BALABHARATI Samskar for Kids

F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1 : P U S H YA - M A G H A MASA

MEDITATION
Children, what are the thoughts that come to and then increase the time slowly. There are a
your mind, the moment you hear the word - few focal points for meditation :
Exam? Does it make you feel anxious and *Sound - repeating a Mantra or any sound
worried, as to how you will sit at one place (can be a shloka or chanting Om) .
and study for long hours? Now imagine, if *Visualising - picturing an object with
you come to know about a simple technique closed eyes (remembering your favorite God).
that can help you to face these difficulties in *Gazing - looking at an object with eyes
a better way. This technique is called open (can be image of Om).
'Meditation'. Dhyaan or Meditation is an *Breathing - observing your breath as you
extreme form of concentration, where we breathe in and out (can imagine filling a
train our mind to focus on a particular balloon or blowing a candle)
object, thought or activity and achieve a
calm and peaceful state of mind. In fact, if you are doing any activity with full
concentration, then that itself becomes a
It is believed that all divine powers reside in form of meditation because your mind is fully
our heart and meditation is the route to dive focused on that activity and you are in a
into our heart and connect with that power. relaxed and peaceful mental state. In that
It results in harmony between body and soul. sense, doing any hobby or art form can be
Meditation was practised by our Rishis, since meditative too, be it music, dance, stitching,
ancient times, where they would sit for days drawing etc. You will be amazed to know the
and months together and meditate. After benefits of meditation. It increases attention
such intense meditation, they would reach a span, improves memory, makes you calm,
level, where they could awaken higher controls anxiety, improves creativity and sleep
knowledge and connect with eternal wisdom. and promotes emotional well being.

Now you all must be wondering, how at this Hope you all understand that looking after
age is it possible to reach that level of your mind is as important as taking care of
meditation. But children, 'Every journey your body. What physical exercise is to the
starts with a small step and leads to making a body, meditation is to the mind. So children,
big change'. So the small step you can take is please start practicing meditation and
to start doing meditation for just 5 minutes experience the positive changes yourself.

Amruthavachan
The whole world respects those who bend before Dharma, Truth, Excellence, and
Bhagawan.
-- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

[Link] !1
Balabharati - February 2021

DINACHARYA - THE DAILY ROUTINES

Children, Our parents always remind us to wake up early,

take bath, exercise, get ready for school, eat slowly, pray daily,
study hard etc. These all become our daily routine. Often, we
wonder why so much importance for the daily activities. These
will happen anyway.
In Sanskrit, daily routine is Dinacharya. Dina is day and
Charya is activities done in a day. This apt name reminds us the
need to be on the move doing things throughout the day.
Dinacharya is linked to focus/ekagrata and mindfulness/
understanding. This means we need to do things with proper
understanding and focus which will yield better results and improve our lives. Our forefathers
were aware of this and prescribed certain ways to perform tasks which also kept us closer to
nature. Let us see how we can perform our dinacharya in a more enriching way.
• Getting up early in the morning is very good as both our body and mind are in a quiet but
fresh state same as with nature. At this time grasping power is sharpest hence more
learning happens. Along with this we need to take the blessings of the tridevi by chanting
“karagre vasate Lakshmi…” to guide us.
• Before our feet touches the ground don’t forget to ask forgiveness to mother earth who
bears our weight, chanting “samudra vasane devi…" Such a noble thought.
• Our ancestors well understood the concept of sound mind in a sound body.
‘SariramAdyam Khalu dharma sAdhanam’ simply denotes the same. A clean and healthy
body only provides the vigor to carry on. So have a brief practice of yoga, vyayam etc.
• Cleaning off bodily dirt and impurities with a refreshing bath also is very important. Along
with a clean body a clean mind is also attained by invoking “The all purifying seven rivers”
through “Gange cha Yamune chaiva… “.
• A few minutes in front of the Ishta devatha will bring peace and calmness to our mind.
• Healthy and nutritious food gives us strength to go on throughout the day. In Hindu
culture we consider food as gift from Lord. By chanting “Brahmarpanam brahmahavir…,”
we accept that whatever offered be digested with Brahman the ultimate power and we are
grateful.
• Respect for our teachers is given utmost importance in our culture as in Vedas Guru/
teacher is considered next to parents. Guru blesses us with knowledge which removes
ignorance and guide us in our life. We pray "Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu…”with the
same thoughts.
• Evening time is for playing. Playing helps in the proper growth and development of both
body and mind. Hence remember to “work while you work, play while you play"
• After play time, during the 'sandhyA kAla', the twilight time, light the lamp and pray to
God by chanting the sholka, 'shubham karoti kalyaannam-Arogyam dhana-sampadaa …”
for making our day successful.
• We spend family time with family members during dinner and after. Before we sleep, we
chant 'rAmaskandaM hanUmantam vainateyaM vRikodaram…' to ward off bad dreams
and also chant 'karacharaNa kRitaM vA kAyajaM karmajaM vA …’ All the shortcomings
committed by me through my sensory organs and my mind be pardoned.
• Right from waking up till we sleep, we have a set routine that makes us think of God who
will be always with us and makes us purposeful with mindfulness.
Children! Let us make our days purposeful and prolific by practicing focus and
mindfulness prescribed by our visionary forefathers and become model citizens by
inculcating the good practices of our culture.
|| yad yad karma karomi tad tad akhilaM shambho tavArAdhanaM ||

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Balabharati - February 2021

BAJI PRABHU DESHPANDE (1615-1660)

“Maharaj, Go ahead… Your life is very important for the survival of Hindavi Swarajya.
If one Baji dies, thousand Bajis will be born. But there is only one Shivaji…”. The brave
solider who stood like Mahakal (furious Avatar of Shiva) at the Ghod Khind with heavy
swords in both his hand he killed hundreds of mughal invaders to help Shivaji Maharaj to
escape and reach Vishalgadh safely. He was none other than Baji Prabhu Deshpande, the
brave heart commander in chief of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who selflessly sacrificed
his life to save the life of his king and thus contributed to the survival of Hindavi Swaraj.
He was Born in 1615 in Shindh village in Maharashtra. From young age Baji Prabhu wanted to
serve the country and help liberate it from the Mughal Yoke. He put on intense efforts in
mastering the art of sword fighting practicing regularly for 12 hours a day. He also mastered
Malla-Khamb, Suryanamaskara, Pranayama, Danda, Kushti, horse riding which made him
Physically and mentally strong. His special skill of combating two swords at a time made him one
of the best sword fighters of Bharat and he was truly the master of Dandapatta. Baji Prabhu was
active, brave and always open to tough situations in battle field to succeed. Shivaji, seeing his
intense love for the motherland made him military command of the Kolhapur region.
The battle of Ghod Khind-July -1660
On the stormy night of Ashadha Pournima, an escape strategy was planned from Panhala fort
where Shivaji was trapped. The tricky plan worked and the troupe succeeded to escape from the
Panhala fort and reached a narrow Ghod Khind pass. Baji Prabhu held back with some 300
Marathas and Shivaji proceeded to Vishalgadh, a safer place. It was decided that three Cannon
Shots would be fired as a signal to Baji Prabhu that Shivaji Maharaj has reached safely. The
Ghod Khind pass was witnessing an extraordinary battle in the history of Marathas. The brave
Marathas stood like tigers against the cruel enemies chanting the ghoshana of ‘HAR HAR
MAHADEV’. The Marathas were less in number when compared to the enemies in ratio 1:40.
Baji Prabhu used his body as wall to prevent the enemies to pass through, holding two
huge and very heavy swords in his both hands. He single handedly faced the enemy attack for
almost 18 hours. He was heavily wounded with sword cuts all over his body. With his strong will-
power he refused to give up and stood firm to fight the enemies until Shivaji Maharaj reached
Vishalgadh safely. Baji Prabhu would not quit till he had heard the three cannon shots. Shivaji
Maharaj reached Vishalgadh and cannon shots were fired. It was almost dawn and Baji Prabhu
was still fighting, almost on the verge of death. The valiant Marathas cleared the pass with their
wounded leader. Baji Prabhu took his last breath with a smile on his face and satisfaction that he
died for his motherland, thereby fulfilling his childhood dream.
The Ghod Khind Pass was purified by the blood shed by Marathas. Shivaji Maharaj was deeply
saddened by the death of Baji Prabhu. He named the Ghod Khind pass as ’Paavan Khindi’ in
the memory of his beloved warrior. The act of bravery of Baji
Prabhu, Shiva Naai, and Kanhoji Jedhe will be cherished for the long
time to come. The battle of Paavan Khindi has been recited as
folklore in Maharashtra in many inspiring renditions.
‘Hanumanta Angada Raghunathala
Jedhe Bandhala Shivajeela !’
As Hanuman and Angada always stood with ShreeRama, so are
Kanhoji Jedhe and Baji Prabhu with Shivaji Maharaj in the battle for
Swarajya.

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Balabharati - February 2021

DESH BHAKTI GEET

Meaning of Geet

The song motivates us to never stop and keep on moving ahead even if we are [Link]
inspiration is the sun whose chariot is moving since ages yet it is full of [Link]
is our dharma(duty) .We must take inspiration from great men of the nation and their
great [Link] must take inspiration from Bharat our beloved nation that we worship. It
is the source of many good things and a constant source of love. We should live for our
Bharatmata and make our life worthwhile.
Charaiveti Charaiveti (Keep moving keep moving.......)
'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'
Audio of geet is available in BB app. Go to Repository -> Geet Audio

Note: From Feb 2021, 4 more pages have been added to the Magazine with 2 new Topics.
The Subscription fees for the magazine for 1 year ( Jan 2021 to Dec 2021) is Rs 250.
Please contact your Balabharati Palak / Shikshika for Magazine Subscription.

Note to Parents : IT Milan is also running an initiative called "Apta Salaha Kendra".
This initiative provides counselling sessions to needy through trained lay counselors. You
can inform about this to others who are in need.
Contact Details : +91 6362055380 ( [Link]

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Balabharati - February 2021

EXPRESSION OF SAMSKAR - POSITIVE HEALTH

Children have you heard of the saying “Healthy mind in a healthy

body”? But what does health mean? Let us understand in simple words.
When we are energetic physically as well as mentally all day long , when
we sleep well at night and when we do not feel lazy or sleepy during
daytime, when we don’t fall ill very frequently then we can say we are
healthy. Is this possible? Yes it is.
Imagine a soldier in the battlefield fighting with a 80 kgs sword in one
hand. How much physical and mental strength must be required to do
that, right? But our very own Maharana Pratap is the real example of
that. We read about the lives of great people like Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Swami Vivekananda and so on and come to
know how self discipline helped them become strong in the body and how
they became fearless in facing difficult situations. Even the Indian army
soldiers who carried out surgical strikes carried more than 60 kgs of weight
on their backs and walked for almost 8 kms in enemy's territory, killed the
terrorists and came back safely. So, is it really possible to achieve healthy
body and healthy mind? Maharishi Patanjali in his book " Yoga sutra"
has all the answers.
Have you observed your family members and what healthy habits they
practice? You can talk to your grandparents and parents and ask
them about their healthy habits. How are they practicing yoga/
exercises? Observe their daily routine and note down when they
wake up, what food they eat, how much water they drink, what
kind of exercise do they do daily, etc. You can join them in some
activities like playing games, cycling, yoga with your parents or
walking, meditation, pranayama with grandparents. Before meals, you can chant the 'bhojan
mantra' to express gratitude. Also, think about the pranayama and yoga exercises you have
learnt in Balabharati class. Are you practicing them daily? Positive health is a long term
sadhana for which we have to put in lot of efforts consistently.
POSITIVE HEALTH
POINTS TO SCORE CARD FOR
PONDER THE MONTH: MY HEALTH GOAL
Is it necessary to follow 5 minutes exercise daily FOR THIS MONTH
1 IS…………………………
routine/dinacharya?
5 minutes of quiet time ….
Why?
1 (for example, I will do yoga
Why do we eat seasonal
Drinking 5-6 glasses of for 10 minutes daily, or I
foods?
water 1 will drink one bottle of
What do we do for our water everyday, I will sit
personal hygiene? Playing outdoors daily
silently with my eyes closed
Can we walk around the 1
for five minutes daily etc)
house with footwear that Eating vegetables daily
we wear outside? 1
My score -

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Balabharati - February 2021

LEARN OUR ART FORMS(MADHUBANI)

COMPLETE THE PICTURE BY OBSERVING THE PATTERNS AND FILL IT WITH VIBRANT COLORS.

Type to enter text

Children, do you know Madhubani paintings from Bihar is nearly 2500 year old folk art. It
is believed that King Janaka ordered the artists of Mithila to capture his daughter Sita's
wedding to Lord Rama through paintings. Hence it is also known as Mithila Paintings.
It has 5 distinct styles: Bharni,Kachni,Tantrik,Godna and Kohbar.

# Children, let us learn to

draw two simple pictures, a
cup of hot Haldi doodh and a
peepal tree leaf.
#Haldi doodh is a great
immunity booster.
#Observe the color of fresh
new peepal tree leaves. Are
they green?
# Observe the drawing
carefully and try to draw it in
a single stroke without lifting
your pencil.

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Balabharati - February 2021

MATHS PUZZLE

(A) Each number given below has

(B) Children, can you move two
some initials after it. Try to work out
matchsticks such that you get the
what the initials mean ?
highest possible number?
Clues :- Observe the numbers given
Clue :- It is a three digit number.
carefully..

1)26 L in the A
2)7 C in the R
3)1000 M in a K
4)64 S in a C B
5) 28 D in F
6)24 H in a D
7)365 D in a Y

WORD PUZZLE

Can you guess the

name of Gods and
Goddesses from their
shadows?

Answers to January month Puzzles-

1) From top to bottom- (a)- Solved as ex.(b)16,10,6(c) 24,12,11,(d)11,15,6(e)12,2,7(f)13,3,2
2) To make a total of 25 from start to finish- 3+10+6+2+1+3 =25
3) Personalities in picture:-Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel,Bhagat Singh,Rani Laxmi Bai, Bipin
Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai,Chandra Shekhar Azad, Subhash Chandra Bose,, Swami
Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi,Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Sarojini Naidu, Savitri Bai Phule,
Tatya Tope, Kittur Rani Chenamma.

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Balabharati - February 2021

Facing unknown dangers with courage

This incident of bravery and courage is from the life of Shri Balakrishna
Moonje, who was one of the great freedom fighters of Bharat. Since his
childhood, Balakrishna was interested in regular physical exercises to
strengthen the body. Along with physical strength, he also developed a strong
mind and was not afraid of unknown dangers. Once he was playing on the
banks of the river with his friends when they all saw two shiny objects. They
were confused by the shiny objects and thought it must be some animal in the
river or a ghost. Balakrishna was not scared and quickly jumped into the river to see what the
two shiny objects actually were. When he went closer, he found that there were just two
stones which were shining because of sunlight. He brought the stones out of the water and
showed them to his friends. He also told them that being afraid can make even simple stones
appear as ghosts or dangerous animals. But being brave can in fact drive away the ghosts.
In another incident from his childhood, Balakrishna had to travel to Raipur (for his further
schooling) for four days through a dense forest. He never forgot this journey. Later in school
one day the teacher asked the students to draw a picture. At that time, he forgot about
everything else and drew a picture of a dense forest. The teachers were astonished by his
drawing and he also got the best drawing of the year award for it.
These two incidents from the life of Shri Balakrishna Moonje tell us how we should cultivate
a strong body and mind and not be afraid of anything. It also teaches us that we can convert
our experiences into creative expressions.

FOOD & NATURE - WINTER FOODS (PONGAL)

Namaste children, the chilling winter season is here. Is this cold wind freezing your body?
Yes, that’s why your parents always tell you to wear warm clothes like sweaters , jackets, socks
etc right?. Not only this but exercises, jumping, skipping, yogasanas also give warmth to the
body. This was all about external warmth. Did you ever think what about internal warmth?
Yes, our ancestors have designed rituals and festivals according to the festival wherein the
special foods are also equally designed and important to health depending on the season. The
best example is ‘THE PONGAL FESTIVAL ‘.During this festival, we eat Til & Gud which
provides warmth to the body. Another famous favorite recipe for all is THE PONGAL (Sweet
& Khara pongal). This food is not only a traditional recipe but a unique food that has all the
health benefits. So does your mother make Pongal every year? Have a look at the recipe
below and make it for your family. This Pongal can be eaten throughout the winter.

Sweet Pongal - Traditionally it is prepared over

firewood using 2.5 cup jaggery, 1.5 cup rice,
dry fruits and coconut.
Khara Pongal -2 spoon ghee, 1/4tsp hing, 1tsp
grated ginger ,curry leaves, 1tsp turmeric, spices
of your choices each 1-2 in number like lavang, peppers, dalchini ,Elaichi ,1 cup each rice
and moongdal (soaked for 30 min).Add all the ingredients in the sequence above lastly water
and cook in pressure cooker upto 4 whistles. Serve hot.
Both types of PONGAL are a rich source of vitamins and aids digestion and immunity .

You are stuck in the elevator due to power failure. What will you
do?

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Balabharati - February 2021

Hrudaya bhasha Mathrubhasha

Children, you may have noticed how everything in nature has a unique language in which it expresses
itself. For example, the sound of the parrot. It appears as though it is speaking a unique language, right?
Similarly, the rustle of the trees, the sound of the gentle breeze. Doesn't all these sounds touch our heart and
make us feel so nice. Similarly, we humans have our MOTHER TONGUE as the natural language in which
we express our feelings. Let us begin our journey through this column, into an exploration of our Mother
Tongue. Don't forget to inform your parents and grand parents that you are going to need their help in
learning a lot of nice sayings, subhashitas, aphorisms, proverbs etc in your Mother Tongue, through some
activities.
Activity 1: Can you try telling the story , SPREAD THE LIGHT on Page 11 & 12 in this magazine and its
moral value in your mother tongue to your parents at home. You may find some words that you may have to
ask you parents. Note down 3 challenging words that you learnt while doing this activity and write the same in
your mother tongue in the space provided. You may also share a gist of the story in your Mother Tongue to
your Balabharati friends when you are given a chance.

English Word Mother Tongue Activity 2: Learning to write in our Mother

Tongue is an art in itself. Can you try it here.
1. ----------------- ---------------------- The first letter in my language :
My name is (write in Mother tongue):
2. ----------------- ----------------------

3. ----------------- ---------------------- _____________________________________

My Mother tongue language is
_____________________________________

Saralabhasha Samskritam

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Balabharati - February 2021

POP UP WELLNESS CARD

"Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu"

Health is more than the mere absence of illness. Positive health is a concept of wellbeing and
feeling good physically and mentally. Positive health allows children to think clearly, develop
physically & socially and learn new skills. Let's do a pop-up greeting card and wish positive
health to our family/friends - either on the occasion of festivals or on birthdays.



Material required: - Two A4 size coloured sheets, white sheets, scissors, glitter tape, crayons,
sketch pens, satin tape, glue, kundan stones (Pic 1)

Step 1 : Fold the sheets into half. Paste right side of the first folded sheet to the left side of the
second sheet. Refer to Pic 2
Step 2 : Cut out pop up images as shown in Pic 3 and colour them. Cut out a decorative flower
of your choice.
Step 3 : Decorate the cover page with the flower and glitter tape as shown in Pic 4
Step 4: Fold the pop-up images at the centre facing outwards as shown in Pic 5.
Step 5: Place each image at the centre of the card page in such a way that, the folded line of the
image falls in line with the card page's central folding. Paste the images at the left and right edges
only. Refer to Pic 6
Step 6: Write good health messages on either sides of the images and decorate with drawings and
kundan stones. Pic 7 and 8
Step 7: On the backside of the card stick the centre of the satin tape. Paste the smiley image on
top of the tape. Write a good health message. Refer Pic 9
Step 8: Bring the two ends of satin tape to the front of the card and tie a knot. Pic 10
Your Pop up greeting card is ready!!!!

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9 10

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Balabharati - February 2021

SPREAD THE LIGHT

"Home is where heart is." This saying was so true for little Gaurav
Kumar. Gaurav was born in a foreign land but he was an Indian at
heart. His parents Keshav and Lata had migrated to the States twelve
years back. The eight year old would miss his grandparents, his
relatives and the fun times he had with them during his occasional
visits to India.
Life was happening for Gaurav and his parents. It was not that his
parents were not longing for their homeland but his father had
professional aspirations that needed him to live in the States. One day,
Keshav who was an engineer by profession, got a new project which
required him to travel to India. This was going to be a long term
project, and since Gaurav was still small, Keshav thought it fit to take
his family along to stay with him in India during the course of the project. Gaurav's joy knew
no bounds, he packed his bags as soon as his father broke the news to him. And off set the
family to their homeland. Gaurav's mother, Lata was beaming with happiness as well.
They had set foot in India after almost one and a half years which seemed
like a very long time for them. The Kumar family was a big joint family, thriving with
grandparents,uncles,aunts, their kids, it was one big happy family. They extended a warm
welcome to Gaurav and his parents and what followed was no less than any festivity. Keshav
soon resumed his office work. Gaurav was allowed a week of free time and then he had to get
back to his online classes. On a weekend, Keshav decided to take his family to the nearby
village which was known for its waterfalls. They spent a good day at the village,visiting the
waterfalls and the popular GramDevi(Deity worshipped by a particular village) temple.
Towards evening, on their way back home,Gaurav muttered something that took Keshav by
surprise. "Oh, they don't have electricity here!! I can see only lanterns or kerosine lamps, no
other lights". That night and the following few days, Keshav's mind went back to Gaurav's
remark. It bothered him that in modern age when India had made so much progress and when
most villages were doing well,why should this village still have to do without the basic facility of
electricity.
Something extraordinary was about to sprout out of Gaurav's innocent remark.
Keshav felt the urge to put his electrical engineering skills to good use. So besides fulfilling his
official project,he started utilizing his free time visiting the village,discussing proposals with the
village head,sharing his ideas of the village getting it's electricity supply using its own natural
resource of waterfalls and how that would help the villagers in different ways. The village head
was very supportive and gave the go ahead to Keshav's idea. There is a saying, "When you
want something from your heart,the entire universe conspires to help you achieve that". The
entire village, Keshav's friends and some big corporates,all came forward to help achieve
Keshav's dream and he jumped into action,designing the project along with his team. One may
wonder as to why Keshav was doing all this,did he have any point to prove ? He didn't even
belong to that village ,then why was he doing so much for them. Keshav realized that his
education should be put to use other than just fulfilling his own professional aspirations. He felt
very strongly that he should do something for the people around him with the help of the
knowledge he had.

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Balabharati - February 2021

SPREAD THE LIGHT (CONTD...)

The next 10 months were those of hard work for Keshav, his family too got involved in the
project. Gaurav was amazed at how electricity could be generated from the water of the
waterfalls. This was turning out to be a real school for Gaurav as he learnt many things
during the course of the project,visiting the village with his father. He made some good
friends with the village kids and learnt some new games. Milking cows, climbing trees,
swimming in the ponds, Gaurav was simply having the time of his life!!
As those ten months passed and with the eleventh, came the day of real
[Link] was the day, the testing of the project would
be [Link] testing engineer arrived with the
equipment and all fingers were crossed,people waited
with bated breaths,evening was soon approaching.
Gaurav was given the charge of saying '1,2,3,Go!" for
the equipment to be turned ON and on his, word "Go",
the entire village just lit up as if it was Diwali. Oh what
a sight! Tears of joy started rolling down from
everyone's eyes. Keshav knelt and kissed the ground on
which he stood. He felt blessed to have been able to do
his bit for the village. Children, the feeling that you get out of
doing something good for others cannot be described in words! The village head was just
dumbfounded(surprised). After soaking in the new reality, he thanked Keshav and his team
profusely.
Children, so you see how an innocent remark by a small boy led to a
positive change for an entire village,how it inspired his father to apply his knowledge for the
benefit of others. Let us never ask, "What has our country done for us?" rather "What can we
do for our country,our Motherland?"

Your Imagination

yasmin jīvati jīvanti bahavaḥ sa tu jīvati|

kākopi kiṁ na kurute cañcvā svodarapūraṇam||
- Panchatantra

Children, looking at the picture of subhashita , can you draw a

picture according to your understanding of subhashita in the
box ?

[Link] !12