April 21st Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 18 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 

Brain Storming:

• None

Story time:

• None

Activity:

• Rehearsal

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Awesome kids!  We did it!!  We went in the true 'yagna' spirit to the 'gItaa chanting yagna' and made it an awesome, memorable event!  We were the group with the highest registrants and.... we won ourselves an ice-cream party for the Summer :)).  Oooo!  We sure can't wait for that day, right?!

We did better than that!  We have always been talking about how we are not learning for the sake of competing alone.  We are learning to chant due to our love for gItaa and the values it gives us to lead meaningful lives.  To uphold that, we continued our learning today, beyond the 15 verses cap that we had for our grade!!  Infact, the children want to learn ALL 35 verses in the chapter!  So, we learnt 16 - 18 today and will continue to add to it through the rest of the year.

After that, we had a combined class.  The 2nd graders have been rehearsing for a presentation on the Annual Day, on May 5th.  Please make sure the children practice their 'hanumaan chaalIsaa' chanting well by then.  The program starts at 3 p.m.  Will be posting on the blog, as well as sending emails regarding the time they need to assemble in the cafeteria on the day of the performance.  They can come in Indian clothes, please NO jeans/shorts/casuals.  Look out to hear from us.  If we don't see them in the cafeteria, they will not be able to go on stage.  So, please be there on time.

See you all soon.  Until then, happy practicing.

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

April 14th class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 15 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 40 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What is the cause of our unhappiness

Story time:

• Ask and you shall receive

Activity:

• Practice for Annual day performance

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

Good going everyone!  Most of you have registered for the gItaa chanting!!  A very handful few of you who did not register have requested to be registered as late registrants as well!!  That has officially made us the class with most registrants!!  Hurray!  Keep it up kids!  We are so proud of you.  You are all doing the chanting so beautifully.  Keep up the practice and arrive on time on the day of the competition, which is this coming Saturday 20th April.  Participate with all your effort and attention.  That itself makes all of you WINNERS!  That calls for an ice-cream party in the summer!! Yay :).

Today is special for another reason!  We finished learning all the chaupa-s of the hanumaan chaalIsa!!  We see that most of you are learning by heart, as we are adding new chaupa-s.  Now, you can finish learning all of them.

We then learnt about the story of the child who was building a sand castle.  He hit a rock midway of his building.  He tried with all his might, all possible ways to move it.  When he couldn't, he was disappointed.  His father asked him the reason for his droopy face and he explained that he had tried all possible ways.  The father said, you apparently didn't try one - asking me!  Similarly, when we hit a wall in our life circumstance, we struggle all we can, but forget one thing, asking for the Lord's help.  When we seek Him, he instantly comes to our rescue and we will be rid of all obstacles, just as the little boy's father helped him move the rock!

After that, we had a combined class for the last half hour and we familiarized ourselves with our presentation.  We will be practicing more next week as well.  Keep up the good work everyone. 

Until next week, practice all your chanting!

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om

April 7th Class

Beginning Prayers:

• 'om' chanting - 3 times
• meditation
• shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma

gitaa chanting:

• 13th adhyaaya 1- 15 shlokas

hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:

• buddhirbalam
• hanumaan chaalIsa 1- 33 chaupas

Brain Storming:

• What is the magic cure of all the problems
• What was the boon mother sItaa gave to hanumaan
• How are our miseries relieved
• What happens when we worship hanumaan

Story time:

• Learn about aShTa siddhi-s
• Who is a haribhakta
• The difference
• The desire
• Don’t blame the Lord

Activity:

• Our class presentation for the annual day

Ending Prayers:

• sarvebhavantu sukhinaH
• pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
• aarati and pledge

Comments:

Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:

It was nice seeing all the smiling faces after such a long break.  We sure missed you.  Hope you all had a great spring break.

It is nice to see that many of you are registered for the gItaa chanting competition.  We strongly encourage ALL of you to register and participate.  They have really worked hard through out the year and it will be a very rewarding experience for them.

Also, our class will be performing on the stage for the annual day program on May 5th.  We will be talking more about it in the next couple of classes.  Since we will have only 2 more classes, it is crucial that they attend regularly.  Parents please make sure they are prepared.

In the story time today, we have discussed many big words like- aShTa-siddhi's namely - aNimaa (becoming as small as an atom), mahimaa (becoming as big as a mountain), garimaa (being heavy as a mountain), laghimaa (being light as a feather), praaptiH (attaining everything), pratyakSha (self illuminating), Ishitva (lordship of oneself), vashitva (controlling everything, including oneself) - these are the aShTa-siddhi-s that sItaa maata granted to hanumaan, and also the power to bestow it upon anyone he pleases!!  So, let's get praying to hanumaan for the attainment of the aShTa-siddhi-s as well all the nava-nidhi-s (9 treasures of wealth).

We also listened to 3 different stories to see what makes a true devotee, different from anyone else!  

So, let's get praying, without being attached to any material returns or blaming the Lord for any disappointments.

See you all next week.  Until then, remember to practice your chanting.  Let's win that ice-cream party for the highest participation for any class! :).

________________________________________________

Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:

Hari Om