GMAIL now in हिंदी (Hindi)

GMAIL has a new feature now! Now you can type email in Indian Languages. Quoting from the Google Blog

When you compose a new mail in Gmail, you should now see an icon with an Indian character, as the screenshot below shows.

This feature is enabled by default for Gmail users in India. If you do not see this function enabled by default, you will need to go the "Settings" page and enable this option in the "Language" section.

When you click the Indian languages icon, you can type words the way they sound in English and Gmail will automatically convert the word to its Indian local language equivalent. For example, if a Hindi speaker types "namaste" we will transliterate this to "नमस्ते." Similarly, "vanakkam" in Tamil will become "வணக்கம்." Currently there's support five Indian languages -- Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam -- and you can select the language of your choice from the drop-down list next to the icon.

Religious classes for Youth in the Indian Community

There are classes where Youth in our Michigan Indian community can learn about Indian culture, Indian epics Mahabharat, Ramayan. The children also participate in local community activities

Bal Vihar (Chinmaya Mission, Ann Arbor).
Bala Vihar Classes are held in six locations: Ann Arbor, Canton, Novi, Troy, Toledo, and West Bloomfield. CMAA has over 80 trained teachers. These classes cost can cost you approximately $450 year.
Visit Chinmaya Mission website for more details.

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Then there is Balagokulam where the expenses are covered by "GuruDakshina". The cost at Canton Balagokulam is $60.00 per year/per family.

Here are the Balagokulam Locations in Michigan. More details can be found at the Balagokulam's Michigan Chapter website.

Canton Balagokulam
Frequency: Every Sunday
Time: 3:15pm - 4:45pm
Location: East West Martial Arts 7950 N. Lilley Rd, Suite B112, Canton, MI 48187
Directions: On Lilley Rd between Joy and Warren. It is inside the small complex (Lilley Industrial Complex) on the right side if coming from Warren .

Activity
3:15 - 3:45 pm Games & Yoga
3:45 -4:15 pm Stories & Bhajans
4:15 - 4:40 pm Presentation/Workshop/Quiz
4:40 - 4:45 pm Prarthana

Troy Balagokulam
Frequency: Weekly
Day & Time: Every Saturday, 2:15 PM to 3:45 PM
Location: Troy Community Center (3179 Livernois Troy, MI 48083)
Contact Info: Ph. 973-860-2HSS (2477) ; karyavah@hssus.org

Novi Balagokulam
Frequency: Bi-weekly
Day & Time: Alternate Saturday, 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Location: In church at 11 mile & Taft rd, Novi, MI
Contact Info: Ph. 973-860-2HSS (2477) ; karyavah@hssus.org

Midland Balagokulam
Frequency: Bi-weekly
Day & Time: Every Sunday, 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM from Memorial Day to Laborday
Alternate Saturday from 3 PM to 4:30 PM during summer months
Location: Midland Public Library
Contact Info: Ph. 973-860-2HSS (2477) ; karyavah@hssus.org

Indian Students from Eastern Illinois University killed in Car Accident

Tragedy hit the Indian Community at Eastern Illinois University as 4 Indians were killed in a car accident at St. Louis county, Missouri. The accident occurred early Saturday morning (03/21/2009). The car in which they were traveling was struck by an off-duty suburban St. Louis police officer Christine L. Miller. The officer reportedly was driving in the wrong lane.

Killed were Anusha Anumolu, Anitha Lakshmi Veerapaneni and Priya Darshini Muppavarapu who were students from India and enrolled in the master's degree program in technology at Eastern Illinois University. Also killed was Veerapaneni's cousin, Satya Chinta, 23, of Aurora, Ill. The car was driven by Veerapaneni's fiancé, Adusumilli, 27, of Ballwin, Mo., who is in critical condition.

Click here to see the crash report. For more details on this tragedy click here.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Anusha, Anitha, Priya, Satya and Adusumilli.

Company in India looking for Automotive talent

A recruiter within the Great Lakes region working on behalf of a client located in India is looking for the following talents within the automotive sector:

DESIGN ENGINEERING
DIESEL TECHNOLOGY
HYBRID AND ELECTRICAL TECHNOLOGY
CRASH AND SAFETY TECHNOLOGY

All above positions require a minimum of 7 years experience, and the need to speak Hindi. The candidates would be required to move to India.

For more dtails visit windsorpersonnel or contact Kevin Deziel at windsorpersonnel@on.aibn.com

Holi Celebrations in Michigan

Happy Holi to everyone!!

Couple of Indian Associations have scheduled Holi Celebrations in the Metro Detroit Area. They are:

Uttar Pradesh Association of Greater Detroit
"HOLI HUNGAMA" (A colorful evening filled with entertainment, dinner & DJ dance) on Saturday March 28th 2008

5:30 PM – Social Hour,
6:30 PM – Entertainment followed by dinner/dance

Place: Bharatiya Temple, 6850 Adams Road, Troy MI 48098

For more info check out UPAD website.

Michigan Indian American Cultural Association
Holi and Vaisakhi Celebration scheduled for Saturday April 18th, 2009 from 5.30PM to 11.00PM at the Costick Activities Center, 28600 Eleven Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI.

For more information check out MIIACA website.

MIICC Networking Event - 03/18/2009

Michigan India Chamber of Commerce has a Networking Event scheduled for March 18th, 2009 at Dykema Gossett Law Offices located at 39577 Woodward, Bloomfield Hills, MI from 5.30 pm to 8.30pm.

The Topic for this meeting is: Angel Investment: Investors, investing et. all
MIICC has a fantastic speaker lined up for this event. Rick Galdi, President of Great Lakes Angels Angel Investors will speak on the topic of angel investing, angel investors, and angel investment topics. Rick is a successful entrepreneur and has some wonderful stories to share.

Check out MIICC website for more details or call Nipa Shah at 248-470-6299.

Bollywood Dance Craze spreading to cities in Michigan

After the success of "Slumdog Millionaire" there seems to be a increase in interest in Bollywood Dance.

MLive reports that the talented

Anuja Rajendra of Ann Arbor will bring a little Bollywood to Grand Blanc.

Grand Blanc Community Education will hold a workshop on March 14 where Anuja Rajendra will demonstrate the fun and benefits of Bollywood dance. Anuja also has Bollywood dance classes scheduled at Ann Arbor, Saline, Plymouth.

Ashoka Rao of Flint Township who has taught classical Indian dance classes for more than three decades said she's noticed an increase in interest in Indian dance since the hugely popular Oscar-winning best picture "Slumdog Millionaire" hit the screens.

Checkout Anuja Rajendra's bollyfit. After you enroll, this might become way too easy :)

Michigan Indian - Ramesh Verma

Michigan Indian DJ Naveen Sharma informs me that Ramesh Verma of Novi, MI was elected as the Treasurer of the Michigan Democratic Party. Also this morning I heard Mumtaz Haque talking to Ramesh Verma on her radio show.

Regards and Best Wishes to you Mr. Ramesh Verma!!

For more info check out Michigan Democratic Party.