CORD celebrated Guru Poornima day with much gusto.

On this auspicious day, the community in CORD’s villages committed itself to study, understand, live and share the knowledge so compassionately gifted to all by Pujya Gurudev and Pujya Guruji. 186 people participated in this event. Eighteen study groups with village volunteers were formed to demonstrate to all present, as to how they could conduct Svadhyaya in their own villages.

On Guru Poornima Day, Shri Narender received “Partnership Excellence Award on Imparting Quality Training” to CORD from NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) Punjab, given by the Chief Minister of Punjab.
On the eve of Guru Poornima, Narender was honored with “Sudhir Johri Inspired Leader Award” by SOIL (School of Inspired Leadership) during the convocation of Emerging Leader Booster Program for which Shri Anil Sachdevji had sponsored Narender.

Our beloved Pujya Guruji gave the divine gift of his presence to the devotees of Chinmaya Mission Chicago on his birthday, June 30, 2014. With love in our hearts, the day became one of celebration and inspiration at the Yamunotri ashram where children and adults sang and prayed for Guruji’s health and his blessings.

Amidst this flow of love, Chicago devotees prayed for Guruji with Sunderkand parayan from Rama Charit Manas by Goswami Tulsi Das. The Balvihar children of both Badri and Yamunotri ashrams sang bhajans with many accompanying instruments, especially the flute, which brought cheer and joy to Guruji’s face.

These events all preceded a surprise for Guruji, a special video from India by Chinmaya Naada Bindu – residential gurukul for Indian Performing Arts – which offered birthday greetings with special composition, photographs and videos of Guruji from all over the world, demonstrating the love that flows in his every action.

The evening was highlighted by Guruji singing bhajans for the devotees, one honoring Pujya Gurudev and the second, a composition by Guruji called `Shyam Sundar Ko Ana Hi Hoga.` Guruji invited everyone to join in the singing of the bhajan, adding to the celebratory mood of the evening.

The deity of Yamunotri, where all the celebrations were held, are Radha Krishna. Rightly so, the concluding item of the celebration was an enchanting flute performance by Pundit Ronu Majumdar, master flutist and Grammy Award winner, accompanied by Shubhashish Mukherjee on tabla. Punditji said that he was inspired by the celebratory environment to play Raaga Jhinjhoti. Guruji was seen enjoying the concert very much. Seeing the love of Pujya Guruji for Sri Rama, Pt. Ronu Majumdar sang some key verses from Rama Charit Manas and played Raaga Desh on the flute.

A birthday feast for all devotees had been arranged, along with Guruji’s bhiksha. Chicago was truly truly blessed to have Pujya Guruji on this very auspicious occasion.

Delhi

30 June, the auspicious day of Swami Tejomayanandaji’s birthday was an inspiring evening for the New Delhi Chinmaya Family. Swami Nikhilanandaji addressed the gathering on how blessed and grateful everyone felt, and beautifully conducted a special Paduka Pooja. Thereafter, Parveen Bahl, enthralled the audience with her melodious bhajans, especially selected for the occasion. The delightful video, that followed, was a lecture by Guruji on the Ramayana. In his simple, yet profound style, Swami Tejomayananda explained Sage Valmiki’s thought-provoking answer to Lord Rama question regarding a suitable place for him to stay during his exile.

The grand finale was a unique video clip of rare photographs of Guruji with Swami Chinmayananda as the backdrop to a moving and lyrical ode sung by Pramodini Rao, dedicated to Pujya Guruji on the occasion of his birthday. All in all, a wonderful celebration!

Noida

Swami Chidrupanandaji and devotees of the NOIDA centre gathered in the evening to celebrate the birthday of our beloved Pujya Guruji. The program began with chanting of Guru Stotram and Maha Mrtyunjaya Mantra, praying for his well-being. And for the next one and half hours there were bhajans galore. The Swaranjali members, the Bal-Vihar children and CHYKs presented bhajans written and composed by Guruji himself. The audience was spell-bound listening to the melodious bhajans one after the other and some of them spontaneously came forward and danced in joy. The session ended with the singing of the birthday song and shanti mantra followed by prasad.

Earlier in the day Swami Chidrupananda ji addressed the management and faculty of SOIL (School of Inspired Leadership), Gurgaon on the themes – ‘Concept of Guru’ and ‘Learning from Guru’.