PANCHAAMRITAM 299
(pancha is five in
samskritam; amritam is nectar)
Amavaasya /
Kali Yugabda 5118 / Durmuki Vaikasi 22 (June 4, 2016)
Posted on
June 7, 2016
.
ONE
According to many religious beliefs,
flowers offered during prayers are sacrosanct and cannot be dumped into the
garbage once they’ve wilted. This is one of the reasons why people prefer to
discard them in rivers, lakes and other water bodies. But not many of us think
about the fertilizers and pesticides that might have been used to grow these
flowers, which then mix with the water and pollute it. The problem really
troubled Kanpur-based Ankit Agarwal and Karan Rastogi. After considerable
research, they came upon a solution: the discarded flowers could be turned into
incense sticks, fertilisers and soaps. The duo picks up flowers from different
places of worship every day – approximately 500 kg of them. The flowers are
then mixed with organic cow dung and treated with about 17 natural components
like coffee residue, corn cobs, etc. These help increase the nitrogen content
in the end-product. After a few days, earthworms are added to the mix. These
worms consume the mixture and lead to the formation of vermicompost after 60
days. Vermicompost is a ready-to-use fertilizer. In 2014, they started their
own company HelpUsGreen, a social enterprise dedicated to preserving rivers by
recycling the discarded flowers. "Our enterprise is now managing five
self-help groups with 10 members each," says Rastogi. “The packaging for
our products are also designed in such a way that when disposed, plants will
grow from them,” says Ankit. Based on a report by Shri Abhimanu Nagarajan in
THE TELEGRAPH, Kolkatta, February 8, 2016 and other media reports. Idea: Shri
Vasuvaj.
TWO
Hospitalised in Madurai, C Venkatesan, a
65-year-old from Vellore, the recipient of a liver harvested from a brain-dead
person in Puduchery, was on cloud nine since the good news of organ donation
reached him on May 26 evening. It was natural for him and his kin to be
bursting with joy after a 55-day wait. But S Jegatheesan, 35, a native of
Sivaganga, was even happier. He was the
man at the wheel, rushing the harvested liver from Puduchery in little over
three hours on May 27. For Jegatheesan, this is the seventh such assignment ever
since April 2015. He has transported organs four times from Puducherry, twice
from Tiruchy and once from Nellore to Madurai. “I was nervous during my first
trip. But I understood my responsibility later: I’m helping to save a life.
Even though I don’t know the donors, I feel happy when I’m in the driver’s
seat. I don’t feel the pressure of driving at 140 km/hr as police create a
green corridor.” (Based on a report by Shri Kaushik Kannan in THE NEW INDIAN
EXPRESS, May 28, 2016).
THREE
They
had fled to India across the Western border to escape the constant nightmare
that haunts Hindus living in Pakistan. Seven-year-old Raj Nandini, who crossed
over along with her parents last year from Sindh, is one of them. She and 200
others are now living in a shanty town in Rohini Sector 11 , Delhi. Her desire
is to escape the grim poverty and deprivation in the refugee camp and find
success in the Promised Land. Her prayer was answered in the form of
19-year-old Pareedhi Bhatnagar, a student of Kasturi Ram College, and an
aspiring journalist and photographer. According to a report by the Movement for
Solidarity and Peace in Pakistan, up to 1,000 women—700 Christians and 300
Hindus—are forcibly converted to Islam every day in Pakistan. For Pareedhi,
meeting the little refugee girl was beginning of a new endeavour. She was
determined to improve the future of the refugee families by empowering their
young. She now teaches pro bono around 50 refugee kids living in the camp. Most
of them go to government schools nearby, but are unable to spell, count or write
properly. Pareedhi, armed with her DSLR camera, a laptop and a box of candy for
the children reaches the camp every day to teach. Portraits of Hanuman, Durga,
Radha and Krishna look down benevolently on the children. Keeping them company
is a portrait of Gobind Ballabh Pant (It is in fact a portrait of Dr. Hedgewar, the born patriot who founded the
RSS!). Once Pareedhi arrives and settles down, her little pupils gather
around her. “From childhood I wanted to give something back to society”. (Based
on a report by Shri Siddhanta Mishra in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, May 29, 2016). http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Delhi-college-girl-sells-dreams-to-Hindu-kids-who-fled-Pakistan-for-promised
FOUR
In a gesture of
goodwill extending beyond the borders, an Indian officer has saved the lives of
newly-born Nepalese twins by donating blood of a rare group, along the Indo-Nepal
International Border in Bihar. Naveen
Kumar Singh, a resident of Nepals Rautahat district, approached officials of
border guarding Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and informed them about urgent
requirement of "O-ve" blood for his twin babies who had developed
some "serious health complications." They said Singh and his wife
Seema, after finding no person with the rare blood group in their area,
approached the SSBs border post at Bhanga, in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district for
help. The company commander of the 20th battalion deployed in the area, Vijay K
Isser, volunteered as he had an "O-ve" blood group. Assistant
Commandant Isser, who commands the Alpha company of the SSB at the border,
immediately got in touch with his Nepal counterparts on the border and crossed
over to the Brajaha village to donate blood to the twins, they said. A senior
SSB officer said Isser donated one unit of blood that saved the lives of the
twins, born in March this year. SSBs official twitter handle too tweeted the
development: "A big clap for Vinay Kr Isser, Asst Commdt ACoy, Bhanga 20Bn
for his prompt selfless initiative in saving the lives of the twins from
#Nepal." Paramilitary SSB is tasked with guarding the 1,751km long
Indo-Nepal border and is also the lead intelligence gathering Indian agency on
this open border (PTI, May 30, 2016).
FIVE
It
was a heartwarming occasion. Fifty-one underprivileged and differently-abled
couples got married on, May 29, at Mumbai's Bombay Convention and Exhibition
Centre. Of the 51 couples, 22 were physically challenged, 7 had one physically
challenged partner and 22 were from
underprivileged backgrounds. The couples came from different parts of
India, including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and
Maharashtra. The wedding, conducted by the Narayan Seva Sansthan -- an NGO
established in 1985 that helps differently-abled and underprivileged people --
had been organised in a large air-conditioned hall that had a beautifully
decorated stage. There were chariots to bring the couples to the venue and an
excellent feast after the wedding. Baba Bankim came all the way from Rajkot
came to witness the mega event. Dancer and actress Sudha Chandran -- who lost
her right leg after a road accident when she was just 18 -- performed at the
event. (A report by Shri Hitesh Harisinghani in Rediff.com May 31, 2016).
Idea: Shri Vasuvaj.
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