BYBS: Children's Day and Our Environment!

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Two months and a day. That is how long it has been since I posted anything on this blog. Come to think of it, this is the longest blogging break I have had since I started blogging almost four years ago. In the last two months I have tried to write something on the blog, but for one reason or another I have managed to put it off. But, as those who know me well would know, it was only a matter of time before I got back to regular blogging, and here I am again.

And when I am getting back to blogging, what better subject to start with then Blogging my Blessings.

One of the things about my life I really like is living in the hills. Despite the recent developments that have converted our villages and towns into cities and mega cities, the hills have manged to retain some of the original beauty that nature had bestowed upon them in abundance. Living in the hills since my childhood, I have managed to stay in touch with nature and appreciate the bounties that nature holds for us.

Living in the hills means living in close harmony with nature. A picture they say is worth a thousand words. So, without using too many words to explain what I mean, I'll just show you a picture of the view from my window:
On the tree that you see in the picture, in addition to observing birds of many varieties, I have often spotted a monkey, or the occasional langoor.

This is when I am living in the capital town. When I was a kid, I lived in many smaller towns and villages, which were quite untouched by modernity. Living there was a great blessing as I got to see first hand what the poets of the past have tried to describe in the unforgettable lines they wrote. At the same time, knowing how things were once, makes you even sadder when you look at the way things are changing now.

In our quest for comfort and a better life, we are hurting the environment. The changes that are happening now are irreversible, but the good thing is that we still have time to stop these changes for the worse, and turn the wheel around. Mother nature has a way of forgiving us our transgressions, and if we learn our lessons even now and decide to repent, things can still be good, and our children can have a chance to be as close to nature as we were when we were kids. we owe the future generations at lest this much.

This Children's Day let us decide to make this world a better place for our children. What say you?

(To know more about Himachal Pradesh, the State I live in, and stay up to date with the latest happenings in the state, you could follow my friend's blog)

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BYBS: Seek Not, And You Shall Find

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It is, sometimes, hard to come up with ideas to write about. It is not that the mind runs out of ideas; the ideas just decide that they want to play hide and seek. As soon as you try to grab one of the them, it slips away into a dark corner. You don't mind because you are sure there are other ideas in there, but as soon as you turn around to hold on to any one of them, you find them all slipping and sliding away into the nooks and crannies of your brain.

You are left with an emptiness, which gets deeper with every attempt that you make to fill it.

What do you do now?

Well, I don't know about you. But, off late, I have developed a strategy. I have stopped trying to look for them. If they choose to hide, in stead of going after them, I let them be. Ideas, then, are not unlike mischievous children. When you scold them, or try to stop them from doing something, they will run all over the room. They will hide behind a sofa, or in an inaccessible corner of the room. They have fun teasing and taunting you. But the moment you start ignoring them, and begin doing your own work - pretending they don't even exist - the fun goes out of hiding. The children, now, will come to you, without you having to lift a finger.

Ideas, I feel, are similar. Don't try too hard, and your brain will be overflowing with them.

A good example of the above theory is today's post. As I began to write this post, I had no idea of what I was going to write. I searched my brain, and found nothing there save for an irritating emptiness. So, I just sat back and, without actually trying too hard, wrote this post. As for how good it is, I will let you be the judge.

However, to thank you for your patience with reading this post, I am going to leave you with this video, which, I guarantee, will make you smile:

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BYBS : A Great Teacher

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In India, September 5 is celebrated as Teacher's day to mark the birthday of the second President of India, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Thankfully, its not a holiday - we already have too many of them to want any more - but on this day the regular schedule of the educational institutes is replaced by celebrations and special events.

One of the things that used to happen at our school was that the students of the senior-most class volunteered to teach the junior classes, while the teachers looked on. The time-table for the day was not changed, only the students replaced the teachers. When it was the turn of our class to teach, we were very excited and nervous. I chose to teach the subject that I had always liked - English.

I really don't remember what happened that day, but I do remember that I used to like my English teacher, and the way she taught us. So, I am sure, I must have tried to copy her style while taking the class. I had a great time, and I thought, then, that when I grow up I am going to be a teacher.

Though I never became a teacher, I still wonder that if I had become one, would I be as good as some of the teachers, who have taught me over the years, have been. Teachers have great power over their students, and they can lead the students to give their best. If you are able to find one such teacher, you can count yourself lucky.

Here is an example of what a great teacher can to his students:

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BYBS: Those Who Took a Stand!

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All of us, at some point of time or another, have been discriminated against by others or, like it or not, have held a prejudiced opinion about other people based on caste, colour, sex, creed, money etc. Often, these biases get so well ingrained in a person that they become like second nature.

Today, in spite of what the dooms day prophets might say, the world is a much better place than it was fifty years ago. Most countries of the world now have democratic systems which allow the principle of equality to thrive. These systems allow people to raise their voices if they perceive injustice being meted out to anyone.

It is, however, a fact - and a sad one - that a majority of us will still choose to ignore an act of discrimination, sometimes even when we ourselves are at the receiving end. We simply hope that in time this will go away too.

But, it won’t…unless someone acts.

We simply cannot imagine today what persecution people who stood up against any discrimination suffered, when society thought of the discrimination as the most natural thing. For example, when caste system was socially accepted in the Indian society, it would be suicide for any one from any caste to try and fight against the system. Similarly, I think, in the US when the discrimination based on colour was widely accepted, anyone- regardless of his colour- who raised his voice against the system, would be ruthlessly crushed.

Yet, people stood up for what they thought was right. These people did not care for what the society – their friends, relatives, peers – thought of them and their ideas. They knew that their cause was just and they were prepared to go to any length to fight for the cause. We remember many of these men and women as our heroes today, but many, I am sure, must have perished without anyone knowing of their sacrifice.

With today’s post I would like to thank everyone who has stood up for what is right, without worrying about what the others said. It is because of these people that we live in a world that has more respect for life, ideals, and values. I hope that more of us have the courage to stand up against anything wrong so that we can gift an even better world to our children.

Wishing you all a great week ahead!

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BYBS : Weather!

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Somethings are all around us, and yet we miss them. In fact, the reason we miss them is that they have always been there and we can't imagine a life without them.

One such thing is the weather.

Shimla, the town where I live at, has always had great weather. Its climate, I am sure, was one of the reasons that the British chose it for their Summer Capital of India. Living here for most of my life, I never stopped to appreciate the good weather we have almost all year around. For, the last one year, however, I lived at Delhi, and suffered the extreme temperatures there.

So, naturally, coming back this year I was more appreciative of the weather. For the last four days, especially, the weather has been simply out of the world. Clear blue skies, sunlight bathing the world with it's golden rays, a chill in the air...you get the picture. The picture seems perfect, but there is something wrong with it, something dreadfully wrong.

This is not the time for the weather to be like this.

The climate changes and global warming have silently taken charge of our environment over all these years. For a long time we, being so short sighted, failed to observe what we were doing to our environment. Now, Mother Nature seems to have decided that enough is enough, and we need to be given a warning in a more palpable form. The signs are now there for all of us to see. I am sure you must have also observed the change in weather wherever you live. Haven't you?

I think it is time for each one of us, as individuals, to take actions to save our planet. Not only for our children, but for ourselves too, because at the rate we are going it won't take long before things get really bad.

Let's all join hands, and make the change that we hope to see in the world!

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