Michigan Indian - Richa Gangopadhyay

Meet Richa Gangopadhyay (Beauty + Brains) from Okemos, Michigan, a very talented Michigan Indian. Richa was Miss India Michigan in 2007 and then went on to become Miss India USA.

Richa was pursuing her degree in nutrition at Michigan State University. However she decided to take a break after her bollywood calling, and her Miss India USA win.

Richa recently finished a 3 month rigorous course at Anupam Kher's Actor Prepares Institute in Mumbai. Very soon you might see Richa in a Bollywood movie at a theater near you.

Richa has also devoted a considerable amount of time into volunteering. Richa has been volunteering since a young age and got nominated for the governor's service award for outstanding volunteering. Richa started her own youth tutoring group when she was 15 with her mom, and she recruited more than 20 of her friends to tutor at-risk students in the urban school districts every Saturday for 4 consecutive years, until she graduated from high school.

Best Wishes to Richa!!

Anuja Rajendra of BollyFit featured in Detroit Free Press

In a article titled "Inventive routines make the right workout for hard times" in yesterday's Detroit Free Press, Erin Chan writes about a talented Michigan Indian - Anuja Rajendra of Bollyfit.

A class called "Bollyfit" in Ann Arbor merges culture and fitness by incorporating Bollywood dance into workouts. Designed by Ann Arbor resident Anuja Rajendra, the class puts a fitness emphasis on the choreography and upbeat movements of the dances Bollywood movies made famous.

The dancers learn some steps each week, and by the end of an eight-week session, they will have pieced together a complete dance.

At the front of the room, Rajendra, a lithe mother of two, leads the women in a series of sweat-inducing hand gestures (mudras), half-sits (araimandis) and other moves that, once put together, form a routine during the 6-minute song.

"One of the hardest things I do," she says, "is achieving the right balance of dance, fitness and accessibility."

Raised in Okemos, Rajendra, 36, began her training in classical Indian dance 30 years ago. For years, she performed with her two older siblings as the Rajendra Sisters Dance Troupe.

The dancing stopped when one sister, Rachana Rajendra, was killed in a car accident at the age of 27. For the next decade, Rajendra shoved dance aside.

"Just the idea of dancing," she says. "There wasn't joy in it."

That changed a couple of years ago, after the birth of her second son. She had gained 60 pounds with her first pregnancy and 45 pounds with her second, and "I was literally waddling around and looking for a way to get healthy again," she says.

"I started dancing, and not only was the weight coming off, but the joy was coming back. A spark that had been gone started re-emerging."

When friends wanted to learn, that prompted Rajendra to begin teaching a class at the YMCA two years ago. It became so popular that she parlayed the concept into Bollyfit and teaches twice a week in Ann Arbor and once a week in Plymouth.

The classes possess a peaceful, free-flowing feel. The routine's moves are not fixed and the people who attend often vote on them.

The classes have a sisterly quality -- Rajendra describes a move by shouting, "The legs move, but the hips get the credit!" -- and have drawn mostly women. Rajendra says men are welcome and could get their own class, like the one she will offer for toddlers within the coming months.

The women in the class say the social appeal mixed with the unorthodox workout keeps them interested.

"You feel like you're with a group of friends," says Deasha Perry, 22, of Ypsilanti. "I don't even think about it being exercise until the end, when I'm all wet and my muscles ache."

Twenty-Five Random Things I Am Convinced About...

These were inspired by the teachings of Swami Vivekananda.

1. I am convinced that there is one and only one God but many man made variations: “God” in Christianity, Allah in Islam, Vishnu/Ram/Krishna/Shiva/etc. in Hinduism, “God” in Judaism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, The Bahai faith, etc.

2. I am convinced that the words God and Truth are one and the same. Therefore, being sincere and truthful is equivalent to believing in God. Therefore, a sincere and truthful person has no need to go to Church, or the Temple, or the Mosque to prove his or her belief in God.

3. I am convinced that religion is man-made. Therefore, I am "religion-less". This is the same as believing in all religions.

4. I am convinced that the different religions are nothing but different paths to the same destination- God or Truth.

5. I am convinced that all religions have the same core principle: peace, harmony with oneself, and the surrounding.

6. I am convinced that if I were to mix blood samples from individuals belonging to different religious groups that it would be impossible to separate them into their respective groups again.

7. I am convinced that all men (and women) are born with a pure heart and with good intentions. The pollution occurs somewhere in their journey through life towards God or Truth.

8. I am convinced that the pursuit of pleasure and happiness is what causes misery in our lives. We should be pursuing knowledge instead.

9. I am convinced that we are droplets of the same ocean.

10. I am convinced that I am far bigger than the flesh and bones that I’m made of.

11. I am convinced that death is just another beginning.

12. I am convinced that I have walked on Earth many times before.

13. I am convinced that there is a “soul” within us.

14. I am convinced that the soul has no beginning and no end.

15. I am convinced that the cycle of birth-death-rebirth can be stopped.

16. I am convinced that most of us think that the fish bowls we live in are oceans where we are king (or queen).

17. I am convinced that if we do not change our thinking (see 16), we will end up getting flushed down the toilet bowls (like all dead fishes are).

18. I am convinced that all actions will have a reaction. That all our doings and undoing’s will unravel in this lifetime or the next. Therefore, some of our experiences in this lifetime are based on our doings and undoing’s in our previous lifetimes.

19. I am convinced that natural balance and harmony will be achieved on Earth sometime in the future.

20. I am convinced that God, sometimes, cries.

21. I am convinced that one can be rich without having any wealth. Consequently, one can be very poor in spite of being very wealthy.

22. I am convinced that knowledge cannot be attained through books or classroom teachings. Infinite knowledge resides within us and our life experiences simply provide the stimulus for uncovering the knowledge. A matchbox cannot give out flame until it is struck by a match-stick.

23. I am convinced that our character is nothing more than an imprint of what we experience as we go through life in our quest of knowledge. Therefore, a character is dynamic and reaches stability once all the knowledge is finally attained. That is, once we are in tune with nature.

24. I am convinced that misery is as good a teacher as happiness.

25. I am convinced that we learn as much from evil as we do from good.

Harish Rawal - Jackson Citizen Patriot's 2009 Citizen of the Year

Harish Rawal, 60, who is a Jackson, MI neurosurgeon and founder of the Great Lakes Brain and Spine Institute has been named Jackson Citizen Patriot's 2009 Citizen of the Year. Last year, the newspaper named him a Distinguished Citizen.

Harish Rawal and his wife, Sudha, donated $1 million in 2007 to Jackson Community College to help pay for its newly renovated allied health and nursing classrooms, now called the Rawal Center for Health Professions.

This year, he gave $25,000 to erect a bronze statue of a Viking at Jackson High School. He and his wife previously gave $50,000 to set up a high school scholarship fund in memory of his mother.

Also in remembrance of his mother, Vasantiben, he recently donated $150,000 to Allegiance Health for its Hospice Home, 2150 Kingsbrook Drive, which provides end-of-life care.

"If I have a message to society, I want youngsters to get inspiration from our lives, from our ascent. And to those who have, we want them to have inspiration to give." Rawal said.

(via MLIVE)

Michigan Asian Indian Family Services offers Free Resume Workshop

MAIFS (Michigan Asian Indian Family Services) offers a free Resume Workshop on February 15th, 2009 at the Northville Public Library, 212 W. Cady Street, Northville, MI 48167. The event will be held from 2pm - 5pm. Visit MAIFS website for more details.

In this free Resume Workshop you will learn strategies to succeed in high unemployment market:

• Are you greater than your resume? If yes, so what? If no, now what?
• Your resume says you are applying for a different job. Oops!
• Form and substance - the medium is sometimes the message.

Seminar for Young Married Couples in Ann Arbor, MI

I first heard of this event on Narendra Sheth's radio program. It is a 2 day seminar hosted by Chinmaya Mission, Ann Arbor on July 25-26, 2009. This is seminar exclusively for young married couples between the ages of 25-38 (either spouse). The seminar adresses the following topics:

• Vision of Life for Married Householders
• Joys and Challenges of Married Life
• Parenting
• Dealing with Emotions and Relations

The thing though is that this seminar is not free. It will cost you $200 and if you are not from the area then you will have to arrange for your own hotel accomodations. Check out Chinmaya Mission, Ann Arbor website for more details.

So my question is what about those couples who are struggling hard in this economy and might not be able to afford $200. So where do these couples go for help? Are there any local Indian Community organizations which offer similar services at no cost?