Empowering the Vulnerable

Led by Didi Krishna Kumari, the Mission’s outreach programs reached diverse sectors of society, prioritizing dignity and practical support:

• Healthcare Support: Distribution of nutrition and hygiene kits at Tarachand, Kamla Nehru, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel hospitals.
• Disability Rights: The “Limbs for the Limbless” initiative successfully distributed 42 prosthetic limbs, restoring mobility for recipients, including infants & children.
• Education & Youth: Stationery and exam-essential kits were delivered to ZP School children in Mulshi and students at Mahatma Phule School.
• Social Inclusion: Tailored aid and apparel distributions were held for the visually impaired, the transgender community, and residents of the Mahila Ashram Orphanage.

Sustainability Through Skill Development

A unique highlight of this year’s program was the integration of the Dada Vaswani Skill Development Institute. Most of the cloth bags and apparel distributed were handcrafted by students at the Institute, ensuring that the Mission’s charitable efforts also support vocational training and local livelihoods.

A Legacy of Gratitude

Since its inception in 1998, Thanksgiving Week has been the Mission’s primary vehicle for spreading the message of “Gratitude in Action.” The week included daily havans, shukrana satsangs, the launch of the 2026 Hindi inspirational calendar (Apne Jeevan ko Samridh Banaye), and a soul-stirring musical session by the “Soul Strings” band Bhuushan Maloo.

Key Message

In her address to the gathering, Didi Krishna Kumari shared a transformative mantra for daily living:

For everything, say, ‘Thank you, GOD.’ And when things do not go as planned, affirm that everything that happens is for my good.”

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His talks resonated with people across Chicago land, leaving a profound impact on the youth and individuals of diverse backgrounds. This universal message transcended race and religion, offering knowledge that spoke to the shared human experience.

In collaboration with the University, Prayagraj will offer youth and adult retreats in 2024 as well as online sessions throughout the year. For more information contact Aparna Kulkarni at 847-306-7616 or AparnaK@umasinc.com.

Unearthing Human Nature

Vedanta is a science which deals with human beings. An encyclopedia that has the compilation of subtlest thoughts related to the human relationship with the Transcendental Self. Rendered by, several enlightened sages of India. These great people dedicated their lives thousands of years ago to reflect upon the mystery of human origin, purpose of living, and constitution of human inner nature. The effort of such crystalline contemplation culminated in the Vedanta philosophy, which decoded the apogee of happiness. Present-day humans are disconnected from their roots and live in ignorance about this state of Bliss.

The Labyrinth

Today, the world over alma maters and mushrooming educational institutions are priming students with a lot of data. No doubt valuable to earn wealth and mark the material progress of nations. But limit the young in their rational approach and application of the knowledge provided. Very few truly implement the knowledge gained. The rest just follow a beaten pattern to work. Consequently, the young become victims of contemporaneity pressure. Affliction arises out of work culture and impending personal perils caused by a lack of clarity in balancing their work and professional lives.

The Unrestrained Mind, the Ignorance of Intellect

The youth are unaware of Vedantic education. People hence find themselves tormented by the pernicious traits of an ungoverned mind. The lack of higher values in present-day education has made humans weak. They find challenges in life difficult to handle, mostly, amongst well-educated and the rich. Depression and stress-related ailments have risen to alarming proportions. Divorce has reached record-breaking numbers worldwide. The human mind turns malignant when left unattended to make decisions by itself in the absence of the intellect. As a result, greed has led to decadence in society. Humans have turned greedy to amass ill-gained wealth and devour millions, billions, without paying any heed to others living juxtaposed in denial. Ultimately, the greedy only find themselves isolated and lonely.

The Problem Lies Elsewhere

Knowledge gained from universities has no doubt raised the standard of human living and made people wealthy and indulgent. But are they happy? By their admission, people have lost their morals, peace, and cheer. The standard of life has deteriorated to a substantial level.

The lack of Vedantic knowledge also makes it difficult for individuals to unravel one’s true aptitude. As a result, few flourish in their natural field of work. Others experience work as a burden, instead of finding it a source of pleasure and joy. Vedanta brings in clarity to discover one’s aptitude and subsequently identify a suitable field of work. One then finds success by employing the right technique of action guided by the intellect. When work becomes a pleasure, so does the working environment.

Live to Give

Giving should be preceded by thinking. Take a look at the charity structure in the world. Ideally, it should be the confluence of feeling and thinking to give society punctiliously. A true philanthropist will initiate research if wealth gives charity, and has resolved a whirlwind of present predicaments. Corporations today have started charity enclaves, urged by the government to be socially responsible. But has this changed the mindset of people? Seldom has the donor looked into the effect and effort of organizations and hence the persisting quandaries in the world remain recurring. Genuine philanthropists share their wealth. However, most charitable entities are unable to reach the bottom of the problem. Applying balm to a wound is calming. But that will not help in getting to the source of the disease. True charity is supposed to lift a person spiritually. Make one independent to progress along with others. Not make them dependent selfish, lethargic, and diseased. Remember, “Candent living brings forth Prudent giving”.

The Time is Ticking

Few care about Vedantic intellectual education. An education is beyond the precincts of secular education provided by schools and universities. The educated should mull over the recent graph of wars, poverty, crimes, rapes, stress, divorces… These unfortunate escalations of events have gripped all families in the world. Even children are not spared, as crime perpetrated on children is on the rise.

Pressure on children has led them not to cooperate with parents and educators. Eager to leave homes, the moment they reach the periphery of youth. Therefore, the necessity of bringing in a value system alongside secular education in society should be implemented imminently. The good and spiritual side of humans has to be tapped. The negative will then slowly diminish. Vedanta impacts an individual to harness one’s mind. By imbibing its knowledge, you gain intellectual clarity. This then creates collectively awakened human beings to be more affable and reach out. There is a saying: “You cannot reach God unless you serve & love the expressions of God”.

For the Youth

The future of every country is the power of youth. Parents must pause for a moment and look behind at the legacy they leave, Asian families in recent times have a tradition of debts. In Westerners, a tradition of separation is in relationships, angst in their behavioral habits, and pills to pop anxiety. This directly affects every child.

The youth get influenced by anyone higher in stature. They want to emulate everything their icons do. It is hereby the responsibility of all leaders to leave trails of culture and wisdom that follow sound intellectual reason. Social media has become the death knell of values, a harbinger of sorrow. A disorder which is the eating up concentration of youth and even adults. Use it to evolve, and benefit others, but don’t get abused by it, harm others, and devolve!

An effort has to be made to save the youth. Leaders need to plan a paradigm shift in education. An awakened person would leave behind a cleaner world and not unresolved filth for the young to remove. Albert Einstein made an apt, wise statement: ‘We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them’.

Oh, folks! Isn’t it time to wake up? Awaken the intellect with the knowledge of Vedanta.

It is hence time to go back only to move forward in Time.

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“While there is much speculation about inflation’s impact on consumer behavior, our data tells us that this Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see robust store traffic with a record number of shoppers taking advantage of value pricing,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “We are optimistic that retail sales will remain strong in the weeks ahead, and retailers are ready to meet consumers however they want to shop with great products at prices they want to pay.”

According to the survey, more than two-thirds (69%) of holiday shoppers plan to shop during Thanksgiving weekend this year. The top reasons consumers plan to shop are because the deals are too good to pass up (59%), because of tradition (27%) or because it is something to do (22%) over the holiday.

Black Friday continues to be the most popular day to shop, with 69% (114.9 million) planning to shop then, followed by 38% (63.9 million) on Cyber Monday. Among the 114.9 million Black Friday shoppers, 67% say they expect to head to stores, up from 64% in 2021.

Similar to 2020 and 2021, this year, 60% of holiday shoppers had started browsing and buying for the season as of early November. This consumer trend of earlier shopping was accelerated by the pandemic. In 2019, 56% of holiday shoppers started their shopping around this time.

“While consumers continue to save the bulk of their holiday shopping for later in November and December, some of that spending has shifted into October,” Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “This year, 18% of holiday shoppers have completed at least half of their holiday shopping. While this is on par with last year, it is up from only 11% a decade ago.”

Online search (43%) remains the most popular source of gift inspiration, followed by friends and family (35%) and within a retail store (31%). The top five gift categories consumers plan to give our clothing (55%), followed by gift cards at 45%, toys at 37%, books/music/movies/video games at 33%, and food/candy at 31%.

Gift cards remain a favorite gift item, with total spending expected to reach $28.6 billion, compared with $28.1 billion in 2021. Similar to last year, holiday shoppers plan to purchase between three to four gift cards and spend an average of $51.47 per card ($165.87 per person). Consumers are most likely to purchase a gift card for a restaurant (27%), department store (26%), or bank-issued gift card (25%). Another 10% plan to purchase a food delivery service gift card such as DoorDash or Uber Eats.

For those buying for children, the top toys for boys this year include 1. Lego, 2. Hot Wheels, 3. cars, and trucks, 4. PlayStation, 5. video games, 6. Pokémon, 7. Nerf, 8. electric/remote control cars, 9. dinosaurs, and 10. Xbox. For girls, the top toys are 1. Barbie, 2. doll, 3. L.O.L. dolls, 4. Lego, 5. makeup, 6. Squishmallows, 7. American Girl and apparel (tied), 8. Disney-related items, 9. baby dolls, and 10. cell phone and Magic Mixies (tied).

The survey of 7,719 adult consumers was conducted November 1-8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.

NRF forecast earlier this month that holiday sales during November and December will grow between 6% and 8% over 2021 to between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion. Last year’s holiday sales grew 13.5% over 2020 and totaled $889.3 billion, shattering previous records. Holiday retail sales have averaged an increase of 4.9% over the past 10 years, with pandemic spending in recent years accounting for considerable gains.

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