Thought Card – 13 – Jan – Birthday of Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma – First Indian to travel into space in 1984 – Soyuz T-11

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Sharma was born in 1949  in Patiala, Punjab, India and was schooled at St. George's Grammar School, Abid Road, Hyderabad.
He joined the NDA as an Air Force cadet in July 1966. He was commissioned into the Indian Air Force as a Pilot Officer in 1970. In 1971 operations against Pakistan, he flew various missions in his MIG aircraft with distinction.
Sharma, then a Squadron Leader and pilot with the Indian Air Force embarked on a historic mission in 1984 as part of a joint space program between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Soviet Intercosmos space program, and spent eight days in space aboard the Salyut 7 space station. He was conferred with the honour of Hero of Soviet Union upon his return from space. The Government of India conferred its highest gallantry award (during peace time), the Ashoka Chakra on him and the other two Russian members of his mission.

QUOTE:

In a famous conversation, he was asked by the then
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi  how India looked from
space, to which he replied, Saare Jahan Se Achcha,
(a reference to an iconic Urdu poem used in India's
freedom struggle, usually referred to as
'Saare jahaan se atchha Hindustan hamara, '
our land of Hindustan, is better than the entire world').

(Source: Wikipedia.org)

Tags: ashok chakra, astronaut, birthday, cards, cosmonaut, ecards, greetings, hero of soviet union, iaf, indian, indian air force, indian space research organisation, indira gandhi, isro, knowledge, mission, rakesh sharma, russian, saare jahaan se achha, salyut, soviet, soyuz t-11, space, thought for the day

Creative Idea Cards – Swans from Ice Cream Cone Paper holder

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How the Idea was born:

We 3 friends were having ice-cream cones (of the packed variety, London Diary in this instance) at a mall in Sharjah in 2006.

During the flow of the conversation at the table in which we were sitting outside the ice-cream shop, I noticed that we had finished the ice-cream cones and the 3 conical wrappers were lying on the table.

In my usual habit of fiddling with the paper, suddenly I found that I had folded the conical wrapper into the shape of a swan. I quickly created the swan family using the other 2 wrappers. The third wrapper was already torn short by chance and perfectly completmented as the baby swan!

Much to the amazement of my friends, I created the 3 swans on the spur of the moment at that table and photographed the swan family with my 7.2mp Sony W-35 'point and shoot' digital camera in macro mode without flash.

Tags: creativity, ecards, egreetings, friends, greetings, ice cream cone wrappers, ideas, knowledge, london diary, macro photography, mall, origami, paper, recycling, sharjah, sony w-35 digital camera, swans

Thought Card – 12 Jan – Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda – (Key Figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America)

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Swami Vivekananda  (January 12, 1863–July 4, 1902), born Narendranath Dutta  was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Hindu philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a world religion during the end of the 19th century. Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India. He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech beginning with "Sisters and Brothers of America", through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago in 1893.

(Source: Wikipedia.org) Visit Vivekananda.net

QUOTES

This world is neither good nor evil; each man
manufactures a world for himself.

Women deserve and are fit for everything.

Life is but a dream of death.

No man is born to any religion;
he has a religion in his own soul.

Tags: 12 jan, anniversary, birth, birthday, ecards, egreetings, greetings, hinduism, inter-faith, knowledge, ramakrishna mission, swami vivekananda, thought cards, thought for the day, vedanta, yoga

Thought Card – 11 Jan – Birthday of Aldo Leopold, founder of the science of wildlife management

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Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American ecologist, forester, and environmentalist.
He is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac (1949)  which is compared to Henry David Thoreau's Walden, and has sold over two million copies. Influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness conservation, his ethics of nature and wildlife preservation had a profound impact on the environmental movement, with his biocentric or holistic ethics regarding land. He emphasized biodiversity and ecology and was a founder of the science of wildlife management. (Source: Wikipedia.org)
Visit AldoLeopold.org –
the Aldo Leopold Foundation

QUOTES
The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries
of the community to include soils, waters, plants,
and animals, or collectively: the land… In short,
a land ethic changes  the role of Homosapiens
from conqueror of the  land-community to
plain member  and citizen of it.  It implies
respect for his fellow-members, and also
respect for the community as such.

Tags: A Sand Almanac, aldo leopold, anniversary, birth, birthday, conservation, ecards, environmentalist, forester, greetings, january 11, knowledge, land ethics, quote, Thoreau, thought for the day, Walden, wilderness society, wildlife management

A Birth Anniversary Thought Card – 10 Jan 1864 – George Carver Washington – America’s first coloured scientist and one of the finest the world has ever known!

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George Washington Carver was born in Missouri on the Moses Carver plantation. His parents were slaves.

He taught himself to read. His family was so poor, he couldn't afford to buy a pencil, so he made a holder and used a pencil that was only 1/4 inch long.

He wrote to a college to enroll and they accepted him, but when they found out he was black, they told him he couldn't attend. After five more years, when he was 30 years old, he was accepted at a college in Iowa.

He  did a lot of experimenting to find new ways to use different plants. He made more than 300 products from peanuts. He even made soap and ink from peanuts. From sweet potatoes, he made 118 products, including flour and candy. He made 75 products from pecans and even made a building material for walls from cotton stalks.

Money, stylish clothes, and fine cars were not important to him. He thought the truly successful person was the one who had learned to serve others.

He was one of the finest scientists the world has ever known.

(Read the full story at: http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdcarve.htm: )

QUOTES

Our creator is the same and never changes
despite the names given Him by people here
and in all parts of the world. Even if we gave
Him no name at all, He would still be there,
within us, waiting to give us good on this earth.
☻
No individual has any right to come into the world
and go out of it without leaving something behind.
☻
How far you go in life depends on your being tender
with the young, compassionate with the aged,
sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak
and strong. Because someday in your life you will
have been all of these.

Tags: agricultural, american, anniversary, birth, birthday, cards, ecards, egreetings, george carver washington, knowledge, scientist

Joke Card – Share-a-smile – Kiss

Joke Card – Share-a-smile – Kiss

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He always kneeled before the maid
And kissed her finger tips;
But he lost out. Another man
Came by and kissed her lips.

JOKE: The New Pun Book, by Thomas A. Brown and Thomas Joseph Carey  Copyright 1906 Gutenberg.org
PHOTO: Taken by me from my Chennai aunt"s collection of showcase dolls.

Tags: comedy, ecards, egreetings, funny, greetings, humour, jokes, kiss, knowledge, love, maid, pranks, romance, wit

Thought Card – On Friendship

Thought Card – On Friendship

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The Google doodle today (Jan 6)  tells us that it's the visionary poet Khalil Gibran's birthday. Here is a nice thought from him on friendship:

A friend who is far away
is sometimes much nearer
than one who is at hand.
Is not the mountain far
more awe-inspiring
and more clearly visible
to one passing through the
valley than to those who
inhabit the mountain?

Khalil Gibran

Thought Card for the Day – Generosity – Khalil Gibran

Thought Card for the Day – Generosity – Khalil Gibran

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

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Wishing all our good-wishers and readers a Peaceful and Prosperous 2011.

The cartoon greeting featured above is by a good friend and talented cartoonist Mr. Vijayan of InkBugDesign.com

Joke Card – Share-a-Smile – Marriage

Joke Card – Share-a-Smile – Marriage

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"Let me see," said the minister, who was
filling out the marriage certificate and
had forgotten the date, "this is the fifth,
is it not?"

"No, sir!" said the bride, with some
indignation, "this is only my third!"

JOKE: The New Pun Book, by Thomas A. Brown and Thomas Joseph Carey  Copyright 1906 Gutenberg.org
PHOTO: Taken by me from my mom's collection of showcase dolls.