Mothers’ Day

Mothers are a child’s inspiration, their personal adviser, and most importantly world’s best friend one could get. Their pure, unconditional love and sacrifice for their child overpowers all other joys and riches. Mother’s day, thus, is celebrated worldwide to thank and honor such noble hearts. It’s a day when a child gets full freedom to express their own love and gratitude towards their mother. This day gives the society a chance to pamper these divine souls, who have never failed in pampering others. Children and young adults, take up the opportunity to make their mother feel special and loved. 

This culture of celebrating motherhood and the maternal bonds initially started off in US and was gradually adopted by various other countries. For different countries, this ‘occasion’ has their own different meanings and beliefs. The day is celebrated on varying dates (mostly in March or May) in the different parts of the world. While, in some countries, it is legally offensive not to mark this day, there are many other countries where Mother’s day is a little-known festival, mainly covered by the media. Mother’s day, in many few countries are an extension of religious beliefs and festivals. The celebration takes place in quite distinct ways of the various societies. In the Hindu culture, the day is celebrated through pilgrimages, and in the Roman Catholic culture, the holiday is associated with Mary Virgin. In the western culture, the day was recognized by gifting all mothers with incarnations during the early era. Later, this ‘ritual’ was modified, and now, the children not only gift their mothers with flowers but also with handmade cards, presents and various little surprises. In many cultures, Mother’s day form a part of an event in schools and educational institutions. In such events, all the students perform, especially for their mother, different arts and talents. For mothers, its like a day off from their daily monotonous routine and a day for enticement and refreshment. The day, celebrated however, brings the family closer, making the maternal bonds stronger. 

The benefits of this day are not only that of rejuvenation but, it also provides all mothers with the much deserved dignity and respect. Mother’s day is essentially a way to salute the unending efforts of a mother. 

Happy Bengali New Year!!!

New Year marks the beginning of yet another time span, of a new calendar year. Similarly, the Bengali New Year marks the beginning of Baisakh that is the beginning of new Bengali calendar. It is celebrated in West Bengal and in parts of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, it is celebrated as a national holiday while, in Bengal it is a public holiday

It is celebrated on the 14th of April as per the Gregorian calendar.  King Shoshangko of ancient Bengal is credited with starting the Bengali era. Joyful and culturally rich people of West Bengal celebrate Naba Barsha by dutifully performing set customs and traditions. The festival starts with the ritual of cleaning and decorating houses. Mouth-watering dishes are prepared and people put on their best new clothes. The festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm and joy. 

The powdered wheat is used to make beautiful designs of alpanas or rangolis. The children get gifts of all sorts on this day. The day brings new hope and dreams along with it. Several cultural activities are performed and the people enjoy the day with playing various games. They visit each other’s houses and seek blessings. On Naba Barsha, people of Bengal propitiate Goddess Laksmhi- the Hindu mythological Goddess of Wealth to pray for prosperity and well being. Many devotees also take a dip in a nearby river to mark the occasion. It is also regarded as a new financial years by Bengalis. It is known as Haalkhata. There is also an age-old tradition of starting the day by having a breakfast consisting of panta bhat (soaked rice) along with onion, green chilies, and fried Hilsa fish.

The people also sing the famous Tagore song ‘Esho he Boishak esho esho’. Horse races, bull races, bull fights, cockfights, flying pigeons, boat racing were once popular. Poila boishak connects all ethnic Bengalis irrespective of their religious and regional differences.

Spring: The Best Season of The Year

Spring one of the four conventional temperate seasons, is a soothing flee between two extreme seasons as it comes after winter and before summer. The period of spring season in India falls between mid-February to mid-April. The days of the spring season are very pleasant. Spring is neither hot nor cold. It is very delightful. Atmosphere of the season is very good for health. Spring is the season of charming sounds. The bees humming in the garden fill the hearts with joy. The cuckoo is mad with joy and its sweet notes enchant people all over. In the early morning birds are heard twittering in trees. It is very delightful to walk through the corn-fields during spring season. The green plants do please the eyes of people. The yellow flowers of mustard flutter in the breeze. The cold of winter are biting and the summers are hot, while the rainy season remains full of dirt and mud and so it is the spring season which catches the fancy. It brings extraordinary beauties and charms with it. The spring season is very important for the farmers as crops ripen in the fields during this pleasant weather. Farmers store wheat and barley at home. Besides, spring is a season of festivals of the Hindus. The festival Holi adds to the glory of the spring season with its warmth and hues. 

During spring, the axis of the Earth is increasing its tilt relative to the Sun, and the length of daylight rapidly increases for the relevant hemisphere. The hemisphere begins to warm significantly which causes new plant growth to spring forth, hence giving the season its name. Many flowering plants bloom this time of year, in a long succession sometimes beginning when snow is still on the ground, continuing into early summer. In normally snowless areas "spring" may begin as early as February (Northern Hemisphere) heralded by the blooming of deciduous magnolias, cherries and quince, or August (Southern Hemisphere) in the same way. Many temperate areas have a dry spring, and wet autumn (fall), which brings about flowering in this season more consistent with the need for water as well as warmth.

Women's Empowerment

In the simplest of words, Women’s empowerment is basically the creation of an environment where women can make independent decisions on their personal development as well as shine as equals in society.

Women want to be treated as equals so much so that if a woman rises to the top of her field it should be a commonplace occurrence that draws nothing more than a raised eyebrow at the gender. This can only happen if there is a channelized route for the empowerment of women.

Thus it is no real surprise that women empowerment in India is a hotly discussed topic with no real solution looming in the horizon except to doubly redouble our efforts and continue to target the sources of all the violence and ill-will towards women.

The Art of Living empowers women to face the present challenges by providing tools and techniques that help to eliminate individual stress. A sense of community spirit is created that allows for women to face these similar challenges as a team rather than individually. The Art of Living encourages women to find practical solutions to their challenges so that each one becomes self-dependent in their own right.

There was a time when women’s education was not a priority even among the elite. Since the last quarter of the 20th century and more so after the opening up of die economy, post-1991, a growing number of women have been entering into the economic field, seeking paid work (remunerative jobs) outside the family.

Women are playing bigger and bigger role in economic field: as workers, consumers, entrepreneurs, managers and investors. According to a report of The Economist, ‘Women and the World Economy’, in 1950, only one-third of American women of working age had a paid job.

We can now see women in almost every field: architecture, lawyers, financial services, engineering, medical and IT jobs. They have also entered service occupations such as a nurse, a beautician, a sales worker, a waitress, etc.

The rapid pace of economic development has increased the demand for educated female labour force almost in all fields. This new phenomenon has also given economic power in the hands of women for which they were earlier totally dependent on males. Economically independent women feel more confident about their personal lives.

Hence, they are taking more personal decisions, for instance, about their further education, marriage, etc. More and more women want freedom of work and control their own reproduction, freedom of mobility and freedom to define one’s own style of life. It is contended that freedom leads to greater openness, generosity and tolerance.

Economic independence of women has also affected the gender relation¬ships. New forms of gender relationships (live-in relationship are challenging the long-rooted conception of marriages as a permanent arrangement between families and communities.

Educated women now feel that there is more to life than marriage. They can get most of the things they want (income, status, identity) without marriage, while they find it harder to find a suitable accomplished mate. This is why their marriage is delayed.