Hindu YUVA, University of Washington

Last month we had a great time rock climbing at StoneGardens. Checkout the pics at http://students.washington.edu/hyuva/2009/04/rock-climbing-pics/. What’s in store this month ?

As announced earlier we were planning to goto Otter Falls but the roads that lead to the trail are closed. so we have decided to goto Boulder Falls instead!

Summer time in Seattle is a valuable piece of time. You got to go outdoors. This month we have arranged for a hike near Boulder river. Akshay and myself went last weekend to check it out. Its a flat trail (which means we won’t be exhausted after taking 5 steps) and not too long. The trail is surrounded by old trees covered with lots of moss growth. Looks beautiful in a strange way. We plan to cover it in the sunshine and hence plan to leave early morning and come back by evening.

What ? Hike at Boulder Falls

When ? May 30th, 2009 – Saturday

Where ? Meet at 5505 15th ave NE, apt. no 104. Please arrive at 8 am sharp.

How much ? $10 only – including food, water, transportation and taxes!!

Register ? http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=89380163088

We will leave by 8:30 am after distributing directions and food supplies. If you show up at 8 am you will get a refreshing cup of hot tea as well

We will be car pooling, so if you can bring your cars for the day that would be cool. BTW the last stretch of the road that goes to the Falls is not in the best condition. I was able to drive my Passat to the trail head but if you have a high clearance vehicle please bring it. Otherwise we can park it a bit further from the trailhead and just walk a little more  

We will be providing water and food as well. Food includes lots of fruits and trailmix. Feel free to bring anything else you may need. If you do not have a vehicle, transportation will be provided as well. If you have a vehicle you are encouraged to pool it especially if its a high clearance vehicle. All lenders to the pool will be reimbursed for fuel. You are highly encouraged to donate a reasonable amount of $10 to our organisation to recover expenses.

Please take a look at http://www.mountaineers.org/seattle/seahike/hikers/gear.html . Other than that you might want to bring your swim wear!

Namaste,

Last month as some of you know we attended a breakdancing class through HY Socials. Unfortunately we don’t have any pics to show because most of us were breaking on the floor trying to work out the moves A lot of fun for sure! We had a mini battle going on too, even though many of us were attending it for the first time!

A quick reminder: If you haven’t filled out the HY Socials Survey please do so by clicking below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=y3NnEBNb6Z4QL1GwoXcuKw_3d_3d

OK, this month we are having another exciting social event. Rock-climbing! Yup, thats right. Check out this clip of bouldering by Chris Sharma – one of the most famous names in the world of climbing.

Now just to make things clear we are not attempting anything close to that. We will be having more like a beginner’s orientation in rock-climbing by instructors. So no sweat. Of course those of you who are more experienced are also welcome

• What: Rock-climbing beginner orientation
• When: 25th April, Saturday 3 – 5 pm
• Where: Stonegardens. 2839 NW Market St., Seattle WA 98107. www.stonegardens.com

I hope you will be able to join us for another exciting HY social event. Also, because we do group reservations we get discount rates, so thats another reason to come. FYI, because of strict supervision requirements we have limited capacity this time. So please respond at the earliest(mail to [hyuva] at [u.washington.edu]) to hold your spot.

Namaste,

As some of you may know we have started organizing monthly social events where we can get together and not only have fun but also learn and grow. Our aim is to have a variety of social events, usually a few hours long(with some exceptions) with an energetic and healthy vibe. We would like to get your input to organize these events to suit your choices more accurately. Please take out a couple of minutes to fill the form by clicking on the link below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=y3NnEBNb6Z4QL1GwoXcuKw_3d_3d

We appreciate your feedback immensely and look forward to meeting you.

Dhanyawaad,

This year, we introduced HY Socials, with the ice-skating event in Jan 2009. And, it was a lot of fun!

This time around, we learn break-dancing from Jeromeskee. This would be a introduction to break dancing and you don’t need to worry if you haven’t break-danced (or even danced at all) before. It’s a beginner level class but it will be challenging for sure!

When – March 25, Wednesday – 7:45pm to 8:45pm

Venue – Velocity Dance Center, 915 East Pine Street, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98122

How much? $10 per person

Our instructor, Jeromeskee has participated successfully in several b-boy titles throughout the world and has worked with and taught at many corporations and universities and holds workshop classes in Seattle every Wednesday to teach break-dance.

The Facebook page for the event can be found here.

Let us know if you need or can provide car pools.

Holi – the Indian festival of colors. The sheer name of this festival brings into mind a splash of colurs. So, when Hindu YUVA, UW decided to organize Holi celebrations for the first time, it had to be special. A flood of colors that Seattle’s grey skies has never experienced. An addition to the American red, blue and white. An event full of enthusiasm, joy, wonderful colors and some delicious food. Can you expect anything more? Oh yes you can. The event was organized at the Golden Gardens beach in Seattle. We decided to hold our weekly gathering – shakha at the beach too. We played some traditional Indian games like kabaddi and kho-kho. Playing these games on the beach sand made them all the more fun. We decided to light up some real holi fire near the beach. The lighting up of the holi fire turned out to be a good idea given the cold seattle weather. 
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Holi, also called the Festival of Colours, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India, Nepal, and countries with large Hindu diaspora such as Suriname, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, the UK, Mauritius and Fiji. In West Bengal of India and Bangladesh, it is known as Dolyatra (Doljatra) or Boshonto Utsav (”spring festival”). It is the most fun frolic festival among all the Indian festivals.

Hindu YUVA plans to organize a Holi party this year for the first time and that too on a beach!! Besides coloring each other, we’ll also play games like volleyball or cricket or any other creative games you can think of.There will be some Bollywood music, so you can try some bollywood dance steps. And of course there will some good food. We plan to have a potluck for the event. So, please bring some food good for 5-6 people. It surely sounds a lot of fun!

Here are some of the details of the event:

When: Sunday, March 22, 2009 (12:00pm – 3:00pm)
Where: Golden Gardens Park. Golden Gardens Drive NW, Seattle, WA
To view the map: Click here

Please RSVP if you plan to come to this event. Click here to go the facebook event page.

If you do not have an account on facebook feel free to email us on hyuva@u.washington.edu

It has been our policy to have a community service event every quarter. Last year we organised a Food Packaging drive. This month we have decided to arrange a temple trip to the nearby temple in Bothell. The occasion this month happens to be Mahashivratri, a festival celebrated throughout Bharat with much fervour. You are welcome to participate as volunteer or as a devotee.

What ? Temple trip on the occasion of Mahashivratri

Where ? Hindu Temple and Cultural Center, 3818 212th ST SE, Bothell WA 98021 (425) 483-7115 (http://www.htccwa.org/)

When ? Feb 22, 2009 sunday at 6 pm

How much ? Free

This is a busy night for the temple so everyone is encouraged to volunteer in whichever way possible. If you wish to make prasadam you are welcome to do so.

It would be convenient for us if you can RSVP on the facebook event page

So make sure to mark your calendars. Let us know if you need or can provide car pools. We will need cars to transport students most of whom don’t own cars.