Thursday, February 19, 2015

PANCHAAMRITAM 267

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PANCHAAMRITAM 267
(pancha is five in samskritam; amritam is nectar)
Amavaasya / Kali Yugabda 5116 / Jaya Maasi 6 (February 18, 2015)

ONE
Elders in Bekkinakeri village, 16km from Belagavi / Belgaum (Karnataka, Bharat) have found an innovative way to convince the importance of having toilets to the people practicing open defecation; that is saying 'good morning' to those heading towards answering nature's call at the wee hours. Elders comprising local gram panchayat body, anganwadi teachers and asha workers gather at the popular places of open defecation from 5.30 am to 8am and say 'good morning' to the people heading towards there. While returning after answering nature's call, they are convinced about benefits of having toilets in terms of health, safety of women and self-esteem. Earlier, the initiative became a joke in village but gradually it has started influencing the minds. Belagavi zilla panchayat observed 'Shouchalayakkagi Samara' (fight for toilets) programme. Bekkinakeri village conducted toilet awareness programme for 11 days. Jatha (procession) by the school students, door-to-door visit by the anganwadi teachers and asha workers were the part of programme. Families were warned with blocking government facilities if toilet is not constructed. Based on a report BY Shri Ravindra Uppar in THE TIMES OF INDIA, November 19, 2014.
TWO
Shri  Manohar Parrikar took oath as cabinet minister November 9, 2014. He has been given the charge of defence ministry. Manohar Parrikar has served thrice as Goa chief minister. Once in New Delhi, he stayed at a VIP suite in the Kota House Naval Officers' mess.  He recently surprised defence ministry officials by offering to pay for his two-month stay. The bill had come to more than Rs.1 lakh. The mess officials of Navy were taken aback as Navy as well as Army and Air Force come under his department, but here is the Minister ready to pay the bill for his stay! Even during his tenure as Goa Chief Minister he was known for his straightforwardness. From INDIA TODAY February 16, 2015.

THREE
Sanatombi, a girl from Imphal, Manipur, is in Delhi, having received a scholarship from the culture ministry to learn Kathak. After her first day at the dance school, she is back at the house where she lives as a paying guest. Her mother, a veteran Manipuri dancer, calls from Imphal (Manipur, Bharat) to ask about the class. “I don’t know whether it was a good decision to come here,” Sanatombi says. “The first question everyone asks me is: Kahaan se aayi ho? When I say I am from Imphal in Manipur, they ask ‘Chinese ho? (Are you Chinese?) You do not look Indian.’” After a particularly traumatic experience in a market, Sanatombi wants to return to Imphal. When she is asked to perform a Manipuri dance at a function, she uses the opportunity to give her compatriots a little lesson about her home state, including the fact that Chitrangada, the bride of Mahabharata’s Arjun, was from Manipur. Sanatombi’s experience, lived through by many Indians from the country’s north-east, is shared by Molina Sushant Singh, the Mumbai-based Kathak dancer who played the protagonist in Nahaakgee Nungsirabi (Local Foreigner), a play performed recently as part of the Zindagi theatre section of the Hindustan Times Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. The play received a standing ovation from the audience. From a report by Shri Maoj R Nair in the NORTH EAST TODAY, February 11, 2015.
FOUR
Sairam Bhat, 78, is a farmer by profession and an ayurveda physician by descent. Swami builds houses for the poor free of cost, provided they have at least five cents of land. He lives at Kilinjar in Kasargod district (Kerala, Bharat) Bhat’s journey in helping the poor started by cutting short another ‘important yatra’ in 1995. He had been setting aside money to go to Kashi on turning 58. That was when a poor labourer and his neighbour, whose shack was destroyed in a storm, came to him seeking help. He told him, “Son, I will build you a new house,” remembers a genial Bhat, sitting in his living room which doubles up as a clinic. He used the money saved up for Kashi yatra to build a house for Kuntynana. “After that I never felt the need to go to Kashi again,” he says. The word spread fast, and people started  approaching him for houses. Since 1995, he has built 224 houses. Initially, he started with Rs 40,000 per house, and then he raised the budget to Rs 1.20 lakh. Bhat does not remember all his beneficiaries, but one name he recalls is Abdul Rahman, a daily wage labourer in Kunjar. “That’s because all other people came to me; in Rahman’s case, I went to him,” he says. Every room in Rahman’s shack leaked, and was shared by seven children. “Rahman’s was my 25th house,” he says. Based on a report by Shri George Poikayil in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, February 2, 2015.
FIVE
Shri C Kannan, a teacher at Velliangadu government school near Karamadai (Tamilnadu, Bharat), chose to pay his respects to his hero, revolutionary poet Subramania Bharathi, on his birth anniversary by gifting the fountain pens to all the 750 students from classes VI to XII. For this he spent Rs 20,000. He has already provided students from economically weaker sections with two sets of uniforms. The science teacher says the gesture would also serve as an encouragement for the students who are in the middle of their half-yearly exams. Kannan says, “Sincerity and dedication from teachers motivate students to perform better. Inspiring children and moulding them into responsible citizens are part of the duty of every teacher.” R Palanisamy, headmaster of the school, said that though Kannan was appointed as a BT Assistant to handle science classes for students of classes VI to IX, out of interest, he used to take English and Mathematics classes. Kannan would make the learning process interesting for students by discussing general issues with them before getting into the text books. Based on a report in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, December 16, 2014.
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Tuesday, February 3, 2015

PANCHAAMRITAM 266

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PANCHAAMRITAM 266
(pancha is five in samskritam; amritam is nectar)
Poornima / Kali Yugabda 5116 / Jaya Thai 20 (February 3, 2015)
ONE

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have declined any Padma award for them reportedly being considered by the govrnment on the occasion of the 66th Republic Day. In a letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Ramdev referred to media reports that the government was considering his name for Padma Vibushan, the second highest civilian award but felt that as an “ascetic” he should refrain from accepting “rewards or honours.” Ramdev requested the Home Minister instead to select some other deserving person for the award. “I should be allowed to serve selflessly and the award should be given to some other deserving person,” Ramdev was quoted as saying in his letter to the Home Minister. Ravi Shankar took to Twitter to inform about his decision. Sri Sri tweeted: “Rajnath Singhji called to inform me about Padma Awards.  I thank Govt. for considering me. Instead of me, I'd like them to honour someone else. People ask why I haven't refused other awards! Highest civilian awards from other countries were conferred without asking for my consent”. (Twitter / PTI / THE HINDU, January 25, 2015).
TWO
The incident happened on January 28, 2014, when Mhonbeni Ezung, 8, had gone to her maternal grandmother's home in Chudi village in Wokha district (Nagaland, Bharat). Her grandmother, Renthunglo Jungi, then 78, had taken her out for fishing to Anunga Hayi stream, 4 to 5 km from Chudi. While fishing, the grandmother suffered sudden cramps, followed by a stroke and fell unconscious. Sensing trouble, Mhonbeni ran back 4-5 km through the thick forests all alone to the village to call for help. Renthunglo was rushed to Sanis PHC, under Wokha district and was later referred to Dimapur. N Longtsubemo Lotha, the proud father of Mhonbeni, said they received the award from the Prime Minister in Delhi. Longtsubemo is a havaldar in Nagaland's Home Guards department. Mhonbeni is the youngest recipient of the bravery awards this year. She was among 24 children to receive the national bravery award on Republic Day, 2015. (THE TIMES OF INDIA, January 26, 2015).
THREE
Sreepriya S, a final-year BA Sanskrit (Vedanta) student at Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit at Kalady (Kerala, Bharat) managed to collect a sum of Rs 25,000 that provided solace to an old woman, her mentally ill daughter and two children living in a rented house. Sreepriya has been able to convince a relative of hers to sponsor a school child. Food distribution to old age homes, and sponsoring 10 mentally-challenged are some of her service activities. Of late, Sreepriya and her team have been collecting money and offering financial aid to 10 poor families with Rs 5000 each per month. “I get proper education, good food and livelihood, I want it to reach others who are deprived of it too”, she says. She says her interest in social work began in her school days. Sreepriya celebrates her birthday and festivals with children in orphanages, sharing some happy moments with them. She is also part of a fundraising activity for treatment of a cancer patient. After completing her degree, she wishes to pursue Master of Social Work and continue her work at a professional level. (Based on  a report by Smt Meera Manu in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS January 30, 2015).
FOUR
Dr Anil K Sharma, after passing out from MGM College, Indore (Madhya Pradesh, Bharat) received fellowship training in pain management at Cleveland Clinic Foundation, USA. He founded spine and pain centres in New Jersey and New York. He specializes in the use of minimally invasive techniques to treat spinal disorders and has performed over 40,000 spinal procedures in his 20 years of clinical practice. Dr Sharma has committed to donate US $ 1 million (Rs 6 crore) to his alma mater, for upgradation of the college, during a meeting with the Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan who was on a five-day visit to USA to address Indian diaspora at 'Friends of Madhya Pradesh Conclave.' Chauhan in one of his tweets also made the announcement. It said, "Happy to share: Dr Anil K Sharma of New York as friend of MP commits 1 million dollars donation for MGM Medical College and Hospital." (Based on a report by Shri Ashish Gaur in THE TIMES OF INDIA, Febuary 2, 2015).
FIVE
This happened in July, 2013. Chris Ihle, 38, a bank employee of Ames in the state of Iowa, USA, was returning from lunch; he had just parked his motorcycle. He noticed that a Pontiac Bonneville (car) was sitting frozen in the nearby rail crossing with a train approaching. Ihle ran over and screamed at the couple inside, 84-year-old Marion Papich and his 78-year-old wife, Jean, to move, but they didn't. Ihle tried pushing the car forward, but it wouldn't budge. So he moved to the car's front and told Marion Papich to make sure it was in neutral. He then dug in his cowboy boots and heaved as the train bore down on them with its horn blaring and brakes screeching. Ihle managed to push the car about 5 feet to safety, seconds before the train rumbled by, missing him by inches. The car wasn't scratched and the Papiches were unharmed. After the rescue, Ihle walked back to his office, where the tellers who witnessed his heroics swarmed him. He had a cup of coffee and called his father before returning to the crossing, where police had arrived. The train crew had stopped the train down the tracks and an engineer ran back to make sure everyone was all right. They were OK, and relieved. Notes February 2015 READER’S DIGEST about the incident: “It had a life changing effect on Chris. He gave up his job and travelled to India on what he calls a ‘soul searching trip’ ”. (Based on a post in http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/02/chris-ihle-iowa-saved-elderly-couple-oncoming-train_n_3697062.html?ir=India)
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