Earth Hour

March 29th saw several cities all over the world observed the Earth Hour. As part of the Earth Hour respective city administrations switched off the power in their cities and banned all traffic movement for exactly an hour from 8pm to 9 pm. It was hoped that this would generate awareness among the masses about global warming. India did not participate in this initiative but some schools encouraged students to write something to commemorate the event.


Here is what an 11 year old girl wrote:

Come March 29th as the clock strikes the 8pm hour,
some good folks expect us to shut off the power,
they want us to use the heat of the hearth
for all these electrical bulbs are overheating our earth.

We all bitch about all this pollution in the air
yet merrily buzz about in our cars without a care.
'There's way too much global warming' we all fuss,
Hey, Chill it Bro, all this is just because of us.

Astronomers cant see much of the outer space
because of all this crazy dust and haze,
our cities are at night way too bright
so we kids never get to enjoy a starry night.

Dear people, lets all work together to fight this pollution
and the Earth Hour is just a small step in that simple solution.
So please, please my fellow friends, stop all this worrying about,
lets do our bit and this pollution is gone without a doubt.

Aakanksha J.

Essense of Being.

Zen masters lived such simple lives that often it took a second glance to seperate the masters from their disciples. One such zen master, Kam-ban, dressed so simply that most of the times people mistook him for a common mendicant. They would fill his bowl with leftovers and then send him on his way. Had those people known who he really was they would have certainly invited him in and treated him like an honoured guest. Kam-ban did nothing to let those people know who he was but once alone in the forest he would often utter a word or two of such brilliance that the trees would seem to sway and stoop in admiration.

Koji was a bright student of Kam-ban. He was very protective towards his master and sometimes got into a fight with people who he thought did not accord proper respect to his master. Kam-ban would then rap Koji's knuckles with a stick and remind him of his vows.

Once Koji and Kam-ban were going through a forest and came across a waterfall. Both decided to stop and rest. Koji fell asleep for a while and when he woke up he saw his master standing at the very edge of the waterfall and much to his horror he saw his master slip and fall down the precipe. He screamed and rushed down to help his master. When he reached the bottom he saw his master calmly emerge from the pool. Koji admonished his master for stepping so close to the edge. Kam-ban calmly replied, ' the edge of the waterfall holds no fear for he who falls with the fall and flows with the flow'