Unsung Heroes and their inspirational stories!

Recently, I came to know about Uncle Moosa and his story thru one of my friend which inspired me and sure will motivate you guys to pursue your area of interests.

Uncle Moosa, a Keralite whose original name is  Sathyanarayan Mundayoor quit his government job in the Income Tax department in Mumbai in 1979 to pursue his dream of teaching children and joined in Vivekananda Kendria Vidyalaya school in Arunachal Pradesh , influenced many young children with his new ideas and inculcating in children the book reading habit in his unique styles and methods. He established 13 Bamboosa libraries in remote areas like Wakro, Chingkham ,Lathaw,Anjaw and his libraries has10,000 books which are volunteered by children who are regular to libraries.

Uncle Moosa was bestowed with Padma Shree Award, the fourth highest civilian honor this year for his contributions towards education in the northeast remote areas of Arunachal Pradesh.

Akshara Santa /Saint of Letters:

Harekala Hajjaba is an orange vendor from Harekala village in Mangaluru, Karnataka, popularly known as ‘Akshara Santa’ or ‘Saint of Letters’. He saved up money from selling oranges and started a primary school to educate the children in his village in Mangaluru

He got this motivation to begin a school came from his own inability to talk to a foreigner who asked the price of oranges in English. 

Hajjaba started a primary school in his village in 2000 with just 28 students. He then took out loans and used up his savings to buy land for that school. A few years after that he also started a high school for students aged 10 to 14 in the same village.

Our Government of India awarded Padma Shri to Hajjaba for providing affordable education in 2020.

Beena Rao

Another unsung hero, Inspired by her father, Beena Rao is  changing the lives of thousands of slum children in Surat Gujarat with her simple initiative of introducing Prayas, a free coaching institute for slum children with the help of her husband.

She started with teaching 2-3 children herself. Now, she has a team of 34 volunteers who teach around thousands of students at eight different coaching centers across Surat, the capital of Gujarat.

Her TED talk on ‘How I changed slum children’s abusive slang to scientific jargon’ is an eye opening to all of us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jGk_r8vtTg

Source of the stories: https://www.thebetterindia.com

There are many unsung heroes in India and abroad where they are dedicating their entire lives for the noble cause of contributing their knowledge/wisdom to the society.

 I understood from the lives of these extra ordinary people  that Dedication, Discipline and Patience are the three important tools on which one should work on to achieve any dream in life.

“The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence” –Rabindranath Tagore

Beauty of Oman !

As the country Oman is in complete lock down except for essential services due to COVID-19, staying at home all the time is quite a bit boring and frustrating but it's necessary to be at home to save ourselves as well as others from this Pandemic.

And so, to have a productive day I thought to collect the pictures of scenic views of Oman as a fun activity with my friends in what’s app group and make it as a photo collage. As soon as I posted this idea in my group, my friends accepted and showered with beautiful pictures covering plethora of places in Oman.

While I was working on the Collage, I remember my friends Shraddha and Abhishek who planned to visit Muscat this March’2020 but due to Corona virus and early lock-down in Mumbai, they couldn’t able to make it and eventually had to cancel their tickets. Then, an idea flashed in my mind, let me post the pics in my blog which gives a glimpse of Oman as a surprise for them as well as displaying me and my friends photographic skills. Ha ha…

Here is the brief look of beautiful Oman!

 

 Hope you guys love it!

Lot of thanks dear friends Ramya, Nayana, Subhasri, Lavanya, Anushya, Geetanjali,Sudha and Sowmya  for capturing the beauty of  Oman in these awesome photographs!

MINIMALISM

I started clearing out the clutter in my home to utilize my time in this (Corona virus Pandemic)   lock down period and I realized that there was lot of unwanted things stuffed inside the wardrobes like unwanted clothes, drawers etc like my son's toys which he no more plays with them as our children's choices keep changes as they grew. 

While I was clearing up the mess, I remembered the concept of 'Minimalism' explained by the famous bestselling author Joshua Becker (https://www.becomingminimalist.com) which I recently gone through and would like to share with you the philosophy of minimalist.

What is Minimalism?

“Simplicity, clarity, singleness: These are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and joy as they are also the marks of great art.” —Richard Holloway

What is a minimalist lifestyle?

It means living with things you really need. It means removing anything that distracts us from living with intentionality and freedom.

I started realizing the importance of being minimalism is by my personal experience i.e by clearing out the clutter in home and by keeping and maintaining only essential things meeting our needs and reducing my screen time. Yet there are many other aspects of minimalism which I yet to explore and work on .However in short, living a simple life helps us think freely, clearly and open to the beauty.

UBUNTU

Hi Friends,

I have learned a new word 'UBUNTU' while doing web surfing and would like to share with you what I have explored early this morning.

When I get deeper and deeper in this to understand the meaning  of UBUNTU, I was thrilled to know  the beautiful concept of Humanity and came to know that many world leaders like Barrack Obama  and others acknowledged and follows the Ubuntu philosophy.

This is the word in South Africa. Ubuntu means ,'I am because because we are'. Nelson Mandela ,the President of  South Africa (1994 to 1999) introduced the Philosophy of South African 'UBUNTU' to the world.

" In Africa, there is a concept known as 'Ubuntu' -the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievement of others"  - Nelson Mandela.

I found a beautiful story in the web (source unknown) which instills positivity and togetherness in all of us which we need to teach our children to make them better human beings.

An Anthropologist proposed a game to children of an African Tribe.He put a basket of fruit near a tree and told the kids that the first one to reach the fruit would win them all. When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying the fruits.When asked why they ran like that , as one could have taken all the fruits for oneself, they said " UBUNTU, how can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?". A simple concept with a powerful insight !

                                             "I AM BECAUSE WE ARE"

Discipline is the Secret to fruitful life

Picture source -https://flintobox.com/

Krishna was a fifth grade student, he was a nice boy, good at studies and sports. However, he had one bad habit i.e waking up late in the morning and doing his daily chores. Every day in the morning, his mother used to wake him up at 6 ‘o’ clock as the school bus will arrive in front of the building by 7 AM. One day, after pestering and pampering, Krishna woke up reluctantly at 6.40 AM and started getting ready in a rush , in the meanwhile bus driver started honking  in front of the house at around 6.55 AM. Mother requested the bus driver to wait ten more minutes Shouting from the Balcony and helped Krishna pack his bag, lunch box, wear uniform and boarded him the bus. Bus driver as usual used to comment and preach her to be on time whenever Krishna was late to board the bus, today it was no different day either.

After waving off his son Mother thought, ‘I cannot take this anymore, it’s so tiresome and this is the time to teach Krishna a lesson’. But since she was a loving mother she was puzzled as she didn’t wanted a punishment mode lesson which will not have a lasting effect on the mind of child. She decided something and gave a quirky smile.

In the evening when Krishna came from School, she asked him to get freshen up, have some refreshment and   complete his school homework. Krishna Said - Mother,’ I want to play with my friend’s downstairs’.

‘Krishna please do what I said.’ Mother screamed from the Kitchen. But, Krishna didn’t paid attention to mothers words and left to play.

Mother knew that it’s going to happen and decided for implementing solution for this problem.

Krishna came home after his play and asked mother to feed him food.

Krishna you are a big boy now, you need to learn to do all your jobs independently which includes having the food also.

Krishna was at his best in emotional blackmail with moist eyes Hmm.. Mother please. I will listen to you , tell me whatever you say, I will do, but please feed with your hands.  Motherly love took over and now she cannot resist to her son’s demand.

Mother Said - Hmm. Okay Krishna, then go and freshen up, drink water, finish your homework and then I will feed you.

Deal?

Hmm.. it takes so much time mother. Please feed me first then I will do.

Hmm..You are good at trading Krishna!

Ok then go freshen up and come to the dining table, I will feed you.

Krishna came in pajamas and started banging on the dining table with spoons. I Am waiting!

Mother can you please tell me a story while feeding?

Hmm.. she mixed rice and dal with clarified butter(ghee), an Indian traditional food in any household, narrating the story of jungle book  she made shapes of Mowgli, sherkhan, bageera , Bhalu etc and fed Krishna.

I love you so much Mother! Krishna was elated with the sense of joy, he was loving the new experience

Hmm.. Homework? Mother asked softly with a demanding voice

Krishna immediately did his homework and slept on his bed.

This continues for a week and Krishna got used to listen to Mothers stories and once the dinner time was set she shifted the story time just before the bed.

Krishna became so fascinated to mothers variety of stories and eventually goes to bed on time eager to listen to the story every day.

Krishna’s father asked Mother,’ How this change had happened without any shouting, threatening or pampering?

“It’s simple. I was telling him a story whose end will follow the next day i.e the secrets and suspense of the story will be revealed the next day bed time and so he has to wait for one full day to know what happened.” Mother said with a sense of proud and glittering eyes.

Krishna also told me that he was sharing the story to his friends and they all are happy and eager to listen.” Mother explained with a sense of achievement.

By sleeping early at night, Krishna started waking up early in the morning at 6:15 AM and completes his daily chores before time and waits for bus in front of the building. The bus driver was shocked to observe this change.

Picture source-https://www.parentingbookmark.com/resilient-kids/8-secrets-for-raising-a-can-do-kid/

“Staying with your goal for a period of twenty one days and performing the new activity at the same time for each of these days, will insert it into your routine.” – Robin Sharma

This is how Krishna's mother brought him in Discipline☺

“Discipline is the secret to fruitful life” –quoted by Someone

My Friend, A Farmer

In our life, we meet many people and every acquaintance will teach us something.

Someone had rightly said, ' We don’t meet people by accident. They are meant to cross our paths for a reason. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.’

I am so fortunate to have a friend who instilled me to pursue one’s own dreams no matter what.

A person who left his techie job in Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation ABB in Bangalore to pursue his dream which demands complete hard core physical work and no return on investment for at least a year or more. Taking such a bold step is not an easy thing for a family man but my friend Harsha does became A FARMER!

Harsha used to come to Jharsuguda, Odisha, India for testing and commissioning purposes of Rectifiers/Transformers. As I work for the same project, we get to know each other and became good friends in a short period of time.

I was shocked when he said, he is pursuing his dream of Farming but when I saw his pictures which sent to me, I was like completely taken aback.

Before leaving job in ABB

HARSHA, A FARMER

“Make bold moves toward your dreams each day, refuse to stop and nothing can stop you”- Hal Elrod

 I am so proud of my dear friend Harsha!

Thank you so much you are such an inspiration to everyone!          

A beautiful and successful journey of a young man - Office boy to Team Leader!

Although Bangladesh only came into existence in 1971, the land which is today Bangladesh has strong ties to the Middle East.

 Bangladeshis in the Middle East form the largest part of the worldwide Bangladeshi diaspora.

 Bangladeshis who come to the Middle East are primarily guest workers and day laborers.

According to the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI), as of November-end, 2016 in Oman, the number of Bangladeshis stood at 694,449, with Indians second highest at 691,775 with the number of Pakistani expats standing at 231,685.

Like other Asian expatriates, Bangladeshi citizens have sought work in the region primarily to send remittances back to their families.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladeshis_in_the_Middle_East

https://timesofoman.com/article/99165/Oman/Bangladeshi-expats-overtake-Indians-in-numbers-in-Oman

While I was working for an International Project in 2013, we were given a small room as site office which was near to Pantry. On my first day of office, I was not familiar about the individuals as well as office layout. I remember when I used to pass by the Office pantry for attending the meetings with my manager at Engineer’s office, there was an office boy around 21 years of age,5’6”/ 7’’ height with fair complexion in white shirt with a black jacket and blue pants often greeting me with a pleasant smile ‘Good Morning Maidam’.

I , in return used to greet him back by saying ‘Good Morning’ and rushed to the meeting. When I came back to office, I went to pantry and made myself a cup of tea. There he is! Standing and making tea for all other office staff.

Hi! I said, and introduced myself “My name is Anuradha. What is your good name?

He replied ‘Everyone calls me Mitoo. You may also call me with this name. No problem’

Hmm.. Mitoo..!! I repeated.

Mitoo means sweet and easy to pronounce too. Nice name.!!

I made my cup of tea with milk and tea bag and went back to my room.

I took a sip while checking my emails.

Yuck. I didn’t get the mixture right in my tea cup it seems, immediately went to pantry and emptied the cup.

‘What happened Maidam?’ Asked Mitoo

Nothing, just I didn’t liked my tea, added more sugar it seems.

‘I will make it for you Maidam. ‘Said Mitoo

Umm. It’s ok let it be. Pls give a cup of green tea, will try this.

Ok. Here you go maidam.

Thanks Mitoo!! That’s so nice of you..!!

By the way , you should say ‘Madam’ but not ‘Maidam’…

Yes Madam!

I took my cup and went to my room and had a sip, it’s very bitter in taste, may be its my first try of having green tea.,,but thought somehow better than the tea which I made with milk.

Daily morning I used to have green tea thinking “this is better than any other tea and coffees in the pantry.”

After a month, I observed that I was having green tea happily without any muttering …Then I realized that as Robin Sharma, a Motivational speaker said if anything you want to bring in habit, you need to practice it for 21 days without a miss.

I guess, this worked for me and having green tea became my routine.

One day, my friend Cumhur Samiloglu, a Turkish national and myself came to pantry to have some coffee.

Mitoo greeted my friend ‘Guneydin’ (in Turkish)

Gunaydin! Nasilsin( how are you)? Said Cumhur

Iyiyim sen nasilsin( Am good how are you?) My friend replied back.

I was shocked and didn’t expect that Mitoo speaks Turkish language. I asked him ‘You are Bangladeshi. Right?’

‘Yes Madam’ he replied.

Mitoo, I can understand when you speak hindi, as there are many Indians around and on top of it, most of us are fascinated by Bollywood movies  , so learning Hindi is not a big thing for Bangladeshis. 

But, how come Turkish? I asked him with ounce of curiosity and bewildered expression on my face.

He replied with a gentle smile on face and said “English (Gora/white) people, Turkish people also comes to pantry for tea/ Turkish coffee/water etc.. As, I am into hospitality sector, I must greet and treat well with my customers and people around with  always gentle a smile and respond to their questions. But, when I came here for the first time, I was not able to understand neither English nor Turkish and in this office wing these Goras and Turkish nationalities people are more compared to other nationalities. Therefore, I don’t have any option left, and moreover, I all the time in the world am simply sitting and have more free time  as there are very few  people now. Later, when the team size increases, more work will be there. So, I started repeating the words they say and next day I used to greet in their language those two lines ‘Good morning and how are you?’  Before they do. That’s it, this was the first step taken in learning different languages.”

‘Hmm. Tusi Great ho Mitoo!’ I was so impressed and appreciated him.

What is your education qualification Mitoo?

I didn’t study much and left school, he replied keeping the same smile on his face.

So, how many languages you can speak fluently?

Bengali, my mother tongue, Hindi, Arabic, Turkish and English.

Umm..what next ?

Nothing madam just waiting for the right time to get into a big company as I am very much interested to do computer job.

I am learning computer from my supervisor too.

Good Mitoo. Keep it up. Always Aim high!

Cumhur said ,’ büyük düşün’ (Dream Big Mitoo) and left .

What else you are doing after office hours?

Daily after office hours, I go to gym as we have few gym equipment’s in the labor camp.

Good Mitoo. It seems your company takes good care of you people. Nice.

Keep up the good work!

I came to my office room and thought like ‘If one can dream of something and have faith in it, there will be nothing to stop him. A person just by repeating and interacting with people learned 3-4 languages with such an ease. Truly Commendable! These are the people who have real thirst to achieve something great in life and ultimately become successful one day by working for their dream each day’

Years later when the project is nearing to close, Mitoo’s manager asked him to attend the interview which was happening for airport services. And, he was one of the ten or fifteen candidates selected out of 200 people because of his welcoming attitude, good personality and English language which he picked up in all these years. He joined the new company and they have given him necessary training to perform his works and groomed him further. By knowing his language skills, his Manager in the new company asked him to lead the team!

This is the short story of Mitoo! Which certainly inspired me a lot and I strongly believe It’s an inspiration to many people who often feel that they have not studied much..they don’t have educational degree..blah… blah giving excuse all the time, this story of Mitoo shows that if you have a strong desire to achieve something in life, something bigger…then you yourself will have to do something about it rather than ignoring your true potential and snubbing the most precious asset available with you on earth i.e “Time & Health”.

The small steps which we take to learn something new in day to day life either for fun or for acquiring new knowledge whatever the reason may be, these will help us in one or the other way in reaching out to our goals!

Keep doing the things you love and have fun! One day opportunity will knock on your door! So keep learning..!!