May 2013 Sanskriti - Indian Womens Association

Sanskriti
Indian Women’s AssociationNewsletter
Volume 18, Issue 2
May 17, 2013
2013 First Quarter Report
A Messsage from the IWA 2013 Board
Dear IWA Family,
IWA Charitable Contributions
2013
$1238 and 92 lbs of food!
Inside this issue:
2013 1Q Report
1
2013 Holi Humgama
2
Decorating Ideas
3
If Only, A Poem
3
2013 Graduates
4
Various Fond Memories
5
Internship Blogs
6
Meet Member’s Corner
7
Editor’s Notes
8
Editor:
Meena Narsimhan
The year so far has
been very rewarding intrinsically. Here are some
of the things that have
been accomplished with
your support and enthusiasm:
EVENTS AND FESTIVALS:
Our two major events
of the first quarter have
exceeded our expectations.
Our Welcome Party was
very well attended. .Our
agenda for the year was
very well received and enthusiastically approved in
the general body meeting.
The canned food donation
to Food Finders amounted
to 92 lbs. Thank you all for
helping us in this endeavor.
Our Holi Hungama 2013
event (see pg. 2) was attended by over 200 guests
and enjoyed hugely by everyone. The immense success of this event is attested by the fact that it attracted about 9 new members to our IWA community. We are now 117 members strong!
Send your articles to:
[email protected]
Next Submission Deadlines:
Sep 1, Dec 1, 2013
COMMUNITY SERVICE:
Our community service efforts are also attract-
ing huge numbers of participants. We are receiving
requests for more and different types of classes.
Thank you! This is your
IWA . We will consider
your input seriously, but
may not have the resources
to act on every idea.
Yoga: Our yoga program
has been a runaway success largely due to the exceptional and holistically
designed program run by
the Yoga gurus Dr. DHR
Sarma, Manju Jarori,
Ratnakar Mergureddy and
Veena Sagi. Due to popular demand, IWA has decided to continue the session through summer. Our
special thanks to all the
attendees!
Participants
Welcome Party
HOLI 2013
Yoga
Dancercize
Teens’ Internship
Recipe Book
40
200
20
20
8
40
Thank you
Dancercize: With the
help of our dance guru,
Rwitti Roy, and fitness
guru, Hema Suresh we
have embarked on this fun
filled exercise class for our
members. The classes will
begin on May 12 and end
on June 2nd. In order to
cover the rental space expense at BTCCGL there is
a nominal fee of $10.00 for
members and $12.00 for
non-members of IWA. This
fee will cover the entire
session.
Partnership with NGOs:
We have formalized our
partnership with ASHA
for Education (Purdue
Chapter). IWA participated in ASHA's fund raising
event Jashn and raised
$238.00 in ticket sales for
their cause. With your
help , and the help of our
ASHA 5K sponsors, we
have also raised $1000.00
to support two projects in
India, Manasa (focused on
helping disabled children
in Hyderabad), and Diksha
(focused on educating marginalized and disadvantaged children). We are
jointly organizing an internship program for
children 9 to 12th grade.
The unpaid internship will
run for 6 weeks starting
June 1, 2013. The interns
will assist the ASHA Purdue team in developing an
EDU portal software that
will be used to supplement
the educational opportunities for disadvantaged children in India.
(continued on pg. 2)
PAGE 2
S A NS K R I T I
Our First
Quarter Report
(continued from pg. 1)
The interns have the flexibility of
working from home/vacation home.
We hope to make this program enriching for the participants in terms of
gaining knowledge as well as inculcating a sense of pride and satisfaction of
helping uplift disadvantaged children.
Talks are well under way to formalize
our partnership with ICRW. We will
keep you posted on our progress.
Recipe Book: Work on our authentic
recipe book is well under way. This
has genuinely been a community led
event with enthusiastic contribution
of more than 40 IWA members. There
was also a unanimous agreement on
adding recipes that were healthy, nutritious and vegetarian. However,
there was also a general agreement
that subsequent editions of the book
will include healthy non-vegetarian
recipes. Proceeds from the sale of the
book will help raise funds for the
NGOs that we are partnering with.
So look out for Lafayette’s own brand
new cookbook ready for sale this August! We will be sending a pre-order
sign-up sheet in couple of weeks since
this will a be a first come first served
phenomenon for the first installment
which will be hard-bound limited edition. A shout out goes to all IWA
members who have contributed recipes and are helping design the cover
page and layout of the book. We are
indebted to Alka Mishra for leading
this effort with tremendous help from
Manju Agrawal, Shraddha Chaubey,
and Tanuja Sheth.
We will continue on our path to serve
our community in a meaningful way.
Planning on IWA events for the rest
of the year are well under way. We
look forward to feedback and suggestions from you.
2013 IWA Board
V O LU M E 1 8 , I S S U E 2
Holi Hungama 2013
- A kaleidoscope of colors!
by Hema Suresh
The Springtime festival of Holi has
traditionally heralded with it, a sense
of rejuvenation and new beginnings;
Holi is a time of optimism, of carefree
fun and celebration. On March 29,
your Indian Women Association celebrated Holi with fervour and enthusiasm by organizing for the community, a
mega celebration featuring food, music,
dance, colored powder, a bonfire and
much more!
What stood out at the celebration immediately was the kaleidoscope of colors..bright hues and shades of all colors, from the decorations at the BTCC
community hall, to the sarees, salwaar
suits and kurtas of the men, women
and children present, to the feast of
food and colored powder enjoyed by all.
“This has indeed been the most enjoyable
Holi function so far. My kids were the happiest. Thanks to the board for starting the
color play. [My kids] have finally understood how "Holi" is celebrated in India.”
featuring an elaborate festive menu,
as everyone mingled enjoying dinner
with good friends. The action really
got started after that, as the professional DJ Kampy got us pumped with
his collection of dance music featuring
Bollywood, Bahangra and folk music.
The music, laughter and company
was infectious, and soon most of the
audience made their way to the dance
floor.
“My daughter and her friend
enjoyed the colors and want to
do it again next year.”
The evening began with a family
friendly show of magic, juggling, fire
breathing and comedy presented by the
Pickled Brothers traveling circus. The
show included
plenty of audience parSword
ticipation,eating
and everyone was spellbound watching the gravity defying and
seemingly impossible acts.
Next up our own hometown Karaoke
singers entertained the audience with
haunting old and toe tapping new melodies from films, including some Holi
favorites. A sumptuous dinner followed
The action then moved outdoors, as a
bonfire was lit along with the enactment of the traditional ‘Holika Dahan’. The grand finale enjoyed immensely by attendees of all ages, was
the applying of the brightly colored
powder on each others faces and
clothes. Huge smiles and hugs accompanied a fantastic evening of fun, celebration and friendship, as the 2013
IWA Holi celebration drew to a close.
You can see more pictures on your IWA website www.myiwa.org
The Kiddisms Hall of Fame
R. Lederer in The Bride of Anguished English
(contributor: Vasanthi Ramdas)
Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don’t have television, because grandmothers are the only grownups who have got time.
V O LU M E 1 8 , I S S U E 2
PAGE 3
S A NS K R I T I
Interior Decorating Tips
by Sangeeta Kolla
I don't claim to be an interior decorator by any means, but I do have a creative imagination and a good eye for
color, spacing and organization.
Most of the knowledge I gained is
from magazines, telly shows and Internet.
the room. Where your eye draws,
when you enter a room.
It can be anything, a stunning piece of
art work, a interesting area rug, in
my case my fire place in my family
room. Or even a window overlooking
your garden.
Here are some simple rules I follow
when decorating.
Hanging art work
5. Bring in some unique pieces.
Focal
Point:
Hat
collection
hung on
wall
1. When picking a paint color.
I always choose neutrals to create a
serene and sophisticated space. it
does not necessarily mean boring
beige or white.
Neutrals can also be shades of grey's,
green's and blue's.
I personally like to stick to neutrals,
but bring in a pop of color, by using
colorful pillows, centerpieces or even
some fresh cut flowers.
4. Hanging art work
2. Making the space look larger.
Once I decide my color, I pick out a
few large pieces of furniture. Try not
to clutter the space by using too many
small pieces of furniture.
3. Create a focal point.
A focal point captures the essence of
Always start by laying all the artwork
you want to hang, on the floor.
You can move things around and look
at the configuration that works best
on your walls.
One important tip to remember to
hang the artwork at your eye level.
Take the average height into account.
( we are all not 6ft tall)
Displaying Ribbons and Medals
by Meena Narsimhan
Pop of color in a neutral room
I will finish off by saying, be creative
and make it fun.
If Only
by Bindu Damodaran
A fine morning like any other
The skies an astounding blue
Myriad birds chirping
Flowers a perfect hue.
The kettle steams
Rouses my stupor
A silent storm it brews
Brings to mind internal uproar
Foggy and angry
It stews, oh! It stews!
Tempestuous storms brew
Within my soul
Taunting my serene countenance,
A composure hard earned
A lifetime of denied courage.
Thunder rudely shocks
Awakens dormant memories
Lightning flashes capture
Photo display of what might have been!
As the turmoil recedes so do regrets
To be taken out again in another storm
A scrapbook of “If Only’s “.
In the end we only regret the chances we
didn’t take.
PAGE 4
S A NS K R I T I
V O LU M E 1 8 , I S S U E 2
C
O
N
G
R
A
T
Felicia Jagdish Patel
West Lafayette Jr-Sr High School
Future plan: Criminal Justice
Minor in Psychology
Indiana University
Gaurav Mittal
Gauri Shastri
West Lafayette Jr-Sr High School
Future plan: Engineering
West Lafayette Jr-Sr High School
Future plan: Biology
Purdue University
CALTECH
S
2
0
1
3
G
Krithika Subramaniam
West Lafayette Jr-Sr High School
Future plan: Chemical
Engineering
Purdue University
Surabhi Balachander
Harrison High School
Future plan: English and
Political Science
Stanford University
R
Monica Kalwani
B.A. in Math and Economics
Northwestern University
Future plan:
Associate Consultant
Boston Consulting Group
Chicago, IL
A
D
U
A
T
E
S
Neha Ramani
West Lafayette Jr-Sr High School
Future plan: Journalism and
Business/Marketing
Minor in Spanish
Sachit Revankar
B.S. Chemical Engineering
Purdue University
Future plan: Law
Indiana University
Indiana University
Devna Patel
West Lafayette Jr-Sr High School
Future plan: Management
Purdue University
V O LU M E 1 8 , I S S U E 2
S A NS K R I T I
Time Flies
PAGE 5
by S. Jambunathan
Mr. S. Jambunathan is the father of Sujatha Ramani and grandfather of Neha Ramani
Time Flies; Thoughts fly faster Still!
This happened 15 years back. I was
standing in the University Farms park,
staring at the sky. Suddenly, I heard a
cry “Help Help Tatha”. I turned and saw
my grand daughter Neha clinging with
one arm to the top rung of the ladder in
the playground. I rushed and took her in
my arms and then walked all the way
back home – though she was capable of
walking.
my left shoulder was hurting. I loudly
said “Help Help Neha”. She immediately
leaned over to the right and put the seat
belt in. I instantly remembered the incident 15 years back.
A similar thing happened with my
daughter Sujatha. More than four decades back, I remember crossing a busy
road in Bombay with lot of traffic, holding Suj’s hand tightly in my palm. She
cried out loudly “Appa it is hurting” as
my grip was tight. I immediately lifted
A week back, Neha sat in the driver’s
her, took her in my arms to cross the
seat of her new car and called out “Tatha road and then put her down.
sit next to me and come for a drive”. I
joyously complied and before I could reEarlier this summer when I visited the
alize the car started. Again Neha said
US, we both were crossing a busy road in
loudly ‘ Put on the belt Tatha’. I strugdowntown Chicago. There were just a
gled but could not put the seat belt in as few seconds left before the pedestrian
Fond Memories of College Life
green light at the traffic signal turned
red and we had not completely crossed
the road. I was a little nervous. Seeing
that, Suj held my arm in her hand and
walked me faster across the road. I could
not but recollect with a joyous smile the
similarity with the incident of the past.
'Time and tide wait for no one. Everything changes. The only constant is
change itself'. So goes the saying. I agree
with that except on two counts – First,
age difference between me and my
daughter as well as me and my grand
daughter remains the same, however
much we grow. Second – the Mutual
Love and Affection among Us never
Changes!
As told to Meena Narsimhan
Renu Bajaj:
Day scholar at a women’s college in Uttar Pradesh, which is about 1000 mi
from the closest sea.
We, four seniors, were late. So we scurried towards chemistry lab, after participating in a satisfying and fun hazing
session of freshmen, hoping to squeak
in unnoticed. To our dismay, the professor was waiting for us at the door.
‘So…’ he glared, meaningfully tapping
his wristwatch. The fastest thinker
among us stammered, ‘Just went to
drink some water, Sir’. ‘And you went
all the way to the sea for that drink?’ he
growled.
uniforms. The girls giggled, pointed and
whispered. The guys swaggered and
strutted. No one smile or said ‘Hi’. That
would have been ’too forward’.
We needed our local guardian’s
permission and a pass to remain outside the compound of the hostel until
7:30 pm and late pass to remain out
until 9:30 pm. The Rector made an inspection tour of all the rooms at 7:30
and 9:30 pm and we had to be in our
rooms at these times or face disciplinary action. On Thursdays when I went
out to meet my boyfriend (my husband,
now), I’d have to run from the gate to
my room to be in my room at 9:30 pm!
Medha Gore:
Resident scholar at a women’s college in
Maharashtra.
The highlight of the academic year was
the annual fun fair when the guys from
the National Defense Academy came to
the Annual Fun Fair at our college. Eye
candy! All the girls were dolled up. The
guys looked very smart in their crisp
Roopa Krishna:
Day scholar at a women’s college in
Karnataka.
All the girls and most of the boys I
knew had to go to a college in the same
town as our home. Parents would not
consider sending us out of town and
frankly, it did not occur to any of us to
suggest this.
Bharathi Raghothama:
Day scholar at a women’s college in
Karnataka.
All that I remember is that Professors
were unsmiling ... Even grouchy.
Smitha Carneiro:
Engineering college in
Goa.
There were few women in
our college. No, we didn't
really interact with the
men in our class. At least,
initially. It wasn't the
norm. It took 3-4 years to
break the ice. We became
friendly in the final year.
Prema Dayananda:
Day scholar at a women’s
college in Karnataka.
Lungi and Rajesh Khanna
jubba were “cool”. Fashionable and otherwise.
PAGE 6
S A NS K R I T I
V O LU M E 1 8 , I S S U E 2
Shruthi Krishnan’s Blog
Shruti Krishnan graduated from Indiana University in 2011 with a B.A. in Religious Studies and Near Eastern
Languages and Cultures. The daughter of Lata and Ravi Krishnan, Shruti currently lives in Chicago and works
for the National Immigrant Justice Center, a nonprofit organization that provides direct legal services to lowincome immigrants and advocates for systemic reform.
I don’t know what I was expecting … Maybe I was looking
for India. Where else have I
walked through open-air markets that sell spices, clothing,
fruit? Where else have I observed the lingering effects of
recent European colonialism?
Where else have I almost been
trampled by mopeds and donkeys? Where else is Shahrukh
Khan such a major cultural
phenomenon?
During the summer after my second
year of college, I received a State Department scholarship to study Arabic
in Tangier, Morocco, for nine weeks.
It was a fantastic experience in many
ways, and one I was very lucky to
have.
Sky, schoolyard, sunshine, and mint tea.
When I first got to Morocco, since the
majority of my previous travels had
been to India, I tended to use those
experiences as a point of comparison.
After only a few days in the country, I
wrote:
(Indeed, one of my first forays into a
market in Marrakesh I witnessed a
donkey casually standing on a poster
of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol—I didn’t know this before, but apparently
Bollywood’s big in the Arab world.)
Of course there were many things
that were different, too—the world
outside the U.S. is surely not a mono-
My first week in China
lith. But the appreciation for and connections with Indian culture that existed in Morocco were particularly
interesting to observe as an Indian
American visitor—one at whom new
acquaintances would not-infrequently
exclaim things like, “Amitabh
Bachchan!” or “Shahrukh Khan!”
On the one hand, this sort of interaction was pretty weird. But it was also
a reminder that people in Morocco
were seeing me as more closely connected to them than they were my
white peers. It was a reminder that
although I was coming from the U.S.,
I also had roots in a much closer part
of the world, both culturally and geographically speaking.
And it was, oddly enough, a reminder
to honor those roots … though not
necessarily via the name dropping of
Bollywood stars in casual conversation.
Excerpts from Jerry’s Travel Blog
Jerry Tumblr is a finger puppet giraffe. He is the ‘travel buddy’ of Nitesh Bajaj. the son of Anil and Renu Bajaj.
He is studying in Purdue University, and is a Junior in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Nitesh is
currently in China, as part of a Study Abroad Program at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He will also stay in
China over the summer, to complete an internship with Cummins in Wuhan.
Here, Jerry describes his first week in China.
HEY EVERYONE, I’M IN SHANGHAI. Sorry I haven’t posted in a while,
it’s difficult when you have no arms.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s main
campus is right in the heart of Shanghai. [The stone] lion at the main gate
is nicer than the ones on the savannah. The campus is walled in, but
around it are malls and high rises that
even make a giraffe like myself feel
pretty small. We’ve done quite a bit of
exploring around Shanghai, including
taking the subway over to downtown
Shanghai and Pudong, the Shanghai
financial district. The city is HUGE;
there are high rises and people for
miles and miles. Much more exploring
still remains.
Wow, what a crazy week it has
been! I’ve been all around Shanghai,
and it is really an incredible city. We
went to Walmart (沃尔玛) last week,
and it is much different than in the
U.S. It was two stories, with moving
sidewalk ramps going up to each
floor. It was much more cramped and
stuffed with Chinese goods. Things
that were not to be found: cough drops,
Cheetos. Easy to find: chopsticks, frozen chicken feet. There was a pseudo
wet [live animal] market right inside
the store! Cool place.
Our travels took us to the fake markets at the Shanghai Science and
Technology subway station, where
(fake) Chanel bags can be bought for
only 150 kuai (~$25). There were hundreds of shops selling wallets, bags,
shoes, jerseys, jackets, etc. I was looking for a finger-puppet-sized Kobe jersey, but unfortunately there were all
about 100 times too big. Maybe at the
next market.
No luck. They were selling jade statues
[at the landmark Yu Garden].
[However,] I was excited to see my kin
there, even if they were made of
stones.
V O LU M E 1 8 , I S S U E 2
S A NS K R I T I
PAGE 7
Meet Mrs.Sumathi Chakravarthy Badrinarayanan by Mahasweta Bag
Sumathi grew up as the much adored
“only girl child” in a Chennai family.
After schooling in Chennai’s Bhaktavatsalam Vidhyashram and armed
with a Bachelors of Engineering in
Computer Science and Engineering
from Velammal Engineering College,
Anna University, Chennai she started
working at Wipro, India –Chennai for
two years. Towards the end of her job
at Wipro, a nine-month long distance
courtship was in progress (details of
which were not divulged!) after an
“arranged matrimonial meeting” with
her now husband Badri aka Badrinarayanan Gopalakrishnan---- a fellow engineer from PSG College of
Technology, Coimbatore who went on
to earn an economics doctorate from
IGIDR in Mumbai. Sumathi then relocated to West Lafayette, Indiana in
USA in 2009 as a new bride, following
a traditional wedding and reception in
her hometown of Chennai. While
Badri was busy launching a career as
a promising research economist at
Global Trade Analysis Project, Purdue University, Sumathi worked at
Subaru Indiana in Lafayette as a software professional and free-lanced as a
software consultant for Purdue University projects before simultaneously
transitioning into a hands-on mom to
their daughter Anagha (born in July,
2010) as well as a Purdue Computer
Science student.
Below is an excerpt from our interview:
Mahasweta (MB): “ You wear many
hats----busy graduate student, everinvolved parent and wife, accomplished Veena exponent, volunteer
music teacher at MSGL, amazing
cook, hostess with the mostess, talent-
ed Sanskrit sloka orator, BTCCGL
volunteer and IWA member--- to
name just a few. How do you manage
to juggle so many activities in your
daily life?”
Sumathi (SC) [laughing loudly]: “You
make it sound so impressive, Mahasweta! Actually, I’m just an ordinary woman. I could not have done it
without my husband Badri. We take
each day at a time and leave everything in God Almighty’s hands.”
MB: What do you think about the
men in your life?
SC: “There are three men in my life,
and they are three wonderful people
of course! As I held my father's
hand...as I grew up, he taught me
Math and I look up to him as an inspiration….I feel proud of his achievements as a scientist...he has always
respected me as a daughter, as a girl
and above all, as an equal to his
son...never deprived me of education
and nurturing ----always loving me for
what I am. Next is my brother--- my
protector…..a complete package of
love…. with a sweet little hug to tell
me things will just be fine...and
providing me encouragement to go
ahead and do what I really wish to
do...Love you Bro!!! And then would
be my husband...a completely understanding soul….a constant supporter
enabling me to study….…. I wouldn’t
be pursuing my graduate studies now
if it was not for him……to top it all,
he’s such a wonderful father to our
little girl Anagha… he loves us both
so much!!! All these three men are
surely special!”
and she’s so advanced for her age---speaking so fluently bilingually from
the age of two! Nowadays, parents are
so driven to make their children successful…. it’s become almost a rat
race from the time they are born, especially in the Indian community. Yet
you have such a refreshing, laid-back
philosophy when it comes to parenting in the early years. Can you share
your thoughts regarding this?”
SC: “Thanks for asking. I feel that
early childhood should be a time for
utter bliss….no pressures, no enforced
activities, ultimate freedom for children to do as they wish….to do as
they please all the time(but obviously
she/he will have to follow a relaxed
decorum)….no impositions whatsoever. This will nurture the child so that
they are prepared to be driven when
the time arrives later on in life.
MB: “What do you find most enjoyable
to do as a family?”
SC: We love playing together. We both
like biking. In fact Badri bikes every
day to his office. We do travel quite a
bit, whenever Badri has work at Europe we take a break and go with him.
And obviously we go back home every
year. And just to add to it we love
play dates where we guys meet up.
MB: “You are an amazing cook.
SC: “Thanks for the compliment. Everything I have learned is from my
amazing mother! I believe in making
very fresh food at every meal and
grinding my own spices as well as mix
-ins. Store-bought ingredients are not
my cup of tea.
MB: “You have a very talented toddler
Additional IWA Members (After 2013 Directory)
(*, denotes first time member)
Monal Patel
Anandita Chandra*
Sailaja Damineni*
Anu Subramanian
Chitra Akolkar*
Ramana Chennareddy *
Bindu Komlawally
Sneh Arora*
Deepa Kamalakumari
Asawari Kaur*
If undelivered please return to
Mrs. Renu Bajaj
710 Noble Court
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Sanskriti
Indian Women’s Association Newsletter
Editor’s Notes
Dear IWA members:
We bring you the sentiments of the
grandparent of a graduating student
IWA has had an eventful first quarter.
and reminiscences of college life 15-30
In this issue of Sanskriti, the first quar- years ago. Your children must have
ter report of the IWA board details our brought home trophies, medals and
1Q and upcoming activities. Hema
ribbons throughout the year. It is easy
Suresh reports on the gala HOLI 2013
to display trophies, but medals and ribfunction.
bons tend to get banished to drawers or
boxes. We have some ideas for displaySpring time is synonymous with spring ing these.
cleaning. We bring you decorating ideas
to help.
And most importantly, we introduce
you to newly signed-up IWA members.
This is also graduation season. Congrat- You can get acquainted with Sumathi
ulations to all the graduates and good
Chakravarthy Badrinarayanan, a long
luck in your future endeavors. As a
time IWA member, through the intercommunity we celebrate the successes
view that she had with Mahasweta Bag.
of our children with great joy. So this
Hope you enjoy this issue of Sanskriti.
issue of Sanskriti focuses on graduating
students and their families. We bring
Since a number of us are going to India
you reports on undergraduate internthis summer, we will feature everything
ship experiences.
Indian in the next issue. I am seeking
There is advice from our resident poet.
articles on entertainment (movies, mu-
sic, dance, plays and books in any language), fashions, social issues, politics,
and travel. Jokes are welcome. Lists of
popular or good recent movies with a
sentence describing the story line are
particularly welcome.
A BIG thank you to all contributors to
this issue of Sanskriti. Keep those articles coming, please.
Meena Narsimhan
Thought For Students
The word Engineer is derived from
Anjaneya (or Hanuman), who built a
L...O...N...G bridge and didn't hang
around with girls.
Contributed by Sangita Handa