Karma Kurry by Jeroninio Almeida/Jyoti Nanda (Book Review)!!!

1017th BLOG POST -->>

     

    There are some publication houses that publish some amazing wonderful stuffs only. One publishing house that I find perfect in this matter is Jaico Publication. All the books that they have published till now except the commercially popular fiction are some terrific life changing stuffs. I love the way they select books that have immense material to change anyone's bad soul into Mahatma's. Once, I purchased 6 books of Jaico and seeing their synopsis, I said to my mother that if I'll read books by this publisher only, I will leave all the dreams of buying house and earning lots of money; instead I will go to Himalayas and convert myself into a Mahatma. :-) That's the power of books by Jaico Publication. The only problem I find in them is their publishing style of books. All of them looks like school's textbooks. They will have to change their binding and cover page style, even fonts to make their books look like interesting journeys than a burden. 

          I have just completed reading "Karma Kurry" published by them recently. The tagline says,"for the mind, body, heart & soul". The book features some wonderful inspiring stories that tells how qualified and unqualified people sacrificed all their life in helping the poor, needy and all sorts of people who need support and a little bit of concern for others. The book starts with the foreword of Nelson Mandela. Yes- Madiba. Now tell me- if a legend and revolutionist like him recommends this book to the people, a negligible reviewer like me shouldn't even review it. 

         It's very hard to make a book interesting by writing short stories of how few people thought of something new for humanity in spite of being in some other professions. I will not reveal my favorite stories nor will I give any example but I can tell you that the editors have done their job wonderfully. The way they have kept each story short and crisp tells how desperate they were for sharing these amazing stories with us. It seriously inspires you when you read how a man finds a technique of forming glaciers, how someone else opens a school and several similar incidences. Initially, I started noting down some of the stories that I liked but later on, when I realized that if I'll mention all of them here, this blog will itself start looking like one with inspiring one liner messages. Haha! In all, I would say a lovely book if you like reading short inspiring stories. If not, still give a try may be you'll realize how few people are changing this world for good even when they are full of money and satisfaction.

SYNOPSIS:- 

Karma Kurry for the Mind, Body, Heart & Soul is a decade-long journey of discovering soul-stirring narratives that celebrate the triumph of the human spirit. 

“Together as One we can Right every Wrong”. In this energizing book the founders of the Joy of Giving, KarmaVeer, KarmaYuga and REX movements bring together enthralling life stories of Karmaveer award recipients. 

We believe that every human has a hero within; a courageous, compassionate being who has the power to create a better, more humane world. The compelling stories in this book are of ordinary citizens who have unleashed the spirit within, with extraordinary consequences, radically changing society for the better. Their ideas for action and their stories will inspire you at a profound level. They are everyday women and men who have taken their defeats and adversities and turned them into laudable actions for transformation. 

The list includes globally eminent names like Meera Sanyal, Michael Norton, Arun Maira, Bill Drayton and Kumi Naidoo as well as unsung heroes like Lakshman Singh, Thangsingh Chinkholal and many others. Irrespective of their field, these are people who have reached out beyond their own life to help others, to be and to lead the change by practicing Individual Social Responsibility. In Karma Kurry, their stories have been gathered to inspire all of us to recognize the power of one: our own power to be a champion of change, reinforce the positive in society and leave an imprint on the sands of time.

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!

And there's no one like our Soldiers!!!

1016th BLOG POST -->>

     

     It's quite late night and I remember the days when I used to blog only after my clock used to strike 2 AM. :-) For a writer, it's fun to put his thoughts into words when he finds peaceful and serene environment. Today, we celebrated National Army Day. Whenever we talk about Army, we always talk with respect. We know how our nation is still standing tall even when we have enemies right across our borders. When we get to know at the personal level that someone in our own town can come anytime to create ruckus at our society or home, we get so scared that we sit with lights closed and door locked from outside. We feel that we should have had an arm or ammunition so that we could have handled the person ourselves. This is how our country, India, is protected by the hands of these great people standing at the border sacrificing all the fun and frolic of life.

             I dream a lot about a foreign job because I want to live in a society that's well developed and systematic. Many people say that you can have World Tours there even if you aren't working there but I insist on going. But the only thing that makes my drop my plan of foreign job is the sacrifices that I will have to make by living away from my family (Well the real reason is that I know I will never get selected for such a designated position abroad :-)). The word "sacrifice" carries a lot of meaning behind it which can only be understood by the person who's sacrificing. When a normal student sacrifices his slumbers, he is seen as if he is behaving like a God and he's not a human anymore. When a sportsman slog for 23 years on field to play Cricket, he is literally termed as God. Can you imagine the sacrifices that our Army have done to make it sure that we feel secure about our life?

           I remember that I was traveling by train to some long distance just after few weeks to the disaster that happened in Kedarnath. A special train meant only for Armies halted on the platform before our train. I looked at the train and realized that all our soldiers, military persons and army men are in the bogie. They were looking at all of us and talking about several loopholes that our Government does not care about which can lead to loss of many lives on the platform. I felt extremely happy to witness that the army of my nation is so dedicated about their job and concerned about their fellow countrymen. Later, when the train started departing, I gave salute to that group of Army men and in reply to that, many soldiers sitting in different bogies saluted me. It was such a proud moment that I started feeling as if I was part of the Army. The gesture that they showed in reply to the respect that I gave them was enough for me to understand what runs in their body along with their blood. PATRIOTISM AND BROTHERHOOD!!!

           I was in Punjab at the funeral ceremony of my youngest uncle. Whenever I went to market, I used to find only Sikhs and Sardars as shopkeepers. I was loving the area as it was the first time when I was seeing a land fully occupied by Sardars. In every shop, I noticed that they had a photo frame which had one or many members of their family dressed in Army's uniform. Every family of Sardar has one young boy sent to military. That is why Sardars live with broad chest depicting the pride they have in protecting their nation. Every family has stories how they lost one of their young sons in a War against Pakistan. My uncle was himself an engineer in Army who lost his life in a calamity that happened at his own home at that moment. And I was feeling so proud of him that whatever years that he lived, he worked for the protection of my country, India. On this Army Day, I salute everyone who's protecting our nation and its people in any way. I am doing nothing for my country and its people hence I have huge respect for Army and I will have it till death. We love you, soldiers. SALUTE! RESPECT!

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!

Jo zimmedari nibhaate hain, jataate nahi :-)

1015th BLOG POST -->>

       

    The biggest deed that you can do in life is taking responsibility of anything. I remember when I was in school, whenever a teacher used to ask me to keep a check on few things that she would be needing while conducting a lecture, I used to be the first person to say that I am not capable of it. Teacher would smile at me and give the job to someone else. Later on, when I came in Graduation after getting matured, teachers again tried to give me some or the other responsibility but I kept myself away from it saying that I bunk a lot and hence I am not able to match up to the standards that you have set in your mind. But now, when my teachers ask me to take a responsibility or two, I agree. I agree because now I realize that its just a shameful procrastination which leads a personality towards disgracing itself. 

             Taking responsibility of anything is as difficult as saying it in 1000 people that you have a dream which is as high as becoming a Prime Minister and you will achieve it by the next election even though you know that you are nowhere close to it. I remember when my youngest uncle lost his life by getting electrocuted. All of us in the family got emotional at that moment and wanted to shower more love among each other than before. My mother said to me after coming back to our home that I should study sincerely so that I can take responsibility of his kids who don't have a father's shadow anymore. As soon as I heard this, I found myself under such a big weight that it took me just 2 days to tell my mother that I am not capable of doing this and she shouldn't expect anything from me. My mother was shocked with the way I directly refused to comply to her demand. Within 2 days, I started feeling as if a big pressure cooker has been installed in my brain which will explode at any moment.

      Taking our own responsibility is so tough that taking someone else's responsibility is the toughest job in the world. If someone wants to get their ticket reserved on IRCTC and they ask you to do the favour as they are busy somewhere else. If you say YES to it and later on, you fail in booking a ticket for them or even forget booking the tickets, you will stay in guilt for all your life whenever you'll remember that specific person or hear their name. If you say to your friend that I would be present every time you would be needing me even if you'll be wrong, I would come without thinking any thing just to help you; and a day comes when you receive a call and you are unable to leave your house at 3 AM because of your parental rule, you will never be able to look into the eyes of your friend again. Hence, before you promise anything to anyone, think 100 times.

          There are many friends who tell me that they promised their lover "Kuch bhi ho main shaadi toh tujhse hi karunga", the first thing I tell them is,"Go and say it to your partner the next day itself that you take back that big responsibility of marrying her without knowing the consequences and situations at that very time". My friends do hate me for such bluntness and insisting attitude but only I know what trauma they will go through when they'll find that the situation isn't in their control at the last moment and they will end up participating in a crime to prove how strong they are. Why to take such responsibilities that we are unsure about? If I say that I am going to write 365 posts this year, a post a day, it becomes a very big responsibility as a Blogger to prove it. Hence, I never make such statements. Not in the case of Blogging only but even in small things in life. If my father says that I want you to send a certain mail to certain company on a specific day, I write it everywhere so that I don't forget it. If I take responsibility, I actually use all my notebooks, tablet, mobile, laptop, email ID as a Reminder tool. 

           I would always respect a person who is taking responsibility of many things around him and fulfilling all of them. Even when you celebrate Raksha-Bandhan, you take a big responsibility of protecting your sister. And every brother knows how big and tough that responsibility is. A boy always have a part of his mind thinking about where his sister would be and with whom she would be. Even when couple decides to go for a baby, they take a very big responsibility to nourish a small child into a good and successful human being. I remember an ad by ICICI where the narrator used to say in background, "Hum unka saath dete hain jo apni zimmedari nibhaate hai lekin jataate nahi". And the biggest thing that you should crave for learning every minute is- "I will take each and every responsibility that is been given to me by my friends, elders, boss, employee, teacher, neighbour, relative etc". The day you will achieve this attitude, believe me, you would have won the world around you. :-)

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!