December 18, 2016

Hari Om, Parents

Can't believe this is the LAST class in the year 2016! A moment to pause, and reflect on how blessed we are, how fast time is passing and on how 'Days are long, but Years are short'! The list just goes on! Of course time flies when you are having fun!

Today's class was another fun class with the kids' active participation on the topic, 'Saints of India'. First we learnt and chanted the first three verses from Geeta Dhyana Sloka, followed by the kids' presentations on the Saints of India. 

Geetha Dhyana Sloka:

Om paarthaaya pratibodhitaam bhagavataa naaraayanenaswayam, 
    Vyaasena grathitaam puraanamuninaa madhye mahaabhaaratam; 
Advaitaamritavarshineem bhagavateem ashtaadashaa dhyaayineem, 
    Amba twaam anusandadhaami bhagavadgeete bhavadweshineem.

Om. O Bhagavad Gita, with which Partha was illumined by Lord Narayana Himself, and which was composed within the Mahabharata by the ancient sage, Vyasa, O Divine Mother, the destroyer of rebirth, the showerer of the nectar of Advaita, and consisting of eighteen discourses—upon Thee, O Gita, Oaffectionate Mother, I meditate!

Namostu te vyaasa vishaalabuddhe phullaaravindaayatapatranetra; 
Yena twayaa bhaaratatailapoornah prajwaalito jnaanamayah pradeepah.

Salutations unto thee, O Vyasa, of broad intellect and with eyes like the petals of a full-blown lotus, by whom the lamp of knowledge, filled with the oil of the Mahabharata, has been lighted! 
 

Prapannapaarijaataaya totravetraikapaanaye; 
Jnaanamudraaya krishnaaya geetaamritaduhe namah.

Salutations to Lord Krishna, the Parijata or the Kalpataru or the bestower of all desires for those who take refuge in Him, the holder of the whip in one hand, the holder of the symbol of divine knowledge and the milker of the divine nectar of the Bhagavad Gita!

Saints of India:

We learnt about Ramanujacharya, Andal, Eknath, Swami Vivekananda, Mirabhai, Bharadwaja, Mother Teresa, etc.,. A shout out to the kids who have been so sincere to submit their 'gimme 5' and 'take 5' to this email!! Good and keep it coming!!

January 8th Class

Next class is on January 8, and we have a three week break. So we all agreed on the following:

1] Memorize and learn to sing the Indian National Anthem. 

2] Memorize the first three verses of Geetha Dhyana Shloka (The verses and the audiofiles are in the Slokathon, My Prayers, and also in the website www.bbnjbalavihar.com. You need to login to access all these resources. 

3] Next class (Jan 8th 2016) is on 'Music, Musical instruments'. Why ? This is only appropriate during this 'Maargazhi' month (Dhanur Maas) when India is celebrating its music festivals, we will have our own version of Indian Music Festival.

Please read the chapters, and come prepared to sing or play an Indian song on your chosen instrument, or 'Gimme 5' on your chosen topic.

Nxxxx  Nikitha - Play Indian National Anthem on Clarinet

Sxxxx Seema - Likely Play Indian National Anthem (or any other Indian Song) on Clarinet

Powerful Prajit - Gimme 5 on Tabla or Play Keyboard ?

Sxxxxx Shyam - Keyboard ?

Dauntless Diya - Gimme 5 on Veena

Delightful Diya - Gimme 5 on Flute

Sxxxx Sitara - Gimme 5 on Sitar

Dynamic Dhruv - ?

Intelligent Isha - ?

Sxxxx Suchir - ?

(Please confirm your choices)

4] Email '5 Takeaways' from today's class as soon as you can, to this email id: bbnjdharmam@gmail.com

5] Keep up with the gratitude journal, and you can bring it if you like to share

January 22nd Class:

Topic is Festivals of India. We will cover festivals ranging from Sankranthi (Pongal, Harvest or Thanksgiving Festival) Students please go through your book, pick your choice, and let us know.

January 29th Class:

Dharmam class will be presenting on January 29, 2017, to celebrate Indian Republic Day. We will be singing Indian National Anthem. We will also present on Indian National Leaders that day at the Assembly. Kids are to come dressed in their chosen Indian National Leader costume, and talk 5-6 sentences as that leader. This is a head's up so that they can start thinking about their leader's choice, how they are going to get dressed up. Remember there is a Balavihar Costume Store that you can rent from. Here is also a chance for the parents to get involved, and a golden one for the artsy-craftsy parents to showcase their talent! We will also talk about Indian Freedom Movement and the leaders in the class, and draw parallels to other countries' freedom movements. We believe at this grade the children know only about the American Independence! Please feel free to chime in.

Seva Project: 

Here's another head's up on the Seva Project for this year. We will be focusing our efforts on raising funds for CORD - Chinmaya Organization of Rural Development. As we mentioned at our B2B session, there will be a CORD Walkathon in Spring. We are thinking of doing bake sales, etc., Ideas, suggestions, welcome!

2016 has been so good to us ! We wish all of you a very happy and blissful 2017, and the rest of 2016 also!

See you in the new year!

Reminder:

Please send the text book, note book, pen/pencil along.