Author: Naveen Gudigantala

Poem – In this Land

Pavithra Iyer, 6th Grade

I wrote these three poems as part of a middle-school project on Ancient India. Learning about India in an American classroom gave me a new perspective on how India is perceived by non-Indians. These poems were inspired by my family’s many trips to India, and all the stories I’ve heard over the years from my parents and grandparents.

In this Land

As diverse as India

is her geography

A nation of opposites in every way

Contrasts and contradictions

evident without exception

 

In this land,

chilling heat,

and sweltering cold

Frozen peaks,

and sandy dunes.

One second summer reigns…

Then suddenly,

The raging,

flaming,

maiming,

Monsoon arrives

 

In this land,

the Himalayas soar,

shrouded in mist and mystery both

Their stately tips grazing,

and gracing,

the clouded sky

Icy

and snow

and bone-chilling cold

a true wilderness

As savage and unforgiving,

as it it is stunning

 

In this land,

sprawl the Western

and Eastern Ghats

Both populated with

Hardwood forests, and

Sweet rains,

tropical fruit

Plants –

filling every crevice

and crack

and curve.

Beauty flourishes,

an alluring lure,

But, recognize that

danger dances nearby

Roaring rivers, rapids, rocks and cliffs, and

an easy death waiting,

for you

 

In this land,

rivers run wild

twining,

snaking

flowing

Liquid cursive,

Written all across the land

Words and names like;

Ganga and Indus

Brahmaputra,

Yamuna,

Godavari and Narmada,

Kaveri,

Sutlej….

A never ending list – Mahanadi, Krishna, Tapti, Jhelum, and so,

so many more

Some from mountain-place snowmelt,

Other rain-fed

So different they can be –

In the north, down south,

some long, some short,

clean, but mostly dirty,

but –

All

Nourish the land

All

Promise crops

All

Reap money

All

Serve India,

and her thirsty children.

 

In this land,

the heat, the cold,

the towering peaks,

the seething storms,

the wet and wild cliffs,

And last, but never least,

The rich and rowdy rivers

All of them –

All of India –

Wild,

and free,

and magnificently

Unleashed

 

India-

As diverse as she,

Is her geography.

 

Poem – Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

Pavithra Iyer, 6th Grade

Pavithra Iyer – 2nd of 3 poems on India

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

One to Create,

One to Preserve,

One to Destroy

 

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

Together-

Trimurti incarnate

Together-

Dattatreya

Together-

Eternal,

All powerful,

Majestic

Together-

A force to be reckoned with

 

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

Brahmastra,

Sudarshana, Kaumodaki,

Trishula

Weapons to destroy the world

 

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

To destroy,

Is to create

 

Poem – Vedas

Pavithra Iyer, 6th Grade

Pavithra Iyer – 3rd of 3 poems on India

 Vedas

 Vedas;

Ancient texts

Filled with tales of mystery

and magic

 

Sacred to all-

Knowledge passed on,

From mouth to mouth,

For generations passed

And more to come

 

Written in the language of old

Holy words,

Revealed to divine seers

 

Infused with power,

Shining with guidance

For those who

Believe

 

Tutoring for ESL Students

My experiences as a tutor

Sanika Bedre, 7th Grade

It was a regular Sunday, I happened to be helping my parents and younger brother in the kitchen after class, when Kishore Uncle pulls me aside. Normally, when I would be pulled aside, I would think that I was getting in trouble or I did something wrong. But this was different. I was offered a new opportunity, tutoring ESL students after Balavihar. This was an experience that would help me broaden my view on our community and at the same time, help other students improve themselves academically. I initially started tutoring a girl named Andrea. We got along really well so we started to talk about where we come from and the culture that we are a part of. She told me how her family was a really big family. The family has 5 kids and they even had to share a house with other families. Because of the vastness in family size and the crowded homes, their parents were not able to help the kids with their homework or preparing for tests. The time that we give these kids is very valuable to them as this is the time where they can ask questions, gain answers and practice so the information retains. As the mission pledge says, ‘We live honestly, the noble life of sacrifice and service, producing more that what we consume and giving more than what we take.’ This one in a lifetime opportunity gave me and many other tutors the chance to live up to this part in the pledge. We consumed our knowledge and now it is time to pass the knowledge onto the younger students. For me, I have been able to improve my communication skills and it helps so that the people who I talk to fully understand what I am talking about. Teaching the concepts helped me see what I remember from previous grades and verbally teaching would confirm my knowledge on the problem or topic. I would say that tutoring kids was a whole new experience for me. It really opened my eyes up to the lives of different students and the challenges they face from a day to day life. Sometimes, their car broke down and they weren’t able to come to classes for a couple weeks. It made me realize how fortunate we are to have the luxuries in life such as TVs and Xboxes, that we don’t even realize how much others face in life. In addition, our parents are able to provide the materials and knowledge for us to succeed and these students don’t have access to these materials. Tutoring is a great way to get to know your community, help others and yourself. I think that every person should have the opportunity to try it.

Giving back to our community

Kapil Varma

Two years ago, I, along with a few other high schoolers, came together to try to give back to our community. Though we’d been exposed to CORDUSA many times over the years through the CORD walks, our passion was really kicked into high gear when some of us visited CORD’s centers in rural India. Here, we were able to meet the people who CORDUSA was trying to help in person, and that ignited a spark within our souls. We started small that summer, just running two camps, a medical checkup and a LEGO Robotics camp. Both were extremely well received, so we began to meet over the course of the school year in order to better prepare for the next summer. Last summer, we ran two more camps in addition to the first two, a public speaking camp and a cooking camp. I ran the public speaking camp, and was motivated to work my hardest when I saw my students improving before my eyes. Not only did we teach valuable skills to our community’s youth, CORDUSA Youth was able to raise over $2000 for CORDUSA through summer camps last year alone. This year, we plan to expand our camp selection even further, and working out the details now. We’re also conducting two sessions of the Medical check up so that we can establish how our attendees’ vitals have changed over time.  As I am heading out to College this year, I am looking forward to coming back and contributing whenever I get a chance.

Seeing God in All

TK Ramchandar

The 11th chapter of The Gita is on the universal form of the Lord. In this, Bhagwan Sri Krishna teaches us that everything in the universe is based on Him. ‘God is all’ is a profound statement and carries a deeper meaning. God is the substratum of everything in this universe. Just as gold is basis of the material in all gold ornaments, so also is God the basis of the universe. Without the gold, the ornament will not exist; without God the universe has no basis of existence. With that in mind, it is conceptually easier to understand that God is all. God is the mother and the father and the grandfather. We are all from Him and to Him we will eventually return. The food we eat, the water and sun that are needed to grow the food, the soil that is need to support the roots are all God. All the creatures in the world, beautiful and those that are not so pretty are also God. The very basis of our living bodies is because of God and the cause of our death. Through all of this, God is still unaffected by all the happenings just as the gold remains as gold regardless of the shape of the ornament. When we go to sleep, we return to God in our deep sleep and wake the next morning nourished by God’s touch. The great souls truly see God in all and are at complete peace with the world around them. Sri Ramakrishna famously worshipped his wife seeing the presence of Goddess Kali in his wife as well. God alone is the manifest individual, gross and subtle world and the unmanifest potential behind the world.
How do we see God in all? How do we practice what we learn in our satsang and BV classes? Start with the small things. As you go for a walk in the neighborhood, look around you and appreciate the beauty of the flowers, the incredible shades of green, and the humming birds and know that this is the Lord’s beauty. When you see a little child smile at you, it is Him. When your family has returned home safe for the evening, thank the Lord for his Grace. When we strive to constantly remember that the same Lord is in everyone, we will find that everybody is our friend and we have no reason to be angry with anyone.
Once a thief entered the ashram of Sri Ramana Maharishi and demanded money. All the devotees were alarmed. Ramana Maharishi calmly addresses the robber and told him to take whatever he needed. And then he asked the miscreant to stay and have dinner before he left. Ramana truly was able to see God in everybody. That is what we all need to learn to do!

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!

Singing & learning together with our infant class

Usha Praveen & Ramya Chandrasekar

What can be more rewarding than seeing little ones excited and trying to imitate gestures and bring out their first sound of music. The infant class which ranges from little ones newborn to three years of age  gives the opportunity for the same. They really enjoyed listening and humming along to shlokas, notes, bhajans, talams and bits of classical and semi classical songs, some using rhythm props (musical instruments, egg shakers) and others  with hand gestures or standing movements. This year kids were also introduced to multi lingual rhymes with actions, exposing them more to the sights and sounds from an Indian household. To keep the little ones busy for up to an hour, a touch of yoga , some coloring and craft activities relevant to festivals such as Ganesh chaturthi, Shivarathri, Sri Ramanavami and a little thank you for the enthusiastic parents who were so involved with the kids in class.

Here’s wishing our toddlers  Shiven, Srishti, Annapurni, Pranav,Avyukth, Arinjay , Kian and Nischala  a great time in their Pre-K classes and looking forward to our new and continuing kids Sai Krishna, Adhya Sarmishta and Avyansh for the next year !

One Lord so many forms – Pre-K

Shubhashree Venkatesh & Bhaskar Ramakrishnan 

Pre-k has children between ages 3-5. We focus on building independence, active participation and mindfulness. Mindfulness is intrinsic to pre-K curriculum. We start with 3 Oms to calm the mind followed by opening prayers. Some house rules followed very well by kids are: Sitting well with backs straight, raising ones hand to speak and practice general hygiene to stay healthy. Kids are taught to welcome, respect and encourage each other.
Music is the main medium of learning in this class. Kids learn slokas and songs and encouraged to sing in Shruti. Some  dancing and games gets them moving and excited. And yoga teaches them focus.  It’s amazing to see kids this young lying in Shavasana in pin drop silence. We read books and analyze the morals behind words and actions to ensure children understand what is being read to them. Children learn the importance of quality work through careful coloring.  The 2 year curriculum really helps kids blossom, get confident, comfortable and ready for KG
–Subhasree & Bhaskar

The Alphabet Safari – Kindergarten

Haritha Kajjam, Rashmi Bhalla, & Mallika Warrier

 

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.