A,E,I,O,U Kings 4 U

It was Teachers’ Day and the teachers put up a grand show. But the students had something for the teachers too!

Those school girl days of telling tales and biting nails are gone,
But in my mind, they live on and on...


So sang my students. This adaptation of the song originally comes from the hit movie, “To Sir, with Love”. As a teacher, I can appreciate the genuine warmth with which my students sang this song to me on Teachers’ Day last year.
“But why is Teachers’ Day celebrated on September 5 in India?” I asked.
Dolly, with her quick wit and keen interest replied, “It is because it is the birth anniversary of one of India’s greatest political stalwarts, also a former President of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.”
“Now can any one tell me about another Indian President who also extolled the virtues of teachers?”
Renu said, “Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who loved the inquisitive and innocent minds of children.”
“Yes,” I said. “Please read his autobiography, Wings of Fire.”
“Ma’am, what has the school organised for us, this Teachers’ Day?” asked Bindu.
“A skit and a cultural programme by the teachers.”
Time to celebrate
The bell rang, indicating that all the classes should assemble in the auditorium for the Teachers’ Day celebration. After some commotion, the girls were all there and the principal welcomed everyone.
The curtains swung open — the show had started! It was a cameo to show how education had evolved over the years. In the background was a huge picture of trees and mountains and rivers. In the foreground, there were teachers dressed up as students learning from a guru.
The backdrop kept changing as the skit showed how the teacher-student relationship evolved over the years, with outstanding examples, like that of the questioning methodology of Socrates, the guru-student rapport in ancient India, like that at Nalanda University, and the open air education at Santiniketan by Rabindranath Tagore. The teachers then performed a South Indian dance. The students clapped their hands keeping time to the beat. No one could believe that the teachers were so talented and capable of putting up such a good show as it is earnestly believed that, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach”.
Finally, the surprise! The teachers were requested to take their students to their respective classrooms. What was this surprise?
One of my students, Nexy, said, "For Ma’am, we have a wonderful gift. Ma’am, can you guess what it is?" she asked me.
"Give me a clue."
"Well, it is something very beautiful."
"I know, it must be a bouquet of beautiful red roses."`
"No, ma’am, it’s something which is beautiful but more enduring."
"A pair of diamond earrings?"
"Good try, ma’am. But you know we’ll never be able to afford diamonds, though they are a girl’s best friend. I’ve kept you guessing for too long. It is beautiful, enduring and a wonderful companion. We’re presenting to you a kitten with orange and white fur, who will be your faithful and lovable friend and companion. We know you love cats. That is why this choice of gift."
Nexy gave me the kitten and the whole class applauded. I was touched by this wonderful gesture.
Truly, Teachers’ Day is all about loving and caring and sharing between the teacher and the students.
 
Things to do on teachers day

1. Step 1
   Ask the teacher questions regarding classroom needs. You may receive a long list of answers since many classrooms, especially at the elementary school level, are woefully under-funded. Decide if you can provide the requested items by appealing to local business leaders, soliciting donations from co workers, or buying items yourself.
   
2. Step 2
   Write correspondence to thank the teacher for all the hard work he or she does—and send a copy of your note to the school principal. Teachers appreciate the fact that they have made a difference. More importantly, it is nice that the principal knows that they have positively impacted a student's life.
   
3. Step 3
   Volunteer in your child's classroom. Teachers are very grateful when parents offer to bring food, make copies, read stories aloud, become "class parents" or even drive or chaperone during school field trips.
   
4. Step 4
   Encourage your child to write a thank you letter to a teacher. Although students may idolize their teachers, they may never show it, particularly at the middle and high school levels. It really makes a teacher's day when he or she corresponds with former students.
   
5. Step 5
   Suggest that your child visit a former teacher. High school teachers especially love it when a favorite student, now in college, returns to pay a visit. Teachers care about past students and love to stay in touch.
   
6. Step 6
   Work with the school PTA or other community group to host a teacher appreciation luncheon at the end of each semester. Teachers enjoy free food, and the PTA is a wonderful forum in which to brainstorm various teacher appreciation ideas.
   

September 5 is round the corner. But what’s special about that day?Well, it’s Teachers’ Day…a day to remember your teachers and say a big ‘Thank you!’.

September 5! An important day for all of us. It is the day set aside to remember our teachers. For the time they spent with us, for what they taught us and finally for what we are today. It is Teachers' Day to commemorate a great teacher, philosopher and statesman - Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, whose birth anniversary falls on this day.
Photo : V. Sreenivasa Murthy

On this special day : Thank you.
Ask any adult. They may not remember what they learnt in school, but every one of them will tell you the name of the teacher they admired the most. They will tell you why they remember that teacher after all these years. Goes to show how much our teachers are part of our growing years! Our school life (with so much to study) is happy because of our teachers. You do have a teacher you think is special, right?
“My favourite? My Science teacher,” said Naren, a Std. VIII student. “She is very strict, doesn’t spare anyone who misbehaves or comes without doing home-work. You miss home-work, you lose marks. You delay it, she won’t even accept it.” But the kids love her because she is fair to all. She allows time for students to chatter in the class. “She teaches the principles of science in a fun way,” he says. “She shows videos to explain scientific principles.” Once she made them do a children’s book about cells in a way that small children could understand. “I wrote about an adventure of a boy named Max who is whisked away by the amazing Professor Cellular in a small spaceship travelling through cells. On the way, he explains things like the mitochondria, nucleus and the golgi bodies.”
Photo : K.R. Deepak

In gratitude : Getting the show on the road.
Overall, a good teacher is strict and fun at the same time, knows how to get along with kids, has a vast knowledge of her subject, thinks of the quality of the students’ education first, gives students fair and just punishment for academic crime — forgetting home-work, misbehaving and chattering when you should be working, not respecting the rules of the school.
Me? I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.




Teacher, Philosopher, Statesman
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s birthday (September 5, 1888), is celebrated as Teacher’s Day. He was born into a middle class family at Tirutani in Tamil Nadu state, a town in Madras Presidency, British India. Radhakrishnan went through most of his education on scholarships. He joined the Voorhee’s College in Vellore but switched to the Madras Christian College. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Philosophy from the Madras Christian College in 1906.
In 1921, he was appointed as a professor in philosophy to occupy the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta. In 1929, Radhakrishnan was invited to take the post vacated by Principal J. Estlin Carpenter in Manchester College, Oxford. For his services to education, he was knighted by the British Government in 1931, but did not use the title in personal life preferring instead his academic title ‘Doctor’. He was the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936. In 1936, Radhakrishnan was named Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of Oxford, and was elected a Fellow of All Souls College. In 1939, Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya invited him to become Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University. He continued as its Vice-Chancellor till January, 1948. When India became independent in 1947, Radhakrishnan represented India at UNESCO, and was later Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union, from 1949 to 1952. He was also elected to the Constituent Assembly of India. Radhakrishnan was elected as the first Vice President of India in 1952.
He was elected as the second President of India (1962-1967). When he became President, some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday. He replied, “Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if September 5 is observed as Teachers’ Day.”

We have also previously wrote an article about Onam as a one stop source for Onam Greetings, sms, scraps, wishes, messages, recipes, sadhya, malayalam cards, pookalam designs, photos, images, pictures and wallpapers. That can be read here about Happy Onam.
Onam is celebrated in Kerala in a very large scale. This is one of the major Festivals among Kerala People. Mallu people sends Malyalam Greeting Cards to their friends and relatives on this day. They also search internet and google for Onam wishes, Onam Photos and Onam messages.
The Kerala People also send Onam orkut scraps to their friends and relatives. We have a good collection of Onam Scraps, Onam Sms, Onam Wallpapers, Onam Pictures and Onam Photos. That can be found here.
Onam Date is on 2nd September this year. We also have collection of Malyalam Wishes, Malyalam Greeting Cards and Malyalam Sms with us. For full resources of Onam celebrations check out the link below -

Onam Malayalam SMS, Onam Messages & Onam Wishes

Onam is the Most important and the biggest Festival in the India's Southern State of Kerala. All Malayali People irrespective of religion widely celebrates Onam Festival. People go crazy for it. Onam festival Marks the home coming of mythical King Mahabali. It Falls in the Malayalam month of Chingam (August-September). This year Onam is on Wednesday 2nd September. Onam is Celebrated as a National Festival of Kerala.
Onam Celebration In Kerala

Onam is the Harvest Festival for all Malayalee and it is celebrated for ten days after Krishna's Birth Janmashtami. Here are the some Onam Malayalam SMS and Onam Wishes for the Onam Celebrations and you can send your Friends and relatives. Celebrate the carnival of Onam by sending heartfelt Onam Messages to near and dear ones. Tell them how much you miss them and wish to be with them.
Malayalam Onam SMS

1.Nilavilakinte Parishudhiyum, Tumbapoovinte Nairmalyavumai, Varunna Ponnin Chinga Masathile Ponnonatte Varavelkan Niranja Snehathode Ende ONAM Ashamsagal.

2.Ella Malayalikalum Ee Onam sHappy pOnam (shappil ponam). Happy Onam

3.Oru full bottilum oru litre sodayum pinne oru chickanum
thottunakkan acharum,Manassil orupadu pratheekshayumayi
veendum oru onam varavaayi."sHAPPY pONAM"

4.Aishwaryavum,Samriddiyum Niranja nalla nalukal ennum
undavatte oppam manassil snehathinte oru onam
"HAPPY ONAM."

5.samathanumthinatium....santhoshavumthinatium..... aishwariyavumthinatium...... ormakal puthukuvan veendum oru onam kudi... Athinu niracharuthuekkuvan entay onashamsakalum..."Happy Onam."

6.Shehathindeyum Aishwaryathindeyum Sambalsamrudhiyodeyum Orayiram "Ponnonashamsakal"

7.Ella Malayalikalkkum Othiri Othiri akale Ninnum Ente Sneham niranha "ONASHAMSAKAL"

8.Maveli Nadu vaneedum Kalam Manusharellarum onnu pole...Wish you a blessed Onam!

9.Keraliya thanima thottunarthunna, malayalikalude hrudayathe pookkalam kondu theerkkunna, naavil ruchiyeriya vibhvangalumayi ee ponnonathe varavelkaam. Happy Onam..

10.Onathinalla, onathinu sheshavum onathinte ormakkai ee onashamsakal. Happy Onam.
English Onam SMS or Wishes

1. Wishing each one of you a very happy and prosperous Onam. May this year brings you lots and lots of happiness in life and fulfill all your dreams. Happy Onam 2009

2. May this ONAM bring in u the brightest and choicest happiness and love you have ever wished for! Happy Onam!

3. May the spirit of Onam remains everywhere whatever you do, whatever you think whatever you hope in your life "Wish you a Happy Onam"

4. Wishing amma achan & raj a very Happy & Prosperous Onam. I hope next year we will all get together for more Onam.

5. May the God bless you and fill your heart with joy & happiness. May the color and lights of Onam fill your home with happiness and joy. Have the most beautiful Onam.

6. The Onam is an occasion for people to remind themselves of the all pervasive nature of divine. I wish all your family members a happy Onam & Thiruonam.

7. Wish you all a very happy, prosperous, colorful, healthy, wealthy and fun filled Onam!
Let this season brings you all lot of good luck, peace of mind, happiness and all that you wish!"Happy Onam"

8. I take the pleasure of wishing you and your family members a Happy Onam. I hope by next year I'll join your families for Onam celebrations. Enjoy Onam

9. Onam is the time for pookkalam on floor; children on swings; tiger clad men with hunters behind them; people enjoying sadyas with family. Let this Onam bring Joy and Prosperity to all. Happy Onam!

10. As the festive occasion of Onam is round the corner, and the atmosphere is filled with the spirit of mirth and love, here’s hoping this festival of beauty brings your way, bright sparkles of contentment, that stay with you through the days ahead. Best wishes on Onam.

Celebrating in Kerala. As India is a true multicultural country with lot of cultures and languages, it is also having countless numbers of festivals. Some of these are popular, where as others are just limited to the local village and districts. People are considering Onam as state festival of Kerala, as all over Kerala people are celebrating it.

Onam Legend

Onam legend evolved from the story of a demon king who ruled Kerala. This king Mahabali had ruled Kerala before Lord Krishna’s Birth. Hindus consider Lord Krishna was born around 5000 years back. Therefore, the story might have happened before 5000 years.

Lord Vishnu in the form of Vamana (Vamana avatar is one of Dasavatharam) begged 3 feet of land form King Mahabali. Once Mahabali has granted his wish, Vamana has taken his Universal form and with his 2 footsteps he measured all the universe including earth, heaven and sky. Since there was no place left for 3rd footstep of Vamana, Mahabali shown his head to Vamana to keep third footstep, as to keep up the promise he has given to Vamana. With that footstep Vamana pressed Mahabali to the world under the earth known as pathalam (Hindu mythology). However before pressing, him in to the pathalam, Lord Vishnu granted a boon to Mahabali. With that boon Mahabali is allowed to visit Kerala, once in every year. To convince the visiting king Mahabali, that the country is still prosperous as it was under his rule, Kerala people started celebrating that day as onam with lot of food and dance.

When is Onam: .

Onam 2009 is on Wednesday second of September. The atham star that is 10 days behind of Onam is on 24th of August. From Atham onwards the Onam pookalam will start and ends on Onam day.

Onam pookalam:-

Onam pookalam is the art works done by flowers on Onam season, in front of houses in Kerala. Every day morning people clean the floor and put fresh flowers to make pookalam. Plenty of flower were available in olden days, as the month chingam (August) is Just after the monsoon and Kerala was an agricultural state. Special Kerala flowers like thumpapoo, kakkapoo were available plenty in olden days. However, nowadays these flowers are not available. So now the creation of pookalam is greatly depends on the imported flowers from neighboring state of Tamilnadu. The price of the flowers will go up on onam season. Malayalee associations will conduct onam pookalam competitions in Kerala and abroad. We can expect lot of onam competition for onam 2009.

Onam celebrations:

In Kerala, people celebrate onam in their house. However, in outside of Kerala normaly malayalee associations will conduct onam celebrations. All this function will have lot of cultural programs like bharatnatyam, mohiniyattam, and thiruvathira kali. In the Middle East countries like UAE, Kuwait and Oman, onam celebration will be in a bigger manner. Other countries like, Singapore, USA and Australia will have bigger celebrations. Known Film stars and famous writers will attend these functions as chief guests.

Onam dance:

Thiruvathira kali is one of the main dances for onam. Group of women with 8, 10, or 12 members performs it. They will be dressed in Kerala traditional dress and dance with rhythmic steps against thiruvathira songs. Thiruvathira songs will be usually Hindu devotional songs about Lord Krishna or other gods. We can expect lot of videos of thiruvathira kali on YouTube after Onam.

Onam is the harvest festival of kerala:

As onam falls after the harvest season of Kerala, some people consider it as harvest festival of Kerala.

Vegetables:

On onam season, the price of vegetables will increase. To control this Kerala government will open vegetable markets all over Kerala known as Onamchandha . They will close these markets after Onam. There will be heavy rush and crowds on this market as vegetable will be considerably cheaper in these market. We can hope that presence of these markets will control the price of vegetable and commodities to a certain level on in this Onam season.

Onam Greeting Cards

Normally sending of greeting card for onam has become a tradition for Malayalees. Lot of cards are available in the shop, with various subject like vallam kali (Boat race), kathakali, and sceneries from various parts of Kerala. Not only that almost all online greeting card sites are giving a fair importance for this festival.

You can find lot of onam cards at 365greetings.com.

New Delhi: The Holy Month of Ramadan will begin in India from Sunday, August 23, 2009. However, the United Arab Emirates has announced Saturday as the first day of Ramadan.

Ramadan, also known as Ramazan, Ramzan, Ramadhan, Ramdan, Ramadaan, is an Islamic religious observance that takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.

The Muslims observe a month-long fast during this period. During this period Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, sexual activities, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until sunset.
The holy month of Ramadan ends with Eid ul-Fitr.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia observed sunset prayer to mark the begning of Holy Month Ramadan.

Rakhi Celebration in India stands for the sacred relation between a brother and a sister. On the special occasion of Raksha Bandhan, people of all age group can realize the actual value of having their own brother and sister in their life. The bond of love between a brother and a sister is the most beautiful relation on this earth. This festival brings in the feeling of strong and divine relationship among siblings. Rakhi celebration strengthen the affectionate relationship and love among brothers and sisters.

On this auspicious day, sisters tie a rakhi or a silvery/golden ribbon around the wrist of their brothers and wish them to remain free from any evil influence throughout their lives. In turn, brothers also promise to protect their sisters from any odd situation at any cost.

Value of Rakhi thread

Rakhi is not a mere string of thread but a strong knot of never dying relationship between a brother and sister. A simple thread of Rakhi has that much of emotional strength that can create an eternal bond between a brother and a sister. Raksha Bandhan is also associated with other values like love, joyfulness, rituals, sentiments and pray to almighty God. As this festival promote these values of life, the festival of Rakhi is considered as a unique festival. The values of this great festivals overlap the boundaries of all casts, religions and nations. On this auspicious day, several rituals and traditional customs are fulfilled by the family members.

Preparation of Rakhi festival

Rakhi festival is known worldwide for its carnival spirit and strengthening the bond between brothers and sisters. All girls start preparing for this occasion many days before the festival. They start presuming the gifts which they would get from their brothers. They shop for colorful and designer rakhis. They also buy delicious sweets for their brothers. On the day of Raksha bandhan, brothers, sisters and all other family members take early bath and young boys and girls wear new and clean clothes. After the completion of all rituals and customs, they enjoy the taste of different dishes of tasty food, which are cooked in their homes.

Generally, Rakhis are designed out of silk material or thick thread. But one can also find Rakhis with some gold and silver foils. These glittering foils are often used in making beautiful array of fancy Rakhis. Colorful tattoos of cartoon characters are also being used to make Rakhis more attractive, trendy and elegant. The modernization of style of Rakhi celebration has also been taking place these days.

Many greeting card companies have been entering into the market of greeting card, and people are buying these cards and sending their best wishes to their nears and dears through these cards. As per the traditional belief, brothers sometimes bestow token gifts to their sisters that includes clothes, jewelries, chocolate boxes, sweet boxes and other miscellaneous objects.