Babies are cute and adorable, but also bizarrely strong and capable of doing some extraordinary things. For instance, did you know how amazingly strong you were for your tiny size? Or how you could control your breathing? Or that you had a mustache for a while? Here is a collection of curiosities you didn’t know about your earliest, simplest, and cheekiest times – your super baby days.
Source….www.ba-bamail.com
Natarajan
Do you like hiking? Enough to cross a bridge suspended around 350 feet above a river? If so, hiking one of the world’s most dangerous trails, El Caminito del Rey or “The King’s Little Path,” is your next adventure.
A narrow walkway along the steep cliffs of southern Spain, El Caminito was completed in 1905 to link two hydroelectric dams near Málaga, Andalusia. In 1921, King Alfonso XIII presided over the opening of the “little path,” and he liked it so much that he walked across it himself. This was a historical moment, as electricity had arrived in Spain just a few years before that, and the second Industrial Revolution was changing lives throughout the country and Europe writ large.
Locals regularly traversed El Caminito throughout the century. The suspended walkway allowed children to go to school every day, and enabled their parents to visit the nearest village for groceries or see friends. Unfortunately, for all the people who trod the path, no one was formally responsible for maintaining it, and the king’s tiny road was eventually left to rot.
Over the last 30 years, the path’s floorboards and crossbeams fell to the river, presenting a literal impasse for its otherwise regular travelers. Intrepid climbers, however, kept crossing its floorless platforms every weekend — sometimes yielding fatal results.
Indeed, after five Caminito trekkers died in 1999 and 2000, local authorities officially closed the path. Anyone seen daring the Caminito would receive a fine.
But now the king’s way has reopened.
Following a year’s worth of restoration efforts, El Caminito reopened to the public in March 2015. The five mile-long pathway, whose meandering path takes approximately three to four hours to walk, goes along the Garganta del Chorro gorge in the gorgeous Costa del Sol region, which is best known for its beaches and fantastic year-round weather.
Only 600 people can access the path each day, which is open from Tuesday to Sunday, weather permitting. Unsurprisingly, these slots have been booked for months in advance, as the path provides coastal views as spectacular as they were 100 years ago.
While entry is currently free, in March 2016 guests must part with six euros (about $7, purchasable online) in order to wander Caminito.
There is no need to have the strength of Iron Man to cross El Caminito, but those who suffer from vertigo are discouraged from visiting. Now, however, there are railings, and you will be given a helmet before entering the pathway. Enjoy the trek!
In April 2014, Thrillseekers Anonymous visited El Caminito and recorded that experience. Watch it below (if you dare):
Sayali, a cobbler’s daughter, ran a 3000 meter race barefoot and won a gold medal. She grabbed the top spot despite facing the challenge of running without shoes on a hot synthetic surface.
They say the brightest of stars shine on the darkest of nights. And Sayali, the daughter of a cobbler in Mumbai, has proved this right.
She completed the race in 12:27.8 seconds in the Under-17 event at the District Sports Office inter-school athletic championships.
Her father, Mangesh, who repairs old shoes to feed his family, makes about Rs. 3000-10,000 a month. Whatever he earns goes towards the education of his two daughters.
Aiming to just finish the race, Sayali did not expect to win a medal. In spite of several challenges, she managed to win the gold and make her parents proud. Mangesh wanted to watch her race but could not go due to his work. He encourages both his daughters to succeed in life and wants to see Sayali represent the country one day.
Source…Shreya Pareek…www.thebetterindia.com
Natarajan
Students of one school in Goa wanted to save the environment and do their bit to reduce the increasing plastic waste in their area. Thanks to Goa Dairy, they found a brilliant way to do so and continue with the initiative to this day.
Goa, one of India’s favourite tourist destinations, has been struggling with the issue of improper garbage disposal for many years now. While the state is trying to find solutions, some students in a remote part of Goa are proactively working to tackle this problem in the best possible manner.
In 2013, Rudraksh Kanekar and Yusuf Karol, two students of Class VII in Progress High School, Sakhali, contacted the Goa state cooperative milk producers’ union (Goa Dairy), looking for an effective way to dispose of these packets. They were accompanied by their teacher, Umesh Sarnaik.
The dairy informed them that it was launching a waste management system – people who handed over 100 used milk packets to the dairy would be given one free milk packet in return. This was a decade old system. But this time, it was being launched with a revised feature that educational institutions could participate in the scheme as well.
Under the scheme, schools or colleges could open an account with Goa Dairy. And every time, in return for the 100 used milk packets, the money equivalent to one fresh milk packet would be credited to that account. The accumulated sum could then be used by the educational institutions to order milk or any other milk products during events like sports, annual meetings, etc.
In April 2013, Progress High School became the first school to be a part of the initiative, and was soon followed by 120 other educational institutes. Today, about 50 institutions continue to regularly supply milk packets to Goa Dairy.
According to the managing director of Goa Dairy, N C Sawant, the scheme helps inculcate good habits in children and teaches them the importance of keeping their environment clean.
Students are asked to bring used milk packets from their homes at the end of each month. A sub-in-charge in every class collects the packets and records how many were brought in and by whom. Some students are also involved in the process of washing, drying and bundling the packets.
The initiators of the program, Rudraksh and Yusuf, maintain digital records of all the students. Each student is given a target of collecting 365 empty milk packets in one academic year. The school collects about 2,000 packets every month.
“We collect empty packets not only from our homes but from our neighbours, relatives and nearby hotels. We have collected almost 27,000 milk packets till date and are happy that the project is growing,” Rudraksh told the Times of India.
Goa Dairy supplies about 85,000 litres of milk to the state each day, generating an average of 1,70,000 milk packets. The packets are then sent to scrap dealers.
Source…..Tanaya Singh….www.the betterindia.com
Natarajan
Officials in the Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh have asked devotees to donate coconuts to malnourished kids instead of offering them to the river. This step will not just help poor kids but will also prevent pollution in the river.
District collector Sanket Bhondwe came up with the idea and advised devotees to donate coconuts to malnourished children instead of offering them to the water body.
Devotees congregating at the Narmada river welcomed the move and donated over 1,000 coconuts for poor kids on the first day of the initiative itself.
Though the initiative has been welcomed by the devotees, local vendors have been opposing the move, accusing the officials of hurting religious sentiments.
However, plans are afoot to implement coconut collection on an even larger scale during the nine-day-long Navratri festival where more than 5 lakh coconuts are offered to the Narmada river.
Source….Shreya Pareek….www.thebetterindia.com
Natarajan
The first Indian to receive the prestigious “Humanitarian of the Year” award by Harvard Foundation this year is none other than Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi.
Indian Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi has been selected for the “Humanitarian of the Year” award by the Harvard Foundation.
He will receive the award today, Oct. 16, 2015, at a ceremony at the Harvard University campus in Cambridge.
According to the university website, “Each year, the Harvard Foundation of Harvard University presents the Humanitarian Award to an individual whose works and deeds have served to improve the quality of our lives and have inspired us to greater heights.”
The award was instituted in 1984 and past honorees include Martin Luther King Sr., United Nation’s Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, his predecessor Kofi Annan, Lionel Richie, and Sharon Stone, among many others.
Kailash Satyarthi, who started the Bachpan Bachao Andolan as a Delhi based non-profit, has been working for the rights of children in India since 1980, and his organization has rescued over 80,000 children from 144 countries, from forced labour, trafficking and slavery.
“We believe that your notable contributions to Indian child rights deserve special recognition,” wrote S. Allen Counter Jr., director of the Harvard Foundation, in a letter to Mr. Satyarthi inviting him to the ceremony held in his honour.
Our guest of honor, Kailash Satyarthi was welcome by Harvard Foundation Senior intern, Irfan Mahmud ’16 at the Boston Logan Airport this morning.
Join us! Friday October 16th | Memorial Church | 5PM
Humanitarian of the Year Award Ceremony.
SOURCE…..Tanaya Singh…..www.the betterindia.com
Natarajan
Children like 15-year-old Anuj Nirmal are our hope for tomorrow – the hope that one day, every child in our country will be able to nurture a strong dream of his/her own, and will have the opportunities and determination to achieve it.
15-year-old Anuj Nirmal’s interests range from writing blogs, building robots, and researching on how to create educational apps, to studying human psychology and predicting how people would behave in different circumstances. His personal achievements so far include winning an inter-school parliamentary debate competition, and attaining the second place in a city-wide Kho-Kho competition organized by the BMC, naming but a mere few.
A few years ago, Anuj and his family moved from a small village near Allahabad, to a one room set-up in Prem Nagar Chawl, located in the bustling suburbs of Goregaon, Mumbai, to start life afresh. He is the youngest of three children in the family and his parents iron clothes for a living. However, such tough circumstances never deterred him from achieving his dreams.
“I was 7 years old when sci-fi and superhero movies began to inspire me. I loved watching how superheroes were able to help the world using technology!” he says with a grin.
It was then that he started maintaining a journal of all the ideas that would strike him, and also began to experiment on any object that he found around him.
“I dismantled a DVD player I found somewhere once and used its parts to create a locomotive engine for a small prototype crane lift. My experimenting actually caused a power failure inside the house once which made my parents ban the activity at home altogether!”
“I got to use his computers for free and paid my school fees with the salary he gave me. Now I work at the café in the evenings on weekdays and on Sundays. There I teach Microsoft Office and undertake admin duties along with learning the basics of coding and java script myself.”
“Studying in Siddharth Nagar municipal school, I’ve been fortunate to have Teach For India Fellows as my teachers since Grade 3 as they’ve always guided me and supported my ideas. I recently developed an interest in hacking and showed my science teacher and TFI Fellow, Sravanti Didi, how easy it was to hack into her computer. She wisely made me aware about cyber law and ethical hacking and recommended that I look up Ankit Fadia who wrote a book on ethical hacking in 2001 when he was just 15. Another Teach For India fellow, Apoorva Didi, taught us how to debate and construct arguments. I’ve always been a shy public speaker, but Apoorva Didi made me challenge my fear by taking us to the mall and asking us to debate in front of all the people there!”
For a 15-year-old, Anuj has perfected the art of managing his time prudently. He wakes up at 5 am every day, studies for an hour before reaching school at 7 am. Being the head boy of his school, he starts by making sure that everything is clean and ends the day by leading other students to move out of school in an orderly fashion. Since the school does not have a Hindi or Marathi teacher, Anuj attends tuition classes from 2 – 3:30 pm to address his weakness in language studies and then proceeds for Just For Kicks football practice (a TFI-led annual inter-school competition) at 5 pm before heading to the internet café at 7 pm where he works till 9.30 pm.
“I feel so happy to be able to give my views and ideas. Teachers are usually aware of their classrooms to only a certain extent – when I interact with my classmates during recess and outside school, I get to see another side to them. I hope I can make as much of a contribution to the next phase of Teach For India as their Fellows have made to my life and thinking over the last 5 years” he says, solemnly, with heart-warming humility and touching honesty.
Anuj dreams to be the youngest founder of a technology company called Anuj’s Products that would build various tech gadgets. And he wishes to use the money that he makes from this company to build hospitals and schools for the poor.
“God has given us one life and we should use it to the fullest. I feel like crying when I look at beggars and handicapped people on the street and wonder why nobody is even trying to train them to talk on the phone so that they can work in a BPO, for example? After all, they can still use their mouth to speak! I want to make technology that can help such people so that nobody is ever left helpless. I also see boys in my area who sit on their bikes all day – smoking and picking up fights. If they are so interested in fighting, they should do something useful and join the military!”
Children like Anuj Nirmal give us hope that one day every child in our country would be able to nurture a strong dream of his/her own.
Applications to the 2016-18 Teach For India Fellowship program are open till October 27, 2015. Apply here.
Written By Alankrita Khera – Manager, Communications – Teach For India
Source…..www.thebetterindia.com
Natarajan
சரஸ்வதியைப் பற்றி எப்படி நினைக்கிறோம்? பூர்ண பிரம்ம சக்தி என்று நினைக்கிறோமோ இல்லையோ வித்யாதி தேவதை, கலை மடந்தை, அறிவுத் தெய்வமென்று அவளுக்கு ரொம்பவும் உன்னதமான ஸ்தானம் கொடுத்திருக்கிறோம். வெள்ளை வெளேரென்று வீணா, புஸ்தகங்களோடு அவளை நினைத்தாலே சாந்தியாயிருக்கிறது. சரஸ்வதி பூஜை பண்ணுகிறோம்.
அவளைப் பற்றி ஸ்தோத்திரங்கள், மகான்கள் பண்ணியிருப்பது, கம்பர், ஒட்டக்கூத்தர், குமர குருபரர், பாரதியார் போன்றவர்கள் தமிழில் அழகாகப் பண்ணியிருக்கிறார்கள். அவற்றை ஓதுகிறோம். முத்துஸ்வாமி தீக்ஷிதர் முதலானவர்கள் அவள் மீது செய்திருக்கும் கீர்த்தனங்களைப் பாடுகிறோம். குழந்தையாக ஸ்கூல் போக ஆரம்பிக்கும்போதே அவள்மேல் சுலோகங்கள் சொல்லி பிரியத்துடன் பக்தி பண்ண ஆரம்பித்துவிடுகிறோம்.
இத்தனை இருந்தாலும், இவ்வளவு ஆயிரம் கோயில் இருந்தும் சரஸ்வதிக்கு ஒன்றையும் காணோம். தமிழ்நாடு பூராவிலும் தஞ்சாவூர் ஜில்லாவில் கூத்தனூர் என்ற ஒரு இடத்தில்தான் சரஸ்வதி ஆலயம் இருக்கிறது. அது ஒட்டக்கூத்தர் கட்டிய கோவில். ஒட்டக்கூத்தருடைய ஊர்தான் கூத்தனூர்.
காமகோட்டத்தில், காஞ்சி காமாட்சி ஆலயத்தில் சரஸ்வதிக்கு சந்நிதி உண்டு. ஆனால் அதுகூட பிரம்ம பத்னியான சரஸ்வதி இல்லை என்றும், ராஜ ராஜேச்வரிக்கு மந்த்ரிணியாக இருக்கும் ராஜசியாமளையான மகா சரஸ்வதி என்றும் ஒரு வித்தியாசம் சொல்வதுண்டு. சரஸ்வதிக்கு பிம்பம், சந்நிதியுள்ள மற்ற கோவில்களிலும் அவை முக்கியமான இடம் பெறாமல் ஏதோ ஒரு மூலையில்தான் இருக்கின்றன.
மொத்தத்தில், பிரம்மா மாதிரியே சரஸ்வதிக்கும் கோயில் முக்கியத்துவம் இல்லை. ஆனால் பிரம்மாவிடம் ஜனங்களுக்கு விசேஷ பக்தி, மரியாதைகள் இல்லாததுபோல, சரஸ்வதிக்கு இல்லாமலில்லை. அவளை எல்லாரும் நிரம்பப் போற்றி பக்தி செய்கிறோம். படிக்க ஆரம்பிக்கும்போதே கல்வித் தெய்வம் என்று அவளைத் துதிக்கக் கற்றுக் கொடுத்துவிடுவதால், அது பசுமரத்தாணியாக மனசில் பதிந்து என்றைக்கும் அவளிடம் பக்தி நீங்காமலே இருக்கிறது.
நியூஸ் பேப்பர் பாஷையில் சொன்னால், அவள் ‘பாபுலர்’ தெய்வம். பிரம்மா ‘அன்பாபுலர்’ தெய்வம். அன்பாபுலர் தெய்வத்துக்குக் கோயிலில்லை என்றால் அது நியாயம். நல்ல பாபுலாரிடி இருக்கிற தெய்வத்துக்கும் ஏன் அப்படியே இருக்க வேண்டும்?
இங்கேதான் நம்முடைய தேசாசாரம் வருகிறது. பதிவிரத்யம் என்பது நம் தேசாசாரத்தில் ஊறிப்போன விஷயம். பதிவிரதைகள் புருஷனுக்கு இல்லாத எதையும் தாங்கள் அனுபவிக்க மாட்டார்கள். சரஸ்வதி பிரம்மாவின் நாக்கிலேயே உட்கார்ந்துகொண்டிருக்கும் பதிவிரதை. அதாவது பிரம்மாவின் நாக்குதான் அவள் குடியிருக்கும் கோயில். அவள் எப்படிப் பதிக்குக் கோயிலில்லாதபோது தான் மட்டும் கோயிலில் குடிகொள்வாள்? அதனால்தான் அவளுக்கும் அவர் மாதிரியே கோயில் இல்லை.
அகத்திலே நாம் கூப்பிட்டால் அவள் வருவாள். தாயாரல்லவா? அதனால் நம் குடும்பத்து மனுஷியாக வருவாள். நமக்கு அறிவு புகட்ட வேண்டிய ட்யூட்டியும் அவளுக்கு இருப்பதால் தனிப்பட்ட முறையில் அகத்துக்கு வருவாள்.
ஆனால் ஊர் உலகத்துக்குப் பொதுவாக அவளைப் பெருமைப்படுத்திக் கோயில் கட்டுவது என்றால், அப்போது பதியை விட்டுவிட்டு, தான் மட்டும் மகிமை கொண்டாடிக்கொள்ள அவள் சம்மதிக்க மாட்டாள்.
அவளுடைய அந்த உத்தம ஸ்த்ரீ குணத்தை மதித்துத்தான் அவளுக்கு ஆலயமில்லாமல் வைத்திருக்கிறது. சக்திகளை வழிபடுவதற்கென்றே நவராத்ரி என்று வைத்துப் பூஜை பண்ணும்போது துர்கா, லட்சுமிகளுடன் அவளும் வந்து சரஸ்வதி பூஜை பெறுவாள். அதோடு சரி. பதியை நீக்கி, பொதுத் தலத்தில் கோயில் என்று வைத்து ஊர் கூடி நித்ய பூஜை, உத்ஸவாதிகள் பண்ணுவதற்கு அவள் ஒப்புக்கொள்ள மாட்டாள்.
கோயிலில்லாத கடவுள்
நம் தேசத்தில் இத்தனை ஆயிரம் கோயில்கள் இருந்தும், ஒவ்வொரு கோயிலிலும் ஏகப்பட்ட சந்நிதிகள் இருந்தும் அநேக உத்ஸவாதிகள் நடத்தப்பட்டபோதிலும் பிரம்மாவுக்கு எதுவுமே காணோம். அபூர்வமாக எங்கேயாவது புஷ்கர் மாதிரி ஒரு க்ஷேத்திரத்தில்தான் தேடித் தேடி அவருக்குக் கோயில் பார்க்க முடிகிறது. பிரம்மா கோயில் என்றாலே புஷ்கரைத்தான் இன்று நினைக்கிறார்கள்.
நம்முடைய கும்பகோணத்திலேயே பிரம்மாவுக்குத் தனிக் கோயில் இருப்பது ரொம்பப் பேருக்குத் தெரியவில்லை. காஞ்சீபுரத்திலும் கும்பகோணத்திலும் தடுக்கி விழுந்த இடமெல்லாம் கோயில்கள் என்பார்கள். காஞ்சீபுரத்தில் நாம் ஜென்மாவில் பண்ணுகிறதற்கெல்லாம் கணக்கு எழுதும் சித்திரகுப்தனுக்கு அபூர்வமாகக் கோயில் இருக்கிறதென்றால், கும்பகோணத்தில் ஜென்மாவைத் தரும் பிரம்மாவிற்கு அபூர்வமாகக் கோயில் இருக்கிறது.
திருக்கண்டியூர் என்று திருவையாற்றுக்குக் கிட்டே இருக்கிறது. அது பரமசிவன் பிரம்மாவுக்கு ஆதியில் இருந்த ஐந்து தலைகளில் ஒன்றைச் சேதித்த க்ஷேத்திரம். அங்கே சிவனுக்கு பிரம்மச் சிரக்கண்டீசர் என்றே பேர். அங்கே பிரம்மாவுக்கும் சந்நிதி இருக்கிறது.
கொங்கு நாட்டிலுள்ள த்ரிமூர்த்தி க்ஷேத்ரமான பாண்டிக் கொடுமுடியிலும் இருக்கிறது. சிதம்பரத்தில் பிரம்மாவையே சண்டேச்வரர் என்று சொல்லி, கனக சபையைச் சுற்றி வரும்போது அவருக்கு ஒரு சின்ன கோஷ்டம் காட்டுகிறார்கள். ஆனாலும் இதெல்லாம் சமுத்திரத்தில் ஒரு துளி மாதிரிதான். நம் தலையெழுத்தை எழுதுகிறவரின் தலையெழுத்து இப்படி இருக்கிறது.
– தெய்வத்தின் குரல் (ஐந்தாம் பகுதி)
Source….www.tamil.thehindu.com
Natarajan
C Sekar serves thirty kilos of rice to the parrots who have been visiting his place since the last 25 years.
Every morning and evening, Mr Sekar arranges several rows of wooden planks and serves thirty kilos of rice to the birds who have been visiting his place since the last 25 years.
The 62-year-old owner of Camera House says, “What are we going to take back even if we earn a lot? This is just a service for these living creatures. This gives me lot of spiritual satisfaction”.
Mr Sekar avoids travelling out of the city for the love of these visitors. During unavoidable circumstances, he returns on the same day.
“Once, we had arranged my friend to feed the birds. But they just did not land to eat. They are sharp and they know me. Since then, I don’t travel at all,” he said.
He spends 40 per cent of his income to provide food to these birds. On days when he earns good money, the parrots get a special treat. “I feed them American baby corn and guava on days I make good money,” he told NDTV.
However, the 45-year-old house, where he lives on rent, is up for sale. Not willing to abandon these birds, Mr Sekar wants to sell a vintage collection of 4000 cameras to raise money so that he can buy the property.
Mr Sekar says he has the total support of his family.
In-flight entertainment systems will need to be top quality in the future as ultra-long non-stop routes are becoming all the rage.
Qantas announced a non-stop 19-hour flight between Australia and the UK within two years – and now Singapore Airlines is set to launch a non-stop journey that’s the same, gruelling length.
In a statement this week Singapore Airlines announced that it would resume offering 19-hour flights from Singapore to New York in 2018.
The carrier previously operated the long haul route until 2013.
Singapore Airlines says that due to demand the service will resume with the help of a brand new aircraft.
The plane in question will be Airbus’ new ‘ultra-long range’ version of its A350-900, of which Singapore Airlines will be the launch customer.
The high-tech newly converted planes will have the capability of flying up to 19 hours using the increased fuel capacity of its system from 141,000 litres to 165,000 litres.
Our customers have been asking us to re-start non-stop Singapore-US flights and we are pleased that Airbus was able to offer the right aircraft to do so in a commercially viable manner,’ said Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong.
The airline has placed an order for 67 of the Airbus A350s, and as more of the efficient planes are added to the fleet, the plan is to resume the 19-hour Singapore-LA route in the near future as well.
At the moment, fliers wishing to make the 8,700-nautical-mile journey to the Big Apple from Singapore have to face the delights of a 22-hour journey, with at least one connection.
LA-bound passengers have a slightly shorter ordeal, with the trip currently taking around 17 hours or more, also with a stop.
Battle is on: Qantas also plans to offer 19-hour flights – from Perth to London
The news comes after Qantas revealed plans to offer a non-stop 19-hour flight between Australia and the UK within two years.
If it does launch before Singapore Airlines’ 19-hour route it will briefly give Qantas the crown of operating the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight.
The airline’s chief executive Alan Joyce said they aim to fly between Perth and London using its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner by 2017.
‘This opens up direct service from Australia to Europe for the first time,’ he said.
The potential flight path would need two pairs of pilots, extra cabin crew and a proper rest area for airline staff.
Qantas has already ordered eight Boeing 787-9 planes to replace its 747 fleet.
The new aircraft will have roughly 250 seats and include business class, premium economy and economy.
Qantas already operates the current longest route in the world, from Sydney to Dallas-Fort Worth.
Source…..www.dailymail.co.uk
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