The Six Glorious Epoch of Indian History

India has been subject to various invasions over the past 2,500 years. Due to the propaganda of these foreign aggressors, we have come to believe that the Hindus have been weak and folded easily at the different invasions in our history. The 6 Glorious Epoch of Indian History, by Veer Savarkar, shows that this conception is totally FALSE and from a Hindu & Sikh point of view, we should never forget the great figures who fought heroically to save our motherland from the onslaught of foreign aggression. Savarkar writes passionately about the history of his nation & blends poetry, emotion of pain, suffering & joy quite beautifully. He expresses his views quite bluntly, some of which I do not entirely agree with but his patrioism & quest of correcting facts of our history deserves nothing but admiration.

Most of you will have heard of Alexander the 'Great'. He led a massive army to India and conquered many states. However, the Hindus resisted so rigorously that he never managed to fully conquer India & was forced to retreat back to Greece, a fallen & broken man. Historians refer to him as 'great' but he never managed to conquer Bharat due to the bravery of the Indians. After his death, his successor attacked India once again. However, he was destroyed easily as the great Emperor Chandragupta had united the whole of Bharat & fought the Greeks as one nation. This ideology of unity was crucial to their success & is something that we must achieve again today. The defeat of the Greeks was the 1st Glorious Epoch of Indian History.

However, a century later, the Greeks attacked again. This time they succeeded in conquering many parts of India - the reason being a lack of unity between Hindus & the spread of Ahimsa, non-violence. This concept of non-violence is beautiful but one must remember that there is always a time & place for such virtues. The great epics of the Ramayana & Mahabharat have taught us that we must be humble & seek peace but if war is necessary to overcome evil & bring righteousness in the world then we must not shy away from war; a message that India at the time had forgotten. It took the valiant Emperor of Pataliputra, Pushyamitra to lead a revolution & defeat the Greeks once and for all. This was the 2nd Glorious Epoch of Indian History.

Around 150 BC India was surrounded by groups of barbaric tribes - the Sakas & Huns. After 100 years of war, the Sakas had gained much territory in the north of India. During this time the Pataliputra empire had been lost. It took the valour of Samudragupta, often referred to as the 'Indian Napoleon' to overthrow the Sakas & reestablish a Hindu state. After his death, his younger brother, Prince Chandragupta destroyed the Sakas for good & united the whole of India. He was given the great title, Vikramaditya. The vanquishing of the Sakas was the 3rd Glorious Epoch.

The 4th Glorious Epoch of Indian History was Yashodharma - the conqueror of the Huns. The Huns were even fiercer than the barbaric Sakas. They had occupied land & slaughtered many from China to Rome. Their first attacks on India were paralysed by Prince Skundgupta & they retreated before they attacked again 40 years later. At this time, Skundgupta was an aging Emperor but he continued to fight even though his brother was plotting to dethrone him back home. He died valiantly in battle with the ethos, 'an Emperor must die standing'. The Huns caused havoc in northern India & continued to do so until an adventurous youth, Yashodharma organised neighbouring states to unite & fight the Huns under his leadership. They did so & overthrew the Huns in 528. It is important to note at this point that the south of India was unconquered for 1300 years - only the north were subject to constant attacks; mainly Punjab & Gujarat. However, after the defeat of the Huns, India remained independent for over 500 years!

The first major Muslim attack on India came 50 years before Mohammed Bin Kasim but was put down easily. However, Kasim's invasion in 711 was successful & he initiated large scale massacres in Sindh. Most historians ignore the fact that despite this defeat, the Indian nation defended its independence for over 300 years. From the year 1000 the epic Hindu-Muslim wars began. In the early years, the Muslims won most the contests & converted, killed & destoryed many temples along their way. However, there were many heroic figures in our history who fought to protect their motherland. The likes of King Jaipal & his son Anangpal; Sambhaji; Guru Teg Bahadur & many other of our Sikh Gurus fought till their last breath. It is crucial to note that it was during these years of war, killings & mass conversions that created the present day caste system. The issue of conversion caused divide amongst Hindus & they were obsessed with 'purity'. Therefore, they did not integrate with other communities in order to stay 'pure' & this was the basis of the caste system. Thus, we must ALL remember that the caste system has NOTHING to do with Hinduism & was a social phenomena which led to the demise of the Hindu samaj.

A counter offensive began with great religious reformers & intellects such as Maharishi Deval & Acharya Madhatith. They taught the Hindus new religious thoughts, new weapons & reminded them of the bravery that lies in each in and every one of us, the soul. Maharishi Deval lived between 800-900 & abolished the ban on reconverting Muslims who were originally Hindus. He also criticised the caste system & empowered the women of the time. He was largely followed & thousands reconverted back to Hinduism - he led a political & religious triumph which was crucial to reducing the power of the foreign aggressors. Acharya Medhatith continued to spread Deval's teachings & taught of the glorious days when Bharat was united. He proposed a treaty whereby if one Hindu state was attacked, another must come to its aid. So while the north of India was under constant attack, the south was still independent & Hindu philosophy had spread in countries like Burma, Thailand & Maldiva.

In 1320, an event took place which gave much confidence to the Hindus to overthrow the Muslim empire. A young Hindu child was taken slave under Emperor Alludin & as was given the name, Kushrukhan. As he grew up he became a great warrior & political leader & eventually ran the administration. However, he did not forget his Hindu roots & along with the Sultanate of Delhi, Devaldevi, also a Hindu, they plotted the downfall of the Muslim empire & on 15th April 1320, he was declared Emperor of India & declared it a Hindu state. Although he was defeated a few years later, his exploits were not futile as he raised Hindu morale. Taking inspiration from him, a Hindu state in Vijaynagar was established in 1336 & led to great figures in our histroy such as Emperor Harihar (Maharajadhiraj), Bukka, Hemoo, Queen Durgawati & Rana Pratap Singh.

The rise of the Sikhs also added to India's conquest of national independence. It was Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru that militarised the Sikhs into a powerful force. To do this he wanted fearless warriors & introduced the 5 kakkas - kesh, kangha, kaccha, kara & kripan. He began to reclaim many Muslim states until a large Moghul army led to his army's retreat where both his young children were caught & cruelly buried alive - they were offered the chance to convert to Islam to spare their lives but they refused. That was the pride & love that they had of their religion; a love that was so strong that they gave up their lives for it. After his defeat, Guru Gobind Singh settled in Maharashtra where he composed lots of poetry & was later compiled as part of the Dasham Granth. Despite not liberating India from foreign rule, Guru Gobind Singh was key to forming a powerful force that India could use to oust the Moghuls from Punjab.

The 5th Glorious Epoch of Indian History was the fall of the Moghul empire & it arose largely due to the great Marathas. 4 great Heroes were born in Maharashtra & they were aglow with the fire of war & arose a whole generation of brave warriors. Shivaji was born in 1627 & during his lifetime the tide of the epic Hindu-Muslim war changed; from the 17th century onwards whenever they met in battle, the Hindus were always victorious. The great Marathas liberated India from Punjab to Kanya Kumari. The principle of their strategy was aggression & guerilla warfare tactics. Every time they conquered territory, they moved on to a different state & liberated them too. The brave Marathas fought valiantly for the freedom of Bharat & should never be forgotten.

Along with the Muslim invasion, there were also many European attacks on India including those by the Dutch, French, Portugese & British. The latter two being the most severe & brutal. After toppling the Muslim power, the Marathas ruled & fought bravely from 1818-1850 to try & hold back the British. A decade had not yet passed after the British victory when King Ranjit Singh of Punjab led a joint Hindu-Muslim revolt against them in 1857. Both sides suffered great losses but the British prevailed & Queen Victoria was proclamed Empress of India. They promised to treat all Indians equally & so offered them jobs & educated many in British schools. However, these British schools taught a perverted version of Indian history & Hinduism to 3 generations of Indians. Hence, the many misconceptions that Indians have of their own history & faith even today! Due to the British appeasing the Indian public, the period between 1860-1900 was rather stable with many believing India would only prosper under British rule. However, 1900 saw the beginning of the Lokmanya Tilak movement & millions followed the Hindutwa organisation - a movement for the solidarity of Hindus to fight an armed revolution against the British. The British realised that they were losing the support of the public who were are ready to rebel at any moment. In addition, a 50,000 army led by Subhas Chandra Bose was ready to attack & the Indian Army, which was under British command were beginning to show signs of mutiny. The British had no choice but to give back India & on 15th August 1947, India was declared an independent state.

Despite the numerous problems in India today, we must all remember that after 2,500 years of attack by foreigners, Bharat still stands strong. Which other country has had this much resilience? Taking inspiration from the great heroes in our culture will help India strengthen & realise its potential as a global super power.

Setback

While looking at the Nutritional Content of SSV I thought why not attempt to try and solve the problem from a more grassroots level i.e. by trying to implement a healthy eating scheme within Shakha. However there is a big difference between having an idea, talking to others about it and actually going ahead with such a plan. From talking to others there seemed to be a positive reaction to such a scheme yet when it came down to the crunch everyone had things to do on that particular day.

It does become slightly dis-heartening when you put in effort to try and change things even slightly and yet the response isn’t there and although I did feel like this for a time I decided there is no point in ruing the chance but instead to create another chance and look at what can be improved upon to make sure this does not occur again. So I’m trying to strip it down to basics and think what would entice me to such a scheme...

Graduation

Graduation is a strange time, emerging from the student slumber and awakening into the ‘Real World’. Up until this point we have been coaxed and guided into certain paths yet by the time you throw your mortar up to the heavens, you are expected to know which path you would like to continue to follow.

For me personally it was only during the final year that I started to actively think about my future and my career for myself rather than simply following what had been set forth in front of me. Many of us are set on auto pilot and although we like to think we decide a great many things for ourselves these decisions are cropped and shaped by others. Thus there is an element of conditioning which occurs resulting in individuals wanting a high paying job in order to purchase a large car/house/clothes/gadgets etc.

I observed this through conversations post graduation with many questions being monetarily centred which seems to be all too telling of our society at the moment where revealing your aspirations to be larger than simply receiving a large pay check to be somewhat strange and not fitting in with people’s expectations.

This may have arisen through the desires of individuals increasing up until they reach a point where when such desires are met, no happiness is felt from them. This is paralleled in a story within “The Kite Runner” where Amir (the protagonist) writes about a man who finds a magical cup and when tears fall into the cup they become pearls. By the end of the story the man who started off poor but happy, tried to find ways to make himself cry and ends up with his wife lying next to him and a knife in hand crying uncontrollably.

Progress and Problems?

Whilst researching for different ways of taking the Sangh Sandesh Interactive I have compiled a short questionnaire to aid in my research which can be found here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=tJuAfY3FSD4xt2sJjfiRZg_3d_3d

The questionnaire and its answers shall enable me to hone the wants and needs of swaysevaks and sevikas in relation to the Sangh Sandesh. The main problem shall be the time limit in which responses can be taken as if responses are taken too late I shall not have enough time to research the feasibility and act upon such points.

With regards to the Nutritional content of SSV the main problem I have faced so far is assessing the calorific content of such foods since there are many websites and walkthroughs on how to calculate the calorie intake of most ingredients yet when it comes down to Indian dishes this task is much more difficult. Especially since with Indian dishes there are generally no set ingredients with most participants that I have asked on how they create the same food giving varied answers. This is another obstacle which has to be overcome in some manner.

Time

On Tuesday 16th July I experienced a couple of hours of panic-driven madness. I was working on the logistics of one of my projects, which by the way is a samiti promotional video, and I was quite content with the plan I’d laid out for myself for that evening. It soon transpired that this plan of mine was not to be, for one of the key links in the chain had fallen through. In my anxiety I could not think clearly, but in the end I blundered into making a new, rather flawed plan. Having literally missed the train, I spent ages lamenting the failure of the evening and the fact that the targets I had set for myself would not be met. And running round my brain were those odious words, “should’ve", "would’ve", "could’ve”. What a waste of time! Thinking about it now, in my present state of relative level-mindedness, it is starting to dawn on me just how often time is ill-used. From the beginning of this Sangh Internship Programme we had been supplied with bounteous tasks to get done, which on paper seems ridiculous and frankly impossible to achieve in so short a time period. Having said so, by taking into consideration my behaviour of the Tuesday just gone, I can see that though I was putting a lot of effort into the work, I was actually getting very little done. Instead of acknowledging that nothing more could be done for that one task and moving on to the next, I wasted time faffing about- I just couldn’t let go! Writing this now, I am reminded of what Eknath Ranade writes in Sadhana of Service:
“Life is a gymnasium where you have to display the best that you possess within the short time allotted to you.”
Whether its a hundred years, fifty years, one year, or even a month, the time we have when we have the capacity to work is precious, and not a moment should go by when you simply think that “there’s always tomorrow…”

Sadhana of Service

With most film or book adverts these days they all seem to say, 'must watch!' or 'must see!' Sadhana of Service by Eknath Ranade is most definitely one of those MUST read books!!

Sadhana can be translated as devotion. A simple example to illustrare devotion is the unconditional love that a mother gives to her child. When serving others, sadhana is the stage that we should all aspire to be at - we serve unconditionally.

The book covers many topics such as the urge to serve, bravery & cowardice, India as a nation, faith, organisation & individual freedom. The issues that intrigued me the most in the book, however, were the chapters on living a purposeful life and the mission of life.

Throughout the book, Eknath states that we must live a purposeful life. To do this, we all must ask ourselves, 'what is the goal of my life?' and 'what is the meaning of my life?' Until this question is recognised, we are 'like a boy who believes that it is the tap that gives water.'

As a student, these are the types of questions that we often avoid. The daily questions that we are posed with are often those like, 'we sessioning on bacardi or vodka tonight??' We are absorbed in our own little world, thinking of only going out and having fun - I admit, I've fallen into this trap to a certain degree but after reading this book, asking myself 'what is the purpose of my life?' is something that I've tried to address.

In Hinduism, the purpose of life is to become self realised - realise the divinity that is within every individual. Our scriptures clearly tell us that it is up to us as to which avenue we should follow to reach our goal. Finding my avenue is something that I've been pondering deeply. One way to live a purposeful life is to serve God by serving humanity to the best of our ability. But this begs the question, 'how can we serve others whilst living in an affluent country such as the UK?' Does it require us to move to India & do work there?

This is a question that I am still grappling with. What I've concluded so far is that if we live our lives abiding by our morals, use our conscience and faculties to discriminate between what we feel is right and wrong and always think how we can contribute to the betterment of the world then we can live a purposeful life. This can be something as small as smiling at someone who walks by; being a friend who people can fully trust & never speak ill of anyone.

The book has posed many questions and those which I will continue to probe. The last chapter finished quite beautifully with:

'You can safely rely at all times on your own self for the fulfilment of your mission. There is a power within you which will never let you down. It is your own Self. Depend on it and march ahead with unceasing prayer to God to give you strength to fulfil his will.'

RULES, RULES, RULES

As part of my project for Strengthening the Sewa Shop, I have been given the task to find out about recently implemented legislation on matters ranging from health and safety to returns policies.

The amount of law on such matters is absolutely staggering. In one sense it is beneficial. The legislation ensures that all organisations follow and abide by a given standard. This is particularly crucial for matters such as fire procedures as most people have the view, 'it won't happen to me.' Therefore, by introducing laws, it forces people to take action and try to avoid this stereotype.

However, a lot of it is highly unnecessary for example having a 'No Smoking' sign which must be 77mm in diameter. Much of the legislation is there due to the 'suing' culture we live in today. It is a sad state of affairs that the such far fetched measures must be taken just to avoid being sued. This thought led me back to the TED videos we watched at Abhyas Varg B:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

It begs the question are all of these rules and regulations stemming creativity and reducing the need for us to think? We merely follow a set of rules given to us; mainly out of fear of being sued. But why has this suing culture arisen? Do we not care about our fellow man? Do we take great pleasure in taking from them? What are the motives for taking others to court - greed, revenge, want free money? A common feature to all of these motives are that they arise from material or egotistic desires.

From interviewing and meeting many different Hindu Organisations over the past few weeks, the answer to this may lie in some of our most ancient scriptures - Lord Krishna told us that focusing our minds on God helps reduce the ego; raja yoga enables us to search within and find answers to our lives and become more spiritual. Perhaps a more spiritual society is needed to cure the suing culture that we live in today.

Change...

While trying to contact all the Vibhaag Karyawaha's spread nationally. I realised that even if I do reach my goal of a few names for each resource from each Vibhaag, the helpfulness of the data would be minimal. This is because the few names that do turn up, are probably the ones that everyone in the specific vibhaag turns to when in need of that particular resource. Therefore, inline with the project brief of 'Hidden' resources. I've decided to change my focus from national, to my local Vibhaag level, This will allow me to plunge deeper into the depths of the unknown and find resources that are rarely used or known about. So far, this has gone quite well, as I've found approximately 30 people who are not regular swayamsevaks, but know about Sangh and have skills that will definitely aid Sangh. In continuing my quest, I'll be visiting many swayamsevaks who have not attended Shakha in year, in order to find more and more resources. A great by-product of this project for any Vibhaag is the rekindling of Sangh contact with some who may have shied away from Shakha.

A further difficulty I've encountered, is that when asking for two contact numbers, simply to be thorough, the majority of people I've called are only willing to provide one number. Though this is not ideal, it is something I have no control over and have to happy about.

I'm Starving

As part of my second project, I’ve been assigned with helping improve the Sewa shop in Birmingham. Before today I had never seen the shop and after hearing many stories about it, I thought I would be in for a tedious day, but I was wrong. Today involved me helping making the store look more presentable, talking to the volunteers and listening to their stories and spending time learning about the way in which the shop’s administrative side is managed. It was very informative and will aid me greatly for my project.

However, I was not prepared for what was in store for me in the evening. Dipvandana took me to feed the homeless in the city centre. She’s been trying to get involved in more community projects and I feel this is something that all of us should do in our local area.

After getting slightly lost amidst the one way systems in the city centre and because of road blocks, we parked up on a side street and walked towards the car park where the food was to be served. When the food arrived, a swarm of people surrounded the car and I immediately thought, ‘what have I let myself into?’ but the people were courteous, kind, generous and in good spirits despite their bad luck. What struck me the most was that they were all willing to help each other out, ‘that’s the only way we survive’ Tim said. Another homeless gentleman said, ‘this is the nicest curry I’ve ever had.’ This struck me hard. The meal served was only daal, bhaat; the simplest Indian meal you can get and one which we all take for granted. It made me realise how unappreciative we all are and take the simplest things in life for granted which for others is a God send. It’s absolutely throwing it down with rain tonight, I hope Tim and the others find a safe place to stay.

Step Your Game Up

The afternoon session of Abhyas Varg B was designed to give us the tools to enable us to push ourselves further and aspire for excellence. We watched a video from the TED website – an organisation that does talks and seminars spreading innovative and creative ideas.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html

To push for excellence, he motions the idea of ‘virtue’. To illustrate his point he gave the example of a hospital janitor. His job description does not involve one aspect which requires human interaction. However, when interviewed, many janitors gave stories of how they ignored orders and parts of their job description in order to help patients such as helping them with their rehabilitation. So, despite not requiring any social interaction as part of their described role, many janitors feel it is necessary to do so and this helps the hospital run smoother and create a pleasant environment.

So values such as kindness and empathy are an essential part of their job. A wise person requires the moral will and moral skill in order to do the right thing and knows when and how to make an exception to every rule. A wise person is adaptable and changes according to the situation.

A wise man is made, not born. Wisdom comes from experience and this requires trying new things and accepting and overcoming failure. To be brilliant, you need not be wise but without wisdom, brilliance is not enough.

Applying the above to society today, we see a world full of compliance and bureaucracy. Rules are rigid and we often hear the phrase, ‘I hate to do it but I have to follow rules.’ Has it occurred to us that rules often prevent thinking and initiative? Rules and incentives are useful in the short run but in the long run they deprive thinking and discourage people from using their moral will and doing the right thing.

But this structured and regulated society we live in is rife. Today’s education system hampers creativity and promotes mediocrity. Children are losing their ability to think and their creative prowess is diminishing. I, like many other university students can relate to this. To pass our exams, all we do is memorise a few lecture handouts and read the core textbook (obviously, not just the night before the exam!) and once it is finished, we forget everything that we learnt. As a result of the current education system, we often lack initiative and struggle to adapt to working life which is fast paced and ever changing.

To address this issue, the speaker spoke of how the education system needs revamping in order to promote creativity and forward thinking. In addition, work needs to be re-moralised – people should be inspired to do the right thing and this requires moral will and initiative. Furthermore, social interaction is needed to gain a greater sense of community spirit.

In many of our lives, we will be faced with the following dilemma – do we follow the rules given or do we use our moral will and do the right thing?? What would you do??

Adding Value...

Each day of every SIP Abhyas Varg begins with mind cleansing Safai and Mantras. Safai is performed in the mindset that we should always leave a place in a better manner than when we arrived thereby ensuring your marks is left. When someone enters the place after you have left, they should feel your were there. During Safai we try to identify areas where we can add value, in this case we are looking to add value to the Karyalaya, OUR Karyalaya. The building should give swayamsevaks who visit it a sense of pride and belonging. Just in the same way that a multinational corporation's state of the art head office does. Beginning a day looking to add value in everything we do, is a great benchmark to set, always striving to see where we can fill gaps and be better in all aspects of life. The experience of Safai in SIP has spurred me on to do tiny little things in my life. Such as picking up an empty can if I see one on the street, rather than kicking it down the road assuming someone else will sort it out. Or at home, when normally I have to be told to pick washing off the line, or dry dishes, now I am actively looking to see opportunities where I can help out, or add value, and then I simply do them. An extremely inspiring video detailing an example of adding value whenever you can, not simply because it aids you, is this. The little boy who tries moving the tree by himself has no vested interest in clearing the road. He could quite easily walk around it, yet he sees a problem and decides to do something about it. Can we be like the boy? Or will we sit on the sidelines assuming someone else fill fix things?

Conviction...

A question that we ask many a time within our own circles is: how do we instil conviction of the organisational mission within our Swayamsevaks? One method I have been experimenting with, is providing inspiration in the form of stories about great people. Simple graphic novels with morals behind them, such as Amar Chitra Katha, small books such as the Bharat Bharti series (Available from Hindu Sahitya Kendra) and full blown biographies are all sources of inspirational stories on great people such as Guruji, Jijabai, Shivaji Maharaj, Swami Vivekanada. These great people lived in a way befitting an example of our mission, and exposing swayamsevaks to their experiences and deeds is bound to inspire a deep conviction. Baudhiks at Shakha are a good platform for telling of such stories, role playing stories and doing anything else creative that provides the underlying message of the lives these great people lived. As members of Sangh, we too have a responsibility to be a living example of our mission. We cannot afford to have separate lives, for example, one at Shakha where we do not swear or mess around and are generally beacons of society, and one outside Shakha, where we act in a completely different manner altogether. We must act in a way that 50 years from now shikshaks will look back on our lives to draw inspiration for their students. If we do not, shikshaks will forever be referring to the likes of Shivaji Maharaj. Though his story is immensely inspirational to us, young swayamsevaks are slowly losing the ability to relate to someone from such a different time. We need people leading by example today, not just at Shakha, but 24/7.

An Inspiration, A Leader

In the morning session, we discussed greatly about the topic, leadership. We discussed the different types of leaders ranging from inspirational to spiritual. What was unique about the discussion was that we talked about how shakha creates leaders; how it identifies leadership and how it taps into this potential. Having attended shakha for many years, I had never discussed this topic and had always assumed that leadership was a quality that shakha just nourishes, without a second thought.

After being split into groups, we set about answering the questions posed. Having never examined the structure of shakha and how it develops our character, I found it difficult trying to pin point the aspects that I felt develop our leadership skills. However, with greater thought, ideas began to flow readily.

After reminiscing about my younger days as a swaymsevak (I’m still only 20 so still class myself as youngster), I realised that the whole shakha environment is aimed at nurturing our leadership skills. At first, this may sound ludicrous – for most people, the purpose of shakha is to play games, have fun and make new friends. Although this is true, there is something deeper to shakha and with further introspect these answers can be found.

Firstly, as swaymsevaks, we subconsciously learn the art of leadership by being led by others. Not only do we pick up the way in which they lead and organise activities, it also shows us the importance of respecting our elders, an ethos which our religion promotes greatly. Secondly, the environment of shakha encourages us to become leaders. Playing games such as kabadi exhibits skills such as teamwork and communication – skills which are crucial to becoming a leader. Therefore, even with no given responsibility, the seeds to becoming a leader are already being planted.

Camps and vargs such as SSV & SIP are designed to further enhance these leadership skills. Learning about the history of Sangh; gaining greater knowledge of Hinduism and being taught how to take shakha instils a sense of pride, discipline and commitment; again characteristics required of a leader. With these new profound skills, it should lead to introspection and conviction – one should realise the higher cause of shakha, uniting Hindus and emphasising the importance of serving our community to the best of our ability.

Another fundamental feature of a leader is that they must be inspiring. Shakha infuses this by having passionate baaudhiks on great figures in our history such as Shivaji. Admiring such great characters and implementing their qualities into one's life builds character. One meaning of inspiration can be, ‘to breathe life into another.’ It is a feeling or an emotion which is critical because it informs us what we value and this moves us to act. This act should be selfless and out of devotion (sadhana). A unique feature of leadership is that it is self inspired – it comes from within.

I often feel this is a quality that many Hindus lack. Looking back in Indian history, we have always had to rely on one leader, one inspiration such as Swami Vivekananda to lift us out of darkness. Why is it that we always require an individual to inspire us? Why can't we be bold and have the inspiration from within us to act? It is this area in which I feel shakha can help develop leaders by giving us the tools to search for inspiration from within. However, it is an arduous task and one that we all must ask in order to find our true inspiration.

Abhyas Varg C: Day 2

After a tiring and immensely hot first day the four of us awoke to what would be the hottest day of the year. As the previous day we began with Safai where Sonal and I tidied the kitchen and with Janak and Avnish clearing out the cellar, followed by prathna and meditation. One particular instance which stuck a chord with me was the reading, which at first was difficult to digest but then Ramji gave an example which made it abundantly clearer. He stated that once mobile phones are charged they work very well but sooner or later the charge fizzles out and thus requires another charge. This was paralleled with ourselves and our drive to complete a project or sangh work. I remembered when I finished my first year of SSV and I was revitalised and raring to go, yet after a while the drive seemed to be overridden with other thoughts, hence this example exemplified the importance of re-energising oneself.

After breakfast and the introduction to a crazy invention which I renamed limarmalade (lime and marmalade) we started on our first activity of the day. The four of us walked along to a nearby park where we met Phil a member of the environmental branch of the council where we were given litter picks and bin bags. Our first impressions were that the park was relatively clean and we wouldn’t find much litter around yet after a few minutes we soon realised how mistaken we were. As soon as we started actively looking for litter we saw just how much rubbish there actually was and by the end of the session all of our bin bags had been full to the brim with waste. As a result of the session I felt gratified although with a tinge of disappointment I had not carried such a simple exercise before. The session apart from giving me sweaty hands also made me think about our society and our projects, that we weren’t to look just for the sofa in the middle of the street but to look deeper below the surface while also challenging the problem at its source such as a kids litter program.

When we came back to the Karyalay we discussed Community, with it being the unification of people through a commonality, yet there are many in our community who are in our blind spots i.e. those who we often ignore or forget such as the postman. We should attempt to engage as many people as possible in our community especially filling those blind spots.

We then went on to make the SIP rules, briefly they are as follows:

1. Be impeccable with your word
2. Don’t take criticism personally
3. Don’t make assumptions
4. Always do your best
5. Active listening
6. Stay in contact to share ideas and progress
7. No inhibitions: say what’s on your mind but remember the situation you’re in

‘There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.’ From this quote the question was asked 'What is todays Salt?' which when put in context means what is the issue which faces the community today which shall bring the community together since generally people come together when there is something to fight for. Gandhi-ji’s salt march is an example of this where there was a tax imposed by the British on the production of salt which breached their human rights and thus brought together communities. This particular question seemed to be on my mind for the majority of the day with few answers appearing however this is an aspect which we Sipites shall no doubt consider in depth in our own towns.

We also discussed the concept of Active Listening which is essentially putting yourself in the shoes of the speaker to see the point they are trying to make from their perspective without any of your own personal bias.

After lunch from Hot ‘N’ Spicy which seemed to only have cob on the menu turned out to be rather tasty and fufilling before our next session which was about communication. Here we were put through what approach and what language to use when taking to different audiences about SIP, for example when taking to perspective employers to not use the terminology such as HSS but cut to the facts with the skills you have obtained and success of the project. Also the manner in which you speak is very important since an air of positivity about an experience reveals a lot more than simply speech.

We were then joined, unbeknown to us, by Sachin Nanda, Sudhir and Amritji Chandegra and we were put to the test and questioned about SIP and Sangh beliefs. If you had told us we would have faced such an onsaulght about beliefes we hold close to our heart then we wouldn't have believed how difficult this part of the session would be. Yet it turned out to be one of the most difficult points of SIP thus far but also revealing areas we must improve upon. We fell into a trap of using terminology they were not used to and also maybe reacting to hastily rather than pausing for a moment to think about what we really wanted to say and how it should have been presented to them. It seems sometimes things are felt better than they are articulated.

After this shock to the system we slightly more prepared for the second challenge when Vinod came in to talk to us about a scheme held in Leicester aimed towards youngsters with a political mindset. We then went about explaining Sangh and SIP better than previously yet still falling into some traps. From this session we learned to always be prepared and more importantly to simplyfy our arguments and beliefs and package them in a way which is easier to understand by others.

After all of this we would have been forgiven to think we would have had a nice simple dinner prepared by Dharmesh and Dipvandener but instead we were given the task of making dinner with a budget of £10 for 7 people and including a small aubergine. Such a task didn't seem that difficult to myself since I have been used to this through the experience of University. We ended up creating a feast which included brushetta as a starter with pasta bake as the main and a dessert of rasmala (which was left from saturday by NHSF's own Miten)

After such a hectic day we ended with Dharmesh not eating the food we had lovingly made for him, a recap of the day and looking forward to some well deserved rest.

Money Can't Buy Happiness

Today I had the privilege of speaking to Bhupendrabhai, head of Brahma Kumaris in Wellingborough. The founder of the movement, Dadaji was a diamond merchant and possessed great wealth and had all the worldly desires that he cared for. However, he was still not happy. He found that the power of meditation was the answer to achieving a peaceful and loving world. It was evident to him that money cannot buy happiness.

Therefore, the aim of Brahma Kumaris is to take a journey within ourselves to seek for answers such as, 'what is my purpose in my life?' - only once we change ourselves can the world change. Thus, there is great emphasis on self improvement. The interesting feature of this message is that it is strikingly similar to the aims of other organisations such as Swadhiya. This supports the pluralistic nature of Hinduism, that there is only one God but many different paths to it; a message that the Vivekananda Centre strongly promote. This again shows the diverse approach to our Hindu tradition but the goal for all the different organisations is the same and this is what unites us all.

After a session in the gym, I attended the Wellingborough District Hindu Association's Youth Committee's forum along with two fellow swaymsevaks. There, Kunalji gave a talk on the Guru Poornima utsav and we discussed a variety of activities planned for the youth in our area. e.g. Bal Gokulam. It was a productive meeting and the pizza afterwards made it even more worthwhile.

Finally, to end what had been a very informative day, I attended a talk organised by the Brahma Kumaris. As with all their talks, it was extremely thought provoking and reaffirmed much of what I had learnt about them earlier. What stood out most from the talk was the technique where we meditated with our eyes open! I find trying to focus with my eyes closed difficult as it is; but that is the power of Raja Yoga.

The Relevance Of Swami Vivekananda's Teachings

Despite living over a hundred years ago, Swami Vivekanand’s message is still as vibrant and relevant as it was back than.

He found that spirituality could solve the problems confronting humanity. He preached that the best and sincerest way of worshiping God was to love fellow beings, especially the poor and the weak and alleviate their suffering and distress. For a combination of reasons, I will not indulge in them; poverty and suffering is still rife throughout the world. We live in a society where we are encouraged to care only for ourselves, buy the nicest and latest products and ignore the shortcomings and problems in our world. How many of us switch the channel when reports of widespread suffering are on? How many of us desensitise ourselves so that we do not feel guilty at not helping another man’s suffering?

In order to live a purposeful life, we must decide our goals and then find a way of achieving them – Swami Vivekananda showed us the most beautiful way to achieve this goal, serving humanity with the sincerest of love and devotion. He always used to spread the message: to live for others, to conquer egoism.

Swamiji harmonized east and west, religion and science, past and present. That is why he is so great. Terrorism is a major issue today and it arises due to a misunderstanding of other people’s views and beliefs. Vivekananda promoted ideas from our scriptures and emphatically stated that, ‘people born in different religions finally reach the same God, as rivers born in different places finally reach the sea. No religion is superior and none is inferior.’ If we applied this philosophy today, it would surely lead to greater harmony between different religions of the world.

Swamiji put great emphasis on character building. He taught us to ignore the negatives of our culture and go back to the Upanishads, Bhagvad Gita and find in them the truth of our culture. I, like many others are second generation born outside Bharat. Many of us face an identity crisis. Are we British or Indian? This is a question that we must all ponder and the answer to this may lie in our scriptures – these will give us our Hindu identity and with this, it does not matter which country we are from; Hindu Dharma is universal and applicable to all.

After the inauguration of Barack Obama, the world thought that we have finally found a true leader who can bring change and lead us into a new era of peace and co-existence. However, what tools does he have to achieve this? Yes, he may have charisma but I firmly believe that it is the message of Vivekananda that can truly achieve peace in our time. He has taught us to live for others. To serve mankind, is to serve God.

Vivekananda's Mission

The sacred task of wiping the tears of his unfortunate brothers was dear to Vivekananda's heart. Travelling around India he met many and had debates and exchanged ideas with many scholars on his travels. He triumphed over every philosophical disputes. One such debate occurred when a Prince argued that worshipping idols is pointless. Vivekananda replied, 'an idol is only a symbol and not something to sneer at. Every devotee has his own way of realising God.' The prince was not satisfied with this answer & so Vivekananda told him to spit on an image of the King. He refused because it reminded him of the King; despite being devoid of flesh and blood. He realised his mistake & apologised.

As Swamiji traveled and won over the hearts of more & more people, he aspired to go to America & spread the message of Vedanta. Vivekananda decided to attend the Conference of World Religions in America after meditating on a rock in Kanyakumari. He reflected on the state of affairs in India which made him miserable - unless casteism was rooted out, there could be no salvation for his countrymen. He concluded that he must go to the west and teach them the spiritual values of India. He would then return to awaken his own slumbering land.

Swamiji arrived in Chicago in the middle of July but the Conference was some three months away. With no money and no place to stay, Swamiji moved to Boston where he was offered to stay as a guest at a lady's house. She introduced him to many scholars including Professor at Harvard University. He wrote Swamiji's letter of introduction to the Conference saying, 'a scholar who surpasses all of us professors.'

The Conference started on 11th September 1893. Thousands of delegates belonging to different religions and countries gathered. Vivekananda was the last speaker and before he spoke, his heart was pounded and his throat went dry. He began his speech by saying, 'brothers and sisters of America.' There was a thunderous applause which lasted three whole minutes. He propagated the idea of Advaita and stating that 'all religions reach the same God.' The delegates praised his speech and over night, Vivekananda had become world famous. He continued doing talks and debates in America, overcoming great adversity along his way.

Vivekananda spread the philosophy of Hinduism to the west and rectified many misconceptions of the Indian race. After four years, he returned to India and was given a hero's welcome. He continued to spread his message throughout India despite his failing health. His body grew weak but the mind and soul remained alert and active. On 4th July 1902 he attained his eternal bliss and left this world.

From Narendra to Vivekananda

Sri Ramakrishna was a priest in the temple of Goddess Kali. He was not a scholar but was a great devotee. His devotion was so great that it was said that he had realised God. Narendra and some friends went to see him in Dakshineswar one day. Memories of an earlier meeting seemed circulated around Sri Ramakrishna's mind.

He gently patted Narendra on the back and said, 'my child, why are you so late? I have grown weary, waiting for you all these days.' Narendra was puzzled by his behaviour and thought that he was mentally deranged but thought it is not proper to judge without investigating first.

At first, Narendra was highly critical of people who worshipped idols and out rightly rejected the concept of 'Advaita' (oneness). Whenever he would criticise the idea, Sri Ramakrishna would always bring him back to the right path by saying, 'there are many roads to reach a destination. No one has the right to say that the path the other man takes is not the right one.' Over time, Narendra's views changed and his hunger for realising God never ceased. He gradually turned towards renunciation, giving up all worldly desires.

In 1884, Narendra heard news of his father's death. Poverty hit the family immediately after with money lenders harassing the family. Narendra wandered far and wide looking for a job. His clothes were torn and getting a meal for the day was arduous. Many a day he would fast so that his mother, brother and sisters could eat. Despite the gloom, he never lost faith in God and Sri Ramakrishna would remind him that, 'you are here to serve mankind and do mother Kali's work. You must be brave'.

One day Narendra asked his Guru to pray on his behalf to the mother Goddess to rid him and his family of poverty. Sri Ramakrishna told him to approach her yourself. Before the deity of Goddess Kali, Narendra lost himself in meditation and was so focused on her that he forgot to ask her to rid him of poverty. Again and again whilst meditating upon her he forgot to speak about poverty but instead repeatedly asked for 'the spirit of renunciation.' Sri Ramakrishna was joyous and saw a change in his disciple and said, 'my child, you should not crave for only food and clothes. They are not the ultimate goals of man. Have faith in God and he will look after the welfare of your family.'

Later, Narendra took up teaching and taught in a school and as a result his family had at least enough food. Meanwhile, his Guru's health began to deteriorate, he had developed a tumour in his throat. Narendra gave up his job and devoted his time caring for his Guru.

Once, while meditating Narendra shouted, 'where is my body?' Others had to touch his body to convince him of its existence. On hearing this, Sri Ramakrishna was happy that at last his desire to find a worthy disciple had been fulfilled.

On his last day of living, Sri Ramakrishna called Narendra to his bedside and invested him with all his spiritual powers. He said, 'Naren, you are all powerful. All these are my children. It is your duty to look after them.' Without their Guru, the young monks continued to carry out his work. They opened a monastery and had two goals: salvation and service of fellow men. They were unmindful of a lack of food and clothing and never neglected their studies and meditation. As a sannyasi, one cannot be tied to a particular place - attachment to a particular place is wrong. It was to the great fortune of India that Narendra took to sannyasa and became 'Vivekananda'.

The Early Years of Swami Vivekananda (Narendra Datta)

Narendra Datta was born on 12^th January 1863. As a child he was very lively and naughty but one thing quality stood out even in his early years was his natural leadership qualities. Meditation, too, was a sport to him. He meditated so deeply that he was oblivious to the whole world and it helped sharpen his concentration.

Even as a child, Narendra had great respect for sannyasis. The spirit of sacrifice and renunciation was also highlighted in his youth – he would give away anything to anybody if asked for. In her spare time, his mum would tell him stories of the Ramayana which led him to have great reverence for Hanuman.

Narendra’s father was a lawyer. Therefore, everyday his house was crowded with clients all belonging to different castes. It was custom to provide the guests with hukkas (long pipes) to smoke after food. There was a different pipe for clients of each caste. Narendra always wondered what would happen if he smoked the pipe meant for people of a different class. Finally he experimented and nothing untoward happened. He concluded that caste had no meaning.

His parents had a great affect on him. His father used to always tell him, ‘you need fear no one so long as you keep to the path of truth and Dharma.’ Love of one’s religion should not mean hatred of other religions. His mother was dear to Narendra as his own life. In his eyes, there was no one as ready to make sacrifices as the mother. She must have the highest place not only in the home but also in society.

By 1880, Narendra had passed his examinations and joined college. Day by day, his thirst for knowledge increased. He would read history, science as well as western philosophy. Doubts and uncertainties overtook him. He gave up blind beliefs but could not realise the truth and had no direct experience of God. This led him in his search for a Guru….

SIP: Day 1

Four individuals were we; a mix of friends, strangers, some familiar names and familiar faces. Whatever our relationships at the beginning of abhyaas varg C, by the end of the first day a mutual understanding of who we were and what we may be doing started to become apparent.
Day 1, Karyalay, Leicester.
The first activity was done in the mind of:
"Leave the place in a better state than that in which you found it." And so began Safai, as would be the norm for the next few days. This was followed by prathna and meditation. Excellent!
After a breakfast of everything you'd expect to find in a well balanced meal (toast, tea, pizza, cereal) we assembled for the first session: choice. We all sat waiting, eager to know what thought provoking issues would emerge from the first session, as Dipvandana and Dharmesh stood facing us.
“Welcome to SIP" said they, more or less, and then they left the room. No instructions, no explanation, nothing. Initially we sat, rooted to our chairs anticipating their imminent return... but alas! They did not come! And so we were left to our own devices. In the room was a table laden with bits and bobs; books, articles, DVDs, and some board games, including monopoly... and so we decided to play, just until they came back, mind you! We played, not strictly in accordance with the rules, for one hour, with still no sign to suggest that we had not been abandoned. It was then that it dawned on us that a game of monopoly would not be much to show for an hour and that something must be done. Janak checked on his laptop, revealing to us all that the first session was entitled CHOICE. With this in mind, we did choose to get something constructive done. Having been assigned two projects each, we worked and talked about ideas and potential avenues leading from our projects. All in all we had about 2.5-3hours. During a lunch that followed, we were asked "why do we think session 1 was designed the way it was?" It was only then that we began to see how those three hours reflected how we use our free time in our day to day life. When no one from school/university/work is telling us what to do, how do we organise our time and make the maximum use of it? How do we get the drive to get off the sofa and work without external instruction? Leaving us on our own without any push in any direction was a clear message from the SIP organisers that during the course of this programme, we will not be instructed or mothered. Rather that the drive to act and to do has to come from yourself. Organising the time you have and deciding how to spend it is vital; this way you can still meet with friends and do other things that you want to do.
After lunch and a bit of time for general replenishment, we began session 2: conditional sewa. Dipvandana and Dharmesh decided to stay fro the entire course of this session which we were very glad of. This session looked at a number of issues/topics/questions:
“How far are we willing to go to find a solution?"
Too often we are very quick to react to a problem, whether it be the weather, what we see on the news, traffic etc. What has to happen for us to get out of this cycle of simply criticising? Creating potential solutions as ways of combating the problems is a much more useful way of spending time.
“Be thankful to every poor person in the world; they enable us to serve."
This statement is something I have never considered. With it comes humility, a quality that allows us to see and appreciate this relationship of give and take; how you are receiving and growing in the service you are giving. Their state of poverty gives you an avenue for personal and spiritual growth.
“If you have come here to help me then you may leave BUT if your liberation is bound with mine then we may work together.”
"Service is the rent we pay for our space on this Earth"
We as British citizens are amongst the richest 2% of people in the world. But what is it that we have done to deserve it? What have we done to enjoy this Earth? We don’t make much of a sacrifice to enjoy the fruits of this life, and we cannot see anything unjust in this relationship of taking so much from Mother Earth. It is the service we do that must balance all that we have received.

The evening’s dinner plans were to be at different venues. We were all to go to different shakha households and spend the evening, from 18:30-22:00. Amidst the normal bustle of evening activities we were to find out as much as possible about our respective hosts. Later on that night, we re-adjourned for feedback. Listening to the different family stories of their past gives a fragment of understanding other peoples lives.
It was decided later on that night that all four of us were to follow a topic each in current affairs during the course of the month, ensuring that we withhold personal judgment. In this way a solid understanding can be gained.

The day ended with some meditation that strangely seemed to drift into sleep- it had been a long day!

Aims and Objectives...

One of my projects is to plan out what activities to include in a Hindu Summer Scheme over 2 weeks, and to ensure the whole scheme is viable from a logistical and cost point of view.
After long discussions with my project mentor, parents of prospective camp attendees and the kids themselves, I have settled on the following aims and objectives for anyone who attends the Hindu Summer Scheme:

• To instil lifelong Hindu values and establish a hunger for knowledge.
• To build individual character, confidence and skills through a wide range of sports, workshops and cultural activities.
• To teach effective teamwork and individual responsibility in daily tasks.
• To approach and experience each and every day as a new and exciting adventure.
• To encourage attendees to form social relationships and make new friends.

Book Review: Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I picked up this book in Borders. It wasn't the book I'd chosen for this week, but I thought I could have a quick flick through it. I ended up reading the entire book there. Sat in the coffee shop with a mug of peppermint tea, completely engrossed, occasionally nibbling on my home made egg mayo sandwich, with occasional furtive glances towards anyone watching...
This is a magical book. A book where omens are real, where signs can be interpreted in the movement of hawks swirling in the sky, and a kiss can be carried from across the dessert on the wings of the wind. This is exactly how Paulo Coelho makes you feel; you want to use poetic floaty language- it's brilliant!
The story is of a young boy on a journey to realising and fulfilling his destiny. Along the way he learns the universal language, faces tremendous obstacles, falls in love and is sought out by an alchemist who helps him realise what was within him all along. Coelho writes of deep spiritual concepts in simplistic yet beautiful language which makes this novel so very accesible.
"And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to acheive it."

Book Review: Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I picked up this book in Borders. It wasn't the book I'd chosen for this week, but I thought I could have a flick through. I ended up reading the entire book there. Sat in the coffee shop with a mug of peppermint tea, completely engrossed, occasionally nibbling on my home made egg mayo sandwich, with occasional furtive glances towards anyone watching...

This is a magical book. A book where omens are real, where signs can be interpreted in the movement of hawks swirling in the sky, and a kiss can be carried from across the dessert on the wings of the wind! This is exactly how Paulo Coelho makes you feel; you want to use poetic, floaty language- it's brilliant!

The story is of a young boy on a journey to realising and fulfilling his destiny. Along the way he learns the universal language, faces tremendous obstacles, falls in love and is sought out by an alchemist who helps him realise what was within him all along.

Coelho writes of deep spiritual concepts in simplistic yet beautiful language which makes this novel so very accesible.

"And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to acheive it."

Self improvement

My quest for finding out more about the different Hindu Organisations in the UK took me to Kettering to find out about the Swadhiya perspective. To accompany me, I brought along a fellow swaymsevak from Wellingborough in order to enhance his knowledge and just as importantly, keep him out of trouble in his summer holidays!

What struck me the most about the Swadhiya movement was their goal of living a life practicing the teachings of Krishna Bhagwan. A key part of their ethos is the notion of self improvement - we cannot change the world so instead must focus on changing ourselves. This is remarkably similar to Gandhiji's quote, 'be the change you want to see in the world.' Another way in which they practice Lord Krishna's teachings is by keeping God in the centre of all that they do. This is particularly crucial in reducing one's ego because everything we possess and do is done in the name of God.

I also celebrated Guru Poornima utsav at the Swaminarayan Mandir in Wellingborough. Like always, I thoroughly enjoyed the bhajans and prasad!! I met a number of people there who will aid me in finding out more about their organisation. Let's see what surprises tomorrow brings!

Unexpected start to SIP

After a night of unprecedented heat and lots of tossing and turning further enhanced by the fact I was using a hoody as a pillow since I had forgotten to bring one, the day had finally come, the beginning of SIP. Awaking at 6.30am was something which I had not been used to as of post exam celebrations and as the rest of the SIP participants will tell you I am not a morning person yet I was ready to get stuck into the first activity after breakfast.

There we all were, sitting eagerly awaiting the start of a new venture, a new exciting chance to aid Sangh in an innovative way, when Dipvandana and Dharmesh walked out of the room! The four of us thought they would be coming with something they might have forgotten to bring and thus in that time we sat and chatted, got to know each other before resting our eyes on the table in front of us. This table had many different objects on it but the one which took our collective eyes was the big red and white board game which takes everyone back to their childhood: monopoly.

We became caught up in the game for about an hour which helped break the ice between us four, even forgetting Dharmesh and Dipvandana were gone. As the start of the second hour began we decided to make a start on our projects and discussed ideas with each other and writing out initial plans until the session was complete.

This first session was named Choice, it was our own choice to play monopoly and mess about at the start but we then decided on our own terms to start working upon our projects. This would be replicated when we went back to our own towns since we would not be micro managed but our progress would be down to us. This was not the way we envisaged the start of SIP but we all felt we had gained something from it especially the new ideas and perspectives of our peers and we looked forward to the rest of the sessions hoping they were to be as imaginative as the first.

My SIP Project

Namaste,
One of the projects I have taken on for SIP is to take the Sangh Sandesh interactive, i.e to use the technology available to make it leap of the screen or paper and thus easier to engage than just a standalone piece of literature.

I have talked to many people so far including friends and family and even those who you may not even think to ask such as the shop assistant at your local corner shop and even your driving instructor. These individuals are still a part of our community and thus still have valuable experience and knowledge that may help in such projects. As expected there were the myriad of usual answers such as using facebook and twitter to expand readership yet from the unusual sources such as through the simplicity of children I have found various other methods including the use of sms text, humour and even quizzes.

Furthermore I have uploaded the Sangh Sandesh through a simpler pdf web viewer to encapsulate the magazine feel with a simple turning of a page. Have a look for yourself here with the latest issue.

http://issuu.com/sanghsandesh/docs/ss_apr_jun09_web

Vivekananda Centre - The Beauty of Pluralism

Namaste,

One of the projects that I’m doing for SIP is finding out about the different Hindu Organisations in the UK and trying to find ways in which we can work closer together in the community.

Today, I spoke to Krishnabhai to get the perspective of the Vivekananda centre. It was an insightful conversation. He spoke passionately about the concept of pluralism that our religion promotes – i.e. there is only God but many different paths to reaching the ultimate reality; with each path being legitimate avenues to spiritual progress. I think this is a wonderful message that our religion promotes and one which all of us need reminding of in our lives. If all thought like this then surely there would be greater harmony in the world.

Tomorrow I’ll be going to be going to the Swaminarayan Mandir to celebrate the festival of Guru Pooja and to find out more of the work that they do. I must admit my knowledge of the Swaminarayan organisation is fairly limited so I am looking forward to learning more about their practices.

Litter Picking...

On the morning of 30th June we four SIPites picked litter from the local park. The act of litter picking itself is obviously sewa, but this is not the only thing to gain from the experience. One thing I know I learned is that when we walk down the road, we are socially conditioned to not see litter in the form of crisp packets, cans, gum unless its a sofa in the middle of the road we ignore and walk on. Yet when you have a litter pick and bin bag in your hand and are actively searching for litter, you see the vast amount that was previously invisible. This goes back to removing our own preconceptions to truly see. The exercise also taught me to think about sustainability in whatever we do. Its all well and good for the four of us to do one day's of picking, but what about next week when all the litter has amassed again? The solutions we find to our problems must be sustainable to be truly effective.

'The ones who walk away from Omelas'

On 31th June we travelled out to a park, sat under the shade of a tree and discussed 'The ones who walk away from Omelas' - Ursula K. Le Guin. I cannot recommend this reading enough. It takes a while to process, but what I learned from it was that we can easily speak of how would do the right thing in certain situations, but once we realise the situation is actually what we are living in right now, we find it difficult, if not impossible, to change. Especially when that change causes us hardship.
After the reading, we were asked to place ourselves in the city of Omelas and discuss what we would do. The jist of the story is that the citizens of Omelas are blissfully happy with no hardship whatsoever. But there is one child who lives locked in a cupboard on its own excrement and is miserable. The happy citizens of Omelas have never experienced hardship or sacrifice, they have not earned their eternal happiness. If the child were ever to be freed, the remaining citizens would no longer be blissfully happy. The child is sacrificing his happiness so everyone else can live in permanent blissfulness.
I believe that there cannot be happiness without sacrifice. Would one want someone else to sacrifice for one's own happiness? Usually the answer is no, and people are disgusted to hear about this child. Yet when we draw parallels with our world, we realise that we are happy, yet most of us do not experience sacrifice. The poor beggar on the street is the child, the undernourished in the third-world are also the child. We see their hardship, but how many of us walk past beggars in London's city streets and pretend them not to be there?
It is easy to say that we would do the right thing if we were in the story. Yet we are in a similar story and many of us are doing nothing.

What we actually did for 4 days, cut off from the rest of the world, in Leicester

SIP 2009 officially started on Monday 29th June with all four attendees, Sonal Mistry from Warrington, Avnish Thakrar from Wellingborough, Neil Krishna-Kundu from Redbridge, and myself from North London, converging in Sangh's Leicester head-office for a four day Abhyas Varg (Training Camp).

Naturally I can't give away everything we did, or it will spoil it for those who will complete SIP in years to come. But I can provide a small insight into a few activities:

* Litter picking in a local park, this included the expected crisp packets and cans etc. and also some fly tipped vinyl flooring and side-boards!
* Cooking dinner for 7 with only £10 and a small aubergine, and it didn't help that the kitchen felt like a furnace!
* Reading 'The ones who walk away from Omelas' - Ursula K. Le Guin
* Many more discussions and workshops on topics including, but not limited to, choice, community, communication, consumerism and commitment. (Yes they are all topics beginning with 'C' by design!)
* And a screening of 'The Legend of Bagger Vance'.Abhyas Varg
* There were also sessions directed at helping us with our individual projects, one in particular I found helpful tried to make us think about the method and presentation of the projects in as many different ways as possible. A real 'out of the box' session.

SIP starts

SIP started on January 14th 2009 with applications opened to Swayemsevaks and Sevikas from around the UK.

On June 28th 2009 the selected participants joined the team at Leicester Karyalaya for the first Abhyas Varg titled AB-C. Details of themes covered at this varg are available here

Over the next month, follow their progress on their projects, readings and personal reflections.