Magical Monday/7

Mondays are full of madness! Mondays for most people brings out the colour blue (Monday Blues). But like so many things, is it just a figment of our imagination? So if we change our attitute, is it possible to change Manic Monday into Magic Monday? What if we feed it into our system that Monday will be a grand day? It will be a day when our energy levels will be the higest because we will be refreshed after a break and that we will start a new week with zest and high spirits! What if we tell ourselves at the start of the week that this week we will be unstoppable, be a powerhouse and race ahead,  could it change things? I believe it could :)

And believing is the first step towards changing things for good !! :)

This is my seventh post in the Magical Monday series of inspirational stories aimed at motivating us to bring out our best on the first day of the week! Today the story is about a hero that I gave worshipped through out my life. The doctor who adorns innumerable posters and who's face is considered to be the symbol of revolution. Popularly known as 'Che' , Ernesto Guevara was an Argentine Revolutionary and a major figure in the Cuban Revolution. 

Che,  as a young medical student traveled extentively through South America and was heavily influenced by the poverty, poor health and hunger that gripped people. He documented these experiences in a book  titled 'Motor Cycle Diaries' which went on to become a best seller and is revered even now.

His unsuppresable desire to help overturn what he saw as the capitalist exploitation of Latin America by the United States prompted his involvement in Guatemala's  social reforms.

He later moved to Cuba to work with the likes of Fidel Castro towards overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon rose to prominence and played a pivotal role in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the Batista regime.

Following the Cuban Revolution Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government. These included reviewing the appeals and firing squads for those convicted as was criminals during the rerevolutionary tribunals, instituting agrarian land reforms as minister of industries, helping spearhead a successful nationwide literacy campaign, serving as both national bank president and instructional director for Cuba's armed forces and traversing the globe as a diplomat on behalf of Cuban socialism.

Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, in Bolivia where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and was assassinated in 1967 at an age of 39 by them.

As the year ends, I am sharing the story of my personal favourite hero who's story fills me up with a desire to change things around me to make things better for those who are less fortunate. A good note to start the new year with!

Magic Monday/6

Mondays are full of madness! Mondays for most people brings out the colour blue (Monday Blues). But like so many things, is it just a figment of our imagination? So if we change our attitute, is it possible to change Manic Monday into Magic Monday? What if we feed it into our system that Monday will be a grand day? It will be a day when our energy levels will be the higest because we will be refreshed after a break and that we will start a new week with zest and high spirits! What if we tell ourselves at the start of the week that this week we will be unstoppable, be a powerhouse and race ahead,  could it change things? I believe it could :)

And believing is the first step towards changing things for good !! :)

This is my sixth post in the Magical Monday series of inspirational stories aimed at motivating us to bring out our best on the first day of the week! The story today is of a renouned American author, poet, dancer, actress and singer who we lost this year, Maya Angelou. Her story exemplifies the strength and poential of the human spirit. 

Maya is known for her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which is the first nonfiction best-seller by an African-American woman. She also published the Pulitzer Prize-nominated poetry collection Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die and wrote the famous poem "On the Pulse of Morning" which she recited at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993. Angelou received several honors throughout her career . She died at the age of 86 on 28th May this Year.

Maya Angelou

Maya achieved all of this after a difficult childhood and early life. Her parents split up when she was very young, and she was sent to live with their father's mother in Arkansas. As an African American, Angelou experienced firsthand racial prejudices and discrimination in Arkansas. At the impressionable  age of 7 Angelou was raped by her mother's boyfriend. Then, as vengeance for the sexual assault, Angelou's uncles killed the boyfriend leaving her traumatized and shocked by the experience.  Angelou stopped talking and spent almost 5 years as a virtual mute after this episode. She became the mother to a child as a teenager and as a young adult she took up different jobs in order to make ends meet. This also included work as a  prostitute and as a nightclub dancer and performer.

Maya joined the opera Porgy and Bess and toured Europe with the production of the opera. She began her practice of learning the language of every country she visited, and in a few years she gained proficiency in several languages. Following this she started her career as a writer and poet and achieved great heights and success in this field. She had the likes of Malcom X, Martin Luther King and James Baldwin in her circle of friends.

I find her story to be so inspiring because even after seeing the worst in her life she kept her positivity alive and gave a beautiful direction to her life and inspired so many others in the process.

Magic Monday/5

Mondays are full of madness! Mondays for most people brings out the colour blue (Monday Blues). But like so many things, is it just a figment of our imagination? So if we change our attitute, is it possible to change Manic Monday into Magic Monday? What if we feed it into our system that Monday will be a grand day? It will be a day when our energy levels will be the higest because we will be refreshed after a break and that we will start a new week with zest and high spirits! What if we tell ourselves at the start of the week that this week we will be unstoppable, be a powerhouse and race ahead,  could it change things? I believe it could :)

And believing is the first step towards changing things for good !! :)

This is my fifth post in the Magical Monday series of inspirational stories aimed at motivating us to bring out our best on the first day of the week! Today the story is about a braveheart who took a bullet in her head for the cause of others and survived it. Malala yousafzai is the only Pakistani and the youngest person in the world to get a nobel prize.

Malala Yousafzai (image by google)

Malala is a native of Swat Valley,  Pakistan where there is a dominance of the militant Taliban outfit. Malala's family runs a chain of schools in the valley and she is an activist of the cause of girl education. Taliban being a conservative group of hardliners do not suppor equal rights for women and do not encourage education of girls. In early 2009, Malala wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban occupation, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls in the Swat Valley. The following summer an American journalist made a documentary about her life in the backdrop of  Pakistani army fighting against Taliban's attempts to take control of the valley. Malala rose in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television, and she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by South African activist Desmond Tutu.

On the afternoon of 9 October 2012, Yousafzai boarded her school bus in the northwest Pakistani district of Swat. A gunman asked for her by name, then pointed a pistol at her and fired three shots. One bullet hit the left side of Yousafzai's forehead, travelled under her skin through the length of her face, and then went into her shoulder. The responsibility for this heinous crime was taken by Taliban. The days immediately following the attack, she remained unconscious and in critical condition, but later her condition improved enough for her to be sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham , England, for intensive rehabilitation.

On recovery Malala again started her efforts to champion the cause of education for girls. This teenager has shown such courage and unbreakable spirit which is a inspiration to all. She was recently awarded the nobel peace Prize and I believe that nobody could have deserved it more. Her speech on the receiving the nobel prize was a mirror to her fearless brave soul. A salute to her!

Magic Monday/4

Mondays are full of madness! Mondays for most people brings out the colour blue (Monday Blues). But like so many things, is it just a figment of our imagination? So if change our attitute, is it possible to change Manic Monday into Magic Monday? What if we feed it into our system that Monday will be a grand day? It will be a day when our energy levels will be the higest because we will be refreshed after a break and that we will start a new week with zest and high spirits! What if we tell ourselves at the start of the week that this week we will be unstoppable, be a powerhouse and race ahead,  could it change things? I believe it could :)

And believing is the first step towards changing things for good !! :)

This is my fourth post in the Magical Monday series of inspirational stories aimed at motivating us to bring out our best on the first day of the week! Today I chose to write about 'stepping in' for your friends in their time of need and this story is inspired by a sweet gesture by 2 very well known names of the music industry. This story highlights that no matter how much money,  fame and respect you have,  a good friend can still save the day for you!!

The band U2 was supposed to hold a concert at a charity event which was to be held in Newyork. The lead singer of the band , Buno, suffered a bike accident a few days prior to the concert and incurred serious injuries. Bono suffered from what the doctors call a " high energy bicycle accident" while attempting to avoid another rider in New York ' s Central Park. The singer was rushed to a hospital and required 5 hours of surgery to treat numerous fractures including a facial fracture.

The singer is still recovering from the injuries and had a bleak hope of participating in the concert . his is when 2 of his friends and music world heavy weights , Bruce Springsteen and Chris Martin agreed to substitute for their friend to make this charity event a success.

The  event is being held to support (RED) , an organization that aims to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child. Bono's doctor told Rolling Stone the singer will "require intensive and progressive therapy," but "a full recovery is expected." 

It is indeed heart warming to see such big stars stepping in to help another fellow singer in his hour of need especially for such a nobel cause thus setting an example to all their fans and followers!! 

NH7 Weekender

The NH7 Weekender,  organized on 29 and 30th of November 2014 at Budh Circuit Noida (close the India's capital city, Delhi)  was a very successful Music festival with some of India's finest bands playing live.

The ground at Budh circuit came alive with 6 stages where in the likes of Raghu Dixit, Indian Ocean, Goldspot and Amit Trivedi played live.

The shows which clearly stood out were that of Raghu Dixit who had exceptionally well choreographed dancers in addition to fine music and songs.

Raghu Dixit show

Raghu Dixit show

Hand shadow show

The band Indian Ocean had the crowds swooning to beautiful tracks composed by them.

Indian Ocean

Energetic performance by the band Fossils

Soft tunes by the band Goldspot

The grand finale of the 2 day event - brilliant show by Amit Trivedi

The atmosphere at the event was electrifying and a number of food stalls and games had been organized to keep the audience entertained.

Although this was the second such event organized at the Budh Circuit,  it got a packed house and crowd in hordes! A huge success!