Contents – Page 4 – Hari Patrika 2018

Values and valuables

Karthy Chandra

Having immigrated from India at a young age, my life has always been a delicate balance of adapting to the cultural norms of the society I am tangibly in touch with and staying connected to the rich cultural roots of my heritage. The aroma of South Indian spices, Bharathanatyam & Ballet dance classes, and a fluid linguistic fusion of English and Malayalam make up the colorful mosaic of my childhood.

Through Chinmaya Mission, I found a community of like-minded people who shared the same inclination to strike a balance between their Indian heritage and this American life. It was a place that helped me connect with my family over our shared spiritual values, along with others in the local Indian community and at Chinmaya centers around the country. The classmates I grew up with left a lasting impact on my life and are still close friends. They understood what it was like to have to change out of your indian clothes to watch a movie after Balavihar or argue with your parents about whether you had time to learn geeta chanting. We could relate to each other in a way that we couldn’t with most other people.

As an alumni, I cherish the memories I’ve made at Chinmaya Mission and appreciate its values and teachings that incubated my spiritual growth. I always look forward to visiting our center back in Portland and delight in witnessing it’s growth and development. I am proud to be part of this community of cherished companions, dedicated volunteers, and spiritual seekers. Hari om!

2018 Balavihar Graduates Reflections

Transcribed by Krishnan Kolady & Sudhir Menon
12th Grade teachers

Aleena Khurana:

While I may not have attended Balavihar as long as others here, I still learnt a lot in the four years that I have been here. Probably the biggest lesson that I will take away is the ability to self-reflect and look inwardly on my actions. Knowing my actions have consequences, and how to move forward and drive forward to a higher level.

Ankita Krishnamurthy:

I have been in Balavihar practically my whole life. Feels like I have been watching these graduation ceremonies forever and it seems weird to be standing up here for my graduation. Here at Balavihar, I appreciate the fact that nobody is afraid to ask questions, or debate ideas and as a result, I ended up learning a lot more. Chinmaya mission has allowed me to my own person and someone who is true to my values.

Deepak Vijay:

I started and enjoyed Balavihar from 6/7th grade onwards. Whenever I bring a question to my class in Balavihar, the feedback and perspective that I get from the teachers and other students ends up being extremely helpful. High school can be stressful and I have found that whenever I come to Balavihar and leave for the day, I find that I am much more at peace with myself

Gokul Kolady:

Ever since I’ve been young, Balavihar has been part of my life and my weekly routine, and I don’t think I ever really understood the true significance and the potential impact that it would have on my life until I grew older and actually started applying the things I was learning in class. Like all, I make mistakes but what Balavihar has taught me is to learn from them and apply them as lessons in the future. Instead of regretting the past and worrying about the future, you have to learn from the past and apply it to the future.

Kapil Varma:

I have seen us growing from 2-room-community center to MJCC to our own center, and even expanding like we did recently. The best part of Chinmaya Mission is the community that we have built together. To me this is family, an extension of my family. Chinmaya mission is a great experience and to all the students out here, I’d recommend that you stick with it. You are really going to enjoy the journey, the things that you learn and the connections that you make here.

Karthik Vijay:

Balavihar has taught me how to be part of the community, have a moral compass, great appreciation of our culture and values that will stay with me for a long time. Home is not just a place which provides shelter. It is a place where you feel you belong, and here at Balavihar I feel like it is home

Prateek Makineni:

Balavihar has taught me how to be a good person and also how to be happy. I have learned how to deal with obstacles and challenges and I have learned to become a much more introspective person. I feel that we are prepared to deal with any challenges because of the tools and guide rails that Balavihar has given us over the years.

Rahul Reddy:

Chinmaya Mission has taught me to be more confident about myself. It has taught me to give back more to the community than what they have given to me. Worry, anger and stress seems to be the default mode for many people. A little compliment or conversation will to a long way to make them feel like someone cares and it may even allow them to change their life.

Yesh Godse:

We have gone from coming here because our parents forced us to now learning and trying to understand abstract concepts like Maya and the Mahakavyas and this transformation was possible only because of BalaVihar. They say that it takes a village to raise a child, but Balavihar and Chinmaya Mission are much more than just a village. It is a large extended family that I feel I am a part of .

Message to Graduates

Ramesh Krishnamurthy

My Dear Graduates,

As you graduate from Balavihar, and later, in less than a month, as you graduate from High School, you are going onto another stage in your life with a step larger than any you have taken till now. Seeing you all grow through the years, I have several, maybe many many, things I want to talk to you about. However, I am choosing just three of them.
First, don’t ever give up on your dreams. Sometimes these dreams are what your passion and goals are made of. Even if it appears to be a difficult time, or challenging time, or just plain stressful – hang on. All these situations are temporary and they will eventually subside. Keep going, and going, and going.

Second, make time for all the other activities that are pure fun and play. Time, unfortunately, won’t be something in lots of supply when you are in college. Study will consume as much time as you can put in to it. In spite of that, make sure you make time for fun and games, those that you enjoy, help you relax and feel being happy. Whether it is a sport, art, hobby or just plain spending time with good friends. Manage your time well to include all of these.
Lastly, don’t forget your roots. Don’t let go of the friendships you have here back at home. Don’t forget your childhood friends. Don’t forget your teachers, from elementary to high school, your music dance and sports teachers, and your Balavihar teachers. Don’t forget your aunts, uncles and the community here that you have been with till now.

Just assure yourself that everyone of us, those present and those that are not, will always be wishing you well, praying for your continued success and cherishing you in all endeavors that you are going to pursue.

I love you.

May 2018

Gurudevs Call

Singing & learning together with our infant class

Arunima Menon & Ramya Chandrasekar

The Infant class enjoyed learning shlokas using hand gestures as well as bhajans and the little ones swayed to the beats of the various taalams taught in class – Adi Talam and Mishra Chaappu were the favorites. For the very active, the soothing sounds of the repetitive mantra chanting in various ragas helped calm them down while the older students picked their favorite Swara Pallavis in Shankarabharanam and Hamsadhwani to do actions for. The children are very receptive and quickly absorb raga, tala and laya at this young age and like sponges remember the nuances of each new item they learn be it Nottu Swara Sahitya or raga identification. Little hands beat talam and heads sway in time to catchy beats as they begin their journey in this world being exposed to the sights and sounds of a typical Hindu household.

While we sadly bid adieu to our graduating children – Anagha and Vaishnavi Masti, Ashwath Balaji, Shivam Walwadkar, Arinjay Ashok and Sangamitra, we look forward to seeing our other charmers Shiven Sharma, Pranav Balasubramaniam, Pranav Gangula, Srishti Praveen and many more new children in the new year.

One Lord so many forms – Pre-K

Shubhashree Venkatesh, Bhaskar Ramakrishnan & Haritha Kajjam

This precious age is one where children are innocent and full of life. While they start out anxious of the new surroundings, they quickly latch on to our caring teachers who instill in them the love of God. Even at this tender age, the teachers help to inculcate reverence for our culture through coloring, simple prayers, and fun songs and dances

Through creative means, the children readily identify our

Gods and the qualities they represent. They begin to see that there are many forms for the same lord.

The Alphabet Safari – Kindergarten

Janaki Kolady & Mallika Warrier

After a hiatus of 4 years I resumed teaching at bala vihar last year. As
the year passed by I realized how much I had missed teaching. Kinder
garten has always been my favourite age group to teach due to many
reasons. The unconditional love and affection that the kids shower on me
is my biggest motivation. Also, I’ve discovered that children are extremely receptive and curious at this age. I started teaching thinking that I was going to impart so much knowledge to my students but at the end of the year I was truly humbled that my KG class had taught me so much more, whether it be to honestly question concepts, or to come up with a brilliant alternative or to just show pure love and kindness. I’m truly grateful to poojya Gurudev and Chinmaya mission portland for giving me the opportunity to serve and God willing will continue to do so.

Our syllabus in KG is the Vedantic Alphabet and the Chinmaya Mission pledge.In the Vedantic Alphabet each alphabet stands for a value.For example instead of “A is for apple and B is for Ball” we teach that “A is for Aspiration,B is for Brotherhood, C is for Cleanliness and so on”.

By imbibing and living by these values we get a sweet mind with which we can see God.The concepts in the pledge are also explained with stories and fun activities.The hope is that our students will get a strong foundation upon which they continue to build during their sojourn in Bala Vihar.

Baala Ramayanam – 1st Grade

Geetha Nathan & Uma Venkatachalam

A great opportunity of walking through a meadow of flowers has been granted to us, the fortunate ones. This year (2017-18) we are experiencing spring time. Yes, our little ones are in their final stages of being buds – Grade 1. What kind of spectacular, colorful, fragrant flowers they will open up to, is yet to be seen!!!

Every Balavihar working Sunday morning begins with great expectations and ends with even greater anecdotes and episodes.

The class has 18 children and every week usually lands up with at least 12 to 14 of them. The assembly line up usually is not the sure sign of the final attendance, about a next half definitely appear by the end of the class. Kudos to the children who wake up, get dressed and show up on time for the class as this is a huge sacrifice and discipline on their part.

We wondered if they sometimes had gummy worms for breakfast – their postures and listening capacity spoke of it surely. Then there are some who pose thoughtful questions and others who couldn’t wait to speak their minds out. All interesting things that happened through the week were also shared but had to be cut short sometimes due to lack of time to cover the syllabus that has about 40 chapters. We tried hard to do as much justice as possible to the book and most importantly to their questions.

The best part of the year was when it was announced that we were going to do a summarized play of our topic of the year ‘Bala Ramayanam’. The children were accommodating of their roles, no arguments and some even memorized their parts so well that they could recall it after a break of about three weeks – amazing!!! So, there was no doubt that what was being talked about in class was reaching their little hearts. Yay! We’ll take that as a feather in our hats!!! But there was one child, who having practiced her role so well, had to suddenly move to India for good.

Nevertheless, this has been a great experience for us and hope it was for them too. Thankful to the parents who made this possible. Looking forward to another great year!!!

Hanuman the Superman – 2nd Grade

Radheka Godse & Kavitha Veerappan

Shri Hanuman The Super Superman visits 2nd Grade Balavihar class every sunday morning to help our children develop values with FUN to DELIGHT like MOON and SHINE bright like the SUN. Kavitha my co-teacher and i have grown within immensely with Chinmaya Balavihar making a positive contribution to society working on Inner Transformation of our children early in life that results in a ‘happy world’ around us! Come attend our Balavihar assembly at 9:20am to check this for a fact :). You will find our VANARSENA sitting in discipline crisscross and alert utilizing the metaphor of Hanumanji-s backbone ~ a strong backbone allows one to stand tall and erect, we humans also have a mental backbone that allows one to face and stay tall and erect under all circumstances. Children received the vitamins that help develop this mental backbone through 8 virtues that make one human to Hanuman via Hanumanji-s grace invoking this beautiful verse that is chanted daily at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya (College of Vedanta) since its inception by Pujya Gurudev:

॥ बुद्धिबलं यशोधैर्य निर्भयत्वं अरोगता अजाड्य वाक्पटुत्व च हनुमत् स्मरणाद् भवेत्॥

Buddhir-Balam Yashodhairyam Nirbhayatvam Arogata,
Ajadyam Vakpatutvam ca Hanumat Smaranad Bhavet.

Through the worship of Sri Hanuman, one will be blessed with budding (intelligence), balam (strength), yeshas (fame), dhairyam (Courage), nirbhayatvam (fearlessness), arogata ( free from diseases, good health), ajadyam (alertness), and vakpatutam (eloquence).

Over the year we have chanted and analyzed the 40 verses of Hanuman Chalisa, and the 3 dohas learning there meaning in depth utilizing 43 verbs… so that it will be easier for the children to remember it and practice it through out their lives :). Each child is the owner of a book of Hanuman Chalisa. This children’s book has pictures that depict each verse and a simple meaning easy for them to understand. See below is our list of “Verbs” unique for each verse which are like a pointer for the kids to remember what each verse of Hanuman Chalisa teaches in a nutshell. These verbs are also being utilized at various Balavihar/Youth/Adult camps at various Chinmaya Mission Centers World Wide.

We bow down in reverence to the GuruShishyaParampara whic inspires us to strive to share that ~ only respecting something remains a value only, bringing it to LIFE makes it the VIRTUE.

Kavitha and i thank the Chinmaya Haridwar BV co-ordination team and parents for this opportunity to teach our children our rich culture.

Baala Bhagavatam – 3rd Grade

Preeti Kashyap & Suma Krishnamurthy

The 3rd grade curriculum highlights important aspects of Bala Bhagavatham. Students started off the year with learning the names of the important 10 avatars of Vishnu. During each class we shared a story from Bhagavathgam with the class. Stories further highlighted the fact that Lord Vishnu’s avatars are not limited to 10. We covered Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Vamana and Narasimha avatars in detail.

After opening prayers, we usually start off with chanting stotrams. By March of 2018 the students became well versed in Gurustotram and Dashavatarastoram. The students by the end of April requested to learn Madhurashtakam as well. We had the entire 3rd Grade students perform Gurustotram during assembly :).

We also did a variety of interesting projects with the students. We made them do word search which kept them focused for the remainder of the class.

We also got Usha Ramanujam, a lovely art teacher to help the students make two beautiful paintings as a group. These were signed and blessed by Vivekji during his visit to Portland for the Balavihar camp this year. This project was a big hit with the students.

We end the academic year and welcome 2018 summer by making special kites that are decorated by the kids.

This year has been fun not only for the children but also the teachers.We had a very enthusiastic class that came with lots of questions along with beautiful smiles. As teachers we not only found it enriching to teach these lovely children but also very fulfilling to know them personally. Each one of them has a kind and fun loving soul within them. All of them showered us with their laughter, love and regard throughout this year.

Thanks,

Suma and Preeti