Beautifying Life through the spiritual essence-Arun Kumar Ellur.

        What is god? Where is god? Which form is god in? When god is everywhere, then what is the need for temples and idols? If god is just one, then why so many incarnations? The list of questions continues. I am sure majority of today’s society craves for the answers to all the above questions. Not all have experienced godliness in today’s world which has two categories of people- atheist and theist. Some find god in the goodness of their day to day life, while some find it in bringing a smile on the face of the needy, while some find it in meditating. Understanding the fact that nature is beyond the visible physical world is what makes a scholar different from an ordinary learner. Every human being will be subjected to a realization which is brought about by enlightenment but, sadly not every person knows the way to recognize this divine gift. Read on to bag a thought provoking story which attempts to inculcate a ray of devotion in the mind and soul of every being.

                        

        Introducing to you, Mr Arun Kumar, who finds solutions to all his problems by comprehending what the demiurge responds. Yes, you read it right-god replies him not through words but through symbols and signals. Being a devotee of the divine being, Arun has unfolded the secrets of the same. Continue to read his story which has brought a wave of positivity into his life which undoubtedly creates a cradle for devotion in every reader’s heart.

            Being born in a middle class family, in a village of Karnataka, he started his journey towards embracing divinity right from his college days. Reading Swami Vivekananda’s biography marked a start to his spiritual understanding. Swami Vivekanada’s life experiences mentored his urge to find the supreme power-Almighty. ”When there exist multiple languages to communicate with one another then, why can’t there exist multiple forms of god to worship and feel guided? Forms mean various perceptions of each individual” divulges he.

                                         

           God is omnipresent but, capturing this energy and confining it to an idol is to stabilize ones concentration and sanctity. Centralizing one’s devotion is not easy if there is no cornerstone. Idol worship is essential only till one succeeds to congregate holiness towards god after which it may not be required.

         Emphasizing on the fact that god resides in one’s self led   to a realization stating that serving people, establishing equality and eradicating discrimination among human beings would help to make this world a better place. “Sri Sai Satcharitha is a powerful tool which changed the entire me including my mindset, lifestyle and perspectives” he states.

           By achieving a thin thread of meditation at his early times, he activated his sixth sense which has helped him stay safe always. Further he adds that god would alert him about fore-happenings. “There are many instances which gave me symbolic indications of good and bad which would take place. I got an image of fire in front of my closed eyes after few days of which my younger brother met with a huge fire accident. A few days later, I got an image of large oceans which symbolized my tour over the waters. At a later stage, it made way to a lot more other miracles to happen.

          Sri Sainath fulfilled Arun’s wish to promote the lord’s preaching by knocking at his strong positive attitude. “Heaven was right on earth was the feeling I had when the eyes of my favorite Sai’s idol opened which further opened the doors of my heart to welcome the live goodness into my life. People from around the country visited home to witness this wonderful eye opening phenomenon”. This also revealed the fact that god was a resident of his house. Arun’s embraced divinity was knocked again when a glimpse of lord Hanuman appeared on the palm of lord Hanuman in a portrait.
                      

           Arun says “god is the jeeva chaitanya(cosmic intelligence) of every living creature in the universe “. In a nutshell, leave behind the attachments with our dear ones and the comforts of the physical world, create and live in a mini world within our minds which encapsulates us from the external real world, elevating our present interpretation about life to a level where de facto sense of glory stows, discovering the inner beauty through the savvy of meditation which makes interaction with the deific being easier. By constantly following the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and deeply adoring Sri Sai Baba, he is envisioned to continue to earn the sacred bounty to spread goodness through godliness.             

                                 DREAMS AND DESIRES  

       Each one of us dream. But how many of us have actually made our dreams come true? 

Every one of us want to achieve in life. We dream what we want to achieve but do we really work hard to fulfill our dreams?

      Let me tell you one thing, dream is not something which you see in sleep, it is something which doesn't let you sleep. Strive harder, because only when you dream of it, you can really achieve it.   

      First step of every inventor is that he dreams, because that is the driving force for him to invent. he sees what he has to build, in his dreams. And introduce such imagined instances to the real world. That is why inventions are always special and they mean a lot to their creators because only the inventor has seen it even before it existed. They get focused to achieve their target only when they get a clear picture of their thaughts and ideologies which is more easily achieved when they dream all of it.

     Dream big, because it helps you set your goals. Dreams seem to be smaller when you fulfill it sooner in life. So at times, you may feel, life is only so much is it?

No, life is really damn huge and there is lot more in it. Therefore when you dream really big, that's when you strive harder, learn a lot, experience a lot and ofcourse impact yourself as well as others, to fulfill your dreams. By then, life would have taught you a lot more things and also you would have inspired a lot many people around. So dream big and dreams make you a learned person. Interests about different fields creep in where you get excited about all such things which make you feel that your life's going to be awesome. Your life may serve as an inspiration to a lot more young minds. Your inspirational stories may set the minds of growing youngsters into action.

     Generally, we are all recommended to read success stories of achievers but sometimes I feel that we should also read the stories of failures, because that's where exactly we get to know what they have missed out on for them to deviate from success and what you have to focus on to make your story a success story for others to get inspired by.

       There are many people who are interested to achieve. They all dream but don't make dreams their target, according to them its impossible to make dreams come true because their dreams are something which bother them only in sleep. But dreams must bother you every day and night which never lets you sleep until you accomplish. Such dreams definitely come true and makes you a successful person.

       Successful person is the one who already creates ideas in the form of dreams. And he just implements his dreams in real world to bring about a solid change in reality. That's what makes them different from other ordinary people around.

        Therefore determination and commitment plays a very important role to make your dreams come true. Stay focused and work on ways through which you can satisfy your dreams. This can happen only if you are committed. Always do things for a reason. Don't do anything without a reason. Because reasons strengthen your goals and makes you more determined which keeps you committed. This prevents you from getting deviated from your path which is  directed in a right way. Thus, you can surely make dreams land up into reality which is a desire of every common man.

        Since youth have solid great ideologies in minds, which when implemented bring about a remarkable change in the society which makes this world a better place to live in, here is a small but sensible message to the youth of our nation:

    if  you don't build your dream, then someone will hire you up to build theirs. So let your dreams be bigger than your fears and let your actions be louder than your words.   

Dream big, Fulfill them, in order to satisfy your Desires.             

  

         

                                   Dreams - Sense of Science

        Our dreams combine verbal, visual and emotional stimuli into a sometimes broken, nonsensical but an entertaining storyline.

   Dreams are defined as a "mental experience that occurs during sleep". 

Early age interpretation of dreams:

        For centuries people have pondered the meaning of dreams. In early age, dreams were thought as a medium between our earthly world and that of gods. There were many convincing interpretation of dreams by greeks and romans until the end of nineteenth century, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung put forth modern theories of dreaming.
       These theories essentially fall into two categories:
* Idea that dreams are physiological stimulations.
* Idea that dreams are psychologically necessary.   

     Freud's theory is the idea that dreaming allows us to sort through unresolved, repressed wishes. Carl Jung also believed that dreams have psychological importance, but proposed different theories in this regard.

      A prominent neurobiological theory of dreams is the " activation - synthesis hypothesis", which states that dreams don't actually mean anything: they are merely electrically brain impulses that pull random thoughts and imagery from our memories. humans construct dream stories after they wake up, in a natural way to make sense out of it.

     Biologically, dreams mean a defence mechanism that provide evolutionary advantage because of its capacity to repeatedly simulate potential threatening events enhancing the neuro-cognitive mechanisms required for efficient threat perception and avoidance.

Biological aspect of dreaming:

       Many believe that dreams have symbolic meanings and can be used to predict future events. And other scientists say that dreams and nightmares are unrelated and have no meaning.

       Realm of dreams has been associated with strange symbols, unconscious impulses and fears.

The structure and content of thinking looks very much like the structure and content of dreaming. Dreams allow the brain to work through it conscious experiences. During which the dream appears to apply the same neurological machinery  used during the day to examine the past, future and other aspects of a person's inner world at night. 

 Biology of dreaming:

      On average we humans spend 2 hours at night dreaming. The cortex is the most recent part of our brain to evolve. The interaction between our limbic systems and cortex is responsible for our conscious experiences of emotions and sensations.

      Cortex is highly active during REM sleep. In addition to this, there is inhibition of incoming signals produced by the sensory systems. Hind brain ad mid brain generate pgo waves responsible cortical activation. Dreams are conscious interpretation of all this activity. The cognitive system organizes sensory information into meaningful interpretation when we are awake , processes all the internally generated signals. In combination with oculomotor activity, pgo waves are sent to visual and association cortex and the thalamus.

what do our dreams symbolize?

> animals -- part of your psyche that feels connected to nature and survival.

> being chased -- being threatened

> clothes -- how we want people to perceive us

> crosses -- religious beliefs

> exam -- self evaluation

> death -- a change

> falling -- anxieties

> food -- knowledge

> demons -- repressed emotions

> money -- self worth

> mountains -- obstacles

> people -- reflections of your own psyche

> being trapped -- inability to escape

> water -- unconscious mind set

> angels -- personification of a divine idea

> bags -- character and personality traits

> clock -- real life's time

> devil -- darkness and confusion

> forest -- experience, vision, emotions and shadows

> mask -- inability to be comfortable

> ring -- promise

                 

 

                                  Importance Of  Mentors

         Behind every successful person, there is one elementary truth, somewhere, some way, some one cared about their growth and development. They are called Mentors.
       Anyone who can change your perspective towards any issues of the better is a mentor. A mentor is some one who educates , instructs and inspires another person through their past experiences. An excellent mentoring can teach how to build self confidence and helps you become a self-made person who is able to face anything and everything in life. For a person to become successful in life, there is some kind of guidance required which can be efficiently provided by a mentor. A mentor not only guides you but also motivates you, strengthens your ideas and moulds you into a better you. Your actions and ideologies serve as a long time vision to future generations as well. Listening to your mentor's life experiences, achievements, hurdles they have overcome motivates you more and a sense of courage starts growing within you.
          Mentor is the one who uplifts your ability and promotes your positive attitude. They are concerned about your interests, likes and dislikes and never makes you do things which are of not your interests. A mentor cultivates a quality of passion in you which makes you achieve. Mentees always look up to their mentors and treat them as their role model. They follow the path which their mentors have moved in.
           Not all children get to experience a quality parenting. That's the reason many children today have got into substance abuse, smoking, some are homeless and alcoholic and more. Children deal with more stress than they did earlier. Also they have stress from their peers. Sometimes they feel unaccepted and rejected by friends. If they all get the privilege of being mentored then definitely it will mark an impact on all of their lives in a positive manner which helps in the betterment of their lives.
            A mentor can be anyone, a friend, a teacher, sibling, father or a mother who fills you up with positive thoughts, energizes you whenever your motivation level comes down. Mentees can become successful if they follow their mentor's teachings and show equal response to their ideas. Your mentors are the ones who listen to every word of yours and every problem of yours. They are always there to guide you, give solutions to your problems and stay with you providing opportunities for you to learn as well as to prove yourself.
            Mentors comfort their mentees, they come down to their mentee's psychological level to make them understand about things. They have a special ability to cultivate a sense of character which makes the young persons turn out to become great personalities. Mentor can put you back on track when you get off track due to distractions.
            Mentors understand their mentee's fears, and other such inferiorities which are stopping him/her to show case their talents. Mentors give time to their mentee and insist on being positive, they help in cultivating an optimistic attitude in the minds of the mentees which makes them more confident. Some times, even after preparing ourselves we may not be able to make it. In such situations mentors regenerate a sense of hope and make us believe in ourselves.
            It is sad that not all colleges know the importance of mentoring and not every student or a young individual receives mentoring these days. It would be good if our country concentrates on this aspect too so that every young mind is mentored effectively. Less financial resources consuming ideas to provide mentors to all the students in their colleges is based on the strong alumni base. Alumni are the greatest human capital assets who can work upon this aspect precisely.
           I conclude saying that mentoring is a trusted relationship, a meaningful commitment and loyalty filled service. Every mentor strives for mutual benefits, honest guidance, listen and learn policy, build a working partnership. Mentoring is a very powerful tool which helps you develop a solid foundation for future planning to achieve ultimate life-goal, work on self improvisation and last but not the least, to betterment your own personality to become a successful individual who can serve as a role model to future generations.
           A mentor looks forward to watch the progress in the growth of his/her mentee in terms of success. So if you don't have a mentor, its time for you to find one.              

                           Travel - the aesthetic value for life

        Travels turn knowledge into experience. Travelling is an appealing experience.Travelling means in simple terms, reaching to different places and exploring them to the fullest for various purposes. Think of a person who has actually visited Taj Mahal and a person who has only read about it. The person who has visited, gets to learn more and understand the actual beauty of this monument. So this is the difference between practical knowledge you obtain by feeling the whole essence of it which lets you experience the visual treat and a very much common knowledge you obtain from books and pictures.

      So travelling plays a very important role in every ones life as it educates you about wide varieties of cultures in the world, lets you meet different people from different customs, religion, nationality, lets you understand the mindsets and mentalities of people all around the world. When you travel, you will recognize the amazing creation called nature. We can learn a lot by exploring this wonderful creation.
      Travelling is a better teacher than books. Visiting a monument or a place featuring a different culture fetches you a more long lasting and practical knowledge when compared to just reading or watching a video of the same. This is because going to that place leaves a memorable impact which stays in your mind in a more lucid manner. So travelling gives you an opportunity for acquiring practical knowledge of ideas around the world. It is essential for an overall growth of mind in various fields. Moving to different places keeps your mental health in a balanced state for longer amount of time.
         Knowledge obtained through travelling is perfect, practical and permanent. The one who has not travelled and explored is more or less self centered. Travelling helps you to develop a new vision of life, It turns you up into a more broad minded person. Educational tours and learning while travelling programs would bring students around the globe together which enables them to acquire lots of information by just interacting among themselves.
           India being a very well diversified country, comprises of mixture of people of different cultures, lifestyles, languages, food habits and so on which will fetch you lots of learnings about what our country is.
            People consider travelling as one's personal interests. I would like to share two of my learnings in regards to travelling:
* to be open minded about people and their culture.
* what we obtain from travelling are all lifetime experiences which you will cherish for the rest of your life.
              To add upon, travelling is one of the most delightful experience to mankind. It kind of gives you a break from one's daily stress-filled routine life that every person undergoes. It's an ideal way to leave your current life behind to pursue a more relaxing or adventurous break. Experiences speak more than two dimensional pictures in books.
              Travelling helps you connect to people, increase your profile and also adds on to your professional developments. Travelling brings us closer to nature. We can enjoy the beauty of snow-clad mountains, huge waterfall, forests, seas, and the rising an setting of the sun. Travelling exposes us to different weather condition also. Tourism also serves as an important source of income to the country hence thereby promotes trade and commerce.    
               Socio-anthropological studies is not complete only through books. It is to be accomplished by the way of proper travelling practices. Travelling sharpens the merits of most youngsters. Other reasons for travelling would be for adventure, for pilgrimage, for sight-seeing, for trade, or for conquering unknown lands.
                  When we see new places, we get immense pleasure. Travelling with friends and family creates memories for lifetime. It also widens our perspective. New experiences increase our resourcefulness. Another great benefit is the relaxation we get. The joy and pleasure we get from travelling is truly immeasurable.
                  I finally conclude by a famous quote,

" Travelling in a younger sort is a part of education; in the older, a part of experience."  

                       

               PHOTOGRAPHY - An all time trending hobby

        Photography is an ever evolving and a most popular form of art. Youngsters today look for very different, beautiful and beneficial hobbies to make their free time productive. Photography is one such grand hobby chosen by the youth today. Photography is widely taken up as career. Wildlife photography is one of the oldest and most important branch of photography and there are many professionals specialized in this field in India. The word 'photography' itself is very exciting and it is completely gadget oriented. Photography plays a major role in artistic aspects. The beauty of a location or an object is enhanced in its photograph, this is because of the various technical supports adopted to edit and improve the quality of the picture.
         Photography, today has so much developed. Photographers keep experimenting and as a result, Black and white trend of photography is overtook by improved trend of color pictures. And recent development includes neonised pictures which have set the trend today. We never know tomorrow, which other trends our photographers will come up with. Photography is one such field where many improvements and modifications keep happening in order to move towards a development of the quality of a picture. Experiments are made world wide to produce picture quality to an extent where a picture speaks everything about the location or an object being featured. This day is not very far as the rate of development in technology is at its peak.
         In olden days, glass photographic plates standing on a tripod was used as a camera. Box camera was the first camera to produce film. And then evolved different types of camera with better functionalities and with more options to obtain a satisfying picture quality. DSLRs stand the best trending gadget which attracts more and more folks towards photography. Off course lets not forget the fact that cameras of our smart phones have transformed us into a wonderful selfie makers. Editing has become very easy these days because of the best photo editing apps evolving every day with improved versions.
          Photos serve a sentimental valve. Memories start overflowing deep inside our heart when we look at pictures of our friends, families, and other events and favorites. They stabilize our emotional attachments. Pictures also enable us to remember and recall our childhood, schooldays, college days. Best moments are made even more special by capturing it into a photograph.
           I have noticed that photographers do always hold a heavy camera with several lenses in their bags, wear wet t-shirts and a cap to fight against sunshine. They look professional and smart. I am sure youth who have taken up photography as their hobby, would all dream of owning such appearance to sense their professionalism. But however, it made no sense and had nothing to do with dreams of becoming best professional photographer, because all what matters is how creative we are, and how talented we are to meet our client's expectations.
           Photography helps you to confront time as you could capture the moment that you wished to be forever. By photography, one can keep track of his/her growth by capturing every stage of life which adds on to our memories. Photography enables us to observe minor details of the object more clearly than that of a natural visit to the location. This is because, we can focus on the view of the entire screen or the picture which includes the background. Therefore, we can study about the subject in a better way.
             One of the biggest reason for photography is that it immortalizes the things you care about. It allows you to bring together, the fragments of an event. We can recall every single detail collectively with just one photograph. The emotions a photograph conveys can be overwhelming at time regardless of technology execution. A photograph connects us to our past, preserves memories without words or interpretation which makes it an influential hobby for all of us.       

                             Dieting makes people fat !

        People who want to loose weight automatically consider dieting as one of the easiest way. However, many people are not aware that dieting is actually responsible for weight gain and scientists call it "dieting-induced weight-gain". There are many easy diets available - diet pills, detox diets, diet drinks, high protein diets, low carb diets and the list goes on.
        Even after using so many diets, why are people still fat ?
   First lets focus on the facts :
Recent studies show that, people who diet gain more weight than those who skip the diet route. So it is understood that if you go on a diet, you will actually gain more weight compared to the ones who had never dieted at all. Every 8 out of 10  people today are dealing with issues related to obesity and are looking for ideas for weight loss. An international research conducted a study of  identical twins in which one of the twin had a history of dieting and the other one had never been on a diet. Based on this record, this research found that the history of dieting was positively associated with weight gain. Since, the twins share the same genetic makeup, this study puts the fact that its not the diet, but its the genes which makes you fat, to rest and proves that the twin with a history of dieting was heavier than the non dieting twin. And therefore, dieting is responsible for gaining weight.
   Dieting makes you fat because :
Most important factor, is the disconnection between eating and our body's natural signals of hunger, fullness and satiety that develops through dieting. We tend to ignore our body's needs in favor of an   " eat this - not that " mentality. Therefore, this leads to the depriving nutrients level in our body which further causes serious physical and emotional consequences. Diet can keep your body out of balance.. The UK survey found that 1 in 3 women starts diets between the ages of 15 and 20. Due to the strict diet schemes, imbalances occur in the body metabolism. And diets which permit eating high amounts of low calorie foods, sometimes essentially sanction overeating which adds onto our body fat.  
    psychological imbalances :
When people go 'on' a diet, they feel like they have totally exhausted and this shifts them to an 'off'' mode and heads towards unhealthy food habits.
    Diets consists of fake foods :
Ingredients to many diets are artificial additives. Processed food fortified with nutrients is not nutrition. No diets or other meal plans could possibly " know " your hunger and fullness levels, only you know your thoughts and feelings. Therefore, you are a better care taker and a meal planner for yourself. If you suddenly reduce your food intake, your body's metabolic rate slows down in order to store energy more efficiently for survival.
         Tips for weight loss :
   Balance is the key. To reach and maintain a reasonable body weight you need a balanced diet full of nutrients to prevent disease and to ensure optimal energy and psychological well -being.
  Prevention control can also be accomplished, through lifestyle modifications involving exercise - Yoga, kapalbhati pranayama, brisk walking and an early morning jog.
  Mindful eating and avoiding junk food is also a successful measure to prevent weight gain and regain.
  Cultivating a healthy and a positive mindset would also resist weight gain.
          The reality is to loose weight and maintain it, requires consistency and for this, dieting is definitely not the right approach. The researchers conclude, " It is now well established that the more people engage in dieting, the more they gain weight in the long - term ". This contributes to an ironical fact that dieting, will not make you loose weight but is directly or indirectly responsible for your weight gain.  

                               Superstitions -The blind faith

               Superstition refers to the excessive belief of baseless and illogical happenings of the supernaturals. It is an irrational state of mind which further complicates the established logical set of religious theories. There are many events which are controlled by the power of supernaturals. There are many things existing in nature which are beyond human knowledge. Though we try to understand, some things remain mysterious.  In spite of all, some instances and beliefs can be explained through proper scientific and logical reasoning, one such instance could be Superstitions. Ignorance and misconceptions are the root of superstitions.

                Superstitions occur due to lack of efficient knowledge and conceptual analysis of various things happening around us. Fear, illiteracy and lack of awareness are also reasons for superstition. In modern age, superstitious practices still do prevail, but the reasoning to these happenings are more of logical and science based. Superstition is one such happening where there is no straight - forward approaches to understand the underlying facts behind the practices. Superstitions are based on magicks. Magick is the term practitioners use to describe direct but subtle influences over reality. 

                 Underlying truths behind some of the practices namely superstitious practices :

     A cat crossing your path :

         In olden days, people used to travel at nights in bullock carts, and when forest cats like leopards and other animals passed by, people halted to protect themselves. But now in the later times, domestic cats are considered in place of those forest cats.

      Cutting hair and nails on Tuesdays are prohibited :

       In ancient times, majority were farmers for whom Monday was a resting day. So they would cut their hair and nails on Mondays and thus barbers closed their shops on Tuesdays. This practice is continued till today but the reason is forgotten. 

       Cracking of a mirror brings seven years of bad luck :

       Mirrors were costly and not very easily available in oden times and in order to avoid negligence towards mirrors, it was said that breaking of a mirror would bring seven yeas of bad luck.

        Cutting nails in the dark is prohibited :

        Since at ancient times, there was no proper electric lighting at homes and there were no equipped nail cutters, it was not recommended to cut nails at nights to avoid hurting themselves by cutting their fingers.  

        Pregnant women were not let to go out during eclipses:

       Since atmosphere has dangerous effects during eclipses, to ensure that the baby is not born with any deformities, and to give protection from uv rays, this practice was followed.

        Lizards falling on human is bad luck :

      Lizards have poisonous chemicals present on their skin. If this chemical comes in contact with human body, it would affect him/her severely. 

     Throwing coins into wells and rivers :

       In ancient times, since coins were made of copper and silver which had antibacterial properties often added onto the minerals present in water. So when people used this water, they could get sufficient amounts of these elements. This is not valid now as coins are made of stainless steel.

     Compulsion for married women to apply sindhoor :

      Since sindhoor is a mixture of turmeric, lime and metal mercury which have intrinsic properties, help in controlling blood pressure, removes stress and strain.

     worshipping peepal tree :

      This is the only tree which produces oxygen even in the dark. Therefore, in order to save these trees, in ancient times, people started considering it sacred.

      We are not allowed to sleep facing towards the north :

     Superstition is that it invites ghost or death. But the fact is that, since earth is a magnet, our body's magnetic field becomes asymmetrical to the earth's magnetic field. This can cause health problems,

       Fasting during navaratris : 

     The nine - days fast helps ours body to get adjusted to the changing season and detoxifying the body.

        Falling to elder's feet :

      Touching the feet indicate that our ego is surrendered and positive energy gets into our body through that person's toes and hands .

                 Superstitious beliefs are pointless according to science. But according to a study, some of these beliefs have a strong pre - Christian background. It is said that " In spite of advances in science, people are still superstitious ". Its not easy to eradicate superstitions from our society which are deeply rooted since ages. The key to abolish superstition is to educate people and make them understand the logic associated with the belief and practice. The challenging task lying in front of us is to introduce people to scientific principles which prove the insane nature of the superstitious beliefs. Its important to cultivate the sense of rational thinking in the minds of people. Its high time for all of us to help our nation to become a little more sensible and develop a scientific temper in order to ensure the real progress in our nation. Therefore, education acts as a very strong weapon to uplift the primitive minds and mindsets to prevent from exploiting themselves. Out of all the rich legacy and positive ideologies that are passed on to us from our ancestors, an evil called superstition is also passed onto us which has an urgent need to get eradicated from the whole world. Although, its not a good idea to neglect the fact that abolishing superstition all at once, easily is however, highly hypothetical.          

                      My All Time Confidence Enhancer !!

Blessed are the futures of many youngsters, as you became the role model

Secured are the lives of  youth, as you show us the right path

Life has to be challenging, you said

Consistent hard work results to your glowing growth, you preached

To empower and uplift many young girls, is your vision

The greatest gift to our lives, are the blessings you bestowed upon us

Law of attraction, you thought

which made us get attracted completely towards success.

Fortune favours the dreams, you prooved

In spite of all the doubts running in my mind about myself,

You stood for me,

Believing me more than how much I did.

Gone are the days, where I struggled in the dark

Gone are the days, where I lost interest in everything in life

Gone are the days, where I had no faith in myself

Now came the days, where I could make out

Difference in my thoughts,

Difference in my attitude,

Difference in my way of conduct.

Your image fills my mind and heart when I visualize, coz you are my unlimited inspiration

You serve as a cure to all my worries and hurdles

You always have a solution to every problem of mine

How to build trust, was the first lesson you thought

The art of nurturing and moulding young minds, is mastered by you

Your teachings and preachings are the secrets behind so many young achievers and future achievers

May you live long, to create an era of young achievers

May you live long,  to gift young talents to the society

May you live long, to bring more and more minds into light from darkness

A very happy birthday, to the creator of many future sheroes

A very happy birthday, to my energy booster

A very happy birthday, to my motivational power house of encouragement

A very happy birthday,  to my ultimate source of guidance

A very happy birthday , to my confidence enhancer

This is a small token of gratitude that I have got to show towards you,

Who has enriched my life,

Not just mine, but many

Once again, many many happy returns ma’am !

[ dedicated to my mentor, M R Kavyashree ma’am ]

I3 – Serve the Hungry

                         I3 – Serve the Hungry

I feel great when an opportunity comes to me all by itself when I want to serve people.

        I am very happy to share with you all, my memories, my experiences, my learnings and the overall story behind this successful project of mine - " Serve the Hungry ".    I was given a chance to take up a project based on the theme 36 meals. The basic idea behind the project theme was to donate meals to the needy. The concept of filling empty stomachs and bringing smiles on the faces of the poor was certainly to be appreciated. The minute this project was announced, I took it as my pleasure to work on this project, because the smiles I bring on the faces of the under privelaged people, the happiness I give to the poor are in a way, blessings given to me. And of course, good wishes and blessings I get would definitely add on to the betterment of myself as well as the betterment of the society. It also strengthens me to take up more and more social oriented projects and successfully implement them.

         Initially, I was blank as there were no innovative ideas running in my mind to work on the project. But  gradually, I gave it a lot of thought in order to make this project a success and feed as many hungry as possible in the given time limit. As I said, I didn’t even have a single idea to start the project. Therefore, out of seven days, first day was dedicated only and only to think and come up with an idea which acted as a base for my entire project. I named this project as “ Serve the Hungry “. The very first idea I got in my mind was to approach various places where food gets wasted. Such places may be hotels, party halls, weddings etc.

        So the first day itself, I spoke to three hotels. The heads supported me as it was for a good cause and they were willing to help. I requested them to hand over the left out food which is going to wasted. They agreed to share the left overs with me but it could be possible to give me the left overs only at nights during the closing hours. This made it difficult for me to search for the needy at night and feed them. So, after doing lots of trial and errors, I had to choose another idea. Now, the idea was to involve all my friends, relatives and neighbours into this campaign. I requested my classmates and other friends to get some extra lunch along with their lunch boxes. So that I can collect food from them and donate to the needy. I was happy as I had such supportive friends, who agreed and did the needful. I documented this step by clicking pictures. On the way home, I found 3 construction sites, therefore, I donated all the food which was given to me by 18 of my friends to around 20 workers in those sites. I captured this as well. And another idea of mine was to raise funds for this food donation campaign. I went around asking for funds to most of my lecturers in my college. Every teacher agreed to do their part of service and contributed for this social cause. With all the support, good will and encouragement from my teachers, I could raise enough funds in just a matter of 3 hours. As soon as I obtained enough amount of money required to carry out the project, I started working towards the implementation. Next day, I spoke to my mom about the next step, I asked her to prepare food at home for around 80 people. Luckily, my mom agreed wholeheartedly. I took my mom along with me to donate food to the labor at the construction sites, beggars on streets and workers who were need for food. I tried my level best to document every move I made to execute this project. We were able to visit 9 sites in a day and at the end of the day, we fed around 76 people.    Next day, my neighbor and my mom together prepared food. I took a friend along with me, searched and donated food for the handicapped, shelter-less, beggars, and aged people who look for food and who are in very much need for it. we could manage to serve 52 such people and unfortunately, very less number of people allowed us to click pictures.

         The beggars and the handicapped i found on streets usually expect money from us. but when i offered food, they were excited and more happy as well. and above all, they looked satisfied and that made me happy.    When you are involved in an activity, its pretty common that you have to face rejections. same thing happened to me as well. many people accepted the food but never gave me a chance to capture the moments. some people rejected the food also, as they were scared because, we had cameras and phones in our hands. learning how to face rejections is very essential in lfe is what I feel as it makes you brave, helps you to find a better opportunity. it sometimes lets us come to proper conclusions and take right decisions. 

         I am very lucky to have such an amazing mother who is damn supportive and always helps me in all that I do. I specially thank her as she has played a major rule in making this project a success. its not easy to cook for around 80 people all alone. I would like to dedicate all the recognition, rewards that I got for this project, to my mom. without her assistance, I wouldn't have done anything. it wouldn't be possible for me to do anything. I would proudly say that my mother is the women behind this project. I feel I am very lucky to have such a wonderful hearted lady as my mother.   

        I am glad that this project has bought smiles on the faces of people who accepted food from me. it was indeed an honor to " Serve the Hungry ".   

        

      

     

Share a Pencil

                                 

       My idea of looking at life is to exhibit our talents, get recognition, serve people and get happiness by making others happy. Its all about finding and creating ourselves.
        I had got an opportunity to work on a social oriented project based on the theme " taste from waste " . I took an exclusive initiative to create and work on the project and I named this project as " Share a Pencil ".
     The basic fundamental idea behind this project : Pencils when once reduced to half or less than half are usually thrown away. Such pencils are collected and an artistic paper holder is created and pencils are inserted into the paper holders. Now the children can hold these pencils comfortably and use them for writing. So in this way, we can use pencils until the very last bit. Therefore, it helps us to utilize things to the fullest possible. The story behind how I got this idea is kind of interesting. In the days when my mom did her schooling, my grandpa never let my mom and her siblings throw away short pencils. Instead, he collected all of them and inserted them all into long ink pen lids along with a paper within for support. So now the pencil looked longer and there is a sort of grip created to hold and use them further. I salute this creative idea of his which formed a base or a foundation for me to come up with a more modified, artistic idea of creating paper holders. These paper holders substituted the ink pen lids. I modified my grandpa's idea since ink pens with long caps are not much in use these days. its hard for me to go in search of such caps and collect them. Also, since many old newspapers and magazines go for waste, I wanted to use things which people think are waste and transform them into something useful. The idea does not end here, as mentioned above, I want to serve people. These paper wrapped pencils were distributed to government school kids who cannot afford to buy new pencils often. In addition to distribution, I also taught them how to do it, spoke to them and motivated the kids not to waste such pencils anymore. Not just pencils, I told them not waste anything. I asked them to think creatively and come up with new ideas as to how to completely use up things which are otherwise considered waste. it helps children to become more creative, imaginative and lets them own the pride of creating innovations.
     Seven day's time was given to me to work on this project and execute it. The first half of the first day was completely dedicated to think for and decide an idea. I listed out my ideas and some of the great ideas were already implemented. I did trial and error to select the best idea possible. Finally after all the research I made and all the thought I gave, I selected one out of the best ideas I had come up with.
     Now the next step is to compile materials. I made a brief plan about how to collect such huge number of pencils. I approached various sources. I asked every friend of mine possible for pencils. I also asked my mom to collect some from her ladies club. I went to each and every house in my area asking for pencils and explaining them that its for a good cause. They all supported a lot and searched and handed over pencils to me. I documented every step of this project through pictures, videos and writings. In a matter of two full days, I could manage to collect around 250 pencils. In two nights and one whole day I created paper holders for these pencils and wrapped them with magazine strips so that it looked presentable as they are going to be gifted to government school kids. I documented this step as well by capturing working stills.
      I utilized fifth and the sixth day to go to each and every government school in my area and one of the government school in the next area nearby. Kids were very much interested and curious to know what was the idea all about. I gifted my creation to the kids there and also taught and made them do it. Along with the kids, teachers also learnt the idea. Children promised me that they will not waste any more such pencils. I succeeded in creating the sense of thought and awareness in not just kids but also in adults to reduce waste, make something out of it to reuse it. In addition to the implementation of this project successfully, I uploaded a video featuring this project on you tube and I managed to get considerable number of views.
please check out hear: https://youtu.be/w7dI0RUIkjs
     Apart from the execution of project successfully, the responses, reviews, words of encouragement, points to be worked on for improvisations mean a lot to me as it helps me to make my future initiatives and projects better.
      Beyond my hard work, I dedicate the amount of impact I have created in the people around, all the recognition and encouragement that I have got, to my grandpa. This would definitely make him feel proud of himself and me as well.        

Women Empowerment

                                 

           Women empowerment is one such burning issue which requires keen importance and attention. Its highly necessary for all of us to think about this particular issue. I am sure we all would feel proud of ourselves if we take a small, basic step towards women empowerment in our own way.
           Before I continue further with my article, I would like to share with you all,

 What exactly is the meaning of women empowerment?

           It is simply nothing but everything where women are bought into light, their lives and lifestyles are made better by teaching them ways to uplift themselves. It is a kind of movement to make women understand their potentials and capabilities. Women are exposed to the various advancements in their field of work and also tell them how to get better as an individual.    

          As the name itself suggests, empowerment means uplifting the standards of women, focusing on the areas where women lag and update them with the information and knowledge which they lack in various domains - technology, agriculture, health and hygiene, digitalization, etc.     

 Why do women need to be empowered?

          It is sad that even in today's digital age, there are women in our country who don't know how to make bank transactions. They don't know the importance of using banking in their daily life.

          Even after so many awareness programs, not just in rurals, but also in urban areas, female infanticide is the major evil practice happening in our society.

         Don't you all think it is important to keep the female fetuses alive ?

     Every man is dependent on his mother, sister, girlfriend and wife but some men don't prefer a daughter. I want each one of you all to think over this aspect and take it seriously. We all know very well that we don't gain anything by killing a female fetus or infant, then why is it done? Instead, I feel its better to bring gender equality into force and stop discrimination.

          In most cases, men are able to work hours together staying away from homes only because there are care takers at home who look after each and every detail of the house, family, children and other related issues. And these care takers are women who have mastered the art of home making.

          I am happy that young girls education is promoted these days. I see many government schools having around 50 to 60 percent of students as girls. Despite of it, I can still make out that not all parents send their daughters to schools after they complete their higher primary schooling.

          Why is this happening?

      One of the reason is due to the exploitation that a girl faces in today's society.                         Other reason may be that parents don't know how important education is for every individual irrespective of gender.

Why is it so much necessary to bounce back and work on women empowerment?

           In today's scientific age, after so many advancements in almost all the fields, what percentage of women dare to come out or reach homes all alone at late nights?

       I feel it is due to the lack of security that women are forced to make a boundary around them and confine themselves. Some times, walking during the day through the paths which very less number of people use, is also difficult for a woman.

       So if a woman cant face the world or sometimes, cant face her own family then what is the assurance that she can survive and live her life in the way she wants to? 

       A little amount of education is what is required which makes each one of us realize the values of humanity, mutual respect and finding godliness in every other person's heart which always helps us to create a polite and comfortable environment to live our lives further.

       So I would request every person who reads this blog of mine to rise up and support this social cause. If we all do our little parts towards women upliftment and betterment, then I am sure it helps us to improve and make this world a better place.  

        

             

       

Financial Literacy

      Financial Literacy

Financial literacy nothing but knowing how to save what you earn and do more with what you save. It is all about understanding how you can build your own personal wealth.

      Every individual's ultimate goal is to earn and make a living. And hence, Financial literacy is important that every individual must understand money management. Apart from earning and saving, it also important to be aware of and utilize various financial resources like investment plans, insurance plans, real estate, budgeting, retirement plans and tax plans, bank deposit plans and many more. Our responsibility does not end just by earning and spending, managing our earnings and savings also add on to it.

 

  Its not really necessary that we should get financial education only through qualified persons at financial solution centers, a simple google search would also fetch you a lot of information. It is essential to understand various investment plans apart from investing on gold and land alone. I would suggest budgeting to every family, as it plays a very important role in giving you the complete and detailed information about how you can plan up your further expeditions. It also gives a clear outline of one's financial status.

  I would recommend all of you to make banking an integral part of your lives. Technology has grown to an extent where e - banking has come into existence. We can access bank and its transactions by using our smart phones by simply sitting at home or from wherever you are without having to go to a bank.

     I want to share with all the youngsters and people who have just started earning, a success formula , for efficient money management.

                       Expenditure = Earnings - Savings

       In this way, our savings will not be cut short due to huge expenditures, as our expenditure is confined because the left over amount after saving is what is used for spending. This will ensure that a sense of  responsibility is created in the youngsters.

        Life is unpredictable, therefore, there are chances of sudden unexpected expenditures creeping in. So, in order to face them, we need financial support. This support can be obtained through our savings or loans of different kinds. Many times, the amount of money we have saved would be sufficient to fulfil these expenditures.

        I have personally noticed that sometimes, our relatives and other people whom we know, generally part from us when we are financially weak and rejoin us when we become strong financially. Thus, for anything and everything in life, effective money management is very very important.

   

During our childhood, it is pretty common that we usually prefered saving our pocket money. Saving was considered really very important at that time itself. We used to save and store money in our puppy houses and piggy banks. I used to ask my mom to stitch colorful purses for me to keep my saved money. I used different purse for coins and a different one for notes. But as we grow old, we slowly deviate from the habbit of saving.

 

But again, when we start earning, we become a little more serious about saving but we may not save very effectively. Especially youngsters spend all their money and finally realize that they are left with nothing to save. But if this continues, leading a secured life will remain a dream and hence, financial literacy is equally important to earning money.  

IU literacy - Bridge from misery to hope

   

             Literacy is a quintessential element which requires atmost and keen importance. One of the most valuable and best way to serve people is to educate them about basic fundamentals of how to read and write. I feel very lucky as I have got an opportunity to work on such an amazing initiative.
             It is indeed true that now a days, adults understand the importance of education and send their children to schools. But it is also true that around 40% of women and children have not received even basic education. May be this is one of reason, why our nation is still called a developing country and not a developed one.
             It is wonderful to see villages running and maintaining schools. Hence, I feel it is worth conducting huge number of awareness programs to spread literacy in India which created a huge amount of impact and thus, we can see people in many of the rural areas coming out of their comfort zones and sending their kids to schools.
             My whole idea is to educate children and women and teach them how to read and write so that they can lead a more improved and independent life. Hence, I approached various places like markets, streets, construction sites and slums where there were many women and children whom I could teach them how to read and write.
             I had been to slums and took back an unforgettable lifetime experience. Initially, I requested a lot of children to learn how to read and write atleast their names alone, but none of the kids were ready to learn what I wanted to teach them. So, I was compelled to come up with ideas to make the kids learn. And hence, I bought lots of chocolates and started an offer and I named it as " make yourself a literate and take back a chocolate ". The minute the kids saw chocolates in my hand, all the children out there surrounded me and started requesting me to teach them so that they all can get chocolates. This showed that, people will get convinced only if they are convinced in the way they want to. I taught each and every kid how to read and write their names in English and in Kannada. I also taught numerals and Kannada alphabets to some of the children who were interested to learn.
             I got to experience the level of contentment one can get by sharing knowledge. I learnt that the very first step we take, is the one which brings about a change that sets the minds of this world to trace the actual purpose of life. And that very first step is to make up our minds, in order to impact another person's life positively. A simple way to spread literacy could be teaching your maids or their children how to read and write if they don't know. Therefore, I request each one of you all reading this, to take a step towards making a literate India.     

GREEN POWER - greening our mother earth.

    GREEN POWER - greening our mother earth.

The ultimate duty of every living being as a child of our mother earth is to take of our nature, protect the environment and nurture our green earth as she is the source of life, she is the one who is responsible for the evolution of the world and she is the ultimate care taker of every form of life.

         Along with accepting and enjoying all the comforts and services offered by our great green mother, it is also equally important to take up our duty towards nature seriously and look after our mother and do our very small part to maintain our environment to make it remain pure, pollution - free in order to enhance the benefits that she offers us.

          I am very glad to take up an initiative called "GREEN POWER" towards greening our earth. I am very excited about this project because I have created a garden at home with my mom and dad's continuous assistance to water the plants, look after it and nurture them. This garden of mine is a result of paying constant attention for a couple of years and maintaining to the fullest possible.

   So, I made this as the project idea where people planted a lot of saplings and also listened to me about the importance of greens. I also spoke about the various hazards caused by air pollution. So I requested people to car pool. I gave them a lot of ideas about vehicle pooling and told them the benefits of pooling.

         I heard a lot of people saying that they don't have place at home to grow plants. But their neighbors who stay in the same kind of a place grew plants. I explained to them about the ways in which they can grow plants. Since my main focus was spreading and growing a lot of greens, I clicked pictures of houses which already had a lot of plants and told people that they can also grow plants in the same way as in the pictures. I motivated people to come up with best of the simplest ideas for planting and maintaining greens.

         Potted plants could be the simplest and most common way to grow plants. You can even take them along with you while vacating the house if you are staying in a rented one. Hanging plantations is another old, but popular way.

         Many said maintainance was a problem. They had no problem in planting but had no time for watering and taking a little care of the plants which they have planted all by themselves.  It is very well possible to look after the saplings if we make up our minds. If it is possible to take care and nurture one's own children, why is it not happening in the same way in regards to the saplings?  They are indeed our children because we are the ones who have planted them.

         

 Everyone know that plants have life. But only a few people actually consider them as living beings and respect them. We all know the fact that each and every form of life is directly or indirectly dependent on the green environment, therefore, it is our responsibility to protect our nature. 

    I believe that "Gratitude is the right Attitude", so I feel its very much mandatory to show our gratitude towards our mother earth and play our part by not hurting her.

           I agree that planting a sapling alone is not the only way to show our gratitude. Its fine if you don't plant but please don't take away the one which is already planted and nurtured and the one which has grown tall to become a tree and nurturing her children, by children I mean, its we human beings and lot of other forms of life. Deforestation is the major cause for almost all the problems that our mother earth is facing. And these problems are the ones which are faced by us too because we people are witnessing and experiencing the hazards.

My humble request to all the readers is,

           Don't cut trees, don't let the plants go dry due to lack of maintanance, and please do plant a sapling and look after it which will further look after you and the mankind on the whole because planting a sapling will increase our mother earth's self regenerating capacity which leads to a more secured sustainance of every life on earth.

       I believe in "walk your talk". Hence, before requesting all of you to plant saplings, I have done it myself already which has turned out to be a garden in front of my house.

    Please do support greening our earth. Its all about Green Power that nurtures us tomorrow if we nurture it today.