Newsletters

Walking Club – Groups from different parts of Columbus have been coordinating routine walks in mornings and evenings.We have an average group size of 25 in Dublin,Lewis Center and Powell. For those who are not motivated to get yourself started on a fitness routine this  is your chance to add some steps to your fitness tracker.

There is nothing more than a refreshing and rejoicing experience to walk under morning sun.

Biking Club – Pelotonia is just finished and there were few riders who are quite motivated to up their distance with competitiveness and enthusiasm.You will be quite surprised to find out we have riders from all age groups

who are spinning their wheels any where between 10 to 60 miles on a regular basis. What more can you ask from the folks who are driving up spirit and inspiring others from the community to come out with bikes and join the fun.It is more than a workout routine but to ride together as a group and share the road.

We’ve kick-started various Sports Leagues in July as part of the Active COMA campaign. We received tremendous response to this initiative from the Malayalee community and a lot of people have shown keen interest and are vigorously participating in the leagues. We sent out a registration form to all our patrons requesting their interest in different sports and found out that most people were favoring Cricket, Soccer and Tennis. We initiated the process by compiling a list of interested people for each sport, picking captains and then working with them to form the teams, rules, format of the game and other logistics.

Cricket was the first league to get going. We got a roster of around 60+ interested players and teams were selected by captains through an IPL(Indian Premier League) – style auction which made sure that we have four equally strong teams.

The teams – Columbus Super Kings, Empuraans, Kolamass and Thakarppans are currently battling out for the prestigious COMA Cricket Cup title. All four teams play each other twice (home and away) for a total of 6 matches each in the league phase. After the league round is completed, based on the points and NRR(net run rate), the top two teams will play in the finals.

We had a number of exciting matches which went down to the wire and the passion and spirit our players showed on the field is stupendous!

Many people regularly come to watch these games, support their teams and share the thrill and excitement along with the players. Live streaming for the matches are available on the COMA Facebook page which also got a fair share of audience. We are now past half way through the Cricket league and all four teams are still in the running for the top two spots – which shows how close and thrilling the matches have been so far!You can follow the COMA Cricket Cup here (for scores, results and points table): https://www.cricclubs.com/comacup

Tennis tournament has also started and 8 doubles teams are now playing their league matches in two groups. Top two teams from each group will play the semi-finals, followed by the final.

We are now ready to start the Soccer League – four teams; Columbus Blasters, Little Soccer, New Albany Bulls and SM Columbus; have already been formed and they have started practicing under the leadership of their captains and mentors.

Soccer has a roster size of 75+ players and it will be played on a regular field with 11 players on each side. Each team will play each other in the league stage and the top two teams will play the finals.

By conducting these leagues, we aim to improve the closeness within the community, help people connect with same interests and make new friends as well as grow the COMA family by bringing people together. We are so excited to see that it is happening and are hoping to continue to get the full support from everyone for these events.

Some of the responses from the sports league participants:

 “Thank  you very much for conducting these tournaments. We have met a lot of new people and made many new friends!”

 “Its so wonderful to see the enthusiasm and passion among the players. Never knew there were these many good players in the Malayalee community”

“It feels great to play the sport again which I had stopped playing years ago.”

(“Will you please write something for our newsletter?”

“Sure. Any specific topic?”

“No. Anything you would like to”

Well, blank checks ad open tabs are always dangerous. And now these reflections or ramblings are making their way to you. Enjoy!)

Last month was very exciting to say the least. What better things could happen in a month! Temperatures were moderate like a Mediterranean city. 5k runs and walks were plenty. I, personally had been to at least half a dozen grad parties to wish the beaming graduate. Plenty of opportunities to share happiness with friends and their families (though I did hurt my back moving my own daughter’s stuff out of her apartment, which I will overlook for now). Everyone appeared to be on the move to wherever hopes, dreams, plans, efforts and fate led.

But then that voice inside doesn’t exactly keep quiet. And all this activity begged me of this age old question – What exactly do we want from life? How do we get it? We all know we want to feel contended, accomplished and happy. But what magic formula makes it work?

One of my favorite pastime is to wander through the literary world (while I am not watching the World Cup cricket).Here is what I found.

There is an interesting exchange in Mahabharata between the eldest Pandava brother Yudhishtira and an Yaksha on this topic.

The context of the story is that the five Pandava brothers were wandering through the forest and one time got stuck not finding potable water to drink. They rested and sent one of the brothers, Bhima, to go look for water.He found a pond but it was guarded by an Yaksha. When Bhima defied the Yaksha and drank water from it, he fell down unconscious. Same fate repeated with three more of the brothers.Finally Yudhishtira himself made his way there and engaged the Yaksha on what he wanted. Yaksha‘s demand was simple, answer all my questions correctly and you can have the water and your brothers back. This exchange of dialog between the Yaksha and Yudhishtira that ensued is known in Mahabharata as the Yaksha Prasna.

One of the things the Yaksha wanted to know was, what is the greatest wonder in the world. Yudhishtira’s response was, humans are the greatest wonder in this world because though they see death happening around them all the time, they go about making decisions and acting in such a way that they seem to be expecting to be living here forever! This may be a bit of overstatement as none of us are generally naive enough to assume eternal life and neither do we go about in our everyday life thinking of our eventual departure from this world. Same time, an occasional reminder of this truth may help us in dealing with some of life’s unnecessary stresses.

Another question from the Yaksha was,

what should we be doing to make the best of our time here?

Below is a gist of the things Yudhisthira lists in answer to this: (If any of you are Sanskrit purists, please excuse my translation and extrapolation)

1. Be the most skillful and best in whatever we choose to do
2. Do charity and share with others
3. Be true to oneself
4. Make all of the above a habit that they become an integral part of one’s nature itself
5. Be pleasing with one’s words and be likable 
6. Create lasting success through thoughtful and diligent action
7. Find the happiness in genuine friendships and have many friends
8. Be a role model for ethical living

In Yudhishtira’s opinion, if one can apply the above to a life where health, wealth, security and relationships are not a matter of concern, then it will be a pleasant summer all through the life!                    

Hope these thoughts resonate with you. Make sure to say Hi and something nice the next time we meet in person!!

When I was twelve, a huge wave of mobile applications hit the market, and I was one
of the millions that got swept away. That initiated my desire to create some applications of my own. I knew it would take lots of hard work, but my goal was to create a product with my own imagination that would meet all of my ideals.

In pursuit of my goals I developed my programming skills through after school activities like computer club and attending external training programs. I was fortunate to get exposure to application development, so I started participating in Hackathons; a competition where several teams create a software product (or a prototype) based on specific themes. Exploring thoughts and ideas for such projects accentuates creativity from an individual, providing practical experiences in this field. Hackathons are events where multiple teams solve a given problem by creating mobile applications (app), websites, or prototypes in a designated amount of time. The best apps that are developed around the theme and provide a viable solution are rewarded. Not only do hackathons foster creativity but they also help build around life skills like leadership, communication, and teamwork.

From my first event at the 2016 JPMorgan Chase Youth hackathon

focused on the wellbeing of cancer patients to the 2017 High School I/O hackathon conducted by The Ohio State University where my team was awarded “The Most Creative Team”, every event brought upon new challenges as well as improving my programming skills.

Last spring my team and I developed an app for water conservation at the CBUS Hackathon. This application was developed to notify users when to water their plants after calculating moisture level of the soil. Our entire project took three months where everyone were assigned parts such as application design, programming, hardware integration, and project management. Eventually, We were honored to be placed 2nd in the competition among some of the best teams in Columbus. My experience of being included as a member of every team was phenomenal. Each one of us were like important components of a CPU, working together to make the computer function. Some of the most successful companies in recent times have grown out of hackathons. Few years ago, when the idea of a group message was a nightmare, GroupMe came along and Gizmodo called it a “life changer.”

The app, now basically a household name, began as an idea at TechCrunch Disrupt 2010,

from the minds of Jared Hecht and Steve Martocci. There are many successful outcomes from hackathons in the pharmaceutical industry: UCB initiated the “Hack Epilepsy” that brought together developers, designers and digital experts, along with healthcare providers and patients to imagine new ways of applying digital technologies that can make a real difference for the epilepsy community.

If you are passionate about technology & innovation, I would encourage you to explore hackathons. You never know, your crazy ideas may turn into reality and could be a potential industry disruptor! You may try the following opportunities in and around Columbus.

https://cbusstudenthack.org
https://hack.osu.edu
https://givebackhack.com
https://www.acsl.org

If I could be on any assistance or in case you need any additional information about hackathons, please feel free to reach out at ashwinnair2@gmail.com.

Approximately 18 years in the making and the journey is just beginning. College is an exciting time to learn more about yourself and begin the process of becoming who and what you want. After one year, I know I don’t have all the answers, but I feel like I have learned a few things that I think can be helpful for any new college student.

The biggest struggle I had in college was learning how to take care of myself. Not just in the physical sense of making food and cleaning up, but in the mental and emotional sense. I had to learn how to take care of my mental health.  With the stress of classes, being away from home, the pressure to make friends, and so much more, it was hard not having my friends and family with me, but I found things that helped me. I learned that exercise helps a lot with stress, and I found ways to get involved on campus and explored the city with my friends.

Finding the balance between school and your personal life takes time and looks different for each person, but don’t get frustrated if you get overwhelmed, just keep trying new things and eventually you will find the balance.Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I know this is what everyone says but it is the biggest advice I have for anyone that is about to start their college career. But not only is it important to ask for help, but it is so important to realize when you need help. If you are struggling, don’t think it’s just something you have to fix on your own.

Your life is going to change in a lot of ways.It’ll change in the way you expect, such has having more material to study, and having more free time where you have to learn time management, but it will also change in ways you don’t expect.You truly don’t realize how much you rely on your parents and all the things they do for you. If you get sick, it is up to you to make an appointment and get yourself to the doctor. If you have a problem with your roommate, it is your responsibility to seek the correct course of action to fix the situation.

While your parents will always be there to support you and help you through this next chapter, it is your responsibility to take what they have taught you and start to make a life of your own. The first year of college is going to be tough, but it’s going to be a year that you can look back on and see your personal that will shape who you are going to be in the future. Good luck graduates. You are going to do amazing things and just remember, you have a great community that will always support you.

Imagine waking up everyday to the sound of a glacial waterfall calmly flowing outside your hostel door. Then, imagine rising out of your tiny twin-sized bed, opening the window, and gazing onto the far-reaching, green pastures only to find that they are filled with gorgeous wild mustangs grazing to their hearts’ content. Imagine a realm filled with glaciers, cliffs, Fjords, rivers, mountains, and beaches anywhere and everywhere. If you can imagine yourself in a place exactly as I have described, then you are in Iceland. I started my journey in Canada. My friend Mohit and I decided to get there ourselves by first driving through Michigan and then crossing the border into Ontario.

This is the ideal way to travel to this country because it is the cheapest city to fly out of (it’s half the price of flying from JFK or Chicago O’Hare) and you get to spend a night in a fun, young, and lively city. After the 6 hour flight from Toronto Pearson Airport, we landed in Keflavik, a city in the far western part of Iceland, 40 minutes away from the city of Reykjavik. Instead of touring the entirety of the capital (a tour commonly referred to as the “Golden Circle”), we rented a diesel Fiat hatchback and began our road-trip of the entire country straightaway.

If I were to go into the intricate details and itinerary of our trip, I would bore everyone reading right away. This is because I don’t have the ability as a writer to translate what my eyes saw into words worthy of them; you truly have to go and see for yourself. Instead, I will try and explain the “why” question for Iceland.

Firstly, Iceland has something for everyone in the family. For the driving enthusiasts, Iceland has some of the best driving roads on the globe. If you’re familiar with the small, often single lane B roads of the United Kingdom, think of the Icelandic roads as C roads: they’re a pleasure to tear up with any vehicle! For the nature-lovers, every square inch of the country is filled with either glacial ice or lush greenery. There are animals galore too; in fact, sheep outnumber the populace and the wild Icelandic horse, a national treasure, can be found galloping across the plains, joyful and free from any human interference. History buffs would be in heaven; I, personally, roamed a real Viking settlement on the side of a mountain.

Finally, Game of Thrones nerds (such as myself) can feel like they are walking through set at locations such as Dyrholaey, where Daenerys discovers the island of Dragonstone.

Secondly, the people and culture. Save for the far Northeastern part of United States, I have not met such polite, helpful individuals in my life. Everyone speaks English (justifying the country’s 100% literacy rate) and they are all ready to aid you if you need directions or travel guidance of any sort. Even when my friend and I were being chastised in a hostel room for being too loud by a neighboring resident, she was civil and polite. In terms of culture, the Icelandic people are proud of their Viking heritage and language, which makes travel even more fascinating.

Finally, the overall experience is one you cannot get anywhere else on this planet. I would be lying if I said I deserved this hiatus to clear my mind and replenish my psyche after the wild roller coaster of freshman year at Ohio State. But, all I have to say is that I’m grateful that I did and hope that everyone has the opportunity to visit the Land of Fire and Ice at least once in their lifetime.

The final three seconds of the ITK championships match seemed to be slower than time itself.It took a while for me to finally process that we had won four OSU scholarships and acquired bragging rights for being the first team from Olentangy Liberty to ever win the title of champion in In the Know.Quizbowl had always been a huge part of my school and personal life prior to ever participating in the In the Know television show.

Trivia pretty much first entered my life in my childhood when my family and I would occasionally watch Jeopardy! certain nights and feebly try and answer the few questions that were targeted for the audience. Fast forward to middle school and my true exposure to the world of trivia began in the form of the nationwide school club known as Quizbowl .

Although I started out as a mediocre team player, after taking time to really hone my knowledge on certain subjects like Geography, History and Science I began to stand out as a great trivia player, especially after two consecutive years of attending Quizbowl nationals.

Jumping into high school really demonstrated the limits of my will and mental capacity. Having to juggle my new and intense academic schedule with the commitment of almost every Saturday to attend out of state quiz bowl tournaments proved to be too much for most of my friends who chose to end their journey with the school quizbowl team and solely focus on their school and social life.

I first heard about the OSU organised trivia style tv show In the Know when asked to tryout to become part of my school ITK team.I breezed through the tryouts and managed to get our team through the 3rd round before losing horribly to Bexley’s ITK team.By next year our team consisted of new batch of kids who were more familiar with the dynamics of trivia and were much more comfortable being on tv without getting jittery.After blasting though team after team we finally met our match in the quarterfinals

against Olentangy High , It took us until the final question for us to take the lead and win the game and advance onto next round against Dublin Coffman. After winning the semi-finals and finally beating the last team in the championship game I sighed in relief,understanding that until next year,I would be recognized and congratulated through out my school for achieving what was once thought to be impossible.

Back in Mar 1992 ,3am something woke me up. I slowly opened my eyes and see the ‘timepiece’ ringing looking at me. Was it a dream? NO… I started hearing the cheering waves of cricket and ran to our vintage BPL. 

I ran through “clicking” all channels to see which one is telecasting.Finally got it and laid down to my couch to see India won the toss for the Benson Hedges World Cup.After 27 years, that spirit hasn’t gone away.Back from 1992 as a fifth grader to 2019 as a family man, still feeling the same level of energy to wake up. When I set the alarm for India vs Pakistan match, it took me back to the memories. This cricket fever comes to me for every world cup, but how?.I still remember it was my mom who motivated me during school days to watch cricket. I followed her excitement when she even used to listen to radio commentary.Those days are gone, but the spirit of cricket still keep me alive during world cup.

It’s still a great feeling, waking up hearing the ‘melodious’ alarm , ‘jogging’ to TV,  grab a cup of coffee, relax and watch the game and sunrise lonely.  Go for it ! –

While I’ve got fond memories of multiple world cups, the one that has always remained a stimulating memory is the 1996 world cup that Sri Lanka won. That was when they unleashed the power hitting opening pair of Sanath Jayasurya and Romesh Kaluwitharana, both of whom were proficient at hitting over the in-field during the 15 over power-play. At that time, I was already in love with Kalu’s batting ever since he made that debut 100 against Australia with 26 boundaries (percentage-wise, an unusuality those days). Kalu and Jayasurya made sure Sri Lanka reached the final. Curiously enough, both of them failed in the final and mostly everyone expected the Aussies to win.

That did not happen as Aravinda de Silva hit an unbeaten century (one of the best knocks of his career) and Sri Lanka won their first ever world cup. As an India supporter I was disappointed that we lost in the semis (also to SL, and amidst some unfortunate crowd behavior), but as a cricket lover, I knew that this would trigger a huge change in the way batsmen handled the power play going forward.

For Malayalam class another academic year has successfully concluded. This would not have been possible without the support from volunteers who make themselves available every Sunday to help students of all ages to learn our mother tongue. Also we would like to thank and appreciate all the support extended by parents and the COMA EC. 2018 ’19 academic year came to an end with a graduation event where certificates were awarded to students. Students from our beginners group who are mastering the Malayalam vocabulary sang a nursery rhyme in Malayalam, advanced students who are mastering in reading and writing showed off their skills by narrating a story in Malayalam.

Intermediate students who are mastering all the 56 Malayalam alphabets,vowels, consonants, “chillu aksharagal” gave an to attempt to write a letter to their moms in Malayalam for the Mother’s Day. Here are the snippet of letters they wrote:

This year COMA ventured into organizing a badminton tournament for the first time and with out any doubt this event was a great success.For all the badminton enthusiasts in the region the event was an opportunity to enjoy competitive games and to up their racket skills.This event saw an active participation of 112 players from central Ohio region.There were 56 teams which included 32 men’s,8 women’s and 16 mixed doubles team.

• Men’s Doubles
  • Winners :Dilin Joy & Anoop Joseph
  • Runners Up: Padam Rai & Purna Rai
• Women’s Doubles
  • Winners:Christina Lin & Easter Chen
  • Runner’s Up: Surabhi Patil & Srijana Chhethri
• Mixed Doubles
  • Winners: Cindi Wu & Dongkan Hu
  • Runners Up: Chaithanya Reddy & Aswini Murthy

Youth Corner
It is this time of the year many of us look forward for a nice get away to a serene location with family and friends ,for all the travel buffs out there our youth member Arya Janardhanan has written a beautiful travelogue from her trip to Mexico

My trip to Mexico!

Arya Janardhanan (12 years)

I love to travel around the world to taste new food and see many historical sites. I have been to many different cities, states, and countries. I’ve always wanted to see more countries and when my dad told me that we were going to Cancun, Mexico, I exploded with excitement because we’ve never been there before.

I still remember when I first got to the hotel, an employee gave me some lemonade to cool me down from the sun’s burning rays. I quickly devoured it all joyfully. It was a huge hotel with a lot of activities to do – for example, golfing, swimming, painting, basketball, and much more. My family and I got to go swimming in the pools and play golf. My sister and I even got to paint ceramics and keep it. The food they served was impeccable. They had a buffet serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They had a variety of food items like croissants, pancakes, quesadillas, bacon, egg, steak, and they even had desserts like pudding, jello, and ice cream!

I thought staying there at Mexico couldn’t get any better – I was wrong! I got to see the ancient ruins of a civilization called the Mayans, and did I mention I love history. There were many structures at the site that had steps that looked like the steps you see right in front of your front door. The site wasn’t crowded, but was still very hot there, I felt like I was going to melt! It was between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit! It was cool seeing structures so old still standing. What was incredible was how the Mayans moved the heavy rocks and glued them together. The scenery was breathtaking. It felt like I was walking into the past and stepping into someone else world.

A few days after that, my family told me we were going in a submarine. When I was heading towards the submarine, I first had to get onto a boat, then the boast would take us to the submarine. It felt nice on the boat with the breeze on my face and looking at small plants rising out of the water. Once the boat was side by side with the submarine, I hopped in eagerly. When it started to descend into the water, I saw small statues covered by plants and other particles. In the middle of the ride, I saw how the sun glimmered against the sand and the rocks which made it very relaxing to watch underwater. The sand was in a pattern mode of wavy horizontal lines. There was a lot coral and seaweed standing on the sea floor slowly swaying with the water. Sometimes, there were little fish swimming past. I even got to see Dory! When the submarine was about to rise from the water, there was a little surprise for the people onboard. A mermaid came out of nowhere and swam past the submarine waving at us. Her tail was blue in color, and she had long and dark brown hair. After that, we went to the beach near our hotel to soak out feet in and to see the Gulf of Mexico. On the beach, I made sandcastles and left many footprints there. I love collecting seashells and rocks, so when my family and I were going to the beach, I collected as many rocks and seashells my hands could hold.

I saw the sunset at many different places. I remember once my family and I were going to see the sunset near a boat dock. We were running late, so we had to squeeze between people and run fast, so we wouldn’t miss the sunset. We barely made it on time. With the sun setting, the sky turned an orange and red color and in the center was the sun just barely peeking out. I learned a lot of things staying in Mexico. One of them was some Spanish, so we had to communicate with our hands to show where we were going, or if we were going to eat. They still didn’t understand us and spoke Spanish to us. My dad would go to an employee who knew English and would ask them how to say one word in Spanish.

I am going to miss Mexico, the hotel, and especially the temperature. We went to Mexico during December 2017, so in Columbus, it was about 20 degrees, while in Mexico it was 80 degrees. I took many photos and created many new memories. I will never forget my first trip to Mexico!

Gauri Nanda daughter of Sudeesh Vasudevan and Lekshmy , won 1st place in Junior essay writing competition conducted by NSF at Ohio State University on April 6 th 2019.

Arya Janardhanan (left) and Anjali Janardhanan (right), daughter of Anuja and Ajayan Janardhanan, received the 1^st and 3^rd place respectively in the Vocabulary and Science competition conducted by the North South Foundation at The Ohio State University on April 6^th, 2019. Based on overall ranking, they could represent Ohio at the National level competition to be held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in August.