April 2011

Indian Folk Music

I just get thrilled when i hear Indian folk songs – India has awesome collection of songs – be it Bollywood or Folk. India is blessed to have varieties of folk songs due to its cultural diversity. Each Region of India has its own archetype and distinctive style of folk music. Each have their own charm and appeal.

The present era may not like or enjoy all the folk songs but some are just exception and evergreen. Listened to the Bengali jhumur and baul, Maand and pihari folk songs of Rajashthan, Kashmiri folk songs. Indeed folk songs have their own status and mark in the field of music. I am not from music industry, but still can taste and share the sweetness of the Indian folk Songs.

Just before writing this article, I was listening to “Pasaayadan”. It’s considered as a prayer, written by Sant Dnyaneshwar. I now wish to hear some tribal or tribal folk music of india. Have heard that in the remote areas of India, music is a natural learning process which almost seeps in into any individual. Metros miss their charm. I guess, metros will makeavailable its bollywood or remixed version to the listeners. Heard Koshur’s Kashmiri folk song “Rind posh mal”, many of us would be knowing this famous song from the movie “Mission Kashmir”. We probably heard the bollywood version of this Kashmiri folk song.

Many Indian folk songs are difficult to find. With the present scenario where “main karun toh saala character dheela hai” and “taaza mutton” type songs… our folk music are not so liked or wanted by a quite a good amount of crowd, but they remain to be India’s identity and most loved and missed songs.

A Lesson to Teach

Her name was Mrs. Thompson. As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie.

Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs.Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn’t play well with the other children that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs.Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X’s and then putting a big “F” at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child’s past records and she put Teddy’s off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners… he is a joy to be around.”

His second grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.”

His third grade teacher wrote, “His mother’s death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn’t show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren’t taken.”

Teddy’s fourth grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class.”

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy’s. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag.

Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume.

But she stifled the children’s laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, “Mrs.Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to,” After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children.

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded.

By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her “teacher’s pets.”

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he’d stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor’s degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer — the letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story doesn’t end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he’d met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs.Thompson did.

And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs.Thompson’s ear, “Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.”

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t really know how to teach until I met you.”

Please remember that wherever you go, and whatever you do, you will have the opportunity to touch and/or change a person’s outlook.

Please try to do it in a positive way:
“Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.”

Every daughter’s finger may b small, bu…

Every daughter’s finger may b small, but she can still wrap her daddy around it.

Daughters are like flowers, they fill d world with beauty .

Daughters can never be charged of thoughtless mischief. They plan it.

A daughter will own her parents all her life.

She may outgrow your lap, but wont outgrow your heart.

B proud 2 have a daughter or b 1 urself.

Life Without Challenges

A life without challenge would be like
going to school without lessons to learn.

Challenges come not to depress or get you down,
but to master and to grow and to unfold your abilities.

Life’s Struggles

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force the body through that little hole.

Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. It just seemed to be stuck. Then the man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then
emerged easily.

But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life
crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was the way of forcing fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled.

We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets.

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