Dear   Friend ,

• 10 AM to 11:30 AM - Pookkalam
• 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM - traditional Ona sadya catered by Aditi Restaurant
• 2:30 PM to 5:30 PM - cultural programs


• Win 2 round trip tickets to India from Washington DC. Visit KCSMW booth to enter the raffle - Qatar Airways
• Release of "Vartha" magazine 2011
• 200 + participants


• Atha chamayam - Chenda melam, Thalapoli, Thrikkakarayappan, Mahabali varavelppu
• Dance drama "pootha pattu" - based on Malayalam kavitha "pootha pattu" by famous Malayalam poet Edassery Govindan Nair
• Kerala kala roopangal - various traditional art forms of Kerala
• Malayalam haasya naadakam (comedy skit)
• Upbeat singing and dancing by local talents!


• Programs will be telecasted in Bom TV (MCN network)


• Donation : $10 (members), $15 (non-members) - (Includes Onasadya and entire event)

More details will be updated in our web site http://www.kcsmw.org Please visit frequently.

Read more...

Carnatic music Idol (junior) USA 2011 - IACRF

We are pleased to announce that - Jaya TV, in association with Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival and Maximum Media (Producers of Margazhi Maha Utsavam), is scheduling a Carnatic Music Idol Junior competition for children living in North America. The competition will be held at four locations in the USA (New Jersey, Atlanta, Chicago and Bay Area), with the support from a local Carnatic Music organization from each location. We are very happy to announce that IACRF has been selected as one of the four hosts. IACRF conveys its sincere thanks to Sri V. V. Sundaram, President of the Cleveland Aradhana Committee, who has taken an active role in bringing this concept to life.We believe that this is a great opportunity for our children, Carnatic Music lovers and our community. Our children get a chance to showcase their talents across the world (India, U.S., Canada, Australia, Singapore, Middle East and parts of Europe). Please find below a few important details. Please also read the enclosed flyer for the rules and other details.

• The competition's objective is to show-case young individuals living Carnatic music in North America. This vocal music competition is open to children between the ages of 5 through 18 only. The winner gets toperform in the Cleveland Thyagaraja Utsavam 2012 in a special slot, and at Jaya TV's Marghazi Maha Utsavam during Dec 2011. The winner also gets to release his/her own classical album contracted by one of the leading audio companies.
• While the format for the competition is on the lines of the Carnatic Idol for seniors relayed by Jaya TV, this being a junior-level competition, the depth and intensity of questions for this competition will be different. The judges for this competition would be professional musicians visiting from India. Their emphasis would be both competence and future potential. The judges would recognize that a high schooler's ability cannot be equated to that of a much younger child and hence would focus more on their potential and effort. An objective of this event is to identify budding talent in North America, and help groom them further into serious Carnatic music for the next few years.
• The East Coast sessions would be held on Friday Sep 16th evening and Saturday Sep 17th. The venue is at Montgomery Township High School at Route 601, Skillman, NJ, 08558. There would be two rounds, a screening round on Friday evening (for NJ, NY and PA residents) and Saturday morning for participants from far away locations) - followed by the preliminary round on Saturday. There will be ample scope for audience participation and voting, which would supplement the judges' decision in identifying the finalists.
• Ten contestants will be selected from the New Jersey event for the finals to be held at Bay Area, California (during the weekend of Sep 24th - details on the finals would be provided at a later time).
• The entire program (including screening, preliminary and final rounds) will be recorded by Jaya TV crew visiting from India, who will broadcast snippets from the performances of the participants. The full sequence of events from the initial screening event onwards would be recorded and edited by Jaya TV. The edited program from all four US locations would be telecast in Jaya TV over 40 sequels, sometime before this year end.
• To register for the event, please mail your registration form (enclosed pdf document) and the registration fee, by Sep 6th 2011. The registration fee per participant is $100 and is non-refundable. IACRF will not retain any part of this money. The entire proceeds of this event would be used to the meet the cost of the Jaya TV crew and the local organizing charges incurred for the Carnatic Idol USA event.
• IACRF is also seeking corporate sponsors to promote their corporation and products during this event. Each sponsor can display one banner on one of the two sides of the main stage. This provides a great opportunity for advertising your services to a large audience worldwide, in addition to the local audience in attendance. Each sponsor is requested to contribute at least $2,000 for this purpose. We also appeal to individual sponsors to donate $500 or more.

For details contact the coordinators of the event Madhusudhan (609) 279 0633 or Ramanathan (732) 422-6830
email carnatic.idol.usa@gmail.com . Additional details at https://sites.google.com/site/carnaticidolusa/

FOKANA Spelling Bee 2011 on Sep 17^th

When: September 17^th , 2011, 10 AM

Where: Potomac Community center, 11315 Falls Road, Potomac, MD 20854

Contact: Shahi Prabhakaran (301-442-090 / shahikp2000@yahoo.com ) or Vipin Raj (703-307-8445)

Objective: Spelling Bee competition is conducted by FOKANA to promote the educational skills of the children of Keralites from North America and Canada. The Spelling Bee Board will conduct the competition without any discrimination or bias with respect to religion, caste, gender, or political affiliation.

Rules & Regulations for Preliminary Round

As always, thank you for your support and co-operation,

• Eligibility: Boys and girls must be in grades 5-8 at the time of competition.
• At least one parent of the contestant must be of Kerala descent.
• Contestants are allowed to participate at any regional competition center once a year.
• A parent or authorized adult must accompany the contestant to the test center and is responsible for their pick up/departure in accordance with the time regulations set forth by the test center.

• If you are more than 5 minutes late to the test center, you will automatically be disqualified from participating in the preliminary competition.
• Contestants in the top 40% will advance to the Spelling Bee finals.
• Completed entry forms must be received by the Spelling Bee Regional Director by the deadline( May 15th, 2010). Incomplete entry forms will not be considered and are grounds for disqualification.
• Preliminary contestants must meet all the criteria of their respective Spelling Bee Regional Directors' Rules & Regulations.

FOKANA is organizing a National Spelling bee. There are many cash awards totaling $7000. Champion will receive $5000 cash award. National level competitions will be held in New York on October 29th. Washington Regional Spelling Bee competitions are scheduled for September 17th . Please see attachments for details. Prior registration is required. Please contact Shahi Prabhakaran (301-442-090) or Vipin Raj (703-307-8445) for more details

Read more...

St Jude Syro Malabar Catholic Mission VA PICNIC on Sep 17^th

When: September 17^th , 2011, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm

Where: Algonkian regional park, 47001 Fairway Dr, Sterling, VA 20165 (Shelter 3)

The lush greens on the banks of the Potomac, fun games and fabulous food - what better way to connect with old friends and make new ones ? The St. Jude Syro Malabar Catholic Mission of Northern Virginia invites one and all to their annual picnic at Algonkian Regional Park, on Sept 17th, Saturday from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM.

Address: 47001 Fairway Dr, Sterling, VA 20165 (Shelter 3)

For more details, contact Sajith Thoppil 571 224 5067 or Joshy Joseph 703 395 6749

SNMC Sree Narayana Gurudeva Jayanthi & Onam Celebrations

Congressional Luncheon Reception, White house briefing and Embassy Dinner - Sep 15^th

When: September 15^th Thursday, 11 AM to 9 PM

Where: Rayburn House Office Building, Room B-338 & B-339 , 50 Independence Avenue, SW , Washington DC 20024

Contact: Dr. Parthasarathy Pillai (301-935-5321 )

National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA) and Indian American Community of Greater Washington Metropolitan Area cordially invite you to Congressional Luncheon Reception, White House Briefing & Embassy Dinner.

Thursday, September 15, 2011, 11:00 AM 2-30P.M .- Congressional Luncheon - With US Congressmen, US Senators, and Obama Administration and Appointees of Indian Origin. Rayburn House Office Building, Room B-338 & B-339, 50 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington DC 20024 (Near Capitol South Metro station). This is an oportunity for us to voice opinion on hot issues concerning our community.

3:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. - White House Briefing - Old Executive Building with important Administration Officials. Must have valid ID to enter. (Required for WH Briefing by Sept 7, 2011: Full name as it appears in state or government issued ID Card ,Gender , SS# ,Date of Birth, Nationality (US Citizen or National of what country) all information provided will be confidential Contact: Dr. Rajen Anand --703-642-3156 - rajensanand@verizon.net Final seating by 2:45 PM.

6:30 PM - Dinner hosted by the Embassy of India (for attendees of congressional luncheon & invited guests of NFIA only) Please contact Dr. Parthsarthy Pillai Chair,Congressional Lunch 301-935-5321 ; Dr. Rajen Anand Chair, White House Briefing 703-642-3156 Admission:$25/person - Prior Registration needed

Onam with Enam 2011

Here we celebrate the release of our "Onam wth eeNam 2011",musical initiative orchestrates to the optimum creative endeavor of the artists world all over. We thank for all the sincere criticism and appreciation that you have given for our previous efforts Onam wth eeNam 2010 & 2009 and while we present this album,we humbly request to people to actively respond and further propagate this venture.

The inception of the album utilizes effectively, the possibilities of the internet to the optimum level to the advantage of those talented. These musical endeavors worked out free of cost online, marks an extremely laborious effort. This effort involved interested and inspired commoners glued to the Computer, artists aware of the nuances involved in the composition of music, writers of verses who now and then jotted down revelations, formed the basis of this experimentation that ended up in a tremendously successful album last year - "Onam with Eenam 2010".

Now this year, please raise yourself as a critical listener and encourage these passionate artists who put their souls into music to make this happen. For the first couple of days , this album will be aired through "Kunjan Radio", another effort from M3DB for the budding singers. To listen and to know more about specific songs, please visit our music page , otherwise enjoy this musical extravaganza through 'Kunjan Radio'.

Read more...