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The White Hindu has moved! This blog is no longer updated, but Ambaa is still writing The White Hindu every weekday at Patheos.com.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Busy Weekend

This weekend has me bouncing all over the place.

In bad news, I went to Chinmaya mission this morning and the door was locked. I found one person there who was doing some admin stuff and he told me that there was a getting-to-know-you picnic today, but he didn't know where it was! He tried really hard to find it for me, even calling the Swami-ji on his cell phone, but no one answered.

I was really disappointed. One of the things that has been bothering me about Chinmaya is that I'm so alone there. I go each Saturday morning and sit by myself and listen and then I mill around a little afterward and try to find something to help out with, but I don't know anyone and no one knows me. What a great opportunity this picnic would have been to make some friends!

I'm not sure how to get in the loop on stuff like this. I'm on the email list, but I went back through my emails and found nothing about a picnic.

In the end, I had to just turn around and go home. Which isn't so bad, since I have homework to do.

And in good news, I will have other opportunities this weekend to make friends with Chinmaya people. Yesterday I was on their website and I found the information for the study groups, which are small discussion gatherings. I've been looking for one ever since I tried the youth discussion group and found myself with a bunch of people ten years younger than me that I couldn't relate to.

It turns out, there is a study group in the town next to me and they invited me to come to the meeting tomorrow evening. Also, they are putting together a special dinner for the Swami-ji tonight and I was invited to that as well.

So, I'm not as crushed about the picnic as I would otherwise have been. I'm going to go to the store after my dance class and pick up some fruit to make a big fruit chaat and head to dinner!

6 comments:

  1. Namashkar Aamba,
    I do sympathise. A lot of people at our Mandir visit as extended families, and I don't think they really think about people being on their own. I expect that this happens in your Chinmaya mission, which is why you are sometimes left milling around. Remember that everything is as it should be. This is both a lesson for you and for them.

    It may also be a great opportunity to get to know the people who do take notice of you very well. I have become great friends with an older Bengali gentleman who is also "on his own". He has great insight and wisdom and has acted as a guide to me.

    Aum Shivaya
    Tandava

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  2. Seems like you're having a hard time this week .
    Here's something to cheer you up.
    http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1795
    Hope you like it
    ;)

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  3. Amba,
    sorry about that. Iam somewhat surprised that no respose was seen so far. Hmmm thats not normal or natural.I can understand you feeling ignored. Many times I felt ignored in staff meetings, but i do know that I was also a part of the problem in that equation. I feel sad its happening to you, is it a cultural issue than a religious issue. You think Browns are somewhat inhibited when they see a caucasian? Are you the only white there? At least a couple of them browns ought to have come forward, Iam thinking loudly here...I suspect none of them were BORN and raised here, all of them immigrated later in life I assume.Then I will forgive them, its cultural for sure in that case.

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  4. Hello Aamba,
    This is Prajakta from India.I have just started reading your blog few days back.I just want to tell you that don't be so confuse & don't think much about conversion. Because that's the beauty of hinduism that we don't believe in conversion. It's just about being human. Respecting every human being & respecting their faith.Because we believe that God can be in any form. We just call him by different names God, Allah, Bhagwan. I want to tell you that I am a hindu by birth & I believe in Ganapati. But that doesn't stop me from celebrating Christmas & having biryani with our muslim family friends in Eid. Hinduism is about being happy & making others happy. Whats the use of reading bhagwat geeta & upanishadas /visiting temple regularly but at the same time behaving badly with other faiths/people. Don't be so confuse Aamba & don't be so strict on yourself. Hinduism is something which you feels inside you. In Hinduism your god can be your own parents. It's you who makes the decision & not someone else for you.

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  5. Thanks for the comic, Akshay, that's cute!

    Lovely idea, Prajakta, thank you for sharing. "Hinduism is about being happy and making others happy." It really is as simple as that :)

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  6. Oh, and I am not the only white person there, but there's very few. I don't think any of this was on purpose or anything like that. These things happen sometimes, it's hard to coordinate a big group of people. And if I'm going to show up to something where I don't know anyone, I have to be willing to be outgoing.

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