Thursday, February 26, 2009

Flexible to the Core, Yoga for Village Children


Baba's visit to Hingalganj on 6th Feb,'2009 -- Baba, along with the Mission's guest Ann Shannon, made a visit to Hingalganj for the festival they put on celebrating LDLM and its work for Baba's annual visit. The yoga demonstration was part of the Celebration!

Flexible to the Core - Our yoga teacher Nimai Biswas showed us what we can do with our body through yoga. His students gave a spectacular show of yoga and gymnastics, including human pyramids, high wire feats with fire, and having 3 fully grown, strong men get inside a single, 1/3 meter steel circle . Ann just could not believe her eyes what she witnessed. She was busy snapping away with her camera. Everybody praised our yoga teacher for his work he is doing for the villagers through Lokenath Divine Life Mission.











Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Talented Young Painter and Former LDLM Preprimary Student Encouraged to Continued to Develop His Artistic Skills


A temple of Baba Lokenath was established by the SHG's in the Mission compound of Gosaba in the year 2000. This temple initially was a mud house with thatched roof. Gradually the SHG's, with Mission's help, made it a permanent structure of brick with asbestos roofing in the year 2008. On the day of celebration solar light was installed in the Mission which would help the students to study at night at the Mission compound. They celebrated Lokenath Milan Utsav '2009 (Uniting & Bonding festival '2009) on the Mission compound in Gosaba. Baba, accompanied by Ann Shannon participated in the celebration, which unites villagers of all creeds and castes.


Asgar Ali, a talented young painter and former LDLM preprimary student, had an exhibit of his work at the festival. Asgar had drawn a sketch of Baba which he showed and later presented to Baba. Baba was deeply touched by how Asgar had captured Baba's energy, and encouraged Asgar to continue developing his artistic skills.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Baba's Visit to Gosaba, Bijaynagar on 1st of February, 2009





Baba and our guest, Ann Shannon, were greeted in the Bali village by the Mission's project supervisors and Self Help Group women, as Baba landed from the boat to visit the Bengal Tiger Conservation Project compound. A huge crowd formed to welcome and escort Baba to the Mission's compound at Bijaynagar. The villagers celebrated every moment Baba was with them with broad, beaming smiles.



The SHG women prepared the food to be served to 8,000 villagers from the grains collected from their own, hard earned effort. This day is special, as all the nearby villages and villagers come to participate in what has become the favorite annual local festival. They are all served a meal. Baba served food with his own hands to the children and elderly.



In the evening, all the school children and students presented a wonderful, culturally rich program of poem recitals, elegant traditional dances, music, playful nature skits, and advanced yoga.




Ann Shannon, the guest of LDLM, was overwhelmed by the extraordinary program, all of the effort and planning it obviously required, and the immense talent of the performers. She was especially pleased to hear women's personal stories of the SHGs. The people of Gosaba were delighted to see their Baba and hear Baba's inspiring words, which they will carry to their heart for the next year. Baba spoke of the importance of lending a helping hand to one another other in leading and happy and prosperous life.


Thursday, February 12, 2009

A New Life Given by Baba


An Indian family of four living in the Sunderban region, Gosaba Bally district, Vijaynagar village, was stricken by poverty. The family consisted of a brother named Koushik Bera, a sister named Bandita Bera, and their father and mother. Due to unfortunate reasons the mother fell seriously ill and was admitted to a local hospital. The family did not have money to pay for proper medication so it was not given to her. As a result she suffers from a chronic mental illness. The children’s father was a mason and used to come for work in Kolkata. While in Kolkata, he remarried and neglected his earlier family totally. He would not even send money to his family.
Brother Koushik was adopted by a school teacher and Bandita was left alone in the house. Stricken by poverty she was left with no option but to borrow from people in the name of her father. As the lenders came to know about it they realized they would never get their money back. They tried to molest little Bandita. Bandita somehow managed to flee from their grasp and fled home. Panic stricken, she would not come out of the house. She lay at home without food for fifteen days.
A local coordinator of Lokenath Divine Life Mission contacted Baba and informed him of the situation of little Bandita. Baba instantly asked the coordinator to take steps and rescue Bandita. The Mission took full responsibility for Bandita and shifted her to a safe place and arranged for her food and daily needs. She was admitted to school where she was studying in ninth standard. This year she has passed her 10th grade examination by the grace of God.
Now she has been admitted to 11th grade and she is happily staying in a student's hostel adjacent to the school. She gave a spectacular solo dance performance. Her dancing talent is immense, but she is also very bright and now has 4 tutors to foster her rapidly advancing academic life. Under the loving guidance of the SHG women and the Mission, she is flourishing as never before. Baba blessed her with all his heart as she grows into a perfectly healthy, accomplished young woman.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

President of Lokenath Divine Life Fellowship Tours Sunderbans with Baba

Ann Shannon, President of Lokenath Divine Life Fellowship, a branch of Lokenath Divine Life Mission in the United States, was recently a guest of the Self Help Group (SHG) women in the Sunderbans and accompanied Baba on his annual visit.
While there Ann heard many true stories of how incredible the SHG are!

SHG Group Intervenes to Save Village
Family in Time of Health Crisis

When a Gosaba area village woman recently fell critically ill and required Rs. 30,000 for immediate hospitalization and treatment, the family was going to be forced to sell their land, their only means of survival. The local LDLM SHG called an emergency meeting to discuss whether they could lend the large sum of money to the family. The woman was not an SHG member, so this loan would be made outside of the SHG's rules. The group members had to wrestle with the very real question of what would happen if the family could not pay the money back, since that would threaten the very survival of the SHG and its ability to function. Binodini Mondal, the cashier of the SHG since 1997, and Anima Mondal, SHG President, and Sushma Mondal, the Group's Secretary, stepped forward to personally guarantee repayment of the huge sum over time if for any reason the loan was not repaid. The SHG voted to make the loan. The woman received the necessary treatment and is now safely home and well, with her family. Because of the SHG's generosity, the family had the time necessary to raise the funds from other sources. They repaid the loan in only 2 months.


"This is so moving," Ann Shannon said to Baba, "it demonstrates so profoundly the difference that SHGs are making at a human level, the power of their commitment to everyone in their village, and why SHG members are becoming such powerful, honored and respected leaders in their local areas. I cannot imagine a Westerner making this kind of financial commitment to help a neighbor. The power and importance of what SHGs are doing to create a sense of family in their villages is unfathomable."

Share Ann's joy, and help the women and children! If you are in the United States you can make a tax deductible donation to Lokenath Divine Life Fellowship on http://www.feelinghearts.org/.
To read more about Ann's profound and touching visit in the Sunderban's, visit Ann at
http://www.travelpod.com/, and search for globalgramma.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

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SARASWATI PUJA CELEBRATED AT THE STREET SCHOOLS ON JANUARY 31, 2009



Goddess Saraswati is the goddess of learning in Kolkata. All the street school students of Kalighat, Rashbehari, Swinhoe and Garcha schools are taught to pray to Goddess Saraswati and ask for her blessings so that they all grow up enriched with the power to constantly learn and evolve. Through learning and evolution they then have the tools to fight their poor economic condition and bring smiles in the faces of their parents.

Lokenath Divine Life Mission is committed to bring these street children into mainstream schooling and instill them with confidence in themselves. The Teachers constantly remind the children “Yes, we are with you! You can do it as every other normal child does!” The Mission believes that planting the seed of education in these children will enable them to overcome their miseries and make them bloom in times to come.