Letters From India

A Community in the Making

2012-01-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

I include below a short photo essay by Maitreyi Cooper of building progress at our community in the countryside outside of Pune, India. Nayaswami Maitreyi and husband Michael are devotees from the UK, who left their families to live in Ananda's Kriya Yogashram, last September. Michael has taken on the role of Maintenance Manager for the community's varied projects, incuding overseeing the

FDI in Retail: Is Walmart Coming?

2011-12-08T01:40:00.000-08:00

Every foreigner residing in India discovers things don’t work the same here as they do back home, especially if “home” is America or Europe. You have to learn a new way of navigating the tasks taken for granted elsewhere: where to buy groceries or any of the things needed to furnish your home, how to get around, how to hire someone to fix things or find the basics needed to do the job yourself,

A Flood of Books

2011-07-01T01:40:00.000-07:00

The monsoon reached Delhi last Sunday with a drenching three hour downpour. The dry earth soaked it up as fast it came down and two days later it rained again. On Wednesday Priti from the Dihika School phoned to tell us two feet of water was in her basement and our Publications Department's books were getting soaked. Grabbing all hands available--cook, cleaner, guard, maintenance and our

The Wishing Tree

2011-06-16T03:49:00.000-07:00

I stopped by The Wishing Tree last week to buy a couple of gifts for when I go to the USA in July. It had been a year or two since I had last visited Ananda's "boutique" in the Metropolitan Mall in Gurgaon, and I was impressed by how beautiful the store is now and what a nice, peaceful vibration it has. The colors are so attractive and the displays nicely arranged. "Uncle" Vijay has done a

Guru Kripa

2011-05-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

This is a story told to me by Jasbir Singh, a friend of Ananda Sangha in Gurgaon and the owner of a fabric shop in the Qutab Plaza Mall, a short distance from our Gurgaon ashram. I was first introduced to Swami Kriyananda in 2004. At that time, I had made kurtas for a few of the Ananda monks and one day a group of them came to my shop and said that Swami Kriyananda wanted to meet me. I had

Back in Gurgaon

2011-05-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

Sadhana Devi and I shifted last month to Gurgaon from Pune after being away since 2008. In our absence, the Ananda center/ ashram went through significant changes, making our return like coming back to a different place. Even Delhi seems to have changed for the better but my guess is that these transformations are more an outward projection of what has happened within me. I’ve changed. Our

The Price of Onions

2011-01-28T23:45:00.000-08:00

The price of onions doubled in December to over Rs.50/kg, causing an agony of hand wringing and finger pointing in the press. What started as a minor price fluctuation became over the course of a month the focus of a national debate. What was going on? Why so much talk about onions? On the surface, it might appear to be simply about onions but like many things in India, it’s complicated.

Community Building--Lessons Learned

2010-12-29T02:16:00.000-08:00

On the 23rd, Dharmadas and Nirmala led our annual Christmas meditation at the community in Watunde Village, thirty kilometers outside of Pune. As I sat there, I couldn’t help but gaze from time to time out the window from Swami Kriyananda’s home to the hillside below. It’s changed so much from when I first arrived that it’s hard to believe it’s been only a little over two years. It seems much

Wagah

2010-11-29T03:52:00.000-08:00

At the height of the British Raj, North India extended from the Bay of Bengal to beyond the Kyber Pass, encompassing a vast swath of territory that had been ruled by a long succession of dynasties, sultanates, and emperors. Because the mountains block the north and deserts are to the southwest, and because the flow of the Ganges is to the east, the natural movement of peoples has been in an east

The Giants Win

2010-11-05T03:10:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I grew up as a sports fan in California and remain, to this day, a fan of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. My dad took me to my first game in 1955 when the Giants played an exhibition game in L.A. against the Cleveland Indians. Willie Mays became my hero and I was hooked. Thank God the Indians didn't have a star player like Willie or I might still be rooting for

The Golden Temple of Amritsar

2010-10-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

It takes less than six hours by train to travel the 450 kilometers northwest from Delhi to Amritsar in the state of Punjab. Gazing out the window at the passing landscape, it’s easy to see why this region has long been considered the “breadbasket” of India, tempting waves of invaders through the ages. Nature has blessed Punjab with fertile soil and abundant water from the five rivers that cross

Ganesh Chaturthi

2010-09-22T01:47:00.000-07:00

Today is “Submersion Day,” the closing of Ganesh Chaturthi, the ten-day festival of Ganesha. To cries of “Ganpati Bappa! Morya!,” statues of Ganesh were paraded to the Mutha River for immersion in the fast flowing water, dissolving the earthly form temporarily inhabited by the Divine and releasing Him back into the Infinite. Many came as families lovingly carrying their small household idols to

Jugaad

2010-09-08T09:03:00.001-07:00

(The Photos are of Pashan Gaon, where we live in Pune.)Jugaad is a word that characterizes an approach to life in India. Roughly translated, it means “improvisation” or “an ability to make do” in the midst of challenging circumstances. It can be thought of as the spirit that says, “No problem” when the lights go out, the water tap is dry and the roads are flooded again. It’s the village

A Short Trip To Delhi

2010-08-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

Last week, Sadhana Devi and I flew to Delhi for our annual pilgrimage to the Foreign Registry Office in Gurgaon to renew our visas. In most circumstances, I’m not a fan of the national capital, much preferring Pune for its weather, friendlier atmosphere and all-around ambiance. Yet, for once, I have to say I found Delhi beautiful. It was the cleanest I have ever seen it and very green after the

Land Progress during the Monsoon

2010-08-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

The rain dance has begun,The cripple is dancing,The old have thrown away their staffs,The cattle have stood up,The calves are runningIn joy-filled circles. HYMN TO THE MONSOON-GODDESS S. D. PrasadI’ve written before about the monsoon so please forgive me if you find this repetitive but I find it such an enjoyable time of year that I can't help but remark upon it again.

Dr. Aditya and the Clinic - Part 2

2010-07-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

The following is the second half of a two part interview with Dr. Aditya Gait, a resident medical doctor and member of Ananda’s Kriya Yoga Community in the countryside outside of Pune, India. Dr. Aditya is also a Brahmachari member of the Ananda Renunciate Order. J: There are good hospitals in both Pune and in Lavasa, but what sort of medical facilities are in the neighborhood of Ananda? Are

Dr. Aditya Gait and the Clinic - Part 1

2010-07-07T23:51:00.000-07:00

Aditya Gait is a member of Ananda Sangha helping to build a “Kriya Yoga Community” in the countryside outside of Pune, India. He trained as a medical doctor before joining Ananda and is now beginning a medical clinic to serve the needs of local villagers and community members. Aditya is a brahmachari member of the Ananda Renunciate Order and, in addition to his medical service, is actively

To Burn or Not to Burn

2010-04-04T07:58:00.000-07:00

That is the question.If you should drive to our property in the months of March and April, you will see the villagers harvesting sugarcane, wheat ripening, bullocks plowing fields, blackened hillsides and a hazy sky. If driving at night, you might even see a glow of grass fires, a common feature of the hot season in Maharashtra as farmers ready their fields for

Mud Trucks

2010-03-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

Driving to Watunde Village each morning, it’s not unusual to see large trucks headed the other way into town, loaded with soil destined for landscaping projects at the many construction sites throughout Pune. Day by day, without pause, topsoil is strip-mined from the countryside to feed the growth ofIndia's cities, leaving behind a moonscape of gouged pits and subsoil fields. No one

Keeping it legal

2009-10-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

It seems that every Ananda community, whether in Assisi, California, Seattle or India, must deal with the problems of government regulations, bureaucratic oversight, difficult neighbors and legal hurdles. Things are no different in Pune although I find the form these take here to be more entertaining (or exasperating) than I’ve been accustomed to expect.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

There was an incident in the city of Mangalore in southern India that recently stirred up a national controversy, revealing tensions swirling beneath the surface of modern Indian society. It seems that a group of thugs associated with the Sri Rama Sena, a conservative social/political group, ransacked a local nightclub and roughed up a group of women seen drinking on the premises. Their

Observations on Driving

2009-01-08T06:49:00.000-08:00

Sadhana Devi’s first impression of India was of her ride from the Delhi airport to Gurgaon. This was before the new expressway was built, with the road still narrow, bumpy and chaotic. It was late at night and I was escorting her to the ashram through four lanes of interweaving traffic, bumper-to-bumper and moving at a snail’s pace. “Traffic’s bad

Building Community in Pune - Dec. 2008

2008-12-24T06:16:00.000-08:00

I’ve always loved the story Swamiji tells of the time when Paramhansa Yogananda happily showed Rajarsi Janakananda his newly painted quarters at Mt. Washington. Praising the painter’s handiwork, Master marveled, “And to think it only took him a day.” Rajarsi was at a loss for words as his gaze fell upon an unpainted room, still awaiting the painter’s brush. Master’s consciousness was in

I Shift to Pune

2008-10-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

As I write this, aerial bombs right outside my window and masses of fire crackers are exploding in a cacophony of sound all around. It’s Diwali. I’ve landed in Pune after packing and shipping most of our stuff and taking care of last minute details -- a new bank account and an Indian driver’s license.

Test Vote in the Lok Sabha

2008-07-25T05:06:00.000-07:00

Last week’s events in India’s national Parliament (Lok Sabha) brought an end to months of entertaining melodrama. The ruling coalition, led by the Congress Party of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, survived a “test vote” that challenged their right to govern and in the process, realigned the political landscape of Delhi. It was a stinging loss to the Communist and Hindu nationalist parties.

Cricket

2008-06-14T01:53:00.000-07:00

When walking through a shopping center or a cluster of sidewalk shops in India, it’s not uncommon to see a group of intently focused men, all staring into the store. “What’s going on?” you wonder. It doesn’t take long to make an easy guess. They’re watching cricket on the shop TV. Team India is probably playing another in a series of endless matches against a national rival, probably Pakistan

Ananda Pune - A Plan, Letter #17

2008-04-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

I’m always amazed at the marvelous variety of talents we have in the Ananda communities. It’s almost assured that a Sangha member can be found with the right skill-set to solve whatever problem comes along. That certainly was the case for us in India when JT Heater and Alex Forrester came all the way from Ananda Village to help us plan the Ananda Kriya Yoga Community in Pune. Working with our

Ananda Pune-Letter #16

2008-04-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

I finally found a chance to visit our new land outside of Pune. I was in the city last weekend to conduct meditation programs with Dhyana and Karpani, so it was convenient to stay a couple days extra to see the property. Dharmadas, Nirmala, Vidura, and Wayne had arranged to fly in on Monday to meet Amol and Amit who were already there, so I joined them to check out the situation. This morning as I was walking from the ashram to the local mall, I heard something zoom by my head. “What was that?” I looked up to see where it came from and on a balcony above was a little girl smiling gleefully. “Happy Holi,” she cried. The missile

Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves and men dream God

2006-02-20T12:50:00.000-08:00

I've heard it said that India is a land of spirituality where one might realize God more quickly. Certainly the spiritual quest is a living reality here, acknowledged and encouraged. As Master said in his poem My India, "Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves and men dream God." Even though often buried beneath a thick layer of debris and chaos, I do think this is true. If one is willing to look