Celebration of life

 

Celebration of life

 

     Life is a renewal…Life is a constant ebb and flow….

 

Life is a celebration when we happen upon a sapling, sprouting from the broken concrete roof, we catch ourselves smiling, wondering, how did the plant grow where there was no soil at all?

 

Life is celebration when an old vendor on a random roads, catches our eyes, a mutual exchange of smiles takes place. We are strangers to each other and yet we relish it, momentary, it may be.

 

There is a time for butterflies to breed, there is time for lizards to thrive, there is a time for houseflies to breed, there is a time for mosquitoes too. And wait, there is a season for dragonflies clutching perilously to leaves, and yes, before the rains, transparent wings glistening….

 

To be blessed with the five senses and intuition to perceive all these, if this isn’t a celebration, what is?

 

Fresh earthy smell of the first rain, leaves rustling in the wind, palm leaves tap taping, sunbeams filtering through the leaves, playing fun games of light and shadow on the ground…..the celebration of life.

 

Throbbing heart, chattering children, frolicking calves, puppies wagging their tails, infinity times, predator rounding in the prey, owl hooting in the night, pigeons aflutter in the sky, parrots alighting on the electric pole wires, sparrows chirping away, oh! The tumultuous celebration of life! Ask the man, what celebration the shade is, when he has walked long distances in the scorching sun. Ask him how the cold spring water feels.

 

Human experience, constructed on sense perceptions, delights in the thought that it is ‘all’ knowing. Life laughs in glee and says, “Come, come I am this and some more…

 

”What about stillness? Life is a celebration in stillness too, mountains wear away, forming soil and silt, carried down to the plains by rain, into rivers forming land and reaching distant seas……

 

Life perpetuating itself across eons, in stillness. Time and space are limiting terms created by the human mind, our Mother earth celebrates life with changing seasons, unfathomable are her ways, in her vastness she sustains all, ‘chith’ and ‘achith’, blessing all with her immensity.

 

Bouncing back from pandemic

 

Bouncing back from the pandemic

 

     As the pandemic swept over the world, country after country, first wave, second wave and so on... one thing was clear, whether 6 or 60, life was getting tough and uncertain. Children were not able to go to school, friendships had become just fond memories, loneliness and stress were creeping in at alarming rates, sitting long hours within the confines of four walls and in front of the computer screen was becoming more and more depressing, and jobs in many sectors were dwindling.

     In the face of this reality, once again we humans proved our mettle. Our determination and will-power proved stronger than the virus. We were not only able to defeat the virus to a great extent with vaccines but were able to find silver linings, positive impacts and happy moments in the face of the pandemic. Spending more time with parents and siblings, eating well, learning new skills, taking up interesting hobbies were becoming more and more enjoyable. We suddenly realised that we were able to bounce back from this adversity, cope with the difficulties it created, learn and adapt to the ‘new normal’. We were becoming strong and resilient without even realising it. Patience was turning out to be our most important virtue. Human relationships had become more meaningful. We are learning important life lessons, though we are still influenced by the repercussions brought about by the pandemic around the globe...As we herald in the New Year 2022 let us remember that we are indeed blessed to experience divine favour and protection over our lives in the past year. We need to resolve to begin this year in right earnest.

     Solving together: By the end of the year 2021 we felt we were heading towards the end of the pandemic but the new variant Omicron is hitting us like a tsunami, engulfing continents and countries. This pandemic has been a sort of reset across sectors and societies from education to means of transportation to healthcare availability to mental health. But the fact of the matter is that the consequences have forced us to look at how we work as a specie on this planet and solve matters collaboratively. In partnership: “No school can work well for children if parents and teachers do not act in partnership on behalf of the children’s interests,”

     Flying beyond: The pandemic has prepared the youth of today to prepare well for the future, strongly rooted in values and with wings to fly towards success. The comfortable living of yesterday has been replaced by a scenario where they seek the world of opportunities, try to exceed expectations, have achievable plans and achieve bigger than expected. We trust and wish the year 2022 will be a year of VICTORY for you! says Dorothy H. Cohen. Teachers made their homes their classrooms for children, and parents now saw what was happening in school which they could never dream of seeing before the pandemic. It has been proved beyond doubt that education is an agreement between committed teachers, parents with high expectations and enthusiastic students.

     Be grateful: In deep gratitude let us be thankful to God Almighty for His providence, for bringing us back to school, to our friends who have still not given up on us, to our families for their care and love, to our teachers who stood by us and to many others in different ways. It is the time to gain realisation of what our life actually means.

HIDE AND SEEK

 

Hide and Seek

 

One summer day a mother looked out through the window of her house. There in the garden she saw her little daughter rolling around the grass in laughter. Intrigued, she went outside to investigate.

Approaching her daughter the mother asked, “My child, what do you find so amusing?”

“I understand, I understand,” replied the child among bursts of giggles.

“What do you mean?” questioned the mother.

“Well,” answered the child, “I was playing outside on the grass when I started thinking about God, and how I have heard people say that God is everywhere. But I looked around and couldn’t see God anywhere. Then I thought that God must be playing a game of hide and seek. So I decided to try finding God.”

“I looked amongst the roses for I have heard that God is beautiful. But God was not there. I lay on my back and searched the skies for I have heard that God is up in the Heavens. But God was not there. I dug in the ground for I have heard that God supports us all. But God was not there. And I became very frustrated and I called out -where are you God? Why have you left me? And then, all of a sudden, a sense of peace came over me and I realized the Truth!”

Spellbound, the mother gently inquired, “What truth?”

“That,” giggled the little child, “it was not God who was hiding; it was me.”

TEACHER'S DAY MESSAGE

 

Teacher’s day

 

Out of all the messages I received on social media from my studets, friends and colleagues, on the occasion of Teacher’s day today, I liked the following one:

Once Dr. Radhakrishnan was asked, “What’s the difference between a Station Master and School master?”

To which he replied, “One minds the trains and the other trains the minds.”

Rightly said by the great teacher.

This reminds me of one of the stories that I have read in this regard.

 

THE RIGHT TEACHING

Once, there was a renowned monk who lived in a beautiful monastery with many of his pupils. His teachings were known to be very effective and many of his students grew up to become great masters themselves.

One day, one of them was caught stealing from his fellow-students and they reported him to the monk. But he took no action against the boy.

A few days later the same boy was again caught stealing. And again the head monk did nothing to punish him.

This angered the other students who drew up a petition asking for the dismissal of the thief. They threatened to leave en masse if the boy was allowed to stay in the monastery.

The teacher called a meeting of the students. When they had assembled, he said to them: “You are good boys who know what is right and what is wrong. If you leave, you will have no trouble in joining some other school. But what about your brother who does not even know the difference between right and wrong? Who will teach him if I don’t? No, I cannot ask him to go even if it means losing all of you.”

Tears coursed down the cheeks of the boy who had stolen. He never stole again and in later life, became renowned for his integrity.

 

To teach is to touch a life forever:

Sometimes through words, sometimes through gestures, sometimes through actions and sometimes setting a right example.

THE LANGUAGE MATTERS

 

The language matters

      The story goes that once there was this huge elephant in a London zoo. Children would come from miles around to visit it and hold out their little hands filled with peanuts and the elephant would gently feed off their extended open arms. But one day, for some incomprehensible reason, Raja changed. He almost killed the man who cleaned the cage. He would trumpet in anger at the very same children who came with his little treats. He seemed to be pinning away and refused to eat. He had to be put in restraining chains.

     His frantic owner wondered how he could recover the amount that he had spent on buying the elephant. He hit upon the diabolical idea of conducting a public execution. Raja was to be executed and all those who wanted to watch the spectacle could do so for a fee. A huge crowd watched in breathless anticipation as three men prepared to end Raja’s life with their high powered rifles. Before the final count could be given, a man stepped forth from the crowd and requested that he be given a chance to bring Raja around. The owner argued that Raja had been given enough of chances and had to be destroyed before he killed someone.

     The man stood firm and once again asked for just two minutes in a cage. He was reluctantly given permission since by then the crowd too was rooting for Raja. The man entered the cage of the bellowing angry elephant and began to speak to Raja in a strange tongue. The elephant seemed to immediately become quieter and started whining and trembling.

     He then gently picked up the man, put him on his back and walked around the enclosure with him. Everyone burst into applause. The man explained to the owner, that the Indian was an Indian one and understood only one language. He suggested that the owner found someone in London who could occasionally come and talk to the elephant in his language and he would have a complacent, contented elephant. The owner later realized that the person who had wrought the miracle was Rudyard Kipling.

 Even the animals depend on a language for communication. They pick up a language they listen to, from their owners or trainers. Although they cannot speak, they understand every emotion conveyed by the words in that language.

A mother tongue is the sweetest of all. A person may go around the world, speak different languages but hearing someone speaking his mother tongue is like listening to some sweet music for him.

INTRODUCTION

Amit Katha

वाचनं ज्ञानदं बाल्ये, तारुण्ये शीलरक्षकम्।

वार्धक्ये दुःखहरणम्, हितं सद्ग्रन्थवाचनम्॥

सद्ग्रन्थानां पठनं बाल्यकाले ज्ञानदायकं तारुण्यावस्थायां तत् शीलरक्षकं भवति वार्धक्यकाले तत् दुःखहारकं भवति। अतः पठनं सदा लाभकरमेव भवति। 

पढ़ना बचपन में ज्ञान प्रदान करता है। यह वयस्कता में हमारे चरित्र की रक्षा करता है।

यह वृद्धावस्था के दु:खों को दूर करता है। दरअसल, एक अच्छी किताब पढ़ना हमेशा फायदेमंद होता है।

Reading provides knowledge in childhood. It protects our character in adulthood.

It removes sorrow in old age. Indeed, reading a good book is always beneficial.

“Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body.”

 Thoughts descend into words.

 Words combine into phrases.

 Phrases penned down in order become sentences.

Sentences result in paragraphs.

Paragraphs build up a chapter / an article.

Chapters make a book and articles make a blog.

Language is a tool to create this marvel.

Being a voracious reader, I have read a few books, innumerable articles and countless stories.

Some have left an indelible mark on my mind.

Some have slipped my mind and got erased from memory.

But some have been treasured by me as a hard or a soft copy.

I have enriched myself with literature written in Sanskrit, English, Hindi, Marathi and Konkani.

Through this blog, I would like to share those precious gems which I have collected at every milestone in the journey of my life as a reader.

Some are my own; some are from known and unknown writers to whom I am highly indebted.

Have a memorable and enriching journey through my blog "Amit Katha" meaning infinite stories which intent to inspire young minds through the posts published on diverse topics.

Let us explore the knowlege by decoding wisdom encoded in alphabets.

Happy reading!

Courtesy: Google search engine, Google images, Books, Newspapers, Magazines etc.