Uniting India
Archive for June, 2012
The Significance of Deva Sayana Ekadasi
Jun 30th
Deva Sayana Ekadasi is also reffered as – Padma Ekadasi, Vishnu Sayana Ekadasi, Sesha Sayana Ekadasi, Tholi or Toli Ekadasi (Andhra Pradesh), Harivaasara Ekadasi, Vishnu Sayana Ekadasi and Ashadi Ekadasi (Maharashtra).
Deva Sayana Ekadasi is observed on June 29th 2012 (USA) & June 30th (India & UK) in this year.
Significance of Deva Sayana Ekadasi Vrat or Ashadi Ekadasi Vrat:
The importance of Deva Sayani Ekadasi was mentioned in Bhavishyottara Puran. Yudhistira, Oldest among Pandava brothers asked about the significance of observing a fast on Shayana Ekadasi. Lord Shri Krishna explained the glory of Sayana Ekadasi Vrat which was told earlier by Lord Brahma to His Son – Sage Narada.
Story related to Deva Sayana Ekadasi:
The great emperor Mandhata of Surya Clan was famous for being Honest and Truthful. Unfortunately, there occured a severe famine in His Kingdom. Many people and animals died due to pangs of hunger. There was shortage of food-grains in the Kingdom. Seeing the sufferings of His Subjects, King Mandhata observed vratams, performed homams and Pujas to get rid of famine; but all his efforts were in vain.Sage Angirasa suggested Mandata to observe Ekadasi fasting on Ashada Shukla Ekadasi, which is popular as Deva Sayana Ekadasi. As told by the Sage, King Mandhata observed Deva Sayani Ekadasi Fasting, More >
Chakrapani- A Legend Whom Legends Respect
Jun 29th
If at all there is one production house of yesteryears which stands as the most prestigious among those production houses that produced Telugu Cinema then it has to be Vijaya Pictures. The movies churned out by the house have been the iconic memories of Telugu cinema and the man behind it, Aluri Venkata Subba Rao alias CHAKRAPANI is revered as the brain behind the banner. Along with Nagireddy, Chakrapani is remembered as the most iconic of Producers and the stories and anecdotes about his ways have occupied most cinema space than any other producer.
The name Chakrapani would bring the colorful pictures of the famous magazine “Chandamama” and the famous film banner “Vijaya Pictures” before us. He was the soul behind these Telugu Creative Giants.
Chakrapani was born on 05-08-1908 at Aitha Nagaram in Tenali, AP and was christened as Aluri Venkata Subba Rao. He got interested into literature and took up writing. He assumed charge of a Hindi school and had translated some hindi write-ups into Telugu. He took up writing seriously and wrote for the magazines “Chitragupta and Vinodini”. He assumed a pen name of “Chakrapani” which was suggested by Vrajananda Sharma.
Chakrapani was introduced to Bengali literature when he was at the sanitorium More >
Curricular and Extra Curricular Activities
Jun 29th
Curriculum refers to a set of courses offered for learning at schools. The course coverage and content is generally determined in form of syllabus recommended by boards that the school has association with. The development of curriculum is generally based on 2 factors – to give students common knowledge foundation across some core subject areas and on the other hand provide enough opportunity to students to learn subjects based on their own interests. Each board has somewhat different offerings around these as you will find available in the appendix section (for Class X subjects), there is attempt made specifically for State and National Boards to arrive at some parity at specific levels (say Class X).
Foundations established across the academic subjects in early ages are known to play a very important role in being able to get entry in Higher Educational Courses and drive performance at Competitive examinations and beyond. With millions of students coming out of Secondary and Higher Secondary schools every year, performance on curricular subjects is used as the criterion for admissions at colleges and universities for higher education.
So this becomes one of the important pillars for academic successes and hence for selection of the school as well More >
Developing Right Attitude
Jun 29th
An attitude can be considered as the tendency of the mind towards a situation, person or a thing in terms of manner, disposition or feeling. Simply put it is how one thinks, feels and behaves in a particular situation. It is said that person’s attitude determines his altitude. This altitude can either be in terms of academic success, work success or somewhat subtle in the sense of succeeding as a good human being. Unlike Character, attitude can be contextual or otherwise. Some of the attitudes seen in children in particular are as below -
- Cheerful
- Cautious
- Independent
- Cooperative
- Considerate
- Authoritative
- Sincere
- Persistent
- Sympathetic
- Responsible
- Perfectionist
- Flexible
- Decisive
- Trusting
- Thoughtful
- Determined
- Loving
- Competitive
- Hard Working
- Inclusiveness
- Tenacity
The ingredients that build the attitude are often complicated and a subject of deep research itself. And it can be argued that school has relatively lesser role to play in it. But still there are some aspects on which school has direct and observable influence. Like having a positive outlook towards all other life, being more collaborative rather than competitive, executing with responsibility and sincerity etc can be well developed at school.
How evaluating a school from this perspective can often be challenging. The best approach here can be seeking feedback from parents on their observations for their children can be one good data point apart from More >
P.V.Narasimha Rao-The Father of Indian Economic Reforms
Jun 28th
Two decades ago, Narasimha Rao became Prime Minister and initiated economic reforms that transformed India. The Congress party and other parties do not wish to remember him, but the nation should not forget Mr.Rao as the man who changed economic health of India. In June 1991, India was seen globally as a bottomless pit for extending foreign aid. It had exhausted an IMF loan taken six months earlier and so was desperate. to obtain foreign aid. Nobody imagined that, 20 years later, India would be called an emerging Superpower, backed by the US to join the UN Security Counci and poised to overtake China as the world’s fastest growing economy. P.V Narasimha Rao often referred as the “Father of Indian Economic Reforms” and also referred to as ”Chanakya” for his ability to steer tough economic and political legislation through the parliament at a time when he headed a minority government.
Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao was born on June 28, 1921 at Karimnagar to Rukiminamma and P. Ranga Rao in a traditional Niyogi Brahmin family. He studied in Osmania University, Hyderabad, Bombay University and the Nagpur University. His mother tongue was Telugu and had an excellent grasp on Marathi In addition to eight More >
Hyderabad – A Traffic Jungle of Madness
Jun 20th
Hyderabad, Capital of Andhra Pradesh is a nightmare for pedestrians. The city doesn’t seem to have any traffic rules. There is no respect for pedestrians. We come across utter chaos on the roads. The pedestrians are left to the mercy of God. It’s extremely difficult to locate traffic signals and zebra crossing. One needs a crane to lift the person so as to enable him to cross the road.
No Traffic policeman is found anywhere. One has to show hand to cross the sea of vehicles. The flow of all kinds of vehicles appears endless. The person driving a motorcycle doesn’t even leave one mm of space for the pedestrian to walk. Footpaths are a rarity. There is utter disregard to any kind of planning. Perhaps the authorities concerned don’t know the meaning of the word planning.
There is too much of carbon monoxide pollution emitted by the vehicles. People are compelled to cover their nostrils for the fear of getting all sorts of diseases, especially the respiratory and allergic diseases. Even Hindu girls look like the veiled Muslim girls. No one seems to understand the gravity of this kind of pollution leave alone global warming. Have they ever heard of ‘’ More >
The Story of Satyakama
Jun 18th
Once upon a time there was an young boy named Satyakama, who lived with his mother. His father expired many years ago and they lived all alone. The boy found out that his friends were sent to the gurukul, where they would gain knowledge at the feet of the guru. As such he also wished to go to the gurukul too.
He went to his mother and said, “Mother, I want to go to a gurukul and gain knowledge like all other Brahmin boys. Please tell me our gotra (family name) so that I can inform my guru.”
His mother replied, “My dear son, when you were born, I was busy with household duties and had no time to ask your father his gotra. Unfortunately your father died soon after and the two of us were left all alone. Your name is Satyakama, and mine is Jabala. So call yourself ‘Satyakama Jabala’. Tell your guru the entire truth and he will accept you as his disciple.”
Satyakama bowed to his mother and left for the nearest ashram. It was the ashram of the great rishi, Gautama. He told the sage his mother’s words, and the sage was pleased to see the truthful boy. He More >
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar-The Father of Modern Bengal
Jun 17th
”Aano bhadra krtavo yantu vishwatah”.- RIG VEDA Meaning: Let noble thoughts come to me from all directions
From time to time, in the sacred land of Bharath, are born the kind of people who make such a large impact on society within a very short period of time in their lives. One perfect example of such a great man was Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar who was the pillar of the Bengal Renaissance and a very active social reformer who strived to remove the crippling ills that were prevalent in the Hindu society during his time.
He was born in 1820 to orthodox Brahmin parents. He was an avid reader on a wide range of topics and even as a teenage boy, he gained the respect of the entire village as a boy with a vast ocean of knowledge, and hence he was conferred the title of Vidyasagar (Vidya –meaning learning, Sagar – meaning Ocean). He graduated with Sanskrit as his major and went on to become a very learned Sanskrit Pundit. Vidyasagar was a good writer and is considered the father of modern Bengali language. He wrote in journals and newspapers. He was dedicated to the cause of education. He More >
Gundamma Katha – The Story of 50 years
Jun 13th
There are few films in Telugu cinema which have found a place in the history and culture of Telugu people. If Maya Bazaar occupies the mythological seat in people’s hearts, Pathala Bhairavi became the eternal movie in the genre of folklore. When it comes to socials none can beat the aura of “GUNDAMMA KATHA” which when released on June 7th, 1962 became such a success story that generations of Telugus see the film just to have fun and laugh wholeheartedly at the idiosyncrasies of a Telugu household.
The premise of the film and the subsequent story, that of two brothers marrying step-sisters and bringing a reform in their mother-in-law by staging some drama in the house, is well-known. The film which was acted by the likes of NTR, ANR, Savitri, Jamuna, Haranath, L Vijayalakshmi and SVR is as famous as any mythological story. But the impressive star-cast which commands every bit of respect were for once overshadowed by two women who just reminded everyone that this is a story which can happen in any household. Suryakantham as Gundamma and Chaya Devi as Sooramma just stole the show from the stars. Ramana Reddy as the comic-villain Gantanna added to the flavor and Rajanala in More >
Madhubala- The Venus of Indian Cinema
Jun 13th
Cinema goers and critics have been so dazzled by Madhubala’s looks that they often fail to appreciate her immense talent. She had a perfect sense of timing which made her click in lighter roles and she is one of the most beautiful actresses ever to grace Indian silver screen. She survived for a short span of time but kept her mark in the films she had acted in and glorified bollywood films of the 40s, 50s and 60s. A case in point is Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi where she dominates over the three Kumar brothers, Ashok, Kishore and Anoop. There was also a rare spontaneity about her which manifested itself in movies like ”Tarana” and, at the same time, intense poignancy which found expression in the role of the ill-fated Anarkali in ”Mughal-i-Azam”. In both these films she co-starred with the only man she loved, Dilip Kumar. But their romance was doomed like the one they portrayed in K. Asif’s magnum opus, ”Mughal-i-Azam”.
The 1933-born Madhubala started her career as Baby Mumtaz in ”Basant”, when she was merely eight years old.She impressed the film-lovers by creating suspense in her role of ghost in the film” Mahal” opposite Ashok Kumar, in 1947. More >
