The date of Easter changes each year, and several other Christian festivals fix their dates by reference to Easter.

Churches are filled with flowers, and there are special hymns and songs. But not all Easter customs are Christian; some, such as the Easter Bunny, are Pagan in origin.

The Easter story is at the heart of Christianity
On Good Friday, Jesus Christ was executed by crucifixion. His body was taken down from the cross, and buried in a cave.

The tomb was guarded and an enormous stone was put over the entrance, so that no-one could steal the body.

On the following Sunday, some women visited the grave and found that the stone had been moved, and that the tomb was empty.

Jesus himself was seen that day, and for days afterwards by many people. His followers realised that God had raised Jesus from the dead.

All over the world all Hindus celebrate Deepawali with great enthusiasm. This is the great festival honouring Mother Lakshmi (goddess of wealth). Diwali is a holy tradition, not to be put in the shade by the lights. Deepawali symbolizes the victory of light over darkness. Celebrated joyously all over the India, it is a festival of wealth and prosperity.

Deepavali is celebrated 20 days after Dussera, on Amavasya - the 15th day of the dark fortnight of the Hindu month of Ashwin (Aasho) in (Oct/ Nov) every year.

Legend of Diwali

Diwali celebrated mainly for Rama’s homecoming to Ayodhya after the defeat of Ravana and his coronation as king. Deepavali marks his victorious return to his kingdom along with wife Sita, brother Laxman and great devote Hanuman. The legend claimed that it took 20 days for Rama to return to his kingdom after defeating Ravana. The people of Ayodhya lit up their homes with oil lamps and turned the night into a light festival. From that time onwards Diwali is celebrated to marks the Victory of Lord Ram over the evil Ravan.

Another legend said that once upon time King Bali of the nether world mighty power had become a threat to the gods. In order to give him a lesion Lord Vishnu in the guise of a Batu Waman- a small boy- visited his kingdom. In that time King Bali was much more famous for his philanthropist cause. Keeping in this mind Lord Vishnu begged King Bali to give him only that much land which he could cover with his three steps. King Bali proudly granted Lord Vishnu’s wish. With his first step Lord Vishnu covered the entire heaven and with the second step the earth and asked Bali where to keep his third step. Bali offered his head. Putting his foot on his head Vishnu pushed him down to the underworld. In that time Lord Vishnu gave him the lamp of knowledge and allowed him to return to earth once a year to light millions of lamps to dispel the darkness and ignorance of humanity and spread the radiance of eternity and love. In this day people also worshipped Goddess Lakshmi as she was freed by Vishnu form the clutches of King Bali. Therefore some believe that the festival is celebrated in Mata Laxmi’s honour.

Another legend said that in this day of Diwali a small boy called Nachiketa who always believed that Yam, the god of Death was as black as the dark night of amavasya. But when he met Yamraj, he was quite astonished with Yamraj’s calm and stature. Yam explained to Nachiketa on this Diwali day of amavasya that by only passing through the darkness of death, man sees the light of highest wisdom and then only his soul get can escape from the bondage of his mortal frame to mingle with the Supreme Power.
And then Nachiketa realised the importance of worldly life and significance of death. Then he whole-heartedly participated in Diwali celebrations.

Another story said that Narakasura who ruled the kingdom of Pradyoshapuram was a trouble-maker to the gods. He always disturbed the sages’ community in their Ashram & created havoc during the rituals. He even grabbed some territory of Aditi, (the king of Suraloka and a relative of Satyabhama, Lord Krishna’s wife). Continuously harassed with this precarious approach of Narakasura along with Indra other gods pleaded Lord Krishna to protect them form the mighty Narakasura. In that time queen Satyabhama appealed to Krishna to give her chance to destroy Narakasura. Lord Krishna granted her a boon to fight with Narakasura. With Krishna as the charioteer, Satyabhama entered the battle field and killed the Narakasura. After the death of the demon his mother Bhudevi declared to celebrate this occasion with joy and rejoice. Since, then Diwali was celebrated by people every year with ardent zeal, fun and fire.

Another legend said that on this day Mother Lakshmi emerged from the ocean of milk (Kheer Sagar). She brought with her wealth and prosperity for mankind. On that day, Lakshmi Pooja was performed to honour Goddess Lakshmi. So from that day in every year on Diwali day, Hindus perform prayer and worship to Goddess Lakshmi. Many people believe that Goddess Lakshmi visit the homes of devotees on this day. Bhajans”-devotional songs in praise of Goddess Laxmi are sung and “Naivedya” of traditional sweets is offered to the Goddess.

Some people feel that Dussehra and Dasara are not simply different transliterations of the same word, but two different festivals.

The Dasara celebrations in Mysore are popular with tourists, and are conducted with great pomp. Dasara is celebrated in Nepal by the name of Dashain.

Dasara is the festival marking end of Navratri and the immersion of Durga idols which are worshipped for nine days prior to Dussehra. Dussehra is also the day when many families start formal education of their kids. The practise has been so old, that in some parts of Kerala, even after conversions to Christianity, some members of the community continued this tradition. In 2004, many churches in Kerala formally adopted the same tradition of introducing young children to education on Dussehra day.

Mohandas, the future MAHATAMA, was born on Oct 2,1869. When Mohan was seven years old his parents moved 120 miles East to Rajkot. Rajkot became the Gandhis’ second home though the family link with Porbander remained.

Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi as a child was very shy and avoided all company. His daily habit was to rush to school on time and to rush back home as soon as the school closed as he was afraid of talking to anyone in case someone made fun of him.

To be truthful was a passion with him. Till his 12th year in School, Gandhiji doesn’t remember having told a lie. He could not bear it when he was convicted of having lied to the headmaster of Alfred High school in Rajkot, Dorabji Edulji Gimi, and cried helplessly. He brooded on the incident until he came to the conclusion that a ‘man of truth must also be a man of care’. He promised never to put himself in a position where his explanation would be dismissed as lies.

Quiet, shy and retiring, he was tongue-tied in company. Rated mediocre in studies and games, he was proud of the fact that he never told a lie to his teachers or his classmates and the slightest aspersion on his character hurt him to tears. Moral sensitiveness, an inherent trait of Gandhiji since childhood, was a part of the tradition of the Gandhi family. Mohan’s father Karamhchand, and his grandfather UttamChand, had been known for their integrity and for the courage of their convictions. ‘Whatever purity you see in me’, recalled Gandhiji at 62 years of age, ‘is derived from my mother, not my father’.
Gandhiji’s mother Putlibai’s boundless love, her endless austerities and her iron will left a permanent impression on him. These qualities inspired him to battle for self-mastery, and the maternal love he imbibed from her grew in ever-increasing measure till it embraced the whole of humanity. Gandhiji’s love for nursing which made him wash lepers’ sores in his Ashram and also the technique of appealing to the heart through self-suffering can be attributed to his mother’s influence.

Mini biography

Though her weirdly oiled hair and bespectacled look would give you goosebumps, she had a unique knack of making learning experience. Though her squeaky tone wasn’t exactly music to ears, she would still take delight in your childish pranks.

Though a staunch disciplinarian, she had the unique ability of infusing life whenever she conducted lecture.

Why do you remember her fondly even after so many years?
Probably because, she was the one who taught you to strive for excellence, brought out your real potential, and made you believe that learning never stops.

Salute to our Teachers!

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fin e view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by.

Although the other man couldn’t hear the band - he could see it. In his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.

He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.

It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”

Epilogue::::

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.
Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.
If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can’t buy.
“Today is a gift, that’s why it is called the present.”

2…God won’t ask the square footage of your house,
He’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

3…God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet,
He’ll ask how many you helped to clothe.

4…God won’t ask what your highest salary was,
He’ll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

5…God won’t ask what your job title was,
He’ll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

6…God won’t ask how many friends you had,
He’ll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

7… God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived,
He’ll ask how you treated your neighbors.

8…God won’t ask about the color of your skin,
He’ll ask about the content of your character.

9… God won’t ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation,
He’ll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.

Epilogue::

Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.

This festival celebrates the end of Ramzan, the Muslim month of fasting. It is an occasion of feasting and rejoicing.

The faithful gather in the mosques to pray, friends and relatives meet and exchange greetings. Prayers, family get-togethers and feasts are the major highlights of the festival.
Legend
During the holy month of Ramadan was when Allah gave Prophet Muhammad the Holy Qur’an. One day, Muhammad had a vision in which the angel Jibril told him how Allah wanted people to live. The Allah’s words were revealed to Muhammad through the angel over a period of 23 years, and the words were written down to form the Qur’an. Ramadan is celebrated to remember this very special month.

‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ marks the return of Gandhi to mass consciousness. We loved the movie because, as average Indians, we still believe in honesty and positivity. Watching the movies was fun but deep down, it set me thinking about the way we deal with situations everyday. We have lost our patience and want returns immediately. We want our way even at the cost of other’s inconvenience. Munna and Circuit’s dadagiri is symbolic of our lost innocence.

Gandhiji’s ideals and principles may not be very practical today but I think it can be considered an option to deal with things in a system where nothing seems to work. My outlook has changed so much that even when I lose my cool, I think twice before reacting. After all, what harm does it do to stall a sudden outburst?
Infact, I believe that even if ten percent of people practise Gandhigiri, it will be a better world to live in.

Onam is celebrated in the beginning of the month of Chingam, the first month of Malayalam Calendar (Kollavarsham). This corresponds with the month of August-September according to Gregorian Calendar.

Carnival of Onam lasts from four to ten days. First day, Atham and tenth day, Thiruonam are most important of all. Popularity and presentation of rich culture of the state during the carnival made Onam the National Festival of Kerala in 1961. Elaborate feasts, folk songs, elegant dances, energetic games, elephants, boats and flowers all are a part of the dynamic festival called Onam.

Wish you all a Happy and Prosperous Onam!!!

However, a leading New Testament scholar, Ben Witherington III, in his book The Gospel Code, (InterVarsity, 2004), responding to The Da Vinci Code, said: “It can be quite entertaining but also misleading. We need to treat this book as what it really is—not historical fiction but almost entirely fiction, at least when it comes to its assumptions and assertions about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and early Christianity” (p. 27).
(Also Read– ENCOUNTERING THE DA VINCI CODE)

I would like to clarify both the major mistakes in relation to church history and the Bible, and as well, the key points of our Christian faith from the Scriptures which are opposed by the ideas of this book. I am indebted to Witherington’s excellent research into the facts.

The first major fiction asserted in the book is that there are many other documents equal to or better than our four Gospels, which the church has suppressed, and which would exalt the “sacred feminine” and teach that Jesus was only human and not divine. The truth is that all other such documents (around 20, not 80) are clearly written after the writing of the New Testament. They are by groups outside the mainstream of the Early Church. The Dead Sea Scrolls are Jewish and say nothing about Jesus. The Gnostic Gospels that Brown often refers to actually teach that the material world is evil, including sex, and that men should be in authority over women. These ideas are contrary to what Brown’s book teaches and yet he claims these documents support his ideas that are in opposition to the Bible. Brown says these documents clearly state that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, but Witherington shows that he misquotes these documents. Furthermore, they were never on any one’s list of inspired, authoritative, Scriptures.

A second major area of fiction is that Constantine and the church council of Nicea brought in the new, unbiblical, teaching that Christ is divine and voted out the truth of His humanity and marriage to Mary Magdalene and eliminated the books that taught those things. The truth is the council did not propose the beliefs stated in the creeds or the list of canonical Scriptures but formalized what the majority had believed all along. The New Testament clearly always taught that Jesus is God, John 1:1-3,18; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:6-11; Hebrews 1:2,3; 1 John 5:20.

The third fiction is that the Church was threatened by the idea of Jesus having a wife and children because then He could not be divine and the Church would lose its powerful claim to be the only way to God. On the contrary, the Bible clearly claims that Jesus is the only way to God and the Church does not control the way (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). On the other point, the Bible teaches that Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, is fully God and fully human so that He could have married and had children but He chose not to, in the plan of God.

Regarding the idea of the “sacred feminine” and the sacredness of sex the Bible and Christianity do not put down sex but affirm that it is very special and belongs only in marriage. However, it is not a route to spiritual fulfillment and experience of God as claimed in the book (p. 310). The whole Bible is against bringing sex into worship as the heathen have done since ancient times. The Bible clearly opposes all goddess worship. The One True God is neither male nor female but Jesus uses the term Father and teaches us to do the same. One major reason for not referring to God as mother is that, as Elizabeth Achtemeier has shown, in “Why God is not Mother” Christianity Today, August 16, 1993, it leads to the idea of God giving birth to us and thus lowering God to be one with us and with nature and raising us up to be gods.

The Da Vinci Code expresses many of the current popular ideas of our world and helps us see where the issues are for our faith. The attitudes encouraged by this book which are the most serious opposition to the truth God has revealed in the Scriptures are the following: to depersonalize God, to bring God down to our level and us up to deity—taking away from His holiness, to deny the need for a savior outside of ourselves and the need of repentance that sees ourselves as dead without Christ, to treat Jesus as only a great man, to deny that the Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, to make sex a part of worship, to take away most objective moral law, to deny that there is any absolute truth, to make our experiences the only spiritual/religious authority for our lives, and to disregard history as of any value.

The main Bible truths I think we must be clear on and affirm continually are the following: 1) God is personal, acting for our good in the world, which He created and from which He is totally distinct, and communicating openly with us in real human language, written down in the Bible, and not in hidden codes. 2) God made us, loves us, and wants to restore the personal, intimate, everlasting relationship we broke with Him through our selfish choices. He has provided the only way to Him through the incarnation, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, the Christ, who is fully God and fully human. He gives our lives meaning and purpose. 3) He made us to enjoy the greatest fulfillment through a life in harmony with His will, character, and values, through the Holy Spirit. This includes keeping sexual intimacy and intercourse within a life-long, exclusive, marital (male-female), relationship.

In conclusion, the best antidote is reading and meditating on the truth in the Scriptures and keeping our relationship with the Lord fresh and experiential. Here are some of the clear statements of the Scriptures that give some of the basic beliefs of the Christian faith. Matthew 16:13-20; Luke 24:36-49; John 1:1-5, 10-12, 14, 18; 3:16-18; 14:6, Acts 4:12; 10:34-43; 17:30-31; Romans 1:16-25; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 17-19; 2 Timothy 3:15-16; Hebrews 1:1-3; 1 John 1:2,3, 5-2:2; 4:1-16; 5:1-5, 11-12, 18-21; Revelation 22:12-17.

As members of the student community and the corporate sector a 49.5% quota has grave ramifications. Reservation undermines MERIT. In a nation where premier institutes have a 1% acceptance rate, a 49.5% quota will DENY meritorious candidates admission. Are we willing to sacrifice the aspirations of lakhs of students at the altar of what is nothing more than vote bank politics?

The Government of India is pursuing a policy of blatant appeasement that needs to be checked. It is time for PROACTIVE ACTION. We as the youth of India owe it to ourselves and more importantly this nation to make our voice heard. India is a democracy. It is only through a united front that we can bring about the change that the times demand.

Students from colleges across the country have decided to hold a nation-wide protest against the 93rd amendment. All those who oppose this move of the government are requested to show solidarity with these students. The protest will be apolitical and non-violent. Details will be forwarded to you soon.

How Can You Be a Part of This Movement?

1. Organize discussion forums effective protests against the government’s move.
2. Start a signature campaign against this move in your respective colleges/offices.
3. Voice your opinion through blogs, emails and letters to the editors of magazines and mark a copy to the mail id yfemumbai@gmail.com.
4. SPREAD THE WORD. Launch SMS and e-mail campaigns to direct people to :
http://youthforequality.blogspot.com ,or
http://yfemumbai.blogspot.com/
5. Rally your alumni associations to express support for this cause.
6. NRIs may send letters of support to Indian Embassies across the globe.
7. The private sector is encouraged to express their solidarity with this movement and voice their opinion through industry organizations.

Please feel free to express your thoughts and opinions through an e-mail to yfemumbai@gmail.com.

Another day a S/w Programmer was having a similar conversation with his PM when his whole project flashed before his eyes as a series of footsteps on the sands of time. He saw that there were two pairs of footprints, but during the most difficult times in the project there were only one set of footprints. He asked his PM “You said you will be with me throughout the project, but why have you deserted me during the most critical times of the project??” to which the PM answered “Son, I did not desert you, I was always with you…you see only one set of footprints because during those difficult times, I was sitting on your head!!”