One night I heard a knock on my door;
Who can it be, I wasn’t quite sure.
I open the door and am filled with glee;
The visitor ahead is no stranger to me.
I welcome the guest with utmost delight;
For I know it has come to give me respite.
An air of happiness fills the space;
My home now seems, a better place!
Have you any clue who this visitor could be?
Yes! It’s Ramadhan,the month of mercy.
The pious and righteous can’t await its arrival;
Others seem to greet it, with waves of denial.
For Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) we fast from dawn to dusk;
For Him our breath is the fragrance of musk.
The muslims who pray and fast with zest;
Are aware of the rewards of this month manifest.
Throughout this month we weep and repent;
Now is the time to strongly lament.
And those who shun this sacred month;
on the Day of Reckoning will face the brunt.
In the last ten nights, hides the Night of Decree;
Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) then awaits for his slaves to plea.
The angels descend with Gabriel (alayhis salam) in the lead;
To check on the steadfast and record every deed.
A feeling of grief now fills my heart;
As the month of Ramadhan will soon depart.
So lets make a start and worship Him alone;
Now that the worth of this month is known.
Tags: Umar231@rediffmail.com
INDIA
INDIA's NATIONAL FLAG:
The Indian flag was designed as a symbol of freedom. The late Prime Minister Nehru called it a flag not only of freedom for ourselves, but a symbol of freedom to all people.
The flag is a horizontal tricolour in equal proportion of deep saffron on the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. The ratio of the width to the length of the flag is two is to three. In the centre of the white band, there is a wheel in navy blue to indicate the Dharma Chakra, the wheel of law in the Sarnath Lion Capital. Its diameter approximates the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes. The saffron stands for courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation; the white, for purity and truth; the green for faith and fertility.
National Anthem of India:
Composed by Rabindranath Tagore, the song Jana Gana Mana was first sung on December 27, 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. On January 24, 1950, the Constituent Assembly adopted the song as the National Anthem of India. The complete song consists of five stanzas. The first stanza comprises the full version of the National Anthem.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
National Song of India:
Composed by Bankim Chandra, this song appears in the Bengali novel Anand Math. The English translation of Vande Mataram rendered by Shree Aurobindo is considered to be the "official" and best. The first stanza of this song has been given the status of our national song.
SANSKRIT VERSION
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INDIA's NATIONAL EMBLEM:
The National Emblem of India is a replica of the Lion of Sarnath, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The Lion Capital was erected in the third century BC by Emperor Ashoka to mark the spot where Buddha first proclaimed his gospel of peace and emancipation to the four quarters of the universe. The National emblem is thus symbolic of contemporary India's reaffirmation of its ancient commitment to world peace and goodwill.
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The four lions (one hidden from view) - symbolizing power, courage and confidence - rest on a circular abacus. The abacus is girded by four smaller animals - guardians of the four directions: the lion of the north, the elephant of the east, the horse of the south and the bull of the west. The abacus rests on a lotus in full bloom, exemplifying the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration. The motto 'Satyameva Jayate' inscribed below the emblem in Devanagari script means 'truth alone triumphs'.
INDIA's NATIONAL SPORT:
Hockey is the National Game of India. Unmatched excellence and incomparable virtuosity brought India a string of Olympic gold medals. The brilliant Indians brought a touch of black magic to their play and the ball juggling feats of the Indians were a sheer delight
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The Golden Era of hockey in India was the period from 1928 - 1956 when India won 6 consecutive gold medals in the Olympics. During the Golden Era, India played 24 Olympic matches, won all 24, scored 178 goals (at an average of 7.43 goals per match) and conceded only 7 goals. The two other gold medals for India came in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
INDIA's NATIONAL BIRD:
Male bird of species P. cristatus is a native of India, with striking plumage and upper tail converts marked with iridescent ocelli, able to expand its tail erect like fan as ostentatious display. Peacocks are related to pheasants.
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Found wild in India (and also domesticated in villages) they live in jungle lands near water. They were once bred for food but now hunting of peacocks is banned in India. The peahen has no plumage. These birds do not sound as beautiful as they look - they have a harsh call.
INDIA's NATIONAL ANIMAL:
Large Asiatic carnivorous feline quadruped, Panthera Tigris, maneless, of tawny yellow colour with blackish transverse stripes and white belly, proverbial for its power and its magnificence.
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There are very few tigers left in the world today. A decade ago the tiger population in India had dwindled to a few hundreds. The Government of India, under its Project Tiger programme, started a massive effort to preserve the tiger population. Today, thanks to Project Tiger, India's population of tigers has considerably increased.
INDIA's NATIONAL TREE:
Indian fig tree, Ficus bengalensis, whose branches root themselves like new trees over a large area. The roots then give rise to more trunks and branches. Because of this characteristic and its longevity, this tree is considered immortal and is an
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integral part of the myths and legends of India. Even today, the banyan tree is the focal point of village life and the village council meets under the shade of this tree.
India’s NATIONAL FLOWER:
The Lotus or water lily is an aquatic plant of Nymphaea with broad floating leaves and bright fragrant flowers that grow only in shallow waters. The leaves and flowers float and have long stems that contain air spaces. The big attractive flowers have
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many petals overlapping in a symmetrical pattern. The root functions are carried out by rhizomes that fan out horizontally through the mud below the water. Lotuses, prized for their serene beauty, are delightful to behold as their blossoms open on the surface of a pond. In India the sacred lotus is legendary and much folklore and religious mythology is woven around it.
INDIA's NATIONAL FRUIT:
A fleshy fruit, eaten ripe or used green for pickles etc., of the tree Mangifera indica, the mango is one of the most important and widely cultivated fruits of the tropical world. Its juicy fruit is a rich source of Vitamins A, C and D. In India there are
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over100 varieties of mangoes, in different sizes, shapes and colours. Mangoes have been cultivated in India from time immemorial. The poet Kalidasa sang its praises. Alexander savoured its taste, as did the Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsang. Akbar planted 100,000 mango trees in Darbhanga, known as Lakhi Bagh.
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