Letter from the Chairman Facts about Summer Health By Kushagra Ghosh If I were invisible for one day by Trisha Sarma Drawing by Srijita Sarkar Drawing by Anuraag Sarkar Drawing by Sneho Ghosh My Cancun Vacation – Debarshi Dey Poem by Samhita Ghosh Desi American Websites by Adityadeb Sanyal Believe, and be Yourself by Naina Biswas

Gita – An Enigma by Guru Chakravarty

Arise! Awake! And stop not

until the goal is reached.

Letter from the Chairman

Dear Members and Volunteers, I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the summer. This year in 2015, we celebrated many successful events - Saraswati Puja, Baishakhi Program, Picnic and India day parade. We had a record number of people in the picnic and everybody including our children enjoyed the good food and participated in various activities. Also a record number of members and guests joined GSCA in the India day parade and everybody had a very good time. This year our Baishakhi program was super, but I am sad to say that less than thirty percent of our members attended the Program. In the future, it would be hard to continue this kind of program without all of our members’ support. Our big event Durga Puja is only two months away. I know that all of you are very excited and working hard in preparation of the Durga Puja. Many thanks for your hard work and dedication for the GSCA. Now I like to share with you – “My journey with GSCA and what GSCA taught me”. I am very fortunate to be a part of the GSCA family and proud to say that I am one of the founding members of GSCA. My journey with GSCA for the last twenty three years has been amazing. I believe it to be Mother Durga’s blessing on me. I am carrying so much sweet memory of GSCA with me that anytime my mind is afflicted with sadness for any reason, the gloom is replaced by happiness at the thought of GSCA. That is because in my journey, I met many wonderful people who became close friends. Yes, we had differences of opinion, we argued, but at the end of the day we all remained good friends and part of a family. We all mingle together in many occasions. Also, I look at all new members and volunteers as my younger brothers and sisters. It makes me very happy. In my journey, GSCA taught me how to do “nishkam karma” (selfless work) with love and respect. I realized that I should not try to find other’s faults and seek any credits or rewards especially at their expense. Bringing my own interest and agenda will not work. Only serving others will give me joy and inner peace. In my Journey, I see that GSCA is doing excellent philanthropic work, providing funds to victims of natural disasters and helping prominent community organizations like Bharat Sevashram Sangha. But providing scholarship money to fifteen very needy and meritorious students in the USA, India and Bangladesh, among them there are six medical students, fills my heart with immense joy. In my journey, I see that we have very energetic young talented members and volunteers in every committee. They are shining stars and assets to GSCA. Some of them contribute their energy and time even more than the GSCA’s founding members. Without their efforts and hard work GSCA could not achieve recognition as one of the eminent cultural organizations in the Indian community. I salute to all of them for their hard work and love for GSCA. In my future journey with GSCA, I look forward to seeing more energetic young people joining us to take it to a higher level and make GSCA better than ever. Bimal Saha, Chairman, GSCA August, 2015

Facts about Summer Health By Kushagra Ghosh, Grade 8, Woodrow Wilson Middle School

Summer Safety The summer offers a plethora of options for exploration, as well as pleasure. But there are problems that you may run into beside sunburn. Some are athlete’s foot, food poisoning, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, infections from open cuts, poison ivy, and West Nile virus. Here is a guide to a safer and smarter summer vacation.

Athlete’s Foot The fungus that causes athlete’s foot lingers on warm and wet surfaces such as poolside pavement and the floors of locker rooms and public showers. (Or the sweaty feet of people.) The one symptom of infection is oozing pus. To prevent this from happening, wear flip-flops instead of going barefoot at the pool or in public showers. Wear shoes that allow your feet to “breathe”. Mild cases of athlete’s foot are easily treated with over-the-counter antifungal powders or creams.

Food poisoning The heat in summer encourages the growth of bacteria in food and other places. The risk increases when most people go camping without the protection of refrigeration, dishwashers and food thermometers. That is the perfect recipe to food poisoning. The important thing to know is that the two-hour rule, which says that it’s safe to let food sit outside the fridge or cooler for that length of time, doesn’t apply outdoors when temperatures exceed 90 degrees. The USDA offers advice to prevent food poisoning: 1) Wash your hand and bring jugs of water to preparing food.

2) Keep cold foods cold, either through refrigeration or a cooler with ice.

3) And much more! (Go to www.befoodsafe.org for more information.)

Continued …

Poison Ivy You probably all heard of it. Leaves of three, let it be. Poison Ivy’s harmful effect comes from an allergic reaction to urushiol, an oily black substance found in poison ivy. Mostly, poison ivy just causes a painful nuisance that resolves in a couple of weeks. Not everyone who is exposed to poison ivy will get the rash. The best medicine is prevention, though. “Leaves of three, let it be,” “hairy vines, no friends of mine” and “longer middle stem, stay away from them” are all ways to identify poison ivy.

West Nile Virus West Nile Virus is a mosquito-borne infection. When an infected mosquito bites a human, it sends the virus into the human. It has symptoms ranging from fever and general discomfort to fatal neurological problems (although the worst effects are very rare). There is only one problem: there is no cure, since it is a virus. That’s why the CDC and other health agencies emphasize prevention from mosquitoes (like wearing long pants and full sleeves, and using insect repellant.) The summer offers many opportunities for enjoyment and exploration. But it gives a lot of chance for danger, too. Make sure

you play it safe while in pools, public showers, grills, camps, backyards, and parks. And remember: Leaves of three let it be!

Glimpse of Durga Puja 2014

If I were invisible for one day by Trisha Sarma, 5th Grade, Cambridge Elementary School

“Ring Ring”, my alarm clock rang. I woke up with a huge yawn. I went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the bathroom mirror, and my face wasn't on the mirror. That was strange. I went downstairs and said hi to my mom, but she didn't reply. Then I went to my sister, Julie, who was eating breakfast and said hi to her also. But she didn't reply either. Then I took a bread from her plate. “Where did my bread go? She exclaimed. She didn't realize that it was me! Now I was really confused .Am I invisible? I looked at myself in the mirror and I still wasn't there. Wow, I really am invisible, this is amazing! And when I figured out that I'm actually invisible I knew exactly what I wanted to do. So I got a bucket of water and dumped it on my brother, John. He was completely shocked about where all this water came from? I couldn't stop laughing. Hmm, what's next? Then I thought of the most brilliant idea. I've always wanted a dog but my parents never let me because they think it is too much work. All my friends at school have puppies and when they talk about them I just stay quiet because I don't have a puppy. But now I have to get one. So I went to the pet store and brought a cute puppy home. The puppy was a little scared to see all the unknown faces. My parents were wondering where this dog came from and they could tell he was scared and they started petting him to make him feel better. The puppy is so cute and adorable that they really started loving him and instead of sending him away they have decided to keep him. I was so so happy, finally my dream came true! Now if I am bored I will always have someone to keep me company and now I can share my puppy stories to my friends too. The next morning when I woke up I discovered that I wasn't invisible anymore but I had a great time being invisible for a day. And I am very happy that I used my invisibility for giving a puppy a home and a loving and caring family.

This year, GSCA was proud to participate in India Day Parade in Oak Tree Road, NJ organized by Indian Business Association of NY / NJ to celebrate the independence of the world's largest democracy. There were 100-plus organizations, with 19 floats, three marching bands, and numerous walking groups, elected officials from across the state, six Bollywood celebrities, promotional booths, and live music and dance performances. Annual India Day parade took off under warm weather and partly cloudy skies, with American and Indian music, various patriotic songs, and cries of the patriotic Indian slogan "Jai Hind!" Multiple TV channels and news media broadcasted or published GSCA participation and participation was recognized / appreciated in front of invited dignitaries and celebrities.

Thousands of people lined Oak Tree Road in Edison and Iselin on Sunday to celebrate India's independence with a boisterous, jubilant parade. GSCA members and patrons echoed the same spirit, starting in Edison and going into the Iselin section of Woodbridge.

India Day Parade - 2015

Drawing by Srijita Sarkar

Drawing by Anuraag Sarkar

Sneho Ghosh - Age 8 Yr

My Cancun Vacation – Debarshi Dey, Grade 6, James Madison Middle School.

The planning and preparation for Cancun took so long! We started discussing the plans in January and we kept going on until July. We started discussing our trip with the four other families gathered around at our friends, at home, and sometimes on the phone. In terms of preparations, I had to pack a lot! There were a lot of clothes, swimming gear, and necessities. My bag was stuffed. We made sure we’d have the best time we could there! The night right before our trip, everyone was all over the place. We had to finish packing and get the house completely clean. The house was a mess and our suitcases weren’t filled. After we filled the bags we had to weigh them and if they were over, we had empty some of the things. On top of that, we had to gather the tickets, passports, and all of the documents. It was so crazy that I slept at 12:00.

On the day of the trip, my sister woke me up 6:00. At first, I refused to get up, but when I remembered what day it was, I jumped out. I brushed my teeth, took a shower, ate breakfast, and gathered my things in under 30 minutes. One hour later, we reached our parking spot and took a bus to the airport.

My first day there was awesome! I toured the whole hotel place when we found what we were looking for.

The pool! My sister, Ella, and I went to the big jump, where we jump for 10 feet high into a 12 foot deep pool! It was awesome! I also went to a waterslide that put slides you into a four foot deep pool. It wasn’t as fun, but I still enjoyed it. We also played a game a volleyball. It was really fun. After the pool, we went to the lobby for dinner. Today was International food. There were fish, French fries, corn nuggets, chicken, pork, beef, and even samosas!!! It was a feast for a king!! After dinner, I went to my friend’s room to play cards. We plaid till 10:00, when it was time to go to bed. Lights out!!

My second day was even better than the first. This time we went dolphin swimming! We were so excited

when we got there. The dolphins were so nice! The first thing we did was interaction. We had to interact with the dolphin and we got to touch the dolphin. His skin felt like rubber. We got to take pictures and we got to make it sing and dance! Our second activity was the belly ride. For this, we had to swim farther away and we ride the dolphin by grabbing its flippers. It was so much fun! Our last activity was called foot push. Basically, we had to go far away and the dolphin will carry your body by the foot. At first, mine didn’t go well. I fell off the dolphin right when I got on. When I tried again though, it worked. I flew to the other side like a superhero. It was a fun day! On my third day at Cancun, we took a trip a Cancun beach for jet skiing and parasailing. First up was jet skiing? We went to the end of the shore where we saw tons of seaweed.

Continued..

We had to cross the seaweed to get to the jet skis. Once we got, we got instructions on started and following the instructor. We started going super-fast and soon enough, we were going 45 miles per hour. For a jet ski, that’s fast. We went in circles and circles, and soon enough I was the one driving. It a lot of fun. Next up was parasailing. We were led to an electric boat where we waited as it got to the middle. Then, my dad and I were the first to go and we were strapped to this enormous parachute with a smiley face. We were 200 hundred feet in the air! As we were up, my dad and I were talking about how big the beach is and that we could see everything, even some small islands. It was calm and relaxing. After a little while, we started getting pulled down. It felt like we were skydiving. Once we landed back onto the boat, my friend went. We all waited until everyone went once and then we got back onto land. When we got there, we noticed that the big kids never went, and what happened was that the instructor forgot and they had to wait. While they were off, we ate tons of food and relaxed. This day ended up being one of the best.

Poem by Samhita Ghosh, Grade 6, Grover Middle School

There’s no guessing why The reason we hate Homework, oh Homework Why can’t you wait? They say without homework, There’d be no Graham Bell Newton or Darwin, Somehow I still yelled. Book reports, post-its, Writing those essays Algebra, Math And reports on DNA. Sometimes I fight The urge to say Teacher, oh teacher No homework today! I’ll pay for that book Which I lost in my bag I’ll even eat a fly Which will make me gag And if that’s not enough, I won’t even swear I’ll even actually Brush my hair! I’ll clean the floor I’ll clean my desk And make sure I rid of every pest Just not the homework Please oh, please! I won’t ever bring the weeds That made you wheeze! I did not know what good Homework would do How time wasting the deeds were I did not know too. Now I sit and slap my head, Knowing that was lame Because no matter what I did I got the homework, all the same.

Glimpse of Baishakhi 2015

Desi American Websites by Adityadeb Sanyal (Riju)

Many of us spend a good portion of the day on the Internet. Online, there are many interesting websites available to educate ourselves about Indian-American history, engage with other South Asians, and keep up with the latest desi news. Here I provide a list of my favorite related websites: www.theaerogram.com: The Aerogram is my go-to website for the latest Indian-American news. Featuring articles and literature by several second generation journalists, The Aerogram offers a “curated take on South Asian art, literature, life, and news” and is by far the most dynamic South Asian American newsfeed online https://www.saada.org: The South Asian American Digital Archive is a collection of original historical documents and photos that serves to educate South Asian Americans on their history and preserve their stories. The website offers an online magazine called Tides, which features research and articles on South Asian American history. http://smithsonianapa.org/beyondbollywood: The “Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation” exhibition was featured at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. from Feb. 27, 2014 to Aug. 16, 2015. Online, there is a digital exhibition containing some of the photos and documents from the exhibit. The exhibition explores the many contributions Indian immigrants and Indian Americans have made to shaping the U.S. http://blackdesisecrethistory.org: This website showcases the secret history of South Asian and African American solidarity in the U.S. It goes far beyond the well-known application of Gandhian non-violence by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to explore other lesser known relations between the two communities. For example, in the 1880’s to 1940’s, several Bengali Muslim migrants to the U.S. married African-American, Creole, and Puerto Rican women in working-class neighborhoods in Harlem and New Orleans. www.aif.org: The American India Foundation is a philanthropy platform that connects the world’s two largest democracies in order to help alleviate poverty in India with the help of several NGO partners. The organization was created after the Gujurat earthquake in 2001 with the help of Pres. Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Vajpayee. Both U.S. and Indian college graduates are eligible to apply for the William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India.

Believe, and be Yourself by Naina Biswas

There will be times in your life where people start to tell you that you need to change and stop believing what you already believe in. I feel that you shouldn’t stop believing or being yourself because whoever tells you to do so is just saying that because they are either jealous, think they’re the best, or they just want to be mean. There are a lot of examples of these situations where people became successful because they believed in themselves. Let’s take YouTube sensation Bethany Mota for instance. At Age 12 people started judging her based on her looks, her weight, etc. She decided to take a stand and be herself in front of a bunch of unknown people by posting videos on YouTube, now she has reached 9,094,878 subscribers just by believing and being herself. She says that having so many subscribers, viewers, and fans just happens, which means people liked her for her and thought she was perfect just the way she was. There are a few celebrities who have been picked on as young children. Rihanna was teased because of her skin color but she says that the struggles she faced made her stronger. That shows that despite being picked on Rihanna still believed in her. Another example is celebrities with disabilities. Bella Thorne had “Dyslexia” Her mom made her read almost everything like cereal boxes, signs, etc. Bella Thorne is a big inspiration to people not only because of her music and acting skills, but also because she never stopped believing in herself and she continued to try harder and harder until she could read perfectly and she got rid of her Dyslexia. Channing Tatum had Dyslexia. He sometimes had to go to classes where special need kids went to. He would say “we are really special, we are just different”. That shows that Channing Tatum wasn’t self-conscience about his disabilities but made them his strength. Here are a few examples of how you can be yourself and believe in yourself. You must have faith in yourself, make all your weaknesses your strength, don’t believe in the bad things people say or think about you, stay positive, never change who you really are, and be true to yourself. You can also build a group of people to help you with your problems and disabilities whether it’s your friends, your siblings, even your parents or family relatives. You should never hesitate to consult an adult if somebody is teasing you for who you are and you’re feeling bad about it. Some other ways that you can believe in yourself and be yourself are you should always have a goal that you can work towards and that will make you feel proud about yourself; reflect at the end of the day, see how you can make yourself happy and make your bad days the best days of your life. Also try to be persistent, do things that you love to do, never give up. If you give up too soon you may miss the chance to do many things, you should always feel like you can do it, don’t keep the words can’t, no, never, stop, don’t in your vocabulary. Also you should always keep moving on and on. Once you reached the goal you set, make another goal, also you can practice speaking up for yourself. Make up possible scenarios with your friends and/or your family so that if something happens you know what to do and say. Help others; we can often get a good understanding of who we are by helping others. Take care of yourself, believing in yourself may be easier if you are confident with the way you look. Few examples of taking care of yourself are shower or bathe, style your hair, trim or file your nails, shave your beard (men), brush your teeth daily (2X daily), put deodorant on to keep odors away. Here are some other ways to believe and be yourself. Never care about what others think about you, it should really only matter what your friends and family think about you, don’t compare yourself to others, take pride in yourself, admit who you are, If you are a girly girl, and like make-up and fashion admit it, if you are a tomboy and like sports admit it, if you are a nerd and are super smart admit it, if you are like me and you are a lot of things admit it. Don’t be afraid to show people you really are. In conclusion to this article I would like to say LOVE YOURSELF. All of you are very beautiful no matter what you look like and what age you are. Encourage other people to be and believe in their selves. Make a change to this world. I hope this article has helped you and I hope you enjoyed reading the article as much as I did writing. Remember ALWAYS BELIEVE AND BE YOURSELF.

Gita – An Enigma by Guru Chakravarty

We all know that Gita was preached by Lord Krishna to Arjun at the Kurukshetra field of war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. It is documented by Maharshi Vedavyas as part of his epic creation – the Mahabharat”. But look at what Lord Krishna says in the fourth chapter, first sloka;

Shri Bhagawan Ubacha Imam bibaswate yogam proktaban aham abyayam

Bibaswan manabe praha Manu iksakabe abrabit (4/1) Lord Krishna said: I taught this immortal yoga (knowledge) to Bibaswan (Sun). Bibaswan told this to his son Manu, who communicated it to his son Ikshaku.

Ebam parampara praptam imam rajarsayo viduh Sa kalena iha mahata yogo nastah parantapah (4/2)

Oh Parantapap (Arjun), this yoga was handed over from generation to generation by the Kings. With passage of time, that knowledge is now lost in this world. Some questions are provoked by these two slokas. 1. When was Gita preached to human? Kurukshetra War was not the first time the lessons of Gita were preached. Gita was taught a long time ago to Manu, considered to be the first human to appear in the world. Krishna said that after He revealed those teachings to Manu, he taught the same to his son Ikshaku. Thus, they were passed on to generation after generation. But over the years, the knowledge is lost. The question then arises whether Gita taught previously is still the same now? The answer can be found in the same chapter. Lord Krishna explains that he is the God of all ages, and although he has been through cycles of births and deaths like other human beings, He can remember everything unlike normal humans. Therefore, it is logical to believe that the slokas He instructed originally to Manu are the same as what He taught to Arjun.

2. Who wrote the Gita? The teachings by Lord Krishna were documented by Vedavyas. However, these teachings were imparted to Arjun alone in the battlefield. How is it possible for Vedavyas to write the slokas exactly as told by Lord Krishna? Here we go to get help from Vivekananda. He says in his book “Gita-Prasanga” that Kurukshetra War is used as a background to impart this knowledge to human being. The value of the teachings of Gita is unquestionable, even if the history is a little unclear as to how it happened.

Continued …

When Arjun was overcome with grief and fear of sin to inflict death on his friends and relatives, he decided against fighting and threw away his weapons. In the second chapter, Lord Krishna rebuked Arjun for being a coward and urged him to fight the war. The Lord said:

Klaibyam ma sma gamah parth na etad twayi upa-padyate Khudram hridaye dourbalyam tyaktwa utthistha parantapah” (2-3)

Oh Partha (Arjun), don’t take shelter under cowardice. It does not befit you. Oh Parantap (Arjun), get this weakness out of your heart and rise up. The question arises – why is Lord Krishna urging Arjun to fight? Why does the Lord of love and kindness preach war to kill enemies? Here we go to Swami Vivekananda again for clarification. He explains that Lord Krishna is getting the great inner power out of Arjun’s atman. He says: Arjun, you are unnecessarily afflicted with fear of sin. There is no sin in doing what is right. If there is any sin in this world, that is cowardice. Whatever duty instills your atman with strength that is virtue. Whatever task afflicts cowardice in you that is vice. It is logical to see that standing up against evil is a necessary quality for civilization to prosper. Question: When would God reappear on earth? In the second chapter, Lord Krishna said that he would appear on the earth whenever Dharma (righteousness) declines and forces of evil rise. We can see that the “Kurukshetra War” was all about establishment of righteousness and destruction of evils. True, the reign of Panadavas was established, but the good times were short-lived. After a while, a lot of inner fighting broke out within Sri Krishna’s own clan, the Yadavs. Soon after, Lord Krishna died that marked the end of Dwapar Yuga and the beginning of Kali Yuga. The question is: Why did the prosperity and the good times end so soon? When will we see the reappearance of God?

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