Hindu Women’s Network (HWN) national team held an online Conference and Panel Discussion on Sunday November 17, 2024, to celebrate Hindu Heritage Month 2024. Every year Hindu Heritage Month is celebrated in October to promote unity, educate others about our rich Hindu heritage and to discuss issues of concern.

Since 2024 was the year when Sri Ram returned to his home in Ayodhya, the theme of HWN Conference that was chosen was “Women in Ramayan.” The event was well attended by over 100+ online viewers.

The program started with the playing of a video about Hindu Women’s Network, introducing HWN and its mission, the goals and the three pillars of Seva, Shakti and Sadhana, which defines the work of HWN. This was followed by a welcome address from Dr. Neelam Jaiswal, Lead Coordinator, Hindu Women’s Network National Team. She introduced the moderator of the day, Geetanjali Chaturvedi, who expertly led the audience through the entire program.

The first item was a beautiful bhajan sung to perfection by Aupsara Banik. Aupsara is a 13-year-old Hindu from Bangla Desh, who has been learning Hindustani and Western Classical music since the age of 4. Even at this young age, she donates all she earns via her singing to charity. Her beautiful rendition of “Sukh ke sab saathi” moved everyone to tears.  

Geetanjali then introduced the keynote speaker, Dr. Bhanumati Narasimhan. Bhanu di, as she is affectionately called, is the Chairperson of Women’s Welfare and Childcare programs of the Art of Living, a not-for-profit, educational and humanitarian NGO. She has deep roots in spirituality and a broad vision for service to humanity. For over three decades she has been committed to bringing a positive social transformation with a focus on education, environment and women empowerment.

 She has written a book on “Sita: A Tale of Ancient Love”.  In this book, Bhanumathi ji shows us the world through the eyes of Sita Mata.

Bhanu ji talked about Sita, her character, and her deep influence on the Hindu psyche over the ages. Drawing from her book, she talked about Sita’s strength of character, her beauty, serenity, sensitivity, ethereal but so approachable. She talked about seeing beyond the events of Ramayan, to understand her state of mind, which will give one a different perspective and understanding into the character that is Sita. Raised as a princess, she was able to manage all of life’s challenges with such ease, from life in the forest to being a single mother and raising twins in the ashram, always loving, never bitter about that fate had been doled out to her.

The keynote speech set the stage for the panel discussion. The first two panelists were the husband-wife team of Dr. Archana Shyamsundar and Karthik Shyamsundar.

Karthik is a Distinguished Engineer/Fellow at a major internet company and also serves as adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University, specializing in Big Data, Cloud, and AI.

Beyond his professional life, Karthik is deeply committed to Hindu Dharma. He actively participates in the Valley Interfaith Council in Winchester, VA. As a long-time Bal Vihar teacher, he also leads a Gita study group. 

Archana is an accomplished nephrologist who has been practicing in Winchester, VA, for two decades. She completed her medical education at Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, and her fellowship in Nephrology at the George Washington University in Washington DC. Archana is trained in Indian classical dance and has performed at various charitable events.

Karthik first talked about the Ramayan, that it is not mythology, which is a term that comes from the root mithya (false), but that it is an “Itihaas” or history, a word that means “this is indeed how it happened.”

Choosing a few very appropriate shlokas from the Valmiki Ramayan, he and Archana led the audience through the characters of Sumitra, Anasuya and Shabari. All three play small but important roles in the Ramayan. Sumitra, mother of Lakshman, when faced with the sudden decision of her son leaving for the forest for 14 years, never hesitates, but blesses him and encourages him to look upon Sita as his mother. They brought out the quiet strength and deep understanding in her, not only of the situation but also that of the people involved.  

Next, they tackled the characters of Anasuya and Shabari with the same finesse, talking about the meaning of Anasuya’s name as absence of envy (Suya=envy, adding A negates it), her wisdom in imparting the right advice to Sita and not overwhelming her. The devotion of Shabari was equally well highlighted. The panelists talked about not only her devotion, which she is well known for, but her courage, her determination, her clear thinking even at a very young age, knowing her goals and following her principles, even if it meant giving up her comforts and living a life of hardship.  

The next panelist was Vallabha Tantry. Vallabha works as a Regulatory Affairs Associate in a leading Life Science Company in Minneapolis.  She is the Coordinator of the Hindu Heritage Month initiative in Minnesota and has served as the President of the Hindu Temple, Maple Grove. She also serves as program coordinator for the Hindu Mandir Empowerment Council.

Vallabha spoke about Urmila, Kaikeyi and Manthara. She first focused on Urmila, who was also a new bride at the time of the exile. She skillfully brought out the relationship between Urmila and Lakshman, and Urmila’s quick grasp of the situation, her supreme sacrifice in staying back in the palace and letting Lakshman go to the forest. She chose to help him by taking over his sleep on herself, putting her own life on halt while she slept for 14 years so that Lakshman could stay awake and stand guard over Ram and Sita. Being little more than a teenager herself, she was mature beyond her years.

The interaction between Kaikeyi and Manthara is well known to all who have read even a small portion of the Ramayan. Both are seen as women who have evil intentions. Vallabha brought out the goodness in Kaikeyi, her courage, her skill in warfare, her statesmanship, her loyalty to Dashrath and the kingdom, her love for Ram prior to the incident where she had a lapse of judgement and caused untold distress to the family. She also talked about Manthara’s dedication to Kaikeyi, which drove her to the actions which caused the exile. These two ladies, even though they have been vilified throughout history, played a vital role in Ram accomplishing his life’s mission to establish Dharma in the land. Without them the Ramayan would not have happened.

After all panelists had spoken, there was a question-and-answer session moderated by Shobha Patel, one of the core committee members. The audience put questions in the chat box which the panelists answered, further increasing the knowledge of all watching.

Comments from the audience were very complimentary. Some comments:

“I learned so much about these humble yet powerful women in Ramayan.

“Such a beautiful depiction of these amazing women. I had never looked at them in this light.”

“Awesome descriptions.”

“This has been such an enlightening program.”

Jaya Asthana proposed the vote of thanks and closed the event with a short prayer.

Hindu Women’s Network (HWN) gives a voice to the Hindu women’s perspective on contemporary issues affecting all women.  HWN develops programs for holistic physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development. HWN’s goal is to form a vibrant network of Hindu women to promote collaboration and communication at local, national, and international levels.

For more information or to start a chapter of Hindu Women’s Network in your area, please visit https://www.hwnusa.org.

If you missed the program, the video is available at the link below:

 https://youtu.be/l9PvyFtkW8U

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