Jan 05, 2012
Elmhurst, IL: Chinmaya Mission Chicago Badri and Yamunotri Centers together held its annual fundraising gala on Sunday, December 4th, 2011 at the renowned Waterford Banquet and Conference Center, located at 933 South Riverside Drive, Elmhurst, Illinois. The Mission holds their annual gala to help its growth and continue serving the Chicago area Indian community.
Over 650 individuals attended this heartwarming event, which had speeches by Swami Sharananandaji and Swami Sarveshanandaji of Chinmaya Mission Dallas/Fort Worth, TX There were also remarkable cultural performances presented by students of Bala Vihar. The theme of this year’s banquet was “Joy of Harmony. Distinguished dignitaries in attendance were Mr. Jude Crasto, Gen. Manager, Air India USA (Chicago), Mafat Patel of Patel Brothers, Drs. Bharat and Panna Barai and other prominent Indian community members.
The evening commenced with a traditional PurnaKumbha welcome for the Archaryas, accompanied by vedic chanting that was rendered by Sevikas of the mission. The Acharyas then proceeded to light the lamp and paid their respects to the photo of Swami Chinmayananda, by placing flowers at his lotus feet. Ms. Rajul Bhalala served as the Master of ceremony and she warmly welcomed everyone present.
The night began with an inaugural welcome address by Swami Sharananandaji of Chicago who stressed the importance “giving” and serving the humanity. Swami Sharanananda hails from Puri in Orissa. Having been inspired by Pujya Gurudev H.H. Swami Chinmayananda, he joined the two year brahmachari training course in Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai, in the year 1986 and was trained by H.H. Swami Tejomayananda. He was given Brahmachari Diksha in 1988 and became Br. Sharana Chaitanya. He has served Chinmaya Mission centers in Anugul, Rourkela (Orissa) and Calcutta. On July 9, 1995 he was initiated into Sannyasa Diksha by H.H. Swami Tejomayananda and was named Swami Sharanananda. Swamiji places great importance on value based living. Swamiji has been the resident Acharya of Chinmaya Mission Chicago since March of 1993.
On this auspicious occasion, Pujya Guruji H.H. Swami Tejomayananda, Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, sent the following message. He said, “Learn from Nature; her secret is patience. Instead of condemning yourself, patiently turn your attention toward the Lord; this is the secret of developing divine qualities". He added “I am not in Swamiji’s shoes, I am at his feet.”
Swami Sharananandaji introduced Swami Sarveshanandaji Resident Acharya of Chinmaya Mission Dallas/Fort worth, USA. Formerly known as Bramhachari Uddhav Chaitanya, Swami Sarveshananda was bestowed Sanyasa Diksha (order of renunciation) by Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda, Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivaratri (March 03, 2011). Inspired by Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Sarveshananda joined the Vedanta Course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya in Mumbai in 1993. After completing the course in 1995, he was initiated as a Brahmachari and posted as the Resident Acharya of Chinmaya Mission, Vijayawada where he served until June, 2002. Thereafter, he was appointed as the Resident Acharya of Chinmaya Mission in Dallas, Texas, by Pujya Guruji, Swami Tejomayananda.
In his address, Swami Tejomayananda gave the example of diversity found in every state of India, where language, culture and traditions vary. “When differences are dropped, oneness is developed,” he said. According to him, when we recognize divinity in ourselves, we are unified in a homogenous state and harmony is created in life. He stressed the benefits of Bala Vihar classes which are conducted by the mission to educate and maintain family values for the younger generations. He told story about youngster in his class, attitude of there is no God, when he grew up, his attitude change because seed of spiritually was planted from the childhood. He applauded the dedicated volunteers who are doing yeomen service by contributing their personal time to teach the younger generation of kids the values of life.
Acharya Brahmacharini Vibhooti Chaitanya Resident co-Acharya, Chinmaya Mission Chicago was also present at this event. Vibhootiji (affectionately known as Ammaji) was born in Tanzania, East Africa. Named as Neelam Joshee, she completed her high school education in Dares salaam, Tanzania. She received B.A. degree in English and Psychology from St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, India and diploma in Business Administration from the R.S.A., (UK). She also earned B.Sc. in Bus. Mgt. from New Jersey and studied for the MBA at the University of Maryland, while employed in Washington D.C. until 1998. In August 2011, Vibhootiji returned to the Chinmaya Mission - Chicago center to serve as co-acharya besides Swami Sharanananda.
The first cultural program of the evening was a bhajan singing the glories of Lord Ganesh. "Ajam Nirvikalpam" was presented by Chinmaya Swaranjali of Badri center. Chinmaya Swaranjali meets every Sunday in the Badri Center and is led by Mrs Deepa Salem. The purpose is to provide an avenue for the students of Chinmaya Mission, who are musically inclined, to learn bhajans and devotional songs, and perform both within Chinmaya Mission and at local temples/organizations.
President of Badri Center, Mr. Shankar Pillai spoke next and gave a brief description of the center’s activities and its history since inception. The Mission provides Gynana Yagnyas (Vedanta lecture series, seminars, workshops), Bala Vihar (Vedanta forum through weekly classes for children and youth, grades Preschool through High School), Study Groups (Vedanta forum for adults), Devi Groups (Vedanta study and discussion forum for women and homemakers), Spiritual Retreats and Camps, Language Classes, Stuti Vandana and Vedic Chanting, Music and Fine Arts Classes, Yoga Classes, Interfaith Dialogue and Prayers, Community Health Fairs and Seminars, Blood Drives, Shrimad Bhagavad Gita Recitation, and Vedanta in Practice (Community Service Programs). He proudly mentioned two significant events which were hosted this year. A classical music concert by Dr. Balamuralikrishna and Pandit Majumdar, that was held in November 2011 and the Vedic Family Camp held in July, 2011. Both events were a huge success and appreciated by all.
In his annual report, Mr. Pillai added that Chinmaya Mission of Chicago is looking into expanding their services for the senior population of Chicago. They are initiating a plan to develop a senior citizens center, offer health education and screening services and support group for the elderly. As part of this new initiative, the mission is working together with Metropolitan Asian Family Services, a non-profit social service agency serving seniors in Chicago area for the past 19 years, by conducting a senior support group in their adult day care program. Co-Archarya, Brahmacharini Vibhooti Chaitanyaji of Badri center is currently running a bi-weekly support group session in their Naperville location. Seniors are greatly benefiting from this support group and discussing issues and challenges they face living far away from their motherland. It is helping with their spiritual and mental wellness.
This was followed by a dance item presented by students of Bala Vihar. This dance depicted the pilgrimage undertaken to Pandharpur in Maharashtra, India to the abode of Lord Vitthoba and Mother Rakhumai(a form of Lord Krishna and Rukmini Devi),by the Waarkaris.The Waarkaris are simple village folk from Maharashtra who lead their lives based on the principles of Vedanta,as extolled by great saints like Sant Tukaram Maharaj,Sant Gyaneshwar Maharaj etc. Every year,in the Hindu months of Aashadh and Kartik,the Waarkaris undertake their pilgrimage to the temple in Pandharpur.This pilgrimage involves a grand procession undertaken by the devotees, complete with various forms of arts and dances,which is nothing but a celebration of supreme ecstasy experienced due to reveling in teachings of our scriptures. The dance presentation is an attempt to imagine the pilgrimage undertaken by the famous saint Tukaram Maharaj and his followers. It is set to an Abhang composed by Sant Tukaram Maharaj. The Waarkaris, oblivious to the imaginary differences of caste, creed, color dance in sheer joy with the only motive of union with the divine.
Following this, Mr. Ashok Bhatia, President of Yamunotri center gave a short presentation on CORD, the mission’s unique Seva project in India which provides empowerment to women, operates Balwadis for young children, conducts Bala Vihar programs, fights social injustice, runs support groups for young men, and health care services for the needy in several states of India. CORD(Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development) is a secular, non-profit project that aims to build organizational and operational capacity of village groups to run their own activities in an integrated, participatory and sustainable manner while augmenting their income and enabling natural resource management by the villagers. Currently this project is operating in Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Next, Dr. Premal Joshipura gave an introduction about two new schemes that can be used to donate funds to the mission. The mission currently has an outstanding mortgage of 2.7 million. In order to pay off the debt, he requested community members to donate to the “Sangam Fund”, which directly goes towards the mortgage payment. Another scheme, called “Ananda Fund”, encourages members to give interest free loans to the mission. He made an appeal to the audience to pledge their support to meets the growing needs of the mission.
The third cultural item was a bhajan presentation by Smt.Jayashree Venkatesh and her students which was rendered in Carnatic style of Indian classical music. The first bhaja titled “Ekdantaya Vakratundaya” was an invocation song to Lord Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles, the symbol of auspiciousness and the provider of all wealth, both sacred and secularThe second bhajan was a composition of Sant Narsi Mehta” Vaishanava Jan To” also rendered in Carnatic style. This music piece emphasized the virtues of a true devotee.
The concluding cultural item was a classical dance, “Gananayaka Ashtakam”, choreographed by Mrs Lakshmi Warrier was presented by Anita Kurup, Rithika Nair, Lekshmi Suresh, Nandini Suresh, Sunita Nair, Nitya Nair, Anju Raveedran. This dance piece was about Lord Ganesha. It described his many attributes and symbols: the tusk, huge belley, elephant face and ear, Pasam and Kusam, Mooshika, his vehicle. Known for his intelligence, he is described as the remover of obstacles, the darling of Ambika, who did pradakshina of His Mother, and who is pleased by devotees, Lord of all. The dance ended with a pure stuthi praising the Lord.
Photographs and Press release by: Asian Media USA
