PANCHAAMRITAM 256
Poornima / Kali yugabda 5116 / Jaya Aavani 23 (September
8, 2014)
ONE
Charaka - This
is the place where khadi clothes especially kurtas, kurtis, pyajamas, some
formal shirts etc., are produced in Heggodu, near Sagara (Karnataka, Bharat).
It is a cooperative that was set up 15 years ago with a purpose of providing
employment to rural women. (The Society employs nearly 350 women and has a
turnover of around Rs. 2 crore per annum. Each woman working at Charaka takes
home more than Rs. 3,000 a month, said a blog ‘Pen Folio’ in 2011). It
nearly employs 500 women across 20 villages. The colours used for dyeing are
mostly natural - brown base from areca nut, blue from Indigo, reddish pink from
a plant produce 'manjishta' etc. Also, only handlooms are used instead of power
looms to employ more women. Barring one or two men it is entirely managed by
women. It is an amazing story how a brand has been built upholding ecological,
cultural and social values. The handloom garments are marketted under the brand
name “Desi”. It is a self-sufficient cooperative in the sense that once raw
yarn is purchased, everything else happens in-house. The workers are their own
paymasters here and earn handsomely. “We
have 11 Desi retail outlets across Karnataka. The demand for the products is so
high that we cannot start any new outlets” says Prasanna, a former theatre
personality and a Marxist who founded Charaka. He adds, “Initially there was a
lot of resistance. Groups tried to stop me from doing this because I had this
Marxist tag. But it was a learning experience. I learned that, in a village,
you cannot be a “red rag.” You cannot be branded. A whole lot of changes
happened in me ideologically”.
(Based
on a write up by Dr. Vinaychandra in the Facebook, June 2014 as well as on a
report by Shri K. Pradeep in THE HINDU, April 13, 2013.)
TWO
Devi Parvati,
67, a Jew by birth who converted to Hinduism in her 20s, began the .Hindu
Heritage Summer camp in 1976. In New York it uses the facilities of the India
Community Center, Growing up Indian-American in Shreveport, La., was already a
conflicted proposition for 11 year old Neha Dhawan. As the daughter of two
immigrant doctors, she dutifully went with her parents to a Hindu temple. Classmates
routinely asked where she went to church. Worst of all, a pupil at Neha’s
middle school produced a “hit list” of students who were supposed to be killed,
among them several of Indian descent. So the last thing that Neha wanted was to
be even more identified as an Indian and a Hindu. But her parents sent her to the camp. Now, at
age 21, she says with retrospection, the camp changed her life. She loved doing
morning yoga, her hair still cool and damp from the shower. She discovered a favorite
bhajan, a Hindu devotional song. She spoke with her peers and their college-age
counselors about dealing with stereotypes and racism. “I realized,” she said,
“it’s O.K. to be proud of who you are.” Neha is now the director of the Hindu
Heritage Summer Camp. Between their wake-up call and the meal, the campers assemble
in a parking lot that included both a basketball court and a portrait of Lord
Rama. The camp day toggles between yoga, worship, drama, cricket, arts and
crafts, classes on Hindu philosophy. Such programming attracted campers to fill
all 200 slots over two two-week sessions this summer. Children come from as far
as Texas and Florida in the United States, and from Belgium abroad. Several
were the offspring of intermarried, interfaith families with African, Irish and
Italian roots. For 14-year-old Millena Sivakuma this summer was her fifth in a
row. “We all become family,” said Millena, the daughter of a banker from
Charlotte, N.C. “On the last day, everybody’s flowing rivers from their eyes.”
Based
on a report by Shri Samuel G. Freedman in THE NEW YORK TIMES, August 22, 2014.
THREE
Chief Minister
of Rajasthan, Smt Vasundhara Raje helped three accident victims while her
motorcade was driving from Sriganganagar to Sangariya in Bikaner Division. Seeing
three motorcyclists lying on the road, after they had reportedly been hit by a
private TV van, the Chief Minister got down from her vehicle and issued
instructions for the three to be taken to the hospital. She called up State Health
Minister Rajendra Rathore from the spot and asked him to issue instructions to
the authorities at the Ganganagar Hospital so that they were prepared to
receive the three victims. At the same time, the Chief Minister sent the
Central Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister Nihal Chand and the local MLA,
Gurjant Singh, with the accident victims to the hospital before proceeding for
her scheduled programme under ‘Sarkar Aapke Dwar’. The motorcyclists had been
lying on the Lalgarh Jatan Road in the Military Area for some time after being
hit by a TV van. Despite her efforts, Abdul Hameed (52) and Lala (20), died
while Papu is being treated for critical injuries. “Stopped by to help accident
victims’ precious life — unfortunate we have forgotten to respect human lives!”
she later tweeted.
From
reports in THE HINDU and INDIAN EXPRESS, June 27, 2014.
FOUR
Shobana, wife of Vijayan, a resident of Housing Board
colony, Thirupathur, Vellore district, travelled by the Thiruvananthapuram
Express train from Coimbatore and
alighted at Jolarpet Junction on May 23. While collecting her luggage
she forgot to take her handbag which was lying on a bench in the Railway
platform. Shri Prahlad, who sells edibles at the Railway station, found the bag
and handed it over to the Railway Protection Force personnel. The police
searched the bag and found that it contained gold jewellery weighing two and a
half sovereigns and two mobile phones. Shobana was informed of the bag and she,
accompanied by her husband, went to the station. She got back her valuables
intact. RPF Inspector Chelladurai gave away cash award to Shri Prahlad in appreciation of his honesty.
Based on a report in DINAMANI, May 24, 2 014
FIVE
Former US
President Bill Clinton, with a 25 member delegation, arrived at Government
Praveshika Sanskrit Vidyalaya, Sanganer, Rajasthan. For 20 minutes, Clinton and
his team served food to students. Clinton and the delegates were astonished to
see two students of Class 10 solving a mathematical riddle using the Nikhilam
method of Vedic Maths even before some delegates could solve those with
calculators. Clinton asked the students Ashish Dubey and Amrita Kumar to get in
touch with the Clinton Foundation through Akshaya Patra for any assistance in
the future.
Based on a report in THE
TIMES OF INDIA, July 17, 2014. (Idea: Shri Raghuramji)
OOOOOOOOOOO
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