By Vidya Pradhan 

Manjula Gupta is no stranger to philanthropy. Once a software entrepreneur in the valley, she became involved with the American India Foundation (AIF) in its nascent years. As a volunteer Chair for the India Community Center, she worked to bring the community together by starting programs such as the weekly karaoke club. In the course of her varied experiences, she tapped into the rich vein of philanthropy that runs through the successful Indian American community in the Bay Area. “There are so many Indian Americans doing amazing work,” she says. “I found that there was a need to give them a platform.”
When the mayor of Milpitas approached her to start a community based program, she found her calling. "Chai with Manjula", a TV show focusing on Indian American good Samaritans, now airs in 11 cities throughout the area.( More cities are being added.) More »

By Aarti Johri

Hindu mythology is overflowing with tales. From the epics, to the Puranas, to folk lore, each family has its own endless treasure. My own favorite is a no-name one, or one that my mother would simply call “Asha, Pyaas, Neend, Bhook”. This translates in English to “Hope, Thirst, Sleep, Hunger”. More »

By Vidya Pradhan

When your car stops at a traffic light in India, invariably a swarm of street kids collects around it. Maybe you are an IT professional. Maybe you are a tourist. Either way, your pockets are jingling with change from your last meal or chai; change that is, for all practical purposes, useless to you.

It is so tempting to hand over that change to one of the raggedy street urchins. Maybe it will buy them their next meal, save them from having to hold their hand out for an hour or two. You get the warm glow that doing a good deed creates; they get a reprieve from their unhappy lives, even if it is for a short while.

What is wrong with this picture? More »

By Vidya Pradhan

It all began when, sick of the materialism and unashamed greed of the holiday season,I suggested to my 11 year old that he give, instead of receive, this Christmas. He was surprisingly receptive. Having planned a holiday trip to India, I suggested to family back there that maybe we could donate some clothes or blankets to needy children in India 'in his name' as they say.
As usually happens with long distance communications, somehow this got translated into a semi-formal visit to one of the local orphanages. I had a horrible vision of us behaving like urban socialites as they make their much publicized photo-op forays to slum it out while the orphans are dressed and combed and made to sing and dance for the visitors. Unhappily, that is exactly what happened. However.. More »

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev has very graciously agreed to answer questions from WNI readers on spirituality and life. Send your queries to WNI via our feedback form. 
 

1.  Living in the US, one of the things we fear is that something will happen to our loved ones while we are far away, unable to help them. How do we cope with this?
 
Let us not waste our time and life worrying about things that we cannot do, let us see what can be done.  We can reach out to them emotionally, which should not be difficult w/ today’s communication capabilities or you can reach out financially, if that is what is needed.  Going there personally may not solve any issue as such, so it is best to reach out to them in whatever way possible.   And for yourself learn to be meditative, which would be a great contribution to yourself and all life around you.
 
2. What is the ideal relationship between a parent and his or her child?  

The most important thing is to stop being a parent and rather be a good friend.   A child who is growing up, whose body and psyche is changing rapidly is constantly looking for a friend who is just of a little more capability and understanding than his own.  Be a friend to him and also seek his friendship for your own well being.

By Aparna Ramakrishnan

Swami Vivekananda, the great Hindu pioneer and diplomat to the United States who helped drive the modernization of India, once said, “Arise, awake. Stop not till the goal is reached.” The North South Foundation under Dr. Ratnam Chitturi’s direction has continued Swami Vivekananda’s mission in uniting Indians of many different religions and ethnic backgrounds under a single guiding principle: the importance of education.

The North South Foundation is best known to most Indian parents as an organization that sponsors local, state and national competitions in the US for children of Indian descent. Capitalizing on the dedication and pride that the parents here in the US feel in their children’s achievements, NSF, founded in 1989, has achieved astounding success in providing scholarships to promising but underprivileged students in India. More »

By Vidya Pradhan

For most of us, ‘Checkbook Charity’ is the way we assuage our conscience. It is painless, effortless and gives a rush of good feeling with the stroke of a pen. Few of us go beyond that first step to examine the impact our donation has had on the recipient.

Doctor Nilima Sabharwal’s foray into philanthrophy started with the same first step. A physician at Kaiser Permanente, she was approached by a friend about 10 years ago to help out an orphanage in Chennai called ‘The Children’s Home of Hope.’ She wrote a check and forgot all about it. Come tax time, she was reminded of her good deed and decided to go one step further and organize a small fundraiser in the Bay Area. What prompted her decision she can only ascribe to a ‘higher calling’, a phrase that kept popping up during the course of my interview with her. More »

By Vidya Pradhan

It is an immigrant’s tale as old as time. Rukhsana( not her real name) was brought to the US from her native South Asian country on a fiancée visa. Once she was married, her in-laws found many excuses not to proceed with her green card application. This ensured that the lonely and helpless girl would submit to other, typical, patterns of abuse - emotional, verbal and physical - without recourse.

With her spirit all but extinguished, Rukhsana made a last ditch attempt to escape. While being taken out of the state, she evaded her captors and asked a stranger for help. She was  taken to the police station, where she had her first piece of luck since coming to the land of the free, a meeting with a Narika representative. More »

By Vidya Pradhan

Motorcycle riding, Frisbee playing iconoclast or loving spiritual mentor? After an interview with Sadhguru, I can almost picture him saying with a belly laugh “Are the two mutually exclusive?”

I heard of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev through two friends who have been deeply influenced by his words, his actions and even his very presence.

A spiritual rebel who has disclaimed deep knowledge of traditional Hindu scriptures, Sadhguru experienced a transcendent bliss at the age of 25 and has since made it his mission to share his experiences with others. He has served as delegate to the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, the Alliance for the New Humanity, and is an active supporter of the World Council of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. Recently he was in the Bay Area to address the members of TIECON. Through his Isha Foundation, he has directed several outreach programs for life-term prisoners, impoverished children and rural rejuvenation in southern India.

When he graciously agreed to a phone interview from India, I was a little intimidated. Despite reading many of his speeches and sayings, I was no closer to understanding the essence of his teachings. More »

By Malathi Mohan

Sometime in the nineties, I visited an ordinary house in Secunderabad. I was received with a lovely smile and made to feel welcome by a little boy who said “Hello aunty, Namaste. Please sit down, Manjula madam will come soon.”
I sat at the entrance lounge and noticed that the reception desk was managed by a young girl who was also answering the phone in a businesslike manner but was very friendly and polite. Both the ‘lobby managers’ answered all my queries pleasantly and offered me a glass of water, properly served. There were a few other youngsters of different ages around who went about their jobs with a cheery greeting to me. Helping the cook with vegetables; the invariable cleaning of rice and dhal; sweeping and mopping; dusting and bed making were some of the duties they handled by rotation.

This was no ordinary house. It was Swayamkrushi, a community based project for the mentally challenged, started by Manjula Kalyan, a dynamic, motherly woman who had always been interested in helping the developmentally disabled. Her goal is to give them an equal seat at the table and a chance to face life’s challenges from a position of strength.

More »