Indian Newslink Digital Edition Mar 15, 2016

18 COMMUNITYLINK
March 15, 2016
Waitakere Indians promote unity with splash of colours
Staff Reporter
info@indiannewslink.co.nz
West Auckland is
gearing up to mark
Holi, the Festival
of Colours with the
Waitakere Indian Association
(WIA) organising the annual
event on Easter Sunday- March
27, 2016.
Billed as one of the brightest
Holi celebrations held in the
country, this year’s event will
be held at Corban Estate Arts
Centre, located at 2, Mount
Lebanon Lane, Henderson,
from 11 am to 6 pm.
Food, music, dance, fun,
entertainment and of course
throwing coloured powders
and water on one another
would all be part of the scenario
at this vivacious occasion
for which WIA has a penchant
since it began in 2006.
Colours for all
No one, including Prime
Ministers, ministers, lawmakers
and community leaders,
is spared from the splash of
colour, since Holi signifies the
time to realise the bounties
of Nature (in the Northern
Hemisphere) through harvest;
it more importantly denotes
unity and classlessness of
humanity. The objective is
laughter and togetherness;
people do not wear designer
clothes or frowns.
Cultural fusion
Holi at WIA also brings
with it Indo-Fijian culture and
Indian tradition, presenting
a unique fusion of social and
community values.
As we said, no one is spared and Labour MP David Cunliffe is one of them
WIA Immediate Past President
Sunil Chandra said that ‘Faag
Gayan’(rendition of Holy
hymns)will be a part of the 2016
Holi celebrations as it has been
in the past.
Among the other highlights
well be live DJ Music, ‘Dancing
in the Park,’ food stalls, colours
on sale and a special are for
splashing colours.
“The mix of activities will
ensure that people of all ages
and ethnicity are able to
come together in an amiable
atmosphere to share in the day’s
fun with family and friends,” Mr
Chandra said.
Spreading equality
Beyond all the religious and
cultural manifestations, Holi
is really about the inescapable
truth that every person is born
equal and hence has the right
to be treated and provided
opportunities for growth as
equals.
As Mr Chandra said that India
in general and Hinduism in
With the Police wearing colours, gaiety cannot be arrested
particular has given the world
a number of occasions and
festivals to embrace the whole
human race.
“These occasions aim to
integrate and unite communities
and Holi is one of them. The
Festival has profound meaning
for humankind and enhances
race relations and integration,”
he said.
According to him, the dance in
the park would go on irrespective
of weather conditions. Last
year, it became ‘Rain Dance,’and
everyone comes prepared to
enjoy at WIA Holi.
That is why West is always fun
“Holi is an ideal festival for
Indians to shed inhibitions and
differences even if it is just for
the day. We adopt a general
sense of abandoned vitality,
when as children, during Holi,
we used to chase our village
bhabhis into their kitchen to
colour them with colours of
Holi,” Mr Chandra said.
“Our people have integrated
well into the local community
and changed the cultural
landscape of the country. Today,
Aotearoa is richer because
of Indians in general and
Hindus in particular celebrating
festivals such as Holi, Diwali
and other religious, cultural
and social events,” he added.
Further details can be
obtained from Mahen Sharma
on 027-6613242.
Actions speak better than words in posterity
About Vishvasant Brahmrishi Gurvanand
Bharmarishi Shri Gurvanand Swami
Venkat Raman
venkat@indiannewslink.co.nz
Deeds are more important
that speeches and those
with a sense of purpose
become legends and
gurus for the succeeding generations,
a spiritual leader has said.
According to Vishvasant
Brahmrishi Gurvanand, respectfully
referred as ‘Gurvanand
Swami Ji,’ people have the right
and responsibility to imbibe
the serenity of the spirit and
the depth of the meaning of the
Divine Teachings in one’s life.
In a series of chapters in his
biography titled, ‘The Divine
Guru,’ the spiritual leader speaks
in a language that is at once
flowery and ordinary.
Santana Dharma
“In the tapestry of life, weave
a story that is so inspiring and so
meaningful that posterity can say
with pride that you are indeed
the heir of the ‘Santana Dharma,’
the eternal Dharma of the great
Masters of the past. Your thoughts
and actions of today are indelible
links that connect the great
shining past and the glorious
future, unfolding of the Divine
Life of which you are an integral
part,” he said.
Gurvanand is scheduled to
deliver a discourse in Auckland
later next month.
Auckland Event
Laxmi Jhunjhnuwala, who is
coordinating the visit, said that
the discourse will be held at
Mahatma Gandhi Centre, located
at 145, New North Road in Eden
Terrace.
The spiritual leader said that
life is full of valleys and mountains
and that there are moments
of joy and moments of sorrow.
“You see the ugliness and you
see the beautiful. It is your task
to remember the beautiful and
forget the ugly. You are not a
lowly creature; you are the one
who the Divine Will has chosen
to live fully and responsibly. Your
actions of service, your conduct,
purified of egoistic tendencies
your altruism and your dedication
to the Divine Will makes you
free from the powers of Death
(Kala),” he said.
Details of his visit and more of
his teachings will appear in our
April 1, 2016 issue.
His Holiness Brahmrishi
Shri Gurvanand Swami Ji is
the Divine Guru, an embodiment
of Divine Existence (sat),
Consciousness (Cit) and Bliss
(Anand).
This saccidanand swarup
Divine Incarnation has
entered the terrestrial sphere
to impart to humanity the
supreme knowledge, the liberating
knowledge
that empowers
and implores
us to pursue a
Divine Life (Divya
Jeevan).
Invested with
the Divine Energy
and Power (Divya
Shakti) and imbued
with infinite
love (Prema) and
supreme compassion
(Karuna),
Shri Gurudev has
sanctified our age and times
to guide the suffering and
toiling masses, to help them
raise their human consciousness
to Divine Consciousness.
Teachings testify
The life and teachings of
Shri Gurudev bear testimony
to the Divine Care, the
unblemished pursuit of
worldly engagement, and a
life of service and sacrifice.
His entire life has only one
objective, only one purpose,
only one goal – bringing his
bhaktas and greater humanity
to the shore of the infinite
ocean of Divine Compassion,
where they taste the Ambrosia
(Amrta) of life of eternal
love.
Hundreds of thousands of
devotees have found solace
in Shri Gurudev’s inspiring
words of wisdom and experienced
the liberating power of
his infinite love.
The sweetness
of his speech
and his loving
exhortations
has transported
a multitude of
humanity into the
Divine realm of
supreme peace
(Param Shanthi)
and eternal bliss.
Each spoken
word coming out
of his blessed lips,
each phrase uttered by him
with infinite loving care, the
sincerity of his utterances and
the simplicity of his message
have only one goal: to transform
our mundane human
life into a life sanctified by
sweet Divine Love (Daivi
Prema).
An Extract from ‘The Divine
Guru,’ a bountiful book
edited by Braj M Sinha
and published by Vishwa
Dharma Chetana Manch,
Tirupathi, India