Vishwa Samvad Kendra, Chennai
PANCHAAMRITAM 215
Pancha is five in Samskritam, AmritaJulm is nectar
Poornima/ Kali Yugaabda 5113 / Kara Aani 29 (July 14, 2011)
ONE
The all-India meeting of the Prant Pracharaks (Provincial Organisers) of the RSS was in session at a far off North Eastern town of Tinsukia. News reached Tinsukia that `the Delhi-bound Kalka Mail met with a ghastly accident near Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh, Bharat) on July 10, 2011 around noon. Two general compartments were very badly mangled. Information reaching Tinsukia was that at least 60 people have died and hundreds injured. Till 4 pm the Railway Accident Relief train had not reached the site of the accident'. All Sangh elders at Tinsukia were heartened on hearing the following information: The RSS Swayamsevaks were already there at the site of the accident for several hours helping the railwaymen and other security personnel. They were there at the railway station near the dead bodies. They were there in hospitals where the injured have been transported. They were there even in Kanpur attending to the seriously injured. The key RSS functionary in Kanpur was so busy that he could barely respond to calls from Tinsukia for a minute; he was rushing to the hospital where several injured had arrived. He had already asked a number of Swayamsevaks to reach there anticipating need for blood and other help. When contacted by the karyakarthas in Tinsukia, the district secretary of RSS in the affected area was found busy organising relief at the site along with more than hundred Swayamsevaks. When they reached out to the local head of the organisation, a doctor by profession, he told them that he was busy attending to the injured people in his own hospital as dozens of them had arrived. This is not to suggest that only Swayamsevaks respond in such times of calamity. Many other socially conscious individuals too do. But the Swayamsevaks enjoy a distinct advantage. They are mentally better trained and equipped due to their RSS background to respond to such situations. Bassd on a write up by Shri Ram Madhav of RSS on July 11, 2011 in his blog: http://ram-madhav.blogspot.com
TWO
Any infant that comes into the Vatsalya Gram in Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh , Bharat) will have a home, a mother, aunt and grandmother. As Sadhvi Rithambara, the founder of the 54-acre ashram, says, "Vatsalya Gram is an orphanage, estranged women's centre and old age home; it is one cohesive unit. It provides people an environment to grow, that people only in well-to-do families get." There are 30 families now staying at Gokulam, a housing complex situated in the ashram. Each family consists of a mother, aunt and grandmother. Each flat in Gokulam consists of one dining room, drawing room, master bedroom, one additional bedroom, bathroom and toilet, kitchen, prayer room and a central courtyard. Each family consists of anywhere between five and 10 children staying with three elders who play the role of mother, aunt and grandmother. The ashram has its own gaushala (cow shed) with 125 cows, whose milk is used to feed infants here. The ashram has a school, Samvid Gurukulam, based on CBSE pattern. There's also a theme park with models of various animals, and of incidents from epics like the Ramayana which are used for providing children moral education. Also in the ashram are a training centre where woman are taught self defence techniques and a shaheed museum with paintings and stories of freedom fighters. Anika Parmanand, of Vatsalya Gram completed her graduation in 2006 and recently got married into a good family in Delhi. Another member, Rohit Parmanand, completed his 12th grade from Bhonsala military school (Maharashtra) and will appear for engineeringentrance exams soon. We will support him till he becomes self-sufficient," says Rithambara. (In 2003 Rithambara moved to Vrindavan). From a report by Shri Tarun Nangia in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, 19 June 2011.
THREE
Ten persons, including all seven onboard a small civil chartered aircraft, were killed when the medical ambulance flight to Delhi from Patna crashed into a densely-populated residential area of Faridabad (Haryana, Bharat) in bad weather on May 26, 2011 night. Once he heard of this, Shri Rakesh Tyagi, the district secretary of RSS sent instructions through SMS and phone to swayamsevaks of the city to reach the accident spot. Soon after, dozens of swayamsevaks assembled there. They quickly gathered the bodies of the dead and helped send them quickly to hospital for post mortem. By then it was past midnight. But early in the morning, the swayamsevaks assembled in front of the Government Badshah Khan Hospital. They distributed mineral water bottles among the waiting relatives of the victims. Once the post mortem was over, they brought the bodies out and placed them in the vans. They arranged for the conduct of complete Hindu last rites for Ratnesh and Rahul, both victims hailing from Bihar, and helped cremate them at the smashaan. Ramashankar and Mukesh Chaudary, relatives of Rahul and Ratnesh, said that because of the manner in which the RSS swayamsevaks served them, they never once felt that they were far away in another state. ""These swayamsevaks took upon themselves the responsibility of arranging the last rites in full and carried out the funeral in Faridabad itself. We received love all around that made us feel that we were at home", the relatives said. From a report in DAINIK JAGRAN, May 27, 2011. Also from SANGH MARG (Rohtak, July 2011).
FOUR
What has been missed in the discourse on the wealth at Sri Pamanabha Swami temple in Thituvanandapuram (Kerala, Bharat), hijacked by hype and excitement, is that even when the Travancore royals were in danger of losing their kingdom, they never thought of touching the Lord's wealth. Tipu Sultan, who had invaded Malabar and destroyed many temples, had conquered Thrissur in 1789 and made it his headquarters, posing a threat to Travancore. When Tipu was driving down southwards, the kingdom itself was at risk. This seems to have persuaded Dharma Raja, the then king of Travancore royalty to bury and seal the wealth of the Lord in secret chambers to keep it beyond the reach of the invader. But, in 1790, Tipu withdrew from Thrissur when the British raided Mysore, de-risking Travancore from invasion. Still Dharma Raja and his successors opted to keep the Lord's treasure buried, safe from risk of loot. The royalty had continued to keep it buried so that it ever remained the wealth of the Lord; it did not unseal it even after the danger had diminished. This shows the unmatched height of honesty and integrity of the trustees, the royal family. From an essay by Shri S Gurumurthy in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, July 7, 2011.
FIVE
Even as the anti-Posco and pro-Posco activists have adopted contradictory stands in regard to land acquisition at villages in Kujanga area for the biggest FDI in the State, in a remarkable instance of camaraderie, on July 4, 2011 both groups were found pulling the chariot of Lord Jagannath in Kunjabihari Pitha, locally known as Subhadra Kshetra at Gadakujang village (Orissa, Bharat). The annual Rath Yatra celebration in Gadakujanga village is unique in the way that the chariot is pulled a day after the Rath Yatra in Puri and the celebration is observed for two consecutive days. Temple management sources said that thousands of devotees and villagers from Gadakujang, Nuagaon, Govindapur, Polang, Dhinkia and the surrounding areas, including residents from Paradeep outskirts, took part in the chariot pulling. Interestingly, shedding past enmity and hostility over the proposed controversial Posco project, both the supporters and opponents congregated at the venue and joined hands with each other to pull the chariot.It may be mentioned here that the supporters and protesters of Posco were not allowed to enter each other's villages but on the auspicious Rath Yatra day, the prohibition had been lifted and, reportedly, they participated in the festival with great enthusiasm. The unity among the antagonistic groups surprised many as last year a very few people from Dhinkia village had participated in the festival. "We allowed the Posco opponents to participate in the festival as it is a matter of religious congregation which has nothing to do with the Posco controversy," informed a pro-Posco leader and Nuagaon gram panchayat samiti member Soumendra Nayak. Anti-Posco leader and former Dhinkia GP Sarpanch Sisir Mohapatra said that the Rath Yatra of Gadakujanga has a rich tradition and spiritual heritage, which enjoys the status at par with Puri, Kendrapada, Baripada and Keonjhar. So the Posco controversy can in no way deter people from following the traditions and customs. From a report in DAILY PIONEER, July 5, 2011.
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