Some Amazing Facts

1.       A shrimp’s heart is in its head.

2.       More than 50% if the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.

3.       Rats and horses can’t vomit.

4.       Wearing headphone for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.

5.       In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, ingest assorted insects and 10 spiders.

6.       A ball of glass will bounce higher than a ball of rubber. A ball of solid steel will bounce higher than one made entirely of glass.

7.       The word ‘queue’ is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.

8.       Chewing gum while peeling onion will keep you from crying.

9.       Guinea pigs and rabbits can’t sweat.

10.   Guinness Book of world records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from public libraries.

The Importance of Time Management

If you lead a goal oriented life style, time management is more important. It is only through a program of using your time for action that you can use the time to achieve. Many people do not hold time management in high regard and because of this they are unable to focus on their tasks on time and fail miserably.

Time is fixed we all have the same amount of time available. The only way we can succeed in anything is to use this time effectively. By using your time better you can pack more things into it and this will lead you to success in the same amount of time. Remember wasted time is wasted forever. You will never get it back.

Prioritizing Your Tasks

The first step is to prioritize your tasks. Make a list of all that needs to be done in the course of the day. Instead of wondering what to do, just get the list out and start going through them one by one. Eliminate the time wasters. By making a list of priority tasks you will be able to find the Time-wasters. What activities can you eliminate so that you have maximum time to focus on your tasks that lead to success?

Start Now

Since we are talking about time management why not start now? Start somewhere and just do something. You will find that you can create an effective time management schedule that works for you in no time.

You will then be able to reap the rewards of this time management very quickly. For the best time to start is now. So stop wasting time.

The significance of time management will be apparent when you are able to organize your daily activities and are able to achieve your long term goals with sustained methodical approach.

True meaning of life

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if we cannot help them, at least don’t hurt them.

Each choice we make has a ripple effect on our lives. When things happen to us, it is the way we react that creates the difference, between the sorrow of our past and the joys in our future. How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, tolerant of the weak and the strong, because some day in your life, you would have been all of these. How true! You are only here for a short life. Therefore, don’t hurry. And be sure to smell the fragrance of flowers along the way. Whatever you do, do with kindness; whatever you say, say with kindness.

Life is God’s most precious gift. It is how we choose to live this gift that gives us full meaning and appreciation of what is truly important. Many will come and go in our lives. Leaving imprints on our souls and memories that warm our hearts. But with each lasting impression, we receive some of life’s greatest lessons that cannot be learnt from any textbooks. These are the lessons of the wise and the knowledgeable. Those who have experienced life and those who have lived are the people we never forget; the ones who drastically changed our lives forever and it is forever that we are grateful to them. Life is so short, so follow some rules, forgive quickly, believe slowly, love truly, laugh loudly and never avoid anything that makes us smile. Life is life riding a bicycle to keep your balance you must keep moving.

Conservation – Need of the Hour

The earth’s resources are being stressed by human activities, resulting in huge environmental problems such as depletion of the ozone layer, greenhouse warming, habitat destruction, water and air pollution, the deforestation leading to the plight of endangered species. As a result, what we have under our feet and around us is the world bereft of all that is pure, fresh, enriching, life-giving and essentially natural. Obviously, the world we hand-over to our next generation would be without the bounties of nature.

What can we do as individuals and as a society to make a difference? Teachers can help students get involved with recycling at school and students can help their parents start recycling at home. It saves energy. By burning less fossil fuel, we will have less air pollution. We also need to help reduce pollution further. Instead of using cars, we should walk or ride bicycles. We should use paper bags instead of polythene. Global warming should be tackled by reducing the use of air conditioners. Deforestation needs to be replaced by afforestation. We should never waste water and should practice rain water-harvesting. In fact, we should avoid waste of any kind. The need of the hour is to conserve the earth’s resources and protect them from degradation of any kind.

The role of family in the upbringing of children

Family plays an important role in the upbringing of children. The parent’s guide and help their children in inculcating all the good values in life. The lessons taught in the family are never forgotten. Parents become the role models for their wards who pick up the same qualities as they grow up in life. All aspects of a man’s life – his character, sense of responsibility, good and bad habits, ability to cope with difficulties, and his piety – are shaped primarily during his childhood. The bright memories of childhood become strength during trying times. All the great personalities come from great families. Family plays a vital role in the upbringing of every child.

Time is the best healer of man

Man is the most adaptable creation of God. He can survive any tragedy in life and move on with his life. God has given man the ability to leave the past behind and live in his present. There is no memory that time cannot erase from human memory. Everyday number of accidents takes place taking away our dear and near ones; yet we don’t stop living our life. Regardless of what happens to our life the show must go on. Time helps us to wipe our tears that role down from the memories of our dear ones. Recently in the MH17 tragedy hundreds of innocent people lost their lives. Many families got affected suddenly with the tragedy. However with the passage of time the impact diminishes and life regains its lost trajectory.

The role of technology in our lives

Technology has had a pivotal role to play in most of our lives. Even the simplest things of life would become drudgery had it not been for technology. Modern technology has brought with it innovations and has led to changing of people’s lifestyles and working habits. Not only has technology improved our way of living but it has also helped us unravel a lot of mysteries of the past. Our work has now become smoother and faster. The world is now a global village because of the advancements in technology every day. Technology has become a big part of our lives and has also helped create the world we now live in. Thus, irrespective of whether or not technology is good for us we cannot live without it.

Ambition – A Route to Success

The famous writer Bill Bradly once said, “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.”

Ambition means a strong desire to attain success in one’s life. All of us have certain ambition. Some have good ambition such as to be a famous doctor or a social power etc. Some want to be rich like Bill Gates. If one’s ambition is noble then he will surely prosper. On the contrary if one’s ambition is selfish and narrow, he will surely fail in the long run. A person with bad ambition may initially be successful. But finally his ambition will be frustrated. Most people have an ambition to get power and prestige, wealth and fame. Sometimes they are successful and sometimes they fail depending upon the nature of the means.

An ambitious man is hard working. He exercises his will power and ability. Ambition without industry and will power is meaningless. If a person does not go to the fields, his ambition to be a successful farmer cannot be fulfilled. Similarly, a student with an ambition to be a doctor should study diligently. If he does not work hard, he cannot be a doctor. Hard work brings success and prosperity. Ambition should not turn into day-dreams. Nobody can build castles in air. Only an idle man can do it. It is therefore advisable to be persistent.

Virtuous Upbringing Pays

The guidance of parents keeps the children on the right track. Young adventurous lads didn’t mind stealing for the sake of fun. This may prick their conscience. After realising their fault, they may return, they stole. The mental and psychological journey made him better and a mature human being. Parents help in inculcating good values in the life of their children. The lessons taught in the family are never forgotten. Parents become the role-models for their wards and the same qualities are nurtured in young minds. All aspects of a man’s life – his character, sense of responsibility, good and bad habits ability to cope with difficulties are groomed during childhood. These virtues and memories become his guiding principles of life and prove to be a source of strength during the trying times. Children may deter from the path of honesty but the good grooming overpowers all frailties.

Corruption – a bane

Corruption is today a world-wide phenomenon. In our own country some people in high positions have been charged for it.

A corrupt person is termed immoral, dishonest and unscrupulous in his dealings. His disregard for honesty, righteousness and truth results in his alienation from society. He is treated with contempt. But as erosion of values leads to decadence, remedies for the social malaise remain elusive, and so no amount of contempt can eradicate corruption which is a symptom of decadence.

Corruption is the most virulent when crises everywhere threaten the very existence of the society and the faith in life is shaken. It has always been there like tie leech, but when the system grows weaker and the boat flounders, it gets bolder and drains its victims of the last drops of their blood.

The older the system the weaker it grows and fails to solve the riddles of life that grows more complex every day. So men lose faith in it and let it drift down. At this point corruption takes over and plunges the entire society. After Second World War the old system with all its values was left in a shambles. The crippling effects of the war, the recession and depression, and uncertainties in a faithless world of maimed and moribund encouraged cynicism in a section of the population.

This section included the government officials dealing in essential commodities. They found the post-war conditions ideal for fishing in troubled waters and getting richer. They formed a sort of vicious circle in which moral values and honest intentions no longer held valid. The flourishing black market in essential commodities, adulteration of even baby-food, bribery, fraud and economic, political and administrative manipulations with an eye on earning profits has brought untold misery to the people.

One would say the corruption in India has an ancient lineage; it is sanctified by tradition. The author of the Arthashastra made some remarks on government officials of his time which are relevant even today: “Just as it is impossible not to taste the honey or the poison that finds itself at the tip of the tongue, so it is impossible for a government servant not to eat up at least a bit of king’s revenue. These in the post-war world became only bolder while eating up government money and accepting bribes.”

Today, when India is free, these officials representing all government departments are very close to the most corrupt businessmen who are too unscrupulous to let any opportunity of amassing profits slip. This collision broadens the base of the vicious circle and corruption spreads like wild fire to engulf the entire society. The political and social guardians depend only too much on the richer communities and they look indulgently on while these communities hold the entire society and the government to ransom.

Homage to Bismillah Khan

Residents of the Bhirung Raut Ki Gali, where Ustad Bismillah Khan was born on March 21, 1916, were in shock. His cousin, 94-year old Mohd. Idrish Khan had tears in his eyeas. Shubhan Khan, the care-taker of Bismillah’s land, recalled : “Whenever in Dumaraon, he would give two rupees to the boys and five rupees to the girls of the locality”.

He was very keen to play shehnai again in the local Bihariji’s Temple where he had started playing shehnai with his father, Bachai Khan, at the age of six. His original name was Quamaruddin and became Bismillah only after he became famous as a shehnai player in Varanasi.

His father Bachai Khan was the official shehnai player of Keshav Prasad Singh, the Maharaja of the erstwhile Dumaraon estate, Bismillah used to accompany him. For Bismillah Khan, the connection to music began at a very early age. By his teens, he had already become a master of the shehnai. On the day India gained freedom, Bismillah Khan, then a sprightly 31 year old, had the rare honour of playing from Red Fort. But Bismillah Khan won’t just be remembered for elevating the shehnai from an instrument heard only in weddings and naubatkhanas to one that was appreciated in concert halls across the world. His life was a testimony to the plurality that is India. A practicing Muslim, he would take a daily dip in the Ganga in his younger days after a bout of kustiin Benia Baga Akhada. Every morning, Bismillah Khan would do riyaazat the Balaji temple on the banks of the river. Even during his final hours in a Varanasi hospital, music didn’t desert Bismillah Khan. A few hours before he passed away early on Monday, the shehnai wizard hummed a thumri to show that he was feeling better. This was typical of a man for whom life revolved around music.

Throughout his life he abided by the principle that all religions are one. What marked Bismillah Khan was his simplicity and disregard for the riches that come with musical fame. Till the very end, he used a cycle rickshaw to travel around Varanasi. But the pressure of providing for some 60 family members took its toll during his later years.