VHPA Bal Vihars of MA celebrated the end of the academic year with their Annual Days, with programs that showcased their heritage, scholarship, talent, and of course wonderful food.

This portion written by Surbhi Dhar Kak

Newton Bal Vihar celebrated its 15th Annual Day on June 11. It was a celebration of all the hard work the students and the teachers had put in this past year. All the students came together to start the evening with shlokas, making it a powerful beginning to a beautiful ceremony. 

The program was started by Ananya Sharma’s presentation, which explored the reasons behind some of the Indian traditions. As the celebration unfolded, the two talented MCs, Aman and Shivani, guided the program with confidence and humor. The evening was filled with a rich collection of poetry recitations and songs. Students from Surdas, Keshavdas, Tulsidas, Vivekananda, Vyas, Meerabai and Dayanand Saraswati groups showcased their work and their talent in front of an enthusiastic and captive audience. The performances ended with Shivani’s soulful rendition of ‘Vande Mataram.’

Soon after, the gurus took stage and awarded their students individually with prizes and praise. What stood out most was the love and dedication of the teachers as they called upon their students. Each student was celebrated for his/her unique quality and what he/she brought to class. As students came up to get their prize, they were encouraged by Mrs. Kiran Kuchroo, the program director, to touch the feet of their teachers and seek their blessings. A simple yet a powerful gesture to denote the importance of a teacher’s blessings.

The Newton Bal Vihar Annual Day honored the teaching and learning that took place this past year in the Newton center. It was reflective of the traditions that we, as parents, wish to pass on to the next generation.

This portion written by Kriti Singh

Southborough Bal Vihar held its 19th Annual Day celebrations on Sunday, June 19th, 2016, starting at 10 AM. All the children attending were very excited, because on that day the families and friends from all over Massachusetts gathered at the Sadhu Vaswani Center in Dracut for the function. The function began with a puja to Ma Saraswati, done by each individual family. Our guru, Dr. Abhaya Asthana, led all the children and families through the puja, explaining why we do a puja, and also the meaning of puja. The mantras were recited with perfect unison and pronunciation. The puja ended with Aarti and Prasad.

Then we were ready for lunch. All of the mothers from the Bal Vihar family worked together to make a delicious meal that was unforgettable. And all of the food was gone in the blink of an eye. The children especially loved the many varieties of desserts and ice cream, and everyone agreed that there was nothing better than a good home cooked meal. 

After lunch, friends and family assembled again to watch the extremely talented Bal Vihar children perform in the talent show. The performances included Vande Mataram performed on the piano, singing of classical songs, a magic show, a Bharatnatyam dance, a tabla performance, a skit, and various instrumental performances. The culmination of the talent show was a performance of the Indian national anthem played on the flute as well as the piano, with the audience singing along. It was really great to see these talented kids.

The event concluded with the much anticipated awards ceremony. The children received awards and trophies based on their performance in various fields such as Hindi, Hindu Dharma, Shlokas and Geet, which they had learned throughout the year. There were also awards for best attendance. Report cards were also given out to the students. Also because it was Fathers Day, everyone wished their fathers a very happy father’s day.

This portion written by Aparna Rayasam

Lexington Bal Vihar Annual Day was held on June 24th, 2016. There were about 40 student participants and a total audience of over 100! It was held at the Maria Hastings elementary school auditorium and the special guest was Sri Veeramani Rangandan who is the dharma karta of the Nashua Hindu temple. There were many different types of performances from kids ages 3 to age 14. The emcees were Vidhatri Pujar, age 9 and Ricky Kundu, age 13. The performances were divided into 5 different groups, according to age: the Ganesha group (under 5), the Dhruva group (5-7), the Krishna group (8-10), the Hanuman group (10-13), and the Saraswati group (13+)

The evening started with Deep Prajwalan led by the elders in the group. The performances were broken into group Shloka recitals. Then we moved to a few plays and skits as well. First the Ganesha group performed "The making of Ganapati" followed by with the Dhruva group performing "Bala Kanda". After that there was also a play on the life and inspiration of 'Dhruva’ performed by 11 students, from different groups. Along with the plays and skits, there were many individual performances as well. There was a presentation of "A day in Bal Vihar", performed by an 8-year-old student, which showcases a typical Bal Vihar class and the significance of everything we do. This was followed by aa active demonstration of "The significance of SuryaNamaskar", with an explanation of each asana. One of the students had made a Multi-Cultural Video that showcased different Indian languages. There was a Bal Vihar Trivia and one of the youngest students, just 5 years old, recited the entire Hanuman Chalisa all by himself! Then, a group of 8-9 year old girls walked through the Fun Fair they organized to raise funds for local and Indian charities. The grand finale was a rendition of the Bhav Geet ' Chandan Hai' by all of Bal Vihar students.

Following the program, we had the prashamsa divas celebrations with each student receiving a small idol of Nataraja, a trophy and a certificate for their excellent work last year. The teachers were appreciated by the students and the evening was concluded with a sumptuous dinner catered in and a lot of laughs and fun had by all.

This portion written by Bala Parmeshwaran

Bal Vidya Mandir at Sri Lakshmi Temple, Ashland started in September 2007 and has been instrumental in guiding children to learn and appreciate their traditions, value systems and cultural heritage. They celebrated their 9th annual day on June 17. The day was marked with shloka recitals, vocal and dance performances and even two students solving Rubik’s cube, working against the clock. The day is special as it celebrates all the learning and hard work by the students over the past year. Also very special this year was that one of the students who had been with Bal Vidya Mandir since the beginning joined as a teacher, driving back from college every Friday to volunteer his time to teach the children.

The celebrations started with ‘Vakra Tunda’ and ‘Saraswati Namasthubyam’ as we prayed to Lord Ganesha and Goddess Saraswati. We acknowledged that God is One even though we use different names by reciting the Ekta Mantra.

The evening continued with a treat to the eyes and ears, with vocal and dance performances from the students. It was fascinating to witness the wealth of talent in the students and the pride in the eyes of the parents and teachers.

There were also great presentations by the senior students to explain some concepts of Hindu Dharma. The topics ranged from Concept of One God, Self-Discipline, Origin of the word Hindu and Being Vegetarian. One can only imagine that the audience felt awed and walked away more knowledgeable about Hindu Dharma after these presentations. We continued with more performances and which included beautiful songs, amazing dance recitals and soulful bhajans.

The day’s proceedings concluded with awarding completion certificates to students and enjoying the tasty potluck dinner prepared by the parents. It was a memorable evening filled with great performances, enriching presentations and excited students.

VHPA Bal Vihars provide an opportunity for our children to discover their cultural bond with Bharat and develop pride in their Hindu identity. Hindi language instruction as well as cultural activities promote both the physical and spiritual well-being of the child. The program is designed to foster specific values in the children, including developing awareness of our obligations to society, creating a sense of belonging to a global family, and developing leadership qualities and a spirit of volunteering. It is open to children 4 years and above. Activities include: Devanagri class, Yoga and Indian games, stories, prayers and shlokas, inspirational songs, poems, bhajans, plays, crafts, celebration of festivals and birthdays. The Bal Vihar is a weekly 2 hour program. There are three branches, in Southboro, Lexington and Newton. For more information, please contact Jaya Asthana at jasthana@hotmail.com.

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