"Why Kids Are Smiling?" ---Visiting Deenabandhu Home

Visiting Deenabandhu: Home of Love and Acceptance 

5 hour drive from Bangalore took us next to Deenabandhu Home, in a very poor community of  Chamarajanagar, north of Mysore.  This town has historically consisted of population of lower caste, therefore has been discriminated and left behind from modern cities' development, such as paved streets! This is where Professor Jayadev founded a home for six orphan boys in 1991. Today, nearly 100 boys and girls who have no place to go, live in this home which is filled with discipline, fun, laughter, order and most importantly love and acceptance. Please watch a short YGB FILM "Deenabandhu: Home of Love and Acceptance"(2014) to learn more about this amazing home. They welcomed our visit with welcome signs every where. 

    Prof Jayadev (Deenabandhu Founder), Prajna (Project Manager) and children warmly welcome us

It is so wonderful to return to this home and witness growth of children. YGB's global family is supporting 26 orphaned and abandoned children here. It costs only $500 a year to provide these children with loving care and good education. Following Prof Jayadev's philosophy of "Love and Acceptance", children mature with self acceptance, confidence and love.

YGB Ambassador Anouk Prop has been volunteering at this home for the last few years, as psychotherapist and yoga teacher. Children are so happy to see her return. Prajna Neelgund is the Manager of all the operations here. Graduating from India's top IIT University with computer science. She once had a top paid job at Syscos in Mumbai, but she knew something was missing in her life. Today, Prajna is the central force behind children's arts and theater activities among many other creative work for children. 

We were welcomed by Dance Performance by the children at Girls Home. 

YGB Global Ambassadors Enjoyed Children's Dancing Performance!

Years ago, this girl was found lying next to her mother's dead body on the street of Bangalore. She also had many physical issues. Today, she is part of the dancing group!!

Megha is now in Masters Course at Bangalore University majoring Literature. As children grow, they become care takers for younger children, returning to the home for the weekends. There is a real sense of belonging and family here, which has created this home everyone belongs and can return anytime.  

Evening ended with Jayadev's beautiful and peaceful bamboo flute accompanied by Druga's harmonium! 

Following Jayashree's Dream

YGB Seva Trip Visits Jayashree

Next, we visited Jayashree who is the mother of Guruprasad we just visited at his college campus, South Bangalore. Jayashree and her husband Rama live in Chanapatna, suburbs of strolling city of Bangalore. YGB Ambassadors were quite eager to meet with them as Guruprasad touched our hearts so deeply expressing his sincere gratitude to his parents' sacrifice for his advancement in education. 

My first visit was in 2007 when Jayashree just received her first micro loan from Grameen Koota, a local micro loan institute. At first, I thought her micro loans will allow her improve their life style, such as buying a bigger home with running water, toilet, etc. However for the last ten years, I have  learned that they are not interested in their life style. Their priority remains firm to provide everything for their son Guruprasad's higher education. Even with YGB's annual funding for his college tuition, they still need to pay for his needs such as computer, dormitory, food, etc. With this family's determination, Jayashree's dream to give higher education for her two sons are becoming a reality. Each time, she looks more confident about her son's  academic achievement and success. She is so proud of Guruprasad and misses him dearly, who can only return home every six months due to his responsibilities to attend dental emergencies at the college clinic. Jayashree and Rama proudly showed us a small piece of land  in front of their humble one room house. Here, they hope to build a small clinic for Guruprasad to start his dental work so he can serve this poor village community. Jayashree's dream has been to educate their children to get higher education to serve the poor communities.
You can watch my very first YGB FILM "Micro Financing Change Lives"  which includes a short story of Jayashree and Guruprasad ten years ago. Witnessing Guruprasad's transformation has been a great joy for me and we want to continue our support till Guruprsad becomes a dental surgeon in a few years. My dream is to film Guruprasad treating his patients at this hometown clinic!

Jayashree's dream is becoming a reality year by year with your support! 

"WE ARE ALL ONE FAMILY"---GURUPRASAD

YGB's First Seva Trip Takes Off!!

YGB Seva Trip Participants with Guruprasad and his students 

Today, my dream trip started here in Bangalore.  It is truly magical that seven YGB Ambassadors and supporters came to join this first YGB Seva Trip, despite of everyone's very busy schedule and family obligations. This first trip's participants are Anouk Prop (The Netherlands/Thailand), Beate Scholtz (Los Angeles), Bonnie Ikemura (Los Angeles), Julee Yew Crijns (The UK), Lauren Peterson (Los Angeles), Mina Lee (Abu Dhabi) and myself.  Everyone has been supporting YGB's programs over the years through fundraising events in their own local communities, but never seen their contributions' impact in India except for Anouk who now volunteers at one of YGB programs every year.  Annual visit to YGB programs in India has become my true inspiration for YGB's work and I always wanted to share this life changing experience with more people who support YGB whole heartedly. Thanks to YGB UK Ambassador Julee's incredible effort, this trip came to reality and I am truly grateful.

Our first visit was to meet with Guruprasad (25 years old) who is now in his 3rd year at Post Graduate Course at AECS Maaruti College of Dental Sciences & Research Center. As most of you know, we met Guruprasad 10 years ago when he was still at high school, dreaming of getting higher education. I have been filming him since then and it has been true joy to witness his incredible achievement and growth.

Today, we visited Guruprasad after his classes. He now works from 8:30am to 3pm seeing average of 40 dental patients a day for diagnosis and treatment. He also teaches anatomy and basic medical education to 150 undergraduate students. As a resident PHD doctor, he also assists oral surgeries by his seniors and will be conducting his independent surgeries in two years. He studies till 9:30pm every day and hopes to pass the final examination in 6 months.







Guruprasad's commitment to his study is unshakable and his pursuit of his dream is firm. He wants to educate poor people about oral and dental hygiene to  prevent unnecessary cancer which the poor cannot afford. He also wants to create a clinic fo the poor so they can be treated free of charge, once they develop oral cancer. He also says 70% of cancer is rooted in tabacco in India which should be reduced with public awareness education.

"Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (Maha Upanishad) means "We are all one family." 

This is Guruprasad's mantra. He believes in 'oneness' of all of us. No matter how poor or where you are from, you are part of us. If you are sick, you must be treated. He thanks his parents for giving this spiritual root in him, which he is confident to realize with his profession as a dental surgeon.

With YGB's global community's support, we continue to fund Guruprasad's education till he becomes a dental surgeon and serves poor people with love. It was a profoundly moving visit to see how Guruprasad has matured with confidence and dignity. It was particularly special for me to be able to share this visit with everyone, a memorable visit to start YGB's First Seva Trip.
Please watch YGB FILM "Jayashree's Dream Lives" to learn more about his journey!

With YGB India Supporters Natesh and Babitha

Deenabandhu: Lessons from "the Home of Love and Acceptance"

 YGB supporters Ms.Karin Korvin and Ms. Rina Tham joined me on this trip

Our next stop was Deenabandhu Trust Home, about six hours drive from Bangalore through Mysore Road and to Chamarajanagar, Karnataka. Chamarajanagar is a poor city with a population of over one million people surrounded by thick forest. Yoga Gives Back started partnering with the local NGO Deenbandhu Trust in 2010 and now fund 21 orphaned and abandoned children. Professor Jayadev founded this children's home in 1991 with six local orphaned boys and today, it houses nearly 100 boys and girls, providing a loving home environment and good education. I produced a film "Deenabandhu: Home of Love and Acceptance"  (2014) which gives you a feel of this wonderful home. It is now run by Professor Jayadev and Ms Prajna Neelgund, who left her high salary IT job in Bangalore as a computer scientist and joined this organization. She is full of energy and also passionate theatrical artist who guide children to play in poignant stories on the stage.

One of our first welcome treats is the girls' Bharatanatyam dance. They all dress up and perform several different programs for us. Seeing these girls happy dancing is a wonderful experience which underscores how far these children have come from their early hardship. I was very happy to meet Maalai (11years old) in a pretty yellow dress. She is the young girl who was featured in my film, limping with medical conditions. Four years ago, a local doctor misdiagnosed her, but YGB Ambassador Sophie Herbert Slater and her husband Dan Slater were visiting from New York and took her to a better doctor in Mysore who diagnosed her with Thyroid complications. Thanks to Sophie and Dan's attention and effort, Maalai (*her name is changed to protect her privacy) has been treated with correct medication and has really grown.  You can see how she has grown to be such a happy pretty girl. Just like many other children's here, Maalai had a very sad childhood. She was actually found lying next to her mother's dead body on the street of Bangalore. When you look at her smile today surrounded by many sisters and brothers who love her, it is clear that Professor Jayadev's dedication to create this "Home of Love and Acceptance" has truly become a reality for so many children.

Maalai (2013)

(Maalai, 2017)

YGB Ambassador Sophie Herbert Slater and her husband Dan Slater from New York (2013)

I love staying here at their guest house to feel the rhythm of the life at Deenbandhu Home. At 6 a.m., a bell rings and children get up, sweep the ground, and meditate. I go to the kitchen and get a cup of coffee or tea. House mothers cook three meals a day for all the children and guests as well as school teachers. We enjoy three delicious meals here: variety of chapati, omelette and cooked vegetable dishes (lady fingers/okra, capsicum/bell pepper, radish, beans, etc.) with always freshly made coconut chutney! Please follow Yoga Gives Back's FaceBook as we continue to share updates of these children we support. $500 a year can support one child at this home to let them live up to their dreams.

Over the last 25 years, Deenbandhu had sent about 100 boys into higher education or independent life with paid jobs. Last year, the first three girls also left the home to study or work in Bangalore. These alumni students return to the home throughout the year.
Last October, on the day of Gandhi Jayanthi, birthday of Gandhi, all the alumni students visited Deenbandhu and discussed how to understand Gandhi. I hope we can all learn from what they concluded here:
1. We have been receiving from society and it is now our turn to give back something to society.
2. What can we give? We are not rich! But we can still give back to society by staying away from corruption.
3. We give back to society by being honest.
4. We can give back to society by being punctual, helpful to others and by leading a disciplined life.

This list is a clear demonstration of the seed Professor Jayadev planted in these youths' minds at the home. They have no biological family and possess very little materialistically, but their minds shine bright and teach me a lot about how to live with a sense of gratitude and give back to society as much as we can. This day, one young boy donated 5000 Rupees from his income as a driver at Toyota Corporation. Others donated 200 pairs of slippers as well as sweets, crackers, jumping ropes, and toys for the children.
Professor Jayadev writes in his report of the day:
"... So the 'giving' was densely loaded with an attitude and feeling of fulfillment for being able to give, which actually subdued the arrogance of giving and at the same time the giver floated in a sense of gratitude. These are possible not by mere psychological understanding but with true spiritual comprehension. Often we read out the prayers of Saint Francis of Assisi---
O Divine Master, grant that I may not seek so much.
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved to as to love,
For it is giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned..."
This, in be brief, are the prerequisites that lead to the making of a personality of a child. It involves precise interpersonal interactions that lead to the etching of a desired character in children.  We are able to describe some aspects of this experience for which we have an easy vocabulary. Yet there are others aspects of this phenomenon which abhor vocabulary but are amenable only to a spiritual bent of mind...."

Every time I visit India and experience this kind of living moral values, I truly feel "by giving, we receive." On behalf of Yoga Gives Back, I interact with these incredible human beings and learn so much from them, which fuels me to keep working harder for YGB's mission. I am hoping to share these experiences with more of YGB supporters in person together in India. Yoga Gives Back has been truly blessed to partner with this incredible NGO Deenbandhu led by Professor Jayadev.

During my last visit in 2014,  I planted a small tree on behalf of Yoga Gives Back in front of Deenabandhu Women's Tailoring Center. See how much the tree has grown in two years, which also symbolizes the success of this women's training center. I would like to see YGB supporting these women's income earning work in the future by helping sell these bags (see them in this photo?) and many other items they make here to create sustainable income earning work. This is another big dream of Professor Jayadev's, to create a positive socio economic ripple effect in this poor local community.

Jayashree Never Gives Up!

Behind the inspiring story of Guruprasad, who is studying to become a dental oncology surgeon, there is an incredible story of his mother Jayashree whom I first met in 2007. Jayashree received her first micro loan that year and was very hopeful to give her children higher education. When I interviewed her for the first time, what struck me most was her honesty and clarity of her goal. "I am poor, my mother was also poor," she told me. She also articulated that her dream was to give her two sons higher education so that they can serve the community. This family never puts "making money" as a goal or priority. Their goal has always been "to serve the society." This was truly surprising as well as inspiring to me. I never expected that response!

I have visited Jayashree almost every year for the last 10 years. What I have come to understand clearly during this visit is that, she has put all she has earned from micro loans and any other debts, to her sons' education. If you watch YGB FILMS "Jayashree's Journey," you realize that she lives in the same house, same small shack, selling snacks and sewing bags in front of their humble home. Her quality of life has not really improved much. If anything, she has been able to buy a gas stove and television for her one room, dirt floor house for her family.

Guruprasad's master course tuition is now about $3,000 per year  which YGB's global community is supporting 100%. In addition, Jayashree is responsible to for about $5,000 of the total cost for the three-year master course to provide books, instruments, and other expenses.

Jayashree and her husband are so proud of their son Guruprasad and will never give up their support and struggle to make their son a proud doctor which is truly a miracle in this little village outside of Bangalore. This family is YGB's first direct fund recipient and I do hope we can continue our support until Guruprasad becomes a dental surgeon and can serve the poor who can not afford any care elsewhere. This might sound like an unattainable dream, but each time I visit Guruprasad and Jayashree, I grow to believe in this dream because they never give up! And there is a little brother following Guruprasad's footsteps. I will share his story during my next visit.

"Cancer Free India!" SHE Scholarship Student's Dream

"There is no doubt. I want to save lives." 

This year, YGB's visit to India started with meeting with Guruprasad who is YGB's first recipient of SHE, Five-year Scholarship for Higher Education. Coming from a very poor family in the sububs of Bangalore, Guru is now 2nd year of his masters course at AECS Maaruti College of Dental Sciences and  Research Center, Bangalore, India. We first met Guru when he was a high school student in 2007. His growth in self confidence is truly remarkable to witness. You can watch two short YGB Films below, which I have been filming since our first meeting.

Last seven years, Guru has been studying day and night to realize his dream to become a dental surgeon. His English has improved so much that I did not even ask for a translator's help this time. Guru shared his dream of becoming an oncologist dental surgeon and create a cancer free Bangalore, cancer free India. His plan is to build a cancer care center for the poor who have no awareness or care about their serious illness.

AECS Maaruti College of Dental Sciences & Research Center, Bangalore.

Guruprasad was a economically disadvantaged high school student when we first met him in 2007. Today, he has a crystal clear goal of his life with a deep appreciation of an opportunity he has received to continue his higher education. When I asked if he wants to become rich, he responded without hesitation, "If you have a choice between becoming a rich or saving lives, I choose to save lives for sure!"

With YGB Team visiting Guruprasad, Alexandrina Tham (Author of Lucky Number 9), Karin Korvin (YGB supporter), and Babitha Nambiar (YGB Bangalore Team Member)!

YGB is so proud to be able to support a young compassionate student here in Bangalore, thanks to YGB's global yoga community's support.

This is an example of how your donation is making a real difference in India!!

Learn more about how Guruprasad's mother Jayashree struggled to give him a good education and how this became a reality.

 

Jayashree's Journey Continues (2014)

Jayashree's Journey: From Transaction to Transformation (2010)

"Yoga is needed in Hell"---Pujya Swami

On March 8th, International Women's Day, the first Seva Celebration was held at Parmarth Niketan in Rishkesh, India, hosted by the spiritual master Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati and Sadhvi Bhagawati Sarwaswati. Yoga Gives Back was truly honored to receive recognition for its work to empower women in India at this celebration.

Pujya Swami and Sadvhi Bhagawati Saraswati, Parmarth Niketan, Rishkesh

Pujya Swamiji concluded this historic event with a joyful and powerful speech with an unexpected line, "Yoga is not needed in Heaven, but needed in Hell."!! Though surprising to many of us, this message strongly resonated in my me as I have been thinking about what Yoga and Seva mean to the real world, beyond its definition in Sanskrit.

Anand Mehorta, Sattva Yoga, Rishkesh

The concept of Seva Celebration was created Rishkesh native Yoga Master Anand Mehorta, founder of Sattva Yoga. "In Sanskrit, Seva it means to be of service. While we remain deeply committed to our physical practice, it is equally as important for us to remember that as manifestations of the Divine, we have a responsibility to take our practice off the mat and give back."

Bhavini Kalan and Laura Plumb

Daphne Tze and Anandra George

To respond to Anand's passionate call, world renowned yoga masters and teachers including Gurumukh Kaur Khalsa, Kia Miller, Tommy Rosen, Laura Plumb, Bhavini Kalan, Daphne Tze and Anandra George joined to offer a truly special soulful session for hundreds of yogis from all over the world. I was so touched by everyone's pure intention to express their support to empower women this day. Behind the scenes was the hard working organizer Annemarie Brown and her colleagues who made this very successful event happen. I am so grateful that YGB got this precious opportunity to connect with so many people from Norway, Germany, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Brazil, etc.

Pujya Swami and Annemari Brown

Tommy Rosen

Kia Miller

Gurumukh Kaur Khalsa 

In this chaotic world today, or because of the media, we cannot pass one day without learning about a tragedy in some place on this earth. I started Yoga Gives Back as I felt I needed to use my healthy body and mind to make this world a better place. Use myself as a vehicle, no matter how small, to make a difference. Our body is a temple and we need to cherish it to serve others. I continue to learn about the mind, body and the unlimited human power that can be tapped for better use. Here is truly an incredible example of ultimate SEVA. It is Japanese journalist Mr. Kenji Goto who was killed by ISIS terrorists this January. I have struggled to share Mr. Goto's mission and his story here and finally with Pujya Swami's words, "Yoga is needed in the hell," I found a way to connect my feelings to my thinking.

Japanese Journalist Mr. Kenji Goto who was killed by ISIS

The reason why I want to share Mr. Goto's story on the Yoga Gives Back blog is what Mr. Goto believed in and acted upon teaches us exactly what I continue to learn from YOGA. Mr. Goto's life mission was to help us make the connection to the reality of victims of war, especially children. He continued to ask us, "Can you really feel the pain of these children?" Following the death of Mr. Goto on January 31st (coincidentally my birthday), Japanese TV programs have been reporting about his legacy in detail. Here are some of Mr. Goto's words; " I do not want to document and share how dangerous war zones are. I want to share with the world how a person, a child is living in the war, what kind of life one has to survive, and what one feels. If you can really feel such a person's life as yours, you come to realize that we all share the same exact moment in life." Mr Goto lived to share the stories from war victims', especially from the children's perspective, committing his life to end wars on this earth.  He committed to report from war torn communities in Afghanistan, Iraq, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, and many other places, then finally into Syria last year. Before he entered Syria, he left a video message saying that no matter what happens, hatred is not the answer.

Village woman in West Bengal, India. I met her when she was beaten by her husband by being late to make lunch 

"YOGA is needed in Hell". Unfortunately this is true. There are many painful situations in so many lives in this world we live in. We can not solve everything but if we can just imagine and feel the pain of somebody else in today's hell, we can act and start taking small steps to support them. I believe the Yoga Community has tremendous resources to make a difference in this world. Yoga Gives Back was born in 2007 from one yoga classroom in Los Angeles, and now supports more than 500 destitute mothers and children in India, with supporting events in 15 countries. Our potential is unlimited if we just tune ourselves in to those who are really suffering from the many forms of hell in today's world. Just feel their pain and act. As I sat through this Seva Celebration, this message became very clear to me and I hope this makes sense to you, too.

The Ganges, "Mother Ganga", Rishkesh