Happy Mother's day

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URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/happy-mothers-day/

Mother is the ultimate definition of selflessness! No matter what
happens to the world or even her, she is there for you in your need; she recognizes
your need much before you know it.  Of course, every day is Mother’s day,
and each one of us honors her in a variety of ways. From simple caring to doing
things for her that makes her most happy. Mothers don’t need a whole lot, they
just need attention. Remember you were showered by her attention when you
needed it? 

America
is an amazing land, I love our culture and the way we do things. Even
though, every day is a Mothers day for some, this particular day, the
2nd Sunday of May is dedicated to her. She becomes the center of
attention, and she is indeed the queen Mother.

Its
time to express gratitude to her, it restores the spiritual balance in
each one of us.  Life is about transactions, each time we received a
“good” we become indebted to the giver, but when we give back to the
giver or find alternate ways of giving back, then we regain our
spiritual balance, bringing us nirvana, salvation, mukti and freedom.

I
also appeal to each divorced father with kids to muster up the courage
to tell his ex-wife that you appreciate her for raising your kids
responsibly well. You have to learn to give credit where it belongs, she
may appreciate it, but certainly your kids will reluctantly appreciate
it.

A
majority of us are fortunate to have the love and affection of the
mother to bless our lives. However, there are some mothers who have not
been good to their kids and I feel your anguish if you are the one,  but
assure you that, you are a blessed one to have made it in life without
mothers love. 

This
is one way of honoring her – that is spending time to think, and
appreciate her. Those who have lost their mother, take the time to
reflect upon all the little things she did for you, and possible write
something about her, so your kids can appreciate you.

Let me share how I have learned to express my gratitude to my mother, may be it will kick in some of your own memories. 

My
father passed away in 1977 and I was the sole income earner for the
family for many years after that. However, on my visits to her, she
demanded private time with me apart from the other siblings, and for
whatever stupid reason, I resisted it and did not do it. One day, a
great man told me “all mothers want is attention and nothing more.”
Then, when I went to see her, I decided to sit next to her for at least
two hours, not argue and not disagree, but just shut up and listen to
her.  OMG, she would beam endlessly and I loved it, and kicked myself
for not doing it earlier, all she wanted was to know was that, she has
not lost her son,  and he still cares about her. Indeed, now when I go
home, I do the same with my sister,  park myself next to her for a few
hours, and the happiness I see on her face is just worth everything.

Those
of us who do not have a mother, they can still please her for our own
spiritual balance, by spending our mental time with her. In my case, I
do the prayer of gratitude and write about her and spend at least three
to four hours mulling about her. 
Those
of us who did not have a mother from the word go, and those who did not
have a good relationship, I admire you for making it in the life
without her love and affection, I am sorry this happened to you. If it
makes you feel any good to talk, please feel free to do that, my number
is in the about section. Those mothers who do not have any one, happy
mothers day to you. There are many people wishing you, including myself.
I am pleased to copy some of my writings from a last few years.  
The
Baha’i faith, “For mothers are the first educators, the first mentors;
and truly it is the mothers who determine the happiness, the future
greatness, the courteous ways and learning and judgment,the
understanding and the faith of their little ones.”
In
the Hindu tradition Mother is worshiped and she is represented by Ma
Saraswati (source of knowledge), Ma Lakshmi (source of income) and the
likes… Mother’s face is equated with God’s face, a song celebrates
Mother by saying, if I have seen your face mother, I have seen God.
Prophet Muhammad
was asked by his associates as to who is the most important person in
one’s life – he says,”Mother”, they ask again, the answer was “Mother
again” and same response was given for the third time, such is the
importance given to mother. He said, your heaven, your paradise and your
peace of mind comes to you by serving your mother.
In
Jewish tradition, your heritage is determined by your Mother, you are a
Jew because of your mother. Many Christians consider Mother Mary, as
Mother of God, and for many others she is the spiritual mother.
In the native traditions, be it American, European,African, or Asian, Mother is creator in the form of mother Earth.

Despite
your tradition and religious teaching to do great things,  there are
bad guys and bad girls out there. Growing up in a very small town
(then),  I distinctly remember three bothers killing their mother and
throwing her in the town’s lake for her wealth,  and a son pushing his
mother into a deep well so he can have her jewelry. Religions don’t
matter to the bad guys, and those guys belonged to two different
religions. But for every bad guy out there, there are a 1000 good ones
and I know hundreds of such good stories.
You
will find mother is placed at the highest spiritual level in all
religions, traditions and life forms. Those who have a mother to see,
you are the blessed one, those who don’t, you have her blessings.
Those who have tensions with your mother, ask her blessings, you will find the best happiness of life in that asking.
I lost my mother twelve years ago and here is a dedication to my mother I wrote http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2011/05/mother-my-story-happy-mothers-day.html
Happy Mother’s day. 

URL for this article – http://nabsites.net/demo/happy-motherss-day-there-is-non-one/
……
Mike Ghouse is a

speaker,
thinker and a

writer
on

pluralism,

politics,
peace,

Islam,

Israel,

India,

interfaith,
and cohesion at work place. He is
committed to building a

Cohesive
America
and offers pluralistic solutions on
issues of the day at

www.TheGhousediary.com.
He believes in

Standing up for others
and has done that throughout his life as
an activist. Mike has a presence on
national and local TV, Radio and Print
Media. He is a frequent guest on

Sean
Hannity show on Fox
TV, and a commentator on national radio
networks, he contributes weekly to the
Texas Faith Column at

Dallas Morning News;
fortnightly at

Huffington post;
and several other periodicals across the
world. His personal site

www.MikeGhouse.net
indexes his work through many links.

India's Modi on His Best Behavior: Can We Trust Him?

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We criticize individuals with the idea of wanting them to reset their
course and get back on the righteous path of justice, humility, truth
and respect for every life. Here is an effort to invoke Mr. Modi to
follow “rajdharma,” or good governance.
If you like this piece, please click on a few symbols at the top of the
article like
Recommend, share, tweet, gmail and email.
If you don’t like it, please write your comment at the Huffington
post giving a reason why.

Democracy and pluralism (i.e., respecting the otherness of
others) runs in our veins, so let’s have faith in our system. If Mr.
Modi fails us, we can dump him through ballot or a no-confidence vote,
as we did with Indira Gandhi and Vajpayee. To attain greatness and a
place in the annals of history, Mr. Modi has a lot more to prove than we
can demand.

Mike Ghouse is an India expert and is keeping up with the elections.

Continued:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/indias-modi-on-his-best-behavior-can-we-trust-him_b_5280892.html#es_share_ended

Thank
you


mike
Mike
Ghouse
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a
writer
on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work
place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in
Standing up for others and a
book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on national
and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on
Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to
the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly
at Huffington post; and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work
through many links.

FunAsia – successfully bringing the communities together

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FunAsia is indeed bringing the communities together, just as America Together Foundation (also known as Foundation for Pluralism since 1993) is bringing Americans Together.

URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/funasias-role-in-community/

I am sure John Hammond would not hesitate in saying, “We are Americans, and we are a community center for Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalese, Sri Lankans, Indian Diaspora and every American.”  And Shabnam Modgil would delightfully add, “Together through our gatherings and our radio shows, we speak Assamiya, Balochi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Goan, Gujarati,  Hindi,  Kannada, Kashmiri,  Marathi, Malayalam, Nepalese, Oriya, Punjabi, Pushtu, Sindhi, Sinhalese,  Tamil, Telugu, Urdu,  and other languages, and we have room to accommodate every South Asian.”

The community together events I have witnessed in the last few weeks.

1. Mahatma Gandhi event – FunAsia became a catalyst in bringing several communities together for the Mahatma Gandhi committee and the Indian American Friendship Council to establish the presence of the man of the peace in our midst.  The event was followed by a dinner. http://nabsites.net/demo/ground-breaking-ceremony-ofmahatma/ 

2. Hasya Kavi Sammelan brought the Hindi/Urdu speaking people together and was appreciate and enjoyed by all.

3. The Ghazal Program on Saturday will pay a tribute to the Ghazal legends of India and Pakistan; Jagjit Singh and Mehdi Hasan. Details at www.Desiconcerts.net and tickets at www.FunAsia.net  – Your ticket and sponsorship cost is tax deductible, the funds are raised for America Together Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to bring Americans Together. You can volunteer and can donate at – donate

 
Program at Jack Singley Auditorium
4601 N. McArthur Blvld, Irving, Tx 75038
7:40 PM – 11:20 PM on Saturday, May 10, 2014
Tickets at www.FunAsia.net till Saturday 12:00
then at the Auditorium at 7:00 PM

4. Do you recognize a few people in this 12 minutes outline of the movie we are making?  This will be shown before the Ghazal program begins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXsTo4VYh8&noredirect=1

Long time ago, when I started the Asian News Magazine, we covered every aspect of the Subcontinentians aka Desi Community, then when we opened  Asian News Radio and covered everything about the subcontinent;  from culture, food, history, geography, languages ( a song from every language was played), faiths, economy and of course the people, and everything about them.

We congratulate the dream and reality of the visionaries of Fun Asia and thank them for bringing the communities together.

Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net

Mother's food and pluralism

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Growing up in a small town, my world was walled in with a limited perspective. My mother’s
food was the best in the world, no one on the earth can cook better than my mother…. to even think
someone else’s food was ok sounded like betrayal.  Finally, I ended up working for Food Craft Institute, where we trained students to
be chefs, waiters, housekeepers, receptionists, canners and Bakers.

Thank God for that job – every day our students prepared the best of foods from
around the world with over 150 different menu items – you name it, French,
German, Italian, Indonesian, Chinese, Thai, Middle Eastern, British, American
and of course Indian. Then I was in Saudi Arabia, and on our campus we had 10
major dining facilities including Turkish, Filipino, Korean, Indonesian,
Somali, Indian, Arab and of course American.  I am pleased with my tasted bud; it’s my buddy
and enjoys all the great foods.

I learned that my Mother’s food will always be home to me, meaning, I would
crave for it any time and all the times, but my horizons expanded and inclusion
of other enjoyable foods became part of my repertoire.

Thus the idea of Pluralism in food came about. It’s about de-limiting, and
it is about removing barriers toward different foods. We should be able to enjoy
every food that is out there, of course with personal and societal restrictions
– like I cannot eat cheese due to lactose intolerance and pork due to my religious
preference.

Ha, I am disappointed in myself, I thought I was accepting of God’s creation in
its full glory – but my body is not pluralistic – it’s intolerant towards Cheese
that I love, but cannot eat.  I am glad
to be imperfect.

What about you?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a
writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work
place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in
Standing up for others
and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on
national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on
Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to
the Texas Faith Column at Dallas
Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work
through many links. 

Texas Faith – After the Religious Right, will the Religious Left reassert itself with focus on economic justice?

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Brookings
is indeed right; the religious right has swung the pendulum too far to
the right creating the much loathed division, class and imbalance in the
society. I am certain the right would acknowledge their rigidity
causing the need for an aggressive change to restore the balance. As
they say, necessity is the mother of invention; I would say imbalance is
the mother of social change. Mike Ghouse

http://nabsites.net/demo/texas-faith-after-religious-right-wi/

Texas Faith – After the Religious Right, will the Religious Left reassert itself with focus on economic justice?

By Wayne Slater
wslater@dallasnews.com
11:56 am on April 29, 2014 

The recent history of religious activism in our politics has been
largely about the Christian right. Robust new churches and growing
congregations are part of the success story of conservatives who have
focused on social and family issues. At the same time, something else
has happened. Young Americans today are less affiliated religiously than
any time in our history. Fully one-third of Americans under 30 are
unaffiliated with a formal religious group, according to Public Religion
Research Institute. One in five 18- to 29-year-olds say that religion
is not important in their lives, compared to only 10 percent of those 50
and older who say that.

A new report from the Brookings Institution suggests there is an
opportunity at the moment for the Religious Left to reassert itself.
How? By a concerted focus on economic justice.

The report, “Faith in Equality: Economic Justice and the Future of
Religious Progressives,” outlines big challenges for religious political
witness: growing secularization, divisions between religious and
secular Americans, our polarized politics and a weakened infrastructure
for many mainstream churches. According to a Brookings blog post: “The
Religious Right spoke to the country’s worries about social change. The
religious progressive movement speaks to the country’s desire for
economic change. The persistence of poverty, the decline of social
mobility and rising inequality all demand new departures in policy and
politics. There is wide room for social action but there is no consensus
on what form new approaches to poverty, mobility and opportunity should
take.

There’s a counter-view, of course. Mark Tooley of the Institute on
Religion and Democracy says “Religious Left dead-end activism” has
contributed to problems, not solved them. “The old Religious Left is
mostly faded, having helped marginalize the once mainline churches whose
elites sustained it. Now liberal religious activism depends on
evangelicals falling away from the core of their faith.” Sounds like
political polarization.

Recognizing the virtue of helping the poor and promoting equality –
which no one disagrees with, at least in principle – is Brookings right?

Is the time ripe for an active push for social justice by the
Religious Left, including active government involvement, active church
engagement? And if so, would that actually stem our growing
secularization, help close divisions between religious and secular
Americans, and strengthen the weakened infrastructure of liberal
churches?

 MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism and speaker on interfaith matters, Dallas

Brookings is indeed right; the religious right has swung the pendulum too far to the right creating the much loathed division, class and imbalance in the society. I am certain the right would acknowledge their rigidity causing the need for an aggressive change to restore the balance. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention; I would say imbalance is the mother of social change.

The right has made attempts to monopolize and manufacture a God that belongs exclusively to them; the story is same with right-wing Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and other traditions.

It is natural for humans, particularly the moderate majority to seek and see the world in terms of justice as the work of God. The bottom line of the work of religious masters was to create peaceful societies based on justice, so people can get along and adhere to certain guidelines for the safety and common good of all. Indeed that is the purpose of civil societies as well.

The right has gone too far, and has pushed the society to a greater degree of imbalance, and their opposition to equal pay for women, affordable care, and same-sex marriage has created ample energy in the left to bulldoze the right in the 2014 mid-term elections, as a self-balancing self preserving act. The progressives have to be as aggressive as the conservatives to restore that balance in the society.

The Muslim right in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Iran have narrowed God to fit their version of what it ought to be; Malaysia’s right is pushing for legislation to exclusively own the name Allah for God, and preventing others from using the name. Indonesia is working on calling the Shia Muslims as non-Muslims. A similar percent of youth in those nations are sick of this extremism, and their rejection is taking different forms including the Arab Spring.

The Hindu right in India have cleverly adopted a new posturing in the guise of economic development, nearly half of India’s population is under 30, and we will know how many will fall into this trap when the election results, when the counting begins on May 16, 2014.

The Jewish right in Israel continues with settlements that are breeding a sense of injustice among the youth in Israel seeking justice.

Fully agree with the Brookings assessment that without aggressive opposition by the left, the right will dig in their heels and bring greater social injustice and turmoil.
 # # #
To read the other panelist, please go to Dallas Morning News at – http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/04/after-years-of-religious-right-will-the-religious-left-reassert-itself-with-focus-on-economic-justice.html/#more-38360

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a
writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work
place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in
Standing up for others
and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on
national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on
Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to
the Texas Faith Column at Dallas
Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work
through many links.

Ground Breaking Ceremony of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Plaza in Thomas Jefferson Park, Irving, Texas.

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URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/ground-breaking-ceremony-ofmahatma/


The Ground Breaking Ceremony of ”Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Plaza” in Thomas
Jefferson Park, Irving happened today, Saturday, May 3, 2014 in Irving  (Caveat – please read my note at the end of this write up).

Hon. Nikki Haley, Governor South Carolina, Hon. Beth Van Duyne, Mayor of Irving City, and India’s
consular General from Houston, Hon. Mr. Parvathaneni Harish and
many other dignitaries including Dallas’s two Padmashri’s (India’s civilian Medal
of Honor) Dr. Venkat Ram, Ashok Mago and the India’s who is who  attended the ceremonies.


The 7’ Bronze statue was cast in Andhra Pradesh, India and will be installed by October 2, 2014 on a 6’ platform, and a granite wall in the back will be adorned with inscriptions from Gandhi’s saying and the quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Einstein. The cost of approximately $250,000 is borne entirely by the community and not a dime will come from the public funds. However, you can  donate generously.

Nothing ever happens in the world without the drive of an individual and his or her supporters. For the last four years, Dr. Prasad Thotakura, Tayyab Kundawala and Dr. Rao have been working hard to have an iconic representation of Mahatma Gandhi in Dallas. There are many others who are involved in it in so many ways,  but these are the faces of the organization that I have seen.

It was not an easy task, but finally they got the former Mayor of Irving Mr. Herbert Gears to agree to place the statue in the heart of the Thomas Jefferson Park, and the new Mayor of Irving Beth Van Duyne affirmed her support a few years ago.

The event was graced by her Excellency Gov. Nikki Randhawa Haley. She is the first woman governor of South Carolina, youngest governor in the United States, and the first Indian American female Governor, and Bobby Jindal is the first Indian American male Governor.  As Shabnam Modgil, Dallas’ face of India said, “she is the most beautiful Governor”.

The Governor said, “ that there is no reason we cannot have peace and love with everyone, and one thing he constantly said was if we want to truly have peace and love, we have to start with Children.  By putting this statue in a park, we are starting out with children, reminding them who he was, reminding them what he was about, and reminding them of the celebration he wanted his life to live on. He said be what you want.

She then turned to Prasad Thotakura and said, ” Prasad, there is nothing you could not do.” Indeed, that is the truth.

She continued, “when I look at the statue, I see a man of the peace. To walk in the state house of South Carolina as a first India American woman as Governor, I hoped that’s exactly what he wanted for all communities, for all people, and for all minorities to be able to be free as they wanted to be, as peaceful as they wanted to be, and to get to contribute to the world, and that is what we are celebrating today.

She said, “Indian American community is the least dependent community on receiving aid from the state, and most educated communities in America.”

Nikki Haley must be a moderate Republican like me, even though she is billed as a conservative Republican.  She sounds like Obama with inclusiveness, a trait missing among the conservative Republicans and acutely deficit with regular Republicans.

Later in the evening I mentioned to her that Sean Hannity is a great fan of hers, and we have talked about her – as fellow Indian Americans. She was excited to hear about the message of my upcoming book, standing up for others and wants to read it.

At the dinner she mentioned about skills data collection from recipients of unemployment benefits, and matched it with employers that could use those skills and thus  removed several thousand from the welfare to income ( I forgot the number). Then she said something interesting that is unlike Republicans – These men and women want to work rather than receive the benefits, wow Nikki! Glad to hear the affirmation that she is a moderate Republican and I can relate with her.  I did mention to her earlier that I was glad she was speaking like a moderate,  rather than a conservative Republican.

Mayor Beth Van Duyne appreciated the community for funding it entirely on their own and she asserted that zip code 75038 had the most diverse population in America.

I must also mention the role of John Hammond and Shabnam Modgil of FunAsia in the affairs of desi community.  It was my dream a long time ago, like the dream of many of you here in Dallas that there should be an energy that brings people together, and facilitates knowing each other. Thanks to John, his Radio is a major catalyst in Dallas to bring the Desi communities together.

Funds are needed to complete this project by October 2nd. , please  donate generously, and be a part of the future. If you donate over $5000, your name or your parents name will written on the granite wall. 

 
Remembering Mahatma Gandhi

This statue symbolizes the work of Mahatma Gandhi, who believed in resolving conflicts through non-violence.  I hope this statue does not remain a symbol, but an inspiration to all of us – to think, talk and act like him.

As a pluralist, I often think how he would handle a given conflict, up0n reflections pat comes the answer – no bias towards the other and justice to all.  He once said, a good Hindu is a good Muslim, a Good Muslim is a good Christian and a Jew… and so on.

Gandhi is an example of what a Hindu ought to be.  He believed in many of the guiding principles of what is known as Hinduism – of them I will mention two here;

The highest ideal of a Hindu (or any one) is to become Brahma – i.e., become one with  energy of the Universe also known as God – when you become Brahma , then there is no distinction between you and another human being, you and the mountain – this all become part of you, and you become part of the  whole.

No more will you consider another human to be anything less than you or greater than you, but another spoke in the wheel of life.

The second principle he really believed in was the wisdom of our pluralistic ethos embedded in the Sanskrit phrase Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum, a concept where everyone is considered to be a part of one big human family and hence must take care of each other.  If one is hurt, you feel the hurt, if one is happy you feel the happy – thus creating a cohesive world where no one has to be afraid of the other.

This is also the Islamic concept, where God says we are all made from the same couple into many tribes, communities and nations and enjoins us to know each other to create harmony and cohesiveness.

The third principle is that of non-violence.  When God created animals and humans, he programmed them how to handle conflicts between any two.

For instance, when two goats or tigers are fighting for food or a loved one, God has given them horns or fangs to settle the dispute, the mighty gets it.  In Hindi and Urdu there is a saying Jis ki laathi us ki bhains.

However, look at the non-violence built into us that we forget often, and Gandhi invoked it all the times.  God did not give us horns or fangs or paws to tear each other apart in a conflict – instead he gave us a tongue – to dialogue and resolve the issues.  That is non-violence method of resolving disputes.

I hope this statue reminds us how to deal with each other, particularly during this election season. We have a tongue to dialogue without tearing each other.

I hope every time, and every day, if we feel biased, hatred, or angered towards another human being,  think of this great man – the great soul, Mahatma Gandhi and find inspiration to seek freedom from the shackles of bias. 

Mahatma Gandhi’s soul would be smiling
at the people gathered in the park today. He lived and sacrificed his life for
the unity of people of the Subcontinent.  As the balloons were released into the bright
sunny blue skies, I was imagining the smiling affectionate face of Mahatma
Gandhi – seeing the Pakistani community members joining hands with the Indians
to get the memorial built as a reminder of unity. Indeed it is a great
accomplishment for the people of Dallas. 

I hope this statue beams the energy of positive living, learning to respect the
otherness of others and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of us.

Peace be upon all the peacemakers!

Update

Glad to see three newspaper carried my story verbatim with a few additions, they could have given credit. http://www.indoamerican-news.com/?p=25204 and

Several other news papers have carried the story.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/deborah-fleck/20140507-ground-broken-in-irving-for-memorial-to-gandhi.ece
 
—-

PLEASE NOTE:

1. This my personal note as a member of the community and not an official note of the organization. the information I have added is from what I have heard from the podium. For the full official version go to http://www.iafcusa.org/ and  http://mgmnt.org

2. There were many people involved in this, and all of that will be in their official record.  When this gets published, it will be reduced to 1200 words, but here on my blog www.TheGhouseDiary.com and http://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com will remain in full size.

3. I am not a
paid to paid to write, nor do I write for any organization on a paid basis, when I
attend an event, I usually write a short to long note depending on the
availability of time. when I see something good, I write and I have
written over 2500 pieces in the last 30 years, none were paid even
though most of them were published including a bulk  in Dallas Morning News (over 160),
Huffington Post (nearly 100) and news papers and magazines around the
world. I encourage you to write, to get all perspectives in.  Most of them are at www.TheGhousediary.com. 
 PICTURES – https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157644499431684/

These pictures were taken by me personally, and I
wish I had ten hands and ten cameras to capture every one who attended,  but no one can do
that except the paid photographer, in this case Bombay Photography.  I will add the link later where you can
see almost all the pictures where every one who attended (impossible)
will be in the pictures.  

I am a proud life member of India Association of North Texas, and I urge you to become one by reaching out to any one at: www.iant.org

THE DRESS CODE

I could not resist watching the caps on the ground, I made a mistake by not wearing one myself, God willing I will dress up and urge all to do the same on October 2, 2014 when the Stautue of Gandhi will be unveiled.  The best fitting topi award should go to John Hammond, and the runner ups were Kuntesh Chokshi and Jack Godhwani. I meant it looked good on them. If you differ, propose the names as I have not seen all of them.  Look at
John’s picture and Pandit Jawahar Lal’s topi – well creased – the perfect topi.  

Among the founding fathers of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi did not wear the cap in the last years of his life, even though he did at the beginning.  Maulana Abul Kalam Azad had his own cap, Sardar Patel probably did not wear the cap and neither Dr. Ambedkar (correct me if I am wrong). Anna Hazare made it popular again and Arvind Kejriwal
has made it his trade mark now.


Jai Hind

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a
writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work
place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in
Standing up for others
and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on
national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on
Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to
the Texas Faith Column at Dallas
Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work
through many links.

For every Muslim ass there is a Hindu ass

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URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/for-every-muslim-ass-there-is-hindu-ass/

Secularism will not die; it will be upgraded to Pluralism; India’s heritage.

Most
Indians agree and support this statement, “let every Indian, pray, eat,
sleep, drink, wear, think or believe whatever the hell he or she wants
to do, but not impose his ideals onto others.”

Indeed, a majority
of Muslims, Hindus, and others mind their own business, taking care of
the family, getting kids to school, having a job and thinking of
comfortable retirement. 

It is time to scream at the rascal
individuals be it in Congress or BJP  who talk divisiveness. Anyone who
does not care about the others is not good for the society.

Indeed,
for every Muslim ass, there is a Hindu ass, (or other assess). For
every Azam, there is a Togadia, for every Bukhari there is an Amit
Shah…  and many more popping by day.

The purpose of police, criminal justice and law is to protect Indians from these men who incite hatred.

Modi
or Indira, they come and go, but India has been there and will always
be there with its pluralistic ethos. If they do any damage or did not
control the damage like the Sikh Genocides, Gujarat Massacre,
Mistreatement of Dalits, Destruction of Babri Masjid, it will hurt for a
long time, but will heal. India is too big for these temporals. I like
that old song from Bombay to God – Na koi raha hai, no koi rahega, mere
desh azad ho ke rahega.

We are deeply a pluralistic people and
our heritage is loaded with pluralistic ethos. Men who are divisive are
an insult to Hinduism and Islam’s pluralistic ethos. Remember men in all
traditions have been violent, despite their religion teaching
otherwise. It is not the religion; it is the selfishness and insecurity
in men that drives them to be rotten pigs.

And, “Hinduism is the
“Ellis Island of religions”. Pluralism and diversity are deeply
ingrained in it, “the lines between different beliefs and practices are
permeable membranes”

And, “India gave itself a secular, liberal
constitution because a vast majority of all its people, in fact almost
unanimously, determined that this was the finest formulation for
nation-building in a land as diverse and complex as ours. The
Constituent Assembly had participation from across the many ideological
divides. The document it drafted has now acquired the status of
scripture and nobody in mainstream politics dares to question it. The
man credited with leading that process, Ambedkar, has been added to our
pantheon of all-party gods.”

Now coming to deal with the extremism- a part of every society, every religion, every ethnicity and language.

The
politicians want to label it religious, but in reality it is the
arrogance of one over the other. Each group is deviating from the
religious teachings of humility and chosing arrogance, ahankar etc.

I fully endorse the theme of the article ” Secularism is dead” by Shekhar Gupta at Indian Express.

Secularism
is Dead
This anti-Modi battle cry is lazy,
illiberal and an affront to Muslims — and to Hindus.

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a
writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work
place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in
Standing up for others
and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on
national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on
Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to
the Texas Faith Column at Dallas
Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work
through many links.  

# # #

India Elections – a perfect interview with Maulan Madani

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THE PERFECT INTERVIEW WITH MAULANA MADANI – INDIA’S FUTURE
http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2014/04/maulana-madani-on-india-elections.html

Maulana
Madani deserves a big salute for this interview. He spoke the
sentiments of a majority of Muslims, at least me and 90% of what I
wanted to say and have said it over the last several years.  If someone
wants to know the state of Muslims in India – this is the snapshot.

I
don’t want to write about it, it is worth listening again and again,
there is confidence, humor, assertiveness and patriotism in his
language.  He spoke the truth with politeness and firmness. One of the
best interviews from an Indian Muslim. I would have probably given the
same interview.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/video/maulana-mahmood-madani-narendra-modi-gujarat-riots-azam-khan/1/356735.html

Modi should not apologize for Gujarat 2002 riots, says Madani – the title is not what the interview is about. 

This
is an exclusive interview by Rahul Kanwal with Muslim cleric Maulana
Mahmood Madani said Narendra Modi is not secular and will have to treat
everyone as equal if he becomes the prime minister. Rahul is a good
interviewer as well.

I actually had a tear in my eye at 4:19
point of the interview. I love his confidence in India and India’s
pluralistic ethos. He and I have identical views and approach based on
conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturence. He is a true follower of
the Prophet.

We
are deeply a pluralistic people and our heritage is loaded with
pluralistic ethos. Men who are divisive are an insult to Hinduism and
Islam’s pluralistic ethos. Remember men in all traditions have been
violent, despite their religion teaching otherwise. It is not the
religion; it is the selfishness and insecurity in men that drives them
to be rotten pigs.

I used a provocative title to make the point, “for every Muslim ass, there is a Hindu ass” at
URL – http://nabsites.net/demo/for-every-muslim-ass-there-is-hindu-ass/ 

and “Modi’s Nakshatra’s are not in his favor” – http://www.opednews.com/articles/Narendra-Modi-s-Nakshatras-by-Mike-Ghouse-Anti-christian_Bharatiya-Janata-Party_Business_Congress-131227-999.html

and “India’s future with Modi” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/indias-future-narendra-mo_b_4177079.html

I wrote in a note yesterday

It’s not about Hindus or Muslims, but it is about;

1. Justice for every indian.
2. No indian needs to live in fear of the other,
3. No Indian needs to be treated less than the other. 
Is this too much to ask?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a
writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work
place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in
Standing up for others
and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on
national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on
Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to
the Texas Faith Column at Dallas
Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work
through many links.

Happy Passover

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HAPPY
PASSOVER

Passover is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the story of the
Exodus, when Jews were freed from slavery in Egypt.  It is celebrated for seven or eight days and one of the most
widely observed Jewish holidays.

More about Passover – http://nabsites.net/demo/happy-passover-2/

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Mike
Ghouse is a speaker,
thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work
place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes
in Standing up for
others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong
presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest
onSean Hannity
show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes
weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly
at Huffington post; and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work
through many links. 

Happy Easter – a Muslim's easter

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GOOD FRIDAY|
 HAPPY EASTER | MUSLIM OBSERVANCE
http://nabsites.net/demo/happy-easter-muslims-easter/


Good Friday
is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the
crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. It is also known as Holy
Friday, Great Friday, Black Friday,or Easter Friday.

This is my
third year of observing lent for nearly 40 days and would end on Easter. I hope
to attend the Easter Mass somewhere in Dallas or where some of my friends
attend. Why do I observe Lent?

Here is the story http://nabsites.net/demo/what-made-me-go-to-catholic-churc/
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Mike
Ghouse is a speaker,
thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work
place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes
in Standing up for
others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong
presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest
onSean Hannity
show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes
weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly
at Huffington post; and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work
through many links.