AGRICULTURAL  ART  OR  ARTISTIC  AGRICULTURE  ?   -  BOSCONET  THOUGHTS

Sam Van Aken is associate professor in Syrcuse University’s art department. He grafted over forty varieties of stone fruit trees on to a single tree. Among the fruits are peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines and cherries. In spring the tree displays its marvellous beauty by producing a variety of flowers in different colours, shapes and sizes.

This is not the first successful work or art of this type for this professor. In a previous project called ‘Eden’, he had grafted vegetables and flowers together. Then he came up with a large project for a great orchard growing over forty varieties of stone fruit trees. When he could not find the money to support such a large scheme, he came up with the idea of having just one tree, but producing all these varieties of fruits on it.

It is great that an ART professor has mastered the technology for this type of grafting. Could ‘art’ of this type be also of great practical and commercial value to poorer farmers with only tiny plots of cultivable land?

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STRANGER  THAN  FICTION   -   BOSCONET  THOUGHTS

A man on a bike, with a lady as his pillion rider. He is driving fast. They come to a point where the road splits off into two – one rising up as a flyover and other a road at the ground level. He hesitates on the choice of road to take. At the last second he takes the flyover. The turn was so sudden that he loses control of the bike. They hit the wall of the flyover. Both of them fly forward, off the bike and down on to the road below the flyover.

The boy hits the road and falls unconscious (later, at the hospital, he is declared brain dead). The girl falls on to the roof of a van parked on the road below. She rolls over its windshield and falls to the ground. She picks herself up and shakes some dust off her clothes. She walks over to the boy and sees that he is unconscious (perhaps dead?). She searches the pockets of the man, takes his purse and mobile phone and coolly walks off the scene!

This is reported to have taken place in Chennai on Tuesday, 5 August.

What sort of relationship did these two people have? What made the girl go pillion riding with this boy? What sort of a human being would do what this girl did?

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R  U  +ICTED ?   -   BOSCONET  THOUGHTS

India now has two centres for the rehabilitation of those suffering from what could be called “IT addiction” – uncontrolled use of the internet, video games, smart phone, social media, etc. The first centre was at NIMHANS, Bangalore, and the second started functioning three weeks ago at Sarvodaya Enclave in New Delhi.

A study by NIMHANS says 73% of teenagers in Bangalore are suffering from psychiatric distress. Victims of the addiction have eye strain; serious negative impact on their studies; difficulties with the family and with their social life; and neglect of recreational activities. Some suffer from insomnia, inability to concentrate and constant irritation.

When addiction reaches the level where a child will not even touch her food if the wi-fi is not working at home, there is every reason to be concerned.

Like most other excellent things in life, the products of IT are so fantastic when used responsibly, but so harmful when abused !

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TEAM  WORK  IS  THE  ONLY  WAY   -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

I have been doing a course in ayurveda for a few days. In parts of its practice, two people are working on you, standing on either side. If you keep your eyes closed, you can imagine that they are just one being with four hands controlled by one brain. The speed, rhythm, pressure, direction, …. of the four hands are so beautifully synchronised.

The team that wins is the team that works as a team – almost like one single organism. The captain of the German team in the World Cup in Brazil said it beautifully. “We did not have the best player of the tournament. The best player does not win; the best team does.”

Even a sport which is as much a one-man show as it can get – chess – is actually a team sport. BOSCONET’s brand ambassador, Viswanathan Anand is accompanied by a full team of assistants, specialised in various aspects, who help him win.

The days are far gone when a single person, a genius, a hard worker, could lead the pack in a contest. Even Nobel prizes are shared achievements these days. Success in innovation is the result of the joint efforts of a well-knit team.

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WOMEN  IN  THE  WORKFORCE   -   BOSCONET  THOUGHTS

In rural India participation rate of men in the workforce is 54.3% against 24.8% for women. In urban areas the corresponding figures are 54.6% and 14.7%. Overall, in our country, the participation of men and women in the workforce is 54.4% and 21.9%.

If women are not at work because they are giving their full attention to their children, how lucky our children are! Perhaps it is also because they are less educated and have less skills. Perhaps men refuse to allow their women to have a career of their own. Perhaps employers have sexist prejudices and do not want women among their staff.

If these latter are the reasons, it is unfortunate. What a loss to the economy; what a waste of human resources; what a speed-breaker to the development of our country. Above all, what disrespect and injustice towards half of humanity!

I am also wondering what the exact definition of ‘workforce’ is. If it includes all those who work, what exactly are more than half India doing? – studying? Growing up? Gallivanting? Living as parasites on the work of others? Enjoying the fruits of the sweat of their progenitors?

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PAY  ONLY  WHAT  YOU  WANT  TO   -   BOSCONET  THOUGHTS

It would be so wonderful if we could pick up something in a shop and pay only what we sincerely thought it was worth. Would that shop be able to survive? We do have the tendency to overvalue our products and services and undervalue other people’s goods and work – a version of “The grass on the other side is greener!”

At the initial stages of BOSCONET the director inducted five new staff. There was a three-day process that offered them opportunities to show their knowledge and skills. At the end the group was asked to suggest in writing what each of them should be paid – for oneself and for the others. The salary was finally decided using a series of calculations based on their suggestions.

In a second similar exercise, for the self-assessment of the staff this year, the director asked all the staff whether they themselves were being paid enough and to mention who, in their opinion, was being paid too high and who too low. Each one wrote that he/she was paid well and that everyone else was paid also the right amount as per their knowledge, skills, responsibilities and contribution to the organisation. It is, of course, not easy to say whether they were all being honest or only trying to please the director!

Well, five hotels in Paris, France, have decided to leave it to their clients to decide what they will pay for the facilities and services they received, according to their own calculation of what they were worth. Wish them well. Let’s hope, it works and the hotels can stay in business. Wish them success.

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A  10 –YEAR  OLD  MAY WORK  -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

The law in Bolivia used to allow children to start working from the age of 14. A new law passed this last week allows children as young as 10 years to start working under parental supervision provided they also go to school. From the age of 12 they may work under contract.

A sponsor of the bill says, “Child labour already exists. Rather than persecute it, we want to protect the rights and labour security of children.” The president of the country also worked as a boy, herding llamas. He says there is no alternative in a society where half the population is poor.

The opposite opinion is that “Child labour may be seen as a short-term solution to economic hardship, but is actually a cause of poverty.”

It is a pity Bolivia has decided to march in a direction directly opposite to that of the rest of the world. May all children all over the world have opportunities to study and be allowed to enjoy their childhood.

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STEPHEN  HAWKING’S  SUICIDE  ATTEMPT   -   BOSCONET  THOUGHTS

In 1963 doctors diagnosed Stephen Hawking as suffering from Motor Neurone Disease. He had only months to live. About 5% of its victims do survive over a decade. Hanwking is alive even today.

In 1985 Hawking had pneumonia. He had a tracheotomy and a tube was inserted through his throat into his windpipe. He could not speak any more. “I admit that when I had my tracheotomy operation, I briefly tried to commit suicide by not breathing. However, the reflex to breathe was too strong,” he said in an interview to BBC the day before yesterday. At present he cannot even breathe on his own. He is permanently on a ventilator, but he has no desire to end his life on his own.

Stephen Hawking is a theoretical physicist on a par with Albert Einstein. The 72-year-old is a professor at Cambridge. His contribution to our understanding of the universe is immense (I hope you have read his book – A Brief History of Time).

The discussion on euthanasia or “mercy killing” is a very complex one. Do we let God – or nature – decide how long people live or does the person in question or the people around her decide when she can no longer have a productive or ‘happy’ life? To what extant should we use medical science to prolong a life that seems to have become merely vegetative?

TOO  FAT  TO  DIE !   -   BOSCONET  THOUGHTS

A 50-year-old woman in Nanjing, Jiangsu province of China, was facing a lot of problems. Finally, last week she decided to put an end to it all by committing suicide. She went and jumped into a two metre deep river.

Seeing a body floating in the river, the locals called the police. They were happy to find that the woman was still alive. The woman was so obese that she could not sink into the water. She could not drown herself.

Obesity does seem to have this ONE benefit but, that is certainly no reason whatever to aim at being obese. It could kill you in many other ways!

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WAR  AS  ENTERTAINMENT   -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

“Sderot Cinema” is the caption the journalist gave to a photo he took in Israel. He shot a picture of about a dozen people lounging in plastic chairs outside the town of Sderot, and eating popcorn while they watched and cheered Israeli soldiers bombarding the plains of Gaza.

As we walk the streets of our cities and towns, we do not even ‘see’ the people living on the footpaths, the children working in tea-stalls, men, women and children looking for scraps of paper, cardboard and pieces of metal, and a hundred other similar scenes. We have been passing by such things from our childhood and we have become immune to them.

When people sit – popcorn in their hands – and watch live the bombarding of human habitations, we realize to what depths our insensitivity can go.

May God forgive all of us; may He help us become more human; may He enable us to put ourselves in the shoes of people who suffer within our sight.

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A PRAYER  FOR  WEST  AFRICA   -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

West Africa is facing a serious crisis, and it will probably get worse before it gets better. Ebola has broken out and by Friday 539 had died. It started in Guinea. Since it had never been seen in West Africa earlier, people thought the high fever was the result of the familiar malaria. When deaths occurred they saw no reason not to touch their bodies, as is the custom in the local culture.

Ebola is the most terrible and frightening disease known to humanity. Patients bleed from the ears and nose, and in some cases from the skin all over the body. A touch of the sick person’s body or corpse could be sufficient to get infected. I remember watching on Belgian TV in the 90’s doctors and specialists from the WHO in space suits, dealing with bodies, clothes, bed linen and hospital equipment that had the slightest possibility of having had contact with patients. That was somewhere in East Africa then.

This outbreak has spread from a village in Guinea to its capital and to two more nations – Liberia and Sierra Leone. 

The people of these countries need immediate help from experts to prevent a disaster for the entire population, including all of us in all countries, however far from them. We are not experts. We do our share – PRAYERS.

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WOMAN  OF  STEEL, RUPA   -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

Rupa’s origins are in Ghasoli Village of Muzaffarnagar. Her mother died and her father remarried. They made her leave school when she was in class VI so that she could “help them with the house work”. When she was 15 her step-mother poured acid on her face! Was she envious of her step-daughter’s beauty?

Rupa is now 21. She lives in a shelter for acid attack victims in Lakshmi Nagar of East Delhi. She is helped by a “Stop Acid attacks” volunteer, Atul Kumar, the founder Alok Dixit, and a group of students of fashion design.

Rupa has stitched a few clothes, and each new one is better than the previous one. She is at the point of opening a boutique of her own where her clothes will be displayed and auctioned. She is determined to earn her own living, and pay for the numerous reconstructive surgeries she still requires (She has already undergone 11 of them!)

A woman of courage. What a waste of the gifts God bestowed on her. What a waste of her courage itself. Why should she have to use her courage merely to live a normal life when she could have used it to tackle many other challenges that face our nation! Why do we hurt people who can do no harm to us, and hurt them in such terribly inhuman ways?

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WHISKEY  FOR  LOYALTY  TO  GERMAN  FOOTBALL    -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

Putul Borah from Karbi Anglong District of Assam is loyal to his favourite team – Germany. He has followed their play all the way from the 1980’s. In 1994 Germany showed all promise of winning the world cup. Borah happened to be in Kolkata (Calcutta then!) days before the finals. He bought a bottle of Passport Scotch whiskey (for Rs 630 even in those days!) to celebrate the expected win.

Germany lost to Bulgaria, 2 -1. Disappointed, Borah buried his bottle of scotch in his backyard. Borah is now all set to exhume his Passport (without any court order for this exhumation!). He has constructed a special pavilion in his home, from which he watches the games along with his wife, 10-year old daughter (who are supporters of Argentina!) and his friends.

Will he get to enjoy his 20-year-old scotch? Whether he does or not, we can’t but admire his loyalty. If only we could be equally loyal to our wife/husband, to our family and our values!

BEAUTY CELEBRITY from Don Bosco -ROBERT NAOREM    -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

Robert Naorem, 28, is a true celebrity – a top beauty expert of India. His skills are in great demand for films, fashion shows, beauty pageants like Femina Miss India, Cheerleaders of IPL cricket teams, Brand Promotion of various products, artists, models …  

He did his schooling at Don Bosco, Imphal, Manipur. A silent guy, yet very bright, Robert’s taste for beauty developed into skills for creating beauty.  

In 2008 he established the Robert Academy at Bangalore for make-up training. His two dreams are to showcase the beauty of typical Manipur costumes to the outside world and to promote youngsters interested in the fashion industry.

He keeps growing. He is currently doing a PhD course to crown the M.Phil. in Psychology he already has. He lectures part time in CMR College, Bangalore, and in NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), Bangalore.

Don Bosco is glad to see Robert’s progress. He has reason to be proud. He has made us proud. Congratulations! 

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CHILDREN  GONE  MISSING    -    BOSCONET THOUGHTS

In 2013, a total of 6,494 children were reported as gone missing in the city of New Delhi, an average of 18 per day! 78% of them were traced out. The remaining have never again been seen or heard from till now. 

It is alleged that some are sent to the gulf countries to work as domestic servants, others to in roadside dhabas; some are to be raped, others are forced to get married. At least 1000 per year are gone for ever – from the city of Delhi alone!

The DON BOSCO NATIONAL FORUM FOR THE YOUNG AT RISK (the national network of the services offered by Don Bosco to street children in 87 towns of India) has a tracking system developed with support from UNICEF. 300 partner organisations, including our own centres, enter into this computer software all the information they can get about missing children. Data is fed in also of any ‘found’ children. The software throws up possible matches.

The site now has data of some 3 lakh children gone missing. Our record is of tracing out some 30% of them so far. Some State governments have adopted the system for state-level use. Hopefully, the central government will take it up and use it all over the nation.

EVERY LOST CHILD IN AN UNACCEPTABLE DISASTER !

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BEST  ACTRESS – GEETANJALI  THAPA – Don Bosco STUDENT !

Geetanjali Thapa recently won the National Best Actress Award for her performance in “Liar’s Dice”. She did her studies in Don Bosco School, Malbasey, Sikkim – a product of Don Bosco’s principle, “Give the best to the poorest.” Malbasey is just a small village in a remote corner of East Sikkim.

She is very attached to her alma mater, visits frequently and remains in steady contact with the Salesians and teachers. She passed out from Don Bosco in 2004. Her acting career started in 2010.

Within her short career she has acted several other films such as: White Lies, I.D, Monsoon Shootout, That Day after Everyday”. She has also featured in commercials for L’Oreal, Maggi, Boroplus, and Move. Her films have been screened at the Cannes Film Festival 2013, Sundane Film Festival 2014 and Busan Film Festival 2012.

She also won : Best Actress Award at the New York Indian Film Festival 2014 for her performance inn Liar’s Dice; Best Performance Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival 2013 for I.D; Best Actress Award at the Imagine India International Film Festival at Madrid 2013 for Monsoon Shootout. 

The school is as proud of Geetanjali as she is grateful to the school. It is, indeed, a tremendous achievement both for Geetanjali and for Don Bosco Malbasey that her talents could be nurtured to high levels in such a small, remote village.

Well, THE BEST TO THE POOREST !

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PENNIES  FALLING  FROM  HEAVEN    -   BOSCONET THOUGHTS

“Pennies do not fall from heaven; they have to be earned here on earth,” said Margaret Thatcher. Manmohan said the same in different words, perhaps quoting someone else, “There is no such thing as a a free lunch.” A long way back – 2000 years ago – St. Paul, the apostle put the same thought in his own way, “He who does not work, neither let him eat.” “Give work rather than alms to the poor,” said Tryon Edwards.

Hand-outs and charity that lowers the self-respect of a person and destroys his possibility to use his capacities is no act of love. We should neither expect nor give a hand-out, except to those not in a position to earn anything – little children, the terminally ill, those severely handicapped whether physically or mentally.

A million received for no work, but in charity or through a lottery, is not worth a dollar earned by the sweat of my brow.

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JESUIT  PRIEST  CULTIVATES  RICE !  -  BOSCONET THOUGHTS

We are told that there is a 60% chance of a drought this year. India has 16% of the world’s population and 4% of its fresh water. We have the largest area under rice cultivation, a water-intensive crop. The “System of Rice Intensification” (what a name!) holds out hope. Under SRI a hectare of land could produce 8 tonnes (2.1 is the current national average!).

For SRI we do not need new rice varieties, we use less fertilizers and agrochemicals, and only about half the usual amount of water is required. In ideal conditions, a hectare under SRI has been known to produce even 15 to 20 tonnes of rice!

SRI was first developed 30 years ago in Madagascar. It was introduced – with excellent results – in Tamilnadu in 2000, in Tripura in 2002 and in Bihar in 2007.  If only the technique could be used in all our rice fields all over the country! This is the right year to do so.

Interestingly, SRI is the brain-child of Fr. Henri de Laulanie SJ, a Jesuit priest. What can the Jesuits not do! That reminds me of Bro. Alex Gonzalves of the Bombay Province of the Salesians of Don Bosco. He implemented a watershed project in two districts of Maharashtra which had been declared dry zones by the government. Every dry season owners of even large plots of land would migrate to the towns to do coolie labour to help their family survive. The people of 22 villages now grow up to THREE crops a year on their land! BOSCONET has published a book about Bro. Alex.

What can the Salesians of Don Bosco not do!

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CHANGE,  INNOVATE  OR  DIE !  -  BOSCONET THOUGHTS

Yesterday, Alexander Stubb, the Prime Minister of Finland said Steve Jobs took away all the jobs in his country. He quoted the president of the Swedish bank Nordea who had said, “We had two pillars … the IT industry and the paper industry. The iPhone knocked out Nokia and the iPad knocked out the forestry.”

This reminds of various occasions within the last century when very prominent and successful people saw some innovations as passing fads that would soon be forgotten – innovations like the motor car!

Change is inevitable, and innovation is the need of the hour. It is difficult and even painful for everyone to accept and adapt to some innovations around us. This is much more so for organisations. The better structured and organised they are, the more reluctant they are to change, adapt, innovate and remain relevant.

However, WE CHANGE, ADAPT AND INNOVATE, OR WE SHALL DIE!

MARKETING  HUMANS

“Budget Maids”, “Smart workers”, etc., are shop names in some markets of Singapore. What is available for sale in these shops are the services of young women as housemaids, home nurses, babysitters, etc.

Women from the Philippines are often marketed as “smart” and those from Myanmar as “compliant”. Some of them cradle a baby doll to show how they are skilled in looking after babies. Others push a wheel chair up and down so that customers can see that they can care for the elderly.

Some people see this as human trafficking; others look at is the equivalent of writing up a CV and posting it on a website. Some see little difference between this practice and that of the women in the red-light areas of some cities, displaying their assets and promising hot action. Others think this is a legitimate way to offer oneself for a decent job.

Is it any worse than groups of men congregated at strategic points in so many towns all around the world, waiting for someone to come and hire them for work for the day? On the other hand, are not both these practices demeaning and lowering the self-esteem of those who have no other option to earn their livelihood?

What are we to make of it?

JUST  ANOTHER  DAY

The Times of India today has allotted just a three-inch single column space to yesterday’s successful launch of five foreign satellites by an Indian PSLV from our launch pad at Sriharikota. Evidently, it has become a mere ‘routine’ event. Perhaps the next time we see a near full-page write up will be when our space vehicle reaches Mars in the not so distant future.

The sad reflection is how a country that has achieved such a great things in this high technology field is yet to feed its people adequately and give a minimum of education to masses of its children!

OH !  FOR  A  NOTEBOOK  AND  A  PENCIL !

Last week, Wednesday, 25 June, Jayanti Nayak committed suicide. She was 14 years old. She lived in Ganjam District of Orissa, 170 km south of Bhubaneshwar. What was her problem?

Jayanti’s father is a daily-wage earner. He had a stroke earlier this year. He was bed ridden and is just back to work after three months.

 

Jayanti needed a fresh notebook and pencil. Her parents said they could not afford to buy them, but would try to do so soon. On Wednesday Jayanti told her mother she could not go to school without the notebook and pencil and would stay back home for the day.

After her mother left for work she doused herself in Kerosene and set fire to herself. The neighbours saw fire and smoke coming out of the house. They rushed in and took her to the hospital, but she passed away.

Some people wonder why NGOs get into education when we have so many government schools and a wonderful scheme like SSA (Sarva Sikshya Abhyan). A lot remains to be done despite our beautiful policies and schemes. NGOs like BOSCONET and Don Bosco still have a LOT to do!

POISONING  ONE’S  CHILD  TO  GET  ATTENTION

A lady in Australia has been found guilty of poisoning her own child in order to draw attention to herself and win fans and followers on FaceBook. She has been condemned to jail for two to six years.

She fed extremely dangerous anti-cancer chemotherapy pills to her perfectly healthy 2-year-old child. She set up a page on FB to chronicle the child’s “fight for life”, draw sympathy for the child and win attention from the denizens of FB. She had 8,000 fans and received about $ 500 to help pay for the costs of treatment.

The child suffered life-threatening bone marrow failure as a result of the medication.

 Facebook is a wonderful tool to connect with family and friends scattered all over the world. How dangerous it is when we are on FB for the wrong reasons!

EVERYONE   IS   AN   EXPERT

Even a school dropout could be an expert!

Two days ago BOSCONET distributed a drink to at least 12,000 thirsty people on the roads of Delhi. We wanted the water to be really cold so that it would truly refresh. We bought chunks of ice to be added to the rooafza mixture. The ice blocks were very big and needed to be cut up into two or more blocks before being added to the water drums.

We have a real smart guy in our office. He has already got through the prelims and the mains of the UPSC exams for IAS hopefuls. He works with us while waiting for the call for his interview. He took the ice pick and started knocking at the first block of ice. He went on and on with little impact except pieces of ice flying all over the place. I began to wonder how long it would take to get the ice into the water, and how much of the ice would be lost.

Then our office boy, a school dropout, stepped forward. He took the ice pick and in just a few seconds he had the ice-block cut into two neat halves! He really had the expertise needed for the job in hand.

No one is an expert in everything. Everyone is an expert in something! Everyone I meet knows something more than I do. I can learn from her/him. She/he can teach me, if I respect her/him and am humble enough to learn.

MIND  THE  GAP !

“Malviya Nagar. Station. Doors will open on the Right. Please, mind the gap !”

I went to a theatre for a film yesterday, Sunday, the first time after at least eight years! I took the metro to the mall. I heard the above announcement about 40 times – at each station from Janakpuri West to MG Road and back. It made me think.

We have a smart, energetic, young, dynamic, forward looking new government in place. All of us eagerly looking forward to its initiatives to revive and revitalise everything around us. The “doors will (certainly) open to the Right” as opposed to the “left” or half-left policies we have been living on for decades.

A warning follows immediately after this announcement: “Please, mind the gap!”. The metro lady refers to the gap between the train and the platform – “please, don’t fall into that gap and hurt yourself!”

For the government, I would think, the humble request I would make is, “Please, mind the gap – the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor; the gap between the urban and the rural; the gap between people belonging to various communities ……. “

Please, mind the gap!

THE BEST MESSAGE ONE COULD EVER RECEIVE

Today I received a message on FB from someone. It went something like this: “Today it is my 10^th birthday – 10 years since I gave up on drugs. Thank you for your share in giving me a new life and great hope!”

I was NOT the main person in this person’s recovery. I came to know him only after he had become “clean”. But, I did trust him. I gave him a decent job so that he could earn his living and rebuild his life.

I am so glad he is doing so well. A person can have no greater joy that to receive such messages. Give life. Give hope!

Don Bosco auto driver

When in Chennai, keep your eyes open for an unexpected auto stand: “DOB BOSCO ANBU ILLAM AUTO STAND”. It has been named so very lovingly and gratefully the former boys of Don Bosco Anbu Illam, Chennai, who were rescued from the streets of the street, rescued, trained and settled in life with auto rickshaws of their own.

VIOLENCE  AS  GAME

A ten-year-old student in Columbus, Ohio, shaped his hand into a pistol, put his finger to the head of another boy and pretended to shoot, “kind of execution style.” The school principal, Patricia Rice, suspended him from school for three days as his punishment.

The boy’s father says, this time it is not the child who is being childish but the principal. The district education spokesperson says, the principal had, several times this year, warned the students against pretend gun play.

The Father is right. There is probably no male adult who in his childhood days did not “shoot” his playmates more than once in the course of their games. The principal is right. It is not a great idea to encourage children to play games that involve pretended violence. People have campaigned long and hard against toys for children the like of pistols and guns.

What is worse still is when children see just a game in torturing living creatures. It is not difficult to find children who catch a chameleon, tie a string around its tails and drag it around, children who get hold of an insect and pull out its wings, feet, etc., one by one till it is dead.

The fear is real that “pretend violence” hardens the emotions of children, hardens their heart, immunes them to pain not only to animals, but also to humans.

Is it not unfortunate that children watch so much blood, cruelty and violence on TV today, even in programmes meant only for them – even on cartoon networks?

BABY  LION  KILLED  FOR  ITS  NAILS

A five-month lion cub in the Gir forest was killed. What for? For its nails! Even the ‘worst of animals’ would not kill a baby of any other species of animal to collect its nails! What is it exactly that makes human beings so heartless. What makes us sink to levels below all standards of behaviour?

There is no doubt whatever that nature is crying – that nature is gasping for breadth. Are we becoming for planet earth a cancer that needs to be removed urgently through an operation? When a particular sort of cell in the human body starts multiplying out of control, we have a cancerous tumour. If the tumour is not removed, it soon kills the body.

Human beings are multiplying in numbers. Worse than that is the multiplication of every human being’s ‘needs’ and ‘wants’. This multiplication of wants is indeed a cancerous growth. It is destroying the individual himself, the value system that guided his behaviour till now and the culture of entire communities. The struggle for the satisfaction of his wants is threatening the survival of nature itself of life on earth in an form.

If we are not capable of removing soon the cancerous growth of our silly wants, will nature take control and remove us from the face of the planet?

HOW  MANY  BEDS  DO  YOU  NEED  TO  SLEEP  ON ?

Khalid Mohsen al-Shaeri of Saudi Arabia needs only one bed because he is ONLY 290 kilos now. He needed three beds placed side by side when he used to be 610 kilos. He was then ordered by king Abdullah to get hospitalised. Doctors helped him shed 320 kilos in four months.

Some people are obese due to genetic disorders. They need professional medical help. In the developed nations over 50% of people are obese. Even in a poor country like India 25% of young people are today obese.

The majority of obese people do not have genetic problems. They have problems with self-discipline or self-management. They eat the wrong foods or too much of the right ones and do not exercise enough. Being fit and trim is not a sign of vanity. It is a duty to ourselves and to the people around us.

WANNA  TRAVEL  TO  A  PARALLEL  UNIVERSE?  U  R  WELCOME  HERE !

Google Maps recently found a mysterious spiral in Egypt. It covers 1 million square feet. Speculation started immediately as to what it was. Some said it is a landing strip for Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) from outer space. Others were sure it was the gateway to a parallel universe. If only we could find the key to pen this gate and move to a better world !

It turns out it is a piece of environmental art installation done by three artists in March 1997. They called it “Desert Breath”. They meant it to celebrate the desert as “a state of mind, a landscape of the mind”.

Thank God for our fertile imagination and our irresistible continuous search for meaning in all that we see, hear and experience. If it were not for our imagination we would not have progressed so much in science and the knowledge of the world. The fruits of these are the comforts of modern life. If it were not for our search for meaning we would not have today the heights of theology and philosophy we have developed.

On the other hand, we have to be careful of where our imagination leads us, the meanings we see or give to things we experience. Imagination gone wild makes us foolish, and our theological and philosophical interpretations sometimes lead us to violence against one another.

May you see a gateway to heaven in all you experience today, and may you walk safe and warm on firm earth all through your life!

REJECTING  REJECTION

Poor Shafqat Amanat Ali ! He went to an audition with a national TV channel of Pakistan. He was rejected – the only one sent back among all those took part in the audition! He did not give up. He just worked harder and kept going, and look where he is now. 

BOSCONET has several people who go out on to the streets each day. They approach and talk to total strangers outside metro stations, malls, cinema halls, etc.  They explain our services for the poor and ask them to become a regular donor, signing up to contribute anywhere from Rs 300 to Rs 10,000 a month to support the education of needy children in India. 

The success rate of these young men and women is about one in thirty. After hearing a resounding “NO” 29 times they can hope to get one “Yes.” It takes a lot of dedication to their mission, and inexhaustible love for children to keep them going despite rejection, insults and humiliation. 

Robert Kiyasaki, the multi-millionaire businessman and writer says every young person should work as a house-to-house salesman at least for a year. Only then would he/she develop the thick skin needed to achieve great success in any field, and true greatness in life. They learn to reject rejection and keep working with a positive attitude, a smile on their face and love in their heart.

By the way, would you like to sign up to donate a minimum of Rs 300/= a month towards the education of needy children in India? If so, send me a message. THANKS.

TOO OLD TO INNOVATE ?

We admire the wisdom of the elderly. At the same time, we take it almost for granted that younger people are more creative, innovative and dynamic.

A recent study by the US National Bureau of Economic Research seems to dispute this “common sense” notion of ours. The exuberance and energy that are required by innovation are not exclusive to youth.

‘Conceptual innovators’ tend to be young. ‘Experimental innovators’, instead, launch out with trial and error, and gather knowledge while tinkering with established ideas; they are older. 

Thank God, I am 65 years ‘young’ – not too late for conceptual innovation and still a long way to go for experimental innovation! Or, am I mistaken? Have I lost all capacity to innovate, experiment, create?

How about you?

HOW TO USE YOUR INTELLIGENCE

A Chinese gentleman booked a first class ticket on Eastern China Airlines. He went to the airport, flashed his first class ticket at the entrance to the lounge of the Airlines and had the sumptuous free lunch that he was entitled to. He came out of the lounge, went to the airlines counter, cancelled his ticket and booked a fresh first class ticket for the next day.

On the morn he went back to the airport, showed his ticket at the lounge, had his free rich lunch once again, cancelled his ticket and booked a new first class ticket for two days later.

This smart guy did this 300 times within 365 days, having a free lunch all those 300 times, and not flying even once! The airlines confessed that his scheme was a “rare act”, but he had not broken any rules of the company. The management did finally stop his “act” but had even to refund him the cost of the last ticket he had booked and cancelled!

Why are we not able to use our intelligence as smartly as this guy but, hopefully, to do good and to be of better service to society?

DON BOSCO – A SCANDAL !

Happy Feast of Don Bosco. Today is the anniversary of his death. We do not mourn that, we celebrate it, because we believe this is the day he entered heaven, united himself totally and irrevocably with God and started enjoying beatific bliss as a reward for the way he lived his life on earth. So, HAPPY FEAST OF DON BOSCO! Rejoice! Be happy! Enjoy!

His life was not easy because the way he lived was quite a scandal for many around him. In his times, a priest was very highly regarded. He was among the best educated in his community. He was consulted by everyone, no matter what their problem was. He was a ‘holy’ person, totally dedicated to the service of God. He was, hence, venerated.

A priest was supposed to be totally busy with ‘matters of importance’. He interacted with the elite, the educated, the serious, the powerful, the influential, the important, the holy, the elderly. It was below the dignity of a priest to ‘waste his time’ chatting with children or young people. And, here was Don Bosco, a ‘respectable’ Catholic priest playing with dirty children, chatting with kids on the street, interacting with ragamuffins, befriending young ‘trouble-makers’.

Thank you, Don Bosco, for allowing yourself to go ahead with what your heart told you was the right thing to do. Thank you for ignoring all you suffered because people around you were scandalised by your behaviour. Thank you for showing us the way. Give us the same courage to go looking for the black sheep to help them become living temples of God.

MALALA AND AITIAZ

On 6 January 2014 class IX student, Aitiaz Hussain, saw a suspicious looking man approach his school gate. Many of his schoolmates were also entering the compound. He asked the man to stop. He didn’t’. Aitiaz threw a stone at him. The man started running towards the school.

Chubby Aitiaz gave chase, caught up with the man and tried to grapple with him. The man let off a hidden bomb tied round his waist. The two of them died on the spot, but no other school kids were hurt in any way.

“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for another.” Did Aitiaz know what he was doing and the consequences of it? Probably he did. So many suicide bombers are blowing up schools in his home country of Pakistan. Aitiaz did what he did fully aware that he was risking his life to save his schoolmates and his school.

It is a pity Pakistan has lost Malala Yousafzai to the UK. Hopefully it is only a time-bound loss and she will return to her home one day to help save her country. They have lost Aitiaz Hassain forever. Hopefully he has saved the lives of several other kids who have the same courage, quick thinking and love for fellowmen that he had. 

May God reward him in His kingdom, and may many Malalas and Aitiazes bloom in our neighbouring country – and in our own!

READING NOVELS – A WASTE OF TIME ?

From time to time I think that reading novels is a luxury that I can ill afford as I have so much “work” to do. What does a novel give except the pleasure of a thrilling story – which is totally fictional?!!!

A research carried out at Emory University in the US showed that reading a novel can start off actual, measurable changes in the brain that could last for at least five days after reading. It causes increased connectivity in the brain. It results in neurological changes that stay on just as the benefits of exercise remain in our muscles.

To get this benefit it is not even necessary to read a book at one sitting or in just a couple of days. The students in the study read a part of novel every evening over 19 days, with an fMRI scan next morning. They also took brain scans for five days after they had completed the book.

It is nice to nice to know that there is such a pleasurable way to exercise our brain, getting long term benefits from it, besides the thrill of the story.