SILC: Weekly Digest (4/1/2012) April Fools Day

Dear SILC Students, Parents, Teachers and Volunteers:

Many schools have completed 2/3rd of their academic calendar year and so is SILC.  Here are some key dates that are coming up in the next two months.

[1] 4th April 2012:  Deadline to submit articles for the next SILC News Letter

[2] Sunday 15th April 2012:  Urban Expedition at Landmark Center

SILC will have a booth here; If you are interested to volunteer at SILC booth, please let us know

http://www.landmarkcenter.org/urban.html

[3] Saturday 21st April 2012:  Vibha Taal 

http://wiki.vibha.org/Minnesota:Taal-2012

SILC students will be performing in this event; The admission is free. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this event to encourage SILC students.

[4] May 3-6, 2012: Festival of Nations

http://festivalofnations.com/

SILC students will be performing at this event; Details to follow.

[5] 12th May 2012: Holi Celebrations at SILC

[6] 19th May 2012: SILC Annual Day 

Our language teachers and SILC board have started preparations for this event and more details to follow

[7] Flint HIlls International Childrens Festival

 http://www.ordway.org/festival/

SILC will have a booth here. If you are interested to volunteer at SILC booth, please let us know

Answers to last week's quiz:

(Q) What is Pushkar Mela?

(A) Pushakar Mela (or Pushakar Fair) is the annual five-day camel and livestock fair, held in the town of Pushkar in the state of Rajasthan, India. It is one of the world's largestcamel fairs, and apart from buying and selling of livestock it has become an important tourist attraction and its highlights have become competitions such as the "matka phod", "longest moustache", and "bridal competition" are the main draws for this fair which attracts thousands of tourists

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushkar_Fair

This Week's Quiz:

(Q) What state is known as "Spice Garden of India"?

Regards

Siva Jasthi
Director - Communications
School of India for Languages and Culture
http://www.silcmn.com
(mobile) 612.217.4821

SILC: Weekly Digest (03/25/12)

Dear SILC Students, Parents, Teachers and Volunteers, 

Thank you all for making Social Studies and Literature Day a grand success. There will be a recap of the event in the next news letter produced by SAP students. 

Please send us any feedback on SSL day and suggestions for improvement. You can see the pictures of the event at

http://silcpix.blogspot.com/2012/03/social-studies-day-march-24-2012-batch_25.html 

http://silcpix.blogspot.com/2012/03/social-studies-day-march-24-2012-batch.html
 

1. Recall that next SILC news letter is going to be released on March 31st. Please submit your articles to newsletter@silcmn.com

Here are some suggestions for your articles:

• Reviews of Indian movies & music
• Reviews of Indians books
• Review of important issues of India
• Reprints of cooking class recipes
• Articles on history/geography of India
• Picture essays and / or Photographs of India
• Humorous Indian tales (ex- Tenali Rama, Akbar Birbal, etc.)
• SILC experiences, Life Experiences, Immigration experiences
• Personal stories about time spent in India
• News articles - recent events & Bollywood news
• Articles on groups working in India
• Articles on Holidays and Traditions
• Short essays
• Profiles of important indians
• Teen issues
  
  

[2] The culmination of SS day marks the preparation for the Graduation day. May 19 is the graduation day. All the language and elective teachers have started to prepare for their respective events on stage. Please make sure that all students are regular to their classes for any rehearsals, planning or preparation that might be needed.

 

[3] Thank you to those who signed up at "Be the Match" on the SS day.....and also to those who are already registered. Hopefully we will be able to find a suitable donor for Baby Rishik. Please also do your bit to spread the word to your friends and family members in other parts of the State/Country. Who knows you or they might be able to save a life some day.

 

[4] Please see the attachment for a cultural evenning fundraiser in which some SILC students will be performing. This event includes a cultural show of Indian and North American performances, food and a silent auction. The funds raised will go to two NGO's in Assam involved in social service towards underprivileged women and children. Please support the cause with your attendance or donation. Please see the brochure and the website www.wbmm-mn.com for more details.

Answers to last week's quiz:

(Q) which indian festival is celebrated once every 12 years and why?

(A) Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage in which Hindus gather at the Ganges river. Kumbh Mela takes place every 12 years at four places Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik). The Maha (great) Kumbh Mela which comes after 12 'Purna Kumbh Melas', or 144 years, is held at Allahabad. According to the Mela Administration's estimates, around 70 million people participated in the 45-day Ardh Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, in 2007. Kumbh Mela 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbh_Mela

This Week's Quiz:

(Q) What is Pushkar Mela?

Regards
Siva Jasthi
Director - Communications
School of India for Languages and Culture
http://www.silcmn.com
(mobile) 612.217.4821

SILC: Weekly Digest (03/18/12) Preparations for Social Studies Day and Nickelodeon Visit

Dear SILC Students, Parents, Volunteers:

Please see the outline of the logistics for the Social Studies and Literature Day (March 24th).

SS Day (March 24)

·       Unless asked to come earlier by the SS teacher, please be seated by 9:45am in the school auditorium. The auditorium is located on the East side of the school building.

·       Events will commence at 10am with Vande Mataram.  Thereafter students from SS, Literature & SAP classes will present what they have learned during the school year.

·      The event will conclude with cake cutting ceremony. Do join us in the cafeteria for some cake and finger food.  

·       Nickelodeon channel will be onsite on 3/24, to film the school events focusing around one of our students.

·      As announced on Saturday, 3/17 (during school), Nickelodeon requires everyone to sign a consent form. Most of you have filled in that form. We understand that some of you may not have been able to do so or some of you might have concerns about participating in the shooting by the TV crew. You will appreciate the fact that it is difficult for us to reach out to each and every family to get a form signed. If you do not want to provide your consent, please send us a direct email stating thus. Otherwise, we will assume that everyone has consented to be part of this TV channel’s filming.

·         The details for the filming by the TV crew is given below:-

o   Filming of a language class in action. Hindi Level 4, will be “shot” from 8:50am onwards. Hindi 4 students are requested to be in their respective class room at 8:45am on 3/24.

o   The TV crew will also record the SS day event.

o   We will commence the SS day event sharp at 10am. Please be seated well before that, since we will close the doors at 10am, to allow for a smooth start of the event.

o   The TV crew will also be filming a dance class in progress. For this we plan to showcase the older girls dance class under Neelam Malhotra. Students in this class are requested to be prepared to participate in a practice session. The exact time for this will be announced on that day. Most probably it will be after the SS day event or the latter part of the event, depending upon how much filming of the SS day event the TV crew want to do.

Quiz Time

Answer to Last Week's Quiz

(Q) The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are a group of autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institutes of higher education. How many IITs are in India now and where are these located?

(A) There are 15 IITs in India now. The list in the order of establishment is given here

IIT Kharagpur in Kharagpur (1950; as IIT 1951^[2]), IIT Bombay inMumbai (1958), IIT Madras in Chennai (1959), IIT Kanpur in Kanpur(1959), IIT Delhi in New Delhi (1961; as IIT 1963), IIT Guwahati inGuwahati (1994) and IIT Roorkee in Roorkee (1847; as IIT 2001).

IIT Ropar in Rupnagar (2008),IIT Bhubaneswar in Bhubaneswar (2008), IIT Gandhinagar inGandhinagar (2008), IIT Hyderabad in Hyderabad (2008), IIT Patna inPatna (2008), IIT Rajasthan in Rajasthan (2008), IIT Mandi in Mandi(2009) and IIT Indore in Indore (2009).^[3]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institutes_of_Technology

This Week's Quiz:

(Q) which indian festival is celebrated once every 12 years and why?

-- 

Regards
Siva Jasthi
Director - Communications
School of India for Languages and Culture
http://www.silcmn.com
(mobile) 612.217.4821

SILC: Weekly Digest - Spring Break Weekend (3/11/12)

Dear SILC Students, Parents, Volunteers:

Hope you are all enjoying the warm spring break weekend and are working on your SILC assignments - Getting ready for the social studies day, working on the articles for SILC news letters.

We will resume SILC on next Saturday 17th. Note that March 24th is Social Studies, Literature and SAP day.  Any last minute preparations for this special event will need to be done by the students and teachers when they meet on 17th.

Social Studies, Literature & SAP Day (March 24, 2012)

This is an event where SS, Lit & SAP students present their achievements. Our SSL day is scheduled for March 24. Our students and teachers have been working hard over the past few weeks to prepare for this event. They will be showcasing their acquired knowledge on stage, during this event. Please make sure that the students come to school on the 17^th so that their respective teachers can apply finishing touches to whatever they are supposed to present.

We will not have regular classes on the 24^th , since the entire day is committed to this event. The presentations will start at sharp 10am in the Como School auditorium. Everyone is requested to be seated inside the auditorium by 9:55am. Participating students should report to their respective SS teachers at the time given by them.

CONNECT INDIA Event:

Please mark your calendars for the next Saturday. Indian Association of MN is hosting Connect India Event next Saturday March17th from 5 to 9:30 PM; Please visit  http://www.iamn.org for further details.   I will also forward the event details in separate mail.

Quiz Time

Answer to Last Week's Quiz

(Q) What city is called "Silicon Valley of India" and why? 

(A) The Silicon Valley of India' is a nickname of the Indian city of Bangalore. The name signifies Bangalore's status as a hub for information technology (IT) companies in India and is a comparative reference to the original Silicon Valley, based around Santa Clara Valley, California, a major hub for IT companies in the United States. 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley_of_India

This Week's Quiz:

(Q) The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are a group of autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institutes of higher education. How many IITs are in India now and where are these located?

--
Regards
Siva Jasthi
Director - Communications
School of India for Languages and Culture
http://www.silcmn.com
(mobile) 612.217.4821

SILC Weekly Digest : Week Ending March 04, 2012

Dear SILC Students, Parents and Volunteers,

Siva Jasthi is out of town and I am sending this week’s digest on his behalf.

Since Punxsutawny Phil was wrong this year (about his forecast of 6 more weeks), I hope all of you are gearing up for the mini heat wave forecast for this Tuesday. Given the kind of winter we have had, it seems like spring came in a little early. If it continues like this for future winters, poor Phil will be out of a job pretty soon.

Spring Break at SILC

Talking of Spring, I hope all of you have checked the school calendar and are aware that there is no school on March 10, 2012. SILC will be closed for Spring Break and we will resume regular classes from March 17^th onwards. If you are planning a trip outside the town, we wish you safe and enjoyable travel.

Dance Auditions

You must have observed the dance students practicing hard every Saturday. Those of you who are new to SILC might not know that each year we participate in various cultural events across the Twin Cities. To get selected for these events, our students need to undergo a tough selection process under the watchful eyes of the event organizers. With the selection deadline for various events coming close, these auditions have commenced.

What you saw yesterday was the Phase 1 audition for Festival of Nations (FoN). This audition was conducted by India Association of Minnesota, who in turn will be selecting Indian dance groups (from MN) for the FoN audition. From SILC, three groups auditioned – i.e. the Adult group, Teens group and Younger girls group.  At the time of publishing this digest the unofficial word was that all three groups have been selected by IAM for the Phase 2 of auditioning. Congratulations to all the dancers and their teachers for the hard work put in. At the same time we would like to thank the language and SS teachers who permitted their students to forego their respective classes yesterday to put in some last minute practice before the dance auditions.

The next stop will be Phase 2 auditions, which will be conducted by the organizers of Festival of Nations on March 17^th. I am sure that our talented dancers will cross that mile stone as well and be on their way to perform during the FoN performances on May 5^th. Hope to see you all there at FoN as well. 

In addition to preparing for the FoN, our dance students are also practicing hard for the open competition at the event called Taal which is being organized by Vibha on April 15^th. We wish our dance teams all the very best for this competition.

Social Studies, Literature & SAP Day (March 24, 2012)

This is an event where SS, Lit & SAP students present their achievements. Our SSL day is scheduled for March 24. Our students and teachers have been working hard over the past few weeks to prepare for this event. They will be showcasing their acquired knowledge on stage, during this event. Please make sure that the students come to school on the 17^th so that their respective teachers can apply finishing touches to whatever they are supposed to present.

We will not have regular classes on the 24^th , since the entire day is committed to this event. The presentations will start at sharp 10am in the Como School auditorium. Everyone is requested to be seated inside the auditorium by 9:55am. Participating students should report to their respective SS teachers at the time given by them.

Levels for Next Academic Year

The SS day gives way to the end of school feeling where students start looking forward to Holi celebrations and also the Graduation day. We cannot believe that we are just 11 weeks away from school closing for summer. This 11 week period is also time to start planning for the next academic year.

Our teachers have been asked to provide recommendations about having students move to next level or stay in the same level for another year. We would like to explain that an instance of a child being recommended to stay on for another year in the same level should not be taken as a sign of failure. SILC enrolls students of different ages who usually have different knowledge/take off levels. At times it might be best for a student to stay on in the same level which could assist him/her to mature in age as well. Moving a student to next level which could have older students might not seem like a good situation for the class and the child. If you have any questions or concerns around this, please feel free to meet with Erin (SILC President), Sunita (Asst Principal) or I on a school day.

Quiz Time

Answer to Last Week's Quiz

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (Hindi: दिलवाले दुल्हनिया ले जाएँगे; English: The Big Hearted Will Take the Bride), also known as DDLJ, is a Hindi language film released on 20 October 1995.  DDLJ remains the longest-running film in the history of Indian cinema. As of 2011, it was still playing at the Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilwale_Dulhania_Le_Jayenge

This Week's Quiz:

Ø  What city is called "Silicon Valley of India" and why?

See you all on March 17th. Enjoy your spring break!

Regards,

Shiv Bhatia

SILC Principal : 2011-12

651-894-2551

SILC: Oscars Night - Weekly Digest (02/26/12)

Dear SILC Students, Parents, Teachers and Volunteers:

Hope you are enjoying the Oscars Night. Try to find out the longest running film in India (this week's quiz) in the spirit of this evening.

[1] Extra, Extra, Read all about it! 

The SILC Newsletter is making a comeback with a brand new look, and it needs submissions from people like YOU! Everyone has his or her own story to tell, and the newsletter is an excellent opportunity to do so. Virtually anything India-related can be submitted to the newsletter, so let your imagination run wild and write something creative and personal. 

Sample topics are included below: These are only suggestions, and you're not limited to these.

• Reviews of Indian movies & music
• Reviews of Indians books
• Review of important issues of India
• Reprints of cooking class recipes
• Articles on history/geography of India
• Picture essays and / or Photographs of India
• Humorous Indian tales (ex- Tenali Rama, Akbar Birbal, etc.)
• SILC experiences, Life Experiences, Immigration experiences
• Personal stories about time spent in India
• News articles - recent events & Bollywood news
• Articles on groups working in India
• Articles on Holidays and Traditions
• Short essays
• Profiles of important indians
• Teen issues

Furthermore, we're not asking any of you to write a novel (but feel free to do so if you want to!) even a couple well-written paragraphs would be much appreciated. Write whatever you're comfortable with- we're looking for a variety of submissions from all SILC members: New members, old members, children, adults, EVERYONE. :) Get those thinking caps on and let your creative juices flow!

 

We would love ideas for an multi-issue ongoing column on say Indian heritage, Music, Arts, ... or other India related subject. Let us know if you would like to write! We have a strong editorial team to help you, if you are thinking of writing for the first time - we have the ability and desire to help, if you bring the inclination to write!

 

Openings available for Reporters - open to all SILC students and family members. Should be able to write well in English or any Indian language. Choose the topic from above and let us know so we can make sure there is no duplication and we can reserve space for the piece. For more info, contact SILC Newsletter Editorial Board via newsletter@silcmn.com

 

The SILC Editorial Board reserves the fianl right to accept / reject any submission.

[2]  IAM / FON Auditions

Please note that representatives from IAM (Indian Association of MN) will be at SILC next week on March 3rd to conduct FON (Festival of Nations) dance auditions. The auditions start at 10:00 AM. Please contact your dance teacher for the timing of your audition and the logistics. 

Day: Sat Mar 3
Location: SILC inside Como High School, 740 West Rose Ave, St Paul , MN 55117
Time: 10:00am 

Answers to last week's Quiz:

[Q] What are the classical dances of India? And what is the name of the State that contributed two classical dances?

Bharatanatyam (Tamil Nadu)

Kathak (Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh)

Kathakali (Kerala)

Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh)

Manipuri (Manipur)

Mohiniyattam (Kerala)

Odissi (Orissa)

Sattriya (Assam)

KERALA state has contributed two classical dances - Kathakali and Mohiniyattam.

This week's Quiz:

[Q] What is the longest running movie (in a single theater) in India?

-- 
Regards
Siva Jasthi
Director - Communications
School of India for Languages and Culture
http://www.silcmn.com
(mobile) 612.217.4821

SILC: Weekly Digest (02/19/12)

Dear SILC Students, Parents, Teachers and Volunteers:

[1] Thank you to all the following 11-14 year children who expressed interest in participating in the Nickelodeon program (Nick news) as indicated in the last digest.  One of the coordinating producers is expected to call the following for an on-the-phone interview  (Please note that SILC administration is out of the picture once we pass on the names to the Nickelodeon producers). .

Aekta Mouli               

Gitanjali Raman           

Anushka Mankunath         

Anurag Bukkuri            

jyotirmya kumar           

Zoe Iyer                     

Rohan-Ashutosh Raikar    

Meera Viruru

Mahima Gupta

Suparna Bhatia 

Bhavana Suvarna 

Natali Arora

[2] Some of the SILC families may be interested in the following.

Youth Angels Day Camp

Experience the Art of Meditation

IT’S VALUABLE. IT’S EFFECTIVE. IT’S FREE!

Science of Spirituality, Minnesota has been organizing Youth Angels Day Camp since last five years in Minneapolis for children under the age group of 5 to 15 years.. It was originally envisioned to make great use of winter time and introduce meditation to the children for their peace of mind. It’s a one day camp where children learn meditation techniques, yoga and engage in fun filled activities & story time which helps in character building. By learning how to calm the mind with meditation practice and simple moves of yoga, children can be happier and healthier.

At the camp, children will learn to meditate and develop the inner strength, achieve balance and realize the true potential in their lives, all in a fun filled environment.
During the camp, we will have Meditation workshops, Yoga, Camp Songs, Activities, GaMes & Pizza.

 Date:    

Saturday, March 17^th 2012
Venue:  
             4300 Dodd Rd, Eagan, Minnesota 55123

The pre-registration is now open for children between the age group of 5-15. Please complete the pre-registration on the web site www.sosmn.org.   Pre-registration will end on Feb 28^th. Kindly register for the camp as soon as possible as the seats are limited.
Please note that the registration is FREE.  You can also forward the same to interested friends and acquaintances.  More information will be sent to all who registered their children to the camp.

You can find more about the previous year’s camps at our website www.sosmn.org.   Also we need volunteers (age 15+) including assistance in  setting up the camp, teaching, conducting games, distributing food, wind down and many other areas. Please let us know your interest in volunteering for the camp.

Looking forward to a great camp this year again!

For further information please contact:

SOSMN Communication Team 
Arvind Naik (anaik@sos.org)
Ashwini Naik (ashwini@sos.org)
Sundari Balasubramanian (sundaribaloo@gmail.com)

Answers to last week's quiz:

[Q] What the words - Chit, Bandanna and Shampoo - have in common?

All these words have Hindi roots/origin and are contributed to English language; For a complete list, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Hindi_or_Urdu_origin#S

Chit 

from चिट्ठी Chitthi, a letter or note.

Bandanna 

from Bandhna,(बांधना) to tie a scarf around the head.

Shampoo 

from chāmpo (चाँपो /tʃãːpoː/) is the imperative of chāmpnā (चाँपना /tʃãːpnaː/), "to smear, knead the muscles, massage" (the scalp massage with some kind of oily or treacly mixture just before a bath).

This week's Quiz:

[Q] What are the classical dances of India? And what is the name of the State that contributed two classical dances?

--
Regards
Siva Jasthi
Director - Communications
School of India for Languages and Culture
http://www.silcmn.com
(mobile) 612.217.4821