Source GUYANA, October 18, 2014 (Guyana Chronicle, by Cecil Ramkirath): Deepavali (or Diwali), the Festival of Lights, is one of the most enchanting and beautiful festivals that adorn the Hindu calendar. It commemorates the beginning of the Hindu New Year and there is an unmistakable element of fun, laughter, excitement, reunion, and heartfelt felicity associated with the celebration. And why…
Source Whatever defect I have in my sight, in my heart or mind, may God amend! May he, the Protector of the world, bless us!— Yajur Veda 36.2
Source SWEDEN, September 18, 2014 (source): I was just passing by the Kings Garden on August 30 and saw a wonderfully ornate scene surrounding the garden pool. It was my longtime friends “young Swedish Dharmis and Ashavaner ([Zoroastrians]” in Stockholm, who had organized a festival to demonstrate how Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Zoroastrian religions operate in the world. “Dharma” is…
Source When I came out of the spacecraft (Discovery) for a space walk, I had this feeling that Ganesha was looking over me.— Sunita Williams, astronaut, the second Indian-American to orbit the Earth
Source PORTLAND, OREGON, October 8, 2014 (LA Times): Since Som Subedi joined Lutheran Community Services in 2010, the 33-year-old has attended to Portland’s Bhutanese immigrants. He meets them at the airport, giving them a $100 bill, telling them: “Here, this is to get you started. But remember, money doesn’t grow on trees.” He helps them find shelter and introduces them…
Source WASHINGTON, U.S., October 7, 2014 (Military.com): Georgetown has hired its first Hindu chaplain, Pratima Dharm, who recently retired as the first Hindu chaplain in the U.S. Army. Dharm, who began her role at Georgetown Oct. 1 in the university’s Office of Campus Ministry, has served on Army bases and hospitals around the world, including a year-long deployment in Iraq.…
Source When the fundamentalists of any religion teach an unrelenting duality based on good and evil, man and nature or God and Devil, this creates friends and enemies. This belief is a sacrilege to Hindus, because they know that the attitudes which are the by-product are totally dualistic, and for good to triumph over that which is alien or evil,…
Source INDIA, October 4, 2014 (The Hindu): The Central Crime Branch (CCB) arrested three persons and busted a smuggling racket on Saturday. Sleuths recovered three statues said to be from the Chola era that are estimated to be worth over US$5.2 million from the trio. The arrested are from Mumbai in Maharashtra and Belgaum. They were caught red-handed while waiting…
Source VARANASI, INDIA February 6, 2014 (Times of India): Is Varanasi older than its known history? In an effort to find an answer to this vexed question, a group of archeologists led by former professor of archeology at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Prof. Vidula Jayaswal is busy “unearthing the antiquity” of this city through excavations at the ASI protected…