Alsdrof Galleries of Indian Art Celebrates 1st Anniversary 

The Alsdorf Galleries of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan, and Islamic Art celebrated its first anniversary on December 12, 2009 with great fanfare. Featuring the only space in the museum outside of the Modern Wing, designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, this new home for South and Southeast Asian art cohesively presents jewels from the museum’s holdings that were in the past displayed only in temporary spaces or special exhibitions. This remarkable largest collection that spans centuries is the largest in the Western hemisphere.

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi honored the occasion by sponsoring noted Odissi dancer Sujata Mohapatra and her troupe from India to participate in the celebrations. Mohapatra and her group of six members gave a spell binding hour-long performance at the Art Institute’s Fullerton Hall that led to a standing ovation by the assembled guests.

In her welcome address, Mary Sue Glosser, creative director of lectures and performances at the Art Institute, thanked Ashok Kumar Attri, Consul General of India to Chicago, and said that without his cooperation “this function would not have happened.” She also thanked him for organizing the visit of the Odissi dancers and then asked him to inaugurate the celebrations.

Until December 2008, the Museum had a very small India gallery. During the process of renovation and expansion of the Art gallery, Attri encouraged the Art Institute to provide a befitting place for Indian Art. The collections comprise primarily the private collection of Maryln Alsdorf, who has donated over 400 pieces to the gallery. The Art Institute is now also involved in propagating Indian art and culture, through various programs.

In his address, Attri thanked the Art Institute for honoring India by providing a special wing at their premises. He also introduced Sujata Mohapatra and briefed the guests about the special features of the Odissi dance. The afternoon ended with a high tea to the special invitees hosted by Tom Pritzker, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago. James Cuno, President & Director of the Art Institute of Chicago, Madhuvanti Ghose, Curator of Alsdorf Gallery of Indian Art, Marilyn Alsdorf, who financed the Gallery and donated several hundred art pieces to the Institute, Usha Kiran Attri and Consul General of India in Chicago Ashok Kumar Attri at the inauguration of the Alsdorf Gallery on Dec. 12, 2009 Internationally renowned Odissi dancer Sujata Mohapatra and her team performing at the Art Institute in Chicago.

[By VRN]

Chinmaya Mission Chicago 2009 Fundraising Banquet

Chinmaya Mission Chicago Badri and Yamunotri Centers together held their annual fundraising banquet at Waterford Banquet and Conference Center, Elmhurst, Illinois on December 6, 2009. The Mission holds its annual banquets to help its growth and to serve Indian community in Chicago.

Over 650 people including Chinmaya families, and other patrons attended the banquet. Swamini Sivapriyananda from Chinmaya Mission Toronto Center was the presiding acharya, accompanied by Swami Sharanananda, resident Acharya of Badri, Yamunotri, and Indiana Centers in the US.

Founded by Swami Chinmayananda more than half a century ago, the Mission had a modest beginning near Mumbai and now has over 300 centers spread all over the world, including 40 centers in the USA and Canada. The tenet of the Chinmaya Mission is “to give maximum happiness to the maximum number for the maximum time.”

Each year a special Vedantic theme is chosen for the banquet. This year ‘Seva and Sadhana’ highlighted the values that are emphasized and taught at the Mission centers. Selfless service as a means of spiritual growth was prevalent throughout the evening’s program.

Welcoming ceremonies were performed for receiving Acharyas & Chief Guests with Purna Kumbha, Invocation, and Gurustotram chanting. The function started with the lighting of the lamp ceremonies by Swami Sharanananda. Master of the ceremony Rajul Bhalala welcomed the respected Acharyas, honorable chief guests, and all attendees. Consul General Ashok Kumar Attri and his wife Ushakiran, Dr. Bharatbhai Barai and Anup Manchanda were the chief guests at the foremost table.

Swami Sharanananda, who hails from Puri in Orissa, has been the resident Acharya of Chinmaya Mission in Chicago since March 1993. It is due to his dedication, the center has not only thrived, but expanded to Yamunotri in Graylake, IL and NW Indiana center in Munster, IN

Hindu-Buddhists Top Foreign Student Enrollment in US 

A2009 report on international students studying in the U.S. reveals that Hindu- Buddhists students combined are the forerunners in the foreign student enrolment in the US.

The number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased by 8% to an all-time high of 671,616 in the 2008/09 academic year, according to the Open Doors report, which is published annually by the Institute of International Education (IIE) with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

India once again continues to occupy the top place of students coming to the US for higher studies for the eighth consecutive year. India, China, South Korea, Canada and Japan comprise more than 45 per cent of all international students enrolled in the US.

Institutions that have devoted more resources for international student recruitment trips seem to have concentrated mainly on Asia, with China, Korea, Japan and India as most popular recruitment destinations. 

VHP HOLDS ANNUAL CONVENTION 

The Chicago Chapter of Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHP-A) held its annual national Governing Council (GC) Meeting from November 13-15, 2009 at the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center, Elk Grove Village in Illinois.

In his address to the attendees, Jyotish Parekh, current national president of VHP of America, said the biggest strength of VHPA is its volunteers spread across the whole North American continent. He gave an account of various activities carried out by the organizations for children, youth and the elders. The convention began with the chanting of “Ekata Mantra” by Dev Desai and Avani Patel and Rigveda shlokas by Rohit Joshi, followed by a welcome speech given by Ajit Gandhi. The deep-pragatya was done by Bhashkar Joshi, who has contributed a lot to the Chicago Hindu community.

Dr. Abhay Asthana, the VHPA national general secretary gave a presentation and explained the concept of the symbol of VHP which is a banyan tree, and underlined the organization’s mission. Sanjay Mehta, the joint general secretary of VHPA, in his speech, said that there are three essential elements of mandirs and the HMEC: faith, network, and legacy.

Kaushik Joshi made a presentation of Chicago Area Hindu Mandirs and HMEC conference activities and appealed to all local mandirs to maintain networking and send representatives to VHP-A’s 2010 annual conference to be held in Houston, Texas.

The group of Toralben Chaudhari of Nritya Kala Dance Academy performed a garba dance on the song “maare todle betho re mor kyan bole.” The bhajan ‘Bharat hai ek sabki shubhkamna hai’ was beautifully recited by four Swamis from Gayatri Temple, Haridwar, India.

At last, in a vote of thanks, all the national members and the sponsors, participants, volunteers, trustees, Dr.Rashmi Patel and Satyavat Mahaprabhuji were heartily thanked for attending the program and for the cooperation extended by them.    

Citi-Anchin Indian Initiative Celebrates a Successful First Year  

(l to r) Citi’s A. Hirji, Neal Thapar and Glen Celetano; Kuldeepak Acharya, Anchin; Neeta Bhasin (ASB Communications; Joe Goldberg,
Hodgson Russ LLP; Devika Kewalramani, Moses & Singer LLP; Eric Horn (Anchin) and Vipul Mallick (AXA Advisors

Braving snow and rain, more than 100 people from as far away as Virginia and Pennsylvania turned up to attend the first year anniversary celebrations of the Citi- Anchin Indian Initiative on December 9, 2009 hosted by Anchin, one of the largest and fastestgrowing accounting firms in US, at their offices in New York.

Established in 2008, it is part of Citi Commercial Banking’s “One-Citi India Initiative,” a marketing platform developed to service the banking needs of the Indian Business Community in the US, in partnership with Anchin,. The attendees represented middle market business owners, financial officers and consultants from as far away as Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The celebration was the third event held by the Citi-Anchin Indian Initiative. Addressing the audience, Kuldeepak Acharya, CPA and Accounting Service Partner at Anchin, focused on the needs of middle market businesses during difficult economic times.

Ali Hirji, Vice President at Citibank and Acharya lauded the contributions of the Initiative’s Board of Directors in making all three events successful, and in particular, identified the contributions of Moses & Singer, AXA, ASB Communications, Hodgson Russ, Kelley Drye, and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. The event included a presentation by Mr. Gevertzman on the Top Ten Tax Issues.

The first event, held in April of this year, was a charitable fund raiser for the March of Dimes. The second event, held in June at Citibank’s offices in midtown Manhattan, featured a panel discussion about state and local government incentives for Indian owned and operated companies. The Citi-Anchin Indian Initiative is already at work planning future events and outreach programs in 2010 to benefit more Indian Middle Market companies and their owners in the Tri-State area.