By a reporter
NEW YORK: A new wellness and spirituality web magazine started by Parveen Chopra, former editor of The South Asian Times, was launched on January 21 at the Indian Consulate in New York.
Parveen Chopra, a seasoned journalist with expertise in body-mind-spirit niche, explained the unique mix of alotusinthemud.com at the launch, “We tap the world’s religious and spiritual traditions for wisdom as well as draw from latest medical and scientific research to present content for our readers to be fully productive and successful and yet be healthy, happy and centered.”
Launching the website, Consul General Randhir Jaiswal congratulated Chopra for the initiative which he called as “another slice of India in America, promoting wellness through yoga, right food habits, etc, and from which people should take benefit”.
Articles posted on the Lotus site range from ‘Children and teens can do with some meditation too’, ‘The 4 happy hormones and how to boost them’ to ‘Is work worship – renegotiating work-life balance’ and ‘Beware the frozen food convenience’.
Unique interactive features of the site, Chopra said, include short meditations with soothing music, personality quizzes, and space for visitors to share their experiences of healing and personal or spiritual growth.
At the launch event, a video introducing the webzine explained that ‘Lotus in the mud’ is a key concept in Hinduism and Buddhism, signifying that we may get caught up in problems, but we have the inherent capability to emerge as full bloom lotuses in body, mind, and spirit.
A trained meditation teacher, Chopra had founded Life Positive, India’s first spiritual magazine from New Delhi in 1996. Here in the US, he edited One World Under God, an interfaith journal.
Last year he founded American Center for Wellness & Spirituality Inc, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, to run the Lotus website.
Guest speakers at the Lotus launch included Nitin Ajmera, Chairman of the Parliament of the World’s Religions (via a video message); Reverend Tom Goodhue, Executive Director Emeritus of Long Island Council of Churches; Arvind Vora, founder of Shanti Fund that promotes Gandhi’s ideals among school children in Suffolk County; and Dr Bhaswati Bhattacharya, a licensed physician affiliated with Cornell Medical College and author of ‘Everyday Ayurveda’ published by Penguin Random House.
Supporters attending the event included Indrajit Saluja, editor-publisher of The Indian Panorama, John Di Leonardo, founder of Humane Long Island, real estate tycoon Darshan Singh Bagga, and Julian Lines, President of Matagiri Sri Aurobindo Center in upstate New York.
The launch followed felicitation of the TSAT Person of the Year 2022 Anil Bansal, hosted by TSAT Chairman Kamlesh Mehta.
