Newsletter – July 2023
| Namaste. Hope your summer is progressing well and you all have had some for of recreational travel to meet up with family and friends. This is a good time to recharge as we get ready for various chores of the academic and work year in front of us after this minimal summer slowdown. Hopefully that is the case for most of us and many of our friends from the LOTUS ohana including ourselves. The reverse is true too. We had some old friends visit the islands and as pictured here spent sometime at the Wahiawa temple. For the Ramanathan family this site has been a source of solace and inspiration for the past 30 years and I am glad that they had a good visit to the temple escorted by one of our Founder families – the Senguptas.  We are actively working on our renovations at the Temple site. The first phase will be simply some facelift with repairs to the old infrastructure to make it more attractive and presentable. We will also install some permanent framework that will help us set up our shelter for pooja more efficiently. We hope to begin the work later this month and have it completed prior to our August temple pooja day. Our fundraising goal for this project remains at $12000 and to date we have collected $4000 in donations for this project. Any amount small or large will help us and so please feel free to do targeted donation here for this. There is a community event details of which is being shared below in celebrations of the Indian Independence Day on August 13th. Please consider attending the same. I hope to see you all at the Temple on July 16th at noon for our monthly pooja. Warm aloha and Stay Safe V. Balaraman President COMMUNITY UPCOMING EVENTS India Day-Celebrating India’s 75 Years of Independence Sunday, August 13, 2023 Hawaii Polo ClubTicket Link: https://bit.ly/indiaday-hpcIndia Day at Hawai‘i Polo Club: Celebrating India’s 75 Years of Independence. Sunday, August 13, 2023. 11:30am – Gate Opens and Tailgating Begins (tents, chairs, coolers, drinks, food permitted). 12pm – Markers Market Opens (Indian Food & Crafts). 1:30pm – Polo Match #1. 3:15pm – Performance by Aaja Nachle. 3:30pm – Team Hawaii v. Team India. 5:15pm-7:30pm – Indian Music and Dance.Tickets available now here (for general admission tickets, you must first select a parking pass; VIP tickets include a parking pass; keiki 12 and under enter for free): https://bit.ly/indiaday-hpcJoin us as we celebrate the conclusion of India’s 75th year of Independence at India Day at Hawai‘i Polo Club, a stunningly beautiful property located on the ocean in Mokulē‘ia on O‘ahu’s North Shore. The day will feature a polo match between Team Hawai‘i and Team India, captained by Vikram Sodhi, a Punjabi resident (pictured here). Sodhi has brought Indian polo teams to Hawai‘i for over a decade and is doing so this August for the first time since 2019. Following the match, Indian entertainment will take center stage with a group dance workshop led by Aaja Nachle and performances by Aaja Nachle, a Bharatanatyam Thillana by Aloha Natyam, featuring Janani Lakshmanan, Dr. Akshatha, and Dr. Shreya, and solo dance by Arini Shankaralingam presented by Lotus Hawai‘i, Indian drumming by Dave Gupta (dhol) and Boji (darbouka), Indian beats by DJ Jerome James joined by Gupta, as well as South Asian music by Brighter Side of Sol band. Handmade Indian jewelry and henna will be available from Rainbow by the Sea with additional Indian jewelry and artwork by Ananda Mahdavi. Photos and videos of past India Days at Hawai‘i Polo ClubDownload Image here: (you do *not* need a Box.com account; just close the popup suggesting you create an account and click the download button) https://app.box.com/s/ea335yvlrqjzwda8tglfypvf1y6xhmj7  .Temple Activities – July 16th, 2023 Our monthly pooja will start promptly at noon on the 16th. With Prof. Bhawuk still travelling, his understudies Arup and Shankar will perform the pooja. This month, the lunch will be potluck, so please bring your favorite dish to share. To accommodate a diverse food preference feel free to experiment with Vegan dishes, Food without garlic or onions and any other variations within the spectrum of vegetarian domain.  July and August 2023: July 16 – Wahiawa Temple Pooja Day Aug 13 – India Day – Hawaii Polo grounds (see informational write up above) Aug 15 – India Independence Day Aug 21 – Nag Panchami Aug 25 – Varalakshmi Vrat Aug 28 – Onam Aug 30 – Raksha Bandhan/Rakhi |
