Dear Friends,
May Day in Oxford starts at six in the morning, when a hushed crowd of 7000 people listen to the choir of Magdalen College atop their magnificent tower, as they sing in the day, and then to breakfast, followed by a bank holiday weekend - and thus my belated informal report.

You will be pleased to hear that our running professor completed the London Marathon with the grand time of four hours and 45 minutes. He told us that after 18 miles of running he did briefly hit the well-known why-did-I-agree-to-this phase, but bounced back to speed up the last mile. We hear that he came in 18,000th, which is good for a field of 36,000 runners. Professor Flood gained press coverage in the Asian media for his feat of endurance creating awareness of the Centre and its aims, and also raised sponsorship. We would like to thank the many individuals who have donated to this, with a particular mention of the East London Swaminaryan Temple for promoting the sponsorship among their congregation. Professor Flood, who was as bright as a daisy directly after the run was back at work after only one day's rest - proving that the OCHS does not run its scholars into the ground.

Our second online course, Vedas and Upanishads, has been launched today. Following on the heels of our first course, Understanding Hindu Identity - which is also starting again today - we are hopeful that our students experience the education and discussion through our online forums, which they so obviously enjoyed in opening session. We hope to be able to add live chat sessions to our programmes as these courses progress. We are very honoured to be able to include interviews with Professor Patrick Olivelle, who is Shivdasani Visiting Fellow for this term and a recognised world expert on Dharmashastra and the Upanishads, among other things. Please advertise these courses among your family and friends and there is still time to sign up for both of these courses at www.ochs.org.uk/ced.

We are currently working on two important community projects which will be fully launched by the beginning of summer. One involves a rewrite of the Hinduism section on the BBC Religion and Ethics webpage, which will avail of scholars from the Centre and beyond. The other is an environmental project, developed with the UN and ARC, the Alliance of Religion and Conservation. I hope to have more to report on these projects in my May update.
Term has started and our students and scholars are happy. The weather is turning, everything is greening, and many of you may have received an invitation by post to become a Friend of the OCHS for a mere five pounds per month. If so, rejoice for it is certainly a sign of the green shoots of recovery, for I have some simple advice that will empower you to help solve the credit crunch. Simply tear off the section that says standing order, fill in the details and post it back to us. You will feel so much better, and so will we - good punya credit for you and less crunch for us. If you did not yet receive your invitation by post you can download a form from: www.ochs.org.uk/sites/all/files/pdf/ochs_standing_order.pdf
For such a small amount - so small as to be recession proof - you can join the growing community of OCHS Friends and aid economic recovery!
With green shoots in mind I wish you all a very warm, leaf-filled, and fragrant Spring.