Odisha-born spiritual guru first Odia to deliver speech in UK Parliament

Bhubaneswar: Odisha-born Guruji Dr Chandrabhanu Satpathy recently addressed parliamentarians at House of Commons in United Kingdom, becoming the first Odia to be extended such privilege.

Dr Satpathy was invited for a discourse attended by members of parliament (MPs) and special invitees of Indian origin. The programmed was held on Wednesday at Committee Room No 10 of House of Commons.

The founder president of Shirdi Sai Global Foundation recounted his past as an academician in his opening address. “I am very delightful and thankful to everybody for inviting me. My first reaction is when I was teaching Political Science at Ramjas College under Delhi University in 1970, I was teaching the constitution of governance of UK, US, Switzerland and other countries. That was very theoretical. I never thought that I would come to these parliaments – first in the US and then here as if I have come for practicals. I am delighted to see what I had read and experience here,” he said.

The spiritual thinker, writer and philanthropist spoke on ‘Indian Spirituality and Culture-Relevance in the contemporary world’.

“Spiritualism, culture and religion are all intermixed. Religion is a part of culture. Culture is what our forefathers thought and passed on to the next generation,” he added.

Worth mentioning, he was also invited to address The United States House of Representatives in 2015. He is the first Indian to have received such an honor.

The retired IPS officer is a multi-lingual writer of eminence and has penned a large number of books in English, Hindi and Odia.