Researcher, Author, Video Content Creator, Social Entrepreneur
I remember having read an old Native American tale where a grandpa explained to his little grandson about the two great beings within each one of us. One is the angel and the other is the beast constantly waging a war between themselves. The little boy curious wanted to know which one usually wins. The… Continue reading Cross the negativity
The poor humble cow seems to be in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. The cow is worshipped by millions of devout Hindus in India. The very sight of a cow first thing in the morning is supposed to confer good fortune. The mere thought of slaughtering cows or feeding on it is… Continue reading The Holy Cow
This year on the holy day of Mahashivaratri, I participated in the opening of a new temple in the town of Kericho. The Kamleshwar Mahadev Temple built by our Foundation came up in 2013 in Kibigori near Kisumu. Ever since, atleast four other temples have come up in Kenya and I feel very happy that many… Continue reading Of Temples Old and New
Who would have not enjoyed seeing the movie Oh my god? It portrays pseudo-religious beliefs and questions the meaninglessness of various rituals. The movie is actually based on a Gujarati play Kanjee viruddha Kanjee which was directed by Umesh Shukla who also directed the Hindi movie version. So when I got a chance to meet Umesh… Continue reading Meeting with Umesh Shukla
The holy Vaikunta Ekadashi day on 8th January 2017 was a memorable one for me. I happened to visit the magnificent ISKCON temple in Bengaluru and felt I was literally going through the Vaikunt dwar. This holy day is dedicated to the worship of Lord Vishnu. The Vaikunt dwar or the special north side entrance… Continue reading Tuning in to Krishna Consciousness
This year I attended the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas for 2 days in the garden city of Bengaluru. The weather was pleasant and the Exhibition Centre where the grand event took place was spacious and lovely. It was very well organized and I can see that the event is getting bigger and bigger every year. It… Continue reading The Global Indian
First and formost, the movie is very well made. The concept, storyline and characters are really upto the expectations. My reason to write about Dangal is, a scene wherein father asks daughters to eat meat for more protien so that they can perform better in wresting. It is again a propoganda of requirement of high… Continue reading Factual error in hindi movie Dangal
A family is such a wonderful place for each one of us to grow and evolve as a person. It takes a lot of love, commitment and effort to keep the family as a unit. The famous American entrepreneur and motivational speaker Jim Rohn says “Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden.… Continue reading Family love
Today is the twelfth day of the waxing moon (Shukla Paksha Dwadashi) of the month of Kartika. According to the Skanda Purana, the wedding of Tulsi with the Shaligram (sacred stone, symbolising Lord Vishnu) is celebrated today. The holy basil or tulsi is a symbol of purity and by wearing a garland of fresh tulsi… Continue reading The Holy Tulsi
We love to celebrate in a group, celebrate life, celebrate festivals, generally congregate in temples for puja, bhajan, kirtan, discourse and so on. Buddhists, participate in group chants and meditation. For the Jains, congregating together is more a means to spiritual and karmic development through meditation, offerings, and prayer. Sikhs congregate in temples where they… Continue reading Group celebrations and Prayers
The festive season is always a wonderful time where we spend on clothes, sweets and gifts. Exchanging these with our friends and family and gifting something special to our near and dear ones has always been in our culture. It is also that time of the year when we express our thanks to all those… Continue reading The Joy of Giving
It has been a memorable dassera for me as I got to perform the Chandi Yagna at the Sanatan Hindu Union temple on Vijayadasami day. As I was participating my mind went back to how our religion has so many wonderful events like these to purify our body and uplift our soul. These are meant… Continue reading Of Homas and Yagnas
An excellent opportunity came my way to celebrate Vijaya dashmi by getting a chance to do dashera havan at sanatan hindu union temple today. Truly worth my time and all the efforts. Kudos to the ladies wing for preparing such a delicious food for more than 800 people. This time we were fortunate to get… Continue reading Dashera celebrated with havan
Most innovations have come out of cheap alternatives when people worked under great resource constraints but had to innovate to come out of trying situations. This is known as jugaad and is now accepted as a promising alternative which is also cost effective and works well in Indian situations. In the West, scientists sit in… Continue reading The spirit of Jugaad
Recently there was a discourse series at Pushti Marg Haveli in Nairobi. I was very fortunate to attend these lectures. The theme was the love of the gopis for Krushn in Gopi Geet. Pujya Jejeshree conducted the discourses and in his usual style explained so beautifully all the verses and dwelt at length on the… Continue reading The Bhakthi of the Gopis
Vaishali K. Shah 