Talk by Vijay Swamee ji - Swami Vivekananda Kendra Sewa Activities In Arunachal Pradesh, Bharat.


This is a report on the lecture delievered by Vijay Swamee ji of Swami Vivekanand Kendra on the Sewa activities in Arunachal Pradesh, Bharat.
The morning of Dec 4th, 2005 was chilly in Erie, PA and it was snowing. Despite that, about 30 people were present to enjoy the wonderful presentation by Vijay Swamee ji. The lecture was conducted at the Montessori Children’s house of Erie.
Vijay Swamee ji is a full time volunteer (Jeevan Vrathi) of the Vivekananda Kendra at the famous rock memorial in Kanyakumari. The Kendra has pioneered the spread of Yoga throughout Bharat and abroad. He hails from Solapur in Maharashtra. He is a postgraduate and has been serving the Kendra for the past 20 years. He was visiting USA on the prestigious Fulbright scholarship.
We were also honored by Dr. Radheshyam Dwivedi ji’s presence. He was a HSS karyawaha and later the Saha Sanghachalak for whole of USA. Presently he is a member of the Advisory council of HSS, USA. He is an expert in vedantic philosophy and currently the President of The International Center for Cultural Studies, USA Inc, an organization dedicated for the academic research in ancient traditions and cultures.
After the welcome and geet, Yashwantji Pathak introduced the two guests.
Vijay swamee ji began his talk by introducing the Vivekanand Kendra and its mission of service. He focused on the Sewa projects in Arunachal Pradesh in Bharat where he has spent 20 years as a full time worker. The audience was thrilled to see the beautiful land of Arunachal captured by wonderful photographs. We learnt about the numerous languages spoken, the colourful costumes of the tribal people and the young children attending the schools started by the Kendra. We also learnt about various projects whereby schools from the rest of Bharat send there students to visit and work in Arunachal during their vacation. After that we were taken through a brief history of the region and came to understand why the Northeast is such an important part for Bharat. Because of the Sewa activities of organizations like the Vivekananda Kendra and RSS amongst others, we were glad to hear that Arunachal was so far protected from anti-national terrorist activities and violence that has gained roots in the rest of Northeast Bharat.
After about a 45 minute talk, an interesting question-answer session was held. To one of the questions inquiring the religious link between the Northeast and the rest of Bharat, Vijay Swamee ji replied that even though the tribal people there do not have temples like the rest of Bharat, their link to the Hindu culture at large is because of their nature worship. They also perform dances depicting the Ramayan. To this, the author would like to add that temples and idols are only one of many ways of following the Sanatan Dharma. Thanks to Vijay Swami ji, this session has sparked an interest among the Erie community present in the Sewa activities in Arunachal Pradesh leading to a few pledges of support. We thank him for giving us valuable information regarding a little understood part of Bharat.



Seva Project-Annadan


On Wednesday, November 23rd, Saraswati shakha concluded the Annadan seva project (of collecting and donating food) by paying a visit to the Worcester county food bank in Shrewsbury. Having had a pleasant experience with the food bank last year, the bala and shishu went out and collected food with the thought of Diwali in mind; a time of joy, good company, good food, and sharing. With the Sewa project organized by Shri RamKrishnaji, we managed to raise and donate 317 lbs of food (including sugar, flour, cereal, oil, pasta, canned fruits and vegetables, pasta sauce, etc). The attendance was of roughly 35 people (aging from two and a half years to adults). It was especially well-attended because, it being a half day of school, all the children were free in the afternoon and eagerly willing to spend some time at the food bank.
For about 45 minutes, we were given a tour of the facility to which we were donating food by the executive director of the food bank, Ms. Jean McMurry. The food bank is the collection house of the food that is given to food pantries, soup kitchens, etc. The bank receives and provides six million lbs. of food yearly. Also, the foods that are always encouraged and appreciated include pasta, pasta sauce, and cereal. The manner in which the food bank operates was also explained to us. In addition to the direct money donations that people make, the food pantries, soup kitchens, etc. pay 10 cents per pound of that they take. In this benefiting relationship, both organizations obtain what they need to continue functioning as they do. The food bank does an excellent job of providing to the over-sixty or so organizations that it does. Though in a perfect world nobody would entailed to go to a food bank, food pantry, or anything of the sort to acquire food, many people are in a better place thanks to the Worcester county food bank. Once again, we had an excellent time visiting the Worcester county food bank. In fact, we were asked to become more involved in the food bank’s work by Ms. McMurry. It was a very enjoyable experience.


Yuva Sangam


The Melbourne Chapter of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh(HSS) and Hindu Students Council (HSC) of Florida Institute of Technology, conducted a Yuva Sangam at Florida Institute of Technology today.
The theme of the conference was to promote Hindutva, Hindu philosophy of life, and the preservation of Hindu identity in co-existence with people in a Western World.
The participants in the conference, around 30 in number, consisted of many like-minded Hindus from Bharat, the United States of America, and the West Indies, and four eminent personalities from different walks of life and also 2 professors of Florida Institute of Technology.
The proceedings began with an enlightening introduction to Vedic Mathematics, by Santhosh Prabhu, graduating student of Florida Tech . On one hand, Vedic Mathematics provides a quick way for humans to perform high-speed arithmetic on large numbers without using calculating aids. On the other, it enables jotting down the equation of a straight line given two points without manually working out the steps. The computations are made using rules in Sanskrit known as Sutras.
This was followed by a presentation by Vishal Gupta ,(Hindu Students Council Regional coordinator for South East zone) on the interpretation of the Hindu Religion and Hindu Gods, made by the education system in the United States and consequently, the confused perceptions of this great religion by the common masses in this country starting from high-school children. It provided an insignt into the intentions behind the system of education implemented by the British during their colonial days in Bharat.
Thereafter, there was a discussion (Charcha) with Dinesh-ji,swayamsevak from Atlanta.Suggestions poured in from particpants on the issues faced by many International students, particularly from Bharat, on addressing the complexities of the Hindu religion in reply to peculiar questions they encounter during interactions with their fellow-American friends.
After that, a games session (Khel) was organized, which included Yoga exercises conducted by Sumeet Pandey.
The final lecture was delivered by Dr.Yashwant Pathak, an eminent Pharmaceutical Technologist and a Fellow of the American Heart Association and also, the International joint co-ordinator of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh. He stressed on the need for Hindus the World over to organize themselves and work for the betterment of humanity rather than thinking only about themselves.
The conference concluded with Sangh Prarthana.Bhojan was served after the Prarthana. In short everyone who had attended the Yuva Sangam had a great time which was first of its kind in Florida Institute of Technology,Melbourne,Florida.


Sharad Shibir organized for families in Atlanta


The Sharad Shibir (Fall Camp) held on Sept 30th – Oct 2nd in Atlanta, GA started with the invocation of “Sewa bhav” in the minds of everyone by an audio-visual presentation of the relief efforts done by the volunteers of Sewa Bharati in the wake of the Tsunami disaster. Over 35 families listened in rapt attention to Shri Shyamji Parande, international co-ordinator for Sewa International, about the selfless service performed by thousands of volunteers of Sangh whenever natural/man-made disaster struck. He related many instances of personal sacrifice and enlightened everyone about the motive force that guided these people.
The next day started at 6.30 AM with the chanting of Ekatmata Stotra followed by physical activities like Yoga, Games etc. Shri Sandeep Khadkekar, Bal Pramukh, USA impressed upon everyone the need to understand and work towards the ‘World Mission of HSS’. This was followed by a workshop on how to celebrate birthdays in a Hindu way. Everyone participated by enacting a skit on this topic and relished the moments of laughter and fun. All the children were mean-while busy doing arts/crafts projects and preparing for the evening skit.
The afternoon became more memorable with all the families and kids going for a short hike for collecting wood for the evening camp fire. After a good fat dinner, everyone enjoyed the Hindu Jeopardy, Dance, Skit, Fancy Dress, followed by Camp Fire and Antakshari which continued upto mid-night. After spending more than 1 ½ days together, it was difficult to say goodbye. The same question was expressed by everyone, “when is the next family camp” and the HSS team replied “Very Soon”.

New Jersey - Vijaya Dasami Utsav


Ved Mandir Shakha in New Jersey celebrated Vijyadashmi Utsav on a chilly Sunday afternoon of October 16, 2005. Shyam Prandey, International Co-Ordinator of Sewa International, was the chief guest of the program.
The program was structured into two halfs. First half was Yoga and Khel in the lawn outside the temple. Second half was baudhik inside the mandir. All the swayamsevaks were divided into 3 ganas, Male, Female and Youths. They started out by warming up with light stretching exercises, followed by traditional yuva postures such as Surya Namaskar, Ardhkati Chakrasan, Tada aasan, Pashtimo aasan etc. Then everybody had a quick round of entertaining games. Youth had a fun competitive races like Duck race, Sack race, lemon spoon, finding and putting the puzzle pieces together. Everyone enjoyed the games.Once inside, the shakha started with hosting of the Bhagwa flag.accompanied with Dhwaj Vandana, led by Yelloji Mirajkar, HSS North East Sambhag Karyavah, and his daughter Smitha Mirajkar. Then Rajiv Rastogi ji introduced main speaker of the day, Ma. Shyam Parandey ji, to eagerly awaiting audience of nearly 100 men, women and children. From then on, Shyam Prandey Ji, International Co-Ordinator of Sewa International, took over the program and spoke at length regarding the importance of sewa, and sewa work done worldwide by swayamsevaks such as Tsunami in South East Asia, and Hurricane Katrina relief work done by HSS volunteers.The program ended with a sumptuous lunch prepared and served by sevikas.Few salient points from Ma. Shyam Parande ji's Baudhik:Hindus have never invaded foreign lands by sending soldiers to take over countries. However, Hindus have made their imprint on culturals in over 28 countries. This was made possiible by sharing Hindu philosophy with the local people in distant lands and allowing for the assimalation of local culture with Hindu philosophy. For example, the Ramayan characters in Thai, Indonesian, and Japanese version of the Ramayan have all the bodily features resembling that of the local people. It was said by the Chinese ambassador on his recent trip to India, that "India captured China for over 20 centuries without sending even a single soldier with its cultural impact on country", referring Buddhism in China.
In the current world, Hindus can offer to the world Yoga, Ayurveda and Sewa. It was emphasised Sewa has no equivalent word in English just as there is no equivalent word for Dharma and Karma. Sewa is neither charity nor service. It goes beyond that. According to Hindus, by birth we have 4 runas (duties). Matru Runa - service to mother, Pitru Runa - service to father and your ancestors, Rishi Runa - service to sages and finally samaj, and lastly Service Runa - service to the soceity. The emphasis of Sewa is the fulfillment of this last runa. Sewa international volunteers are performing Sewa with this concept of Sewa. Ma. Shyam ji while taking about recent Tsunami explained how the local fishermen were able to capture the signals of the tsunami by noting that fish which normally are found at the bottom of the ocean floor were turning up in their nets. These fishermen knew when they catch this type of the fish, it usually means the there is a disturbance at the ocean floor, but modern scientists did not heed the concerns of the fishermen. The fish and many animals which live with nature at all times also detected the tsunami warnings. So did a tribe from Andaman and Nicobar islands. The entire world had thought that a particular tribe which lived in the wilderness of the Nicobar islands archipeligo had been killed by the tsunami, only to later learn of the wise ways of the simple tribal people. The tribe had sensed the tsunami warning and had relocated to a safer ground. The tribe was later rediscovered after several weeks, alive and well.



Chicago Vibhag celebrated Vijaya Dashmi


On Sunday, the 9th of October 2005, Chicago Vibhag celebrated Vijaya Dashmi at the Abhimanyu Balagokulam in Schaumburg. The utsav served the dual purpose of celebrating Vijaya Dashmi and send off to two vistaaraks from the Midwest.
This is the first time that vistaaraks have come out of the Midwest, though lately some Midwest karyakartas got ‘outsourced’ by virtue of their job transfers. It was indeed a matter of pride for the old timers and source of inspiration for the teenagers to see Darshan Soni and Rishikesh Athalye take time off for sangh work.
The utsav began at 10:15 am sharp with dhwaj. Suryanamaskar followed warm-ups and then the lot was divided into separate ganas for adults and kids. Games, geet and baudhik were conducted for each gana. Madhav ji Naidu (Midwest Sambhag Karyavah) was the vakta for the adults. He stressed upon the significance of Vijaya Dashmi to Hindus in the current scenario and how this day is a proud reminder of a vibrant victorious Hindu samaj. Shridhar ji Damle (Chicago Vibhag Sampark Pramukh), in his inimitable interactive style conducted a story session for the kids. After the baudhiks the groups were merged (63 total) for the send off program.
Ami Soni and Mira Radadia (Mukhya Shishika, Abhimanyu BG) shared their experiences of Rishikesh and Darshan with everyone. Girish ji (Midwest Sambhag, Bala Pramukh) also narrated a couple of funny and interesting accounts. Khanderao ji Kand (HSS US Sah-Karyawah) who was in town and at the event encouraged to the two Vistaaraks. Everyone wished Rishikesh and Darshan success in their vistaarakship with a loud and unanimous “AUM”. Darshan’s parents were specially invited to attend this event.