India Association of Long Island News Letter September 2021

From the President's Desk

September 2021

To IALI members and community,

September was full of activities for IALI members but first of all I would like to make a statement to

you all “No lawsuit is filed against anybody by IALI” and we wish people would stop

spreading false rumors”.

In September we sponsored Nassau County Senior Event Series inviting our seniors with Board games

and great session of mini golf at Eisenhour Park (please see pictures below). Our outreach Forum and

Women Forum scheduled great sessions for members (please see details below).

In the month of October, we are happy to announce that IALI is providing “BREAST CANCER

SCREENING, COVID-19 TESTING and VACCINE on October 30th, 2021” and “Peter

Bdeddah Food Drive and Diwali Celebration on October 31st, 2021 “at IALI center.

IALI is giving back to community by donating blankets, hats, scarves to veterans, clothing to

department of social services and donation to Mary Brennan “INN” Soup Kitchen to feed hungry.

Please see the Flyers below.

We will rebuild community socially and emotionally together

In this current environment please stay safe, healthy and follow local guidelines.

We are continuing to conduct our sessions via conference calls/webinars and newsletter to update

you on IALI activities.

“Support us to continue to serve our community”

For Donation, please click on this link. https://indianassocofli.memberhub.store/store

“Zelle” using Email ID. Presidentiali.1978@gmail.com Or mail check to IALI, 92 E Old country road, Hicksville, NY 11801

Be Well and Stay Healthy!! Shashi Malik

President IALI 2021 - 20 IALI Serving the Community!!

IALI is your organization, as it functions with your generous support and contributions, which are tax-exempt. Please consider making a donation to IALI by

Pictures of Seniors at Nassau County Senior Event Series

Pictures of IALI Seniors and members playing Mini Golf at Eisenhour Park

The Mid island Dahlia Society maintains a Trial Garden and Display Garden behind the

Administration Building at Eisenhower Park, Guided tour by Dr. Uma Tejwani.

IALI Health and Wellness Forum

THEME: Healthy Living for your Brain and Body

Speaker: Zuleika Ramirez, MPH, CDP | Outreach/Community Educator | Alzheimer's Association,

Long Island Chapter.

India Association of Long Island arranged an informative session on the important topic of “Healthy Living for your Brain and Body” on 19th September at 11 AM Zoom meeting to Learn about research in the areas of Diet and nutrition, exercise, cognitive activity and social engagement to help you plan for healthy aging.

The session was very well received and was attended by over 62 attendees. This was possible mainly because of change in time and a topic that interested many.

The topics covered were:

• Aging and Health • The Brain • The Heart-Brain Connection • Alzheimer’s and Dementia • Identify the reasons for taking care of yourself as you age • List strategies to age well in the following areas:

o Physical health and exercise o Diet and nutrition o Cognitive activity o Social engagement

NEW Breast Cancer Screening Covid-19 Testing and vaccination

We are planning following activities at IALI Center on 30th October under Health and Wellness

Forum:

1. Breast Cancer Screening 2. COVID Antibody Testing 3. COVID Vaccination 4. Lectures on Health and Wellness 5. Some other activities concerning Health and Wellness under planning.

EC & CHAIR: Pradeep Tandon

NEW “HERITAGE Educational FORUM”

HARMONIUM HINDI KNITTING/CROCHET

HARMONIUM Class In spite of sudden storms and wet basements…Our keen students were able to attend our beloved

harmonium classes. They were two classes held in the month of September - Sep 2nd and on Sep

17th via zoom. Being able to hold a physical class at the IALI center was discussed but many

students still remain hesitant of proximity of a classroom environment-so the idea was let go for

now. Raag Bilawal and Raag kalyaan were repeated in our practice sessions.

All students remain attached to our teacher Perry Ji for her unfailing commitment towards us.

KNITTING & CROTCHETING CLASS

In knitting classes group made continue to sew masks and knitting Hats and Scarfs for veterans.

EC: Mr. Ramesh Gupta Chair: Mrs. Sujata Seth Co-Chair: Mr. Mohan Sharma

IALI Outreach Forum

THEME: “seminar on Identity Theft”

IALI Outreach Forum Invited Sandy Bhatia, Vice President of Flushing Bank and organized a seminar

on Identity Theft on September 28, 2021 at IALI, India center, 92E, Old Country Road, Hicksville. Mrs.

Shashi Malik, IALI President started the seminar by welcoming Sandy Bhatia and Jackie, Vice President

of Flushing Bank. In the seminar Mrs. Renu Kapoor, EC, Chair Outreach Forum, Dr. Abha Bhatnagar,

Co-Chair Outreach Forum and other twenty IALI members were present and participated in the

seminar. Tea and snacks were served to all participants.

EC Renu Kapoor Co-Chair: Dr Abha Bhatnagar

IALI Women Forum

THEME: “Boat trip on September 25, 2021”

IALI women Forum organized a boat trip on September 25, 2021. Trip started from IALI India center

92E, Old country road, Hicksville, around 3.00pm. Mrs. Shashi Malik, President, IALI, Mrs. Renu

Kapoor, EC Women Forum, Dr. Abha Bhatnagar, Co-Chair Women Forum, Dr Makkar and Mrs Makkar,

Dr Jag Kalra and other twenty members joined this trip. Limousine dropped all twenty IALI members

to Manhattan pier 81 for trip. Refreshments were served in the limousine. All members enjoyed

entertainment and trip to NYC while singing all the way and back. We had dinner in the boat and

enjoyed beautiful view of New York High-rise buildings. Restaurant on boat was a modern and fun

tribute to the rich culture, history and textures of Mexico. The vibe was relaxed, the food was

flavorful, and the drinks were passionate. While returning back to IALI India center, hot masala tea

with peanuts was served. It was a memorable trip. All members requested to have another trip like

this soon.

EC Renu Kapoor Co-Chair: Dr Abha Bhatnagar

Spirituality Forum

Speaker: Sadhvi Chandra Bharti (Mata Ji)

TOPIC: Change as A Choice, Instead of Reaction Change is a universal truth and it’s happening in our daily living. Some changes are voluntary and some

involuntary. Some changes are natural like, season changes from summer, fall, winter and spring.

Natural calamities like hurricanes, tsunami, disease and many more. Growth in the human body is another example. Social changes happened from Stone edge, ice edge, machine edge and now

computer edge. Social life changes from single to married life and then children. Smoking and alcohol are voluntary in the beginning but once addicted, it’s become involuntary and can’t live without.

So with all the changes happening in the inside and outside world, we have the choice to make our best decision depending on situations, not just react to it. Brain science is evolving with new studies coming

out daily and we are quickly learning the amount of power we hold once; we embrace our ability to control our thoughts and regulate our emotions. And throughout our lives, we go through lots of personal changes. Sometimes we choose for them to happen, while other times they are beyond our

control. With both of these changes, We, as humans, have instinctive reactions to them. But it’s how we respond to these changes after our initial reaction that determines how they affect our lives. To live a

happier life Mata Ji suggested a few tips to follow.

• Change yourself rather than changing someone. • Change your mindset living. • Stay out from your comfort zone. • Control your anger on wife, children and workers. • Try to help others specially your neighbor, if you can.

Executive Council / Chair: Ravindra Kumar

Nani & Dadi Pharmacy

Speaker: Sadhvi Chandra Bharti (Mata Ji)

TOPIC: Diabetes, Silent Killing Disease.

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. 34.2 million US adults have

diabetes, and 1 in 5 of them don’t know they have it. Diabetes is the no. 1 cause of Kidney failure, lower

limb amputation and adult blindness. In last 20 years, the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes

have more than doubled. Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects how your body turns food

into energy. Most of the food you eat is broken down into sugar and released into your bloodstream.

When your blood sugar goes up, it signals your pancreases to release insulin. Insulin acts like a key to

let the blood sugar into our body’s cell for use as energy.

MOST COMMON TYPES ARE:

Type 2 diabetes: A chronic condition that affects the way the body processes blood sugar. Type 1 diabetes: A chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. Prediabetes: A condition in which blood sugar is high, but not enough to be type 2 diabetes. Mata Ji suggested that we are in KALYUG ERA (mean Klaa Ka Yug) and must have protocol for

Diabetes and live a healthy life with proper diet and exercise.

• We must avoid food like Pizza, Pasta, junk food.

• Use lots of fruits and vegetable Apple, Strawberry, Orange, Blueberry. • Use Less Rice and Roti and go for Oats and Dalia. • Use Kand Mul ( Sweet potato, Use less regular potato, Carrot, Muli, Chukandar,

Horse Radish, Beet) • Green leafy vegetable, Spinach, Cilantro, Karela, Avocado etc. • Use nuts like Badaam, Pistachio, Kaju, Akharot. • Use KANJI DRINK ( Black carrot slice, Beet slice, Cucumber slice, mustard, 1

gallon water, Jeera Powder, Sendha Namak, 1 tbs vinegar,Mint, keep outside for 3 days).

• Proper exercise like yoga, Meditation, Morning an Evening Walk.

Executive Council / Chair: Ravindra Kumar

Senior Forum

Two Seniors sessions in September Senior forum was very active in the month of September 2021 and they organized two very productive

events. One was indoor event another was outdoor event. The indoor event was held on Sept 24, 2021.

In this event IALI sponsored board games like Ludo, Snakes $ Ladders, cards and Bingo at Senior

Bethpage community center under the leader ship of President Shashi Malik, VP Jay Singh, Dr Neeru Bhambri EC Senior forum, Dr Jhaveri Senior forum chair, Dr Usha Bansal Committee member. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran’s Asian Senior Events Series at Bethpage Senior Community Center was

a great hit! Our Asian seniors enjoyed tai-chi lessons, followed by mahjong and Ludo games, and delectable Asian cuisine. And of course, we can’t forget the green tea/chai. Thank you to team Nassau

and our community organizations for making this possible!

As the summer is flying away senior forum arranged a very special fun-loving outdoor activity on Sept

30, 2021. A beautiful brainstorm idea was initiated by Dr Neeru Bhambri to take seniors out to play

Miniature Golf in Eisenhower Park.

Neeru arranged the event free of charge for the members. Her object was to engage the seniors to go

out have fun, enjoy sunshine and engage in easy cardiovascular exercise in fresh air which is very good

for our health. Special votes of thanks to the golf course and Tom McKevitt for their great hospitality for serving us with bagels, coffee, water bottles followed by Pizza. The venue was very pretty with beautiful landscaping which was therapeutic healing to our minds.

After playing golf the members enjoyed small packed picnic. Everyone brought delicious food to share with friends and to name few Upma, rice and beans, chips with salsa, chocolate truffles, water melon,

fruits, pomegranate and cookies. The members and our guests had a ball nibbling and listening to the music.

The seniors also engaged in knitting and taught other members how to make caps for donations for our veterans. The attendance and feedback were overwhelming. The entire Senior Forum Team is grateful to you all to make this event as most memorable one. We missed many friends who could not attend.

Neeru Bhambri MESSAGE: - Life is short. Time is fast. No replay. No rewind. Life is beautiful and full of surprises. You don’t know what will happen. So, enjoy every moment as it comes and be ready for

more surprises.

Executive Council; - Dr. Neeru Bhambri Ph.D., Chair: Dr. Krishna Jhaveri M.D, Co-Chair:

Dr. Usha Bansal M.D, Committee member: - Mr. Vijay Goswami

SANGEET FORUM

Theme: Funny word, Number and Bird (The song must include any of these)

This month’s Sangeet Forum was held on Friday, September 3rd 2021 via Zoom. Total 28 members

joined the session. 18 members sang songs and most of the members chose songs with ‘Birds’.

As always, at the end three names were withdrawn to choose the winners.

The winners of this session were:

1. Ms. Sushma Kaushik 2. Ms. Kanchan Aggarwal 3. Ms. Meenakshi Khanna

The Appreciation token money of $60.00 ($20.00 for each winner) was donated to IALI via check.

Chair: Kiran Arora. Co-Chair: Sushma Kaushik EC: Anju Sharma

IALI Meditation Forum “Heartfulness Practices”

Speaker: Rajeev Dixit

Theme: Meditation & Yoga

We concluded our journey on eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga under the light of heartfulness meditation

this month. Final limb of Ashtanga Yoga is Samadhi.

Samadhi is the ultimate spiritual relaxation and the ultimate effortless concentration, and it is

considered to be the goal of human existence in Yoga. You might even say that it is the reason for our

existence as a species. Every species has a purpose on this Earth, and ours is to go back to the original

state. Hence, we have a spectrum of consciousness of a high enough order so that we can realize this

purpose. Every other limb of Ashtanga Yoga is only a training and a preparation to help us arrive at that

goal. It is the reason we refine our posture, our breath, or thoughts, our sensory inputs and our

behavioral reactions to the outside world. It is the reason we turn all our faculties inwards and meditate.

We are going home.

STAGES OF SAMADHI

In its pure form Samadhi is that ultimate state, but we also experience various glimpses or stages

of Samadhi along the way, throughout our journey. Those experiences vary according to the view from

the vantage point we have reached at any given stage. We view the ultimate state from the position we

are at in the present moment, and that becomes our current experience of Samadhi. In the Heartfulness

Way, we invite such states of Samadhi day after day and make them permanent. So, when practitioners

speak of experiencing Samadhi during meditation, they are speaking about these experiences that vary

from person to person, and for the same person at difference stages in the journey. There is a different

flavor of Samadhi at each point or chakra, and also within each chakra, as we enter new levels. It goes

on changing until eventually we can experience all of these states in one go. By the time we are at chakra

12, for example, we have already experienced infinite variations of Samadhi.

4.6: Tatra dhyana jam anasayam

Only the original mind, which is uncovered as a result of meditation, is desireless and free

from impressions. The original mind exists in itself, without the need for support, cause or motivation.

Each morning in Meditation, we create a meditative state to carry out into the day. Each evening

during Cleaning, we create a state of purity to carry with us, and each time we pray we create a

prayerful state in the heart so that we stay connected to the Source, vacuumized and receptive. When

we retain and nurture these three states throughout the day, it keeps the top spinning of our inner

condition – creating a beautiful balanced state.

We also learned about first three Principles of Sahaj Marg Heartfulness Practice

1. Rise before dawn and offer your prayer and meditation at a fixed hour, preferably

completing them before sunrise. Have a separate place and seat for meditation. As far

as possible, develop the habit of sitting in one and the same pose. Give special attention

to purity of body and mind.

2. Begin your meditation with a prayer for spiritual elevation. Offer your prayer in such a

way that the heart is filled with love.

3. Fix your Goal, which should be complete oneness with God. Rest not till the ideal is

achieved.

Reference: https://www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/samyama-part-4/

EC: Ravi Kanta Verma