Yo yogi
February 2006
By Life Positive
Time out with Ananda
Undoing Unkind Words
The boy who came to deliver milk to Karan’s house, tripped over a stone and spilt all the milk. ‘Stupid!’ shouted Karan, ‘Do you have eyes or buttons? Can’t you see where you are going?’ The boy bit his lip, not replying.
Karan shook his head and ran off to meet his friends.
As soon as Karan came, Ananda exclaimed, ‘Karan… you are a clever boy. I am sure you can help me with this important task…’
Karan grinned, pleased at being called clever.
Ananda showed him a bowl of water and said, ‘I dropped some salt in this by mistake and I really want the salt removed. Could you do this, please?’
Karan gazed at him, totally at a loss. ‘But… how can one do this?’
‘Well, it is difficult, just as it is difficult to remove the effect of unkind words we utter.’
Karan blushed, understanding what Ananda was trying to say.
Adapted from Nurturing Spirituality in Children by Peggy Jenkins
Action Station
What is your Resolution?
It is February. Have you made any resolutions this year? If you haven’t, you could still do so now. Do share your resolution with us. The best one will win a surprise prize… so write in!
Nikita Mor (15) and a student at St Anne’s High School in Mumbai, wins the prize for the best love letter to Mom (Action Station, November 2005). Her mother writes that this was written for her 40th birthday, and reflected Niketa’s concern for her mother whose ill-health in recent times made her lose a lot of weight. Her mother writes, ‘The poem brought tears to my eyes, as it made me realize that I was no longer ‘seen’ as a mother who is a caretaker, but rather the roles had switched somewhere down the line and she sees me now as her baby.’
Niketa wins a book. Here is the poem:
For Mommy
In a little city, in a small town,
You’ll find a thin little face with a very cute frown,
That tiny thing amidst so many,
Has a little something, which is hardly possessed by any,
Sp powerful is it, so vast is that something, It lies even higher than the sceptre of the king.
It cannot be read, it cannot be written
It is that very special thing which has left so many smitten.
The youth speak of it, but its depth they fail to understand,
It can be found in plenty, only in God’s land.
That special thing, whose glory heaven’s angels sing, Is unconditional love which is oh, so very rare!
It is filled with SO MUCH of joy, rejoice and care,
That special thing is possessed by an angel, sent to me from above
MOTHER is her name which so deeply defines love.
Did you know?
Penguins are warm-blooded just like people. To stay warm in the cold places they live in, they often huddle shoulder to shoulder with their wings tight against their body keeping each other warm. As many as 5,000 penguins often bunch together to warm each other up.
They survive by taking care of each other.
Here is another proof that nature gives us that co-operation is the only way to survive.
Poems that Please
My Teacher
I come back home from school each day through noisy city streets.
I’m used to jostling for space with people on bus seats,
Most of the time, I am fine, but that day I’d had enough.
I was sick of cars and buses and streets and all that urban stuff.
‘I wish I could see a mountain! Or a sunset! Or the sea!’
Was what I thought as I came home and switched on the TV.
And right there on Cartoon Network, when I expected Scooby Doo,
Were the beautiful Himalayas! Right out of the blue!
I thought about what had happened, that night as I lay in bed,
Someone knew what I needed… Happiness through me spread.
And as I thought about other times when unexpectedly help came,
I realized that That Someone was in every picture frame…
I remembered being lost in my town when just a child of four
I turned around and there was Dad who, in relief, took me home…
A high fever got me pretty down… I couldn’t study much for a test.
But what I revised was what came, my performance, perchance, the best.
If a Someone looked after me; at good points in time,
Would He also be around through those bad phases of mine?
I thought hard and I thought deep… the answer flashed before my eyes
That Someone was a Teacher whose Blackboard is my Life.
Whenever I needed to learn, something to help me grow,
My Teacher would write me a problem through which I would have to go.
And as I solved the problem and learnt to handle strife,
My Teacher would write me another one on the Blackboard of my Life.
And so the years have moved on… all situations placed before me
Are my Teacher’s gifts of life so that I may see
That Life and all its problems are to make me wise and strong
So everything in my life is ‘ Right!’ Nothing can be wrong.
I pray to That Perfect Teacher, to touch me with His grace
Make me the perfect student, so that I may place
Every writing on the board, in my mind and heart,
To one day BE my Teacher of whom now I am a part.
Archana Savnal
Courtesy: The Chitrapur Sunbeam
Mind Blowers
The Paomnnehal Pweor of The Hmuan Mnid
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can slitl raed ervey lteter by istlef, and the wrod as a wlohe Amazing, isn’t it?
Wonder why we spend so much time mastering difficult spellings.