The Indian Messenger Online

It is very gratifying to note that Raja Rammohun Roy, the father of modern India, has at last received some attention which has been long overdue. There have been yearlong celebrations, although on a modest scale, to pay tribute to the multifaceted contributions of this great man organized by many of his admirers. On his sestercentennial birth anniversary, i.e., 22 May 2022, there have also been celebrations across the country, to mark the occasion. The government of West Bengal has Read More …

This year in the Month of May, we are celebrating the sester-centennial Birth Anniversary of Raja Rammohun Roy across the country as well as the world. Although there is an element of uncertainty over the exact year of his birth, 1772 or 1774 CE. However, the first of the two has been widely accepted and therefore the year 2022 marks the completion of 250 years since his birth. The two aspects of his life’s work have come into greater focus; Read More …

The New Bengali year 1429 has just begun. But has it brought hope for a more peaceful world? Apparently, there is so much of violence and hatred all around that we may wonder if we are approaching our dooms day. But should be despair? Perhaps not. If we delve deeper we will find uncommon instances of human kindness and magnanimity that have failed to attract the attention due to them. While a part of mankind indulges in suppressing their fellow Read More …

The last month of the Bengali calendar starts from the middle of March and this is perhaps the last month of spring in the Indian subcontinent. The scorching heat of summer starts well before summer knocks at our door officially and the climate is rendered much warmer due to our constant embarrassment of the eco-system. This year the charms of this beautiful season has eluded us even more as the world is caught in the grip of a violent war Read More …

Pandit Sivanath Sastri, was born on January 31, 1847. Let us remember with gratitude and reverence the social reformer who ardently served the Brahma Samaj in general and was the architect of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj in particular, along with other luminaries like Ananda Mohan Bose et al. Other than his social reforms, he made his mark as an author who documented the history of his times for posterity. He was also a philosopher and a scholar who translated many important Read More …

Maghotsava greetings to all. It is the season of love and fellowship and the time to renew our pledge to lead a life with humility, honesty and compassion as we celebrate the great occasion when the doors of a prayer hall were thrown open to all, irrespective of caste, creed, gender and religion; a meeting place where everyone had the freedom to pray together in one voice to One True Eternal Being.  For the past few years the Maghotsava festivities Read More …

The month of December is marked by several occasions that we remember either with reverence or with deep dejection. The most memorable occasion is 7 th Poush, which generally coincides with 23rd December. On this day Maharshi Devendranath Thakur and several of his co-believers took the vows of the new monotheistic faith of Brahmoism. On this auspicious occasion they assembled in front of Ramchandra Vidyabagish at the Brahmo-samaj premise with great enthusiasm and expectation. The first to take the vow Read More …

The month of November brings to our mind the horrors of the terrorist attack in Mumbai on the 26th of the month in 2008. The mindless carnage ended so many lives untimely leaving the entire nation reeling under its horrors. But what have remained etched in our minds are the heroic acts of so many selfless individuals who strove to save the lives of others, even at the cost of laying down their own lives. Even as we condemn the Read More …

Let us begin the issues for the month of October by remembering three extraordinary personalities who were born on October 2nd.  A recent article highlighted the outstanding qualities of these three persons – Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Leela Roy. The first anecdote relates to Mahatma Gandhi. Motilal Nehru always wondered at the unusual attachment of his son Jawaharlal Nehru to the Mahatma. In fact, he was not happy at the way Gandhi was influencing his son to forgo Read More …

The monsoon season is coming to an end. However, it is taking an increasingly devastating role due to the havoc that our insatiable desire to take control of this world has wrecked on our environment. The aggressive march of human civilisation has disturbed the fine balance of nature and the universe. And yet we do not stop in our efforts to harness natural forces to serve us and tap unrelentingly into the natural resources. In this grim picture, a ray Read More …