India needs change

We are a team of high school students who wish to make a difference in our country :) 


Team Members:
We have currently 11 members in our group:
Naveena, Vidya, Benita, Rachel, Janani, Priyadarshini, Anandavalli, Priya, Karthiga, Nivedhitha and Meenakshi. We are surely open for more! :)


It all started when we, the students of the last bench were trying to kill the boredom which was almost killing us. One bored friend said suddenly "JNMA", and I, trying to create a distraction with that, asked "What's JNMA? Jeevana's Naughty Members Association?" Okay, that wasn't really a joke, but I meant it to be that way. What my friend really meant was that the first letters of our names were J, N, M and A. And from that time onwards, we became the JNMA and true to our name, did all we can to create some noise.


But our 'lethargic' attitude to studies changed as the exams drew nearer. That was when we adopted the logo - a star with an angel and a devil, and the JNMA sign. The devil represented our naughty side and the angel, our nice side [which involved exams, friendship, etc.] Soon, the nice side was widened to include helping others, spreading patriotism among people and all that sort of things. And on 14th Nov., our aims underwent a total change. Don't ask me how, even I'm not sure. JNMA became more nationalistic and less 'lethargic'. 


So, we decided to form an organisation to do something... anything for improving things around us, in our country. We changed the logo and even the name… We are now C.H.A.N.G.E – The Citizens Helping A Nation Grow Extensively 


FAQ 


The decisions we have taken are a bit different, so they have naturally lead to quite a lot of questions and confusions. CHANGE was at first a gang and now, it's a serious group. No wonder there are some hair-splitting moments when you have no idea as to where you are going. I hope to resolve this problem by having a tab full of the 'Frequently Asked Questions' by ourselves and others around, to save the trouble of giving lengthy explanations every time. This is mostly for our clarity than for anyone else's :)


Q: What is the aim of CHANGE? 
A: To help everyone who is in need of it and to help our country, by all means possible. 


Q: Why this decision? 
A: It is not the right thing to do, to turn a blind eye on all the problems around us. And so, we have chosen what is right. 




Q: Are we trying to change the world? 
A: Maybe, maybe not. In the past, the people who were crazy enough to think that they could change the world, were really the ones who did. We are not trying to make a difference, because, what we are itself makes a difference in this world ;). 


Q: Do you think it is possible? 
A: Right now, it is impossible to cure some types of cancer. Soon, it will become possible. Before the Wright brothers invented the plane, any object other than a hot air balloon flying in the air, was thought to be impossible. Impossible is just a big word thrown out by small men who find it easier to live in the world they have been given, than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a declaration. It is a dare, a challenge. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is NOTHING. [And this is the truth, not a couple of words put together to make them sound impressive.] A Buddhist monk once said, "Help whenever possible. It's always possible." 




Q: Won't CHANGE clash with studies? 
A: Why should it? Chatting or playing or sleeping in the class does not clash with studies, does it? 


Q: What about the obstacles on the path? 
A: Life is full of obstacles, some of which would want us to quit along the way. It is during those times that we need to remember that the focus must be on the goal, not on the insignificant things on our way. 




Q: What if we don't succeed in our task? 
A: There is no failure or success in what we have decided to do. CHANGE does not stop with school. It will go on for the rest of our lives. Having committed ourselves to this job, is itself an achievement. There is no end to what we can achieve. Still, in every endeavor, it's okay if we fail or if e don't succeed. But it's not okay if we don't try or if we don't put in enough efforts or if we quit. 




Q: What's the future of CHANGE? 
A:Well, we haven't really decided that yet, but it's certain that we'll do better when we leave school and go to a college. We'll certainly have more exposure, opportunities and freedom.

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India economy

India is the seventh largest and second most populous country in the world. A new spirit of economic freedom is now stirring in the country, bringing sweeping changes in its wake. A series of ambitious economic reforms aimed at deregulating the country and stimulating foreign investment has moved India firmly into the front ranks of the rapidly growing Asia Pacific region and unleashed the latent strengths of a complex and rapidly changing nation.


India's democracy is a known and stable factor, which has taken deep roots over nearly half a century. Importantly, India has no fundamental conflict between its political and economic systems. Its political institutions have fostered an open society with strong collective and individual rights and an environment supportive of free economic enterprise.


India's time tested institutions offer foreign investors a transparent environment that guarantees the security of their long term investments. These include a free and vibrant press, a judiciary which can and does overrule the government, a sophisticated legal and accounting system and a user friendly intellectual infrastructure. India's dynamic and highly competitive private sector has long been the backbone of its economic activity. It accounts for over 75% of its Gross Domestic Product and offers considerable scope for joint ventures and collaborations.


Today, India is one of the most exciting emerging markets in the world. Skilled managerial and technical manpower that match the best available in the world and a middle class whose size exceeds the population of the USA or the European Union, provide India with a distinct cutting edge in global competition.

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Relegions of India

India known as the land of spirituality and philosophy, was the birthplace of some religions, which even exist today in the world.  Around 500 BC two other religions developed in India, namely, Buddhism and Jainism. Today only about 0.5% of Indians are Jains and about 0.7% are Buddhist. In ancient times Jainism and specially Buddhism were very popular in India. Indians who accepted Buddhist philosophy spread it not only within the Indian sub-continent but also to kingdoms east and south of India.  These three ancient religions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, are seen as the molders of the India philosophy. In 'modern' period new religions were also established in India. One comparatively new religion in India is Sikhism and it was established in the 15th century. About 2% of Indians are Sikhs. There were other attempts to create new religions in India but they did not always succeed. For example, a Moghul emperor, Akbar, who reigned between 1556 - 1605, tried to establish a new religion, Din- E- Elahi, but it did not survive. There are other religious philosophies whose believers see themselves as a separate religion, but they do not always get this recognition. For example Lingayat of south India see themselves as a different religion, while others see them as a sect of Hinduism. There are also some tribal communities who demand to be recognized as separate religion from Hinduism. In the 19th century some Hindu reformers tried to remodel Hinduism to adjust it to modern period. Along with the religions that developed in India, there are followers of non- Indian religions. The largest non-Indian religion is Islam. They are about 12% of India's population. Christians are more then 2% of India's population. There are also Zoroastrians who even though make less then 0.01% of India's population, are known around India. There are also a few thousand Jews in India. Judaism and Christianity might have arrived in India before it arrived in Europe. Religion: 80% Hindu, 14% Muslim, 2.4% Christian, 2% Sikh, 0.7% Buddhist, 0.5% Jains, 0.4% other

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Culture of India

India is invincibly rich in art and culture. In fact the theme of Indianness is its unique heritage of art and culture that is peerless. The numerous customs and the traditions pertaining to those customs and its branches have formed a diversified but identical forms of heritage in India.


This very fact has prompted Mark Twain to describe this country as the land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendor and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants, and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of hundred nations and hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million Gods.


The complexity and variety is the hallmark of India, which attracts many visitors. This country is replete with traditional art; from calligraphic signs to mural paintings and pillar structures, architecture; from vignette stones to monuments, languages; from Malayalam to Kashmiri, literature; from Geetanjali of Rabindranath Tagore to Vedic epics, music and dance; from folk to classical, philosophy; from rational to spiritual, science; from abstract to the most technical, medicine; Ayurveda, Siddha to music therapy, magic, illusion and such sundry elements of art and culture.

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Climate of India

India has tropical weather. One cannot speak of the climate of India, or else one must speak of several different India's. The subcontinent has eight climatic zones all of which only have the monsoon rains in common. But even the monsoon comes to different parts of the country at different times. And you can fly in the space of a couple of hours through a range of weather from the cold crisp air of the mountains to the burning dry heat of the Rajasthan Desert where summer temperature regularly reach 45°C and beyond.
It is beautiful to see the sand dunes shift and move to the will of the winds, but not at all pleasant to be caught in a sand strom coming off the Thar. In winter Rajasthan is dry and cold and the skies a translucent blue. There is little rain and the monsoon winds often pass Rajasthan by leaving the prickly thorny bushes, acacia trees and other native vegetation to pick up what little dew the night bring with it. Pumps and tube wells lift water for agricultural irrigation but farmers often get only a few distribution of water, particularly in the more arid areas of Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer, is systematically organized.
The wheat and sugarcane growing areas of the Punjab, Haryana and parts of western Uttar Pradesh suffer from drastic extremes in climate. It can be very cold from December - January, very dry and hot from the end of March till June, very hot and humid till the monsoons arrive from July through September. The rest of the year is comfortably pleasant. The fields are full of mustard flowers, the air is redolent of sugarcane being crushed and molasses on the boil.
Across the Gangetic plain, the summer months are an interminable heat haze. From Gwalior through Bhopal and Raipur to Patna and Nagpur, temperature begin to rise in March and by May they hover around 45°C. In the fields, the earth actually shows deep cracks. In Bihar, for example, a terrible drought with near famine conditions occurred a few year ago. The fickle winds had taken the clouds several thousands miles westward to the Punjab, and India's granary produced bumper crops that same year!

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