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12 August 2020 –

Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna is celebrated with great devotion and enthusiasm in India. According to the Hindu calendar this religious festival is celebrated on the Ashtami of Krishna Paksh or the 8th day of the dark fortnight in the month of Bhadon.

Sri Krishna is considered as one of the most powerful human incarnations of the Lord Vishnu. He was born around 5,200 years ago in Mathura. The sole objective of Sri Krishna’s birth was to free the Earth from the evilness of demons. He played an important role in Mahabharata and propagated the theory of bhakti and good karma which are narrated deeply in the Bhagwat Geeta.

Sri Krishna was born in a prison in the custody of Kansa. Vasudev, His father immediately thought of his friend Nand and decided to hand over his child to him to save Krishna from the clutch of Kansa. Krishna grew up in Gokul and finally killed his uncle, King Kansa.

The actual celebration of Janmashtami takes place during the midnight as Sri Krishna is believed to be borned on a dark, stormy and windy night to end the rule and violence of his uncle, Kansa. All over India this day is celebrated with devotional songs and dances, pujas, arti, blowing of the Conch and rocking the cradle of baby Sri Krishna.

The Janmashtami celebration of Mathura and Vrindavan, the places where Sri Krishna had spent his life, are very special. On this day temples and homes are wonderfully decorated and illuminated. Night long prayers are offered and religious mantras are chanted in the temples.

9 August 2020 –

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only once.” (George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons)

National Book Lovers’ day is an unofficial holiday observed to encourage bibliophiles celebrate reading and literature, reading and learning! People are advised to put away their smart phones and every possible technological distraction and pick up a book or two, and read. Reading is a process, an ongoing activity. People say, there are not enough days in human life to finish the best writings that humanity presented – To Read And Enjoy, To Read And Learn.

Research studies have shown that reading can not only be entertaining, but can also have many health benefits. Reading helps in reducing stress, keeps the brain sharp, and can help the sleeping disorders. Scientists have also found that those who read are much more likely to be empathic and possess ability to understanding of others.

There is a book for everyone’s taste – from the scent of a rare first edition book found in an antique books collection, to a crisp, fresh book at the local bookstore. The very sight of a book can bring back memories of childhood reading, to enjoy a short story or a poem. The long books novels are bringing on the magic ability to lose yourself in a story so powerful that at the end it is like missing good friends. This is for the reader in everyone, the celebration of Book Lovers Day!

Started from carving on stone tablets, the book was designed to make portable the writings and drawings of those who could not carry around stone tablets. In the more modern age, printing capabilities (Thank you, Guttenberg!) made books cheaper, and easier to obtain. The printing press, the typewriter, and the computer all had an effect on the market of books. However, the upsurge in electronic devices that can be used for reading books – computers, tablets, and most cell phones now have the ability to access any small or big book, and to enjoy reading books not matter where you are, at any geographical location.

In order to truly appreciate Book Lovers Day, one must only find a story and read it. Maybe some wish to dive into the unknown with a good mystery, or see magic in a high fantasy setting, or be enthralled in a steamy romance. The individual genre of reading is not the big part of this ‘book lovers’ celebration, just that someone practices the reading.

Today, we encourage to find time to read as many books as someone can, to live the many lives of the heroes, to learn new things, and the open the mind to new forms of knowledge.

3 August 2020 –

Raksha Bandhan’ is a famous festival of Hindus. It is also called the festival of ‘Rakhi’. It falls on Purnima or full moon day in the month of Shravan according to Hindu Calendar. It is celebrated all over India.

‘Raksha’ means protection and ‘Bandhan’ means bound. Thus ‘Raksha Bandhan’ means the ‘Bond of Protection’. On this day, Sisters tie a special band on their brothers’ wrist as a mark of affection. This thread is called the ‘Rakhi’. The brothers in return takes a lifelong vow to protect their sisters. On the day of Raksha Bandhan, brothers and sisters reaffirm their pious bonds of affection.
Raksha Bandhan is all about celebrating this bond. It is a symbolism of the unique and special relationship shared by the two. This day has been rightly recognized to have a good time and focus on this beautiful bond. It serves as a symbol of their love, togetherness, and confidence in each other.

3 August 2020

देश की प्राचीन भाषाओं में संस्कृत का मुख्य स्थान हैं. संस्कृत भाषा को सभी आधुनिक भारतीय भाषाओं की जननी माना जाता हैं. इसी से दूसरी अन्य भाषाओं का जन्म माना जाता हैं. भारतीय संस्कृति का आधार कही जाने वाली यह मातृभाषा हमारे संविधान द्वारा सूचीबद्ध 22 राष्ट्रीय भाषाओं में से एक हैं. हमारे अधिकतर धार्मिक ग्रन्थ जिनमे वेद पुराण और गीता की रचना संस्कृत भाषा में हुई. आज विश्व की सबसे सम्पन्न और आधुनिक भाषा कही जाने वाली अंग्रेजी के शब्दकोश के अधिकतर शब्द इसी भाषा से लिए गये हैं. आज से कुछ हजार वर्ष तक संस्कृत भारतीय जन जीवन की आधार भाषा कही जाने वाली संस्कृत आज हासिये पर आ चुकी जिसको जानने और समझने की आज संख्या मुट्ठीभर ही रह गईं हैं.
भले ही संस्कृत को आज वो स्थान प्राप्त नही हैं, जिसकी वो हकदार हैं, मगर इसका महत्व आज भी उतना ही हैं जितना पहले था. क्योंकि इसी की मदद से हमे अन्य भाषाओं का ज्ञान प्राप्त हो सका हैं.

आज के समय में इस देवभाषा के सभी आयामो पर फिर अनुसन्धान कर आमजन में इसके प्रति जागृति लाने की आवश्यकता हैं. क्योंकि यह मात्र एक भाषा न होकर भारतीय संस्कृति का पर्याय भी हैं. हमारी सभ्यता और संस्कृति को बढ़ावा देने के लिए हमे इस भाषा को अधिक महत्व देना चाहिए. इसी से हमे शिरोधार्य करना होगा इससे ही हमारी विरासत का विकास और उत्थान हो सकता हैं.

2 August 2020

Friendship Day celebrations take place on the first Sunday of August every year. The tradition of dedicating a day in honor of friends began in US in 1935. Gradually the festival gained popularity and today Friendship Day is celebrated in large number of countries including India.

There is not much literature on Friendship Day history as we celebrate today. However, there are numerous folktales and several instance in mythological legends that shows that friends and friendship have been valued since the beginning of civilized world. As an intrinsically social creature, men love to make friends to carry further this process of socialization.

Considering the valuable role friends play in our life it was deemed to fit to have a day dedicated to friends and friendship. The United States Congress, in 1935, proclaimed first Sunday of August as the National Friendship Day. Since then, celebration of National Friendship Day became an annual event. The noble idea of honoring the beautiful relationship of friendship caught on with the people and soon Friendship Day became a hugely popular festival.

Following the popularity and success of Friendship Day in US, several other countries adopted the tradition of dedicating a day to friends. Today, Friendship Day is enthusiastically celebrated by several countries across the world including India.

In 1997, the United Nations named Winnie – the Pooh as the world’s Ambassador of Friendship.

Importance of Friendship in Bible: The Bible, the primary text of the western civilization, reflects upon friendship as the bond that forms the foundation to human faith, trust and companionship. Following verses from the bible aptly portray the importance of friends
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
“Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13-15

Importance of Friendship in Mahabharata
In the famous Hindu epic ‘Mahabharata’, Lord Krishna demonstrates the many colors of friendship – affection, romance, brotherhood, protection, guidance, intimacy and even teasing. Friendship is all about these and much more. The character of Karna is the embodiment of friendship who prepared to fight even his own brothers for the sack of friendship.

Friendship is divine. Friendship is always giving and not asking or taking.

Friendship is one of the most beautiful relationships that has evolved since the beginning of the human race. Other than immediate blood relations, friends are the most valued persons in one’s life. Friendship usually develops with the same age groups with more or less identical nature and interests. Friends usually spend whatever time they find in pursuing their common interests, confiding in each other about their joys and sorrows and coming to the help of those who are in need emotionally or otherwise. It is but natural that one particular day in a year has been set aside to celebrate this beautiful relationship.

Friendship is a great feeling. As long as we feel friendly towards our fellow human beings and all other living beings there will be no hostility and all of us can lead a harmonious joyful life.

1 August 2020

“Festival of the Sacrifice”

Eid Ul Adha is a Muslim festival that basically marks the end of Hajj or Pilgrimage to Makkah. This Eid is also known as the Eid of sacrifice, and it basically commemorates the faith of Abraham and devotion to Allah. According to the Belief of the Muslims, Allah asked Abraham to sacrifice his son for Allah’s sake, and even though he was a good man and loved his son very much, his devotion and faith to God was so strong that he did not hesitate to take this bold step and agreed to sacrifice his son (Huda, 2011). The willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son for the sake of Allah caused Allah to spare his son’s life, and therefore a lamb was sacrificed in his place. This was a miracle of Allah and it proved that he has command over all things and the known and the unknown. It is because of this holy incident in the History of Islam that the Muslims now celebrate Eid ul Adha every year to earn Allah’s blessings and forgiveness.

Tigers are majestic animals and they are now in lowest numbers they have been ever. Our National Animal is Tiger and it is in only our country that Tigers (Bengal Tigers) are found in great numbers. Tigers are vulnerable to extinction due to humans’ inhuman activities and climatic changes. Number of tigers all across the world has been reduced from 100,000 to 3,000. So to create awareness about Tiger conservation, July 29 is declared as International Tiger Day by International Tiger Summit in 2010.

Tigers are a part of our planets’ natural heritage; they also have a great cultural and historical significance. No doubt they are also crucial for the ecosystems in which they live. We can’t ignore that tigers not only protect the forest by maintaining ecological integrity but also they bring highest levels of protection and investment to an area. Therefore, we call them as “umbrella species” that is their conservation also conserve many other species in the same area.

Preserving an endangered animal is the responsibility of every individual and we should help towards the preservation of Tigers.

Let us keep the tigers in jungles & not in history……
#Save Tigers.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi

World Nature Conservation Day is celebrated on July 28 all over the world in order to raise awareness about the significance of natural resources and encourage people about the practices of protecting natural resources. World Nature Conservation Day recognizes that a healthy environment is a foundation for a stable and productive society and to ensure the well-being of present and future generations, we all must participate to protect, conserve, and sustainably manage our natural resources.

Nature conservation means protecting nature so that it is not overexploited. It also means using natural resources wisely so that needs of the present generation can be satisfied without compromising future generation’s ability to maximize their own needs. The most obvious reason for conservation is to protect wildlife and promote biodiversity. Protecting wildlife and preserving it for future generations also means that the animals we love don’t become a distant memory. And we can maintain a healthy and functional ecosystem.

Tulsidas (1497-1623 C.E.) was a Hindu saint and the poet. Tulsidas is renowned for his great devotion towards Lord Rama. Tulsidas composed several works but he is best known as the author of the epic Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of the Sanskrit Ramayana in the vernacular Awadhi language.

Tulsidas was acclaimed to be a reincarnation of Maharishi Valmiki, the composer of the original Ramayana in Sanskrit. He is also considered to be the composer of Hanuman Chalisa, a popular devotional hymn in Awadhi dedicated to Lord Hanuman.

Tulsidas spent most of his life in the city of Varanasi. The famous Tulsi Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi is named after him. The famous Sankatmochan Temple dedicated to God Hanuman is believed to be founded by Tulsidas.

According to Hindu lunar calendar, Tulsidas was born on Shravana, Shukla Paksha Saptami and this day is observed as birth anniversary of Poet Tulsidas. Tulsidas is also known as Goswami Tulsidas.

Nation is celebrating 21st anniversary of the victory in the Kargil War; Two decades ago, on July 26, Indian Armed forces secured one of the most dramatic and hard fought victories in history; The country remembers the extreme valour, sacrifice and exemplary courage of Indian soldiers today. Kargil Vijay Diwas is a day when the country pays homage to the Kargil War heroes and celebrates victory over Pakistan in the Kargil War.

On July 26, 1999, India successfully regained command over all the high outposts. The Kargil War was fought for more than 60 days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he will speak to the people of the country in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on July 26. Last year, PM Modi had said that the day should be remembered for the “courage, bravery and dedication” shown by the soldiers who took part in Operation Vijay.

Under ‘Operation Vijay’, the Indian government had mobilized two lakh troops. In the Kargil War, 527 soldiers from the Indian Armed Forces sacrificed their lives. The Kargil War Memorial, built by the Indian Army, is located in Dras, about five kilometre from the Tiger Hill.
India, on July 7, remembered Captain Vikram Batra, the Kargil War hero, on his 21st death anniversary. Captain Vikram Batra sacrificed his life fighting Pakistani forces during the Kargil War. At the age of 24, Captain Batra became the face of the Indian soldier at Kargil, whose words reverberate even today – ‘Yeh Dil Maange More..’ The soldier took the advertising slogan and elevated it to a motto for life.
Another Kargil War hero, Captain K Nachiketa, was captured by the soldiers of the Pakistani Northern Light Infantry during the Kargil War. He was brutally beaten and tortured. The fighter pilot had been assigned the task of hitting Pakistani posts in Kargil at altitudes in excess of 17,000 feet.

Eight days after he was captured and after intense efforts made by the government of India to secure his release, Captain Nachiketa was handed over to the Red Cross, which brought him back to India. He was greeted by the then President KR Narayanan and former Prime Minister Vajpayee.

For most, this would have been enough to call it a day. But Captain Nachiketa is clearly made of sterner stuff. He could not return to fighter flying because of an injury to his back when he ejected over Kargil but he was able to enter the Indian Air Force’s transport fleet and continues to fly giant Il-76 transports.

The day – July 26 – reminds the nation of extreme valour, sacrifice and exemplary courage of Indian soldiers against an adversary which had the advantage of being pitched at an elevated position on the mountain peaks.