Help underprivileged and needy students

Matrubhoomi Education Society was formed in 1993 with the aim to provide quality and affordable education to underpriviledged and needy students in the slum areas adjoining Janupada in Thakur Village, Kandivali-E, Mumbai, India. The primary section of the school started in 1994.

Today, the school has over 650 students and 20 teachers in 6 rented sheds. Over 60% of the students come from poor & economically weaker sections and are barely able to meet the school expenses inclduing their tution fees.

Matrubhoomi Education Society is seeking financial assistance in their continued efforts to provide quality education to underpriviledged children.

Please come forward, join hands with me and help for a noble cause. All your donations are exempt u/s 80 G of Indian Income Tax Act.

Please write to me or Shri Ashok Kulkarni (ashco@vsnl.com) if you wish to have more details on how you can help in this noble cause.

To Be or Not To Be?

To Be or Not To Be? This question is so valid in today's world also, that I very recently had to ask the same to myself. On a Sunday morning, I was deeply surprised by seeing a display on the notice board of my Society. The Cultural Committee was appointed for the year 2010-2015 and did not feature my name. After doing so much and devoting a lot of time to the festivals in my housing complex, what I got was a kick out of the cultural events.

This made me ask myself, To Be or Not To Be? I then asked a few questions to myself, but did not find any answers for the same.

The first question I asked myself was "Did I do too much for the welfare of the Society? Was it so much that it was not required at all?" This had no answer. Whatever I did was for the good of the event and the people in general and did not have any self interest whatsoever. This did require rubbing shoulders with others ending in unpleasant circumstances, but that was unavoidable at that point of time.

Secondly I asked to me "To Be or Not To Be?" For this, after a long thought, I got the answer. I was repeatedly thinking on my participation in the Cultural events, and finally decided Not To Be a part of the same, Not To Be a part where your efforts are not acknowledged and you are shown the dust-bin after getting the work done.

All of us face similar situations, either in our personal or professional life. But it is entirely upto us and in our own hands, how to handle this. If you get deeply involved and evolved in any of the events or situations, just be ready to taste the bitter fruits and never expect a pat on your back. But if you decide to swim on the banks only, without getting in too deep, you are likely to be the Happiest Person on the Earth.

I have decided to sit on the banks and be happy.

After all, Choice is Yours.

Facebook - A Gift or an abuse?

I recentlly started using Facebook. Though I was a bit reluctnat to sign up, my daughters and friends convinced me to sign up and I did so. After a few days, I am now thinking of whether Facebook is a gift to the Internet mankind or just another site used by abusers of The Internet and social networking sites around the World.

Well, the answer to this is how you use Facebook. I use it prudently, to network with my old friends and family members, pass time with interesting applications like FarmVille and share photos & memories with relatives aho are staying far away.

But, if you decide to abuse this fantastic social networking site, then sky is also not the limit. However, I would personally and strongly advise you not to do so and kill the puprose of the creators and founders of Facebook. No time will be required to kill this site, but we all must admire the great efforts put in by the founder of Facebook in developing such a great tool, free to use, for all of us.

Hope you will agree with me, connect with me on Facebook and enjoy the wide spread "good" benefits of Social Networking.

Enjoy Facebooking..!!!!

Austerity - What is this?

There is a new term that has been flashing almost all day on Indian news TV channels and that is "Austerity". The Indian Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee came in lime light after he introduced this term within the Central Indian Government and almost everybody seems to be thrilled. Personalities like INC Chief Ms Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi have started flying economy. It was a breaking news when Mr. Rahul Gandhi decided to travel by train than taking a flight. Great News indeed.

One of the dictionary meanings of austerity is enforced or extreme economy. By using this term, the federal Indian government wants all its ministers and elected representatives to use economy class when they fly and avoid unnecessary splurge of money, which is actually collected from the people of India in the form of taxes.

After almost 50 years of Independence, finally the Indian government is thinking about the people of India and their hard-earned money. I wonder why the Indian economists and the leaders who run the country took 50+ years to find this term. May be they have found the dictionary now and while going through its pages, they found this somewhat less used word "austerity".

Call it politics to regain power, call it publicity stunts or call it whatever you want, the hard earned money of the people of India is surely being saved for the much needed urban and rural development of the country.

I am sure Shri. Pranab Mukherjee must have earned a lot or praise with this drive.

If he wishes to be more popular, he must now show the reforms that he brings by wisely using the taxes for bringing the country up and above the rest.

Do you agree with me?

Have we forgot Lokamanya Tilak?

The recently concluded Ganeshotsav has raised several questions in my mind. The first question that is bothering me is "have we forgot Lokmanya Tilak?" My answer to this is a big Yes. We have indeed forgot our National leader and veteran freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak. This is because we have forgot his ideologies, we have forgot the very fact why he started a festival like Ganeshotsav and made it a public function, we have forgot the basic principles of our Vedas. We have even forgot the fact that the Ganesh idol we bring should be brought in with dignity, should not be too high in height and should be environment friendly.

Widespread campaigns are already on for an eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi festival to make everyone aware of the pollution and environmental damage caused by Plaster of Paris idols and chemical paints.

• Plaster of Paris (POP) is not a naturally occurring material and contains gypsum, sulphur, phosphorus and magnesium. The idols take several months to dissolve in water and in the process poison the waters of lake, ponds, rives and seas, thereby kiiling the flora and fauna within.
  
• The chemical paints used to decorate the Ganesh idol contain mercury, lead, cadmium and carbon and this increases the acidity and heavy metal content in the water.
• Careless dumping of Ganesh idols in water-bodies blocks the natural flow of water. This results in stagnation and breeding of mosquitoes and other harmful pests. The polluted water causes several diseases including skin diseases also damages the ecosystem, kills fishes and water plants.

Alternatives:

• Use eco-friendly clay idols painted with natural colors.
• Use permanent idols made of stone and perform a symbolic immersion and reuse the idol each year.
• Avoid public water bodies to immerse the idols, instead immerse idol in bucket or tub.

If we really wish to follow the ideologies set by veteran leaders like Lokmanya Tilak to make India a great nation, can we not follow such simple steps and remember to celebrate the next festivals as per the Vedas and Puranas of Ancient India.

Remember, more and more use of non-eco friendly material on Earth is creating Global Warming which is very much detrimental to us and our future generations.

Please SAVE PLANET EARTH.