29th Sept., Day 3

Too many problems and it is rather impossible to get rid of all of them, therefore every individual should change themself, No man is perfect, but if from childhood to adulthood, if everyone could change atleast one thing, the world would be a wonderful place.
Who do you think could have said these words? An adult motivational speaker, a spiritual leader, a teacher...? Wrong, wrong, wrong. These are the words used by children who have registered for the Design For Giving Event for schools. These are children from the small state of Uttarakhand (Greenway Seri Secondary School) and this is what they are attempting to change. Children have learnt what we adults have forgotten, that change has to come from within and if each of us changed, the world would surely be a better place.
Going through the website of Design For Giving http://http://www.joyofgivingweek.org/children is a wonderful experience and gives one a lot of hope that with young minds like these, life in our country can only get better. The problems these young minds are attempting to solve, range from cleanliness of the environment, recycling, controlling pollution, to doing what is also of prime importance to them, discipline in schools and changing the behaviour of the significant adults in their lives.
A government school in Bangalore, has found a solution to keeping their school clean while simultaneously indulging in their love for creating with waste. The students approached the community to donate old newspapers which was willingly done. Armed with paper, the students no longer tore pages from their notebooks and learnt to create with the old newspapers. This is the manner in which solutions are to be found: use the resources of the community within the community. It is fascinating to go through the ideas the children have and one hopes that they get all the support they deserve to ensure that they are able to implement them. One hopes that the spirit of change that has been kindled in the children, continues long after the Joy of Giving Week has come to an end. When we adults, decide to support the young, a positive change can be sustained.

28th Sept., Day 2

The second day of the Joy of Giving Week, and it is also Vijay Dasami.. Good has triumphed over evil, the effigy of Ravan will be burnt, Maa durga will return to her home for another year, the display of dolls (Golu), ends today, the Navratri festival will culminate in Mysore today and the Gagra Cholis and dandias will be packed and put away in Gujarat. But in the tiny state of Himachal Pradesh, Dassera begins in Kulu today. In a sense, there is a continuity of the celebration and so it is with the festival of giving, it does not and should not end with the week.
The second day of the Joy of Giving Week, and NDTV has planned to air a special interview with Nandita Das and Imtiaz Ali, who will be talking to Prannoy Roy tonight. Nandita Das has been a vociferous supporter of the Joy of Giving Week and has committed enough of her time already to the cause. As she says: "The JGW is a small pot, and if filled with every drop that we have, it can make a big difference. ........ the festival belongs to each one of us and yet belongs to no one in particular."
The second day of the Joy of Giving Week and the auction on e-bay, for Sachin's coaching skills, Love Aaj Kal's memorablia is hotting up. The auction for Shadow a CEO, has ended and has raked in over 6lakhs, a good amount considering the bidders were all students. Meanwhile, the Vastra Samman project initiated by Goonj, is proving to be very popular amongst the givers and many have come forward to donate clothes for charity. The autodrivers in Chennai, showed the softer side of their character as they did Annadaanam to over 500 people yesterday, contributing their own money for the cause.
Joyfest, the giving festival for youth has over 85 colleges registered and the power of youth to spread the message of giving throughout the week is immense. If colleges are contributing, can schools be far behind! Over a thousand schools from across the country have registered for the Design for Giving Contest. When the young get together for a good cause, then a transformation takes place and the cause prospers. We are looking forward to this happening with the Joy of Giving Week and hope we learn from them to care more. And we end this post with a sense of anticipation as to what Day 3 of the Joy of Giving Week will bring.

27th Sept., Day 1

Day 1, and we rejoice that over 200 events have been registered from all parts of india, from Jammu to Trichinapalli, and from Imphal to Rajkot. The issues that are covered range from conserving and nurturing the environment, to empowering children and adults by focussing on health, education, livelihood, life skills. The methods used to spread the spirit of giving are ingenious; whether it is the Family India Foundation's weekly task list, where the person signing up receives 7 envelopes for each day of the Joy of Giving Week, each with a task to be completed to spread the joy of giving; or the Literary Angels Book Giveaway, where readers are requested to read a blog and answer a question to be able to receive a book which is to be given to a random reader. Many are the ways in which one can give.
Day 1, and we are overwhelmed that modern India's icon, the 'little master' Sachin, has endorsed the Joy of Giving Week all the way from South Africa. Truly a master giver, when he makes time in his hectic schedule to spread the message of giving and has chosen to contribute his time for the cause both now and later. As he says in an article in The Times of india, " People from all walks of life can give. In our country there are so many less privileged, less fortunate, that any small thing we find useless can be like gold to someone else."
Day1, and we are humbled at the passion with which people have taken the message of giving to heart. From Amravati comes a mail that Dr.Avinash Saoji of PRAYAS, has undertaken a fast for the entire week and has exhorted others to fast as much as they can to promote the concept of 'Charity by Fasting'. Not only this, but the organisation has undertaken to spread the message of giving through various initiatives in the Vidarbha region.
Day 1, and we are sobered that even as we rejoice in the spirit of giving, comes the news that farmers in Andhra pradesh are selling or abandoning their new born daughters. This reminds us that we have a long way to go. The way can be made easier when we walk collectively towards a common goal. Let our goal be to spread joy through giving, both in the present and the future.

The Next 7 Days We Will..

The Joy of Giving Week.

Giving Thanks

In speaking about Human Rights, which was then perceived of as an idea, Eleanor Roosevelt said, "Where after all do human rights begin ? In small places close to home; so close and personal that they cannot be seen on any map of the world." And with just a day to go for the Joy of Giving Week, this is where we could start our giving, with our neighbours, with our family, with ourselves. Why ourselves? Simply because unless we can cherish, value and respect ourselves and what we enjoy, we would find it practically impossible to cherish, value and respect others. Without this feeling of being cared for and caring, it is difficult to give with joy. When one gives out of a sense of compulsion, there is no joy in it. All giving, should begin with a Thank you.
Today, let us resolve to : Give thanks for our mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, our children and friends and neighbours, to the bosses and colleagues, to all the people who care for us and who we care for.
Give thanks for the food we eat thrice a day if not more
Give thanks for our peaceful sleep
Give thanks for our good health
Give thanks for our freedom and our rights: political, civil, economic and cultural
Give thanks to the trees that blossom, the birds that chirp
Give thanks to all those anonymous hands that toil to grow our food, make our roads, run our public utility services,
Give thanks to all those protecting us from intruders, giving up their sleep so we can
We could go on for the list of those we need to thank are many and our memories short.
Above all let us give thanks for living in a country that allows us to rant and rave, and curse and bless, a country at once proud and humble, a country that disperses sorrow and joy in full measure, a country that welcomes and assimilates, a country that allows us to be. We will join hands to make this wonderful country proud by joining wholeheartedly in the Joy of Giving Week. Let us spread the word throughout India. Let us spread joy.

The 7 Day Challenge

The 7 day challenge is amongst those innovative ideas that make the Joy of Giving Week, a mass movement. It is all inclusive and holds within itself, the essence of the movement, as it opens the door and gives opportunities for every single individual to participate, in a manner decided by him/ her. The experiences of those who have decided to spread joy through giving for 7 days, has been all positive; whether it is buying toys for an auto driver's son, cooking a meal and sharing it with a toothless vegetable vendor, making it up with a friend or with family,teaching the needy, making sandwiches. to distribute to the needy.... or the many more ways of helping, some of them ingenious that the participants have shared (http://7days7gifts.ning.com/), is a sure way of spreading the culture of giving.

With just 2 days to go before the week officially begins, one could still start to think of ways in which one could contribute, for the causes are many and resources few. If it is difficult to decide the manner of contribution, well help is always available. All one needs to do is check out www.joyofgivingweek.org.

Lets not wait. Lets just go ahead and make the Joy of Giving Week, a week that is truly a joy to have lived.

A Miracle

We have always said giving is instinctive and it is so both in the human as well as in the animal kingdom. What else can one term it, except a miracle when a predator turns protector, in this National Geographic video.

A female leopard hunts a pregnant female baboon. While the leopard was dragging the baboon, the baboon delivers a baby. What would we normally expect to happen; that the baboon would die of neglect or possibly be eaten up. But a miracle takes place, one of those unexplained things that brings out so beautifully the wonders of nature.


http://lists.elistx.com/archives/blank/200906/wmv3fmz2HFc2N.wmv
The maternal instinct? A joy? The joy of Giving.