CMDFW Annual Banquet 2007
Chinmaya Mission D/FW held its Annual Banquet on Sunday, December 9 th 2007 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel. This year’s banquet was attended by approximately 375 people. The banquet has become an annual get together of the Chinmaya family in the DFW metroplex. It is an opportunity for us to showcase the activities of the mission, raise funds for future growth, and enjoy an evening of entertainment and good food.
The program started with the chanting of Guru Paduka Stotram by some of our Balavihar children. It was officially inaugurated with the traditional lighting of the lamp by our keynote speaker, Swami Ishwarananda, Resident Acharya of CM, Los Angeles. He gave an inspiring talk about the value of social service. He emphasized the point that social service is not just pitching in when there is a natural calamity. Imparting spiritual education to children and adults is also social service. Participants of last year’s Gita Chanting Competition recited selected shlokas from the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Our dance and music students entertained everyone with their devotional and melodious presentations.
Several Shlokathon trophy winners were recognized for their outstanding achievement: Amogh Krishnagiri, Hrishikesh Iyer, Sangeeta Kurada, Sneha Kurada, Sriram Rajagopalan, Jayram Rajagopalan, Jayashree Rajagopalan, Rohan Asundi, Tanvi Asundi.
Ashok Dandekar, President of CMDFW, presented an overview of our activities. He talked about the phenomenal growth of our Balavihar program, which has reached an enrollment of 865 registered students in 2007. He also announced that the CMDFW Board has approved plans to buy a 28 acre piece of land in the northeastern suburb of Melissa. There is an existing house on the property, which will be used to start a satellite center in the future.
Another highlight of the evening’s program were the touching testimonials given by one of the parents of 3 Balavihar students, Pallavi Chavda and one of our high school students, Aditya Rahalkar. Pallavi spoke about the tangible and intangible benefits she and her family have enjoyed by coming to Saaket, and concluded by saying that the mission has become a “welcome habit”. Aditya has been attending Balavihar since he was a first grader. He spoke eloquently about how coming to the mission has made a positive impact on his ucchara (speech), vichara (thinking), and achara (conduct). He concluded by offering $121 that he had saved from his allowance!
The fundraising efforts were led by Sunil Maini and Pankaj Asundi and raised approximately $175,000 towards the growth of the mission’s activities. The concept of the Chinmaya Family Tree was also introduced during the course of the evening. The family tree will have the names of donors in three categories – phalam ($3000), pushpam ($1500) and patram ($750). It will be unveiled by Swami Tejomayananda during his planned visit to Dallas for Saaket’s tenth anniversary celebration in 2009.
The Banquet Planning Committee would like to thank all the donors and volunteers for making this year’s banquet a memorable event and we look forward to seeing everyone at our next banquet. In the meantime, please visit our photo gallery to see some glimpses of Banquet 2007, and do continue to support Saaket.
