Thursday, January 27, 2011

PANCHAAMRITAM 203

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Vishwa Samvad Kendra, Chennai

PANCHAAMRITAM 203

Pancha is five in Samskritam, Amritam is nectar

Poornima / Kali Yugaabda 5112 / Vikruti Thai 5 (January 19, 2011)

Posted on January 28, 2011. Sorry for the delay.  – Moderator.

ONE

The United Commercial (UCO) Bank has opened the country's first  'lockless' branch at Shani Shingnapur in Maharashtra. Shani Shingnapur is a small town in Ahmednagar district whose presiding deity is Lord Shani. More than 5,000 devotees visit the temple every day, while on weekends the number crosses the 1 lakh mark. "We took note of the general belief and faith of the people. Ever since the most revered temple came into existence several years ago, the village has not witnessed a single crime. In fact, all houses in the entire village have no doors. We took the risk and started the lockless bank a week ago," a senior bank official said. Our branch has doors, but they will never be locked. Adequate precautions are being taken for the safety of lockers and important documents," he said. It is believed that because of Lord Shani's power, the village has not witnessed a single theft or robbery in the recent past. People here fear that if there is a theft or robbery, then the culprit and their family have to bear the wrath of Lord Shani.   From a report by Shri  Prafulla Marpakwar in THE TIMES OF INDIA,  January 17, 2011

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CHRISTELLE Gourdine, a French national of Guadeloupean, a  Caribbean island (and of Indian origin), has been fascinated by her Indian roots for many years. Christelle was born in France. Guadeloupe is a group of islands in the Caribbean and is an overseas territory of France. Christelle's parents were part of the 55,000-strong Indian community in Guadeloupe just over 10 percent of the population till they moved to mainland France. Christelle, who works with a major French bank, is currently writing a book to explain the Indian presence in Guadeloupe and to relate their links with India. For her, it was the sound of the drums the dholaks and nagaras being played during festivities in Guadeloupe that triggered her interest and made her aware of her Indian origin. "I was deeply disappointed when I could not find any links to my ancestors in India despite travelling to so many places. Finally, I went to Varanasi to do a last ritual for my ancestors. But when I took a dip in the Ganga, I had an intensely emotional moment. It changed the way I felt. I decided to write a book about my ancestry, my search and the story about Indians in Guadeloupe. It is a story that deserves to be written so that we know about our heritage," Christelle says. (After slavery was abolished in French territories in 1848, the French planters in Guadeloupe decided to import workers from India after the good results they had seen in Reunion Island, the French territory in the Indian Ocean. From 1,854 to 1,889, 42,326 Indian workers were taken in 93 ships to Guadeloupe. Return from Guadeloupe was practically impossible. The French authorities felt it was too expensive to ship the workers back and so used various means to prevent their return. Indians were forced to give up their culture, tradition, language as well as their religion. Many resisted and tried to maintain their rituals and traditions in secret. From a report by IANS and THE NEW  INDIAN EXPRESS, January 21, 2011.

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In February 2009, Vikram Pandit, Indian-American CEO of CITIGROUP, pledged to US Cong ress that he won't receive a salary of more than $1 until the financial giant hit severely by the 2008 meltdown, returned to sustained profitability. Now, after two years, the turnaround has happened with Citi reporting this week a profit of $10.6 billion for 2010. A grateful Citi board lost little time to reward Pandit by fixing his annual base salary at $1.75 million with immediate effect. Pandit's last full compensation was in 2008, when he received $10.8 million, including $985,333 in base salary. He took charge of Citi in December 2007 just when the meltdown was gathering pace in tandem with the aggravating subprime mortgage crisis. THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS, January 23, 2011.

FOUR

Six-year-old M. Aditya has become the youngest rated Indian chess player, according to the January 2011 list released by FIDE, the international chess body. Initiated into the sport at the age of two, Aditya has shown considerable progress in quick time. Aditya, who is the reigning Chennai District under-7 champion, trains at T. Nagar Chess Academy. Srinivasa Rangan, personal coach of Aditya says, "Usually it is difficult to teach Knight movements to beginners. But this kid was very special and he hit the ground running. It was amazing to see him play a full game when he was a little more than three years old." Arvind, Aditya's elder brother, is a FIDE-rated chess player and that has helped in shaping his skills. "Chess has helped him learn computers as well. He used to play chess on the internet when he was four. He could not read and icons were his only guides," said Meenakshi, Aditya's mother. THE HINDU, JANUARY 18, 2011.

FIVE

Encouraged by the resounding success of the first-ever four-day World Sanskrit Book Fair in Bangalore, the former Chief Election Commissioner and vice-president of the National Advisory Committee of Samskrita Bharati, Shri N. Gopalaswami said that the fair was likely to be held every year. Speaking to reporters along with Samskrita Bharati general secretary Shri C.M. Krishna Shastry and Karnataka coordinator Satyanarayana, he said that chief ministers and ministers of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand had expressed their desire to hold such fairs in their states and it would be considered. He said that the exhibition Jnana Ganga would be taken to all schools for the benefit of children. He said that books, especially on teaching Sanskrit and the Bhagavad Gita as a guide on management were in great demand and publishers sold books worth Rs. 4 crore (early estimate) in five days. Samskrita Bharati would undertake programmes to teach simple Sanskrit to children. To start with it would begin in Bangalore. On the success of the fair, Krishna Shastry said vice-chancellors of 13 Sanskrit universities and 12 former vice-chancellors along with chairmen of seven Sanskrit academies and 12 oriental research institutes, apart from scholars from India and abroad attended it. He said these institutions had given Ph.D. to more than 800 researchers across the country in Sanskrit.  THE HINDU (Bangalore), January 12, 2011.

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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

PANCHAAMRITAM 202

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Vishwa Samvad Kendra, Chennai

PANCHAAMRITAM 202

Pancha is five in Samskritam, Amritam is nectar

Amaavaasya/ Kali Yugaabda 5112 / Vikruti Margazhi 20 (January 4, 2011)

ONE

Gloria Arieira, a Brazilian and an authority in Sanskrit has translated the Bhagawad Gita and parts of the Vedas to Portuguese. So, if you are seeking spirituality in the holiday resort of Copacabana, Rio, then you will find it at Vidya Mandir, a school of Vedanta studies founded and run by Gloria. Gloria, who is visiting Kalady, with a group of 28 students, has been to Kerala before. A disciple of Swami Chinmayananda and of Swami Dayananda, Gloria's entry into the world of spirituality was after she heard Swami Chinmayananda's talk on Vedanta in Rio. That was in 1973. Gloria felt that her search for the greater meaning to life was answered. Dissatisfied with her search in other philosophies, she was drawn towards Vedic ways. Gloria learnt Sanskrit because it was the only way she could reach the depths of knowledge that she was seeking. The Bhagvad Gita and the Upanishads had to be read in the language they were written in. Gloria dresses like an Indian. Gloria, 57, is married and has three children, a lawyer, an engineer and one studying social sciences. Her husband is a yoga teacher. Does her family practise her way of life? She says that there is no compulsion to change. "The Vedic dharma does not ask for conversion. But the understanding of the Vedas changes life completely." Her children are proud of her work and value the Vedic tradition. Has her Indian-inspired spirituality taken her away from Brazil? "How can it? I am a Brazilian except that I see the logic, the higher order behind my learning Vedanta and teaching it to students in Brazil", she says. Based on a report by Smt Priyadershini. S in THE HINDU (Kochi) , September 8, 2010 .

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An 18-day train journey across 12 places in the country with 400 people from all states talking about entrepreneurship, sharing ideas, meeting role models and devising innovative solutions for day-to-day problems: This is what the Tata Jagriti Yatra, which made a stop in Chennai on December 30, 2010, is all about. It is an annual affair organized by a Mumbai-based group. The participants are people in the 20-25 age group as well as working professionals above 25 and the aim is to expose them to unsung heroes. "The motto is to awaken the spirit of entrepreneurship, both of the social and financial kind, by exposing them to individuals and institutions that have developed unique solutions to various challenges," said Raj Krishnamurthy, a board member of the yatra. In Chennai, the participants met Shri R Elango, an engineer turned panchayat president who has changed the face of Kuthambakkam, a small village. Kuthambakkam, near Chennai, is completely panchayat-led and a viable and profitable model with 59 self-help groups. The yatris are divided into 18 teams which come up with a plan in the sectors of education, agriculture and healthcare. The five best teams are given a seed fund to implement their ideas. "Five hundred million Indians live on Rs 40-120 a day and with this yatra we hope to address the problems of this chunk of the population," said Raj. (Tata Jagriti Yatra, Tel (India): +91 22 6453 5354 Mobile (India): +91 92 2323 1183, +91 93 2421 2434). Based on a report in THE TIMES OF INDIA, December 31, 2010.

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Bobby Jindal, the Indian American Governor of Louisiana, has topped the list of US's popular governors in a new survey, conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP). Jindal, who became the first ever Indian American governor of a US state in 2007, will be seeking re-election in October 2011. According to the poll, Jindal emerged with a 58 percent approval rating, along with 34%  disapproving of his performance. He is closely followed by Iowa's Governor. Although West Virginia's Governor Joe Manchin posted a higher approval rating (70 percent) than Jindal's, he has since left the gubernatorial mansion, having been elected US Senator.  THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, January 1, 2011.

FOUR

Thailapuram, off Chengalpattu in Kanchipuram district (Tamilnadu, Bharat) celebrated the Deepam Utsav as a social festival on November 21, 2010. Usually, lighting of lamps in every Hindu household marks the Deepam festival. The event was unique that day in many ways. The nation (represented by a huge map of undivided Hindusthan – Akhand Bharat - drawn on the open ground in the middle of the village) was the centre of the ceremony. Mud lamps (Diyas) with the wick and gingelly oil were placed all along the borders of the country in the map.  Every holy city inside the borders was indicated by a similar lamp each, with wick and oil. At the outset, functionaries of political parties – AIADMK, DMK, PMK, etc., - responded happily to the call of the organizers and lit a lamp each, positioned at each holy city inside `Hindusthan'.  So did the caste leaders of several castes one by one. All cities from Amarnath in the Himalayas via Ayodhya down to Kanyakumari in the south were lit by these leaders of the village. While a lamp wais lit in a holy city, the organizers narrated its cultural importance as well as the effectiveness of Hindu unity in that city. The climax of the Utsav was this: when the entire village lined up and began lighting the lamps on the borders of the nation, the political and caste leaders joined the people. The Utsav was organized by Swayamsevaks of RSS in the village.  As told to Team PANCHAAMRITAM by Shri G.Bhaktavatsalan, Saha Prant Prachrak , RSS, Uttar Tamilnadu.

FIVE

Agriculturists of village Kachod in Ujjain Taluk, Ujjain District (Madhya Pradesh, Bharat) will not have to face water scarcity any more. They have a new check dam in their village now, which will save excess water.  It is a gift worth Rs 3 lakhs – for the benefit of  the villagers - by their fellow farmer Shri Dayaram Kaakkad, all India Vice President of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), the premier national organization of farmers founded by RSS veteran late Shri Dattopant Thengadi.  Dayaram has chosen the wedding of his son slated for January 25, 2011, as the occasion to give the valuable gift to his village. Incidentally, the theme for the forthcoming all India conference of BKS on February 4, 2011 in Ujjain is `conservation of water'. Farmers from 3 lakh villages will be carrying holy water from their villages and Sadhus including His Holiness the Kanchi Shankarachrya will perform Jalabhishekh to the presiding deity of Ujjain, Lord Mahakleshwar (Shiva). This has the purpose of reminding farmers that water is to be held in high esteem.  As told to Team PANCHAAMRITAM by Shri Gopi, Tamilnadu State Organising Secretary, BKS.

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LOCATIONS COVERED: Tamilnadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Brazil and the USA.

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