BRAHMA BHARATI Volume 20 Number 1 (2018) A Quarterly Publication of Brahman Samaj of North America (January-March 2018) Brahma Bharati Volume 20 Number 1 (2018) _____________________________________________________________________ EDITORIAL BOARD TABLE OF CONTENTS Officers of Brahman Samaj of North America … 3 Dr. Sanjay K. Pandey (CA) Youth Commitee and BOT … 4 – Editor-in-Chief Message from the President of BSNA … 5 [email protected] Message from the Chairman of Board of Trustees … 7 [email protected] Message from the Editor-in-Chief … 8 Message from the GBC president … 9 Highlights of Dr Pathak’s visit to motherland … 10 Dr. Keshav Shukla (TX) Post convention (2017) press release … 13 Dr. Sukrit Mukherjee (CA) Michigan Chapter activity ... 20 Dr. Sen Pathak (TX) Goals of BSNA … 26 GBC officers … 27 Dr. Ajay Pandey (MI) 2018 Convention Announcement and Information … 28 BSNA Activities & Chapters News … 29 Obituries … 34 2018 Festivals … 35 Financial Information … 38 Brahman Samaj of North America (BSNA) P.O. Box 218031 Houston, TX 77218 Phone: 832-265-1549 Disclaimer: BSNA or the Editors take no responsibility for any views of the authors, errors or omissions. 2 Brahma Bharati Volume 20 Number 1 (2018) Officers of Brahman Samaj of North America (BSNA) (2016-2018) Executive Committee President Dr. Keshav Shukla (832) 265-1549 [email protected] Executive Vice President Mr. Gopal Chaturvedi (951) 217-8170 [email protected] [email protected] Vice President Dr. Sanjay Pandey (760) 583-3284 [email protected]; Vice President (Canada) Dr. Lakshmi Shankar Dube (514) 683-1720 [email protected] General Secretary Dr. Ashok Saraswat (909) 437-3647 [email protected] Treasurer Mr. Satish Dubey (832) 816-6388 [email protected] Assistant Treasurer Mrs. Neeru Birly (408) 667-6461 [email protected] Web Manager/IT Director Dr. Sukrit Mukherjee (714) 504-3493 [email protected] [email protected] Editor of Brahma Bharati Dr. Sanjay Pandey (760) 583-3284 [email protected] Editor of Brahma Vani Dr. Keshav Shukla (832) 265-1549 [email protected] Editor of Brahmakulam Mr. Shiv Pathak (281) 903-4262 [email protected] 3 Brahma Bharati Volume 20 Number 1 (2018) Youth Group Committee Mr. Abhay S Dube -- President Mrs. Aditi Mishra -- Vice President Mr. Shailendra Shukla -- Vice President Mr. Shailendra Tiwari ---Vice President Mr. Vishresht Pathak -- Vice President Mr. Aseem Trivedi -- Vice President Mr. Rahul Panedy -- Vice President Ms. Mokshika Sharma -- Vice President Mr. Partha Dwivedi -- Vice President Mr. Vineet Pandey -- General Secretary Ms. Sonal Tiwary -- Coordinator Ms. Aradhna Sharma -- Coordinator BOARD OF TRUSTEES (BOT) Title Name State Telephone# Email Chairman Dr. Sen Pathak TX 281-797-1888 [email protected] Member Dr. Yogendra Chaubey Canada 514-486 -6204 [email protected] Member Mr. Ajoy Dube CA 562-682-6186 [email protected] Member Dr. Shrikant Mishra CA 610-717-5601 [email protected] Member Mrs. Vimlesh Misra PA 610-539-6073 [email protected] Member Dr. Vinod Mishra CA 951-780-3099 [email protected] Member Dr. Akkaraju Sarma PA 215-530-7438 [email protected] Member Mr. Praveen Sharma CA 408-221-8406 [email protected] Member Dr. Manoj Shukla MS 601-291-0678 [email protected] Member Dr. Shivendra Shukla MO 573-449-5608 [email protected] Member Dr. GNR Tripathi IN 305-318-8692 [email protected] Note: LIST OF CHAPTER PRESIDENTS Will be published in Brahma Vani. 4 Brahma Bharati Volume 20 Number 1 (2018) Message from the President of BSNA Dear BSNA Families and Friends, I join the Executive Committee of BSNA to wish you, your family and friends a great 2018 blessed with good health, happiness, pleasure and prosperity. I am very pleased to inform you that 2017 was another very exciting and successful year enhancing and enriching our BSNA organization. We have taken several new initiatives and supported various community activities to fulfill the BSNA Mission to: Preserve, Promote, Protect and Advance Brahmanic Values, Vedic Culture and Heritage Provide a plaorm to all Brahmans to retain their cultural identy and tradion Develop cultural awareness in youths, facilitate networking and mentoring Network, help each other and promote unity and brotherhood Endeavor to support internaonal community from all over the world Organize Annual Convenon to bring Brahmans across the globe to share their talents, experse and experience, and define the future goals, among numerous acvies for youth and adults Some of the recent BSNA activities are highlighted below: Increased membership and various chapter activities, and created new chapters Involved more youth and created a youth team across North America, working on their increased activities Continued to support Matrimonial Services across North America, receiving a very encouraging and appreciative response from the entire community. Thanks to our Director of Matrimonial Services, Dr. Ajay Pandey, for his continued support. The enhancement of BSNA website is completed and will be launched soon. Thanks to our IT/Web Director, Dr. Sukrit Mukherjee, for his great effort and time to reshape the website. New logos of BSNA were designed and adopted during 2017. Thanks to our Youth Group President, Mr. Abhay Dube, for his advice and effort to help design the new logos. Sought tremendous support of Brahman community of North America and globally, including other Hindu communities Increased chapter activities on the regular basis, such as the celebration of festivals, picnics, workshops on yoga, spirituality and medicines, and promote youth activities 5 Brahma Bharati Volume 20 Number 1 (2018) Organized another very successful joint convention of BSNA and GBC in Detroit, Michigan, with numerous youth and adult participations. The events were full of excellent professional activities in areas of culture, music, spiritual, yoga, social, arts, science, medicine, engineering and technology, business, etc. We are very proud of our youth who are actively involved in several national and international community services. We thank Michigan Chapter, Convention Committee and Convention Director Dr. Ajay Pandey for organizing this wonderful convention and to volunteers for their active support. We were honored to have distinguished speakers and guests from North America/Canada and India, and especially the keynote speaker, Mrs. Mamta Tiwari from Maryland Published the convention souvenir magazine Brhama Vani and quarterly online magazine Brahma Bharati. They are also published online in the new Website format. Recognized several prominent members of the BSNA community including our Ellis Island Medal of Honor Awardee, Dr. Akkaraju Sarma, Professor Satish Tripathi, President of Buffalo University, Dr. Sen Pathak, Emeritus Professor at M.D. Anderson Hospital and BOT Chairman, donors and sponsors of the convention programs, among others. We are very proud of having several distinguished personalities in our BSNA community who are committed to extend their valuable services to promote the Brahmanic causes. We are committed to promote youth activities and bring more youth and young families in the mainstream of BSNA. Please visit www.bsna.org for more detailed information about the activities of BSNA. Please plan early to attend our upcoming Convention, 23rd Convention of BSNA and 8th Convention of GBC, to be held on July 27-29, 2018 in Houston, Texas. Note that we are celebrating the 25th anniversary (Silver Jubilee) of the foundation of BSNA established on September 3, 1994. Thanks to Dr. Sanjay Pandey, Editor-in-Chief of Brahma Bharati, for his valuable time and effort to make the publication of Bhrabhma Bharati possible. I thank you all for providing us your continued support to serve the BSNA family and carry it forward to protect, preserve, promote and advance Brahmanic values, culture and heritage. We wholeheartedly thank the BOT Chairman and members, Chapter Presidents and General Body Members of BSNA, and the President and members of GBC for their continued support. With Best Regards Dr. Keshav Shukla, President of BSNA & EC Members ॐ सह नाववतु। सह नौ भुनु। सह वीय करवावहै। तेज नावधीतमु मा िविषावहै। ॐ शाः शाः शाः ॥ May Supreme Lord protect us. May He nourish us. May we work together with great energy. May our intellect and wisdom grow. Let there be no Animosity amongst us. Om, peace, peace, peace “Brahman Samaj of North America (BSNA) is an independent not-for-profit, charitable, cultural, educational and social organization approved under the Tax Exempt Code of US IRS Section 501 C (3). The contributions to BSNA are Tax Deductible in USA” Message from Chairman, BSNA Board of Trustees 6 Brahma Bharati Volume 20 Number 1 (2018) Dear Sisters and Brothers of BSNA Family, I take this opportunity to wish you all, your family and friends a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year full of divinity. The execuve commiee (EC) under the leadership of BSNA President, Dr. Keshav Shukla, has been making an outstanding effort in serving the BSNA family through their various acvies, such as bringing more members, organizing the wonderful convenons, youth acvies, workshops on science, yoga and spirituality, networking, mentoring, etc. and carrying it forward to promote the Brahmanic values, culture and heritage in North America and globally. I extend my sincere thanks and best wishes to each and every member of the Execuve Commiee, Board of Trustees, Convenon Organizing Commiees and local and global Officers and Volunteers for their reless efforts to lead