SHUBH HOLI TO ALL

----- May the spirit of Holi help us treat each other with love, respect and understanding...

Hindus the world over will be celebrating Phagwah or Holi on Sunday, 20th March, 2011. Regardless of the country you grew up in, once you're an East Indian with ties to India, you know what is Phagwah. As a child growing up in the villages, Phagwah is one of the most merriest of celebrations. For weeks before Phagwah rolls around, you made sure your mother prepare your white clothing, bought your 'play' gun to shot Abeer at your friends and family, got your Johnson Baby Powder and Abrack ready for the afternoon session. Boy! It was jolly joyful when you were the first one to spray Abeer at your relative's white clothing and left streaks of red marks. The glee ... the laughter ... But, that's a child's mind and a child likes to do fun things. Sprouting Abeer at people is fun.

Phagwah has deep spiritual and social significances that over the years many of us have overlooked or forgotten, particularly after we've moved away from our birth countries and adopted foreign countries as home. However, the meaning of Phagwah remains the same.

The celebration of Phagwah is a time when good-will, happiness, forgiveness and brotherhood reign supreme. It is a time when sharing and giving, merriment and laughter and felicitations take precedent over all else; a time to cleanse the body of ill feelings and other bad habits. Remember, with the celebration of Holi, only one thing triumphs and that is good.

So, as we're preparing to observe Phagwah 2011, let us resolve to treat each other with a measure of goodness and learn to share our richness with others unconditionally.

Come join us at the Sanaatan Dharma Mandir of New York to celebrate Phagwah 2011 at 114th Street in Richmond Hill.

Shubh Holi to all!

Lord Krishna playing Holi

(Online photo)

GRAND TRIBUTE DINNER IN HONOR OF MR. ASHOOK RAMSARAN

A tribute dinner was held in honor of Mr. Ashook Ramsaran at the beautiful World's Fair Marina in Flushing, Queens a few Saturdays ago. Mr. Ramsaran, Guyanese by birth, recently returned home from India where he was awarded the Pravasi Samman Award for his outstanding community, civic and humanitarian works he's involved in to improve the lives of others. The amount of charitable and community projects he participated in is too numerous to mention, but suffice it to say that Mr. Ramsaran is one of a million in the Diaspora. He was instrumental in the building of and the organization of the inauguration of the Kolkata Memorial in India in January 2011 - a massive project indeed - just to name one.

There's an old saying that goes like this: "At the side of every great man is a great woman." Why am I saying that? Well, when people take on the responsibility of becoming community, civic, political or religious leaders; simultaneously, they also become public figures and 'public property,' to put it mildly. I say that lightly. But, unless you're a part of that household, you would never imagine or understand the amount of sacrifices that family has to endure, starting with the spouse and the children. That's why we all need to say "Hats off to Mrs. Ramsaran," for being so super supportive to Mr. Ramsaran and gracefully allowing him to do the good work he does for the upliftment of soceity as a whole.

But, this moment is for Mr. Ramsaran, who was also celebrating his birthday that night. Many congratulations to him for the great work he's doing and all the best for the future. Mr. Ramsaran was also the recipient to many more awards, recognitions and citations from diffirent offices, including, US Congressman Anthony Weiner and NY State Assemblyman David Weprin.

Mr. Nohar Singh, President and CEO of Travel Span (check him out for all your travel needs - mention this blog and get a discount - just kidding!) must be complimented for organizing such a fabulous evening. His informative narrative on indenturedship and his presentation on "Footage on Indentureship" created the correct historical ambience needed for such a tribute dinner for a descendant of one of the indentured laborers - a walk down memory lane.

The event was graced with the presence of many high profile personalities, including His Excellency Dr. Neil Parsan, newly appointed Trinidad & Tobago Ambassador to the USA; Dr. Thomas Abraham; NYC Councilman Mr. James Gennaro; Guyanese-born real estate magnate Mr. George Subraj, President of ZARA Realty; and Mr. James Gallagher, Jr. - to name a few.

Mr. Ramsaran's two sons, Arnold and Gerard, also took to the microphone to compliment their father on his many achievements and his influence in their lives.

Congrats Mr. Ramsaran! Keep up the good work!
Below some photos of the event.

Arnold, Mrs. and Mr. Ramsaran, Gerard & little Jaden


Mr. Ramsaran receiving another award ...


Dr. Neil Parsan making his presentation...


Mr. Nohar Singh, Dr. Thomas Abraham and Mr. Ramsaran..

HAPPY SHIVA RATRI TO ALL

Hindus throughout the globe will be observing Maha Shiva Ratri on Wednesday March 2nd - a celebration that is solely dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva. Shiv Ratri is one of the most important Hindu festivals in the calender and a day and night that is extremely auspicious to the Hindus.

Shiva literally means "The Auspicious One" which is Lord Shiva and Ratri means night; put together Maha Shiv Ratri means "The Great Night of Lord Shiva."

On Maha Shiva Ratri day, the devotee of Lord Shiva wakes up very early in the morning and after taking a bath, begins preparation for the worship of Lord Shiva in the form of the Shiva Lingham. Throughout the day and night, devout Hindus engage themselves in Puja, prayers, vigil throughout the night and rigid fasting, while chanting the sacred mantra "Om Namah Shivayea" and focusing the thought and mind on the Lord. Some devotees do not even eat, drink nor sleep on this the night.

An image of Lord Shiva striking an evil-doer

Devotees offer dhar to the Shiva Lingham with water, milk, coconut juice, cane juice, honey, ghee and curd. These ingredients are used to bathe the Shiva Lingham, one after the other. The bilwa or bael leaf is extremely important and auspicious to offer to Lord Shiva on this obervation. The bael leaves must have the three leaves (see in photo) to be offered to the Lord.

Maha Shiva Ratri is divided into four pahars (sessions). The first one begins at 6:00 P.M.; then at 9:00 P.M., at 12:00 mid-night and finally, at 03:00 A.M. the next morning. The celebration of Shiva Ratri culminates with the 06:00 A.M. Shiva aarti on Thursday morning. After spending a night of devotion and prayers to Lord Shiva, devotees take their aarti and prasadam and can now break the fast.

Bilwa leaves with three leaves

In between the pahars, devotees also sing bhajans and kirtans dedicated to Lord Shiva, some chant mantras, some engage in japping the sacred five-syllable mantra (Om Namah Shiva Yea), while others meditate on the Absolute Nirgun form of the Lord. Throughout the night, stories from the Shiv Puran and other Hindu texts of Lord Shiva are being recounted by the pandits. Lord Shiva is known by many names, too many to list: Maha Kaal, Neelakanth, Mahesh, Vishwanauth, Rameshwar, etc.

It is documented in the scriptures that devotees who observe the Maha Shiva Ratri celebration with utmost faith, love, devotion, sincerity and stay focus on the Lord throughout the night, such a devotee will be rewarded many, many blessings from Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva Himself declares that Maha Shiva Ratri is very auspicious observation to Him. Therefore, He is very please when His devotees perform puja, worship and fasting on this night. He absolves them of their past sins and free them from the cycle of birth and death, thereby helping devotees to gain moksha - final liberation.

May Lord Shiva showers His choicest blessings upon all His devotees.

Lord Shiva, Mother Parbattie and Lord Ganesh.

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNING TO THE PRAVASI SAMMAN AWARD IN INDIA

Mr. Ashook Ramsaran came from humble beginning - from the rice fields in Bloomfield Village, Berbice, Guyana - and has risen to become one of the recipients of India's highest honor - the Pravasi Samman Award, given to Indians living outside of India. Mr. Ramsaran is an extraordinary human being who is involved in outstanding community work to uplift the lives of PIOs around the globe and others in his community in New York.

The award cermony was held at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, India, at the 9th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention, from January 7th to 9th, 2011.

His is a life of extraordinary accomplishments over the years achieved through the dint of a combination of hard work, dedication, sacrifice, fortitude, perseverance, determination, and selfless service to humanity, among other attributes.

Below is a synopsis of his life:

Mr. Ramsaran is the Executive Vice President of Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO International) and Chairperson of GOPIO’s Tracing Our Roots Committee. He has instituted several innovative ideas and programs to address issues of interest and concern of the global Indian Diaspora. He is also the Co-Founder and Director General of the Guyanese East Indian Civic Association (GEICA), and Director of the Caribbean Business Council (CBC). He is an ardent advocate of universal human rights and observance of due process and rule of law in the Indian Diaspora. He is on the board of St. John’s University’s Committee on Caribbean and Latin American Studies (SJU/CLACS) and collaborates on a continuing series of seminars and conferences on immigrant issues. Ramsaran was accorded a special recognition by St. John’s University in 2007 and a scholarship for Diaspora studies was established in name of “Ashook Ramsaran”.

He also collaborates with New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA - NYC) on annual events on immigrant experiences in New York City. He has been honored as the “Outstanding Immigrant” by New York City Council and serves annually as “Principal For The Day” in the New York Public School system. He is very active in his local New York community’s civic, political and cultural groups, contributes generously to causes on behalf of the needy, and has written extensively on issues of interest and concern affecting people of Indian origin in the global Indian Diaspora. He is prominently featured in the Global Indian 2010 publication of “Top 25 Indian Luminaries of the World”.

He arranged, coordinated and supported fund raisers for victims of cyclone in Fiji, mostly people of Indian origin. Supported and participated in many other successful fund raisers such as Tsunami, Guyana Floods, Gujrat Earthquake, Haiti Earthquake and several others.

He planned, organized and coordinated several re-unions of PIOs from Guyana, including Yakusari Teachers Alumni. Supporter and advisor to Corentyne High School Alumni and 2006 Re-Union event in Toronto, Canada. Chairman of highly acclaimed and successful 70th Anniversary and Re-Union 2008 held on Aug 9, 2008 in New York City.

He was a speaker at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas plenary session on: “Engaging PIOs in India’s Development” on January 7, 2007 in New Delhi. Also a speaker on January 8, 2008 PBD 2008 panel session titled “The Americas” on ENGAGING THE DIASPORA: THE WAY FORWARD; Chairperson of PBD2009 Regional Session “Caribbean” with overall theme “Engaging the Diaspora”; speaker at PBD Europe Sep 2009 in The Hague, Netherlands; panelist at PBD 2010 in New Delhi on evaluation and assessment of PBD.

He developed GOPIO Symposia on “India’s Emergence as an Economic Power and the Mutual Benefits of Increased Bilateral Trade in he Caribbean”: for May 30, 2007 in Trinidad; for June 4, 2007 in Suriname; for June 6, 2007 in Guyana. In conjunction with visit of Government of India Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) Minister Vayalar Ravi and delegation to attend Indian Arrivals Days in several PIO countries in the Caribbean region: Trinidad (May 31), St. Vincent’s (June 1), Suriname (June 4) as well as a visit to Guyana. That high level trip to the region brought more awareness of the Caribbean PIO community to MOIA and mobilized more GOPIO chapters.

Mr. Ramsaran developed a Summary Proposal in 2006 titled “ The Global Indian Diaspora: A Blueprint for the 21st Century”, and provided same to the Government of India Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) inclusive of ideas, suggestions and recommendations to enhance the efforts on behalf of people of the Indian Diaspora. More regional conferences and seminars on Indian Diaspora issues were among the recommendations, for example holding mini-PBDs (such as PBD 2007 in New York; similar regional PBDs followed: PBD 2009 Europe in The Hague; PBD 2010 Africa in Durban, etc).

He is a prominent Elder of First Presbyterian Church (FPC) of Flushing, New York, Chair of FPC Centennial Celebration, Trustee and Chair of FPC Finance and Budget Committee.

Mr. Ramsaran is currently spearheading the international effort by the Global Indian Diaspora Heritage Society (GIDHS) for an emigration memorial and museum/resource center at a Kolkata site where Indian indentured laborers were housed and processed prior to assignment to plantations in British colonies from 1834 thru’ 1920. This is a project that he has personally invested alot of this time, effort and money to see it become a reality for all descendants of indentured laborers. Learn more on this project at: http://www.gidhs.org/.

Mr. Ramsaran holds many public titles and heads many projects. Inspite of all of the hectic community work, he is the President of a successful company he builds, called Ramex, Inc., a loving husband, a devoted father and a wonderful grandfather.

It is a great feeling when people deserving is awarded for their hardwork and selfless service to humanity. Ashook Ramsaran is one just human being who is richly deserving of the Pravasi Samman Award. He works selflessly like a karma yogi for the betterment of others. He is one of our own from the sugar plantations from British Guiana, who have risen to great heights to make all of us proud.

Well done, Sir. We join with your family and friends in congratulating you on an honor richly deserving. Enjoy the feeling and may you rise to greater heights yet to achieve greater things still.

Below are some photos of the award ceremony in New Delhi, India

The President of India giving the award to Mr. Ramsaran


Mr. Ramsaran with other recipients and Madame President of India


Group photo.



President of India garlanding the honor to Mr. Ramsaran

In-depth photo with the Mahatma

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR - 2011

Hi Everyone,

As the year 2010 rolls to an end and we start planning for the New Year - 2011, it's a good idea to take some time and engage ourselves in some much needed self-introspect analysis. Reflection on oneself while one is alive, is a great blessing. We get to see (with the inner eyes) what we like about ourselves and what we don't like about oursevles and the chance to change what we don't like about ourselves.

While you're hard at work making those new year's resolutions, in the midst of attending all those parties and special family get-togethers, do take some time to spread the joy and holiday spirit to the less fortunate ones. Be safe amidst the merriment.

To all of you:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & ALL THE BEST FOR THE NEW YEAR - 2011!