Source: www.trinidadexpress.com

TRINIDAD/TOBAGO, January 31, 2020 (with Paras Ramoutar, HPI Staff): A mobile mandir with a 7-foot Lord Hanuman forms part of the Lord Hanuman Yatra which is now circling Trinidad with over 200 vehicles.

The project, organized by the Hindu Festival Society led by its president Tribhavan Seegobin and the El Socorro Hindu Mandir led by Sathyacharya Pundit Dr Bramhanand Rambachan, commenced on Thursday and runs for seven days and nights.

Pundit Dr. Bramanand Rambachan said that the response of the people to the yatra was overwhelming. Scores of devotees forming part of this pilgrimage stay at Hindu homes at nights as they trek across the country. Devout Hindus join the pilgrimage when it passes through their respective communities offering them water, food, flowers and sweets.

Thirbhawon Seegobin, said that the pundits of the Society’s Brahm Sabha came up with the idea for the restoration of peace and civil harmony in society by turning to God for rescue and strength. The goal of the exercise is to reignite the message, devotion and spirituality of Lord Hanuman in the minds of all the socio-economic and cultural groups in the country, and as well a national prayer to bring relief to all the problems that affect Trinidad and Tobago.

Source: schott.blogs.nytimes.com

NEW YORK, USA, February 1, 2010: Innovation tailored to the demands and incomes of consumers in India is the new big trend in business. Global companies are now bending over backwards to innovate for India - there’s even a new term for it, “Indovation” - and the key theme is to skin prices down till they fit into the Indian hip pocket, while creating a product, often from scratch, that fits Indian needs like a glove.

Reporting from New Delhi for The Financial Times, James Lamont commented on the efforts of designers to produce products which appeal to India’s vast and often poor domestic market.

Areas where Indovations are springing up include solar power, mobile telephony, medical equipment and toilet technology. Indian engineers have also invented a battery-powered ultra-low cost fridge resistant to power cuts, an automatic teller cash machine for rural areas and even a flour mill powered by scooter.
Lamont explained, “In a country where the bulk of the population lives in the countryside and where an estimated 300m people live on a $1 a day, a common factor is a low spend and price sensitivity.”

The title of C.K. Prahalad’s book “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” has entered the lexicon of modern India as a business mantra. One of the book’s case studies examines Unilever’s successful pricing and packaging of fast-moving consumer goods in small, affordable units.

Source: www.clicanoo.com

REUNION, January 20 2010: The Temple of Siva Soupramanien de Saint-Andre is located in the Petit Bazar neighborhood at 1360 Avenue Ile de France, in the very small island of Reunion, a French island of about 800,000 population located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about 200 bkilometres (120 mi) southwest of Mauritius, the nearest island.

The temple opened on August 25, 1900 and was rededicated on July 6, 2003 after five years of rebuilding, restoration work and new construction by skilled Indian workers from Tamil Nadu. Shrines in the temple are for Ganesha, Muruga, Siva, Maha Kali and Mariamen.

The ten-day celebration of “Le Tai Poussam Cavadee” happens at the temples of Saint-Andre and Saint Louis on opposite sides of Reunion Island. The kavadi festival is celebrated each year by the Tamil community of Reunion, in honor of Muruga. Ten thousand people are attend on Thai Pusam day, January 29th, when morning grand abhishekam happen at 5am. On the tenth and final day, the kavadi procession will leave the temple around 6:30AM and return after 13 hours.

Source: Religion News Service

U.S., January 22, 2010: Movies about aliens, air travel, cooking, and the war in Iraq were all among the most “spiritually literate” films of 2009, according to the Web site SpiritualityandPractice.com. Chief among them is “Avatar,” a movie where the Hindu concept of the same name is loosely used.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, the Web site’s founders, say the 10 top spiritual movies all “raise our consciousness to a fuller engagement with our world” by depicting characters searching for meaning and applying moral values to daily life.

James Cameron’s blockbuster “Avatar,” which pits avaricious humans against pantheistic aliens, was “the spiritual surprise of the year,” said Mary Ann Brussat, for creating an alternate world where the “interconnectedness of all beings” is celebrated, and the natural habitat is revered. The nine other films on the list are available on their website.

Source: HPI

KAUAI, HAWAII, January 24, 2010: Hinduism Today is planning an article on how to deal with the cold winter months in North America. How do Hindus deal with what is commonly called “cabin fever,” being stuck inside for weeks or months on end by cold, wind and snow? How can Hindu philosophy help us carry on work and worship when the weather is harsh?

Please e-mail your input to ar@hindu.org