An Exciting Year Ahead!

India Parent Magazine has entered in 18th year in business in March 2011.  It’s been born along with my now college freshman son and continued to grow along with him, like a twin child.  I started off as IndZine, my husband’s idea of mixing India and Magazine together and calling it IndZine.  Even now, a lot of people remember it by that name and fondly talk to me about its contents. I changed the focus from general to parenting ten years ago, and began calling it India Parent Magazine.

These 18 years I remember every cover, every editorial, and every change.  Just as my son, it has gone through ups and downs, lows and highs, joys and sorrows.  Whatever the growth line of the magazine has been, one factor has remained consistent: Parents loved the magazine.  The comment has always been the same: “Very informative, energetic and to the point.  We love it.”

As an editor, I never felt bored or repetitive.  I love my magazine and every issue is like a new-born baby.  I cherished every cover and each e-mail in praise or in criticism.  One of the first letters of praise I have received was from Harikrishna Majumdar, one of the most respected senior citizens of the Bay Area.  I felt that was very nice of him, and highly objective.  The letter gave me a strange sense of confidence.  I was all geared up to make my publication informative and interesting. 

Today, India Parent Magazine is a trusted and respected magazine and has about 52 private schools advertising in it.  It had FOUR Open Houses for schools at Sunnyvale Hindu Temple with three Mayors of three cities in the Bay Area honoring each event and is gearing up for the FIFTH one in March 2012.  It will be a fun-filled FREE event. Please bring your family and enjoy the schools, dances, speeches, and free gifts.  Parents can come and check out several schools that are offering excellent curriculum for children. About 100 children perform in each of these events and about 45 private schools participate.  Each previous event was a joy to watch and I was extremely proud.  I am also very proud to say that India Parent Magazine is the only Indian Publication in the Bay Area to provide such events FREE to its readers. 

The upcoming year is extremely exciting and eventful as well.  The January issue will focus on informing the readers about several private schools and their Open Houses in the Bay Area. In February we will have a School Special featuring the Best of the Best private academic schools, Dance, Music and Swim schools in the Bay Area. In March, we will have Summer Camp Special, enlisting several Summer Camps that are interested in having Indian kids in their camps.  So we do have an exciting editorial for 2012 planned for you.  Please come to all these events and check out the Special Editions and utilize our FREE services as a “Give Back” to our readers. Also, In January we are bringing out TWO SPECIAL ISSUES in addition to the regular issue titled Health Professional Special and Realty/Mortgage Special. More than 40 professionals will be featured in each Special. These are copies to be kept and referred to when needed.

You can find a free copy of India Parent Magazine in any public library through out the Bay Area, most private schools, dance and music schools ( both Indian and mainstream) swim schools, YMCA’s and so on. We try to avoid Indian grocery stores for lack of proper placement in the racks available. If you have a favorite store/school/restaurant/learning center that you want to see IPM at, please inform us and we will be glad to add it to our distribution list.

We are Online Too!

Please visit www.indiaparentmagazine.org and check weekly updates on movies, calendar listings, coupons and even to just read the monthly magazine online. Read it in the privacy of your laptop.

Thank You, and have a wonderful and prosperous New Year! -

Meena Yeggina

A New Direction

This month in India Parent Magazine, you will see a wide range of ethnic groups advertising and writing in the magazine.  Indian- Americans, Caucasians and Asians showed open interest in Indian Parents and wanted to share/acquire knowledge from each other. This I felt is a great achievement hat only India Parent Magazine, a primarily Indian-reader based magazine is able to achieve. Sharing and needing other cultures is not a new trend.  It has happened throughout history through amalgamation and assimilation.  What’s new now is the deliberate intention to share without losing your self: By acknowledging the need and importance of each other’s (ethnic groups) existence in the well being of the other.  This is an amazing trend.

I am especially very impressed with the Chinese community who are truly professional to the core.  I met people like Simon who is in insurance business, young, dynamic, kind and eager to do business with the Indian community.  Gone is the prejudice among each other cultures.  So is Jevons Feng,  an extremely soft-spoken and highly sophisticated realtor, who is always available to his clients.  He impressed me most with his soft spoken yet gritty manner.  Also meet Chaochin and Helen.  They are highly qualified and one conversation with them will drive away any stereotypes you might ave had about Asians not liking Indians.

Another gentleman I met who is an Indian – an old, traditional kind of way Indian: Samuel Victor.  One need to meet him just to know what true Indian gentlemen are made of.  Who wouldn’t want to do business with him?  Or a Guy Caputo, a humorous lawyer who knows all the mannerisms of Indians and knows xactly how to work with them.

As a publisher of this prestigious magazine called India Parent which is acting as a bridge connecting a wide variety of cultures, I am floored to meet all these mind-blowing people who along with their business are making us aware of their culture and its true nature: Enrichment through ssociation.

Thanks,
Meena Yeggina
Editor/Publisher
India Parent Magazine

Website : www.indiaparentmagazine.org
Phone : 408-964-8708
Fax : 408-929-0593

Celebrations Represent Unity and Joy––Not Just Religion

Come Fall and along with back-to-school business, Indians are also busy with celebrations and festivities. Beginning with Lakshmi Puja and Rakhi in early August and September, and then Ganesh Chaturdhi in mid September, we all get warmed up for the major celebrations in October––Navrathri, the festival Kali, as well Diwali, the Festival of Lights. Diwali is celebrated by all Indians with gusto in one way or another.  In this fashion, Diwali, like Holi, is an all-India event irrespective of the religious base of those participating in it. Like Christmas, Diwali in the past few years has become an internationally celebrated event too, due its joyous nature involving lights and the arrival of good days.  During Christmas, we, again irrespective of our religious base, put up a tree with lights, invite families over, and exchange gifts. Christmas acts more as a celebration of good times than as a religious event.

Festivities, more than the religion and religious ceremonies that they represent, act as a unifying force.  They bring families and groups together, which is and should be the underlying factor of any celebration.  God in any form, however, will always be there, in any celebration, lurking as a strong force in whatever form––Allah, Ram, Jesus––having fun in all the festivities.

Long time ago, in our native land where we have shared and enjoyed such festivities without any bomb scares and religious bigotry, sharing our sweets with our neighbors and friends, it was definitely not religion we were thinking of, but of the joy such events bring in sharing that is intensely and exquisitely fulfilling.

Now here in the US, in our second home, which most of us have subconsciously made it our first, it’s with that  same joy and happiness we await this festival season.  In addition, almost all the cities here in tha Bay Area celebrate Diwali, or the Festival of Lights. From the City of Cupertino to Fremont, several cities come forward to join in the fun.  At such events, more than religion, it is the culture and unity that makes these events so special.  

This year, for the first time, the Children Discovery Museum of San Jose (CDM) joined hands with the Indian community to celebrate Diwali in its premises with much fanfare.  In addition to story-telling,  dance, music, fashion show and classical performances, CDM, in association with ICC, is also having a food gallery exhibiting Indian delicacies, dandia stick-decorating, dandia dance step-learning and other craft extravaganza. A not-to-miss event, this Diwali celebration at CDM will be an excellent family get-together and stroy-telling time, a time to share and enjoy.  It’s on Oct 9, from 1 to 5 pm, and you all should try not to miss it.

I am proud of my roots and can never forget my culture.  However, it gives me extra joy and pride that my second home also takes pride in my culture and is equally happy to share and enjoy it.   -Meena Yeggina