Issue 88 - September 09, 2018
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In 2015 one of the
Satsangs
held in the divine presence at Sunnyvale, USA. A devotee asked why do people who experience lot of miracles go through a lot of difficulties.
And here is what Swami said:
If a child is playing and hurts himself, and starts crying when he is in pain or difficulty, what will the parents do? They will do all kinds of gimmicks and tricks to make the child quiet, to make him silent and not cry. They will play, bring toys, even walk and talk like animals to make the child become quiet, because he has been hurt and is experiencing pain which he is not able to bear. To distract the child from his pain, the parents will do all kinds of things.
The family has to go through these many problems, but to drive their attention away from their problems, so many miracles are happening so that they can go through this tough phase of their life and contemplate more on Me and less on their pain. Just like the child who starts playing and forgets his pain, likewise, these devotees who are constantly engaged in my Seva are forgetting the tough times that they are going through. Miracles are only a way to distract or take away the attention from the pain and difficulties. Therefore, if miracles are happening, you’d better watch out and be careful!
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Annapoorna - Winner of CSR Food Initiative
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Annapoorna has bagged yet another CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) award where it has been adjudged the Winner of 'CSR Food Initiative' in the Bronze Category in the CSR Health Impact Awards.
The CSR Health Impact Awards is an initiative of India Health and Wellness Summit aimed to recognise focused, dedicated efforts which impact areas directly related to health. The categories Gold, Silver and Bronze were based on the turnover of the NGO (Non-governmental Organisation).
The event was graced by the presence of Hon. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Sri Vijay Goel and by the Hon. Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Srimati Anupriya Patel.
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Annapoorna's Volunteers
Reach Out to Kerala and Kodagu
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The Indian states of Kerala and Kodagu have been torn apart by the relentless rains. The Prashanthi Bala Mandira Trust with the help of Annapoorna's volunteers reached out with relief materials to the flood hit areas in Kerala and Kodagu, Karnataka, in eight large trucks on August 25, 2018.
Three places were identified for distribution in Kerala: Alleppey, Kuttanad; Wayanad, Meppadi and Kannur, Kottiyur; and Kodagu in Karnataka. 2,500 family packs containing items that could help sustain for a month were sent which should have a social impact on over 10,000 people! The team also reached to deep forest areas and ensured the people there received their relief packages.
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Oracle’s CSR Event at
Nagarbhavi Government School
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Annapoorna and Oracle joined hands for the 21st time in a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) event which took place in Nagarbhavi Government School in Bangalore where Annapoorna provides biscuits to the students as part of the breakfast programme. The school strength is 220.
The Oracle team, as always, displayed great enthusiasm with 18 employees from the company participating in this event. Oracle has generously sponsored notebooks, pens, pencils, sharpeners, erasers and crayons for all the students. The Oracle team also conducted a session on General Awareness for the school children.
Annapoorna thanks Oracle for its wonderful gesture of consistently giving back to the society!
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Annapoorna Celebrates India's 72nd Independence Day
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Annapoorna volunteers celebrated the 72nd Indian Independence Day on August 15, 2018 across many schools spanning the length and breadth of the Nation. The patriotism-cum-love filled Independence Day celebrations included flag-hoisting, singing national and patriotic songs and distributing breakfast and sweets. Some centers even saw children wearing adorable clothes displaying their patriotic fervor on this day of National importance.
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Annapoorna’s Breakfast
A Boost for School Attendance
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The Annapoorna Breakfast
Seva
chapter in Noida was launched on July 5, 2018 at the Hoshiarpur Government School in Sector 51, Noida, in two adjacent schools. One is a Primary School with 600 students and the other is a Middle School for classes 6 - 8 with 300 children. They are beneficiaries of the breakfast programme.
When the breakfast programme was launched, the average daily strength was noted to be about 350 - 400 students across the two schools. However, with the breakfast programme being done consistently, the average daily strength leaped to 450 - 500 students. As of now, bananas on Thursdays and biscuits on Saturdays are being served to the children. The overall programme has been selflessly supported by more than 20 volunteers.
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The selfless Sai Youth of the Middle East region are always excited to welcome weekends, as they get to meet these brothers in whom they see their own reflections. They end up sharing quality time with each other and distributing refreshments, snacks, dry ration, fruits and toiletries. The loving smiles from the recipients fill the hearts of these youth with the required energy to keep them vibrant for their own personal work.
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This group, falling under the age of 25, is really amazing to watch and it is obvious to onlookers that they are the future of the world! They seem to have attained the same level of wisdom which is normally attained after striving for a full life time in the path of service and devotion. Being a regular activity that happens every week, the labourers know them very personally and a bond of love and affection has developed between them. The labourers have often mentioned to the youth that they feel happy seeing them coming for
Seva
and that it reminds them of their brothers and sisters back in their home towns.
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A smile from these women means a lot to the youth as they see their own reflection in them. When the youth of similar age spend Fridays roaming around in the city, watching movies and having outings with friends, these self-inspired youth forsake all such momentary pleasures and spend time for a noble cause. Seeing them is convincing beyond doubt that the future of the world is in safe hands!
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In His mysterious way, Swami planted a small seed of
Seva
in me, a young 21 year old engineering graduate. When I first started being a part of breakfast
Seva
in 2015, I was still looking for a job.
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There was one particular day where I reached work and was basking in so much love that I did not want to do anything other than to sit with my eyes closed and share that love with Swami, in my heart. That was the day I realised the power of love!
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