5) Voice of Asia - Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA

VOICE OF ASIA
Friday, February 5, 2010
Hundreds join Surya Namaskar marathon
By Yatindra Bhatnagar
Houston: Raj Bhavsar, the
Indo-American winner of a
Gymnastic Bronze Medal at the
last Olympic Games in Beijing,
gave considerable credit to Yoga
for his success and overall balance between body and mind.
Speaking as the Chief Guest
at the end of the 24-hour Surya
Namaskar Yogathon, January
29-30, he said 50 percent of the
credit for his success was due to
his yogic regimen and the other
50 percent to his Mom and Dad.
Yoga gave him a sense of balance, self-confidence, concentration and release from stress
when he was not selected for the
previous Olympics.
This was the 4th Surya Namaskar Yogathon organized by
the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh
of Houston. The event, held at
Keshav Smruti in Southwest
Houston, is more popular each
year.
Raj Bhavsar was a member
of the US team to the 2001 and
2003 World Artistic Gymnastics
Championships and won silver
medals at both the events. A
leading candidate for the 2004
Olympics, he was not selected
for the final team. He was also,
initially, overlooked for the
2008 Olympics.
In his remarks he recalled that
at first he was bitter, angry, and
disappointed, but made a 180
degree turn-around and “looked
inside.” He realized that life is
a challenge, but with the right
focus and fully channeling energies one could reach higher
goals, as he did and represented
the US at Beijing where he won
a bronze medal.
Son of Jyotindra and Surekha
Bhavsar, Raj was born in Houston, graduated from high school
here and attended Ohio University where he won titles at the
NCAA championships.
The 29-year-old Olympic
medalist gymnast now gives
performances, holds clinics
and demonstrations to encourage young people to maintain
a proper body-mind balance
and persevere to achieve their
goals.
At the Yogathon 322 young
and not so young men and
women and children partici-
From Left Suryansh Purwar (Sewa ) Bobby Singh ( IACF) Raj Bhavasar Julian Achelus (Haiti
native) Raj Malani and Subhash Gupta(HSS).
pated, performing more than
16,000 Surya Namaskars. They
were from 38 different organizations. The event was a part of the
‘Million Surya Namaskar’ campaign throughout the nation.
Twenty-nine participants did
more than 100 Surya Namaskars, eleven did more than 200,
six did more than 300 and four
did more than 400.
Pawan Sharda, Keshav
Shakha Swayamsevak and
National Treasurer of Ekal
Vidyalaya Foundation, was
the highest performer with 455
Surya Namaskars.
The Danayak family of Madhav Shakha did a combined
1200 Surya Namaskars.
Surya Namaskar Yagna was a
success because of the participation of a large number of yoga
teachers and community leaders, and especially the many
young people who participated.
“Every year the number is going up and general awareness
about adopting a healthy life
style with simple practice of
Surya Namaskar is increasing”,
said Manoj Rathi, Houston cocoordinator.
The event also was used
to raise money for the earthquake-affected people of Haiti.
Raj and Jugal Malani wellknown philanthropists donated
$10 for each of the participants
and rounded off the amount
to $5,000. The money will be
given for the needy Haitians
through SEWA International in
cooperation with Haiti Relief
Organization. Some other social and cultural organizations
are also raising funds for relief
work. Julien Achelus, a native
of Haiti thanked HSS and the
Indian-American community
for raising funds for the quakeaffected people.
Bobby Singh, newly-elected
President of the 21-year-old
Indo-American Charity Foundation gave a brief account of how
Indo-American social and cultural organizations pool together
and raise funds to give back to
the community. The goal is to
raise $50,000 from the Houston
Indo-American community for
Haiti relief.
Rama Rao of Svyasa gave
credit to yogic exercises for
mind-body control and total
relaxation for a satisfactory and
contented life style. He does
Yoga and also teaches it.
Mallikarjun Shintri, a 74year-young enthusiast said he
found Yoga as the joining force
of Atman with Paramatman. It
assures good health and gives
freedom to body and mind.
Shintri himself did 170 Surya
Namaskars; 26 of his students
from Houston Community
College also participated in the
Yagna.
Thirteen-year-old Shiven
Danayak, who did more than
400 Surya Namaskars at the
Yogathon asked young people
to forget about their TV, cell
phones and computers for
some time and take to Surya
Namaskar and other yogic exercises to make a change in their
lives. He said since he started
practicing Yoga his grades have
improved and his attitude to life
has changed. He attends Sugar
Land shakha and is a Yoga Shikshak (teacher.)
Karim Sadiawala, one of the
youngest yoga instructors who
participated said “I chose to do
yoga to invigorate my body and
mind and to an extent my soul,
so I could live this blessed life
to the fullest and also help others
do the same.”
At the outset of the program,
Arun Kankani, a dedicated HSS
volunteer, said that “Yoga and
Surya Namaskar are manifestations of great Hindu values
that promote healthy mind in
a healthy body. This is a great
combination for healthy living
and is now a part of a nationwide campaign.” He appealed
to the audience not to just
watch but also do Yoga, and
add a challenging element for
development.