Mother's Day, Hindu Style

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"Mohan Gupta" <mgupta (AT) rogers (DOT) com><info (AT) a4india (DOT) com>Subject:

Unsatisfactory programs on Mother's DayTue, 3 May 2005 00:26:24 -0400

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day

Mother's Day, Hindu

Stylehttp://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/

8629246.htm?1cPHILADELPHIA, USA, May 12, 2004: On Saturday, Savita Patel got

the usual Mother's Day treatment from her three children: flowers, dinner and a

gift certificate to a spa. Yesterday, Patel, a Langhorne resident who was born

in India, was honored in a very different way. She, with 50 other mothers, was

the focus of a Mathru puja - a prayer for mothers - at the Chinmaya Mission

Tri-State Center, a Hindu temple in Langhorne.

During the hour-long religious ceremony presided over by Swami Siddhananda, a

Hindu teacher who lives at the temple, the children knelt in front of their

mothers. They symbolically washed their mothers' feet with a sprinkle of water,

gave them each a gold coin and fruit, and anointed their foreheads with a

vermilion paste. The children bowed their heads to the floor in reverence and

were in turn blessed by their mothers, who touched their foreheads with grains

of rice that had been soaked in oil and turmeric, a ginger-like herb. There

was candle lighting and a song chanted in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language

that the Hindu holy texts are written in.

The ceremony was "a chance to show your mom how much you appreciate her, but in

a more traditional way," said Savita Patel's daughter Amika, a senior at

Neshaminy High School. "It's not just gift-giving." Her mother agreed. The

other Mother's Day treats were welcome, she said, "but this is something

extra-special to me." Members of the Langhorne temple, a converted house on

Bridgetown Pike, said there was no exact equivalent to Mother's Day in India.

Yesterday's ceremony was adapted by Swami Chinmayananda, the founder of

Chinmaya Mission, from ceremonies that honor the Hindu gods.

"Mother is next to the God" in importance, said Bensalem resident Ramesh Choksi,

one of the board members of the mission. In Hindu prayer ceremonies, "usually,

we invoke the Gods to the seat of honor and offer our respect," said Nagaraj, a

temple member from King of Prussia who goes by one name. "In this case, we

invoke the mother to the seat of honor and offer her our respect." The words in

the Sanskrit chant that the children sang to their mothers bore out that

sentiment: "By mother's blessings alone men become worshipful in this world and

happy in the other world," it said in part. "He who sees God in his own mother,

he alone sees Him everywhere as well." Hari Pillai, 21, a Drexel University

student from Upper Darby, said that it was important to him, and especially to

his mother, to add the religious element to Mother's Day. "You can say, 'Mom,

have a good day,' but you can also pray for her, too," he said. "You need to

connect with her more spiritually... it's adding Hinduism to make it more

special."

 

Malaysia Hindu Sangam Announces Hindu Dharmic Son and Hindu Dharmic Daughter

Awardshttp://www.dharmicaward (AT) hindusangam (DOT) org.myMALAYSIA, September 15, 2004:

Datuk A. Vaithilingam, President of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, spoke at a

recent press conference to give more information on the Hindu Dharmic Son/Hindu

Dharmic Daughter Award to be held on January 16, 2005. "This award is in our

opinion, a very timely one, and we hope that this will go further in

encouraging our youths to see that they care for

their beloved aged parents. Of late, there is a trend of many youths after

marriage of moving apart and away from their parents, sometimes even to the

extent of sending their parents to homes for aged people," said Vaithilingam.

"The Malaysia Hindu Sangam hopes that the Hindu Dharmic Award will highlight

the fact that there are still many youths who have gone out of the way to look

after their parents who had brought them up to a good life in this world

through lots of sacrifices," he added. "Although we have the intention of

awarding one Hindu Dharmic Son and one Hindu Dharmic Daughter Award, we wish to

assure that there is a possibility to make more awards if it is proven that

there are other equally able applicants," added Vaithilingam.

 

Media and commercial people do not present Program about Mother’s Day satisfactorily

 

All the Bharatiya media people present western point of view and western way of

celebrating Mother’s Day. All western festivals including Mothers Day, Father’s

Day, Valentine’s Day have been created from commercial point of view. Getting

delivered greetings cards, flowers, fruits, sweets, Pizza etc. is western way

of celebrating a festival, which is purely commercialization. Even many western

people do not appreciate or like such a concept or such a way of celebrating a

function.

All the Christian festivals like Mother’ Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day are

based on two facts, spreading Christianity and Commercialism. These festivals

have got no religious importance.

The western society is based on selfishness where as Indian society earlier was

based on sacrifice and care. Western people give respect and gifts to their

parents on particular days of the year, and ignore and treat them like slaves

for the rest of the year. Though philanthropy does not lack in western

societies, there is hardly any respect for family system. Every second woman

now days you can find divorced in western countries like US and Canada. Our

Bharatiya youth is getting spoiled very fast due to western culture and western

system.

One western father living in Canada, due to this commercial aspect of western

festivals, deprived his son millions of dollars of worth property and other

assets. His wife has already died and he has only one son who lived in another

city. His only son use to get delivered Pizza, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and

Flowers etc. instead of visiting him. He used to live only about one and hours

drive away from his father, but at most of the time at festival occasions, he

was busy with his own family and friends. The western father wanted his son’s

personal presence, he wanted to talk to him, and he wanted that his son should

pay him his personal respect.

The western father was not short of money, nor was he expecting any favor or

gift from anybody. At one Christian festival occasion he got so annoyed with

his son that he deprived his son from his inheritance and made a new will,

where he gave his all assets to a person who was looking after him. That man

was not related to him.

In Bharatiya concept, everyday is Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and

Valentine’s Day. On Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, media people should tell the

audience to respect their parents throughout the year, look after them in their

old age rather than putting them at the Old Age houses, do not use their parents

as servants or Ayas for looking after their children.

 

Saint Asha Ram Bapu in his one discourse says that in Hinduism

one person wanted that the skin of his body be used for making the shoes for

his mother. Without going into detail, I would like to say to media people.

“Try to create good Sanskars in Bharatiya community rather than promoting

western concept of everything, including English language. Also stop making or

giving commercial aspect to festival by promoting delivery of commercial goods

and do not confine yourself to related film songs concerning festival”.

Like Soap operas Young and Restless, Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, you

people can give lots of programs about Mothers Day, Fathers Day, by telling

stories about Shravan Kumar and other episodes from the Hindu religious books

and be quoting examples of daily life. Hindu religion can provide lots of

material for creating respect for parents and other human beings. Many people

desert their mothers in their old age on religious places in stead of looking

after them in their old ages. Media people should broadcast such programs that

inspire people to look after their parents in their old ages.

'Times New Roman'">

Reasons why you do not want Indians especially Hindus ape the west and follow

their cults!!1. They always insult us saying that we worship false gods, devil

worshippers, and we are in darkness.2. They spit on our temples and gods and

refuse to eat our temple Prasad!!3. Western countries never gave validity even

for Hindu marriages.4. Western countries never celebrate our festivals and then

why should we be so cheap to celebrate their festivals?5. Whenever we have our

festivals, Christians cook up their own festival so that they followers may not

celebrate ours.So that the children may look after their parents in their old

age

and pay respect to them throughout their life, they should take the following

steps:Helping You Celebrate Your Cultural

Heritagehttp://www.MeeraPublications.comUSA, February 11, 2005: Here are some

suggestions from Meera Publications ("source") to give your child's birthday

celebrations a Hindu touch:1) Add "OM" or another Hindu symbol on the birthday

cake along with Happy Birthday.2) Light a lamp instead of blowing out candles.

(Hindus symbolize lighting a lamp with a new life, a new beginning, or spreading

knowledge. According to one source, blowing out candles was a purely

commercial symbol introduced by the Kodak Company in

order to have a "photo moment").3) During your next trip to India register

your child's birthday in one of the temples of your choice. This will bring a

special something - usually a bili patra or a flower as a Prasad - to your

child on or around the birthday to mark the day.4) Visit the temple on the

birthday. If you can do this on every birthday, this small gesture will be

ingrained in a child's memory forever.5) Teach your child to take the blessings

of the elders - parents included - in the family by touching their feet. If

grandparents are away, have your child call them to seek their blessings.

Of course, just like everything else in child rearing, this is much easier if

you start when the child is young.Some of the other topics discussed in this

newsletter are: Traits of a Happy Family; Vasant Panchmi - the spring festival

and Book of the month. To to this free newsletter write to

mail (AT) meerapublications (DOT) com

 

Quality of programs presented in Hindi services

All the Christian festivals like Mother’ Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day are

based on two facts, spreading Christianity and Commercialism, These festivals

have got no religious importance. Valentine’s Day is a vulgar festival, which

many Christians themselves say. On one Mother’s Day, one lady announcer of a

world Hindi service of a foreign country on a program heard world wide said

that her children took her to dinner and she has got good time. She gave the

details of having her good time with her children.

I would like to ask the lady announcer and the producer of international Hindi

Radio program which is hard all over the world, is it the right way to present

the program to Hindus, for whom every day of the year is mother’s Day, Father’s

Day.

The right way is broadcast some songs, which depict the importance of mothers in

Hindi or go to some saints or ashrams and ask them what is the Hindu way of

celebrating Mother’s Day. Another way is ask the general public, how they

celebrated Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Some people quit their lucrative jobs

to look after their old parents. Go and interview such people.

Every year thousands of old women are deserted by their children at religious

places to die or beg. Go and interview such old ladies and ask them what they

did wrong in bringing their children. Go and interview those people and

organizations who, look after these deserted women. On Mother’s Day or Father’s

Day give suggestions and advise to your listeners to look after their old

parents so these people may be looked after in their old by their own children.

This would be the right way of presenting Mother’s Day or Father’s Day to

Hindus.

Hindi media people are providing snake oil to their listeners, which are just

like free drug to Hindi listeners, but the real purpose is to destroy Hindi

language and Hindu culture.

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