Radha Govindaji's Jhulan Yatra Darshan

Jhulan Yatra at Radha Govindadevji Mandir in Jaipur started almost 2 weeks ago and every day Thakurji is enjoying the festival. All other Jaipur temples started their celebrations on consecutive days. All the way up to purnima there will be special darshans of the Lord, which have been even advertised through the local newspapers. The Govindaji temple moved the last darshan time 30 minutes later - 9.30pm till 10pm, and every day a Bengali kirtan mandali plays amazing bhajans for the pleasure of Govindadev and His devotees.

Day darshan.

Evening darshan at 9.30pm.

I've graduated!

This is my Hindi class at School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where we have studied together for the past 4 years and where I have just completed BA in Hindi and Study of Religion. In the front row, on both edges, are my Hindi teachers: Rakeshji from Myssorie, and Aishwarji from Delhi. I am very thankful to both of them for putting up with me and for encouraging me in my learning process. In between them is Zain, my best friend. Top row: me, Louise, Johanna and Emily, who are also lovely people and great friends with whoom I have shared a lot of joyful times! I have learend a lot from all of you. Thank you! Louise is expert in Hindi, while Zain, Johanna and Emily graduated from Hindi & Development. Johanna and Emily deal with the issues of child labour and do a lot of work in Kolkata at an NGO which picks up kids from Howrah Station and takes care of them, while trying to find their own families or foster care. Zain deals with AIDS in India.

And here is a joyful and long awaited moment! I have missed my own graduation ceremony, hence I am relishing the photos. Can you play frizzby with these hats? I am back in India, recharging my energy for a bit more academic work out ahead of me. In October I am due to go back to London to start MA in Religion, where I will continue with Hindi and also learn Urdu. Blessings please!

Exams, exams, exams...

Just to let everyone know, that I haven't completely disappeared from the cyberspace. I have 'killer' exams around the corner, thus I am in a state of high hibernation, busy revising and writing endless essay assignments. Joys of academic life!

Anyhow, if any of you have exams too, here is what my uni has to say about exam stress management.

Common fears....

• Going blank
• Having a panic attack
• Not finding any questions I can answer
• Not having enough to write

Exams……

• Are designed purposely to test your performance under stress
• Are a highly artificial situation – absence of normal resources: books, telephone, other people, food, drink, distractions
• Are physically and mentally demanding – 2-3 hours in one seat without moving around, talking etc
• Do not test intelligence or overall academic ability

Exam stress…..

• Is entirely normal in the circumstances
• Can be managed in relatively straightforward ways
• Is catching from other people
• Some stress is probably necessary for an optimum performance

When the perceived demands greatly exceed your perceived resources then stress is more likely to feel unmanageable and disabling

Ways of making stress manageable

They are not highly complex, are easy to learn but require patience and practice

Dos:

• Do remember it’s impossible to feel anxious and relaxed at the same time so relaxation techniques will help reduce anxiety
• Do approach the exams a bit like running a marathon and prepare yourself mentally and physically
• Do approach your exams positively – focus on what you understand, what you have prepared, what you can do

Don’ts:

• Don’t make big changes to your lifestyle just before a stressful event such as exams e.g. giving up smoking, coffee, change your diet drastically. Change (including beneficial change) can add to stress and familiar patterns may be part of your immediate support system. This is not a time to throw away your existing support system. Such changes are best made gradually AFTER the exams, ready for next time. However some small changes may be helpful immediately eg cutting down on coffee, eating more fresh foods (nb carbohydrates are more likely to make you sleepy and protein less likely, sugar will boost your energy quickly but likely to lead to a sudden energy drop later)
• Don’t approach your exams negatively – eg by telling yourself you always fail, never do well, always go blank etc
• Don’t dissect the exam with other people afterwards – take yourself off and give yourself a treat instead. Post mortems will only make you more anxious and uncertain

Relaxation techniques

• Practice centring
• Become aware of your breathing and learn to slow your breath down more than breathing deeply
• Take regular, short breaks while revising
• Exercise helps, including swimming, running, walking, yoga, dance
• Treat yourself occasionally to something special
• Use lavender oil e.g. in your bath, in an oil burner, on your pillow, on a tissue
• Imagine yourself in a dream place, a tropical island, a mountain top, a beautiful room and imagine it in as much detail as you can, using all your senses
• Listen to relaxation tapes

First aid

if panic strikes

• Centring
• Grounding
• Focusing on your breath
• Taking time out

if you go blank

Write down anything you can think of or remember even if it seems gibberish – try using spider diagrams, brainstorming or images

not finding any questions to answer

Read through the questions again and underline words which relate to material you know. Read through the questions that seem most relevant, slowly and think how you could answer them

not having enough to write

Taking too long to answer a question and writing too much more common. Concise answers that really answer the question are likely to be more effective than writing pages and missing the question itself

Holi! Holi! Holi!

Although I am not in India at the moment, thanks to modern technology I am able to have Holi darsan of Sri Radha Govindadev in Jaipur. I am sharing with all of you links to Rajasthan Patrika, where you can see video reports from the temple, where Jaipur devotees are enthusiastically celebrating the Holi season.

http://www.patrika.com/videos.aspx?fn=MCsyMDgwNnx8MTI5&pg=1

http://www.patrika.com/videos.aspx?fn=MCsyMDg2NXx8MTI5&pg=0

Enjoy!

Stress on tourism package for Braj region

From the "The Times of India", Jaipur, 28/02/2009

After having succeeded in influencing the state government to ban all kinds of mining operations in the spiritually and culturally significant Deeg and Kaman tehsils of Bharatpur, the Braj Foundation have embarked upon yet another mission.

According to chief executive officer of the foundation Vineet Narain, "The ban on mining in the Rajasthan portion of Braj region is just the beginning. There is an immense need for the preparation of a comprehensive tourism master plan for the entire region so that the economic fallout can be mitigated through enhanced tourism activities and the ravaged hills can be restored back to their glory." The foundation has recently prepared a comprehensive tourism master plan for the Uttar Pradesh part of Braj region. The plan has been duly approved by the Uttar Pradesh government.

Narain and his team would be meeting chief minister Ashok Gehlot and would be impressing upon him the need of developing a comprehensive master plan for the Braj region lying within Rajasthan so that the bulk of tourists visiting the Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur and the Sariska Tiger Reserve at Alwar can be attracted to the exotic heritage hills of Braj as well.

"Due to our sustained campaign, the townships of Deeg and Kaman had been declared as heritage cities. Signages had also been installed at major sites of attraction. But there doesn't exist any plan or policy for developing these heritage sites. Whatsoever little tourism exists in the region is either religious tourism," said Narain. "The need of the hour is to recognise the cultural importance and spiritual significance of the innumerable villages lying in the region and to boost a multi-dimensional tourism" he added.