VHP-A Bal Vihar of Southboro held its 10th Annual Day celebrations on Saturday June 14, 2008, from 1 PM to 5 PM. Families and friends of the Bal Vihar assembled at Sadhu Vaswani Center in Dracut, MA for the function. The day began with Saraswati Puja, led by Shaifali Verma, one of the older children of the Bal Vihar. Shaifali, age 16, officiated as the “Pandit”, and led the children and adults through the Puja. She recited all the mantras with perfect pronunciation and intonation. The children sat motionless as they chanted the name of Saraswati Devi 108 times. After the Aarti and prasad, everyone gathered together for the second half of the program.

The second part of the day was a Poster Presentation. The children had made colorful posters showcasing what they had learned throughout the year.

The students are divided into four levels, based on their age and ability. The levels are named after famous Indian poets. The four groups are Surdas group, Tulsidas group, Keshavdas group and Vyas group.

The youngest children from the Surdas group, who were 5 years and under, dressed up as their favorite God or Goddess, and described who they were. They presented Krishna, Radha, Ram, Hanuman, and Parvati. All of them looked very cute as they stood before everyone and fearlessly presented their item.

The Tulsidas group had made beautiful posters about various Gods and Goddesses, and presented their work. Posters were about Gayatri Mata, Parvati, Indra, Satyanarayana, Santoshi Ma, Kartikeya, Saraswati Devi, and many others. After that came the Keshavdas group which had posters or PowerPoint presentations about different stories from Bhagvat Puran. They talked about the story, and the values or morals they learned from the story. Stories ranged from Sudama, Dhruv, Akroor, Prahlad, King Parikshit, Mura and Narakasura, Vaman Avatar, Devi Sati, and Raas Leela, to name a few. This was the culmination of the values class they had attended all year round, in which they discussed a story and the values reflected in that story.

The final group was the Vyas group, which was divided into two, the junior and senior groups. The junior group talked about the different aspects of Hindu Dharma, such as the four Ashramas, the four Purusharthas and the sixteen Samskaras. The children made a PowerPoint presentation about what they had learned throughout the year. The final presentation from the senior Vyas group was about their favorite verse from the Bhagvat Geeta, which they had studied during the year.  

The day ended with the Awards ceremony. They 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 was an award for Best Attendance, which many felt should have gone to the parents who brought the children regularly and on time. Report cards were also given out. The awards were presented by Dr (Mrs.) Vrinda Kashalikar, who was visiting from India. She is a retired professor of economics and author of many short stories and articles. After that everyone enjoyed mouth-watering snacks which were prepared by the families of Bal Vihar.

The Bal Vihar provides an opportunity for our children to discover their cultural bond with Bharat and develop pride in their Hindu identity. Hindi language instructions as well as cultural activities promote both the physical and spiritual well-being of the child. The program is designed to develop volunteer spirit in children, a sense of awareness of our obligations to the society, a sense of belonging to a global family, and to develop leadership qualities. It is open to children 4 years and above. Activities include: Devanagri class, stories, prayer, inspirational songs, poems, bhajans, plays, crafts, celebration of festivals, yoga and Indian games. The Bal Vihar is a weekly 2 hour program.

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