Archive for the ‘People’ Category

Spiritual wisdom of India: Mallika Chopra on stage at IdeaCity

Goddesses of wisdom:

Lakshmi Pratury and Mallika Chopra

The spiritual wisdom of India was well-represented at the IdeaCity conference in Toronto, June 16-18, 2010. Mallika Chopra (daughter of Dr. Deepak Chopra and founder of Intent.com) and Lakshmi Pratury (TED India conference organizer, India-U.S. relationship builder and organizer of the upcoming INK conference in India) both spoke about taking a positive and proactive approach to life. They are both of Indian origin or ancestry and both live in California — and both told stories about their grandmothers. But it was the essence of Indian spirituality and wisdom, which they shared and embodied, that made them stand out, for me, among the many stellar presenters at the conference. Read the rest of this entry »

Note: This post was written by guest author Shelley Seale. When Shelley was in India, she volunteered with The Miracle Foundation, a nonprofit based out of Austin, Texas. The Miracle Foundation recruits donors and sponsors for children living in orphanages in India. Shelley first went to India in 2005 on a 10-day volunteer trip, and it changed her life to such an extent that she returned for several subsequent volunteer trips with The Miracle Foundation. She also wrote a book about the millions of children who live in such orphanages or on the streets in India. The book is called The Weight of Silence: Invisible Children of India and was published in June 2009.

India chooses you By Shelley Seale

I never expected to be in India. And without a doubt, I never thought once I had been I would return, again and again.

It wasn’t the exotic beauty that drew me back. It wasn’t the warmth of the people, their gentle and inquisitive nature, their open hospitality. It wasn’t the storied, ancient history of the country or its rich and varied culture. It was not the colors or the spices or the sounds or the spirituality of the place. India is all of these things, to be sure, and I have grown to love them all. But they were not what seeped into my being and pulled me close, becoming a part of me that I missed with a strange emptiness when I left.

It was the children.

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Experiencing the power of the Thar Desert

I long wanted to go to Jaisalmer — a fairytale town built around a romantic sand castle in the middle of the Thar Desert, on the far-flung western edge of India. I didn’t get there until my third trip to India, but it was worth the wait. Jaisalmer captured my imagination in so many ways, and the night I spent sleeping under the stars on the sand dunes was one of the peak experiences of my life. Impossible to describe the powerful, mystical sense of the desert: the sight of millions of pulsating diamond-like stars above, the timeless sound of camels gurgling us to sleep, the feel of a soft breeze and the scent of the cooking fire.

Pabu, Capucine and Mohan

While I was in Jaisalmer last winter (2009) I met Capucine, a young French woman who had fallen in love with Jaisalmer, the desert and Pabu several years before. She and Pabu had a son together, Mohan, and were starting a business. I was captivated by their story, and how impossible it seemed, and yet how graceful and natural they made it look. I did get the sense that Capucine and Pabu could do anything together … and it seems they have.

Together, they recently opened Pabu ki Dhani, an eco farm in the desert about 40 kms outside of Jaisalmer. I asked Capucine, by email, about Pabu ki Dhani.
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