Guru Vandana Utsav (event) was celebrated at Naperville-Aurora Balagokulam Shakha of Chicago Vibhag. The event was planned for a Sunday evening to ensure maximum attendance during warmer Spring month of May. It was held on the 15th of May at 5:00 PM at the centrally located Eola Community Center in Aurora, IL

A true testament to the invitation committee’s dedication was the strong attendance at the event. The invitation committee that was expertly managed by Mr.Venkat Nambori and Mr. Prasad Garkhedkar (Vibhag Karyakarta) ensured that maximum number of teachers (gurus) and parents were reached. Over 140 individuals (atithees) attended the event including around 30 teachers from Naperville-Aurora Area Schools, Mayor of Aurora, Mr. Tom Weisner, Mrs. Weisner, Mr. Curt Bradshaw IPSD School Board President and Mrs. Alka Tyle Former IPSD School Vice-President.

The total number of children exceeded 40 and each and every child was given an opportunity to present their skills on stage and also honor their teacher(s). Teachers from public schools, Montessori schools and other private schools and also teachers of art, yoga, music etc. were in attendance.

Pratyakshik/Pradarshan (Presentation): Shloka, Power Point Presentation on Balagokulam Festivals, Yogchap, Surya Namaskar Mantra recitation and demonstration, Unity In Diversity, Honoring teachers followed by individual teacher’s comments.

Guru Vandana Utsav started on-time at 5PM by Mr. Pradeep Sirole, Utsav Pramukh (Event co-ordinator) performing the welcome address. This was immediately followed by Deep (lamp) Lighting by honorable Mayor of Aurora Mr. Tom Weisner, Mrs. Marilyn Weisner, Mr. Curt Bradshaw (President of 204 school district) and each one of the invited Teachers. Emcee Shriraj Garkhedkar, explained the significance of lighting the lamp at the beginning of an event. All the Balagokulam children recited shlokas and meaning of each shloka was explained by emcee as each shloka was displayed on the screen to read. These shlokas are recited as part of the regular Sunday program and therefore each child could truly understand and appreciate the meaningful words uttered in reverence to God and their teacher who is considered equal to God in Hindu Culture.

Mr. Weisner gave a short speech and emphasized the importance of teachers in children’s lives, and appreciated teachers for their efforts and HSS, Balagokulam for the Guru Vandana event.

Mukhya shikshak (Teacher), Mr. Balaji Ganesh gave a brief introduction to all the Balagokulam activities, festivals and community programs. Subsequent presentations by children showcased Balagokulam festivals and their importance from Hindu culture perspective as well as how they are celebrated in Balagokulam. Each child spoke about an event they had attended in the past year and the learning’s that they have derived from it.

Cultural program started with demo of Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations Yoga), and Emcee Mrs. Namitha Pai Nayak explained how both adults and children practice Yoga and Surya Namaskar every Sunday at Balagokulam. This was followed by the much anticipated, Unity in Diversity Presentation, where 2 -7 years old kids performed simple dance moves wearing traditional costumes from various states of India. An apt song rendered by Ms.Usha Uthup depicting unity was played in the background. The words of the song told the entire story, “My name is Madhavi, I am from Allepey (a city in Kerala), I speak Malayalam (one of the several national languages of India), but I am just like YOU.” Several such examples were used, all underlying the fact that we may speak different languages, wear different costumes, look different, but we are all the same. Emcees highlighted this point and it was easily observed that all heads in the room were nodding. All the children ended the presentation with a callout “God Bless America, Jai Hind”. A big kudos to Sarika Shevade, Cultural Committee sevikas and parents for their hard work and dedication.

Next program was Yogchap by Kishore Gana (Elementary and Middle school); to melodious background music they performed various moves that were well received by the audience. With limited time for practice and under the dedicated guidance (Guru) of Malvika Nemade, Yogchap team did produce an excellent performance, thoroughly enjoyed by the audience.

Up next was the main program of the event, honoring the teachers.

Mr. Sachin Lokhande, Karyavaha invited each child and his/her teacher to the podium front. After presenting the memento, each child as young as 3 years spoke a few words describing their feelings for their teachers, words spoken straight from their heart touched the hearts of one and all. This was an impromptu event to ensure that words were direct from the heart and not rehearsed. All the teachers were touched by the sweet gestures from their students.

Mr. Curt Bradshaw, the President of ISPD 204 school district spoke and mentioned that, many times, we don’t get a chance to appreciate teacher’s efforts. He appreciated HSS, Balagokulam for organizing this event. Mrs. Alka Tyle, very much appreciated the vision of Balagokulam, helping the children become excellent citizens of the community and the country, by following the culture and traditions of Hinduism. She also emphasized that besides academic excellence, the children are being exposed to physical [Yoga] and spiritual aspects of education.

Mr. Pradeep Sirole proposed the vote of thanks and invited Mr.Venkat Nambori to announce the dinner and recite the Bhojan Mantra (Pre-dinner prayer). A poster presentation was also set for display and viewing during dinner that covered various topics from Yoga to medicine to ancient Indian Mathematics.

Emcees Mrs. Namitha Pai Nayak, Saha-Sampark Pramukh of Naperville-Aurora Balagokulam (Public relations) and Shriraj Garkhedkar did an excellent job of explaining importance of our culture and Balagokulam at the beginning of each Section and also maintained perfect time. This ensured that event started and ended on time.

Dinner arrangements were excellent. Food committee members Mrs. Medha Garkhedkar, Mrs. Padma Nambori and others planned days ahead of time to ensure sampling of various kinds of delicacies handmade by all the balagokulam members. It was an excellent display of teamwork in putting up an enviable spread of food for such a large number of guests.

The participating children had put in a lot of hard work and it was heartwarming for all the parents to see that they were able to reach out to the teachers in their own personal way and thank them.

Pictures of the Guru Vandana can be viewed at http://chapters.hssus.org/naperville/2011/05/15/guru-vandana-2…a-huge-successguru-vandana-2011-a-huge-success/