Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Animals and rides…
... or "lifts" as they call it here.
Another week, another narrative…
This week, I don’t have any big personal stories of “good deeds” to share but I do have a small action that my husband did one morning that made us feel nice. I also have info. about an animal shelter in Bangalore and their reach out for help.
....
Access roads from my home to the main road are dismal (I think I have said more than enough about this). Ever since we moved into the flats we now live in, my husband has been dropping me off to the main road about a km or two away (as public transport is hard to come by near the house). I take an auto to work from there and we follow the same regimen in the evening – he comes and picks me up from the main road. Lots of work for him, and I am grateful. I will soon get my driver’s license (I hope) and I will start to drive. Then I’ll have different adventures to write about :)
Here’s an experience…on the morn of Aug 24th,2006. As usual, my husband dropped me off and was on his way home riding his car through the dirt roads, leading to our flats. He had a nice experience he shared with me that morning…In his own words…
“On my way back home, after I dropped you, I saw couple of school going kids on the dirt road asking for lift. The boy is the older one and the girl younger one. The boy folded his palm and lifted his thumb and extended his hand. He was so small, one would miss that he is asking for a lift. I stopped the car to give a lift. With great difficulty, the boy opened the door and got in. The girl followed next. Both sat in the front seat. I asked him where they have to go and asked whether they understand English. He said "Puttenahalli". I understood they speak only Kannada. I told them I will drop them at the end of Brigade Millenium. At the end of Brigade I stopped the car and opened the door like a valet. They got out. The girl happily said "tah-tah". The boy is first grade and the girl probably Pre-KG!”
We teach our kids not to talk to strangers and not to take rides. It could be dangerous.
But this was a spontaneous act done with a pure heart and mind. Often times, I see men on scooters/bike, give rides to someone who “thumps a lift”. It’s a safe world, here in our neck of the woods – of course in broad daylight.
Giving a ride once in a blue moon is great, but who will address the large issues of safety of such small kids? Walking a distance of some 3-4 km each day to go to their nearest government school, through dirt roads and very narrow main streets. Treacherous roads – muddy, flooded during the rains – roads on which traffic is very heavy – buses, lorries carrying stones, marble, steel, sand and cement to build the huge luxury flats we live in. Who cares about their safety? Who is concerned about their lives? There is an awful lot to do in our own backyards. It will be good to reflect a little and do a lot.
Switching topics…
I’m “afraid” of animals. It’s this dreadfulness and extreme phobia I have. I need to get over this somehow, very soon. Cause my daughter is a great animal lover. We’ve deprived her of a pet for ages now it seems. Every birthday, she thought she would get a dog or a cat. We noticed she has been this way from when she was about 6 months old or so. The extreme joy she expressed when she saw a puppy in the pet shop, in the park or at a friends house, how excited and fearless she was while petting a bear cub and a baby raccoon at the wild animal petting zoo in Bandon (Central coastal Oregon), how comfortably she rode an elephant in India when she was 15 months old… it was very strange to me and very normal to her.
[ASIDE: One time we got her a bird (which I never once touched). I even rushed out of the house one day when the bird (parakeet) was out of the cage and was flying all over the house shouting “the bird is flying” as if birds are to do something else! We ‘borrowed” a dog and cat at one point from a friend and I was most uncomfortable around them.]
I just have this phobia but I really feel sorry/pity and extreme sadness for the plight of animals here in Bangalore city. Bullock carts and horse carriages (tongas) still roam the roads and the master/driver still gives an occasional whip to the animal to make him go faster or carry heavier loads. I guess it’s much less in-human than before, they are changing too.
This past weekend, my daughter went to a dog breeder’s house in Bangalore (Banshankari area). Her dad took her along with her two cousins. The person they visited is a Vet and breeds many dogs including Labradors and Pugs. They came back very disappointed – by the state of the house and the way the dogs were kept. He had innumerous thorough breed dogs in a very very small space (about 1200 sq. foot plot with a small house in it). The place was crowded, unclean and smelly they said. Getting a puppy from that place was ruled out I think. It was disappointing to my daughter who is now dreaming of having a dog for a pet. She’s been reading 2 fat books she’s had for years. It’s all about dogs, all kinds of dogs. She’s had these books for a few years now and reads them daily as if it were the Bible or Gita.
I received a mail at work this past week from someone in our building at work (another company). It was information about CUPA. They were asking for some much needed in-kind donations.
CUPA is an animal welfare NGO. It’s a registered trust for the welfare of animals. They are located at Hebbal, Bangalore, before the flyover, in the UAS Veterinary College campus. The mail came from one of CUPAs founders. The organization was started in 1994. They run a shelter for all animals and require newspapers and old clothes to line the cages of the ICU patients, puppies and kittens.
The appeal said “Please conduct a drive to collect newspapers and old clothes from your team members, who would like to contribute. They can leave the stuff with the Security guard near the entrance counter, on the 2nd floor. Admin will arrange for everything to be moved to the 3rd floor at the end of each day. Please help, because we are really desperately are in need of these things… winter is just around the corner….”
I have taken out some old clothers at home and want to visit them this weekend to hand the stuff and let my daughter have an opportunity to see the place and start to volunteer perhaps.
IF you or anyone you know lives in Bangalore, and would like to contribute to the CUPA drive, they can contact the organization. Details of activities, donations, how to become a member etc are on their web site: http://www.cupabangalore.org/
Good deeds are happening all around us, daily. It’s heartening news.
My husband is a Maven. If you’ve read book “Tipping Point” you’ll know the type of character I’m alluding to. And I think I’m a “Connector” in the context of the same book :) (what do you say?) My husband told me about this show and I’m letting you know :)
[ASIDE: The book “The Tipping Point – how little things can make a big difference” by Malcolm Gladwell (a #1 National Best seller) is a very interesting read. I wrote to you about this sometime before too when I was reading it]
There is a TV show about a 11 year-old from Africa (French origin) who is very comfortable with most dangerous animals and vice versa. This show will air in India on Thursdays at 7 PM on Discovery channel.
http://www.ctvtravel.ca/shows/?mode=1&id=284
Some of you would love to see this. Tune in if you are in India and are able to.
-Sri
A quote in The Times of India, Bangalore Edition – Tue, Aug 29th 2006:
“We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make progress towards it” – Mahatma Gandhi
Another week, another narrative…
This week, I don’t have any big personal stories of “good deeds” to share but I do have a small action that my husband did one morning that made us feel nice. I also have info. about an animal shelter in Bangalore and their reach out for help.
....
Access roads from my home to the main road are dismal (I think I have said more than enough about this). Ever since we moved into the flats we now live in, my husband has been dropping me off to the main road about a km or two away (as public transport is hard to come by near the house). I take an auto to work from there and we follow the same regimen in the evening – he comes and picks me up from the main road. Lots of work for him, and I am grateful. I will soon get my driver’s license (I hope) and I will start to drive. Then I’ll have different adventures to write about :)
Here’s an experience…on the morn of Aug 24th,2006. As usual, my husband dropped me off and was on his way home riding his car through the dirt roads, leading to our flats. He had a nice experience he shared with me that morning…In his own words…
“On my way back home, after I dropped you, I saw couple of school going kids on the dirt road asking for lift. The boy is the older one and the girl younger one. The boy folded his palm and lifted his thumb and extended his hand. He was so small, one would miss that he is asking for a lift. I stopped the car to give a lift. With great difficulty, the boy opened the door and got in. The girl followed next. Both sat in the front seat. I asked him where they have to go and asked whether they understand English. He said "Puttenahalli". I understood they speak only Kannada. I told them I will drop them at the end of Brigade Millenium. At the end of Brigade I stopped the car and opened the door like a valet. They got out. The girl happily said "tah-tah". The boy is first grade and the girl probably Pre-KG!”
We teach our kids not to talk to strangers and not to take rides. It could be dangerous.
But this was a spontaneous act done with a pure heart and mind. Often times, I see men on scooters/bike, give rides to someone who “thumps a lift”. It’s a safe world, here in our neck of the woods – of course in broad daylight.
Giving a ride once in a blue moon is great, but who will address the large issues of safety of such small kids? Walking a distance of some 3-4 km each day to go to their nearest government school, through dirt roads and very narrow main streets. Treacherous roads – muddy, flooded during the rains – roads on which traffic is very heavy – buses, lorries carrying stones, marble, steel, sand and cement to build the huge luxury flats we live in. Who cares about their safety? Who is concerned about their lives? There is an awful lot to do in our own backyards. It will be good to reflect a little and do a lot.
Switching topics…
I’m “afraid” of animals. It’s this dreadfulness and extreme phobia I have. I need to get over this somehow, very soon. Cause my daughter is a great animal lover. We’ve deprived her of a pet for ages now it seems. Every birthday, she thought she would get a dog or a cat. We noticed she has been this way from when she was about 6 months old or so. The extreme joy she expressed when she saw a puppy in the pet shop, in the park or at a friends house, how excited and fearless she was while petting a bear cub and a baby raccoon at the wild animal petting zoo in Bandon (Central coastal Oregon), how comfortably she rode an elephant in India when she was 15 months old… it was very strange to me and very normal to her.
[ASIDE: One time we got her a bird (which I never once touched). I even rushed out of the house one day when the bird (parakeet) was out of the cage and was flying all over the house shouting “the bird is flying” as if birds are to do something else! We ‘borrowed” a dog and cat at one point from a friend and I was most uncomfortable around them.]
I just have this phobia but I really feel sorry/pity and extreme sadness for the plight of animals here in Bangalore city. Bullock carts and horse carriages (tongas) still roam the roads and the master/driver still gives an occasional whip to the animal to make him go faster or carry heavier loads. I guess it’s much less in-human than before, they are changing too.
This past weekend, my daughter went to a dog breeder’s house in Bangalore (Banshankari area). Her dad took her along with her two cousins. The person they visited is a Vet and breeds many dogs including Labradors and Pugs. They came back very disappointed – by the state of the house and the way the dogs were kept. He had innumerous thorough breed dogs in a very very small space (about 1200 sq. foot plot with a small house in it). The place was crowded, unclean and smelly they said. Getting a puppy from that place was ruled out I think. It was disappointing to my daughter who is now dreaming of having a dog for a pet. She’s been reading 2 fat books she’s had for years. It’s all about dogs, all kinds of dogs. She’s had these books for a few years now and reads them daily as if it were the Bible or Gita.
I received a mail at work this past week from someone in our building at work (another company). It was information about CUPA. They were asking for some much needed in-kind donations.
CUPA is an animal welfare NGO. It’s a registered trust for the welfare of animals. They are located at Hebbal, Bangalore, before the flyover, in the UAS Veterinary College campus. The mail came from one of CUPAs founders. The organization was started in 1994. They run a shelter for all animals and require newspapers and old clothes to line the cages of the ICU patients, puppies and kittens.
The appeal said “Please conduct a drive to collect newspapers and old clothes from your team members, who would like to contribute. They can leave the stuff with the Security guard near the entrance counter, on the 2nd floor. Admin will arrange for everything to be moved to the 3rd floor at the end of each day. Please help, because we are really desperately are in need of these things… winter is just around the corner….”
I have taken out some old clothers at home and want to visit them this weekend to hand the stuff and let my daughter have an opportunity to see the place and start to volunteer perhaps.
IF you or anyone you know lives in Bangalore, and would like to contribute to the CUPA drive, they can contact the organization. Details of activities, donations, how to become a member etc are on their web site: http://www.cupabangalore.org/
Good deeds are happening all around us, daily. It’s heartening news.
My husband is a Maven. If you’ve read book “Tipping Point” you’ll know the type of character I’m alluding to. And I think I’m a “Connector” in the context of the same book :) (what do you say?) My husband told me about this show and I’m letting you know :)
[ASIDE: The book “The Tipping Point – how little things can make a big difference” by Malcolm Gladwell (a #1 National Best seller) is a very interesting read. I wrote to you about this sometime before too when I was reading it]
There is a TV show about a 11 year-old from Africa (French origin) who is very comfortable with most dangerous animals and vice versa. This show will air in India on Thursdays at 7 PM on Discovery channel.
http://www.ctvtravel.ca/shows/?mode=1&id=284
Some of you would love to see this. Tune in if you are in India and are able to.
-Sri
A quote in The Times of India, Bangalore Edition – Tue, Aug 29th 2006:
“We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make progress towards it” – Mahatma Gandhi
Monday, August 21, 2006
Turn around of a local government-aided school…
… because of the commitment of one enthusiasitic and committed volunteer!
Small actions, may one day create a big impact.
Dear friends and family,
I had a very pleasant experience one morning this past week (on Wed, Aug 16th to be precise), when I asked my colleague, quite casually, how his weekend and his holiday was (Aug 15th was a national holiday for India’s Independence Day and many people took off Monday – to get a 4 day weekend).
This is a brief narrative - summary of a few minutes conversation with this colleague of mine….
He seems to have spent his holiday and weekend, not going to a resort to wipe off the stress of IT work in Bangalore, not catching that extra sleep we all need after a “hard weeks’ work”, but just like many other weekends of his, he spent it with much satisfaction, working with children in his neighborhood Govt-Aided school – Nobel school it’s named he said – a lofty name for a very modest, maybe even very poor school.
He got the children plain white A4 size paper and a bunch of colour pencils/crayons/paints. And asked them to let their imagination go wild (See pics of the children drawing). Every child had the opportunity to draw and paint. As part of this year’s Independence day celebra
tion at that school, after the flag hosting, they gave away prizes to the first 3 “drawing competiion” winners. The children were awed by the compass box and other small prizes that my colleague donated. He said he was so pleased to see them open and explore the contents of the box, how proud they were with their achievement and reward. I’m sure it must have been immensely satisfying to him too. Governnment-Aided means very small funds from the government 
will come in and most all of the benefits will be kept away and cannot percolate to it. He’s been going to that school on weekends for a couple of years now. And has seen a lot of progress, some of his doing, some cause he acted as a catalyst of change…
One year he bought them note books and pencils/pens. Another time he got them uniforms and then more recently he bought shoes for the poor children, after his kids noticed that “they had no footwear at all”. He does not solicit funds but some of his close friends who know of his work, seem to be regular contributors.
He pointed out to about 4-5 offices around us and said, that was the space of 3 clasrooms in the school. Very crowded it must be – children from 5-7 grades (classes) fit in there, and study.
It was dark and he got light bulbs fitted. They were so pleased to have a bright classtroom!
Government schools receive mid-day meals as part of the program but Govt. aided schools do not. He was able to locate a local agency that works for Govt. Aided schools and provides that benefit. So, he brought the mid-day meal scheme to this school he has “adopted” I would say. With a cheer in is face and sparkle in his eyes, he said “the kids seem to have put on some weight” from when he first started working with them over 2 years ago :)
The local Rotary club got wind of this school and pledged some support. A local politician too, saw the “turning around” of this school. Thought this colleague of mine was from an opposition party (and was doing this stuff to gain community support!). So, he also started supporting the school, to keep up his name and fame in the community. In any case, it’s wonderful that positive energy can also spread fast and wide.
So much growth, in the positive direction for, 100 children or more – some of whom may be our future leaders, scientist, researchers… The ernest efforts of an individual will pay off.
It was our 18th wedding anniversary this weekend. I made up my mind to skip eating out in celebration (as we always do) and contributing some mite to this school. Yes, even that much (a coupleof thousand rupees when we go out as a group) goes a long way…
[ASIDE: We did go out to lunch with a group of close family members, to celebrate two birthdays AND our anniversary, but it was my cousin’s treat :)]
It was very refreshing to hear of an NRI (Newly Returned Indian), in such close proximity to me (just the opposite cube -- couple of feet away from my office!) contributing silenting to his neighborhood on this return to Bangalore from the USA.
On another note, I wanted to tell you about a radio program I used to listen to. It’s called “Humankind” and airs on Oregon Public Radio or perhaps National Public Radio. Some of you (in Oregon or perhaps anywhere in the US, or even perhaps anywhere in the world (they have streaming audio) maybe regular listeners of this show too. It’s a program by David Freudberg – Voices of Hope and Humanity. Wonderful stories you can listen to experts of and purchase media too at: http://www.humanmedia.org/catalog/home.php
Stories on Lifting Up those in need, about Peacemakers, about People who Inspire, about Social Consciousness, about Taking Care of Yourself, About Simplifying Our Lives, about Young Voices – leaders of tomorrow and a whole lot more! The website has a wealth of heartening true life tales and will provide you days and years of positive energy and inspriration, I think.
-Sri
“Do not overlook tiny good actions; thinking they are of no benefit; even tiny drops of water in the end will fill a huge vessel” – The Buddha
Small actions, may one day create a big impact.Dear friends and family,
I had a very pleasant experience one morning this past week (on Wed, Aug 16th to be precise), when I asked my colleague, quite casually, how his weekend and his holiday was (Aug 15th was a national holiday for India’s Independence Day and many people took off Monday – to get a 4 day weekend).
This is a brief narrative - summary of a few minutes conversation with this colleague of mine….
He seems to have spent his holiday and weekend, not going to a resort to wipe off the stress of IT work in Bangalore, not catching that extra sleep we all need after a “hard weeks’ work”, but just like many other weekends of his, he spent it with much satisfaction, working with children in his neighborhood Govt-Aided school – Nobel school it’s named he said – a lofty name for a very modest, maybe even very poor school.
He got the children plain white A4 size paper and a bunch of colour pencils/crayons/paints. And asked them to let their imagination go wild (See pics of the children drawing). Every child had the opportunity to draw and paint. As part of this year’s Independence day celebra
tion at that school, after the flag hosting, they gave away prizes to the first 3 “drawing competiion” winners. The children were awed by the compass box and other small prizes that my colleague donated. He said he was so pleased to see them open and explore the contents of the box, how proud they were with their achievement and reward. I’m sure it must have been immensely satisfying to him too. Governnment-Aided means very small funds from the government 
will come in and most all of the benefits will be kept away and cannot percolate to it. He’s been going to that school on weekends for a couple of years now. And has seen a lot of progress, some of his doing, some cause he acted as a catalyst of change…One year he bought them note books and pencils/pens. Another time he got them uniforms and then more recently he bought shoes for the poor children, after his kids noticed that “they had no footwear at all”. He does not solicit funds but some of his close friends who know of his work, seem to be regular contributors.
He pointed out to about 4-5 offices around us and said, that was the space of 3 clasrooms in the school. Very crowded it must be – children from 5-7 grades (classes) fit in there, and study.
It was dark and he got light bulbs fitted. They were so pleased to have a bright classtroom!
Government schools receive mid-day meals as part of the program but Govt. aided schools do not. He was able to locate a local agency that works for Govt. Aided schools and provides that benefit. So, he brought the mid-day meal scheme to this school he has “adopted” I would say. With a cheer in is face and sparkle in his eyes, he said “the kids seem to have put on some weight” from when he first started working with them over 2 years ago :)
The local Rotary club got wind of this school and pledged some support. A local politician too, saw the “turning around” of this school. Thought this colleague of mine was from an opposition party (and was doing this stuff to gain community support!). So, he also started supporting the school, to keep up his name and fame in the community. In any case, it’s wonderful that positive energy can also spread fast and wide.
So much growth, in the positive direction for, 100 children or more – some of whom may be our future leaders, scientist, researchers… The ernest efforts of an individual will pay off.
It was our 18th wedding anniversary this weekend. I made up my mind to skip eating out in celebration (as we always do) and contributing some mite to this school. Yes, even that much (a coupleof thousand rupees when we go out as a group) goes a long way…
[ASIDE: We did go out to lunch with a group of close family members, to celebrate two birthdays AND our anniversary, but it was my cousin’s treat :)]
It was very refreshing to hear of an NRI (Newly Returned Indian), in such close proximity to me (just the opposite cube -- couple of feet away from my office!) contributing silenting to his neighborhood on this return to Bangalore from the USA.
On another note, I wanted to tell you about a radio program I used to listen to. It’s called “Humankind” and airs on Oregon Public Radio or perhaps National Public Radio. Some of you (in Oregon or perhaps anywhere in the US, or even perhaps anywhere in the world (they have streaming audio) maybe regular listeners of this show too. It’s a program by David Freudberg – Voices of Hope and Humanity. Wonderful stories you can listen to experts of and purchase media too at: http://www.humanmedia.org/catalog/home.php
Stories on Lifting Up those in need, about Peacemakers, about People who Inspire, about Social Consciousness, about Taking Care of Yourself, About Simplifying Our Lives, about Young Voices – leaders of tomorrow and a whole lot more! The website has a wealth of heartening true life tales and will provide you days and years of positive energy and inspriration, I think.
-Sri
“Do not overlook tiny good actions; thinking they are of no benefit; even tiny drops of water in the end will fill a huge vessel” – The Buddha
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Good undoing the evil…
Dear friends and family,
Sometimes you seek out actively to do good things. Sometimes they just come at you and you have the opportunity to serve. This past week, I have not seeked… and neither has an oportunity to serve, come to me.
But I do have a couple of small pleasantaries to share this week. Nice things that I personally experienced.
I handed off the last of the dozen or so plush toys that my sister brought from Philadelphia. I had talked about my little project (in my group E-mails) of how I give these stuffed toys away to street kids (at traffic signal stops) as and when I see tthese poor (beggar) children and have a toy to give away in my purse. I saw a little girl crying on the narrow street, where cars and lorries (trucks) and autos go by. She seemed very sad with tears rolling down her cheeks profusely. She sat next to a heap of sand and granite stones close to a construction site just next to the main street. Not safe at all for little kids to be at this type of a location. But, it is this way all over Bangalore city – esp. in spaces that are growing at a fast pace. As soon as I handed her “Winnie the Pooh – with the honey pot” she stopped crying, almost instantly. Her wondrous look and smile was worth a lot that morning. There was another toy I had and gave away to a another little boy who came running towards me. And then, suddenly there was a flock of children. But, unfortunately, I had no more giveaways :)
I had another pleasant surprise on Friday morning (Aug 11th). I got a call from the travel agent from whom I had booked a huge number of tickets (including our trip to Mauritius last year and a whole lot of tickets for my relatives recently for a North-India trip). They were going to send me a “thank you” gift on this their 10th year of service. A travel voucher of sorts I think. I will find out when I receive the parcel in the mail. A small gesture for a good customer they said.
On a different note, tomorrow, Aug 15th is India’s Independence day – 59 years of being a free nation! I bought 3 flags and a pin for Rs. 15 (from a vendor at a traffic signal on my auto ride to work). I did not have Rs. 2 change to pay the auto driver after giving him the rupees notes. So, I just handed him a flag and he displayed it patriotically in front of him in his auto :)
The rest of my very brief update this week does not have any of my own personal experiences of “good things happening around us”. None the less, they made me feel good and I wanted to share with you.
Not sure how many of you saw the front page quote in “The Times of India” Bangalore on Tue, Aug 8th 2006.
“Our earth is degenerate in these latter days; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; and the end of the world is evidently approaching”
– Assyrian clay tablet 2800 BC
Every era has it’s problems, but it’s not so bad after all, is it? It’s not the end of the world, at least not quite yet :) It’s a wonderful life, in fact.
The Tue paper front page also has a photo of super famous Indian criketeer, Sanchin Tendulpar along with Team captain Rahul Dravid posing with an autographed bat which was presented to Corporates who supported the 7/11 (Aug 11) 2006 Mumbai blast victims at a charity dinner in Bangalore. (ASIDE: There is a restaurant in our food court at work called Sachin – yes named after the criketeer. It has labels on menu items to indicate Sachin’s favourites and the place also sells Sachin memorablia). The stars raised in excess of Rs. 25 lakhs which will be part of the Maharastra Chief Miniter’s relief fund (to support victims of the recent Mumbai train blasts). The criketeers also did a “Mumbai Not Out” wristband launch. Proceeds of sale of these will go to fascilitate rehabilitation programs of the insurgency ravaged metropolis, Mumbai. For every atrocious act, there seems to be a thousand good deeds springing up all over the place. This is a good feeling, indeed! So, after all, life is good.
While it’s hard to turn away from the tremendous atrocities (Bombings in Israel and Lebanon, the intent (on Aug 10th), to blow up many planes from UK to US using liquid explosives…), one is left to deal with it and tackle the extreme hardships and “inconveniences”. And wonder why there is one set of humankind that is that way – wanting to hurt a whole lot more than wanting to love and care. Wonder IF they know the feeling of caring, love and happiness hence derived. Have they tried experiencing that kind of joy? It is a millions times more joyous, I'm sure.
Good Vs. Evil. The battle has been raged for eras and eons; Kurma (tortoise) avatar --- churning the ocean for the nector of immortality – triump of Gods Vs Demons in the end; Narasimha and Rama avatars to overthrow the heinous Hiranyakashipu and raging Ravana respectively. In the present day, we see good being spread out. We hear about a good act here and a nice deed there. A grassroots movement of sorts which should spread like wild fire to wipe out the evil of our days.
[ASIDE: Dasha Avataram : http://www.panchangam.com/dasha.htm. The Avatar concept is closely related to the measurement of time in Hindu theology which has its basis on one working day of Brahma. Each creation or Kalpa is equal to one day and each dissolution or Pralaya is equal to one night in the life of Brahma. A Kalpa and a Pralaya last for 4,320 million human years each. Every Kalpa has 1000 cycles of 4 Yugas (ages). Each cycle of 4 Yugas is completed in 4,320,000 human years. The Yugas are called Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali.]
Have you noticed that people who do good deeds (what the “general world” terms good), do it with pride and a clear conscience, although sometimes they prefer to do it anonymously. On the other hand, evil or bad deeds are always done incognito, in a hush-hush fashion, in a very unscrupulous manner and with an inner fear of “getting caught”. So, good must be so much easier (and prouder) to do than bad? Is it not?
-Sri
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi
“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?” Mahatma Gandhi
“Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense” Amelia Earhart
Sometimes you seek out actively to do good things. Sometimes they just come at you and you have the opportunity to serve. This past week, I have not seeked… and neither has an oportunity to serve, come to me.
But I do have a couple of small pleasantaries to share this week. Nice things that I personally experienced.
I handed off the last of the dozen or so plush toys that my sister brought from Philadelphia. I had talked about my little project (in my group E-mails) of how I give these stuffed toys away to street kids (at traffic signal stops) as and when I see tthese poor (beggar) children and have a toy to give away in my purse. I saw a little girl crying on the narrow street, where cars and lorries (trucks) and autos go by. She seemed very sad with tears rolling down her cheeks profusely. She sat next to a heap of sand and granite stones close to a construction site just next to the main street. Not safe at all for little kids to be at this type of a location. But, it is this way all over Bangalore city – esp. in spaces that are growing at a fast pace. As soon as I handed her “Winnie the Pooh – with the honey pot” she stopped crying, almost instantly. Her wondrous look and smile was worth a lot that morning. There was another toy I had and gave away to a another little boy who came running towards me. And then, suddenly there was a flock of children. But, unfortunately, I had no more giveaways :)
I had another pleasant surprise on Friday morning (Aug 11th). I got a call from the travel agent from whom I had booked a huge number of tickets (including our trip to Mauritius last year and a whole lot of tickets for my relatives recently for a North-India trip). They were going to send me a “thank you” gift on this their 10th year of service. A travel voucher of sorts I think. I will find out when I receive the parcel in the mail. A small gesture for a good customer they said.
On a different note, tomorrow, Aug 15th is India’s Independence day – 59 years of being a free nation! I bought 3 flags and a pin for Rs. 15 (from a vendor at a traffic signal on my auto ride to work). I did not have Rs. 2 change to pay the auto driver after giving him the rupees notes. So, I just handed him a flag and he displayed it patriotically in front of him in his auto :)
The rest of my very brief update this week does not have any of my own personal experiences of “good things happening around us”. None the less, they made me feel good and I wanted to share with you.
Not sure how many of you saw the front page quote in “The Times of India” Bangalore on Tue, Aug 8th 2006.
“Our earth is degenerate in these latter days; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; and the end of the world is evidently approaching”
– Assyrian clay tablet 2800 BC
Every era has it’s problems, but it’s not so bad after all, is it? It’s not the end of the world, at least not quite yet :) It’s a wonderful life, in fact.
The Tue paper front page also has a photo of super famous Indian criketeer, Sanchin Tendulpar along with Team captain Rahul Dravid posing with an autographed bat which was presented to Corporates who supported the 7/11 (Aug 11) 2006 Mumbai blast victims at a charity dinner in Bangalore. (ASIDE: There is a restaurant in our food court at work called Sachin – yes named after the criketeer. It has labels on menu items to indicate Sachin’s favourites and the place also sells Sachin memorablia). The stars raised in excess of Rs. 25 lakhs which will be part of the Maharastra Chief Miniter’s relief fund (to support victims of the recent Mumbai train blasts). The criketeers also did a “Mumbai Not Out” wristband launch. Proceeds of sale of these will go to fascilitate rehabilitation programs of the insurgency ravaged metropolis, Mumbai. For every atrocious act, there seems to be a thousand good deeds springing up all over the place. This is a good feeling, indeed! So, after all, life is good.
While it’s hard to turn away from the tremendous atrocities (Bombings in Israel and Lebanon, the intent (on Aug 10th), to blow up many planes from UK to US using liquid explosives…), one is left to deal with it and tackle the extreme hardships and “inconveniences”. And wonder why there is one set of humankind that is that way – wanting to hurt a whole lot more than wanting to love and care. Wonder IF they know the feeling of caring, love and happiness hence derived. Have they tried experiencing that kind of joy? It is a millions times more joyous, I'm sure.
Good Vs. Evil. The battle has been raged for eras and eons; Kurma (tortoise) avatar --- churning the ocean for the nector of immortality – triump of Gods Vs Demons in the end; Narasimha and Rama avatars to overthrow the heinous Hiranyakashipu and raging Ravana respectively. In the present day, we see good being spread out. We hear about a good act here and a nice deed there. A grassroots movement of sorts which should spread like wild fire to wipe out the evil of our days.
[ASIDE: Dasha Avataram : http://www.panchangam.com/dasha.htm. The Avatar concept is closely related to the measurement of time in Hindu theology which has its basis on one working day of Brahma. Each creation or Kalpa is equal to one day and each dissolution or Pralaya is equal to one night in the life of Brahma. A Kalpa and a Pralaya last for 4,320 million human years each. Every Kalpa has 1000 cycles of 4 Yugas (ages). Each cycle of 4 Yugas is completed in 4,320,000 human years. The Yugas are called Satya, Treta, Dwapara and Kali.]
Have you noticed that people who do good deeds (what the “general world” terms good), do it with pride and a clear conscience, although sometimes they prefer to do it anonymously. On the other hand, evil or bad deeds are always done incognito, in a hush-hush fashion, in a very unscrupulous manner and with an inner fear of “getting caught”. So, good must be so much easier (and prouder) to do than bad? Is it not?
-Sri
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi
“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?” Mahatma Gandhi
“Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense” Amelia Earhart
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Positive thoughts, generating energy
Dear friends,
I mostly want to write about some positive things – little things, big things that are happening around us. Think I’ll capture my thoughts into a narrative of sorts once every week, if not at least once every two weeks.
You are welcome to come here, to partake of some positive thoughts and rejuvenate each Monday morning.
For starts...
Note sure IF you have seen this, but I found this on a google search:
“Your Thoughts Create Your Future”
CHAPTER THREE - By Stephen Knapp
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/your_thoughts_create_your_future.htm
I found it a wonderful read, a nice introspection.
Enjoy!
-Sri
I mostly want to write about some positive things – little things, big things that are happening around us. Think I’ll capture my thoughts into a narrative of sorts once every week, if not at least once every two weeks.
You are welcome to come here, to partake of some positive thoughts and rejuvenate each Monday morning.
For starts...
Note sure IF you have seen this, but I found this on a google search:
“Your Thoughts Create Your Future”
CHAPTER THREE - By Stephen Knapp
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/your_thoughts_create_your_future.htm
I found it a wonderful read, a nice introspection.
Enjoy!
-Sri
