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.

Will you Vote?

Only 6 out of 10 young people who are 18 and 19 years in age have registered themselves as voters in New Delhi. And yet, this age group formed almost the backbone of Anna Hazare’s movement against corruption. Even now very many of them are playing an active role in the Aam Aadmi party of Kejriwal.

If the educated and socially aware youth of Delhi are ignorant of or indifferent to their right to vote, we can only imagine what is the situation of young people in other parts of our country.

Perhaps we, the youngsters, have lost faith in political parties. Perhaps we do not trust democracy itself as capable of delivering what we are looking for. Yet, we do not have a better alternative for the governance of our country than the democratic one, and in this system, the role of political parties cannot be replaced right now.

It is already too late now for the state level elections. Can we register ourselves and encourage all our friends to do the same we ll in time for the general elections of next year?

MY FRIEND BECAME MY ENENY !

The story of a boy in Uttarakhand

“I used to love this river. It was so beautiful. Its water was clean and clear. It flows right in front of our home. I was born here. I grew up with its sweet sound always in my ears. My mother bathed me here daily even when I was a baby. We learned to swim almost the same time as I learned to walk.

“When I got a scolding I would come to the river. I would sit there for some time. It made me feel good again. After all, it is a sacred river. So many people come here from far places in India. They bathed in it and got God’s blessings.

“All that changed completely this June. We were all inside our house as it was raining heavily. The radio said that the water in our river was rising. It was dangerous.

“We could hear the roar below us. But, was it really dangerous? We went out of the house to take a look. Policemen were telling people to leave the houses. They said we should go up the hills behind us.

“We were afraid. People were shouting, screaming and crying. Some did not want to move. The water was rising fast. We could see that. My father told us to run to the hill behind our house. He would not let us go back into the house. We ran without taking anything.

“I really miss my books, my clothes and my toys. I lost everything with our house. I stood there and saw it. This river was my friend. It was my playground. It was a god. That day it became a DANAV (a monster). It swallowed my home. It took all that I loved.

“I just don’t like the river any more. I hate it. I fear it. I do not like the rain any more. Teacher used to tell us that god only punishes sinners; but, I have not done any sin. My family is good. So why are we punished?

“I thought I can never go to school anymore. I had no more books, no uniforms. I knew we had no money for school fees. Even if I had, what was the use? I would be almost alone in the school. Most of my friends have nothing.

“I am a little happier now. I saw a list on the school notice-board. You (BOSCONET) have paid the fees of 213 students of our school. We will all study again. Thank you also for the uniforms and textbooks. I know you are helping in other schools, too.

“I could not have hoped for the solar lamp you gave us. I can now study in the evenings, too! Let us hope it works till the government repairs our electric lines.

“Please say thanks to BOSCONET. Say thanks to the children of Bengal, who gave you all this money. May God bless them, and all others who helped. If, one day, some bad thing happens to them, we, the children of Uttarakhand will remember what they did for us. We will do the same for them.”

As narrated by Azim (9 years) to Angel Zimik and Debangshu Ganguly, staff of BOSCONET, New Delhi. They may be contacted at: angelkunzimik@gmail.com or debangshug@gmail.com or bosconetindia@gmail.com or 011-25390585 or on the toll free number 1800 300 200 50. BOSCONET is still collecting help and distributing it in Uttarakhand where, in June 2013, a cloudburst and floods took over 6,000 lives and wiped out houses, property and infrastructure.

Children are so sweet !

Last month I had the privilege of speaking to a few thousand children studying in seven schools of Assam and Nagaland. They ranged in age from 6 years (class II) to 17 years or more (+2 class). I spoke to them in batches, putting similarly aged children in a group.

I had a very moving experience in a school in Jorhat (Upper Assam). Immediately after I finished speaking to the students of classes II and III, several of them came forward to give me gifts, to touch my feet and take my blessings.

I do not know whether they had already been told the day before that I would be coming to talk to them the next day. If they had been, then they might have come to school already armed with their gifts. I did not notice whether they were listening to my talk and at the same time preparing their gifts.

The fact is that, immediately after my talk, several of the children came forward and gave me a ball pen. What was a much more moving experience was that many more of these children of class II gave me what I can only call “Welcome Cards”. They had made them themselves. They were full of the warm feelings of love, expressed with the simplicity of kids.

I am glad to share one or two of them with you, my friends. Enjoy them !

SAD STATE OF OUR SCHOOLS !

A survey of 750 primary and upper primary schools, spread over 71 districts and 13 states of India, has revealed some shocking facts:

25% of schools do not have a single blackboard !
11% of schools don’t have toilets.
49% have common toilets for teachers and students.
20% don’t have facilities for drinking water.
60% do not have playgrounds.
74% do not have a library.
30% do not have principals.
80% of schools do not have cleaning staff to keep the toilets clean.
75% of schools lack furniture like tables, chairs and benches.
In 41% of schools children are taught in the open space.
What makes the data even more surprising is that the survey included districts in states like Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and three of the metros.

There is still a lot of work to be done by the government and NGOs like BoscoNet !