We would like to share a magical experience with you:
We are sitting at the kitchen table in Shruti Poddar’s Haveli in a desert town, Ramgarh Shekhawati, deep in rural Rajasthan. It is a cool December morning and the sun has just risen above the roofs of the ancient Havelies (Heritage Villas) of Ramgarh. The city is old. Really old. From our roof terrace we see camels and donkeys in the streets. The Havelies look fragile and run-down, yet somehow the scenery is magical. Perhaps because the buildings still whisper of the city’s glorious and rich past. Our host Dr. Shruti Poddar explains what happened to the once richest Indian city of Rajasthan, with the highest GDP around the late 1800’s.
The town was created by her ancestors and eventually became the hub for wealth, abundance, international trade, a world renowned centre for Vedic education and indigenous healing practices. It was a stunning well planned town with unique architecture and a profusion of exquisite frescoes (wall paintings). However, many years later, when the SETHS (merchants) left for the harbour towns Bombay and Calcutta, the town slowly but surely fell into disrepair and decay. The beautiful Havelies were deserted and eventually many became ruins, and the community felt abandoned by its leaders.
Today, Shruti, who is the eleventh generation of one of the families who created the city, has taken on the nearly impossible task of breathing life into the town again and taking it to the next level as the heritage and healing habitat of the future.
Well-connected in the Delhi business world, and steeped in her spiritual path from childhood on, she feels the call to leave her old life behind and devote all her energy, time and resources to re-build Ramgarh Shekhawati. Her vision is to revive the beauty of Ramgarh Shekhawati and make it into a healing city based on old Indian spiritual and healing traditions, which are so abundant in this region.
She bought land and a number of Havelis and urged the government to start building new roads. In addition to this mammoth project, Shruti also oversees numerous charitable initiatives – with a focus on education, upskilling and entrepreneurship of girls and women, with special emphasis on conserving and reviving indigenous knowledge systems, sciences and technologies.
Here we see true courage in action. Shruti, one of our featured speakers at the HEALING SUMMIT, is about to create a quantum leap for her community, based on her own inner beliefs, wisdom and motivation.
So, just what does it mean to “take a quantum leap?”
According to the dictionary, a quantum leap is an abrupt change, a sudden increase, or a dramatic advance. The term “quantum leap” is actually derived from quantum physics and refers to the explosive jump that particles like electrons make when moving from one quantum state to another. This phenomenon offers a profound metaphor to guide us in the coming year.
In the same way, groups of thoughtful, deeply committed humans can initiate “quantum leaps” by the innovative and effective new ways they run governments, businesses, and other entities. They initiate profound changes that reshape the welfare and progress of humanity.
This quantum leap will shift our consciousness from seeing ourselves as individuals who are isolated and insulated, to developing a profound awareness of our interconnection with the world and all the beings who live in it.
In our upcoming sessions at the HEALING SUMMIT 2019, we will aim to unfold the depths and nuances of the meaning of the quantum leap metaphor and apply it to the process of healing ourselves, humanity, and our planet.
In case you have not registered for the HEALING SUMMIT yet, please do so now as seats are limited to 150 participants. Click here to register. View our current list of confirmed speakers here.
Let’s celebrate, learn and grow together at the HEALING SUMMIT 2019 in Portugal.
Have a wonder-filled holiday season,
Anne and Elisabeth
