Building Bridges Through The Power Of Dhun

Like many cultures and religions, music plays a huge part within Hindu Dharma. Bhajans, aarti, sangeet and even entire scriptures are based around the power of music. In fact, the Bhagavad Gita, which means the ‘Divine Song’, was technically sung by Lord Krsna. So powerful is the beauty of music that when it brings together people from all backgrounds, of all ages, of all creeds, it simply cannot be overlooked.
On Tuesday 14th September 2010 at 8pm, Sadhguru Sewa Samiti, or SSS, begun what would be a truly amazing and inspiring adventure through non-stop 108 hours Ram Dhun. The word ‘Dhun’ literally means ‘tune’, and a Ram Dhun is the singing of ‘Shree Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram’ to different tunes. Very simple, yet incredibly powerful. The event took place at Slough Mandir, and for 6 days the doors of the mandir remained open for people from all across the UK to observe, take part and feel the incredible and inspiring power of Ram Dhun. 3 meals a day was provided and cooked by families, and there was the pleasant 3am chilli paneer surprise for those who were on night duties! This wasn’t the first time the group had organised such an event. Over the past few years independently they have had a 72 hour dhun, and they have helped NHSF emphatically with 12 hour Ram Dhun and Hanuman Chalisas in the north and central region of the UK. Each time they have been present, they have encouraged all the youth to get involved in singing, helping many students to open themselves up and really demonstrate how dhun has a place in all of our hearts. This time it was no different. People of all ages were singing together, in fact, at one point at 4am on Saturday morning, an elderly gentleman was out-doing the youth by singing non-stop for 3 hours!
The event took 9 months to organise, and involved countless meetings, e-mails and phone calls. There was even a timetable for each member with sleeping plans and other various duties.
SSS comprises of Hindus who all have one common goal – to build bridges through the power of love. Lord Hanuman and his army of Vaanars, through the sheer prem or love of Lord Ram, helped build the bridge to Lanka so that Lord Ram could save Sita Maa. Many of the group are aged from 15 to 30, and are ardent followers of Lord Hanuman. They come from all parts of the UK and aim to unite people from all backgrounds, which they do so with great success.
On behalf of NHSF, I would like to thank SSS for their dedication and commitment toward inspiring Hindu youth all over the UK and for selflessly supporting NHSF in all that we do. With that all I can say is:
Shree Ram Jay Ram Jay Jay Ram!

Happily Never After

Summertime brings about much that is positive in life – sunshine, holidays, the melody of an ice cream van as it makes its way down your road and of course the definitive Indian Wedding Season. The Hindu wedding is a beautiful occasion. Celebrated with much pomp and joy, it symbolises the joining of not just two souls, but the unification of two families.
Well it should do. We must remember that there are two sides to every story. Although everyone appears to be happy during the wedding procession, a growing number of marriages are ending prematurely. Why? From a small sample of people asked that have been subject to failed marriages, the underlying commonality is the pressure from parents to get married young. Tradition, not religion, dictates that children should be married at a young age. In our grandparent’s time, it wasn’t uncommon for families to arrange the marriages of children from a young age. In fact, Gandhiji’s marriage to Kasturba was arranged when he was 6 years old! But as time has moved on, so have trends and traditions. The arranged marriage is now more of an introductory service, and the age to get married has substantially increased. However, a percentage of families still insist on adhering to tradition, not religion, and constantly reinforce the notion that ‘nobody will want to marry you after a certain age’. Seldom is this the case for the son, but it is prevalent in the case of daughters.
Nowhere in Hindu scriptures does it declare that a daughter must be married by a certain age. True, certain scriptures allow for daughters to be married at a young age, but there is no set law stating she MUST be married by that age. In fact, Dharma encourages us to adjust and adapt with modern day living, and in this case we have to understand that certain old village traditions are not feasible for life in the modern, western world. Long gone are the days of women being in the kitchen whilst men go out to work. Now both men and women are career-minded and wish to succeed in the working world before settling down. More often than not, girls are forced into marriage younger than their male counterparts, as they feel duty-bound by their parents to do so. Of course, obeying ones parents is paramount in fulfilling our Dharma, but so too should parents support and understand our need for succeeding in our respective fields.
So this summer, when you come home from a wedding, and ‘marriage fever’ manifests, ask your children first; are you ready for marriage? If they say no, then respect their decision – after all, the future is in our hands.