युवा हिंदी संस्थान वार्षिक दिन समारोह

YHS Annual Day Celebration on Sept 29, 2010:

Edison, New Jersey: Yuva Hindi Sansthan, a non-profit organization devoted to promotion of Hindi and Indian culture celebrated its Annual Day on September 29th. A lively function was held at Mandap Hall, Royal Albert Palace, 1050 King Georges Post Rd, Edison, NJ 08837 at 6.00 PM, Yuva Hindi Sansthan's President Ashok Ojha welcomed the guests that included a representative of the Consul-General of India in New York, NJ Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula and dozens of prominent Indian-American professionals and business owners. A presentation on status of Hindi in USA was made by YHS Chairman Dr. Surendra Gambhir that was well appreciated. A number of speakers extended their support to the efforts of YHS in promoting Hindi among the younger generation of Indian Americans.
The program also featured a musical performance by Sangeet Sarita, a cultural organization that was followed by Indian dinner.

Community Appreciation Day

December 15, 2010

COMMUNITY APPRECIATION DAY CELEBRATED AT RAAGINI RESTAURANT

(India Post)

Mountainside, NJ – DECEMBER 15:

A wide spectrum of professionals and academicians gathered at Raagini restaurant on December 15, 2010 to celebrate the unity and diversity of the Indian American community in New Jersey. The fun filled event was organized by Yuva Hindi Sansthan, a New Jersey based educational and cultural organization dedicated to promote Hindi and Indian culture and hosted by Raagini restaurant, a premier location known for exquisite Indian cuisine in central New Jersey. Sangeet Sarita, a musical group dedicated to entertain and promote Hindi songs and Indian music provided non-stop entertainment with performance of semi classical and folk songs of India.

“It is a great occasion to celebrate our rich culture”, said Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, who attended the function along with his Cuban-born wife Daisy. “We should feel proud of our heritage that is well respected all over the world. It is a matter of great satisfaction for us that the national language of India, Hindi is widely taught in USA”, he told the gathering. Chivukula complimented the dedication of Yuva Hindi Sansthan for diligently promoting Hindi in schools and universities around the country. YHS was inaugurated in the presence of Chivukula in Edison, NJ in September 2009. He said that the organization made significant progress in a short span of one year.

Acclaiming the dedication of Indian Americans educational and cultural experts, Dr. Harmesh Mittal, owner of Raagini said that the more and younger Indian Americans opted to learn Hindi thanks to the efforts of community organizers and educationists who value teaching of Hindi as a second language in American schools. Mittal expressed his full support to the cause of promoting Hindi and Indian culture.

Mittal pointed out that serving authentic cuisine was an important aspect of presenting our culture. “Indian food offers a variety of spices for better health and taste”, he said. “Food served at Raagini is low in fat content and is prepared in the traditional Tandoor, a clay oven that helps capture the flavors of the dish while offering one of the healthiest means of cooking through 400-700 degree radiant heat over oak charcoal that allows fat to drip during cooking”, said Dr. Mittal.

Ashok Ojha, president of Yuva Hindi Sansthan, reinforced YHS mission to create a favorable atmosphere for teaching Hindi in educational institutions in USA. He said that his organization was planning to expand its operation in other parts of the country in 2011. Extending his gratitude to the Indian American community at large for supporting the efforts to promote Hindi and Indian culture, Ojha read a message from YHS chairman Dr. Surendra Gambhir who called for jointly working for promoting and protecting Hindi and our culture.

युवा हिंदी संस्थान

Heritage Voices:STARTALK Yuvā Summer Hindi Camp 2010

Ashok Ojha, a New Jersey-based author, journalist, and teacher, regularly contributes to a number of publications in Hindi and English. He writes on international affairs, culture, tourism and social issues. He directed the STARTALK Summer Hindi Program 2010 at Kean University, New Jersey, and serves as president of Yuvā Hindī Sansthān, a non-profit group dedicated to teaching and promotion of Hindi as a world language.

The Program

In the summer of 2009, a committed group of Hindi teachers, journalists, and scholars, while attending a Hindi teaching workshop in the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, decided to set up a non-profit organization to promote Indian culture, heritage, and values through the vehicle of Hindi language.

The organization, conceived as youth centric, was named Yuvā Hindī Sansthān (YHS). The founders, led by Dr. Surendra Gambhir, vowed to work for the sole aim of revitalizing and promoting Hindi among youth in the United States and other countries. Yuvā Hindī Sansthān Inc. strives to create opportunities to improve the communicative capacity in Hindi of youngsters through youth-centered workshops, camps, cultural events, and other educational, academic, and community-oriented activities throughout the United States. Within a year, YHS succeeded in organizing an educational language and culture camp in Atlanta, GA, known as the STARTALK Yuvā Summer Hindi Camp 2010.

In this program, one hundred school children attended a ten-day camp from June 19 to 28, 2010. Approximately 54% of the students came from Hindi-speaking families, and 46% came from families in which Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, and Marathi are spoken.

The students were grouped on the basis of their proficiency in Hindi. Most of the teachers in the program were experienced instructors who had received training in the STARTALK institutes organized by the University of Pennsylvania and New York University. The program had active support from Emory University and the Hindi Urdu Flagship program at the University of Texas at Austin.

The curriculum of the camp was guided by ACTFL national standards. Use of Hindi was expected in all classes and activities from 9 am to 6 pm. The students began their day with a Yoga session conducted by a trained instructor followed by 3-hour classroom sessions where they practiced three modes of communication (interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive) and learned literacy skills.

The classroom activities included theatrical performances, singing, and playing games. In their afternoon computer class, students browsed Hindi websites, read stories in Hindi, and prepared PowerPoint presentations. They participated in a number of engaging activities such as arts and crafts classes and sports, such as cricket. At times students had to be reminded to speak in Hindi only. The day ended with dancing to the tunes of Bollywood music.

On a field trip the students were introduced to the architectural beauty and religious symbols of a Hindu temple called Akshardham, where a guide spoke to them in simple Hindi. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Museum was the second stop of the day, where they learned about the philosophical connection between Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. The trip ended with a visit to Global Mall, an exclusive Indian shopping plaza, where the students bought ice cream and snacks while speaking Hindi to all vendors. The vendors were alerted in advance to speak in Hindi only.

On June 27, the program organized a bazaar, with lots of food and other Indian merchandise. Students and their parents bargained prices in Hindi with the vendors. This was followed by a cultural program that the students presented before a large audience comprised of their parents and invited guests.
A sense of accomplishment prevailed on the faces of young students as they received their certificates of participation from the program director, Dr. Surendra Gambhir. The 2010 STARTALK Yuvā Summer Hindi Camp came to a close with the parents watching their sons and daughters with great satisfaction and students demonstrating better understanding of Hindi and Indian culture.

The communities of Atlanta have discovered a new way to engage their younger generation in learning, practicing and appreciating another culture that will enrich the lives of the next generation. The teachers and functionaries of yuva Hindi Sansthan have promised to come back next year to work with another set of youngsters of Atlanta with the same enthusiasm that was visible this year.

The Heritage Voices Collection is designed to spotlight individual heritage language speakers and programs. The information presented does not necessarily represent the views of the Alliance for the Advancement of Heritage Languages or the Center for Applied Linguistics.
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Heritage Voices Program: Yuvā Summer Hindi Camp © 2010 Center for Applied Linguistics November 2010