\ SAMVAD संवाद
Vaishakh Shukla 4, Vik. Samvat 2078, Yugabda 5123:16 May, 2021: SM 3004 (For Private Circulation Only)
1. FESTIVALS:
BUDDHA PURNIMA: Vaishakh Purnima celebrated as Buddha Purnima ( May 26, this
year ) is the most sacred day in the Buddhist calendar. It is the most important
festival for the Buddhists and is celebrated with great enthusiasm. On this day,
Bhagwan Buddha was born, attained enlightenment (nirvana) under the Mahabodhi
tree at Bodhgaya, and attained parinirvana (nirvana-after-death of the body)
when he passed away.
Devotees of Buddha visit temples, pagodas, viharas; light candles, incense sticks and pray and offer sweets and fruits before the statue of Bhagwan Buddha. People usually dress in white and distribute kheer, as according to Buddhist lore, on this day a woman named Sujata had offered Buddha a bowl of milk porridge. -GoTop
2. ‘POSITIVITY UNLIMITED' : COURAGE TO CONTINUE MATTERS - DR MOHAN BHAGWAT LECTURE SERIES: Covid Response Team—CRT Delhi, a civil society initiative organized a series of short talks by 10 eminent personalities from May 11th to 15th. They included Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudevji, noted philanthropist Azim Premji, Jain Muni Shri Pramansagarji, Shankaracharya Vijayendra Saraswati ji, eminent artist and classical dancer Sonal Mansingh, Spritiual Guru Sri Sri Ravishankar, social activist and Padmashree Nivedita Bhide, Mahant Sant Gyandevji Singh ji and Sadhvi Rithambara ji who addressed the nation through electronic media and focused on the challenges prevailing because of the latest wave of Covid-19 and talked about how to stay positive and united in this hour of crisis.
RSS Sarsanghachalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat shared the sense of grief due to the loss of the loved ones. He further stressed that we should accept the facts and prepare ourselves to confront it. He also appealed all not to become despondent but face the challenge with the tenacity of our resolve and persistence of our efforts. Our culture has lived on through many such successes and failures, he said. He exhorted all to put in combined efforts so as to prevail over this situation as well. -GoTop
3. COVID ASSISTANCE BY SWAYAMSEVAKS AND SEVABHARATI: RSS and organizations like Seva Bharati have started various seva activities for Covid-19 affected people all over Bharat on a large scale during the second wave in April-May.
Swayamsevaks are running Covid Service Centres (Covid Seva Kendra) in 43 major cities. The administration of Covid hospitals is being supported at 219 other locations. 2,442 vaccination centers have been started so far with awareness campaigns in more than 10,000 places for vaccination.
An isolation centre has been started in Noida's Sector 12 area which has a capacity for 25 beds and will be increased to 50 if the need arises.
The Vignan Vihar School on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, has now been turned into a 100 bedded Covid Care Centre.
Free medical care, free bed, free medication, healthy and nutritious food are available here. It specializes in daily yoga practice for patients, pranayama and counseling with specialist doctors.
Anandi Devi Vidya Mandir school in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur area has been converted into a COVID isolation centre by Sevabharati.
Sevabharathi Sevakiran Covid19 Care Centre has been set up on 13th May at Kothamagalam in Kerala. This is equipped with a nursing station offering necessary medicines and health check-up, with an experienced nurse to monitor the health status of the admitted patients at regular intervals.
At present, 6 isolation centers have been started by Seva Bharti in Delhi. These centers are being operated in Ashok Vihar, Udaseen Ashram, Narela, Dwarka, Harinagar, Amar Colony, and Lajpat district. Arrangement of about 450 beds has been made through these isolation centers
Swayamsevaks helping with Last Rites: RSS swayamsevaks in Gudur, Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh volunteered to hold cremation for the unattended. Relatives of those who died due to corona would contact the swayamsevaks and swayamsevaks conduct the cremation in a traditional way. A priest is also appointed for the last rites.
Seva Bharti Delhi has launched a noble initiative ‘Oxygen Service, Pranavayu Aapke Dwar’ by arranging an "oxygen van". Each oxygen van is equipped with four beds along with oxygen cylinders, masks and other essential goods to take care of COVID patients. Two such vans were provided to Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. -GoTop
4. SEWA INTERNATIONAL COVID – 19 ASSISTANCE: Sewa International USA and other organizations mobilized massive assistance by sending relief material like Oxygen concentrators, essential food and medical items to Bharat. Below are glimpses of the aid sent and its utilization in Bharat.
Swami Vivekanand Medical Mission, a partner organization of Sewa International in remote Attapaddy area of Keral provided essential grocery kits, vegetable kits and medicines to 64 needy families.
Sewa International contributed 25 Oxygen concentrators to the Govt of Uttarakhand. Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Tirath Singh Rawat received the concentrators at CM house, Dehradun. He thanked Sewa International and said that these concentrators will be sent to the mountains in Uttarkashi and Chamoli where the people need the most.
Dr. Nazim Husain Al Jafri, Registrar Jamia Milia Islamia University, Delhi, received five Oxygen concentrators from Sewa International representatives Shyam Parande and Shubham Kumar.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Thailand has donated 50 oxygen concentrators to Bharat in presence of Ambassador of Bharat Smt Suchitra.
5. COVID ASSISTANCE FROM BHARAT AND ABROAD: 400 Isha volunteers assist 9 hospitals in Bengaluru- 400 Isha Foundation volunteers including doctors launched #Isha COVID Action in Karnataka by coordinating patients' medical supplies and counseling in 9 Government hospitals in Bengaluru, distributing snacks & beverages to medical staff, and supplying 1000 COVID medical kits".
Fifteen-year-old triplets Gia, Karina and Armaan Gupta have raised more than $280,000 for sending desperately needed oxygen supplies for Covid patients in Bharat. They reached out to their school friends and families for funds so that they could arrange life saving equipment like oxygen concentrators and ventilators.
The Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based trio are the founders of ‘Little Mentors,’ a non-profit organization run by the kids that strives to support, become friends with, and educate local and international kids. They are in contact with students in Costa Rica, India, Brazil, and Philadelphia.
Toronto Lights Up for Bharat as 3,000 Ventilators Sent to New Delhi
Authorities in Canada's Ontario province dispatched 3,000 locally made ventilators to New Delhi on 6th May, even as the Bharatiya dominated city of Brampton illuminated its city hall with the Tricolor in solidarity with the people of Bharat. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his economic development minister Victor Fedeli joined Bharat’s Consul General Apoorva Srivastava in flagging off the shipment.
BAPS Hindu Mandir Sends First Shipment of Liquid Oxygen from Abu Dhabi - On 1st May, the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi arranged its second COVID-19 relief shipment to Bharat. The supplies included the first two cryogenic tanks filled with liquid oxygen (LOX). These special vacuum insulated tanks are custom-built to safely carry liquid oxygen at -185 C (-300 F) in accordance with international safety standards.
BAPS UK Cycle Challenge Raises Over £600,000 for Covid-19 Relief Work - As a part of this initiative, BAPS began a ‘Cycle to Save Lives in India’ campaign – a 48-hour, non-stop static relay cycle challenge. It aimed to cover 7,600 kilometers – the distance between London and Delhi – but ended up almost tripling that by cycling 20,127 kilometres!
6. HSS ACTIVITIES IN USA: GuruVandana is a program honouring teachers and explaining concept of ‘Guru—Shishya’ in Bharatiya Culture. HSS USA shakhas organize these programs for past many years and below is glimpse of few events this year.
HSS Paanchajanya Shakha at Buffalo Grove celebrated Guru Vandana on 5th May in which 32 teachers including 3 principals participated. Teachers were thrilled with the experience and shared it during the program and over emails.
Guru Vandana : Dallas Shakha—Families from Dallas Shakha visited 12 school campuses (including middle and high school) from 2 school districts to celebrate Guru Vandana with the school. Families hand-delivered the Guru Vandana 2021 card, a pack of decorative Rangoli, flowers, and a Hindu Dharma book for the school library as a token of appreciation from the families.
Despite being a virtual meeting, the longing to meet friends and make new ones, coming together to collaborate, to learn, cherish, laugh, and share infused enthusiasm into the event.
Jyothi ji Yayavaram, Uttar LA vibhag bala pramukh, introduced the Ramayana Readers who were sevikas taking the challenge of reading aloud the Ram Katha for 10 days (1 hour daily) in small groups in their native language. The Ram Katha is based on pravachans given by Mausiji – Vandaniya Lakshmibai Kelkar, who is the founder of Rashtra Sevika Samiti. Pacific Southwest Sambhag had 6 readers who participated in languages viz Kannada, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil. The readers shared their experiences on reading the Ram Katha. -GoTop
7. PRAYERS IN
THAILAND TO FIGHT CORONA VIRUS PANDEMIC: Bharatiya diaspora and members of
associations in Thailand joined hands together and organized prayer service
online for #COVIDFreeWorld on 10th May.
Pandit Bhramanand Dwivedi began the program with the divine chanting of Omkar,
to create an overall positive atmosphere. A brief introduction to the objective,
purpose, and importance of this program was given by Mr. Kapil Rai and Mr.
Ashish Karpe.
8. COVID
ASSISTANCE FROM LAND, SEA AND AIR: ISRO becomes helping hand sending medical
oxygen to Kerala, Tamil Nadu
Indian Space Research Organization ISRO stepped forward to help the nation in
this difficult time. ISRO arranged 9.5 tonnes of medical oxygen to Tamil Nadu
and Kerala. ISRO has sent 12 MT of LOX to augment Oxygen availability in Andhra
Pradesh. ISRO Chairman Dr. K Sivan said, "The Department is also ensuring the
supply of Oxygen cylinders for local public in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
Advanced Medical devices designed including ventilators, Prana, and VaU and
manufacturing to be taken up with industries at the earliest."
Bharatiya Navy ships have been pressed into action to carry tankers filled with liquid oxygen from abroad to speed up efforts to meet the demands amid the Covid-19 surge.
Two ships -- INS Kolkata and INS Talwar -- reached the port of Manama, Bahrain, for transporting 40 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen to Mumbai. INS Jalashwa is enroute to Bangkok and INS Airavat to Singapore for similar missions, Navy said.
Bharatiya Navy also launched Operation Samudra Setu-II to augment the ongoing national mission for meeting the Oxygen requirements, calling it the Oxygen Express.
Amid the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country, the Indian Air Force's IL-76 has brought three cryogenic oxygen containers from Singapore to increase the container capacity needed for transporting Oxygen to hospitals. On 10th May, IL-76s, carrying four cryogenic oxygen containers from Jakarta, Indonesia landed at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. IAF aircrafts are engaged in several works including airlifting oxygen containers from other countries and medical oxygen transportation within the country.
The IAF has deployed 42 transport aircraft for COVID-19 relief tasks, including 12 heavy lift and 30 medium-lift aircraft.
Overcoming all hurdles and finding new solutions, Indian Railways is continuing its journey of bringing relief by delivering Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to various states across the country. As on 12th May, 100 Oxygen Expresses have completed their journey and brought relief by delivering nearly 6260 MT of LMO in more than 396 tankers to various states across the country.
In all, 407 MT of LMO has been offloaded in Maharashtra, nearly 1680 MT in UP, 360 MT in MP, 939 MT in Haryana, 123 MT in Telangana, 40 MT in Rajasthan, 120 MT in Karnataka and more than 2404 MT in Delhi.
9. OBITUARY: Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Jagmohan passed away after a brief illness in Delhi on 3rd May. He was 93. Shri Jagmohan started his career as a bureaucrat and also served as the lieutenant governor of Delhi.
During his two tenures as the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, he ensured development, security and, above all, self-respect to the Kashmiri people. He was a saviour to the Kashmiri Pandits and earned high praise for the manner in which he handled militancy in the state. His contributions to the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine are no less than legendary.
Several dignitaries including Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi, RSS Sarsanghachalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat expressed condolences at the demise of Jagmohan ji. -GoTop
10. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas:Visitors:
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Whatever you are doing, put your whole mind on it. If you are shooting, your mind should be only on the target. Then you will never miss. If you are learning your lessons, think only of the lesson. — Swami Vivekananda
JAI SHRI RAM
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A LIFE OF VALOUR AND SACRIFICE: ON HIS 400TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY WE RETRACE
GURU TEGH BAHADUR’S DHARMIC PATH
Dattatreya Hosabale
In Indian history, Guru Shri Tegh
Bahadur’s personality shines resplendent like a bright constellation. He was
born in Amritsar to Guru Hargobindji and Nankiji on Krishna Panchami in the
Baisakhi month. As per Nanakshahi calendar, today is Guru Tegh Bahadur’s 400th
birth anniversary.
Whilst the behaviour of ordinary men changes in the midst of joy and sorrow, men of great attainment rise above these considerations. Guruji proclaimed that one should be beyond “praise and slander, look upon gold and iron alike” and not be “touched by pleasure or pain, greed, emotional attachment and egotistic pride”.
In his teachings, Guruji exhorted, “One should neither frighten away anyone nor be scared of anyone.” The greatest fear is the fear of death, that goads a person to renounce his values and turn a coward. Guruji said, “I cannot forget the fear of dying, and this worry has torched my body.” Through his preachings and selfless work, Guruji sought to create a society in which one could walk the path of dharma, free from worry and fear. Guruji’s life is perhaps the finest example of attaining the four purusharthas (goals of human existence) – dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (desire), and moksha (liberation).
He successfully demonstrated excellent human values in his family and the society whilst accomplishing the goals of artha and kama in his domestic life. He attained martyrdom for the cause of dharma. He envisions hope and trust even in the worst of crises. Guruji famously said, “I have regained my power, my bonds are broken and all options are open on to me.” Guru Tegh Bahadurji’s thoughts and actions had such an inspiring impact that they broke the bonds shackling the country and unlocked the path of liberation. His messages in the Braj language are a unique exposition of Bharatiya culture, philosophy and spirituality.
Guruji’s abode, Anandpur Sahib, emerged as a centre of mass struggle against the injustice and atrocities of the Mughals. Aurangzeb wanted to make Hindustan Darul-Islam. Kashmir, an intellectual and spiritual centre, was his key target. The people of Kashmir approached Guruji for guidance, following which he held a lengthy discussion. Situation everywhere was grave. How could the cruel Mughal ambitions be frustrated was the question.
There was only one route – a great man would have to martyr himself to protect his nation and the faiths of her people. Through this sacrifice, a tide of public consciousness would galvanise the nation and shake the walls of the foreign Mughal empire. Who would make this sacrifice? This quandary was resolved by Guruji’s son, Shri Govind Rai, who asked his father if there was anyone who commanded more respect and stature than him.
Aurangzeb’s army imprisoned Guruji along with his three disciples and brought them to Delhi, where they were subjected to inhuman torture and pressurised to convert to Islam. All kinds of alluring assurances were made. But, Guruji stood firm on the path of dharma. Angered by his defiance, the Mughals forced Guruji to watch as his disciples were tortured in Chandni Chowk – Bhai Mati Das was ripped with a saw, Bhai Diyala was drenched in boiling oil and Bhai Sati Das was tied and burnt in a heap of cotton. The Mughal regime probably felt that he would be frightened by the treatment meted out to his disciples.
Guruji knew that the very essence of dharma was to fight injustice and tyranny. As Guruji did not waver, the qazi ordered the executioner to behead him. This act of martyrdom led to a reawakening across the nation. On the martyrdom of his father, tenth guru Shri Govind Singh said, “He protected the tilak (mark on the forehead) and janevu (sacred thread). His martyrdom is a significant event of the Kali Yuga. For the sake of saints, he laid down his head without even a sigh.”
On a day when the whole country is celebrating Guruji’s 400th birth anniversary, let us be reminded that the best way to honour his memory is to follow his path. Today, there is a scramble for enjoying material pleasures. Guruji, however, showed the path of renunciation and restraint. Envy, malice, selfishness and discrimination are prevalent all around. But, the revered Guruji spoke about creativity, harmony and conquering disorders of the mind.
One of the lasting effects of his teachings was on the people he passed en route to Delhi, who refrain from cultivating tobacco till date. Fundamentalist forces are rising to gain dominance. But, Guruji showed the path of valour, selflessness and sacrifice. At a time when mankind is entering a new phase of change, the sacred memory of Guruji propels us to follow his path and build a new India that is rooted in its soil.
SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN vishwav@bol.net.in http://shrivishwaniketan.blogspot.com
