INDIA SCHOOL
301-654-6915

Administration

Darshan Krishna - Mrs. Krishna received Master’s Degree in Hindi from the University of Delhi and she worked as a lecturer at the Indra-Prastha College and the Lady Sri Ram college, the two constituent colleges of the University of Delhi

Worked as a Researcher at the Institute of Advanced Studies, and worked as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Public Education, The School of General Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

In USA she taught Hindi to several Foreign Service Officers of various US agencies and to World Bank officials for several years.

Mrs. Krishna with her husband, Dr. Raj Krishna founded The India School Inc, in Washington DC to promote the study of Hindi, other Indian languages,Indian Art and Culture.  The India School was the first institution of its kind to have been established in the United States.  The School become the premier institution of instruction and over the years has given instruction to numerous students.

It also prepared students for the Hindi Proficiency Certificate and the Diploma courses of the Central Hindi Directorate of India.  As its Director, she planned and prepared materials, supervised and carried out the teaching of Hindi and other subjects. She also started a Hindi/Urdu Club for interested students to socialize, converse and improve their Hindi.

As Director of India School she planned and presented in conjunction with the Capital Children’s Museum of Washington DC, a Festival of Arts and Crafts of India for Children. The exhibit was visited by thousands of American children and Washington Post called it “ A Young Traveler’s  Passageway to India” in a very complimentary review. She organized numerous performances by India School students at venues like Smithsonian and Kennedy Center. Mrs. Krishna also organized several programs presenting Indian classical dance and music by internationally renowned Indian artists like Ali Akbar Khan, and Zakir Hussain, Sitara Devi, Uma Sharma, Rajan and Sajan Mishra.

 In 1994, she planned and presented a series of five lectures on Indian music at Strathmore Hall, Rockville, Maryland.. In 1985, started a publication of a cultural magazine titled “HIGHLIGHTS” notes, news and views on Arts, History and Letters of India. She oversaw the India School publication of “From Thames to Hooghly; Calcutta Heritage”. She edited a booklet titled “Introduction to Indian Music” with the funding provided by the Maryland Humanities Council through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. She also wrote three workbooks for the teaching of basic Hindi titled Hindi Vowels, Alphabet Book I, and Hindi Vowel Symbols.

The Association of Indians in America gave an award as a community leader in the field of Education.

The Government of Montgomery County, Maryland awarded a certificate in recognition and appreciation for outstanding service to the community.

Kiran G. Chadda, Ph.D. - For over 20 years , Dr. Kiran Chadda has been working with India School both as an administrator and Hindi Teacher for adults.  At first showing interest in the institution as a means for her daughters to learn Hindi and take courses in music and dance, she continued to stay affiliated with the School to encourage other families to cherish the rich, age old traditions of India.  With a Ph.D. in Applied Experimental Psychology, she is currently the Director of Multicultural Affairs & International Student Programs at Hood College and is also an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Montgomery College in Maryland.

On a personal note:  India School provides students with a solid foundation in Indian languages, music, dance, and culture.  In my own experience, both my daughters took up an advanced level of Hindi, Indian Classical Vocal Music, and Kuchipudi Dance.  They went on to excelling at Hindi courses in college and were proud to be able to write letters in Hindi to family members living in India.  They have participated in dance dramas, South-Asian accapella, and enjoyed choreographing dance productions for their high school and later university cultural shows.  Their courses at India School provided them with inspiration and interest to further their talents and stay connected to their cultural heritage.  I too, have enjoyed teaching Hindi classes and am especially impressed by the interest in the language by non-Indians.  It has been a pleasure to watch children and parents cultivate their interest in Indian culture and pass on their findings to the next generations.

Astra Juneja

Somesh Sood - Ms. Somesh Sood has been associated with India School since 1989. A Gold Medalist, Masters Degree in Hindi Literature and Arts, joined India School, a premier leading intuition, to give back and promote the indian culture, heritage and language to the Indian American communities. Additionally, she is a certified teacher with a bachelors degree in Education (B.Ed.). She has expert knowledge in the language Sanskrit as well as English. Her recent certifications have been in the area of Child Psychology and Development.
 
She has been primarily affiliated with India School as a Hindi Teacher and took this opportunity to help kids, teens and adults in learning, understanding and excelling in the language.
 
She has attended many workshops and seminars related to the language subject area and is an active social member of the community in general. She has worked as Senior Hindi Teacher/Vice Principal since 1976 in India and has continued to teach Hindi Language as an Instructor/Linguistic Expert at various prestigious Government and Private Language Institutions. She has worked as an Official Interpreter for different organizations. She has held private tuitions with various age groups. She is also employed with University of Maryland University Libraries as a Librarian and teaches Hindi Language as an Instructor/Professor for the University.
 
Currently, Ms. Sood provides her expertise in computer skills by supporting in the India School's Administration Operations area. She brings leadership qualities and excellent interpersonal skills to handle the responsibilities of this outstanding educational institution.

Hindi

Darshan Krishna
Madhu Puri
Susmita Shrivastva
Sunanda Khanna
Sulekha Avasthi
Sunaina Khanna

Urdu

Preetam Mall
Munira Mall

Gujarati

Swati Dalal-  Mrs. Swati Dalal teaches Gujarati in India School since last 5 years. She was born and brought up in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and has earned Bachelor’s in Computer Science from University of Maryland. Teaching is her passion, and here in US when she got a chance to teach her mother tongue Gujarati she accepted the offer gracefully. She has a very good command on Gujarati grammar and vocabulary.
       She loves to teach Gujarati, and believe that all Guajarati’s should know their mother tongue i.e., read, write and speak. Her goal is to help preserve, protect and spread the cultural heritage of Gujarat, and of India as a whole. Before coming to US she was teaching computer languages at APTECH in Ahmedabad.
       She considers the real instrument for her motivation to be the active support given to her by her students, friends, family members and the Indian community at large. Mrs. Dalal currently lives in Germantown, Maryland with her husband, Anup Shah, son Tanuj and daughter Riya.

Tamil

Surekha Krishnan - Born to parents from the south and growing up in Delhi, Surekha Krishnan was exposed to various Indian languages. She belonged to Tamil and Hindi theater groups and acted in several plays. Tamil became her primary tongue after her marriage to an Iyer from Tamil Nadu. Both her kids were born in the U.S. and are well-conversant in Tamil. Surekha taught mathematics in the Montgomery County Public School system and currently works for a bio-pharmateutical company in Gaithersburg.

Bangla

Ayona Dutta (See bio below.)

Light/Popular Music

Ayona Dutta graduated in Commerce and did her masters in Child Care & Education .
Right from childhood (or maybe from birth because music runs for generations from both the parental sides) she  has been in love with music (vocal and instrumental). She learnt the pianoforte till Grade 6 (under The Royal School of Music, London) alongwith  Rabindrasangeet (songs of Rabindranath Tagore) and also experimented by singing them in English.  She also participated in opera singing (in the soprano section) with choirs. She taught music in the Primary section (age-group of 4-11 years)  in Indian and International schools in New Delhi for 13 years where she conducted the music of several musical productions, composed music and singing for all the functions and assemblies and conducted keyboard classes.
Ms Dutta's goal for the children of India School is to expose the Hindi language not only through the various forms of vocabulary through hindi songs but also in terms of the social, patriotic and cultural heritage of  India. The children should be able to connect to India and its ‘unity through diversity’ as musically as possible.
At present she is conducting an after-school music curriculum in The Woods Academy , a private school and giving piano/keyboard lessons to children there and at home.
Apart from music, she likes to read matters related to my workarea , some philosophy and current affairs.

Anshu Sharma 

Hindustani Classical Music

Shashi Verma has been associated with the India School for the last 28 years. She has found India Schools as a leading institution, a maiden effort, and means to introduce rich Indian cultural heritage to our next generation. Children born in this country need to learn and inherit our national language, art, music, and numerous traditions of classical dances that have taught us discipline and enriched our lives since vedic times to date. Both Indian music and dance have deep routes in Hindu philosophy, and thus School provides a bridge to connect many cultures. India School has aptly taken the responsibility to transfer knowledge not only to our children, but also to grownup who have interest in our unique culture. After doing this social service for three decades, we are indeed proud to say that we have succeeded in sprouting Indian culture, music and dance in our youth. Today we see the reward of our continued hard work; we find our former students coming to India School with their children. Tomorrow, these children will carry our legacy to their next generation.

Humayun Khan

Instrumental Music

John Bell (Sitar, Violin, Guitar, Sarod, Flute) Mr. Bell began studying North Indian Classical music in 1973. Since 1978, he has spent summers at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California learning from maestros such as Ali Akbar Khan, Zakir Hussain, and Swapan Chaudhuri. He performs for weddings and house concerts in The D.C. area. He also repairs Indian instruments. He teaches the instrumental and vocal compositions of Ali Akbar Khan and welcomes the players of all instruments who want to learn this music.

Carnatic Music

Lakshmi Seetharaman
1) Trained in and performed vocal Carnatic Music for 12 years.
-Learnt Geetams , Varanams, Keerthana and Devarnama from Mrs.Vijaya Murthi in Bangalore for 7 years.
Received further training from Mrs. Neela Ramgopal in Bangalore, India.
Learnt Vocal Carnatic music for one year in the school –“Shrithi  Swaralaya”, located in Fremont, California. As a group of 6 students, we performed in temples and community centers. 
2) Completed 7 grades of music examinations from the Royal School of Music, London.
- Studied musical theory and played compositions from the Classical, baroque and modern eras.
3) Vocalist for Indian music band “Aurko”. The band performed Bollywood and Indian pop music.
4)2001-2005-Keyboardist and vocalist for Indian music band in B.M.S College of Engineering in Bangalore ,India. Our band focused mostly on playing cover versions of Bollywood music composed by AR Rahman.
5) Vocalist and keyboardist for “Liquid Groove”, B.M.S College  Rock  band. Liquid groove composed and played only own compositions and won several competitions locally and nationally in India.
6) 2001-2005: Western music coordinator for BMS College of Engineering.
-As a music coordinator it was my responsibility to hold regular music auditions (Vocal and musical instruments),for students in B.M.S College who were interested in performing  and showing their talent in competitions.
-Music training sessions were also made available.
7) Radio jokey for Radio Indigo - On-air talent hosting the request show “BPL Oye!
-Communicated with listeners around the globe and played popular music on demand.  The station was aired on the World Space Network, a satellite radio station.
8) Piano teacher for beginners in Bangalore, India.
9) Certified Sivananda Hatha Yoga teacher.
-Completed 1 month (450 hours) of teacher’s training for Sivananda Hatha Yoga in the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in Madurai India.
-The Yoga training included meditation, breathing, proper exercise for physical fitness and diet. 
-Learnt methods to teach Sivananda Yoga to Children, adults (Young and elderly) and pregnant women.

Tabla

Monir Hossain hails from a musical family, grandson of researcher and performer Ustad Kader Buksh of Murshidabad, West Bengal, India. Born in Bangladesh, Monir was musically influenced at an early age by his father, vocalist Ustad Hafiz Hossain, a regular classical vocalist at All India Radio in Calcutta as well as his uncle Ustad Hamid Hossain. His long term guru is Pandit Samar Saha of Sangeet Research Academy, Calcutta. Monir also received extensive talim from tabla stalwarts such as Pandit Nayan Ghosh of Bombay, Pandit Anup Ghosh of Delhi, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee as well as (late) Pandit Shawkat Ali Khan of Calcutta.
Click here to view Mr. Hossain's new website.

Vinay Nagpal  has been trained for over 10 years in Tabla in the Delhi and Luckhnow Gharanas. In addition to doing his Bachelors in Computer Science and MBA in Information Systems, Vinay has done Prabhakar (Graduate Diploma) from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad.  Vinay studied Tabla in New Delhi, India from Guru Shri Baij Nath Kathak at the famous Kathak dancer Uma Sharma’s School of Dance and Music in New Delhi, India. And also received advanced training from Guru Fateh Singh Gangani in New Delhi, India. Mr. Nagpal is an accomplished tabla teacher and performer. He has been actively teaching tabla at the India School Inc. since 2002. Vinay has accompanied several musicans from India and played Tabla along with flute players, violanists, vocalists and other artists. Vinay is an active Tabla player for the Art of Living bhajan group and and Amritvani Satsang group in the DC area and has played at the local temples for religious events. Vinay has recently started playing the (western) drums and composing fusion music with Tabla and Drums. 

Bharatnatayam/Kathak/Bollywood/Popular Dance/Folk Dance

Tanu Shrivastav  has been trained for about 12 years in classical dance form Kathak and belongs to the Lucknow Gharana. Apart from doing MS in Foods and Nutrition fom Delhi University she has done Prabhakar (Graduate Diploma) in Kathak dance and Tabla from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad. A member of Indian Dance Educators Association was honored by the opportunity to Judge the solo dance competition of students of various dance schools of Metro DC area organized by IDEA.She has presented Lec-Dem on Indian Dance at various schools and has also performed at many cultural gatherings in the Washington DC area. She was earlier teaching dance at Tarang Dance Academy, Dehra Dun and to children with special needs at Enabling Center, New Delhi. Presently she is teaching Kathak and Bollywood dance at India School Inc, Bethesda, Indian Intl School, Chantilly and MudraArts Center, Sterling.

Shree Khalid has been teaching Bollywood dance to students of all ages for over ten years and has studied Kathak from Lucknow Gharana. She has a BA in International Relations, U.S. Foreign Policy in Asia from American University and currently works for the U.S. government before she returns to school for her masters degree. Shree has played the flute since age eight and enjoys music and dance from various parts of India and the world; she speaks multiple languages. 
She seeks to make each class an enjoyable experience and provides a classical basis for her dance routines which are always set to age appropriate and upbeat music. For students who do not understand the language spoken in the songs, she provides explanations for the words and the accompanying dance movements to further the knowledge of her dancers. She custom-mixes songs into one performance piece to keep both the students and crowds entertained. Her classes always keep students actively engaged and eager to come back to class each week, and students are always proud of their accomplishments at the end of the term. Shree has a positive attitude and is eager to welcome any dancer to her classes!

Aanchal Jalota
Anuja Patel
Ila Bala

Yoga

Tehseen Chettri has been practicing Yoga for over 20 years. She has studied and taken classes in Mumbai, India under senior teachers of Guruji B.K.S.Iyengar. She has been teaching yoga at India School, Maryland since 2006. Her educational qualifications include a MA in Psychology and a Law Degree from the Bombay University. She has practiced both as a psychologist and as a lawyer in Mumbai.
The Yoga class at India School will be for beginners as well as those who have practiced for a few years and will evolve with the participants as we progress along the path of health and wellbeing.

Indian Art

Akashi  Deka  did  her  Masters  in  Anthropology  and  taught  post  graduate  classes  in  Anthropology  in  Dibrugarh  University,  Assam  for  a  while.  However,  she  later  started  teaching  children  in  schools  in  Guwahati  and  New  Delhi  while  accompanying  her  husband  during  his  various  postings  across  India.  She  had  been  teaching  in  Shiv  Niketan  School,  in  New  Delhi  for  the  past  6  years  before  coming  to  the  United  States. 
Akashi  also  completed  her  Bachelor  of  Education  from  Guwahati  University.  In  addition,  she  also  attended  a  course  to  learn  the  basic  techniques  of  art  at  the  Artists  Guild  Institute  in  Guwahati,  run  by  the  local  artists  of  the  Northeastern  region.  During  her  spare  time,  she  does  pencil  sketches,  still  life,  water  and  oil  paintings.
        

Sanskrit

Neeru Chaudhari
Sonia Dave

Marathi