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Re: support for divya desams, etc.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Srinath Chakravarty • July 14, 2000 


Sri. Varadhan wrote:

> The key issues in supporting divya dEsams seem to be the following
> (i) no conduit for money to reach India
> (ii) no contacts that are appropriate and responsible in India
> (iii) trust factor - how do we trust that the money is used properly
>
> issues number 2,3 are addressed by what srI mAdhavan svAmi does. issue
> number 1 can also be easily solved - There is a mechanism by which the
> trust can open an account in a bank in India (let us say UTI bank, since
> adiyEn is familiar with the process in this bank). This bank has
> partnerships with a major bank in the US. All we need to do is send a
> cheque monthly to the american bank (just like any other cheque we
> send!)
> and the money will be credited to the Indian account. Of course,
> automatic payments can be made every month too. So, issue 1 can also
> be easily solved.

Sri. Varadhan:  Do we not already have the SVSS charity that can
handle issue # 1?   I recall having contributed to the KooratthAlvan
kainkaryam last year through SVSS - you even acknowledged the
same by sending me a couple of Sri. Velukkudi Krishnan Swami's
upanyasam tapes.  Anyway, I was just citing that as an example.

> adiyEn would like to see the amount of interest in this - More than
> one person can obviously adopt a divya dEsam - There are a LOT of
> utsavams that need to happen too - A person may choose to adopt
> some/all utsavams in a divya dEsam once the daily ArAdhana is taken
> care of

If  I may point out, there is already a similar "process" at work with
the sponsorship of the reprinting of individual works by Sri. Uttamoor
Swami, at this time - the conduit being SVSS.  Could we not apply the
same precedent with various divya desams etc. and route the funds to
the appropriate persons in India?  This should be even easier now, since
SVSS has obtained 80-G clearance and is a registered charity in India
also at this time.  I will be extremely happy to support any individual
divya desam, SVSS or not... but I simply feel that consolidation is the
need of the hour.  Let the uncertainty over choice of "conduit" get in
the way of the larger cause.  I look forward to hearing back from you
about my thoughts on using SVSS as a common means.

> Also, adiyEn requests bhAgavathAs to give their thoughts so that we
> can come up with a better process - After all, 2000 rupees is 50
> dollars, 10000 rupees is 250 dollars - For most of us, 50 dollars
> a month is not a big amount, or for that matter for many,
> 250 a month. adiyEn is sure that, among the 250 or so members of
> the bhakti list, we can come up with enough people to adopt about 3
> 5 divya dEsams to start with.

An excellent point!!  I've noticed since childhood, that my relatives from
USA (just as I've joined their ranks now) gave rupee amounts to vAdhyArs
and bhattars which was even less than the corresponding cost of chewing
gum in U.S. dollars!  I think we seriously need to re-examine our priorities.
One less movie or pizza a week - with those saved amounts directed towards
much-needed charity, and we can collectively redeem the hapless financial
status of so many SriVaishnava institutions.

The following is an appeal for the general audience:
 Let us work together and make this happen.  Please peruse the SVSS
website (below) for details on how to contribute, get feedback, participate,
etc.  Let us not be deterred by initial diffculties, for if we do, then the
battle is lost even before the first shot was fired!!

http://www.geocities.com/vaishnavas/

please contact Nagu Satyan (email: satyan@worldnet.att.net) if you
need more information.

aDiyEn,
-Srinath C.
email: xsrinath@ti.com


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