Volume 1, No. 1, March 2006

Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC) 2006 Holly Avenue, Columbia, MO 65202-2043 * (573) 814-1AUM (286)

http://shanthimandir.missouri.org Sh

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T he Columbia Hindu community celebrated Maha Shivratri at

the Shanthi Mandir on February 25, 2006 with great devotion. Volunteers who participate in the regular Saturday morning Shram Daan helped with cleaning the prayer hall, decorating the entrance to the Mandir with a colorful and inviting Rangoli and decorating the altar with dedication.

Come evening, Shanthi Mandir was packed to capacity with well over 100 devotees, both young and old. Our youngest devotee was just a few months old while the young-at-heart was batting a healthy 80+!

(Continued on page 2)

Om Namah Shivaya!Om Namah Shivaya! B. S. BalajiB. S. BalajiB. S. Balaji

The Maha Shivaratri altar

Devotees listen to the chanting of Sri Rudram and Chamakam

W elcome to the inaugural issue of Shanthi Sandesh.

The previous “as-and-when-we-can-ly” issues of the Sandesh served us well to keep the community informed in a timely manner. However, from this issue on we will be publishing the Shanthi Sandesh on a quarterly schedule (January 31, April 30, July 31, and October 31 each year). Our Public Relations and Publicity Committee is entrusted with this important task.

Beginning January 1, 2006 we h a v e b e g u n o u r H T C C membership drive in real earnest. Kattesh and Ram who co-chair our Fund Raising and Membership Committee have made great strides in these few months as reflected in the numbers of lifetime and annual members (reported on Page 4) who have signed up to-date. This group will work tirelessly to involve everyone

who shares in the values and objectives of the HTCC in the months to come. Please help us in this effort to reach out to the communi ty . Our Stand ing Committee structure is also fully operational now. Reports from several committees appear in this issue. If you have not signed up to serve on a committee yet, please do so by contacting the Chair directly or through our web site.

Thanks to the efforts of numerous volunteers, we have come a long way in just a few short months. Given the momentum and enthusiasm of our volunteers and members, the Executive Board has little doubt that we will convert every challenge into an opportunity to better serve the community. A m o n g t h e n o t e w o r t h y developments since the last update that you will read in this issue include; steady growth of

o u r o ngo i n g d e vo t i o n a l , educational, youth and service programs; the addition of a fully functional kitchen, a turbo-cha rged “ l i b ra ry -bu i l d i ng” undertaking, plans for several new programs including the Food n’ Thought brunch fund-raising workshop series, educational summer workshops for youth of several age groups, new social service programs, our annual Samuhika Satyanarayana Puja, and devotional programs to mark special festivals and observances. With the kind of support we have received, we are limited only by our imagination in creatively serving the Columbia community

Interim Officers

Vellore S. Gopalaratnam Anuradha Rajagopalan

Inder Khurana Visala Palaniappan

From the Executive Board

The Library 2 Devotional Calendar 3 Desi Club 3 Helping Hands 3 Membership Drive 4 Food n’ Thought 4 Thank You! 4 Saraswati Puja 5 Ramayana - The Message Within 5 Youth Summer Activities 6 HTCC Standing Committees 6 Our New Programs 7 Shram Daan 7 Current Programs at the Mandir 8

Inside this issue...

Page 2 Shanthi Sandesh - A Quarterly Newsletter of the HTCC Vol. 1, No.1, March 2006

The beautiful and colorful floral arrangments, the sweet smell of incense sticks, and brightly lit oil lamps matched the dedication and enthusiasm of the devotees in creating a spiritually-charged environment. For several mesmerizing hours we were transported to Shivaratri in India!

The program started off with Sri Ganesha Pancharatnam led by the Shloka Class youth singing together with all devotees

gathered at the Mandir. Our resident pujaris for the day were Srinath, Bhaskaran, Vasanthi and Malathy. Srinath explained the significance of the Sri Rudram and Chamakam prayer offerings before proceeding to recite these prayers. Purusha Suktam followed next. All the devotees chanted the Durga

Suk tam, Sh iva Panchaksha ram, Bilvashtakam, Lingashtakam and Nandi prayer. The sing-along delivery was assisted by handouts of the prayers, a specially prepared CD and the Shloka Class youth. Following the lead-in prayer offerings, the

Sai Bhajan group led the participants with stirring bhajans dedicated to Lord Shiva. Gayathri, Gopal, Manjula, Anantha, Shuba, and Vasanthi took turns to lead the bhajans. All devotees enjoyed the sing-along offerings. Shiva Ashtotara Naamavali (Chants comprising the 108 names of Lord Shiva) was recited prior to the Aarti. Mantra Pushpam was recited

during the Aarti with Sumedha and Prerna offering flowers to the sacred Shiva Linga. The religious observance concluded with the recitation of Shiva Gayathri nine times. No religious observance of this scale is

complete without a sumptuous spread of prasad prepared with love and affection by all the devotees gathered at the Mandir—this evening was no exception!

(Continued from page 1)

The observance included shlokas and bhajans

T he idea of housing a library at the Shanthi Mandir had been with us

from the very beginning. Once we set out to do it, the number of people volunteering to help has exceeded thirty and keeps growing. We have a very ambitious project to acquire a unique and extensive collection of books on religion, art, philosophy, architecture, languages, science and history, for young and mature readers. Audio, video and multi-media formats will also be explored. Considering the richness and diversity of our cultural heritage, the scope of such a library could be immense. We can use the help of the entire community in reaching this goal. The project began with a running start

due to timely contributions that came earmarked for the library project. A significant portion of the donation of $1,000 by Dr. N. Mathialagan and family of St. Louis (Mathi, Sumathy and Nevatha), who were former residents of Columbia, helped us to put together four handsome glass-door book cases. Contributions of $500 by Dr. Murari Nagar and $1,000 by me, gave us the initial pool of money to get the first consignment of books. As of now we have Shri Rama Charita Manas (Tulsi Das), Valmiki Ramayana,

Mahabharata by Vyasa and the Bhagawata Maha Purana - all of them with complete original text and English translation - in attractive hard cover volumes. We also have a complete and erudite version of Rigveda Samhita (original text, translation and commentary) and the Bhagawadgita.

Our children’s section has the complete set of Amar Chitra Katha series, as well as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Krishna Leela, Panchatantra, Hitopadesh, and Tales of Vikramaditya. We also have books on Hindu Gods and festivals. Reference materials include dctionaries and source books on Sanskrit, Hindi and several Indian languages. We also have books by

or on luminaries such as Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, R.K. Narayan and V.S. Naipaul. The list is growing, thanks to the good work by the Library Committee. I have never had the pleasure of chairing

a committee so full of ideas and dynamism as this. Meghna Srinath is a wonderful secretary who is thorough and succinct. The adult members include Kirti Rangnekar, Kavita Katti, Uma Srinath, Shuba Ratneshwar and Sunder Lal. The youth members include Adithi Vellore, Anchal Sethi, Sheela Lal, Niyati Rangnekar, and Nahush Katti. Various sub-committees on acquisition, inventory, database preparation, policies and procedure are chaired by the youngsters, with adults looking over their shoulders. In addition Nidhi Khurana, Rijutha Garimella, Prerna Srinivasan, Ashwath Kumar, Vikram Arunachalam, Vidya Mantrala, Sumidha Katti, Sangita Sharma and many others have been very active in our group. We hope all of you will take part in this

great adventure of establishing a unique intellectual resource that will benefit the Indian Community and the general public

THE LIBRARY AT SHANTHI MANDIR H.R. CHANDRASEKHAR

Volunteers assembling the library bookcases

Colorful rangoli greets the Shivaratri devotees thanks to Chandra and Nidhi

aa no bhadrah kratavo yantu visvatah - Rig Veda I-89-I Let noble thoughts come to us from everywhere

Vol.1, No.1, March 2006 Shanthi Sandesh - A Quarterly Newsletter of the HTCC Page 3

T he HTCC Service Programs Committee recommends that

initially it would be prudent to participate in service projects that are already underway in the city so that we can gain on-the-job training of what it takes to initiate and manage a vibrant service project. In addition we can strengthen and grow the numerous service activities in which HTCC members are already involved. During the interim time the Service Programs Committee plans to evaluate several options for new service projects appropriate to the skills and interests our membership.

The ongoing service programs undertaken by our members include:

• Shram Daan (Volunteer Labor) is held every Saturday from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. at the Shanthi Mandir. Since September 2005, when the Mandir opened its doors, this effort has been used to make numerous improvements at the Mandir such as striping the parking lot, assembling bookcases for the library, building shelves for the store room, digging a trench to install the sewer line for the kitchen, putting up Diwali/Christmas lights, weatherproofing

the windows, staining the kitchen cabinets, installing vapor barrier in the crawl space, fabricating and decorating the altar in addition to numerous other smaller tasks.

• Narayan Seva is carried out by the Sai Bhajan group, which cooks and serves a complete meal at the St. Francis House (a shelter for homeless men) on the second Sunday of every month between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

• Food Donations Project involves collection of non-perishable food for the Central Missouri Food Bank. This is a project that will be ideal for our youth.

• Clean up Columbia is organized by the City of Columbia annually in April. This year it is scheduled for April 6, 2006. For the past several years a group of HTCC members and their friends have been participating in the clean-up, working around the Ridgeway Elementary School area. This year we plan to expand this group and additionally work around the Shanthi Mandir neighborhood.

• Adopt a Spot: The Bal Sabha children have adopted the Ridgeway School neighborhood as part of the city’s

“Adopt-a-Spot” program. We should continue and perhaps expand on this program as well.

• ADA/MDA Walks: The Bal Sabha and Cultural Association of India have participated in the annual American Diabetes Association’s “Walk for Diabetes”, or Muscular Dystrophy Association’s “The Great Walk” in past years. We should continue this tradition of participating in these nation-wide events. HTCC volunteers operating under the

banner HTCC Helping Hands will in the near future participate in the new projects currently being evaluated by the Service Programs Committee, including: • Regular medical clinics • Voluntary service at the nursing homes

and elder care facilities. • Volunteer work at the Central Missouri

Food Bank • Provide tutoring assistance at the ARC • Volunteer services at the hospitals

Once concrete proposals are available, HTCC membership will have the opportunity to sign up for these projects

D esi Club is a student-run organization at Hickman High School that was

founded three years ago. Desi, a word of Indian origin, means “of the country”. The club’s main objective is to promote awareness of South Asian culture. It is open to everyone interested in South Asian countries and culture. With a current membership of 20 students, the club meets every month throughout the school year. Some of the our activities have included

multicultural movie screenings, slideshow presentations on different countries, tasting ethnic food, visiting the St. Louis temple, community service work, learning Indian dances, fundraising for disaster relief (Katrina and Kashmir earthquake) annual overnight lock-ins, and celebrating South Asian festivals. Desi Club has cemented itself into Hickman tradition, becoming widely known for its diversity and enthusiasm. Desi Club volunteers recently participated

in the Shram Daan organized at Shanthi Mandir and helped assemble three metal

shelves for the storage facility at the temple. Given the convergence of objectives

between HTCC and the Desi Club, there will be many future opportunities for collaborative programs in the social service, education and youth activities

Hickman High School’s Desi Club Meghna Srinath

HTCC Helping Hands Anantha Gopalaratnam

Desi Club volunteers at Shanthi Mandir

Thanks Desi Club Volunteers! Ellen Beverley, Ann Bruno, Jessica Beverstein, Rokaya Helfer, Nila Manandhar, Austin Perry, Meghna Srinath and Meley Woldeghebriel.

2006 Devotional Calendar

A tentative festival calendar is included here for planning purposes. The HTCC Devotional Programs Committee will confirm the dates and finalize the programs in the weeks and months to come.

January Sunday, 1 New Year Puja

February Saturday, 25 Maha Shivaratri Puja

April Saturday, 1 Rama Navami Puja Thursday, 6 Rama Navami Bhajans Saturday, 8 Sunder Kaand Reading

May Saturday, 13 Buddha Purnima Celebrations Sunday, 14 Samuhika Satyanarayana Puja

July Thursday, 13 Guru Purnima Bhajan

August Wednesday, 9 Gayathri Puja Thursday, 17 Krishna Jayanthi Bhajan Sunday, 27 Ganesh Chathurthi Puja

September Saturday, 30 Dusshera Jagran

October Tuesday, 10 Karva Chauth Observance Friday, 20 Deepavali Celebrations

November Sunday, 5 Guru Nanak Jayanthi

December Saturday, 9 Skanda Shashti

Page 4 Shanthi Sandesh - A Quarterly Newsletter of the HTCC Vol. 1, No.1, March 2006

Lifetime Family Members 1. Arunachalam, Vairam and Alagu 2. Bhaskar, Gowda and Shoba 3. Chandrasekhar, Holalkere and Meera 4. Chaudhary, Kunal and Ritcha Mehra 5. Cutkosky, Dale and Hema Srinivasan 6. Dhand, Rajiv and Upinder 7. Gangopadhyay, Keshab and Shubhra 8. Gopalakrishna, Srinath and Uma 9. Gopalaratnam, Vellore and Anantha 10. Katti, Kattesh and Kavita 11. Khurana, Inder and Jasmit 12. Kutikkad, Kiratadas and Geetha 13. Lal, Sunder and Nila Gupta 14. Loyalka, Sundarshan and Nirja 15. Malhotra, Anil and Kusum 16. Mitra, Ranadhir and Roma 17. Palaniappan, Kanappan and Visala 18. Patel, Nitin and Harsha 19. Raghuraman, Kannan and Anandhi Upendran 20. Ramachandran, V and Anuradha Rajagopalan 21. Rangnekar, Nitin and Kirthi 22. Rawlani, Ramesh and Chandra 23. Sethi, Yash and Anjna 24. Sharma, Krishna and Sandhya

Annual Members for 2006 1. Basu, Asit and Sandra 2. Bhattula Ravindra and Vijaya Kattumuri 3. Choudhry, Prabir Kumar 4. Elangovan, Bala and Abi 5. Gagneesh, Rawat and Aditi 6. Jashnani, Ghanshyam and Leela 7. Khanna, Sanjeev and Vinita 8. Kumar, Senthil and Kalai 9. Lakshmanan, Soundhra 10. Mantrala, Murali and Suryamani 11. Nair, Satish and Jyotsna 12. Nathan, Vivek and Manjula 13. Neupane, Prakash and Kamala 14. Puri, Ravi and Mona 15. Ramaswamy, Ram and Indira 16. Ratneshwar, Srinivasan and Subbalakshmi 17. Raychaudhuri, Aniruddha and Sriparna 18. Satish, Anand and Sushma 19. Satpathy, Sashi and Namita 20. Srinivasan, Bharath and Manjula Narasimhan 21. Subramanian, Krishna and Raji 22. Thawani, Ravi and Meena 23. Tolani, Bhisham and Rajini 24. Viswanath, Dabir and Pramila

Thank You!

The HTCC is grateful to the following families who have signed up as members as of March 1, 2006. The membership drive will continue through out the year. If you would like to sign-up as a member, please visit our web site and download, complete and send off your membership application with appropriate dues. We sure would appreciate your support for all our activities. Please also consider upgrading your annual m e m b e r s h i p t o l i f e t i m e membership. The lifetime dues provide the HTCC with a strong ownership base and steady stream of revenue for delivering quality devotional, education, service and youth programs.

T he HTCC Fund Raising and Membership Committee (FRMC), co-

chaired by Kattesh V. Katti and Venkataraman Ramachandran, has embarked on the membership drive for annual and lifetime memberships. To-date, there are 24 annual and 24 lifetime members in HTCC (see current membership list below). FRMC seeks active support from HTCC membership to boost the enrollment effort. The Committee is pleased to report that the momentum of membership enrollment is gaining steam. Recently two of our lifetime members have contributed an additional $1,000, demonstrating the level of support for ongoing and planned HTCC programs. It is also noteworthy that four families who originally signed up as annual members have since upgraded their memberships to lifetime membership within days of the initial sign-up.

The near-term (by May 2006) goals of this continuing enrollment campaign is to bring the enrollment numbers to: • 50 lifetime family members • 70-75 annual family members, and • 45-50 students and other individual

members While we continue to aggressively

pursue our immediate membership goals, FRMC seeks the support of the community in successfully kicking-off the long-term fund-raising campaign as well.

The HTCC plans t o r a i s e $500,000 as capital towards new permanent t emp l e a nd c o m m u n i t y c e n t e r s t r u c t u r e s . Beginning June 2006, FRMC

plans to aggressively pursue larger fund-raising targets including: 10 donors at $15,000, 15 donors at $10,000 and 20 donors at $5000 levels. FRMC will also work toward development activities to attract larger corporate/foundation and individual contributions in the $50,000 - $100,000 range. The Committee recognizes that these are ambitious targets that can only be accomplished with the sustained effort and dedication of the community. The solid funding base that will result from this second drive will provide much needed capital for HTCC’s expansion plans

Membership Drive and Fund Raising Near and Long-Term Goals

Kattesh V. Katti

Food n’ Thought Brunch Seminar Series

The Food n’ Thought brunch seminar series is a new bi-monthly program developed by the HTCC Executive Board to bring together interested persons to learn, discuss, and debate topics of interest in an informal setting. Hands-on learning will be strongly encouraged in these brunch seminars/workshops so that the presentations are lively and interactive. The first workshop in the series will be

presented by Kate Walker on Saturday, March 11, 2006 at Shanthi Mandir from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. on Meditation and Stress Management. The interactive/demonstrative workshop will include informal brunch discussions from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. The brunch menu for this workshop includes Idli, Vadai, Chutney, Sambhar, and Chai. The ticketed event will also help HTCC raise funds. Interested persons can sign-up for this first workshop by completing the registration form available at :

http://shanthimandir.missouri.org/FoodNThought1.pdf

Future topics under consideration include: • Yoga and a Healthy Lifestyle • Ayurvedic Medicine - Wisdom of the Ages • Vedanta and 21st Century Living • Anger Management

Not to outdone by the strength of the topics, future menu includes (yum!): • Bhatura and Chole • Pilaf and Raita • Aloo Paratha and Daal • Pav and Bhaji

Let us know if you have suggestions for resource speakers, topics and/or menu items by sending you comments via our web site

Vol.1, No.1, March 2006 Shanthi Sandesh - A Quarterly Newsletter of the HTCC Page 5

O n February 4th, the Columbia-Indian community celebrated Saraswati Puja

to pay homage to the Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge. Saraswati Puja also marks the onset of spring in India.

The gathering was colorful with most of the participants dressed in bright yellow traditional dresses (heralding the advent of spring). The families offered flowers and fruits and prayed for the blessings of knowledge. Books, pens, pencils and

musical instruments, were kept before the altar of the Goddess.

Saraswati Puja has tremendous

importance particularly amongst students. The celebration is particularly relevant in this University town and attracts a large student community. Puja was performed with sandalwood, incense and flowers to the sounds of shlokas (hymns) and the blowing of the conch shell. The Puja started in the morning with archana (offerings) and ended at dusk with arati (a ritual of offering of flame, and flowers).

There was an elaborate arrangement for vegetarian food. An impressive cultural program was performed mostly by kids bringing out the talents of the young members of our community.

One of the most significant aspects of Saraswati Puja is that this day is considered a very auspicious day to begin a child's education called ‘Hatey Khori’. The parents guide a toddler to start writing a few alphabets in front of the Goddess. In India and many parts of the

world, Saraswati Puja is observed with great reverence especially in educational institutions specializing in music, arts and science.

About Goddess Saraswati Goddess Saraswati represents the

power of knowledge, speech and learning. She embodies wisdom, intelligence, and splendor and is depicted holding a musical instrument (Veena, the Indian lute) - that symbolizes the knowledge of arts; a rosary that symbolizes meditative

qualities essential to acquire knowledge; and the scripture that represents k n o w l e d g e . S h e i s accompanied by a swan- signifying discrimination between right and wrong. She usually has four hands representing learning, intellect, alertness and ego

Goddess of Knowledge

Devotional play during the cultural program

Saraswati Puja Aniruddha Raychaudhuri

M ost mythological stories convey, in addition to the story in the narrative,

a more profound inner message that illustrates the greatness of our ancient culture and the path to righteous living.

The epic poem Ramayana describes the journey (Ayana) of Lord Rama - the journey of virtue to annihilate vice.

Rama, the prince of Ayodhya is an incarnation of God as man. He embodies Dharma, the concept of duty and right conduct. Rama personifies the ideal son, husband and king, Sita the ideal wife, Lakshmana and Bharatha, the ideal brothers, loving and unassuming Hanuman, the ideal devotee. Ravana alerts us to the dangers of lust and ego.

All the events that are played out relate to our day to day life including the numerous characters. Lessons we can take from these characters including the following: • Think carefully before making promises -

The suffering that King Dasaratha undergoes when Queen Kaikeyi demands the exile of Rama as grant of a boon given during the heat of battle.

• Maintain reason and discrimination - Noble Kaikeyi is incited to jealously by her wily maid Manthra and is persuaded to demand that Dasaratha send Rama into exile.

• Be willing to forgive - Despite the fact that Ravana has kidnapped Sita, Rama is prepared to forgive and forget the kidnapping if Sita is returned unharmed.

• Violence and war should be the last resort - Rama makes several attempts to negotiate the peaceful return of Sita and goes to war only when negotiations are spurned.

• Learn to sacrifice - Sita giving up palace luxuries to be with Rama in exile demonstrates sacrifice. The grandeur and glory of the Ramanaya,

is a perennial source of spiritual, cultural and artistic inspiration to all Hindus

Ramayana - The message within! Kusuma Chandrapal

Lord Rama The personification of grace under pressure

Please join us at the Mandir during the Rama Navami

celebrations April 1-8, 2006

(see the Devotional Calendar on Page 3 for details)

Gnyanam param balam Knowledge is supreme

Page 6 Shanthi Sandesh - A Quarterly Newsletter of the HTCC Vol. 1, No.1, March 2006

Devotional Programs Chandra Rawlani (Chair) Vellore Gopalaratnam (Ex-officio) Hema Srinivasan Kusum Malhotra Leena Pattarkine Manjula Nathan Meena Thawani Punam Sethi

Educational Programs Ritcha Mehra-Chaudhary (Chair) Inder Khurana (Ex-officio) Abirami Shanmugasundaram Aniruddha Raychaudhuri Arpita Kumar Kala Kumar Pankaj Chopra

Facilities and Renovation Vellore S. Gopalaratnam (Chair) Bharath Srinivasan Kattesh Katti Nila Gupta Nitin Patel Ravi Thawani

Financial Policy Vairam Arunachalam (Chair) Visala Palaniappan (Ex-officio) Krishna Sharma Mayukh Ghosh Ravi Thawani Surya Mantrala

Fund Raising and Membership Kattesh Katti and V. Ramachandran (Co-Chairs) Anuradha Rajagopalan (Ex-officio)

Elagovan Balakrishnan H. R. Chandrasekhar Nitin Patel Ranadhir Mitra

Library H. R. Chandrasekhar (Chair) Visala Palaniappan (Ex-officio) Anand Chandrasekhar Kavita Katti Kirthi Rangnekar Shuba Ratneshwar Sunder Lal Uma Srinath

Library Committee (Youth Members) Adithi Vellore Anchal Sethi Meghna Srinath Nahush Katti Niyati Rangenekar Shiela Lal Vikram Arunachalam

Operations and Maintenance Meera Chandrasekhar (Chair) Visala Palaniappan (Ex-officio) Jasmit Khurana Kavita Katti Shuba Ratneshwar

Public Relations and Publicity Gagneesh Rawat (Chair) Vellore S. Gopalaratnam (Ex-officio) Alpana Ray Arkasubhra Ghosh B. S. Balaji Geetha Kutikkad

Leela Jashnani Meghal Parikh Sirisha Ramaraju

Safety and Security K. Palaniappan (Chair) Visala Palaniappan (Ex-officio) Manjula Narasimhan S. Akila

Scheduling Inder Khurana (Chair) Anantha Gopalaratnam Manjula Narasimhan

Service Programs Anantha Gopalaratnam (Chair) Anuradha Rajagopalan (Ex-officio) B. S. Balaji E. Subbarao Manjula Narasimhan Manjula Nathan Mayukh Ghosh Sanjiv Sethi

Youth Activities Kala Kumar (Chair) Inder Khurana (Ex-officio) Gagneesh Rawat Hema Srinivasan Nandhu Radhakrishnan S. Akila

HTCC - Standing Committees The HTCC is indebted to its many volunteers, particularly those who have agreed to serve on the various HTCC Standing Committees. List of committee members as of March 1, 2006 is included below. If you would like to serve on a committee please contact the Chairs directly or through the volunteer section of the web. If we have missed your name in this listing inadvertently, please accept our apologies, and let us know so that we may make the correction.

March (Spring Break - Dates TBA), 2006 Origami for Beginners For the young and young at heart!

April 6, 2006 Clean-up Columbia (see HTCC Helping Hands on Page 3) All age groups (including adults)

June - August, 2006 The Moviemakers An all-summer flexible instruction workshop for 10-12th graders (interested adults are also welcome to participate) Deliverables include documentary/fictional stories in digital video format

June 17-18, 2006 Tennis Tournament Ages: 8 – Open-ended

June 26-28, 2006 Basic Computer Skills Workshop Ages: 9 – 12

June 26-28, 2006 Creative Writers Workshop Ages: 12 - 14

July 22, 2006 Chess Tournament Ages: 5 – Open-ended

August (Dates TBA), 2006 Number Crunchers—A Math Workshop Ages: 8 - 12

August 19, 2006 HTCC Youth Day A day of fun to recognize and reward our youth All age groups (including adults)

HTCC Youth Activities for Spring/Summer Keep’em Busy and Out of Trouble!

INVOLVE, MENTOR and REWARD our Youth The Youth Activities for Summer 2006 are currently in the planning stages. When we get feed-back on the level of interest for each of these activities, we can plan better to deliver quality and timely programs desired by the membership. All programs will be open to HTCC member families at no cost. Non-members will be charged nominal fees to recover costs. Details of these programs will be finalized by early April 2006. If you have interest in participating in one or more of these summer programs please contact Kala Kumar at 445-9579 or via e-mail at kala.skumar@gmail.com. Additional information on these programs can also be obtained from Kala.

Vol.1, No.1, March 2006 Shanthi Sandesh - A Quarterly Newsletter of the HTCC Page 7

Kirtan Kirtan was held at the Shanthi Mandir

on February 4, 2006 for the first time. During the Kirtan in February, Sukhmani Sahib (the Song of Happiness) and Anand Sahib (the Song of Wonderful Bliss) were recited. Kirtan was well attended (parking

lot was almost full!) and well received. Kirtan will now be a regular feature on

the first Sunday of the month from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.. Kirtan which will be followed by Langar (prasad and lunch) provided by the voluntary efforts of the Sangat (attendees and participants). Kuljit Singh and Ranjna Rai plan Kirtan

which involve recitation of shabads from Guru Granth Sahib. If you would like to participate in the Kirtan, please call Kuljit at 442-4471. and for Langar, call Ranjna at 529-3486

Hindi Language Classes Thanks to the efforts of several

community volunteers, Hindi classes are now being offered twice a month at the Shanthi Mandir. These classes are open to school children interested in learning Hindi, irrespective of the native language spoken at home. Currently 16 students are enrolled. These classes are held from 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. on the second Sunday of the month (after Bal Puja) and the 4th Sunday of the month (before Bal Sabha).

We have a two-level structure for teaching Hindi: Beginner and Intermediate.

In the "Beginner Level", students are taught how to read and write the Hindi alphabets (swar and vyanjans) in a fun way. Once they master the alphabets, they will be introduced to writing and

reading Hindi words. In the "Intermediate Level", emphasis

is placed on learning how to read and write complete sentences. In both groups, students are encouraged to speak in Hindi.

Currently we have two permanent teachers - Arpita Kumar for the "Beginner Level" and Ritcha Mehra-Chaudhary for the "Intermediate Level". Other

individuals who have volunteered to serve as as substitute teachers include Kirthi Rangnekar, Lokesh Tejwani, Sanjeev Was son , S eema Wasson, Sanjiv Sethi, and A. Sarma. The Hindi Classes add to the strength of the

language classes currently offered at the Mandir. The Tamil Language Classes that have been taught continuously for the last 10 years were earlier moved to the Mandir since October 2005. If there is a need and infrastructure to provide teaching support, other language classes may be considered by HTCC’s Educational Program Committee

Featuring our New Programs

Shram Daan Shram Daan (donation of labor or 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 as evidenced during the recent natural disasters including the tsunami in Asia, the hurricane in the US gulf coast and the earthquake in South-Asia. Volunteering is an enriching experience in so many ways. 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 make a difference in your own community The rewards are as unique and personal as your reasons for wanting to

volunteer. Shram Daan during these initial months at Shanthi Mandir has focused on projects that help with the upkeep of the Mandir (below). Our Service Program Committee is busy planning for our involvement with other ongoing community service projects in Columbia (these have been described on Page 3). Please help us serve the community by letting our Service Programs Chair know of needs that may not have been advertised or if you see opportunities where we can be of help

Page 8 Shanthi Sandesh - A Quarterly Newsletter of the HTCC Vol. 1, No.1, March 2006

Shanthi Mandir Hindu Temple and Community Center

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

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

Directions: Take Exit 127 on Interstate 70, Head north on Rangeline Street, Right at first traffic light on Vandiver Drive, Left on Parker Street, Right on Holly Avenue, Shanthi Mandir sign will be visible on the right after 5-6 homes.

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

Current Programs at the Mandir (March 1, 2006)

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

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

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

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