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BBC...and Vivekananda.

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Dilipbhai thoughts are really worth hearing on the radio, you could see the sparkle in the presenter as well.

 

It seems from the comments on secualrism, the presenter Don Maclean was at one point worried about what his secular readers were thinking.

 

the programmes are kept for 7 days.

 

Here is the link

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainframe.shtml?http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio2.shtml

 

 

You need realplayer to make it work properly

 

Vijay Hirani

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" Swaminathan Venkataraman " <nachiketas

<Ramakrishna >

Sunday, February 13, 2005 06:50

RE: [sri Ramakrishna] Digest Number 2017

 

Dear Jay

 

BBC Radio 2

I will be offering a Hindu perspective on some of the contemporary issues

in a radio programme hosted ...

 

Where is a recording of this program available. I could not locate it from

the link you sent me. Can yu help?

Regarding the text books, are the braod contents available on your website?

Thanks

 

Swami

=================response=====================

Dear Swami

 

I am not sure for how long the programme was accessible through the BBC

website but let me share with the list a few things I talked about:

 

They asked what does a leading Hindu make of Prince Charles getting ready to

marry Camila? .....my response was ...we wish the couple well... but there

are other serious issue that need to be addressed.....I said at Diwali we

celebrated the life of Rama an ancient Hindu king.....the reason why we

still revere him is because

he was an ideal man...an ideal king, who lived for principles and not for

property or position. On a technicality he exiled his wife to protect the

moral fabric of his kingdom.....compare this with the behaviour of the

future king of England.. who is not only the destined to be the head of the

state but also the head of the church..

 

To balance such harsh comments we paid great tribute to the English people

saying, " the way to judge the spiritual level of any nation is to see to

what extent they give dignity to mankind..... people of these nation have

given the highest dignity to mankind...and that is in line with the

teachings of Hinduism which teaches that the clearest image of God on earth

is man.

 

I emphasised the role of pluralism of the Hindus, that allows all religions

to co-exist with dignity....I also talked about the more serious challenge

faced by all world religions.....the challenge from the secular lobby whose

cathedrals are the shopping malls, whose rituals are to consume... and whose

philosophy promotes the idea that the sole aim of human life is to feed and

to breed....

 

I did my best to put across some good ideas......the presenter of the

programme responded 'in the most deriding fashion' at almost every

comment.....for example when I paid tribute to the English nation....he

said...you are trying to encourage more immigrants to come here aren't you?

 

We have an interesting relationship with the BBC....Some time back we had

helped the BBC produce a documentary on Sister Nivedita thinking this is a

breakthrough for us in getting the message of Vivekananda to the mainstream

English.....the BBC finally produced a documentary which came out showing

Sister Nivedita as 'an Irish terrorist not that different from the suicide

bombers of Sri Lanka'..... every time we try and get a breakthrough they

have undermined us......but we keep plugging away.

 

In the last two weeks I have been on a number of programmes where I could

get in a just a little...

 

(a) BBC world service was doing a programme on the pilgrims killed in a

stampede in Maharastra.....indirectly they were trying to show this as a

backward civilisation that kills innocent people even in the place of

pilgrimage.....I managed to get in and say, " some people create a stampede

because they want to gain sight of a 'deity'.. an icon of spirituality..

while in some other countries like England we see a stampede because people

want to see a ball at the back of the net (referring to an English stampede

at a football match that killed 96 people).

 

(b) Recently BBC Radio London was examining 'image of Jesus on a saucepan'

and wanted to ask me about the 'milk miracle of Hindus.....I responded

saying the Hindu religion insists that all events should be judged by proper

investigation and rational enquiry so we prefer to explain such phenomenon

in terms of natural laws, physical or metaphysical.. rather than view it as

'God intervening in the world'.

 

© I will again be on Radio 2 on an early morning slot on 15th February

where they have already done the recording on why Hindus revere animal

life....that short programme is pre-recorded and should capture the hearts

of many listeners.....

 

We are stuck with the BBC, they are the best way of broadcasting

Vivekananda's teachings to the mainstream English..and we have to get in....

so we continue with our efforts though many a times we have experienced

tremendous resistance and prejudice. All the above programmes have audience

figures of over 2 million.

 

We will keep the list informed how things continue to work out : )

 

jay

Vivekananda Centre London

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VijayHirani99

Ramakrishna

Monday, February 14, 2005 01:05

Re: [sri Ramakrishna] BBC...and Vivekananda.

 

Dilipbhai,The prerecording on the 15, do you know which show it is on .....Vijay ===================response=======================

 

The recording was for a programme called Pause for Thought it will be broadcast on

Radio two at 6.15am in the morning ....The topic is sacredness of animal life....I comment

on how Hindus agree with theory of evolution and agree that we are the extension of the animal

kingdom hence the respect we show for human life should also be exteneded in to the animal kingdom. etc....

 

I asked the producer, "who will listen to this programme at such early hour?" she

replied, 2.3 million people : )

 

jay

 

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