April 30, 2005
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Priyanjali Mistry mistryp@uci.edu
Retreat pictures:
1. Serving food to hungry campers
2. An outdoor session by camp fire
4. An early morning indoor session
Satya Eva Jayete ~ Truth Always Pervails, the theme rings strong to us even now after the weekend is over. The Hindu Students' Council at the University of California, Irvine, hosted its first ever Southern California Regional Retreat during the weekend of April 1-3, 2005. It proved to be a memorable experience with students from UCI, UCR, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSD, University of Washington, and more, not to mention two brave high school students that came with their older siblings, contributing to an attendance of over 50 students. The venue was Camp Oliver, an idyllic setting near San Diego, California.
The camp included many events including morning yoga sessions lead by volunteers from the Art of Living Foundation, a spiritual talk by Br. Girish Chaitanya from Chinmaya Mission, and concluding talk by Manohar Shindeji on Hindu Dharma. Discussions comparing Western and Hindu Values, the Separation of Church and State, and the Future of Hinduism in America helped us to discover how our roots impact our lives in contemporary times. We also had presentations from Ekal Vidyalaya and Indicorps representatives who touched our hearts phenomenally with the belief that we can make a difference in improving problems like literacy in India.
The weekend also included fun and interactive, leadership-building games and even a session on conversational Samskrit! One of the more moving presentations was that on the Invasions of India, given by Ravi Raghavanji who opened our minds to a history that is not taught in schools in the United States nor in Bharat. Through the various sessions, discussions, and lectures, the students were able to compare past with present and reveal how it is the universality of the truth that continues to make Hinduism a way of life.
HSC is an international forum providing opportunities for college students and young professionals to learn about Hindu heritage through various activities, events and projects. HSC presents ample opportunities for self-development at the spiritual and professional level via campus study groups, seminars, lectures, workshops, conferences and camps. In California HSC is present at many UC campuses such as Berkeley, Stanford, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Irvine, and Riverside. For more information on HSC, write to info@hscnet.org or visit http://www.hscnet.org/. For information at regional level, contact Vinod Sastry at vgrss1925@gmail.com or Priyanjali Mistry at mistryp@uci.edu.
