MY (OUR) INTRODUCTION

[Guest guest]

Namsakaram to the group

This is a combined introduction to both of us- Nirbhay Kumar and Geetha

Bansal. We got introduced to this list through a flier at first, but

d through the Chinmaya Satsangh list. (It has become a habit with

us that Nirbhay and Geetha do everything together- where one is the other is

sure to be found!- so we apologize for the length of this introduction).

We came to this country about 22 years ago. We now live in the Wash.DC

metropolitan area. We have three children. We had all of our education in

India. Nirbhay got his M.Sc. in Biochemistry from Banares Hindu University,

while I got my Bachelor's in Physics from Delhi University. He then got his

Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and I

got my Master's in Biophysics from there, which is where we met.

Subsequently we spent two years in Hyderabad working at the National

Institute of Nutrition and the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology

respectively before coming here. I then obtained my ph.D in Biochemistry

from U.MD at College Park.

I was born in Madras, in the vicinity of the Parthasarathy Kovil (that's

not why I was called Geetha Parthasarathy!!), grew up in Delhi. My father

and mother both are from the South- from Kancheepuram and Madras. I have an

emotional tie to Triplicane and Kancheepuram and visit both temples

everytime I go to India. I am also trying (just begun) to read and try to

learn a lot more on the Tamil Iyengars these days, as well as the history of

the Vaishnavaites in the North. It is my goal one day to be able to visit

all the Divyadesams over the years for which I am collecting materials.

Nirbhay was born in Mathura, the birth place of Lord Krishna and has

grown up amidst the tradition of the Bhraj Bhoomi. Every visit to Mathura,

I visit all of the areas around Mathura, Vrindavan, Nandgaon, Govardhan etc.

and feel at ease in these places. It is a special feeling going on those

trips!

My early education of religion and philosophy were mostly provided by my

grandfather. He was also a priest at the Varadarajar Kovil in Kancheepuram

and I remember spending many summer vacations with him in our house near the

temple, listening to him teach the little boys to chant the scriptures,

listening to mythological stories spurred on by my grandmother. He was also

one of those in charge (Thiruvabharanam Kalyanakoti were their initials) of

the jewels at the temple, so I would accompany him to the little rooms at

night when they put the jewels away! My parents indirectly taught us to

celebrate our festivals etc. and I have maintained some of those practices

for our children's sake.

Nirbhay remembers learning a lot from his gfather who passed away early, but

I try to bring in the Mathura traditions as much as he can recollect into

our home now.

We have a daughter who is doing an MD/Ph.D. program at Duke University,

one about to start college in his area, one about to start High School.

Our background in Vedantic studies until I joined this list was mainly

restricted to the basic guidelines on life and dharma we were taught as

children. We have not been followers of any Guru or Swami, but have always

followed what we were taught as children from scriptural anecdotes to

mythological stories as both sets of families were religious in their own

traditional ways. We heard a lot about the freedom struggles and developed a

strong sense of "patriotism" first to India and Indian, then to "Scientists

vs everyone else", then to "Non-medicos vs all Medicos"!!!!. We are strong

in our feelings towards India and Indian culture (though of late it is

becoming very difficult for us to define it to our children) and we do our

best to continue to practise some of the rituals of festivals etc. for the

benefit of the children. Through dance and music we have been able to

inculcate an appreciation of the richness and breadth of "Indian Culture" in

them.

I have volunteered time at SSVT for a long time. We did not find out

about Chinmaya Mission till about 3 years ago, maybe because we

instinctively moved away from "being tied" to something and to some body- we

found out that we can still exist as free individuals belonging to the

Mission. We appreciate that a lot of the members are people like us in

terms of professional and social similarities, and we now are involved in

volunteering our time and efforts to keep organizations like this going. We

attend Discussion sessions every Saturday morning at Chinmaya Mission, as

well as the other regular programs.

Although we have been silent on the list most of the while, we assure

all learned members of the list that we benefit a lot from your

knowledgeable posts and thank you all for the same.

Namaskaram.

Geetha and Nirbhay