Editorial…. The pitter patter of the snow continues. Relentless at times, a sprinkle the

rest of times but one has to admit Snow is King now. Shivdas Maam may go to

Panama and stand next to a question mark or Shanta Pachi & kutumb can go

to Florida keys and gambol around with the Croc’s… the real issue is the Am-

chi’s left behind in the Snow White GTA region are really envious and thus

picking on even the question mark and asking Shivdas Maam…. Why the

doubt…

The winter blues as they call has been getting on the average Konkani Manoos

big time. Kassalle re korche yeh thandinthu!!!! Really Maam, Snowboarding,

skiing, soone vottu sledding vagera vagera…If all that fails you always have

your spouses to have a little juggal bandi… if you get my drift. Thank fully

there were no OKA events planned for January, or else you would have a lot

of super quiet Bail –Bammoon. Arrey thodda gussa aagaya yaar!!! would

have been the common refrain…

Ek vinanthi to all of you…. Thasshi jaggodnokaachi… February amgille Lets

Paint it Red event. So remember shaaaaaaanthiiiii at all times. On the

lighter side I even overheard Srikant telling Yogish vairre maharaya Kithle

red color paint haadka…. Ignore them they had their Men’s Event the other

day and asshi thode Limbaya Roosu peeyuni, matthe jaad kornu ek sideakka

basshilli…

In any case the chatter of all Kokke’s reaches its crescendo only when we have

such jabbardast events. So all you Amchigello ani Amchigelli’s, be reminded of

this major signature event Lets Paint it Red event happening on Feb 24th. . In

case you did not realize (yo!!! Jayesha aikk)

The Canadian Snow birds (real ones) have flown to Pyeongchang for the win-

ter Olympics. Our own Amol Rao has been in the limelight helping our athletes

get great sleep with his novel Glasses. More about this inside.

Jayashree Kamath all the way from God’s country Kerala has agreed to offer

her yummy bott licking recipes to our E Samachar. So have a deko inside and

do what all Kokke’s do after seeing the recipe. Our Food coordinators Ravi-

Murali know exactly what that means.

That said I hope all of you were there to support and cheer on Ravi Yedery

who when he is not cooking, doubles up as our Konkani singing sensation at

our Panorama India competition. Look out for more on our first ever Amchi

Band – Culture Criminals in March…. Just when you think it’s all done at our

Konkani event roster Laxmi- Vikram will almost certainly pull something out

of their Toppi’s……. Hang on to those seats aur kaafi programs hai bhiddu…

Kasselle mohnu lekle amka.

Oh! one last thing annipas visarli naave that today Feb 11th was Ekadashi; I

know I did. Deva!Aayi Shappath next Ekadashi visarnacchi… Upwas nakki.

Jai Ho!!!

Niranjan Kamath

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Editorial ..............................1

President’s Message ...........2

Let’s Paint It Red ...........3

Paint It Red Food Menu .....4

Culture ................................6

Amchi Food Korner ............10

Community News ...............12

Information Pamphlet .......14

Our Sponsors………………….16

Contact Us:

ontariokonkani@gmail.com

eSamachar

Check out our website

and Facebook page:

Volume II Issue February - 2018

Dear OKA family, Namaskaru!

A very happy Family day long weekend to all of you!

As promised, we have planned a spectacular meet in February. The details are on

our website as well as Facebook page. Please register online.

As Modiji so famously quoted at the world culture festival- “We are the people who

have come from Upanishad to Upagrah, From Aham Brahmasmi to Vasudhaiva Ku-

tumbakam.” What a lovely concept it is indeed if we look back at the Maha Upani-

shad. - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. – the world is a family! At our OKA family we

have the Paint It Red event on February 24th at Sagan Banquet Hall to bring the

families together and celebrate the love and affection we have for our family

members. We will be playing a lot of Bollywood numbers so that we can together

enjoy and have fun! Sort of like a new year as well as Family fun day! You can sit

and chat and enjoy the great music or you can enjoy the music on the dance floor!

We also have a fantastic menu that will appeal to your taste buds. Please have a look

at the menu attached in the newsletter.

Ugadi event is coming up soon on April 7th where we have planned all Konkani

vegetarian menu as promised! Ugadi will be during the day – A luncheon event at

the SVBF. Please be sure to connect with our entertainment leads – Laxmi and

Vikram if you are interested in participating.

We are looking forward to seeing all of you and enjoy the event together! Let’s Paint

It Red!

Divya & Ravi Nayak President Ontario Konkani Association

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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LET’S PAINT IT RED

HTTP://ONTARIO-KONKANIS.COM/

EVENTS/LET-S-PAINT-IT-RED

Our Menu is just like our event; high on enjoyment. Our food is appetizing and tantalizing. We will rock your tastebuds.

Appetizers Dry Gobi Manchurian: Crispy fried cauliflower, stir fried diced onions and sweet peppers; tossed in a medium spicy Chinese sauce Fish Fritters: Golden fried fish fingers; served with Szechuan Sauce Grilled Chicken: Charred grilled chicken flavoured aromatic with medium spicy minty sauce Jalapeño Poppers: Crispy fried jalapeños poppers, stuffed with cheese. This will just melt in your mouth oozing melting cheese. Mini Cup cakes: Vanilla and Chocolate mini cup cake with beautiful frosting and sprinkles

Beverages: Hot Tea and Coffee, Cold Pops and Juice. And an Open Bar; where you can purchase your drinks for a nominal price.

Dinner MAIN Penne Pasta: Penne pasta gently cooked in Tomato Rosa sauce served with Parmesan cheese Roasted Vegetables: Lightly grilled Potatoes, Broccoli and Carrots mixed with aromatic herbs and seasoning Veg Fried Rice: Rice with peas and carrots mixed with special Chinese spices. (NO EGG) Veg Manchurian: Crispy fried mixed vegetable balls, cooked in a Chinese Manchurian medium spicy Haka style gravy Chicken Chilli: Boneless chicken pieces cooked in medium spicy red chilli Haka Chinese gravy

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LET’S PAINT IT RED DELICIOUS MENU

Salad: Caesar Salad: Romaine lettuce and croutons with parmesan cheese and Caesar dressing Corn Salad: Cooked tender Corn kernels mixed in Ittalian vinaigrette Dressing Dips: Tzatziki, Soy sauce, Szechuan sauce

Dessert Fruit Cream: A colorful dessert with soft seasonal fruit layered

with sweet whipped cream

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LET’S PAINT IT RED DELICIOUS MENU

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SHRI KSHETRA DHARMASTHALA

Dharmasthala is an Indian temple town on the banks of the Nethravathi River in the Belthangadi taluk of the Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka, India. It is a panchayat village, and it is the only village in its gram panchayat. HISTORY

800 years ago, Dharmasthala was known as Kuduma in Mallarmadi, a then village in South Kanara. Here lived the Jain Chieftain Birmanna Pergade and his wife Ammu Ballalthi in a house called Nelyadi Beedu. Simple, pious and affectionate people; the Pergade family was known for its generosity and hospitality to all.

According to legend, the guardian angels of Dharma assumed human forms and arrived at Pergade’s abode in search of a place where Dharma was being practiced and could be continued and propagated. As was their habit, the Pergade couple hosted these illustrious visitors with all their wherewithal and great respect. Pleased by their sincerity and generosity, that night the Dharma Daivas appeared in the dreams of Shri Birmanna Pergade. They explained the purpose of their visit to him and instructed him to vacate his house for the worship of the Daivas and dedicate his life to the propagation of Dharma. Asking no questions, the Pergade built himself another house and began worship-ping the Daivas at Nelyadi Beedu. This continues even today.

CULTURE

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As they continued their worship and their practice of hospitality, the Dharma Dai-vas again appeared before Shri Birmanna Pergade to build separate shrines dedicat-ed to the four Dharma Daivas – Kalarahu, Kalarkai, Kumaraswamy and Kanya-kumari. Also, Pergade was instructed to choose two persons of noble birth to act as the Daivas’ oracles and four worthy persons to assist Shri Pergade in his duties as the Executive Head of the shrines. In return, the Daivas promised Shri Pergade family protection, abundance of charity and renown for the ‘Shri Kshetra’. As ordained, Shri Pergade built the shrines and invited Brahmin priests to perform the rituals. These priests requested Pergade to also install a Shivlinga beside the na-tive Daivas. The Daivas then sent their vassal Annappa Swamy to procure the Idol of Lord Manjunatheshwara from Kadri, near Mangalore. Subsequently Shree Manjunatha Swamy temple was built around this idol. Around the 16 Century, Shri Devaraja Heggade invited Shri Vadiraja Swami of Udupi to visit the shrine. The Swamiji gladly came but refused to accept Bhiksha (food offering) because the idol of Lord Manjunatha had not been consecrated ac-cording to the vedic rites. Shri Heggade then requested the Swamiji to re-consecrate the shiva linga himself. Pleased by the observance of the vedic rites and Heggade’s charity to all, the Swamiji named the place Dharmasthala the abode of religion and charity. Thus, the roots of charity and religious tolerance established by the Pergades 800 years ago have been nurtured and strengthened by twenty one gener-ations of the Heggade family, (Heggade being a derivative from Pergade). Today’s Dharmasthala blossoms with the fruit of this selfless dedication. HEGGADE The position of the Heggade of Dharmasthala is a unique one, unknown in any oth-er religious center in India. In the tradition of this Kshetra, he represents Lord Manjunatha. He is a pious grihastha or householder with numerous religious, social and cultural responsibilities towards the society. The Heggade is religious and installed head of Shri Manjunatha Swamy Temple, he becomes the representative of Lord Manjunatha and performs all his responsibili-ties accordingly as per tradition. After installation as the Heggade, his religious du-ties include propagating the tradition of Dharma in accordance with the command of the Daivas, who accept him as their foster son and ensure that the traditional rit-uals are observed regularly in the temple of Lord Manjunatha.

Discharging his responsibilities true to his conscience and acting on the precepts of religion, the Heggade acquires an aura of divinity which enables him to function as a representative of Lord Manjunatha and other Dharma Daivas. He executes his so-cial responsibilities as a pious grihastha by extending the four traditional Danas – Anna Dana (Feed), Aushadha Dana (Heal),Vidya Dana (Educate) and Abhaya Dana(Protect from fear). These being the gifts of food, medicine, education and freedom from fear. Since the Heggade is regarded as the voice of Lord Manjunatha, he is ex-pected to dispense justice, advice and munificence to whoever approaches him with his problems and needs.

CULTURE

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For over 8 centuries, an unbroken line of 21 generations of Heggades have guided the growth and goals of Dharmasthala.Ever since the Dharma Daivas (guardian an-gels) asked Shri Barmanna Heggade over 6 centuries ago, to devote his life to the propagation of dharma and use the money offered by the devotees for the develop-ment of the society, his successors down the centuries have implicitly obeyed the command. All the descendants of Shri Barmanna Pergade (now known as Heggade) have de-voted their lives to the development of the Shree Kshetra, Dharmasthala and have served the society with unflinching dedication. The significant architects of the modern Dharmasthala were the two illustrious predecessors of the present Heg-gade. Late Shri Manjayya Heggade and Late Shri Ratnavarma Heggade. Their zeal-ous efforts have not only been responsible for putting Dharmasthala on the pil-grim’s map prominently but also for enhancing the amenities to make the pilgrims comfortable. Besides building better roads, guesthouses, dining halls and choultries, large-scale welfare activities were also initiated for the benefit of a larger section of the poor people.

Manjayya Heggade, who was the Heggade for 37 years from 1918 to 1955, has gone down in history as a truly liberated man. It was he who started the Sarva Dharma Sammelana to emphasize the oneness of all religions and propagate religious toler-ance. Besides bridging religious differences, this poet, philosopher, artist and edu-cationist also built the causeway across the river Netravathi to make the journey to Dharmasthala easier.

CULTURE

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SARVASHREE

The 21st Heggades for Dharmsthala is Sri Veerendra Heggades who has been the Dharmadikari since 1968

1 Barmanna Heggade 11 Gummanna Heggade

2 Padmayya Heggade 12 Vardhayya Heggade

3 Chandayya Heggade 13 Mummadi Chandayya Heggade

4 Devaraja Heggade 14 Kumarayya Heggade

5 Manjayya Heggade 15 Nalmadi Chandayya Heggade

6 Jinnappa Heggade 16 Immadi Manjayya Heggade

7 Immadi Chandayya Heggade 17 Dharmapala Heggade

8 Devaraja Heggade 18 Chandayya Heggade

9 Ananthayya Heggade 19 Manjayya Heggade

10 Vrushbhayya Heggade 20 Rathnavarma Heggade

CULTURE

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AMCHI FOOD KORNER

BANANA FLOWER AMBODO Recipe by: Jayashree Divakar Kamath A reqular contributor to Konkani Delicacies Face book group of over 15000 Amchi members Ingredients:

BANANA FLOWER - 1 SMALL, CHOPPED (1 cup)

ONION - 1 SMALL, CHOPPED FINELY

RAW RICE - 1/2 CUP

TUR DAAL - 1/4 CUP

DRIED RED CHILLI - 7-8

ASAFOETIDA - CHANA SIZE PIECE

TAMARIND - A SMALL PIECE

CURRY LEAVES - 1 SPRIG, FINELY CHOPPED

CORIANDER LEAVES - 1 STALK, FINELY CHOPPED

SALT - TO TASTE

Method: WASH RICE AND TUR DAL AND SOAK IN ENOUGH WATER FOR AT LEAST ONE HOUR. DRAIN. THEN GRIND RICE, DAAL, DRIED RED CHILLI, ASAFOETIDA, TAMARIND, AND SALT TO A LITTLE COARSE MASALA. ADD JUST FEW SPOONS OF WATER WHILE GRINDING. TRANSFER THE MASALA IN A MIXING BOWL.

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AMCHI FOOD KORNER

ADD CHOPPED BANANA FLOWER, CHOPPED ONION, CURRY LEAVES, CORIAN-DER LEAVES AND MIX WELL. HEAT ENOUGH OIL IN KADAI, WHEN HOT TAKE A SMALL PORTION OF MIX-TURE, MAKE BALLS, FLATTEN A LITTLE AND FRY ON MEDIUM HEAT. FRY ON BATCHE, TILL GOLDEN AND CRISP. SERVE BANANA FLOWER AMBODO AS SNACKS IR SIDE DISH.

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COMMUNITY NEWS

This engineering startup is giving Canada’s Olympic skiers a fresh edge

Amol Rao (MIE MEng candidate) is the founder of Somnitude, a startup company that helps peo-ple get better sleep with its blue-wavelength-filtering glasses. Rao partnered with Freestyle Cana-da to ship 30 of his company’s glasses to Olympic athletes ahead of the 2018 winter games. (Credit: Liz Do)

February 6, 2018 – At the Olympics, being a tenth of a fraction slower to react can be the differ-ence between winning a medal and missing the podium. Grad student Amol Rao (MIE MEng candidate) is making sure Team Canada has an extra edge.

“Our main goal is to help people sleep, something that is especially important for elite athletes,” says Rao.

Rao is the co-founder of Somnitude, a startup that develops special glasses that help people get the rest they need to perform their best. Their technology filters out a blue wavelength emitted by phones, tablets and laptops — devices most people habitually check right before bed — that dis-rupts circadian rhythms and has an adverse effect on natural sleep patterns. By wearing the glasses two to three hours before bed, users can mitigate the effects of blue light and get a better sleep.

Robbie Andison, a moguls skier on Team Canada’s Youth Team, has been wearing Somnitude’s blue-light-filtering glasses while he continues training toward his Olympic dreams. (Courtesy: Freestyle Canada)

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COMMUNITY NEWS

“Sleep affects so many ways an athlete can perform,” says Rao. “Lack of sleep affects mood, ability to focus, physical recovery time, response and reaction times, as well as memory consolation and learning.”

Rao’s company is working with the director of sports science at Freestyle Canada, a Calgary-based program training freestyle ski-ers for the Olympics. Somnitude shipped glasses to 30 of their ath-letes a month before the games.

He hopes that by wearing the glasses and promoting better sleep, Team Canada’s freestyle skiers will focus better, train better and improve their times and performance. “We hope it helps them get that extra boost, that extra fraction of a second to win a medal,” says Rao.

And although top-tier athletes are used to travelling and competing around the world, Rao points out that it would also be beneficial for

athletes to arrive at their destination without feeling jetlagged — especially with the time differ-ence between South Korea and Canada ranging from 12.5 hours in Newfoundland to 17 hours in British Columbia.

In January, the company launched Chronoshift, a mobile app to help ease jetlag. “What an ath-lete could do is put in where they’re leaving from, where they are going to — in this case, South Korea — and in the days before their travel, they would get suggestions on how they can shift their schedule, using light, our glasses, waking and sleeping times, to align with the sleep sched-ule of South Korea,” says Rao.

“They get to their destination without experiencing jetlag. They’re ready to train, they’re ready to win.”

When the Winter Olympics begin next week, Rao will be paying extra attention to Team Canada’s freestyle ski team. If the athletes find the glasses helpful during the competition, Rao plans to step up his partnership with Freestyle Canada. “Maybe in a few years, we can extend our partner-ships and help athletes in the Summer Olympics, too,” says Rao.

Source: https://www.mie.utoronto.ca/this-engineering-startup-is-giving-canadas-olympic-skiers-a-

fresh-edge/

https://blueblockglasses.com/ http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2018/02/05/how-a-toronto-start-up-is-helping-canadian-athletes-in-pyeongchang-cope-with-jet-lag.html

http://toronto.citynews.ca/video/2018/02/08/canadian-olympians-testing-out-glasses-to-promote-sleep/

https://omny.fm/shows/calgary-today-with-angela-kokott/jet-lag-glasses

http://www.impactcentre.ca/imc-news/somnitude-launches-chronoshift-to-combat-jet-lag/

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/watch/how-glasses-developed-at-u-of-t-are-helping-canadian-olympians-in-south-korea-sleep/vp-BBIStxt & https://www.mie.utoronto.ca/this-engineering-startup-is-giving-canadas-olympic-skiers-a-fresh-edge/

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Our Sponsors:

A big Thank you to our Sponsors! For sponsorship opportunities, please

contact Ravi/Divya Nayak at ontariokonkani@gmail.com

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Page 16

Century Private School w as founded in 1994, w ith the Ontario Departm ent of

Education Registration Certificate. Century Private School offers an enriched curriculum

based on the Montessori Method from 2.5 up to age 6, and an enriched version of the On-

tario Ministry of Education curriculum up to grade 12. Century Private School graduates

and alumni are now enrolled in prestigious universities of their choice.

Century Private School has been established for over 20 years, and holds a high reputation

amongst the local community. Century Private School is known for its excellent education-

al quality, combined with the unique Montessori educational philosophy.

Century Private School offers personalized teaching, low students/teacher ratio with small

size classes. As a prestigious private school, Century Private School provides top-notch

preparation for post-secondary studies, structured curriculum, emphasis on specialties like

art, music, French and physical education, enriched and focused on academic quality. Cen-

tury Private School also customized program for children who are gifted or have special

needs. With diversified After- School programs such as Taekwondo, Chess, Golf, Robotics,

Badminton, Zumba and many others, Century Private School provides an all-rounded envi-

ronment to build the character of the children with solid foundation for their future suc-

cess.

https://www.centurypscanada.com/

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