Punam Sinha, Indian actress and producer, also the wife of famous Bollywood actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, the mother of twin brothers actor Luv Sinha and Kush Sinha and the mother of beloved Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha, came home to perform Ganga Aarti with Pujya Swamiji on the banks of Mother Ganga at Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh). After visiting Kedarnath earlier in the day she was so touched and moved to hear about the plethora of service projects that Pujya Swamiji was leading under the Project Hope initiative to bring hope and healing to survivors of the devastating Himalayan Tsunami last year. She was especially eager to contribute to Pujya Swamiji’s efforts to provide livelihoods and empowerment to widows who had lost their husbands and/or their families in last year’s floods. Amongst many things, Pujya Swamiji inspired her to pledge and offer her divine shakti for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), starting with providing clean and safe water and sanitation in her own hometown of Bihar.
Filled with joy and gratitude, she shared, “Today is the most divine and beautiful day of my life, having had darshan of Kedar Baba (Lord Shiva at Kedarnath) and completed my sacred pilgrimage of the twelve traditional Jyotirlinga shrines in India, I am so glad to serve in this mission to provide health, healing and hope to all. I look forward to taking this shakti and blessing from the Creator and offering it back to His creation.”
Also visiting on the day was a family from Kazakhstan who were so deeply inspired by Pujya Swamiji’s work for Mother Ganga and His divine vision of keeping India clean, green and serene that without speaking a word of English or Hindi they eagerly vowed to take His universal message back home and to be green ambassadors in their communities. They were encouraged by Pujya Swamiji and Pujya Sadhviji to strengthen their commitment by taking part in a tree plantation and by offering their prayers in GIWA’s sacred Water Blessing Ceremony.
Young green hero, ten year old Keshav from Bombay lead everyone in a pledge to stop using plastics and littering our waterways. Bhavnya and her brother from New Delhi also pledged to engage Youth for Ganga and for the Environment.