HINDU TEMPLE AND CULTURAL SOCIETY OF USA, INC. SRI VENKATESWARA TEMPLE (BALAJI MANDIR) AND COMMUNITY CENTER 1075 Route 202/206, Bridgewater, NJ 08807; Tel # (908) 725-4477; Non-Profit tax exempt organization: ID#22-3003436 October 25, 2010 LIFE MEMBER CATEGORY TRUSTEE ELECTION Dear Member, This election is to fill three vacancies on Board of Trustees that will be created in December 2010. Enclosed are two ballots (both printed on page 2) for voting for Trustee candidates in Life Membership category and a stamped and addressed ballot envelope to place your ballots and mail. Also enclosed are the statements from the candidates. The statements and photos are also posted on the Temple bulletin board and the web site http://www.venkateswara.org/electionsfiles/index.htm. Please read the detailed voting and mailing instructions below. It is important that each member uses the ballots and envelopes received for his/her particular membership. If you have multiple memberships, please do not combine ballots with other membership ballots or do not use another mailing envelope because the envelope that was supplied contains information to verify your membership. Ballots will be disqualified if there are more than two ballots in an envelope. Resending Ballots: Even with our best efforts in mailing the ballots, the ballots may not be delivered and you may request the ballot to be resent. You must do so by sending an email to bhavaraju@optonline.net after November 1 to allow time for mail delivery, informing the correct address in the email. If the address is the same as in our records we will immediately resend the duplicate ballot. In case your address in the Temple records is different from the address you provided, the replacement ballot will be sent after you make the address change on the Temple web site http://www.venkateswara.org/addr_change.doc and the change is approved by Membership Committee. Duplicate ballots will not be sent after November 11 (within one week the ballots are due).the due date to receive ballots including those resent is November 18, 2010. Revised Schedule: November 18, 2010 (Thursday): Last day to receive the ballots in the PO Box. November 20, 2010 (Saturday): Counting of ballots in the Life member category November 21, 2010 (Sunday): Counting of ballots in the Patron member category PLEASE EXERCISE YOUR VOTING PREVILEGE JUDICIOUSLY! PLEASE MAIL YOUR BALLOTS EARLY! Nominations/Elections Committee Murty Bhavaraju, Chair (bhavaraju@optonline.net), Vadali Sastry, Rao Potharlanka, Prasad Wunnava, Rangaswamy Seshadri. *********************************************************************************** INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTE (1) TWO ballots on the same page (do not separate) containing alphabetical listing of the candidates contesting for three trusteeships in the Life Member category, an envelope with postage are provided. (2) Do not sign your name on the ballots or on the envelope. (3) Vote by marking X on the lines in front of the names of ONLY THREE candidates on each ballot. (4) Insert the sheet with two marked ballots in the envelope with your From address and To address as Murty P. Bhavaraju, HTCS Nominations/Election Committee, P.O. Box # 6583, Bridgewater, NJ 08807-0583. (Families with more than one member: Note that more than two ballots in one envelope are NOT permitted. Each member should use his/her own envelope provided as the process verifies your membership.) (5) MAIL THE ENVELOPE EARLY SO THAT IT REACHES THE NOMINATIONS/ELECTIONS COMMITTEE BY THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2010. 1
HINDU TEMPLE AND CULTURAL SOCIETY OF USA, INC. LIFE MEMBER CATEGORY TRUSTEE BALLOT BALLOT 1 OF 2 For each ballot: Vote only for three candidates by marking X on the line. Voting for more than three candidates will make your ballot invalid. 1. Bandari, Sudhakar 2. Dasika, Yasoda 3. Krishna, Janani 4. Rangarajan, Srinivasan 5. Sambasivan, Swaminathan 6. Suryadevara, Rao Mallikarjuna 7. Vanguri, Krishna Sastry HINDU TEMPLE AND CULTURAL SOCIETY OF USA, INC. LIFE MEMBER CATEGORY TRUSTEE BALLOT BALLOT 2 OF 2 For each ballot: Vote only for three candidates by marking X on the line. Voting for more than three candidates will make your ballot invalid. 1. Bandari, Sudhakar 2. Dasika, Yasoda 3. Krishna, Janani 4. Rangarajan, Srinivasan 5. Sambasivan, Swaminathan 6. Suryadevara, Rao Mallikarjuna 7. Vanguri, Krishna Sastry 2
Life Member Category Trustee Candidate Statements Sudhakar Bandari, Ph.D. I have been a Devotee and Volunteer of HTCS since 15 years, and my entire family offers services to the Temple on every Saturday and our festivals. I have been associated with HTCS, volunteering for sorting, counting and depositing Hundi money in Bank on a weekly basis. I've also been helping the treasurer in jewelry auctions conducted at temple and assisting office staff in issuing archana and other pooja tickets/samgri. Additionally, I have been helping temple management in crowd control during festivals and major events such as Kumbhabhishekam, New Year's, Indo-American festival, Srinivasa Kalyanam and other programs where ever my services required. Actively involved in indo-american Festival and motivated young friends to take part in the temple. I worked with our temple former treasurers Naidu Bonthu, Subba Rao Vemulapalli (Present Chair Person) and also present treasurer Srinath garu for the related activities. My continued pursuit to promote the Hindu Culture and Heritage has led to my nomination for life member trustee. I have a clear vision to preserve and promote Hindu Culture. My focus will be on temple cleanliness, community benefit, fiscal prudence and team work with independent thinking. I will work to streamline HTCS management policies and make them transparent to all members. I will give my whole support and services to Board members/trustees for the construction of Community/Cultural Center, Priest Quarters, and Yagnasala to serve the Hindu community. With the blessings of Lord Venkateswara, I have had the opportunity to serve the Temple and community. I humbly request and thank you for your support and I and my family will continue to provide volunteer services to our Temple and community. Please Vote for me. Mrs. Yasoda Dasika Ever since our family moved into the area in 1997, I have been volunteering avidly at the temple. Since 2003, as the Chairperson of the Food & Prasadam Committee, I have prepared and coordinated distribution of Prasadam at various temple events. For the recent one year, I have dedicated myself to the launching of cafeteria under temple management to better serve devotees. This encompassed buying equipment, recruiting staff including specialized cooks, scheduling volunteers, managing daily operations, and being in the front line of service frequently as is typical with any start-up operation. My husband Rao Dasika and children Koushik & Kushal have been very supportive of me all along the years enabling me serve the temple and the community. 3
If elected as a trustee, I would like to work with the board in streamlining policies, and operational procedures to ensure utmost service to the devotees and the community. Also, I would focus on establishing activities that preserve and promote our culture & heritage for future generations. I humbly request and thank you for your support. Janani Krishna, MD I am a Gynecologist living in Holmdel, NJ since 1984. I held successful private practice in Holmdel until 2005. My husband K Krishna is Anesthesiologist. I have two grown up children who are working in NY. I have always been interested in Literature, Culture, Spirituality & Religion since my childhood. I was the president of Telugu Fine Arts Society, NJ for 4 years 1998-2002 during which period the association rejuvenated & became very strong financially with phenomenal growth in attendance & membership reaching new highs. I served TANA in several capacities for 6 years as a member of Executive committee (Telugu Association of North America). I am fully aware of the procedures & protocols required by the Non Profit associations registered in NJ State. I have always been interested in community events organized & promoted several music, dance, literary & spiritual programs in NJ while in TFAS & independently for the past 5 years. I keep myself busy by reaching out to the community with counseling as needed. I am a Patron & Life member of the Bridgewater Temple since inception. I watched the growth of the Temple with much pleasure & pride. At present the Temple is very strong financially with increasing number of devotees on a daily basis. It is time for the Temple to reach out to the community & not just limit its services to rituals. As a Trustee, I wish to organize several activities and community projects to the seniors & to promote Vedic literature- Culture- Spirituality & Hinduism among our youth. Indian community is much diversified & it is important that we stay united & strong for future generations. Srinivasan Rangarajan My name is SRINIVASAN RANGARAJAN. I have been resident of New Jersey for the past 28 years and resident of Bridgewater for the past ten years. I have been a devotee of this temple since the kumbhabishekam and life member of this temple since 2007. I served as full fledged volunteer for the past 10 years. I served as a Vice Chairperson of the 4
Volunteer committee for 2 years and I assisted Dr. A. R. SRINIVASAN in the religious committee. During my service as a volunteer, I have assisted priests in the preparation of abhisekham for deities like Siva lingam, Navgraham, Ganesha and Satyanarayana in the week end and during some week days. I have also served as a volunteer various special occasions (Indian American festival, New Year celebration, health fair and special pooja at the community center) at the temple. My wife is a volunteer at the temple gift shop during the week ends and on special occasion days. To continue my dedication to the temple more effectively, I am seeking as Trustee (life member) in this year election. During my tenure as a Trustee, I will coordinate with all the Board of trustees to complete all the tasks successfully and diligently. Thank you for the support of all the life members. Sambasivan Swaminathan Shri Gurubhyo Namaha. Me and my wife are from the family of Vedic tradition and strive to live to the teachings of Kanchi Mahaswami. We are associated with HTCS temple since July 1996 and are volunteering since then. During the Kumbabhishekam time, I volunteered for religious activities while my wife supported with food preparation for the priests who came from India. I volunteer on Saturdays for the Navagraha Abhishekam and Thirumanjanam of Lord Balaji. Since 2000, we are regular devotees for Dhanur masa pooja and also coordinate during those days. We take every opportunity to volunteer especially during Ganesh Chathurthi, Vaikunda Ekadasi and Brahmotsavam time. We also volunteer at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Saylorsburg, Sringeri Vidya Bharathi Foundation, Stroudsburg and Kanchi Kamakoti Seva Foundation. The long-standing association with these spiritual organizations will help me draw upon their support to serve HTCS in several unique ways. HTCS is located in the country s most ethnically diverse state of New Jersey. Being far away from the motherland, the Indian community looks at our temple for spiritual guidance and inspiration. If elected, I will devote myself to the temple s religious activities with which I am very familiar. In consultation with the knowledgeable personalities in our community, I will do my best to render the authentic and traditional services to devotees of the temple. Suryadevara Mallikarjuna Rao My name is Suryadevara Mallikarjuna Rao. I am volunteering for the 12 years at Hindu Temple (HTCS) Bridgewater and also occasionally I am doing my community service in our Indian Community. Those who know me, thanks for your support and for others please find out which contender is doing volunteer service at the Temple before you choose. 5
Dr. Krishna Sastry Vanguri Over these many years, as a Trustee, I had the privilege in serving this Temple in various capacities as: A Vice-chairman of the Board: (2006-2010) provided leadership, direction in managing this great temple with fiscal responsibility in serving the needs of our community. Chairperson, Publications: (2008-2010) Responsible for bringing you all a comprehensive colorful monthly newsletter - Viswa Vani covering all the temple s news: community, educational, religious etc. activities in a regular timely manner, with the help of a wonderful team. Chairperson, Public Relations: (1996-2004), publicized, promoted and created a positive image of the temple and our community to the general public at every opportunity. Introduced two educational scholarships at the Bridgewater- Raritan High School. Chairperson, Community Affairs: (1992-96), initiated many community activities: ever popular Soup Kitchens, Youth activities, Fund drives for disaster relief etc. I can proudly say that there are many other projects in this temple I started / successfully completed, and delivered. The temple is now in the midst of major construction projects (Cultural Center etc.); needs the experience and guidance in leadership. I will devote my time and energy to serve this temple community and the future generations. 6