Celebrated across India, navaratri is a time for worship, sacred offerings and classic music. Spirit of the Earth presents ‘The Morning Raga’ – an open house where nine talented musicians will take centre stage and perform classical compositions.

The joy and contentment derived from listening to classical music is unparalleled. It imparts serenity, peace of mind for both the performer as well as the rasika. Our founder, Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati extolled, “We have a profound form of music, unheard of in other cultures. Also through Carnatic music, one is in constant with the ancient dharma.”

Music is the language of emotion, and no art arouses emotions so deeply as music. We believe singing or listening to Carnatic music evokes positive emotions in a person. This navaratri, come and listen to the music over nine days.

Programme:

Dates: September 29 – October 7, 2019

Time: 10:30 am – 11:15 am

Spirit of the Earth, an initiative by AIM for Seva, was set up in 2017 to promote and encourage sustainable lifestyle practices. We believe that the planet’s resources are not merely a source for our consumption and personal gratification; like earth, we need to learn to share (vibhakthi), to give in abundance (vriddhi), provide nutrition (vrihi) and be compassionate (daya) – to render harmony in society. Spirit of the Earth is committed to increasing social impact, reducing carbon footprint and protecting the earth’s resources. The immersion centre operates as a non-profit outlet that sells organic artisanal heritage rice cultivated at our 40 acre farm in Manjakkudi, Tamil Nadu. We also retail hand-crafted lifestyle products made by differently-abled adults living in Krupa Home. In parallel, our interactive workshops, events and discussions provide experiential opportunities that encourage people to move towards conscious living and through all this, we believe we can create awareness and motivate consumers to become contributors.

Ananda, the first of our fundraiser series, was held from March 7 to 9, 2019, at the Music Academy, Chennai. The proceeds from this fundraiser are being utilised towards Krupa Care, Chatralayams and our integrated community development initiatives at Manjakkudi, the birthplace of our founder, Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati.

The fund raiser, held on August 17, 2018, was presented by Revathi Ramachandran’s Kalasadhanalaya. The dance-drama-theatre presentation extolled the purity and sanctity of the Ganga with an underlying message to protect the hallowed river. The production interwove Bharatanatyam, classical Carnatic music, Garhwali folk music and mime and theatre, to depict the incomparable splendour of the Himalayan Ganga. The narrative was embedded in the tapestry of stories of the river and towards the end, the dance drama showcased contemporary issues concerning India’s most venerated river– pollution and preservation of the holy waters.

On August 16, 2018, AIM for Seva presented Nandalala, A Nritya Natak, directed by Smt. Anitha Guha. Lord Krishna’s life was brought alive on the dais by the renowned choreographer’s ensemble, Bharathanjali, in this multilingual thematic dance presentation on Krishna. The mesmerising story of the dark hued Lord coupled with songs of composers like Purandara Dasa, Annamacharya, Surdaas, Meera, Narayana Theerthar, Jayadeva, (Ashtapathis), Oothukadu Venkatasubaiyar, enthralled the audience.

‘Antar-Yatra – The Journey Within’ was choreographed and directed by Smt. Sharmila Biswas, a Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee and founder of the Odissi Vision & Movement Centre, Kolkata. This magical programme, featuring nine dancers showcased a wide range of talent – three classical Indian dance forms, songs sung in six different languages, and included the art of shadow puppetry and ‘kollattam’- a rural game from Tamil Nadu. This dance-drama traversed the inner conflicts of a creative artiste’s mind, the thoughts, emotions, and paradoxes that are encountered during introspection and reflection.

The ‘Swami Dayananda Saraswati Memorial Centre’, now renamed ‘Jnana Pravaha’, was inaugurated by Swami Paramarthananda Saraswati on March 19, 2018, at Manjakkudi, the birth place of our founder, Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Gathered for the auspicious function were revered Swamis and Swaminis from across India, dignitaries and devotees of Pujya Swamiji.

Located at the heart of Swami Dayananda Campus in Manjakkudi, Tamil Nadu, the centre has been carefully designed. Spread across 3,106 square feet, it is built of teak wood and has been dressed with sandstone flooring. The exterior brims bright with traditional red oxide floor, solid wooden pillars and a sunken garden area with granite that creates a picturesque welcoming view.

Jnana Pravāha is equipped with a lecture hall with all attendant facilities like comfortable seating arrangement for around 40 students and a dais for the Acarya, audio-visual facilities and a white board for class-room sessions. The acoustics and air-conditioned ambience with adequate lighting in the presence of Pujya Swamiji’s murti presents a calming study-friendly ambience.

Dipped in quietness, Jñāna Pravāha is a welcoming destination for Vedanta retreats, lectures, discussions and meetings of AIM for Seva. The centre has an archive of Pujya Swamiji’s three-year courses as audios, e-books, a library of Swamiji authored books, reading room and is a complete aesthetic and spiritual hub.

AIM for Seva is formally set to launch a new hostel building for girls in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. Once functional, this building will be able to accommodate 50 girls. In the first phase, 15 of our girls who are currently studying and living in a rented Chatralayam facility in Dehradun will move to the new building. One of AIM for Seva’s supporters recently visited the upcoming girls Chatralayam in Rishikesh and came back impressed with with our efforts to promote rural education. Here is his account:

“I had a great opportunity to visit Rishikesh recently and got to see some of AIM for Seva’s activities in the region. There is a girls’ hostel in the area that currently operates out of a rented space. Last year, a very generous donor from Seattle, Mr. Shyam Oberoi, decided to sponsor the building of a brand new hostel so that those girls can have a permanent space and more girl students can also join the facility. I was joined on this trip by Mr. Oberoi’s son, Rajat, and his daughter-in-law, Nidhi, plus some of our other family members from India.

The purpose of my visit was to interact with the girl students and also do the inaugural pooja of the new hostel building which is almost ready to move-in. As a bonus, I got to visit Pujya Swamiji’s ashram in Rishikesh and saw his mahasamadhi.

The current Chatralayam houses 15 girls who study in a local private English medium school located nearby. The girls greeted us all with a beautiful welcome song in English. The girl student ranging from 8 to 16 years are super excited about learning and studies, with maths being a favourite subject for many. Many of them dream to become doctors or teachers.

The new three story building sponsored by donors from Seattle and will become operational by mid-November

As part of the inaugural, we participated in a traditional pooja ceremony. The Ganesh pooja was followed by a navagraha homam.

On the whole, it was an emotional and eventful visit. After meeting the girls, we are even more convinced that by providing access to underprivileged children to benefit from good education, we can get them out of the poverty trap.

My faith in the efforts of AIM for Seva was enhanced further after meeting Swami Hamsananda Saraswati ji (the coordinator of AIM for Seva’s projects in Uttarakhand). He has dedicated his entire life’s work to AIM for Seva! He loves the children and he supports them as his own kids and the kids in turn adore and respect him tremendously.

His warmth and caring is infectious and after meeting him I felt so confident that AIM for Seva is in such great hands!”

Located on the banks of Chozha Choodamani, a tributary of the Cauvery, is Manjakkudi, a small hamlet in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvarur district.

The Swami Dayananda Educational Trust (SDET), an implementation partner of AIM for Seva has embarked on an integrated community development initiative in this village since 2003. As part of societal transformation, one focus area has been the running of a unique dairy farm that supports sustainable farming.

The Swami Dayananda Goshala was set up in 2012. At the time of inception, the goshala housed 30 cows. Seven years down the line, this figure has almost quadrupled to 104 cows.  The project has provided the villagers a sustainable means of livelihood. The Trust has employed nine farmhands from in and around Manjakkudi to supervise and maintain the goshala 24*7.

We are happy to share that a simple dairy farm project has resulted in community participation across levels.

All the 104 cows are fed with high quality fodder. The primary feed is natural grass which is supplemented by healthy cattle feed that comprises sesame oil cake, wheat/rice husks, maize oil cake, molasses, and combo feed.

In addition, the Swami Dayananda Educational Trust has also appointed a veterinary doctor to oversee the health and well being of the animals round the clock. The Joint director, Animal Husbandry, Tiruvarur district, visits our Goshala thrice a month and gives us valuable suggestions regarding their maintenance.

And as the cow is venerated in our tradition, we have ensured that these animals are fed and looked after well at all times. Our cow-sheds are well ventilated and we follow the best hygienic practices and eco-friendly principles when it comes to day to day running of the goshala.

We prevent the older cows from entering the slaughter houses by buying them and housing and tending to them with love and care in our goshala.

Such efforts have borne fruits. As the fodder given by us is of superior quality, these local / domestic / home breed cows produce thicker milk which is of high quality. A daily yield of 85 litres of organic milk is sold to state-owned milk cooperatives in the region.

On a lighter note, our goshala imbibes the pluralistic Indian tradition – all under one small thatched roof! We have indigenous cows from the four corners of the country. There are local breeds from Haryana,Tharparkars from the deserts of Rajasthan, Ghir from Rajkot and Amreli districts of Gujarat, Red Sindhi and Shahiwal from Punjab, the Punganur variety from Andhra Pradesh and Umbalacherry from Tamil Nadu.

As part of a collaborative project with The Park Chennai, Spirit of the Earth presented six varieties of artisanal heritage rice at the ‘Rice of Change’ food festival held last month.

Executive Chef Ashutosh Nerlekar and Sous Chef Wayne came up with a menu which crossed borders. The rice, though wonderful when cooked and topped with ghee, found its way in a spectrum of dishes like the Portugese falboured soup, caldo verde; the bisi bela bath was stirred together with a strain called the Acharmati, but had broccoli and asparagus. The chefs ensured that the flavours and the fragrance of the rice grains were intact, but gave each dish a twist.

“It was very interesting to get associated with Spirit of the Earth. There is so much in food that is to be explored. These ancient rice varieties are interesting to handle, to see how each grain is different from the other in terms of texture, aroma and taste. To add to that, these grains are grown organically, needless to say this is the way forward in terms of healthy eating,” says Ashutosh Nerlekar, Executive Chef, The Park.

Through this festival, Spirit of the Earth not only introduced and spread awareness of these long lost grains, but also reminded us that rice – the grain that is gluten-free and non-allergic – can take many avatars, if only we give it a chance.