Rochester Hindi School

The Rochester Hindi School (RHS) successfully celebrated its annual event India Day on  the occasion of Indian Republic Day. The RHS staff, volunteers,  students, and their parents gathered to learn about Indian Republic Day,  and its significance and kicked off the event by watching the 26th  January 2024 flag hoisting and parade held at Kartavya Path in New  Delhi. This was a nostalgic experience for parents and a learning moment  for students. As the educational director of ICAM, this event reminded  me of all the hard work my team (Shital Aranake, Shelly Goyal, Deepti  Bansal, Mallika Thakur, Krupa Parmar, and Namrata Tomer) have put in to  offer ongoing Hindi Language classes for school age students of  Rochester community.

Some  younger students represented their favorite Indian personnel, while  other students made posters, and PowerPoint presentations on a topic of  their choice, and each one of them spoke in Hindi in front of the  audience. Our (teachers) daily efforts paid off to watch these students  talk in Hindi. We enjoyed the presence of ICAM board members (Alka  Mehra, Ram Kadirvel, Namrata Tomer, and Shanti Subramanian) and ICAM  members who joined us!

As an ICAM board member, I have been focusing on our mission to connect, communicate, and collaborate to support the cultural and educational needs of the Asian Indian Community.  I have joined a World Language Articulation Team established by  Rochester Public School (RPS) representing the ICAM and RHS teams. I am  elated to share about the future opportunity for our students to  participate in the Bilingual Seals program in the RPS district and gain  high school credit. Further details about the program can be found at  the following link https://www.minnesotabilingualseals.com/home.

It  has been a wonderful journey with family, friends, and community  members by my side as our RHS family grew from 17 students last year to  32 students this year. The opportunity to teach our future generation a  language that connects them with their roots, family, grandparents,  cousins, and one another is a true blessing. This feeling of  accomplishment multiplied this year when my daughter Saumya Dubey  (senior at Mayo High School) joined the RHS team as a substitute  teacher.

We  are currently seeking volunteers for the next school year. If you are  interested in teaching or assisting with our special events for our  students throughout the year, please let us know. We welcome your  participation and support. I will conclude with a few words of gratitude  dedicated to my team of RHS staff/teachers/community volunteers and the  ICAM family.

एक छोटा सा सपना लेकर, 

मैंने दोस्तों को पास बुलाया हैi

इस महानगरी में मैने, 

अपनापन पाया हैi

एक एक तिनका जोड़ कर, 

आरएचएस का छोटा सा घोसला बनाया हैi

ICAM की नीव पाकर,

इस समाज का साथ निभाया हैi

इस महानगरी में मैने, 

अपनापन पाया हैi

कभी तो सफलता की ख़ुशी से,

खुद को गद गद होता देखा हैi

कभी काम, परिवार, त्यौहार की,

अफ़रातफ़री तले बोझल होते देखा हैi

पर लक्ष्य इन बच्चों को,

हिंदी बोलते देखना हैi

सौम्या ने ये सपना सच होगा,

ये जताया हैi

एक छोटा सा सपना लेकर, 

मैंने दोस्तों को पास बुलाया हैi

इस महानगरी में मैने, 

अपनापन पाया हैi

Ek chota sa sapna lekar, 

maine dosto ko pass bulaya hai

Is mahanagri me maine 

apnaapan paaya hai

Ek ek tinka jodkar 

RHS ka chota sa ghosla banaya hai

ICAM ki neev paakar 

is Samaaj ka saath nibhaya hai

Is mahanagri me maine 

anpanpan paaya hai

Kabhi toh safalta ki khushi se

Khud ko gad gad hota dekha hai

Kabhi kaam, parivaar, tyohaar ki

Aftratafri tale bojhal hote dekha hai

Par lakshya in bachcho ko 

Hindi bolte dekhna hai

Saumya ne ye sapna sach hoga 

ye jatayaa hai 

Ek chota sa sapna lekar, 

maine dosto ko pass bulaya hai

Is mahanagri me maine 

apnaapan paaya hai