Diwali

A long standing tradition at YICG! A sale to benefit our program - 20% of your purchases support our program!

From Vedic 5 - Freedom of Choice

A compilation of answers from survey on 'Freedom of Choice' - the amazing maturity of our youth always astounds!

In my life, I am in charge of - How to treat people; my reactions & emotional attitudes.

In my life I am not in charge of the Outcomes and consequences of my decisions; the lives of others; actions & reactions of people around me; my past; when I go to sleep; other people's decisions and their abilities to cooperate with other people.

I will probably feel more free when I get into a good college and get a job; or after I retire.

I can't make my decisions some times and I need help from my friends; I worry about the future constantly;
I can't hurt a friend knowingly or say no to people when they ask me for something.
I can't make many good decisions.

I won't put other people down or make fun of another
I won't deal with hypocrisy.

I can't avoid procrastination
I can't tell someone that I hate them to their face
I can't make a public speech
I can't live up to everyone's expectation

Times when I allowed others to make choices for me was when I was confused and stressed; or when others know more about the topic.

Times when I chose not to make a choice was when I was too hurt or frustrated to think; when I had to choose between 2 friends I valued equally; when I was angry and did not feel like considering my choices.

Creativity - Metaphoric Thinking

The TWIST on Nursery Rhymes

The good old nursery rhymes have so many possibilities of hidden meaning! Take 'Jack and Jill..' - Here are the thoughts from our youngster!! Two prize winners!
a). The wheel of Karma - what goes around, comes around. If they go up. then they must come down.They were being bad, so they came tumbling down!!
b). All about Friendship - Although Jack and Jill both took a lot of effort to walk up, Jack fell down. Instead of leaving Jack and taking whatever 'treasure' they went for. Jill went down after him.

TAJ MAHAL

 PYRAMID



Public Speaking - A debate for Our Times

News from Public Speaking - Level 2!
The winning presentation was in a car where the battle raged between the virtues of using a map and the convenience of GPS!! The jury is out on the role of Technology in our lives.....!! Or rather the dominance!

The map or GPS? The answers are not clear!!

Dahlias at YICG

Thanks to the Rokkam family for creating such a love for Dahlias in our hallways. Last year's Dahlia Fundraiser organized by them was amazing and we are sure many people enjoyed them in their gardens. I was very happy with the way the plant was growing over the summer until one morning when some rabbits ate up the whole plant - so next year it is!!! For the Dahlia Buffs - Growing Dahlias  & How To Video !!

Leadership, Creativity and Personal Development - 1

How can we be creative?? Some notes from our Saturday series 'Leadership, Creativity and Personal Development'. Check this out for more details!  BrainPower!

Genius is marked by the ability to imagine comparisons and similarities and even similar differences between parallel facts and events in different fields or 'other worlds'. Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, in one day, after developing an analogy between a toy funnel and the motions of a paper man and sound vibrations. So we created our own challenges!

Challenges:
Make a Connection - Our young group drew connections between many different areas to stimulate creative thinking, along with presentations on their ideas. One of the winning analogies for 'Potato and Piano' was the shape of French Fries resembling Piano keys!!

Bring in a Parallel World - The challenge of opening a pizzeria in the community and spplying the parallel worlds of cartoon, military and transportation was fun. The winning ideas to improve sales were cartoon shaped pizzas and a pizzeria shaped like a military truck.

Our Fantastically Creative group

YICG

From Vedic 5 - Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavat Gita

Lessons from Chapter 2:

What is a Leader's true legacy? To family, community and society? The essence of leadership is to disseminate positive energy, hope and vision. If the view is only 'I, Me and Mine' , it is a very narrow view.
But how do you sacrifice personal interest for a larger good? By acknowledging the impermanence of life, it will make a leader fearless.

Krishna urges Arjuna to rise to a bigger purpose - it was his opportunity to leave a legacy.

So Rise up and Fight!!

You have the right over your responsibilities and the proper actions required of it, but you do not have the right to the reward resulting out of it.

True reward means fulfillment of a purpose - common good rather than only personal achievements.

Uddhava Gita and the Environment- Lessons of the 24 Gurus

Our Adult study group this year has taken up sections of the Bhagavata Purana, starting with the Uddhava Gita', considered by many to be an important part of the contemporary  movement to resurrect Dattatreya as the patron saint of environment in India and the World ... and to accept the patronage of Lord Dattatreya as the protector of the environment. The Lessons of the 24 Gurus is profound and yet eminently teachable to all.
An interesting resource is at Avadhuta Gita, with a comprehensive table on the lessons from the 24 Gurus, with the first 5 being Earth, Wind, Sky, Water and Fire.
A poetic and inspirational account at Dattatreya's 24 Gurus is a worthy link.

Your comments are appreciated!!! Please add!!

From Vedic 5 - Leadership lessons from the Bhagavad Gita

Lessons from Chapter 1 - Arjuna's Sorrow

Positivity - Is that a Choice?

Arjuna, in Chapter 1, is so overcome with sorrow on the magnitude of his dilemma, that he feels paralyzed. He forgets what choices he does have. We reflect on what choices we do have and commit to ourselves that we can have these freedoms.


“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one’s own attitude in any given circumstances, to choose one’s own way".    Viktor Frankl

12 ways to be more Positive!
    o You can choose to be more optimistic
    o You can choose to accept things as they are
    o You can choose to be resilient
    o You can choose to be cheerful
    o You can choose to be enthusiastic
    o You can choose to be more alert
    o You can choose to have a sense of humor
    o You can choose to be humble
    o You can choose to be grateful
    o You can choose to have faith
    o You can choose to have hope