BALABHARATI Samskar for Kids

F E B RUA RY 2 0 1 7 M AG H A - P H A L G U N M A S A

Anna - Food
Children, your mothers
Amruthavachan must always be asking you
to have your food on time
and you must have always
been running away with
excuses to delay eating ! We
all know the importance of
food in our growth. Our
health depends on the
quality and amount of food
we eat. Time of eating also
matters a lot. A healthy
body also leads to a healthy
mind. Junk food like pizza,
burger contains excess of fat
and processed sugar which
is considered as unhealthy
for our body. So you should
It is the coming
always prefer healthy food
together of little over junk food.
things in an
organized manner
In Hinduism, Annapoorna
that always goes to Devi, an incarnation of
make a great thing. Goddess Parvati, is
considered as The Goddess
nnnn of nourishment. In Sanskrit
'Anna' means food &
Shri Guruji 'poorna' means complete. If
MS Golwalkar people waste food, it is said
to be an act that displeases
Goddess Annapurna Devi.
Annapurna is also referred
to as the goddess of fertility
and agriculture. She is also
called Vishwamata - mother
of world, and Annada -
giver of food.
Children, there are lakhs of
people in the world who
sleep hungry daily. We are
fortunate that God has given
us enough to eat according
to our choice and we must
be thankful for that. Let us
take a pledge not to allow
wastage of food. You should
always consider anna as
holy and your mother as
Annapurna.
We must chant the Bhojan
mantra before having food
and also think about the
pur pose for which we
nurture and protect our
body. Let us pray to God
that our body, mind &
wealth be offered in good
works for the welfare of all.

About Balabharati : This is an attempt to awaken the patriotic and cultural values hidden in
the kids. The attempt is coordinated across Bangalore, in various localities, by the coordinators. You
too can participate in these events as a coordinator. Your ideas would add value to the centre. Send
your feedback to balabharati.blr@gmail.com

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 Balabharati - February 2017

"WHY" IS IT GOOD TO HAVE EARLY DINNER

There are many health benefits of eating your dinner early. According to Ayurveda, night
starts an hour after the sunset and one should eat dinner in the first phase of 'ratricharya' so
that our system gets synced with the nature’s cycle. When you eat early, your digestive
system processes the food well in time before you go to bed. Our biological clock is tuned
based on sunrise and sunset pattern and we need not change the natural cycle by eating our
dinner late and stay awake when its already night time.
Early food and early sleep in the night make you feel energetic and fresh the next day.
Eating early also saves you from many ailments such as acidity, heart burn, disruption of
sleep. We can fall sick due to eating greasy, deep fried and spicy foods as our body cannot
digest the heavy food if there is very little gap between dinner and the time we go to bed.
Dinner is the last meal of your day. The food eaten at night time does not get properly
digested, as the digestive system becomes less active during the night owing to the absence
of sunlight. Metabolism rate also slows down as we do not indulge in any physical activity.
We should ideally finish eating our dinner by 7 p.m. There needs to be a gap of 2 hours
between your dinner and when you go to bed. A basic tenet of Ayurveda says "Hita bhuk,
Mita bhuk, kaala bhuk", which means we must eat food that is good for health, eat it in
balanced quantity, and also eat it in right time. Let's all imbibe this habit for a healthy life !

Remembering our Heroes

Revolutionary who fought against Revolutionary who formed Hindustan Teacher, Lawyer, Freedom Fighter &
British in Armed Struggle for India's Republican Association to fight British First President of Independent India
Independence movement in armed struggle

Madan Lal Dhingra Sachindra Nath Sanyal Rajendra Prasad

Birth 08 February 1883 Demise 7 February 1942 Demise 28 February 1963

We pay our tributes to them on their Janma / Punya Tithi

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 Balabharati - February 2017

....continued

Uchhale koode jal mein taire,

badhaon ke path par daude
Yog kabbaddi kho-kho khele,
vajnon se taakat ko taule
Dhanush-baandh se phir saadhenge,
eklavya ka mel
Khel khiladi khel khulkar khel khiladi khel

Shakt bhuja ho sashakt kandhe

aandhi mein bhi aviral gati ho
Rag-rag mein ho pyaaar desh kaa,
khuli nigahein avichal mati ho
Tan mein bal ho man nirmal ho,
jyun baati mein tel
Khel khiladi khel khulkar khel khiladi khel

Hanskar milkar datkar badhkar khel khiladi khel

Khel khiladi khel khulkar khel khiladi khel

Bhaavarth of the Geet

In the above lines the song tells us about playing our traditional games like kabaddi,
kho-kho, swimmimg and also yoga. We should strive to become perfect in playing
games like Eklavya did with his bow and arrows. Ours arms and shoulders must be
strong, we should move without stopping while facing storms of difficulties, love for the
country should flow through our veins and our vision should be open with a steady
intellect. Like oil penetrating in each and every portion of the cotton thread of the
lamp, each and every part of our body should be filled with strength and mind should
be filled with purity. All this is possible to achieve if we play our games uninhibitedly
with a smile and determination and in a spirit of togetherness.

Note: Given above are the last 2 stanzas of the song 'Khel Khiladi Khel'. Refer to January
2017 edition for the 1st 3 stanzas.

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 Balabharati - February 2017

Colouring Activity - Mahashivaratri - 24th February

Quiz on fruits & vegetables

1. Which country is the largest producer of bananas?
A. Pakistan C. India
B. Uganda D. Bangladesh

2. What is another name for maize?

A. Wheat C. Ragi
B. Corn D. Rice

3. What is the sweet substance made by bees?

A. Honey C. Jaggery
B. Milk D. Sugar

4. . Which vegetable is flower that you can eat?

A. Potato C. Carrot
B. Tomato D. Cauliflower

5. Which group of below mentioned vegetables grow under the ground?

A. Okra, Cabbage, Cauliflower C. Tomato, Bitter gourd,Pumpkin
B. Potato, Beetroot, Onion D. Chilli,Green beans, Peas

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 Balabharati - February 2017

Can you fill up the blanks !!

1. Name the day we do not eat food and we do upavas _____________

2. We eat food to give us ________ to do our day to day activities

3. Goddess name for Food in Hindu culture ______________

4. The fruit that is rich in Vitamin A _____________

5. The vitamin that is required for absorption of calcium _____________

6. There are ________ groups in food pyramid

7. The food with all the essential items required for a meal is called _________

8. Which of these is true

a. Heavy breakfast light dinner
b. Heavy dinner light breakfast

9. Mantra you tell before you start eating food _______

a. Sarve bavantu sukhinaha
b. Annapurne sada purne
c. Saraswathi namastubyam
d. Vakrathunda mahakaya

10. Which of these vegetables are actually fruits

a. Tomato
b. Pepper
c. Cucumber
d. All of the above

nnnn

Balabharati News: New centers started at Amrutha Value apartment (White Field ), ST
Bed (Koramangala), Tejas Daffodils & Saptagiri apartment (Kaggadaspura).

Makar Sankranti/Pongal was celebrated with fervour in many centers such as Sarovar, Krishna
Diamond, Purva Skywood, NGV, ST Bed. Many places also conducted kite making and flying
activities during Sankranti - DJRC Singasandra, NAL, Kethana Blossom to name a few. Some
centers are also preparing for special events during their apartment's Republic Day celebrations.
Sankranti is also the special activity theme for January. Some centers already conducted special
educational session on Sankranti followed by Til Gud distribution to kids ( such as in Acas crescent
Square, Gottigere ).

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 Balabharati - February 2017

Fruits & Vegetable Spinning Calendar

Needed Materials: One big rectangular card box, 3 small square card box, 1 stick
(bamboo or broom), 1 inch of straw piece, masking tape, fevicol, paper cutter, coloured
paper of your choice, punching tool.


Method:

1. Cut the rectangular box as shown in picture 2.

2. Punch the small boxes at the both ends as shown in picture3, and cover them with
coloured paper as shown in the pic 4 .

3. Divide the straw in two equal parts and fix them at the center of cut angle to fix the stick
for spinning small boxes as shown in pic 3.

4. After wrapping the small boxes with coloured paper, each side write month name and
fruits and vegetable names that comes in in that month.

5. Small boxes to the stick through the punched hole and fix the stick to the straw as shown
in pic 5.

Instructions:
As your spinning fruits and
vegetable calendar is ready, please
collect list of fruits and vegetable
t h a t c o m e s i n Ja n u a r y t o
December. You can also add oil,
grains, and pulses.

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 Balabharati - February 2017

Little Heroes : Angelica Tynsong, Meghalaya

Angelica Tynsong, 13, from Ri Bhoi district, saved her

7-month-old brother when their house caught fire on
February 1, 2015. Her brother was sleeping while she
was washing clothes, and their parents were not present
in the house at the time of the incident.

She was honoured with the General National Bravery

Award.

FunScience Experiments: Make Lemonade fizzy soda drink

A bit of lemon here and a bit of baking soda there and before you know it you'll be an
expert at making your own fizzy drinks. Make your own lemonade soft drink with this
fun experiment for kids.

What you'll need:

Lemon, Drinking glass

Water, 1 teaspoon of baking soda
Some sugar to make it sweet

Instructions:
Squeeze as much of the juice from the lemon as you can into
the glass.
Pour in an equal amount of water as lemon juice.
Put in a teaspoon of baking soda and stir it well.
Give the mixture a taste and add in some sugar if you think it needs to be sweeter.

What's happening?
The mixture you created would go bubbly and taste like a lemonade, soda, fizzy or soft
drink, if you have added some sugar it might even taste like a lemon flavoured soft drink
you've bought at a store. The bubbles that form when you add the baking soda to the
lemon mixture are carbon dioxide (CO2), these are the same bubbles you'll find in
proper fizzy drinks. Of course they add a few other flavoured sweeteners but it's not
much different from what you have made. If you are wondering how the carbon
dioxide bubbles are formed, it was because you created a chemical reaction when you
added the lemon juice (an acid) to the baking soda (a base).

Answers to Quiz: 1-(C), 2-(B) , 3-(A), 4-(D), 5-(B)

Answers to Fill the blanks: 1. Ekadashi, 2. Energy, 3. Annapurna, 4. Papaya, 5. Vitamin D, 6. Five
7. Balanced diet, 8.(a) 9. (b), 10. (d)

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 Balabharati - February 2017

Story of Goddess Annapoorna and Lord Shiva

In Hinduism, Goddess Annapoorna, or Annapurna Devi, is the Goddess

of food. She is an incarnation of Goddess Parvati; in essence one of the
numerous forms of Shakti. In this incarnation she nourishes all living
beings and therefore Hindus consider ‘Annam’ (food) as holy. There is an
interesting incident involving Lord Shiva and Goddess Annapoorna,
which explains that even Moksha (salvation/liberation) is not possible on
an empty stomach.

Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati used to play the game of dice. Once the
game became so interesting that they started betting – Parvati kept her jewels and Shiva his
trident. Shiva lost the game and lost his trident. To get back his trident, Shiva betted
serpent and this time too he lost the game. Finally, when the game ended, Shiva lost all that
he had including his begging bowl. A humiliated Shiva left for the Deodar forest. Lord
Vishnu approached Shiva and asked him to play again to win back all that he had lost.
Taking advice from Vishnu, Shiva played again and won all that he had lost in the previous
game.

Goddess Parvati grew suspicious about Shiva’s sudden turn of fortunes and called him a
cheat. This led to a verbal duel between the couple. Finally, Lord Vishnu intervened and
revealed that the dice moved as per His wish and they were under the illusion that they
were playing. Verbal duel soon turned to philosophical discussion and Lord Shiva said that
possessions are temporary…everything is Maya (illusion)…even the food we eat is Maya.
Goddess Parvati did not agree that food is illusion. She argued that if food is an illusion
then she too is an illusion. She wanted to know how the world would survive without food
and disappeared. Her disappearance meant Nature came to a stand still. There were no
seasonal changes. Everything remained barren. There was no regeneration or birth. Soon
there was severe drought and shortage of food.

Shiva soon realised that he is incomplete without Shakti. Gods, humans and demons all
kept praying for food. Goddess Parvati could not see her children perishing out of hunger
and appeared in Kashi (Varanasi) and started distributing food. Shiva appeared before her
with a begging bowl and Goddess Parvati fed Shiva too. Shiva said that food cannot be
dismissed as mere illusion as it is required to nourish the body in which resides the Atma.
Since then Goddess Parvati is worshipped as the Goddess of food – Annapoorna Devi. The
importance of annadanam is explained in the following subhashita.

न अन्नोदकसमं दानं न ितिथद्र्वादशीसमा |

न गायत्रया: परो मन्त्रो न मातु: परदैवतम् ||

Giving water and food is the best among various donations. ‘dwadashi’ is the most auspicious among all
the days. ‘Gayatri Mantra’ is the best among all the ‘Mantras’ and ( one's) Mother is superior to all the
Gods. Note: Children, this story also shows us how our Gods involve in Leelas, a kind of role playing of
scenarios possible in human nature and enact the story, only to give us a message in the end. The stories
always show us what is the right attitude we should have and the way we should lead our lives.

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