How do we make our kids feel one with the nature!?

Today when we go around Bangalore, we keep seeing only concrete jungle. Lot of trees have been cut to widen the roads, for the "Namma Metro" project, to build underpass and flyovers. Lakes have been disappearing one by one. And Bangalore has been growing vertically - thousands of apartments have come up in Bangalore and wherever we go, we see only concrete everywhere! When I see all this, I keep remembering my childhood days.
The place around our house was not cemented. So, we had so much soil all around. So, our favourite passtime was to grow plants, observe different plants, observe the insects, spiders, etc. Every evening, we used to water the plants. We had lot of plants in and around our house. So, we used to make paths for the water to flow - put water at one end and see it go and reach all the plants! It was so much fun and was bringing us very close to nature. When we were doing this, we used to see many new plants coming up in our compound - many of these were growing on their own. And also, we used to see many different insects and small birds coming to our garden! Books and gardening used to keep us busy all the time. Those were the days, when we didn't have television, we didn't have mobile phones (even a landline telephone was a luxury!), we didn't have shopping malls, we didn't have Internet, we couldn't afford video games.......so, we had lot of time - in fact, "Full 24 Hours" was ours.
I feel today's kids miss all that. They don't get to touch the soil much. They don't get to play with the plants and insects. So, it will be difficult for them to feel one with the nature. How do we change all this?

Why Sonia Gandhi fears Narendra Modi?

Source: http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/headon/entry/target-modi

Target Modi by Minhaz Merchant

As she choreographs Rahul’s political trajectory, there is one Indian politician UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi fears most: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Why? It can’t be the 2002 communal riots alone. More people have been killed in communal riots and pogroms outside Gujarat  – including the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom – than in Gujarat. 

It can’t be that Gujarat has been a BJP fortress for 17 years. The Congress has been out of power in Uttar Pradesh for 23 years and in West Bengal for 35.  It can’t be governance. Gujarat has been recognised internationally as India’s best governed large state. It has had no riots since 2002. There is little apparent nepotism or corruption and certainly no family dynasty. And yet, Modi remains the principal target for vilification. An entire ecosystem has been built to sustain this campaign: journalists, social activists and local dissidents.

Adv.: Buddha Inspired Statues

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Sunita Williams to Carry Upanishads to Space!!

Buddha Inspired Statues

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-02/ahmedabad/32507386_1_upanishads-indian-american-astronaut-sunita-williams

Upanishads to fire Sunita Williams’ spiritual odyssey in space

Bharat Yagnik, TNN Jul 2, 2012, 02.46AM IST

AHMEDABAD: When Sunita Williams is thousands  of miles above the earth taking a bird's eye view of the universe from her space shuttle window, she will try to understand universal truths of the Upanishads. The Indian American astronaut — who will spend six months in space from July 14 — is carrying with her an English translation of one of the most important Hindu scriptures.

Her father, Deepak Pandya, is hoping that the farther she goes from earth, the closer she will come to understanding her Indian roots. It was his idea that she carry a copy of the Upanishads with her.

"The last time she went into space, I had given her a copy of the Bhagavad Gita," Pandya told TOI. "She was full of questions when she came back. She wanted to know why it became necessary for Krishna to narrate the Gita, what were its eternal teachings, was it not possible to gain similar knowledge from other works, and many such questions. I feel that she will find some of the answers in the Upanishads."

Pandya, himself a Shiv bhakt, says that up in space his daughter will perhaps be able to better chart her spiritual journey with the Upanishads assisting her.

"All the same, we don't discuss space when she calls amid her preparations," Pandya adds. "We have normal father-daughter conversations."

The astronaut is all set to go into quarantine ahead of her second space odyssey after which it will become increasingly difficult for the family to stay in touch with her. Williams last worked aboard the International Space Station for six months in 2006. She will take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with two other astronauts, a Russian and a Japanese.

Our Presidents so far.....

Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963)  Term of Office: 26 January 1950 TO 13 May 1962

Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India. Rajendra Prasad was a great freedom-fighter, and the architect of the Indian Constitution, having served as President of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the Constitution of the Republic from 1948 to 1950. He had also served as a Cabinet Minister briefly in the first Government of Independent India. He was a crucial leader of the Indian Independence Movement. Prasad was born in Jiradei, in the Siwan district of Bihar. His father, Mahadev Sahay, was a Persian and Sanskrit language scholar; his mother, Kamleshwari Devi, was a devout lady. He was married at the age of 12 to Rajvanshi Devi. After India became independent he was elected the President of India. In 1962, after 12 years as President, he announced his decision to retire. He was subsequently awarded the Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian award. He died on 28 February 1963 with 'Ram Ram Ram' on his lips.

Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975) Term of Office: 13 May 1962 TO 13 May 1967

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan is best known as the man who introduced the thinking of western idealist philosophers into Indian thought. He was an Oxford don who became the first Vice President and the second President of India. He was born at Tiruttani, 64 km to the northeast of Madras in South India. His mother tongue was Telugu. When he became the President of India in 1962, some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, September 5. He replied, "Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if September 5 is observed as Teacher's Day." Since then, Teacher's Day has been celebrated in India. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954. The University of Oxford instituted the Radhakrishnan Chevening Scholarships and the Radhakrishnan Memorial Award in his memory. He also received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1961.

Shiva's Cosmic Dance at CERN - The place where the "God Particle" was discovered!

Source: http://www.fritjofcapra.net/shiva.html

                   

Shiva's Cosmic Dance at CERN

On June 18, 2004, an unusual new landmark was unveiled at CERN, the European Center for Research in Particle Physics in Geneva — a 2m tall statue of the Indian deity Shiva Nataraja, the Lord of Dance. The statue, symbolizing Shiva's cosmic dance of creation and destruction, was given to CERN by the Indian government to celebrate the research center's long association with India.