The auspicious Ganesh Utsav---Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

The 10 day festival of  Shri Ganesh Pujan is here again!
 Celebrated throughout India, with full devotion and enthusiasm, it is one of most popular festival among every age group. Everyone is involved in decorations and arrangements to welcome the cutest Ganesha idols.
When I was at Bombay, I was so much influenced by the ten day festival, even I started to bring the Ganesha idol home.
 I have been doing this since the last ten years or so and each time there is renewed enthusiasm in the family.  We clean and decorate our homes. And the place, where we will install the God for the 10 days celebration. The wonderful and well sculpted idols are so cute.
And after the Pran pratishtha, (invoke or call the God by our prayers), we feel the God is sitting in front of you.
 We talk to him, share our worries and problems and seek his blessings to get our problems solved by his Divine grace.

Every day we  prepare sweets like Laddoos, Gujias, Modaks,  Malpuas and many other sweet and delicious recipes, which he might like and we imagine, he is loving it.

 It's a great feeling--the feeling, as if we are feeding the God. Whereas the fact is that the God is feeding us.
 But that is Bhakti--'Devotion' in its simplest form.
 And as we have read in our holy books---God is impressed only by 'Bhakti'--'Devotion.'
May Lord Ganesha bless everyone!


Chitrangada Sharan
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A Tribute To The Teacher----Teacher's Day

गुरु  गोविन्द दोनों खड़े ; काके  लागू पाये,
बलिहारी गुरु आपकी ; गोविन्द दियो बताये।
-----संत कबीर

Saint Kabir glorifies the Guru or the teacher by this verse. Simple meaning is that if the teacher and the God, both are standing in front of me, whom should I pay my respect first, by touching their feet.
Then he answers that it has to be the Guru or the teacher, because without the Guru, how would I have recognized the God.


 Teachers play a vital role, in building the personality of boys and girls, thereby making a valuable contribution to the society at large.
  All over the world teacher's are paid respect, by celebrating Teacher's day.
 In India, it is celebrated on 5th of September, the birthday of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan--an academician, a philosopher, former President of India and above all a teacher.
A teacher is a person, who not only  teaches a subject, but one who is a friend, a guide--the one who cares like parents.
There must be a strong bond between the teacher and his student.
 A good teacher never looses his patience and makes all efforts to clarify all doubts of his students.
 A true teacher motivates the child, not only in his academics, but prepares him to face the challenges of life.
 The teacher identifies  the positive points of the child and helps in nurturing them.
Having the quality of a good teacher and a good student is not so easy.
But, India is a country, where we have a very strong, Guru-Shishya Parampara. 

So do not forget to say a big 'Thank you' to your teachers, on Teacher's day and always!

HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY.