Source: news.bbc.co.uk

UNITED KINGDOM, March 2010: India’s southern state of Kerala may have hosted the largest gathering of women ever seen on the planet. Clad in traditional Kerala saris and bearing offerings of food, more than two million women thronged the state capital Trivandrum on Sunday.

The women braved searing heat to offer a special meal at the Attukal temple to Hindu Goddess Bhagavathy - one incarnation of the potent Goddesses Kali and Saraswati. They were seeking her blessing for the health and prosperity of their families - and the special meal, known as the pongala, was later distributed among family and friends back at home.

This is a unique festival the size of which is unmatched. Guinness Worlds Records certified the crowd strength was 1.5 million when it was assessed for the first time in 1997. Last year turnout was 2.5 million and this year, according to festival organizers, it was estimated to be 3 million. It is an elaborate logistical feat: almost 3,000 police, 600 of them women, were on duty around the clock. Two hundred priests positioned themselves at different points to sprinkle holy water on the pongala.

Dianne Jennet has been coming every year since 1997 from San Francisco. The collective spirituality she observed in female devotees at Attukal became the subject of of her PhD dissertation back in the United States. “There is nothing like this anywhere else in the world. It is amazing the way a whole city makes arrangements for women to make this offering. Nobody could imagine shutting down San Francisco for a day, blocking the vehicles for a women’s gathering,” she said.

Source: getahead.rediff.com

INDIA, February, 24, 2010: Karan Vir is 27 years old. In an interview, the young entrepreneur explains how he plans to change the face of the India comic book industry forever and, somewhat ostentatiously, declares that he wants to get an Oscar for India sometime soon. “I grew up listening to a lot of stories from the Indian epics from Amar Chitra Katha comics as well as the Lord of the Rings. Somewhere along the way the syntax of these tales began to enamour me. I learned to imagine and narrate tales myself,” says Vir.

His visiting card calls him a visionary and tells you that the man who it belongs to runs a comic book company called Vimanika. The Mumbai-based company has been in the business for about two years now and recently won the Golden Cursor Animation express CNBC TV18 Best Comics award for 2009.

“The eventual plan is to get a movie based on one of our comics, a movie that will be something like Avatar and get the Oscar for India,” says Vir.

Source: Religion News Service

UNITED STATES, March 2010: Canadian lawyer Kerry Gearin is planning to fly to Washington, D.C., this summer for a conference on Islamic family law, but the full-body scanners being deployed in some U.S. airports make her wonder if she’ll be forced to leave her modesty at home. “When I saw the pictures, I thought, it’s too much information,” said Gearin, a Muslim.

The scanners, which are produced for the Transportation Security Administration can detect items — guns or small containers, for example — or explosives hidden under clothing. The images are basically grainy outlines of the human body, but also show the outlines the flesh. To minimize passenger discomfort, screeners who view the images work in separate booths away from screening lines, and don’t see the passengers they scrutinize. All images are immediately deleted.

Concerns about the grainy body images produced by the scanners prompted the 18-member Fiqh Council of North America to issue a fatwa, or religious edict, which said the scanners violate Islamic law. Muslims, the fatwa said, should instead request a pat-down. “It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women.

Buddhism and Hinduism, however, seem to have fewer problems with the scanners. “Everything in Buddhism is a matter of intent. If the screening is done to oppress and in a way that is insensitive, then it’s bad,” said Andrew Olendzki, executive director of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Massachusetts. “But if it’s done to protect, and done respectfully, then it’s OK.” Modesty is also important in Hindu tradition, but it does not trump a serious security threat, said Suhag Shukla, managing director of the Hindu American Foundation. “Hindu tradition is replete with examples of sacrificing for the greater good,” she said.

Source: www.hinduismtoday.com

Oh, if you only knew yourselves! You are souls; you are Gods. If ever I feel like blaspheming, it is when I call you man.
   Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)

Source: www.indoamerican-news.com

HOUSTON, TX, USA, March 9, 2010: For the last 40 years, Indian-born parents have told the next generation stories of what Holi grand mela was like in India. This year’s Holi in Houston gives them a good idea.

“Over 11,000 people gathered at the Festival of Colors this year” said Lt. Hines of Sugar Land Police. Vijay Pallod of The Hindus Of Greater Houston proclaimed “This is the Largest Holi in the US. And we were happy to see at least 5% were non-South Asian!”

Pankaj Thakkar, owner of San Francisco’s Gold Palace exclaimed, “I flew to Houston just for Holi — there is no celebration like this in entire West Coast.” Holi 2010 rocked the Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land on Sunday February 28th, from 11AM - 4PM, organized by Houston’s leading Indian Radio Show, Masala Radio 1480 AM, and pioneer community organizations Gujarati Samaj of Houston and Indian Culture Center. Three days prior, there was snow in Houston. Then Sunday clouds disappeared forming the warmest day in 2010.

First-time attendees like Pankaj Malani were overwhelmed, “I was very impressed by how organized the Holi event was. It was a great opportunity to see kids and adults from our community enjoying themselves together on this festive occasion. The dances, skits and variety of food definitely added to the fun atmosphere.

The entire event was directed by Masala Radio owners Sunil and Sandhya Thakkar, and coordinated by Event Manager Shilpi Sheth. What’s Next? Masala Radio is scouting for venues that can support over 10,000 for its next event, Diwali 2010, the Festival of Lights, more Hindu-American than ever.