It was beautiful to welcome the Charge d’affaires of the Embassy of Israel, Rony Yedidia-Clein, and her husband, Goeff, to Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh for International Day of Yoga weekend. While at the ashram they participated in daily Yoga & Meditation Sessions, Special Ganga Dussehra Aarti Ceremony, Sacred Yagya ceremony and many other activities within the Ashram over the weekend. 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 HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji – Muniji, President of Parmarth Niketan, on a wide-range of topics – from environmental preservation to water conservation and protection to Israel’s pilot collaboration with India to establish Agricultural Centres of Excellence throughout the nation. Mrs Yedidia-Clein presented several topical and beautiful books on water conservation to Pujya Swamiji as she had come to know that protecting and working for water 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 its 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, Pujya Swamiji shared, “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.”
Mrs 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 was doing to share Israeli technology and knowledge for a more sustainable world, including better water and agricultural management. She also really enjoyed the peaceful, tranquil and vibrant environment of the Ashram.
As they departed, Mr and Mrs Yedidia-Clein planned to visit back to their Himalayan home again soon and to work together to ensure a water-secure world for all.
