Spiritual India in Chicago

This summer, I also got an opportunity to visit couple of Indian temples in and around Chicago, which I earnestly wanted to go to since I came here. Last weekend, I visited ‘Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple’.






This temple is located in the south of Chicago. My friend, Sneha, and I took BSNF Metra (http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home.html), which is used to travel within the state of Illinois. We started at 7 in the morning, took 8.30 am train from Union station on Canal Street. The train journey from Chicago downtown to Aurora railway station is of approximately one hour. It takes 10 minutes by cab to reach to the temple, and approximately 30 minutes by foot. We chose to go by a cab.
The shrine is very beautiful; it is built in traditional south Indian style and resembles the holy Balaji Temple of Tirupathi. The temple was extremely calm and pleasant with devotees trickling along. The silence in the temple accentuated the rhythmic chanting of ‘shlokas’(Indian religious prayers and songs) by the sages. The chants filled my heart with tremendous positivity and strength. After the prayers, we sat in the temple for a while enjoying the divine and ethereal beauty of the temple. After ‘darshana’ (prayers and offerings) we went to the temple’s canteen to have some South-Indian snack. We had ‘Idli’ - a south Indian savory cake popular throughout India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idli), ‘Medu-Vada’ – (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medu_vada), and ‘Sambar’ - a vegetable stew or chowder based on a broth made with tamarind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambar_(dish)). The snack reminded me of India so much that I truly miss everything……sometimes!!

There is also ‘Shirdi Sai Samsthan Temple’ in the vicinity, so we chose to walk down to the Sai temple - http://www.saisamsthanusa.org/newsite/aboutus.htm.

We reached there by noon and got to attend the afternoon prayers. This temple is simple single storied with a big idol of 'Lord Sai’. The idol is placed in the main hall, and it resembles the one at Shirdi, India. After the afternoon prayers were over they served ‘prasad’ (snack served at temple) of tamarind rice, lemon rice, porridge, and yoghurt rice. At this temple, the food is usually prepared at the temple, or sometimes it is a potluck lunch by the devotees. After a wonderful lunch at the temple we called for a cab and took 2.20 pm Metra (BSNF) back to downtown Chicago. It was one of the divine Sundays, spent in the holy temples, enjoying the essence of spiritual India in Chicago.

Recreation and revival this summer

After a 3 week summer break, my summer classes start the first week of June. Even though I had my practicum during the break, it was a good respite from assignments and studies. During summer break, my friends and I spent most of our weekends hanging out and playing board games. One of our friends had arranged some of the most interesting board games like ‘Ticket to Ride’ and ‘Settlers of Catan’. I had learned to play ‘Ticket to Ride’ during the international board game night event at my school. This game is an interesting and innovative way to learn about different parts of the United States. One has to build train routes from one state to the other and whoever makes longest route covering maximum number of states wins the game. It may sound very simple, but it involves lots of strategical and meticulous planning. I thoroughly enjoy playing this board game. In fact, I think, I hope one day to find an Indian version of ‘Ticket to Ride’.




‘Settlers of Catan’ is one of the most complex board games I have ever played; it wasn’t that easy to learn this game as it involves many rules. The game is about building your cities and establishing a settlement that has knights and resources, so that when pirates or a barbarian attacks the city is capable of surviving the attack. Consequently, you earn more points. Playing board games is one of my favorite recreational activities. All of us had a fun time playing, strategizing, and competing against each other. The snacks and drinks added to the board-game gala!!