25 YEARS AFTER GROUND ZERO

Friday, September 11th, 2026

Peterborough, Ontario

At 5 am just after the morning mantras called Gauravastakam I welcomed all the participants who attended. “Good morning! Bonjour! This is 9.11 today. We will get through it.” There was a laughter response, but frankly it is a sad day. Twenty-five years ago the Twin Towers in New York came down which shocked the world and claimed the lives of 3,000 innocent civilians.

That was a dark period in recent history. In the midst of disaster so much goodness also arose. People assisting each other became a powerful reality. Just recall the incident of the people of Newfoundland and how they truly stepped up to help fellow men, women and children who were in need of help.

I reflected on the harsh reality of simultaneous human shame and gain. For now, on this day we are glorifying Krishna once again. A number of us attended another one of those Janmasthami celebrations, this time in Peterborough, a rather desirable mid-sized city to live in.

Our monthly congregation got together in a community hall to sing, dance, listen, eat and love all in one. And it was sweet. The place was full. The place was happy. Though it is quite the task for people to catch on to the idea of the receive-and-respond idea in standard kirtan, joyfulness was sustained.

Across the street was an activity field for roller blading, tennis etc. And when it came time to complete our Janmasthami program I dashed out and ran to that sports field just to get a few footsteps in. I was lagging behind numerically. Here was the opportunity. “Jayho!”