Once again, I am deeply touched and honored that despite my absence from New York, I was nominated and voted to continue as the General Secretary of Vedic Heritage Inc for the 11th consecutive year. This has been possible only with Guru Maa's kripa and Baba's blessings. Hopefully, Baba will bring me back to NY so that I can dedicate more time to the activities in our NY Ashram. I would like to thank my co-General Secretary, Ram Wadhwa and the Secretary, Motibhai Patel who have been filling my role during my absence.
Shraddhanjali:
I would like to dedicate my report to our dear colleague, Gyanpriya didi who passed away last month. She has been dedicated to our Ashram since its inception, and had steadfastly contributed to its growth. She was the treasurer of our Ashram for a long time, and had passed on her duties to me, a few years ago, before I passed these to Chamanbhai. On behalf of all of us, I would like to express my condolences to Prembhaiya, Monica and Anita, Kusumdidi, Chamanbhaiya, Mike and John. We are all with you during these difficult times, just as Gyanpriya didi was with us all these years!! May her soul rest in peace.
Dhanyavaad:
I am once again proud to report that we continue to make good progress against the objectives of the trust under the divine leadership of our Guru Maa. My humble gratitude to a great team of trustees, directors and co--ordinators of various activities at the NY Ashram. Our Ashram in Lonavala is also beginning to take shape, and my thanks to the Indian Board too. Both these Ashrams cannot run as smoothly without the contributions of the volunteers. My salute to them. In NY, we have Falguniben, Vishnubhai, Rameshbhai, Manjuben, Shilpaben, Sachdeva aunty, Tinu, Jyotiben, Sadhnaji, Janakdidi, Bakshi family, Raj Chopra, Renudidi, Patankarji, Anshumitra, Anu and Rachnaji, to name just a few. Your selfless contributions are invaluable in making us run the Ashrams and Mandirs. Our full-time staff consisting of Panditji (Amol) and Papaji continue to perform their services in an exemplary manner.
Aashirvaad:
I would like to thank other religious leaders who continue to shower us with their blessings. Ma Jaya Sati Bhagwati from Florida, H.H.M.M. Maa Yog Shakti Saraswati from Queens, Bhai Saheb Yogi Harbhajan Singh Khalsa from New Mexico, and Kishore Vyas from India blessed us by their gracious presence at many of our festivals, and their undying support of our organization. Pandit Jasraj continues to grace our temple with his performances, and more than that, is the driving force in getting the top artists perform at our Dipawali festival, and direct the Music/Dance competition in India. We are truly blessed. Pandit Jasrajji went through heart surgery a few months ago, and he has fully recovered and will perform again at our forthcoming Dipawali festival. At the 1999 festival, we had two exhilarating evenings led by Pandit Jasraj, Rajan and Sajan Mishra and Niladri Kumar. We also conducted the final competition from the winners of SadGurudev Viswanath Dev Sarma Music competition, which brought us Rajni Ramkrishna (Violin), Hetal Mehta (Tabla), Natesan Balsubramaniam (Mridangam) and Vidya Balsubramanium (Vocal). At the forthcoming 2000 Dipawali festival we will have the three Padma Vibhusans: Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pandit Kelucharan Mahapatra.
Prasad:
I would like to thank the sponsors of the Tuesday/Saturday Prasads and the 21 sponsors of the Akhand Ram Charitra Manas Path. We need to ensure that we are always booked well in advance. The Ram Charitra Manas Path was a big success this year & next year we are planning to extend it to 28 days.
Koti Koti Dhanyavaad:
Last but not the least, I would like to thank all the sponsors of our programs, the advertisors in our Journal and the contibutors to our tree-planting campaign.
GuruMaa's Sashti Puja and Utsav:
We started the new millennium with the celebration of the 60th birthday of Her Holiness Guru Maa Jyotishanand Saraswati. We had a special surprise program of bhajans conducted by Ms. Aruna Sharma, and a life-size painting of GuruMaa was unveiled, along with the silver charan-padukas. Her Holiness Maa Yog Shakti kindly joined us to bless Guru Maa and bestow upon Her the title of Parvatacharya. (though Guru Maa does not believe in these titles anymore)
Utsavs:
We continued to celebrate all our religious festivals in a big way. Shiv Ratri, Holi, Sri Hanuman Jayanti, Guru Purnima, Akhand Ram Charitra Manas Path, Garba, Karva Chauth, Mahalaxmi Puja and Dipawali celebrations were once gain celebrated with even more vigor, and attracted even bigger gatherings. We continued our tradition of Satya Narayan Katha on every Purnamasi evening. Many of these festivals are beginning to be celebrated in out Ashram in India too.
Pravachans & Sadhna:
Her Holiness GuruMaa continues to inspire thousands through Her Pravachans (in English on Tuesdays and in Hindi on Saturdays). She continues this tradition even in India. The most noteworthy contribution in India is the weekly class for children, where the little ones are taught mantras, and our sanskriti through bhajans, plays and songs. I was fortunate enough to be present during one of these classes & it was fascinating to see these little ones chanting the mantras (in a very suddha manner) and learning about our culture through play-acting. In the US Ashram, the Hindi and classical Indian dance lessons have been running regularly. GuruMaa even took Her message on the road, at our other Vedic Heritage Centers, in Austin, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Minnetonka, Minneapolis and Orlando. Her Holiness was also a featured speaker at the Conference of World Religions in Cape Town, South Africa, ans she also Johannesburg and Botswana.
The E-duniya:
Vedic Heritage is entering the E-world too. We have our own web-site:
www.vedicheritage.org. Her Holiness Guru Maa has Her own e-mail address: gurumaa@vedicheritage.org. In fact, I write for this Journal and communicate through e-mail all the time. Distance is no barrier in these modern times.
Aakhir Mein:
I would like to hear from you. What can we do better? What more can we do? What should we stop doing? Please send me an e-mail at Nayanmitra1@aol.com with your advice. Thanks again for your support! Together we can make Vedic Heritage; Inc. a beacon of hope and remover of darkness in this world! |
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