News
from Branches and Centres
News from India
1. Hindi Zonal Annual Conference - 23 & 24 Oct. 2010
Shri OP Dani proposing a Vote of thanks.
Seated on the Dais (L to R): Shri Jagdish
Chandra Vyas, Dr Deoki Nandan Dani,
Shri Vijay Poddar, Shreejee Arvind Singh Mewar, Shri TN Chaturvedi,
Justice Shri Ramesh Chand Lahoti, Prof Bijay Prakash Bhatnagar,
Shri Amod Kumar
The Annual Conference of the Hindi Zone for 2010 was held at
Udaipur on 23rd & 24th October 2010 on the theme 'Relevance
of Sri Aurobindo: In Today's Context'. Justice Shri Ramesh Chand
Lahoti , Former Chief Justice of India, inaugurated the Conference.
Shrijee Arvind Singh 'Mewar' was the Chief Guest. Prof Bijay
Prakash Bhatnagar, Former VC, JRN Deemed University, Rajasthan
delivered the Key Note Address. Shri Triloki Nath Chaturvedi,
Former Governor, Presided over the inaugural session.
5 Technical Sessions were also held on the following subjects
in the Conference, apart from a session on organisational matters:
1. Sri Aurobindo & Indian Culture
2. Sri Aurobindo on Spiritual Society
3. Sri Aurobindo: Work and Sadhana
4. Sri Aurobindo on Education and
5. Sri Aurobindo on Women Power
Cross-section of the audience
One CD containing 3 Landmark Messages of Sri Aurobindo and
a book in English 'Prenatal Education - Towards a Golden Future'
were released on the occasion. Udaipur Centre Also brought out
a Souvenir on this occasion. The conference was attended by
more than 200 delegates from eight States.
A Musical Evening was organised on 23rd October where apart
from the bhajans on Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, classical
music and folk songs were presented.
2.
Dombivli, Mumbai (Maharashtra) - 20th Annual Day Function
With the grace of Sri Aurobindo and the Divine Mother, our Dombivli
Centre celebrated its 20th Annual Day function on Sunday, 31st
October 2010.
The Programme started with the Prayer & Invocation of the
Mother, followed by devotional songs sung by the Centre's children.
Shri V.S. Balakrishnan, Secretary of the Sri Aurobindo Society,
Madurai Centre and a Member of the Society's Tamil Nadu State
Committee, who was the special guest for the function, delivered
a Speech on Sri Aurobindo's Integral Yoga on day-to-day Life.
The venue was decorated with flowers arranged in the "IKEBANA"
style by young girls of the Centre. About 75 members and devotees
attended the function, which ended with a reading from Savitri,
prayer and meditation, and distribution of Prasad.
3.
Aurangabad Center (Maharashtra)
a. On 30th October 2010, Shri Kaivalya Smart, Chairman, Maharasthra
Committee had an interactive session with our youth wing members
along with students from various colleges. The topic was "The
call to the youth of India". About 50 young people
benefited from this session.
b. On 31st October 2010, the public and members of the Center
participated in a discussion on "What is Spirituality?"
A 14-page special issue publication "Auro-Mira Samarpan
Patrika" was also released by Shri Smart on the occasion,
which was attended by about 70 persons. The occasion was held
to commemorate the Centenary of Sri Aurobindo's arrival at Pondicherry
and the Golden Jubilee of the Society. Shri Smart's visit has
inspired our members and helped to spread Sri Aurobindo's message
to the public at large.
4.
Indore (Madhya Pradesh) - Society's Golden Jubilee Celebrations
The Hindi Zonal Committee celebrated the Golden Jubilee of the
Society by organising an Orientation Camp on 11th and 12th September
2010 at Indore. There were almost 100 participants from all
over the Hindi speaking areas. The function, which was held
on the plot of land bought by the Indore Branch, started with
a short meditation, followed by an invocation to Sri Aurobindo
and the Mother. The subjects covered in the camp included Sri
Aurobindo Society and its Work, Concentration and Meditation,
Problems of the Youth and their Solutions, The Purpose of Life,
etc. Shri Pradeep Narang, Chairman, Sri Aurobindo Society spoke
on the organisation, work and progress of Sri Aurobindo Society,
stressing on the aspect of sadhana in everyday life. In the
evening a play "Savitri" was enacted in Hindi and
was attended by approximately 700 people. The Orientation Camp
was thus well organised by the Indore Branch.
5.
Dhar (Madhya Pradesh)
Youth Camp - 2nd and 3rd October 2010
Marching with the Mother's Flag
Hoisting the Mother's Flag
With The Mother's grace Sri Aurobindo Society Dhar Branch successfully
organised a two-day youth camp involving 23 participants. Three
of them were from Bhopal, Indore and Khandwa respectively while
the rest were from Dhar itself. The camp was an initiative by
SAS Pondicherry, in collaboration with the Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation (ONGC), New Delhi, to encourage a sense of national
integrity amongst youths. A regular event usually organised
in Pondicherry, this event in Dhar was conducted in an effort
to expand the reach of such a nifty idea. The ONGC sponsored
event eventually proved to be a productive programme with ample
active participation from the inquisitive youth and inspiring
guidance from the invited guests. The guests were Shri Kaivalya
Smart from Surat, Shri Manoj Sharma from Bhopal and Shri Swami
from Ujjain who moderated the event perfectly with their appreciable
knowledge and apt experience. The event was formally launched
with The Mother's flag march and Vande Mataram on 2nd Oct 2010
in the presence of all the participants, local members and guests.
After the introductory session the camp began with an interactive
session with Shri Kaivalya who acquainted participants with
the idea of India as Sri Aurobindo saw it. He also revisited
the physical definition of youthfulness to extend it to the
state of continuous learning and being active and joyful always.
This was followed by Shri Manoj's session, who entertained and
made participants think with his beautiful and apt stories.
The first day ended with a cultural programme which was greatly
enjoyed by all.
Shri Manoj Sharma, Shri Kaivalya Smart and Shri Sudhir Vyas
- the organisers of the Camp, with a participant
Day 2 started with Yogasanas under the guidance of Shri Swami
followed by meditation and recitation of Durga Stotra as a sign
of gratitude to The Mother and a request for power, knowledge
and enlightenment. Shri Swami addressed the participants after
the prayer and shared his valuable knowledge and experiences
with the young minds. The final session where all the participants
shared their experiences freely and a lot of interesting reviews
were heard was the most interesting part of the two-day camp.
Most of the participants found this experience to be such an
invaluable and great learning curve that they suggested and
requested the members to organise more of such events.
6.
Noida (Uttar Pradesh)
A Talk on 'Health Awareness' by Shri Gopal Kathayat followed
by a Question and Answer session was held on Saturday, 2nd October,
2010 from 5.30 to 7 p.m. at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan. During the
talk, Sri Aurobindo's and the Mother's words were quoted extensively
and participants evinced keen interest. About 20 participants
took part in the programme.
7.
Faizabad (Uttar Pradesh)
Dr. J.P. Singh and Dr. D.P. Singh visited Faizabad and held
a meeting with 30 professors and lecturers at Dr. Meenu Dwivedi's
house. Dr. Meenu Dwivedi is the Head of Department of English
at Manucha P.G. College, Faizabad. Dr. J.P. Singh, who spoke
on the occasion, gave details about Sri Aurobindo's yoga. It
is hoped that a Centre will be opened in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh.
8.
Baroda (Gujarat)
a. From 8.10.2010 to 16.10.2010, during the Navratri festivals
Shri Sharadbhai Joshi delivered lectures based on the booklet,
"The Mother", written by Sri Aurobindo. Nearly 50
persons attended.
b. Women's Council of Baroda celebrated Bhakti-Bhajan on the
Goddess-Mother on one of the days of the Navratri.
c. Shri Mohanbhai Mistry from Puducherry gave a devotional
bhajan programme on 16th October 2010 which was attended by
75 persons and were steeped in the deep devotional atmosphere.
d. A 2-day seminar on "Sri Aurobindo's vision and the
global perspective" was held at M.S. University of Baroda
on the 20th and 21st of October 2010. Invited speakers were
Dr. Anand Reddy and Shri Sampadanand Mishra from Puducherry,
Dr. Goutam Ghosal from Shantiniketan, Shri Vladimir from Auroville,
Shri Bhandev from Morbi, Gujarat and Shri Pavitranandji from
Gangnath.
The Seminar was arranged by the Sri Aurobindo Studies Centre
and funded by the University Grants Commission, Sri Aurobindo
Society, Baroda and the Sri Aurobindo Memorial Trust, Baroda.
It was inaugurated by former Vice-Chancellor of Saurashtra University
and eminent Gujarati poet and writer Padmashree Sitanshubhai
Mehta. Dr. R.K. Goyal, Vice-Chancellor, M.S. University of Baroda
presided over the function.
Fifteen papers were presented by various participants, who
had obviously done their home-work well for their presentations
were interesting and informative. Shri Kaivalya Smart and Shri
Parashar Dwivedi chaired the sessions. Shri Sharad Joshi presided
over the valedictory session and also spoke at the inaugural
function.
e. On 23rd October 2010, a Sanskrit Garaba Competition (Gujarat's
famous folk dance) involving schools from Baroda was arranged.
Garabas sung in the Sanskrit language was the central part of
the competition as part of the efforts to popularize Sanskrit.
300 artists from 16 schools participated in the 3-hour colourful
programme.
f. The newly constructed seminar hall at the Arts Faculty,
M.S. University was officially named "Sri Aurobindo Seminar
Hall" on 20.10.2010. There is already a room in the name
of Sri Aurobindo at the University for the last 100 years.
Some
Special Days in December 2010
