Be selfless to selfish

Two alter egos were sitting in a park met after a long time. One of them was fortunately me.

Me: Hey dude! Is everything all right? Why my all-time nuisance creating buddy is so serine today?

Friend: Leave me alone (annoyed).This whole world is 'Selfish'.

Me: Correct (politely). But what's wrong in being selfish?

Friend: For the one whom we care the most disappoints the most. And the one whom you love the most hurts the most.

Me: It's not actually not being selfish my dear. It's just you expected a lot.

We Homo sapiens grow up learning the newton's 3 laws. Most of us forget the initial two. But maximum remember the third one. 'Every action has equal and opposite reaction'. And with this beautiful law we initiate raising our expectations. But this law on practical grounds is not as tenable as it is applicable on scientific grounds. Life is not just about theories, derivations, numerical. But it's much more. Not every student who studies for 18-20 hours regularly clears IAS exam. Not every war leads to peace.

Friend: It's really turning out frustrating for me.

Me: Calm down. You know the major reason of our frustration at maximum times is Expectation. If we aid someone, we expect the same from the guy some or other day. And if he is not able to do so we tag him with one of the most mis-interpreted word of the world 'selfish'. Without knowing his circumstances we set our mindsets and instead of fixing problem we give rise to another problem.

Friend: Oh c’mon! It's human nature. Why should we not expect?

Me: Nobody is selfish in this world. It's just how the needs and demands alter according to circumstances. Nobody can live isolated. Not even the Jainism saints who have although taken moksha but still urge to share and enlighten their thoughts. They wish to see the change. They do expect. But before expecting any change. Change yourself first. Expect from yourself rather than others.

Friend: Well that's true. But the word selfish means arrogance resulting into arrogance.

Me: This is exactly where we are mistaken my dear. The word selfish is not always a negative connotation as we perceive. To survive in this world we need to be selfish. Selfish like at least fulfilling our desires and working on our basic needs.

Friend: Yeah! True. It does sound interesting.

Me: One of the greatest ironies in life is before being social we need to be selfish first.  I hope you are not misinterpreting the term selfish now. Being selfish here means polishing yourselves, working on your forte by learning from others.

I remember one of the beautiful lines spoken by superstar Mr Shahrukh Khan that, do not engage in psychological talks until and unless you do not achieve anything (gyan tab tak na baato jab tak khud gyaani na ho jao).

Friend: So it's better to work on our grass first. Right?

Me: Oh yeah! Exactly. We cannot completely discard our expectations. But still we can minimize them. Maximum problems will soon get solved then and there itself.  Before being social be an achiever first. And when it comes to aid 'Be selfless to especially those who are selfish. By doing this you will definitely fall in love with yourselves. Concluding my words, stop complaining start living.

By - Purva Banthiya

" बूंद में जीवन "

किसी नल के नीचे बाल्टी रखना, खाली बाल्टी, नल को बंद करके थोड़ा सा खोल  देना, एकदम थोड़ा सा,

एक एक बून्द गिरे बाल्टी में इतना सा ही खोलना, एक एक बून्द जल्दी जल्दी बाल्टी में गिरने लगेगी,

कुछ समय के बाद बाल्टी भर जाएगी, अब थोड़ा सा ध्यान दीजिये,

बाल्टी मौत है, नल ईश्वर है , हमारा एक जन्म नल से बाल्टी तक का सफर है, हवा रस्ते की संसार है,

जितना पानी भरता जा रहा हमारे संचित कर्म है, और हम बून्द है, 

समय की रफ़्तार इतनी तेज़ है की पता नहीं चलता कब नल से छूटे और कब बाल्टी में समां गए,

बस इतना देखना है की क्या बून्द बाल्टी तक पहुंचने में ये जान पायेगी की वो बून्द नहीं बल्कि ईश्वर का अंग है,

जो ईश्वर में से निकल के ईश्वर में ही विलीन होने जा रहा है, अगर बून्द ने ये जान लिया तो फिर,

ना बाल्टी है, ना हवा है, ना सफर है, ना नल है , बस बून्द ही है ,

और अगर नहीं जान पायी, तो काल कालांतर तक ये ही चलता रहेगा |

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-© तनोज दाधीच

Holi - A Saga, Glory, or being woeful

“HOLI HAIIIIII”….. Yes!  It’s the most vibrant phrase uttered by the electrifying crowd of our country INDIA every year.  Holi is known as the festival of colours. It is celebrated with ebullience and mirth on full moon day. In spite of being a joyous festival, celebrating HOLI, hammers us to remember our demean history about Holika side by side in a commemoration of the divine love of Radha for Krishna. This festive officially occurs in spring with Holi celebrated as a Festival of love. Holi gets us close to our religion and inextricably linked with our mythology as it is essentially the celebration of various legends associated with the festival.  Though there are numerous legends describing the holi celebration, the foremost of all are Prahlad and Hiranyakashyap. Hiranyakashyap-the king of that time, full of haughtiness, wants everybody’s devotion towards him. To his great wrath, Prahlad began to worship lord Vishnu. To get rid of his son, the king asked Holika, his sister to enter into a blazing fire, with his son in her lap, as she had a boon to enter fire intact and reduced to ashes.

Additionally, Mythology also states that Holi is the celebration of death of Giantess Pootana who tried to kill infant, Krishna by feeding death-dealing milk to him.

Also, another path led to celebrate Holi, is the legend of Ogress Dhundhi who used to trouble children in the realm of Raghu, and was eventually chased away by the pranks of the children on the day of Holi. Showing their belief in the legend, children till now play pranks and catapult misemploy at the time of Holika Dahan. Celebration of these various myths associated with Holi, reassuring the people about the power of the truth, as the moral of all these legends manifests the ultimate victory of good over evil. Apart from all these parables, holi is celebrated at a time of the year when the fields are in full bloom and people are expecting a good harvest. This gives a people a good reason to rejoice, merry go round and immerse themselves in the spirit of Holi.

There are innumerable ways of memorializing holi in different states of our country. In some parts, it’s a belief that playing with colours help to promote good health as colours are said to have great impact on our body and our health. To further enhance the festive spirit of Holi celebrations we have a social sanction to get a kick with the tradition of bhang, dancing, playing with water etc.

The purpose of Holi is not to celebrate only the positive emotions but in some cases it serves as a legitimate way of expressing negative emotions might also be called for. 

Naturally this should not be used as an excuse for malicious behavior and should be done with a spirit of good humor as; Holi is after all a festival of triumph and euphoria, with the express purpose of healing society, preventing negative tendencies from overwhelming us. Another aspect of Holi is to help us break the barriers we have built around ourselves and our ego.

Also, looking at gloomy side of the festival, some loses their constraints stepping out the limit line! Though the myths are celebrated traditionally, the unexpected inhumanity by the mentally ill devils turns the jovial ambience Blue…! Keeping aside all joy, Centuries past, behind the joyful festival, there’s still a dubious situation for girls or women, “Are they sheltered?” The Question is that- Will perilous attitude last long? Will the sick mind turn optimistic??

It’s a huge question to answer, and yet contradictory!!

By Stuti Holkar

OUTDOORS & HEALTH

When I was a kid, summer vacations used to be a most awaited time for me. I could go out to my nani’s place and can visit the farms (natural beauty), play in the garden with my friends until the sun went down. I kept myself quite occupied without any of today’s modern technologies.

Now, exams are about to finish and there are hundreds of television stations, video games, and interactive Web sites that will keep kids occupied for hours on end. Kids staying indoors for a long period of time have prolonged negative effects extending far beyond childhood. They start missing something that is essential for their health and development. Parents think that their child is safe and will not develop any health problems if they stay indoors all the time. The truth is that a child who spends more time indoors gets subjected to Social, Physical and Emotional problems.

There are many health benefits that make outdoor play great for children.

Ø  Control childhood obesity

The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing; Part of this huge increase is contributed to less outdoor. It's hard to get enough active play and exercise if you're always inside playing video games or watching TV. And without enough exercise, kids can become overweight.

Ø  Bone health

Vitamin D increases with outdoor exposure to the sun. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends just 10 minutes of early morning sun exposure per day for a good daily vitamin D dose. Vitamin D helps in calcium absorption, protect children from heart disease, diabetes and bone problems.

Ø  Reduce stress

Spending time outdoors has been linked with lower stress levels in children. Playing outdoor games for at least 30 minutes every day can do wonders to refresh and rejuvenate physically and mentally.

Ø  Promote creative and innovation

Outdoors, a child learns on multiple levels with each new adventure (Burdette and Whitaker, 2005). With all of the imaginary castles, lands, creatures, the brain develops at a much faster rate than for those who play indoors. There are numerous effects. Not only do they become better learners, and do well in school, but they are more fun to be around (i.e. they make more friends)

Benefits of outdoor games:

Physical development

·         Physical strength

·         Balance

·         Muscular strength

·         Hand eye coordination

·         Flexibility

·         Weight control

·         Cardiovascular endurance

Social development

·         Citizenship

·         Discipline

·         Teamwork

·         Leadership

·         Confidence boosting

·         Communication skills development

·         Feeling of freedom

·         Awareness

Few examples of outdoor games:

Tracking, Cycling, Walking, Gardening, Hide and seek, Jump rope, Ice water, Sports like cricket, football, basketball, badminton etc.

It’s good for our kids to be outside more often. As a parent, it’s our responsibility to provide varied opportunities for outdoor play, exploration and games.

By- Raksha Goyal

Jingles everywhere!!

It's easy to preach others to donate but difficult to do ourselves. Just with this thought on this Christmas fest NGO AnantAman Social Welfare Society requested society to, "Be a SANTA for some NEEDY"

It's Christmas day, 

At 11:30 members of our group started gathering at Hellen Keller ( Blind School ). All were full of energy & enthusiastic. Various responsibilities were delegated among members. 

Celebration leader Ms. Raksha Goyal took lead and asked members to have small interaction with kids. Our Member Atul, Hardik, Rajat and Abhishek helped in placing banners of our Ngo at different places.

Group General Secretary and another leader for this Celebration Mr. Umang Daga helped in making arrangements for music system as children there although couldn't see but had an urge to dance and have fun.

Various volunteers also participated in  celebration, Ms. Khushboo, Ms. Ilma, Ms. Neera etc have helped in arranging songs of choices. Member Ms. Varnini decorated Christmas tree. At 12:00 pm all the arrangements were ready. At 12:10 pm Our member Poonam, Payal, Divya helped in organising Chair race and divided teams. We had completed first round then.

At 12:20 pm our Chief guest Mr. Sandeep Rajappa SDM (MHOW) arrived.

Ms. Raksha Goyal, Mr. Prateek Maheshwari, Ms. Neera greeted the chief guest, presented a small token of remembrance and shared some information about the working of our NGO.

Mr. Sandeep Sir (SDM) has seen few games and distributed prizes to some winners.

At 12:35 pm he has to depart as having other official meetings, he has given small message to our group members and motivated by sharing his personal experiences of life.

It's 12:45 pm, various games like chair race, lemon race, rope jumping, poetry competition, singing competition etc were organized for kids with support of all members. It's 2:00 pm approx all games were finished and listed down names of all winners in different games.

At 2:10 pm one family in reference with our group member Ms. Poonam joined our celebration.

We all celebrated birthday of Ms. Chinky, she got emotional and started crying while just all children there wished her ""..hapieee birthday..""

All the prizes were distributed via birthday girl and another volunteer Ms. Ilma khureshi distributed Chocolates among children.

At 2:30 pm we served food, cake, pastry to children and wished good luck for their life.

After that few members went to M Y hospital and distributed cake, clothes, woollens, blankets etc.

So in this we all tried to share happiness and make this Christmas special.

<***>Diwali Fest..<***>

One of the auspicious Celebration, pious fest, full of zest, zeal and enthusiasm.

We celebrate this festival with our family, friends, relatives, purchase new clothes, distribute Sweets, visit each other's home to wish and share some time with our loved ones.

It's our pleasure to share this time with those who usually have an eye at their door step that someone will visit and share happiness with them. Some one will come who will bring new clothes, sweets, crackers etc for them. Those ignored kids always wait for kind hearts who would come to devote their time.

With this thought, our NGO AnantAman Social Welfare Society organized Diwali Celebration at Orphange.. 

At 10:00 AM we reached at orphange. When kids there saw us, the smile on their face was unforgettable. Really it was like those kids were waiting only for us.

From 10:15 am onnwards all our NGO members started gathering. Celebration started with small interaction with kids. 

On the demand of kids their at 10:30 am we started making arrangements for 'Dal Bafla'.

All our members shared several responsibility on their shoulders.. 

Suvidhi Sethi, Varnini Poddar helped in placing all our NGO banners, making arrangements for food materials etc..

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Devendra Pandey, Poonam Rajoriya helped in taking care of children.

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Mr. Prateek Maheshwari when entered orphange with his wife and daughter the other kids were more excited to see family at their premises.  

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At 11:30 am Atul Maheshwari made arrangements for cold drinks and light break fast for children. 

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Mr. Umang and Mr. Vidit took charge to capture memories i.e. of photography.

MR. Hitesh Bhawnani made arrangement of Dhol, speakers for the dance & masti.

In this way all the work was delegated among members.

In between Mr. Mahesh Bairagi taken care of food department to make availability of all things required in Dal Bafla receipy and helped Sheff to prepare food for all those kids.

All the things were going smoothly as all members duly taken care of all responsibilities taken and well coordinated with each other.

Dance on Dhol, Rangoli, Jokes, various amazing games etc all this make those kids cheerful, delighted.

Now the children feel hungry and were waiting for the food to be get ready as soon as possible.

By 1:15 pm food was ready to be served to children.

By 2:00 Pm we all got free from lunch and then proceed for the Clothes and Sweet Distribution.

Our members donated New Clothes to kids there and again a small fun activity was organized for them.

When we had to depart from there all the faces looked cheerless and kids were asking when you all will come back?

Although it is true to say that Crackers create pollution but we have to break our rules for a day to bring smile on all those dull faces. We distributed some crackers among kids. 

May be it's a new way for some one, may be it's common way to some to enjoy in this manner but really not only those kids even we all people felt so much joy that when 5 hours passed no one realized. 

"Really these are wonderful memories to preserve"

– Hemant Gupta

Whatever happens.. happens for good..!!

May be it wasn't meant to be your destiny..

May be it just wanted to remain a small chunk of your destiny….

May be everything today for you sounds to be tricky..

May be this world to you now seems to be freaky….

May be worst phase has gone but some of it's unwanted moments still remain sticky..

May be now you no more bother of what's going on as you started living lonely and now no more a finicky….

May be it is really proving to be tough but believe me adversity is for short span only the atrocious moments make things messy..

But trust me life is unpredictable; a complete combo of joy and sorrow, every  phase has it's own latency….

And at times it's okay even if things are not going okay let the real you understand the harsh realities of life in this state of dormancy..

Eventually after this dormant stage I am certain that you come up with energy like never ever before and will become deterministic just like a crazy….

And the world will recognize you for what you are along with what all you faced but still raised by setting a perfect afflatus even after being creaky..

Author: Poorva Banthiya