Report of Activities January - April 2006

January 2006
On 1st January many devotees gathered at Rikhiadham – described
by the kanyas as the right place at the right time – to celebrate the New Year in the august presence of Sri Swamiji. Amidst the enthralling kirtan ‘Gam ganapataye namo namah’ by the kanyas everyone sang and danced with joy to be amidst Sri Swamiji.

This was followed by an illuminating and inspiring discourse by Sri Swamiji who said, “Feast for the mind is not roti or bread; food for the mind is thought. Just as unhealthy food causes food poisoning in the body, unhealthy and negative thoughts breed all sorts of illnesses in the mind, which then cannot carry the burden of life. Your mind is the most important substance in your life. A car, howsoever trendy and sophisticated, depends primarily on the driver. Similarly, the chariot of your life (the body) pulled forth by five horses (the senses), driven by the charioteer or the driver (the mind) and directed by the traveller using the chariot (the atman), depends primarily on the mind for a safe and smooth journey. Hence, build up your mind with good thoughts. Anything that you do for others, not yourself, can safely be considered to be a good thought and action. It is such actions which will help purify your thoughts, which in turn strengthen the mind, enabling it to take the traveller in the chariot (the atman) to its destination safely.”

In continuation of the Sat Chandi Mahayajna, yajna prasad, consisting of blankets, quilts, clothing and other household items, continued to be distributed until Makar Sankranti to over 50,000 people from the neighbouring villages of Rikhia panchayat. Over 2,000 students and their teachers from the schools in Rikhia and neighbouring panchayats received school bags, stationery, woollens, toys and toiletries.

On Makar Sankranti 500 new kanyas and batuks between the age of 7 to 12 were selected to join the English classes at the ashram. Eager and excited children thronged the ashram gates on this auspicious day to join in the chanting of the Sundar Kand from the Ramacharitamanas. As a token of their entry into the ashram they were given designer class World Yoga T-shirts, contributed by Kamal and Shaku Nainani of Spain. The senior citizens of Rikhia panchayat also received their monthly pension and prasad consisting of grains, utensils and clothes on this day and over 1,000 mothers of Rikhia panchayat received jewellery and saris. The computer classes also restarted from 16th January.

More kanyas and batuks who have acquired proficiency in English were admitted to the computer classes. The requirement of additional computers for the increase in students was met by devotees from Bangalore who donated six computers to the ashram forthis purpose. This year, under the inspiration of Sri Swamiji, many new activities were introduced to the kanyas and batuks. Surya namaskara with mantras, chanting of the entire Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana, as well as havan is a part of their daily program in the ashram.

In addition, audio-visual films, animated movies and documentaries are shown to them each Sunday. With the kind contribution of a DVD player by Mrs Kavita Chandorkar from Mumbai, Sivananda Math has finally opened a whole new world in front of these children. Films ranging from ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Lord of the Rings’, ‘Baby’s Day Out’, ‘Home Alone’, and animated films ‘Ramayana’, ‘Hanuman’, ‘Krishna Sudama’ as well as informative films from National Geographic on planets, oceans, seas, flora and fauna are being shown to these children. The response has been unimaginable.

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