News
from Abroad
Nairobi
(Kenya)
Savitri Seminar: Sunday 18th May 2008 the members offered
a programme "Homage to Sri Aurobindo's Savitri"
with thirty-two people participating. The offering started
at 11:00 am with meditation at the Shrine, accompanied by
Savitri music with The Mother reciting passages from Canto
one of Savitri. This was followed by a video show on paintings
by Huta with the Mother reciting the respective passages,
accompanied by Her organ music. Following a short break there
was collective chanting in the meditation hall. This was followed
by an introduction on Savitri and reading of passages from
Savitri and articles thereon. The offering concluded with
the Mother's prayer "Guide my foot steps…".
Lunch was served thereafter.
Get well Clinic: Thirty sets of booklets were sent to Dr.
Panvar's clinic in South C. Greenwoods Academy. Hundred copies
of 'Ideal Child', hundred copies of 'Ideal Parent' and fifty
copies of 'Ideal Teacher' were presented to the school.
SAIMC
- National Level Symposium on 22, 23 May 2008
Shri Vijay N Poddar of Pondicherry visited New Delhi, to be
part of a national level Symposium "Beyond the Present
08" on art and expression as prelude to a deeper introspection
on the purpose of media, organised by Sri Aurobindo Institute
of Mass Communication, New Delhi, at Hotel Hyatt Regency on
22 and 23 May 2008. Shri Vijaybhai delivered the opening address
explaining to the audience the significance of the Symposium
and the subjects concerned. The Symposium concentrated on Advertising,
Journalism, Photography and Cinema.
The
keynote address on Journalism was delivered by Prof.
Manoj Das. The other panelists were
Sir Mark Tully, Mr. Rahul Dev and Prof. Ujjwal Kumar Chowdhury.
The
keynote address on Advertising was by Mr. Ram Sehgal.
The other panelists were Mr. A.F. Mathew, Mr. Sumanto Chattopadhyay
and Mr. Sudhir Sahni.
The
keynote address on Photography was by Mr. Raghu Rai.
The other panelists were Mr. Jatin Das, Mr. Sadanand Menon and
Ms. Devika Daulet Singh.
The
keynote address on Cinema was by Mr. Pradeep Sarkar.
The other panelists were Ms. Aruna Vasudev, Mr. K. Hariharan,
Ms. Nandita Das and Ms. Shohini Ghosh.
The Symposium was attended by students and faculty of Sri Aurobindo
Institute of Mass Communication and about 100 interested visitors.
On each subject there were fruitful and purposive interaction
between the audience and the panelists. Searching questions
were asked by the students who benefited greatly from the Symposium.
The Symposium was ended with a talk by Shri Vijaybhai explaining
and describing the impact of the Symposium and its benefits
to all those who participated. Vote of Thanks was delivered
by Shri Ranjit Puri, Chairman of the Delhi Branch of Sri Aurobindo
Society.
Sultanpur
(U.P.)
Installation of the Relics. Shri Pradeep Narang
and Dr. J.P. Singh in the picture
The sacred Relics of Sri Aurobindo were enshrined at the Sultanpur
Branch of the Society on 6 April 2008 by Shri Pradeep Narnag
and Dr. J.P. Singh. The Chief Guest was Shri T.N. Chaturvedi
who spoke on the life of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The other
speakers were Shri Pradeep Narang, Shri Vijay Poddar, Dr. S.C.
Tyagi and Prof. A.B. Kapadia. About 450 people attended the
enshrinement ceremony and offered their pranams at the Shrine.
A View of the audience who attended the function
On 5 April when the sacred Relics arrived at Sultanpur a big
gathering welcomed the Relics and the road linking the main
road and the shrine was named "Sri Aurobindo Marg"
by the Chairperson of Nagar Palika of Sultanpur.
Lucknow
(Uttar Pradesh)
Sacred Relics of Sri Aurobindo meant for Sultanpur branch were
brought to the Lucknow Centre on 05 April 2008. About 80 - 85
people offered their pranamas to the sacred Relics at the Centre.
Ms. Uma and Ms. Sonal rendered bhajans and the people collectively
meditated.
Shri K. Pawan of Patiala Branch counselled the students of
IX, X and XI classes at Ascend Academy on 7 April 2008. Mr.
Pawan told the students as to how one can come out of tensions
of the present day, in the light of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
A meeting was organised at Lucknow Centre on 27 April 2008.
The topics handled were:
1)
The aim of opening a Centre as envisioned by the Mother
2)
Horizontal and Vertical growth in Spiritual Life
Dr. Meeta Bisen conducted the proceedings. Shri S.P. Sharma
and Shri P.M. Saxena were the speakers. In the end the message
card of 24 April 2008 was distributed to the people who were
present in the meeting.
Noida
(U.P.) - June 2008 Programmes
Discourses
Talk on "Spiritual experiences of Narmada
Parikarma" by Shri Arun Naik
A view of the participants
1 June 2008: After Collective Meditation from 9:00 am
to 9:30 am on Sunday, the 1st of June 2008, Shri Arun Naik,
a devotee of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother gave a talk and shared
his spiritual experiences of Narmada Parikrama (approx. 2700
kms., mostly on foot) undertaken by him recently. It symbolises
the fact that life becomes more useful and meaningful if there
is a meaningful surrender to the Divine Guidance towards Work,
when each act is an offering to the Divine and each action becomes
a prayer to the God. About 30 devotees and their families took
part in the above.
8, 9 and 10 June 2008: Swami Omkar Chaitanya from Swami
Dayanand Ashram, Rishikesh, visited Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, Noida,
from 8 to 10 June 2008 and gave Talks on "Pareksha Dhyan",
which was followed by Question - Answer session. During his
talks on all the three days, Swami Omkar quoted extensively
from the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and the devotees
evinced keen interest. About 25 devotees and their families
took part in the above.
Daily Reading of Savitri at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan: 'Savitri'
is being read daily at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan from 5:00 to 5:30
pm.
Education at Sri Aurobindo Shiksha Niketan
Parenting Awareness Program: On Sunday, the 15th of June
2008 Shri Rajesh Gupta and Mrs. Juliana from Family Services,
Delhi, had an interactive session with the Parents of the children
of Sri Aurobindo Shiksha Niketan for about two hour. The Parenting
Awareness Programme included the role of parents: the role of
wives and the role of husbands and responsibility in having
children. The Parents were introduced to the booklet 'Ideal
Parents' brought out recently by Sri Aurobindo Society (Hindi
Zone). After the Programme, the parents were told about teachings
of Sri Aurobindo and Sri Maa and all of them paid tributes to
them at the Holy Shrine. About 20 parents participated in the
programme.
7, 14 and 21 June 2008: On 7, 14, and 21 June 2008 Dr.
Puneesh Taneja and Shri Gopesh Goswami came to Sri Aurobindo
Bhavan and interacted for two hours on respective days with
the children of Sri Aurobindo Shiksha Niketan. Poems, Stories,
good manners and discipline were conveyed to the children.
Health
Treatment by Acupressure Therapy: Acupressure Treatment
for two hours daily from Monday to Friday by Mrs. Sudha Kesharwani
at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan is going on well. While giving treatment,
she is also using the relevant quotations of Sri Aurobindo and
the Mother, and the persons coming for acupressure treatment
are evincing keen interest in them.
Free Eye Check-up/Consultation on every Sunday at Sri Aurobindo
Bhavan: Free Eye Check-up/Consultation is being organised
on every Sunday, for two hours from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm by Dr.
P.S. Chauhan, Eye Specialist and Project Director, National
Blindness Control Programme, Govt. of India, at Sri Aurobindo
Bhavan, Noida.
Development of Women:
Sewing & Tailoring Classes: Sewing & Tailoring
Classes are being conducted daily from Monday to Friday at Sri
Aurobindo Bhavan by Smt. Jaishree Nigam and about twenty ladies
are learning the same.
Other Activities: Besides the above, regular activities
of Meditation with the Mother's music daily in the morning and
evening, Library, Playing of spiritual audio/video CDs etc.
are held.
Shri
M. S. Sundararajan's visit to LIC, Sirkazhi (Tamil Nadu)
A view of the participants
On 24 May 2008, Shri M.S. Sundararajan, Sri Aurobindo Society,
Puducherry, spoke on "How to improve our Management Skills,
as perceived by Sri Aurobindo" to the staff of Life Insurance
Corporation of India, Sirkazhi. Over 100 persons attended the
talk and interacted with Shri Sundararajan.
Madurai
(Tamil Nadu)
Shri Pradeep Narang visited the Madurai Centre on 22 June 2008.
He addressed a public gathering. The subject of his talk was
"Spirituality in Everyday Life". The talk was well
received by more than 150 people. Shri N. Thiruvenkatam, Chairman,
Tamil Nadu State Committee, who spoke on the occasion explained
the work of the Society in Tamil Nadu. Shri V.S. Balakrishnan,
Secretary of the Madurai Centre, spoke on the developments in
Madurai.
In the evening a library was inaugurated by Shri Pradeep Narang
at the Madurai Centre at No.3, Lajpatrai Road, Chinna Chokkikulam,
Madurai. Shri Narang explained the importance of reading Sri
Aurobindo's and the Mother's works and how it helps in the growth
of consciousness.
Anna
Nagar, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
The Anna Nagar Centre organised a Summer Camp on Integral Yoga
from 29 May to 7 June 2008. Basic Asanas, Surya Namaskar, Chitta
Suddhi, Pranayam, Dhyana, Regeneration and Relaxation techniques
were taught to the participants. 8 women and 6 men attended
the camp.
Gurgaon
(Haryana)
Shri Vijay N. Poddar from Pondicherry visited Gurgaon Branch
on 25 May 2008. He spoke on the importance of a Study Circle
and how it helps in the growth of consciousness. He also spoke
on Meditation - individual and collective and remembrance of
the Divine. He talked about activities such as camps encompassing
youth, integral health and culture as a part of the future activities
of the Gurgaon branch.
Bangalore
(Karnataka)
The Bangalore branch of the Society will organise a residential
youth camp at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan, 110 Gangadhara Chetty Road,
(opp. Ulsoor Lake), Bangalore-560 042, from 26 - 28 September
2008, for boys and girls in the age group of 16 and 30 years.
There will be no fees for this residential camp. The programme
will be conducted in English. Shri Kaivalya Smart will be the
resource person. Those who are interested may contact Shri M.M.
Bhattacharjee, coordinator for the programme, at (080) 25559885
and 25298684 with their bio-data, passport size photograph and
their contact number. The objective of the camp is to awaken
in the youth the aspiration for self-awareness and to open before
them the Vision of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and to inspire
them to discover the aim of life.
Rudrapur
(Uttarakhand)
Dr. Alok Pandey visited the Rudrapur Centre on 24 May 2008
and spoke on "All Life is Yoga". About 70 persons
participated. After the programme a book on 'Ideal Child, Ideal
Teacher and Ideal Parent' in Hindi was distributed to all who
participated.
Dehradun
(Uttarakhand)
Dr. Alok Pandey from Pondicherry delivered a talk on the Yoga
of Sri Aurobindo on 25 May 2008. Approximately 45 persons attended.
Shri K. Pawan, Chairman Sri Aurobindo Society, Patiala Branch,
delivered a talk on 'Savitri' on 31 May 2008 and continued it
on 1 June 08. The talks were attended by about 30 to 35 persons
each day.
Raipur
(Chhattisgarh)
The Raipur Centre celebrated 24 April 2008, the Darshan day,
with collective meditation and a talk by Dr. Kalpana Bidwaikar
on "How an ordinary person can start reading Savitri".
Canning
Centre (West Bengal)
The Canning Centre of Sri Aurobindo Society, West Bengal, celebrated
the 131st birth anniversary of the Mother and the Supramental
Day on 29 February, with Meditation, Swadhyay, talks, songs
etc. thoughout the day.
The inmates also went to Barnipur on 12 April 2008 for celebrating
the centenary of Sri Aurobindo's visit to Barnipur along with
Shri Bipin Chandra Pal and Shri Shyamsundar Chakrabarty. This
is where he delivered his historical speech on "National
Freedom" in 1908.
