After years of growth, Hindu Heritage Youth Camp sets sights on new home
For Namita Pallod, counting down the days until Hindu Heritage Youth Camp was the highlight of her summer — “the best five days of the year,” she said.
Namita Pallod, 27, was a camper as long as she could remember. Later, she spent four years as a camp counselor and three as director.
Now, she is part of a whole new project. She is a member of the steering committee for Texas Hindu Campsite, a nonprofit dedicated to building a permanent home for her treasured childhood camp.
For decades, the camp leased facilities at the former Ida Gordon site in Richmond. That’s where Namita Pallod was both a camper and a firstyear counselor.
But when the property sold, Hindu Heritage Youth Camp had to find a new location.
For the next few years, organizers headed to Camp Lantern Creek in Montgomery. By that time, there were two five-day summer sessions to accommodate the growing number of campers.
But during COVID-19, the owner of the site closed the camp and put the property up for sale, Namita Pallod explained.
“We had to scramble to find another site,” she said.
After a summer of virtual camp, in-person session returned to temporary digs at Camp Victory in Alvin in 2021. Then, the same thing happened this summer.
“From winter to spring, we were looking for campsites again,” Namita Pallod said. “And we had even fewer options than the year before.”
This summer’s session will be held July 26 through July 31 at Deer Creek Camp in Medina.
It’s about a five-hour drive for campers, and organizers could only rent facilities for one week, limiting the number of participants, Namita Pallod said.
“In the past two years, we’ve had to spend so much time just figuring out where camp will be that we didn’t have the energy to focus on camp itself,” Namita Pallod said.
“We’re really hoping that in the future, we won’t be homeless,” she continued. “We want to have a permanent base. We already have roots — and now we want to be somewhere we can grow forever.”
Luckily, Namita Pallod said, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel — a plot of land poised for a future of fun and sun as a Hindu summer camp.
An increasing amount of campers — and Hindus in Houston
Namita Pallod jokes that Hindu Heritage Youth Camp is “in her blood.”
Both of her parents have been involved since the get-go. Her mother, Sushma Pallod, has served as chef each summer — and would bring Namita Pallod along before her daughter was old enough to enroll as a camper.
“She was just 2 years old,” Sushma Pallod said. “She hasn’t missed a single year.”
Her father, Vijay Pallod, currently serves on the board of Hindus of Greater Houston, which partners with the camp.
“Twenty years ago, I would go from temple to temple, asking people to send their kids to camp,” he said. “Now, we have a totally different problem.”
The Hindu Heritage Youth Camp was founded in 1985 by Sharad Amin, who wanted to preserve and celebrate the religion and culture for families. The first summer, 40 children signed up. Now, there is a waiting list.
“So many kids want to go to camp that we’re not able to accommodate them,” said Subhash Gupta, who has spent nearly 35 years helping the camp, since his children attended.
Gupta has long admired Sushma Pallod’s dedication as a cook and willingness to provide emotional care for the youngest attendees, often away from home for the first time.
“Year after year, I took all of my pans,” Sushma Pallod said. “My full kitchen goes to camp each time.”
One summer, a few years ago, he noticed that Sushma Pallod had a pained look on her face.
“Everyone with kids who weren’t accepted would call her,” he said. “We had limited capacity. It fills up very fast every year.”
Her friends were calling begging to let their campers go. “But there was nothing I could do,” Sushma Pallod said.
When registration opens for camp, the website often crashes. The sessions fill up in a matter of minutes.
“It was not just one kid,” Sushma Pallod said. “There were 200 kids. And I look at all the kids as my own kids.”
She had an idea: “We need our own campsite.”
That way, there could be multiple camp sessions throughout the summer — and a place for everyone.
In the past 20 years, Vijay Pallod explained, the Hindu population in Texas has tripled from 50,000 to over 150,000. He said the number is expected to climb to more than 220,000 by 2030.
“In Houston, we have 35 Hindu temples,” he said. “But not a single Hindu campsite.”
Both Vijay Pallod and Gupta were convinced by Sushma Pallod’s vision.
“With that in mind, four of us went on a journey to find a place,” Gupta said. “And it took us years.”
A journey to find a permanent home
The crew included Gupta, Vijay Pallod and Ashok Danda, among others interested in building a camp.
The search began in 2017 — with a number of hits and misses along the way.
Danda, whose children were also campers, spent his evenings and nights searching Google Maps for properties, scheduling tours at the ones that fit the wish list.
“Finally, I narrowed it down,” he said. “We need to go see this one.”
Everyone agreed that the stretch of land, located about 70 miles west of Houston, was “the one.” Already, a threebedroom house, a barn and a pond stood on the property. With a little imagination, Gupta, Vijay Pallod and Danda could picture cabins, a basketball court and a dining hall. In 2019, Gupta donated most of the cost of the land; others pooled their personal resources to pay for the property.
“It’s a very scenic drive, with beautiful ranches and lovely trees,” Gupta said. “It’s just a lovely place.”
Sushma Pallod said that Gupta has been an angel for the project.
“If he had not been there, this would not have been possible,” she added.
They all went to work clearing the underbrush and renovating the barn.
“We had a lot of work to do,” Danda said.
Then, COVID struck in the project’s earliest days. “For a year or two, it went on hold,” Danda said.
In the meantime, families used the property for small retreats, campouts and functions.
“But it will become a campsite,” Gupta said.
He described a large kitchen that can dish out meals for 200 youth per session, cabins for campers, classrooms, sports facilities and a swimming pool.
Danda said that with a permanent location, more sessions can be held each summer. During the school year, the property can host outings, Hindu celebrations and retreats.
The Texas Hindu Campsite became a separate nonprofit organization. Danda, Gupta and Sushma Pallod now sit on the board of directors.
Already, they have been working on a design with Houston architectural firm RDRL, the force behind India House and the Eternal Gandhi Museum, as well as the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.
“Right now, we have the conceptual layout,” Danda said. “Our idea is to put the cabins and dining hall together. That’s our goal.”
The mission is to complete construction on the first phase of Texas Hindu Campsite by 2024.
Launching a funding campaign
Funding will be key to getting the project off the ground. The current goal is to raise $5 million.
“We won’t be able to do all the phases, but this will help us start,” Vijay Pallod said. “Then, we’ll keep adding.”
While the cost of construction continues to rise, he said the investment is well worth it.
“We want this property to be used for a long time,” he said. “And the best way to invest in the future of our youth is to build a unique, one-of-a-kind Hindu campsite.”
His wife agreed. “Now the costs are so high, but I have faith,” Sushma Pallod said. “This is what I want for our kids and our grandchildren — to have a place. Camp is such a beautiful experience and a way to make lifelong friends.”
Not only will it benefit the fourth through 12th grade campers, but also the 20-yearold counselors.
“The camp is run by youth,” Vijay Pallod said. “That is the beauty of the camp.”
Namita Pallod knows from experience. Her time as counselor and as camper were formative, she explained.
Campers get to take a deep dive into their heritage and Indian culture. They try sports from India like kho-kho, kabaddi and langri — and learn traditional dances like garba, raas and bhangra. The youth also have their own version of the Holi, a Hindu festival of color celebrated in the spring. There are discussions about their religion, as well as yoga and meditation.
Children look up to the counselors as role models, Namita Pallod added. And campers form lasting friendships with other Hindu youth from across the state.
“We know lots of kids who consider their camp friends closer than their school friends,” Namita Pallod said. “They go on to become roommates and bridesmaids.”
The summers at Hindu Heritage Youth Camp can be magical, she added.
“We know that what we offer can’t be replicated,” she said. “That’s what drives us to stay.”
And that’s what motivates the leadership of the Texas Hindu Campsite and Hindus of Greater Houston.
“We want to build memories in one place,” Namita Pallod said. “We want this for our community and our youth, to have this safe haven.”