"doomsday scenario...

...is looming if israel attacks iran."
says an old british hawk.
general time pass reading.

shreesh jadhav - super story

this is what makes a great start to the morning.

Shreesh Jadhav was ranked second across India in the JEE and completed his B.Tech in computer science with a perfect 10 CPI. A recipient of the President’s gold medal at IIT, he spurned all offers of plum scholarships from top foreign universities. Instead, he went on to do his Ph.D from IIT, Kanpur....He continues to positively impact the lowest rung of the social ladder. Recently, he helped save the life of 12-year-old Sarita, who developed a hole in her heart. Her operation in Bangalore cost Rs 3 lakh and on reading Shreesh’s email, I had contributed my bit, but was doubtful if he would meet the target. But, as I recently found out, Sarita was back home in Kanpur after a successful surgery, making me put my faith in Shreesh’s words that “there are a lot of good people in the world, we just need to reach out to them”.

Unmarried, he has dedicated his entire life towards a social cause. He joined the Ramkrishna Mission after his doctorate and, by now, has taught computer science to several thousand students at their university, besides managing various projects spread across the country.

whole story here.

hat tip: charityfocus

LAFTI ideals

Krishnammal and Sankaralingam Jagannathan have been bravely soldiering on Vinobha's Bhoodan path - redistribute land from the rich to the landless.

Till September 2007, around 12,000 people had received 11,066 acres of land. The land is also registered in the names of women in the family. At a recent meeting of the Tamil Nadu Cabinet it was decided to waive stamp duty and registration charges to enable LAFTI to buy 1,061 acres in Nagapattiam to give to landless farmers at the rate of one acre per farmer.

their work has been recognised with the 2008 Right Livelihood Prize.
quite deserving.
one thing that struck me as awe-inspiring.

For Sarvodaya activist Krishnammal Jagannathan land represents freedom. A lifelong Gandhian committed to the philosophy of self-reliance, 85-year-old Krishnammal and her 95-year-old husband S Jagannathan began a movement in 1968 called LAFTI-Land for the tillers’ freedom.

meltdown - must see

gary braasch is a conservation Photographer and has documented the visible effects of global warming since 1998.
his audio slideshow - Meltdown is gripping.
do keep your computer speakers turned on.

home schooling

i have been an avid follower of this concept for children.
it means that the formal notion of a school no longer is relevant .
it is quite an established fact that parents play the most significant role in the education of the children (when compared to teachers).

while this is a popular movement in US and Europe, it is a recent but growing phenomenon in india.
well, growing fast enough to get onto tehleka.
the first quoted couple, manish and vidhi jain are part of shikshantar, which actively articulates de-schooling society.

i have been saying that i would never put my children (if and when that happens) in any school. now you know why...