FOI Quarterly Newsletter, January 2023
FOI News
Welcome to the first edition of Vaartalaap in 2023! With the pandemic behind us we anticipate 2023 to take off with many exciting events, starting with the inauguration event Aarambh. But first, let’s take a tour down the events of the past quarter as we gear up for the events in the new year.
FOI Workout session with Sneha and Madhu
FOI is filled with talented individuals and we had two such talented exercise enthusiasts, Sneha Inamdar and Madhu Prashant, spur everyone into an energetic exercise session one early morning in Wildwood Park. The breathtaking scenery of Wildwood Park was a perfect setting for an energetic workout. Sneha,a certified group fitness instructor since 2020, got everyone’s heart pumping with cardio aerobics. Madhu, a certified Zumba instructor since 2018 had the group on its toes with Bollywood Zumba. The event was followed by a healthy breakfast catered by Rang Kitchen. Kudos to Roopa Ram for managing to garner such a beautiful site for the workout.
Garba
A fun-filled evening of dance and music, the much-awaited FOI event during Navaratri is Garba. FOI members were dressed in their traditional attire. The centerpiece decoration by Mishika Events was stunning. The colorful dance-filled evening was a pleasure to watch for those who sat on the sidelines and everyone enjoyed the delicious food after the hearty dancing. The creative photo station by Ruchira Singh was another highlight of the event. The photo booth was a big hit for selfies and group photos and was a busy place the whole evening! FOI youth volunteers Ahona Ghosh and Tarini Eswaran raised money for the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas by donating proceeds from their home-baked goods sale during the Garba event.
Kids Talent Show
FOI kids are an enthusiastic bunch! Every year during December, kids put on their best foot forward in the FOI Kids talent show. Amazing dances, songs, and other performances were put together by all the participating kids making it a very entertaining evening. FOI youth volunteers Tarini Eswaran and Ahona Ghosh explored their artistic side and lit up the faces of little kids with face painting during the Kids Talent Show event.
FOI Carrom, Chess, and Table Tennis Tournaments
Now for official sports news! This year the chess tournament was held in collaboration with the Mosaic Church CPR chess club. We had around 20 participants some beginners and others experts. Participants were grouped by their skill levels into beginners, intermediate, and advanced levels. Our thanks to the chess tournament director Mr. Venu Chetimesetty and church coordinator was Ms. Georgia Morris.
The Mosaic Church CPR chess club also graciously allowed our carrom tournament to be held under their roof. We had 7 participants for carrom, and many were elderly parents visiting from India. They told FOI that they had a great time playing carrom after a long time. The winner of the carrom tournament was Yogesh Asudani and the runner-up was Anil Pandit, father of FOI member, Ambrish Pandit.
Table Tennis tournaments were held at Jim Dailey Fitness and Aquatic Center. Junior event winners were Division A - Seth Chapman, Division B - Manu Gurbelli, and Division C - Nidhi Hebbar. Open singles - Steve Roachell Winner of Division D, Seth Chapman winner of Division C by a tiebreaker, Mehdi Azdegan winner of Division B, Siva Soora winner of Division A, and the overall champion. Women's Group Winner - Shruti Hebbar.
Congratulations to all the winners and participants!
Slice of Life
Festivals of India
India with its rich diversity of religions and cultures is a land of many festivals. Living outside of India, we have double perks when it comes to celebrating festivals. We get to celebrate both Indian and US festivals! Being part of the FOI community is an opportunity to know how our friends from different regions of India celebrate the same festival infused with their unique traditions. An example of this is the Hindu festival of Navaratri and Dasara/Dusshera.
During Navaratri, the different forms or avatars of Goddess Durga are worshipped for nine days to celebrate her victory over Mahishasura, a demon gifted with a boon of immortality. In many parts of India, the defeat of the ten-headed Ravan by lord Rama is also celebrated as Ramlila culminating with the burning of Ravan’s effigy during this time. The tenth day called Dasara or Dusshera marks the end of the festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and ultimately, of becoming victorious over human desire and greed represented by the demons Mahishasura and Ravan.
This festival takes on unique flavors in different parts of India. We are excited to present some of the regional traditions that our members are keeping alive within their communities and in their homes here in Little Rock.
In Gujarat, this is the time to celebrate with traditional communal dances called Garba and Dandia. Men, women, and children wear vibrant traditional dresses and move in circles dancing to folk tunes.
These traditional dances are organized every year by FOI and everyone, young or old, participates enthusiastically in these dances.
“Bhondla”- is another traditional lesser-known dance from the state of Maharashtra. Where an elephant is drawn or placed in the center and young girls and women dance around it. The elephant symbolizes hasta nakshatra, a constellation observed in the sky during Navaratri. Bhondla songs often have a dose of humor in them.
After the dance, women eat together in Khirapat, where each person brings a “mystery dish” and the rest have to guess the dish before getting to taste it.
In Bengal, elaborate pandals are set up for the worship of Goddess Durga. Along with dance, drama, singing, and other festivities, one of the rituals on the last day of the festival is Sindhoor Khela where women first apply sindoor to the Goddess as they bid her farewell and then playfully apply sindoor to each other.
Down South in Telangana, this occasion coincides with Batukamma, or the flower festival where the Goddess is worshipped in the form of flowers. Women make elaborate flower arrangements in concentric circles that are placed in front of the family deities. At dusk women gather to sing songs, carrying the Batukammas on their heads, and later immerse the Batukamma in water.
In other Southern states, a resplendent decoration of dolls on steps called “Golu”, “Gombe Habba” or “Kolu” takes center stage in many homes. People collect dolls and decorations throughout the year for the Golu and the more artistically inclined create elaborate, themed Golu each year. See Artist’s Corner section for one of our member’s Golu.
Festivals are often enjoyed in different ways but these are occasions to gather with friends, family and community and celebrate spirit of joy. Living outside India, and being part of the vibrant FOI community, festivals are an opportunity to familiarize our children to different customs and cultures, to celebrate our heritage with them, while providing them with a nurturing and strong sense of community.
Artist’s Gallery
Rama’s Golu
In many parts of South India, Navaratri is an occasion to bring out traditional dolls and arrange them in steps in a festive display called Bommai Golu, Gombe Habba or Bommala Koluvu.
The Bommai doll collection can be very varied- from figurines representing gods, saints, and mythological creatures to humans from everyday life such as traders, flower sellers, or farmers. The display on the wooden steps often follows a hierarchical order with gods on the top and humans and animal figurines below. Many heirloom dolls are passed from one generation to another and traditionally, a newly married couple is often presented with a pair of wooden dolls to kickstart their collection. The dolls are arranged on wooden steps (usually odd-numbered steps of 3, 5, 7, or more) and flowers and lights are used to decorate the Golu set-up. A traditional or themed rangoli design adds to the fanfare.
In addition to the traditional step display of dolls, some families create elaborate models with themes to complement their Golu. Golu like many other festivals is an opportunity for family members to come together and unleash their creativity. During the nine days of Navratri friends and relatives are invited to view and enjoy the Bommai Golu. Prasadam is offered and in the evenings bhajans and kirtans are sung.
Rama and Pramod Nelluri enjoy setting up innovative Golu themes in their home. Starting in 2011, they have been setting up Golu in their home every year, coming up with creative themes for their Golu. Their travels around the world have been wonderful opportunities to bring back interesting dolls and trinkets to decorate their Golu. Early on during their first or second Golu, Pramod even made an entire village complete with with miniature houses, paved roads, and even soldered tiny street lights!
This year, the theme of their Golu was putrakameshti yagna, a ritual performed by couples in ancient India to beget sons. Legend has it that the great lord Rama and his three brothers were born to King Dasharatha after he performed this yagna.
In the Limelight !
Ram Family
Picture from Left to Right: Disha Ram, Maydha Ram, Dr. Roopa Ram, Dr. Srinivasan Ramaswamy
Tell us about your family members.
We are a family of 4. Srini and I are physicians who work for St. Vincent and UAMS respectively. Our girls Disha and Maydha were born and raised here in Little Rock and attend school here.
How do you all spend time as a family? What are your favorite family pastimes and hobbies?
As a family, we like to travel and see a new country each year. Our other favorite family pastimes are watching Bollywood movies, music related shows, biking, working out, and cooking together.
Where are you from in India? Can you recommend a place near your hometown to visit?
We are from Bengaluru in Southern India and would certainly recommend many beautiful places to visit in our home state of Karnataka such as Mysore, Coorg, and Western Ghats.
When did you move to Little Rock? What do you like about Little Rock?
We have been in Little Rock since 2004. This is our second home since leaving India. Being from a bigger and busier city back home, the clean and green feeling of Little Rock has always appealed to us. To live in an affordable/navigable size city and be able to enjoy reasonable weather all year round are additional things we enjoy about our town. The warmth and love we have received from the strong community of Little Rock has however been our favorite reason to live here.
Highlight some achievements of your family awards & accolades.
Our biggest achievement is the extended family we have made for ourselves for the past 19 years. The friends we have made are our unconditional support system and we feel very lucky to grow older each day surrounded by a loving group of people. Despite living in a smaller city, we also feel happy to be able to pursue our academic and non-academic interests and partake in community service.
Upcoming Events
We are excited to present our inaugural event: “Aarambh - 2023”. It is an in-person event on 4th February 2023, 5:30 pm at Stella Boyle.
Mark your calendar for Valentine’s Day event on 25th February 2023, 6 pm at Highland Valley United Methodist Church.
Members, it is time again to show your effusive support to FOI. Please renew your membership (via Zelle to foilrar@gmail.com) or via Paypal by clicking on Become a Member link on this site as soon as possible and participate in the exciting upcoming activities.
Thank you!
Vartalaap Team
Shayu Deshpande : Editor
Ramya Maneesh & Nitin Kanaskar: Web Design
Roopa Ram, Bhakti Patwardhan and Anish Patwardhan: Project Support