Thursday, December 7, 2006

Lahari initiative..

LAHARI - means is to flow. All of us need a flow in our lives - be it a monotonous flow or a changing flow. Just like how a flowing river is ever vibrant, our lives is more meaningful is we have a flow in our lives. This flow becomes more vibrant, more expanding, more influential more successful, more enligtening if we use life's flow is useful ways. In what ways can we chanelize our energies so that the flow of our life becomes more meaningful? I am listing only two of them for an instance

Danam - Donate to needy. By giving one gains happiness. The satisfaction that one accrues from donating a needy person cannot be expressed in words but has to experienced. More so, it brings to us a sense of responsibilty to this society, a feeling of empathy within ourselves, a kind of thanksgiving to GOD, for having kept us on the giving end.. .

Chanting - Well, you cant find a better way to feel more energetic, to feel more confident, to feel more secure and to become a more enligtened person. Chanting plays a very important role in increasingthe positive vibrations around us. It always gives a feel good factor. This is the first step towards realising the absolute and to go into eternal bliss. The chanting can be in the form of slokas, vedas, music, understanding vedanta - Everything takes your closer to the devine. The level of complexity of each ofcourse varies and has to be slowly graduated.

The LAHARI initative is one such sincere effort to teach small children slokas and to imbibe in them the essence of hindu culture, the teach them power of chanting, to make them come back to what they have to be. When I say come back to where they have to be - I say it with a deep sense of shame and regreat. What is happening to our children. Well, not to blame the children, the first blame has to be on the parents.

I have been taking sloka classes for small children for the past one year and I really feel, children mould the way you shape them. Children as small as 3 years old chant BagavadGita, nama ramayana and other slokas. Parents who bring them are really surprised to see their tiny tots sing and chant so well...There is a great sense of happiness to me also as I see children chants so well..and they come with so much interest and enthusiasm...I am sure these children will be more balanced in life, more mature, will be able to face the challenges of the deadly world in a more effective and confident way and are bound to be good mothers and father for the next generation.

So , teach children the essence of our religion, the greatness of our culture, tradition and the pride in talking in mother tongue.

The first step towards chanting and getting the power of chanting is to encourage speacking mother tongue at home. Speaking in mother tongue gives a child more confidence, make his/her speech more clear, and helps the child to be a better commuinicator and will definitely will have a better flair to learn other languages. But that is the not the order of the day today. Today, parents feel so proud to say that they talk only english at home and not their mother tongue. They feel it is below their prestige to speak in mother tongue. What a shame!!!!

Lahari photos can be viewed at

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2094571895

Vasudha Sundar

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