Culture Connect- Get the world to taste India

We wanted Artikrti’s Culture Connect Blog to become that India lover’s ‘go-to’ page for some quality soul time on India.
From today, we would like to flag off a key initiative:
This community of #cultureconnectors will only thrive when all of us exchange our experiences about India and things Indian. So, we would like to welcome blog contributions from around the world on their perspectives about India. Please write to gigi@artikrti.com with a link to your already published post on India or send a copy of what you want published on Artikrti's Culture Connect Blog and we will publish it, with of course, your author profile and links as well.

Today, the 21st of June is the 5th International Yoga Day, celebrated across the world. Artikrti joins the #yogacommunity and the rest of the Artikrti family of friends and fans to further the cause of peace, harmony, well-being and culture-connect through yoga.

In marking this day as International Yoga Day, someone observed that for India and its Prime Minister Modi [who initiated this day], this "served as a perfect vehicle to create a shared national consciousness". Artikrti would like to table the thought that the International Yoga Day "serves as a perfect vehicle to create a shared culture-connect consciousness across our world". Today there is no bigger movement than Yoga that brings the world and varied cultures together as one unified race.

Today is Holi- a festival of colours that is celebrated in India and the world over by people from varied cultures & countries. This is one festival from India that has been adopted & celebrated by people of all races because of it's spirit of oneness, and the celebration of good over evil- which is at the core of the Holi Festival- are starting to resonate with folks throughout the globe. And for the very same reason, the festival resonates with the Culture Connect spirit of Artikrti.

Today is Gandhi's birth anniversary- the 147th. Known as "Mahatma" or "The Great Soul", he is a national hero & leader for India like no other. His life, his writings and above all, his actions stood for certain principles that are timeless and valuable to all of us across the world: 

Holding onto Truth [satyagraha] & non-violence.

Equality, simplicity & compassion

Village craft & dignity of labor

Building character through communal life & work.

It is at the meeting point of village craft, communal life, simplicity & work that one finds "khadi" which means handspun or handwoven.

India and India lovers from all around the world celebrate Holi, India's Festival of Colors today. And fittingly, Google's logo changes its look and colors to commemorate Holi. In today's digital world, there is no other global connector like Google and it is heartening to see Google taking the Festival of Colors to people all over the world. That is real CultureConnect.

......At a time when our differences seem to divide us and lead us to violence in different parts of the world, let us celebrate our diversity just like the diverse colors of Holi but unified by the spirit of love & togetherness of Holi.

Nainital, nature's gift to India at the foothills of the Himalayas, is a place that evokes quite meditation and contemplation. Naini means "Cool Air" and Taal is the word for "Lake". Like many hill stations from the time of the British Raj, Nainital is also a bustling tourist centre but it has those picturesque, tranquil vistas that just humble us humans, to wonder about the beauty of creation and nature.

A few kilometres away from Nainital is the temple and the ashram that has been hitting the headlines in Silicon Valley:

Have you seen the movie "Fiddler on the roof"? My favourite part in the movie is when Tevye, the Milkman, sings the song "Tradition", a fascinating account of his life, his times and the Jewish culture he upholds. When we get to know people and their culture in that manner, you feel connected...you sort of feel you know him or her just a shade more.....personally.........

........have that yearning to discover, to know more. We’d like Artikrti’s Culture Connect Blog to become that India lover’s ‘go-to’ page for some quality soul time on India.

India is truly the land of festivals. Every month, in some corner of each state or province or nationwide, there is a festival to celebrate something. India has that tradition of celebrating different aspects of life, perhaps coming from the belief that one ought to thank God for all the goodness around you in your life. Which is, if you think about it, a great thing to do.

One such festival in the month of July is the Festival for the King of Fruits- the Mango....

Today, June 21, 2015 is the first International Yoga Day as adopted by United Nations based on the vote of 178 nations across the world.....

.....It is such an awesome feeling to see people from all over the world embrace yoga and the International Yoga Day. Here are pictures from around the globe of people celebrating yoga today in far flung places like Kazakistan, France, New York, Colombo, Indonesia, Taiwan, India Gate in India.... and the last one is a video from Poland...

This memorable headline is a line from Coral Brown's post in the Yoga Journal [Look for the link below]. The "she" she is referring to is India.

But before I get to the essence of her experience, a word on why this post. For some time now, I have been toying with an idea that I want to share. Since this blog is all about "Culture Connect with India" I have been wondering how I can get others to share their experiences about connecting with India. Nothing better than a Scandinavian or an Irish or a Spaniard or an American talk about how she sees India through her lens,

Artikrti's Culture Connect Blog is there to get cultures from across the world to understand the Indian culture, taste it, savour it....maybe adopt it in some ways or maybe not....

There is so much magic in each culture, waiting for us to discover.....Hopefully, some time, in the future, we at the Culture Connect Blog, will move towards getting different cultures to understand each other better, aid in cross-pollination of ideas and contribute our tiny morsel to creating