CELEBRATING OUR INDENTURED ANCESTORS' RICH HISTORY

                                          Dr. Basdeo Mangru delivering his keynote address

The Sanaatan Dharma Mandir of New York organized an event to celebrate the "Indian Arrival Day" of our Indian Indentured Ancestors to the West Indies to Guyana. This year marked the 174th years of our  ancestors' dynamic history and rich heritage to the West Indies. The event was held at the mandir, located at 104-22 114th Street, Richmond Hill in Queens, NY, on Sunday May 6th.

Such celebrations are held in the different countries in the Global Indian Diaspora, where over a century ago, the British plantation owners took the Indians from India as indentured laborers to "toil and sweat" in their sugar plantations. In British Guiana, slavery was abolished in 1834, after which the African slaves refused to work in the plantations. The plantation landlords found themselves in a quagmire; they scrambled to fill that gap with cheap laborers from Europe, but those attempts failed dismally. Finally, they turned to India to import cheap laborers. India was also under British rule, so their work was made easy, especially, after they painted a rosy picture of "plenty food, plenty clothing and plenty money" for the laborers.

A section of the gathering

The executive body and members of the Sanaatan Dharma Mandir of New York planned this event to coincide with the "Indian Arrival Day" celebrations in Guyana, which is observed on May 5th and is a national holiday in that country. Previously known as British Guiana, the first two ships that arrived at Highbury, East Berbice were the Whitby and the Hesperus on May 5th, 1838. Indenturedship was a five-year contract, whereby the Indentured laborers were bound to work on the sugar plantations for five years before they were free to return to India if they could provide their own passage.

The children of our ancestors reading

It was a short but packed program at the mandir. The keynote speaker was Dr. Basdeo Mangru who is one of Guyana's and the West Indies' most distinguished historians. Dr. Mangru specialized in the Indentured ancestors' history in Guyana, a subject that is very close to his heart. He is the author of several books written on the Indentured laborers' history. His lecture was extremely well presented. He talked about how the recruitment process for the laborers started in India, the many voyages they made across the "Kala Pani" (which means Black Water) and their harsh struggles against the indentured system on the sugar plantations across the colony. It was a concise but well-documented history lesson on our indentured ancestors' experiences that many in the audience was not aware of.

The program was sprinkled with children of the mandir reading empowering statements about the rich characteristics of their indentured ancestors and the sterling contributions they made to Guyana to help in that country's socio-economic and political developemnt and their struggles for a free Guyana. The event was ended with a powerful and informative slideshow that depicted their hard but humble lives on the sugar estates. Pictures were shown of the ancestors' cutting canes, loading the sugar punts, living in their grass houses and fetching loads on the donkey-carts, among others. Mention was also made of the Kolkata Memorial and museum that is being built in India and spearheaded by GOPIO International in honor of the Indentured ancestors.

THE GREATNESS OF GANGA MATA - OUR ANCESTORS HAD UNFLINCHING FAITH IN HER

Hindus globally will be observing the auspicious day of Kaartik Snaan or Tirath (Ganga Purnima), as we call this day in Guyana, on Thursday, November 10. It's a day when we visit Ganga Mata early in the morning at the seaside and offer our prayers and obeisance to Her. It's a holy ritual that our brave ancestors performed year after year at the sea shores. It's safe to say that our ancestors had unflinching faith in the great Ganga Mata - a tradition that they passed on to us.

Growing up, Tirath was one the festivals that my cousins and I looked forward to. You see, we get to go to the sea shores with the elders and bath in the salty sea waters. We observed the elders as they made their offerings to Ganga Mata. And as naugthy children, when the elders were out of waters, we made our way in and searched for the prasad (fruits) they had offered.

But later on, we realized the importance of taking baths in Ganga Mai and offering our prayers to Her. Ganga Mata is extremely revered by Hindus in the Caribbean. Until this day, Hindus go to Her by the hundreds and unload all their worries at Her lotus feet. They have the strong believe that She realeases them from their troubles in life.

The story of Ganga Mata is a beautiful one. According to Hindu scriptures, Ganga Maa came from the Kamandhal of Lord Brahma and was poured on Vaaman's Bhagwan's toe. So, Ganga Mata originates from Lord Vishnu's toe. King Bhagirat, who was the 4th generation of King
Sagar, did immense tapasya to bring down Ganga Mata from the heavens to earth to release his ancestors from their curse and ultimately grant them moksha.

If Ganga Mata had come with Her great force, She would have flooded this world and gone to Patal lok, which would have been useless for Bhagirat. He was adviced to pray to Lord Shiva to accept Ganga Mata in His jata and kept Her flowing from there. From Lord Shiva's locks, Ganga Mata's source on earth is at Gaumukh (Gaumukh means cow's mouth because the shape of the ice formation is like a cow's mouth), where the mighty river emerges from the depths of the Gangotri glacier, which is 4, 255 meters above sea level and approximately 24 km in length and 7-8 km in width in the Himalayas.

Ganga Mata has several streams and names, including: Ganga, Mandakini, Prabhawathi, Bhagirati, Janhvi, Sita, Nalini, Pavini and Soochakshu. Her greatness is mentioned in several Hindu scriptures including, Valmiki's Ramayan. And until today, Hindus simply adored this great Mother.

Tomorrow is also Satyanarayan Vrat Katha. It is said that the month of Kartik is extremely auspicious for the worship of Lord Vishnu and His incarnations. This Satyanarayan Vrat is very special. It is believed that Lord Vishnu took the form of Matsya on Kartik Purnima. In the month of Kartik, Hindus are adviced to wake up early and take showers before the sun has risen. This helps one to achieve the four goals of life: dharma (religous merits), artha (wealth), kama (marital life), moksha (liberation).

The early morning, just before the sun rises, is called Brahma-Mahurat. This means that most of the people are in deep sleep and nobody will disturb you, so it is the best time to worship God. The atmosphere is sacred, peaceful and conducive to praying because there are little vibrations emanating from the collective minds of people involved in all matters of the world since they are asleep. So the mind is very focused on prayers then.

So, tomorrow, Hindus are advised to wake up early in the morning and since many of us cannot go to Ganga Mai, we can take baths with some Ganga jal and offer prayers to Her during the bath. However, we have to be properly clothed, that means, we must wear our under clothings. Then, offer prayers to Lord Ganesh.

We are advised to keep a strict fast, a pure mind, meditate and worship the divine Mother. May Ganga Mata shower Her blessings upon all.

Below are online photos...

The snout of the Gangotri glacier at Gaumukh


The Gaumukh glacier


Ganga Maa at Gaumukh glacier


The Gaumukh origin

SUCCESSFUL MAAZA MISS INDIA NEW YORK & MISS TEEN INDIA NEW YORK 2011

IFC just presented its 29th Maaza Miss India New York and the 4th Miss Teen India New York pageants at the Community Center Auditorium in Flushing, Queens, on Sunday October 30. The event attracted some very beautiful, talented and intelligent young ladies from the South Asian community in the New York region.

This year's Miss Teen New York seemed to enlist some very young contestants, the youngest being 13-years-old of the eight contestants who took the catwalk. The contestants for the Maaza Miss India New York are somewhat older.

The young ladies displayed very gorgeous Indian outfits, including the elegant saris, lehangas and cholis; show-stopping gowns and then, showcased their special talents to impress the judges. Many of the contestants chose to perform dances for the talent pieces - to the beats of traditional, folklore and Bollywood songs. There is also a Q & A session where the contestants are requested to choose an envelop that contained a question for them.

The evening was sprinkled with spell-bounding performances from very young dancers of the famous Arya Dance Academy who just wowed the crowd with their impressive group dances.

The culmination of the contests was the crowning of the "queens" of both the Maaza Miss India New York and Miss Teen India New York for 2011. The winners of both pageants were very deserving of the crowns: Miss Chandan for the Maaza Miss India New York and Miss Sumeet for the Miss Teen New York.

There are many ways these young ladies benefit from such an event as this pageant; as they mentioned during their introductory speeches. They entered the contest to help them build their self-confidence, meet other young people, make new friends, represent their rich Indian culture and have a good time.

Mr. Dharmatma Saran and his team always do a great job of organizing a wonderful pageant for the young ladies, which provide a great platform for them to be young ambassadors of their Indian heritage.

Good luck to the winners!

Below are some cell phone photos of the event.

Young dancers of Arya Dance Academy ...


The winners of both pageants with other contestants...


Young performers of the Arya Dance Academy

Contestants of the Maaza Miss India NY ...

This young trio delighted the audience with their Lord Krishna performance..

The young ladies resplendent in their Indian outfits...

Winners being crowned by last year's winners ...

GRAND DIWALI UTSAV CELEBRATION ORGANIZED BY THE CHINMAYA MISSION NEW YORK

The Chinmaya Mission New York celebrated Diwali Utsav 2011 in grand style at the fabulous Akbar Restaurant in Garden City, Long Island, on Sunday, October 16. The turnout to the event was beyond expectation, totaling well over 350 people who packed the spacious hall.

Diwali Utsav is not only an event that showcased the many talented youngsters from the mission’s different branches in New York but it is also a time when the Chinmaya Mission family come together and celebrate Diwali with one another in a festively joyous manner. Most importantly, parents are given a chance to see their children performed on stage some of the cultural activities they have learned in the Balavihar classes.

The cultural presentation consisted of mainly kirtans/bhajans, drama and skits all produced mainly by the Chinmaya Mission’s Long Island and Manhattan Balavihar groups, from age ranging from 3 to 13-years. The Manhattan Yuva Kendra group (Youth group) also participated in the program.

The event was opened with the welcoming words delivered by Dr. Jatin Kapadia, followed by the ceremonious lighting of the Diya by Acharya Krishnamoorthy and soon after, the children of the Long Island Balavihar group chanted appropriate sloks and read the meanings.

The Master of Ceremonies was Mr. Jagdish Rao, who called on AcharyaJi to give an overview of the progress of the Chinmaya Mission Worldwide. AcharyaJi, who is versed in using technology to aide his presentations via the projector, showed the audience some very powerful images of the great works of different branches of Chinmaya Mission globally.

Balavihar children lighting diyas, while smiling Pujya Gurudev looks on


Shri George Romney of the Manhattan branch captured the true essence of Diwali, also known as the “Festival of Lights,” through the words of a beautiful poem he penned and titled the “Significance of Diwali”.

The Balavihar teachers from Long Island and Manhattan must be complimented for doing such a great job in nurturing, inspiring, motivating and transforming these young minds into becoming young “Vedantins,” who dominated the program.

Balavihar children singing kirtans

One of the highlights of the evening was the performance of the Long Island Balavihar group who portrayed the enchanting Vishwaroop form of Lord Krishna, which He showed to the warrior prince Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The Manhattan Balavihar group also did some impressive skit and song, “Super Superman Hanuman” and “My God is so Great” respectively.

Long Island Balavihar children performing Vishwaroop skit


Manhattan Youth group

Manhattan Balavihar little ones performing the Aarti


The Vedanta Class taught of Dr. Jatin Kapadia in Richmond Hill, Queens, to Hindus from Guyana and Trinidad, participated in the program for the first time, by singing the first 10 stanzas from Bhaja Govindam.

Devotees of the Sanaatan Dharma Mandir of New York singing from Bhaja Govindam


A raffle was also played and gifts included books, a Nikon camera, a hamper, and a free one-year subscription to the Balavihar Children’s Magazine, among other gifts.

Diwali Utsav 2011 was a huge success; it was the culmination of hard work, dedication and perseverance, good entertainment, delicious food and good company.

May Goddess Lakshmi shower Her choicest blessing upon all. May She inspire us to share our fortunes with our less fortunate sisters and brothers.

Shubh Diwali to all!

HAPPY SHRI KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI TO ALL

Pranaam Everyone!
Hindus globally will be observing the festival of Shri Krishna Janmashtami on Sunday August 21st, 2011. This day of the birth of Shri Krishna is dedicated to the Smartaans - those devotees who worship the Divine Personality in all manifestations.

Shri Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated on the Ashtami tithi, which is the eight day of the dark half or Krishna Paksha of the month of Bhadrapada in the Hindu calendar. The festival falls in mid-August to mid-September in the Gregorian calendar.

Shri Krishna "praghat huway" or made His divine appearance mid-night on that day, in the cell of His parents' prison. His mother, Devaki and father, Vasudeva, were locked up in prison by Shri Krishna's evil uncle Kans in Mathura. When He appeared, all the locks and chain that tied down His parents and the prison doors were opened automatically. He instructed His father to take Him over the Yamuna River to Nand Baba and Yashoda Maiya's home in Gokula, where He performed many of His childhood pranks with the Gopis and the revered cows.


**Baal Krishna smiling enchantingly...

Shri Krishna is the 8th incarnations of Shri Hari Vishnu Bhagwan. He came to eliminate unrighteousness and re-establish Dharma or Truth and to protect the cows. As He states in the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 4, verse 7:
"Yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham"

Meaning:
"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion--at that time I descend Myself."

Chapter 4, verse 8:
"paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge"

Meaning:
"In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium."

Baal Shri Krishna's (Baby Krishna) leelas are soul-stirringly beautiful. Baby Krishna loves dahi (curd) so much so that He and His brother Balram would go steal dahi from the Gopis. That's why He is called Makhand-chor.

** Baal Krishna as Makhan-chor with Balram

Shri Krishna spoke the entire Bhagavad Gita to warrior Prince Arjuna during the Mahabharata at the battlefield of Kurushetra. The Bhagavad Gita, consisting of 18 chapters and 700 sloks, is the only Hindu scriptural text where the Divine Personality spoke directly each word inside it. Shri Krishna is idolalized and worshipped with great reverence, love and devotion in Bharat Desh (India) and all parts of the world which Hindus reside.

On Janmashtami day, devotees of the Lord keep a strict fast, meditate, worship and perform Puja, sing bhajans and the maha-mantra all day for the Lord.

Most mandirs in the New York region will be celebrating this festival, so devotees please make a special effort to attend a mandir on this day. There are tremendous benefits to be derived by observing this parb in the proper manner.
May Shri Krishna shower His blessings upon all!


** Shri Krishna instructing Arjuna