International Mother Earth Day

Mother Earth Day

We have termed earth as our mother, as she has stood by us for centuries as a source of belief and guidance. You don’t have to be a religious person to spiritually feel and come to terms with our part in the universe, the Earth, our only home.

It is very important to know where we came from, as it will make it clear for us to know where we will go. We have prospered due to our technological genius, but at the same time has also alienated us from the world of Nature.

The International Mother Earth Day, this year in 2018

 The issues are many – we live in an environment that works hard to put us under stress, the pace at which we are going is often at times faster than our lives, noise levels are far beyond bearable decibel levels, the pollution higher and the environment beyond conducive.

Earth Day
Earth Day, Land, Environment, Women
Image credit- Pixabay

The International Mother Earth Day is being observed on the 22nd of April every year reminding us that it is the Earth and its ecosystem that provides us with life and sustenance. It calls to recognize a collective responsibility to encourage and promote harmony with nature and thereby the Earth.

This year in 2018, the focus is on to “End Plastic Pollution”, to create support for a global effort in order to eliminate the use of plastic and regulate means in plastic use and plastic waste disposal. This awareness is aimed to convey and educate people around the globe to about the numerous health and other risks associated with the use and disposal of plastics which includes pollution of oceans and water resources, dangers to wildlife and other related serious global health issues.

Motivating People to save the Earth

 Mother Earth has her needs too. Here are some campaigns that we can collectively participate in to support, protect, nurture and motivate our environment. Let’s take steps to do our bit. Although believing that every day of the year should be Earth Day, let’s ourselves take the first step forward.

  • Clean out Your Wardrobes and Donate to a Charity: do you really know that manufacturing new clothes needs more energy and water? And at the same time, there are many in this world who don’t have the resources to buy new ones and even have one also. It is a great idea to empty your closets and donate the ones to the local charity which you might not have even seen for years.

Do this and for sure you will feel good about it, and also who receive them will be thankful and bless you for this action of yours.

  • Educate and initiate people on Compost: just imagine how much trash we individually make every year. Composting is a great way to use the things in your refrigerator that you don’t use and therefore eliminating waste. Keep a container or a bin at your home or in the garden and collect items like fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, plant clips, dry leaves, newspapers shredded and straws, and the outcome is a soil conditioner that is rich in nutrients, and can be used for gardens, landscaping, horticulture, urban agriculture and organic farming.

Trust Basket Trustbin (Set Of Two 14 Ltrs Bins)-Indoor Compost Bin For Converting All Kinds Of Kitchen Food Waste Into Fertilizer

Do this yourself and encourage others to do it. A great and valuable way to get rid of wastes.

  • Plant Trees: might sound like a bit melancholic, but is perhaps one of the best ways to appreciate mother earth and the environment. The fact is that global warming is a result of the buildup of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere thereby trapping heat. Trees have great abilities to suck up these gasses and making the environment cooler and conducive.

Root Bridges Indoor Golden Money Plant

Plant a tree and encourage others to do it, and just imagine a tree a person – how much difference can it actually make to the atmosphere.

  • A day without your Car: make a choice today to leave for work or any other activity without your car and taking other means of public transport, biking or even cycling. Just imagine how much will you alone can contribute to the atmosphere by relieving it from pollution and higher greenhouse gas emissions. Your health and the environment will both benefit.

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  • Say no to Plastic Bags: a symbol of the disposable consumer society, single-use plastic bags are a major threat to the environment and all water bodies. Plastic bags once thrown in the ground takes centuries to degenerate and never decomposes into the soil.

Multipurpose Shopping Bag – Cotton Tote Bag with Zipper Closure & Double Handles

Keep a bag made out of jute or cotton and never insist for a plastic bag if you don’t need one. If you have purchased a single item, carry by hand and never throw away the old plastic bags carelessly.

‘Civilization is rooted in nature, which has shaped human culture and influenced all artistic and scientific achievement, and living in harmony with nature gives a man the best opportunities for the development of his creativity, and for rest and recreation.’

– By the World Charter of Nature.


Rajiv Seharawat is a man who wears many feathers on his hat. He is a one-man army and runs the whole show. He is in his Diet Clinic Health Care Pvt. Ltd. He is visiting his Franchise outlets and happily giving time to his friends and others and motivating everyone to do the best in their life.


You may like to read Mother Earth – Best Places of Interest

World Heritage Day

Cambodia, World Heritage Day

World Heritage is the shared wealth of humankind. Protecting and preserving this valuable asset demands the collective efforts of the international community. This special day offers an opportunity to raise the public’s awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage and the efforts that are required to protect and conserve it, as well as draw attention to its vulnerability.

On 18 April 1982 on the occasion of a symposium organised by ICOMOS in Tunisia, the holding of the “International Day for Monuments and Sites” to be celebrated simultaneously throughout the world was suggested. This project was approved by the Executive Committee who provided practical suggestions to the National Committees on how to organise this day.

The idea was also approved by the UNESCO General Conference who passed a resolution at its 22nd session in November 1983 recommending that Member States examine the possibility of declaring 18 April each year “International Monuments and Sites Day”. This has been traditionally called the World Heritage Day.

ICOMOS, the International Council for Monuments and Sites makes a number of suggestions on how to celebrate the World Heritage Day:

  • Visits to monuments and sites, and restoration works, possibly with free admission
  • Articles in newspapers and magazines, as well as television and radio broadcasts
  • Hanging banners in town squares or principal traffic arteries calling attention to the day and the preservation of cultural heritage
  • Inviting local and foreign experts and personalities for conferences and interviews
  • Organising discussions in cultural-centres, city halls, and other public spaces
  • Exhibitions (photos, paintings, etc)
  • Publication of books, post-cards, stamps, posters
  • Awarding prizes to organisations or persons who have made an outstanding contribution to the conservation and promotion of cultural heritage or produced an excellent publication on the subject.
  • Inaugurate a recently restored monument
  • Special awareness raising activities amongst school children and youth
  • Promotion of “twinning” opportunities between organizations, defining areas for co-operation; exchange of speakers; organisation of meetings and seminars, or the editing of joint publications.

There are over 1000 UNESCO World Heritage Sites as been recognized so far. However, among these sites, there is top 10 most beautiful and attractive sites that you must see.

1) ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA

2) ACROPOLIS, GREECE

3) GALÁPAGOS ISLAND, ECUADOR

4) GOREME NATIONAL PARK AND THE ROCK SITES OF CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY

5) GREAT BARRIER REEF, AUSTRALIA

6) HAMPI, INDIA

7) IGUAZU NATIONAL PARK FALL, BRAZIL AND ARGENTINA

8) LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK, ARGENTINA

9) MACHU PICCHU, PERU

10) MONT-SAINT-MICHEL, FRANCE

Source- Did you know that 18 April
is World Heritage Day?

Image Credit: WikiPedia http://www.wikipedia.org/

For more info see http://www.heritagedaily.com/2014/08/…

To get more amazing pictures, go to http://www.goamazing.net

This Is How People Celebrate Easter Around the World

Happy Easter

For people who celebrate Easter, it’s not all bunnies and candy. In southern Mexico, the Catholic faithful begin Holy Week with an overnight procession. Good Friday in Australia has a more sedate feel, while in the Czech Republic, an old tradition is given a fresh spin. Peruvians in central Lima celebrate with a procession in which worshippers wear purple while carrying the “Lord of the Miracles.”

InsideEdition.com’s Keleigh Nealon has more.

You may also like to read Celebrate Easter Delights Sunday Treat

Celebrate Navroz

Baha'i New Year, Navroz

Festivals and holy days play a significant role in every community. The total number of sacred days adds up to 138, comprising feasts, fasts and prayers. An interesting feature of these holy days is that there are a ‘new years’ all the year around! Although 1st January has become the de facto global New Year date, yet many religious communities and faith-based traditions follow other calendar systems and celebrate New Year during different months.

The new year of the Baha’i Faith coincides with the vernal or spring equinox and is preceded by 19 days of fasting-abstaining from food and drink from sunrise to sunset each day. This fast, the Baha’i teachings say, purifies the body and the spirit.

New delhi temple

This year, Navroz will be celebrated on March 21. The occasion will also bring down curtains on the year-long bicentenary celebrations of the birth of Baha’u’llah (1817-1892) which was commemorated around the world by his followers and their friends. The biggest gathering was at New Delhi’s Lotus Temple. Baha’u’llah calls out to humanity for good deeds, kind words, and upright conduct; service to others and collaborative action for constructing a world civilisation; and urges every member of the human race to walk the mystical path.

Navroz has its origins as a Zoroastrian observance in ancient Iran and to this day, it is celebrated as a cultural festival by Iranians of all religious backgrounds. In addition of being celebrated by Iranians and members of the Iranian diaspora, the observance of Navroz also spread to many other parts of the world; it is being celebrated as cultural holiday in India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Navroz is typified with common forms of celebrations, but at its most basic, the holiday is seen as a period to firm up ties with family, friends and loved ones. Therefore, cards are sent to associates and friends and families sit in groups to have communal meals.

At the Baha’i World Centre in Haifa, Israel and in many other countries around the world, besides the community celebrations, special receptions are hosted for governmental, societal and community leaders that open a space for people of diverse backgrounds to celebrate our common heritage as a human family.


You may also like to read Nowruz- An Ancient Persian-Iranian Celebration


Navroz celebrations are held in a number of countries of Central Asia, particularly in Iran, where it is national festival. Traditionally, the celebrations last for 13 days- to mark the advent of spring and renewal of seasonal time. “Religion or dharma should unite all hearts and cause wars and disputes to vanish from the face of the earth; it should give birth to spirituality, and bring light and life to every soul’, Baha’i writings affirm. For the Baha’i is, Navroz is not just a calendar event, rather it is an opportunity to reinvigorate the powers of the spirit and re-examine matters of the heart and conscience. It begins with the idea that renewal in the world of nature is in fact a symbol of spiritual renewal and occasion for the individual to explore how to contribute to the material and spiritual welfare of others. To this end, the first of the Baha’i new year is yet one more occasion for sacred contemplation on our plight and to take resolute action for the betterment of our world.


A K Merchant is a national trustee, Lotus temple. The article on the significance of Navroz for the Baha’i community has been published in Speaking Tree