OMG02 “Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.”GÉRARD DE NERVAL, FRENCH WRITER AND POET

What’s In My CUP?

You are holding a cup of coffeewhen someone comes along andpushes you, making you spill yourcoffee everywhere. Why did you

spill the coffee? “Well because someonebumped into me, of course!” You spilt thecoffee because there was coffee in the cup,not the tea. Whatever is inside the cup iswhat will come out. Therefore, when lifecomes along and shakes you, whatever isinside of you will come out. So we have to askourselves: What’s in my cup? When life getstough, what spills over? Joy, gratefulness,peace and humility? Or is it anger, bitterness,harsh words and actions? Tell us... You have the choice. Today let’s worktowards filling our cups with gratitude,kindness, and love.

CELEB’S CHOICE I think my cup will be filled with joy.Joy is the source of creativity andfuels passion to forge ahead in life.It is the source of all goodness andpropels one to be an achiever inevery sense of the word. So, I wantthe cup of my life to be filled withjoy.- Armaan Malik, singer

Love works wonders in keep-ing your mood upbeat andbeing at its best. Over theyears I have learnt thattreating everyone you comeacross in your life with lovecan work wonders. My cupwill be a cup of love...— Rishi Kapoor, actor

My cup will be full of gratitude. I am in avery happy space right now. I am extreme-ly grateful for everything that I have, forthe privileges that I have been bestowedwith. I would like to pray to the almightythat he fills everyone’s cup with blessings. — Deepika Padukone, actress

COMPASSION AND GRATITUDE

LOVE AND COURAGE

LOVE AND HOPE

My cup will contain empathy, compassionand gratitude. We tend to enjoy the mo-

ments, which do not last forever, for example,a freshly bloomed flower or a sunrise. We shouldremember that not only the beautiful thingsbut also the sad /hard times fade away. Noth-ing lasts long. Everything passes. As a resultwe should be grateful for every moment we ex-perience, and savour it.

Bandita Roy, educator, DPS, Ahmedabad

Iwant my cup to be full of compassion. Bycompassion, I mean helping others and be-

ing understanding. I try to be more compas-sionate by not only helping my friends and fam-ily but helping the world around me. I am al-ways helping people around me, when they ap-pear distressed. I think that adds “compassion”to my qualities. In turn, I feel proud of what Ihave done.

Aditya Nayak, class IX, The Brigade School, Blr

My cup will contain ahandful of strength

for all that may come, stirredwith love and joy to guide me

in the darkest times. I will havea dollop of gratefulness and a pinch

of euphoria in my journey to pushme forward. A scoop of self-confidence

and a beaker of healthy living will leadme to a peaceful life.

Samyuktaa Sivakumar, class IX, Ryan Intl,

Kandivali East, Mumbai

‘Life is not fair. But the fair part oflife is that it is unfair to everybody!’Years back, I was told this by a young-ster when I was at a low point in mylife. It made me look around and I sawall people with some trouble or theother. In many cases, their problemswere far greater than mine. Suddenly,I felt thankful and even lucky. I haveshoes when people are crippled... thelist is endless.

This made me introspective and Isimply looked up and thanked theAlmighty for all that I have in my liferather than be sorrowful for what Idon’t. I am thankful for my life, myhealth. I am thankful for my educa-tion, my intellect and my passion. Iam thankful for those who stood byme and those who taught me to standby myself. My Cup of Life overflowswith gratitude and I shall do myutmost to pass it on... After all, wereceive to give.

Ishita Basu, teacher, La Martiniere Girls

College, Lucknow

My cup should be filled to the brim, hav-ing lived to the fullest with no regrets.

This cup contains positivity and hope and theability to be selfless. It also has simple butimportant attributes such as laughter andhappiness. Honesty, compassion and commit-ment to reach out to people is an integral partof me, as are kindness, empathy and love. Thecup is full of learning too, making me thankthe Almighty and say, “Life is beautiful”.

Sangeeta Tandon, Principal, Shri Shikshayatan,School, Kolkata

Life is not always easy, you have daysthat make you feel excited or energetic

and days that bring sadness and agony.Sometimes, you feel happy that you findbeauty in every little thing around andsometimes you feel heartbroken. My cupis a mixture of all these emotions. It haslove, care, compassion, happiness,optimism, hatred, anger, jealousy, guilt,pain, victory, defeat and what not. Sofriends, fill your cup of life with all

emotions but let love override all negativity.

Seelena Joy Kiriyanthan, class XI, Greets Public School, Ernakulam

Ithink that earlier, the cup was filledwith joy, love, compassion and kind-

ness but nowadays, the same thing doesnot apply. These days the cup is filled withsorrow, pain, hate and anger. We don’ttrust anyone like we used to, we don’thave time to spend with our friends andfamily, we give more importance to lux-ury than our relations. No matter howmuch you try to keep sorrow, pain, hateand anger in check, these emotions too fill my cup along with love, hope,kindness, joy and other positive feelings.

Shreya Parti, class X, Banyan Tree School, Chandigarh

My cup wouldcontain satis-

faction. Of course,happiness and love arejust as important, butthere is no end to desire.Eventually, a happy andqualitative life isdependent on one’ssatisfaction. Themoment you are contentfor all that you have, life becomes simple.

Aarav Sanghvi, class XI, Tulip School, Ahmedabad

The cup should be likea “Cup of Coffee” —

neither too cold, nor toohot — just the rightwarmth and flavour toenjoy. Mine consists oflove, compassion andkindness, but also someamount of guilt andhatred. Whenever Iwitness wrongdoings, I feel terribly guilty. Whenever Icome across vicious people who behave well in front ofeveryone, my heart is filled with hatred. But whatsaves me from them are the virtues of generosity,kindness and forgiveness that reside within me. I can’timagine a world without all these emotions

Archisman Ghosh, Class XI, MP Birla Foundation Higher

Secondary School, Kolkata

My cup is aharmony of

various ingredientslike curiosity andgrief, but the mostprominent elementin my cup is“Courage”. It is theforce that helps megather all othercomponents in mycup. Courage for me isn’t always about beingbrave; it helps me find the strength to accept whatI resist. It is that little voice in my head whichreminds me to stand up for what I believe, the lightwhich helps me challenge the status quo and bethe first version of myself. How do I feel about mycup? I feel dauntless.

Sharmila A, teacher, Silver Oaks International School, Blr

I t comes easy to us to crib. To complain about every tiny lit-tle thing. “I don’t like the food in my tiffin today, againmum’s given this same old boring sandwich”. “I wish this

awful math period was cancelled.” From the smallest to thebiggest situations in our lives, we complain. And that’s ironic,considering one glance at the world around us, the conditions avast majority of people live in, the hardships they endure on adaily basis will make us quickly realise what blessed and privi-leged lives we lead. Yet, we crib and criticise. So how can wechange this? How can we inculcate a sense of gratefulness, asense of gratitude and thanks?RECORD YOUR BLESSINGS: By writing a simple diary each dayof the “good” things that took place on that day will fill up pagesupon pages of positive happenings and people in our lives.Writing these instances down will naturally replace all the nega-tive thoughts and feelings that consume our mind space. Trydoing this, it will change your outlook towards your own life.SOCIAL VOLUNTEERING: The moment you decide to volunteeryour time, effort and services to any socially relevant cause, itwill endow you with a real sense of achievement. Being surround-ed by the brutal realities of life will put your own life in perspec-tive and you will immediately feel a sense of gratitude. It could

be any kind of volunteering, from helping distribute clothes tothe pavement dwellers to assisting in a medical camp for the lessprivileged. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH LOVE: Sometimes, as young stu-dents, we tend to become very competitive. While competition isgood, too much can lead to bitterness, jealously, and negativerivalry. How about lessening that, and spending more time withthe people we love, and those that love us back? Invest in famil-ial ties, fast friendships rather than cultivating animosity. If wesurround ourselves with love, we will feel thankful automatically.

GET OUT: There is a reason why nature is called ‘nurturer’. Wehave, in fact, come from its bosom. It might be a good idea toditch our gadget-laden lives and go off “into the woods”. Bysheer proximity to nature, one will feel a heightened sense ofwell-being and positivity. And it will put many things in perspec-tive, making you extremely grateful for the life you have.NO COMPARISON: Try not to live your life based on ‘comparison’.There will inevitably be that one student who has got highergrades, that girl you wanted to date who is with someone else,and that spot on the cricket team you so longed for. Make your-self, your primary competition, and try and improve, just yourself.Looking inward instead of judging yourself by the yardsticks ofothers will most certainly make you happier, and more grateful.

A New York Film Academy alumnus,Kartik Bajoria is intimately versedwith aspects of film-making. Butsoon his passion for teaching wonover; now, he holds workshops oncreative writing and personalitydevelopment at various schools

KARTIK BAJORIA

A WORD TO THE WISE

Give thanks,be thankful

Write to Times NIE about your idea of “how tobe grateful” at toinie175@gmail.com

Laughter is the bestmedicine. My cup willbe brimming withlaughter. This is theonly way I can beat thestress and tension thatcomes my way. I wouldlike to ‘share thiscuppa with everyone! — Nushrat Bharuch,actress

Seeker: How to increasemy Happiness Quotient?■ Surakshit Goswami: Wehave been given the gift of lifein order to be happy. Let usfeel happy every second ofour lives. Happiness is notsomething that you shouldpostpone for later. We get ob-sessed with petty problemsand expect others to make ushappy. Once we learn to tran-scend mundane challengesand cease to source happi-ness from other people, wediscover that all along, wehad this treasure trove ofhappiness right inside us. Wejust didn’t realise it earlier!Then you will not only be ahappy person; you will alsobe a transmitter of happinessto all those around you. What

you give is what you get —give suffering, get sufferingin return. Give happiness, andreceive happiness in return.So begin today: Make a con-scious effort to boost your

Happiness Quotient fromwithin, and exude happinessall around you. No one is freefrom problems and chal-lenges. But only you can de-cide whether you wish to behappy or sad. So when youwake up in the morning, askyourself: Do I want to be hap-py, or sad, today? ■

Surakshit Goswami is a yog guru

Copernicus’ parentsmight deserve some of thecredit for his great discov-ery. Apparently when he was12 years old, they said tohim: “Copernicus, youngman, when are you going torealise that the world doesNOT revolve around you.”

REVOLVING WORLDIt’s amazing that we havereached a point wherethe effort necessary toextract oil from theground, ship it to a re-finery, turn it into plastic,shape it appropriately, truckit to a store, buy it, and bringit home is considered to beless exacting than what ittakes to just wash the spoonwhen you’re done with it.

SACREDSPACE

Faith & Reasonhttp://www.speakingtree.in

Pulkit Sharma

There is a growingconcern regardingthe reckless thrill-

seeking and self-destruc-tiveness displayed by someyouth. Adolescence andyouth are important devel-opmental stages when theyoung feel the need for anidentity, for a strong senseof self. If the young areonly looking for thatadrenaline rush, the thrillthat boosts their self-

esteem, then can we notintroduce them to con-structive, thrilling optionsthat are both exciting andsafe? That way, not onlywould they enjoy the expe-rience, they will alsoaccomplish somethingpositive that will boosttheir self-esteem and confi-dence. The most importantempathetic interventionwould be to make avail-able, aesthetic and healthyoptions. Show interest and

joy towards the young-ster’s need to explore theunknown and createopportunities for them.

Actions speak louderthan words. If we wantyouth to be level-headed andresponsible, then the bestway to convince them is tobe a good role model. Weneed to connect with youthwithout being intrusive. Theonly way we can help themchannelise it is by beingmore available, commu-nicative, informed, evolvedand candid. ■

YOUNG & SELF-DESTRUCTIVE

Make a consciouseffort to boost yourHappiness Quotientfrom within

HAPPINESS QUOTIENTPHEW!

Without faith there is noknowledge, without

knowledge there is novirtuous conduct,

without virtues there is no deliverance, andwithout deliverancethere is no nirvana.

Uttaradhyayana SSutra✥

The righteous shall live by being faithful.

Habakkuk✥

Faith based on directexperience bestows the

clarity of mind.... Such faith can never be

challenged, whereasblind faith is alwayssubject to scrutiny.

Swami RRama ✥

Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything,

will get you killed. Bruce SSpringsteen