Hari OM Everyone,
Happy Sankaranthi! We had a shorter class last week because of the 5th grade stage program. We started off with the daily prayers and then did Dasavatara Stotram and Guru Stotram. We reviewed the Jada Bharata story - all of them remembered the deer and also that our country is called Bharat! Then we moved on to Ajamila story. We discussed a little bit about Punya and Paapa. We were surprised when some of them connected to the Savitri Satyavaan Story because there also Savitri tricks Yama into releasing her husband!! We discussed about how all Indian names have meaning and by naming people after God's name it helps us to remember Him like Ajamila remembered Narayana when he had actually called his son at his deathbed! After the story we did a crossword puzzle on the board that they enjoyed. We then told them the story of Chitraketu - and related it to the Indra Vrtrasura story they had heard before. Ask them what is the connection! 😊
We then chanted Geeta along with Swamiji's video. We practiced and recorded verses 45-46 to send to House team for points. Please encourage them to memorize 41-45 and record it and send it to cnjbalaviharhouses@gmail.com. It will help our House Arjuna's Arrows earn more points!
Link to Swamiji's youtube video of Geeta -
Only a few parents have updated their availability - please do so at the earliest so we can start planning for the May 18 program. We had a discussion about what to do - everyone seems to love the Dhruva story so far! So we will probably do that! They are still in wonder about how he stood on one toe and prayed! 😊
Availability for May 18 - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1php-KD1lW-3B4tO0TBsjloS7ZnQlmFXHuXxzQtJpuwY/edit?usp=sharing
Please remember this Saturday is the Soup Kitchen Seva - please drop off the items you have signed up for before 1pm. We still need someone to transport all items from the Ashram to Shamsunderji's house in Monmouth junction at 1.30pm that day. Please sign up if you can. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409044fa4a72aa1fa7-balavihar1
Pongal/Sankranti cultural program is also on Saturday - there are a lot of workshops for children - mehndi, rangoli, kitemaking etc. And traditional Indian games. It is all free. Please try to bring them.
If you have signed up for Shlokathon, you must have received the timeslot for the 19th. If you missed registering this time, registration will open again on Jan 20 for the April 20th session.
There is no Balavihar this Friday Jan 18th. We will see the kids back on Jan 25th.
Thanks & Regards
Jayashree & Suja
Jayashree & Suja
