Behind: lata Jagtiani holding the book
From left: Anup Jalota and myself

Dear friends,
Last Saturday,the 8th of July 2006, the Spiritual desk of the Women's Movement for Peace and Prosperity launched Lata Jagtiani's book: BHAGAVAD GITA IN 365 DAYS at the Times of India Building in Bombay.
Anup Jalota, the famous bhajan singer released it.

Follows what Lata had to say about her book and herself:

What prompted me to choose to work on a simple Bhagavad Gita was the fact that I felt that it was an idea whose time had come.
Many years ago I looked for a 365 day Gita but while there was a 365 day Bible, sadly, there was no 365 day Gita… There was a crying need for somebody to demystify Hindu philosophy, to free it from the fetters of copious explanations, scholarly notes and high-sounding bombast. As aspiritually inclined person who has been a lecturer in English I felt that I had to do this bit for my buddy Krishna, who has always winked at me as he has guided my steps through life…

To make this Gita as user-friendly as possible, I needed to make it a daily read of a minute for anybody above fourteen perplexed about the purpose and direction of his life. I condensed the verses from the original 700to 365.

This was a serious challenge before me: Make it user-friendly, leave its spiritual purity one hundred percent intact,anybody whether Hindu or not must turn to it, these were the real concerns as I worked. I worked and re-worked the verses, sometimes despairing, sometimes elated. I wrote in blank verse with an impish rhyme here and there.

Simplify, simplify, simplify, the words shouted to me from my soul and so I condensed and simplified at the sametime. The mountain stood before me, it was the moutain I had toclimb, it was my dharma. Thus, I learnt that doing one's own dharma is often difficult but without it life is like dinner without salt!

...It took me 9 years to complete this project...

...I thought of how I could get the people there to read this spiritual book which holds the key to a life of stress-free living. Iwanted to ask for something even the Prime Minister of India cannot refuse: just one minute a day in return for a lifetime oftension-free living! Can there be a better bargain than this, it beats buy one, get one free hollow!

...This is the most important work that I will everdo in my whole life, trying to be a bucket( without holes!) between a well of wisdom and thirsty people. I had to remain true in spirit and yet simplify, and so I was never satisfied! I wanted to make it shine and kept polishing it removing a speck here and a dot there. Very simply put, this book was my dharma. Finally I could polish it nomore and gave the go-ahead, I was done. Now I am happy that thecommon man has a Gita he can turn to in the twenty-first century.

... Have you seen the unhappiness around you? The loneliness, the angst, the bullies, the victims, the drugs, the suicides, theviolence. ..The oneminute reading is for those that have time or work pressures andcannot spare longer periods to the Gita on any one day. But by its very nature, Krishna's flute is so enchanting that it makes people carry on listening to him without a stop! Secondly, some verses are so profound that they will take you more than three minutes to fully comprehend their depth. You will speed up on the days where there is simple narration but on other days when Lord Krishna offers you his wise counsel you will need time to ponder, absorb and internalize.

...Happily, the response has surprised me. A couple of people said that when they read it they felt calmer. The real success of thisGita is that it is reaching convent-educated people who have thus far been so alienated from Hinduism that they would never read a religious book. Many have been brainwashed into thinking that Hinduism is something primitive wheras it is something astounding!
... I amreminded of the gopis and how they were enchanted by Krishna's flute!If we make Krishna's wisdom the song of our lives can the result be anything but peace and joy?

Contact Lata for more information:
latashea@yahoo.com

Sincerely,
Shakun
www.dalsabzi.com