Tree Plantation Drive by YES!+: June 5, 2010

When Art of Living Bangalore's YES!+ team took charge in different parts of city, with AoL teachers, BBMP, and other responsible organizations like Vee Technnologies, the outcome was more than 100 new trees in a few hours, across parks!

FAQ: On an average, a human being utilizes resources of 16 trees in a lifetime.

Have you adopted your tree yet? :-)

Contact your Art of Living city coordinator and get started now.

www.artofliving.org

JUNE 5, 2010: 2,00,000 TREES FOR BANGALORE! JOIN US

Do you feel the pinch of the Bangalore heat every time you step out of the air conditioned office?

Does the unusual summer heat play spoilsport every time you step out for coffee?

Is your doctor telling you to stay away from the dust and the heat?

If you feel the guilt that Bangalore’s world famous air conditioned climate may soon be a thing of the past, let’s do something about it.

Shall we get together and give the summer of 2011 something to look forward to? More greenery, more spring flowers, more coolness quotient to namma Bengaluru.

I know its been on your mind for long, and it has been on my mind too, and as we both waited for someone to initiate a project for TREE PLANTATION AND ADOPTION, the climate went from bad to worse.

The Art of Living International Foundation has joined hands with the BBMP to paint Bangalore city green this JUNE 5^th.

Mark this day on your calendars, apply for leaves from offices, even better: involve your teams, your company, and let’s do our part that was pending since long.

Our sankalpa is for 200,000 saplings across Bangalore.

Send me (gauravnath.vision@gmail.com) your name with phone number and email ID.

If you belong to the corporate circle, and wish to see your company involve as a strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) drive, send us the contact information of your HR or CSR Head.

Let’s get started RIGHT NOW.

p.s. (An average human uses the resources of 16 trees in a lifetime. Can we plant at least 17 ?)

Bangalore's Mall Culture!

THE MARKET

...is awash with rotten apples which go unnoticed to most consumers...most of us look forward to THE Sunday, and when its here, we waste half the day sleeping late (which topsy turvies the biological clock and metabolism...wow! what a dumb thing to do...), and one third of the other half, we waste inside a supermarket....especially if you walk into one of those noisy Big Bazaars...I compare the confusion to what probably chickens feel when they are crammed into cages inside factory farms! Loudspeakers babbling away about last minutes discounts...and frantic mothers trying to parallely manage crying kids and shopping carts @ same time...! and you'll find the local boys loitering inside...passing comments at so-called babes....!

The experience becomes worse when you are more aware of the air inside...its cluttered with thoughts, thoughts, thoughts...all thoughts of confused, weekend-starved professionals...who end up buying junk in that confused state of mind...and the air inside is stiffling! You know that when you step outside........

Personally I feel the shopping mall culture is killing off the good old Bangalore....and another chain of "environment and health" side-effects are on the way because of these malls, the same way that IT has done to Bangalore in the past!

The reasons most people go to malls:

1) Because suddenly you have nothing better to do...

2) You want to meet your friend, at a mall...and once you meet him/her, you both are clueless what to do

3) If your friend is same sex, and you are straight then you'll both stare away at the opposite sex...this is similar to what we have done when we are at home...stare away blindly at the TV..while eating, while studying, while entertaining guests, sometimes even just to fall asleep!!

4) If your friend is same sex, and you both are gays/lesbians, you'll stare at the same sex...LOL

5) If your friend is opposite sex, then you'll do either of the following:

     a)  You are "just friends" with her, so she'll point out all the so-called hot guys, and you'll point out all the so-called hot girls

     b)  You "friend" is your girl friend?? Oops...then you'll probably peek glances at the babe who just passed by...a subconscious fantasy will probably make you take a second peep!

6) You want to shop for yourself....apparel...food products...home needs...and in the process you will take home one or more plastic bags which you will dispose irresponsibly! You will fight for your currency change with the autorickshaw wala who drops you home, but you will not fight for the planet nor educate the rest of the zombie shoppers who are also taking plastic bags by the dozens!!

7) You want to eat at McDonald's (or KFC if your love towards your own body and environment is lost!) and feel good about all the goo that's going into your delicate system. And if you are one of those fast-food young mothers who use toilet papers (yuck!), then you will definitely pump your little child's system with generous doses of unhealthy McVeggies, McChicken...I promise you that your child has higher chances of:

        a)  getting early puberty
        b)  becoming dumber and dumber at studies
        c)  becoming more aggressive with age
        d)  getting chronic diseases: including gastritis, obesity (most common), heart diseases, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, Type 2 diabetes and worst of all, WEAKENED IMMUNITY!

If you tell me, "Oh, but I just take my son/daughter to eat junk "once in a while"."

I tell you, Every weekend is NOT "once in a while"!

Real communication has become passe, with more and more malls, and their fast food joints spreading like cholera...in fact most conversations nowadays are very focussed....on MONEY or GRATIFICATION. Gratification includes DOING NAUGHTY THINGS ON BED!

Definitions are also changing:


X    Love for this funny cult of people is not love any more. It is "making love".


X    Contributing to the planet means building software for foreign monopolies, that become cash cows for the already-rich foreign tycoons.

X    As children, we played with toys, now most of you have stopped playing with toys...and started playing with human emotions

X    Doing a random act of karmic kindness means helping the beggar woman (who will in turn give the money to her drunkard husband)


X    Music means loud, metal, anti-Christ bands who exhibit suppressed emotional imbalances at rock shows, and invite a couple of alcohol brands as well to heighten the short-term madness


X    Quality time with parents means dragging them to the nearest mall to buy you that latest watch or jewellery or gadget.

Bangalore and its mall culture (includes fast food, rock bands, smoky pubs) are drugging the minds of promising youth...

...Software code is more poetic than Rabindranath Tagore's poetry

...Bloody Mary and McDowell's is more refreshing than healthy herbal juices

...Junk food is more gratifying than home-made organic food

...Singing about heartbreaks (followed by getting drunk) is more soothing than spending time meditating or helping someone

...Urban Agriculture means Farmville on facebook

...Higher grades in high school mean a promising engineer or doctor or lawyer (as if we don't have enough unemployable ones already)

What is the purpose of your life? 

To get into IIT? To get out of IIT? To get into Infosys? To get out of Infosys? To get married and create a generation of fast-food dependant children? To leave a huge property behind that has your younger generations spilling blood over?

Is the purpose of your life to struggle?

Is the purpose of your life to:

• lose  health working for a foreign MNC?
• lose self-esteem by becoming a successfully "placed" MBA?
• lose the priceless wealth of Vedic scientific knowledge that has survived millenniums, and inspired scientists and world leaders since the times of Archimedes?
• lose the spirituality that has held together the magnanimity of the Indian civilization: the most prosperous, the oldest and the most welcoming of all civilizations?

If you want to break the chain, and do something worthy of becoming a legend...start with something very simple. And the simplest thing is to love yourself more, enrol for an Art of Living YES!+ workshop, do good to this planet, and care for more and more people around you. You will live a regret-free life that will inspire many lives around you.

VISTA INDIA: EDUCATING THE GIRL CHILD, EMPOWERING THE RURAL WOMAN

Dear One,

I wish to introduce a major project headed by Pitaji, as we lovingly call R S V Ratnam—father to the Guru of Joy- His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

Today, at the age of 88, through the noble project VISTA INDIA, He has reached a milestone no man or woman of his age would have done, to educate and empower the girl child. Today, he has identified 33 more villages for this work. Current project is ongoing at Sirsi village in Karnataka. Ladies are educated to be able to read, and are taught to stitch and tailor clothes, and jute bags. These are promoted by the Art of Living International Foundation, and all revenues are given back to the women, thus empowering them for this project that does this for our society:

·  Creates interdependent women self-help groups

·  Provides a platform for free education for the rural girl child

·  Supports the jute and cotton industry of India, thus brings holistic, eco-friendly products with Indian artistry into the limelight

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

We require more sewing machines. Each costs 3000 rupees. This makes a very significant contribution from you.

Spiritually, a small contribution like this out of your earnings purifies the wealth. And what better way to contribute, than for a cause that is coming to fruition under the aegis of an 88 year old freedom fighter whose dedication is a lesson to be learnt and a cause worth joining.

As a donor, you will enjoy 80G tax exemption. This means 50% tax exemption on your contribution, recognized by the Income Tax Department of India.

If your contribution as an individual or a group or as an organization exceeds 50,000 Rupees, you are eligible for 35AC Tax Exemption, that is, 100% tax exemption.

Through cheque: In favor of “VISTA INDIA”. Please write your name and address at the back of the cheque.

You may also send cash. If a group of two or more donor pool in money for contribution, each donor will receive 80G certificates.

In either case, please mention your name and address (with phone number).

Contact me on gauravnath.vision@gmail.com, once you have readied the cheque or cash.

Love, best wishes

Gaurav

What is killing India?

What is killing India?

Peep into this post and give yourself a weekend reality check....

·         Pesticides and fertilizers- India is the world’s largest user of fertilizers and pesticides. Look at Bangalore: sparrows have dwindled, no doubt. But now, even the crows say No to the city.

India has been the country with the most advanced forms of irrigation and most holistic way of agriculture. Ancient Indian agriculture systems like the Vedic Farming alone, yields far more superior crops, fruits and vegetables, than any damned fertilizer or pesticides any scientist can create…and without the damage that is caused by fertilizers and pesticides.

What happened after Independence?? “Independence"?...where’s the Independence?

·         Genetic Engineering- Just the south of India alone grows 150 varieties of rice! The smart way of agriculture is to grow different crops at different times on same soil…one type of crop enriches the soil for the next different type of crop to grow, thus allowing the soil to recuperate.

…But GM crops turn the agricultural soil sterile, and do not allow other crops to grow. This destroys the precious earth and leaves the farmers and the government defenseless at mercy of patenting laws. Patenting laws prevent farmers from saving crops.

·         Plastic:  Who invented the damned plastic?  The world lived just as comfortably before plastic was invented.

·         Bureaucrats: In terms of education quotient, politicians share the lesser blame compared to the so-called educated bureaucrats who are sucking up India and using politicians as pawn. If you feel responsible towards your country, what can you do? Write your Civil Services exam, become a responsible IAS officer. And while you are doing that, come to an Art Of Living workshop, tap enormous personal energy levels and broaden your capacity to take responsibility for yourself and for this planet.

·         Education: We have enough unemployable, and poorly conditioned lawyers, engineers and doctors in this country: we don’t want anymore! We need our ancient system of education back which the British systematically wiped out, so that they could fuel religious feuds, misconstrue the caste system, train Indians as lab rats who learn the following plagiarisms:

o   Galileo discovered that the Earth goes round the Sun’s orbit. (WRONG)

o   Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity. (WRONG)

o   Pythagoras discovered (a+b)² = a² + b² + 2ab. (WRONG)

o   Oppenheimer discovered the atomic bomb. (WRONG)

o   Drs. Steptoe and Edwards invented artificial insemination. (WRONG)

o   Archimedes of Syracuse discovered the value of “Pi”. (WRONG)

o   …I could go on and on.

All of the above and more were inventions or discoveries already made by ancient Indian scientists who were also spiritually enlightened meditators...such is the magnanimity of the world's grandest and most prosperous ("prosperous" in all senses) civilizations.

The bottom line is, our real Indian education system of Gurukul was systematically stolen by the English centuries ago, and plagiarized to form the Catholic system of modern education, and enforced upon us and the rest of the world during their colonization conquests.

·         English medicine (alopathy): Given the plethora of negative side-effects on the body and continual abuse of environmental resources, pharma companies have no real claims to philanthropy, except that English medicines come handy only in emergency situations when it is ok to pop a pill. Some facts here for Indian consumers.

You thought painkillers were a fantastic invention? Wrong! Painkillers dilute the nervous system’s ability to experience real pain in the pain areas of body. It simply postpones the cause of the disease.

You thought anti-depressants are the best boon to mankind?

Wrong! Anti-depressants (...and psychiatrists) only postpone chronic depression to a later time, and this only snowballs into worse depression and suicidal/homophobic tendencies. What’s the solution? No brownie points for guessing: It is MEDITATION.

If you are stressed or depressed, Sudarshan Kriya Yoga alone can solve the problem. If you are not stressed or depressed, Sudarshan Kriya Yoga alone can give you that extra energy burst (with heightened awareness) to do more in less time, at work or at home.

You thought alopathy cures the disease?

No! Alopathy in most cases treats just the SYMPTOMS, not the root cause. :-(

What’s  the cure?

Meditation and ayurveda.

Ayurveda attacks the CAUSE behind a disease, not the symptoms. And with zero side-effects…zero environment footprints.

And Panchkarma treatment ensures that diseases cannot touch your subtle body (that’s where diseases start incubating)

I couldn’t have found a better explanation of disease and health:

"Dis-ease occurs when any level of our existence is not at ease. Health is a disease-free body, a quiver-free breath, a stress-free mind, illusion-free intellect and obsession-free memory, an ego that includes all and a soul that is free from sorrow." – Sri Sri

·         Computer Games: This doesn’t need elaboration. We all know what it has done to whole generations of kids and teenagers across the globe! some facts

·         Junk Food: Carbonated drinks drain the body’s precious calcium and weaken digestion. Junk fast food: we all know what it does. I am amused that all we took from the west was coke and burgers, whereas in fact, we have much more to learn:

ü  Team work from the Japanese

ü  Precision from the Germans

ü  Presentation and marketing from the Americans

ü  Frankness and warmth from the Africans

ü  Etiquette and manners from the British

ü  Human and spiritual values from the Indians.

...choose a healthy lifestyle. Life is about living, and living is an art. ;-)

Milk is no more healthy !

It goes without elaborating that the milk of Indian cows..real Indian cows is the most nutritious in the world.

videos.desishock.net/449905/Desi-Cow's

And today this breed of cows (desi cows) are fast disappearing...and a new kind of cows are appearing swiftly and silently...like a plague.
What's the difference between desi cows and jersey cows? Someone answered on Wiki answers "One is dumb, the other isn't" :-) isn't it obvious because the jersey cows are not natural breeds...they are dumb no doubt...LOL

These cows are injected with oestrogen hormones to increase their production of milk from 40 to 60. For those who are aware that oestrogen is a female hormone, it reveals why children as young as 10 and 11 years of age are getting puberty in India...thats because the milk children drink nowadays...this packaged milk is adulterated with oestrogen, and more...girls as young as 6th standard, are getting periods! And boys as young as 10 are getting visible signs of puberty!

Nandini milk has become a household name.
But how many educated, intelligent consumers actually do their own research? Do you?
...which is why, I thought it smart to share this with you:
The milk that you buy is obtained from machine milking of cows. You would have guessed by now, what harm this does to the milk. PUS and BLOOD go into machine-extracted milk!!

Do you wish to drink milk containing pus and blood???

Nandini Dairy (and all other packaged milk manufacturers) PASTEURIZES their milk. PASTEURIZATION KILLS THE MILK. Pasteurization heats the milk to high levels and kills the nutrition, before it even reaches your next-door shop.

Nandini Dairy (and all other packaged milk manufacturers) HOMOGENIZES their milk. HOMOGENIZED MILK KILLS BLOOD VESSELS.

If you are already mentally complaining that, in such a case "what shall I eat then???" I'll say run to the hand-milked cow shed in your neighborhood. And before that, feel grateful that we live in a country like India, which still has real Indian cows in many pockets of this country.

If you donot have this luxury (an ironic but realistic term now), then make REAL SOYA MILK at home. Real Soya Milk, is NOT the silken soya milk that you buy at RelianceMart or Spencer's. Oh btw, I am amused too see that, with all the monies that go into their marketing gimmicks, these retail outlets don't see the direct tangible gains they will get in marketing, if they invest even a fraction of that invisible marketing monies into procuring and promoting jute and cotton bags as a ECO-FRIENDLY measure for the planet. Just a priceless marketing tip!
(Here is where to procure jute bags in bulk from: http://www.jeevanakala.com/support/ssrdp.htm

)

Now, I know you are already asking me "How" to make soya milk at home?

Here's how to make real soya milk at home :-)
http://www.homelifeweekly.com/cooking/how-to-make-soy-milk/

http://www.soya.be/how-to-make-soy-milk.php


COCONUT MILK is a SUPERB alternative to milk!
And coconut water :-) I could go on and on about its amazing nutritional brownie points :-)

• natural isotonic beverage- the same level as in human blood! :-)
• electrolytic balance in coconut milk= electrolytic balance in our blood.
• Coconut Water is

:-) More Nutritious than whole milk - LESS FAT, NO CHOLESTEROL

:-) Healthier than Orange Juice - MUCH MUCH LOWER CALORIES.

:-) Contains lauric acid, which is present in human mother's milk- better than processed baby milk

You thought sports drinks are better because your favorite sportstar promotes it. Wrong!

Coconut water

:-) contains more potassium (at about 294 mg) than most sports drinks (117 mg) and most energy drinks
:-) has less sodium (25mg) where sports drinks have around 41mg and energy drinks have about 200 mg.
:-) has 5mg of Natural Sugars where sports and energy drinks range from 10-25mg of Altered Sugars.
:-) is very high in Chloride at 118mg, compared to sports drinks at about 39mg. (Data based on a 100ml drink)

Coconut water is a universal donor - Its identical to human blood plasma. Coconut water has saved lives in 3rd world countries thru Coconut IV.

"Coconut water is the very stuff of Nature, biologically Pure, full of Natural Sugars, Salts, and Vitamins to ward off fatigue and is the next wave of energy drinks BUT natural"-Mortin Satin, Chief, United Nation's Food & Agriculture Organization 

I dont understand the agenda of the media...do news channels like NDTV and CNN IBN exist solely to have higher viewership ratings? (the answer is obvious, seeing day in and day out coverage of the Commissioner's pet dog having run away, or of Rakhi Sawant's personal life!) Do daily newspapers like Times Of India, DNA, MidDay, Deccan Herald etc spend man hours and energy only to garner more and more and more subscribers? In fact they have been partially successful in manipulating the reading psychology of the public...partially successful. Why don't the media cover issues of such paramount importance? Because they and a chunk of the public would prefer to live in denial...until it strikes their own homes. Funny civilization we live in.

A joke that'll make sense to many :-)

A mom comes to visit her son Kumar for dinner...who lives with a girl roommate Smitha.

During the course of the meal, his mother couldn't help but notice how pretty Kumar's roommate was. She had long been suspicious of a relationship between the two, and this had only made her more curious.

Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between Kumar and his roommate than met the eye.
Reading his mom's thoughts, Kumar volunteered, 'I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Smita and I are just roommates.'

About a week later, Smita came to Kumar saying, 'Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the silver plate. You don't suppose she took it, do you?'

Kumar said ,'Well, I doubt it, but I'll email her, just to be sure.'

So he sat down and wrote :

Dear Mother:
I'm not saying that you 'did' take the silver plate from my house, I'm not saying that you 'did not' take the silver plate.. But the fact remains that it has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.
Love, Kumar

Several days later, Kumar received an email from his Mother :

Dear Son:
I'm not saying that you 'do' sleep with Smita, and I'm not saying that you 'do not' sleep with Smita. But the fact remains that if she was sleeping in her OWN bed, she would have found the silver plate by now under the pillow...
Love,
Mom.

Lesson of the day:
Don’t lie to your mother…
Especially if she is Indian

Don't wanna smoke anymore?

Here is the most effective program in the world that EFFORTLESSLY empowers you to kick this dangerous addiction...

The changing face of Bangalore music culture

http://www.whatthebleep.com/crystals/21 Feb, 2010:
Palace Grounds, Gayathri Vihar:
Evening: 5pm

Enter a host of Indian and international music bands, who set the tone for Richard Marx and the Backstreet Boys to hit the stage...

The uniqueness was, there were a few aunties and family folks...which was a pleasant surprise. Not quite a surprise if one knows the popularity Backstreet Boys enjoy in India-- the country where music continues to be @ the peak of excellence and diversity, since the past many millenniums.

Just two hours before the show, I had no clue I was gonna be there, but of course, I have a superb Guru...who knows what I want (I wanted to watch Richard Marx live, just the previous day...not knowing that Richard Marx was in Bangalore the next day! surprise...not anymore...I'm usd to miracles now... :-))
....and there I was, with Anjana (thx to her, I was there)...and enjoyed superb guitar work by Richard Marx...what really caught my eye, were the extra effort Richard took to change a guitar for every song..he certainly gave us the best experience...and also that he was extremely witty and bright on the stage...he was very Deva kinds :-) playful..really playful on the stage...

well he made sure, that, he plays "Right Here Waiting" for us...!



 and of course another number that hasnt gone into production yet ...well, :-)

Next were the Backstreet Boys who simply set the fans (including the aunties) going wild by their mere presence...I must appreciate they did put in a lot of hard work there and did their moves right...superb dance moves, great singing, and lots of love for their fans...it all showed immensely. Given that, they have come to learn the immense impact Indian music has had on the world music scene...they did admit they were gonna come back again to India next year (yes :-) good news for the big chunk of Indian music lovers who have grown on an everyday dose of Backstreet Boys)..and they also confirmed their openness to collaboration with Indian singers.... sounds good :-)

Its nice to know, for a change we have some good music coming into Bangalore....besides the usual hard rock and gothic music...

Music is vibrations, and these vibrations affect every cell of the human  body (which is 90% water) likewise...good, positive, melodious music uplifts...whereas violent, anti-Christ, metal noise simply distorts every water molecule in our bodies...thus creating more violent, negative-minded, individuals..




  Life is an upward trend, not a downward spiral. Life is a celebration, not a race.

A eunuch made my day

I was a little low on energy after:

• a vampire movie (Twilight part 2: slow, but interesting...little too mushy..Ashley Greene should have smiled more often..everytime she was with Robert Pattinson, she looked like she was suppressing a terrible headache inside :-) LOL) last night
• day-long laptop radiation
• excessive cell phone usage @ night
• barely any sleep
• Bangalore morning traffic and its stressed out, spaced out commuters throwing oodles of stress energy all around

...@ Sony World traffic signal, lights went red, my auto driver (some Mr Khan) and I were cajoled by a eunuch (a daily routine for eunuchs), and routine-wise the auto driver handed her a few coins

...for those who don't know, in India, eunuchs donot have any rights, and hence they have formed a closed community which goes around asking for money...though most of them are happy souls, there are some aggressive souls too...thanks to these aggressive souls, most people do not get into an argument (God forbid!) and dole out some cash...

well, she blessed the auto driver, and next was my turn, I smiled, mentally blessed her, and handed her some cash too...she went all out pulling @ my cheeks (real hard..ouch!) and mouthed in heavy-accentuated Tamil...

"bless you...be happy...well, why dont you grow a moustache..you'll look handsome" ...this went hand in hand with the sign language she used to describe moustache (BIIIIG moustache), and moved on.

Microsoft Paint zindabaad! :-)

Understanding the fact that sporting a big burly moustache makes you a much-sought after guy in south India, I only smiled imagining how I'd look in moustaches. (considering that I am allergic to sporting moustaches)

Of course after she left I wondered at the irony. In a country like India, where communism has spread like a plague in over 400 territories out of 600...will even a single fanatic communist even bother to cry his/her voice hoarse for the right of eunuchs. I am sure, they wont. After all, their warm-blooded agenda's are selective and motivated by thirst for power. Of course they are blind to their own history when communism failed in the Soviet Union, and left so many crores of people dead, and many more in worst living conditions.

I no longer feel anger at our short-sighted FMCG-mentality politicians, and the communists who are misleading simple-hearted gullible youths in naxalism...I only feel compassion.

McDonald's: I'm NOT loving it

Looks delicious? Feeling the mouth water slightly?

We defend our freedom so strongly, don't we? Our freedom to expression, our rights as a citizen and as a consumer...in fact we all know someone who has blown the lid over smaller issues like "Why can't I use this road??? I pay road tax!" or "Why is Vodafone charging me like crazy?? Call your manager!"

Do we honor others' right even a pinch as ferociously as we defend ours?

Time to do a double-check. You indulge in a McDonald's burger...somewhere in the long inventory, who does it support and who does it hurt?

Check this out



McDonald’s is the world’s largest user of beef, and of all companies, probably has the most colorful animal rights history.

Remember the McLibel Trial (the longest trial in British history) when McDonald’s sued British activists for exposing McDonald’s practices in the pamphlet: “What’s Wrong with McDonald’s -- Everything They Don’t Want You to Know”.

With all its corporate might, McDonald’s could disprove that McDonald’s junk food does not affect rainforests, heart disease and cancer, or food poisoning and starvation in Third World. Despite all its corporate might McDonald’s could not disprove that it EXPLOITS CHILDREN, FALSELY CLAIMS THAT ITS FOOD IS NUTRITIOUS, is responsible for ANIMAL CRUELTY, and pays its EMPLOYEES LOW WAGES.

Down the line, the Company has seen an ugly chain of exposures from non-vegetarian French fries to factory farming. Personally, I have stopped eating at McDonald’s…and so have many of my friends after they did they did their own research on the McDonald’s eco-system from the US to Bangalore.

As for those who love chicken, I wont talk you out if it. You very well know what you are eating…mutilated birds that were killed under extreme pain. This releases fear hormones in their systems, and the same stuff goes into your bodies. Not to mention, the antibiotics with which these birds were pumped during their short lifespan in factory farms.

And for those who think chicken tastes great, try eating chicken without the herbs and vegetarian spices that make your taste buds crave for chicken.

I’ll be surprised if you make it to your late 30’s without an acquired chronic disease…the least being weak digestion, and the worst being cancer of course.

I can make BETTER BURGERS than McDonald's and sell them @ HALF THE PRICE of what McDonald's charges (also without the plastic bags that McDonald's gives its "educated" consumers)

Drop in for a treat, if you're in town next time...and you'll not long for another McD's again.

My WOW! Guru

That's my WOW! Guru

...and my WOW! YES!+ teachers with WOW! universal Amma :-)

Jai GuruDeva!

What happens when...

What happens when...

25,000 people gather from across the globe every day for nine days of Navratri Festival at Bangalore? They create ripples of celebration and harmony as they participate in the Navratri Homa, at Art of Living International Center, Bangalore!

Today, Durga Ashtami (the eighth day of celebrations) saw a mighty crowd of around 50,000 people, who attended the VEDIC Style (the most ancient)of CHANDI HOMA in reverence to the victory of Goddess Mother over the buffalo demon (symbolizing our small-minds)...

...the air burst into ripples of sanskrit mantras...(we all know the potency of mantras recited in the world's oldest language)

...the positive vibrations it creates in our bodies and minds

...and in the power of the science of YAGNA which uplifts the mind to expand beyond its vices, energizes every cell of the body and stimulates the soul

....the bhajans (soulful songs) stretched the devotion and emptiness to peaks that can only be experienced, not expressed (i call them Art Of Living bhajans, because they have a style of their own...ancient chants sung with a modern and simple style...ancient roots and modern leaves :-))

...and of course, the grandeur was recreated on the very sacred land on which the International Ashram campus stands today (the land where millenniums ago, Mother Divine is known to have come and meditated in rest after killing the demon on Chamundi Hills)...

...the rites of the festival presided over by the Guru Of Joy Himself in all His love, simplicity and glory

...the rituals performed in such precision and scientifically that it would silence even the most rational minds who are forever entangled in root-cause-analyses of everything (perhaps this "small rational mind" stems from the wanting to control everything in existence....sad, isn't it)....

It all culminated into powerful vibrations and 25,000 peaceful people (and many more who witnessed it on television)....

....it was followed by a 10-course absolutely delicious feast...which i for the first time in my life, couldn't stretch beyond one helping (of all my food adventures)...why? because of the love with which every dish was prepared and served, even a morsel satiates the five sense and even the soul....


What happened in evening is my recollection of one of the most memorable moment of my life...a mighty satsang (sat= truth, sang= company) wherein every one present, from children as young as 3, to the youth, and the elderly as old as 80's, sang and danced in blissful intoxication like never before....personally i can feel the vibrations on my feet even hours after the satsang, as i share this blissful experience...oh btw, my feet are happily blistered now :-)

I slept only an hour last night (i had personal stuff to do), but now, i am wide awake and as fresh as a flower....what is this energy that keeps mankind evolving? what is this divinity that creates so many playful forms...sometimes Rama and sometimes Krishna, sometimes Buddha and sometimes Christ...and this time, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar-- the simple, loving, enlightened master who lives knowledge, and simplifies lives for millions of beings on this planet-- war torn people, tsunami affected people, political leaders, the average college student, the villager next door, the scientists at NASA, the fashion and movie czars and czarina's, and for me!

We are fortunate to walk this planet alongside this phenomenon called His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who has shattered dividing concepts of religions, races, sexes and sexualities, and nationalities, and is unconditionally uniting people into VASUDHAEVA KUTUMBAKAM (One World Family!)...this is the time for mankind to wake up and step over their petty haves-have nots, likes-dislikes, comfort zones and gain the ability to live the knowledge first-hand from the Guru of Joy Himself!

What is this "knowledge"?

This knowledge is...

...to live in the present moment (which enables one to live fuller, all-dimensional, happy life, abundant with physical-emotional-mental health, personal and professional achievements, and the energy and inspiration to make a difference to our lives and to this ONLY living planet that we know of)...

...to MAKE LIFE AN EXPRESSION OF HAPPINESS, NOT A PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS!

...to retain the inherent innocence we were born with, and at the same time, to grow the intelligence that we gather with time.....innocence and intelligence hand-in-hand

Sounds difficult? Come try one of the ART OF LIVING WORKSHOPS...no matter where you stay, how rich or poor you may be, how able or challenged you may be...the workshops are conducted in over 156 countries!

........talking about Navratri again, it is unfair to relate such a deep, stirring, energizing experience in words, at best I can and shall post few glimpses caught on camera, in my upcoming post...

....but its an experience to be experienced by visiting and being a part of the ONE WORLD FAMILY that is rejuvenating hearts and sharpening minds of more than 50 million people on this planet TODAY!