BHOWANIE DEPOT IN KOLKOTTA INDIA WHERE OUR INDENTURED ANCESTORS WAITED BEFORE SAILING ...

Recently, Mr. Ashook Ramsaran, Vice President of GOPIO International, returned from India after attending the GOPIO annual banquet and the Pravasi Bharatiya Devas 2010 in New Delhi.

He and a group of concerned people from within the global Indian Diaspora are formulating plans and a blue-print towards building the Kolkotta Memorial Site to honor our brave Indentured Ancestors.

Over 170 years ago, our ancestors were lured by the British sugar planters to work for them in different parts of the globe, including British Guiana, Suriname, Trinidad, and Jamaica, among other colonies. They were promised a brighter future and better living conditions. History has documented their trying experiences in the British colonies to some extent. Throughout it all, their pioneering spirit, their values, their resilience and indomitable courage stood tall among their list of harsh living and working conditions. They kept going and fought one day at a time. Great lesson, indeed.

It is great news that a group of caring individuals from the global Indian Diaspora saw the need to erect a memorial site in Kolkotta. Our ancestors deserve such an honor. All of us should support this Kolkotta Memorail project in our own little ways. From time to time, we should take time to reflect on our roots, on our ancestors and the place where it all began - where all our destinies have changed for the better or worse.

Many thanks to Mr. Ramsaran and the others for undertaking such a massive project. You have my full support on this project. We most definitely will include the Kolkotta Memorial Site as part of the filming for "Footpaths of Our Indentured Ancestors" when we're in India.

Below are some photos Mr. Ramsaran took out at the Bhowanie Depot where our ancestors waited before boarding the ships.


The river where our ancestors bathed and washed their clothes while waiting at the depot for exams and a full ship load ...



View from a bridge towards the Bhowanie Depot in Kolkotta ...

The remnants at the Bhowanie Depot in Kolkotta ....

Overgrown cemetery where the dead were buried while in waiting to board the ships ...

SPIRITUALITY IS THE FORMULA FOR WORLD PEACE...

Hey there, everyone ...howdy! Hope all had a pleasant weekend.

After Sunday's morning satsangh, Jenny and I decided to visit the Ganesha Temple in Flushing, Queens. We wanted to go 'burst' our coconuts and perform Puja. I think the Ganesha Temple is the only mandir in the Queens area where a devotee could walk in anytime of the day and perform Puja. Whoever thought of such a great idea, showed a great deal of vision. That person needs to be praised.

The services that the Ganesha Temple provides to the community is extraordinary. I hope that people recognized that and help in whatever way to upkeep the good works that the temple is involved in. Such excellent works need to be continued.

Understand that the single act of performing Puja helps one become more spiritual. Fundamentally, we're spiritual beings, hence, like we nourish and pamper the physical body, we must nurture our spiritual beings as well. It's quintessential to existence.

Soon after, it dawned on me that spirituality is the formula for world peace. Maybe, this idea has been thrown around before, but I never really ponder on it. Yet, peace is a very illusive goal that mankind has been trying to achieve from time immemorial. And, the common thought is that, one has to be at peace with oneself before one can be at peace with others, and the larger world. That makes plenty of sense. Have you ever been miserable? Do do remember how you treated those around you when in a miserable 'spell'? Peace!

It could be that we need to change our perspective on how we look at peace. Instead of setting peace as a goalpost, let's change it to a principle which we all have to cultivate from within and practice on a daily basis, like truth or honesty, for instance. These are qualities that we practice with others. Like truth is a way of like, peace is also a way of life.

I believe that the formula that will help us be more peaceful human beings is spirituality. Check the annals of history - great international personalities, like the Mahatma, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama, Mr. Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, readily comes to mind. And, there are the saints and sages. There are many others who I have no knowledge of, but still counts.

How do we become more spiritual? Simple really. First, bear in mind that the cultivation of spirituality is a process that will need our time, energy and effort to develop and grow. Be prepared, it could be a slow process as well, depending on the individual and determination.

We can become more spiritual by becoming conscious of the fact that we're not only the physical body, but something greater and that is, we're souls. That's correct. This simple act of cognizance of the soul, helps us want to practice godly qualities. This in turn, helps us become more conscious of the inner voice within us, which ultimately helps us become more conscious of the presence of a Higher Intelligence.

Performing Puja, prayers and worship to God in whatever way we choose, help us become more godly. The end result? We become more spiritual. By practicing peace, we allow our spirituality to evolve into higher beings. Eventually, peace becomes a way of life. This theory should be debated more widely and openly. I still hold that spirituality is the glimmer of hope for world peace. Let's do our part to allow peace to flourish.

So back at the Ganesha Temple, the temple is beautiful inside with many presiding deities. We performed Durga Devi Puja with the help of a Pujari. Then, we went around the mandir inside, paying homage to all the deities.

One thing that happened is that at each deity, we recited the appropriate mantras and sang bhajans. God's name and mantra should be sang loud and clear and without fear. So, one nice lady stopped by and complimented us on our singing. She wanted to know how long we were singing, and whether we were classical singers. She wanted to know which singing school and mandir we are attending. We supplied as much info as we can. We were so loud that even one of the Pujari complimented us on our singing. Most of the bhajans we sang were Shri Anup Jalota's. He's an Indian icon. I find that very sweet and somewhat proud (in a nice way) that we were complimented by Indians from India - the land of the likes of Shri Hari Om Sharan and a host of other greats. Kudos to our ancestors for passing on the rich Indian culture to us.

Then, we went to the canteen and after much deliberation, ordered the lunch special without knowing what really we were in for. And, boy oh boy! We just ate .. the rice and dahi were about the only thing we knew on the tray. I think the order of the day was the dosa, not my cup of tea.

The Ganesha Temple is expanding and I think people need to support the temple in it's many community projects, as it work to make people more spiritual. We need such a mandir in Richmond Hill, Queens, where we can perform Puja any time of the day, any day of week, and not just open their doors on Sundays and on major parbs. Peace!

Below are some photos of the Ganesha Temple.

The architecture is quite beautiful ...


The entrance of the temple ....

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE & ALL!

(Courtesy: 123greetings.com)

The year 2010 is just hours away. Soon, it'll be 1/1/10. Looks great, doesn't it? Makes you think, though, how time flies by. And the question begs to be asked, "What have you achieved in 2009?"

Often time, we live our lives with our eyes set on the larger goals, that we forget about the little things that truely matters to us and those around us. Many of us live our lives in a "don-ke-dam" fashion, if I may use creole here; we don't care if "today fall fah tomorrow." Once everything is alright with us, we don't care what happens outside of our home, our fence. But, is that really how life should be lived? Should we only be concerned for ourselves and our family's well-being?

I beg to differ. I strongly believe that life is meant to serve others, in essence, to selflessly serve God's creation in whatever way we possibly can. You see, service to humanity is service to God. This is an extraordinarily great philosophy that has been truely tested and tried over time by many ordinary people who eventually became great human beings.

As the New Year is fast approaching, let's take a moment to engage in some self-introspect analysis - look into the very core of our souls. Do we like what we see there? Are we proud of ourselves as human beings?

Still, with New Year comes new resolutions. One good goal to go after would be to count to ten each time we're on the verge of getting angry. That little action can safe us a lot of troubles later on.

So, here's a wish for a Peaceful, Healthy, Prosperous and Happy New Year - 2010 to all! And, whatever you may concieve God to be, please allow Him to be part of your life.

LET'S BE THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD ...

After a meeting in Richmond Hill Saturday gone (12/19/2009), I returned home and parked the car (I named it Shakti) on the street like I do everyday. It looked like a normal day except that a blizzard was on its way.

Anyways, I began doing chores and after 6 PM, the phone rang. It was a call from my landlady. She said to hurry, someone had hit my car. I bundled myself up as fast as possible and ran down the stairs; it either didn't register or I was being detached about it.

I raced to the car outside and wow! It was really hit. The kids told me that their mother had already called the cops and their father had raced after the white van that smashed into the car and the neighbor's gate.

I went to see my car at a closer range. The bumper and another parts fell off on the ground and there was dent and marks. Shakti did take a serious hit.

One of the kids witnessed the hit-and-run accident but didn't realize that my car was damaged too.

Apparently, the van was parked opposite Shakti and reversed (driverless, yeah you got that right), rammed into the car and the neighbor's gate. The driver then got into the car and sped off. My landlord then gave chase.

Another person, Greg, saw what had happened too. He came over and expressed his shock at what he had saw. He managed only 3 letters from the plate - YMZ. I'm thankful to him. The landlord wasn't able to catch up with the hit-and-run driver. The police came in after an hour and several calls and I gave the report of what I had heard ocurred.

The morals from this story: We need to be responsible for our actions, good or bad and face the consequences of our actions.

Take that hit-and-run driver, for instance. His actions didn't speak much of him as a decent human being. How far can someone of his character go in life? He think he got away from the neighbor and myself. But, for that action, an equal reaction has been created and the consequences thereof will follow him for the rest of his life. None of us can escape the laws of karma.

You know, one can buy and sell cars everyday, but one cannot buy or sell good human characters anywhere in this world, it has to be earned.

So, here's a call for us to "be the change we want to see in this world." Let's think of how our words and actions will affect the other person before we perform them. Let's strive to be nice, decent human beings. Let's observe the basic laws of the land and face the consequences of our actions with a smile or tear and move on.

Some photos of Shakti and the first touch down of the snow for 2009...

Shakti's bumper on the ground ...

The neighbor's gate took a serious blow ...

GITA JAYANTHI NEEDS TO BE CELEBRATED ON A GRANDER SCALE

Hindus throughout the globe celebrated Gita Jayanthi on Saturday 28th November, 2009. Gita Jayanthi is the celebration of the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita is the sacred words of wisdom spoken by Shri Krishna to Arjuna, one of the five Pandavas, at the famous Battlefield of Kurukshetra.

The Bhagavad Gita consists of 18 chapters and 700 verses. The teachings of this great Vedantic text are universal in its context, hence, anyone from any country can apply the rich teachings to any given situations and find solutions to their problems. It was originally written in Sanskrit - the oldest language of the world.

The Bhagavad Gita's greatness is unparallel; it's glory is immeasureable; it's wisdom unfathomable; it is the book of life that Hindus need to worship and live by. One of the great phenomenon of the Bhagavad Gita is that each time you read a slok, each time you interpret it differently.

One person whose life was a clear reflection of the dynamic teachings of the Bhagavad Gita was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was the greatest student of the Bhagavad Gita that I know of and that made him one of Shri Krishna's greatest devotees. His greatness is eternally etched in the pages of human history and 61 years after his death, we're still talking about him and discussing his rich legacy. Can you imagine if all of us take one or two teachings from the Bhagavad Gita and practice them, what our lives would be like?

Despite the great importance of the Bhagavad Gita -the Celestial Song of Shri Krishna - Hindus tend to not pay much importance to Gita Jayanthi. I hope come 2010, Hindus would celebrate Gita Jayanthi with the great importance it deserves.

Below are some photos of Gita Jayanthi celebration at the Sanatan Dharma Mandir of New York - where the children and adults had to make presentations on the Bhagavad Gita.

Shri Krishna, the Supreme Consciousness, was Arjuna's, the brave warrior, charioteer...(online)


Rudresh and Hema chanting sloks from the Bhagavad Gita...


Little Krishna delivering his message from the Bhagavad Gita ....


A section of the gathering...