You Don't Pollute a Goddess, Do You?

My next article is about the Yamuna Yatra that students of my school (Vasant Valley) undertake in Class 11. I wrote this a year ago and had it published in a website called BuzzinTown (www.buzzintown.com). Now that I've started blogging, it seemed right to post this one here!

Standing on the banks of the Yamuna, every five minutes you will find someone coming in and throwing a bag full of garbage into the river that is already black and bubbling with methane. And if you ask them to stop polluting the water that they drink at home, they look at you as though you need to see a doctor. It was to stop this attitude and create awareness about the capital’s river that the Yamuna Yatra first came about.

River Yamuna at Delhi

The Yamuna Yatra is a 12-day long journey organised by an NGO called “Swechha – We for Change”. The idea was to travel along the river, observing how it begins pure in the hills, but slowly gets polluted on reaching the plains. For this, we camped on the banks of Yamuna, living without the comforts of the city life we take for granted. We lived in tents even in the freezing cold 10,000 ft altitude. There was no electricity, but abundance of ice cold water coming from Yamuna.

The river served as our lifeline. It gave us water to bathe in; to cook and drink; it served as a map we could follow; it gave us water to splash onto others and have fun; it gave us the scenic background against which we took photographs; it gave us the knowledge that life can be more than just Coke.

During this journey we visited places that we had never even heard of, places like Janki Chatti, Lakhamandal and Ganganani. Trekking became a part of our lives as we did a five kilometre uphill journey to Yamunotri. Once, we were shown three directions, divided into groups and told that villages exist beyond the mountains that we saw ahead of us. We had to find our way to any village, without even the name of the village we were to locate. It was these experiences that taught us how to become independent without throwing us into the deep sea!

Numerous different religions are associated with River Yamuna; Hinduism as Yamuna is the daughter of the Sun God, is worshipped and is a place visited as part of the Tirth Yatra; Muslim as one is to bathe before some important event in one’s life; Buddhism as the Kalsi rock is situated on its banks, which is one of the 14 edicts dating back to Ashokan times; Sikhism as the gurudwara ‘Ponta Sahib’ is also along the banks of the river.

The Yamuna Yatra... there were so many memorable moments! The hot sulphur springs to beat the chill, the "Cook Your Own Meal" activity when we cooked for, hold your breath, 90 people (phew! and that too first time in our lives), the getting lost and the finding the way back by following the irrigation canal dug by villagers, the methane bubbles coming out of the river at Delhi... the experiences could go on and fill an entire book.
 
The fact that this entire Yatra was centred around River Yamuna truly summed up life. One day we were bathing in a pure river in the hills and just a few hours into the next day on the plains, there was a sewage stream in front of us. To quote our instructor, “When the river is in the hands of the uneducated, ‘backward’ people, it is sparkling; but the minute it enters the capital city, full of educated people who know all about the environment, the river has eight meters of sewage on its bed.”

That picture gave me the inspiration to make a change, to ensure that life just doesn't begin and end with materialistic gains of an Ivy League college and career, but contributes a bit more -- in making life purer in our metros.

Those 12 days are the most memorable, fun and meaningful days of my life, one that I will never forget. Seniors had told me that I must go for it, but I never really understood why till I went ahead and saw for myself. It’s hard to describe in words, but I really would have missed out on so much if I hadn’t gone. That fun and learning -- the entire experience was unique.

The Yamuna Yatra is a unique trek cum awareness programme organised by NGO ‘Swechha’ and forms a part of Vasant Valley school activity comprising 50 students, three teachers and three instructors.

To view the original post, go to:

http://www.buzzintown.com/delhi/article-review--you-dont-pollute-goddess-do-you/id--1508.html

It's just about a Hug

I have been thinking about how to start blogging for days, in terms of what my first blog should be about. It suddenly struck me that the reason I was blogging was to express my thoughts and feelings to the world. And voila, the answer suddenly became quite obvious – my sister is the best route to my heart, and so that is where my blog should start from. This is an article I wrote two years ago and had it published in my school newsletter at the time. I recieved very motivating feedback.

My journey started nine years ago when my younger sister, Gayatri, was born. At the time, I was just about seven years old. When I received the news, with my limited vocabulary and a pea sized brain, I jumped with joy, screaming, “I have a girl!”

Now, thinking about it makes me feel pretty embarrassed. But that one day changed my life and the world I live in. My sister is blessed with Down Syndrome*, making her a ‘special needs’ child. Most people who hear about this say, “Oh my God! I’m so sorry”. But I’m not.

Being blessed with special needs is not a disability. It is not something to be ashamed or sorry about. In fact, it’s quite the contrary; it’s a blessing you receive. First thing that strikes you looking at a child with special needs is that they can’t talk, walk, understand, express and as some people put it, are ‘handicapped’. But is that really all there is to a special needs child?

No. Look deeper and you’ll realise the heart and soul beneath that body. You scream at them, yet they love you; you hit them, yet they hug you. Is that being ‘stupid’? I think it has a lot more to do with forgiveness, passion and compassion. It’s about having a heart – one bigger than many of ours.

It seems as though they don’t understand. But they do – they understand the true self behind each of us. Yet, they choose to see only the positive, bright and happy side of us, because, at the end of the day, that is what we really are and that is what really matters.

Come to think of it, each of us is different, we are all unique. Someone may like to draw, while another may like to dance and a third to read. Each of us has a different interest, demand and need. Each of us has a special need. You may need glasses, while your friend may have braces. Doesn’t the same principle apply to them?

My sister has taught me a lot about unconditional love, forgiveness, sharing, generosity and about living each moment to the fullest. She’s taught me how to deal with every situation I face, and just to let you know, she can barely verbalise her thoughts. It’s her behaviour towards everything. I tease her and bother her but she’ll snuggle right back into my lap and cry on my shoulder.

You scream at them, they love you; you hit them, they hug you; but you hug them back and they're a friend for life.

*Down Syndrome is a chromosomal condition caused due to the presence of an extra chromosome. Each of us has 23 pairs of chromosomes (total of 46). These children have 47 chromosomes, with the extra being present in the 21^st pair. The cause for this abnormality is not known. However, what we do know is the effect. Children blessed with Down Syndrome have a predilection for a wide range of medical problems, including heart diseases, low immunity, low muscle tone etc. Delayed milestones are also common.