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A Quarterly Magazine of

Tamil Association of Greater Delaware Valley(TAGDV)omzuI!ohVfqzk

tagdv.org

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Microwaveohirschools!!kqVghiIkPongal Function on January 21st: See back cover for details

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Supreme Star

Sarathkumar M.P.

and

Radhika Sarathkumar

Kavi Perarasu Vairamuthu

Nattu Pura Padalkal by

Dr. Vijayalakshmi

and

Dr. Navaneethan Krishnan

Would you l ike your f r iends to receive a f ree copy of Sangamam ? Please ask th em to send

the i r mai l ing address to edit or@ta gdv.org

Busy with kids and w ork and no time for your-selves? Reserve some time just for the two of

you. Join w ith your Tamil friends for an eveningfilled with fun

Delicious Indian Food and Enjoyable

Program February 18 th, Palace of Asia, 285 Com-merce Drive 19034 - Ph . (215) 646-2133Ft. Washinton, PA. 5 P.M. to 10 P.M.

For more details log on to tagdv.org or call Andy

Suri at (215) 616-0964

Couples

Night

Valentines Day at

TAGDV

2006 TAGDV Program For speci f ic inform at ion and updates log on to tagdv.org

January 21 Pongal (see back cover of this magazine for more details)

February 18 Valentines Day, Palace of Asia, Ft. WashingtonMarch - Thirukkural and Tamil Bee Competition

April Tamil New Year Program and launching of TNF Philadelphia Chapter.May Tamil Nadu Foundation (TNF) Convention, Detroit, Michigan

June Program with TNF artistsJuly - Federation of Tamil Associations of North America (FETNA) Convention,

New York and Program with FETNA artistsAugust - Summer Picnic

October - Deepavali

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editor@tagdv.org !we

On behalf of the Sangamam editorial board, I thank everyone who sent a name to Christine

this newsletter. Out of about seventy names, the board selected three names namely Sangamam

(confluence), Udayam (rising sun) and Uravu (relation). Out of which the executive committee se-lected the name Sangamam. Sangamam means coming together of people/ideas/things; it is

flowing together of two or more rivers and it also means junction, confluence and gathering - aperfect name that fits very well to the activities of our Tamil association. We request everyone of

you to be part of this venture and contribute to the welfare of our community in the Greater Dela-ware Valley as much as you can.

Particularly, we solicit articles, stories, poems etc., in Tamil or English related to our communityand our association for the upcoming issue of Sangamam, which will be published in the month of

April, 2006 as a Tamil New Year special. Please email your work to editor@tagdv.org or post byMarch 1st.

ohir! !! ! ! ! ! ! uiS!nvrDisclaimer: Opinions expressed in this magazine are by the contributors and do not necessarily representTamil Association of Greater Delaware Valley (TAGDV). Contributions may be edited for clarity and presentationand may be edited to fit the space. Editorial decisions are final. Editorial board: Dr. Vasu Renganathan & Dr.

Somalay Somasundaram.2

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jkh

Suilq!WOz )osbzI!.TAGDV)!!

liuqjz!Okiv{kHkfl

!!

!kQhiutqgcalled the Pongal. The rice that is newly-harvested is cooked for the first time on that day. Joyous festivities mark

the celebration in every home. Servants, farmers and the poor are fed and clothed and given presents of money. On

the next day, the cow, which is regarded as the symbol of the Holy Mother, is worshipped. Then there is the feeding

of birds and animals. (source: http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/religions/makara_siva.htm).!

3

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Mic row ave Sark ara i PongalIngredients:

2 cups long-grain rice

2 cups jaggery or brown sugar

6 cups water

cup moong dhal2 tablespoons shredded coconut

20 cashew nuts

6 cardamoms (powdered)

ghee (made with stick butter)

Method:Dry-fry moong dhal for about 2 minutes until you get the flavor. Saut coconut and cashews in

ghee. Take 2 cups of rice with cup fried moong dhal and 6 cups water in a microwave-safe dish.

Cover (leave it slightly open so that it doesnt boil over) and cook on high in microwave for 20 min-

utes. Mix 3 times in between. Add 2 cups of jaggery or brown sugar with the cooked rice. Cover

and cook on high for another 10 minutes. Add ghee, sauted cashews, coconut and cardamom

powder. Mix well. ohir

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TAGDV Tami l School 2005, P lymouth Meet ing, PA

TAGDV Tamil School at Plymouth Meeting acknowledges with gratitude and thanks thefinancial contribution of the following individuals towards supporting the musicalcurriculum of Tamil School:Murugadoss Ramasamy, Baskaran Sivaraman, R. Krishnamani,

Krishnamurthy Ramprasad, Ramachandran Sivakumar, Easwaran Balasubramanian,Ramaa Ramesh and Krishnaswamy Prabhakar.

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hvh

fjmohXl

hbe

ohx

5

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Tamil school, like a diamond, hasmany facets. They both have many

components without which one couldnot endure. We have our parents,who are devoted and have high hopes

for Tamil school and its students. Thestudents are the very reason Tamil school exists. An-

other aspect would be the culture. Culture is brought

to us by Sumathi Auntie, who teaches us music. Like all nations, schools and or-ganizations, we have a good leader. Mrs. Priya Krishnamani is a strong, organizedleader without whom Tamil school couldnt prevail. As you see, Tamil school, like a

diamond, has many facets. We need all of them to shine.

Ramya Sivakumar

I like Tamil school because I can meet new people.I can socialize with my friends.I learn to speak Tamil, but have fun at the same time.

I like the holiday craft activities.

Kalpana Suresh

I think Tamil school is a place where we all learn ourmother tongue. It is a place to learn to speak, write and

read Tamil. I learned a lot of new things in grammar,reading and writing. We also get to learn with ourfriends and communicate with little kids in buddy time.

-Bhuvana Venkatesan

My thoughts on Tamil School

6

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Community News

Raja Ganapathi Temple in Swedesboro, New Jersey:Construction is in progress for a new temple within short driving distance for devo-tees in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. The deities will include Raja Gana-

pathi, Sahasra Lingam, Sahasrambigai, Dakshinamurthy and Swami malai Murugan.The temple is committed to promote Tamil culture. For more information visit:

http://www.vedagamasudha.org. Call: (856) 357-4003.

nXhkil

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Many Americans are reluctant to eat Indian food be-cause it looks and tastes different than what they normally

eat. Recently, we went to an Indian wedding in Chicago.

When American guests stood in the buffet line they took

very little of the two hot items: chutney and sambar.

What they took was like the free samples offered at grocery

stores! Few of them loved the hot and spicy food and went

for seconds while others did not want to even try. They all

relished the sweet dish made of cream of wheat (kesari).

Samosa was the most popular item because it tasted like spring rolls. They enjoyed the

pappads because it was similar to chips. I was astounded when a few Americans said they goto Devon Avenue (popular shopping street for Indians in Chicago) and eat Indian food every

other week.

Naan and grilled cheese are my favorite Indian and American food, respectively.

They are very greasy and thats how I like it. Spinach and drumsticks are the two Indian vege-

tables I prefer. Lot of American kids say they dont like spinach. Thats because their parents

cook it differently. When Indian moms cook spinach it is as tasty as French fries! My taste

buds have no aptitude for okra. I sit down to eat dinner with my family and amma has already

filled a quarter of my plate with okra. I try to ignore it and push it by the side, but my parentssay it is very good for my Math. I tell them I am already good at Math, and dump it back on

my ammas plate. However, I am yet to win the okra battle because amma keeps on cooking

it as it is my sisters favorite!

In India, people eat bread only if theyre sick. In America, people eat bread almost

everyday for lunch or breakfast. Many American fast food restaurants like McDonalds and

Pizza Hut are becoming popular in India. During my summer vacation, I ate pizza in Chennai

and it was spicy. Pizza restaurants in Chennai give supari packets to refresh your mouth. I

took the colored mini sweet items in the supari and gave the cumin to my parents.

When I smell my ammas Indian cooking in the kitchen it makes my mouth water! The

neat thing I like about Indian food is that you can eat everything with your fingers. It is 7:00

P.M. and amma calls me to eat dinner. Todays dinner includes broccoli porial, potato ma-

saalai, sambar saadham and yoghurt rice. I shout with excitement No okra tonight!.

*Lakshman, Age 10, is a budding journalist with a sense of humor. His articles have appeared in India Abroad and othermagazines. Lakshman shares with our readers his reflections on Indian food.

No more Okra on my plate,

Amma!

9

Lakshman Somasundaram

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Chinmaya Tami l Academ y, Tami l School 2005

We started Chinmaya Tamil Academy (CTA) in October 2004 with six students. The

goal of the academy is to build on the Tamil speaking skills of the students and toinculcate Reading and Writing skills in Tamil.

At present CTA has 20 students and 4 volunteer teachers. Classes are held in the

Chinmaya Mission & Publications facility in Langhorne , Bucks County, PA. Classeslast for 1 hour and are held on the first , second and third Sundays of every month.

Students have been grouped into 3 groups based on skill level. Each group is taught

separately. The Pre K group has about 7 students and learns basic alphabets, stories

and rhymes . The Level I group has 9 students and is learning to read and writealphabets and words. The Advanced group has 4 students and is learning to read and

write words and sentence formation. Pop Quizzes and Tests are conducted periodicallyto evaluate the progress of students.We are also building a library with books, CDsand DVDs and other study materials in Tamil using voluntary contributions from mem-bers. At the end of last academic year , CTA conducted a Graduation Event to show-

case the students talents and what they have learned. Certificates were distributed to

all graduating students. The event was well attended by students, teachers, friends andfamily. We intend to continue with the tradition of such events periodically.

Wed like to reach out to as many students as we can within the space and resource

constraints. We measure our success by the improved ability of our students in read-

ing , writing and conversing in Tamil . We want to thank Swami Siddhanandaji forallowing us to use the space and facilities of Chinmaya Mission. We also want to thankAruna Ram (co-ord), Vasanthi Bhaskaran, Suganya Rajagopalan & Aruna Raj for vol-unteering their time and efforts to CTA.

For more Information, please contact Aruna Ram at arunaram1@comcast.net .

10

By-law Amendment: An amendment to section 4.3 in the TAGDV by-laws as Thelife-time membership dues can also be determined by the current executive committeeand collected anytime during the fiscal year, was proposed by the membership and

unanimously passed by the General Body, which was conducted on November 5, 2005 inColonial Middle School, 716 Belvoir Road, Plymouth Meeting, PA.

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klqp(For regist rat ion informat ion, venue, date and other det ai ls contac t

Swam y Yelesw aram at (610) 274-3446 or v is i t ht t p: //w w w .tagdv.org)

Note: Children will be allowed to choose any Kurals they want. They will be judged based on pronunciation and

content. All participants will receive medals. Please encourage your children to participate.

Tamil Vowels: (For Pre-KG and KG)

Word List for 1st, 2

ndand 3

rdGrades:

nlli! n{qz! ! fqzi!! uiel

Examples: fie

Category Kural Spelling Bee

Pre-KG & KG One Kural only n!Lkz!0!ujv1

st, 2

ndand 3

rdgrades 2 Kurals with meaning in English words from dictation table.

4th, 5th and 6th grades 3 Kurals with meaning in Tamil

or English

words from dictation table.

7th, 8th and 9th grades 4 Kurals with meaning in Tamil

or English

words from dictation table.

10th, 11th and 12th grades 5 Kurals with meaning in Tamil

or English

words from dictation table.

n N - =! d D w W J Y Y Yt 0

11

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Tamil at UPenn.

!!!ohesqr: ?: . .: ! ? ? !: . . They go to the well...: ! .: ! !! .Narrator: . . .

12

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The Tamil Association of Greater Delaware Valley celebrated

Deepavali on Saturday, November 5th, at the Colonial MiddleSchool. In this fantastic festival, both kids and adults (TADGV

Tamil School kids, Chinmaya Tamil School kids, Downington group,Yardley Bharatha Natyam group, Kathambam, Rojakuttam, Electric

Rockers and Thunder Twisters) gave exciting and enjoyable danceprograms. We congratulate and thank the choreographers and

participants of all the programs. Tamil school children spoke verywell in Tamil, their skit and dance performances were beautiful, the

singing of Bharathiar songs and Tamil rhymes were excellent and

very moving. We were all reminded of the beauty of our mothertongue, and we were motivated to continue speaking Tamil with

our children, friends, and family members. We thank the Tamil school teachers and children for theirwonderful job.

In addition, our main program of the evening: the Light Music Concert by SaReGa was a greathit! Mr. C.S. Ainkaran, and Mrs. Anitha Krishna took us through a musical journey from the scintillating

melodies of the yesteryears to the moving beats of today, mimicking the great voices of TMS, SPB, Hari-haran, P.Susheela, Chitra, Sujatha, and many more. We thank the artists for an amazing, non-stop,

four-hour breathtaking performance. Through all these programs we have all cherished the Tamil culture

here in the U.Sthat in itself is a great accomplishment!

Also, the dinner was as usualgreat! Once again, thanks to the volunteers who are always readyto present a tasty fare at all times. I congratulate and thank Dr. Kannan Rajamoorthi and Miss SadhanaRajamoorthi for a fantastic job as MCs for the evening. I also thank our wonderful Chief Guests of the

evening: Dr. Raj Mutharasan and Mrs. Karpagam Mutharasan. As Dr. Raj Mutharasan encouraged, leteach and everyone of us get involved and contribute to our Tamil Association for its successful growth

and expansion. Also, I personally thank all my committee members for their dedication and hard workfor the past two years. I would like to thank my family for their support and help, too. Finally, I thank all

of you who came to celebrate Deepavali with us on that joyous day. We greatly appreciate all your sup-

port for the past two yearsit has been a very enjoyable experience in serving all of you through theTamil Association. Our Congratulations, best wishes, and continued support to Dr. Somalay Somasunda-

ram and his committee members. - Vasanthi Rajamoorthi

uipg!klqp!!!utIg!klqp13

TAGDV TO LAUNCH NEW TAMIL SCHOOL IN DELAWARE

Promoting Tamil language and culture among our children is one of the primary missions of the Tamil As-

sociation of Greater Delaware Valley (TAGDV). Learning the mother tongue, one of the most ancient lan-guages of the world, will enable our children to establish a link with Tamil culture and Tamil Nadu. The

new executive committee is very committed to this noble cause and will work very closely with our exist-ing 3 sister Tamil Schools (TAGDV Tamil School in Plymouth Meeting, Chinmaya Tamil Academy in Bucks

County and South Jersey Tamil School in Cherry Hill).

In addition to the above well-established schools, we are delighted to announce the inauguration of a new

Tamil school TAGDV DELAWARE AND SOUTHERN CHESTER COUNTY TAMIL SCHOOL that will function from

Hockessin, Delaware.

Fifteen students have already registered for this new school. First meeting of the parents and children will

be held on January 29th and classes will begin soon after that. If you know of children interested in join-ing this new school, please ask them to enroll their children by contacting Swamy Yeleswaram at

(610) 274-3446 secretary@tagdv.org

The children will be grouped according to their Tamil skills and trained to read, write and understand

Tamil. We will use DVDs, CDS, and a well-organized curriculum that will suit the learning styles of Ameri-

can-born Tamil children. Our plan is to prepare interested children, over time, to take certificate coursesoffered by the Tamil Virtual University based in Chennai.

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oke

14

gmUOt"!deg

Renganathan at (856) 482-9097 or

Thiru Subramaniyam at (856) 489-4082.! N've

uqlOz]

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!TAGDVs Life Members !!TAGDV congratulates the following members who are the first to become Life Members since the bye-laws wereamended during the Deepavali function on November 7, 2005 to introduce Life Membership in TAGDV.

1. Rita and Antony Rajan

2. Kannan and Vasanthi Rajamoorthi

3. Muthuvel and Saraswathi Thirugnanam4. Vijayasekar and Jayanthi Palanisamy

5. Jeeva and Rajan Govindarajan

6. Soundaram and Somalay Somasundaram

7. Seetha and L. L. Mayuranath

8. Indra and N. Visvanathan

9. Revathi and R. Sivakumar

Annual Membership is for the calendar year. Those who paid their 2006 Annual Membership during the Deepavalifunction (November 2005) can mail additional check for $225 and become Life Members. Those who have not paid2006 membership can become life members by filling the application form and mailing a check for $250 in favor ofTAGDV.

Only the interest gained from Life Membership fees will be used for TAGDV expenses. The principal will not be touched.Your Life Membership is Tax Deductible. Please become a Life Member and help us to take TAGDV to next level ofgrowth.____________________________________________________________________________________________________

TAGDV Membership/Renewal Application

Please Enter Children's (If any) Names and Age below :

Please circle the TAGDV activities that interest you

Volunteer Sangamam Committee Assignments Community service

Annual Family Membership Fee is $25 for calender year Jan. - Dec. ($10 discount for first time newmemberships)

Life Membership $250.

Please mail completed application and check in favor of TAGDV to:

Somalay Somasundaram220 Honey Locust DriveAvondale, PA 19311Phone: (610) 444-2628

Last Name First Name

Spouse Name Telephone

Address: Email

Date:

1) 2)

3) 4)

15

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Some of the world's leading automotive suppliers and OEMs rely on PTI for their ECU

hardware and software needs. Example applications include automotive control systems

and industrial automation.

16

Pathway Technologies Inc.

510 Township Line Road

Suite 110

Blue Bell, PA 19422

With

Best

Complements

DEVI(Authent ic Indian Vegetar ian Cuis ine)

151, Whiteland Towne Center(Acme & Kohl Shopping Center, across from Exton Mall)Exton, PA 19341

(610) 594-9250

Come and enjoy the tasty Indian food. Catering is also available.

Whi le in North J ersey v is i t our s is ter rest aurant

Kailash(Indian and Thai Cuisine)

22, Oak Street,Ridgewood, NJ 07450

(201) 251-9694

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Kevin Dunion, CLU

Financial Representative

CA license: 0892160

722 Yorklyn Rd Ste 150

Hockessin, DE 19707

302 234 6200 x14 office

302 234 6201 fax

kevin.dunion@nmfn.com

www.nmfn.com/kevindunion

Northwestern Mutual Financial Network is the marketing name for the sales and

distribution arm of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee,WI (NM) and its subsidiaries and affiliates. Kevin Dunion is an Insurance Agent ofNM (life insurance, annuities and disability income insurance). Registered Repre-

sentative and an Investment Advisor Representative of Northwestern Mutual In-

vestment Services, LLC, 1818 Market St Ste 3010 Northwestern Mutual, Philadel-phia, PA 19103 (215-569-1222), a wholly-owned company of NM, a broker-dealer,

a registered investment adviser and a member of the NASD and SIPC. NM is not abroker-dealer nor a registered investment adviser. There may be instances when

this agent represents insurance companies in addition to NM or its affiliates.

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Feast for your ears Two of Tamil Nadus best woman orators on a scintillaing

oratorical war the firstupg