july 1996 volume 2 issue 3 an affair to remembertripathi/bsna/bmbh607c.pdf · july 1996 volume 2...

July 1996 Volume 2 Issue 3

Brahma-Bharati Publication of the BSNA The Convention Issue

f you have seen the famousCary Grant movie of thatname, the best way to describeConvention’96 is to borrow

that phrase. It was an example oforganizational excellence, efficiency,dedication, hard work, and that lovefor the BSNA that raised the conven-tion from the level of a communitymeeting to ‘An affair to remember.’

The credit for the expert organizationgoes to Satish Tripathi, the director of theconvention, Mahendra Pal Misra, the localorganizer, and other members of the orga-nizing team. They were everywhere—su-pervising all the arrangements. The regis-tration process went smoothly, the dele-gates got their rooms without any confu-sion, and all the sessions took place in aprofessional manner. Considering that thenumber of delegates was above 600, it wasan achievement to be proud of. Prof Tri-pathi lived up to and possibly exceeded hisreputation of organizational excellence. Inthe general body meeting on the last day, hewas awarded the Brahma-GauravaPuraskaar, one of the highest recognitionsof the BSNA. Mr. Mahendra Misra washonored with the Brahma-Deep Puruskaar.The youth program was organized withequal efficiency by Madhuri Tiwari, RajuTripathi, and Rajiv Misra.

The prime mover behind the whole thing,as ever, was Nirmalendu Choubey. He kepta relatively low profile on the first day butcame to his own on the last day. He gave agrand speech and conveyed his convictionabout the BSNA with his supreme oratori-cal skills. BSNA is his greatest gift to thecommunity. He has brought the BSNA tothis state through a considerable personalsacrifice. His whole family have workedhard for the BSNA without attempting tocome to lime-light. Mrs. Choubey is largelyresponsible for computerization of the Pres-ident—I mean Presidential work. We thank

(Continued on page 4)

Confronting Changeand Crises

by Bhudev Sharma(From the editor: The full text of the

marvelous keynote address was publishedin the Convention’96 Souvenir magazineand is available on the BSNA home page.This is a short summary.)

The theme -- 'Brahmans of the Twenty-first Century' -- of the Second Conventionof BSNA, is indeed very challenging andappropriate. Perhaps, there is a short


An affair to rememberAn affair to remember

The organizers of Convention’96. (FromL to R) Mahendra Misra, Anita Dubey,Satish Tripathi, and Nirmalendu Choubey.

They did it—Bravo Two Brahmans of the 21st centuryShiva Pandey (9m) and Juhi Pandey

A Brahman of all centuriesProf Ramanath Sharma (below)

Abv: Prof Bhudev Sharma lighting up thediya to initiate the cultural program. Blw:Ramesh Pandey and Chandra Pandey- in-troducing the delegates.

Brahma-Bharati July 1996

Is Brahman Samaj ofNorth America Valueless?by Nirmalendu Choubey(President, BSNA)

(Editor’s note: This is the full text of thespeech that the President gave at Conven-tion’96.)

The answer is “that it is not.” The wordBrahman itself indicates a value as does theword Samaj. The former stands for the bestin any endeavor humanly possible and thelatter signifies a culture and civilizationthat exists within an advanced state. How-ever, if one asks whether we impose a set ofvalues on our membership, once again theanswer is in the negative. The impositionof beliefs according to John Locke in hisLetter on Tolerance, is not legitimate sim-ply because one cannot believe in some-thing that has been forced upon him or her.Following from this undeniable logic, we,as a community within an advanced society,would like to foster an environment wherepeople may decide for themselves the val-ues by which they will live and abide.

There is no denying that the world inwhich we live is complex and interdepen-dent. Part of the complexity of our societyand lives is due to a myriad of beliefs heldby the people with whom we interact. Inorder to be productive and proactive mem-bers of society, the lesson we learn from ourinterdependence with other cultures andpeoples is that an open mind and a desire tolearn and understand are the most impor-tant tools we have within our grasps ashumans. To this extent, forced beliefs andvalues are antithetical to the nature of ourorganization and our goals. We are a liv-ing, breathing organization. As such, we,meaning you and I, have and should exer-cise our open minds and our ability tocomprehend. This conference is a forumfor us to discuss and share our thoughts onissues related to being a Brahman. We allcome with values---some are similar, somedissimilar. Almost every action we under-take as humans is flavored by what believeand the values we hold. The BSNA can notescape this facet of human nature. Becauseof this, sometimes our programs reflect thevalues of the people instrumental in creat-ing them. Your responsibility, as a mem-ber of this organization and equippedwith the tools of a mind and a heart, is toattempt to understand what you en-counter, here or anywhere, questionwhat you encounter, and then freely de-cide what you wish to take with you intoyour heart and mind.

Sometimes, though, all of our differingvalues create divisions; our society is di-

vided enough. The divisions based on thelanguage we speak or the place we wereborn or the families we were born into, arevery well known. The politics of divisionhas made us a minority in a land that at onetime we considered our own. The time nowis to look into what brings us together andnot what separates us. Our children arefacing a situation very different from whatwe faced when we were their age. Theproblem is that they do not even realize itand I certainly do not blame them for that.When we first arrived in North America notmany of us anticipated the problems thatwe face today. Why should our children beany different? The problem actually is notthem, but us, myself included. We are theones who put our heads in the sand like anostrich thinking that problems will goaway. Why blame them? If all Brahmansrealize the problem that many of us here do,I am sure there would have been 60,000Brahmans at this convention, not just 600.

This brings me to the theme of this con-vention, the Brahmans of the 21st century.Will they be Brahmans or something else?We would not be a Brahman today had ourparents not been a Brahman. We should

also note that we would not be a Brahmanhad we also not been a Hindu. We hopethat as long as our children belong to theHindu faith they will remain Brahman andno one can take that away from them.

The question arises if their idea of beingBrahman is consistent with the idea ofbeing a Brahman in the past. This willdepend on the set of values they decide toadopt. There are a set of universal valuessuch as honesty and decency that everycommunity has at its core. A distinctionamong communities can be made, though,when discussing the importance a commu-nity gives to the concepts of family. Asimmigrants in a new land, I believe that wehave learned well the lesson regarding the

necessity of compromise. No civilizationcan survive unless it is willing to adopt newideas and make these necessary compro-mises. We have made compromises in thisadopted land of ours and so have our chil-dren. The one compromise that should notbe made is the importance and primacy ofthe family.

One value that I would like my childrento have is this family value. As you alreadyknow, Hinduism does not have a Pope nordoes it have a Vatican. Hindus have passedon their values to the next generationthrough their families and the way in whichthey lived their lives. This system is whathas allowed Hinduism to exist for so manymillennia and this same system of valueswill help us meet the challenge here inAmerica as well. In the land where individ-ual freedom is revered over any thing else,our children may have difficulty acceptingthe supremacy of family values. It is alsotougher to live with. Therefore, they willvery often do things that may seem expedi-ent in action and not deliberate in thought.

Our children are going to face many ofthe same problems that this society faces byand large. We will face issue of premaritalsex and AIDS. As family structureschange, we will face increasing rates ofdivorce and placement of parents into el-derly homes. The question is how we copewith these changes. My answer is familyvalues. I believe Samskar, that Prof. Ra-manath Sharma talked about last year, isanother name of family values. If you wantyour Samskar to stay intact, a belief infamily values is necessary.

The Brahmans of the twenty first centuryare very fortunate indeed. They have par-ents who are very distinguished in theirprofessional career and at the same timethey are also strong believers in familyvalues. They have acquainted you with away of growing up which will allow you notonly to excel in whatever field you choose,but also be examples to your own communi-ties and families.

In North America and in other societies,as they get more Westernized such as ourvery own India, the supremacy of the indi-vidual seems to negate the value of thefamily unit. Yet as our long history andtradition has shown, individual accomplish-ment rarely can take place without a strong,supportive family context enriched by thevalues of selflessness, dedication, respect,service, education, love and affection forhumanity. Our challenge is to emphasizethe importance of that critical relationshipbetween individual and family and to per-suade the next generation of the value ofboth.

.....If you want your Samskarto stay intact, a belief in familyvalues is necessary....


They came and liked it!!by Satish K. Tripathi(Director of Convention’96)

The Convention '96 exceeded all expecta-tions. Over 150 families (more than 600people) attended convention in Reading,PA. The weather was excellent and every-one had a great time (see the results of thesurvey below). The program was packedand we tried to keep it on schedule. Detailsof various sessions/activities appear else-where in this issue.

This year we had a special program foryoung adults a day before (July 4) thegeneral convention. More than 70 youngadults participated in this program.

July 5 started with an excellent paneldiscussion on "Brahman's of the 21st Cen-tury." Various views were presented fromdifferent segment of our Brahman commu-nity. In a nut shell, it seems we are readyfor the next century and should play a majorrole in the "technology century."

The days were filled with talks/discus-sions/social gatherings and at the end of thesecond day we all had more friends than westarted with. (I met an old classmate ofmine after 26 years!). The formal part of theprogram ended by recognizing fellow Brah-mans; several awards were given.

Rather than giving my own impressionabout the Convention, I'll use the surveyforms to evaluate the organization. Approx-imately 70 survey forms were received fromthe attendees. Two-third of the respon-dents rated the program, facilities, loca-tion and entertainment as excellent. Ap-proximately sixty percent of the respon-dents gave excellent scores to souvenirmagazine and duration of the program;The Food had a lower excellent rating(35%). For almost all of the categories, theunsatisfactory rating was less than 7%; foodwas unsatisfactory in 16% of the responses.

Most of the people came to the Conven-tion to meet new people/Networking, topromote/develop cultural values, to meetrelatives and friends, and to promote thegoals and objectives of BSNA.

I thank the organizing committee for allthe work and support they provided. Inaddition, without continuous help from Nir-

Reflectionsby Satish C. Misra(Editor, Convention’96 Souvenir)

It was a great privilegefor me to edit the firstBSNA souvenir book. Ilearned a lot and had myshare of joys and hard-ships. I would like tothank all the authors,advertisers and sponsorsfor their help and sup-port. Some of the thingsthat I like to emphasize are:

I do not think we reached even a fractionof the potential funds we could have raiseddue to various reasons, including the skep-ticism about the final product. Now, wehave some experience and a product, wemust do better next year and we will withyour help. Please plan ahead for gettinggreetings and advertisements. If we individ-ually make a commitment to sponsor atleast a quarter page, we would reach amilestone. Ads with family photographshave been much more appreciated and weplan to continue this. If we have dreams ofestablishing a Brahmanic Chair at aPrestigious University, give scholarshipsto the needy and deserving Brahmanstudents, we have to find innovative waysto raise funds. We need you, your help andinvolvement.

We must avoid the last minute rush forboth the ads and articles. This time I kepton continuously revising and updating allthe estimates. This puts undue pressure oneverybody (management, members of theeditorial board, printer, etc.).

Now I have access to a good color scan-ner. The photographs of the BSNA organi-zation submitted earlier were cut andpasted. The resolution of the some of thephotographs was poor and some pho-tographs submitted were in Black andWhite. I urge you to plan ahead and submitgood photographs now so that we can build-up a library of photographs for inclusionboth in the souvenir book and BrahmaBharati. If you are planning to give an ad inthe next year's souvenir book (especiallyphotographs) do it now. You can alwayschange your mind up to the dead line.

I personally would prefer to see morearticles related to reflection type, first per-son type and those that make popularreading, especially from our youths. Please

encourage our youths to write about theirrelevant experiences. This could includeexperiences at our conventions, visit toBharat, meeting a unique Brahman (likeRamanath Sharma), or their or their par-ent's marriage, etc. Literary type articlesshould relate to Brahamanic values.

I would like to see increased sponsoringof the youth section, providing scholarshipsto our youth in order to motivate them towrite. Sponsorship of other articles relatedto a desired theme is also encouraged.

malendu Choubey, Vinod Tewary, and theBSNA Executive Committee the conven-tion would not have been a success. Thankyou all. See you in Michigan.

Thank youThe BSNA thanks the following individu-

als, families, and businesses for their finan-cial contributions/ donations to the Conven-tion’96 souvenir book.

Ontario- Canada: Joshi, Hira; Sharda,Arvind.

CA- Shukla, Shyam Narayan.DC/MD- Dixit, Rajiv & Madhuri, Dubey,

Jitender P. & Niti R., Dwivedi, Parmesh;Mishra, Lalji; Misra, Satish C.; Misra,Prabhakar; Sharma, Awadhesh; Sharma,Gopal; Tiwari, Prabhat; Tripathi, Satish;Pathak, Bhama & Arvind; Sharma,Gopesh.

IL- Pandey, Ghanshyam & Leela;Prashar, Kanwal.

IN- Bajpai, Anil & Sarita; P a t h a k ,Gupteshwar.

LA- Sharma, Bhu Dev.MA- Tripathi, Alok/Call India; Tripathi,

Alok.MI- Sharma, Gopal; Mishra, Jitendra;

Aysola, Rao; Purohit, Nitin; Sharma, Pu-rushottam; Sharma, Niru/Childhood Cen-ter; Sahore, Vijay; Tyagi, Narendra.

MS- Tiwari, Suresh C.NC- Sharma, Deva.NJ- Pandey, Ramendra; Shukla, Umesh;

Tiwari, Manoj; Rice & Spices; Haderer,Rober; Surya Carpet/Tiwari,ChandraMani.

NY- Awasthi, Jagdish; Chaudhari, Ram;Sharma, Jagar N; Agarwal, Rakesh; Bankof India; Bank of Baroda; Choubey, Su-dhendu; Shukla, Bhaw; State Bank of India.

OH- Chaturvedi, Laxmi Narayana; Oza,Sudhir; Tripathi, Raj.

PA- ABC Travel Agency/NorthEastNewsstand; Misra, Mahendra P.; Sharma,Hans Raj/Sharma Associate; SheratonBerkshire Hotel; Misra, Mahendra P.; Tri-pathi, Raju -- KD Canners, Inc.

The souvenir book has been financiallyrewarding for the BSNA and would bringback memories of Convention’96. It hasalso been useful in other ways. Dr SurendraPandey writes that he discovered a long-lostfriend through the souvenir book.


all of them for their contributions, but thebest way to thank Mr. Choubey would befor all of us to resolve that we will makeour association even stronger.

The biggest attraction of the conven-tion was, as expected, the excellent key-note speech by Prof Bhudev Sharma. Hespoke with mathematical precision withoutrhetoric. His speech about ‘change’ wasinformative and thought provoking. Hecommanded the attention of the whole audi-ence. It was a great pleasure to be exposedto such scintillating intellectual thoughts.

A very appealing invited lecture wasgiven by Ram Chaudhari during the youthprogram on “The need and importance ofHindi.” Prof Chaudhari talked with theself-consistent and factually supported logicof a physicist and his usual Gandhian sim-plicity and conviction.The people

The shining star of the convention was,you guessed it, Ramanath Sharma. He hasnow become a living symbol of the BSNA.Prof. Sharma, to state the obvious, is agenius. His charismatic personality hasmade him a darling of the crowd of all ages.In addition to his inspiring speeches andpoetry on the platform, people are eager tograb his words of wisdom wherever theycan catch him—in the hotel lobby, corri-dors, picnic grounds, and possibly even inrest-rooms. He was awarded the Alankaarpuraskaar, the top recognition for profes-sional excellence.

Then there was the star of Hollywood,Ramesh Pandey. In addition to his hilariouscomedy programs, he gave a session on hisfamous Power Yoga. He was given theShrestha puraskaaar. Incidentally, his newfilm ‘I love you but don’t touch me’, aRyon production, directed by Julia Davis, isdue to be released this month.

Another stellar presence was of AnitaDubey. She organized marvelous culturalprograms and the children’s programs. Shewas also awarded the Brahma-Gaurava Pur-askaar. An indicator of her popularity wasthe standing ovation that she received fromthe audience when her award was an-nounced. Talking of standing ovations, thishonor was also bestowed upon, yours faith-fully, the Editor of BB, who was given thetop organizational award, the ShiromaniPuraskaar.

A major new step was the publication ofthe BSNA souvenir magazine. It was agrand production with scholarly articles anduseful information along with personal andcommercial messages. The superb editingjob was done by Satish Misra who wasgiven the Brahma-Deep Puraskaar. Other

(Continued from page 1) heroes present at the convention were NitinPurohit, the new Vice-President, and BhawShukla, the treasurer. Mr. Purohit has madegreat strides towards the expansion of theBSNA and was awarded the Brahma-Gaurava Puraskaar. Mr. Shukla has beeninstrumental in getting the tax-exempt sta-tus to BSNA. He was awarded the Karman-ishtha Puraskaar.

The convention was held at the luxuriousSheraton Berkshire hotel in Reading, PA.July 4 was the day of the youth. In additionto dance and entertainment, they were ex-posed to cultural talks and discussions. Theorganizational meetings of the BSNA Exec-utive and Board of Trustees were held inparallel. Among others, Ramesh Pandeyand Neetu Sharma charmed the audiencewith their dance in the cultural program.The programs

The general session started on July 5 withthe Ganesh Vandana rendered by L.N.Chaturvedi and his talented children-AnandMohan and Preti. The first session waschaired by S.K. Mishra. Other participantswere L.S. Dubey, J.P. Dubey, RamanathSharma, Vivek Shukla, and Rekha Tripathi.The family introduction at lunch time wascoordinated by Chandra Pandey, RameshPandey, Gopal Panday, and Madhu Pandey.Several breakout sessions were held afterlunch: Children’s groups-Anita Dubey, Ra-mendra Pandey, and Priti Ojha; newly mar-ried couples and those with children under2 yrs—Vandana Sharma and PrabhakarMisra; age group 13-14—Ram RudraShukla, Juhi Dubey, Arjita Shukla, andJuhi Shukla; age group 15-17—MamtaTewari, Kavita Misra, Anshu Shukla, PritiTewari, and Aashish Tripathi; age group18-21—Lalji Mishra, Vivek Dwivedi,Deepti Choubey, Ruchi Misra, SavitaMisra, Chetna Tewari, and Manish Tri-pathi; age group >22—Natasha Chaturvedi,Neeraj Choubey, Meenu Sharma, AshokTripathi, and Poonam Tripathi; parentswith teen-age children—R.P. Tewari, AnitaPandey, Shashi Pandey, MeenakshiPrashar, Suresh Tewari, and Vinod Tewary.

The cultural program, entitled “Sagar keis paar” was emceed with well-plannedhumor and entertainment by RashmiPandey, Atul Prashar, Vivek Shukla, andAnuranjita Tewary. It started with an effec-tive audio-visual production “Bharat Ma kikahani” by Meenakshi and Kanwal Prashar.There were lovely dances by Priti Ojha;Ranjana Pathak; Ajita Shukla; SarikaSharma; Juhi Shukla; Arti Pandey and JuhiPandey; Neetu and Sonia Sharma; Sonaliand Sukirti Sharma; and Simi Dubey, JuhiDubey, Priya Sharma, Vikas Mishra,Vikash Sharma, and Manish Sharma. Preti

Chaturvedi excelled in the rendering of RagBhimpalasi on Violin. Beautiful songs werepresented by Smrita and Durga Choubey;Sharad Tewary, Anita Dubey, and Anuran-jita Tewary; Anubha Tripathi with AmolTripathi on Tabla; and Atul Prashar. TheHollywood yogi, Ramesh Pandey gave hisexcellent comedy masaala that provokedbig laughs. However, the darling of thecrowd was the child prodigy Vedanta Misrawho charmed the audience with his beauti-ful “Thumuki chalat Ramchandra..”

The keynote session was chaired bySatish Tripathi. Nirmalendu Choubey’sbrief speech was followed by the keynoteaddress of Prof. Bhudev Sharma. The dayended with two parallel programs—danceand kavi-sammelan. The dance had a liveDJ who put additional life into the rockingmusic. The kavi-sammelan was lyricallychaired by Jagar Sharma who enlivened theprogram with his beautiful qataas andrubaiyats. Amongst others, Anoop Bhar-gava, and two brilliant youngsters, AshishMishra and Ajay Malaviya, recited somebeautiful poems. A hilarious poetic treatwas provided by Ramanath Sharma whodescribed his coming to terms with comput-ers and his interactions with the editor ofthe BB and the president of the BSNA.

Next morning started early for some withparallel sessions on Aerobics by UmaShukla, Meditation by Prabhat Tewari,Power yoga by Ramesh Pandey, Ayurvedaby S.K. Mishra. Then there was a sessioncoordinated by Mahendra Misra on educa-tional programs: L.N. Chaturvedi on Gitaand Ramanath Sharma on Mantrayoga.

The last formal session was NirmalenduChoubey’s show. A general body meeting,the first ever, was held in which Mr.Choubey gave a memorable speech. Themeeting started with the BSNA vandana‘Dev Brahma…’ sung with feelings bySharad Tewary, Anita Dubey, and Anuran-jita Tewary. There were brief speeches byShyam Shukla, Suresh Tiwari, Brij Pandey,Bhaw Shukla, S. Anand Mishra, RamanathSharma, and Vinod Tewary. Another firstof the Convention’97 was the award cere-mony in which several members were hon-ored for their contributions to BSNA andprofessional excellence. A special com-memorative plaque was awarded to ProfBhudev Sharma, the keynote speaker.

Finally, there was a picnic in a verypicturesque park. The hottest selling itemthere was the BSNA tee-shirt, beautifullydesigned by Vivek Shukla. After the picnic,many people rushed to Reading outletstores, the largest in the USA.

Even the best things must come to anend—so did the grand Convention’96.


The poetry cornerFrom Ramcharitmaanasby Goswamy TulsidasIn Hindi:Mangal bhavan, amangal haari,dravahu so Dashrath ajar-vihaari.Approx. translationOne who does good, and gets rid of whatis not, worship that son of Dashrath.

*Film songs should not be played at theBSNA convention, being a gathering ofBrahmans. Next time try rock-n-rolling at‘Twameva maata cha pita twameva..’

*High calorie and spicy food should notbe served at the convention- it is non-brahmanical. Did not appear to be so fromthe way the food vanished. Next time nonon-brahmanical food. Be prepared to getkand-mool-phal. Better still, find themyourself from a forest nearby-if there is any.

*If you think brahmans should eat to liverather than live to eat, you should have seenthe mob-attacks on the dining tables. Whysuch mad rush? Somebody explained,“Vubhukshitah kim na karoti papam..”

*Most of the speakers were men. Why? Alady explained, “That is because the poordarlings don’t get a chance to speak athome.”

*Two yoga-sessions were held earlymorning. I heard this conversation.

“Which yoga session did you go to in themorning?”

“Nidra-yoga.”*Somebody had a list of things/acts to

avoid to ensure long life. Heard this one?Man: Doctor, I want to live for a hundred

years. Can you advice me about what to do?Doctor: Do you avoid exercise and enjoy

TV most of the evening?Man: No, sir. I exercise two hours a day.Doctor: Do you drink wine?Man: Definitely not. Water is the only

liquid that I drink.Doctor: Do you go to late-night shows,

dances, and clubs?Man: Never. I always go to bed at 9 PM.Doctor: Then, why the hell do you want to

live for hundred years?

The need and the impor-tance of Hindiby Ram Chaudhari

(Editor’s note: This is the summary of theinvited talk delivered by the author at Con-vention’ 96 during the youth session)

Hindi is thethird largest spo-ken language inthe world. It hasbeen described asthe life line of In-dian culture. Indi-ans, particularlythe ones from theHindi belt, havenot done a good job to promote Hindi. We canlearn a lot from our compatriots from India,as well as from persons from countries likeKorea and China. On economic front, wehave started learning from them; sooner welearn in cultural matters, better it will be.

The reason for choosing Hindi as the offi-cial language of India can be stated as fol-lows. The persons from Hindi states consti-tute the single biggest linguistic group inIndia; it is forty percent of India, in terms ofboth, area and population. The persons whocan understand Hindi, constitute about 70percent of the Indian population. From an-

cient times up to the thirteenth century, San-skrit was the language of the courts anddiscourse among the scholars. Starting in theeighth century, Hindi became the medium ofdiscourse for the saints who traveld all overIndia to spread their message.

For more than a millennium, Hindi, in oneform or another, has been the language ofcultural and religious discourse all over India.It was this factor, that virtually all nationalleaders, including Swami DayanandSaraswati, Mahatma Gandhi, Bal GangadharTilak from Maharashtra advocated Hindi forthe official language of India. It may bepointed out that after the collapse of Muslimempire and the emergence of British rule,Persian was replaced by English. For lowerechelons of administration, in spite of vehe-ment protests, Urdu in Arabic script wasimposed on the majority community. Thosefamiliar with the development of Hindi, knowof the struggle for introducing Hindi in De-vanagri script in the school curriculum. WhenIndia became free, Hindi found acceptance inthe lower courts, but still cannot (next col.)

be used in the Supreme Court of India.The Indian constitution, in 1950, stipu-

lated that Hindi shall be the official lan-guage of India. After a lapse of 46 yearsEnglish still continues to be the de factoofficial language of India. It may be usefulto recall the effort made by South Korea inpromoting their language. KOREAN LAN-GUAGE The National Association for Ko-rean Schools (NAKS) has 607 memberschools. America is divided into twelveregional chapters. To qualify for member-ship, a school must hold Korean languageand history classes for four hours a week,for thirty-six weeks a year. Each studentpays $240 tuition per year, and each schoolpays a membership fee of $500/year toNAKS. The teachers are paid for their time.Korean would become the ninth languagefor SAT II, the NAKS has raised $500,000for the College Board.

What Can We do? The group fromHindi states, has to take responsibility todevelop Hindi into a modern language, ca-pable of serving as the medium for thehighest scholarship in all branches ofknowledge, administration and justice. Alanguage can only be developed by using it.If this group picks up the challenge, I amconfident that our friends from non-Hindistates will join them and support Hindi.Like Rammohan Rai, Dayanand, Tilak andGandhi, they would love to see Hindi be-come the de facto official language of India.To be effective we have to work under asingle organization. A strong Hindi will besource of strength for other Indian lan-guages. This movement can help Hindi tobecome a language of United Nations. If wecome together and work unitedly, I amconfident that the momentum generated inthis effort could play a significant role insecuring a place for India in the SecurityCouncil of the United Nations.

Conventional wisdomWhat is conventional wisdom? According

to a recent newspaper usage with referenceto the convention of a political party, con-ventional wisdom is the wisdom or the lackof it displayed at a convention. We hadplenty of both kinds at Convention’96. Hereis a sample. But, remember, any thing writ-ten in this column may be wrong. It ismeant to be a joke. So, please, take itseriously, and laugh with a grim face.

*The BSNA convention is aimed at matchmaking—particularly the youth program.Well, if you say so. The President pointedout that more people brought their daugh-ters than sons in the youth program. Heardthe famous saying attributed to Tolstoy?“All women should marry but no man.”

...take responsibility to developHindi ... capable of serving asthe medium for the highestscholarship ...


sanatana answer: Take care of the present.Thus the question is -- what is the presentand how to take care of it?

To examine things we must proceed intel-lectually. However, according to Gita, thereare three different views based on intellect-- the correct, the distorted or the perverted.Western intellectuals have purposely pre-sented a distorted or perverted view. SirW. M. William, easily the greatest WesternSanskritist, wrote,

"When the walls of the mighty fortress ofBrahminism are encircled, undermined andfinally stormed by the soldiers of the Cross,the victory of Christianity must be signaland complete."

Therefore Western influence is a seriousproblem in understanding Hinduism.

Brahman society is a part of the Hindusociety. It has existed from Vedic times.Qualities of the brahmans are found inGita, Brahma Purana, Purushsukta hymn ofthe Rigveda, Mahabharat, Ramayan, Gita,Brahma Puran, Bhagwat Puran. Conducthas been an important characteristic ofbrahmans. There is no evidence, beforearrivals of Europeans on the world scene,that foreigners found anything bad with thissystem. Magasthenes, Albaruni, a Persianscholar, in 10th century have paid glowingtributes to the Hindu system.

According to an estimate, there arearound 64 million brahmans in India,Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bali, Sindhpart of Pakistan, Surinam, Mauritius,Guyana, Trinidad, and Fiji. With migration,after India’s independence to so many coun-tries, there are brahmans now in manycountries of the world.

At present, members of brahman societyare basically linked by heredity, marriageand custom. Members of this group are nolonger in specific professions, and there areno specific professions, except to the largeextent that of priesthood, to which brah-mans alone qualify. I have, during mynine years stay in Caribbean, discoveredthat Hinduism, amongst immigrant Hin-dus, did not survive at places wherethere were no brahmans left or availableto meet the religious needs of the com-munity.

Hinduism is highly philosophical. Ac-tions and their infallibility is at the hub ofthe Hindu system.. There is hardly anyquestion that a serious seeker may have andthe same has not been raised by Arjuna andnot most profoundly answered by Lord Kr-ishna in Gita. I may mention that one goodthing about Gita is that wherever there isdifficulty in understanding it, invariablythat can be resolved by closely reading

(Continued from page 1) Mahabharat of which it is a part.Some call Hinduism ‘a way of life'. I

consider that 'Hinduism is a view of life'.Life is thus a basic notion in Hinduism.Another important concept is that of con-sciousness that measures degree of perfec-tion, what Gita calls 'braahmee-stithi-h',for attaining it, three things are consideredessential; Suraksha, meaning security;Pavitrataa, purity, and Parishkaar, contin-uous refinement.

These characteristics can be identifiedwith seven states of consciousness, namelyBhu (earthly) Bhuv (aspirations) Swah(comforts), Mhah (self actualization),Janah (public service), Tapah (sacrifice/suffering), Satyam (Reality).

Change which is emphasised in the pre-sent times is accepted as a natural processin Hinduism. Changes can be of differentkinds. In particular there can be a change

with continuity or one with a break. Changefor better should therefore mean right ormeritorious actions, the maxim is 'prayaassaadhayam su-kritam, i. e., 'Performanceof meritorious actions needs sustained ef-forts'. Hindu concept of change is that of adynamic change with continuity in a con-structive framework.

We are today facing the paradox ofspeedy scientific advancement with speedydecay in human values. The resolution ofparadoxes is done, as I mentioned before,through philosophies, and is exemplified bythe lives of illustrious people. Hinduismhas both in abundance.

Revivalism and reform are other issues.There have been reformative movements inIndia at different times. All the successfulones have reinforced the age old systemglorifying role and place of brahmans. Asregards Hindu value system and ethics, oursis a rigorous system. It has to be so becausethe aim is 'total perfection'. Hindu valuesare not mere sermons; their basis is fullyexplained in our books. While smiritiesand other sources list values in severalways, Gita (Chap 16), gives the most com-prehensive list of twenty-six of them.

Our next generation, except those whodecide to reallocate themselves to India,should experience not much change.

A society should carefully avoid crises.This, to my mind, is a much bigger andmuch serious a problem than change.While a change can be orchestrated, per-haps none of the crises.

As you can see these broadly belong to

two categories -- family related and workrelated. Fortunately, half of these can beamicably handled by properly building thefamily bonds depending on brahmanic tra-ditions. By showing strong character andby resolving family problems, the workrelated problems are also bound to reduceas a consequence of improved support andperformance.

Marriage is an important institution andneeds to be taken as such. Marriage ofbrahman boys and girls amongst themselvesis a sensitive issue. It certainly cannot beimposed on unwilling persons. However,its merits should be made known. Some-times it is argued that, in USA, marriagesof brahmans among brahmans may not befeasible because of numbers. This situationmay be resolved by relaxing geographicalconstraints, as some are doing. After all thismodel has successfully worked in India,where population is more than three timesthat of the USA, and where movement inthe past, between various regions was muchmore problematic than what it is betweenIndia and USA today. There is need to havein-depth analysis and guidance to theyounger generation, at an appropriate time.No one will undermine importance of rightadvice, particularly in a situation that needsobjective analysis.

The Hindu and brahman traditions arerich in examples for all situations even ofthe present times. In fact, in my opinion,one important reason for the Hinduism tohave shown resilience and having sprungup with new vigor is that it has createdexamples like that of Ram and Sita for itsfollowers.

The course for 'Brahmans of the Twenty-first Century' seems to be clear. It is rightthinking and right action, not based ondebates and disputations, but on the pathfollowed by illustrious persons.

So friends! fellow brahmans!! let us re-solve to follow illustrious examples and tryto become one. Combine the strong valuesand spiritual ideals of a Brahman and theprofessionalism of the West.

..Performance of meritoriousactions needs sustained efforts.

Convention’96 souvenir books areavailable to members at a nominal cost of$5/copy plus $3 S&H. Please make out acheck to BSNA and send to P.O.B. 4962,Troy, MI 48099-4962.

A 4-hr video of Convention’ 96, madeby Neetu and Sonia Sharma, is availablefor $15. Call Neetu or Sonia at 516-292-7633 or e-mail [email protected].

Not too early to start planning for Con-vention’97. It will be held at the Marriottin Troy, MI, on July 4, 5, and 6, 1997.Call Purushottam Sharma at 810-853-4076; e-mail [email protected].


Creating a place for thefuture

by Deepti ChoubeyThe BSNA had its second annual conven-

tion this year in Reading, PA. My task wasto present the youth perspective of the con-ference. Charged with this task, I used theconvenience of technology and e-mailedmany of my fellow participants and askedfor their thoughts and perspective on theirexperiences in early July. Two importantoutcomes have resulted from this mass e-mail: a backbone for a future e-mail list foryoung people within the BSNA and a con-sensus on some issues regarding the way inwhich the conference is structured. I thankall the people who responded with theirthoughts and suggestions. Your ideas willhopefully influence the decisions for thenext convention. If you would like to be onthe e-mail list, please e-mail me your ad-dress at [email protected].

One of the over-arching themes of theconvention has been the need to preserveour Indian and Brahman heritage. An ef-fective way in which to accomplish thisgoal is for everyone to realize the emphasisthat should be placed on the younger gener-ation. We recognized and appreciated theattempt to create this emphasis and wehope that it will continue.

Convention’96 had many additional fea-tures when compared to Convention’95.One of the most important and beneficialwas the Youth Program the day before theregular convention. As someone who hasbeen to both conventions, I was pleasantlysurprised by people's responses to the ques-tion of why they came to the convention. Asubstantial number of people said that theyhad such a good time the previous year, thatthey wanted to repeat the experience. Bythe end of the convention, as friendshipswere renewed and new acquaintancesmade, it became apparent that the positiveexperience had been repeated. The addi-tional emphasis on programs for youth wasappreciated by the younger members of theBSNA. It was extremely beneficial to havetime to bond with other people our own ageand almost everyone agreed that the pro-gram be repeated.

By no means is it possible to say that theconference was perfect. Instead, one shouldunderstand that as a new organization, theBSNA has manifested its vision rather well,although there are still a few kinks thatneed to be dealt with. Most of the youthcomments had to do with the formatting

and substance of programs.Top among concerns voiced is the need

for more time at the conference. Manyhave suggested an additional day makingthe conference three, instead of two dayslong (not including the picnic). One of themain reasons cited for the additional timewas a desire for more in-depth discussionson the important topics up for debate. Sim-ply put, an hour and a half is not enoughtime for 60 people in one age group to getto know each other-- much less discuss theimportance of being a Brahman in the con-text of the western culture.

This year, with the help of Manish Tri-pathi, Chetana Tiwari, Ruchi Mishra, andVivek Dwivedi, the 18-21 age group dis-cussed whether one could reasonably findsome kind of compromise between the twocultures. Everyone agreed that there areconflicts to be found on many differentlevels, but at the same time, most seemedwilling to try to find a compromise. Acommon theme amongst the adult speakersthis year was the need for re-inventingtraditions and rituals to fit our lives here inthe west. The youth perspective on thisseemed to be a fairly logical one, in that wewould prefer knowing about rituals beforethey are some how reinvented by some

other source. This perspective is indicativeof the youth dynamism in many ways. Itreveals an active concern for our culture aswell as a desire to preserve parts that wefeel are pertinent to the very different livesthat we live here in North America.

In the light of the adults' message ofunderstanding why they feel the need topreserve their culture came the correspond-ing message from the youth that the oldergeneration must understand our positionand the difficulty of having been immersedin a different society and yet still strugglingto preserve important aspects of our Indian,much less Hindu or Brahman heritage.

In terms of format, the suggestions for thenext convention range for more time foryounger people to repeatedly interact withone another, including social as well asdiscussion settings to greater substance tothe Youth Program Agenda. Organizationseems to be the key to the success of eachevent in the conference. I hope that theBSNA realizes the importance of the youthperspective and continue to incorporate it inits plans for the next year and the future.

The BSNA youthConvention’96 -- my per-

spectiveby Natasha Chaturvedi

I tried to put my perspective in terms ofthe "Brahman" idea but I'm still in the"what it means to be Indian" mode. Dealingwith the "Brahman" part might not happenfor me until the third or fourth convention.

For me, personally, the conference hasbeen an interesting and beneficial experi-ence. I didn't grow up with that manyIndian kids (let alone the few Brahmanfamilies in my community) who I really hitit off with and, looking back on things, thefriendships that did develop were primarilya product of my parents' social life. Wewere friends because our parents were. Onour own, we simply did not have that muchcommon. And, when the time came to gomove on in our separate lives, there wasn'tmuch there to sustain the friendships.

As I went on to college and graduateschool, I ran into the same problem. Icouldn't find much in common with theIndian people I met. Having grown up in areally liberal Indian (Brahman) home, I wasalmost "too American" for many of theIndian people I met but yet "different" thanmy American friends here because I had an"Indian part."

The differences didn't concern me somuch when I was younger but now that I'mstarting to really think of my future, I havestarted to realize that I am truly at cross-roads in my own identity. For the first time,I recognize how hard it is to be caughtbetween 2 very different worlds and I oftenquestion how much of India I am going tobe able to hold onto (or want to hold onto).I don't know (and still don't know) whatIndian customs and traditions I am going tokeep and what aspects will be lost along theway. It's a very scary prospect and beingthe eldest in my family, it makes it evenscarier since NO ONE has gone before mewith these "born into one culture and raisedin another" issues.

But, I must admit that going to the BSNAconference this year really helped me thinkabout all of these things in a different way.The event not only enabled me to meet a lotof people who I really enjoyed hanging outwith and talking to (there are "normal"


...we would prefer knowingabout rituals before they aresome how reinvented by someother source.

...I am truly at crossroads inmy own identity ... how hardit is to be caught between 2very different worlds


Indian kids afterall) but the conference alsoopened my eyes to the fact I'm not so alonein debating all of these issues. Being incompany with so many fellow Brahmans, itwas really nice to not have to explain thebackground on every little thing (as I oftendo when I try to explain a problem [ie theissues of dating Indian vs non-Indian] withmy non-Indian friends), but to simply jumpright into the heart of the matter and talkabout it openly.

In the numerous break-out sessions wehad, I was struck by the fact that everysingle person had thought about these is-sues (to varying degrees) and I could seethat we are all grappling with what itmeans to be Indian-American and/or Brah-man (whether our concerns center aroundparental expectations, dating issues, cul-tural concerns, etc.).

Personally, I found it very comforting toknow that few of us were simply acceptingour parents' views as the absolute right wayto handle things but, instead, were lookingto make our own paths and come to our ownconclusions.

In listening to everyone's perspectives, Icame away with many ideas and perspec-tives I had never thought of before (thingswhich I still find myself thinking abouteven weeks after our convention). It's givenme a lot to think about and I learned a lotfrom other attendees.

So, based on that, I think the conferencewas really successful for me. I still don'thave all the answers but it's so nice know-ing that others (of my generation and not ofmy parents) are also dealing with theseissues as well.

(Continued from page 7)

Breakout Sessions forchildren 1 - 12 yearsCoordinator - Anita Dubey

The break-out sessions for children under13 years were divided into 3 groups:

1. 6 years and under - led by NutanMishra and Sharad Tewary

2. 7 - 9 years - led by Rajni Malaviya &Mridula Sharma

3. 10 - 12 years - led by Rajni BhargavaThe first group were supplied art paper,

coloring books and coloring material andthey drew pictures. They also sang songsand told stories.

The second group was given a topic todraw. The theme was - India as you see it.The third group was given to write an essayon the theme - “What would you like to bewhen you grow? Why?”

The 7-9 years and 10-12 years were draw-ing and writing competitions. The prizeswere awarded for each age. The proud

winners received medals on the Picnic day:Drawing Competition: India as I see it:Juhi Goswami, Amit Sharma - 7 yearsVedant Mishra, Smrita Choubey - 8 yearsVimish Shukla, Amit Mehta - 9 yearsWriting Competition: What would you

like to be when you grow up? Why?Shalu Sahore, Priya Sharma - 10 yearsKavita Shukla, Priti Ojha, Sudha Dubey -

11 yearsPriya Pandey, Neil Vatsyayan - 12 yearsOverall, the children participated in the

break-out sessions with great enthusiasm.We tried to combine fun with educationalactivity. Each one of them looked occupiedin some activity or the other. Mothers whowere helping out did a great job in aninteresting way, coordinating the most diffi-cult age groups i.e. children.

Congratulations to all the winners. Theirentries will be published in BrahmaBharati.

Brahmans were teachers, priests, and sages.Dr. Shukla added to the discussions andtalked about different roles of prominentBrahmans, their jobs and the cast system asdescribed in Vedas.

On some topics there were obvious dis-agreements among participants. Occasion-ally an argument broke out, although at3:30 PM when it was time to end thesession everyone was happy to make newfriends. All agreed that the BrahmanSamaj of North America was a good idea.

Age Group 13-14Coordinator: Dr. Ram RudraShukla; Reported by Ajita Shukla

The breakout session of 13-14 year oldswas attended by ten boys and girls comingfrom various places in the USA includingKansas, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia,Maryland, and Massachusetts. The moder-ator of the group was Dr. Ram RudraShukla. Even though the people in thegroup came from different places in thecountry everyone could relate to each other.The topics discussed included origin andresponsibilities of Brahmans and growingup in America.

Juhi Shukla and Juhi Dube talked abouttransition between the two cultures andhow teenagers have to live by Indian tradi-tions at home and be "American" at schoolor with friends. Ajita Shukla pointed outhow hard it was to try to blend in Americawhen it is so obvious that you are different.Alka Tripathi said that it was not that hardfor her because her parents were very sup-portive and open minded. Mahesh Dwiveditalked about his family being very religious,how living close to a temple affected hisdaily life, and of how it was so hard to be avegetarian in America.

The rest of the session was spent talkingabout the origin of the Brahmans and theCaste system. Vidhi Misra said that may besince there is not apprenticeship in India,the men passed their trade onto their sons,and this is why the last names are used todifferentiate the castes. Ajita Shukla toldthe myth that Brahma created all humansand different castes came from differentparts of his body. Mahesh Dwivedi talkedabout the jobs that the different castes did.

Age Group (15-17)Coordinator: Mrs. Mamta Tewari;Reported by Aashish Tripathi

The moderators for this discussion wereKavita Mishra, Priti Tiwari and AashishTripathi. The adult supervisor was Mrs.Mamta Tiwari. The discussions were livelywith many of the 30 plus people participat-ing in talking about topics that ranged frominter-racial marriages to Indian movies.Each topic found people with feelings onboth sides of the issue. Some argued thatinter-racial marriages were wrong, whileothers said they felt it was acceptable. Dat-ing was also discussed. Some felt that theirparents would not let them date becausethey were too traditional while others saidthey had no time to date. Some people weresurprised to find that there were parents atthe Convention that let their kids date.Also, the pressure to get into a good collegefelt by the participants was addressed.Those who attended the convention in 1995felt the 1996 convention was a major stepin the right direction. A few people did notlike the idea of BSNA, but as a whole thegroup felt BSNA is good not for its educa-tional spects, but for the social interaction.Most people said they will attend nextyear's convention in Michigan.

Youthful suggestionsDuring the session moderated by Dr. R.P.

Tewari, Ms. Sonali Sharma made the fol-lowing excellent suggestions. The BSNAleadership should consider these seriously.

Since we are Brahmans, we should haveprayers before each session and meal dur-ing the convention.

Please arrange for teachings on differentrituals and ceremonies during the breakfastsessions. (Sonali also offered to help orga-nize this activity in Convention’97-Editor.)

Please include youth (teenagers to 20’s)in the BSNA executive, and other organiza-tion committees and panels. We want toplay a more active role in the BSNA.


An overwhelming experienceIt all started with an innocuous sounding

phone call in 1994. The caller identifiedhimself as Nirmalendu Choubey, someone Ihad never heard of. Little did I realize thatI am going to hear plenty of that name fromthat time on. It was not what the caller saidbut the conviction with which he talked wascontagious. I found myself saying that I willdo whatever I can. As Mr. Choubey talkedabout a distant looking project about theformation of an organization of Brahmansof North America, I wondered about themagnitude of the task. My natural reactionwas to ask, “Who is going to do it?”

To cut a long story short, Mr. Choubeydid it. I still wonder how so much has beenachieved so soon. Sitting in the last sessionof the Convention’96, listening to Mr.Choubey, I watched the audience in the halland Mr. Choubey on the dais. It has beenjust over two years but look at the multitudeof the human presence. There were peopleof all ages, people from various regions ofNorth America, people from different walksof life- learned professors, scientists, busi-nessmen, doctors, computer scientists,housewives, and (presumably) even house-husbands.

I expect most people were thinking on thesame lines as I was. No body could fail tograsp the immense organizational achieve-ments and strides made by the BSNA. Thelast session was emotional as well as in-spiring. Mr. Choubey excelled in his speechnot just because of his oratorical excellencebut because of the natural uninhibited emo-tions in his voice. His voice, occasionallychoked and fluctuating through severaldecibels, simply penetrated the attentiveaudience. Some people have had com-plaints against various things but at thatmoment all anger and all bitterness meltedaway. What mattered was the BSNA and anall pervading community feeling. Any dif-ferences between us appeared to be sec-ondary issues.

The session culminated with the firstaward ceremony of the BSNA. A largenumber of people were recognized for theircontributions. As Mr. Choubey read theprize-winners’ names and listed their con-tributions, the atmosphere became chargedwith a strong sentiment of mutual bondingand respect. Personally, I felt as though Iam in the seventh heaven. With exception-ally high-sounding compliments, Mr.Choubey announced my name for the Shiro-mani award. I felt a sense of pride andhumility at the same time. Everybody stoodup and gave me a standing ovation in an

unprecedented demonstration of love andfriendship. It was, to say the least, an over-whelming experience. This is the commu-nity to which I am proud to belong.

It did not really matter who got whichaward, or even who got an award and whodid not. At that moment, each one of us feltto be an integral part of the BSNA. Every-body shared the glory of everybody elsebecause the glory belonged to the BSNA. Itwas apparent that no contribution is toosmall and no contribution is too great. Thegreatness of the BSNA is that it is greaterthan the sum total of its parts. It forms theperfect link between the individual and thecommunity. We reinforce each other. To-gether, we march into the 21st century. Thatis the message that the President conveyed.That is the message that came home.

line. Donuts have eggs and are loaded withcalories. I would have preferred idli,dhokla, or upma from Indian restaurants.

*New film songs were played loudly andare not very pleasant. We should play someSanskrit stotras sung by Pankaj Malik.

*There should have been a plaque forChoubeyji and also for Mrs. Choubey.

*The announcements of the names ofrecipients of different awards should havebeen made either by the Convention Direc-tor or the General Secretary. The awardsshould be given by the President.

*I was glad to see youth participating inthe panel discussions. We should also havewomen participants or women's forum.

*A Convention in the west coast isneeded once in five years.*In order to control food-lines, there shouldbe volunteers for serving food.

*I am impressed by the timeliness andpunctuality of the organizers. On July 4th Iencountered Mr. Mahendra Pal Misra andSacchchit Pandey lugging cartons to theregistration at an early hour of 7.0 am. OnJuly 5th and 6th I saw Satish Tripathi andNitin Purohit all dressed ready to tackle thetasks for the day. The persons leading theaerobics, meditation, power yoga, andAyurvedic talk were in their designatedrooms at the appointed time. I was sur-prised to see people getting up at 5.30 amto attend the sessions.

*On 4th July I really enjoyed 'dandia raas'as a group activity. Adults, teenagers, andyoungsters - all took part in it. Anil Dubeyand Awadh Pandey seemed to have tons offun doing the raas.

*On 5th morning, I found it heart warm-ing to see somebody touching the floor inreverence to all the Brahman attendees. Onthe picnic day I noticed the same gentlemanserving rice to groups of people.

*The afternoon session on 5th for theparents of young adult was interesting. Ienjoyed Shashi Pandey’s talk on rituals,and Suresh Tiwari's candid and courageouspresentation of how he was able to resolvethe problems of his children. I enjoyedVinod Tewary’s speech on how our chil-dren should carve a niche for themselves inscience and math. His emphasis on theimportance of writing was very appropriate.I wish he himself had taken that advice.

*On 5th July, the Presidential andkeynote speeches were just about the rightlength. If the speeches were any longer the"Janata" would have been up in arms. Thecultural show was great. May I suggest thatwe should commend Anil Dubey for all hisbehind the scene activities. He was as fastas a whirl wind, laying and removing theprops from the stage. It was hard work!

From your editor

Convention’96—a statistical under-view

There is an excellent article in this issuegiving an overview of the convention. Incontrast, this one is an underview—what-ever that means. If it does not mean any-thing, call it statistics.

There are three kind of lies—black lie,white lie, and statistics. Come to think ofit, I should not have said that, since thedirector of the convention, who is my verygood friend, is an expert statistician. Hav-ing been inspired by him, I thought I willalso conduct a statistical survey and findout about people’s underviews by directinterviews

I knew that the first statistical thing to dowould be to choose a random sample. So Istood in the middle of the hall, spun myhead around (possibly overdid that), andthen stopped in a random direction. Iwalked a few paces and selected the firstperson I found for my interview .

I asked him about his impressions of theconvention. He first looked at me withsuspicion and then with apprehension. Fi-nally, he shrieked, burst into tears, and hidhis face into the aanchal of his lady-escort.His response, though discouraging, washardly surprising, considering that he wasonly nine months old.

After this unsuccessful attempt, I decidedto leave statistics to statisticians and forgetabout random sampling. Here is an amal-gam of views, overviews and underviewswhich I gathered from some people—notchosen statistically:

*We should add an extra day withoutadding extra cost.

*The direction from Baltimore-Washington Airport to Reading was ratherconfusing.

*There was always a chaos at the food


Complete list of awardwinners at Convention’96

SHIROMANI :Vinod K. Tewary (edited Brahma

Bharati, wrote articles dealing with diffi-cult issues, author of the adhoc constitution,wrote BSNA anthem, created home page onthe Internet)

KARMANISHTHA :Bhaw Dutt Shukla (contributed to getting

tax exempt status, negotiation of contracts,provided support at crucial moments)

Jagar Sharma (contributed to member-ship, fund raising, host to public meetings)

Pooran Tripathi (a very early supporterand host to meetings, contributed to direc-tory update campaign, creation of TexasChapter, membership and a very successfulconvention campaign)

Purushottam Sharma (contributed inmembership drive, fund raising, creation ofMichigan chapter)

Ramendra Pandey (contributed to mem-bership, fund raising and convention cam-paign, host to public meetings)

SHRESHTHA :Anoop Bhargava (coordinator of Conven-

tion’95) Arvind and Bhama Pathak (inauguration

of first chapter in their house) Awadh Pandey (early support, provided

list of names) Daya Nand Sharma (hosting chapter in-

augeration meeting) Gupteshwar and Shanti Pathak (very

supportive and host to public meetings)Kedar Sharma (for broadcasting the first

BSNA convent. in VOA) Lakshmi Shanker Dube (starting the

Quebec Chapter) Lila Dhar Mishra (early support with

list of names) Neetu and Sonia Sharma (very helpful,

video taped first convention) Prabhakar Misra (early supporter and

host to public meeting)Raga Misra (coordinator cultural pro-

gram first convention)Ram Behari Misra (hosting a public

meeting) Ram Das Choudhary (early support

through providing list of Brahmans) Ram P. Tewari (host to public meeting) Rama Kant Chaturvedi (provided sup-

port in holding both conventions) Ramesh Pandey (spreading the name of

the of BSNA at public places)Shambhu Nath Tripathi (early supporter,

provided list of names)Sonia Sharma (very helpful, video taped

first convention) Suresh Tiwari (early support and host to

public meeting) Trayambak Nath Bajpayee (hosting pub-

lic mtgs and willingness to help) Umesh Shukla( hosting public meeting)BRAHMA GAURAV:Anita Dubey (hosting the meeting in

which BSNA was founded, managing theNew England Chapter, organizing the cul-tural programs at the convention’96, cele-brating the first anniversary of the foundingof BSNA with fanfare)

Jitender P. Dubey (for being awarded avery prestigious WAAVP/Pfizer Award andbeing an early supporter of BSNA, openingthe first chapter, hosting public meeting)

Nitin D. Purohit (starting the MichiganChapter, excellent results in membership,fund raising and convention campaign)

Satish K. Tripathi (for managing a veryprofessional convention and energizing theWashington area folks, hosting a very wellattended public meeting)

Shyam N. Shukla (early supporter, in-creased membership, editor of first direc-tory, created N. Cal. chapter, contributed toBrahma Bharati and home page)

BRAHMA DEEP:S. Anand Mishra (edited the second di-

rectory, created a relational database)Satish Mishra (edited the first souvenir

magazine which was intellectually stimulat-ing and financially rewarding)

Ghan Shyam Pandey (early supporter,created ILL. Chapter, contributed im-mensely in the constitution committee)

Mahendra Misra (host to public meeting,created Pennsylvania chapter, campaignedsuccessfully to raise funds for the conven-tion and increase participation)

Uday Shukla (developed the relationaldatabase for the second directory )

Vivek Shukla (designed the BSNA logowhen he was only 18 years old and strongsupporter of BSNA)

BRAHMA BHARATI:Anuranjita Tewary (contributed to

Brahma Bharati and home page)NAVASUMAN:Given to all the young particpants.ALANKAAR:Ramanath Sharma (author of a five vol-

ume study on Panini’s grammar of the San-skrit language, a man of international fameand an authority in Sanskrit language, avery strong supporter of BSNA, the firstkeynote speaker)

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:Bhudev Sharma (the keynote speaker at

the Convention’96).

BSNA AwardsThe BSNA will give following awards

each year to its members at the annualconvention provided suitable person(s)have been identified. The level of eachaward and the general criteria for eachaward are given below. Level 1 is thehighest award. Level 3a is between Level 2and Level 3. Level 4 awards are meant forencouraging the participation of theyounger members of the association in vari-ous activities of the convention.

A. Organizational awardsi. Shiromani Puraskaar; Level 1, 0-1

awards each year for distinguished contri-butions over an extended period of excep-tional value to the BSNA.

ii. Karmanishtha Puraskaar: Level 2, 0-5awards each year: for distinguished contri-butions over an extended period of verysignificant value to the BSNA.

iii. Shreshtha Puraskaar; Level 3; 0-25awards each year: For important services toBSNA resulting into a substantial expan-sion and/or substantially improved opera-tion of the association.

B. Recognition awards:(The number of awards to be determined

by the President each year)President’s recognition:Brahma-Gaurava Puraskaar; Level 1; rec-

ognizing members for their excellent singleor multiple contributions to the associationand the community.

Vice President’s recognition:Brahma-Deep Puraskaar; Level 2; recog-

nizing members for their very significantsingle or multiple contributions to the asso-ciation and the community.

Editor’s recognition:Brahma-Bharati Puraskaar; Level 3a; rec-

ognizing members for their excellent liter-ary or journalistic contributions to Brahma-Bharati and/or other publications of theBSNA.

C. Participation awards:Navasuman Puraskaar; Level 4; to pro-

vide encouragement to younger membersfor participating in the cultural and otheractivities at the annual convention. To begiven at the discretion of the cultural coor-dinator with the approval of the President.

D. Community award:Alankaar Puraskaar: Level 1; 0-1 award

each year: honoring members for such ex-ceptional achievements in their profes-sional fields which makes the communityproud of them.

E. Keynote speaker : Level 1An invitation to give the keynote speech

is the biggest honor given by the BSNA. Aplaque will be presented to the keynotespeaker as a token of our appreciation.

Details of the BSNA awards and theirselection criteria are given in a white paper.Awards committee: Gupteshwar Pathak(Chair), Bimal Malaviya, Bhama Pathak.


Convention 1996:an overview

by Ramanath SharmaThis article is divided in two sections:(i) The first section highlights accom-

plishments and problems of Convention’96 within the perspective of the BSNA'sestablishment and its first convention.

(ii) The second section reports on theyoung adult session of Convention’96with the hope that planners of Conven-tion’97 will organize sessions devoted toour younger generation.

Convention’95 first heralded the estab-lishment of BSNA amid outside criticismsand apprehensions. It was not unnaturalthen to organize lectures and discussions onthemes such as: What is a Brahman? Why aBrahman Samaj? What are the goals andobjectives of such a Samaj? The outcome ofthe first convention left more questionsthan there were answers. Convention 1995established three sets of realizations: (a)that the BSNA is not only established, butcan also function as a vibrant organizationfor preserving the Brahman heritage; (b)that the North American Brahmans cangreatly benefit from this organization, and(c) the samskaaras constitute the singlemost important legacy for the Brahmans ofNorth America. The Brahmans went homeconvinced that we must preserve our her-itage and that we must preserve and nurtureour samskaaras. Above all, they went homeconvinced about the need of an organizationsuch as BSNA. Nirmalendu Choubey's self-less efforts toward establishing BSNA got awell deserved reinforcement The issues ofBrahma Bharati with its copious reportsand articles are proofs that this assessmentis generally correct.

Convention’96 organized sessions andlectures on a specific theme: Brahmans ofthe 21st century. Lectures and discussionswere organized not so much on whether weneed the BSNA, or what does it mean to bea Brahman, but mostly on what the Brah-mans must do to ensure the security of ourheritage in the 21st century. The Brahmani-cal values and samskaar constituted theprimary focus of lectures and discussions.

The keynote address of Prof BhudevSharma had "Change" as its theme. Hepresented his ideas systematically, dwellingupon basic constructs of his theme throughthe history of the Brahmanical heritage. Hehad some very illuminating thoughts onhow to perceive our value system throughchanges brought upon by changes in timeand space. Education about our Brahmanheritage and perception of ideals through

change, which, in turn, may be conducivetowards preserving our heritage through the21st century became the main stay. ProfSharma did a splendid job in talking to us,rather than reading his pre-published lec-ture. The BSNA reinforced the audience'sunderstanding of Prof. Sharma's thoughtsby publishing his lecture in toto in thesouvenir volume.

The souvenir volume, though without aname or a pre-designated theme, in myestimate, can be called the biggest singleachievement of Convention’96. This wasa much more systematic way of educatingour membership about different aspects ofthe Brahman heritage in general, and theconvention in particular. The star attractionof this volume must be the series of FAQquestions. These questions are very impor-tant, and, in many ways I hope, clear up alot of misunderstanding about the establish-ment of the BSNA. Members must ponderthese questions and answers so that theycould be better informed about our heritagewithin the perspective of Hinduism in gen-eral, and its caste structure in particular.

Prof Bhudev Sharma's article on change,L.N. Chaturvedi's article on Krishna assupreme godhead, S.N. Shukla's article onYajna and Ashrama, S.P. Saraswat's articleon Modern Science and Ancient Spiritual-ity, and articles on ritual samskaaras likethe yajnopaviita and vivaaha, must also becommended for their clear and informativerendition. I wish L.N. Chaturvedi had notmade his article as controversial. He shouldhave focused more on the pursuit of theSupreme (not godhead) and His characteri-zation, and least on defending Avtaravadaagainst Mayavada. For, everything dependson faith and the route one takes. ConsiderPhysics, poetry and laws of god. Are youstill with me? If yes, you must have readVinod Tewary's article. I appreciate thisarticle more for its focus on identity withfaith, through diverse routes. I appreciateS.N. Shukla's article for its succinctnessand clarity. Consider, in this connection,Prabhat Tewari's article on meditation, abrief linkage with Time of D.S. Nagda andSurendra Pandey's Matsya Purana.

A general comment must also be madeabout the use of language(s). The magazineis published in English with quotationsfrom Sanskrit and Hindi. BSNA must func-tion in English, especially because ouryounger generation is the focus of our en-deavors. It will be a lot easier for most of usto speak or write Hindi but that cannotserve the younger audiences. It is for thisreason that whenever Sanskrit or Hindi isused we must use it briefly, and with En-glish translation and explanation.

Vasudhaiva kuTumbakam "this entireearth is a family", was one of the logosprinted on top of the souvenir cover. Alady's remark at the general keynote ses-sion perhaps struck a very sensitive chord.She realized that this session of the BSNAfelt more like a gathering of Kutumba 'clan,family'. Sometimes we express certain sen-timents which, when pondered, becomeguiding light for many a goals one mayaspire to accomplish. Ramanath Sharma'sanswer to the young girl about transferenceof heritage (Convention 1995), dubbed as"samskaaras”, Vinod Tewary's one sentenceremark about the need of transferring thesamskaaras to the younger generation(BBharati) are two examples. Here we havea third one in the notion of "kuTumba".These brief sentiments must be recognized,developed into some concrete programs,and be valued. The BSNA must not onlyeducate about the samskaaras as part of theBrahman heritage, but must focus on howto reinforce, nurture and pass them on tothe 21st century Brahmans. This effort canfind a great deal of success if BSNA devel-ops and functions as a "kuTumba (family)",away from the "KuTumba (India)", gradu-ally turning itself into a real "KuTumba(USA)". This sense of belonging to a Ku-Tumba will go far beyond. It will alsoenhance a sense of familial relation withinmembers, and thus will serve as a base fornurturing and reinforcing the Brahmansamskaaras. The pundits of the BSNA willfind it a lot easier to increase membershipand thus enhance their endeavors towardeducating the 21st century Brahmans.

Now a little note about discussions: weneed to structure panels more systemati-cally around themes, carefully selectingdiscussants and panelists. We must allowmore time to questions and answers, notnecessarily criticisms. Meditation, fitnessand yoga sessions must be planned withmore structure and anticipated participa-tion. I shall fail in my duty if I did notcomment on entertainment. It is amazinghow Anita Dubey can do what she did.BSNA must appreciate, and ensure enoughassistance to, Anita for organizing such afabulous entertainment program. JagarSharma and Vinod Tewary will be happy tosee that a baby named kavi sammelan of the1995 convention is fast becoming an icon.It is an unique endeavor, and shall be con-tinued unstructured, if possible. BSNAshould make it a practice of keeping theireyes and ears open through program presen-tations. For, this is where they can findtalents for organizing future panels, discus-sions, activities and entertainment.



Food for thought must be translated intoreal food. We had plenty of delicious food.The Brahmans are famous for fasting; theyare also famous for being hungry. I wish wehad some discipline and compassion forthose who were following in the lines. I sawa lot of wasted food and drinks. Organizersand vendors must learn a lesson from this.This criticism does not apply to snacks.My way, your way;Highway,bye way

One of the most important sessions at the1996 convention was, at least in my percep-tion, and certainly not because of my owninvolvement with it, the young adult ses-sion. This was planned as a way of commu-nicating with our young adults on familyand familial values. I had not forgotten ouryoung adults' rumblings against BSNA as amarriage bureau (convention’95). SinceConvention’96 was devoted to the theme ofthe 21st century Brahmans, this young adultsession was perceived as a must. I wasasked by Nirmalendu Choubey to speak atthis session on family and familial values.

I made it very clear at the outset that Iwas not going to lecture. I chose to con-verse, instead. I informed my audience thatfamilial relations in Hinduism covered avery broad spectrum of relations. I chosethis format so that our young adults couldreact back and converse concurrently. Theydid not thus have to wait for a question-answer period at the end of what could havebeen my lecture. I briefly talked about thenotion of family at large: the most immedi-ate family, the extended family and thewhole world as yet another extended fam-ily. I switched to relations between parentsand children. In this connection I talkedfirst about, "let your mother be god"; "letyour father be god"; and "let your guru begod". I then moved on to parenting withinthe perspective of samskaaras and familyvalues. I then explained the much widelyaccepted view on parenting:

laalayet panchvarSaaNi dashavarSaaNi taaDayet/ praapte tu ShoDaSevarSe putram mitravad aacaret//

'love them for 5 years; discipline themfor the next ten; when they approachsixteen, treat them as your friend'

I elaborated my points with illustrationsfocusing on my own relation with my par-ents and son. I pulled additional illustra-tions from families of my friends. Till thispoint the conversation remained one sided.There was practically no response, reactionor comment. To provoke them to speak, Iemphasized that our young adults were per-ceptive yet they lacked proper understand-ing of our value system. That they wererebellious but, unfortunately, they did not

(Continued from page 11) have the patience for understanding wherewe were coming from. This provocationworked and our conversation focused basi-cally on the following topics: (i) that ourvalues are out of date and out of place; (ii)parents are over protective; (iii) they(parents) believe that their way is the bestway; and (iv) parents are dictators.

Career and marriage became two focalpoints in relation to which insensitivity anddictatorial attitude of parents were at-tacked. Why must a Brahman kid become adoctor? How does a Brahman daughter notencounter such a push? Why does she have

to marry a Brahman? Why could a Brahmanoffspring not marry a non-Brahman, or any-body he or she loves? Little had I realizedthat I was in a lion's den. I have presentedand defended my views, generally success-fully, at scores of meetings and lectures. Ihave never felt so defensive as I did at thissession. Thanks to Mahendra Pal Mishrawho came to fetch me for another session.

I will rate this session as a failure, insofaras its basic purpose of effectively educatingour young adults about our familial valuesis concerned. This failure was not caused asmuch because of the incompetence ofspeakers and discussants as it was causedby the general atmosphere of the session. Iwitnessed a lot of misunderstanding about,and intolerance for, our ways of life on partof the young adults. This was heightened bytheir unwillingness to communicate. I real-ized through my experiences at this session,and my conversations with many a parents,that the situation is precarious. Our youthare very perceptive and intelligent. Yet theyare hostile towards many aspects of ourvalue system. This seemingly paradoxicalsituation can be corrected by opening com-munication and establishing dialogs withour young adults. There is a situation ofconflict which must be resolved. If we wishour kids to be what we wish them to be anddo what we wish them to do, we have to dosome basic homework in parenting.Wehave to raise them in consonance with ourvalue system. We have to reinterpret ourvalue system and make adjustments andcompromises preserving the spirit of thevalue system. This has to be practiced rightfrom the beginning of parenting.

Kids must be encouraged to excel in thearea of their motivation. It is their drivewhich will be instrumental in accomplish-ing parental aspirations. Marriages must be

arranged, so what if not by parents. Butcompatibility must be taken into considera-tion before any marital arrangement. Com-patibility is a broad and complex notion. Ithas got many facets: personality, physical,mental and behavioral traits, family, race,color, even blood. As I write this I amhearing a TV report on lab mice. They saythey found a gene which, when removed,renders a mouse free from caring for itsyouth. I start wondering: are there genesdetermining our behavioral choices, incom-patibility, divorces, and so on. Genetics isstill in its infancy. But I believe that we arein for many surprises. That is, as the sci-ence develops and solves many mysteriesfor us, we may stop and think seriouslyabout compatibility as a serious variable.Love alone is not enough. Parenting withsamskaras, eventhough not literaly but inits spirit, will prove to be beneficial.

Five to fifteen is the age when our sam-skaras can be reinforced and nurtured. Thisis the age when rituals, god(s), religion,culture and relations with (extended) fam-ily, can be introduced and developed. Kidscan be encouraged to read stories about,and do school presentations on, India ingeneral, her culture and familial relationsin particular. All the parents have to do is toserve as a role model and encourage themto undertake such endeavors and guidethem to understand them. How your kidwill react to you largely depends on howyou raise them. If you do not have patienceto understand and listen to them, they willnot have any patience for you. If parentspresented themselves as role models anddid their homework, kids will not treat youas the other party. They will not consideryou as a dictator, and discuss things withyou for the sake of winning an argument.They will know where you come from. Joysof parenting must be hard-earned.

The spirit of samskaaras and value sys-tem must play a central role in earningthese joys. We must open communicationand establish fruitful dialogs with ouryoung adults. This demands creating anatmosphere of mutual trust and respect.This is the only way of accomplishing fruit-ful dialogs. Perhaps a lot has been lost asfar as our present young adults are con-cerned. But this must also serve as a warn-ing for us for the benefit of those who maynot be far behind. BSNA must seize thisopportunity of establishing fruitful dialogswith young adults. Planners of convention1997 must start planning sessions devotedto our younger generation.

From the editor: Your comments on this(as well as other) articles are invited forpossible publication in BB or home page.

Love alone is not enough. Par-enting with samskaras ... willprove to be beneficial.


Full text of the

President's Addressdelivered by Nirmalendu Choubey atthe General Body Meeting on July 6,1996 (Convention’96)

Members of the Board of Trustees, Mem-bers of the Executive Committee, Chapterand Area coordinators, Editor of BrahmaBharati and the Home Page, Editor of theSouvenir Magazine, Members of BrahmanSamaj of North America and their families:

This is indeed a historic occasion. WhenI started talking to fellow Brahmans aboutthe idea of a directory many were skeptical.When I said we ought to form a BrahmanSamaj, the division of Hindus was thecharge. Many carried with them historicalbaggage that ranged from the Muslim andEnglish rule of India to Nazi Germany.These are incendiary charges. I believe thisconference as well as our organization as awhole has proven to be fireproof againstthese issues.

What I had envisioned, and like so manyother people had already done, was a con-solidation of a community in order to pre-serve and explore our common culture andvalues. Indians exist all over this worldoutside of India. This necessitates that webe able to hold onto our identity, but thisdoes not mean that we dismiss everythingelse around us. Instead, we must analyze,understand and respect the world inwhich we live and the people with whomwe interact and share our lives. In orderto stay true to the fundamental tenets ofour philosophy, we have embraced theprecepts of tolerance, respect, educationand understanding. To this effect, weare a group of people who do not dis-criminate against anyone on the basis ofcaste, color, gender, national origin, po-litical persuasion, race or religion. Mostof us are professionals engaged in thefield of education, medicine, art, scienceand technology. We believe in equalityand justice for all. We have values simi-lar to many advanced cultures existingaywhere in the world. Our ancestorshave contributed immensely to the his-tory and culture of India and that of theHindu religion. We are known for hu-mility, service and excellence in everyendeavor we choose to undertake. Weare justifiably very proud of our her-itage.

This is our second annual convention andfirst general body meeting. We hope tomake this a tradition and hold this meetingevery year during our annual convention.

Today, I want to tell you, the state of

Brahman Samaj of North America. In lasttwelve months we have achieved accom-plishments of paramount importance.Many of our initiatives have been im-mensely successful, but like many new or-ganizations some initiatives have met with,shall we say, not quite success.

The foundation for this convention waslaid the same day we had the picnic lastyear on the second day of the convention. Imet with Dr. Satish Tripathi, Dr. JitendraPrakash Dubey and Mr. Kailash Sharma.We discussed the idea of finding a hotelbetween the Washington DC area and theNew York city. Later, Dr. Rajender KumarSharma took upon the responsibility tosearch for a hotel in New Jersey. After avery careful analysis of all the options wehad Reading was chosen to be the site ofchoice. At the same time we requestedProfessor Satish Tripathi to take upon theresponsibility of the Convention Director.There are several propel involved all overNorth America to make this convention asuccess, however, one of them does standout. It was very clear to me from the verybeginning that in this person we had aseasoned professional. We went throughsome very rough time but I never recall thisperson being any thing but a gentleman.Today, I like to honor our convention direc-

tor Professor Satish Tripathi for his exem-plary contribution.

Choosing a key note speaker was anotherhurdle that we had to clear. ProfessorRamanath Sharma performed brilliantlylast year. As a result he raised our con-sciousness of the issues that we all mustdeal. We searched all over and enlisted thehelp of several people including ProfessorBhudev Sharma to look for a key notespeaker for this convention. Then one day,thanks to Dr. Shyam Narayan Sharma, itdawned upon us that amongst us we alreadyhad a person who was eminently qualifiedto be our next Keynote speaker. I had metProfessor Sharma and his wife who hadinvited me into their home for an excep-tional meal in the initial phase of my jour-ney two years ago. They were very recep-tive to the idea of a directory and offeredtheir services in making it a reality. To thisday, I wonder how I let this kind of dedica-tion escape me for so long. I discussed thematter with Dr. Vinod Tewary who not onlysupported the idea enthusiastically but

agreed to make the request on our behalf. Iwant to thank Professor Sharma for accept-ing to become our second Keynote speaker.We are thankful to you for this importantcontribution.

The person who introduced me to Dr.Bhudev Sharma is a family friend of oursfrom more than one generation. He is alsothe person who invited all the Brahmansfrom the state of his residence to meet me.I recall, in the first listing of Brahmans thatwas issued in 1994 his state topped the list.That person is none other but the Chairmanof our Board of Trustees Professor SureshTiwari. Thank you Professor Tiwari forbeing such a valuable member of this orga-nization. Through this organization, I amsure, our friendship will also continue tothe next generation.

I want our members to note that ourBoard of Trustees is made up of some verydistinguished people from our community.Every one of them is fully qualified to benot only a Keynote speaker here, but any-where. Let us salute our members of theBoard of Trustees. Last year we formed acommittee to study our adhoc constitutionand recommend a revision. The ratificationof a new constitution is my top most prior-ity. I want to thank the members of thatcommittee. I particularly want to thankProf. Ghanshyam Narayan Pandey for hisscholarly work in this committee.

We have now published two directories.The first one was edited by Dr. Shyam N.Shukla. The second one was edited by Dr.S. Anand Mishra. The second directorywas based on a relational database devel-oped by Mr. Uday Shukla. Mr. Shukla hascontinued to develop the database to meetour increasingly complicated needs. Dr.Shyam Narayan Shukla manifested an inte-gral part of our vision of connecting allBrahmans through a comprehensive direc-tory. Dr. Satchidanand Mishra stretched thehorizons of communication even further.Many of us would not be here had it notbeen for the dedication of these great Brah-mans.I want to recognize Dr. Shyam N.Shukla, Dr. S. Anand Mishra and Mr. UdayShukla for their priceless contribution.

There are several families who are help-ing various initiatives of Brahman Samaj.However, there is one family which standsout. This family gave us our logo and thebanner that you see here. I want to recog-nize Vivek Shukla for his logo design at atime he was not even 18 years old. I wantto recognize the entire family of Dr. ShyamN. Shukla and his brother Mr. Devendra N.Shukla for their dedication to our cause.

We have amongst us a Pundit who is soft(Continued on page 14)

..a consolidation of a commu-nity in order to preserve andexplore our common cultureand values..


spoken but made of steel. He is an originalthinker. You can win an argument but onlyif he lets you. Even his detractors havelearnt to admire him. Technologically he isas advanced as any body. He is dedicatedto the cause and always willing to engageany one in a discussion on BSNA. He gaveus the adhoc constitution which governs useven today. He gave us our anthem. Hegave us Brahma Bharati. Earlier this yearhe propelled us into the twenty first centuryby giving us a home page on the internet. Ifeel privileged to know this person. Thehistory of BSNA could not have been asilluminating as it is, without this greatBrahman. Let us honor Dr. Vinod Tewary.

Brahman Samaj of North America be-came a tax exempt corporation in USA thisyear. Many people think this to be auto-matic for any ethnic organization. Thissimply isn't so. It has taken us more thansix months of hard work to gain this status.Let us recognize our Treasurer, Mr. BhawDutt Shukla for his tireless efforts. Thanksto him now we have a legitimacy manythought we did not have.

As you are aware, BSNA is divided intoeight regions administratively. These re-gions are vast lands stretching thousands ofmiles in every direction. It is not easy tocommunicate on a regular basis with coor-dinators as well as the membership. In agrowing organization such as ours, recruit-ing people to be our foot soldiers where noone knows you is not an easy job. Commu-nicating with so many people demands ded-ication and perseverance. I fully sympa-thize with their predicament. I take thisopportunity to recognize the contributionsof Mr. Mahendra Misra, Mr. PurushottamSharma and Pooran Tripathi. Thank you.

One way to serve our membership is tohave Chapters in areas with a large concen-tration of Brahmans. Seven chapters wereformed prior to the last convention. Sincethen we have formed seven more. Weexpect to form the 15th chapter in Atlantavery soon. Based on the increase in generalmembership, attendance at this convention,the amount of donations received respon-siveness to the needs of the membership aswell as the organization I want to honor Mr.Nitin Purohit, the former chapter coordina-tor of the Michigan Chapter and currentlyour Vice President, for his outstanding per-formance. I also want to recognize Dr.Ramendra Pandey and Mr. Jagar Sharmafor their distinguished performance.

Amongst us is an outstanding lady whohas been our foot soldier from almost thebeginning. It was at her home that theBrahman Samaj was founded. She is the

(Continued from page 13) one who celebrated the first anniversary ofthe founding of BSNA with a great fanfare.She is also the one who has excited theyounger generation about Brahman Samaj.She has performed brilliantly as our Pro-gram Coordinator. She has not slept formonths and I am sure both she and herhusband are anxious to catch on their sleep.I admire her energy, enthusiasm and talentas an artist. Let us recognize Dr. AnitaDubey. Anitaji, thank you.

There is no organization which can sur-vive without the financial support of themembership as well as the community. Wesubsidize the cost of the convention throughdonations to allow more people than itwould otherwise be to attend the conven-tion. This year the deficit projected wentbeyond our wildest imagination. This hap-pened at a time when we were running outof yearly membership funds, which areused to meet non-convention cash flowneeds, due to a very poor performance ofour membership campaign and membershiprenewal campaign. Thus in light of animpending financial debacle we searchedfor a solution. I want to recognize Dr.Satish Misra for his contribution and geniusin bringing to you our first souvenir maga-zine which is not only educational, but alsofinancially rewarding. Dr. Misra, I justwant to say thank you and extend to youand your family my heartfelt gratitude. Ialso want to take this opportunity to thankthose who contributed to the magazine fi-nancially and substantively. I particularlywant to thank Mr. Gupteshwar and ShantiPathak, Dr. Arvind and Bhama Pathak, DrsRaj Kishore and Prabha Tripathi.

You are all very familiar with ProfessorRamanath Sharma. He mesmerized us lastyear so much that there are many of us stillunder the influence of that spell. Through-out the year, he has been an excellentresource to all of us. He has contributed tothe souvenir magazine by responding tosome very difficult questions. I commendhim for his no nonsense approach to thematter. The responses are entirely his withno modification from any of the organizersof the BSNA. I thank him for his pricelesscontribution in this regard.

I thank Madhuri Tiwari, Raju Tripathiand Rajiv Misra for doing an excellent jobin the youth program. This program willnow become a regular feature for BSNA. Ialso thank all those young Brahmans whochaired various break out sessions.

My final debt of gratitude goes to you,the general membership; I thank you allfor attending this convention and forheading toward the goals and vision thatwe set for ourselves.

BSNA on the mediaThe BSNA has had a substantial expo-

sure on the media. The President was inter-viewed by Eagle Times, a local daily ofReading, PA. Detailed account of the Con-vention’96 and the list of award winnerswere published in many Indian-Americanjournals. Thanks to the efforts of Mr.Aditya Shukla, an account of the BSNAwas published in Kadambini, a leadingHindi magazine of India. Of course one ofour own memebers, Mr. Kedar Sharma, is aleading radio journalist at the Voice ofAmerica. His interviews of Prof. RamanathSharma, Dr. Anita Dubey, and Mr. Nirmal-endu Choubey were broadcast on the Voiceof America.

The next issue*More photos from Convention’96.*The golden kids. Send us a description

and picture of your golden kid by Oct. 15.*Children’s prize-winning art-work and

writings from Convention’96.*A feature on ‘The better half.’*Newly weds. If you, or anyones you

know, are newly weds, please send us adescription and a picture by Oct. 15.

*Some new regular columns are beingconsidered for the BB. Please let us haveyour comments/ suggestions about these.

*Matrimonial advertisements from mem-bers: Since people are already calling us amatrimonial agency, so why not! We willhave a box number service so that advertis-ers can remain anonymous if they want.

*Recipes: Tell us the secrets of yourgourmet cooking.

*Films: We, at BSNA, seem to talk al-ways about the ancient rishis. Someone likeMadhuri Dixit may be a welcome alterna-tive to talk about occasionally. There arerumors that many Brahmans watch moviesand even enjoy them.

Brahma-Bharti published by Brahman Samajof North America (BSNA), POB- 371, Manlius,NY 13104-0371. Editor- Dr. Vinod Tewary.All correspondence to Brahma-Bharti shouldbe addressed to the Editor, c/o BSNA. e-mail: [email protected]

The BSNA home pageChecked out our home page yet? It will

soon have a new look with audio segmentsand other fun stuff. By soon, I mean withinthe next 10 years. OK, if you promise tovisit, I will get it ready by the end ofOctober, 96. It will have the conventionpictures in color. The eletronic edition ofthe BB is already available in color and canbe sent to you on request.http://www.cs.umd.edu/~tripathi/bsna/bsnamain.htm


Aurveda, the art and sci-ence of healthy livingby Shri K. Mishra, M.D., M.S.,Ayurvedacharya

(Summary of a presentation given by theauthor at Convention’96)

Ayurveda isthe oldesth e a l t h c a r ediscipline inthe world. Ithas origi-nated fromA t h r a r v aV e d a .A y u r v e d aemphasizeson health pro-tection, prvention and various other health-care services. The perfect health is definedas balanced humor, (Vata Pitta Kapha),balanced digestive system, balanced tissues(Lymph, blood, muscle, etc.), and excretorysystems. In addition there must be happinesof senses, mind, and spirit. Ayurveda haseight disciplines, kayam-chikitsa (internalmedicine), shalya (surgery), shalkaya (entand Opthalmology), agad tantra(toxicology), komar bhritya (pediatrics),prasuti (obstetrics gynecology), bhoot vidya(psychiatry/ psychology), kamsutra(sexology) and rasayana (rejuvenation).The diagnosis of various illnesses can bediagnosed by pulse and physical exam. Thetreatment includdes preventative and thera-peutic by using various herbal and nonherbal products with special emphasis onkaya-kalp (rejuvenation).

very basic (or universal family-hood) char-acteristics of Hinduism, and the proper fol-lowing of this principle can lead the wholeworld to the utmost peace and harmony.Ms. Rekha Tnpathi was quite optimisticabout the bright future of the Brahmans of21st century. She jokingly noted that manyancient customs and outfits are repeating inthe present era, such as piercing of ears,wearing of kundals (ear-rings), growinglong hair, etc. by males. Mr. Vivek Skuklaspoke about Brahmans growing into twocultures. The challenges forced by individu-als at home, schools, and work place can beconflicting. The Brahmanical values learntat home can enable individuals to succeedin the future.

Brahmans of the 21st cen-turyby Dr. Shri Kant Misra

Participants: Dr. L.S. Dube, Dr. J.P.Dubey, Prof. Ramanath Sharma, Mr. VivekShukla, and Ms. Rekha Tripathi.

Dr. L.S. Dube described nine qualities ofBrahmans of ancient India. A Brahman wassupposed to be simple and straight forward,austere, contended, forgiving, kind, self-disciplined, knowledgeable, charitable, andcompassionate. Dr. J.P. Dubey spoke on hisexperiences. How he was able to achievehis distinguished status as a senior scien-tist. Brahmanic values enabled him toachieve this honor. He stressed the impor-tance of hard work.

Professor Ramanath Sharma threw lightupon the family values of our society. Inthis context he explained the principle of"Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (the wholeworld as a single family) - which is one of

Ram Tewari speaking at a panel.Jagar Sharma chairing kavi-sammelan.

Rekha Tripathi speaking at a panel.A.K. Sharma volunteered for distribution atthe food line.

From your editor- closing commentsThere were many more events and panel

speeches which, unfortunately, we couldnot cover. There are some very nice articlesin this issue. However, I am particularlypleased to present the excellent articlesfrom our youth, Deepti Choubey andNatasha Chaturvedi. Look at their logicaland scientific exposition of thoughts, re-freshing frankness, and their forward look-ing attitudes. I hope other younger membersof the BSNA will also contribute to BB.

The rest of the story is in pictures—onthis page and two supplementary pages. Ifyou want any of these pictures by e-mail, Iwill be pleased to send them to you.

(Abv) Priti Ojha at the cultural program;(Blw, L to R): Vivek Shukla speaking at apanel; Nitin Purohit, Vice President; andBhaw Shukla, Treasurer of the BSNA.

FromBSNAPOB 371Manlius, NY 13104-0371

**Convention’96**Details andpictures of thegrand event.

CONVENTION’97July 4-5-6, 1997

Troy Marriott Hotel,Troy, Michigana three-day fun-filled extravaganza

for the whole familyJuly 5&6 (Convention):

*Register By 12/31/96......$125/Person; $199/Family*Register By 3/31/97........$150/Person; $ 249/Family *Register By 5/31/97 .......$175/Person; $ 299/Family

Registration at the Hotel: $25 SurchargeJuly 4:

*Supplement A: Youth Program Ages 20 to 34*Supplement B: Coordinators/Trustees/Convention Committee Meetings

*Fees include accommodation on July 5th, meals and entertainment on July 5th & 6th. For supplement A&/or B please add the prevailing convention rate at the time of the registration. A single or family discountof $25.00 is available until May 31, 1997 to those who are registering for ALL three days. Singles’ ratesbased on double occupancy.For Additional Information, please call Purushottam Sharma @ 810-853-4076 or Nitin Purohit @810-643-7643, or write to BSNA, P.O. Box 4962, Troy, MI 48099-4962.

july 1996 volume 2 issue 3 an affair to remembertripathi/bsna/bmbh607c.pdf · july 1996 volume 2...

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