Joy of Giving - See greeting cards from tribal Children

Uploading the greeting cards from tribal children.

Time to start regular donations

Dear all,

We are paying taxes etc to feed a corrupt system, why not pay a little extra to honest people on a regular basis so that they can shape a better future?

Below is the three point summary –

1. Social organizations would be able to make a big impact to our country and human kind in general if every household starts contributing to them on a regular basis so that they are aware of their approx income and they can plan better.

2. We are already paying to a corrupt and selfish system through taxes and increased prices. Why not pay a little extra to these selfless people? Through them we can expect that in future we won’t be required to pay to corrupt system, pay less taxes and  buy cheap goods.

3. Government is not at all sufficient to implement any improvement policies, so, let’s make the hands of social organizations stronger.

(if you don’t want to go through the details, please see the last para).

Details -

In any planning, particularly financials, small but definitive/committed incomes make a big difference. We have our systematic investment plans, or recurring deposits etc. Similarly, we also plan our expenses based on our regular income. For example, when we go for housing loan or other loan, we assume that we will be getting a fixed income every month, whether it is in the form of salary or business income. So, based on some assurance, we can take long term and better decisions.

Similarly, social organizations also can function better, take long term decisions, can contribute better to society if they are assured of some approximate fixed income on a regular basis. Many organizations have good volunteers, however, they are unable to make a big impact to the society purely because lack of regular income.

On a different note, a better future of India can be carved out by the hands of these social organizations. They have got those selfless individuals who are ready to work for the society without any expectations in return. This class is in total contrast with the ‘rulers’ of India who work with selfish purpose, and the irony is that we pay them regularly through taxes and expensive goods(in fact even before we get our money, they get our money in terms of taxes)  

We need to change this picture. We can change this picture. It is a hard fact that we cannot stop paying the corrupt politicians and bureaurats; however, we can start paying those selfless volunteers a small affordable portion of our income so that they can change the future of this country. With that change, we will be able to reduce the percentage of funds that we are paying to the corrupt people, or may be remove those corrupt minds. Also, if we have good rulers, we may not be even required to pay high taxes, and pay high costs. So, this small, regular payment to good NGOs is an investment for our own good future where very high returns are expected.

Can we do it? Yes, through whatever affordable small amounts you feel, you can commit for monthly or quarterly donation to a good social NGO. And it takes nothing. Volunteers can come to your doorstep to collect the funds, or you can schedule online transfers as well. I have been working for Art of Living’s Tribal Schools. You may want to join me or choose another organization of your preference.  But get started, for our own motherland, for our own self. If you need any help, do write back to me. If you are procrastinating, or you think you will do it later, ask me to remind you to do so just by sending a blank mail with subject as ‘remind me’.

And yes, do forward it to all your friends and groups.

Regards,

Yateen V. Joshi

Getting best out of your smart phone!!

Recently bought a smart phone, Samsung Galaxy S. And then started working on its usage.
Here is the one that struck to me, keep watching this post for subsequent updates, the latest one being at the top

1. Maintaining a visiting card and references folder-
Now this one is cool. We get visiting cards at various places, from various people, and then it becomes a burden to maintain them. Simply take a picture of the card, and store it in a special folder. That's it!!

2. Sharing your own visiting card -
Reduce paper.
a. Simplest on any phone - Keep a draft message of your card, and send it as message to the person with whom you are sharing your visiting card.
b. Have a picture of your visiting card, and share it through blue-tooth with whomsoever requires it.

Liked it? Please let me know.

Just.... as it is...

उसके गाँव के बारे में सोंचता हूँ तो दिल भर आता हैं|

उसके गाँव के तरफ चलता हूँ, तो पैर भर आते हैं |

उसके गाँव को किसी नक़्शे में देखता हूँ, 

तो कमबख्त आखें भी भर आती हैं ||

A Poem of a broken heart!!

A poem from a broken heart!

हमने चाहा उसको जी जान लुटाकर, 

उसने भी खेला हमसे थोडासा प्यार जताकर |

हम तो प्यार की राह पर लुटते ही चले गए, 

वह भी हमारे दिलसे खेलते ही चले गए|

अंजाम होना था वही हुआ .....

हम लूटकर ख़तम हो गए, मुक्त हो गए|

वह भी अपना खिलौना खोकर बैठ गए ||

शायद उन्हें कोई खिलौना मिलेगा भी, 

पर दिलवाला खिलौना नहीं मिलेगा कभी |

यह शिकायत नहीं मेरे दोस्त, दुआए है |

उसको जिसके लिए हमने खुदको लुटाया है |

की उसको ना मिले कोई खिलौना, 

ना उसकी हो पूरी दिलकी यह तमन्ना, 

ना वह किसी और का दिल तोड़े, 

ना कोई और उसकी शिकायत के आंसू रोयें |||

यतीन..

Enjoying vacations - A different perspective

In my previous post, I had mentoined about taking vacations at little odd places. We usually take vacations at popular tourist places, or some odd places that are mostly known to many people. These places are rich with nature in some way or other, or they are rich with infrastructure (sky scraping towers, buildings, shopping malls, disney lands etc).

How about visiting the places that are rich with Humanity?

The places where there is a social work going on. Anandvan, in tribal areas of eastern Maharashtra, is one of the classic places. There are other such work going in every forest in various parts of India. There many organizations that are working in tribal areas. It would be really encouraging for them also if you visit them.
You can also contribute in some way to the work happening in that area.
Trust me, the pleasure that you will get by taking such vacations would be unmatchable compare to any other vacations. And there are many such places.
One might think of level of comfort that one would get at such places. True... But it is not really that bad a place. Even with kids, you will get a comfortable place to live most of the times. And if you have kids, I am sure they would enjoy a lot more than any other place. They would also get an exposure to a very different angle of life. Not only kids, it gives a different angle to us. Such places would bring forward the unfolded truths of life. It will make us realize how small things in urban life can be seen as luxuries (e.g. electricity) and might teach us to preserve/take care of them.
Lastly, it might give you opportunities to serve. Please remember, by providing service, we become privileged. We do not oblige those whom we provide service. In fact, we should be thankful to them who give us that opportunity to serve.

If you happen to have such vacations, do let me know and do share your experiences.

Tribal Schools run by Art of Living

I know I am quite a late in publishing this, but better late than never.

I, my son Ishan and Sandesh had been to Jharkhand during the Christmas time of 2010, rather, at the end of 2010. There were a couple of other people from other places. One of our friends, Gurpreet was already there.
It might appear rather odd to know that a vacation place was chosen as Jharkhand. Well, I will write separately on such odd vacation places later.
We were there as volunteers of Art of Living to see how the tribal schools are run, how the tribal life is, what is the situation at the schools etc. It was a very nice experience, though our stay was for 3 nights two days.

I have written already a couple of reports on the school. Still in summary -
Schools running since 1999.
Today 20 schools, 2500 students (40% girl students) studying.
All the schools are free (Education, uniforms, one time food, stationary, transport, books etc).
Most of the schools have gardens maintained by students. Some schools where there is more space, zero budget natural farming is done.
Vocational training is provided to villagers so that they can stand on their own.
Some of the passouts of these schools are taking technical training at Vigyan Ashram, Pune. Once they complete their training, they would be able to start their own business, in their villages.

Current needs include funds, donations in kind (school material, teaching material etc), infrastructure, teaching etc.
The school is currently looking for construction of Teachers' training institute. Since there was no education in the tribal area earlier, there are no teachers. The teachers need to be brought from outside and they need to be trained in tribal teaching methodologies.
Also, school is looking for mobile science lab so that students from different areas can be given better exposure to science.

To know more on this project, do write to me.
The website is http://www.aoltribal.org/

Thanks.