effectively and efficiently. We are very proud to see that Shanthi Mandir became the focal point for worship, community service, education and youth activities. The Mandir events have greatly added to the cultural richness and diversity that the city of Columbia offers. To continue with expanding our network and community reach we are also actively collaborating with various City organizations and Interfaith groups. Our committee members have very actively contributed to many ongoing tasks at the temple. Some of the more significant accomplishments include: • Maintaining a dynamic and very informative

“Shanthi Mandir” website • Publishing “Shanthi Sandesh” – An

information-packed quarterly newsletter • Maintaining an up-to-date online photo and

video gallery • Publicity for temple events and timely e-mail

notices to Friends of the Mandir • Maintaining membership data base and

directory maintenance Dynamic Shanthi Mandir Website

A dynamic and very informative web site for the temple is being maintained by the webmaster. Every event information is updated on a regular basis. It is one of the most frequently visited website on COIN. The temple site http://www.shanthimandir.missouri.org is simple and elegant and provides information about objectives of HTCC, upcoming events, HTCC publications, archives etc. 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 the past events. Quarterly Shanthi Sandesh Newsletter

The community newsletter has been a great success and is well received by the community. The newsletter that started off as a single page update on the ongoing events at the Mandir has now turned into a colorful multi page newsletter

covering temple celebrations, special events, upcoming events information/schedule, and other informative write-ups including lead article based on new theme for every issue. We are also delighted to see various contribution from our young writers and artists for our Bal Sandesh (which was integrated in to Shanthi Sandesh). The newsletter submission guidelines are also available on the temple website. Online Photo and video Gallery

The committee has done an excellent job of capturing vivid memories in the form of pictures for the major celebrations and special programs. Photographs of various HTCC events and videos for some of them have been archived on the Mandir computer. Photographs and Videos of most of the HTCC events are captured and used in various HTCC publications (Newsletter, Highlights flyer, Annual Report, DVD production and the temple website). We have posted videos taken during various events on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/balsabhaevevts which can be shared with friends and family around the world. We also encourage you to share your collections with us. Friends of the Mandir E-mail Notices

The committee has been helping other committees publicize their activities and events to the community in timely manner via e-mail notices, flyer distribution and announcements. Apart from keeping the community well informed, the timely information release and sharing has generated more interest and brought about more participation and involvement in the various temple celebrations and special events. Membership Directory

The committee has been very meticulously maintaining the membership database in collaboration with membership committee. Like our community, the mailing list “Friends of the Mandir” also had outgrown in numbers and is now close to 500 which is a great achievement for HTCC.

We are all very excited as we move forward to serve the HTCC community and the greater Columbia community with our existing and new initiatives and offerings. We need you, your leadership and your ideas on these future initiatives to help us deliver our services more effectively. Please come and join us…

B. S. Balaji1 Gagneesh Rawat2

Vellore S. Gopalaratnam3 Geetha Kutikkad4

Arkasubhra Ghosh

Selvi Nandakumar 1. Chair 2. Vice-Chair 3. Executive Board Liaison 4. Webmaster

PAGE 32 SAMARPANAM

T he safety and security committee is responsible for ensuring that the Mandir

building is safe for use by the community and is in compliance with the applicable City of Columbia codes and regulations. The committee is also responsible for managing the parking at the Mandir during major events.

Safety and compliance measures: The following items were completed with

regard to safety of the Mandir during the last year: • The annual fire inspections were successfully

carried out as required by the Fire department.

• The required testing/recharging of the fire extinguishers was also completed.

Shuttle service for overflow parking: The committee, with the help of Mandir

volunteers, helped with the parking situation at

the Mandir during events that resulted in overflow parking. Prior to major events at the Mandir, the committee made parking arrangements with the Sunrise Optimist club to accommodate the overflow vehicles. Volunteers also provided shuttle service between the Mandir parking lot and the Optimist club parking lot - for those who parked in the overflow parking lot.

Additional Patrols during Akhand Ramayan: To ensure the safety of security of the

members during the Akhand Ramayan celebration (an all-night event), the committee also made arrangements with the City of Columbia Police department to perform additional patrols in the vicinity of the Mandir during the entire night.

Safety and Security

Scheduling I am pleased to report that scheduling of

activities has now become a routine procedure. We are thrilled that Mandir is open at least 5 out of the seven week days. There is more attendance on Saturdays. On some Saturdays of the month, you will find that some or the other activity is going on from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm.

The Shanthi Mandir facilities use agreement and check out procedures for the Temple

Building are available on the web. Reservations for the main hall at the Shanthi Mandir can be requested by filling up the information on the web at http://shanthimandir.missouri.org/useagreement.htm

You can always send me an e-mail or call me in advance to make sure the Mandir is available for use. If we can be of any assistance, please let me know.

Inder Khurana1 Anantha Gopalaratnam 1. Chair

Kiratadas Kutikkad1 Visala Palaniappan2 Kannappan Palaniappan Krishna Ramesh 1. Chair 2.Executive Board Liaison

Safety committee provides shuttle service for overflow parking during special celebrations when a large number of devotees are at the temple


We warmly welcome our first group of HTCC Honorary Member Inductees

Robert Bussabarger Virginia Morgan Murari Lal Nagar

Arthur Robins

Thanks for your yeomen contributions to Columbia!

PAGE 34 SAMARPANAM

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Service Programs W hen the Hindu Temple was formed some

three years ago, a few service programs were already in existence and undertaken by the various groups in the community such as Narayan Seva, Clean-up Columbia and Adopt-a-Spot. These existing programs were integrated into the service programs of the HTCC under the banner HTCC-Helping Hands, and several new service projects were initiated. Special Service Projects

Every year the service committee members participate in a few special service projects. These projects are in addition to the regular service programs of the Mandir. The one time participation in these special projects may sometimes lead to their becoming a part of the temple’s regular programs. During the year 2008, the Service Committee members actively participated in 2 special projects "Sharing the Warmth" and "Crop Hunger Walk".

Sharing the Warmth: The HTCC Service Programs Committee along with Bal Sabha and Bal Puja undertook this timely service project to help out fellow Columbians by arranging for donation of winter clothing and related accessories to the Salvation Army - a non-profit organization that caters to the clothing needs of the Columbia’s less fortunate at little or no cost. The youth collected, sorted, cleaned and donated winter jackets, gloves, caps, winter shoes, socks, and blankets from the Mandir community and their friends as a part of Sharing the Warmth project. The donation package included 96 jackets, 33 blankets, 40 sweaters, 94 pieces of clothing, 20 pairs of shoes, gloves and miscellaneous accessories.

Crop Hunger Walk: HTCC was invited to participate this year in the Crop Hunger Walk where neighbors walk together to take a stand against hunger in our world, raising awareness and funds for international relief and development, as well as local hunger-fighting. One of our youth members took the lead this year and raised $350 for fighting hunger around the world. She along with her friends walked three miles around downtown Columbia on a beautiful fall afternoon and raised the money through pledges. Regular Service Programs

The HTCC members very actively participate in the regular service programs throughout the year. Most of these programs are weekly, bi-monthly, and ongoing basis while a few are carried out only at specific times during the year like Clean-up Columbia and Adopt-A-Spot.

Narayan Seva: For over seven years, the Sai Bhajan group has been cooking a lunch and serving it at the St. Francis House, a shelter for homeless men, on the second Sunday of every month from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Clean-up Columbia: In April every year, the City of Columbia organizes this event in which residents of the city can singly or in groups, undertake to pick up trash around the city. A

group has been volunteering for over six years to clean up the area around Ridgeway Elementary School. Since the formation of the HTCC, this activity was expanded to two groups, one group cleaned up around Ridgeway and the second around the Shanthi Mandir and surrounding streets.

Adopt-A-Spot: The children of Bal Sabha have participated in the Adopt-a-Spot program for several years. Twice a year, the children meet at Ridgeway Elementary School and pick up trash in the playground and in the streets surrounding the school.

Shram Daan (Volunteer Labor): This is a regular feature being held every Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. This time is used to carry out maintenance and improvements to the Shanthi Mandir property. In preparation for winter the summer flowers were pruned and spring bulbs were also planted. The siding was primed and painted. This has given the Mandir a fresh look. As part of Shram Daan, a group also volunteers to mow the lawn during summer months aside from the regular mowing service to help keep the costs low.

Visits to Eldercare Centers: Groups of children along with adults have made visits to Columbia Manor, and Candlelight Lodge to help entertain seniors with songs, dances, telling jokes and play musical instruments. Most such visits have been scheduled for the summer since the children’s busy school schedule does not leave much time during the time school is in session.

Collection of Towels and Blankets: This has been started as an ongoing program to collect donations of lightly used towels and blankets for donation to St. Francis House, a shelter for the homeless. Members are requested to bring their donations to the Mandir and these will be taken to St. Francis House at each Narayan Seva, which is carried out on the second Sunday of every month.

Repackaging of Food at the CMFB: This activity has been in place since October 2006. Volunteers meet at the Central Missouri Food Bank (CMFB) warehouse on Vandiver Drive on the first Tuesday of every month to assist in repackaging of bulk food received at the Food Bank.

Donation of Cell Phones: Old cell phones are being collected at the Mandir for donation to “The Shelter”, a home for victims of domestic abuse. The intent is to make these phones available to those in need of quick access to the emergency “911” service.

Anna Daan: This is our ongoing program of collection of non-perishable food items for the Central Missouri Food Bank. Visitors to the Mandir are requested to donate food during attendance at various cultural and devotional programs. Two drums have been set up at the Mandir and visitors are requested to drop their donations into the drums. When these are full, the food is transported to the Food Bank warehouse.

Manjula Narasimhan1 Anuradha Rajagopalan2

B. S. Balaji Anantha Gopalaratnam Sushma Nagarkar Manjula Nathan Shubha Ratneshwar 1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison

CROP Hunger Walk - HTCC Youth members raised $350

PAGE 36 SAMARPANAM

T he year 2008 has been remarkable for the Youth Activities Committee and the youth of

Columbia, Missouri. Along with the traditional summer workshops and Youth Day picnic, Youth Activities Committee announced a contest for the Second HTCC Anniversary Celebrations. The theme being "We can make a difference", kids and adults sent in their entries in the form of poem, essays, and other visual arts. Summer Workshops

Summer was a busy part of the year for both the committee and families in Columbia. There were several workshops organized to benefit the community as a whole.

Wizardry Beyond Data conducted by Gopal had ten middle school children who got hands-on experience in data collection, analysis, and presentation of the topic they chose.

Know Your Voice by Nandhu was to increase awareness about the importance of voice in speech communication. This workshop had both youth and their parents as attendees. The focus was to learn vocal behaviors that enhance voice production and prevent vocal abuse.

Build Your Own Computer, an innovative workshop by Balaji aimed at learning what is inside a computer and how they are put together to work.

Math Workshop by Ashok is always a highlight among the summer workshops offered. This year there were two batches, junior and senior level, which participated in this workshop. Hema Srinivasan co-taught this workshop along with Ashok.

Kids and adults alike took part enthusiastically in the Greeting Card Artwork course offered by Anjna Sethi. It was a lively session for both kids and parents.

Yoga for Better Living by Ritcha was a 5-day workshop conducted to explore the principles of Ashtanga Yoga. Apart from asanas, exercises for the eyes and breathing

were demonstrated. The youth members found the workshop very beneficial and at the same time enjoyed it a lot. Youth Day Picnic

The Youth Day Picnic, a potluck event that brings together the community, was celebrated on August 30, 2008 at the Dexheimer Shelter, Cosmo Park, Columbia. It was a memorable evening for the attendees especially kids who had the opportunity to participate in a variety of games. This event is also an opportunity to recognize all the instructors, coordinators, and participants of the workshops held throughout the year. Anniversary contest – I have a dream

The Youth Activities Committee is once again very pleased to organize the Anniversary n contest with the theme "I have a dream". We hope to have many more submissions this year and see in print many more creative ideas, dreams and the hidden talent of our Youth and Adults.

Akila Balaji, the Secretary of the Youth Activities Committee is moving back to India. We will miss her very much. She has been a very active and dedicated committee member who was always there. We thank her for her tremendous support and dedication towards the various temple events all these years.

The committee members would like to take this opportunity to thank all the families or extending their support to the activities organized by the Youth Activities Committee. We sincerely hope to have your support for the forthcoming year and also welcome your ideas for future events. If you have any talent that you would like to share or suggestions for future workshops, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Also, feel free to represent the committee by nominating yourself as a committee member.

Come and join us…

Youth Activities

Nandu Radhakrishnan1 S. Akila2 Inder Khurana3 Gagneesh Rawat Sangita Sharma Bharath Srinivasan 1. Chair 2. Secretary 3. Executive Board Liaison

Please contact the Chair if you would like to serve on this committee. We appreciate your donation of time and talent to serve HTCC. Thank you!

Youth Day at Cosmo Park and Summer Math Workshop by Ashok - a popular workshop every summer at the Mandir


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FamilyFamily


Hinduism Basic Tenets and Beliefs

H induism is more of a way of life than a religion. It is also known as Sanathan

Dharma. Sanathan meaning eternal and Dharma meaning a way of life. Hinduism is not a rigidly-structured religion but a rather large canvas of ideas, customs, rituals and practices which mesh into a broader belief system followed by all Hindus.

Scriptures The Hindu scriptures are classified into

Shruti and Smriti. Shruti stands for knowledge acquired by hearing and Smriti means knowledge memorized and passed on through the generations. Shruti literature comprises the Vedas and the Upanishads. There are four Vedas: Rig Veda (Royal knowledge), Sama Veda (knowledge of chants), Yajur Veda (sacrificial rituals) and the Atharva Veda (a collection of spells, incantations, stories, and predictions). There are 108 Upanishads of which ten are the most important. Smriti or memorized literature comprises poetry and epics in the form of mythological stories memorized by highly intelligent individuals and passed down through the generations. The three most important epics are the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas ≈ containing very expressive and moralistic stories. Bhagawad Gita which contains spiritual and philosophical discussions is a part of the Mahabharata and is considered on par with the Vedas.

Basic Tenets Some of the basic beliefs of Hinduism

are Karma, Dharma and Moksha. Karma is the performance of duties and rituals, Dharma lays the principles for the way of life and Moksha is the attainment of salvation and freedom from the cycle of birth and death (reincarnation), which the Hindus strongly believe in. Hinduism has its foundations in rational spirituality. The varied beliefs and practices are based on careful reasoning and a sound understanding of ecology leading to a life style of balance with nature.

Worship and Service Hinduism is basically a monotheistic

religion believing in one absolute God in the form of the Brahman. There is one single God through many forms such as

Krishna, Vishnu, Rama, Shiva and Shakti (Goddess). However, Hindus worship multiple deities representing the various aspects of nature and nurture. The three most important forms represented among the Gods are Brahma, lord of creation, Vishnu, the caretaker or sustainer and Shiva, the destroyer. They are also known as the Trinity and together they are in charge of the cycle of birth and death that keeps the Universe in balance.

Hindus practice various forms of worship which include worship at home with family and community worship by gathering at public places of worship known as temples. Temples are elaborate structures built on several principles such as direction, orientation, sanctum and gopuram (the tall outer structure). The Puja room at home is a small room or area dedicated as a place of worship where the individual or the family can pray or meditate uninterrupted.

Hindus believe that there is an inherent Godliness in all humans and that service to humanity is a path to God realization. There is strong belief in the cycle of birth and death and reincarnation into various forms of life with the soul moving up and down an infinite hierarchy based on the behaviors and attitudes by which one lives ones’ life. The freedom from this infinite cycle, which is the attainment of Moksha, is achieved by the practice of Bhakti Yoga or selfless devotion. There are three forms of worship known as Karma Yoga or fulfillment of duties, Gyana Yoga or intellectual achievement and Bhakti Yoga or total devotion. A combination of the practices of all three forms of worship leads to the union with the ‘Brahman’ or the Universal God and Eternal Bliss.

Traditions and Practices The basic tenets of Hinduism comprise of

practices and rituals followed by individuals as a way of life. The morning prayers which include the recitation of Holy Scriptures, evening prayers including the singing of hymns ending with a special hymn known as an Aarti, accompanied with the ringing of bells and lighting of lamps symbolizing spiritual enlightenment. The lamp signifies the spreading of the light of knowledge and the mitigation of the

PAGE 40 SAMARPANAM

darkness of ignorance. There are other significant customs followed by Hindus such as the breaking of coconuts which symbolizes the destruction of ego, bathing the idols of various Gods in liquids such as milk, honey, yogurt and water and offering numerous food items. The liquids and food items are then distributed among all devotees and consumed as ‘Prasad’ or blessings from the altar. Fasting and penance are a common observance by a majority of Hindus. Fasting rids the body of impurities while penance purifies the mind.

People greet each other with folded hands, bowed head and the word ‘Namaste’. This signifies humility, respect and love. The folded hands signify the meeting of minds and the bowed head means respect for the spirituality in the other individual. We also prostrate or bow down in front of parents and elders when we meet them after long absences or on special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries and when embarking on new and difficult tasks in order to seek their blessings and/or approval. The red dot we place on our forehead known as a ‘Tilak’ between the eyebrows invokes a feeling of piety and sanctity which will then pervade all our actions and attitudes. The space between our eyebrows is also believed to be the seat of higher consciousness and thus the focus on this area reminds us of the spirituality related to the actions performed at that time. We also apply holy ash or ‘bhasma’ on our bodies on some occasions signifying the destruction of sins, since the word ‘bhasma’ means to destroy or set ablaze. Hence the application of the Tilak and the bhasma signify the destruction of sin and ignorance and the invocation of blessings and piety.

There is a fundamental system of classification of individuals among the

Hindus primarily based on qualifications and job duties now known as the caste system. Its primary purpose may have been to classify individuals based on their profession such as the priests, warriors, farmers, merchants and laborers. However, it has been abused in practice over the centuries and has become a system of exclusion based on lineage and hierarchy. This is a social stigma on an otherwise inclusive and extremely liberal religion based on the solid principles of service, sacrifice and absolute devotion.

Festivals Hindus also celebrate numerous festivals

throughout the year and dedicate several days as holy days. These festivals include Diwali, the festival of lights, Durga Puja, Saraswati Puja, Sankranti, Holi, Ganesh Chaturthi, Janmashtami (birth of Lord Krishna), Shivratri (birth of Lord Shiva), Rama Navami (birth of Lord Rama), Pongal, Ugadi, Baisakhi and Navaratri. Among these festivals Diwali holds a special place among Hindus and is celebrated by all of them with equal fervor barring no state, province or class. Besides these festivals there are certain days of the month such as the full moon, new moon, eclipses, etc. that are considered auspicious. In addition each day of the week represents various astronomical signs, stars, sun and the moon and hence some form of holy significance. Thus every aspect of nature and the universe hold importance in the life of a Hindu.

In essence Hinduism is a canvas of beliefs, rituals and symbolisms meshed into a way of life. Respect for elders and reverence for nature are a part of our daily life. We observe, practice, celebrate and finally concentrate on the spirituality of life

The power of God is with you at all times; through the activities of mind, senses, breathing, and emotions; and is constantly doing all the work using you as a mere instrument. Bhagawad Gita

Hinduism - Basic Tenets and Beliefs… continued from the previous page


HINDUSIM - Basic Tenets and Teachings

• Karma is the performance of duties and rituals • Dharma lays the principles for the way of life • Moksha is the attainment of salvation and freedom from

the cycle of birth and death and the clutches of reincarnation

• Primary moral values in Hinduism include love, non-violence, truthfulness, friendship, compassion, fortitude, self-control, purity and generosity.

• Human life is divided into four stages, and there are defined rites and rituals for each stage from birth till death.

• Inherent Godliness in all humans and that service to humanity is a path to God realization

• Emotive expressions like 'bhakti' (devotion) or 'dharma' (what is right) and 'yoga' (discipline) are used to depict essential aspects of the religion

Scriptures:

The Hindu scriptures are classified as Shruti and Smriti.

Shruti stands for knowledge acquired by hearing. Shruti literature is of two parts: the Vedas and Upanishads.

There are four Vedas: • Rig Veda -"Royal Knowledge" • Sama Veda - "Knowledge of Chants" • Yajur Veda - "Knowledge of Sacrificial Rituals" • Atharva Veda - "Knowledge of Incarnations

There are 108 Upanishads of which ten are the most important. The Upanishads speak of a universal spirit (Brahman) and an individual soul, (Atman) and at times assert the identity of both. Brahman is the ultimate, both transcendent and immanent, the absolute infinite existence, the sum total of all that ever is, was, or shall be. The mystical nature and intense philosophical bent of the Upanishads has led to their explication in numerous manners, giving birth to three main schools of Vedanta.

Smriti Literature refers to 'memorized' or 'remembered' poetry and epics. The three most important of Smriti literature are:

•The Ramayana is the most popular of Hindu epics, composed by Valmiki around 4th or 2nd centuries BC with later additions up to about 300 CE. It depicts the story of the royal couple of Ayodhya - Ram and Sita and victory over evil.

•The Mahabharata is the world's longest epic poem written about 9th century BC and deals with the power struggle between the Pandava and the Kaurava royal families.

•Bhagawad Gita which contains spiritual and philosophical discussions is a part of the Mahabharata. It contains some of the most brilliant theological lessons about the nature of God and of life ever written.

•The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.

Deities

The most fundamental of Hindu deities, is the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - creator, preserver and destroyer, respectively. Traditions

• Respect for elders • Reverence for nature • Namaste Greetings • Temple in every home • Fasting and penance • Athithi Satkar (guest hospitality)

Festivals

• Pongal and Sankranti in Jan • Saraswati Puja in Jan-Feb • Shivratri (birth of Lord Shiva) in Feb • Rama Navami (birth of Lord Rama) in Mar-Apr • Holi in Mar-Apr • Ugadi and Baisakhi in Mar-Apr • Janmashtami (birth of Lord Krishna) in Aug • Ganesh Chaturthi in Aug-Sep • Diwali, the festival of lights in Oct-Nov • Durga Puja in Oct-Nov • Navaratri in Oct-Nov

PAGE 42 SAMARPANAM

Current Programs

Open Prayer Time (Every Tuesday and Saturday from 6 p.m.- 8 p.m., Aarti at 7:45 p.m.) 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 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 Saturday from 10 am – 12 pm at the Mandir) Volunteer and service projects at the Mandir and at other locations as required. More details can be found on Pages 9 and 35. For more information contact: Vellore or Anantha Gopalaratnam at 446-0663.

Suprabatham 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 known 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. Yoga sessions (instruction fee required): Typically Saturdays from 10:00 - 11:30 am. Contact: Visala Palaniappan 446-1962.

T 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, pujas 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.

Amritvani* (3rd Saturday from 6-7 pm at the Mandir during Open Prayer Time) Amritvani is a prayer in group enchanting one's faith in the existence of God and spreading the glory of Ram Naam. Amritvani was written by Param Pujya Swami Shri Satyananda ji Maharaj comprising praise of Lord Rama. He described the exisitence of Rama in living as well as nonliving things. In brief nothing exists without Ram Naam. Amritvani is very popular throughout India and has been translated in many languages. Group chanting of spiritual Bhajans evokes devotion towards God. Prolonged enchanting of Ram Naam in group produces spiritual vibrations in the ether. The entire environment vibrates with positive energy and gives soothing affect to one's mind. Amritvani simran- chanting the name of God Rama in a group of like minded people is the highest social activity that takes an individual closer to Almighty--the ultimate goal of one's life. Contact: Mona Puri 875-0703 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: 660-882-5317. Bharata Natyam Class* (Every Wednesday from 3:30 – 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. Hindi Language Class* (Second and 4th Sunday at the Mandir - see web site for timings) Hindi classes were started in February 2006 at Shanthi Mandir for the kids who are interested in learning Hindi. Children learn conversational Hindi so that they are comfortable talking to relatives back in India, learn rudimentary written Hindi, 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 : Ritcha Mehra-Chaudhary at 445-0842 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 Shelter on Rangeline) Sai Bhajan Group meets for sing-along devotional program every week and on pre-announced special festivals. It is a non-denominational 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 homeless shelter. For more information contact: Anantha Gopalaratnam at 446-0063. Tabla Class* (Typically 2nd and 4th Sundays—but schedule and locations change as convenient) . Contact Sanjeev Khanna 441-8988 Tamil Language Class* (First 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. * Facilities use and infrastructural support provided by HTCC but not organized by HTCC

Events Organized by Other Groups

HTCC Organized Regular Events


HTCC Directory - 2009

Lifetime Members 1. Kul and Archana Aggrarwal 2. Satish and Sushma Anand 3. Vairam and Alagu Arunachalam 4. Sharanjit and Ranjit Bal 5. Shanka Banerji 6. Asit and Sandra Basu 7. Sudhir and Priya Batchu 8. Ravindra Battula and Vijaya Kattumuri 9. Anand Chandrasekhar and Chiengkham

Baccam 10. Holalkere and Meera Chandrasekhar 11. Kunal Chaudhary and Ritcha Mehra 12. Dale Cutkosky and Hema Srinivasan 13. Rajiv Dhand and Upinder Kaur 14. Balakrishnan Elangovan and Abirami

Shanmugasundaram 15. Keshab and Shubhra Gangopadhyay 16. Srinath Gopalakrishna and Uma Srinath 17. Velllore and Anantha Gopalaratnam 18. Bhaskar and Shoba Gowda 19. Arun Jain 20. Ghanshyam and Leela Jashnani 21. Kattesh and Kavita Katti 22. Sanjeev and Vinita Khanna 23. Inder and Jasmit Khurana 24. Gopal and Santosh Krishna 25. Hari and Latha Krishnan 26. Rajesh and Indira Kulkarni 27. Lalit and Arpita Kumar 28. Kiratadas and Geetha Kuttikad 29. Sunder Lal and Nila Gupta 30. Sudarshan and Nirja Loyalka 31. Satnam Mahal and Jasvir Kaur 32. Anil and Kusum Malhotra 33. Murali and Suryamani Mantrala 34. Purushottam and Usha Manusmare 35. Ranadhir and Roma Mitra 36. Rajiv Mohan and Sunilima Sinha

37. Yogesh and Rashmi Naik 38. Satish and Jyotsna Nair 39. Kannappan and Visala Palaniappan 40. Ayyakannu and Gandhi Panneerselvam 41. Nitin and Harsha Patel 42. Chalapathi Rao and Kavita Pendurthi 43. Ravi and Mona Puri 44. Kannan Raghuraman and Anandhi

Upendran 45. V. Ramachandran and Anuradha

Rajagopalan 46. Umasankar and Sasi Ramadoss 47. Nitin and Kirthi Rangnekar 48. Srinivasan and Subbalakshmi Ratneshwar 49. Gagneesh and Aditi Rawat 50. Ramesh and Chandra Rawlani 51. Rumi Faizer and Archana Ramaswamy 52. Vijay and Smita Sadhu 53. Sashi and Namita Satpathy 54. Om and Santosh Seghal 55. Sanjiv and Punam Sethi 56. Yash and Anjna Sethi 57. Krishna and Sandhya Sharma 58. Shivendra and Asha Shukla 59. Amolak and Kuljit Singh 60. Bharath Srinivasan and Manjula

Narasimhan 61. Krishna and Rajalakshmii Subramanian 62. Lokesh Tejwani and Varsha Pherwani 63. Ravi and Meena Thawani 64. Dabir and Pramila Viswanath 2009 Annual Members 1. Ganesh Kumar and Nitu Agrawal 2. Annayya Rao and Sudha Aroor 3. B. S. Balaji and Akila Sugavanam 4. Anand and Smrita Chokalingam 5. Mayukh and Sonal Ghosh

6. Subharap Guha and Aditi Bandhopadhyay 7. Ghanshyam and Manorma Gupta 8. Adarsh and Sangeeta Kumar 9. Senthil and Kalaiyarasi Kumar 10. Saravanan Kuppuswamy and Priya

Ravindran 11. Sushma Malik 12. Rom and Rani Mangalat 13. Sushama and Aarti Nagarkar 14. Venkatesan and Vasanthy Premnath 15. Nandhu and Selvi Radhakrishnan 16. Ram and Indira Ramaswamy 17. Krishna Ramesh 18. Pradeep K and Shaku Sahota 19. M and Sujata Sivaraman 20. Mahesh and Jollyin Thakkar 21. Rajagopalan Thiruvengadathan and Rama

Kannan 22. Bhisham and Rajini Tolani 2008 Annual Members (to be

renewed

1. Ashish and Deepika Upadhyay 2. Chandrasekhar and Lakshmi Prabha

Venkitasamy 3. Kate Walker 4. Madhavi Sunkar 5. Mohan and Kalpana Rao 6. Munish and Monika Goyal 7. Muthu and Indumathi Baskar 8. Naresh Gandhi and Siriyala Kujala 9. Prashanth and Meeta Pradhan 10. Preveen Edara and Sowjanya Paladugu 11. Rajagopalan and Vasanthi Bhaskaran 12. Rajesh and Aruna Kumar 13. Siva and Sheela Chokkalingam 14. Vivek and Manjula Nathan

The HTCC Directory for 2009 has been updated to include information as of March 13, 2009. The web version of this report does not include addresses and telephone numbers for obvious privacy reasons. These are included in the print version that can be obtained by contacting the HTCC Officers.

Please consider an upgrade to lifetime membership or renewal if you were already a member in 2008. If you were not a member in 2008, we would greatly appreciate your support through membership. HTCC is truly indebted to all its members for their financial, moral and volunteer support.

PAGE 44 SAMARPANAM

2009 HTCC Directory (Continued 2/3)

The web version of this report does not include addresses and telephone numbers for obvious privacy reasons. These are included in the print version that can be obtained by contacting the HTCC Officers. This pages is, as a result, intentionally left blank.




2009 HTCC Directory (Continued 3/3)

Shanthi Mantra

Traditionally chanted by teacher and student at the start of any academic endeavour

ॐ सह नाववतु | सह नौ भुनकु्त | सह वीयर्ं करवावहै |

तेजिःवनाविधतमःतु मा िविद्वषावहै || ॐ शािन्त शािन्त शािन्तः ||

Om saha naav avatu, saha nau bhunaktu, Saha veeryam karavaavahai,

Tejasvinaav adhitam astu maa vidvishaavahai, Om shaanthi shaanthi shaanthih.

Om. May He protect both of us. May He nourish both of us.

May we both acquire the capacity to understand and comprehend. May our study bring us illumination. Let there be no discord between us.

Om, peace, peace, peace.

The web version of this report does not include addresses and telephone numbers for obvious privacy reasons. These are included in the print version that can be obtained by contacting the HTCC Officers. This pages is, as a result, intentionally left blank.

PAGE 46 SAMARPANAM

Our sincere gratitude…

To the members of HTCC Third Anniversary Planning Committee and to the numerous

volunteers who have helped tirelessly in organizing

this celebration

Thank you for your Thank you for your dedication and hard work!dedication and hard work!

Our sincere gratitude…

To the HTCC Executive Board

HTCC Executive Committee Members on the HTCC Standing and

Ad-Hoc Committees and the Board of Trustees

Thank you for your Thank you for your dedication and hard work!dedication and hard work!

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January S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

May S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

September S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

June S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

March S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

July S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

August S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

October S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

November S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

December S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

February S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

April S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

January Thursday 1 New Year Puja Saturday 24 Guru Gobind Singh Jayanthi (5) February Thursday 19 Mahashivaratri Special Bhajan Saturday 21 Mahashivaratri Puja (23) March Sunday 8 HTCC Anniversary (Devotional) Friday 13 HTCC Anniversary Banquet Saturday 28 Akhand Ramayan Sunday 29 Akhand Ramayan

April Saturday 4 Rama Navami Puja (3) May Saturday 9 Buddha Purnima Talk (8)Saturday 23 HTCC Garage Sale and Mela June Youth Workshops* (Jun.—Aug.) July Tuesday 7 Guru Purnima Special Bhajan (9)

August Saturday 15 Janmashtam i/KrishnaJayanthi (14) Sunday 16 Ganesh idol making Saturday 22 Ganesh Chaturthi (23) Sunday 30 HTCC Youth Day and Bal Sabha/Bal Puja Picnic September Saturday 19 Navaratri/Devi Jaagran (19/28) Sunday 27 Dusshera/Vijaya Dashami (28)

October Thursday 8 Karva Chauth (bhajan) Saturday 17 Deepavali Puja (17) November Saturday 7 Guru Nanak Jayanthi (2) Tuesday 24 Interfaith Thanksgiving (26) December Saturday 5 Samuhika Satyanarayana Puja

HTCC Calendar of Events for 2009

The actua l fe stival da tes are noted in (bra cke ts), when the se do not co incide w ith the da te o f the Mandir ce lebrat ion. Da te s f o r the HTCC Anniv e rsa ry ce lebrat ions are tenta tive a t the pre sent t ime . * Look fo r de ta ils on the Youth Workshops and related youth a ctivi tie s on our web site by ea rly May. The workshops a re typ ical ly he ld during June -August.

Shanthi Mandir Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC)

2006 Holly Avenue, Columbia, MO 65202-2043 http://shanthimandir.missouri.org, (573) 814-1286

PAGE 48 SAMARPANAM

I nitiated in March 2002, the Vedic Society was registered at the University of

Missouri under its founding student-president Ms. Sharayana Rao in April 2003. Dr. Murari Lal Nagar of Columbia performed a “Homa” at its inauguration and Dr. Subhas Kak of Louisiana gave an enlightening talk on ancient Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization of the Indian subcontinent that encrypted the Vedas - the massive treatise on philosophy of life

and the art of living shown by the savants over 5000 years ago. To relieve stress of modern living, the Vedic Society aims to promote spiritual awareness through the teachings of Sanatana Dharma as described in the Vedas and other scriptures of Hinduism that followed. The focus is on prescribed processes to uplift the physical and spiritual wellbeing of individuals and the society in the spirit of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” - Universal Fellowship

principle enshrined therein. The activities of the Society include:

Regular Activities: ♦Biweekly spiritual discourse on Vedas,

Upanishads and Gita ♦Yoga, Pranayam and Meditation ♦Stress Relief through Yoga ♦Vegetarianism to promote healthy living

Special Activities: ♦Invited discussions by outside speakers ♦Invited discussions by University

Faculty& Community Leaders ♦Yoga and Educational Retreats ♦Informational booths on MU and

Columbia city events

A student-run organization on campus, the membership of Vedic Society is open to anyone interested in its activities. Currently it has 24 active members from India, USA, Ukraine and Russia, and twice as many patrons of various faiths and nationalities.

http://www.students.missouri.edu/~vedics/

The Vedic Society

Cultural Association of India L ed by its founding student-president V.

Balakrishna Reddy; the Cultural Association of India (CAI) was formed on October 4, 1957 - the first International Student Organization at MU (University of Missouri, Columbia), to let students from India organize to pursue their cultural traditions. From a few students-members and few programs way back then; the CAI now has grown to a 52 year-old mature organization with over 250 student and non-student families on membership roster, involved in organizing/participating in dozens of events on MU campus, in public schools, and in Columbia and neighboring towns all around the year. Annual Activities: ♦Republic Day and Independence Day of

India commemoration ♦Holi, Baishakhi and Diwali Celebration ♦Promotion of local talents in performing

arts by staging INDIA-NITE - a song, ♦Dance, skit cultural extravaganza in fall

and SARGAM - an all classical song, ♦Dance, instrumental music event in

winter. ♦Promotion of literary arts by publication

of Rangoli magazine. ♦Presentations on India’s History,

Religion, Culture and Display of art and

♦Craft booths at MU campus, public Schools and City events.

♦Participation in Diabetes Walk charitable fund-raising event and in events

♦Promoting diversity on campus and in Town.

Special Events: ♦Hosting performances by famous artists

from India (Ravishankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Haripradas Chaurasia, Sivkumar Sharma, Shahid Parviz, Ronu Mazumdar, Barun Pal, Mohan Singh, Lalitha Krishnan, Vinayak

♦Torvi, Padmini, Indrani Rahman, Amita Dutt, Raja and Radha Reddy, to name a few from the past)

♦Hosting diplomats and dignitaries (had 3 ambassadors and 4 consuls of India; renowned authors Drs. Subhas Kak

and Robert Kanigal and several MU dignitaries, among others).

♦Shram daan and fund-raising for victims of natural disaster (responded to Rocheport-Missouri flood, Latur and Gujarat earthquakes, India/Indonesian Tsunami)

Irrespective of religious faith and nationality, the membership of CAI is open to anyone interested in India or in her diverse culture. As the oldest organization in Columbia, CAI has been the pioneer forum in providing foundation for growth and sustenance of cultural heritage of India while promoting cross-cultural understanding in the community in more ways than one.

http://web.missouri.edu/~umcmedmayur/

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The Executive Committee on behalf of the Gujarati Samaj of Mid-Missouri

Congratulates the

Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC)

Shanthi Mandir

On the occasion of their Third Anniversary Celebrations

Way to go!

Documents

Samarpanam2009Web