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WORLD  Joining A Peace Jamboree FROM MUMBAI NEWSLINE INDIA, Mar 28 (VNN) — by Sweta Ramanujan - Mumbai, March 16: Two days before Holi, Banganga tank is a sea of colour. A group clad in sandalwood-coloured attire decorates a dinghy with flowers and strings of tiny bulbs. The air is a mixture of fragrances - sandalwood, rose, lotus and jui. The occasion is the birth of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu - considered a reincarnation of Krishna. But with a collective kirtan chanting on the agenda anyway and the world in such turmoil, global peace could hardly be left out. Cries of 'Hare Krishna' reverberate as people start filtering in - women dressed in starched cottons, men in dhoti-kurtas. People from varied backgrounds are participating - doctors, engineers, industrialists, lawyers. Some dance, some take up the chant, in a trance. Beefy boys join in, accompanying their moms dutifully. Awe-struck tourists click away with fancy digital cameras, some capturing the scene on handycams. At 6 pm, the dinghy - now resembling a swan - is set afloat carrying palm-sized idols. Devotees begin chanting bhajans to drum beats. The tunes are catchy and the is mood upbeat. Ducks, apparently used to the occasional intrusion into their private world, graciously make way for the peace jamboree. Devotees bow down as the president of the Shree Shree Radha Gopinath temple at Walkeshwar enters. His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj, of American origin, has been involved with the ISKCON movement for more than 30 years. ''We want people to experience love within themselves. To realise God's proprietorship on everything around. That will end conflict and bring peace,'' he says. Rishikesh Mafatlal, vice-chairman of Mafatlal Industries, participates with his family. This is the business of ''value-addition to life'', he says. Pushpa Mannickam, an employee with a private firm, drinks in the sight. ''I didn't know what to expect. Now that I am witnessing it, I have no words to express what I feel,'' she says. The dinghy completes a round and gradually, people begin leaving, the chant still dancing on their lips. Story URL Contact VNN about this story  Send this story to a friend
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