By Our Staff Reporter
Rishikesh, 22 Jun: The Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of Israel, Rony Yedidia-Clein, and her husband, Geoff, visited Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, for the International Day of Yoga weekend.
While at the ashram, they participated in daily Yoga and Meditation Sessions, the special Ganga Dussehra Aarti Ceremony, sacred Yagya ceremony and many other activities within the Ashram. This was their second visit to the Ashram from their earlier visit in March this year.
The highlight of their stay were their meetings with Swami Chidanand Saraswati, President of Parmarth Niketan, on a wide-range of topics – from environmental preservation to water conservation and Israel’s pilot collaboration with India to establish Agricultural Centres of Excellence throughout the nation.
Yedidia-Clein presented several topical books on water conservation to the Swami as she had come to know that water conservation is his passion.
One of the books, “Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World” by Seth M Siegel, proved to be a very popular offering, and it’s apt title – Let There Be Water – has become the mantra and inspiration for ongoing discussions about water scarcity concerns in the coming years.
During their discussions, Swami Chidanand stated, “Without water there can be no life, no health and no yoga. Therefore the Yoga we need to do together is Yoga for the Earth, which means that we must ensure sustainability in our water consumption and management. India can learn a lot from Israel’s example of water conservation and management. I am glad to see both countries coming together for a more sustainable planet for all.”
Rony Yedidia-Clein shared that she felt very welcome and at home in Rishikesh and looks forward to more home-comings. In her discussions she shared all the wonderful initiatives Israel is taking to share Israeli technology and knowledge for a more sustainable world, including better water and agricultural management.
