Formation of HAA:
Over the years the number of Havyakas in America has been growing.
Havyakas represent a Subsect of Hindu
Brahmins with roots in India. There is growing interest in maintaining,
sharing and enriching the Havyaka cultural tradition in Americas.
Accordingly, Havyaka Association of Americas (HAA) was formed during
1982 with the aim of providing a common forum towards achieving these
goals to the present and future generations. HAA is a Non-profit
Organization registered in the state of New Jersy, USA. ( #0100163931,
EIN # 22-24019)
Governing Body and
Members: The operational governing body consists of a President,
General Secretary, Treasurer, Executive Committee and Youth Committee.
Initially there were three major geographical chapters of HAA namely:
East coast, Midwest & West-Coast. Respective Vice Presidents
organize each chapter activities.
Communication:
Since inception of HAA, US mail or telephone have been the modes of
communication between the office bearers and members of HAA. These
aspects involved significant time and effort from the office bearers to
maintain and update the postal address directory of the members, making
paper copies of the notices and of course including the cost of mailing.
To take advantage of the electronic era, since 1994 a formal havyaka
newsletter served as an electronic medium to communicate among havyakas
about various activities. In
addition, during 1998 havyaka@yahoogroups
was established to facilitate an informal exchange of constructive ideas
between interested havyakas. During 1999 bi-annual convention, a
proposal to form a havyaka web page was put forward. Subsequently, the
web site www.havyak.com was created
during year 2000 to enhance interaction between havyakas world wide.
Since the beginning of 2002, the majority of communications has been
through e-mails to the members, either directly from the governing body,
or through the chapter vice presidents and importantly with the help of
all the members.
Expansion into
sub-chapters: During 1997, twelve
more sub-chapters with respective VPs were formed to facilitate
better interactions among havyaka families located within a smaller
regional level. These included New England-Boston Area,
Rochester-Buffalo- NY area, Pittsburgh-West Virginia-Ohio area,
Carolinas, Florida, Tennessee-Atlanta/ GA area, Kansas-Missouri-Iowa
area, Huston/Texas area, Arkansas-Arizona area, Northwest/Seattle-Oregon
area, Southern CA/Los Angeles-San Diego area, and Canada. This concept was further expanded during 2003 by adding two
more sub-chapters in Washington DC-Virginia area and Detroit/Michigan
area.
Youth
Leaders/Co-leaders: To bring forward the youth havyakas with
leadership roles in the community activities, one or more Youth
Leader/Co-leader (s) positions were created. The goal is to give more
opportunities for the youngsters to come up with new ideas while, the
chapter VPs can serve as mentors during organizing various activities of
HAA at regional level.
Regional Meetings:
Every chapter conducts local meetings/get together quarterly, around the
Hindu/Havyaka festivals namely, Ugadi, Chuthi, Navarathri and
Deepavali that are hosted generously by one of the havyaka families.
After a traditional Pooja and Prayer ceremony, delicious havyaka food is
being served as a pot-luc lunch. Youth are informed about the
significance and rituals of such festivals. In addition, informal
cultural activities are presented to bring forward and educate the
youngsters. Such an event would conclude with discussions on HAA
business and Charity issues. In addition, during summer time, an annual
picnic is organized to enhance social interactions along with various
types of sports activities including the popular cricket matches.
National/Inter-national
Meetings: HAA organizes a Bi-annual American Continent level
convention, and participation by international havyakas is being
encouraged. Generally this
is a two-day event with overnight stay that is filled with many
cultural, social and sport activities. The important aspects of such
convention is to bring together havyakas of Americas, to enhance network
as well as to present various talents and achievements of all. During
the convention of 2001, a HAA logo was selected. Youth interest and
leadership oriented activities were given major emphasis in 10th
Bi-annual convention of year 2003. Accordingly, youth were brought to
the forefront by including several Youth-Speaker presentations as a part
of the opening ceremony of the convention. To present glimpses of our
cultural heritage to the present generation havyakas, Yakshagana
performances were included during 1999 and 2003 conventions in addition
to other types of classical music and dances of India.
Souvenir and
Photo-Directory: As a part of each convention a souvenir book
and updated havyaka directory are published. Many havyaks including
youth have been contributing creative and interesting articles or poems
of diverse topics or experiences in Kannada and English.
During 2001, the Photo-Directory enhanced the souvenir content.
This feature was expanded in 2003, with a new section called “Havyaka
Achievement Showcase” that highlighted various accomplishments or
contributions of many youth and adult havyakas excelling in diverse
fields of their passion or profession. In addition, another section
called “Havyaka Art Gallery” was introduced to present artistic
capacity of havyakas.
Spiritual and
Cultural activities: The Hindu spiritual activities that were
performed during havyaka events included Poojas, Chanting of Shlokas of
Vedas or verses of Bhagavatgitha, Bhajans or Yoga
practices/demonstrations by youth and adults. Cultural performances
contained Kannada or Havyaka traditional/folk songs and dances,
Indian or Western vocal and instrumental classical or pop music,
Bharathanatyam or Kuchupudi type classical dances as well as Yakshagana,
the dance drama of Karnataka. In addition to these, the association has
provided encouragements and support to the cultural performances of
guest talented artists of our heritage from India.
Charity and
Contributions: Over several years HAA members have been
contributing to the community they came from and to the community they
live in. During 2003 convention-business session, a policy/guideline for
charity contributions was presented and got approved. Good discussions
were carried out to support our Matt Sawmiji’s efforts in uniting and
enhancing havyaka community contributions in India.
Havyakas have
demonstrated their intellectual capacity in diverse fields including but
not limited to Basic sciences, Medicine, Engineering, Internet
Technology, Business, and Law. They
strive to achieve higher standards. By excelling in these fields
they have contributed significantly in their specialty and have been
well appreciated recognition by the society.
Advisory Board:
Every two years, HAA gives opportunity to its interested members to take
leadership role as one of the office bearers of the organization. When
the new leaders take the responsibility, it could be challenging. To
help in this process, a permanent, experienced advisory group has been
installed so that the group can be approached as needed by the new
office bearers. This can enable the organization to maintain and
implement effectively the fundamental principles, values and mission of
the organization. Accordingly during year 2003, the “HAA Advisory
Board” was formed. It consists of interested former presidents of HAA,
who have been actively participating in various HAA activities and
conventions during the recent past years, as well as who have gained
broader experience and knowledge in coordinating the HAA activities. The
membership is voluntary, and a president after the term can chose to be
a part of the advisory board. The scope of the board will be to advise
or guide the governing body during transitions or as needed, and will
have no direct role in the operation of the organization year over year.
Web Committee:
A HAA web committee was formed during 2003 to share the increasing
responsibility of communication and to make the web a resourceful site
to havyakas with special emphasis on youth. With this goal, several
enhancements are made that include, but not limited to, in providing
information to the interested havyakas about HAA Mission, Organization,
Office bearers, Historical perspectives,
Havyaka Achievements, links to other Havyak/Hindu/Student
organizations, Youth Opportunities, Havyaka
/Professional Networks, Matrimonial,
Charity Policy, world wide interaction through yahoo groups etc.
To Publish,
Archive and Preserve: Initiatives have been taken to publish,
archive and preserve intellectual capacity of havyakas through
establishing a monthly or quarterly “Journal of Havyaka Association of
Americas”. The goal is to enhance a creative and productive
interactions between youth and all havyakas of our community through a
common electronic publication. In addition, it can highlight the past
and present intellectual contributions by havyakas to the society in
general. Such publication of a community of diverse expertise and
interest can enrich and preserve our creative minds for the benefit of
current and future generations.
Key
Contributors in HAA activities during the past 20 years:
Founding Members:
Ramachandra K. Bhat, Dhruva Kanjarpane, Usha Avadhani, Narayan Avadhani, Bhaskar Bhat, Kusum and Naras Bhat.
Presidents:
Dhruva Kanjarpane; Narayan Bhat, Banari;
Ramamoorthy Belagaje; Uasha Avadhani; Kusuma Bhat, Kaleyathodi;
Ramachandra K. Bhat; Narayan Avadhani; Mabal Bhat, Sediyapu;
Bheem Bhat, Madiyala, Ravi Tamragouri, Krishna Upadhya
Havyaka News Letter
(discontinued):
Raja Kailar & Roopa Kailar
HAA Web page &
Havyaka Yahoo-groups: Mabal Bhat, Sediyapu & Krishna
Upadhya
All
the past Office bearers, Life members, Annual members of HAA and
especially the bright and energetic Havyaka Youth.
Two decades of efforts are behind us, many more
decades of efforts are ahead of us. Let us join and contribute as an
organization to strengthen our future generation!
-
(Reference: Article by Ramachandra K. Bhat
entitled “Havyaka association of the Americas”. Eighth Bi-Annual
Convention of HAA Souvenir, p.14-15, ed. Nagaraj K. Neerchal) and by
Bheem Bhat, Madiyala, December
07, 2003
