Vishwa Samvad Kendra, Chennai
PANCHAAMRITAM 222
Pancha is five in Samskritam, Amritam is nectar
Amavaasya/ Kali Yugaabda 5113 / Kara Ayppasi 9 (October 26, 2011)
HAPPY DEEPAVALI!
ONE
Chiranjeevi R.Sridhar and Sowbhgyavati S.Pradeepa were happily married on September 1, 2011 at a marriage hall in West Mambalam, a middle class locality of Chennai (Tamilnadu, Bharat). All guests who entered the hall to bless the couple were pleasantly surprised by the arrangement of portraits of over 6o freedom fighters at the entrance. The pictures of Bharat Mata and Doctorji-Shri Guruji were prominently displayed. Every guest made an offering of flowers to Bharat Mata and her beloved children while entering the hall. A tray full of flowers was kept handy. The whole idea was that of Sai Ganesh, younger brother of Sridhar. Sai Ganesh, a practicing purohit of the area, received whole hearted words of appreciation to this novel idea in the following fortnight whenever he visited families to perform pooja. Many welcomed the replacement of Jaanavaasam (bridegroom's procession to a temple) with Bharat Mata pooja; they argued that the presence of the great patriots' portraits provided the holy ambience of a temple. Incidentally, Sai Ganesh is the Mambalam Nagar Karyawah of RSS. As told to Team Panchaamritam.
TWO
Two students, Gyumer Bapu and Tadar Chachumy, both Swayamsevaks of Nyopin Shakha (400 KMs from the state capital Itanagar) in the Kurumkme district of Arunachal Pradesh (Bharat), were waiting at a bus stop. They noticed two Vanavasi (tribal) women nearby crying pitiably. The non tribal Swayamsevaks learnt from them that a relative of theirs had died at a place 8 KMs away and they could not transport the body as they could not find a a vehicle for that. It was already late in the evening and night was approaching. They had to hurry up but found no way out. Then and there, the Swayamsevaks resolved to help them. They both reached the place where the body was kept, carried it on their shoulders and began walking. It was raining. The night was dark. The path was hazardous as the area was mountainous. But nothing deterred their resolve. They continued to walk and handed over the body to the grief-stricken tribal women. This indicates the narrowing gap between tribals and non tribals atleast as far as vigilant Hindus are concerned. By Shri Sudheer Joshi from Itanagar.
THREE
Shri Moolaram Bishnoi of Jodhpur (Rajasthan, Bharat), went to a State Bank of India ATM to withdraw Rs 5,000. Once he pressed the button, currency notes cascading out of the ATM non stop. They stopped only when his hands were full with Rs 20,000.He was shocked at what happened. He did not know how to return the excess amount to the bank. But as a Swayamsevak he was aware that Shri Shyam Manohar, the Saha Prant Karyawah of Jodhpur prant, works in a bank. Quickly Moolaram met Shyamji, who helped him to formally return the excess amount to the bank. That is how ordinary people add value to the Bhagavad Gita's teaching of `non coveting' by living it. By Shri S. Sambamoorthy from Gorakhpur.
FOUR
Robert Hooke is said to have discovered the plant cell in 1665 after a series of examinations under a coarse, compound microscope. However, an ancient Indian text had revealed the fact much before Hooke. Indian botanists claim that there are references of a similar concept in ancient Indian manuscripts and that a Rigvedic Maharishi, Parashara, had given a detailed description of this. Dr S Sundara Rajan, botanist and Sanskrit scholar, quoting Parashara's Vrukshayurveda, says: "In the leaf, there are innumerable components. It has a boundary, a colouring matter, a sap inside and they are not visible to the naked eye." Rajan said he had presented the findings before the International Botanical Congress in Sydney in 1981 and had convinced botanists from several countries that the discovery was made by Parashara long before the Western world. A botanist from New Zealand, he said, had questioned: "Do you mean Indians discovered microscope?" In his reply, he had said: "I have no proof to claim that. But the fact that Parashara, in his description has used the expression `not visible to naked eye', suggests that he had used some magnifying technique to discover matter in the leaves." From a report by Shri Chethan Kumar, Bangalore, in DECCAN HERALD, Oct 21, 2011. (Idea: Shri Lakshminarasimhan Krishnan).
FIVE
A teacher, a postman, a grocery store owner and an ayurvedic healer: This is the team that inspired the reforestation of 700 hectares and creation of 20,000 ponds over the last 30 years. Sachidanand Bharti, the teacher, was an active participant in the Chipko Andolan during his days as a student. The team owes its success to the community in the 136 villages of Dudhatoli region in Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand (Bharat), which is a 300 square kilometre forest. None of them depend on the organisation for their salary. The forest is actually there because of the thousands of women who took up the responsibility of their forest. When a village's forest was destroyed, women had to go to another village to collect fuel wood and fodder. If they were caught by that village's people, they were summoned before the Panchayat there. Besides paying fine for the `crime' of stealing from another village's forest, they also had to bear the public insultThe women here go about safeguarding the forest carrying a pole with bells tied on its top. Once done, they leave the pole in front of another woman's house which signifies that it's her turn next. This pattern has gone on for 30 years without fail and without any expectation of money. In 1999, a World Bank team visited Dudhatoli. Impressed by their work, they offered them a loan of Rs. 100 crores for village needs apart from afforestation. The team refused the offer. They belive that money will destroy the work. Based on a report by Smt Ravleen Kaur in THE HINDU, October 22, 2011.
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