Why do I run a marathon ?? I wonder

TMM marathon  sometimes I wonder why I run ,not that I am good at it or anything.  When  mom asks me after the run did u win?i feel like laughing ,though I show off and tell her of course I did I got the medal and she is like so happy . But every time I run I feel good about myself I can cross all obstacles and complete my run . Every pain I bear just to see that finish line . And when u finish the excitement of completing takes u to a different level of high which is so bloody intoxicating that u always want more . Everything about a marathon is fun from getting up at the wee hours , excitement of wearing the bib ,walking that long distance to reach the venue , that line for using the toilet , the rush to reach the start point , the wonderful thoughts that run in ur head when you are  running , you go in a world which makes u happy which makes u run which makes u dream of the good times , the cheering of the people who motivate u to just keep running , those cute kids who stand on the road with salt and oranges (I am sure they would never get up so early for school but they stand there for hours for us).those amazing people who give away free hugs , the bands that sing to cheer us all the way and our co runners and our coaches waiting for us at the finish line makes the running experience more exciting ,maybe that is the reason every time we go back to run a marathon again and again . Running a marathon May give u a lot of aches and pains but when u finish that run u feel so proud of itself that u feel chalo all this pains and aches are worth it . But the next day we go back to normal and say how stupid are we to bear this pain and ache and keep saying it till the next marathon comes along and then the story starts all over again 😜😜😜😜

Blue whale that's eating our dreams away .....

     Every few days I read about some child falling prey to a game called blue whale , it's so sad some idiot out there decides about how weak or strong our kids are . I kept wondering why children fall prey to such people ? Who is that man out there to judge anyones kids ? What does he know about having babies . If we honestly think about it have we ever told our kids what we went through to have them? So many times when we argue with our kids we hear our kids say I didn't force you to have me ,you chose to have me . And that is the end of the argument . Today I feel  I should continue this argument let every child know out there what me and every mother out there felt when we were having you . 

   Well  firstly it's true no child has ever forced us to have them it was a choice we make on our own ,a choice that changes our lives daily. Believe me when I say it changes our lives daily, I truly mean it . Let's start how -The 1 st time when we come to know we are carrying a baby inside us we are scared really scared, imagine a doctor tells us there is a living being growing inside, fear creeps in but it doesn't take away the pure joy life is going to bring. believe me the 1st thought that came to my mind when I was told this was 'oh shit I have something living inside me ". And that day from a young free girl I became a mother instantly ,I am sure every mother out there agrees with me . From that day we moms are never alone . Every day we speak to the baby not knowing if the baby inside you even understands what youre ranting away , every fear ,every happiness , every confusion , every anger you share with this little thing growing inside you. Your youthful body changes we start looking like someone we don't even know ,but we love these changes and show off these changes so proudly ,though deep down we know we will never look what we looked before but we happily give up all that for just that baby that is growing inside us . We eat food we may have never liked ,had medicines that made us vomit, anything and everything what people would say would be good for the baby we would do ,not once we thinks about ourselves , actually she has totally forgotten about her existance . She is just a mother ,those nine months when the baby is growing inside her ,her life is only about the baby . Ever step she takes or doesn't take is keeping her little one in mind . Everyday she speaks to her child ,not about what the childs future holds , the only thing that she keeps wondering is will She be a good mom to the baby ?  Will she be able to take care of the baby on her own ? Will she be able to protect the baby from the outside world , exacly how she takes care of it now in her womb ? As a child she has played with dolls must have acted like a mom to the dolls would it be exactly similar,now very soon she will have her own real doll who will be with her for rest of her life she has so many confusions going on in her head .  I still remember I had so many insecurities so many fears going on inside my mind I always worried if any action or thought would harms my baby , I remember how I would torture my doctor asking him silly questions and he very calmly telling me " don't worry Sushma you will do good " . Believe me when I say in those nine month not once a mom thinks about the babies looks ,babies intelligence or any thing what the world will be expecting out of the baby  . Her only prayer every single day to almighty is to give her baby good health and happiness. 

      After 9 months the baby is born and the pain she feels when she delivers her bundle of joy is something that is unexplainable , let's say ,it's like every bone in your body is breaking at the same time  but even in that pain the mother is only thinking about the baby hoping she is not harming baby in anyways. Not once she is worried about herself , her thoughts are just with the baby ,and guess what , our moms , who are waiting outside the room hearing her babies screams and cry with pain ,has just one thought going through her mind , She hopes her baby is fine ,hope God gives her baby all the strength she needs ,to be strong through the pain she is going through . moms will always be moms however old their babies grow . The baby comes to this world with her/his own dream . And soon the babies dreams become the parents dreams. Sleepless nights ,dirty laundries ,house always a mess , but all that doesn't really matter coz one smile from the babies make us forget everything ,as parents our lives  changes again . I know I have been only talking about mothers but maybe it's easier for me relate to her more being a mother myself ,but I know my husband the father of my children also made many sacrifices , and continues to still do so .he started working harder not just to give the best ,but to give his bundle of joy everything the child will want ,he gives up his dreams just for the dreams of the babies . He gives up his youth ,his middle age and every age for the happiness of the child . He starts worrying more about his health and tries to be  fit more and be healthier and stronger ,so he can provide well for his loved ones .His whole life is dedicated to the child and their well being .

           Honestly speaking the child has never asked us parents to do any of these things , we are totally aware of it ,but we did it for our babies we did all these things for our bundle of joy ,for they have made us change our lives ,they made us parents made us understand what it is to be a parent and enjoy every second of parenthood . So then children , Tell me , Who are these people who make such games take our bundle of joy away from us ,who are they to decide if our child is weak or strong ,who are they to take the life of the child away ,who are they to mess with our childrens minds. How can they make a game out of a child's life ,how can they judge us as parents .what do they know what a parent and child has gone through . How can they destroy a family ???? 

             To every child out there I know you didn't force us to give birth to you ,but you have forced us to become parents become people we are today . You are the reason why your dreams are our dreams today . Your pain is our pain ,your happiness is our happiness . Your weakness is our weakness and both parents and children can solve everything when they believe In Each other and trust each other . You are the best thing that happened to your parents and don't let anyone else say otherwise . Don't let any Tom dick or Harry judge you . You are who you are and your parents love everything about you . Pls don't let a stupid game take their love away ........don't let the blue whale swallow your happiness ..... Your life is worth much much more ......

70 years of independence

          Hum hoge kaamyab is the song we always sing , and even after 70 years we are still  singing hum hoge kaamyab . How long are we going to take to be truely successful . When our freedom fighters fought for our independence they had so many dreams for this beautiful country of ours . They gave up their lives for a better future for their future generation . They dreamt the future generation will make our country the most developed country in the world, they dreamt of a world where every person man or woman will be equal . They believed in sampurn swaraj total independence and total democracy .

             After 70 years lets think and see are we where our freedom fighters dreamt we would be . Honestly speaking yes we are one of the developing country ,we are doing well in the financial world ,we are doing good in sports , we are developing in many fields , but as human being have we really developed ,have we progressed in our thinking . Our freedom fighters wanted us to all be equal when they fought for our freedom , they never differentiated between man and woman ,big or small ,rich or poor ,business man or farmer they just fought for all of us their fight was for ever human being of our country ,but after 70 years also woman are still  fighting for equal rights .poor is still struggling for their basic rights ,every person are still fighting for their  basic rights like clean sanitation ,we need movies to remind us toilets are so important for everybody .70 years after independence we are fighting for  children's right to education . Why we never understand ,if every child in our country is educated , then nothing  can ever stop our country from being the most developed nation .padega India tab hi toh badega India . We need to be told to keep our country clean and green , wonder why after so many years also we have not got that instilled into our system yet ? Simple things like respect each other has to be reminded to us , to follow traffic rules we need a traffic police to watch us so we don't break rules ,we need a policeman to feel secured , we need someone always cleaning the garbage we throw around our country . After 70 years we are told what we are allowed to eat and what we are not . Seriously where is democracy lost . We are told what a women can wear or what she cannot wear . We are told .......... Actually if u think about it even after 70 years of independence we are still told what to do ... And what not to do ... I wonder why ? 

           India had to fight hard for her independence ,we lost many lives for our independence . On this 70 th year  of independence let's all make a promise to ourselves that we are  not just going say hum hoge kaamyab , but actually become kaamyab not just financially developed country  but also in our thinking . Let's progress in becoming better human beings . This time when we sing the national anthem let's truely feel every word in our heart . Let's make sure we won't let anyone take our independence away from us . Let's show the world we truely are a democratic country . Let's remember wht nehruji told 70 years back "At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps India will awake to life and freedom ."......let's all make a promise to truely love our country ..and also very proudly say I love my country and I will make sure my country is proud of me . 

Friends forever and more .....

  My younger daughter finished her last day at school a few days back ,she came home all sad and cranky and me being me kept pestering her abt wht is really bothering her about the last day of school . What she said made me think . Let me share with you 1 st wht she said to me ,this is what my little girl said " mom 12 years plus I have spent in school and in these 12 years I have made few friends and honestly these are the only friends I have ,suddenly all are  going their different ways to start their new journey to make their future. I too will be starting my new journey ,what if I have forgotten how to make friends ? What if I don't find the right friends ? " . There were so many questions running in her mind , and as her mother I had to help her understand this , so this is what I told her " vanshika in every stage of life we meet different people some become our friends some just remain aquaintaince . Some are there for short time some for long but each one is special in our lives . " Then she told me "but mom you have seema maasee Sameera aunty who have been ur friends for so many years how come they still in your life ". I told her not to worry she will find new friends and meeting new friends doesn't mean we lose our old  friends  ,the ones who are close to ur heart will always be in your life . After having a chat with her she felt better and relaxed . 

          But after this talk with my daughter I started thinking about all my friends who I  met in different stages of my life and each one played such a beautiful role in my life ,they are few friends but they are the best . My school friends who were so wonderful with me in school and some of them I still am in touch with . And in my teens I meet Sameera shaheen and seema all 3 were the bestest friends I can ever ask . Seema who I share everything ,after so many years she is become such  a important part of my life . I grew up with her she was with me for more than half my life always standing by me . We know each other so well. She has always been my best friend . 

        Then as I grew older I meet few more friends deepa ,Rama ,ameeta , who I grew older with . But today I want to talk about my 5 friends I met coz of a passion we all had ,which was running . Sometimes I feel running must have just been a reason for us to meet ,somewhere we were destined to meet . Let me tell you about my 5 friends . 

          Let's start with Jenny . She is the most sweetest and should I say the quietest among all of us  . She is always praying for all of us , infact we all believe her prayers work . And we enjoy troubling her ,she cooks amazing food for us . She quietly listens to all our talks and maybe once in a while make small funny comments too , she is always smiling . 

       Then comes Geeta , I love this woman , she truely is a motivational person , so full of life , Geeta is an all rounder . Full of energy  and always on the go ,how good she is at handling her office that efficient she is at taking care of her house and an amazing mom to her kids ,they share such a beautiful rapport . Geeta can make anyone talk and laugh . She is truely an amazing person. 

      Then comes my favourite Nitin  . The god father of our group . He is a hard core Al Pacino fan , and we call him our very own  desi al Pacino . Any outsider who met him will think he is reserved and a very quiet person ,but people don't go by his looks he is one brat ,full of mischief . But a sweet person and my favourite . 

     Then Sushma ,we both have the same name ,but Sushma I rarely call her my friend I always treat her like my little sister ,I am very protective about her . We have a different chemistry . So no words ,we both know what she means to me .

     Then comes  the baby of our group dhiraj , youngest and handsome and full of energy always laughing always jumping around , his energy brings so much energy to our group .he is the fresh breath of air innocent and loving and I love fighting with him the most . He loves going for trek quite an adventurous person . 

     And then it's me , well according to me I am perfect. But I am sure my friends will say otherwise ,so let's not talk abt me . 

      Each one of us are so different each have different views ,different life style, different thought process , but when we are together we have this amazing bond a chemistry that I don't know if any words can describe . But let me try the impossible . Well when we are together we are like  these crazy people ,who don't care about the world around us . We are sometimes like teenagers giggling at silly things , we can giggle and laugh at anything and everything . Then sometimes we are like adults who can discuss serious things without hesitation , each one have their own views and each one makes sure they are heard loud and clear , some times we can be such jokers that people around us have a good laugh and we love to see people around us happy . There are times when we argue or fight and next minute we are like inseparable and nothing can separate us . When we are together we forget the world around us everything around us looks so perfect . Life looks so perfect . We love every minute that we spend together ,for that is the time when we are like kids , always laughing ,always playing some pranks , always challenging each other , always dancing without caring what the world thinks about us . Always standing up for each other and protecting each other . Always listening to each other's problems and helping to solve it or sometimes by just listening we helping each other . It's a lively relationship and a lovely relationship , for in this relationship we are not judgemental nor we have any expectations from each other , we accept each other exactly the way we are ,with our perfection or imperfection ,without expecting to bring  any change in each other ,for we choose each other exactly the way we are . And honestly you cannot change perfection . I feel lucky that I have the privilege to be a part of this crazy ,amazingly blissfull friends circle . Touchwood.....

        I hope my little girl too finds her Jenny ,Geeta , Nitin  Sushma and Dhiraj , like I found mine ..........

      

My little bird .....

            My granny used to love singing folk songs . There were many songs that I loved and kept asking her to sing it to me when I was a kid . There was one song that always touched my heart , though I never understood what it meant at that time , but somehow that song sounded so good and made me emotional . Well the song was in my mother tongue ," Pakkil muggi vonje gudu do batkondo undo gae ,aayete vonji kinniga rekke puttunde undo ga." it means 3 little chicks were growing together in one nest and now one of the little chick is growing its wings . When I was smaller I would never understand what it meant ,but whenever my granny sang that song I would love hearing it.  Infact she sang that song for me when I was getting married but at that time also I never understood the significance of that song .

        But today when my elder daughter has gone to other city to work this song keeps playing in my mind all the time . Today I truely understood the meaning of that song ,when suddenly my little girl is growing her own wings and is flying away from our nest . The nest  that she grew up ,the nest in which her parents kept her protected and loved her a nest where she fought laughed and played with her sibling ,our nest which our babies make a home for us . As parents we are always thinking our babies never will grow but one day they have to grow have to get their own wings have fly away to make their own nest their own home their own lives their own world . When our little bird grows and flies away to make her life we are happy for them happy to let them experiment find out how they want their lives to be ,see the world on their own ,but suddenly as parents there comes an emptiness , a fright that our little nest we built with our little girls is becoming empty , that emptiness is really scary but then that is life I guess everyone has to leave their nest their comfort zone to make their own nest create their own world . 

        

         My little one is out their figuring out her world thinking about her future and creating her new nest ,I wish her all the happiness ,all the luck , hope she finds her happiness her new world . Mean while this little nest of her will always be right here , always welcoming her ,always waiting for her and always loving her . God bless my little bird fly high and be happy always . 

Oh womeniya !!!!

      Have been thinking about writing for very long but couldn't find the right words . Words have been playing  on my mind since I watched  this 2 movies Pink and Parched . Seriously don't want to give my review about the movie . But want to share my thought about these 2 movies . Both movies made me feel good ,good about things changing around us ,thoughts changing or let's say thought have always been there but watching these thoughts in different perceptive that was something different .

       Well Pink showed how women can fight for their rights and true meaning of the word' No' . Which somehow people have actually forgotten . We tell our woman to have the guts to say a 'no ' but somewhere we forgot to tell our sons to respect the word 'no' . We live in a modern world where sex is no more a taboo topic to discuss so it's nice when we can openly discuss about such things .

      Parched on the other hand also portrayed about woman's right and about her needs and desires . Her physical and mental and emotional needs . Woman is a strong creature created by almighty only difference is her importance is decided by others in the society .she is judged as a daughter ,sister, wife , mother ,mother in law ,grandmother etc but she is never seen as an individual . 

      Both these movies touched my soul and seriously made me think . Why is it that we woman have to prove to everyone all the time  about our own identity . Why is that we need to remind people that We too can think on our own ,we  also can do things we want to do without anyone's permission. . When we are born our whole lives we are told we live in a democratic country , what democracy is this that woman needs to fight for her own identity . And why is it that we need to tell people to give woman their right ,and to treat woman equal. Isn't it something that goes without saying . Do we tell the men folks fight for your right ask people to treat u equal . Then why do we use such words for women . And honestly speaking why do we woman need to reminded we are equal  ,why do we need to be given this special treatment we should be knowing this, we are equal . We don't need to be treated special . 

       When a man drinks or parties or flirts he is not tagged a slut or a easy prey ,then why is the woman is tagged so . If a man touches a woman there is nothing wrong in it but if woman touches a man ,it's always considered as she is looking for a good time . We woman also like having friends of  different sex . We also like enjoying life queen size we like to drink ,dance ,roam around freely we too love cracking dirty jokes . And like a man we too have physical desires and like a man it's equally important to us . Then how come women who speak about her desires  is called a slut . 

       

               We live in a mans world ,if a man wants some thing he has to get it , while a woman is trained to obey what has been told to her , we woman are so scared to use the word 'No' . I have never understood why do we take a No as an insult . How come we never respect a 'No' . Honestly when every person understands the importance of 'No' we will never have any problems in this world . 

     I want a world where we don't need to remind people woman are equal ,we don't want people to keep talking but girls right ,woman's rights  .We want to be in a truely democratic world where We don't need any special rights, We want just equal rights once we get that nothing will stop our country's progress . 

Our heroes in Rio

I have been getting so many forward msgs abt who is performing how in the Olympics , how many misses and how many medals . This one is in the finals ,that one got a medal . It's nice to know we all so interested in our players . But honestly for me each and every player who are representing India  out there is a hero ,for we all Indians know ,all these  players who have gone there to represent india ,have not got the state of art training by our country ,the kind of training ,wht other sportsman and woman have got from their respective countries .i don't even think half of our player have even seen stadium like that . So for them to go there and perform is truly great . We all know the kind of treatment our sports people given .So for once let's forget abt the medals and salute all our Indian player who are in Rio representing our country . Each and every player is a hero and they truly deserve their country men and women to appreciate them . Hats off to all of them . These guys rock . Medal or no medals u guys are our heroes . And people let's not just support them today , or during the next Olympic , but support them everyday . They deserve it .

South Africa a dream come true country ...

  Whenever we speak of a holiday it always brings a smile and a glow to our faces , some holiday excite you , some makes u happy , some holiday makes u feel peaceful, while some just makes u feel blissful ,but my this years summer vacation is the perfect mixture of all these feelings. South Africa was the destination chosen by my family of 20 people . Let's forget about the hurdles and go straight to the day we landed in Cape Town ,we entered the city of Cape Town with so much anticipations,  mystery and confusion ,but as we landed here all this feeling disappeared we suddenly felt so positive and the beauty of the place took our breath away ,we were welcomed so lovingly by the immigration officers they put us so much at ease. When we got out of the airport we were welcomed by our guide Eliase tall dark well built man whose smile touched our hearts immediately . And then we were introduced to our driver, he would be driving us for next few days , Godfrey we were in love with him instantly, we started calling him God and he seriously watched over us like God would have done we felt so safe with him around us .

   I still remember Eliase would tell us a time he would want us in the bus and we being we would always be late but he would always be waiting for us with a smile and we always had our excuses ready for being late and God would just salute us with sweet Good morng and smile ,he was truely a man of few words . Eliase was not just a guide but an amazing story teller every place he showed us had such beautiful stories . He made us fall in love with South Africa, not just the scenic beauty but with history too, though we have read about the history of South Africa many times but hearing it again from him made us really understand it.  The beauty of the table top mountain ,the enchanting botonical gardens , the history of Robbin island and the amazing shark cage diving experience everything made us fall in love with this beautiful city called Cape Town .

    We left Cape Town with a heavy heart to vineyards at stellenboush . If cape town was beautiful this place was not just beautiful but enchanting , so many vineyard so much beauty with  yummy wine and cheese . We visited some beautiful vineyards with lovely farms and horses running around . We  saw some amazing antique cars . Evening we would spend time watching the mountain the enchanted us totally ,the beauty of this place was unbelievable too good to be true . We just kept pinching ourselves to see if we really seeing so much beauty or are we just dreaming. 

    We left stellenboush to go to outsdshourn a pretty quaint place with so many ostriches around . Here the Congo caves enchanted us ,the beauty of this caves mesmerised us totally . The interactive session with the animals was blissful . What touched me most was the way each guide we met made the whole experience more beautiful with the way they spoke abt the places we visited . I am still confused if the places were really beautiful or the way the guides described the place made it more beautiful.

   From outsdshourn we went to kynsna  via garden view . My god honestly I have never seen so much beauty it was like Mother Nature at her best . Every place we went was better than the other I really don't know which place I can call more beautiful. Kynsna is a perfect and beautiful place with the ocean ,the lagoons ,mountains ,everything u can imagine was there in kynsna so much beauty which takes your breath away . The drive from kynsna to port Elizabeth was beautiful ,here we were just spending a night as we had to catch a early morning  flight to Kruger our last destination in South Africa and best part of our whole trip .we were excited about Kruger but along with excitement we were very sad after port Elizabeth Eliase and God would not be joining us , when they were leaving we felt so sad we felt we were leaving behind our own family member we all had become so close that when we separated we had tears in our eyes . But I guess that's life we meet people we separate to meet again sometime in the future . Port Elizabeth was fun we loved the place we partied till late at night and met some amazing people there . Every person we met gave us so much love we really felt blessed . 

     Next morning we left for the best part of our journey Kruger the second largest national park . We had heard so much wonderful things about this place and believe me it turned out to be better than what we imagined it to be . We stayed in this beautiful place called Shishangeni private lodge which means a resting place .  It was inside the Kruger national park it was the most amazing place we had been to . The staff there were so amazing each one took such wonderful care of us . The game (safari) was the best part .here Harold was our ranger who took us deep into the jungle to see different animals he made sure we saw all the big 5 the buffalo ,the rhino ,the elephant ,the leopard and the lions . We were the lucky ones to see all these beautiful animals somehow we were lucky with all the animals imagine seeing 20 lions ,lioness and Cubs that too eating their hunt , we could not get enough of the lions , every animal we saw in close range . Harold was an amazing ranger he made sure we see all possible animals from the giraffe , zebra,  hippo ,hyena , jackals ,Impala ,kuddo ,Eagles ,vultures ,buffalo, rhino,cheetah ,leopard ,and best of all the lions . This was the best experience in my whole life . Here I must add the staff in the Shishangeni lodge were so amazing each one gave us so much love I have thank each one of them Philips ,soloman,thami ,prudence ,patience ,surprise ,prayer ,Norman,each one were so amazing and Valeria, and olga made such amazing food and the way they pampered us was beautiful .we love each of u so much no thank you all for the lovely hospitality.

    Like every good things must come to an end so did  our beautiful holiday I have never been so sad about  leaving South Africa ,we packed and sat in the car to leave Kruger but we never imagined what was waiting for us when we were getting out of Kruger we were given a grand farewell by the whole pride of lions ,lioness and Cubs. We were speechless with beautiful farewell we got . 

    We were to catch the flight to India from Johannesburg so we had decided we would take the Panaromic view  route . What an amazing view we saw through out this Panaromic view it was the cherry on the top for the end of the trip . We boarded the flight to India with a heavy heart but with beautiful memories  and some lovely stories and with many new friends for life  and ofcourse with a promise to return again and again for many more adventures and memories. South Africa you not just touched our hearts but touched our soul . Thank you ...

Life is beautiful

Read abt the suicide of an actor of the serial 'Balika Vadhu' , she was just 24 , an age where life should have been fun and adventurous ,at that age we all dream of a beautiful future , but this girl ended her life before it could even begin. In our country we take depression so lightly , when we know depression can make people take drastic steps . Why is it that going to a psychiatrist such a taboo subject ? Don't we go to a doctors when we get fever ,cold or cough  or anything that makes us feel our life is in danger ? When at that time we can go to the doctors then , why not go for help when our mind needs help ? After all that too is one of our own body part and going to a psychiatric help does not tag anyone as mad or mentally unstable , infact  according to me if we go for help its that one step closer to recovery , actually one step closer to becoming a stronger person. 

    We parents take so much trouble making sure our children do well in life , we always teach our children to be the best in everything they do , but somewhere we have forgotten to teach them failures is a very important part of our lives also , failures help us fight and rise up again . Makes us stronger people . We have to come out of the virtual world and face reality . We need to start being a true family who are like pillar for each other ,and most importantly I think we need to tell our children we are there by their side always for good or the bad , successful or unsuccessful , happiness or sadness  we as parents will always be right next to them . Hard times are part of life and we have to learn to fight it ,everything in life cannot always be perfect ,imperfection also is beautiful and we have to accept it . Strength of India is our support system our family and friends we need to support each other when we see our loved ones in trouble . That is what makes imperfect life so perfect . 

    People , life is beautiful very precious not just for the one living it , but for the ones who are the part of that life . Life is beautiful so , Live it , love it , fight for it coz we get it only once.

Need ur support

Dear Friends

 

 

As India stands at the threshold of being an economic superpower, it is certainly time to dream many a dream for our country.  But can we truly reap the benefits of our ‘demographic dividend’ or are we looking at a potentially more divisive country?

 

·      43% of our youth believe that it is alright to flout rules because the penalty is low 

·      41% believe that girls have no option, but to accept a certain degree of violence.

·      65% students believed that boys & girls of different religions should not be encouraged to meet

·      49% college students believe that domestic workers cannot demand basic minimum wages and other facilities

 

Clearly, no country can be a truly developed country, if this is what the youth believes!

 

An attitudinal shift is the need of the hour and that is the work that CMCA does in over 300 schools in India, impacting over 17,000 children.

 

CMCA's unique, year-long programme sows the seeds of 4 basic democratic values needed for every citizen –

 

Concern

Cooperation

Coexistence

Confrontation

 

We encourage children to BELIEVE that change is possible, to ACT upon it and then INFLUENCE others to change too! 

 

Have we succeeded?  Here are some examples:

 

·      Over 300 children have called up the Municipal helplines and got civic problems fixed - from potholes on roads, to broken pipes, to open manholes, etc.

·      For the last 8 years CMCA children have participated in the beach clean up after Ganpati Visarjan in Mumbai & saved our beaches.

·      Laavanya from Tumkur District encouraged her parents to build a toilet in their home, with the help of the Gram Panchayat. This inspired 60 others too, to build toilets!

 

These are just a fraction of the inspirational stories that I have shared.  The heartening fact is that all these changes were made by CHILDREN.

 

If only we can reach this Citizenship & Democracy Education that we do, to millions more in our country, surely, we will be able to see the magic that children can create, to make India a truly developed country!

 

 

Our efforts of building a stronger nation need the support of people like you.  Donating is easy, as I am participating in the Mumbai Marathon of Jan 17, 2016 to raise funds for our cause.   

 

You may donate online on the following link

http://www.unitedwaymumbai.org/scmm-fundraiser-4075

 

Alternately, you may send a cheque in the name of United Way of Mumbai and send it to me at my address below.

 

With every stride that I take in the Marathon, I am sure you will have a sense of pride that you are contributing towards the creation of a greater nation!

 

If you wish to know more about CMCA, please visit www.cmcaindia.org