Agrawal Association of America; Founded May, 1997 Agrawal Samachar Patrika A Quaterly Newsletter by the Agrawals and for the Agrawals Volume 12 • Issue 1 • Spring 2009 The Agarwal Kumb Mela: Spring Picnic 2009 By Pooja Agarwal Ourannualspringpicnicwasheldon participationbyallourmembersinallthe the1 1thof April2009atFirstColony activities.Totopitallof ftheweatherco ConferenceCenterwherewewitnessed operatedverywellandwedidnotsee morethan250 Agrawals,enjoyinga anyrainaswasforecasted. Thepicnic beautifuldayfulloffun,gamesand wasroundedupwiththeawardgiving Maharaja Agrasen activities.The picnicstartedpromptlyat ceremonywhereallthefirstandsecond Editor in Chief 11amwithmouthwateringchatalong placewinnerswereawardedtrophies. withfreshsugarcanejuicecateredby Ithasbeenexactly12yearssince AAA Bharat B. Aggarwal Udipirestaurant. An ewinclusionthis wasformed.Thusitshouldbedeclared yearwasthekulfi whichseemedto as“AgarwalKumbMela”. TheAgarwal Board of Directors beenjoyedbyallagesalike. There Partycontinues……… Anil & Mukta Aggarwal wereseveralgamesorganizedwhich Bharat & Uma Aggarwal includedtheallstargame,theever Devi & Saroj Rungta popularballoontoss,threeleggedrace, Durga & Sushila Agrawal watermeloneatingcompetition.Itwas Hari & Anjali Agrawal verydelightfultoseetheoverwhelming Murari & Vidya Agrawal Naresh & Madhu Mittal Tarsem & Raj Aggarwal Ved & Santosh Aggarwal Executive Committee Akash & Mala Gupta Dipak & Sweta Agarwalla Gopal & Pooja Agarwal Manish & Manju Rungta Manoj & Veenu Agarwal Rakesh & Shonali Agrawal Did you know? Important Dates to Remember By Bharat Aggarwal 1.Why dotheyhandshakeinthewest? Response:Inoldendayswhen Agrawal Family Response:Toshowthatwehaveno everybodyhadtositonthefl oor,a weaponsandweareheretobeyour singlechairinthehousewasgiven Camp 2009 friend. onlytotheheadofthehouseholdand thuswascalled“Chairman”. Camp Olympia 2.Why dotheysayitwillcostyou“arm September 25th - 27th andaleg”? 4.Where didtheword“bigwig”come from? Response:Inoldendayswhenthere werenocameras,theywillpaintyour Response:Inoldendays,women picturemainlytheface.Ifyouwant willcovertheirheadandmenwill Diwali Mela 2009 yourarmsandlegstobeincluded,it shavetheirhead.Forspecialfunction India House willcostyouextra. importantwillwearthewigandthus th werecalled“bigwig”. November 7 3.Where didtheword“Chairman”come # from? History You need to Know! We areallprouddescendentsof familytoadopttradingasaprofession ministerinPunjabgovt.decre edto MaharajaAgrasen.MaharajAgrasen hencetobeseenasV aishyadespite cancelallthedebtsowedtoAgarwals wasaSuryavanshi,Kshatriyaking beingaKshatriya.Evenwhenlivingin andseizedalltheassetsofAgarwals. deeplyveneratedbyhissubjects.His isolationinhisowncityofAgroha,the Thus,ruiningthemandfor cinga kingdomwasaniconofprosperity enemiesconspiredandburntthecityof furthermigration.Thiswasevenworse andhisstateamodelofbenevolence. Agroha.Thatiswhentheimmigration thanourfateunderMughals whoat HeusedtoperformallVedicrituals ofAgarwals happened.Mahalakshmi, leastrecognizedourtalents. During includingHavansand Yagnas,paying thegoddessofpositivityexemplifi ed MughalruleLalaTodarmalwasmade hisgratitudeandobeisancetothe inherpreferenceofrewardforlabor thesupervisoroftheroyalmin tat learned“Brahmins”.Of feringanimal (dhan)overlaziness,forlightover Agra.RajaRanvirSinghwastheroyal sacrifi cewasintegraltocompletionof darkness,cleanlinessoverfi lthand treasurerof Akbarwhoawardedh im suchYagnas.MaharajaAgrasenwas dedicationoverconvenience,was withlandinWesternUP whereLala akeenlearnerandpatronofwisdom happywiththeconductof Agarwals RanvirerectedthecityofSaharanpur. expoundingRishis(Researchers). duringtheirstayatAgroha,hence LalaRatanchandwasadiwa nof Hewasopentonewideasand blessedthemtoneverabandonthem. Mughalsin1712andwasgive ntitle philosophies.AsAristotle hassaid, MahaLaxmiblessedusinall ofa“Raja”butwasexecutedb ythe “itisthemarkofaneducatedmind theeight Avtars.AshtaLakshmi newemperorin1719.LalaRamjiDas tobeabletoentertainathought (Sanskrit:Astalakshmī,lit. Gurwalawasabigdonorto Bahadur withoutacceptingit”.Agrasenji “eightLakshmis”)areagroupof ShahZafarin1857rebellion butwas wasaparagonofaneducatedand eightsecondarymanifestationsof executedbytheBritish.Despite all enlightenedmind.Hewasgreatly thegoddessLakshmi,whopreside thehardships,Agarwalshavese rved infl uencedbytheteachingsofSant overeightsourcesofwealthandthus thesocietyandsetupalargenu mber Mahavirji,henceoverthetimehe representthepowersofShriLakshmi. ofinstitutionsandbusiness. Late ingratiatednon–violenceinhisdaily Theyare: LalaLajpatRai,founderofPu njab discourse,adoptingvegetarianism, NationalBank,thetheJains (Times abolishingcorporalpunishmentsand 1) ĀdiLakshmī[The ofIndia),aretestimonytothes ame. animalslaughter .Heevensawthe FirstmanifestationofLakshmi] SirGangaram,thefounderof modern coreofnonviolenceassproutingfrom Lahoreandthehospitaln amed 2) DhānyaLakshmī thenonviolenceinthoughts. This afterhimwasevenappreci atedby [Granarywealth] philosophywasatcrosspurposeswith theBritish.Presentgeneratio nof thethenprevalentpracticesofanimal 3) DhairyaLakshmī Agarwalscontinuestocarryt he sacrifi ce,slaveryandconsumption [Wealthofcourage] legacy. LakshmiMittal(Arcelor Mittal ofanimalproductsthatcouldcome 4) GajaLakshmī Steel),SubhashGoyal(ZeeGro up), onlyafterkillingtheanimal.Thiswas [Elephants,symbolsofwealth] SunilMittal(Airtel),NareshGoyal(Jet seenasapotentialthreatbythethen Airways),theJindals(SteelG roup), 5) SantānaLakshmī wheelersanddealersandthethink AnilAgarwal(VedantaGroup),Rakesh [Wealthofcontinuity,progeny] tanks.Theysawanopportunityinitas Jhunjhunwala(Stockguru),Dh oots aninstrumentwithwhichtheycould 6) VijayaLakshmī (Videocongroup)andmanyothersare stripMaharajaAgrasenoffhiskingdom [Wealthofvictory] examplesofthesame. andriches.TheBrahminsoftheday 7) VidyāLakshmī enticedhimtoperforma“MahaYagna” [Wealthofknowledgeandeducation] NayanAgarwal atcompletionofwhichtheyaskedfor animalsacrifi ce.Agrasen Maharaja 8) DhanaLakshmī Class11th didnotagreetoit,towhichtherajguru Monetarywealth] DPS,RKPuram,NewDelhi,India retortedbysaying,“Purna Ahuti & (thefinalof fering)orRaj(kingdom)”. MaharajaAgrasen traveledallover Dr.BrijBAgarwal Maharajalostnotimeandof fered Indiaandmarrieda“nagkanya”and MBBS,MS(GoldMedal),DipYoga tolaydownhiskingdom.Thegurus had18children. The1885Bombay (GoldMedal),FIMSA werenotsatisfiedevenwiththatand PresidencyGazetteermaintains ConsultantLaparoscopicSurgeon, threatenedMaharajawith“Danapani thathemarried17nagkanyas.With SirGangaRamHospital,NewDelhi, band”(excommunicationfromthe theblessingsofAshtaLakshmi,the Hindusociety),forcinghimtomoveout India Agarwalshaveprosperedrelentlessly andestablishthecityof“Agroha”.The [email protected] buttheirpersecutionneverended.1911 jaingurusofferedtoadoptMaharaja www.endosurgeon.org censusofIndiaputourpopulationat but,hewasconvincedofnonviolence 2,718,390.Agarwalsweretestedagain notbeingantagonistictotheethosof in1936whenone,SirChotuRam,a Vedicphilosophy.Maharajadrovehis # Page 2 • Agrawal Samachar Patrika • Spring 2009 My Visit to Vaishno Devi: Jai Mata Di! By Bharat Aggarwal OurShastratellusweshouldtakea Herhusband.ShreeRamatoldHerthat imprints,whichremainsintacttill date. pilgrimageatleastonceayear.Last duringthisIncarnationHehadvowedto VaishnoDevithentookshelterinacave time,IwenttoVaishnoDeviwasin befaithfultoonlySita.HowevertheLord knownasGarbhJoonnear Adhkawari 1964whenIwasateenagerwithmy assuredHerthatinKaliyugaHewould whereshemeditatedfor9 months twoolderbrothersandasister ,all manifestasKalkiandwouldmarryHer. attainingspiritualwisdomandp owers. unmarriedatthetime.Ihappentobeon InthemeantimeShreeRamaasked Hermeditationwascutshort when businessinThailand(TheRoyalGolden Trikutatomeditateinthecavefoundin Bhairavlocatedher.V aishnoDeviwas JubileePh.D.Program, TheThailand theTrikutaRangeofManikMountains, thencompelledtotaketheformofMaha ResearchFund,JomtienPalmBeach situatedinNorthernIndia.Madecided KaliwhenBhairavtriedtokillh er.The Resort,Pattaya,Chonburi, Thailand) toobservethe‘Navratra’ fortheVictory manifestationoftheMotherGod dess andKualaLumper(Putrajaya);and ofShreeRamaagainstRavan.Hence tookplaceatthemouthoftheHolycave decidedtospendfewdaysvisitingmy onereadstheRamayanaduringthe atDarbar.TheGoddessthenbeheaded familyinBatala,atown20KMfromthe 9daysofNavratra,inremembrance Bhairavwithsuchsheerforce,th athis Pakistanborder.After45years,same oftheaboveconnection.ShreeRama skullfellataplaceknownas Bhairav twobrothersandasisterof feredtojoin promisedthatthewholeworldwould Ghati,2.5kmfromtheHolyCave. The withmetovisitVaishnoDevi,asAprilis singMaV aishnoDevi’spraise. Trikuta severedheadofBhaironfellatadistant thebesttimetobeinTrikatumountains, wastobecomefamousasVaishnoDevi hilltop.Inhisdyingmoments,B hairon aneternalhomeofVaishnoDevi. andwouldbecomeimmortalforever.[1] beggedandreceiveddivineforgiveness Story of Vaishno Devi: fromthegoddess. Today,itisbelieved Withthepassageoftimemanymore thattheYatraisnotcompleteunlessthe VaishnoDeviMandirisoneoftheholiest storiesabouttheMotherGoddess HindutemplesdedicatedtoShakti, pilgrimhasbeentoBhaironk aMandir emerged.Onesuchstoryisabout (2.6kmfromthemainsanctum)aswell, locatedinthehillofV aishnoDevi, ShreeDhar. JammuandKashmir,India.InHinduism, afterthedarshanofShriMata Vaishno VaishnoDevi,alsoknownasMataRani ShreeDharwasanardentdevoteeof Devi. andVaishnavi,isamanifestationofthe MaVaishnoDevi.Heresidedinavillage Inhisdyingmoments,Bhairavple aded MotherGoddess. calledHansali,2kmawayfromthe forforgiveness.TheGoddessknewthat presentKatratown.OnceMaappeared ThetempleisnearthetownofKatra,in