Countless hours of hard work put in by dedicated volunteers under the stewardship of Sathish Narayanan, went into producing the grand fourth annual day event of Bharathi Vidyashram, the cultural education wing of the Hindu Temple of New Hampshire, Nashua, NH. The auditorium at the Pilgrim Congregational Church in Nashua, where the event was held on Saturday May 16, 2015, was packed with the families and friends of the energetic students of the school, their enthusiastic teachers, and Temple patrons.

The students of the cultural school, whose name “Bharathi Vidyashram”, can be translated as “Institute of Indian Wisdom”, demonstrated their grasp of Indian wisdom through songs, dances, and skits in various Indian languages, with themes drawn from Indian and Hindu culture. Students of the school range in age from pre-K to grade 12, and are divided into 5 age-based groups named “Dhruva” (pre-K and kindergarten), “Nachiketa” (grades 1-2), “Prahlada” (grades 3-5), “Shankara-Sharada” (grades 6-8) and “Vivekananda” (grades 9+). Every age group showed off its talent and knowledge in a grand cultural show with colorful costumes, against a beautiful stage backdrop that included depictions of Hindu deities Sri Krishna and Sri Hanuman, and a floral artwork depicting Sri Ganesha.

After opening remarks by Lakshmi Munugoor, the director of the school, junior Sanskrit students got the program off to a wonderful start by singing “Ramaha Likhati”, the alphabet song in Sanskrit, and the melodious “Surasa Subodha” which persuades the listener that Sanskrit is neither complex nor difficult. This was followed by a dance recital focused on “Asamyutha Hasthas” (single handed gestures) by students of Smt. Anuradha Surendran. This was followed by actions songs on Lord Krishna by colorfully bedecked kindergarteners of the Dhruva group (teachers: Sireesha Varanasi & Chitra Balaji). The first and second graders in the Nachiketa group (teachers: Shanthi Sathish and Meghana Garimella) then recited the “Shiva Panchakshara Stotram”, that expands on the five syllables that constitute the sacred panchakshari mantra used to worship Lord Shiva. This was followed by a talent show in Telugu. The junior Telugu students (teachers: Sireesha Varanasi and Meghana Garimella) recited Telugu rhymes, and the senior Telugu students (teachers: Vasu Dasari and Swetha Donepudi) sang “Maa Telugu Talliki”, the official song of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The Hindi students (teachers: Manisha Babbar and Rajesh Venugopal) presented the song “Itni Shakti Hame Dena”, a prayer song originally from the Hindi movie “Ankush”. The Tamil students (teachers: Thenmozhi Alagappan, Sathappan Muthiah, Chandran Shanmugam, Swathi Chandran, Sudha Saravanan and Ananya Venkatesan) started the Tamil show with “Tamil Thai Vazhththu”, the official song of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This was followed by a play that depicted the story of how Tenali Raman, the poet known for his wit and humor, became a courtesan of King Krishna Deva Raya. In the story, artists with various talents ranging from music to the martial arts (played by young children) display their talents to the king, who is at a loss to decide the winner since everyone seems to be equally talented. Tenali Raman suggests an unusual tie-breaker that earns him his position in the court. The senior students of Sanskrit (teachers: Karthi Chandra, Radha Siva, Malini Bala) recited an inspiring Sanskrit song that their teacher had learned as a child, and various subhashitaani (verses of wisdom).

In the second part of the evening, vocal music students of Usha Dwarak, gave a mini-concert with songs that included Geetams (“Sree Gana Natha”, “Vara Veena”), a Varnam (Mohana Varnam), a Bhajan, a Thillana, and a beautiful Bollywood song (“Hum Ko Man Ki Shakti Dena” from the Hindi film Guddi). The Bhajan “Har Desh Me Tu” was composed by Rashtrakant Tukadoji Maharaj for the World Religions and World Peace Conference held in Japan in 1955. Vedavyas Munugoor and Sindhu Donepudi delivered a melodious rendering of the Thillana, “Geeta Dhuniku Thaka” composed by Swati Thirunal in ragam Dhanasri and set to Adi talam.  The third through fifth graders of the Prahlada group recited the “Ganesha Pancharatnam”.

This was followed by a trivia contest conducted by Latha Dasari, in which the Prahlada group was sub-divided into various teams named after Indian sages. Prem Rao served as the scorer and Rajesh Bhashyam served as time keeper. The trivia contest required deep knowledge of the Puranas, as well as some knowledge of Indian geography, and the performance indicated that the children must have spent a lot of time studying for this contest. This was followed by a slide presentation that described the life and message of Sri Adi Shankara by the Shankara-Sharada group (teachers: Veeramani Ranganathan and Vijaya Bhashyam) , and a skit in which the youth of the Vivekananda group (teacher: Kamal Masand) captured various essential messages of the Bhagavad Gita including detachment, duty and mastery of the senses.

The Chief Guests of the evening Dr. Ganesh Kaundinya, co-founder of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, and his wife Dr. Uma Kaundinya felicitated the children and encouraged them to continue to absorb elements of Indian culture. Dr. Ganesh Kaundinya called out an article on the benefits of meditation that appeared in an issue of the Scientific American last year, and mentioned how he finds elements of culture that he absorbed when growing up in India, still relevant in everyday life.

Raidu Rayasam, a popular teacher and one of the brains behind Bharathi Vidyashram, spoke about the importance of serving the community, highlighting various initiatives including support for the victims of the recent earthquakes in Nepal and for schools in India. He urged children to look for the spark that will lead them to greatness and knowledge, alluding to the life of Sri Ramana Maharishi. Raidu also played a video that captured the mission and accomplishments of Bharathi Vidyashram.

The event was ably compered by Sindhu Donepudi, Vedavyas Munugoor and Ranjani Ramanathan, all from the Vivekananda/Youth Leadership Council. Audio support was provided by Karthik Srinivasan, Suresh Annamalai and Ganeshbabu. In addition to the cultural program, the guests were also treated to a delicious dinner prepared by volunteers referred to as “Annapooranis” (Goddess of food). The evening which showcased more than a 100 children in over 25 performances clearly demonstrated the interest and enthusiasm of the children as well as the deep commitment and dedication of the volunteer corps.

A collection of pictures from the event shot by Sunil Nambiar may be viewed by clicking on this link.

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