India Herald 121119

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VOL. 25 • NO. 50 • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 • P.O. BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487 • PERIODICAL PERMIT USPS 017699 • 25 cents

Temple consecration

Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland conducted its Mahakumbaabhishekam or the consecration of the temple structures on Dec. 8, a ritual done once in 12 years as per Vedic scriptures and ancient temple architecture. After a seven-day performance of yagnas (holy fire ritual), the holy waters were ceremoniously used to consecrate the temple towers and the idols. One of the reasons for the ceremony is to reinforce the idol’s position on the pedestal, using a special bonding paste.

The Vedic ritual is done to restore the sanctity of the idols after the renovation.

Houston community celebrates Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary

Madhukar Adi, one of the coordinators welcomes the gathering.

The Greater Houston Indian the world as Guru Nanak community celebrated Guru Gurupurab.

Nanak Dev’s 550th Prakash The program in Houston Purab Utsav in Houston on was unique as it was organized Saturday, Dec.7. by community members and The celebrations at the supported by various Sikh T.E Harman Center in Sugar and non-Sikh organizations in Land reflected the diverse contrast to its usual celebrations Indian American community at Gurudwaras. congregating together on a Emcee Madhukar Adi started common platform to express the program by saying that it was their respect to Guru Nanak an individual’s responsibility Dev, founder of Sikhism and to spread awareness about the first of ten Sikh Gurus.

Guru Nanak’s message of His birth is celebrated across See NANAK, Page 3

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PAGE 2 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

NEWS

Hindu Temple of The Woodlands — Mystic Milers

By SANTOSH KUMAR As a famous saying goes, a journey of many miles starts with a single step! Indeed, slowly but surely, many milestones are being created by the Mystic Milers group of the Hindu Temple of The Woodlands (HTW).

This novel initiative was launched in the summer of 2019 by a group of running enthusiasts who had experienced individual personal transformation through running.

Their motto was that physical fitness and pursuit of spirituality go hand in hand.

The temple already had yoga classes; starting a running / walk support group was a perfect complement to that primary idea.

HTW Mystic Milers was kicked off in June 2019, with a workshop lead by Aaraj Thyagaraj and I, both experienced recreational runners to introduce the basic concepts of practicing a consistent, injuryfree approach to endurance running and walking.

The first group run in early June started with a handful of people who completed a threemile journey.

As the weeks flew by, the miles increased and so did participants!

By August and September, the group started covering longer miles, eventually reaching 10 miles.

In October, the group, including many first time 10k and half-marathon finishers, participated in the Koala Houston half-marathon.

The group now plans to

participate in the March 2020 Woodlands marathon, with many first-time full marathon finishers in the works.

In November, the group started hiking activities in the beautiful Huntsville State Park.

HTW Mystic Milers is a group that welcomes people of all ages and abilities, and those who want to embark on this progressive journey towards health and spirituality.

It brings together people who want to pursue running goals, as also those who feel content being walkers.

Currently the group has over 100 members and is fast growing.

The group meets Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings, indeed beautiful moments, to experience sunset and sunrise in the company of new friends while pursuing a collective worthy goal.

The group organizes hikes once a month to explore the beautiful local trails of the Houston area as well.

An empowered group uplifts individuals to achieve new heights – that is the belief of The Hindu Temple of The Woodlands, in general, and the HTW Mystic Milers too!

In a short span of time, this motivated group of runners has reached some worthy destinations, and many more miles lie ahead.

With the Sankrit motto, Mam Niyatim Niyachmani at its core, (translates to “I control my destiny”) HTW Mystic Milers spring forward, exploring new horizons in the future.

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 • PAGE 3

NEWS

Sikh community leaders were felicitated at the Guru Nanak ji’s 550th birth anniversary celebrations.

Nanak From Page 1

message of “Ek Omkar/Ek Satnam”, the message that God is One and dwells in every part of His creation and constitutes the Eternal Truth. His message of Universal Brotherhood and Oneness will help bring unity, strength, promote peace and oneness among the diverse communities of the society we live in.

As part of the celebrations, Shabad Kirtans were chanted

by Bhai Bhupinder Singh Paras, who is a Ragi and Head Granthi at the Gurudwara of Southwest Houston. He was also felicitated by community leaders in recognition of his participation in the Bilawal Raag Darbar held at Harminder Sahib, Amritsar on Oct 17, 2019.

Guest of honor Dr. Harbans Lal, Emeritus Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology-Neuroscience,

University of North Texas, offered a brief outline of the life of Guru Nanak Dev and his message to the world. Dr. Lal has published 700 scholarly papers and 28 books and his research on the Guru Granth Sahib earned him an honorary Doctorate.

Bhai Satpal Singh Khalsa, chairman at Sikh Dharma Universal, shared Guru Nanak Dev’s message of Universal Brotherhood. Several leaders and Granthis were recognized by the organizers.

The program was attended by nearly 350 participants from across the city and supported by multiple Indo-American organizations including the Gurudwara Sahib of Southwest Houston, Shiv Shakti Mandir, SEWA International, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, VHPA, Malayalee Association of Greater Houston, Vadthal Swaminarayan Temple, Texas India Forum, India Cultural Center (ICC), Gujarati Samaj,

MMNA and other Gurudwaras and groups.

This unique idea of conducting celebrations outside and involving the community was the outcome of an unexpected meeting which occurred in early October when Madhukar Adi, Gagan Batra, Madan Luthra, Umang Mehta, Ashish Agarwal, Surendra Patel, Hari Iyer, Divyendu Singh, Dharminder Dargan, Devina Jaspal, Bhawna Luthra, Swapan Dhairyawan and others met for the first time at the Southwest Houston Gurudwara. T he program provided an opportunity to reflect on Guru Nanak Dev’s teachings and his message of Universal Brotherhood and the need to bring this awareness to the mainstream community for global peace.

The program concluded with Ardas, a special prayer by Bhai Bhupinder Singh and followed

by Langar (Dinner).

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PAGE 4 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

Share Our Secrets (SOS) Life Series

Raj Salhora, right, Judge Julie Mathew, Sri Preston Kulkarni and Dinesh Singhal, the panelists.

By Preity Bhagia As the South Asian diaspora grows in strength and numbers in the United States of America, its need to have a seat at the table and have its political voice heard grows stronger too.

After having made significant economic and social contributions to the mainstream American society, the South Asian community represents itself as a force to be reckoned with.

To successfully complete its integration into the fabric of American civil and political scenario it is very important to educate and inform the next generation of voters.

An event aimed at doing exactly that was hosted recently by members of BIO, a women-led initiative that empowers its members and their families to live authentically and engage with the community meaningfully &

Growing civic engagement in kids

with greater purpose.

In the past they have hosted successful events in collaboration with the Houston Symphony, Baker Ripley and several other community partners.

This event was designed and hosted by BIO members Tanu Grewal and Preity Bhagia with the goal to grow civic engagement in the South Asian community, with a special focus on engaging the kids in a conversation about civic responsibility.

Political candidates attended to speak to the audience and educate kids (and adults) on how they can participate effectively in the process of democracy.

The well-qualified political candidates and sitting judge that were present at the event included : Sri Preston Kulkarni - A former diplomat and a candidate for a seat in the United

States House of Representatives in Texas’s 22nd congressional district in 2020, Raj Salhotra - A young and dynamic hopeful for the Houston City Council at Large 1 position, Judge Juli Mathew - A history maker as the first Indian American woman elected to the bench in the United States as a Judge of the County Court at Law 3, Fort Bend County, and, Dinesh Singhal - A seasoned lawyer and a political hopeful for the Judge position in the First Court of Appeals, Place 3 Tanu and Galley Sarai opened up their home to host this unique, bipartisan event, that provided the opportunity for anyone, regardless of their political views, to understand how the democractic system in the country functions and the different purposes served by different political offices.

Each politician present shared what inspired them to choose the path to elected office and also shared the obstacles they faced in their respective journeys.

The children present were very curious and soaked up their stories attentively.

They asked very insightful questions which ranged from “How are voting districts formed?”, “What would be the first thing the candidate/s would do if elected?”

The children queried the candidates present about their experiences with racial disrimination, their stand on gun violence and their thoughts on drug abuse among several other important topics. Each politician present shared personal stories and made strong emotional connections with children in attendance.

All attendees, including children and adults left with a better understanding of what it takes to run for an elected office. The stimulating evening succeeded in lessening some of the mystery that surrounds politics and politicians for all the attendees.

Preity Bhagia Preity is a successful entrepreneur and a commercial real estate developer.

Preity was born and raised in Delhi, worked in Dubai and has now made a home in Houston, where she lives with her husband and two children. She is a board member for UNICEF USA Southwest regional board and SOS, an educational and leadership organization. She is also the founder of BIO, an organization committed to authentic living. She enjoys travel, performing arts and writing.

Her work has appeared in the Huffington Post, Keep Calm and Stay Curious and Medium.com.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 • PAGE 5

PAGE 6 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

VIEWS

What makes India the long-term growth story worth backing?

An investment expert expands on the various factors that make India a preferred emerging market for foreign investors.

Highlights: Favourable demographics, urbanisation and the increasing size of the middle-class population are the macro drivers make India a favourable investment destination.

India is benefiting from structural and economic change, courtesy of a probusiness Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

The long-term investment case for India is both strong and compelling.

There are no two ways about it – if you are investing in India, you have to accept it is a long-term story where you take the rough with the smooth.

For me, it’s a compelling story. Over the past two decades, the MSCI India index has comfortably outperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets index (697.7 per cent vs. 485.1 per cent) and I believe it will continue to outperform. That’s why I am currently investing all my monthly pension contributions into the country.

Favourable demographics, urbanisation and the increasing size of the middle-class population are the macro drivers backing my conviction.

No country on earth has the favourable demographics India has. More than 50 per cent of the population is under 25 years of age – a total of 600 million, with 1 million new people entering the workforce each month. Contrast this with China, which is ageing faster than any other country in modern history, with the over 60’s expected to account for 35 per cent of the population by 2050.

Europe, the US and Japan face similar demographic challenges.

It’s a similar story for urbanisation. Just over a third (34 per cent) of India’s population is urban, but it’s rising fast.

Compare this to China (58 per cent) and Japan (92 per cent) and the potential growth of this trend is apparent.

India is also benefiting from structural and economic change, courtesy of pro-business Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Since Modi came into power in 2014, business has gone from strength to strength and, importantly from an investment point of view, the ease with which businesses can operate is transforming.

Reforms included the Goods and Services Tax (GST), inflation targeting and the Indian

Bankruptcy Code.

But there is still much more for Modi to achieve. He’s already started with the Indian government announcing a significant cut in corporate tax rates from an effective rate of 34 per cent to roughly 25 per cent, with additional cuts for manufacturing companies to 15 per cent.

Modi is also working on labour laws by putting them under one code – effectively making it easier for companies of all sizes to hire and fire people. There is also a move to make sure minimum wages are introduced across the country. The result is a level playing field which means a lot of companies – particularly in the mid-cap market – are no longer at a competitive disadvantage, while also putting more money in the consumer’s pocket.

To put it into context, over 80 per cent of the US retail companies are formal/organised, compared with only 7 per cent in India.

Another area of ongoing improvement is infrastructure, where there’s been an acceleration in road construction, with 27 km of railway built per day, while India’s metro system is growing again.

There are risks worth considering – notably, if Modi is replaced by a less reformist prime minister. India is also a major oil importer, which means it could run into difficulties if prices increase – although this can be said of many emerging markets.

I would argue the long-term case for India is too compelling to ignore and I am backing it strongly. Investors may want to consider the likes of the Goldman Sachs India Equity fund as an “all-weather” offering, with manager Hiren Dasani and his team having a long-term time horizon and low portfolio turnover. Another to consider is IIFL Indian Equity Opportunities, a high conviction strategy of 20-30 stocks which prioritises companies treating investors properly. *Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns.

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 • PAGE 7

NEWS

New hope for sex-specific personalized medications for brain disorders

It is well-known that genetic differences between men and women can play a key role in susceptibility to disease. The underlying mechanisms and physiology contributing to these differences are numerous and complex—sorting them out is similar to trying to solve a puzzle with an infinite number of pieces.

Currently, a major concern for neuroscience researchers and physicians is the difference in the incidence rate and severity of epilepsy between males and females. A key player in many of these differences is the variation in hormone levels and receptor types between the two sexes. Clinical research has shown that men are more likely to have epilepsy than women, but women have epilepsy that is harder to treat. These differences have made it increasingly difficult to find therapeutic interventions for epilepsy, because physicians often prescribe the same medication to patients, regardless of sex. Often, this can cause additional problems by introducing undesirable side effects and providing inadequate neuroprotection against epilepsy.

“You can’t just ask women to take the same epilepsy medication that a man is taking,” said D. Samba Reddy, PhD, RPh, professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at the Texas A&M College of Medicine. “Lots of times they will complain: ‘Hey doc, it’s not working.’ So, the doctor will increase the dose, but then the women start experiencing adverse side effects. Physicians should understand that the female brain is different and responds differently to medication.”

Reddy and his team recently published research in the journal Epilepsia that has served as the missing puzzle piece in the overall picture of using neurosteroid therapy to treat epilepsy in men and women. It is the final product of 15 years of research on receptor distribution, neurosteroid therapy, catamenial epilepsy, and mechanisms for extrasynaptic δGABA-A receptors. This latest paper has indicated that the difference in extrasynaptic δGABA-A receptor levels between men and women is responsible for the difference in response to neurosteroid therapy for epilepsy. Essentially, this means that designing personalized, sex-specific treatment is critical for treating women with epilepsy.

“Women tend to have more extrasynaptic δGABA -A receptors than men,” Reddy said.

“These receptors are sensitive to neurosteroids and play a crucial role in mediating tonic inhibition in the brain, which keeps the electrical activity at a safe level. Without tonic inhibition, the brain can get over-

excited and fire when it should not, which causes seizures. This higher number of δGABA-A receptors in women is why they react much better to neurosteroids and are more protected from epilepsy with neurosteroid treatment. In men, there are fewer δGABA-A receptors, which means they have a lower level of tonic inhibition, so they are more prone to seizures.”

The study took a threepronged approach to demonstrate that women react more potently to neurosteroid therapy than men. This indicates the need for lower doses of neurosteroid therapy in women and higher doses in men.

In the experiment, Reddy’s team first used a pilocarpine model to induce status epilepticus, or a prolonged seizure state. Then, they tested the effects of three different neurosteroids that bind preferentially with δGABA-A receptors.

Their findings showed a sexdependent protective potency to neurosteroid therapy in the pilocarpine model. This essentially means that there was a direct relationship between neurosteroid level and protection against seizures, with females having more protection at a lower level of neurosteroids. The pilocarpine model also showed that when you take away the δGABA-A receptors by using subjects who have had their δGABA-A receptors knocked out, there is no difference between sexes in the neuroprotective ability of neurosteroids. This shows that the increased neuroprotection in females is indeed due to the presence of δGABA-A receptors, because differences in neuroprotection were only observed when the receptors were present.

Reddy’s team repeated the experiment using a kindling model, where the brain is repeatedly stimulated with mild electricity to induce epilepsy. In this model, males needed fewer stimulations to reach their fully kindled state and become epileptic. Then, one group was given neurosteroid therapy before kindling. The findings showed that females had a greater delay in the rate of developing epilepsy than males when given neurosteroids prior to kindling.

Next, subjects were treated with neurosteroids after developing epilepsy from kindling.

The suppression of seizure activity was neurosteroid dosedependent and females showed a higher rate of suppression of seizure activity with therapy.

Finally, δGABA-A knockout subjects were given neurosteroid therapy after kindling, but there was no difference in protective effects of neurosteroid therapy between sexes.

This use of the kindling model further proves that the presence of extrasynaptic δGABA-A re-

Texas A&M team identified a key neural mechanism for sex-specific treatment of epilepsy and neuronal excitability disorders. — D.Samba Reddy, PhD, RPh, professor of neuro-

science and experimental therapeutics at the Texas A&M College of Medicine.

ceptors is what contributes to increased tonic inhibition in females, since neuroprotection differences were only seen in subjects that had receptors present.

Finally, the Reddy lab group examined the receptor distribution of δGABA-A receptors in the hippocampus, a region of the brain that is important in memory and plays a crucial role in the development of epilepsy. The histological findings showed that there was a higher expression of the extrasynaptic δGABA-A receptors in the hippocampus of females

than in males. This confirms that women are genetically endowed with a larger number of receptors, which confers greater tonic inhibition with the use of neurosteroid therapy.

These findings ultimately indicate that neurosteroid therapy has the potential to serve as a sex-specific treatment for epilepsy for both men and women, as long as dosage is properly adjusted for sex differences. This key piece of the puzzle has the potential to improve the treatment of epilepsy in individuals who do not adequately respond to typical anti-epileptics. These

findings may have broader implications in designing personalized, sex-specific therapies for other conditions such as migraines, depression and excitability disorders. “This proves beyond doubt that it’s the delta extrasynaptic receptor numbers that contribute to the effect of neurosteroid therapy,” Reddy said.

Sarah Elmer contributed to the writing of this article.

— Christina Sumners Vital Record, Texas A & M University Health Science Center

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PAGE 8 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

NEWS

Yediyurappa again, in Karnataka

It is not so much a win for the BJP as the personality of the Karnataka CM, who worked assiduously for the bypolls Plagued by alliance troubles of late, with junior partners demanding their pound of flesh and alleging high-handedness, and crossover candidates failing to deliver, the BJP got a breather in the Karnataka bypolls. Of the 13 Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) turncoats, who were disqualified from the Assembly and recontested on BJP tickets, 11

won their seats. So now the BS Yediyurappa Government, which was antsy about a slender margin with 106 MLAs, has a bonafide 118 legislators.

At least Operation Lotus in Karnataka has not been a total failure. The BJP rewarded 13 rebels with tickets and let them contest from the same seats which they had resigned from.

Clearly, this proves that the legislators have higher traction than the party they represent.

MLAs like Jarkiholi Ramesh Laxmanrao, who has been win-

ning the Gokak Assembly seat since 2008 on a Congress ticket, has won it as a BJP candidate post-defection. Only two rebels lost. So the BJP’s promise of ministership being conditional on a win has worked.

The results have undoubtedly humbled both the Congress and the JD-S. While the JD-S hasn’t won any seat, the dismal Congress show — it just won two seats — means that the party hasn’t invested its energies in even resurrecting its independent ground, consider-

ing it had shed the baggage of an inept Kumaraswamy Government. Former Chief Minister and senior leader Siddaramaiah hasn’t been able to gather the forces he once had. Neither could DK Shivakumar, the high command’s pointsperson, encash his incarceration by the probe agencies and play the victim card effectively enough. This pallid show was not lost on the BJP with many of its leaders claiming that people had rejected the Congress for its opportunistic allies that didn’t have the mandate, hinting that it would be caught out in Maharashtra too. Without strong allies and plagued by infighting, the Congress seems reluctant to even try a bit on its own. It ought to have rescued itself by playing the electoral game seriously. Compare this to Yediyurappa, who campaigned hard for the byelections, treating them as a matter of his life and death. As for the rapidly eroding JD-S, it may well end up bartering itself away to the BJP. This win, however, is not of the central BJP but of Yediyurappa, who has consistently held ground. First, he avenged and exposed the hypocrisy of the JD-S. Second, by being the tallest Lingayat leader of consequence and still being the charioteer of BJP’s fortunes in the South, he has established his primacy and worth in a party that had shunned him after he was indicted in a corruption case. Despite the central leadership’s discomfort over his deep connections with the

mining mafia, Yediyurappa has sealed his position and has made himself indispensable.

At 76, he has anyway forced the party to drop the superannuation limit of 75 years in his case. It also means that he will have a say in the State, where as “Raithara Bandhu”, he can help in pushing pro-farmer policies and initiatives, something the BJP needs to desperately drive home in a failing economy. He had advocated separate agriculture budgets during his earlier stint at chief ministership and has already prioritised agriculture and development as his key focus areas. Be that as it may, it is Yediyurappa’s political journey and ego that have been set on course. And unable to live the chief ministerial dream on two previous occasions, he is hoping to break the jinx.

Hopefully, the trade winds of the bypolls will ensure that he has a full run. Clearly, the BJP would do well to give up its unitary approach and invest in raising federal leaders.

Of course, questions remain about the collapse of morality in public life, one where the disqualified MLAs were allowed to recontest by the top court. The Constitution Review Commission of 2002 suggested that defectors be barred from holding public office with civil activists suggesting that they be banned for five years in the least.

Some radical activists had even suggested the Right to recall legislators. Otherwise, transactional politics will continue to cost democracy.

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 • PAGE 9

VIEWS

No more tears please

It’s not like there aren’t any alternatives but the Govt now needs to implement out-ofthe-box solutions It is ironical that the onion manages to leave us tearyeyed every third year or so despite its impressive growth, the production of the bulb having gone up from below 5.5 million tonnes in 2003 to above 19 million tonnes in recent years. India is the second-largest producer of onions, yet a rained out or crisis year means that we are forced to import the bulb from the very nations we export it to and at prices higher than what we sell to them.

Clearly, we need a policy fix for this instead of debating alternatives like the virtues of an onion-less diet or varied food cultures. The pungency of the bulb has hit home, prices reportedly climbing to Rs 165 a kg in some parts of the country, the highest in recent years. It has clearly affected the Government, which could well have done without another crisis in the middle of an economic slump, hit our foreign relations as export cuts have meant woes for friendly nations like Bangladesh and have had

MPs in Parliament hurling invectives against each other.

For onions have always had huge political implications.

In the 1980 elections, skyhigh onion prices helped former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi dislodge a coalition Government. In 1998, sharp onion prices led to the fall of the BJP Government in New Delhi as it became a measure of economic well-being and symptomatic of a bigger food inflation. So the Modi Government may have taken some desperate measures like offloading stocks, banning exports and sanctioning imports of 1.2 lakh tonnes but it cannot skirt around the issue of ensuring healthy economics for farmers.

With year-long restrictions imposed on retail traders and wholesalers on volumes they can sell, farmers are unable to sell their produce when they have a bumper crop. During shortages, distributors make money by hoarding. In both scenarios of volatile pricing, the farmer loses. If the Government increases its own stocks and based on predictive analysis, grades export restrictions, it can arrest sharp price fluctuations. Why can’t

India increase the acreage under onion cultivation? NITI Aayog member and eminent economist Ramesh Chand had suggested promoting onion cultivation in States like Uttar Pradesh and popularising onion production in the kharif season as well. We need to find out why despite technology-aided solutions,

our onion has the lowest yield in the world, lesser than that of the US, which does not even fall under the top 10 onionproducing nations. China cultivates onion in land that’s half of ours but is the largest producer because its yield is double than ours. Of course, we need better irrigation facilities but fighting seasonal

extremes of weather means we have to work on the onion’s shelf life as well. We need to minimise post-harvest loss of a highly perishable crop with improved preservation facilities. Why can’t we, for example, promote modern cold storage facilities in newer onion-producing States like See TEARS, Page 13

PAGE 10 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

PRAMUKH SWAMI MAHARAJ’S 98TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

On December 4, 2019, over 60,000 devotees, well-wishers, and invited guests, 750 BAPS Swamis, and 10,000 volunteers witnessed a spectacular 98th birthday celebration of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the fifth spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan at the DY Patil Stadium, Nerul, New Mumbai, India.

The celebration featured the contemporary challenges society faces and the solutions provided by Pramukh Swami Maharaj (1921–2016). Swamiji’s life and Herculean spiritual and philanthropic works guided countless individuals throughout the globe away from the vice-grip of addictions and depression, acts of violence and family disharmony, perils of ego and aggression, and inspired faith in God as the lasting solution to all these societal and personal ills.

The stage program involved performances by 3,000 children and youths, video presentations, devotional songs, traditional dances, testimonials, and speeches by senior Swamis and dignitaries.

Honorable Shri Amit Shah Home Minister of India shared his sentiments on Pramukh Swami Maharaj based upon his many personal interactions with Swami. “Pramukh Swami Maharaj was a great spiritual giant who spread India’s glorious spiritual and cultural heritage through the 1,100 mandirs he built worldwide and by initiating 1,000 youths into the saffron order. His peaceful and inspiring personality touched all. In his presence, one’s worries and burdens got dissolved. He strived for the benefit of all, regardless of gender, race, or religion. Today, he lives through his works like Akshardham and the wide spectrum of social services he initiated. Furthermore, we experience his presence through his successor, HH Mahant Swami Maharaj, who is taking his spiritual legacy forward by his tireless efforts.”

At the conclusion of the event, the current spiritual leader of BAPS, Mahant Swami Maharaj, blessed those in attendance, “Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s credo was, ‘In the joy of others lies our own.’ Swamiji lived these sentiments 24 hours daily.

He strived for the good of others and never cared for his own physical body. Pramukh Swami’s humility was monumental!

He possessed many other countless virtues, and yet, to be egoless is a great thing. All who came in his contact were touched by his humility. May we live his words and become a receptacle of his virtues.”

The celebration witnessed a maha arti performed in unison by all in attendance.

Under the auspices of the year-long 98th birthday celebration of Pramukh Swami Maharaj in Mumbai, BAPS volunteers of Swaminarayan Mandir, Dadar, conducted various social welfare programs. Children, youths, and volunteers conducted antiaddiction drives during their visits to 125,000 homes. Spiritual assemblies in the suburbs of Mumbai were organized to impart Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s motto, ‘In the joy of others lies our own.’

Since 2017, Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s birth anniversary celebrations have conveyed his exemplary life and inspired thousands to lead a pure and spiritual life. The grand finale Centenary Celebration of Pramukh Swami Maharaj will be held in Ahmedabad in 2021. For more information, visit https://www. baps.org/News/2019/98th-Birthday-Celebration-of-Brahmaswarup-Pramukh-Swami-Maharaj-18098.aspx

COMMUNITY

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) is a worldwide spiritual organization that is dedicated to community service, peace, and harmony. Motivated by Hindu principles, BAPS strives to care for the world by caring for societies, families, and individuals. Through various spiritual and humanitarian activities, BAPS endeavors to develop better citizens of tomorrow with high esteem for their roots and culture. Its 3,300 international centers support these character-building activities. Under the guidance and leadership of His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, BAPS aspires to build a community that is free of addictions as well as morally, ethically and spiritually pure.

For more details, please visit www.baps.org.

About Mahant Swami Maharaj His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj is the sixth and current spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

He was ordained a swami by Yogiji Maharaj in 1961 and named Sadhu Keshavjivandas. As he was appointed the head (Mahant) of the Mandir in Mumbai, he became known as Mahant Swami. His devout, humble and service-focused life earned him the innermost blessings of Yogiji Maharaj and Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Mahant Swami Maharaj travels throughout the world inspiring people through his insightful spiritual discourses and disciplined conduct. His virtuous lifestyle and profound devotion to Bhagwan Swaminarayan and gurus are ideals toward which devotees strive. Mahant Swami Maharaj became the guru and President of BAPS upon Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s passing in 2016.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 • PAGE 11

PAGE 12 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

COMMUNITY

Indian Summer, another name for delicious food

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By SESHADRI KUMAR What’s in a name, you may ask after eating at Indian Summer in Sugar Land.

This is because mouth-watering Indian cuisine was served at the same location, but under the name of Madras Pavilion. So the food by any other name tastes as good or even tastier at the new, hip and trendy Indian Summer.

Classic Indian cuisine at the newly renamed restaurant is served in contemporary style, with a twist. Traditional dishes have been updated resulting in a delicious and unique dining experience. Classically trained chefs have honed their cooking skills with the best of ingredients to give classic Indian flavors a makeover with bold new fusions.

Take for example, Malai Kofta. It has been re-purposed or infused with a fresh flavor, yielding Pistachio Kofta, with the dish so artfully presented that one soaks in the presentation before plunging the fork into the dish. In keeping with healthy eating trends, moderate portions are served. The decor, table setting and cutlery look swell and stylish and adds to the ambience.

“At Indian Summer, we want you to have an elevated dining experience. Enjoy the ambience of our newly renovated restaurant, beautifully lit and tastefully decorated for an open and modern feel,” says the restaurant’s website.

A visit to the location of Madras Pavilion (old habits die hard and people still call Indian Summer as Madras Pavilion) will convince you that the claim about Indian Summer is not a hype, but real.

Indian Summer promises the best customer service, an essential element of any eating experience. The same Rajan Radhakrishnan accords a warm reception and personal attention to every guest. “With this formula, we have found our food to be new and exciting, with a delicious familiarity to all your Indian favorites. Our goal is to provide our customers with a top tier dining experience,” says Rajan.

In the 90s, Madras Pavilion brought traditional Indian cuisine to Texas. Nearly 25 years later, they have introduced a new concept, with a creative modern twist. A fitting phrase to describe this eating sensation or food phenomenon would be ‘new wine in old bottle.”

Visit Indian Summer or their website at indiansummertx.com and see what all the buzz is about.

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 • PAGE 13

VIEWS

The concept of Karma re-visited

The business of karma is viewed differently by different people, showing a change in attitude as you walk through each successive door of realisation, writes Hingori There’s one form of wealth we don’t often talk about, the one that follows you to the other side of the light —karma.

You know you have tuned into the concept of karma when the realisation dawns upon you that you owe a debt to every life form that served you in any way: plants, animals, your parents, your teachers, everyone.

Our karmic record is analogous to a balance sheet, where every positive deed accounts for credit and every negative deed we perform adds to our debt. These debts and credits fructify in our present life or future ones determining the

Tears From Page 9 Madhya Pradesh? Around 30-40 per cent of the crop is lost due to lack of storage facilities. If there are onion dehydrating and processing units across the country, then the supply-demand mismatch can at least be corrected. The Government can break the handful of cartels that pocket a major share of trade in big markets like Maharashtra and Karnataka and set up Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs), just as was suggested by the report by the Bengalurubased Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC).

The 2017 study had said that the market structure of onion is unilaterally dictated by the traders, not farmers, so APMCs would help break the cartels’ stranglehold. Also, the Government has to be prepared for a glut in January

quality of our lives, allowing us to repay debts and savour the credits.

When you delve deeper into the concept, really start performing good deeds, you feel good about it. The spirit within finds it easier to connect with the physical-self because it finally sees itself being benefited as all the accrued positive karma overshadows the negative. That would result in the physical-self experiencing many more, good times than tough ones in the fructification of that accumulated karma in this life and future ones.

Deeper still into this concept, you stop seeing it as generosity on your part or a profit venture for yourself. You consider it to be more of an opportunity you were given, something to be grateful for. Yes, show gratitude for the chance when the next harvest is due and the imported varieties are expected to land. When it comes to onions, the Government is not short of well-intended suggestions and advice. But now it is time for it to work out a robust policy that holds throughout the year instead of resorting to last moment fire-fighting. And since the example of avocados was tossed about during a debate in Parliament, let not the onion become such a costly proposition. Reports say that Mexico’s criminal gangs are now heavily into avocado production and sales, with cartels demanding protection payments from farms. Rival gangs are reported to have targetted each other in deadly shootouts like any other case of drug violence. We don’t want our appetite for onions to become so consuming that the crop generates an extortion economy too.

—The Pioneer

to be kind and generous.

Finally, when you have fully understood this business, you begin to view karma objectively. Say for example, you feed a hundred homeless one day, you will realise it was in their destiny to eat that meal and some way or the other it would have been provided for. If it hadn’t been you, someone else would have fed them, making you just the medium through which their destiny was fulfilled and nothing more. At this point you realise that the credit for this karma is not yours for the taking. It works the same way for negative karma as well, that is, the guilt too is not yours to shoulder, destiny has a plan to play out, and in that, you are only a pawn.

The question arises then, are acts of positive karma really acts of selfishness? Well the answer is yes. Your every good deed benefits another but also benefits your own spirit. And yet, this is one act of selfishness you should encourage and propagate. Because within this selfishness is selflessness and the selflessness is selfishness.

And just when you feel you have reached the very core of this concept and understood the business, you

realise that it was all a façade under the veil of maya, the physical world. When you lift that veil and look at karma, you now see it not as acts of generosity but as an act of necessity. It stops being an act of selfishness and becomes just a plain habit. And that habitual karma though helps others as designed to, stops affecting the spirit, it becomes an unselfish act so to say, and such an act in Hindi is called Niswarth Seva.

You are no longer the doer, you have risen above karma.

This also brings us to a poignant question — is there an easier formula for diluting doer-ship?

Do not take ownership of any of your actions! Since, they were acts of destiny (even though they were a fructification of our earlier deeds), you do not need to hold yourself responsible for what has been programmed to happen. It is the fruit, not the root. You need to take the ‘I’ away from the deeds. Be detached from it as it is not of your initiation.

You are only a witness to the act, so why become the owner?

Most evolved souls have stated that what they do, they do in the name of the Supreme Consciousness. Some may have called it ‘Father’, others used the term ‘God’, but none of them claimed that they as individuals were the doers. At an advanced thought process, they identified with the Supreme and their ‘I’ became the ‘I’ of oneness with the whole.

“In the name of the Father ...”

Krishna used the ‘I’ in context to aham brahmasmi or ‘I am that’. The eternal truth is that in every form lies the same God particle and each of you is the God above (God knows why above). Realising divinity within yourself is enlightenment. Or at least a giant step towards it!

But the toughest task of all is to get detached from one’s own body, identity, personality and jivaatma. This is the

second stage after having detached from one’s desires, pleasures, family and commercial attachments.

Achieving the above requires the kind of purpose and perseverance displayed by Buddha and other saints of that stature. This can be achieved in parts, over a period of several lives. The effort must be a sustained one.

It is a common thought that anything impossible to achieve is unproductive to try. But the lives of great people and their experiences prove this to be redundant.

We need not compete with the prophets and saints, but even they evolved in stages and took several lives to step outside the circle of maya.

Most of the spiritual teachings are easy to listen, and to some extent understand, but difficult to accomplish. So, if you can give up taking ownership of all your actions, including the good ones, you have a chance to attain spiritual heights.

To conclude, if you can give up ownership of karma, do it.

If you can’t, take the easier path and just plaster your negative karmas with an overload of positive ones, so that in relative comparison they are much less and you can have a better life or lives in the future. This is solely because our destiny is created by our previously accumulated karmas. The form of storage is called samskars.

If you don’t care for either of these methods you can carry on and be as nice as you can as there is hope. I too hope that at the end of this article, you will find that a part of this resonates. If so, the purpose is accomplished.

If you see reason that good karma is worth your investment of time, money and inclination, then several life forms will be benefitted.

(The writer is the author of Hingori Sutras series of spiritual books. The Pioneer)

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PAGE 14 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

NEWS U.S. Commission’s comment on CAB unwarranted and inaccurate: MEA

Every nation, including the U.S., has the right to enumerate and validate its citizenry and to exercise this prerogative through various policies, says MEA’s official spokesperson Raveesh Kumar.

India has the prerogative to validate its citizenry through various policies like any other country, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) sought sanctions against Home Minister Amit Shah if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is passed in the Parliament.

“The statement made by the USCIRF on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is neither accurate nor warranted. The Bill provides expedited consideration for Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities already in India from certain contiguous countries. It seeks to address their current difficulties and meet their basic human rights,” said the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar.

Mr. Shah had pointed out past atrocities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan against religious minorities to justify the CAB in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The USCIRF earlier observed that the CAB “enshrines a pathway to citizenship for immigrants that specifically excludes Muslims, setting a legal precedent for citizenship based on religion.”

“The CAB is a dangerous turn in the wrong direction; it runs counter to India’s rich history of secular pluralism and the Indian Constitution,” said the USCIRF in a press release.

Mr. Kumar said that neither the CAB nor the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process intended to deprive any Indian citizen of any faith of citizenship.

“Suggestions to that effect are motivated and unjustified. Every nation, including the United States, has the right to enumerate and validate its citizenry and to exercise this prerogative through various policies,” said Mr. Kumar suggesting that the USCIRF’s position was not surprising as it had been guided by “prejudices and little knowledge”.

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Violence mars protests against Citizenship Bill in northeastern States An 11-hour shutdown against the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment Bill, 2016 (CAB), disrupted large swathes of the northeastern States on Tuesday with protesters resorting to violence in some places and clashing with the police.

Several people, including security personnel, were injured as protesters damaged vehicles and shops in Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya capital Shillong.

In Tripura, the government ordered suspension of internet and SMS services for two days as paramilitary personnel opened fire in the air and lobbed teargas shells to disperse violent anti-CAB protesters in some areas.

The protests shepherded by the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) were most intense across the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam and Tripura, two States perceived to bear the brunt of migrants from Bangladesh who could be made citizens through the CAB, if it becomes a law.

The other northeastern States “insulated” by the Sixth Schedule status and inner-line permit regulation either shut down or held token protests to express solidarity with Assam and Tripura.

The CAB seeks to fast-track the process of granting citizenship to people belonging to six non-Muslim religious groups who have allegedly fled persecution from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan till December 31, 2014.

The anger against the CAB move had been brewing over a week, affecting normal life and local businesses in Assam and Tripura. On Tuesday, they snowballed into a spontaneous movement with local residents, including senior citizens, spilling on to the streets.

Elsewhere, the protestors in Assam blocked the movement of trains and vehicular traffic forcing the cancellation of some trains.

“The protest this time is more intense than the one in January. The common people have risen against an anti-constitutional bill that threatens their land, language and culture,” said Lurinjyoti Gogoi, general secretary of All Assam Students’ Union, a constituent of NESO. In Guwahati, a large number of people laid siege to strategic areas chanting anti-BJP and anti-government slogans and burning tyres. Some tried to march to Dispur, the State’s seat of power, but were prevented on the way by the police and paramilitary forces.

Such was the anger that the protestors prevented the movement of VIPs such as Assam’s Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya forcing his convoy to return to his private residence. Many staged protests outside the houses of the MLAs of the ruling BJP and Asom Gana Parishad with mobs attacking or damaging the offices of these political parties in some semi-urban areas.

Apart from writers and in-

tellectuals, some film personalities and singers too hit the streets and decided against taking part in any government functions. They also called for the boycott of the Indo-Japan summit in the city from December 15-17 to be attended

by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe. Among the protestors was national award-winning filmmaker Jahnu who withdrew his film “Bhoga Khirikee” (Broken Window) from the upcoming Assam film awards.

Members of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) and the pro-talks groups too have threatened to destabilise Assam if the Centre “does not stop playing with our emotions”. On Tuesday morning, the police removed a flag of the ULFA-I that was hoisted in Dibrugarh district’s Barbaruah Lower Primary School soon after the CAB was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal asked different organisations not to spread misinformation regarding the CAB) to create panic among the masses.

“The present State government, formed by indigenous people of the State, will not do not anything to jeopardise the identity of the Assamese race,” he said, calling all sections of the society to work for bringing positive changes and development.

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 • PAGE 15

NEWS

Deepak Chopra made a digital clone of himself, and other celebs could soon follow

By SCOTT STEIN I’m sitting down on a sofa, talking to what looks like a Facetime with Deepak Chopra on a phone. It’s not him, though. It’s an animated, sometimes realistic, talking head.

He asks me how I feel. I end up discussing work stress. He suggests a meditation.

For a few minutes, I’m having a little session with a Deepak that doesn’t exist.

A few weeks later, I’m talking to actual Deepak Chopra on the phone about what I experienced. The successful author and personal transformation guru is launching a free AI version of himself, which will tap into his collected books and build a personal relationship with whoever’s talking to him. The software, created by a company called The AI Foundation, is looking to use this technology to make virtual AI archives of anyone who wants to be immortalized or remembered. Mr. Chopra is the first on deck.

“Well, here’s the reason I did it: I’m now 73 years old, and I’m in perfect health, I feel like I’m 35, but you know, the next chapter is physical death. This digital Deepak can actually consume my work after I’m gone, and probably improve on it because it learns with every interaction,” Chopra tells me.

He calls his AI “Digital Baby

Deepak,” because he sees it as a part of himself that will grow.

“It can become a teenager soon and an adult, and ultimately a wise person, and it can do that very fast because it doesn’t have the time limitations that humans have. It can learn simultaneously from all these interactions.”

Deepak Chopra has explored AI frontiers before. Last year, he released an Alexa skill that played daily recorded reflections. This new AI initiative crosses over to add visuals, and far deeper interactive ambitions.

This Digital Deepak will personalize itself based on the details we give it, which could be a lot. “If you want, you can share anything you want with it privately, it’ll be very ethical about that information, including your medical records if you wish to share with them,” says Chopra, “And it will be able to consult with experts and give you advice.”

Chopra also sees possibilities of using his digital self to learn more about his physical self. “I will learn from it, and it will learn from me. I mean, we’re twins, now.”

My mind races to consultations with holograms of historical figures, like in Watchmen’s alternate-2019 universe, and VR experiences I’ve actually had, virtually meeting Ho-

locaust survivors. I also think about talking to my dad, who’s been gone for seven years.

Building a virtual archive The app, created by The AI Foundation, sounds exactly like the weird Black Mirror future I expected would arrive eventually, but the company’s goal for AI is to record interactive archives to allow people to be remembered forever. For now, apps like Chopra’s are free because they’re aimed at training the AI to get better. Co-founder and CTO Rob Meadows explained what’s going on in a little more detail: “Our biggest interest right now is seeing how this technology works in the world and seeing how it can create impact. We’re well funded, and we don’t have a critical must-make-moneyright-now initiative. We want to do things the right way first.”

The app will use what Meadows calls a “natural, conversational interface,” and it really did just feel like I was Facetiming with Deepak. The idea, down the road, is to make this app a way to record and build an AI interface for your own database, which will include your history, your Masterclasslike classes, whatever. The app will continue to collect requests and feed those back to someone who’s created an AI so they can address and record

new parts, almost like a living AMA on Reddit. “We don’t actually learn the master source of truth from users,” Meadows tells me.

“We only learn that from Deepak,” he explains, or whoever is creating their AI. “What we learn from users is what users want us to learn.”

The AI Foundation plans to release a tool for anyone to record and build their own AI, like a living memory archive straight out of Black Mirror’s “Be Right Back.” A phone could capture 3D face detail from someone and log audio over time, like a lifelogging or social media app, but for building an AI archive.

I’m curious where the AI could go wrong: What about users leading it astray with false information, like hacking a chatbot? “We actually hope people will try to say things that throw it off,” Meadows says of the initial beta. The app will push suggestions to AI creators to answer user requests, like an AMA or Quora.

It almost sounds like a future social media coach. In a way, that’s exactly the idea.

But what about deepfakes, which currently take the form of prerecorded digitally manipulated videos, but could eventually use realistic, interactive AI to imitate virtual figures that aren’t officially endorsed, and are untrustworthy?

The AI Foundation promises it has safeguards on how its AI identities are verified, but it seems like only a matter of time before lines will get really blurry... as blurry as they’re getting now with photos and video.

“We’re just at the tip of the iceberg of humanity having to deal with a new source of truth,” Meadows admits. “One, how do we make it very clear that this isn’t the real Deepak?

Today, most people will be able to tell the difference: The mouth isn’t exactly perfect, and it’s not quite out of the un-

canny valley. But we’re very, very close. I can confidently say that in a year, we will be out of that spot and it’ll be indiscernible for most people.

That’s already possible with deepfakes that aren’t generated in real time, but we’re on the verge of it being real time.”

Meadows says the first burden of trust lies on the creator, but wants to then build tools that can detect fake media, flagging incorrect statements

by AI and building software that learns on the fly. “It’s not an easy problem to solve, and whether we like it or not, the world is heading there,” he says. “That was really important to us from the very beginning, setting up a nonprofit to hold us accountable. We’ve taken a couple of hard lines: Only you can train your AI, or people that you delegate to train your AI if you’re no longer here, or don’t have time.

And also, you own your own data. At any time, you can have your AI unlearn things,” he says. It sounds noble. It’s unclear how it will play out.

Digital life after death Deepak Chopra’s recent book, Metahuman, has already explored the transformation of human consciousness, and he sees his digital baby as being part of that vision.

“Five generations from now, my descendants will be able to talk to me,” Chopra says.

“I see three-year-olds hacking into Netflix or whatever and they’ve just hardly begun to speak a regular language, but they’re already savvy and they enter this world taking it for granted. Twenty years ago, there was no internet the way we know it ... Imagine, five generations from now, a kid speaking to me and telling this digital Deepak what’s going on.” www.cnet.com

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PAGE 16 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019 • PAGE 13

Spirituality NEWS HOST YOUR NEXT EVENT AT INDIA HOUSE Building Largest Movement of Grassroots Girl Leaders In India The Body,theMind & Soul

Relationship

By Swami Mukundananda Question: The popularity of Yoga has skyrocketed around the world. What is the science behind the effectiveness of the Yogasans?

Swami Mukundananda: The art of healthy living must incorporate all aspects of the personality: the physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. While the central theme of Yog remains the highest goal of the spiritual path, physical yogic practices enshrined in it give direct and tangible benefits to everyone regardless of their spiritual aims.

Yogasans harmonize the body, mind and emotions. For example, at the physical level, organs, muscles and nerves may not be functioning properly. Asans bring the different bodily functions into perfect coordination so that they work for the good of the whole body.

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For example, emotional munitiescan in the world. intensions affect theTheir smooth credible stories of courage functioning of the lungs, and breathing process, considerable contributing success against to a very debilitating odds are the reasons Idisease, work which is asthma.

The even aim of each day.

Their hope, in asans is to release these knots.

For the face of seemingly insurfull benefit, hardships, these asansinspires should mountable be withwhere the me performed to create along a world meditation.

Meditational exercises girls can explore their full pocleanse bring a feeling tential the andmind, lead to dignified lives. of peace and contentment India is home to 111 within. million Proper asans, Pranayam, subtle adolescent girls.

By populabody relaxation, meditation, tion, this makes them thetackle 10th these both at largestknots country in the thephysical world, and mental a resultand of larger evenlevels. than As Mexico the release of dormant energy, the Japan. There are many stories body full of vitality and to bebecomes discovered among them. strength, the mind becomes light Their powerful stories need to and creative, joyful andtimes balanced. be amplified many over Yogasans have succeeded as so that it reaches and inspires an alternative therapy in diseases as many adolescent girls as such as asthma, diabetes, blood possible. pressure, There is arthritis, a plethoradigestive of evidisorders and ailments of a dence thatmanyunequivocally chronic constitutional nature, proves and investing in adolescent where modern medical science has girls increases income levels, failed. decreases crime, improves maWhatand is neonatal consciousness? ternal health,How deis it different from the creases tensions due soul? to ethnic SM: “Consciousness” is the diversity and improves literacy symptom of life that is manifested rates. Empowering girls is the by soul. Itinvestment is not the soul onethesingle thatitself; can rather, it is a quality of the soul. drive all of these socio-ecoThis is changes. just as heat and light are nomic manifestations of the 39 fire,percent but by Yet, even today, themselves, they are not the of adolescent girls in India fire. beEverything that ofexists is 18 verily tween the ages 15 and are the energy of God. However, it not attending any educational is not all consciousness. Matter institution, according to the is “insentient” or devoid of National Commission for Proconsciousness, while the soul tection of Child Rights. A vast is “sentient” or possessing majority, about 65 percent, are consciousness. This is an “either engaged in household important distinction between activities, dependents, or, the soul andarematter.

Apart from are engaged in begging, etc.” having consciousness itself, the The also datahas reveals that to27impart persoul the ability cent of girls get married before consciousness to matter, when it they turn with 18, and around 7 perassociates it. Just as “a flower cent even before the age of 15. carries aroma itself, and the garden The first step is to realize where it grows also becomes that girlsbyhave the inherent poaromatic its presence.”

INFORMATIVE SESSIONS

CORPORATE EVENTS Likewise, the soul is sentient, and by its presence, it makes the dead matter of the body sentient as well. As long as the soul resides in the body, the senses, organs and limbs, all display signs of life.

Upon death, when the soul departs, the body is dead matter once again.

How does the soul communicate with thetoelements in our body? tential drive systemic and Where is the connection between inter-generational change – to the soul? be body awareand ofthe just how powerSM: The soul ful girls have beencommunicates as agents of with the body bythe energizing change across world. it with theOver force the of life, or consciousness. course of the four Its presence makes the journey, intellect, years of our program’s mind and body work.

As already we have had the good fortune mentioned the soul is sentient, and to work with several of these by its presence, it makes the dead girls. Rajni, from a Dalit commatter the Sitapur, body sentient as well. munityof in is one exNow the reverse communication ample.

– how does the bodyyoung communicate A courageous womwith the soul?

The link between an who fought and prevented the bodymarriage and the spiritual hermaterial own child at 15, soul is established by the In she went on to stop six ego. others the materially conditioned state, the from child marriages, and befirst covering ongirl the soul is of the came the first in her comego.

The word for ego in Sanskrit is munity to ever graduate. Or asmita, which means “that which is Rajkumari from Bulandshahr not.”

This ego creates a false identity in Uttar Pradesh, who came for theasoul.

Duepatriarchal to it, the soul is from strong comunder the illusion that it is the body, munity, and not only successmind intellect.

In this illusion fully and fought for her education, that it is the body, the soul identifies but inspired more than 20 girls with pleasures and pains the to gotheback to school afterofthey body. When the senses come in dropped out, is another. There contact with the sense objects, they are not the only anecdotes. experience fleeting pleasure. Under Equipped with knowledge the illusion that it is the body, the and skills, our “Girl Icons” are soul too experiences this pleasure. exemplary leaders who have However, the experience does not brought girls back to school, satisfy the soul, which can only be stopped by child marriages, satisfied Divine Bliss. Sobuilt the toilets, built awareness on search for pleasure continues. This Menstrual Hygiene Manageis how the two-way communication ment (MHM) and between the soulandandSexual the bodyReproductive Health (SRH), mind-intellect works. and worked relentlessly to improve Mukundananda the lives of adolescent Swami is a worldgirls in communities by renowned their teacher of spirituality, creating safe spaces for diaYoga and Meditation. He is the logue and action around grassfounder of the unique Yogic system roots problems.

They have JKYog, also known as Yoga for the collectively stood up against Body, Mind and Soul. He received discrimination, violence, and His degrees in Engineering and abuse⁠ — and won.

Management from IIT (Delhi) the (Kolkata).

Girl IconSwamiji Program andAsIIM is completes its fourth year, we the senior disciple of Jagadguru have 378 adolescent GirlFor Icons Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. the in India who are part ofhas a thrivlast 3 decades, Swamiji been ing network girl the leaders. inspiring people of all over world, Collectively, they impact the on the path of Spirituality, holistic lives ofyoga, moremeditation, than 10,000service girls health, in more 40 God-realization. districts across to societythan and fourhas states.

He been invited to speak at Now Fortune picture 500 onecompanies. of these various girls in village in India.

For theevery youth, Swamiji has Imagine aprograms growingatmovement conducted prestigious of leaders like Rajni and Rajuniversities. kumari, fighting together for

EXCLUSIVE EXHIBITIONS

spire, nurture and amplify the voices of girl leaders as empowered agents of change in their communities and the world. Dhirendra also has worked with international and national development organizations like Vidya Grants India, United Way of Delhi, ASER, and others.

He has received the Karamveer Puruskar and Youth Ambassador for Peace Award by Universal FESTIVE Peace Federation. In 2017, he was part of the Indian CELEBRATIONS delegation to the South Asian Youth Summit in Afghanistan.

He is currently part of Artira – Leadership Accelerator Program by Phicus Social Solutions at IIM Bangalore. He is also the Co-Founder of Azadi, a US-based impact venture with a commitment to making menstruation a non-issue in India. He also was recently selected as one of 30 Fellows for Gratitude Network’s 2020 Cohort of Changemakers working to support children and youth around the globe. He actively advocates for equal rights for girls both nationally and globally.

education, and against child build a new, more inclusive and marriage, standing up and insti- more equal India. gating collective action against — Dhirendra Pratap social injustices on all fronts.

Singh, CEO & Co-founder, This is what Milaan is work- Milaan Foundation | Conference-Room | Classrooms ing every day to build. ABallroom movement of girl Dhirendra Pratap Singhfunctions is Ourleaders 3,780 sqtofttransbanquet halls can accommodate of nearly any size.

(Indiaspora.org) formSpecial India. rental rates available the Co-founder of the for CEO weekand days, repeat customers & non-profit organizations.

By 2030, we will reach 10 Milaan Foundation. Under his For More Information Contact: million girls across India. 10 leadership, Milaan launched 713-929-1900 | Vipin@indiahouseinc.org million stories to inspire and the Girl Icon Program to| www.indiahouseinc.org in-

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NEWS

INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 • PAGE 17

Switching cereal

University of Delaware study shows how India can help itself by diversifying its crop production

By Adam Thomas When the Green Revolution came to India, it brought with it an emphasis on high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat, which allowed India to triple its cereal production over the past 50 years.

As a result, rice contributes almost half of the country’s cereal production, and cereals continue to make up much of the calorie consumption in India’s urban and rural households.

But that success has led to two new problems: rice does not offer the nutritional benefits of some other cereals, such as sorghum and millets, and at the same time, it is grown in areas that are not necessarily suited to rice production, which can have adverse environmental impacts.

A new study from the University of Delaware published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that India can sustainably enhance its food supply and improve its environmental footprint by reducing its reliance on rice and planting more nutritious and less environmentally damaging crops such as sorghum, finger millet and pearl millet.

The study was led by Kyle Davis, assistant professor in the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment’s Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Davis explained that while the reliance on rice during the Green Revolution succeeded in feeding a large population, it also pushed out a lot of traditional cereals that are still consumed in India but to a lesser extent.

Davis led a study that shows how India can improve nutrition, climate resilience, and the environment by diversifying its crop production.

“We’ve found that those traditional cereals have a higher nutritional quality and also tend to use less water, require less energy to be grown, and emit fewer greenhouse gases on a per kilogram basis,” said Davis.

Because rice is flood irrigated, it requires a lot of water, which is a burden in a country like India that is experiencing widespread depletion of groundwater resources.

In addition, the standing water in rice fields contributes to

UD assistant professor Kyle Davis examines rice in a field in the Himalayan foothills. Davis led a study that shows how India can improve nutrition, climate resilience, and the environment by diversifying its crop production. Photos courtesy of Kyle Davis anaerobic respiration, which causes methane, a potent greenhouse gas, to be emitted to the atmosphere. Since the other cereals are not flood irrigated, their production does not produce any methane emissions.

“These traditional cereals also tend to be less sensitive to variability in temperature and precipitation so they’re more resilient to climate variability,” said Davis. “There are also many places where the yields of these cereals are comparable

UD assistant professor Kyle Davis sits near a millet field in the Himalayan foothills. Davis led a study that shows how India can improve nutrition, climate resilience, and the environment by diversifying its crop production.

to or higher than rice. For all of those reasons, we wanted to look at whether there were opportunities to replace some rice production with some of these traditional cereals without reducing food supply in the country.”

Sorghum and millets were consumed more widely in India a generation ago, and the government in India is interested in promoting the production and consumption of these different crops, even going so far as to declare 2018 the national year of millets. Davis said that this study can help the government in deciding which regions would benefit the most from promotion of these cereals.

“Our study provides a lot of value because we’re able to pinpoint which districts in which states could see the largest improvements,” said Davis.

“If the government had to prioritize a few states, they could point to our results and say for example ‘Ok, these are the places where our largest water savings are going to happen so we should focus here.’ ” The next steps in implementing a more widespread planting of sorghum and millets would be to quantify the willingness of local populations to increase the amount of these different cereals in their diets.

The government would also have to make economic considerations to protect the livelihoods of farmers, as asking a farmer to switch to a different crop might mean that they have different fertilizer requirements or would have to

buy more seed. Davis said that there are multiple government subsidy programs in India that help support farmers, but those would have to be modified to make sure that they accommodate the changes.

Finally, Davis said that while they only looked at decreasing some of the rice area and increasing some of the area allocated to these other cereals, it’s also possible that India might look at areas that are currently used to produce cotton or sugarcane, water-intensive crops that don’t contribute to nutrition, and replace them with sorghum and millets.

All of this could have positive environmental and nutritional benefits and Davis said that he was happy to lead a study that shows the positive impact agriculture can have on the planet.

“This was an India-focused study, but it makes a broader statement about sustainable agriculture and framing agriculture as a solution to multiple global challenges like malnutrition, water scarcity, and greenhouse gas,” said Davis. “You often see agriculture presented as causing environmental problems, when in fact agriculture is the solutions to many challenges. Our study shows there are opportunities to realize a number of different benefits through more thoughtful agricultural practices, and it shows that a single intervention can change multiple outcomes for the better.”

—UDAILY

Sewa International Family Services Hot Line 832-900-9354

PAGE 8 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2015 PAGE 8 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2015 PAGE INDIAHERALD HERALD• •WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY,MARCH DECEMBER 11, 2019 PAGE 18 8 • •INDIA 30, 2016

COMMUNITY CALENDAR COMMUNITY CALENDAR COMMUNITY CALENDAR COMMUNITY CALENDAR COMMUNITY CALENDAR kids 4 to 18 yrs - meditation, Yoga, Arya Samaj Satsang

Arya Samaj Satsang Sri Meenakshi Temple Kumaris Weekly Havan Satsang every from 10 a.m. to 12atnoon.

Kannappan Art Museums 2341 Sunday thru Brahma Sat. Sandhya aarti 6:30 Art Museum

to 11 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Mon.

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Temple welcome desk 8 a.m.

21-Dec Saturday 10:30 AM Bari Ghee Abhishekam On the auspicious occasion of Ayyappa Durga - Temple 8:45 a.m. or 10:15 a.m.-11:30 26-Dec Thursday 10.00 AM have Ayyappa Kalabha Abhishekam Nav Ratri, the Temple will Durga Bari Temple Durga Bari temple is open from 9a.m. to 11Visit a.m.www.chin and 4 to 7 p.m.

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31-Dec Tuesday 11:55 PM New Special puja, Midnight arathi ki by Mahant Ravi Shanker Puri.year special from 9 a.m. to Temple 7 p.m.

Puja services - Priest Bishnupada Goswami 281-597-8100 is located at 13944 Schiller Rd (off Vedanta Society 1-Jan Wednesday 8:00 AM ew YearatPuja on Friday April 08, &2016 startGoswami Temple isN located 13944 Rd (off Hwy 6 bet.281-597-8100 Bellaire Westpark).

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Akhand Hwy/6832-423-8541. bet. Bellaire & Westpark). Call GaneshLindita Mandal at 713-7979057 ton, 14809 Drive (77083) Ramayan Path starting Saturday has classes every Sunday from 9057 / 832-423-8541.

April 09, 2016 at 5:00PM on- 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Mandir Foundation forShiv india Studies (FIS) is recording and wards until Sunday AprilShakti 10, Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 1st Shiv Shakti Mandir preserving thePrasad life stories of the Open first generation Sanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir, 7 a.m.Gita, to 8 2016 7:00 PM. Will6640&Harwin.

3rd Sunday; daily Bhagavad Sanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir, 6640 Harwin. daily 7 engagea.m. to 8 Indian legal immigrants in theOpen Greater Houston p.m.

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The congregation meditation is available to anyone wishes to weekly spiritual Durga Bariwho Temple may please contact Krishna Vavilala 713-795-5169 orto within meditation is available to anyone wishes practice.

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Adult the month at Triumph Church, week.

The center offersRegister free Raja Meditation withauthors someone Srihis Guruvayurappan Temple Heartfulness Meditation is or aat selves. present Brigadier Panthaki and wife Zenobia of the10555 much meditation classes. www.ashirwada-blessing.org Bible class atPanthaki, 9:30Behram a.m.ofEnglish W. Airport Yoga Meditation classes: Monwho has the capacity yogic Hours: Mon to Fri 6 Blvd., a.m. -8 Stafa.m. practical technique of tuning inwife Zenobia Panthaki, authors of the much book: “Field Marshal Sam www.ashirwada-blessing.org or acclaimed Sri Ravula 281-995-0930. service at 10:30 a.m. on 2nd & ford TX 77477 at 6:30 p.m.

Join Fri @ 6:00-6:45am and 7-8 pm, transmission can help you explore and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Weekwards to experience our higher acclaimed book: “Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw: The 713-991-1557 Man and His Times”, Sri Ravula 281-995-0930.

4th Sunday.

Call us for a time of praise, worship HareMeditation Sat-Sun @Krishna 7:00-8:30am, 10 am-2 the Heartfulness more ends & Holidays: 6 a.m. to noon selves. withDham someone Manekshaw: Thepractice Man and HisCultural Times”, at the Zoroastrian Heritage and or 281-261-4603. and 5:00 fellowship.

Worship in Hare Dham pm.

Visiting hours areVedic Sat-Sun @ deeply.

There are no charges for and p.m. to 8:30 p.m. is Bhawho has Krishna theoriginal capacity of temple, yogic Houston’s at the Zoroastrian Heritage and Cultural Center, 8787 W Airport Blvd., Houston, TX Call English.

Chris Gantela 281Sri Guruvayurappan 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Contact usyou at (832) andStarts we invite you to experijansTX Saturdays 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Houston’s original Vedic temple, transmission can help exISKCON of Houston.

At 1320 W this, Center, 8787 W Blvd., Houston, 77071. at Airport 6:30 with social hour.

344-0707, or Rev. V. Gurrala Temple 379-8888, houston@bktexas.com, the unique benefits of this Sundays ISKCON of Houston.

1320 W ence plore the(77018).

Heartfulness practice 34th St. DailyAtDarshan 77071.

Starts at 6:30was withIndia’s socialfirst hour.Field 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Special Sam Manekshaw 281-997-0757.

Hours: FriWorkshops 6 a.m.

-8 war a.m. or bktexas.com to4.30am, sign-up for transmission. on hero. poojas (weekends and holidays) 34th St. (77018).

Daily more deeply.

There are noDarshan charg& Arati Times: 7am, SamMon Manekshaw was India’s first Field Marshal and to a distinguished HisGaudiya Math and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Weekclasses.

All Raja Yoga relaxation and mediChoroon & for Arati Times: 4.30am, 7am, es this, and we4.30pm, inviteMeditayou to Heartfulness 8.30am, 12noon, 7pm, Marshal and a distinguished wardedication hero. His (Annaprasam) for kids, courage, his character, and the Sri Govindaji Gaudiya Matha ends Holidays: 6country a.m. toare noon tion teachers atFestival: the Houston held weekly throughout Thulabharam, Vahana Pooja, Ni8.30am, 12noon, 4.30pm, 7pm, experience the unique benefits of 9pm.

Sunday 5.30center pm to tation courage, his character, and thelegendary. dedication to his&are troops and at 16628 Kieth Harrow Blvd., and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Bhaare samarpit andFestival: have 15+ years ofto Houston.

Web: www.heartfulrapara.

Temple is located at 11620 9pm.

Sunday 5.30 pmfor this transmission.

Workshops on 7.30 pm.

Weekly Gita classes to country are legendary.

Thehis lifetroops of thisand distinguished soldier is portrayed by two distinguished Houston 77084.

Satsang Sundays jans 7distinguished p.m. to 8 p.m.; classes teaching Email: houston.heartfulOrmandy St. by (77035) Tel: 7137.30 pm.experience.

Weekly Gita for Heartfulness relaxation and medadults; call 281-433-1635 or ness.org; TheSaturdays lifewho of this soldier is portrayed two distinguished authors worked closely with him and shared many of the historic 5 to 7 pm.

Mantra meditation, Sundays 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Special Chinmaya Mission Cell: 713-929729-8994 email: temple@ guruadults; itation arecall held281-433-1635 weekly through-or ness@gmail.com. harekrishnadham @gmail.com authorsthat who workedthe closely with him and shared many of theThrough historic events changed geo-political landscape of the region. kirtan, Sanatan Dharma classes. poojas and holidays) Sunday satsangs for@gmail.com adults, youth, 0040. vayur.us harekrishnadham out Houston, including Saturdays events (weekends thatrelated changed geo-political landscape of the region.

Through anecdotes bythe Behram and Zenobia Panthaki we get a Vedic Preksha Education and Hindiunique class(Annaprasam) for kids, and A unique Vi- Choroon Hare Krishna Dham Meditation at 11children. am at India House.BalaWeb: anecdotes related by Behram and Zenobia Panthaki we get anoon unique insight into the man’s ideals, his military acumen, his mannerisms, and Houston Namadwaar es for kids.

Gita classes Thulabharam, Vahana Pooja, har program for each grade,Email: from Houston’s original Vedic temple, JVB acumen, Preksha his Meditation Cenwww.heartfulness.org; insight into the man’s ideals, his military mannerisms, and his sense of humor.

Houston Namadwaar 1:30 pm Wed. Hanuman Chalisa A prayer house where the Hare Nirapara.

Temple is located at ter conducts weekly Meditation, PreK to Grade 12. Satsangs in ISKCON Houston.

At 1320 houston.heartfulness@gmail. hisBrigadier sense of of humor.

Panthaki himself boasts a distinguished 30-yearon military Asessions prayer house where Hare and Ramcharit Manas Tue. Rama Hare713-929-0040 Krishna Maha-man11620 Ormandy St. (77035) Tel: two between 8:35the a.m.

- W 34th St. (77018).

Daily DarYoga and Swadhyay sessions incom.

Cell: Brigadier Panthaki himself boasts a distinguished 30-year military career that earned him 12 military honors.

Zenobia Panthaki accomRama Hare Krishna Maha-man7:30–8:30 p.m. info@sggm.org tra is continuously chanted.

Week713-729-8994 email: temple@ 10:15 a.m. and 11:20 a.m.MD) - 1p.m. shan & Arati Times: 4.30 a.m, 7 side its unique Pyramid hall under (Ragini Prakash Miryala career that earned him 12 military Panthaki accompanied her husband on his postingshonors. to 281-499-3347. manyZenobia small cantonment towntra isVihar continuously chanted.

Weekor ends: 8-11 students AM & Classes 4-7 guruvayur.us Bala canPM, takeWeekshlo- a.m, 8.30 a.m, 12 noon, 4.30 p.m, involved the auspicious guidance of Samani Heritage panied her husband on his postings to many small cantonment townships all over India and became with running welfare proends: 8-11 AM 4-7PM. PM, Weekdays: 7-8 AM &&6-7 Weekly Hindu Temple of Preksha Meditation ka, bhajan and orchestra classes or p.m, 9 over p.m.

Sunday Festival: Kanchan Pragyaji and Samani Ashirwad’s Heritage Classes in 7grams ships all India and became involved with running welfare profor soldiers’ wives and children; she has run the Army School, days: 7-8 AM &for 6-7 PM.Telugu, Weekly “Gopa Kuteeram” children’s heri- 5.30 New facilities JVB Preksha language classes Hindi, pm tosoldiers’ 7.30of p.m.

Weekly Pranav Pragyaji who are stationed the Woodlands Katy, Cypress and Sugar Land grams for wives and children; she has run the Army School, and worked for the World Bank for 28 years until retirement in 2012.

“Gopa children’s heri- Gita tage classes Srimad Meditation Center.

Classes for forat Marathi, Gujarati.

Chinmaya classes callover 281Center this It 7601 S.reviews.

Forest Gate Dr, year. for kidsKuteeram” 4and to 18 yrsand - meditation, and worked foradults; the World Bank 28Houston years until retirement in“From 2012.

The bookfor has received 60 positive To quote: tage classes and Srimad Bhagavatam classes.

Call 281Yoga and Meditation under guidMission is located Chinmaya or harekrishnadham @ also runs special events and proThe Woodlands, TX 77382 Yoga, slokas, storiesat from scrip- 433-1635 The book hasthis received overnarrative 60 positive reviews. quote: “From beginning to end delightful simply races To along, providing Bhagavatam classes.

CallSugar 281- gmail.com 402-6585; visitSynott www.godivinity.org ance

by Samani jisthis and discours-narrative Prabha, 10353 Road, grams like I-Choose, Meditation Temple Hours tures, Vishnu Sahasranam, bhabeginning to end delightful simply races along, providing an intimate, witty and scintillating story of a superhero “ Sam’s hu402-6585; visit www.godivinity.org (Global Organization forfun Divinity).

At 14102 witty Schiller Road (off Camps Land, TX 77498.

New members Houston Namadwaar and Gyanshala program Weekdays: jans, competitions and activi- es. an intimate, and scintillating story of a superhero “ Sam’s humanism, his notations on official files, his colorful language and his (Global Organization fordesk Divinity).

Hwy 6 bethouse Bellaire and Westpark may visit the meditation welcome be- A prayer where the Hare files, for agesAM 4-14 yrs.and JVB 7:30children AMcolorful - 9:30 ties.

Adult classes. manism, his notations on official his language his doodling”.

- doodling”.

77082).

Tel 281-596-9642. tween 8 a.m.at- 8:45 a.m. or 10:15 Rama Hare Krishna is located at 14102 Schiller Rd.in 5:30 PMis -dedicated 8.30 PM to Register www.ashirwadaSaumyakasi Sivalaya This book, with Maha-mantra over 200 photographs, the men Patanjali Yogpeeth a.m.-11:30 a.m. visit www. continuously chanted.

WeekHouston 77082.

Every Tuesday, Aartidefending @is7:30 PM Saumyakasi Sivalaya blessing.org or Please SriSivalaya Ravula 281This book, with over 200 photographs, dedicated to the men in Sri Saumyakasi is lo- isuniform who have laid down their lives their country and to Free Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun chinmayahouston.org or contact ends: 8-11 AM & 4-7 PM, Week9:30am-11:30am, Samaniji Saturday and Sunday 995-0930.

SriatSaumyakasi Sivalaya10353 is lo- their uniform whowho havehave laid down their livesso defending their country to cated Chinmaya Prabha, widows also sacrificed much. The book will and behas on attheir Aryawidows Samaj& from 8PM. amalso to 9:30 Bharati 281.933.0233 for 6-7have Weekly pravachan all adults interested 8:30autographed -for 1:30 PM Hare Krishna Dham cated atSutaria Chinmaya Prabha, who soAM much.

The book will be on Synott Road, Sugar Land,10353 TX days: sale at7-8 theAM discounted price ofsacrificed $35, and by the authors.

A a.m.

Anil children’s 281-579-9433. more information.

Kuteeram” heriin learning about Jainism.

EveryA Aarti at 12:00 PM Houston’s original Vedic temple, Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX sale atCall the discounted of $35, and autographed by the authors.

77478.

Temple timings: Monday to “Gopa major portion of the price royalty will be donated to the War Wounded For other free classes, call Indra Jeeyar Educational Trust tage classes and Srimad BhagavaWednesday there is Swadhyay 5:30 PM 8:30 PM ISKCON of Houston.

At 1320 W 77478. 9:00 Temple to Foundation major portion the and royalty donated to theAssn.

War Wounded Friday: AMtimings: - 12:00Monday Noon and of of India the will Warbe Widows Welfare of India.

281-537-0018.

Yoga/Herbal Translate knowledge intoNoon action classes. Call 281-402-6585; from 7-8pm and of meditaAarti @ 7:30 PM; Assn.

34th (77018).

Darshan Friday: 9:00 AM - Daily 12:00 and tam Foundation ofFor India and the Warclass Widows Welfare India.

5:00 -St. 8:00 PM Saturday and Sunproducts, call Shekhar 281-242classes every Sunday at 10:15 visit www.godivinity.org (Global tion from 8-9pm.

Every Thursday Contact 832-585--0001 & Arati Times: 4.30 a.m, 7 a.m, 5:008:30-2:00 - 8:00 PMPM Saturday and- 8:00 Sun- families who believe in Veerashaiva dharma (Basava dharma). Monthly day: and 5:00 5000. Web:forwww.pyptusa.org a.m 12Bharti p.m.noon, at Sri AshtalakDivinity). from 9:30-11am there is special ordiscussion temple@myhtw.net 8.30 a.m, 12 4.30 p.m, 7 Organization day:to 8:30-2:00 PM and 5:00 - 8:00 PM. Call Sutaria 281-568families whoprogram believe infor Veerashaiva (Basava Mahamane prayer anddharma on dharma).

Vachana Monthly Sahitya and www.DivyaProducts.com. shmi Temple, 10098 Synott Road, Saumyakasi Sivalaya Yoga class for Ladies only.

Every p.m, 9 p.m.

Sunday Festival: Temple PM. Call Bharti Sutaria832-541281-568- followed 1690 or Jay Deshmukh Mahamane programContact: for prayer andSwaminarayan discussion on Vachana Sahitya by Prasada. vsnahous ton@gmail.com or Jagadeesh Sathya Sai centers Sugar Land, Tx 77498.

Call 785 Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya is loSaturday, there is Yoga Class from 5.30 pm to 7.30 p.m.

Weekly Hindu Satsang at Shree Swami1690 oror Jay Deshmukh 832-541- Halyal 0059 visit www.saum followed

by Prasada. Contact: vsnahous ton@gmail.com or Jagadeesh 832-744-4166.

Sunday program held at two lo550 3621 or 832-334-9163.

Visit cated at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353 9-10am and Meditation from 10Gita classes for adults; call 281narayan Hindu Temple, under 0059 or visit www.saum Halyal 832-744-4166. yakasi.org. cations (North Houston: 12127 www.ashtalakshmi.org for regisSynott Road, Sugar Land, TX 10.30am.

Ist & 3rd Sundays, there 433-1635 or harekrishnadham @ Shree NarNarayan Dev Gadi kayakasi.org.

MarMonday Thoma Church LouettaTemple Rd, timings: Houston; South is tration.

77478.

Gyanshala Classes for7 Kids gmail.com lupur.

Opens daily from a.m.

Gandhi Library Mar Thoma Church Trinity 9:00 Mar Thoma Church every Sunday at 5810 Almeda Genoa Houston: 246 AM Fluor- 12:00 Daniel Dr, Vedanta Society to Friday: Noon ages 4-14yrs. from 10-12:15pm Houston Namadwaar to 12:30 p.m. and from 4 p.m.

Gandhi Library Mahatma Gandhi LibraryHousBook Suga Mar Church every Sunday at 5810 Almeda Rd.Trinity Sunday School 9:15 a.m.toMalayalam service at 9:30 a.m. Genoa on 1st Land, from pm Vedanta Greater 5:30 PM - Thoma 8:00at3:00 PM. Saturfollowed by Lunch.

Visit www.

A prayerSociety house ofwhere the Hare and to 8:30 p.m.

Daily aarti at 7on a.m.

Mahatma Gandhi Library Book Club: Meets 2nd Sunday of each Rd. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m.

Malayalam service at 9:30 a.m.

1st & 3rd Sunday.

Adult Bible class at 9:30 a.m.

English service at 10:30 5:30and pm.Sunday: Sai Spiritual Education ton, VSGH (official BranchMahaCen- day 9:00 AM - 2:00 jvbhouston.org or email info@ Rama Hare Krishna and 7 p.m.

Saturday sabha from Club: Meets 2nd Sunday of each month; 12:30 PM at Arya Samaj & 3rd Sunday.

Adult Bible class at 9:30 a.m.

English service at 10:30 a.m. on 2nd & 4th Sunday.

Call 713-991-1557 or 281-261-4603. classes study ter of Ramakrishna Math,chanted.

Belur), PM and for 5:00children; PM - 8:00 PM.circle For jvbhouston.org for more details. mantra is continuously 5p.m to 7 p.m. followed by aarti month;Lindita 12:30 PM at Arya Samaj Greater Houston, 13475 Schiller a.m.adults. on 2ndService & 4th Sunday.

Call or 281-261-4603. for programs 14809 has more information Contact 281--713-991-1557 Patanjali Yogpeeth Weekends: 8-11Dr. AM(77083), & 4-7 PM, at 7 p.m. and Maha-Prasad (free Greater Houston, 13475 Schiller Guruvayurappan Rd. Join& the discussion of the great 568-1690 food drives; lectures talks Sunday or Sri Jay & Deshmukh at Free YogaTemple Classes every Sat/Sun Weekdays: 7-8 on AMevery & 6-7 PM. food distribution dinner).

Website www.issotx.

Sri Guruvayurappan Temple Rd. thepm, discussion theArati great nursing man’s –of The Story Hours:home Monortovisits, Fri 6www.saua.m.

-8 a.m.at and 5:00Samaj p.m. to 8:308 p.m. tutoring 11 amJoin -autobiography 12 followed by visit Arya from am toWeek9:30 Weekly “Gopa Kuteeram” chil- 832-541-0059 org, phone (281) 530-2565. man’s autobiography – The Story of My Experiments with Truth.

Hours: Mon to Fri 6 a.m.

-8 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Weekends & Holidays: 6 a.m. to noon and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Bhajans at schools etc. Contact Sanjay a.m. Call Anil 281-579-9433. & Prasad; Bhagwad Gita For dren’s heritage classes andClass Sri- myakasi.org Sanatan Dharm of Tuesdays, My Experiments with Call Manish Wani ends &(North) Holidays: to noon p.m.

8:30 p.m.

Bhajans Saturdays 7 p.m. to6 8a.m. p.m.; Sundays 95:00 a.m. toclasses, 1to a.m.

Special poojas 832-687-6766 or and on 7:30 713-829-6979. pm - 8:30Truth. pm; Gupta Gauri Siddhivinayak Temple other free call Indra 281mad Bhagavatam classes.

Call CallGospel Manish 713-829-6979.

Maha Sabha Saturdays 7 p.m. to 8 to p.m.; Sundays 9 a.m. toFor 1 a.m.

Special (weekends and holidays) Choroon (Annaprasam) for poojas kids, Sondip Mathur 832-215and ofWani Srivisit Ramakrishna on Darshan from 7(South) a.m.

8 p.m.

537-0018.

Yoga/Herbal prod281-402-6585; www.godiWest Indian Religious Organiza(weekends and holidays) Choroon (Annaprasam) for kids, Thulabharam, Vahana Pooja, Nirapara.

Temple is located at 11620 8675 www.sairegion10.org.

Thursdays, 11 am - 12 pm. Rev. daily.

All major festivals as well ucts, call Shekhar 281-242-5000.

Gauri Siddhivinayak vinity.org (Global Organization tion called Sanatan Dharm Maha Thulabharam, Vahana Pooja, Nirapara.

Temple is located at 11620 Ormandy St (77035) Tel: 713-729-8994 email: temple@ guruvayur.us Sw. Atmarupanandaji, the Resi- as birthdays, naam karan, engage- www.pyptusa.org; www.DivyaSiddhivinayak Sadhu Vaswani Center forGauri Divinity).

Sabha Branch # 377guruvayur.us is located Ormandy St (77035) Tel: email: temple@ dent Monk, Temple gives allSivalaya classes, lec- ment and other ceremonies.

Call Products.com.

Sadhu Vaswani Center of713-729-8994 HousSaumyakasi Temple at 26100 Tina Lane, Katy, TX Darshan from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Preksha Meditation tures & talks. Ramnaam Pradip Pandya 832-466ton holds regular Satsang on 3rd Sri Saumyakasi SivalayaSankiris lo- Pandit 77494.

Durga Mata Pooja held Darshan from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Preksha Meditation daily.

All major festivals as well tan is at onChinmaya 1st Saturdays 6 pm - 7 9868 forfacilities puja andmonth ceremoTemple offorisYoga New ofother JVBand Preksha Center.

Classes Thursday of the daily MeditationHindu cated Prabha, 10353 every Friday from 7 pm to 9.30 daily.

All major festivals as well as birthdays, naam karan, engagepm.

Please visitSugar www.houstonveAt 7.30 5645p.m.

Hillcroft Ste 701, Woodlands facilities ofCall JVB Preksha Center.

ClassesAt for14102 Yoga andNew Meditation under guidance

by Meditation Samani jisThe and discourses.

Arti at 281-463Synott Road, Land, TX nies. pm. and Contact Ram-Dr, Sharma @ as birthdays, naam karan, engagement and ceremonies.

Call Houston, danta.org orother call 281988-7211.

TX 77036.

7601 S. Gate and Meditation under guidance Samani jisForest and discourses.

At 14102 Schiller Road (off Hwy 6 bet by Bellaire Westpark 77082).

Tel 0379 or e.mail ramolaj@aol.com 77478.

Temple timings: Monday 713-412-9985 ment and other ceremonies.

Call Pandit Pradip Pandya 832-466Society Veerashaiva The Woodlands, TX 77382 Schiller Road (offSamaja Hwy 6 bet Bellaire and Westpark - 77082). Tel to Friday: Jain 9 a.m.12 Noon and 5 281-596-9642.

Pandit Pandya 832-4669868 pujaofSaturday and otherand ceremoJain Society Houston, JSH, is VSNA Houston is a group of Temple Hours, Weekdays: 281-596-9642. p.m.

-for 8Pradip p.m.

Sun98688:30 for puja and other ceremonies.

At 701, families who believePatanjali located at5645 3905Hillcroft Arc Street in Veeras- Yogpeeth 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM day: a.m.-2 p.m. andSte 5Housp.m.

Exciting Summer Camp nies.

At 5645 Hillcroft Ste 701, haiva dharma (Basava Houston, TX 77036. ton Texas Key tenets dharma).

PMSamaj - 8.30 PM Patanjali Yogpeeth - 8 p.m.

Call77063.

Bharti Sutaria 281Free Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun5:30 at Arya from 8 am to 9:30 Houston, 77036. of JainismTX Non-violence Mahamane program for Aarti @ 7:30 PMfrom 568-1690 orare: Jay Deshmukh 832-- Monthly every Sat/Sun at Arya Samaj am to2819:30 a.m.Free CallYoga AnilClasses 281-579-9433.

For other free classes, call8Indra Veerashaiva Ahimsa, Philanthropy with mul- prayer and discussion on VachaSaturday and Sunday 541-0059 or visit Samaja www.saum a.m. Call Anil 281-579-9433.

For other free classes, call IndraWeb: 281537-0018.

For Yoga/Herbal products, call Shekhar 281-242-5000.

Veerashaiva ticity in views – Anekantvad, Sahitya For followed by www.DivyaProducts.com.

Prasada.

- 1:30281-242-5000.

PM VSNA Houston isSamaja a groupNo of na 537-0018.

Yoga/Herbal products,8:30 callAM Shekhar Web: www.pyptusa.org and yakasi.org. possessiveness - Aparigrah, Rightof Contact: vsnahous ton@gmail.

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Gauri Siddhivinayak Knowledge -- SamyakTemple Gyan, com or Jagadeesh Halyal 832- 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Darshan from 7 a.m. toDarshan, 8 p.m. 744-4166. WANT TO HOST YOUR SUMMER CAMP? Right Path – Samyak Aarti @ 7:30 PM; daily.

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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 • PAGE 19

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PAGE 24 20 • INDIA HERALD HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019 PAGE 2016 PAGE 24•• INDIA INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MARCH JULY 1, 30, 2015

Spring Branch Family Dentistry,P.A. 1111, Gessner, Suite B Houston, Texas 77055 (713) 461-8050 (713) 461-4747 WeWe Speak English, Hindi & Gujarati speak English & Gujarati CONVENIENT HOURS Monday: 9 am – 6 pm Tuesday: 9 am – 7 pm Wednesday: 9 am – 6 pm Thursday: 9 am – 7 pm Friday: 9 am – 4 pm Saturday: 9 am – 4 pm (Closed one Saturday a month) '

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