WOMEN LOVE POWER
We have a Group called the 21. We are 21 members...We meet once a month. Have a lecture/demonstration, have lunch or tea and enjoy happy moments bonding without being encumbered by too many rules meted out by presidents, commitee members...A new decision is put to the vote.
This january I gave my turn. I spoke on Body Language follwed by lunch.
Gestures, expressions should match verbal statements...Look at the gestures, what does it tell you...and after 30 years, commendable don't you think?

Gangotri: Where ganga descends






CELEBRATING INDIA’S BEAUTIFUL RIVERS!
By Vimla Patil
vimla@vimlapatil.com

DATE TIME VENUE:
ON 8TH FEBRUARY AT THE KALA GHODA FESTIVAL IN THE AMPHITHEATRE AT 8.20 PM


I attended the above programme and I wished that it had been a longer session…
I learned that and/or was reminded:
Ganga: is a shimmering white-and-gold River and represents Purity or Salvation (Mukti)
Jamuna: Like Krishna is blue and like like Him represents Romance and Shringar
Saraswati: is white and elegant like a swan and is the River of Knowledge
Did you know that the River of Knowledge (Saraswati has become extinct ‘gupt’ meaning gone underground…disappeared…and are you surprised? I am not!
It is Kaliyug, remember?
Narmada: is the River of detachment…Vairagya
With few, if any, tributaries, the Narmada is often referred to as the Virgin River associated with the quality of detachment and surrender (Vairagya).
Godavari: is the River of Devotion
She is the saffron river of devotion (Bhakti), sanctified by the presence of Ram, Sita and Lakshman, who spent much of their exile years from Ayodhya in the forests along the river.
The Sindhu: Since the Sindhu now flows through Pakistan, the Krishna has been added to the list of the sacred rivers of India.
Krishna: is the River of Valour and Shourya
It is green and represents courage and valour (Shourya).
Kaveri: is the silvery River of Wisdom and Gyan
Indrayani is the River of Social Change or Samaj Jagran…
It is wonderful to add a lesser known, but equally important river which has been witness to the earliest ‘untouchability removal’ movement of India – the Indrayani, on the banks of which the Sant Parampara of Maharashtra lived and created a unique body of spiritual literature. The Dynaneshwari is the crowning glory of this movement and the temple of Vithoba in Pandharpur is the centre of the Bhakti movement, which brought all castes and communities together in a great revival of the spirit of unity among human beings.

Did you know that:
India is the only country, which assigns a sort of ‘divinity’ to rivers, which are immortalized in the scriptures and epics of India.
Stories and legends of river lore abound in our mythology, history and folk traditions of story telling, music and dance
Each one has a clear identity, appearance, value, style and spirit just like a beautiful woman…

Read Miracle of Kaveri
Click:
http://www.dalsabzi.com/Song_of_life/miracle_of_kaveri.htm

Read about my trip to where Ganga descends, click:
http://www.dalsabzi.com/Articles/ganga.htm

My youngest daughter's Anuja (extreme left) and team at Showdiff conceptualized and succesfully executed the world wide unveiling ceremony of Tata Nano...Mr Ratan Tata's 1 lac car...
'The Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car, was unveiled with great fanfare in the Indian capital amid bright lights and blaring music'.

...and I celebrate my daughter's success and am mighty proud of her...She kept calling me to pray the the launch goes without a hitch and the good Lord heard me!
'Though the green activists predict trouble ahead for countries that already have inadequate infrastructures and soaring CO2 emissions'...


I am hoping that this car makes the 'small car' fashionable'...it will reduce so many unwarranted accidents...
Most people see a family of four on a scooter without a helmet...but Ratan Tata did something about it! Yes he has the means and the power, but he followed his dream and found his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Click to watch an interview with Chairman of Rediffusion, Mr Arun Nanda and President of Rediffusion, Mr Mahesh Chauhan:
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/video/newsvideo.php?autono=325485

Dear Friends,
Many people keep asking me why they are not getting their heart’s desire, despite their prayers, recitation of mantras, rituals …
I have read (Swami Viditatmananda) that for the successful accomplishment of any undertaking, one needs to put in:

Endeavour,Even though God is omniscient, and knows what we desire, unlike other creatures God has blessed human beings with the gift of free will. This enables us to perform deliberate action (effort and prayer) and seek help from the Almighty.

The right Time
and
God’s Grace
Is required for the successful accomplishment of any undertaking.
Prayer is a means to win His Grace…a way of recognizing our vulnerability and examining ourselves…but even after one puts in all our heart into prayer, there is many a slip between the cup and the lip.
Sometimes God’s answer maybe:
No! It is not good for you, you need to learn your lesson that life is teaching you before you achieve your heart’s desire!
or God's answer may be
Later! I have something better in store for you when the right time comes!

On Saturday, the 6th of January attended 'A Musical journey of Saint Poets' at the Tata Theatre! What a treat. The singers were: Ajoy Chakraborty, Shekhar Sen, Sadhana Sargam, Kaushiki Desikan, and a dance, Deepak Mazumsar, Concept Chhaya Gangoly...
We heard of Hindu Saints and Sufis.We heard of Raskhan (He came from Iran as Sayyad Ibrahim and was a great Krishna Devotee Saint (1586-1631)
Aalam and Shaikh, husband and wife poets from 17th Century.
Raheem, one of Akbars's Navratnas who was also a Krishna bhakt and died in Vrindavan (1556-1626)
We heard of Meera,Tukaram, Tulsidas, so many

Last week saw some short movies based on the life of Jallaludin Rumi, the Mystic Sufi...Heard a story:
A Master told a disciple some profound truths and told him that he must keep it a secret. The disciple could not contain himself, so he went to a deserted place, full of reeds and shouted his secret...That secret was soaked up by the reeds. The reeds go through so much pain to turn into a flute...One has to become empty, then maybe Krishna places you next to His lips and plays His wonderful tunes...

November 2007 I attended 'The first International Peace Conference' at Somaiya Grounds, Mumbai. It was a sleek affair to correct misconceptions of Islam. A speaker stated that he feels safer in Bombay than he does in UK.
Another speaker said: 'We are extremists: extremely honest and extremely loving.
I think that it was a wonderful effort...I only wish they would still stop addressing people of another faith as 'unbelievers!'

All those I heard spoke about love and Oneness...Everything is probably an illusion...so say the mystics...and they all proclaim in One Voice: 'We are One'and 'Only Love is Real!

Read about the saints that sculpted my personality, click:
http://www.dalsabzi.com/books/in_touch_with_masters/preface_index.htm

Dear Children,
You all have heard of Christmas. Have you heard of Epiphany?

Epiphany is called the 'Festival of Lights' and it falls on the 12th day after Christmas. When I was a child and lived in Spain, we used to get gifts on the day of 'Reyes'.

Reyes literally means 'Kings' and it is on that day (5th of January) that the Wise men from the East visited baby Jesus and gave him the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Frankincense and myrrh were powerful medicines...frankincense burns with a whilte fragrant smoke and believed to carry prayers to heaven, gold is symbolic of royalty, Myrrh was used to anoint a body before burial (maybe foretelling things to come)

It is believed that the Wise Kings, were led to baby Jesus by a bright star in the sky. I like to believe that it was the position of stars. The kings were probably learned astrologers, and the stars predicted the birth of a divine child.

Read more, click:

http://www.dalsabzi.com/Books/kids_kahaani/Festivals/christ_and_krishna.htm

With love,

Dadi Ma Nani Ma