Colorado Springs shakha celebrated Guru Vandana utsav on Sunday, May 15th. Invitations were sent to elementary school teachers several of weeks before the utsav. Three teachers from two different schools attended the function. We started off with warm up exercises and did one set of Surya Namaskars. Shravan ji welcomed the teachers and gave a bouddik on the importance of Guru in Hindu culture. He talked about Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna Pramahamsa.

Children presented flowers, Hindu Culture & Traditions book and hand made greeting cards to the teachers. Amrit vachan was a quote from Swami Vivekananda about education. We formed a mandala and each child recited a slokha on Guru and explained its meaning. It was followed by a couple Bhajan songs on Guru. Children then read short stories about Guru from Mahabharat (Sage Dhoumya and his students). We played a few mandal and a few team games. Teachers then shared their thoughts with us. They liked the stretching exercises, yoga and games. They mentioned that May is hectic month for them and this utsav helped them get away from the routine and relax. All of them enjoyed the utsav and were happy that they were able to attend it. We ended the shakha with prarthana. Children gave the teachers home cooked food, packed in brown bags for dinner