New Delhi, June 27, 2018: Spreading the awareness of 5000 years old Indian philosophy on natural wellness and health, three-day Indo-American Wellness Conclave and Exhibition had been organized at Santa Clara Convention Centre by India Post in collaboration with the Vedic Dharma Samaja Fremount Hindu Temple from 22nd to 24th June 2018. The theme of the exhibition was Indian natural pharmacy for wellness and healing sprang from ancient Vedas. The exhibition had many vendors from India and some from the local area such as Dabur, Kerala Ayurveda USA, CGH Earth/Kalari Kovilam, OneLife, Herbochem/Thirigi, Yoga Bharati, Santhigram Wellness Centers, AyurUniverse, AyurVita, Pious Elements and Art of Living among others.
The formal inauguration ceremony was held on Friday where Honorable Consul General Venkatesan Ashok of San Francisco Consulate was the Chief Guest. Many other local political dignitaries graced the occasion: Ash Kalra, Assembly Member, Lily Mei, the Mayor of Fremont, Dave Bonaccorsi, the Fremont City Council Member, Kathy Watanabe, the Vice Mayor of Santa Clara, Darcy Paul, the Mayor of Cupertino, Anu Natarajan, the former Vice Mayor of Fremont, Kansen Chu, the California State Assembly Member and Rishi Kumar, the Saratoga Council member.
Among the other guests who presided over the ceremony were Sister BK Kusum, the Director of Brahma Kumaris, Silicon Valley, Dr. Jayarajan Kodikannath, the Academy Director, Kerala Ayurveda USA and Pandit Krishna Pandey of Shiv Durga Temple.
Dr. Jayarajan Kodikannath gave the opening keynote address of the Conclave. It was fascinating to hear about the benefits of common kitchen herbs, spices, and roots such as ginger and garlic. He also talked about various disorders and stress and how Ayurveda views these, in contrast to allopathic medicine. He revealed how Sushruta’s methods of transplantation surgery are now considered highly advanced, and Ayurvedic methods of dispensing medicines such as using ghee as a medium have a basis in scientific facts as lipids are important for the transportation of certain compounds in the body. It was a fantastic start to a highly enriching conference.
Dr. Romesh Japra, Chairman and Convener of FIA/FOG and the Conclave and Publisher of India Post, Rajesh Verma, President of FIA, Manorama Joshi, Fremont Hindu Temple trustee and Rajesh Sharma, Director of Phoenix Expovent and India Post, represented their respective organizations on the stage at the lamp lighting ceremony.
In his inaugural address, Dr. Japra, a seasoned cardiologist with over four decades of experience, said, “I have done a lot of stenting, lot of surgeries, given a lot of medications…unfortunately, in many ways, until you practice prevention, until you practice how to avoid these problems, how to stay well, I think these things don’t work.
That’s when I started looking around, there are lots of other forms of medicine out there which have been forgotten.”
Commenting on the international popularity of yoga and its acceptance in the form of the adoption of International Yoga Day by the United Nations, he added, “In good old days, yoga, Ayurveda, spirituality, and all these herbal medicines, they were all part of one and the same thing. They were so integrated and they were taking care of us in a big, big way. And this is what we are trying to put together here in a small way. ”
He mentioned that integrative medicine is catching on in a big way with reputed mainstream American medical institutions such as Stanford and Mayo Clinic adopting it.
The Consul General commended Dr. Japra for his energy and “passion in demonstrating India out here in the Valley.” Elaborating on the newly instituted Indian ministry of AYUSH, he said that it represented a syncretism of ideas. While Ayurveda, Yoga, and Siddha originated in India, Unani and Homeopathy were, in a sense, imports – Yunani came to India through the Persians and Arabs in the 11th century. He said, “But we made it our own in the sense that what came and what it finally became was very different. This is what we are very proud of in India that when we absorb something, we make something new out of it.”
Sister BK Kusum said in her address, “Total wellness comes when I pay attention to my mind when mind experiences peace…because a mind is the seed. When I pay attention to the seed, then all the branches will get the nutrients.”
All the cities – Santa Clara, Fremont, Cupertino and Saratoga presented Dr. Japra and FIA/FOG/India Post with certificates of recognition. Before presenting Dr. Japra and India Post/FIA/FOG with the Certificate of Recognition, Kansen Chu credited his youthful appearance to Chinese herbs and acupuncture. Mayor Darcy Paul of Cupertino related his trip to India to visit Cupertino’s sister city of Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, which he said, is the intersection of Hinduism and Buddhism. He had the honor of visiting an herbal garden there, where there were around 4000 herbal plants identified. These days, it is about 800. The mayor said, “It would be wonderful to see that kind of revival.”
Vice Mayor of Santa Clara, Kathy Watanabe praised Dr. Japra for evolving the importance of health and said that he was not just a heart surgeon. “It goes so much more beyond that… you really are working on the heart, mind and soul.”