International Gita Society opens a school for poor Hindu children in Bangladesh.

[Jaydeep Chaudhari]

December 28, 2011

Press Release: International Gita Society opens a school for poor Hindu children in Bangladesh.

Fremont, California: The International Gita Society (IGS) opened a school for the poor Hindu Children named Vishwa Niketan School on December 21,2011 in Subidhat Village of Dinajpur District .  The function was started with reciting the Bhagavad Gita slokas. Hindu citizens participated in the function in large scale. The occasion was graced by the IGS, Bangladesh President Mr. Bishwanath Roy and other local elites. President Shri Roy announced “ The Bhagavad Gita and  a syllabus of Balgokulam prepared by the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, USA are the integrated part of the school curriculum,”.  As biting cold was sweeping in the village, warm clothes were distributed among the poor Hindu students. The function was concluded by the national Anthem of Bangladesh.

This education initiative of the IGS was lauded by Jaydeep Chaudhari, Vice President of the IGS USA (a parent organization). Mr. Chaudhari looks for a large scale expansion of the IGS activities in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka in upcoming years based on the Bhagavad Gita. More schools for poor Hindu children are expected to be launched in Pakistan within a week or so with the help of IGS Pakistan and Pakistan Hindu Seva.

The IGS was founded by Dr. Ramanananda Prasad, Retired U.S.Navy Official and Professor of San Jose State University in 1984. The IGS is a registered, non-profit, tax-exempt, spiritual institution in the United States of America. More than 100,000 Bhagavad Gita copies have been distributed around the world for free till date.

[Dina-Anukampana Das]

At 9:03am on December 31, 2011, Jaydeep Chaudhari said…

Pujya Swami Ji!

Namaskar,

I will share this to IGS Bangladesh, Pakistan, and to Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh's Balgokulam through out the world.

Thank you for making me aware of this.

Hare Krishna,

Jaydeep

[Dina-Anukampana Das]

Hare Krishna! 

Dear Jaydeep, thank you for sharing this press release.  We wish all success to IGS in its noble efforts.  Kindly, if you can, convey to the persons in charge of curriculum, to seriously consider including these things from this GJI network:

• The mp3 audio & simplified romanized text of the Singalong Gita - it makes the singing of the Gita so easy.
• & the karaoke version [www.karaokegita.com] which is ideal for children as it can be slowed down to suit the kids' age group - the text is not as vivid as in the Simplified Romanized Sanskrit, but the singing can be mastered easily with the tool.
• Further, we hope that the administrators of the school may establish as a tradition from the first year itself, that every Gita Jayanti be observed by doing a mass singalong of the entire Gita.  They could investigate the matter first to verify the difference between the chanting of the Gita with chandha (traditional vedic meter) as opposed to singing it with kartals, mrdanga and harmonium etc accompaniment - the students' enthusiasm and participation in particular should be carefully analyzed.  My past 20+ years of teaching the Gita has convinced me that all children love singing it and can get absorbed and do it joyfully, whereas they tend to find the metric chanting to be boring and tiresome...  If my analysis proves true, then kindly urge them to make it a school tradition to always Annually observe Gita Jayanti with the singalong style of Gita as we have introduced it via www.gitajayanti.ning.com.  This generation of children will then grow up with this skill of being able to sing the Gita while playing a musical instrument - i believe that everyone who believes in the Gita ought to have this skill.  Presently, out of all the people who have full faith in the Gita, only a very few know how to chant it, and many of them do not even know what or when is Gita Jayanti day.

I believe that that if the IGS actually adopts the above suggestions, that the school will contribute more effectively towards the IGS's wonderful Gita mission.  I would love to hear the feedback from teachers about the differences they experience in the children's response to the simplified method of singing the Gita with musical accompaniment.

Kindly convey this letter of mine to the presidents of your noble IGS involved in school projects.

If they wish to have an idea of the mission and vision of this GJI network, please share this document with them: GJI Mission & Vision.

Thank you very much for considering my humble suggestions.  Vishwa Niketan School ki... jaya!

yours sincerely,

Dina-Anukampana Das

Founder, Gita Jayanti International Network