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• needybad4u  On 10/10/2017 at 9:00 pm

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  WISHING ONE AND ALL A HAPPY DIWALI. SPECIAL BLESSINGS FOR GRAND MARSHALL Dr. DHANPAUL NARINE.
  ~Leonard Dabydeen

• Dhanpaul Narine  On 10/12/2017 at 11:32 am

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  Happy Diwali Cyril. What a beautiful picture you put of the Goddess Mother Lakshmi! May peace and light be a part of our lives in the years ahead. As the Grand Marshall, I am inviting the guyanese online family to join me this Saturday on 133 Street and Liberty Avenue, at 5pm. It would be good if our sister Gigi decides to walk beside me on Saturday. All the best.

• Veda Nath Mohabir  On 10/13/2017 at 10:05 am

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  Happy Diwali/Deepavali to All! (Deepavali = Row of lights). ‘Celebrations include lighting oil lamps or candles called diyas to symbolize “a victory of knowledge over ignorance, light over darkness, good over evil.” ‘ Here “darkness” is not physical but psychic/metaphysical – the darkness that mind encounters.

  Note the importance of “Knowledge/Truth” in Hindu prayers also sought in the Gayatri Mantra. Another beautiful expression goes thus (Sanskrit/English):

  asato ma sadgamaya
  tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
  mrtyorma amrtam gamaya
  om shanti shanti shanti.

  Lead me from the Asat [unreality/delusion] to the Sat.[Reality/Truth]
  Lead me from darkness to light.
  Lead me from death to immortality [Amritam=Nectar of Bliss in Moksha/Nirvana]
  Om Peace Peace Peace.

  (Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28)

  Google the Ravi Shankar/Geo Harrison YouTube version of “asato ma sadgamaya”.
  The link is too long to put here.
  ………………………..
  Diwali festivals grow in US, from Disney to Times Square
  By Beth J. Harpaz | September 28, 2017

  NEW YORK (AP) — The holiday of Diwali is starting to light up mainstream America.
  Diwali, a festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and others in India and other countries, has long been observed in immigrant communities around the U.S.
  But now public celebrations of the holiday are starting to pop up in places ranging from Disneyland and Times Square to parks and museums.
  The Times Square event is the brainchild of Neeta Bhasin, who says that while many Indian immigrants have found great success in the U.S., “still people don’t know much about India. I felt it’s about time that we should take India to mainstream America and showcase India’s rich culture, heritage, arts and diversity to the world. And I couldn’t find a better place than the center of the universe: Times Square.”
  Bhasin, who came to the United States from India 40 years ago, is president of ASB Communications, the marketing firm behind Diwali at Times Square. The event, now in its fourth year, has drawn tens of thousands of people in the past. It’s scheduled for Oct. 7, from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., with dance performances, Bollywood singers, a bazaar of food, saris and other goods, and a lighting ceremony.
  While Diwali celebrations are held throughout the fall, the holiday’s actual date is Oct. 19. Also called Deepavali, it’s an autumn harvest festival held just before the Hindu new year. Celebrations include lighting oil lamps or candles called diyas to symbolize “a victory of knowledge over ignorance, light over darkness, good over evil,” said Bhasin.
  The Diwali celebration at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, Calif., includes performances of traditional Indian dances and a Bollywood dance party for guests. It’s part of a festival of holidays at the theme park reflecting cultural traditions from around the world. The Disney festival begins Nov. 10 and runs through Jan. 7.
  San Antonio has one of the nation’s largest city-sponsored celebrations of Diwali, drawing more than 15,000 people each year. The 2017 event, scheduled for Nov. 4 at La Villita, a historic arts village, will be its ninth annual Diwali celebration with Indian dance, entertainment, food, crafts, fireworks and the release of lighted candles into the San Antonio River along the city’s River Walk.
  New York City’s Rubin Museum will mark Diwali with an overnight Ragas Live Festival featuring more than 50 Indian classical musicians performing amid the museum’s collection of sacred Himalayan art. The event begins Oct. 21 at 10 a.m. and continues all day and night through Oct. 22 at 10 a.m. Chai and mango lassis will be served, visitors will have access to all the galleries, and pop-up events like meditation and sunrise prayer will be offered. Special tickets will be sold for the opportunity to sleep beneath the artwork.
  Other places hosting Diwali celebrations include Cary, N.C., in Regency Park, Oct. 14; Flushing Town Hall, Queens borough of New York City, Oct. 29; the Seattle Center, Oct. 21; the Dulles Expo center in Chantilly, Va., Oct. 7-8; and Memorial Park in Cupertino, Calif., Sept. 30.
  In Columbus, Ohio, the Ohio History Center is hosting a photo exhibit about the city’s fast-growing population of immigrants from Nepal, Bhutan and India, with a Diwali event Oct. 8.
  Bhasin said Diwali’s message is particularly timely now. “It is extremely important to be together and showcase to the world, not only Indians, but the entire immigrant community, to be together with Americans and to show the world we are one, we are all the same human beings,” she said.

  Veda Nath Mohabir

• Veda Nath Mohabir  On 10/13/2017 at 10:24 am

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  Forgot to mention that the image shown is of Lord Ganesha not Mother Lakshmi.
  Here are numerous images of the beneficent Goddess.
  https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Mother+Lakshmi+&qpvt=Mother+Lakshmi+&FORM=IGRE

  VedaNM.

• Dhanpaul Narine  On 10/14/2017 at 12:53 am

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  Vedaji thanks for pointing it out. Hope to see you tomorrow if you are around. All the best.

• Veda Nath Mohabir  On 10/14/2017 at 12:21 pm

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  Unfortunately, Dhanpaulji, I won’t be there physically, but will spiritually, as I am holed-up in Toronto. Hope the parade has a large turnout and spread positive vibes and inner Light.
  Next week, Oct21, the Toronto Arya Samaj will hold its annual Diwali concert at the Vedic Cultural Ctre which will also feature the musical “Hesperus 1838” commemorating the abolition of Indian indentureship on this the centenary year. Hesperus was one of two ships that landed in then British Guiana in May 1838.

  VedaNM,