But Abdul Kalam's light will guide us to his dream destination: India as a knowledge superpower
Narendra Modi
Bharat has lost a Ratna, but the light from this jewel will guide us towards A P J Abdul Kalam's dream destination: India as a knowledge superpower, in the first rank of nations. Our scientist-President - and one who was genuinely loved and admired across the masses - never measured success by material possessions.
For him, the counterpoint to poverty was the wealth of knowledge, in both its scientific and spiritual manifestations. As a hero of our defence programme, he shifted horizons; and as a seer of the spirit, he sought to liberate doctrine from the narrow confines of partisan tension to the transcendental space of harmony.
Every great life is a prism, and we bathe in those rays that find their way to us. His profound idealism was secure because it rested on a foundation of realism.
Every child of deprivation is a realist. Poverty does not encourage illusions. Poverty is a terrible inheritance; a child can be defeated even before he or she has begun to dream.
But Kalamji refused to be defeated by circumstances. As a boy, he had to support his studies by earning money as a newspaper vendor; today, page after page of the same newspapers are filled with his obituary notices.
He said that he would not be presumptuous enough to say that his life could be a role model for anybody; but if some poor child living in an obscure and underprivileged social setting found some solace in the way his destiny had been shaped, it could perhaps help such children liberate themselves from the bondage of illusory backwardness and helplessness.
He is my marg darshak, as well as that of every such child.
His character, commitment and inspirational vision shine through his life. He was unencumbered by ego; flattery left him cold.
He was equally at ease before an audience of suave, globe-trotting ministers and a class of young students. The first thing that struck one about him was that, uniquely, he combined the honesty of a child with the energy of a teenager and the maturity of an adult.
He took little from the world, and gave all he could to society. A man of deep faith, he epitomised the three great virtues of our civilisation: dama, self-restraint; dana, sacrifice; and daya, compassion.
But this persona was powered by the fire of endeavour. His vision for the nation was anchored in freedom, development and strength.
Given our history, freedom had a political context of course; but it also included freedom of the mind and expansion of intellectual space. He wanted India to leap out of the underdeveloped trough and eliminate the curse of poverty through inclusive economic growth.
Wisely, he suggested that politicians spend only 30% of their time on politics, and 70% on development; a suggestion which he often followed up by calling in MPs from a state and discussing the socioeconomic issues of their region with them.
The third pillar, strength, was not born of aggression, but of understanding. An insecure nation will rarely discover the route to prosperity. Strength commands respect. His contributions to our nuclear and space achievements have given India the muscle to be confident of her place in the region and the world.
His memory is best honoured by the creation of new institutions that nurture science and technology, and enable us to find a beneficial equation with the awesome power of nature. Too often, greed makes us predators of our environment.
Kalamji saw poetry in a tree, and energy that could be harnessed in water, wind and sun. We should learn to look at our world through his eyes, and with the same missionary zeal.
Human beings can shape their lives through will, persistence, ability and sheer courage. But we have not been given the right to script where we are born, or how and when we die.
However, if Kalamji had been offered an option, this is how he would perhaps have chosen to say goodbye: on his feet, and in front of a classroom of his beloved students. As a bachelor, he was childless. But that is wrong. He was a father to every Indian child, teaching, cajoling, urging, exciting, clearing darkness wherever he found it with the radiance of his vision and the passion of his involvement. He saw the future, and showed the way. As I entered the room where his body lay in state yesterday, I noticed the painting at the entrance that depicted a few lines from an inspirational book he wrote for children, Ignited Minds. The good that he did will not be interred with his bones, because his children will preserve his memory through their lives and work, and gift it to their children.-- The Times of India, July 29, 2015
1. FESTIVAL: KARKIDAKAM: THE MONTH OF PENANCE AND PIETY - Malayalam month Karkidakam or Ramayana Masam in Kerala began this year on July 17 and will end on August 16. On all days in the month, the Epic Ramayan is read in traditional Hindu homes and in temples dedicated to Vishnu. The reading of the Ramayan begins on the first day of the month and the reading is complete by last day of the month. The famous Malayalam Version of the Ramayana titled Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilippattu written by Thunchath Ezhuthachan is the one recited in the month.
Ages ago, there had been a practice in the Hindu ashrams to follow a four-month vrutham known as the 'Chaathru Maasyam'. Beginning from Karkidakam, the vrutham goes on till the Malayalam month of Thulam.
The 'Naalambala Darshanam' is an important pilgrimage observed during the Ramayana masam. During this pilgrimage, the believers worship Ram, Bharathan, Lakshmanan and Shathrugnan, the four brothers in the temples dedicated to each of them on a single day. Thriprayar Sri Ram temple, Iirnjalakuda Bharathan temple, Moozhikulam Lakshmanan temple and Payyammal Shatrugnan Temple in the Thrissur district are the destinations in the 'Naalambala Darshanam' pilgrimage. --goTop
2. MILLENNIUM'S FIRST Nabakalebar Rath Yatra held at Puri: Nearly 17 lakh devotees from across the country and abroad on July 18, thronged the holy town in coastal Odisha to witness the Rath Yatra of three revered deities, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra, following the first Nabakalebar of this millennium, marking largest-ever religious congregation in Odisha. Lord Jagannath was ensconced in the largest of the chariots, 45-feet high 'Nandighosh' which has 16 huge wooden wheels. The chariot of Balabhadra was the 14-wheeled 44 feet high 'Taladhwaja' and that of Subhadra known as 'Darpadalan' with 12 wheels and standing 43 feet high.
Nabakalebar signifies change of wooden idols of the deities that takes place in 12-19 years when two lunar months of Asadha fall in a year. The last Nabakalebar was held in 1996.This year's Rath Yatra marked the first public appearance of the deities after they adorned new bodies.
Earlier, in the day, the deities were brought one after the other in a swaying movement (called Pahandi) from the 12th century Shri Jagannath Temple by the priests and servitors amidst the chanting of hymns, beating of cymbals, drums and blowing of conch shells.
To have a glimpse of the renewed deities, devotees occupied every conceivable place on the three kilometre stretch from Jagannath temple to Gundicha temple, the final destination of the journey where deities stay put for nine days before making their return. Many devotees were seen dancing ecstatically. Many people were seen dropping to the ground frequently as mark of their devotion to the deities. Devotees in groups were seen approaching the Grand Road reciting 'Haribol' and 'Jai Jagannath'. This time the journey took two days. "It is a lifetime opportunity to get darshan of deities in newly sculpted body. I don't know if I will ever come for Nabakalebara festival in future," said Rajani Tiwary, a devotee from Uttar Pradesh. "Bahuda Yatra", the return car festival of the deities on July 26 was also witnessed by lakhs of devotees. --goTop
3. Temple run: As America's 3 million Hindus grow in stature, so do their symbols of ethnic identity - their temples.
The institution first arrived on America's West Coast in 1906, via Swami Vivekananda's Vedanta Society in San Francisco. It was only in the 70s when the Bharatiya migrant population began to expand on the back of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 that temples for ritualistic worship and cultural incubation developed. Alagappa Alagappan established the Hindu Temple Society in 1970. In 1976 came one of the first Dravidian temples in the US, Sri Venkateswara Temple in Pittsburgh, built with a Rs 7-lakh endowment from the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam. The Maha Vallabha Ganapati temple in Flushing Queens came next in 1977, built on the site of a Russian Orthodox church.
Today, the temple count in the US touches 800. Some, like the Shri Swaminarayan mandirs in New Jersey, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, are standout monuments, costing well over $100 million each. Only four decades ago, temples were domiciled in abandoned warehouses and churches because the small Hindu community then lacked the wherewithal to build anew. With their growing social and financial agency, American Hindus are beginning to practise the devotional exclusivity typical of temples back home.
Hindu temples have evolved not just in spirit and form, but in material as well. Since the days of Alagappan, craftsmen in Bharat shipped prefabricated columns and cornices, vimanas and gopurams in granite, marble and sandstone to America, along with sthapatis (temple architects) and shilpis (craftsmen) who assembled them on site. Now, those American temples unable to shoulder the heavy outlay of traditional methods, are turning to climate-proof material like glass fibre reinforced concrete and fibre reinforced plastic.
The Parashakthi Temple in Michigan, which started out with a built-up space of 6,000 sq ft in 1999, measures 15,000 sq ft today, its devotee count touching 20,000.
(Joeanna Rebello, Times of India, July 26, 2015) --goTop
4. Adopt students, village temples: Kanchi seer: Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam on July 23 exhorted Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to adopt at least one dilapidated village temple and also fund the education of at least one poor student from their motherland. Quoting a sloka from the Ramayana, the Sankaracharya said one should realise that "mother and motherland are superior to heaven".
They should chip in with their contributions either individually or collectively through organizations like Telugu Association of North America (TANA) or Amercian Telugu Association (ATA) to reconstruct "grama devalayams" and sponsor the educational expenses of at least one poor student, the pontiff said after performing an elaborate 'Trikala pooja' --goTop
5. Kailash-Manasarovar yatris' 2nd team crosses over to Tibet: 50 Bharatiya pilgrims began a 12-day bus trip to Kailash-Manasarovar in Tibet on July 22 after crossing over from recently opened border point at Nathula in Sikkim, the "safer" and "more convenient" route. China had opened the Nathulla route on June 22, which is the second route to visit Kailash-Manasarovar. The first group of 43 pilgrims, several of them middle-aged, returned to Bharat on July 3 after their successful journey.
The Chinese government has set up a reception centre by the Manasarovar lake where a kitchen, bathroom, blankets and souvenirs are provided. A four-star hotel has been opened at the base of Mt Kailash. The opening of the pass will promote people-to-people exchanges and improve ties between China and Bharat, said Le Yucheng, Chinese ambassador to Bharat who completed the journey with the first group of pilgrims. --goTop
6. ILL-TREATMENT ... INTOLERABLE - MOHAN BHAGWAT: "The ill-treatment to women and the so-called lower caste people in the name of culture and traditions is wrong. Behaving unjustly with women in the name of religious scriptures is totally wrong," said RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat while releasing a book, Paritapt Lankeshwar, written by Goa Governor Smt Mridula Sinha in Bhopal on July 11. Lok Sabha Speaker Smt Sumitra Mahajan and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were also present on the occasion.
Shri Bhagwat urged the people, especially the men, to read the book to know about the importance of Mandodari. Smt Mridula Sinha explained why she chose to write on Mandodari's character. --goTop
7. DR KALAM ON HIS VISIT TO CHITRAKOOT: On November 1, 2006 the then President of Bharat Dr APJ Abdul Kalam had visited Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh, where he met RSS Pracharak and social reformer Nanaji Deshmukh. Dr Kalam praised the efforts of Nanaji Deshmukh and RSS inspired initiatives for the comprehensive rural development.
Recently I visited Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh, where I met Shri Nana Deshmukhji (Age 90)
and his team members belonging to Deendayal Research Institute (DRI). DRI is a unique Institution developing and implementing a village development model which is most suited for India. DRI understand that people's power is more potent, stable and enduring than political power. By becoming one with the oppressed and depressed, one gains the acumen of administration and governance. Social advancement and prosperity are possible only by injecting the spirit of self-reliance and excellence in the younger generation. Using this principal, DRI has planned to develop one hundred clusters of village having approximately five villages each around Chitrakoot. They have already developed 80 villages in 16 clusters consisting of about 50,000 people. I witnessed one of the villages called Patni where the institute has promoted sustainable development based on indigenous and traditional technology, field studies facilitates the development of replicable and tangible model for achieving self-reliance in villages. The programme aims at income generation through value addition, innovative agricultural practices, inculcating scientific temper among the villagers, improvement of health and hygiene, striving towards 100% literacy. Apart from all these development activities, the institute is facilitating a cohesive conflict free society. As a result of this I understand that the eighty villages around Chitrakoot are almost litigation free. The villagers have unanimously decided that no dispute will find its way to court. The reason given by Nana Deshmikh Ji is that if the people fight among each other they have no time for development. They can neither develop themselves nor the community. This message has been understood by the society and they have decided not to embark on any fighting. All these have been accomplished through DRIs 'Samaj Shilpi Dampati' ( a graduate married couple) a new concept of counseling and intervention promoted by DRI. Friends, you will see more heroes in Nanaji's villages and more smiles. Is it not a rich place for cinema story writer or cinema poet or a cinema director? This is the place where, you will find more heroes, more heroines, more happiness and less tragedy. --goTop
8. World eager to turn to Hindu thought: Shantakka: Hindu thought alone can bring in peace and satisfaction in the society. Knowing this well, the world is eager to turn to Hindu thought and imbibe it in its life to seek peace and satisfaction, said Shantakka, Pramukh Sanchalika of Rashtra Sevika Samiti. .
She was addressing the concluding session of the biannual review meeting of the Samiti at Devi Ahalya Mandir, Nagpur. The three-day meeting was held July 17-19, 2015. Shantakka said that eternal peace can be achieved through leading the life based on renunciation. We need to work for Samiti with this mindset, she appealed to the participants in the meeting. The meeting was attended by select 200 Samiti workers drawn from 32 Pranth's (including Andman and Nicobar Islands). --goTop
9. Yoga finds its place in school curriculum: The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005; which is a policy document for the country, has recommended Yoga as an integral part of Health and Physical Education. NCTE, a statutory body under Ministry of Human Resource Development, has already developed modules on Yoga Education for Diploma in Elementary Education and master of Education. These will be used by more than 18,000 Teacher Education Institutions and also 14 Lakh students' teachers and teacher educators who are studying and teaching in these institutions. --goTop
10. Ayodhya feeling as living in the times of the Ramayana: Calling sage Valmiki the "first historiographer", Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) chairman YS Rao said on July 25 that visiting Ayodhya gives the visitor the feeling that he was actually living in the times of the Ramayana. He was speaking at a seminar on the Ayodhya issue organised by the Itihasa Sankalan Yojana, the history wing of the RSS. "I visited Ayodhya. I was passing through the streets of Ayodhya. Whether you are an intellectual or a common man, just walk through the streets and you will get the feeling of living in the Ramayana times," Rao said, recalling his visit there. Commending Valmiki's "objectivity", Rao claimed that the sage said "everything objectively". He contended that Valmiki cited sages calling Ram an incarnation but nowhere said so himself. --goTop
11. SUNITA VISWANATH GETS 'CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE' HONOUR: Bharatiya-American woman Sunita Viswanath is among 12 faith leaders in US to be honoured as "Champions of Change" for her work to encourage Hindus to take care of the environment. Viswanath is co-founder and active board member of the 14-year-old front-line women's human rights organisation, Women for Afghan Women.
The White House said: "Viswanath is also co-founder and board member of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, living and building a Hinduism that prioritises social justice, and upholding the Hindu principles of ekatva (oneness), ahimsa (non-violence) and sadhana (faith in action)."
It added that she is being honoured for her work with Sadhana.
Born in Chennai, Viswanath says her childhood was steeped in ritualistic practice of Hinduism. She added: "I have always been secure in my identity as a Hindu. Growing up, I thought a lot about faith and religion, but I also had a very strong sense of social justice-what was fair." --goTop
12. From assistant priest to Kenya's steel tycoon: With a net worth of $650 million, Gujarati steel tycoon Narendra Raval (53) of Devki Group is one of the wealthiest businessmen of Kenya today.
The Kenyan government recognized his contribution and conferred one of its highest title, 'Elder of the Burning Spear', on him. But Raval is known more for his benevolence than his riches.
Hailing from a small town called Maathak in Surendranagar, Gujarat, Raval has, in his recently written will, pledged half of his yearly profits — almost Rs 250 crore per annum - of his companies for education, nutrition and health in Kenya and rest of Africa, after his death.
Narendra Raval, through his pragmatic business ideologies and philanthropy, aims to transform the once-hostile perception of Africans about Bharatiya businessmen. His company employs 98% staff from local Kenyan and African populace and also runs many orphanages and schools for the underprivileged.
Rawal recently helped construct bore wells in water-starved Kenyan villages. His benevolence won him UK's philanthropy award, which was conferred on him at 10 Downing Street by the then Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg in 2012.
"Indians are honest, hardworking and loyal - qualities that have potential to make success of a person anywhere in the world," says Raval. --goTop
13. Bharat earns $100 mn by launching 45 foreign satellites: Bharat has earned about 100 million dollars launching 45 foreign satellites till date and revenue from its commercial space missions is poised to grow with another 28 foreign satellites planned to be put into orbit between 2015 and 2017.
This information was given by Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on July 22. --goTop
14. Navy flies harvested heart for Kochi auto driver: The Bharatiya Navy on July 24 carried out a rare rescue attempt by lending a Dornier to ferry a heart from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi. 46-year-old Neelakanda Sharma was declared brain-dead at Thiruvananthapuram's Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and his family agreed to donate his heart. Mathew Achadan, a 47-year-old auto driver, suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy, was to be the recipient at Kochi's Lissie Hospital. In a clinical operation that saw the police, hospital authorities and the Bharatiya Navy work seamlessly, the heart was taken to the IAF base in the state capital in 18 minutes.
"The ischemic timing of a heart is four to five hours and a heart that has been removed should start beating in a new destination within that period or else we may not get the desired result. Luckily we were able to finish the removal in Thiruvananthapuram by 6.10pm and start transplanting by 8pm," said Dr Joe Joseph, cardiologist at Lisie Heart Institute, who is part of the transplant team. --goTop
15. Our Patna, their Patna: The tale of two colonial cousins: Few in Bihar's Patna or anywhere else in Bharat know there's another Patna, 11,000km away from Bihar's capital, in the East Ayrshire council area of Scotland. Bihar's Patna has a population of 17 lakh while its Scottish namesake is inhabited by 2,000. Our Patna is situated on the banks of the Ganga, theirs on the banks of the Doon.
"Patna, the second surviving Doon Valley village, whose name conjures up visions of rice paddies, owes its title to the great Bharatiya city on the Ganges. It was founded in the early years of the 19th century by William Fullarton, whose uncle was in the service of the East India Company as surgeon at Fort William, now Calcutta, in 1745," writes historian John Moore in his book, 'Gently Flows The Doon' (1972). Fullarton was born in Patna. --goTop
16. Tourist E-Visa Facility for Chinese, Hong Kong, Macau Nationals: E-Tourist visa (e-TV) facility to Chinese nationals as well as those from Hong Kong and Macau has been provided from July 30, which has taken the total number of countries availing this facility to 77.
The Government had launched e-TV facility last November. It is expected that extending the e-Tourist Visa facility to the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR will boost the tourist arrival from these regions and strengthen bilateral ties among people of these territories. --goTop
17. NEPAL PARTIES AGREE TO DROP 'SECULARISM' FROM CONSTITUTION: In a major change, Nepal's political parties have agreed to remove the word "secularism" from the new constitution, bowing to popular sentiment.
Nepal was declared a secular country in 2007 after Nepal's hardcore Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist joined mainstream politics after a decade-long insurgency that killed over 13,000 people.
The decision ended Nepal's century-old identity as the world's only Hindu kingdom. Over 80 per cent of Nepal's population is Hindu.
The political parties were forced to take a U-turn after millions of people, in their suggestions and feedback on the new constitution, called for the removal of the word "secularism".
A majority of people wanted "secularism" to be replaced by "Hindu" or "religious freedom," according to Nepal's Constituent Assembly that is now busy studying people's views vis-à-vis the new constitution. --goTop
18. Thousands gather for Hindu festival IN UK: Hindus from Shree Kutch Satsang Swaminarayan Temple in Kenton and Shree Swaminarayan Temple in Stanmore celebrated Rath Yatra on Sunday, July 19. Three chariots moved through six miles of roads, including Kenton Road, Honeypot Lane, Marsh Lane and Wood Lane after starting at Kenton Temple. The three chariots were made for the deities: Lord Shree Jagnath (Lord of the Universe, Shree Baldev and Shree Subhadra Devi.
Kanji Kerai, general secretary of Shree Kutch Satsang Swaminarayan Temple, and Nitesh Hirani, secretary of the temple, said: "The devotees were singing, dancing, playing drums, hand symbols and blowing conch shells with the spiritual atmosphere throughout the procession. Spectators were amazed to see devotees in such an ecstatic mood." Guests from Bharat and MP for Harrow East Bob Blackman attended the festival. --goTop
19. Chinese monk's Bharat trip inspires China's top animation movie: The animated version of 'Journey to the West', a Chinese epic about the journey of 7th century monk Hiuen Tsang or Xuanzang protected by a playful monkey character to Bharat, has become the highest grossing animation film in China. It has already surpassed the record held by the popular animation film, Kung Fu Panda2. Sun Wukong, the monkey king, has some attributes, fighting and magical skills as Bharat's Lord Hanuman. He protects the 6th century monk using a range of skills and guile to defeat evil characters in the epic.
The Chinese version of 'Monkey King' is playful and occasionally mischievous making him a darling of children in China. He is also the reason why Chinese children learn about Bharat from early childhood. --goTop
20. Nepal temple bans animal sacrifice: Nepal's Gadhimai temple trust on July 28 announced a ban on animal sacrifice at the Gadhimai festival, the world's biggest animal sacrifice event held every five years. The trust also urged devotees not to bring animals to the festival, a Hindu religious practice which has been continuing for the last 300 years. The decision will make it a bloodless festival where devotees can pray and celebrate without indulging in animal sacrifice in the hope of a better life. The ban comes in the wake of Bharat's Supreme Court recently prohibiting movement of animals from Bharat to Nepal for the festival. Animal rights activists in Bharat and Nepal had been demanding such a ban for long. --goTop
21. RECONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON FAMED NEPALESE TEMPLE OF MANAKAMANA: The reconstruction of the Manakamana temple, a popular pilgrimage site which was damaged by the earthquake has been initiated. The damaged structure has already been pulled down and workers are digging a new foundation. Members of the Manakamana Temple Renovation Committee (MTRC) said the new temple will be exactly similar to the previous one in terms of its shape and style. Meanwhile, the main statue of the temple has been kept safely inside a small hut and the priest has been performing a puja on it daily. "We have placed another statue at chautara (a rest stop under a tree) near the temple so that the devotees can offer prayers temporarily," Krishna Shrestha MTRC treasurer, said. --goTop
22. CSIR CITES ANCIENT TEXTS TO FOIL MNC'S PATENT PLEA: Bharat has cited ancient texts in foiling an attempt by US-based consumer goods giant Colgate-Palmolive to patent a mouthwash formula containing herb extracts. The texts cited show that the ingredients were traditionally used in ancient medicinal practices.
The company had filed the patent at the European patent office (EPO) for "oral compositions containing extracts of 'Myristica fragrans' and related methods". The application was, however, deemed to be withdrawn in June after Bharat's premier research body, the Council of Scientific &
It informed the EPO about references of the extracts in 'Charaka Samhita' - the ancient text of the traditional medicinal practices. It also cited how the extracts are used in different traditional medicines like 'Raughan', 'Dantaprabha Churna Manjan' and 'Sahakaravati'. --goTop
23. Lucknow varsity's 15-yr-old prodigy to now pursue PhD: Fifteen-year-old Sushma Verma, the youngest postgraduate student in the country, will now pursue research in environmental microbiology at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU), Lucknow. In June, Sushma, daughter of a sanitation worker, not only completed her MSc in microbiology from BBAU but also topped the class. Her brother Shailendra too was a child prodigy and completed his BCA when he was 14. --goTop
24. WANDERING MONK WALKS 15,000 KM: Noted social activist Sitaram Kedaliya is on Bharat Parikrama Yatra since August 9, 2012 from Kanyakumari. He has so far visited Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and now he is in Meghalaya since July 9, 2015. He has so far covered the distance of 15,000 km on foot. --goTop
25. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Dr Manmohan Vaidya, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh is on a month long pravas to Thailand, Australia and New Zealand. Visitors: Dr Manohar Shinde, Narsimha Koppula, Ramesh Kapoor, Pravin Dhir -USA, Ma Bajrang Sharma, Subramani - Myanmar, Dinesh Mani Dubey, Pramod Dubey, Dr. Adrish Brahmabhatt - Thailand, Harish Babu & family - Germany. --goTop
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: To forget oneself totally, one's mind should keep awake at every moment. A mind that has forgotten the past and the future, that is awake to the now, to the present, expresses the highest concentration of intelligence. It is alert, it is watchful, it is inspired. The actions of a man who has such a mind are exceptionally creative and perfect. Verily to forget oneself totally, is to be in perfection. - Swami Chinmayananda --goTop
JAI SHREE RAM
Shri Vishwa Niketan Delhi publication, vishwav@bol.net.in
