DesiShades Local Coverage

28th February 2010
Marvelous old Telugu classic Mayabazaar in Color
It's marvelous. It's superb. It's stupendous. It's suave. It's spellbinding. It's vivacious. It's fantastic - and what else? The adjectives in English dictionary may not be sufficient to express how ‘Mayabazaar' is! These were the comments from many audiences on Sunday evening when it was screened at the Regency Tamarac Cinemas. The discounted price of $5 for Colorado Telugu Associaiton's members pulled a good crowd of about 100 people, despite of the bad weather and another new Telugu movie 'Em maya chesavo' in Thornton.

As the name of the film suggests - it's really a magic all the way (in color). The colorization was an eye-feast and the sound effects were so good and neat. Though there was a dramatic improvisation in the instruments used and the orchestra, the songs came out so well. You've to be in the theater to believe the positive energy the film creates with its new look.

12th February 2010
Siva Rathri celebrations in SV Temple of Colorado

The Siva Rathri festival celebration in Sri Venkateswara Temple of Colorado has reminded many of the devotees of India, not just by the puja procedure, but also the decoration and the setting of the eve. No wonder it took about a week to come up with a great idea of Kailasam set, the holy abode where Lord Siva lives, and relentless efforts from a great team of volunteers. It was Bala Subramaniyan who did the whole design in two tiers where Lord Siva and Parvathi sits in the top tier, and Lord Ganesh, Lord Muruga and Shiva Lingam sits in the lower tier in three different caves.

The chief priest from Sri Venkateswara Temple of North Carolina, Raleigh was invited to lead the puja today, who performed very ably with the help from Sri Jagannathacharyulu and other voluntary priests. The puja started at about 4:30pm with Punyahavachanam, Ganapathi puja, followed by Ekadasa Rudrabhishekam (11 times rudrabhishekam) to the Lord with various panchamritams (milk, yogurt, honey, fruit juice, fruits, chandan, vibhuti etc). From about 8pm, it took almost two hours to decorate the whole enclosure so impressively, during this time there were dance programs, drama on Bhakta Markandeya, other bhajans etc by the devotees. At 10pm, there was special puja followed by prasad distribution. Jagaran (staying overnight) is a specialty of Sivarathri, which the temple observed very holistically. At 3am, there was a special Lingodbhava Darsanan, followed by archana and harati. It was estimated that there were a total of over 1000 visitors to the temple on this occasion. The temple chairman Mr.VJ Chukkapalli and Treasurer Mr.Kuna Gupta have thanked the devotees for supporting the temple, explaining the temple construction plans.

6th February 2010
Bharat Utsav 2010 - Republic Day festival by India Association of Colorado
People experienced different cultures of India in Denver during Bharat Utsav 2010, a celebration of India's republic day by India Association of Colorado. On Saturday February 6th, the Hinkley High School in Aurora, CO was the venue with full parking lot, and everyone rushing inside since 4pm. The weather cooperated a lot for the festival in the pleasant 50-60 degree temperatures, that successfully pulled over 900 people. It was a gorgeous school with a wide corridor, filled with different stalls ranging from novelties, jewelry, food, games, along with a couple of front desks, one for the members and another for the guests tickets. Volunteers from Tata Consultancy Services did a great job in receiving the people at peak times, without much confusion, and give them the tickets and/or passes for admission.

The evening was kicked off with American national anthem by Sahana Narayan, followed by Indian national anthem by Ms.Savitha Sharma. The new executive committee Sujatha Narayan (President), George Dinakar (General Secretary), Sunil Roy (Secretary - Events), Lahari Mohapatra (Secretary - Cultural), Asha Vasant (Treasurer), Naveen Morisetti (Secretary - Communications) and Savitha Sharma (Event coordinator), but not all could make it onto the stage. Sujatha has welcomed the audience with her warm words and with an anticipation of getting the cooperation from the community. Guest of honor for the evening is our most familiar celebrity Shri Manoo Raval. In his address, he reminded the people of the importance of Republic day in the Indian history.

The cultural programs started with the Indian national song Vande Mataram by Anushka, Lasya, Meghna and Neha very melodiously. Another patriotic medley Jayathi Jayathi was sung by Anusha, Kavya, Keerthi, Prathyusha and Sahithi. The Bollywood dance for 'Mere Hathon me' from film Chandini by Nirajana Rajesh was a good start for the pulsating evening. Annamacharya Keertana by Saimeghna Dance School students Abhignya, Nikitha, Niharika and Akshita got the best applause from the audience. The next item was the semi-classical dance Man Mohini by Bela and Lahari Mohapatra, the cultural secretary of IAOC. This has the fast movement synchronized to the beat. Cute kids Trisha, Trini, Meera, and Gayathri, Rakhi's dance for the AR Rahman's composition Vande Mataram was a good attempt by the kids.Denver's star performer, Diya Deepak's dance for several hits of Madhuri Dixit was mesmerizing. The next two items were two examples of India's diversified cultures. The first one being the popular Kollywood Medley by Arjun, Adhya, Akash, Krishna, Narendar, Varun, Sahana, Saransh, Viyan, Nithya, Vaishnavi, Sania, Mandira, Nandini, Aditi, Manasi, Sameeha, Maya, Deeksha and Praveena, organized by Padma Avinash and choreographed by Prathyusha Apparasu. The kids did an amazing job with colorful dresses in modern styles. The next item is from Maharashtra - Lanvi & Folk dances by Pranaya, Isha, Ritvik, Rohit, Jay and Chirag choreographed by Pranaya Sath. This is a new item in the recent times, and undoubtedly stole the show receiving much applause. The next item was a Kuchipudi performance for Krishna Shabdam by Medha of Laya Dance Academy, and she did the best performance as she always does. Navya and Vismaya's bollywood dance performance for Ishq Samunder, choreographed by Ramyashree was a great hip-hop style dance. The Bollywood bhangra Dil Bole Hadippa was another fast beat amazing performance by Lahari Mohapatra's team Ajay, Ankit, Bela, Dhwani, Hannah, Lahari, Rohit and Sheldon. Sathya's choreographed dance medley 'Chennai to Colorado' with Anushka, Aura, Ganesha, Kartik, Madelina, Rajesh, Shweta, Tina and Vignesh showed their flexible body movements while describing how the journey from Chennai to Colorado ends up with a pinch of exoticism.

There was about twenty minutes of intermission, during which every one took some time to visit every stalls in the lobby area, and filled their tummies with varieties of chats, north and south Indian cuisine such as biryani, samosas, idly, vada, pakoda, chapati, pav bhaji, mango shakes etc. There were a couple of beaded and artificial jewelry stalls and Indian dress wear stalls which attracted most women. A stall with custom handmade photo frames had remarkable stuff. Rockies Cinema, the movie buffs had special ticket sales with $2 off at the stall. It was great that almost all the food stalls had reached their expectations with sales, getting enough exposure for their businesses.

The second half had even more exciting performances, starting with a Bharatanatyam item Thillana by Latha Sudhendra blending amazing steps to the exceptional composition by Madurai Krishnan praising Lord Narasimha. The next one was a musical interlude by Jeetinder & Group with Jeetinder, Heather, Sandhya, Praveen, Abhiteja, Chanku, Regina, Prabin, Das, Dinakar, Samson, Pradheep and James on variety of instruments such as guitar, bass guitar, keyboard etc. Next one to follow is an astonishing dance medley by Colorado Kannada Koota kids Aparna, Gowri, Megana, Reshma, Abhijit, Arjun, Jayanth, Sanjay choreographed by Nischinth. Colorado has some of the best teachers for several dance forms; one such great school is Abhinaya Dance school by Usha Muralidharan. The kids from this school Angela, Azelea, Sri Devi, Arthi, Jotsna and Dhipthika have performed for a Bharatanatyam Varnam Ashtalakshmi in a joyous way. Chalka chalka was a joyful dance during traditional wedding celebration, performed by Nivetha, Kavitha and Priya.

Then followed the Bollywood item Chupke se lag ja gale, by the choreographer Ramyashree. The dancer showed the high ravishing movements for the rhythmic beats. Bachna Haseeno medley choreographed by Lahari with Ajaya, Ankit, Bela, Bora, Dhwani, Hannah, Rohit and Sheldon was filled with high energy that successfully transmitted its current to the audience. Bollywood live music troupe of Colorado Rockies Masti team comprising of Sandeep, Sujatha, Savitha and Sarah have presented karaoke based concert with many popular and patriotic songs. This has many melodious bits with a great mixture of oldies and newbies.

The last item of the night is a high energy Bhangra performance by Mile-Hi Bhangra team Arvind, Bhutta, Gurdeep, Ajeet, Jassi, Amritpal, Amisha, Shreya, Divya, Ria and Sarah. This is a very professional performance by the team dressed in the traditional gear. Best steps and best beats compete with each other throughout the dance performance.

The program was very well managed by two MCs Sandeep Kulkarni and Sathya Narayan, with a great blend of singing, dance, situational commentary. Everyone enjoyed the programs distributed very thoughtfully among different regions of India.

5th February 2010
Cherry Creek school district spelling bee team has 4 Desi kids
Cherry Creek School District Spelling bee was held on Friday February 8, 2010 at the SARC, Centennial Colorado. Kids from all the Elementary and Middle schools participated in the Bee. 4-5 students from each school comprising a total of about 200 students participated in the written round. After eliminating with a cutoff mark, 25 students went into 2nd round. The district announced one winner along with 15 other state qualifiers. Out of 16 there were 4 Desi kids who are heading to the State Spelling Bee on March 6th 2010 at the Denver Convention Centre. These include Shritha Gunturu (Willow Creek Elementary), Divya Senthil (Village East Elementary), Varsha Kumar (Challenge School), Manasa Ponnapalli (West Middle School). Good luck to all the participants and the winners. DesiShades is committed to update the community for any Desi success stories! Send us if you have one!!

31th January 2010
Colorado's Surya Namaskar Yajna concluded with 75000 salutations
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) - Colorado Branch concluded its fourth year of offering ("yajna") of one million Sun Salutations, known as Surya Namaskar, with the Samarop Yogathon today at Monarch K-8 High School in Louisville, CO. In this concluding yogathon, there were about 170 people have attended, who performed about 14500 salutations. With today's counts, the total met with the target of 75000 for Colorado. This constituted the Fort collins branch with 12,000, Longmont with 28000, Westminster with 25000, Highlands Ranch with 5000 and Colorado Springs with 8000. HSS has organized a Hindu Cultural Exhibition on this occasion which attracted a lot of people to know the best of the India.

28th January 2010
Colorado Roundup - Week4
The week started with a great fun event Pongalo Pongal by the Tamil Association of Colorado on Sunday 24th January at Jefferson County Fairgrounds Hall. It was a very traditional event to with kids and adults dressing as per their culture, and present cultural items. The drama Markandeya was very well organized with very situational settings and attires. The lunch was a potluck by all the members of the association, which was very sumptuous with many southern varieties such as Hot and Sweet Pongal, Idly, Sambar, Tair Sadam, Pickles in a very friendly environment.

SV Temple in Castle Rock has started Sudarshana Homam on every 3rd Sunday with this day, and the first event went well with a great participation of devotees.

There is some mixed news for the jobs in Colorado. Oracle's acquisition of Sun has been in the news for over 9 months, which finally finished with the official news on Wednesday. This means a lot for Coloradans, as Colorado is a very strategic location for Sun and Oracle with more than 2500 employees. Oracle is not planning any layoffs of the common workforce, and they reiterated that they will invest more into Sun operations, where as analysts have been predicting of chopping it into half to about 13000 layoffs. Time Warner Cable has announced a plan to lay off about 350 employees in Colorado. Keep tight!

The 2010 US Census is about to start. By March we will get the forms by mail, and we need to fill and resend back. In fact, the information the census collects helps to determine how more than $400 billion dollars of federal funding each year is spent on infrastructure and services like Hospitals, Job training centers, Schools, Senior centers, Bridges, tunnels and other-public works projects and Emergency services etc. Participation is mandatory to all of us.

21st January 2010
Colorado Roundup - Week3
Indian cuisine is unique with high calories, spicy and mouth watering. This is treated as one of the exquisite cuisines in the world, with a high degree of specialization. Within the cuisine, there are much localization such as North Indian and South Indian at a higher level, which has its target audiences. Colorado has more than 75 Indian restaurants with authentic cuisines, and some of them run by the Nepali chefs with a little variance. It is still a booming market with more restaurants opening in the metro Denver catering the local areas. Now the latest news is Taste of India, the restaurant located in Denver at Leetsdale Dr & Quebec St, is starting the South Indian cuisine soon. Wait to get more details.

Lately there has been a lot of awareness about Yoga in people. They are getting attracted towards the breathing techniques, meditation, yogasana, dance, spiritualily etc, which is a very welcoming change. All these are scientifically proven techniques to keep the mind and body in control. With the recent Surya Namaskar Yajna marathon started by HSS, several people have started doing some yoga postures. This is during 16th and 31st of January with a target of 75000 from Colorado region. If you have not started sign up, do it now.

It clearly shows there are more movies releasing in Colorado than before, and shown for longer days. With the mega success of the recent Hindi movie 3 Idiots, the exhibitors are more encouraged to get good movies. Apart from the frequent Hindi movies, now there is more choice of other languages too.

Let us end this week's round up with a couple of encouraging words from British Prime Minister Mr. Gordon Brown that Britain will not be the same "without our strong bond with India and the enormous part played by the Indian community". Calling India "a modern global success story," Mr. Brown said that "astonishing" pace of change, dynamism and excitement it was generating and the potential "to do great things" was a tribute to all Indians.

13th January 2010
Good times and bad times
The week started with good sunny days with 60 degree temperatures. It's always delightful to see winter in Colorado sunny, with white snow covered mountains far from the city, glazing in the sun, yet letting the people to move around as usual. That's the life in Colorado. People living in other places always have a myth that it always snow in Colorado during winter, and the whole state is covered in snow, with lifelessness around. When we say that it's not the case, and the snow on the street will disappear within a day, they don't believe. Especially people in Chicago or Boston are so jealous to hear about this. There is no wonder that we may be jealous about the sunny winters in San Diego or Florida.

This week is also significant for us as the first festival of the year falls in this week - Sankranthi or Pongal. Sankranthi falls on 13th, 14th and 15th of January and usually on these days, as opposed to the other Indian festivals, because it follows the solar movements, rather than the lunar calculations. This festival is celebrated in South India most, with the first day for a morning fire ceremony, second day to meet the friends and family and the third day significant for the farming community. It is joyous to see this festival in India on the country side.

The worst earthquake hit the Haiti on Tuesday night, with an increasing death toll of over 100,000 people, worst disaster of the century. People have been helpless to see several countries and people have been getting ready to help the victims, meet their needs in the coming days. It is the time we should be supportive to the people, by all means - cash, food, clothes, anything and everything you can. It has always been significant about Colorado community to stand by the needful in the past, and this is the worst of the worst needful situation, we should extend our valets to help our best. Several organizations have setup the relief lines taking all sorts of donations, but see which way takes the most of your dollar to the end cause. Choose a non-profit organization that has least management expenses in helping the victims.

1st January 2010
Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots making waves in Denver
Its been a record for any Indian movie in Colorado so far, which shatters all records worldwide. More than 2200 people watched this movie in Denver Rockies Cinema by 1st January. Originally planned to play till 31st December, and due to the public demand, this movie was extended for another week. Its none other than Aamir Khan's 3 'Idiots'. DesiShades met with the exhibitor Mr.Sudhir Pawar today, and he told 'this has been an all time record so far. I have been in the movie business in Denver since 1995, and so far no other movie has got so many audiences'. The word of mouth at this theater in Denver was extraordinary as well.

3 Idiots has shattered many records, and has grossed $ 21 million in four days across the globe. The film made about $2.1 million in North America and about $800,000 in the UK in five days. It could have reached the $1 million mark in UK if the theatres weren't closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas. The film stood at the number 12th spot on the American box office charts and number four in UK. The charts were led by Avatar's $ 75 million.

12th December 2009
Desi Christmas celebrations
Christmas has been celebrated by the Desi crowd in Denver at the Colorado Community Church on Saturday 12th December evening in a mega blast. The event was successful to pull a greater crowd of more than 500 people to the event, which reminded of a mini India away from India. This is the sixth consecutive year of celebrating the Desi Christmas.

The celebrations started at 4:30pm with registration, fellowship and tea time. The evening started with prayer involving the people, followed by a Nepalese song. The program has been organized with well distributed between different languages such as Qawali, Malayalee, Kannada songs, mixed with instrumentals. The highlight of the evening is the nadaswaram recital by the guest artist Mr.Paul Sheik, the grandson of Padmashri Dr.Sheik Chinna Moulana. The religious messages were delivered by Cecil Barkat and Dr.William J. Senn III, which best described the Christmas stories. The children who attended the event were taught Christmas carols instantly, to make a group song on the stage. There were some raffle draws during the event with the prizes such as LCD TV, IPOD etc. It is remarkable to mention Mr.Vallem Srinivas of Aurora has won the Samsung 32" LCD TV in the raffle draw, amidst big cheers. The program ended with a silent night and a concluding prayer to the Lord, followed by delicious dinner. Mr. Dinakaran George thanked all the audience, volunteers, performers, church officials to help putting together such a great event. He also thanked all the local community organizations for helping for the event.

Joseph Dhanpal has done extensive MC for the program with great spontaneity. His instant translation between Tamil and English and vice versa is worth mentioning here. Dessert contest was held on this event, and the prizes were announced for the contest winners during the dinner time. The whole program was organized so well, involving the people whenever possible. The raffle draws, return gifts, goody bags, special prizes, complimentary photos with Santa are all great ideas to involve the community. Every moment of the festival reflected the great team work, well planning and great control. With the great festivity, everyone surely remembers this event to be one of the best Desi events in 2009.

12th December 2009
Aruna Ramappa of Colorado Springs took a last breath this morning
Aruan Ramappa, the girl from Colorado Springs, who has been struggling with H1N1 for the last 22 days took her last breath this morning at University of Colorado Hospital. She was diagonized with H1N1 on 21st November, and moved from Colorado Springs to Denver University of Colorado hospital near Colfax & I-225. Since then she had undergone several surgeries. With the more spreading infection from her lungs to the other parts of the body, her condition is feeble for the last few days. She survived with her husband Charan, who works for Verizon as a consultant in Colorado Springs. The family needs some financial support, and more updates will be posted soon. Let us pray to rest Aruna's soul in peace.

30th November 2009
Rockies Cinemas bring new entertainment options to Colorado
GK Media is bringing new entertainment options to Colorado Desi crowd with its venture 'Rockies Cinema'. In a press release today, they said this will be the first state of the art "Indian Theatre" with a vision to promoting entertainment with a complete Indian Ambiance for our people here in Colorado. The audience will get to see the latest Indian Movies right here and experience yourself the best of them at Rockies Cinemas at Cinema Latino de Aurora, 777 Peoria St, Aurora, CO. They are planning to bring the Hindi movies Paa, Rocket Singh, 3 Idiots, Malayalam epic Pazhasiraja and the Tamil blockbuster Vettaikaran in December. For more details, visit www.rockiescinema.com, or contact Mohan Ruthirakoti at 303-332-6852 or Thyagu Manickam at 719-360-5728.

28th November 2009
Rocky Mountain Sai Organization Youth Activities Forum
Rocky Mountain Sai Organization of the Rockies, a part of Hindu Temple, has started a new initiative for younger generation on 28th November soon after monthly Arti. This is a forum for children to express their views. The discussion panel consists of the kids who are in the middle and high school along with their parents, with an agenda that includes the issues and pressures they face during the school years, and preparation for the higher studies. Dr. Paritosh Kaul, Ms. Esha Walia, Mr. Sridhar Babu, Mr. Srinivas Nallapati have inaugurated the first session, with welcoming words and introduction of why we need this forum. Master Sushil Nalla and Master Parth Kaul have taken an active role in the first session to express their views, and some typical issues they face at the regular school, which made the parents to re-think. With a catchy phrase 'Connect - Contribute - Collaborate', the forums program includes youth support system, youth peer network, leadership development, college & career preparation, service & advocacy, summer camping & hiking, winter activities and much more. The forum urged the kids in the community to take part, and get benefited with the network. It will convene every month on the last Saturday of the month.

25nd November 2009
Ace South Indian Playback Singer Unni Menon's concert
Kerala Association of Colorado, in association with MalayalaSangeetham.info (MSI) has organized a concert by the Ace South Indian Playback Singer Mr. Unni Menon on Wednesday 25th November 2009 at Broomfield Auditorium. Colorado's resident singers Ms. Anitha Ajay and Ms. Gayathri Krishnamurthy have joined him for duets and some solo songs from Malayalam and Tamil movies respectively. The melodious concert ran for about two and half hours with many melodies and fast beats from the movies such as Roja, Puthiya Mugam, Uyire, Kathalar Dinam, Sthithi, Rhythm, Gokulam, Varushamellam Vasantham, Minsaara Kanavu and Alai Payuthey etc. It was a real celebration to hear Unni's remarkable voice live on the stage. He greatly managed the show with his timely commentary blended with a great selection of melodies balancing both languages. Anitha and Gayathri have done extremely well with their performance. Two local businesses have setup their stalls at the show, and the 10-minute break let the audience to shop around. There was also a dinner planned with Unni after the concert at Bombay Palace restaurant, which was attended by many enthusiasts. It has been a magnanimous effort by MSI and KAC to bring such a gifted singer, after arranging the legendary classical concert by Mr. Sankaran Nambudiri in Colorado.

22nd November 2009
Aruna Ramappa of Colorado Springs suffering from H1N1
An Indian girl Aruna Ramappa of Colorado Springs got affected with H1N1 virus, and got admitted in UC Intensive Care. Here lungs were affected and she already undergone several heart surgeries. Aruna was taken to a Colorado Springs hospital late Friday night or early Saturday morning because she was in too much pain to move. She was also diagnosed with diabetes, a condition she and her husband Charan were unaware of. She developed an infection in her heart, and she was transferred to the University of Colorado Hospital on Sunday (11/23/09). She had several surgeries related to her heart on Sunday and Monday. Aruna has not responded to the oral H1N1 medication, so the hospital obtained approval from the CDC for an less-commonly-used intraveneous medication, which is being flown in from the CDC.

Please pray for her recovery. Her husband Charan can be reached at his cell no 312-404-1051. For more information, visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/arunaramappa.

22nd November 2009
'Nrutyam 2009' - A Shivanjali Center for Fine Arts Presentation
Colorado's finest Bharatanatyam School Shivanjali Center for Fine Arts presented 'Nrutyam 2009' as a fund raiser for the temples of Colorado on Sunday 22nd November at Broomfield Auditorium. This received a great response from the community with over 250 audiences, who enjoyed two and a half hour of Bharatanatyam seeped in rich choreographies.

The artistic director Ms. Puja Allepalli student of Sri. Adyar K. Lakshman of Kalakshetra and Smt. Ratnam Janardhanan of Kerala Kalamandalam presented the program describing every dance item. The program started at 3:30 pm, welcoming all the audience with a slokam and demonstration of Bharatanatyam Adavus by several new students. The repertoire that evening was a mix of original Kalakshetra masterpieces, Sri. Adyar's compositions and Mrs. Bragha Bessell's abhinaya rich creations challenging and giving enough scope for the dancer's skill to shine through.

The item Pushpanjali in Nattai ragam, by the students Meghana, Namrita, Shrushti and Shreya was a good start of the evening. Divya, Sarayu and Sravya performed Ganesh Kauthuvam in praise of Ganesha. This was followed by Pushpanjali in Gambheera Nattai followed by Tisram Allarippu by Divya, Harshitha, Saee, Sarayu, Saranya, Sravya, Sneha and Vidhya received a great applause from the audiences.

Jatiswaram in Vasantha ragam brought the best out of dancers. The solo, Telugu, Padam 'Daari Joochu' by Lisa Zales successfully portrayed the 'Vasaksajjika' nayika. Another rendition of Pushpanjali by Apoorva, Punya, Shreya Pandit and Sanjukta was an ode to the lord Ganesha. Vani Topkar danced in praise of Lord Nataraja. Buddha Kauthuvam by Shreya Pandit and Tara Srinivas brought out the briskness and vigor of Kalakshetra style and received a tremendous applause for their neat and controlled execution of the adavus. The padam 'Ananda Natamaduvar' a famous composition of Sri. Lakshman in Tamil was a great blend of literature and synchronization of the dancers' movements. The padam 'Gummana' in Kannada by Apoorva and Punya showed the in depth abhinaya of the Padmabhushan Kalanidhi Narayanan lineage in the portrayal of Krishna and Yashodha. The next item was a Varnam in Telugu a timeless composition of Muttuswamy Dikshithar, which was a true test of the dancer's skills and stamina. Apoorva, Punya, Shreya, Sanjukta, Tara and Vani moved seamlessly from one formation to the other executing the crisp ‘Jatis' while keeping control over rythym. This 30-minute composition highlighted the skills of the dancers. The Kalakshetra Thillana in Ragam Kanada was selected as the concluding item of the evening. After Mangalam, Ms. Puja presented trophies and certificates for all the students announcing the culmination of almost two and a half hour of pure classicism.

Shivanjali is dedicated to promoting and preserving the ancient classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. For more details, visit http://www.shivanjali.org.

21st November 2009
RMFN/CAHEP Health Fair at Sanatan Mandir
RMFN in collaboration of CAHEP organized a Health Fair on November 21, 2009 at the Sanatan Mandir in Brighton. The health fair started at 9:30am and finished about 1:30pm. About 46 people participated in the event. Thanks to RMFN board members Kamal Bhattarai, Soni Shahukhal, Suvekshya Bhattarrai and Surya Mani Adhikari for dedicating their time and effort for a successful health fair. Many thanks to Sanatan Mandir Management for providing the venue for the event.

20th November 2009
India Associaiton of Colorado's music and masti-bhari Diwali extravaganza
India Association of Colorado's Diwali Night Extravaganza on 20th November at South Metro Denver Realtor Association Hall in Littleton was successful to getting the community together for a rang-bhari masti party with a great hip hop. There were about 150 people attended, still remarkable being a Friday evening. This was the last event by the current executive committee team for 2008-2009. The event started with a social hour from 6:30 till 7:30pm. Denver's rock band RockiesMasti took a great part of the evening show, with their karaoke comprising of many old and new hit songs. It was a perfect ambience with enough darkness, few twinkling lights and some disco lights, which makes people to come forward and dance for the beats. There was a clothing exhibition and sale organized outside the hall. Shanti's kitchen has catered the food, with many appetizers, tea and full course delicious dinner. IAOC President Mr. Deepak Kaithakkapuzha thanked all the audiences to attend the event, to support his team for the past two years with a great enthusiasm. He also announced the next president Ms. Sujatha Narayan for the next term. This team has definitely done an incredible job in involving many new families to the association that conducted a lot of colorful events.

14th November 2009
Tamil Association of Colorado's colorful Diwali celebrations
Tamil Association of Colorado has celebrated the festival of Diwali on 14th November at Aurora Central High School in a greater fervor. Over 450 people have attended this event, and shared their joy in a traditional way. The eventful evening has started with a prayer song on violin by Priya Hariharan's students Adhitya, Hari, Suppu, Rahul, Aneesh and Tejas, followed by the welcoming address by the new President Mr. Balaji Ramnath. An impressive performance by just beatz group choreographed by Vani Iyer and Meera Ganeshan was applauded by audience. There was a great response to the drama on Pragalada Charithram directed By Jagdeesh Sethuraman, Senthil Gajapathy and Ponnila Chandren with the participants Mrs.Meera Giri, Aditi, Pratush, Kanchana, Namrita, Jeevita, Priyanka, Dhivahari, Lavan, Sruthi, Samyuktha, Sruthi, Ethi, Valliappan and Kavini. The dance item Chutti TV by Narendhar, Varun, Vaishanvi, Dheeksha, Adhithi, Arjun, Viyan, Nithyashree, Praveena, Mandhira, Manasi, Adhiya, Akash, Dave, Saransh, Sahana, Sonya, Sameha, Krishna, Nandhini and Maya choreographed by Padma Avinash has entertained to its best. The dance item Chennai to Colorado choreographed by Sathya R Narayan, involving Anushka, Ganesha, Karthik, Prasad, Sathya, Shweta, Sujatha, Tina and Vignesh was another great entertainer. Nivetha, Priya and Kavitha's dance for Alai Payuthe, choreographed by Thamizharasi and Kavitha is a wonderful piece. Ramya Gangadhar choreographed Mera Mahi Bad Sona Hain with the participants Navya, Vismaya, Neena, Priyanka and Gayatri made the audience tap their feet for the beats. It has always been a great to watch the peacock's dance choreographed by Usha Muralidharan & Sri Mohana Balasubramaniam with the participants Devanshi, Namita, Kavya, Sharada, Mythreyi, Arthi, Angela, Dhipthika, Azelia and Jotsna. A joyful Mehendi Medley choreographed by Prathyusha Apparasu with the participants Sonu, Medha, Dimple, Prathyusha, Padma, Sangeetha and Mounica, Narmada and Anshu truly depicted the soulful moments. Jayadevi Seenichamy choreographed Silk Mela involving Sangeeta, Kiran, Mythili, Sowmya, Vandana, Pallavi, Maha, Jayadevi, Mathula, Ashwin, Sahana, Rohini, Vaidee and Leela is awesome. This is the fashion show with colorful sarees in a traditional back drop, which ended with a wedding scene. A Thyagaraja krithi Sita Kalyana Vaibhogame by Sriranjini Magge's students Shivani and Subbashini was the classical rendition of the evening. Aarthi Ramesh choreographed the traditional Kummi Kolattam - Kalyana Nadanam with Aparna, Vidhya, Hershini, Humsini, Vikasini, Helen, Priya, Yogitha, Anjana, Narmada, Kalaivani, Aarthi, Tvisha and Karthik was marvelous to watch a harmonious movements. Puthu Mappillai is another notable piece choreographed by Ponnila Chandren with the kids Adithya, Adeline, Arjun, Ashwath, Nega, Nivedha, Sakthi, Srihari, Swetha and Mukund. The vice president of TAC Ms. Leela Rajasekar gave the vote of thanks, followed by a hillarious drama Oorukku Poyeetaa directed By Rajasekar. The participants Vel, Ramesh, Thiru, Sai, Murali and Rajasekar have successfully captivated the audience to live in their roles.

Tamil Association in Colorado has grown successfully over the years, with a constructive collaboration from several communities. People wished the bright future for the new team of executives. The event ended with a sumptuous dinner catered by the Masala Restaurant. The overall show depicted the excellent coordination between different teams to present a great event of the year.

9th November 2009
Hon'ble Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Mr.Vayalar Ravi's visit to Denver
India Association of Colorado (IAOC) hosted a dinner banquet in the honor of Union minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Mr. Vayalar Ravi on 9th November at the Inverness Hotel, Englewood, CO. This facilitated a lot of Coloradans to meet and greet the minister, and to get their questions answered. Several officials including Ms. Susmita G. Thomas, Consul General, Consulate General of India, San Francisco, Ms. Sadhna Shanker, PS to Minister, Ms. Sandhya Shukla, Director, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Mr. Ashok Kumar Sinha, Consul (Community Affairs), Consulate General of India, San Francisco and Ms. Arathi Krishna, Community Development Officer, Embassy of India, Washington have joined the minister for the Denver trip.

After a reception hour with the consulate officials at 6:30pm, the evening kicked off with the American and Indian national anthems. The president of IAOC Mr. Deepak Kaithakkapuzha welcomed the hon'ble minister, the minister's delegation, the guest speakers and all the guests who were present for the event. The welcome speech was followed by a special Laser show by Mr. Manik Sorcar, the son of world famous Indian magician Mr. P.C Sorcar. The Consul General of India (SFO) Mrs. Susmita Thomas addressed the crowd in her guest speech, briefly explaining the efforts of Indian Consulate to serve the Indian nationals in US. The Consul General welcomed the honorable guests of the evening Mr. Vayalar Ravi onto the stage. The IAOC President Deepak Kaithakkapuzha and the IAOC cultural secretary Ms. Sujatha Narayan greeted the Hon'ble Minister and the Consul General with beautiful flower bouquets. In the address to the guests the Minister mentioned the initiatives from the Indian government to support the Indian nationals across world, particularly in the context of recent mishaps in Australia. Among several applauses, he announced some new programs extended to the NRIs in USA. Mrs. Poornima Voria, the president of National US India Chamber of Commerce and Mr. Manik Sorcar presented the Minister and the Consul General with some gifts. Ms. Sadhna Shanker, PS to Minister gave a multimedia presentation by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs which provided a great detail of the programs, and policies. The guest speakers Mr. Niraj Baxi, Former NFIA President and Chairman, Mr. Balan Nair, CTO - Liberty Media and Prof.Ved Nanda, Dean at University of Denver Law School have addressed the crowd.

A brief cultural show depicting the dances of India was presented by the students of Laya Dance Academy. This has received great cheer from the minister and his team of officials. The dinner arrangements by the hotel were greatly appreciated by the people attended. The initiative to invite the minister and the consulate staff to Denver got everyone in the community to get a chance to meet the minister and the staff. Mrs. Sujatha Narayan did the vote of thanks to conclude the event.

7th November 2009
Colorado Telugu Association Deepavali Celebrations
Colorado Telugu Association celebrated Deepavali, the festival of lights on 7th November at Aurora Central High School in Aurora, CO, in a great fan fare. The executive committee elections were also held on the same day. There has been a great crowd of over 500 people at the event , started at 3pm with a social hour. The cultural programs started at 4:45pm with the president's opening words to welcome the crowd, and introducing the emcees for the evening.

The cultural event started with traditional Ganesha prayer 'Sri Ganapathim' Kuchipudi Dance Meghna Yammanur and Kavya Ganuthula of Saimeghna Dance School. Mythili Ayyala's Annamacharya Keerthana 'Shravana Bhahulastami' was a great number in Shudda Sarang ragam. Laya Dance Academy's students Shritha Gunturu, Manasa Ponnapali, Shreya Nallapati, Anushka Thummalapenta and Swathi Kompella have performed Kuchipudi dance for 'Bhaja manasa' in an authentic style,choregraphed by Prathyusha Apparatus. Kids of all ages have participated in Fancy Dress Competition, which involved all the audiences. Sumanth Talanki, Ananya Sri Talanki, Rusheel Doniparthi, Nihar Vallem, Vishnu Kodicherla, Trisha Maroju, Chaithanya Maroju, Sahit Talachutla, and Lohit Talachutla dressed very well have danced for a movie song 'Om Namasthe Bolo' from the movie Ready, was choreographed by Soujanya Devarashetty.

'Akhilandeswari Chamundeswari' Kuchipudi dance performed by Meghna Yammanur, Sravani Katamaneni and Sahithi Donthula, the students of Saimeghna Dance School have done the best job, which was followed by a song 'Sambha Shiva' by Hithaishini Kodicherla. A dance medley performed and Choreographed by Sravya Kattula, Devika Kattula, and Sanju Garimella made the audience tap along with the beats. Kavitha Muruganantham's Kuchipudi performance, choreographed by Pasumarthy Venkateswara Sarma has taken some extra time with audio problems, which created some restlessness among the audiences. Saimeghna students Meghna, Pratyusha, Kavya, Hithaishini, Swetha, Sanjana, Anjali, Laasya and Harshitha performed dance for the hit songs from Jayasudha movies and Raja movies is a relief to the audience.

Students from Laya Dance Academy Shriya, Praneetha, Sindhu, Rithika, Reema, Sushmitha and Sarayu have performed dance for 'Ve vela Goppemala' very rhythmically. 'Mamavathu', a classical Song by Meghna, Sahithi, Pratyusha, Kavya, Laasya, Sneha, Keerthi, Anusha, Shivani is a great classical number, followed by the hip hop choreographed by Sumana Nallapati named 'Just for Fun (Hits of 2009)' performed by Pranav Nallapati, Eswari Duggirala, Kaushik Kaja, Shreya Nallapati and Navya Krishna Duggirala. Seshadri's old hit 'Silalapai Shilalu Chekkinaru' took the seniors to a different world. Ramyashree Gangadhar choreographed a patriotic number 'Mera Mahi Bada Sona Hai' with performers Vismaya Bachu, Navya Roy, Gayathri Gude, Priyanka Panati, Nina Vendhan, captured the audience really well. A semi-classical dance performed by Nivetha Muruganantham, Priya Sur and Kavitha Muruganantham was a great piece. The president gave the vote Of thanks for all the volunteers, sponsors, members and audiences to support the organization for the past two years. The show was well conducted by the emcees Mrs.Lavanya Yammanur and Mr. Sridhar Ponnapalli.

Everyone attended the festival with a lot of vigor and fervor, ended up with delicious dinner by local restraunt Masala. It was a great gathering that enjoyed every moment with the friends and families.

25th October 2009
Bhutanese Bandhu Shri Bednidhi Mishra passed away
Within the Bhutanese community in Colorado, there was a death in the past week. Mr.Bednidhi Mishra, aged about 84 years passed away on 25th October at his home in Denver. He is survived by his wife and a son Guru Mishra. Mr.Bednidhi has migrated to Denver from Nepal last year, by the United Nations Refugee Settlement program. Sewa International is trying to raise donations to help his family in this tough times. People willing to donate can send their checks in the favor of 'Sewa International' with the memo - BRE-DENVER, and send to Sewa International US PO Box 14622, Fremont, CA 94539.

24th October 2009
IAEO successful to raise over $120k
Indo-American Eye Care Organization (IAEO) has organized the 2nd bi-annual fundraising event in Denver, Colorado on 24th October with a lot of fan fare, raising an amount of $120,000, with North America Telugu Society (NATS) being the biggest donor.

The evening was started at 5:00pm with a social hour, where all the guests had some time to chat and get to know each other. The event was started at 7:15pm in the grand ballroom decorated appropriately, with the Indian and American national anthems by kids. IAEO General Secretary Mr.Sridhar Talanki, Joint Secretary Mr. Srinivas Cheela and Colorado Telugu Association president Mr.Sankar Gunturu have welcomed the crowd. The Chairman of PVRI Mr.Govind Hari briefly described about the role PVRI plays in providing the specialty eye care to the rural masses, and how this fundraising effort will increase its reach to the end cause. The chief guest Ms.Cary Kennedy, Treasurer of Colorado state praised all the efforts and mission behind the fundraising program, and appreciated the noble cause that IAEO is serving for. A video clip addressed by actress Jaya Sudha with her best wishes was played. Mr.Nadendla Manohar, Honorable Deputy Speaker of AP State Assembly in his key note speech congratulated IAEO Team for their efforts in taking eye care to rural areas to address the preventable blindness and assured the support from the government of Andhra Pradesh. Tollywood Hero Mr.Raja has been invited for the event as a special guest, who shared heart warming story, and how it made him to contribute for the charity. President of IAEO Mrs. Vanita Reddy has thanked the people from all parts of the country to attend this event, anticipated for their best support for the endeavor. Mr. Ravi Madala, NATS (North America Telugu Society) President, Mr. Iftekhar Shareef, Mr. Rao Achanta, Dr. Gopal Reddy Gade, Mr. Sudhakar Perkari were among the distinguished guests who came from all parts of the country. It was great cheer to the crowd when the famous knee surgeon Dr.AV Gurava Reddy from Sunshine Hospitals of Hyderabad addressed the crowd, who flew from the other side of the globe, stayed in Denver for 10 hours, just to participate in the event. Ghazal Maestro Dr. Ghazal Srinivas made a remarkable speech urging the importance of giving sight to someone needy. He contributed $2000 himself, and raised $1000 from the people in Afghanistan where he recently visited to spread the mission of peace. Of all the donations in the evening, the highest contributor is North America Telugu Society (NATS) with its outstanding donation of sponsoring 10 village eye camps and 10 schools, and matching contributions, all together totals to more than $42,000. NATS is a non-profit organization with the primary objective of addressing the needs and concerns that affect the everyday lives of Telugu people in North America.

There were extraordinary performances from the local talented schools Sai Meghna Dance School and Laya Dance Academy. An exciting music concert by the Tollywood music director Mr.Nihal and the singer Ms.Sudhamayi made the evening very vibrant. The highlight of the evening was the Ghazal concert by Maestro Dr.Ghazal Srinivas. This just took everyone in the hall to visit their native place and reminded of their childhood memories.

All the artists and guests were felicitated. It was well organized event by the whole team. The fundraising part was greatly cheerlead by several community leaders and distinguished guests. Mr.Sam Thomas, Ms. Prathyusha Apparasu, Mr.Krishna Kunapuli and Mrs. Priya Gaddipati have emceed whole event very ably. Mrs.Vanita has taken a major role during the fundraising part to motivate the crowd and get the bar raise high. Mr.Sridhar Ponnapalli gave a vote of thanks. Entire event was greatly coordinated by the dedicated volunteer force of Denver fundraising committee, with a sustained coordination for over 2 months.

IAEO was formed in 2006 to provide total Eye Care in India, and a major supporter of Pushpagiri Vitreo Retina Institute (PVRI) in Secunderabad, India. The mission is to provide quality eye care to every one and help prevent blindness through awareness, education and care by organizing the eye camps in rural villages and schools. For more information about the event, and about the organization, visit http://www.indoamericaneyecare.org.

23rd October 2009
Skanda Shasti at SV Temple
Skandha Shasti celebrations at Sri Venkateswara temple organized in a great traditional way. Several devotees have attended the festival on two days at the temple, participated in Pal Kavadi and Valli Subhrahmanya kalayanam sacredly performed by the chief priest Sri Jagannathacharyulu.

17th October 2009
Diwali celebrations across Coloado
Diwali, the festival of lights was celebrated across Colorado by people of all ages within various social groups in the weekend. This is the unique festival everyone enjoys back home, with fun and fireworks. On Diwali day, people perform special puja to Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. With the festival falling on a weekend this year, the families did not miss to celebrate this unlike the weekday festivals. At Hindu Temple there were Lakshmi archana performed every half hour from 10am till 6pm. At 6:30 the temple distributed fire crackers and candles to all kids followed with a 7pm Maha Lakshmi puja and Arti by the priests. All the devotees were distributed Prasad and sweets. At Sri Venkateswara temple too, the chief priest performed special Dhana Lakshmi pooja at 6pm, followed by distributing the fire crackers to kids. Several families have attended the festival with a lot of enthusiasm. Rocky Mountain Gujarati Samaj has celebrated Diwali with a lot of community entertainment programs. Most of the Colorado based Gujarati families have attended this mega event, hosted at Grand View High School in Aurora, with a lot of Bollywood dances and fun shows. Bhutanese families who migrated to Colorado recently have also celebrated the festival with a great gathering. The Bhutanese Cultural Association, an informal group has met for the first time at Park Ridge Academy for almost a whole day of fun, music and dance entertainers. DesiShades will soon post the photos and details article about these event.

10th October 2009
Passionate Bhajans and Hanuman Chalisa at Hindu Temple
HTCC Hanuman Organization had Hanuman Chalisa recital on 10th October by the famous Taos Ashram singers Mark Hari and Terra Radhe. The event was attended by over 150 devotees, who followed Mark and Terra's Chalisa recitals in a passionate, traditional and devotional Taos-style. The singers made the atmosphere very vibrant with their exceptional singing and instrumental skills. There were 21 recitals of Hanuman Chalisa started at 9:30am, ending at noon. After this, there was a 2-minute silense observed for Ms.Yamini Agarwal's recent tragic death. HTCC Hanuman organization passed condolences to the Agarwal family that was present on the occasion, and prayed lord Hanuman to give the bereaved family strength and courage to come over the turbulent times. All devotees were served with prasadam lunch at 1:00pm.

9th October 2009
Bhagavan Sri Vishwayogi Vishwamji's Discourse at SV Temple
Sri Venkateswara Temple of Colorado has arranged Bhagavan Sri Sri Sri Vishwayogi Vishwamji's discourse at the temple premises on Saturday 9th October evening at 7pm. The Swamiji has visited the temple to participate in the Ground Breaking Summary today. Currently he is a divine march for universal integration and peace, with the idea of bringing India and America, which are the two super powers together and to spread his message of love and peace.

During the evening discourse, Swamiji has described about our Sanatana Dharma, the super powers within our body that correlates to the supreme powers of the universe, and how we can invoke them to reach the perfection. Swamiji's preaching were in a very simple language and very well understandable with the examples in our day-to-day life. Swamiji sang beautiful bhajans, which describes the universal love. The chief priest Sri Jagannathacharyulu, the trust board members Mr. Chukkapalli and Mr. Gupta have thanked the Swamiji to attend the remarkable occasion, and get his divine blessings to the devotees in Colorado. Swamiji was honored as per the temple customs. The evening ended with Aarthi and Prasad distribution to all devotees.

9th October 2009
Sri Venkateswara Temple of Colorado's grand Ground Breaking Ceremony
Sri Venkateswara Temple of Colorado has reached a major milestone on Friday 9th October 2009, with the ground breaking ceremony. His Holiness Bhagavan Sri Sri Sri Vishwayogi Vishwamji was present on this occasion and gave his divine blessings to the temple project and the devotees. On this great remarkable day with the temperature in 60s, it was a perfect weather at the temple ground in 1495 S Ridge Road in Castle Rock CO, where there were over 250 people attended. This has been the moment for which everyone in Colorado has been dreaming of for many many years. The temple management has made all arrangements for the devotees at the ground for their comfort.

The chief priest of the temple Sri Jagannathacharyulu with the help of several guest priests from different parts of the country have performed Viswaksena Aaradhana, Sankalpam, Punyahavaachanam, Vaastu Shaanti, Vaastu Homam, Vaastu and Ashta dikpalaka Aaradhana, Bhumaatha Shodasa upachaaram, Sanku Abhishekam before getting the Ground breaking ceremony very holistically. This then was followed by Aadhara peetaarchana, Shanku Sthapana muhurtam (at 1:42pm). There was a perfect Shanku designed for this occasion, purified with prayers was placed in the ground along with many precious and holistic things such as Yantras, Navadhanyas, Navaratnas etc. Many devotees also offered their valuables such as gold jewelry, diamonds, and other precious stones during the ceremony to be placed under the Shanku.

Soon after this, Bhagavaan Sri Sri Sri Vishwayogi Vishwamji Maharaj from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh has delivered his divya sandesham. The temple management has honoured the Swamiji, followed by Teertha Prasadam to all the devotees present at the ceremony. The chairman of the Board, Mr.VJ Chukkapalli has given an update about the temple and the construction status urging the devotees to make generous contributions for the temple construction so we can get the temple into reality as soon as possible. Devotees and other priests were impressed with the proposed temple architectural plans that were displayed. His Holiness Swamiji gave a discourse addressing all the devotees, which filled their hearts with a divine feeling.

7th October 2009
Fine music album 'Journey' by the Desi rock band 'Karmikyatra' making waves
There is a lot of talent in the Desi youth. This has been proven again when our Desi Rock stars Sandeep Kulkarni and Vivek Rao had announced the release of their recent album 'Journey' to the music world. They had started a band named 'Karmikyatra' in 2006. Karmikyatra seeks to harmonize Indian classical/pop music with Western rock by harnessing the oft-elusive but universal "sound" of music. Karmikyatra's first album "Journey" captures the artists' trials and tribulations as they venture forth into a new land; full of challenges yet replete with opportunities. It's a fitting musical metaphor to the artists' own perennial quest for release from the Karmik cycle.

While talking about this album, Sandeep says "all these songs have been recorded at home and also while trading files online with my buddy Vivek. Vivek is in San Francisco and I am in Denver so we compose over the phone and Vivek does all the Music, Mixing & Mastering while I do all the Vocals, Backing Vocals and the Lyrics. Please support local original music!!"

It is remarkable that their latest tune 'The Fallen' was dedicated to the fallen soldiers of the world. The video for this song is to be released soon. The original tunes and videos are available online at http://www.myspace.com/karmikyatra. Feel free to join their Myspace friends list if you would like to follow them in their musical journey and receive updates as they post great new music and videos. Check this video.

6th October 2009
Yamini Agarwal's sudden demise
A young desi girl in Colorado had her last breath on Sunday afternoon. Yamini Agarwal, aged 14yrs, daughter of Bipin and Shashi Agarwal died on Sunday 4th October. The reason for the death is not known yet. The community was really shocked with this incident. The funeral service will be held on Tuesday afternoon at 2pm at Horan & McConaty Cemetary on S Parker Road & I-225. Bipin and Shasi are well known in the community, for their community services. Bipin has been an enterprenuer, and owns a VC firm Red Hawk Investments in Centennial, CO. Let us pray the almighty to get the courage to the family, and to withstand during this tough time.

3rd October 2009
Legendary performance of Alarmel Valli
Centuries old traditions are sustained even today in the busy life. On Saturday 3rd October, Alarmel Valli has given a wonderful Bharatanatyam performance in D.L.Parson's Theater in Northglenn, CO. This event will go down in the history of Bharatanatyam as a recital par excellence. Shivanjali Academy of Dance has organized this wonderful event.

The evening started at 7pm with an introduction about the artist and the team those were accompanied with her. Alarmel Valli started the program with the famous Shiva Panchakshari – the hymn of the five syllables. This piece depicts Lord Shiva wearing the garlands of serpents that represent nature's mysteries and man's coiled energy. This was followed by Varnam, composition by Alarmel Valli and Prema Ramamoorthy. Varnam is all about the two important aspects of the Indian Classical Dance – Nritta (abstract dance) and the Abhinaya (dance theatre) which are woven into a dance tapestry.

Third piece was Poems of Love and War. This is a translation of Tamil poetry of the Sangam era. The Forgotten Seed, a music composition by Prema Ramamoorthy was beautiful number by Alarmel Valli. This is about a young couple engaged in a love play. The program ended with the Nrittalahari in which Valli has successfully explored the subtle textures and nuances of the dance form to create structures in both time and space.

We have been reading about her and her dance performances, but watching her dance on the stage really mesmerized the audiences. One could really see her dancing with her utmost senses involved into the divinity blended with perfect movements. The program which went for a full 2hours 15minutes was absolute spell bound. Denver was blessed with such a great artist.

Puja Allepalli, the artistic director of Shivanjali, has honored all the artists at the end of the concert. Everyone appreciated Puja's initiative to organize such a legendary performance by a maestro.

23rd September 2009
Coloradans busy with festival season
It is the big season for the festivals for the past few days. Ramadan season is just over this year with a month long fasting and late night iftar celebrations. With Durga Puja season, people from all regions are celebrating these festivals with various themes. Hindu Temple has been observing the nav-ratri with the traditional Mata Jagaran. Sri Venkateswara Temple is observing the festival with great Dasara celebrations from 25th to 29th September with Bommala Koluvu, Lalitha Sahasra parayanam and Lord Venkateswara Birthday celebrations on 29th. At the regional level, Gujarati's have been enjoying the days with Garba dances for the past two weekends, while Tamilians with their traditional Gollu setups. Milonee, the Bengali Sangh is getting ready to its mega celebrations for two days on 3rd and 4th October. The Marathi Mandal is celebrating Kojagiri festival with the Dandiya sessions and Masala doodh on 2nd October. With the festivity having no limits, the festival season is observed in the Nepalis crowds as Dashain and Tihar festivals, where Dashain being the Vijay Dashami day and Tihar close to Diwali day.

It is nice to see people celebrating the festivals without forgetting the traditions, thousands of miles away from the homeland. The temples and the community organizations are so much appreciated to do their role to get the people together on these occasions.

13th September 2009
A common forum for Indian IT professionals initiated in Denver
Indian IT Professionals in Denver have come together with an objective to have a common voice and a common body to address specific issues related to them. IT Professionals of Indian Origin (ITPIO) made this into reality with its initiation meeting in Denver, where several professionals attended to get a know-how.

ITPIO is a combined forum for IT pros from Indian origin with a mission to voice for professional advancement, policy making, be an active networking forum to share their specific interests and to be an active resource for the Indian communities across globe. An industry leader Mr.Khanderao Kand is the founder of this noble idea and ITPIO's Silicon Valley chapter was publicly launched on August 15th.

While addressing the initiation meeting in Denver, Mr.Khanderao explained the organization's objectives, "the Indian IT professionals are in all levels from entry to executives, and ITPIO helps promote the professional networking among us, that will ignite the opportunities for professional growth". "There are specific issues that are unique for Indian IT pros in health, culture, leadership, immigration etc, that this forum should address these", added Mr.Sridhar Talanki, President of Pandit View Software in Denver.

Several professionals have attended the meeting, which ended on a positive note with the start of Denver chapter of ITPIO. For more information on ITPIO, visit http://www.itpio.org.

12th September 2009
Onam celebrations by Kerala Association of Colorado
Colorado based Malayalees have celebrated their magnificent festival Onam on 12th September 2009 at Gateway High School, Aurora CO. The evening program has started with a welcome speech by the president Mr.Krishnan Nambudiripad. Prizes were distributed for the picnic competition by Maveli. The cultural programs started with beautiful Thiruvathira dance by Babitha, Sajitha, Bindu, Lakshmi, Reshmy, Aarthi, Anitha, Anuja, Ivy and Lisa, choreographed by Anju Gopakumar. Several kids under 10yrs looked very cute participating in fancy dress competition. Pookalam competition and Payasam competition were successfully organized where a lot of people participated very joyfully. Niranjana's solo performance for an old song on Sri Krishna was very impressive along with her attire. Shivanjali Dance School's student Punya Ramesh's Bharatanatyam performance for 'Ananda Natamaduvar' greatly described the magnificent persona of Lord Shiva in an eternal bliss.

The evening was so delightful with very melodious karaoke songs by Anitha Ajay and Shalini. A student of Mrs.Vidula Girish from Colorado Springs has performed a Bharatanatyam item Pushpanjali with a great ease. Denver's famous child dancer Diya Deepak's Bollywood dance for a couple of Hindi songs Jiya Jale and Liquid dance from Dil se and Slumdong Millionaire made the audiences spell bound. This was choreographed by Mrs Prathyusha Apparasu of Laya Dance Academy. A semi-classical dance by Catherine Cyril was really superb. She had to redo the item due to the technical problems at the end of the program.

It was joyous to see several kids on the stage for Sajita Menon choreographed Mallu Medley. The participants Asha Patt, Diya Sebastain, Anoushka Johnson, Maya Malil, Gayathri Krishnan, Mira Menon, Sona Kalatardi, Tanvi, Rohan Malavathu, Abhinav Akumala, Aneesh Warrier, Saket Mereddy, Gokul Gopakumar, Abhinav Kakumanu, Tom Lalu, and Zack Lalu have done their best to synchronize the movements for the rhythm. The next item was a fusion piece based on classical music, presented by Meera Ganesan, Vani Iyer, and Raja Venkataraman. The theme was on Lord Krishna, starting with Jayadeva's Ashtapadi, followed by the song 'Alai payuthe kanna', and ending with a fusion on the tabla and the drums. This received great applause from the audiences.

A group dance for the song "Dola Re" by Annika Ajay, Neha Bahirat, Anjana Mallya and Neha Joseph was a great attempt. Priya and Mary Thommy's dance for the Hindi song Deewangi Deewangi, Isabelle John's solo performance on violin were remarkable. None of the cultural performances will be complete without Muruganantham sisters. Kavitha and Nivetha's dance for Hamma Hamma ended the evening very memorable. The association members have done the best job to cater the dinner in a very traditional style banana leaves. Several volunteers' thrived effort of catering truly reflected the sprit of Onam and Sadya, celebrated by the God's own country Kerala.

6th September 2009
A highly refreshing camp with a stress on Hindu values
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh - Colorado vibhag has organized a 2-day family camp for Colorado families at Camp Shady brook during 4-6th September. It was arranged in such a nice environment, with all amenities, that fully involved every family member with lots of fun, while stressing on the Hindu values in our everyday lives.

The camp was started on Friday evening by 6:30pm, with everyone driving to this nice quite place in the midst of Pike's national forest on CO-67 with their families. The evening was filled with a lot of cheers, and introductions. One nice thing about this camp is that all the family members will not be together. The men will be placed in men's camp; women will be in women's camp and the kids in the kid's camp. Everyone was kept busy with games and yoga in the early morning. After a sufficient breakfast, the people have assembled for an inauguration session. The HSS-USA President Mr.Ved Nanda has addressed the inaugural session, who stressed the importance of keeping the cultures and religion in a multi-cultural society. A variety of games designed around the Indian culture and heritage such as yoga, were played among the group in the afternoon session. A sumptuous food was catered by the authentic food company Gourmet Kitchen, served by the volunteers of different shakhas. The night was really joyful with cultural program, representing different dance traditions from India. The next day was also spent with yoga sessions, inspirational speech from Mr. Manu Raval and hiking. By the evening, the camp was dispersed, with everyone returning home. The 2 day camp gives a great opportunity to mingle with people, having fun and learning about our rich heritage.

30th August 2009
Kuchipudi Workshop in Colorado
Laya Dance Academy of Colorado has organized one week of Kuchipudi workshop under the leadership of Master Pasumarthy Venkateswara Sarma. Mr. Sarma is a renowned Kuchipudi dancer in India and ha s dance school in Hyderabad, visits USA every year to organize the workshops and encourage the children learning the traditional dance of Andhra Pradesh. Laya dance academy, which is one of the oldest dance schools in Denver, run by Mrs Prathyusha Apparasu, invited her Guru all the way from India. Kids of all ages from 6 yrs to 35 yrs of age took part in the workshop. Kids were taught all kids of fundamentals and the basics of the Kuchipudi dance style. Laya Dance Academy is planning for a Dance ballet during the month of December. More information will be posted on DesiShades in few days.

29th August 2009
Ganesh Puja
Hindu Swayam Sevak Sangh of Colorado has organized the Ganesh Puja for the children on Saturday the Aug 29th at the Hindu temple. This event is organized all over the city in four different places. Kids of all participated with great enthusiasm. HSS has the tradition of organizing the Ganesh puja every year. Hindu temple Pandit Raghavendra ji explained the puja and its importance and gave a detailed explanation on the importance of and also why do we do puja. Before the puja has started kids sang melodious bhajans. Mr. Parag Dharap explained Ganesha symbolism and why he has that big trunk and belly. Nearly 17 kids participated at the Hindu Temple and more than 40 kids took part in Ft Collins, Westminster, Colorado Springs who organized similar puja on the same day.

16th August 2009
Dances of India by IAOC
India Association of Colorado has celebrated 63rd Indian Independence Day with "Dances of India 2009" at Thomas Jefferson High School, Denver with over 800 audiences. Indian Overseas Affairs Minister Mr.Vayalar Ravi and Consul General of India -SFO Mrs.Susmita G Thomas were invited as the chief guests, while Mr.Ravi had a family emergency and could not make it to the event. Mrs.Susmita has taken the pride to attend the evening, along with the Consul (Community Affairs) Mr. Ashok Sinha. The evening started at about 4pm, with the president of the association Mr.Deepak's addressing the crowd and inviting the chief guest onto the stage. Mrs. Sushmita has lighted the traditional lamp, symbolizing the kick-off of the celebrations, and then addressed the audiences. Addressing the crowd, she mentioned the historical significance of the day, and how India has been marching towards the global success under the able leadership. The vice president of Qwest Communications Mr.Sandeep has also addressed the audiences to thank the efforts that IAOC is putting together to unite the Desi crowd in Colorado.

The cultural programs started with Niranjana's dance for Aaja Nachle title song, followed by the traditional Kerala folk dance by several ladies nicely dressed in traditional attire, dancing around the deepam. The fusion dance medley comprising of songs from different languages by the students of Sai Meghna Dance School was colorful on the stage. The movie star and famous dancer Mrs.Divya Unni from Houston has performed a fusion dance 'Minsara Poove' has portrayed all her talents, especially to see her balancing on the plate. Students of Abhinaya School of Dance have performed the peacock dance for a famous tune by the Veena Legendary Mr.Chittibabu. Bhamakalapam, a Kuchipudi composition was performed by Mrs.Prathyusha Apparasu of Laya Dance Academy with high ease and lovely movements. Assamese style dance Guru Bandana received good applause, which was followed by the Bollywood fusion number 'Jiya Jale and Liquid dance' by Diya Deepak that cheered the audiences. Students of Shivanjali Dance School have perfumed the traditional Bharatanatyam items 'Pushpanjali, Allarippu & Jatiswaram' extraordinarily. The fun medley Desi style Bollywood dance by several girls under Sathya's direction made the audience stamp their feet for the rhythm. Vibha, a non-profit organization involved in educating the rural poor kids has presented a short video about the organization.

The program resumed after a break of 15mins with the Aaja Nachle Bollywood dance by Ramyashree, followed by Bharatanatyam performance by Divya Jayabal for Shankar Mahadevan's breathless. Denver Kids Activity group kids' performance for 'Dance pe chance marle' was greatly appreciated by audiences. Another cinematic dance Nimuda Nimuda by Bhabina and Mahsa was a great attempt. Divya Unni performed a semi-classical song from Bhool Bhulaiyaa which was another great number from her.

Slumdog Millionaire's O Saya was successful to show the artistic moves by Lahari, Bela, Hannah and Dhwani. The Muruganantham sisters' ghazal dance Muthu Mazhai was a great one. Medley Bollywood dance by the students of Laya Dance Academy were successful to do the synchronized steps with the high beats. Divya Unni' last performance of the night for the Bollywood number 'Dhoom Tana' from 'Om Shanti Om' was joyous to watch. The evening program ended with Lahari group's fusion dance Marjaani, with some of the latest hit songs. Shanti's catering by Shrestha couple has some tasty delicacies and catered all the people. Vibha group and HSS have setup the information stalls at the event. Volunteers from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have taken a major role in front desk.

15th August 2009
Colorado Telugu Association's Summer Picnic
Colorado Telugu Association's summer picnic helped people to socialize and have summer fun, held on Saturday 15th August. It was a busy day in downtown Littleton with Westerners Welcome Festival, which blocked most of the roads, but quite a challenge to get through the traffic to arrive at the park. Volley ball took most of the men's time, whereas all other activities engaged the kids and women. People played bingo very enthusiastically, though there were few tickets not letting everyone to take part, followed by antyakshari, which maintained a tight contest between the men's team and women's team, before men gave it up to women. There were many parents attended the picnic and shared the joy.

13th August 2009
Krishnastami celebrations in Colorado
Krishnastami, the birth day celebrations of Lord Krishna was celebrated all through Colorado very enthusiastically on Thursday 13th August. All the temples have started the celebrations in the evening at 6pm. At Hindu Temple in Littleton, the celebrations include Gita Paath, Cultural Program, Stotra Paath, Keertan / Bhajan, Poojaa, Archana, Arati / Praarthana followed by Prasad at 12:30 midnight. At ISKON temple, there was a Maha Kalash Abhisheka where the idols of Lord Krishna & Radha were bathed with the panchamrithas by many devotees. This was a very special day at the temple in the year, and was greatly attended by many devotees. There are some cultural programs by many local talents, and Krishna bhajans by the devotees. At Venkateswara temple in Castle Rock, many devotees have taken part in puja, abhishekam, Vishnu Sahasranaamam and Bhajans, Dolarohanam and Arathi at midnight.

9th August 2009
High Energetic Performance by Sonu Nigam at Denver's Explosion 2009
India House restaurant of Downtown Denver has presented the Bollywood super singer Sonu Nigam's Explosion 2009 live concert at Denver Performing Arts' Buell Theater on the evening of Sunday the 9th August 2009 in a big bang. More than 500 audiences were just amazed to see the singer in such a high action for more than 3 hours on the stage.

There was some confusion about the announced time for the show which was 4pm on the posters, 5pm on the tickets and the show actually started about 45minutes later, but everyone was overly entertained by the singing idol with his exuberant style. It was truly joyous to see the celebrity singer live on the stage, who successfully captured the audiences with his style, commentary and songs. The show was kicked off by Ravi Raj, who ably ran the show of the evening. After 5 songs by the singers in the troupe, Sonu appeared on the stage in a blue jeans, white shirt and grey coat with his starter hit 'Kal ho na ho' title song. Apart from many other hits, he rendered "Sandese Aate Hai", from the film "Border", "Saathiya" title song, "Main Agar Kahoo" from Om Shanti Om, "Suraj hua madham" from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam, "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna" Title Track, "Dil ha yeh dil", "Tu hi tu" from Dil Se, Fiza, etc. It was really hilarious when he picked the vegetable names from the audiences and tuned a song. After a brief break of 15 minutes, Sonu's father Mr.Agam Kumar rendered a couple of Mohammed Rafi's songs. All the artists were called onto the stage at the end of the show, along with the India House owner Mr.Darshan Singh (Ghughi) and Mr.Raju Patel and were thanked. It was definitely a 3 hour high fidelity musical journey, and Sonu's first visit was so memorable for us.

1st August 2009
Fun and Fitness at IAOC Picnic
Indian Association of Colorado was successful to gather people for its annual summer picnic on 1st August at Bicentennial Park in Aurora, to get some fun and fitness. People from different parts of the city have attended this picnic in a great enthusiasm. The event was celebrated in an authentic Indian style games and sports such as volley ball, kho-kho, running race etc. Friends joined for a relaxed company and enjoyed the games and food. It was a hot afternoon, but was never a hurdle for the enthusiasts. A variety of food was served to the attendees, and the true spirit of Indian subcontinent was reflected in every moment of the evening.

18th July 2009
Saimeghna Dance School's annual day celebrations
Kids and parents of Saimeghna Dance School family of Aurora, Colorado had a great time celebrating the anniversary day on Saturday 18th July evening. The day was pleasantly warm and everybody was punctually present at 5:45pm the Parker Main street center, with kids in the dance attire and parents busy with all tasks. The program was started at 6:30pm with a welcome address from Smt Lavanya Yammanur, the founding director of the school, briefly explaining the motto behind starting the school, and various developments of the school over the past eight years. The cultural programs kicked off by Ms.Sriranjani Magge, a carnatic music teacher in the region, with 'Vatapi Ganapatim', the traditional Ganesh prayer by Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar. Audience were so cheered to see the performances by advanced students Meghna, Girija and Kavya for 'Sri Ganapathim'. The senior students of the school Sravani, Sahiti, Sneha and Archita have performed Kuchipudi dance praising the Lord Durga with a great involvement. Another set of students Abhigna, Nikitha, Niharika, Akshita, Vismaya, Dheevana and Rithika's performance for Annamacharya krithi 'Adivo Alladivo' got a great applause from the audience. The students Sanjana, Sanvi and Charita have proved their talent in folk dance for 'Mavaa Bangaari', which then followed by a dance for the Ramadasa krithi 'Garuda Gamana' by Keerthi, Anusha, Ananya and Sanjana clearly showing their bhava for the rhythm. The tarangam 'Neela Megha' composed by Narayana Teertha performed by Srikala Appana is highly talented, especially when she danced on the edge of a plate with a great abhinaya. Another traditional Kuchipudi item 'Tandava Nrityakari' performed by Abhigna, Nikitha, Niharika, Akshita, Vismaya and Dheevana showed a great synchronization among the steps within the group. The dance school has completed more than 8 years, achieved many milestones, and gave many performances. It was a very well presented in a power point presentation by Srikala Appana with snippets of those performances. The audience applauded with claps for the performance to the song Swagatham Krishna' by Ananya, Kyathi and Shalika. The karaoke duet song by Neelima and Sankar for 'Nagamalli' was great. The students Meghna, Sravani, Sneha, Sahiti, Ashritha and Pratyusha showed the clear distinction from Kuchipudi style while performing for the Bharatanatyam item Alarippu with a great ease. The school paid a great tribute to the Saint Annamacharya with solo performances by Meghna for 'Srimannarayana', Kavya for 'Kulukaka Nadavaro'. The classical composition 'Namo Namo Raghavaya' by Saint Thyagaraja rendered by Smt. Rajasri Appana was greatly appreciated, which then was followed by 'Mangalam', which is the highlight of the evening, performed by all the students with their Guru Smt.Lavanya. The stage looked like a rhythmic rainbow with over 30 traditional dancers. Mr.Umashankar Yammanur has thanked all the audience, students, parents and everyone behind the show to make it so successful. It goes without saying that not a single event of Lavanya's goes by without the involverment of one person. This remarkable person is none other than Lavanya's father Dr.P.R.A Babu working remotely into every detail of the show. The school has inaugurated its website www.SaiMeghnaDance.com, designed by DesiShades on this occasion. The show ended with the prize distribution to all the students, and participants of the show, presided by Mr.Sridhar Talanki. The MC's for the show Smt.Sridevi Garimella, Kiran Velpuri and Sreedhar Donthula have delivered excellent commentary during the show, explaining each of the events very ably. The audience turnout was tremendous, which proved again that Colorado needs such dance festivals. The parents have taken a great responsibility to cater the audience a grand dinner, with a touch of social hour at the end of the show.

18th July 2009
Shirdi Sai devotees' great contributions to the society on Guru Purnima event
Shirdi Sai Organization of the Rockies, an affiliate to Hindu Temple of Colorado proved that they are not just devotional to Baba, but can also contribute to the society with their blood donations. They celebrated the auspicious Guru Purnima on Saturday 18th July in a traditional way at the Hindu Temple. Colorado Asian Health and Education Promotion (CAHEP) has conducted a health camp at the venue on this occasion, which served over 50 people, elderly parents offering the health screening tests. Bonfils have conducted a blood donation camp which took 27 fillings. The program started with the traditional morning Arti, Sai puja, Abhishekam and Archana for Lord Shirdi Saibaba by the priest Pundit Raghavendra Iyer, with the help from assistant priests chanting the Ganapathi Adharva Suktam, Mahanyasam, Rudram and Saibaba Sahasra Namams. There was beautiful devotional music rendered by Vani Iyer, Neelima, Madhuri and others with the support on Tabla by Raja Venkatraman. After the Maha arti at 1pm, all the devotees proceeded for a grand lunch prasadam. A great team of volunteers have taken extreme care of the people attending the health camp with Gatorade, cookies and coffee. It was truly memorable event with dedication towards the Lord and to the society, closely following the essence of Baba's preaching.

12th July 2009
Hindu Temple of Colorado's Ground Preparation Ceremony
Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies celebrated the auspicious celebration of New Temple Ground Preperation Ceremony on Sunday the 12th July 2009 in a big fanfare. The morning's program started with Pooja and Yagna to seek God's blessings for the next phase of the project that went till 11:30am. The temple president Mr.Mahesh Jha addressed the audience with the temple plans, and the need for more funds in order to execute the project successfully. The vice president Mr.Narender Kumar explained the audience about the current phase of construction. Mr.Bipin Agarwal explained that the first phase of the temple needs $1.6 million, and as soon as we have the amount we can start the construction. Audiences were cheered to hear the motivating words from by Mr.Sudhir Verma and Mr.Sridhar Talanki. All the trustees of the temple board were present at the festival which showed that the dream will soon turn into reality. Presentations of New Temple Design and Construction Plans were done by Mr.Narender Kumar. The Donors received the Recognition Plaques and Certificates which then followed by a commemorative family photo opportunity. On this occassion, the temple has started Pustak Bharati, a kids library program with devotional, patriotic, cultural books/media on Sundays 10:30am to 12:30pm.

The cultural programs was started with Mrs.Vani Iyer's devotional bhajans with Raja Venkatraman on Tabla. Audiences were captivated with the excellent dance show from Sara, who danced in Kathak style, and explained the different steps and the feelings in this form of dance. Mrs.Latha Sudendra's Bharatanatyam item was simply great that spell bound the audiences. Touch of Asia, the restaurant that always backed the temple, has catered the tasty prasad lunch to all the devotees. All the devotees wished to see the temple come into reality soon.

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