Desi Talk

www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 5 CITY VIEWS August 2, 2024 Brahma Rishi Siddha Guruji Gurudev Interview With ITV Gold B rahma Rishi Siddha Guruji Gurudev of Shri Brahmarishi Ashram, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India, was recently at the ITV Gold Studio. In an interview, ITV Gold’s Piya Jyoti Kachroo talked to him about his early spiritual experiences, about how to reduce stress, about the journey of the body and soul, about the difference in lifestyle in India and in America, about his ashram in Tirupati and about how to live a productive life. The following are excerpts from his interview on ITV Gold. WHAT WAS YOUR EARLY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY? I don’t remember much of my early spiritual journey because I came to my guru and the ashram as a child at a very young age. My Siddhis were all gained under the guidance of my guru and of one advaita baba. Baba used to say that I already had four Siddhis from birth. My edu- cation took place under his guidance. I have done B.Tech (Electrical) from IIT, the best university of India. WHAT DIFFERENCE DO YOU SEE IN THE LIVES OF PEOPLE IN THE US AND IN INDIA? No matter where a person is, he can have some short- comings and some good qualities. America has a lot of human values. Family values are a little less. There is family value in India because it has been a spiritual country, the country of Ram and Krishna. Even today, divine spiritual powers are more there. More people here in America are into worldly things. This country is developed more. There in India people progressed more in spirituality. More people go there in search of spirituality, meditation, siddhi, sadhna etc. Here, people search more for material things and they found more money and material things. But I think there should be a balance between both. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE MANY COM- PLAINTS? I say live life with harmony, not with complaints. Let us live such that our life becomes an example for this humanity, for the next generation. We have two journeys; one is the journey of the world in which we are living. Secondly, our inner spiritual journey. Many times we are not able to balance the two and we live life on the outside, due to which our inner journey does not happen. Then our soul becomes weak. And whenever the soul is weak, there will be complaints, there will be illness, there will be problems, there will be no goodwill, there will be no gratitude. Therefore, when we make our soul powerful, then the complaints will definitely stop. Mostly the one who complains is the one who is dissat- isfied. Whoever is satisfied, his complaints stop. A healthy person has no complaints about his health. So, when we become healthy from within, when our soul becomes powerful, then this complaint will gradually end. TELL US ABOUT YOUR ASHRAM IN TIRUPATI. I am a sanyasi. A Sanyasi has nothing of his own. But an organization has been formed, created by everyone. I have a slogan there that service to humanity is the best work of life. I am a sanyasi. I come and go. I have kept one condi- tion. Don’t keep anything chargeable in this ashram. Everything there is free, unconditional. Your stay, food, worship, my darshan, meeting, everything is free. We have a very beautiful program going on here. Sid- dheshwar: The Power of Soul. It is free of cost. It is a seven days program in which your soul is uplifted, made power- ful, and your subconscious is completely transformed. WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE TO THE INDIAN DIASPORA HERE? Life is a journey. I did sadhana for about 54 years. I have found that if human beings have to be completely successful, then we have to balance both our wordly life and spiritual life. And one must also live in peace. Everything is happen- ing around us, negativity, nature, positivity. Being sick, illness, unhealthy is nature. But if you want to be healthy you have to choose, you have to select health. Failure is nature. Success you have to choose, you have to select. So we will have to choose good things. The effort and energy we spend in choosing good will never die. (Translated from Hindi by Archana Adalja) By a StaffWriter Photo:Sachin Ravindran,ITV Gold Brahma Rishi Siddha Guruji Gurudev of Shri Brahmarishi Ashram, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, at ITV Gold studios recently, gestures while being interviewed. New Jersey Symphony Live Performance At The Screening Of Baahubali: The Beginning I n a novel fashion, New Jersey Sym- phony at the Movies had a North American Premier of its three hour live concert accompanying Indian film Baahubali: The Beginning. Baahubali: The Beginning is a fairy tale about a young orphan who learns of his heritage and fights to bring justice to his wronged family, while also having an ad- venturous mission to another Kingdom. The special concert held July 27 and 28, 2024 at New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, was a 3-hour long live perfor- mance by the New Jersey Symphony (NJS) led by conductor Constantine Kitsopou- los. Kitsopoulos has described the music of Baahubali as having unusual sounds combined with powerful cinematography, creating spectacular effects. On Saturday, July 27, there was a special reception before the concert. NJS and Kulture Kool organized henna painting by Global Kennekt and a performance by South Indian folk Tabla group ThiruParai Kuzhu. Special vegetarian food was avail- able at the food trucks specially brought in for the concert. Audiences watched the highly success- ful Indian film which was broadcast on a massive HD screen in Hindi with English subtitles. The spectacular scenes unfolded while the New Jersey Symphony per- formed M.M. Keeravani’s famous score, live in-sync with the motion picture. Keeravani is a record producer, a singer and a lyricist, working mainly in Telugu cinema. In his long career, he has won many awards, including the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award, India’s National Film Award, Filmfare Awards and Government of India’s Padma Shri. Some of his well known Hindi composi- tions include ‘Tu Mile Dil Khile’ from the film Criminal, ‘Gali Mein Aaj Chand Nikla’ from Zakhm, ‘Jadoo Hai Nasha Hai’ from Jism, ‘Kangna Re’ and ‘Dheere Jalna’ from Paheli. His style varies with each film. In one of his early interviews, he admitted to be inspired by K.V. Mahadevan, M.S. Viswanathan, S.D. Burman, R.D. Burman, Bhimsen Joshi, Ilaiyarraja and some more. Well versed in films, he knows what will work on screen and has given composi- tions which have appealed to a great many people. Conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos works in many different genres includ- ing opera, symphonic repertoire, film with live orchestra, music theatre and composition. He travels all over the world conducting orchestras across the U.S., Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Tokyo Philharmonic. Kitsopoulos has trained in conducting with Semyon Bychkov, Sergiu Commis- siona, Gustav Meier and his principal teacher Vincent La Selva. He has studied piano with Marienka Michna, Chandler Gregg, Edward Edson and Sophia Rosoff. In 2023-2024, he will conduct the Phila- delphia Orchestra, and the Pacific, New Jersey, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Santa Barbara and San Francisco symphonies. New Jersey Symphony is changing the history of orchestra, and has won both the Emmy and Grammy Awards. NJS has proved it strongly believes in diversity and inclusion by bringing local artists and to a new audience with untrained ears in classical music throughout New Jersey, particularly in Newark. With a mission to connect with the people and diverse communities of New Jersey, NJS brings live symphonic music. It provides entertainment as well as hands- on educational experiences. Through its community programming, NJS reaches a wide selection of audiences. Xian Zhang, NJS Music Director and Daniel Bernard Roumain, composer, violinist, educator and social-justice ad- vocate have together brought innovative programming for diverse communities. By Archana Adalja Photo:Screenshot@newjerseysymphony.org Publicity material of the New Jersey Symphony event.