Diwali 2017: Know Why and How to Go Green This Deepavali?

Celebrate Green Diwali for a better tomorrow.

Diwali is one of the most revered festival of India. People gorge on sweets, light diyas, decorate homes and burst fireworks and crackers to celebrate the festival.

But, the bursting of firecrackers cause a major problem of air and noise pollution every year. Although, the Supreme Court has imposed a ban on sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR, people have to realize all the health problems that these crackers pose. 

Therefore, this Diwali let’s follow a few things that can enable us to celebrate Green Diwali.

Why we must celebrate Green Diwali

• Firecrackers contain chemical compounds that are full of poisonous gases and heavy metals. Inhaling these toxins can lead to many health problems.
• Every year, there are a number of cases reported where children sustain minor to major burns while bursting crackers. Many people even lose their eyesight in accidents caused during bursting crackers. 
• Cases of fire breaking out at shops and markets storing explosives are reported every year, resulting in loss of lives and property.
• The noise from the firecrackers leave babies, toddlers, dogs, cats and birds scared.
• Apart from the above four points, the most important reason why we must celebrate a Green Diwali is to save the environment. It is usually around this season that the lowest layer of atmosphere is filled with smog, when smoke combines with fog. The condition is worst in metropolitan cities and urban hubs.

How to celebrate a Green Diwali

• Refrain or limit the use of crackers. This is the most crucial and the first step towards celebrating Green Diwali. By bursting crackers, you will not just be wasting your money, but also causing health problems for your family members.
• Limit the use of cheap plastic decorative items. These are not eco-friendly and cannot be disposed-off post-Diwali. Reduce your carbon footprint by saying no to items made with cheap plastic and other non-biodegradable materials.
• Buy earthen lamps or diyas and avoid using ff decorative electric lights as they too are made from cheap plastics and metal wires. 

Here's How You Can Observe a Healthy & Safe Diwali

The festival of lights is a five-day long fiesta which is celebrated across the country. People perform Lakshmi puja, decorate their houses, distribute sweets and spend time with their family on the occassion.

But, like all other festival seasons, Diwali is also the time of unhealthy binge eating and weight gain.

It is also a bad time for people suffering from respiratory problems.

Therefore, it is very important to maintain safety and health during this time. Here are few tips to be kept in mind while enjoying the festival:

• People suffering from respiratory problems should make sure they keep inhaler within reach as the smoke from crackers make trigger their allergies.
• It is difficult not to fall into the sweet cravings trap. You may want to relish another piece of the mouth-watering sweets but you have to control your urge to take another bite.
• Check on the quantity of food you consume. Instead of going for large portions try and stick to smaller portions.
• Eat nuts, seeds and dried fruits as these are healthier options. But, make sure they are consumed in the right quantity.
• Stay hydrated and drink water infused with lime, mint, berries, cucumber and any other citrus fruit. You can also include low caloric smoothies, juices, coconut water in your diet.
• If you are finding it difficult to hit the gym then try and walk as much as possible, take the stairs and do some stretching exercises.
• If you have already consumed a lot of calories during the day, make sure You can either have a glass of milk, buttermilk, cold coffee, fruit salad or try some low-carb fat-free foods.

We hope this will add somthing more top your Diwali Festival. Happy Diwali

Celebrate an Environmentally Safe Diwali

Did you know that diyas lit on the moonless Diwali night signifies the end of darkness of ignorance and the beginning of light that enlightens all? Well, this Diwali enlighten yourself towards the hazards that boisterous celebrations of Diwali poses to our environment.

This articles endeavours to sensitise the readers towards celebrating an environmentally safe Diwali by pointing out the major impacts that Diwali has on our environment. It is hoped that this articles will encourage you to celebrate a green Diwali, where there will be an explosion of joy without crackers!

How to celebrate an Eco Sensitive Diwali?
Now, that you are interested in celebrating an Eco - Sensitive Diwali, the first thing that you need to do is to make yourself aware about the effects the traditional Diwali celebrations has on the Mother Nature. Given below are three major environmental impacts that Diwali Festival have on our environment.

1. Air Pollution through Firecrackers
2. Excessive Consumerism
3. High Energy Consumption

1. Air Pollution through Firecrackers - "Say 'No' to Fire crackers and 'Yes' to life!"
For most people lighting of firecrackers is the highlight of Diwali. Brighter the sparkles, louder the noise the greater the thrill!! In fact to many of us, these aesthetic forms of light seem so appropriate and most essential when celebrating the 'Festival of Lights'.

But little do people realize that in our increasingly populated and polluted cities, the temporary joy of watching the firecrackers is soon replaced by the intense air pollution caused by these. The toxic substances used in the firecrackers release toxic gases that are harmful to the health of all living beings. The high level of noise generated by the crackers cause immense suffering to birds and animals. Besides, Diwali crackers are dreaded by the sick and the ailing.

Sadly, few of us realise that the firecrackers used on Diwali are mostly made by very young children. Since the substances being handled are extremely toxic many of these child labourers get sick and die in their early teenage years.

Harmful effects of Chemicals used in crackers
Let's do a little analysis of crackers and list out in actual terms the harmful effects posed by each of its chemicals.

Chemical	Impact
Copper Cadmium Lead Magnesium Sodium Zinc Nitrate Nitrite	Irritation of respiratory tract Anemia and damage to kidney Affects the nervous system Its dust and fumes cause metal fume fever Reacts violently with moisture and can attack the skin. Leads to vomiting Could lead to mental impairment Could lead to coma

Noise Pollution caused by Fire Crackers
Crackers that make a noise of more than 125 decibels at four metres distance from the point of bursting are banned by the law. Given here are the hazards posed by excessive noise pollution caused by crackers:

1. Hearing loss, high blood pressure, heart attack and sleeping disturbances.
2. Sudden exposure to loud noise could cause temporary deafness or permanent relative deafness.

2. Excessive Consumerism
An indirect but equally significant impact of Diwali on nature is due to the increased consumption. Since Diwali is also a celebration of abundance and wealth - many people believe that it is a good time to buy. Often, people go out and buy new items even when they don't need them. Advertisements and hoardings scream out to people offerings sales extravaganzas, bargains, discounts encouraging us to buy more and more!

How does this increased consumption affect Nature?
A point to realize is that all man made items are made out of materials that come from Nature. Be it plastic, metal, paper or cloth - all of these raw materials come directly from nature. Those sources that are non renewable (cannot be grown back) such as fossil fuels and metal ores get depleted and will one day run out. Depletion of non renewable natural resources is one of the most significant impact of consumerism.

For instance, the gold earrings that you will buy on Diwali is coming from a gold mine that is not only depleting the gold resources of the earth, but in the process of mining is probably ruining several ecosystems.

A question to ponder at this stage is, where do all the things we throw away go finally? Solid waste created by human beings which is non biodegradable (does not easily decompose) has to be filled into holes dug up in the ground. These 'landfills' as they are called may exist for centuries without completely getting integrated into the soil. The plastic toys that you are throwing away today, may exist in a landfill several generations after yours!

Five Principles of Nature conservation

To be able to conserve our natural environment it is important to keep in the following principles -

1. Reduce : the amount of things we use
2. Reuse : the things we have in different forms until we have absolutely no use for them
3. Recycle : items that are no longer functional.
4. Rethink: the choices we make when deciding to buy something and
5. Refuse : things that we do not need at all.

So this Diwali, before you buy something new apply the above five principles and only then pay at the counter!

3. High Energy Consumption
The festival of lights puts a considerably heavy load on electrical energy sources that are already overloaded. The use of electric lights to adorn homes, business establishments, monuments and roads requires a huge amount of electricity. The older tradition of burning oil lamps is a possible alternative to electric lights - even though it does use oil, the duration of the lamps is shorter.

People United-NGO expresses its gratitude to DiwaliFestival.org  & Ms Manisha Gutman, for contributing this article.

Thanks & Green Regards:

Team United

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खुश रहने का राज़ – Secret of Happiness

खुश रहने का राज़ – Secret of Happiness 

एक समय की बात है, एक गाँव में महान ऋषि रहते थे| लोग उनके पास अपनी कठिनाईयां लेकर आते थे और ऋषि उनका मार्गदर्शन करते थे|

एक दिन एक व्यक्ति, ऋषि के पास आया और ऋषि से एक प्रश्न पूछा| उसने ऋषि से पूछा कि “गुरुदेव मैं यह जानना चाहता हुईं कि हमेशा खुश रहने का राज़ क्या है (What is the Secret of Happiness)?”

ऋषि ने उससे कहा कि तुम मेरे साथ जंगल में चलो, मैं तुम्हे खुश रहने का राज़ (Secret of Happiness) बताता हूँ| ऐसा कहकर ऋषि और वह व्यक्ति जंगल की तरफ चलने लगे| रास्ते में ऋषि ने एक बड़ा सा पत्थर उठाया और उस व्यक्ति को कह दिया कि इसे पकड़ो और चलो| उस व्यक्ति ने पत्थर को उठाया और वह ऋषि के साथ साथ जंगल की तरफ चलने लगा|

कुछ समय बाद उस व्यक्ति के हाथ में दर्द होने लगा लेकिन वह चुप रहा और चलता रहा| लेकिन जब चलते हुए बहुत समय बीत गया और उस व्यक्ति से दर्द सहा नहीं गया तो उसने ऋषि से कहा कि उसे दर्द हो रहा है|

तो ऋषि ने कहा कि इस पत्थर को नीचे रख दो| पत्थर को नीचे रखने पर उस व्यक्ति को बड़ी राहत महसूस हुयी|

तभी ऋषि ने कहा – “यही है खुश रहने का राज़ (Secret of Happiness)”| व्यक्ति ने कहा – गुरुवर मैं समझा नहीं| तो ऋषि ने कहा-

जिस तरह इस पत्थर को एक मिनट तक हाथ में रखने पर थोडा सा दर्द होता है और अगर इसे एक घंटे तक हाथ में रखें तो थोडा ज्यादा दर्द होता है और अगर इसे और ज्यादा समय तक उठाये रखेंगे तो दर्द बढ़ता जायेगा उसी तरह दुखों के बोझ को जितने ज्यादा समय तक उठाये रखेंगे उतने ही ज्यादा हम दु:खी और निराश रहेंगे|

यह हम पर निर्भर करता है कि हम दुखों के बोझ को एक मिनट तक उठाये रखते है या उसे जिंदगी भर| अगर तुम खुश रहना चाहते हो तो दु:ख रुपी पत्थर को जल्दी से जल्दी नीचे रखना सीख लो और हो सके तो उसे उठाओ ही नहीं!!

Saint Valentine's Day

 Saint Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it remains a working day in most of them.

St. Valentine's Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. Several martyrdom stories were invented for the various Valentines that belonged to February 14, and added to later martyrologies.  A popular hagiographical account of Saint Valentine of Rome states that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire.  According to legend, during his imprisonment, he healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius.

The Roman Emperor Claudius II was fighting many wars. He wanted a strong army, but many men did not want to be soldiers. Claudius thought he men wanted to stay home to be with their wives and children instead of leaving to fight wars. Claudius thought of an awful solution to his problem. He decided to cancel all marriages! No one in all of Rome could get married. Claudius thought that if the men couldn’t get married, the men would ignore the women and want to be soldiers.

Valentine, who was a priest, believed that people needed to get married. He thought that if they were not married, they would be tempted to sin by living together without being married. So he secretly and illegally married couples anyway! He performed the weddings in secret places, so the Roman soldiers would not find out. But they did find out. Valentine was arrested and brought before the Emperor. The Emperor thought Valentine was a well spoken and wise young man, and encouraged him to stop being a Christian and become a loyal Roman. Valentine would not deny his beliefs, and he refused. He was sent to prison until he could be executed. While he was in prison, he sent out letters to his friends and asked to be prayed for by writing “Remember your Valentine”.

Valentine was killed on the 14th or the 24th of February in the year 269 or 270. We celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14th in honor of St. Valentine.

 Today, Saint Valentine's Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion, as well as in the Lutheran Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates Saint Valentine's Day, albeit on July 6 and July 30, the former date in honor of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and the latter date in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni). In Brazil, the Dia de São Valentim is recognized on June 12.

The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

This the Copied Post of Vikas Goyal
 Once upon a time there was a little boy who was talented, creative, handsome, and extremely bright. A natural leader. The kind of person everyone would normally have wanted on their team or project. But he was also self-centered and had a very bad temper. When he got angry, he usually said, and often did, some very hurtful things. In fact, he seemed to have little regard for those around him. Even friends. So, naturally, he had few. “But,” he told himself, “that just shows how stupid most people are!”
As he grew, his parents became concerned about this personality flaw, and pondered long and hard about what they should do. Finally, the father had an idea. And he struck a bargain with his son. He gave him a bag of nails, and a BIG hammer. “Whenever you lose your temper,” he told the boy, “I want you to really let it out. Just take a nail and drive it into the oak boards of that old fence out back. Hit that nail as hard as you can!”
Of course, those weathered oak boards in that old fence were almost as tough as iron, and the hammer was mighty heavy, so it wasn't nearly as easy as it first sounded. Nevertheless, by the end of the first day, the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence (That was one angry young man!). Gradually, over a period of weeks, the number dwindled down. Holding his temper proved to be easier than driving nails into the fence! Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He felt mighty proud as he told his parents about that accomplishment.
“As a sign of your success,” his father responded, “you get to PULL OUT one nail. In fact, you can do that each day that you don’t lose your temper even once.”
Well, many weeks passed. Finally one day the young boy was able to report proudly that all the nails were gone.
At that point, the father asked his son to walk out back with him and take one more good look at the fence. “You have done well, my son,” he said. “But I want you to notice the holes that are left. No matter what happens from now on, this fence will never be the same. Saying or doing hurtful things in anger produces the same kind of result. There will always be a scar. It won’t matter how many times you say you’re sorry, or how many years pass, the scar will still be there. And a verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. People are much more valuable than an old fence. They make us smile. They help us succeed. Some will even become friends who share our joys, and support us through bad times. And, if they trust us, they will also open their hearts to us. That means we need to treat everyone with love and respect. We need to prevent as many of those scars as we can.”
A most valuable lesson, don’t you think? And a reminder most of us need from time to time. Everyone gets angry occasionally. The real test is what we DO with it.
If we are wise, we will spend our time building bridges rather than barriers in our relationships....

Thanks to Mr. Vikas Goyal

HARD WORK NEVER FAILS

                   HARD WORK NEVER FAILS


 
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose”. Such is the thinking and the approach of a guy who worked hard, toiled hard, did his best, went through pains, agony, embarrassment but never stopped working hard until he succeeded.

This story is about a boy who belonged to a poor family, whose parents worked hard day and night just to feed their children. This boy went to school, his parents did their very best just to make their son qualified but sadly they were so behind financially that they could not give proper and good education to their son. This boy had a passion in his hear, In his heart he had the desire to do something extra ordinary for himself, for his parents and most of all for his country. He wanted to make his parents happy but sadly without education it  was just not possible. As it was not in his hands to get education he decided to do something extraordinary.

The boy was very passionate about Pakistan cricket team, he was a diehard cricket fan but again much to his disliking and sadly he was unable to play the sport he loved the most. He was flat footed which is an abnormality in the human body and that thing prevented him from playing his sport, he was unable to run because of this abnormality in his body, and it was not done here, the boy had another abnormality in his body, he had HYPER EXTENSIVE JOINTS. In this abnormality the person’s arms and legs get stretched and the person can easily suffer a paralysis attack.

Nature was surely not kind on this boy as he suffered excessive coughs and his lungs were damaged because of that. His parents, his friends his siblings and his relatives were not very optimistic and hopeful about the future of this boy and they had accepted natures decision and had accepted this boy with the abnormalities he was suffering from.

One day while he was watching cricked he picked up the Bat and went outside. He decided that today he will play cricket with his fellow mates and whatever happens he will not let his abnormalities get over his decision. He went outside and started running slowly. Every one watched him running with their mouths opened as this was just like a miracle happened. The boy started running and played cricket that day.

He decided then that he will play cricket daily and whatever happens he will try his best to reach his ultimate destination which was to play cricket for Pakistan national team. Everyone laughed at him when he shared his dream his dream with everyone, no one actually paid any attention to what he was talking. The boy took all the laughs and harsh words on his heart and decided to work even harder. Doctors ordered him not to play cricket but he had already decided that if he was to become anything in his life he was to become a fast bowler and he was to succeed in his life he was to play for the Pakistan cricket team.

They boy joined a cricket club and started playing cricket there. He trained more than every other guy at the club and worked harder than anyone. He gave excellent performances in his club games and an oil company which was associated with Pakistan cricket selected him to play for their team. He tried extremely hard and gave his 100% there as well, and eventually he got selected for the Rawalpindi cricket association. His dream was nearing to be true and playing for Rawalpindi was in itself a huge achievement because it was his home town as well. There he played cricket for 1 year and worked extremely hard.

Despite of the abnormalities in his body he continued playing cricket and instead of making those abnormalities his weakness he converted them into his strengths and worked ever so hard there. While he was playing for Rawalpindi there was nothing stopping this boy from performing well. He was getting motivated day by day as he was realizing that if he performs at this platform he will be selected for the national team and his dream will come true.

Luckily at one match there were authorities from Pakistan cricket watching and this young boy was playing the match. like every match he once again gave is 100% and performed really well in that match and the cricketing authorities were so impressed that they selected this young boy to play for the Pakistan cricket team, it was like a dream come true for him. He played a game against New Zealand and picked up 10 wickets in that game, the ball came out of his hand as if a bullet was coming out of the gun and he bowled at the rate of knots. He impressed every single person that even the opponent team coach said that “this guy will be famous all over the world very shortly” The boy started his exciting career from there and continued to get success n all parts of the world.

There was 10% skill, 20% hard work, 50% pain 20% fame and a 100% reason to remember the name, and the name is Shoaib Akhtar. This story is about none other than the legend the true hero Shoaib Akhtar. This man is in all the record books and his career for Pakistan cricket has been extra ordinary , he went through all the pains and hardships of life to achieve his goal and get success and eventually life gave him everything back that he deserved and he wanted. so if you work hard and you are determined then nothing is impossible and nothing is out of reach then.

Hard work and determination are of course key to success and necessary to achieve success as well. Without these two elements one can simply not succeed in his/her life.

“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose”. Such is the thinking and the approach of a guy who worked hard, toiled hard, did his best, went through pains, agony, embarrassment but never stopped working hard until he succeeded.

This story is about a boy who belonged to a poor family, whose parents worked hard day and night just to feed their children. This boy went to school, his parents did their very best just to make their son qualified but sadly they were so behind financially that they could not give proper and good education to their son. This boy had a passion in his hear, In his heart he had the desire to do something extra ordinary for himself, for his parents and most of all for his country. He wanted to make his parents happy but sadly without education it  was just not possible. As it was not in his hands to get education he decided to do something extraordinary.

The boy was very passionate about Pakistan cricket team, he was a diehard cricket fan but again much to his disliking and sadly he was unable to play the sport he loved the most. He was flat footed which is an abnormality in the human body and that thing prevented him from playing his sport, he was unable to run because of this abnormality in his body, and it was not done here, the boy had another abnormality in his body, he had HYPER EXTENSIVE JOINTS. In this abnormality the person’s arms and legs get stretched and the person can easily suffer a paralysis attack.

Nature was surely not kind on this boy as he suffered excessive coughs and his lungs were damaged because of that. His parents, his friends his siblings and his relatives were not very optimistic and hopeful about the future of this boy and they had accepted natures decision and had accepted this boy with the abnormalities he was suffering from.

One day while he was watching cricked he picked up the Bat and went outside. He decided that today he will play cricket with his fellow mates and whatever happens he will not let his abnormalities get over his decision. He went outside and started running slowly. Every one watched him running with their mouths opened as this was just like a miracle happened. The boy started running and played cricket that day.

He decided then that he will play cricket daily and whatever happens he will try his best to reach his ultimate destination which was to play cricket for Pakistan national team. Everyone laughed at him when he shared his dream his dream with everyone, no one actually paid any attention to what he was talking. The boy took all the laughs and harsh words on his heart and decided to work even harder. Doctors ordered him not to play cricket but he had already decided that if he was to become anything in his life he was to become a fast bowler and he was to succeed in his life he was to play for the Pakistan cricket team.

They boy joined a cricket club and started playing cricket there. He trained more than every other guy at the club and worked harder than anyone. He gave excellent performances in his club games and an oil company which was associated with Pakistan cricket selected him to play for their team. He tried extremely hard and gave his 100% there as well, and eventually he got selected for the Rawalpindi cricket association. His dream was nearing to be true and playing for Rawalpindi was in itself a huge achievement because it was his home town as well. There he played cricket for 1 year and worked extremely hard.

Despite of the abnormalities in his body he continued playing cricket and instead of making those abnormalities his weakness he converted them into his strengths and worked ever so hard there. While he was playing for Rawalpindi there was nothing stopping this boy from performing well. He was getting motivated day by day as he was realizing that if he performs at this platform he will be selected for the national team and his dream will come true.

Luckily at one match there were authorities from Pakistan cricket watching and this young boy was playing the match. like every match he once again gave is 100% and performed really well in that match and the cricketing authorities were so impressed that they selected this young boy to play for the Pakistan cricket team, it was like a dream come true for him. He played a game against New Zealand and picked up 10 wickets in that game, the ball came out of his hand as if a bullet was coming out of the gun and he bowled at the rate of knots. He impressed every single person that even the opponent team coach said that “this guy will be famous all over the world very shortly” The boy started his exciting career from there and continued to get success n all parts of the world.

There was 10% skill, 20% hard work, 50% pain 20% fame and a 100% reason to remember the name, and the name is Shoaib Akhtar. This story is about none other than the legend the true hero

Shoaib Akhtar.

 This man is in all the record books and his career for Pakistan cricket has been extra ordinary , he went through all the pains and hardships of life to achieve his goal and get success and eventually life gave him everything back that he deserved and he wanted. so if you work hard and you are determined then nothing is impossible and nothing is out of reach then.

  Hard work and determination are of course key to success and necessary to achieve success as well. Without these two elements one can simply not succeed in his/her life.

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