Readers in countries we visit are sometimes surprised when I tell them that HINDUISM TODAY is published all over the world. Well, almost. Each month we produce the paper in Hawaii and California and print it in San Francisco for North American subscribers. Then we make copies of the printer's negatives and send them by air courier to other countries where it is printed and distributed locally. Besides the North American Edition, we have the International Edition which goes to VIPs and institutions in 33 countries, the Malaysian Edition, the South African Edition and the Indian Ocean Edition, printed in Mauritius. With this July issue, we welcome our sixth regional edition to the family – the Australian Edition.
It is being published in cooperation with the Organization for Vedic Culture based in Queensland on Australia's beautiful Eastern coast. We welcome aboard Vamsivadana Suvasa Das, the inspiration behind this great endeavor, and his OVC band. They are dedicated to a non-sectarian vision of Sanatana Dharma, to universal values, to a oneness among all living beings and to holistic living for the upliftment of human civilization. Because of them, future issues of your Hindu family newspaper will carry more news of the growing temples, cultural event, visiting spiritual leaders and progressive movements Down Under. Australian readers will have yet another boon – a regional page which the Organization for Vedic Culture will provide covering news relevant to their area. Readers in other parts of the world may not know that there are over parts of the world may not know that there are over 45,000 Hindus in Australia, another 40,000 in nearby New Zealand and just a few islands away over 500,000 in Fiji.
We extend to our Australian and New Zealand readers this invitation: we urge you to participate by supporting the OVC and by writing articles, giving news from your community, bringing up controversial issues that are rarely talked about but need to be aired. Our news-gathering writers range from housewives to pundits, from businessmen to shastris, from scientists to Vedic astrologers, from medical physicians to Ayurvedic vaidyas. If you are 12 years old, 17, 24, 35 or 70 or beyond, write to us. The Hindu family paper is your voice to speak out and be heard.
The HINDUISM TODAY editorial staff follows a Hindu monastic tradition. This is our public service. Other monastic orders administrate schools, hospitals and orphanages. Our service is through publications, through keeping Hindus informed and working together, helping in small ways to promote the renaissance which Sanatana Dharma is enjoying as we near the 21st century. Though it takes over 80 full-time and part-time people around the world to get the paper into your hands, not one person lives or eats on any profits from this endeavor.
This month we also want to welcome abroad three new writers. Sadhaka Jothi Kathiresan has recently completed a dynamic mission in the country of Mauritius where most Hindus speak French. There he trained teachers over a period of ten years and put the Hindu teachings into the French language. Sadhaka Diksha Kandar, dearly loved by 1,500 families as a long-time priest of the first Hindu temple in America, in San Francisco, has joined the staff in Concord, California. Both have been monks in my monastic community for over twenty years. We welcome them, with all their experience and knowledge, into this new area of service. I know their input will make HINDUISM TODAY just a little bit more interesting, a little more profound.
We also take great pleasure in greeting Mr. C.S.H.N. Murthy of Hyderabad. Mr. Murthy is a man of many talents, a scientist who specializes in botany and a linguist in English, Telegu and Sanskrit. He is a free-lance journalist, too, and has written over 500 articles in Indian journals on popular science subjects. Books of his writings are being prepared for publication in India. Our readers enjoyed his major article and interviews on animal experimentation in Ayurveda in June, and this month he traveled to Kerala to cover the controversial yagna in which one thousand couples sought help in conceiving a child. Mr. Murthy is a grand addition to our staff. Welcome to the HINDUISM TODAY family, Mr. Murthy!
I would like to say a few words about our Sri N.K. Murthi in Madras who has taken up the challenge of distributing several thousand of our International Edition to religious and political leaders throughout India each month. He has been with us for nearly two decades and is doing a noble religious service in working for a greater Hindu Solidarity.
Networking is the modern way of moving humanity forward. Since one out of every six people on the planet is a Hindu, we have a lot of networking to do. So, don't be shy. Be bold. You and your friends and their friends are all invited to write and talk with out international staff. If you're not sure how to prepare an article, the staff in Concord has developed a Writer's Guideline that gives all the details. They will be glad to send it to you if you request it.
Article copyright Himalayan Academy.