\ SAMVAD संवाद
Magh Purnima, Vik. Samvat 2078, Yugabda 5123:16 February, 2022: SM 3022(For Private Circulation Only)
1.
FESTIVALS: MAHA SHIVARATRI: Maha Shivratri is a
festival celebrated every year on the night between Trayodashi (13th) and
Chaturdashi (14th) of Phalgun Krishna Paksha (March 1 this year). Devotees
worship Bhagwan Shiva, observe a strict fast and stay awake throughout the
night. It is celebrated as the convergence of the forces of Shiva and Shakti.
There are 12 Jyotirlingas in Bharat, all of which celebrate the festival in a
grand fashion.
During Maha Shivratri, thousands of devotees gather at the Ganga Talao, a sacred
lake in Mauritius to offer prayers.
Shivratri is also celebrated at Chandranath Dham in Chittagong, and other
mandirs across Bangladesh.
The Hindu-Caribbean community offer special jhalls (an offering of milk and
curd, flowers, sugarcane and sweets) to Bhagwan Shiva in many mandirs. Maha
Shivaratri is a national Holiday in Nepal and celebrated widely in mandirs all
over the country, especially in the Pashupatinath mandir.
2. HINDUTVA IS A REFLECTION OF BHARATIYA CONSTITUTION — DR.
MOHAN BHAGWAT:
Equality, fraternity, justice and liberty in the preamble is
reflected in the 5000-year-old tradition and culture of the nation. “All
inclusive and all encompassing truth is what we call Hindutva and it is our
national identity”, he added. He also said that the world thinks that uniformity
is needed for unity, but in our country looking for unity in diversity has been
prevalent since ancient times. -GoTop
3. NATIONAL INTEREST SHOULD BE PRIORITY: DR. BHAGWAT: On
February 9, RSS Sarasanghachalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat attended the millennium birth
anniversary celebrations of 11th century saint Sri Ramanujacharya in Bhagyanagar.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that one should always prioritise national
interest above any other personal interests. He also said that ‘Hindu-hita’ is
‘Rashtra-hita’ and other interests such as language and caste are secondary.
This will make us a strong and competent nation, he added. Though there is
diversity of region, language, religion in the country, all are children of
'Bharat Mata' and this feeling has to be strengthened. Sri Ramanujacharya's
message was also about equality of all, he added.
4. DATTATREYA HOSABALE VISITS INDENTURE MEMORIAL AND
SURINAME JETTY MEMORIAL: The Kolkata Memorial or Indenture Memorial was
inaugurated on January 11, 2011 at old Kidderpore Depot located along the
Hoogley River in Kolkata. It is a celebration of the pioneering spirit,
endurance, determination and resilience of those who left Bharat as indentured
labourers from 1834 through 1920.
On February 7, RSS Sarkaryavah Shri Dattatreya Hosabale visited the Indenture
Memorial and Suriname jetty and paid his respects to the memory of those
indentured labourers. On the same day he also visited Syama Prasad Mookerjee
Kolkata Port Museum. -GoTop
5. PM MODI UNVEILS 'STATUE OF EQUALITY': On February 5,
Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi inaugurated a 216-ft statue of Sant Ramanujacharya
at Muchintal on the outskirts of Bhagyanagar and highlighted the 11th century
saint’s message of equality of all. The statue is made of ‘panchadhatu’, a
combination of five metals namely gold, silver, copper, brass, and zinc and is
among one of the tallest metallic statues in sitting position. It is mounted on
a 54-foot high base building named ‘Bhadra Vedi’. It has floors devoted for a
Vedic digital library and research centre, ancient Bharatiya texts, a theatre
and an educational gallery detailing many works of Sri Ramanujacharya.
The statue was inaugurated as a part of the 12-day Ramanuja Sahasrabdi Samaroham,
the ongoing 1000th birth anniversary celebrations of Ramanujacharya.
Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy, Telangana Governor Tamilisai
Soundararajan and Tridandi Srimannarayana Chinna Jeeyar Swami were present on
the occasion. -GoTop
6. WORLD RECORD IN SURYANAMASKAR: On the auspicious
occasion of the 75th anniversary of Bharatiya Independence, National Yogasana
Sports Federation, Kreeda Bharati, Patanjali Yogpeeth, Geeta Parivar and other
organisations came together to perform 75 crore Suryanamaskar from January 1 to
February 20 in order to promote a healthy lifestyle for all. Till February 7,
more than 52 lakh individuals from more than 60 thousand places all across the
globe had participated in the event.
7. HSS SURYANAMASKAR YOGATHON: Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS)
USA organized its annual Health for Humanity Yogathon by conducting Surya
Namaskar Yogathon (SNY). The 16th Yogathon began on January 15.
Carmel chapter of HSS USA honoured local yoga instructors for promoting yoga.
Suryanamaskar Workshop was conducted at Indiana Avenue School in Iselin,
Woodbridge, New Jersey.
In Chicago, Hoffman Estates Mayor William B McLeod, State Representative
Michelle Mussman and Schaumburg Police Department joined in the Yogathon.
HSS Orlando Shakha Swayamsevaks performed Suryanamaskar at Republic Day
celebration organized by Indian American Business Association & Chamber (IABA).
In Germany, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) Germany together with the Embassy of
Bharat, Berlin and the Consulate General of Bharat in Hamburg, Frankfurt and
Münich conducted SNY from January 14 to February 7. More than 200 participants
performed more than 50 thousand suryanamaskars during this period.
The Yogathon is also being conducted in other countries including Thailand and
UK. -GoTop
8. MUSICAL PROGRAM CELEBRATING UNITY IN DIVERSITY: Hindu
civilization is the most ancient living civilization in the world and as a
result it is also the most diverse in faith, tradition and culture. Yet, there
is unity in this diversity which is unique to Hindu civilization. This
uniqueness is based on the quote from Rig Veda - “Ekam Sat Viprabahudhavadanti”
(Truth is One. Wise people express it in many ways).
Last year, HSS UK had organised a similar musical event on theme of ‘Shakti’
which was also very well received. -GoTop
9. HSS AND SEWA NEPAL: On the occasion of Basant
Panchami and Saraswati Puja, several sangh and sewa intitiaves were undertaken
in Nepal. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh HSS Nepal conducted a ceremony of laying the
foundation stone for Kesahv Dham karyalay in Viratnagar. On the occasion, HSS
Nepal Sahsanghchalak Kalyan Kumar Timilsina and Vishwa Vibhag Sanyojak Shri
Saumitra Gokhale emphasized that the karyalay will play a leading role to
establish an organized and value based society. Shri Gokhale also attended the
bhumi poojan progam of Mahaguru Phalgunanada Hostel in Jhapa district which is
being built by Janjati Kalyan Ashram of Nepal.
10. RELIGION CURRICULUM OF CANADIAN SCHOOLS CHANGED TO
REFLECT BHARATIYA CONTRIBUTIONS: The school curriculum for kindergarten to
grade 6 in the western province of Canada is undergoing major changes which are
expected to be in effect from the academic year starting in September 2022. The
local Hindu community noted several discrepancies in the initial draft
curriculum released in March 2021. The draft curriculum had major errors of
omissions, inaccuracies and deficiencies with respect to Hindu culture and
ancient Bharatiya civilization. Contributions from ancient Bharatiya
civilization were not included in the initial draft under the category of world
religions in social studies curriculum of grade-2 which included other
religions.
Hindu community members who noticed these issues started spreading awareness
among the community and engaged with the authorities through various options
available to provide feedback. Apart from this, one group of Hindus in southern
Alberta started an online petition and another Hindu organization in central
Alberta conducted a car rally to spread awareness about this issue. It got
considerable coverage in the media and attention from the government. Several
other peaceful awareness campaigns were conducted across the province.
Many Hindu organizations joined this activity which turned into a collective
movement. There were dialogues with the education board in a series of meeting.
Though the community representatives were able to successfully convince the
bureaucratic officials, final decision was not possible without the involvement
of cabinet members of the provincial government.
The Hindu community members spanned across the province, approached their
respective MLAs and many other ministers including the minister of Education for
their support in this issue. A series of in-person and online meetings were
held.
As a result of the collective effort of 40 different Hindu organizations over a
9 month period, the Hindu community was able to make their voices heard by the
government. The government has released a new blueprint of Social Studies that
address the concerns raised by the Hindu community of Alberta.
The newly released blueprint includes the introduction of all the world
religions including Hinduism alongwith other religions in the same grade (grade
5) and removed the early introduction of a few religions in grade 2. The new
blueprint also includes the contributions from ancient Indian civilization.
-GoTop
11. SAUDI ARABIA ORGANISED ITS 1ST YOGA FESTIVAL IN JEDDAH:
On January 29, more than 1,000 individuals from across Saudi Arabia flocked
to Juman Park in King Abdullah Economic City to take part in the country's
inaugural yoga festival organised by the Saudi Yoga Committee. People ranging
from age of ten to sixty years attended the event which included a variety of
games, yoga techniques and the art of mindfulness.
The head of the Saudi Yoga Committee, Nouf Marwaai was amazed by the number of
visitors and the enthusiastic, positive response. She underlined the benefits of
yoga in daily life and said that they wanted to promote yoga to families and
encourage it in the country. “We want Saudis to start their day with yoga, which
does not take more than 20 minutes a day, which anyone can easily spare”, she
added. -GoTop
12. BHARAT-US TRADE CROSSED $100BN-MARK IN 2021: In a
sign of deepening economic relationship between Bharat and the United States,
bilateral trade in goods between the two countries crossed $100 billion mark in
2021, making it the largest volume of goods trade in a calendar year in
Bharat-US economic history.
According to figures released by the US Census Bureau, Bharat-US bilateral goods
trade was worth $113.391 billion from January to December 2021. Bharat exported
goods worth over $73 billion and imported goods worth a little over $40 billion
dollars.
Bharat’s principal goods exports to the US are precious and semi-precious
stones, drugs and pharmaceuticals, petroleum products, cotton fabrics, garments,
marine products, iron and steel products, electrical equipment and auto
components. And its primary import was crude oil. Bharat also imports pearls,
coal, chemicals, gold, paper and precious stones from the US.
Top US economist Lawrence H Summers spoke about how Bharat can become an
economic superpower and listed the country's strengths and also the challenges
that it faces. He was speaking at the 19th edition of the Hindustan Times
Leadership Summit. -GoTop
13. EX-KENYAN PM WISHES TO TAKE AYURVEDA TO AFRICA:
Bringing glory to Bharat’s traditional forms of medical therapy, former Prime
Minister of Kenya Raila Odinga lauded the Ayurvedic treatment his daughter
received from Kerala stating that it helped her gain her eyesight back.
Odinga expressed his desire to take the Ayurvedic treatment to Africa and use
their indigenous plants for therapeutics. -GoTop
14. DUBAI STUDENT IS WORLD'S YOUNGEST YOGA TEACHER:
Reyansh Surani was only nine months old when he learned breathing techniques and
asanas. Yoga became a part of his daily routine at the age of four. After
completing 200 hours of yoga teacher training in Bharat at the age of nine,
Reyansh officially broke the Guinness World Records for being the world's
youngest certified yoga instructor. The 4th grader is now spreading the culture
of yoga and meditation among his classmates and teachers at GEMS Modern Academy
and giving yoga classes to around 50 students every week.
15. INLAND WATERWAY FROM PATNA TO GUWAHATI INAUGRATED:
On February 5, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH,
Sarbananda Sonowal, flagged off an inland waterway vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri
from Patna to Guwahati. The vessel, carrying 200 Metric Tonnes of food grains,
started its journey from Patna and headed for Pandu in Guwahati. It will travel
via Bangladesh to reach the destination by early March 2022.
16. SANTISHREE DHULIPUDI PANDIT : JNU'S FIRST WOMAN VC:
Professor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit from Savitribai Phule Pune University has
become the first woman vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Prof.
Santishree will succeed former VC of JNU Professor M Jagadesh Kumar.
The Ministry of Education has said that Prof. Pandit has been appointed as the
new VC for a 5-year tenure. This is the first time that a woman will be
presiding in the office of this prestigious University.
She has also authored books like ‘Parliament and Foreign Policy in India’ (1990)
and ‘Restructuring Environmental governance in Asia-Ethics and Policy’ 2003.
-GoTop
17. OBITUARY: LATA DIDI - On February 6, Bharat Ratna
Lata Mangeshkar passed away at the Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai. She was 92.
Her mortal remains were consigned to flames at Shivaji Park in Mumbai with full
state honours. The government announced a two-day "state mourning" and the
national flag flew at half mast on February 6 and 7. Also, there was no official
entertainment during this period. Many state governments also declared a public
holiday as a mark of respect to her.
The icon, who presented generations with unbridled joy through her songs, has
been Bharat’s favourite voice ever since her debut in the 1940s.
Renowned personalities from various fields have expressed their deepest
condolences on the loss of the iconic singer.
Rashtrapati Shri Ram Nath Kovind said that Lata-ji’s demise was heartbreaking
for him as well as millions of people the world over who found expression of
their innermost emotions in her vast range of songs, rendering the essence and
beauty of Bharat.
Pradhan Mantri Shri Narendra Modi said that Lata Didi’s songs brought out a
variety of emotions and she has left a void in our nation that cannot be filled.
He added that the coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian
culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people.
In his condolence message, RSS Sarasangahchalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat said that Lata
Didi was the living embodiment of ‘shuchita’ and ‘sadhana’ and it was reflected
in all aspects of her life. She has set before us an ideal example of a ‘safal’
and ‘sarthak’ life and her demise is a great loss to all of us.
Global leaders, diplomats and music lovers all across the globe also extended
their condolences on her demise. -GoTop
18. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Visitors: Atul Singh - USA; Adrish Brahmadatta - Thailand
19. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: “Do what is right at a given moment and leave it behind.” ― Ramana Maharshi -GoTop
JAI SHRI RAM
BALASAHEB DEORAS: THE SOUL AND VISION OF DR.
HEDGEWAR
VIRAG PACHPORE
Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras, popularly and fondly
known as Balasaheb Deoras, was a direct product of the first RSS Shakha started
by its founder Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. Or we can say that he was the
quintessential product of the organizational process initiated by Dr. Hedgewar
to consolidate the Hindu society. Balasaheb came in contact with Dr. Hedgewar at
the tender age of 11 and remained glued to the RSS ideology till he breathed his
last in 1996 June. His life was the dedication and commitment to the mission
personified.
Balasaheb Deoras was born to Dattatreya Krishnarao Deoras and Parvatibai on Nag
Deepavali, i.e. December 11, 1915 as per Gregorian calendar. Balasaheb was the
third Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He was amongst
the first batch of swayamsevaks who had joined the first RSS shakha started by
Dr. Hedgewar at ‘Mohite Wada’ in Nagpur. Balasaheb was groomed by none other
than the founder of the RSS himself and that is probably one of the reasons that
millions of swayamsevaks who had never seen Dr Hedgewar found reflection of the
RSS founder in Balasaheb. Along with Balasaheb, the first batch of swayamsevaks
included Keshav Rao Vakil, Triambak Shiledar, Pralhaad Ambekar, Bapu Diwakar,
Narhari Parakhi, Baliram Yerkuntvar, Madhav Rao Muley and Eknath Ranade. Later
his younger brother Bhaurao Deoras also joined the RSS. Eleven-year old
Balasaheb was their undisputed leader and his fellow swayamsevaks looked up to
him right from the beginning though Ranade was one year and Muley was three
years elder to him. Later Ranade and Mule both became General Secretaries (Sarkryavah)
of the RSS and played a stellar role in the expansion of the organization.
By the time RSS was founded in 1925, the Deoras family had shifted back to
Itwari Mohalla in Nagpur. Balasaheb was studying in sixth grade when he joined
the first RSS shakha. His enthusiasm was infectious and he brought in many of
his friends to the RSS shakha where Shamrao Gadge was their instructor (Gana
Shikshak). This bunch of young school going boys used to play games and listen
to the tales of bravery told by Gadge. After sometime Balasaheb made his younger
brother Bhaurao also join the RSS. They were always together and very close to
each other.
Since his early days Balasaheb was dead against the practice of untouchability.
He even told his mother to treat his fellow swayamasevaks who came from the
so-called ‘lower’ castes, as she treated him to which she readily agreed. Later
he spoke against the social evil at his famous discourse in Pune’s famous
‘Vasant Vyakhyanmala’ insisting that “untouchabilty must go and go lock, stock
and barrel”.
This statement is considered to be one of the milestones in the history of the
RSS as it guided the organization in fighting the demon of caste based
discrimination with a renewed vigor. During the 21-year tenure of Balasaheb as
the Sarsanghchalak, he relentlessly campaigned against caste based
discrimination and untouchability. It also points to a personality trait of
Balasaheb that he believed in challenging the status quo.
Balasaheb was an organizer par excellence and Dr. Hedgewar was quick to identify
this important trait of his personality. He slowly started delegating certain
authorities to Balasaheb starting from a “Mukhya Shikshak” of a shakha to
“Karyawah of Nagpur” to “Mukhya Shikshak of an RSS Training Camp in Pune. Dr
Hedgewar had done this with a purpose. He knew that to expand the RSS work, the
organization needed large number of full-time workers (‘Pracharak’) and
Balasaheb was the ideal person to prepare youngsters to take up this cause. He
had once told Dr. Hedgewar, “A ‘model’ Shakha is that from where large number of
youth comes out ready to serve the society by devoting all their time.”
Balasaheb did his education from the famous Morris College of Nagpur and passed
LLB exam in first division. He was very practical and down to earth person. He
played a very important role in getting the ban imposed on the RSS in the
aftermath of Gandhi murder in 1948.
The then Congress government acting in full vengeance, banned the organization,
incarcerated its leaders and swayamsevaks, and arrested thousands of them who
performed “Satyagraha”. The entire situation was so grim that the future of the
RSS looked dark with no silver lining of hopes.
In such a difficult situation, it was Balasaheb and some of this colleagues who
worked hard under the guidance of the then Sarsanghchalak Late M. S. Golwalkar
alias Sri Guruji to get the ban lifted. Balasaheb was a great motivator and
easily approachable to common swayamsevaks besides being open to any question.
He would even answer the pettiest question from any swayamsevak until he is
satisfied. ..pg8
After the demise of Dr. Hedgewar in June 1940, Sri Golwalkar Guruji was
appointed as Sarsanghchalak to lead the RSS. He with the help of Balasaheb and
his team of workers, took the RSS to the centre—stage of the contemporary Indian
socio-political situation. He was well aware of the capacity of Balasaheb and
never hid his appreciation for Deoras.
Balasaheb was the most pragmatic leader of the RSS which was branded as most
revivalist, obscurantist and regressive organization by its left and secular
critics. Unlike the Congress he made it clear that no memorial of any RSS chief
except its founder Dr. Hedgewar and his predecessor Golwalkar Guruji would be
erected.
Deoras had a clear vision of the mission of Hindu consolidation and the
day-to-day politics. Once, after the formation of the Janata Party government
post emergency, former Prime Minister Chandrasekhar, who was then Janata Party
president, said that ABVP and BMS should work as front organizations of the
party. Balasaheb replied to his suggestion saying that “all trains leaving New
Delhi Station need not start from Platform No. 1”. But the same Balasaheb
allowed the erstwhile Jan Sangh leaders of the Janata Party to keep ‘safe
distance’ from the RSS to avoid any further organizational crisis in the wake of
the issue of ‘duel membership’ raised by some of the socialist constituents of
the Janata Party.
Balasaheb is and will be remembered in future for his lasting contribution to
the RSS and to the society at large. He was the man who added the dimension of
social service to the RSS mission and a created a formal structure to carry
forward the various service activities across the country, especially in the
remote and inaccessible areas. During the birth centenary of RSS founder Dr.
Hedgewar he announced the creation of “Sewa Vibhag” within the RSS and launched
5000 service projects. Today, the RSS and inspired organizations runs lakhs of
such multi-faceted service projects all over the country ranging from health to
education and from bio-farming to village development.
His passion and commitment for equitable and harmonious society (Samajik
Samarasata) inspired many a swayamsevak to launch the movement to bring people
of different hues to resolve the problems of the caste system and achieve the
common goal of social harmony.
He was at the centre of the Ram Janmabhumi movement and events like ‘Ekatmata
Yatra’ and ‘Ram Shila Pujan’ that preceded this great movement. The Ram
Janmabhumi movement has changed the total polital, social narrative in India
bringing all the sections of the Hindu society together and ending the dynasty
rule besides bringing Hindutva to the political centre stage of contemporary
Indian politics. He saw an RSS swayamsevak Atal Bihari Vajapayee to become the
Prime Minister of this country before he breathed his last in Pune.
He also raised his voice against the division of Indian society as majority and
minority. When the Janata Party government under Morarji Desai was about to set
up the Minority commission, Deoras suggested that instead of Minority Commission
the government should constitute a Human Rights Commission. He considered
Muslims and Christians as part of the Indian Society and hence to categorize
them as minority would be disastrous for the social health he believed.
Post-emergency he took lead in starting a meaningful dialogue with the Muslims
and Christians and even allowed their entry into the RSS. The mission that he
started is now being taken ahead under the aegis of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch
(MRM).
His personal assistant late Srikant Joshi once commented that if Golwalkar
Guruji was described as ‘heart’ of Dr. Hedgewar, Balasaheb was his “soul and
Vision”. (www.newsbharati.com 08-Dec-2021) -GoTop
SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN shrivishwaniketan@gmail.com http://svn.epapers.in
