What is the Cambrian Indian Community?

It has been an eventful year with so many new people moving into the Cambrian Park neighborhood. We had a super successful Diwali and we are now ready to welcome 2017. But before that, we have had a ton on interest in what CIC really is and how people can be a part of it. So on behalf of the Board of the Cambrian Indian Community, I wanted to write a bit about who we are and what we do.

From our annual CIC Utsav 2016 event

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Inception

The idea for a formal non-profit organization that caters to the needs of the Indian community in the Cambrian Park neighborhood area was seeded quite a while back. The early settlers as we refer to them now did not have the strength in numbers to make one such vision a reality. About 3 years ago, the community started showing up in larger numbers in our events that prompted a real effort from a dozen or so people to formalize CIC. We had a fund raiser for the legal costs to seed an organization. As a result of these efforts, the Cambrian Indian Community was registered as a CA state non-profit organization on July 4, 2014. 

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What does CIC do?

The CIC’s mandate revolves around bringing the Camrian Indian community together through events that celebrate Indian culture and tradition and also contribute back to the society we live in and that has allowed us the freedom and independence to organize in the first place. As part of this, the CIC has the following annual events in its calendar.

• Discover India (Feb/Mar)
• Easter Celebrations (Apr/May)
• Utsav Cultural Festival (May/June)
• Mehendi Night (Sept/Oct)
• Diwali (Oct/Nov)

In addition to these annual events, we have members of the community step up and add new events to the calendar. Some examples are CIC Sports Day in Summer 2015, CIC Karaoke in Summer 2016 and more. Any member of the community can help organize new CIC events. For more details see this blog post and reach out.

Beyond these cultural milestones, the CIC family continues to periodically do Seva at local shelters to give back to the community. CIC also contributes to local schools and charities to foster a vibrant community.

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The CIC Board

The CIC Board currently has 5 members-

Latha Santhosh (President)

Krithika Santhanam (Vice President and Secretary)

Sachin Holla (Joint-Director)

Rangaprabhu Parthasarathy (Joint-Director)

Manish Sabu (Treasurer)

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How can you stay in touch?

This blog and website are the only official voices of the Cambrian Indian Community. At times, members of the community share details of local events in social networking groups like Facebook and WhatsApp. The best way for someone to stay in touch with community events is to periodically check this blog. 

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What next?

As an organization, we have some great ideas on how to grow and contribute to the community and the neighborhood we have embraced as home. But we are sure you have some wonderful ideas too. So please reach out via email or drop one of the Board members a note. 

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2014 - A Year in Review

The 2014 CIC events are all done. In our recent Board meeting, we looked at our current financial state (healthy) and also reviewed the feedback from Diwali 2014. As we shift our focus to 2015, it is only fitting that we take a moment to look back at what we achieved as a group in 2014.

2014 was the biggest year for the Cambrian Indian Community by every measure. We had the most number of events, easily the largest number of attendees and every record has been shattered. The participation from the community has been beyond fantastic. The number of families who moved into the community and instantly started actively participating in events is heartwarming. So what is all this stuff I am talking about without real data? You asked, so here we go.

Major Events of 2014

• Easter Egg Hunt - May (50 attendees)
• Rama Navami Concert - April (75 attendees)
• Chaat Party -May (100 attendees)
• Seniors Day - June (14 Seniors)
• Camping Trip - August (60 attendees)
• Sport Day - August (75 attendees)
• Mehndi/Dandiya Night - October (90 attendees)
• Diwali - Nov (370 attendees)

Note that some events were organized prior to the formal creation of the CIC NPO and when we did not have a website to communicate with everyone. 

Ongoing Activities of the Community

• Cambrian Soccer on Saturday mornings at Lone Hill Park
• Ladies Hike on Saturday mornings
• Gents Hike on Sunday mornings
• Cambrian Volleyball on Sunday evenings at Lone Hill Park

Please drop us a note here if you are interested in any of our ongoing activities or Seva events. 

Milestones

Voting for first ever CIC Board

After months of discussion and meetings, we filed our paperwork to be a State recognized NPO. This was approved in July 2014. This was a huge milestone for the community as a whole as it allows us to formalize and streamline a lot of our efforts. This also allows us to serve not just the local Indian community but a broader audience around us through charitable efforts and other Seva like the one we are doing regularly at InnVision. 

Community Outreach and Seva

The Cambrian Indian Community believes strongly in "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" meaning "The world is one family." To this effect, we have been engaged throughout the year in contributing our time and money to local causes that are near and dear to us. Our biggest recipient this year was the Community shelter network InnVision. Cambrianites have cooked and served fresh homemade food at the San Jose InnVision center in addition to contributing a portion of our Diwali proceeds to the cause. CIC did Seva at Innvision in May, July, August, October, November and December and will continue these efforts into 2015.

In addition, CIC will contribute a portion of any money we collect as part of our events. This is our small way of giving back to the city that has brought us all together. 

Looking Ahead

Well, we cant reveal everything in this post, can we? Keep guessing. We will be back with a tentative lineup of events for 2015, sometime early next year. Until then, on behalf of the CIC, here is wishing all of you a peaceful and enjoyable holiday and a wonderful New Year ahead.