SSKNA

Convention dates: July 4th & 5th 2003
Location:Pocono Mountains, PA,USA

Agenda for convention Day 1 : SSKNA Convention 2003 on July 4th
The SSKNA Convention meeting will commence on September 4th Saturday at 3 pm.
Venue Address:
Pocono Mountains, PA,USA

Agenda for convention Day 2: SSKNA Convention 2003 on September 5th
SSKNA Picnic @: Tobyhanna State Park
All SSKNA families will get-together at 11:00 A.M. at Tobyhanna State Park.
Picnic Spot Address:
Tobyhanna State Park
Northeastern Pennsylvania

The convention was held at Pocono Manor, an exquisite resort with a beautiful view from the Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania. The following comprises the minutes of the SSKNA Convention Meeting and a synopsis of the events that took place from July 4, 2003 – July 5, 2003.

July 4, 2003

3:00pm, the meeting was presented by Nitin Barad, SSKNA vice-president and Shalini Walvekar.

The members were informed of the current status of the committee. Vijay Walvekar (president) and Raju Bankapur (treasurer) were in India at the time of the convention and Atul Afre resigned last year as secretary.

The vice-president then thanked Mahesh Jituri for assisting in the planning of the convention and Nirmala Miskin in coordinating activities for the kids during the meeting. Thanks to Venkatesh Jituri, Mohan and Ashok Kabadi for helping with the shopping of supplies for the convention.

The financial report is as follows: SSKNA started out with $2,663.00 last year; collected $4,034.00 from the 12th convention and ended up with a balance of $6,697.00. This year’s collection was $3529.00.

Pooja was then performed followed by Darshan Kabadi singing “Raghupathi Raghav Rajaram”.

Members were asked if anyone wanted to fill the open secretary position. There were no volunteers. Sheel Walvekar was nominated and elected to this position. The duties of secretary include mailing the SSKNA minutes, keeping up with email listings, etc.

The responsibility of the Savji Samachar was given to Rajeev Kabadi and his dad Ashok Kabadi. Mr. Pentosha Golconda volunteered to be on the advising committee. Rajeev then gave a presentation as the “Guest Speaker” where he stressed the need for a greater purpose for the SSKNA. He also discussed other issues ranging from locations of the SSKNA conventions, dances and community service.

The SSKNA webpage was then addressed. The SSKNA vice-president informed the members that all information regarding this year’s convention was posted on the website and that Anil Dhondi, the webmaster for the SSKNA webpage was doing a great job. Mr. B.N. Kabadi offered a different interpretation stressing that only one person had access to updating the web page; the web page has not been updated with information on a regular basis; there is little input from India; the matrimonial section needs to contain all eligible people of marrying age; and there isn’t enough articles or food recipes. To which Nitin Barad added that Vandana Pawar has done a fantastic job on the recipe book and that Anjana Barad has tried some recipes (Kheema Rice) which tasted good. To address the issue of updating the website, a committee was suggested by Nitin to help the current webmaster. A committee consisting of Rajeev Kabadi, Hari Miskin, Shaum Kabadi, Krupa Solanki, and Sheel Walvekar was formed to help maintain and update the SSKNA web page.

Concerning next year’s convention, the nominated options were Las Vegas, San Francisco, Tampa, Denver, Atlanta, a resort area, or a cruise. Many people were in favor of a western location to involve the west coast SSK families but others were concerned with member turnout and/or west coast families assisting in planning the convention. Many people had issue with a cruise due to the potential expense. In the end, Atlanta was decided as the location of the 2004

Voting was as follows: Atlanta: 12 family votes; Las Vegas: 9 family votes; San Francisco: 7 family votes; Tampa: 6 family votes. A positive vantage point to a convention in Atlanta is that 5 SSK families live there. Vasu Kartan and Anu Kalburgi volunteered to establish contact with these families – especially the Basavas to plan the convention.

Mr. B.N.Kabadi discussed the Sahasrarjun book that he wrote for the 5- 11-year-old age group for kids overseas. He stated that it was widely accepted and Khodays sponsored $6000 for publishing his book. He trained for 7 years in an art school. Benefits from this book go to community student scholarships. He also showed the SSKNA youth the animated story of Sahasrarjun on his laptop computer.

At night, the convention shifted to an Indian Restaurant – Tandoor Palace, where dinner was served, and a talent show was performed. The night ended with dancing.

The talent show was as follows:
- Kartan grandkids danced to a song from Ashoka
- Chandni Pawar and Ritika Solanki did a dance from Devdas
- Kushal Jituri and Aditya Jituri performed Adnan Sami’s Lift Karade dance
- Amar Kalburgi - Played the guitar
- Ambica Kalburgi sang a song
- Krupa, Pawan, Rajan Solanki danced to song from Dum
- Chandu and Dhanu Miskin danced a Bhangra Mix
- Chandu Miskin - Bharatnatyam dance
- Darshan Kabadi sang Raghu Pati Raaghava Raaja Ram at the meeting
- Ria Barad performed a dance from Mere Yaar ki Shaadi – Sharara Sharara
- Rishi Barad danced to a song from Saathiyaa
- Sarita and Ritika performed a Kathak dance
- Preethi and Ashish Golconda did a prayer for Universal Peace and Happiness.
- Anjana Barad danced to song from Ashoka.

July 5, 2003

Picnic spot - Tobyhanna State Park was in scenic Monroe and Wayne counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. The 5,440-acre park includes the 170-acre Tobyhanna Lake. A pavilion was reserved for our group. The spot was very liked by all members. Various games and activities were played including, Lagori, volleyball, soccer, dodge ball, boating, paddle boating, nature walks etc. We all had pizza, fruits. Members brought in lots of snacks.

Note: The minutes were recorded by Anjana Barad and typed by Sheel Walvekar

Sheel Walvekar
SSKNA Secretary

Note from Nitin Barad, Vice-President
I sincerely hope you all had a great time at the convention and a safe journey home. I would like to thank everyone for attending. This convention was a great success, because of faithful members. It was wonderful to see everyone. The weather was perfect and I hope you all got a chance to enjoy the Pocono Mountains as much as I did. Thanks to everyone who helped with shopping for supplies, making Chai, cutting fruits, setup, cleanup, etc. Look forward to seeing you all in next year’s convention in Atlanta, Georgia -July 4th 2004. Please email to me or call with any ideas or information re:SSKNA. Rohan Barad would like to apologize for his high pitch vocals during the picnic. He fancies himself to be an opera singer one day and can most certainly shatter your crystal glasses. The Barad, Miskin and Gurunath Kalburgi families visited the Bushkill Falls on July 6th– it was fun.

Stay clued...Pictures coming soon