National Sai Women’s Retreat – 2022
Theme: Awakening Sacred Powers of Women
March 26th, Saturday, 2022, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm EDT
Guest Speaker: Sarojini Kangala
Sarojini is the eldest daughter of Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi and Prof. Anil Kumar Kamaraju, who is well known in Sai circles as the one who translated Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s talks live from Telugu to English. She grew up in a devout family and naturally imbibed that atmosphere. Swami very graciously performed her wedding with Shyam Kanagala in the year 1988 at Puttaparthi. She and her husband, Shyam, along with their two sons live in Dallas, Texas.
She earned a master’s degree. She is also a certified Montessori School Teacher with several years of experience. At the school she worked she taught a Peace Curriculum based on Swami’s Human Values. She was also an SSE Teacher for several years.
She authored a book on spirituality in the Telugu language titled “Sai Spandana” (or Sai’s Divine Response) for Swami’s 85th Birthday. With articles contributed by many individuals from the USA, Sarojini and her husband Shyam compiled a book – “United Souls of America for Sai” that was brought out in November 2010, again for Swami’s 85th Birthday.
As a token of gratitude to the Divine master she seeks to be involved on several fronts in spreading the love and light of the divine in her own humble way. For Swami’s 90th Birthday she co-authored a book along with her husband, titled “Faith, Hope, and Love: A Personal Journey from i to I” - a story of transformation from unhewn self to radiant Self.
Fireside Chat with Linda Ragsdale and Poorna Malavath
Panelists
Linda Ragsdale captivates her audiences by sharing her life experiences and keys to navigating 'happily even though' any life changing event. As a survivor of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, her wounds kindled her mission of healing the divides between people, taking a world stage to guide people on a personal passage way to peace. After surviving stage 3 breast cancer, her work expanded by the sheer nature of moving through this illness with a dedicated focus on peace and joy. It's a message worth hearing. It's a message worth sharing.
Linda is an Inspirational keynote, peace workshop leader and panel speaker. A wonderful quote from her website-
"Whether the terrorist comes from outside or within, peace offers a path of compassion and calm through the chaos. After all, it's never about how we're going to die, it's how we choose to live."
Poorna Malavath
In the summer of 2014, at the age of 13 years and 10 months, Poorna Malavath was the youngest person to scale Mt. Everest.
The first time Poorna saw Mount Everest, she turned to her coach and said cheerfully, “It’s not that tall. We can climb it in a day.” She was 13 years old! Poorna was listed on the Forbes India list of the self made women in 2020
Poorna joined the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society for her education.
Insights- Sai Women’s Peer Enrichment Group Initiative-
The Sai Women’s Peer Enrichment Group has been formed to oversee the development of a program that will allow for the development of Sri Sathya Sai Women’s Peer Enrichment Groups (SSSWPEG) within each region. These groups will be developed in a way that meets the unique needs of each region, with the overall mission to:
- Offer a safe spiritually based place/platform for women where they can share their concerns without judgement or stigma.
- Provide a support mechanism to empower women to solve their own issues.
- Offer Sai based solutions to dealing with situations that may seem overwhelming.
- Offer additional programs that enrich women’s lives spiritually, emotionally, and physically.