10th OIMT Foundation Day Celebration
on 7th September 2008, in Omkarananda Nagar
Report by Shri I.D. Joshi, Principal, OIMT

A grand and glamorous function was organised on 7th September 2008 to celebrate the 10th Foundation Day Ceremony of Omkarananda Institute of Management & Technology at the Institute campus, amidst great exaltations, jubilations and cultural extravaganza.

The Chief Guest, Shri Swami Vishveshwarananda Saraswati, inaugurated the function by lighting the sacred lamp (Diya) and paid the glowing tribute to the Founder of the Institute, H.D. Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati Maharaj.

Floral tributes and homage was paid to the Founder Shri Swami Omkarananda by the distinguished Guests, Director, Faculty, Staff and Students as they all, with one voice, felt that it was the blessings of such a great Saint, that we are here in this beautiful, evergreen and peaceful surroundings of the Institute, surcharged with the spiritual vibrations of the Omkarananda Ashram, which inspires everyone and attracts all towards its green, clean, natural beauty, most suitable for study and self evaluation.

In his inaugural address the Chief Guest, Shri Swami Vishveshwaranandaji, called upon the students to imbibe the spirit of the India's Vedic culture and values and work hard, be punctual, regular, disciplined, to be successful in career in this globalised age. He further reminded them to follow the teachings of the great Saint Swami Omkarananda "To think like a Genius, work like a Giant and live like a Saint". Omkarananda Ashram tries its best to live these ideals and today it stands as a role model for the professional students and others for its purity, neatness, cleanliness of its pollutionless environment - so peaceful, so disciplined and so regulated.
 
He further pointed out, that some 25 years ago, H.D. Swami Omkarananda Saraswati started a small school with 3 children at this holy spot, a small sapling with a few petals, which has blossomed forth with blooming flowers everywhere - the school with 3 students has grown now into many Educational Centres with several thousands of students.

To add glory, dignity and beauty to the celebration, the honourable and most distinguished Guest of Honour, Shri Manohar Kant Dhyani, Vice President State Planning Commission, Uttarakhand and former M.P., Govt. of India, graced the function with his presence.

On behalf of the Institute, Swami Vishveshwaranandaji welcomed Shri Dhyaniji with bouquet and honoured him with shawl as a mark of respect and honour, followed by Director, Principal and others.

Amidst cultural performance, folksongs, folk dances, musical notes, resounding everywhere loudly - filling the atmosphere with the spirit of jubilations and exaltation, Kumari Somashekhari, Guest of Honour, General Secretary of the Omkarananda Trust and Director of Omkarananda Saraswati Natya Kala Academy, added another feather to the beauty and ecstasy of the celebrations, when she was singing the sweetest and most melodious Garhwali Bhajan. She captivated the guests and audience, who were lost in an ecstasy of her melodious voice, above all in great astonishment and admiration for her native like accent and knowledge of Hindi and the regional language Garhwali. Everyone couldn't help but praise her and seemed to be saying, it looks as if a tall, simple, fair lady from Garhwal hills happens to perform a song at the function. So it was but natural for our distinguished Guest Shri Manohar Kant Dhyani to burst forth his heart's feelings with surprise and joy that she has assimilated our culture, she is more than a native Garhwali. "She represents our culture, she is well versed and fluent in our language i.e. Hindi, so everyone should learn and emulate her. This is an example to be followed. We were overwhelmed to see her sweet language here. This is a great inspiration for us" - he proclaimed in the pandal amidst loud applause.

	Swami Vishweshwarananda Saraswati (on Left), Kum.Somashekhariji (Above) and Hon'ble Dhyaniji (Right)

Honourable Dhyaniji spoke at length and called upon the audience to cooperate and contribute towards the development of the Institute and commended the contribution of the Omkarananda Ashram towards the development of the area and whole Uttarakhand. He was further extolling the remarkable services by the Ashram for the masses. The Ashram is doing a great service for the cause of lok sanskriti, the traditional folk culture of India. They are promoting the culture of India and maintaining our heritage, customs, traditions, Lokachar Evam Paitrik Parampara, so we must cooperate with them and stand by them, he said.

Mr. M.S. Negi, Secretary of the Institute, gave his special thanks to Shri Manohar Kant Dhyani, Swami Vishveshwarananda, Kumari Somashekhari and all the dignitaries who had come to join the function.

Honourable Chairman Shri Uttam Das, too, paid homage to the Founder H.D. Paramahamsa Swami Omkarananda Saraswati Maharaj and congratulated Swami Vishveshwaranandaji for doing such a great service for the education of the masses in this Garhwal area. He further promised his full cooperation for the development of the Institute and the Ashram.

The other dignitaries, present in the function, were Shri S.S. Negi, Chairman OIMT, Shri M.S. Negi, Secretary OIMT and Col. D.L. Sachdeva, Principal OSN, Capt. D.D. Tiwari, Ex-Principal, Prof. G.S. Rajwar, Shri D.K. Varshney, Dr. S.N. Banerjee, Shri I.D. Joshi, Principal OIMT, and Miss Sangeeta Adhikary and Mrs. Chaturvedi, Lecturers OSN etc.

In the august gathering of the dignitaries, Swami Vishveshwarananda, President of Omkarananda Ashram, honoured the guests with shawl, garlands and offered them thanks and best wishes. They too expressed their good wishes and congratulated everyone informally for the Foundation Day Ceremony.

Shri I.D. Joshi, Principal, OIMT, welcomed the Chief Guest and distinguished Guest of Honour and expressed gratitude on behalf of the Institute that they spared their valuable time to grace the ceremony. Paying glowing attribute to H.D. Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati, the Founder, he exhorted the audience to follow the teachings of this great Master, by whose blessings we have here at Rishikesh one of the best Professional Institutes of Uttarakhand. H.H. Swami Vishveshwarananda is a true Representative and Disciple of H.D. Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati, as Swamiji is living the ideals and visions of his Master, tirelessly working hard for the realisations of his visions, i.e. the service of the poor and needy by developing such great educational projects at Rishikesh and all over Uttarakhand, for which he has been recognized and honoured as an educationist and was awarded "Pride of Uttarakhand" by Doon Citizens Council of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, and also awarded by Independent Schools Association of India, in New Delhi. We are fortunate enough to have his blessings and supervision in every walk of life.

He further welcomed Shri Manohar Kant Dhyani, the honourable Vice-President of State Planning Commission, Uttarakhand, and thanked him for sparing his valuable time and extending his cooperation to us.

Then amidst august gathering of honourable Guests at the dais, the Chief Guest, along with other honourable Guests altogether released the first Bulletin of OIMT, "Srijan", an excellent magazine, and presented the beautifully illustrated pages/contents before the audience.

Principal I.D. Joshi expressed thanks to revered Swami Satchidanandaji and honourable Kumari Somashekhari for the beautiful and artistic design as well as publication of the magazine. But for their guidance, supervision and help it could not have come out so beautiful and attractive.

There was great joy, jubilations and excitement in the celebration, marked with musical notes of folk dances, songs and rock dances by the students. Even the faculty, staff, students danced to the tune of the melodious music of the pop singer Varun Jain, performing even in his wheel chair rock n' roll and calling upon the audience to join him. There was so much excitement in his musical performance that even the Director, Principal, Dean and faculty joined him and danced to the ecstasy of great joy. It was indeed one of the most memorable moments of the day.

The Chief Guest and the other honourable guests gave away the prizes to the winners of the skit competition and sports competitions, i.e. chess and carom in the function.

The new students/freshers were welcomed to the Institute and a beautiful and very useful dictionary was given away to each and every student as a gift for their heartfelt welcome.

All Institute Members, students and guests were feasting their eyes on the cultural extravaganza, listening to the exaltations and melodious notes of music.

Afterwards they were invited to the delicious, tasty and sumptuous lunch, sweets and snacks, enjoying themselves, smiling, laughing and sharing pleasantries among themselves on this great event of the 10th Foundation-Day Celebrations of Omkarananda Institute of Management & Technology.