Class V

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Words in GREEN= Grammar, syntax or spelling error

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Chapter I - Divine Relationship 119
A. Ask For Him, Not His Powers 119

Chapter I - Divine Relationship 122
B. Guru Vandana 122

Chapter II - Healthy Living 125
A Healthy Mind In A Healthy Body 125

Chapter III - Greetings 127
Ready To Reach Out 127

Chapter IV - Love 130
God Is Love, Love Is God 130

Chapter V - Happiness 133
Inner Happiness Is True Happiness 133

Chapter VI - Nature 136
Lets Take Care Of Our Mother Earth 136

Chapter VII - Duty And Responsibility 139
Take Responsibility For Your Actions 139

Chapter VIII - Work And Perseverance 142
Do Your Best 142

Chapter IX - Time Management 145
Have A Goal And A Time Table 145

Chapter X - Courage 148
Courage Helps You To Be Firm And Strong 148
CHAPTER I - DIVINE RELATIONSHIP

A. ASK FOR HIM, NOT HIS POWERS

Objectives
 God is close to us. He is in everyone of us.
 We must do our work in His remembrance and love Him.
 God is one though He may be given different forms.
 Ask for Him, not His powers.

Introduction
It is foolish to ask for things that God can give you when it is possible to have HIM! For little children, this mayC be a difficult concept, (for that matter, even some adults have problems!) but if they are given this thought, it may open their eyes sometime. It is love that makes it possible to have Him with you all the time. One should not have fear but fill the hearts with love so that God can reside there.

A way to begin
 You could begin with this story which answers some questions about God. A king who wanted to know about God, asked his ministers three questions. If God was everywhere, why couldn't he see Him? In which direction could he feel God's presence? What was God doing?
The minister couldn’t answer these questions and was worried. His servant who was a wise man found out the cause for his worry and offered to help. He went to the king and said he would answer his questions. But first the king had to give his place to him since he was going to be the guru for the king. So the king had to vacate his seat for the servant and stand before him. First, the servant asked for a cup of milk. When it was brought, he asked the king whether it had butter in it? "Yes", said the king. "Show me the butter now" said the servant. The king said that it was not possible. The servant immediately stated, that likewise, though God is everywhere, we cannot see Him. For the next question, he lit a candle and asked the king to tell him where the light was going? 'Everywhere' was the answer. In the same way God’s presence was not felt in just one direction but felt everywhere he said. Then he called his master to come and take the seat of the king and told the king to take the seat of the minister. In the same way, God kept changing the positions of the people, he said. One who was rich today became poor and vice versa.
 It is people who have given God his human form and they worship Him in different forms. But just as water by any name is just water, God in any form is the same.
 Ask the children what they ask for when they pray. The best way is to ask for Him to be with us. Then we get everything else too !
Story Time
Story 1 - Once a woodcutter got delayed in the forest. It was getting dark and he felt scared. He called out to God and prayed for His help. As he started to leave, he heard some footsteps. He got even more scared and started to hurry. The footsteps hurried too. He started to run in fear. Soon he got exhausted and sat down and cried out to God asking him where He was. “ I am here my son,” came the reply. “I have been trying to catch you and you are running away from me!”

Story 2- Sage Narada was very proud of his devotion to God Narayana. But when he asked God who was His best devotee, He showed him a farmer. Narada found that the man prayed just for a few minutes every morning and then got busy with his own work. What was so great about the devotion of the farmer? To explain, the lord gave him a cup full of milk and told Narada to go round the world without spilling even one drop. The sage had to concentrate so completely on the task that he didn’t remember the lord even once! He realized how the farmer who started the day with the thought of God was a better devotee.

Story 3 - Both Arjun and Duryodhan came to Krishna’s palace to ask for His help in the Mahabharata war. Seeing Krishna asleep, Arjun stood respectfully at his bedside while Duryodhan sat down arrogantly near Krishna’s head. Krishna who was pretending to be asleep got up slowly. He saw Arjun first and then Duryodhan and greeted them. When he found out that both of them had come with the same purpose, he told them that he had decided not to fight. He could only be a charioteer. Did they want Him or his huge army? Arjun had the first choice as Krishna saw him first. Arjun did not hesitate even for a moment. “ I want you and only you”, he said with total conviction. Duryodhan was quite happy at this ‘foolish’ request of Arjun. Was he right? Ultimately who won the war?

Story 4 - Kabir is one of the famous saint poets of India. His songs, and his two line poems called Dohe are very well known. He was one of the earliest of reformers and boldly preached about the futility of religions as they were practised then.
His early childhood is shrouded in mystery. Nobody knows to which community he belonged. The only known fact is that he was abandoned as a baby. A kind Muslim weaver took care of the child as his own and taught him his trade.
The young weaver Kabir was drawn to spirituality and looked around for a guru. He found his mentor in Swami Ramananda who influenced him greatly. Kabir realized that religions divided humanity and he saw the vision of the Ultimate that went beyond any religion. He told people to give up their empty rituals and urged them to develop Love for God. His songs, steeped in love, became very famous. Though initially the religious fanatics persecuted him, soon he won over the hearts of all. So much so that when he died, both the Muslims and the Hindus wanted to perform his last rites according to their faiths. It is said that Kabir appeared in their dreams and told them to have a look at his body. When the sheet was removed, there was no body-- all they saw there was just a heap of flowers !
Kabir wrote about the futility of seeking the God in temples and mosques.
If God be within the mosque, then to whom does this world belong?
If Ram be within the image which you find upon your pilgrimage, then who is there to know what happens without?
Hari is in the East: Allah is in the West.
Look within your heart, for there you will find both Karim and Ram;
All the men and women of the world are His living forms,
Kabir is the child of Allah and Ram: He is my Guru, He is my Pir.

Points to Discuss
 What does the story of the woodcutter tell us? Is it true that we often fail to see God and His help?
 Discuss how doing any work in His remembrance is a kind of prayer too.
 What should we think when He does not give us something we had prayed for?
 Below are given some statements. Which of them are true?
a. We should start to pray and worship only when we are old.
b. There is no age for starting our worship of our God and creator.
c. We can be happy only when we get everything we want.
d. When God is in our hearts, we can be happy all the time.
e. We can worship the God only in a temple.
f. God is in our hearts, we do not need a temple to worship Him.
g. God takes care of every one of us.

Activities
 Learn this prayer song
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace,
Where there is hatred, let me bring peace,
Where there is hurt, let me bring pardon,
Where there is no belief, let me bring faith,
Where there is no trust, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, let me bring light,
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
 Like Kabir who preached about the universality of religions, there have been other people too who have known that all religions talk about the same God, though in different forms. King Akbar founded a new religion, which was an amalgamation of many religions and called it Deen Ilahi. Find out more about it.

CHAPTER I - DIVINE RELATIONSHIP

B. GURU VANDANA

Objectives
 A teacher acts as a leader. We need teachers to help us to learn faster.
 He is concerned about our welfare and may find it necessary to correct us.
 A guru is a role model for us to emulate. He guides us towards our goal.

Introduction
Guru vandana does not mean just wishing the teachers as we do in schools. It means respecting the teachers, listening to them and learning from them because they are concerned about our welfare. Love and respect for the teacher helps us to obey them. Like the guide helps us to climb mountains, the gurus help us in reaching our goals in life. With their help and able guidance, we are able to trace our way to the ultimate.
We have the light inside us in the form of God but we are not able to see or feel His presence. We go about like a man with an unlit lantern going out in the dark and feeling scared. It takes an able guru to show us the light inside us.

A way to begin
 Have you heard the following sloka?
Gurur Brahma, gurur Vishnu, gurur devo Maheshwarah
Guru sakshat parabrahma tasmai sri guruveh namah
This sloka explains how important teachers are.
Like Brahma, the gurus or teachers give new life to the students. Like Vishnu, they take care of them. Like Shiva they destroy the unwanted things in them. In fact, says the sloka, for the students, the gurus are even greater than these Gods.
 Ask the children the following questions and make them think
 What is the most important work of a teacher? (guide us to be better human beings)
 Who are the teachers at home? Do they tell you to do / not do something? Do you get irritated with them for this? Do you think you should be left alone?
 Why do teachers correct you? (because they love you and want to guide you properly)
 Your music or dance teachers may make you work hard and tell you to practise everyday. Do you like it? Why do they push you into doing your best?

Story Time
Story 1 - Swami Vivekananda was one of the greatest men of India. Naren as he was known earlier, was influenced by the west but he respected the philosophies of the east and had a spiritual inclination. His search for truth brought him to Sri Ramakrishna, about whom he had been told. When Sri Ramakrishna saw Naren, he ran to him and hugged him and said that he had been waiting for him for so long. Naren was taken aback as he did not think too highly of this simple man. But soon he had to change his first impressions and he became an ardent devotee of his guru. His life changed completely and he became a monk. He was now called Swami Vivekananda. He travelled far and wide and it was due to his untiring efforts that the west came to know about the greatness of our country. Once he went to Chicago to give a talk about Hinduism. He started his speech with these simple words, “Brothers and sisters of America,” These words, straight from his heart touched the thousands of people sitting there and there was a thunderous applause and standing ovation from the audience and it lasted for two full minutes! The Swamiji had not even begun his speech! This was quite unusual. His sincerity and simplicity captivated them. Wherever he went, he was lionized! Swamiji talked about universal brotherhood. He explained how Hinduism believed in different paths leading to the same God. On his return to India, Swamiji started the Ramakrishna Mission. The mission’s aim is to help the poor and work for spiritual upliftment of the masses.

Story 2 - Valmiki was a robber in his early life. One day he tried to rob some rishis. When they asked him why he was robbing them, he said, “I do it for my family”. “The result of these bad actions will be bad. Will your family take part of the result also?’ asked the sages. The robber rushed to his family to find out. He was shocked when they said they did not want any part of the result and he asked the rishis to help him. They told him to pray and chant the name of Rama. He tried but all he could say was 'Mara'. He sat in meditation chanting 'Mara, Mara'. Soon it changed into Rama, Rama . He sat like this for many years and the white ants built a hill around him. One day when the sages were passing through the forest again, they heard the name of Rama coming from an anthill. They broke it open and saw the robber in meditation. He was a changed man. He was called Valmiki because he came out of an anthill or valmika. The story goes that one-day Valmiki saw a hunter trying to kill a bird when it was with its mate. The man who had killed people earlier was so sad to see this that his feelings came out in the form of a verse. That was the beginning of Ramayana.

Story 3 - This is a story about a modern teacher in America. A college professor asked his class of Sociology students to go to a slum in Baltimore and take the case histories of 200 young boys and write an evaluation of their future. The students wrote in every case that there was no chance of them coming up in life. 25 years later another professor followed up this project and found to his astonishment that 176 of the 180 who were alive were doing very well as doctors, lawyers and successful businessmen. His students visited these people to find out what was the driving force behind their success stories. Each one of them replied, “a teacher!” Fortunately this teacher was also alive and the professor visited her to ask her what magic formula she had used to pull them out of their slums into successful achievements. The teacher’s eyes sparkled as she replied with a gentle smile,“ I loved those boys!”

Points to Discuss
 Teachers serve as leaders when a group is working under them. Imagine two groups working on building a wall. One works without a leader and the workers place the bricks haphazardly. A leader directs the other group. Whose work will be better?
 Sometimes books can give you the guidance, which you get from a guru. Have you come across any such book? Ask your parents if they have read any such book.
 Guru Dronacharya was the teacher to the five Pandava princes and the hundred Kaurava princes. Do you know that he once picked up a ball, which had fallen into the well by shooting a string of arrows at it? Which of his students could equal him in this art of archery?
 Naren was a modern young man interested in the western culture. He changed completely under the guidance of his guru and later he became famous as Swami Vivekananda.
Do you know the name of his guru?
 Lord Krishna became the teacher of Arjun and taught him about his duty as a king. With his help Arjun emerged victorious. When was this? What is the name of the book, which contains the teachings of Lord Krishna?
What helped these students to learn so well from their teachers? Think about it.

Activities
 There are many passages from Swami Vivekananda’s writings which you could learn by heart and have an elocution session with them.
 We still remember and respect Swami Vivekanand because of his moral strength. His belief in God gave him the strength to achieve impossible things. It made him fearless, bold and confident. He believed that the best way to serve God was to serve the poor and the needy. Find out more about him.
 Learn a passage from Gita with its meaning. See how it is relevant to our lives even today.
 Make a gift for your teachers. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive. It could be just a drawing, a card or a flower. It is the thought behind the gift that counts. But remember that the best gift you can give to your teacher or guru is not something material. What will please a teacher most? Think about it.
 Why is Teachers' day celebrated on September 5th? Whose birthday was it?
CHAPTER II - HEALTHY LIVING

A HEALTHY MIND IN A HEALTHY BODY

Objectives
 To have a healthy body, we must keep our minds healthy.
 Think positive, think clean thoughts.
 Remove negative thoughts from your mind.

Introduction
It is not enough to have a strong and a beautiful body but it must also be filled with positive thoughts. So one must learn to keep one’s mind free of unpleasant and negative thoughts. When the mind is filled with positive feelings of optimism and love, it influences the body too. It has been found that people who tend to get angry and upset easily, have a tendency for stomach ulcers. When a person is depressed with negative thoughts, he feels tired and dispirited. So fill up your mind with happy, pleasant and positive thoughts and feel the difference!

A way to begin
 Read the following poem and talk about what it says.
Hold fast your dreams by Louise Driscoll
Hold fast your dreams !
Within your heart
Keep one still secret spot
Where dreams may go,
And sheltered so,
May thrive and grow.
Where doubt and fear are not,
Oh, keep a place apart,
Within your heart,
For little dreams to go.
 The poem talks about keeping a place in your heart for dreams. Why is there no place for fear and doubt there?
 A man had a lamp but complained that it did not give enough light. His wife took a piece of cloth and cleaned the glass. The lamp shone with a bright light. When our hearts and minds are covered with feelings of anger and jealousy, they are like the soot which covers the lamp. The lamp cannot work to its full potential. In the same way when our minds and hearts are covered with negative thoughts, the body cannot work well.
 Ask the children to talk about situations, which can be viewed in both ways. eg. Exams. How many of them approach these in the negative way? Are those the ones who fall sick during exams?

Story Time
Story 1 - This story illustrates the power of thoughts. There was a man who sat on the seashore and meditated everyday. He was a very gentle and noble man and the shy seagulls did not fear him and would come very close to him as he sat in meditation. One day a boy asked him a favour. “The gulls come so near to you. Will you please catch a bird and give it to me?” The man agreed. But, the next day when he sat there, not a single bird came near him! All of them flew far away from him. How did they know what was in his mind?

Story 2 - One day, a man called his three sons to him and showing them three empty rooms, told them to fill it up completely with something without leaving any vacant space. The three sons thought for a while and then got to work. The next day, the father came to inspect the rooms. The first one opened the room proudly. The room was filled completely with hay. It was dark and no one could get in.
The second son had filled his room with bricks. This room was also dark and dingy. The third son opened the room and it was absolutely clean and empty. As the father stood wondering, the son went inside and lit a lamp. Immediately, every corner of the room was illumined with bright light. It was a wonderful sight to see.
Think of the empty room as your mind. You have a choice to fill it up with anything you want. You could fill it up with negative thoughts like anger, jealousy and hatred. Or positive thoughts like love, hope and confidence could find a place there. Which one is preferable to have?

Story 3 - The film ‘Anand’ was about a man whose days were numbered. Yet his heart was filled with positive thoughts and he spread cheer all around him and lived up to his name. Think of more such stories where handicapped people have surmounted their problems and done some excellent work. Ex. Stephen Hawking who is confined to a wheel chair. He cannot even speak. Yet he has done extensive research and written a best seller named ‘ A brief history of time’.

Points to Discuss
 Below are given some common place occurrences. How should you react if you want to keep your mind healthy?
 Suppose someone bumps into you by mistake. You fall down. The books that the other person is carrying get scattered all over the place. He apologises for the mistake. How will you respond to the above incident?
a. Know that is was not done deliberately.
b. Accept his apology.
c. Help him to pick up the books.

 Imagine this. You are planning a cricket game in the evening and the teacher gives your class extra homework to do. Will you complain,” This teacher always gives me more work. She does not want me to play. Nobody wants me to go out and play with my friends.” Or will you think,” Let me do the work quickly. It is easy to do. I can always go out and play after I complete my work.” Which of these thoughts will make you angry? Which will not?
 You are sitting on a chair. A lady comes there with a child. There are no more chairs. Will you get up and offer her the chair willingly or will you grudgingly do it? Which action will fill up your mind with feelings of brotherhood?
 One child in the class has not brought her food to eat in the class. You have brought food that you like very much. Will you offer her food or pretend you haven’t seen her? What will you do?

Activities
 Collect more information on how the body gets affected by the mind.
 All of you must have had felt the tension just before the question paper is distributed in the examination. Also, a sense of fear when you have to go to some unknown place and the anger you feel when you find things spoilt by someone. How does your body react? On the other hand how do you feel when you are happy? Do you feel filled with energy? Share your experiences with others.
 Make someone happy by gifting him or her with a surprise gift!



CHAPTER III - GREETINGS

READY TO REACH OUT

Objectives
 Communication helps us to get along with other people.
 Communication need not always be verbal. Our love for others can be communicated by doing things for them.
 Good listening precedes good communication.
Introduction
Living things communicate with each other. It has been found that even plants have some means of communication! Communication helps us to get along with people and to do this effectively, one needs to learn some 'do's and don’ts'.

Communication does not necessarily have to be only verbal. We can communicate our positive feelings of love and concern by being friendly and by doing things for others.
To develop good communicative skills, one needs to listen with attention too. To gather information and process it before communicating it to others, we have to use our ears as much as we use our tongue!

A way to begin
Talk to the children about how they should follow some rules if they want to communicate properly. Do an activity in the class and let two children pretend to talk on the telephone.
What rules of courtesy will they have to follow?
 Your sister is sick and you are calling the doctor.
 Your parents ask you to order a pizza for dinner.
 You want to know what time the movie starts.
 Your house is on fire.
 Your friend has broken his leg and you need an ambulance.
 Communication need not always be verbal. What other ways are there? Let children come out with their ideas.

Story Time
Story 1- King Akbar was famous for his council of nine ministers who were known as the Navratna. The best among them was clever Birbal. Some of the ministers were jealous of the attention that Birbal was getting and they complained of partiality. Akbar decided to show them why he liked Birbal. One day when the king was going round the city with his ministers. He saw a crowd of people listening to a man who was giving a discourse. Akbar told one of his ministers to go and find out who the man was. The man went and found out his name. Akbar asked him to find out what he was doing. So he went to find out. Akbar sent him to find out whether he had written any books. He went again! Akbar seemed to have so many questions. Each time the minister had to make a trip to get the information. He soon got very tired of it. Meanwhile Birbal came there. Akbar pointed the man out to Birbal and told him to find out about him. Birbal went. He came back after a few minutes. He said “ That man is Swami Ramananda, from Benaras, who is the author of the famous book Veda Ratnavali. He is giving a discourse about that now. He came to the city only two days back and he will remain here for another ten days. He is staying at the temple. I asked him if you could pay your respects to him now and if he could come to the palace for a longer time. He has agreed. So you can go and meet him now.” Akbar looked at his ministers. They hung their heads in shame!

Story 2 - Once a man came to King Akbar with three dolls and asked Akbar to find out one difference between them. It was very difficult since the dolls were identical in every way. Akbar gave the dolls to Birbal who looked at them closely for a while. Then he asked for a piece of thin wire. He inserted this into the ear of one doll and the wire came out through the other ear. He did the same with the second doll and this time the wire came out through its mouth. When he inserted the wire into the ear of the third doll, it didn’t come out at all. Birbal explained how these dolls represented three types of people. The first kind forgot the secrets they listened to, the second told it to everyone but the third type of people kept it in their hearts and never gave it away.
For children, however, instead of secrets, one could say how children differed in their listening skills. Some of them heard something but it went out through their other ear. Some remembered it and told it once but the best were those who internalised the good things they had heard and this was the best form of listening.

Story 3 - Do you know how the peacocks got their harsh voice? A long, long time ago all the birds had the same voice. It was very confusing! So Nature God called all of them to come and choose a voice for themselves. The birds got ready to go but the peacock was not in a hurry. It spread its tail and started to dance. “Hey, peacock!” called out the cuckoo bird. “Aren’t you coming? You have to choose a voice.” “ Why should I hurry?” asked the arrogant peacock. “ I am not ugly like you. I am the most beautiful bird and the sweetest voice will be given to me. I pity you. What kind of a voice will you get? You have a problem, not me!” it boasted. The cuckoo bird was feeling sad. “ Don’t worry,” said the wise owl. “ Your voice can be the sweetest when you talk kindly and pleasantly. So, be good to all, talk sweetly and see what happens!” That was just what the cuckoo bird did. It tried to talk lovingly to all and soon everyone said that the cuckoo bird’s voice was the sweetest in the whole world. What about the peacock? Nature gave it a good voice too but the peacock was bragging and boasting so much that its voice became harsh and unpleasant! Now no one wants to hear the peacock at all!

Points to Discuss
 Communicative skills are needed in everyday life too. When we talk to someone, there are some rules we must follow.
 Show respect and be courteous to the other person even if you don’t agree with him.
 Listen attentively to what the person is saying. Don’t let your attention wander.
 Do not interrupt while someone is talking. Wait for your turn.
 Give your answers correctly and clearly. Do not mumble your words.
 Think what you have to say before you answer.
 Don’t brag and boast about your achievements.
 Don’t belittle what others say. Don’t embarrass anyone.
 Always mind your language. Do not use abusive or foul words.

 What information will you find out in each case:
 Your aunt sends you to find out more about a dance performance from a poster.
 You want to tell your mother about some yoga classes to be held in your school.
 Your school is arranging a trip to Jaipur and you have to get your parents' permission.

Activities
 Pretend that you have to give a speech in the school assembly. Write three things that you will take care of, to make it effective.
 Give directions to somebody how to reach your school (with clarity, please. They should not get lost!). Mention any landmark nearby.
 Pretend that you are explaining the game of cricket to someone who doesn’t know anything about it. How will you make it interesting and clear?
 Read this poem
Speak gently, it is better far to rule by love than fear.
Speak gently, let no harsh word mar the good we might do here.
Speak gently, it is a little thing dropped in the hearts deep well.
The good, the joy that it might bring, Eternity shall tell.



CHAPTER IV - LOVE

GOD IS LOVE, LOVE IS GOD

Objectives
 We should love God from our hearts.
 Remove hatred and let love reside there. When love fills the heart, God is there.
 Love all God’s creations, including the ones who are less fortunate than us.

Introduction
God, in His abundant love, created this world and we feel His presence pervading everything. In fact, He resides within each one of us. It may be easier to understand this concept if we think of it this way—why do we feel ennobled when we do something good and why do we feel unhappy and restless when we do something that is wrong? Love Kindness, Friendliness and Tolerance make us feel good because they make us see God in them and take us closer to Him. Anger, dishonesty, lies and intolerance are qualities that go against our heart where He resides and against what God intended us to be. Hence the truth of the saying, God is Love and Love is God. The only way to reach Him is through love. Love Him, who loves all. When you love God, you show your love for everything that He has created. By the same token, when you love all that He loves, you come closer to Him. This also means that you extend your circle of love to include the poor and the disabled and also the plants and animals.

A way to begin
Talk to the children about Baba Amte and Mother Theresa, who loved and served God by loving and serving humanity. Talk to them about Shri Ram Chandraji of Shajahanpur who was lovingly called Babuji. He was the personification of love. Often he would know, without anybody telling him, which one of his disciples was feeling cold and he would go and gently cover the sleeping disciple with his blanket. Even if one disciple was hungry, he would know without anybody telling him and he would give food to him. Once he gave two glasses of milk to two of his disciples who had only milk at night. When asked whether he would also have milk, he said he couldn’t afford milk for himself! He earned very little but somehow managed to feed all those who came to him for spiritual guidance, even if it meant that he would not have enough for himself. He was like the sun, which shines because it is its nature to do so.

Story Time
Story 1 - In the city of Madurai, a merchant, who was an ardent devotee of God, once got the idea that he should give a bunch of 108 bananas to the temple as an offering to God. He was not very rich and with difficulty he bought the bananas. Happily he started on his journey in a bullock cart. He must have dozed off for a while. When he opened his eyes he was aghast to see the bullock cart driver eating one of the prized bananas. He was furious and scolded the driver soundly. The driver had tears in his eyes and confessed that he had not eaten for two days. The merchant was very unhappy because he could not give an incomplete gift to God. Sadly he told the driver to turn the cart back home. As they were trudging along slowly, the merchant saw some children hungrily eyeing the bananas. On an impulse, he got down from the cart and gave the sweet bananas to them. He spotted a group of old people, too old to even get up, and gave them some fruit. His next bananas went to some disabled who were trudging along. Now he had very few fruits left with him. He gave some to the driver and the rest he gave to the monkeys and cows he saw on the way. Though he was happy he had given the fruits away, yet the broken deal with God bothered him. He would have to start his collection for the offering again! That night he had a dream. He saw God appearing before him. The unhappy merchant started to weep. But God just smiled and said “ Get up and wipe your tears. You have already given me all the fruits!” The merchant now understood the true meaning of an offering to God and got up happily.

Story 2 - The visitor to the school was talking to the principal when he happened to glance outside the window. What he saw there made him sit up. A girl who was lame was having difficulty in walking. A few of her friends were helping her to walk with ease. Then he saw a blind boy walking with a stick. He was about to trip and fall down when two of his friends, who were watching him, rushed to his aid. The visitor was taken aback as more and more lame and blind children came into his view. Unable to contain his curiosity he asked the principal if he was running a school for the disabled. The principal just laughed in reply. He called a lame girl to him and told her to come running. Imagine the visitor’s surprise when she did so. The principal explained that in his school every week on one day, some children were made to act as their unfortunate disabled brothers and sisters. This gave them an insight for understanding their difficulties.

Points to Discuss
 How do you think prayers should be said? Does it have to be broadcast through loudspeakers? Can it be said in silence?
 Helping the poor is one way to show your love for God. They do not have as much as we do and when we serve them and share our things with them, we not only help them but they help us to grow into better people. Can you think of some things that you can do to help the poor and the needy?

Activities
 Start a club in your class to help the poor and the needy.
 Read these poems :
God’s love is so wonderful O! Wonderful love.
It’s so high – you can’t go over it,
It’s so deep – you can’t go under it,
It’s so wide – you can’t go around it, O! Wonderful love.
 This my prayer to thee, my Lord !
Strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.
Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service
Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might
Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles
Give me the strength to surrender my strength to Thy will with love. (Rabindranath Tagore)
CHAPTER V - HAPPINESS

INNER HAPPINESS IS TRUE HAPPINESS

Objectives
 One who is happy under all circumstances is a happy man.
 Inner happiness is true happiness. This is possible as divinity is within us.
 We must be able to develop a good sense of humour.

Introduction
We have already discussed in the earlier classes how happiness is not in acquiring things but in making others happy. True happiness is beyond even that. It is a state of mind. True happiness is in being happy all the time, unperturbed and calm under all circumstances, not being affected by whatever is happening around us and being able to do the right things. This Ananda or bliss is possible only when we give divinity a place in our hearts. When God is inside us, our minds and hearts are filled with good and clean thoughts and we are able to do the right things. A good sense of humour helps us to laugh at ourselves. Let’s develop it!

A way to begin
 Have a Laughter club in the class and encourage all children to laugh out loud. Ask them how they felt. Tell them to remember that Laughter is the best medicine! It is good if they can maintain a cheerful attitude all the time.
 Ask them to define True happiness. Does this depend on the things one gets?
 Lord Krishna defines a yogi as one who is unaffected by sadness or happiness. Do they know someone who can fit this description?
 Let them give instances when they were criticized. How did they feel? Ask them to laugh at themselves next time and see the difference. It is a pity that only a few of us are able to have this sense of humour and laugh at ourselves. It needs to be given more importance.

Story Time
Story 1 - Once there was a king who was always unhappy. He had everything, but he always complained and felt sick all the time. So he went to consult a sage. The wise man could see what the problem was. He told the king that he would be cured of his illness if he would borrow and wear the shirt of a man who never complained and was happy all the time. The king thought it was such an easy thing to do and asked his ministers who seemed to be happy, if they could give their shirts. To his surprise he found that they also had something or the other to complain. He sent his men all over the kingdom to find a happy man. Again he drew a blank. He was frustrated and himself set out in search of a man who could cure him. One day after a long search he found a man who was working in a field. He was happily singing. When the king asked him if he had any complaints, the man was surprised. “ Why should I complain?” he asked. “ My mother, the earth, gives me food and my father, the sky, gives me shelter. I have everything I want. I am healthy and I am happy.” he said. The king was happy too. At last he had found a happy man! He asked the man to lend him his shirt for a while. “I can’t” said the man. The king was disappointed. “I will give you a lot of money” promised the king, “ anything you ask for”. The man looked at the king with pity. “ I can’t give you my shirt” he said “ because I don’t have any! All I have is this piece of cloth,” he said pointing to his torn dhoti.

Story 2 - Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism was born in a princely family in the Old Kingdom of Magadh. An astrologer told the king, who was overjoyed at the birth of the royal prince, that Gautama would renounce the kingdom and would become an ascetic if he came to know about the unhappiness in the world. As a result, Gautama was never allowed to be unhappy and he led a protected life. But one day, he happened to go outside the palace and he was shocked to see the misery brought about by poverty, old age, sickness and death. That night he quietly left his wife and young son and became an ascetic. He wandered in search of truth for many years and ultimately discovered that unhappiness is a result of desire. A person who gave up desires and led a balanced and righteous life was truly happy all the time.

Story 3 - A king had a barber who was happy all the time. He would be smiling, joking and laughing and never had a frown on his face. The king asked his minister how was it possible for him to be so happy. The minister thought for a while and said he was not yet bothered with the fever of ninety-nine. What was that? asked the king. The minister said he would show and asked the king for a bag with ninety-nine gold coins. He dropped this bag in the barber’s house. When the barber came back, he saw this bag, took out the money and counted it. From that moment his happiness was gone! Now he wanted to earn one more gold coin to make it a round number of a hundred! When he got the hundred, he wanted to start on the next hundred and that was the end of his happy days! The poor barber now had the fever of ninety-nine !

Points to Discuss
 The king who had everything was unhappy but the man who did not have even a shirt, was very happy. How was this possible? Discuss.
 Why did the poor man call the earth as his mother and the sky as his father? Would you like to live like him and be in tune with Nature? What would be the benefits of such a life style?
 How serious is the Fever of ninety nine? Why are people who get their fever always anxious and not happy?

 Think and answer — what will you do? What will make you happy?
a. You see something you always wanted to have, lying on the floor. And there is nobody.
b. You are very angry and feel like shouting at somebody.
c. You find your friend is not able to write well as he doesn’t have a good pencil.
d. Your friends want you to come with them for a movie. At home your mother is unwell and needs help.
e. You are in a hurry. You see a dog hurt and limping.
f. You do not know the answer to a question. You have to go to the library to find the answer. Your friend has already done the work.
 We say that a person has a good sense of humour when he can laugh AT himself and not get upset when others tease him.
 How good is your sense of humour? Can you laugh?
a. When your friend calls you a fool?
b. When you see that you have made a silly mistake?
c. When someone has fooled you?
d. When everybody is having a good laugh at your expense?
e. When you think something is serious but others do not?

Activities
 Make a small booklet with pictures to show what makes you happy. Think of things that make you happy. Include in it people, feelings, occasions, surroundings, colours, plus any other thing that has made you happy. End with a page, which shows what is True Happiness.
 Read the following poem and reflect on its meaning.
The Most Vital Thing In Life
When you feel like saying something
That you know you will regret
Or keenly feel an insult
Not quite easy to forget.
That’s the time to curb resentment
And maintain a mental peace,
For when your mind is tranquil
All your ill thoughts simply cease.
It is easy to be angry
When defrauded or defied,
To be peeved or disappointed
If your wishes are denied;
But to win a worthwhile battle
Over selfishness and spite,
You must learn to keep strict silence
Though you know you are in the right.

So keep your mental balance
And when confronted by a foe,
Be it an enemy in ambush
Or some danger that you know,
If you are poised and tranquil
When all around you is strife,
Be assured that you have mastered
The most vital thing in life.
- Greenville Kleiser


CHAPTER VI - NATURE

LET US TAKE CARE OF OUR MOTHER EARTH

Objectives
 We need to be aware of how Nature operates.
 The balance in Nature must not be disturbed by our actions.
 It is necessary to conserve Nature and we must help in conservation efforts.

Introduction
In the present day context of environmental pollution and extinction of wild life, it has become necessary to device ways and means to at least contain, if not prevent the damage caused by pollution and other factors. It has now become important to lead a life with environmental awareness. Voluntary organizations like the WWF, Green Peace etc. are directing their efforts towards containing pollution and conserving wildlife.
What can children do to help in this important and vital project? A lot. As a starter, they can reduce their consumption of paper. Refer to the statistics given elsewhere in the chapter. They can help in saving energy and water. Inspire and motivate them to think of what else they can do to conserve the earth’s depleting resources.

A way to begin
 If possible, take four one-litre bottles filled with water to the class. Keep aside 3 bottles and tell them that this water is unpotable because it is seawater and salty. Out of the remaining one litre, most of it is as glaciers (pour most of the water out. To ensure that the children get the message that no water should be wasted, pour this water later in the garden to benefit the plants) or as deep underground water (pour the rest of the water). Do you know how much potable water we get from the entire water on this earth? (put one drop on the table)
Just ONE DROP! Yes, just one drop of water is readily available for use. So think before using water.
 Ask the children to think about how they are depleting the resources in Nature. Do they know how much paper gets wasted in schoolwork? With a little effort they can help in avoiding this. The facts given below bear this out. Information taken from a book—Towards a cleaner Greener Delhi by Maneka Gandhi
Total number of students in Delhi--- 2,226,000
If every child saves one sheet of paper per day--- 2,226,000 sheets can be saved. This means 11,896 tonnes of paper saved per day. This means 33,308 tonnes of wood saved per day. This means the students of Delhi alone per day can save 40,000 trees if they save just one paper! These figures were taken a few years back. Now the population has increased in the country and in schools. You can work out how much we can save if we take into account these factors! So think before you use paper.
 Life on earth is like a spider’s web. Can you think why? All the threads in a spider’s web are connected. If you touch a thread, the whole web shakes and if you pull even one thread out, the web will get distorted or break. In the same way, our actions, which affect Nature, have a far-reaching effect and the delicate balance is destroyed. For example, what happens when more tigers are killed? When forests are wiped out? When insecticides kill too many insects? To understand this web better, play the Web game. Make the children sit in a circle. Give each one of them a placard with something in nature- sun, grass etc. Take a spool of thread and give it to the ‘Sun’. Ask him to give it to an aspect of nature that is dependent on the sun. Eg. grass. Now grass passes the thread to another aspect connected with it. This will develop into a tight web. Now remove one thing from the web and see how the web sags as the things connected with it get affected. This game shows how everything in Nature is connected and a vital balance is maintained.

Story Time
True facts 1 - The Bishnoi community in Rajasthan, consider all living things as sacred. They worship the trees in their village. Once, a long time ago, the king of that place needed wood to build some buildings. He sent his men to cut some trees in the Bishnoi village to get this wood. The menfolk of the village had gone out to work. When the women found that their sacred trees were being felled, they first pleaded with the woodcutters to spare their trees. But when they found that the men were not listening to them, they decided to protect the trees with their lives. They put their arms around the trees and dared the men to cut them. Unfortunately, the men decided to go ahead and this resulted in the death of the women. When the king came to know of this, he was mortified and decreed that no tree should be felled in any of the places where the Bishnoi community lives. Later, some women in Uttarkhand in UP, used this same method to save their trees which were being cut by greedy contractors. This way of hugging trees to save them came to be known as the Chipko movement. An activist, Mr. Sundarlal Bahaguna is responsible for popularizing this movement now.
True fact 2 - There was a forest fire in the North west of the United States of America in the year 1891. The entire forest was completely wiped out. Nothing but a few charred tree remains could be seen. A long time passed. Suddenly, in 1919, the forest began to revive! Tender shoots began to spring from the Earth. Every body was amazed. No efforts had been taken to reclaim the forest. There was no means by which seeds could have come to the forest. Everybody was puzzled. What do you think had happened? Scientists found out that the trees came from the seeds the squirrels had stored under the ground. They had chosen the best seeds and they revived!
True fact 3 - The children of a primary school in Gujarat earned money for themselves by working for the forest department. The department gave them polythene bags, seeds and seedlings to start their own nurseries. The children looked after the plants. When the saplings were as tall as the children, the department bought them back. The school earned about Rs. 1500, by raising 10,000 saplings. The children used the money for an excursion. It was an exciting trip since they had never gone out of their village. What is more, they started a book bank for the poorest children of the school.

Points to Discuss
 Discuss how children can help in conserving the resources of Nature, just like the tiny squirrel helped Lord Rama! So let them resolve to do their best.
 Here are some things that can be easily done even by tiny tots.
 Use less paper. List ways of using once used paper (Making small notepads, as rough note book etc.)
 Use less water. List ways of using once used, or Grey water.
 Use less Gas. List ways of saving gas (By eating together and eating when the food is hot)
 Use less Energy. List ways of saving energy (By switching off unnecessary lights. Remember SOS - Switch Off Something)
 Use less petrol. List ways of saving petrol ( By walking to nearby areas, by using car pools)
 What else can you do to conserve these resources?
 Organise debates on some relevant topics. Topics for debate—Too many cars, boon or bane? Should the cost of petrol be increased further? Technology has done more harm than good.
Activities
 Find out about alternate sources of energy ( solar, wind, tidal, biogas etc.).
 Find out how much water gets wasted from a leaky tap, how many unnecessary kilometers you travel in a day and how many units of electricity is consumed in your house per month. Make posters to show how this wastage can be stopped.
 Read this poem and think about it :
I think I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree
A tree whose happy mouth is pressed
Against the Earth’s sweet flowering breast
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of Robins in her hair
Upon whose bosom snow has lain
Who intimately lives with rain
Poems are made by fools like me
But ONLY GOD can make a tree.


CHAPTER VII - DUTY AND RESPONSIBILITY

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS

Objectives
 Before you act, think what the result will be and how it will affect the others.
 If you have caused a problem with your decisions or actions, solve it yourself.
 Be responsible for your words and actions. Do not give excuses. Accept criticisms as well.

Introduction
A child has to be guided to take responsibilities and execute them satisfactorily. When very young, it could just be the completion of a daily chore. Later he has to learn to shoulder bigger responsibilities. To be responsible means he is answerable for his own words and actions. So before acting and taking decisions he must consider how it will affect him and others. He must have the courage to admit his mistake if something goes wrong and correct the mistake. A responsible person is trustworthy and dependable and people count on him.


A way to begin
 Find out what kind of responsibilities each one of the family members has. What kind of responsibilities do the children have? How many of them enjoy doing their work?
 Do the children work in groups? How do they choose the group leader? What qualities do they look for in a group leader? How does he assign work to the group? How does he ensure co-operation in the group? Does he give excuses? Does he take criticism well?
 Let the children talk about mistakes they committed when they took some decision. Did they find it hard to apologize? Did they take this as a learning experience or did they brood about it?

Story Time
Story 1- When Lord Krishna was in Brindavan as a young boy, the Yadava tribe used to have a big celebration in the honour of God Indra, whom they worshipped. One year, Krishna urged them to give up this practise. He told them that they should worship their cows instead as they gave the tribe milk and sustained them. His people listened to him and gave up the worship of Indra. Krishna knew what would be the result of his action and as expected, Indra got angry and punished the people by sending down torrential rain. They ran to Krishna in panic as the sky opened up. Krishna told them not to worry and with his little finger lifted up the Govardhan hills. They took shelter under its huge canopy. Indra realized his folly and begged forgiveness from Krishna.

Story 2 - Bhasma was an asura who got a boon for himself from Lord Shiva after a long tapasya. According to the boon, he could kill people by just placing his hand on their head. He wanted to test the boon on Lord Shiva himself! Shiva ran to Vishnu and asked him to save him. Lord Vishnu took the form of a very pretty woman by name Mohini and went near the asura. Bhasma was enamoured by her beauty. She started to dance and urged him to follow her steps. The asura did not think of the consequences and did as she bid him to. As a part of her dance, Mohini kept her hand on her head. Bhasma did the same and was instantly destroyed!

Story 3 - A father was very much worried that his young son was being irresponsible and whiling away his time doing nothing. To teach him to take up responsibility for his life, he told him that from the next day onwards, he would be given food only if he worked and earned some money, even if it was only a rupee. The first day, the boy begged his mother to give him a rupee and this he gave to his father when he came home. His father took the money and promptly threw it into the well. The boy was puzzled but said nothing. The following days too he somehow managed to get a rupee from his mother, which was again thrown into the well by his father. On the fourth day, his mother said she had no money to give him and that he would have to earn it himself. The boy went forth seeking employment. After a long and hard search, he could just earn 50 paise. He proudly gave this meagre earning to his father. His father took the coin and went near the well to throw it in. At this, the boy came running and caught hold of his hand. “How can you throw away this money? Do you know how hard I had to work to earn it?” he asked angrily. To his surprise, his father hugged him and said, “Today I know you have really earned this money! Do you realize now how I felt every time you wasted the money that I had earned with such hard labour? Now you have learnt your responsibility.”

Points to Discuss
 Discuss the following situations :
 You promised your mother you would go to the shop and get her some things. Your friend invited you to go and play with her and you did that instead. Was it right?
 You had to find the books you had lost. So you looked in the bookshelf by taking out all the books. When you found what you were looking for, you just rushed away and left everything where you had thrown them. Was it right?
 You missed the school picnic because you did not arrive on time. You got angry with your friends for going off without you. Was it right?
 What should you do to set things right in the following situations?
 You borrowed a classmate’s book and lost it.
 You bumped into someone and knocked that person’s books on the floor.
 You spilled something on the library book and spoilt its pages.
 Your friend was working on a model and accidentally you pushed it off the table.

Activities
 Give a list of activities that the children should be able to perform on their own with responsibility ,such as doing their best even when somebody is not supervising them, returning their library books on time, studying on their own etc. Find out how many of these jobs they do sincerely.
 Students to discuss in a group and make a list of what their responsibilities are – as a member of a family, as a student of a school and as a citizen of India.
 Read this poem and think about it.
This is a story about four people named
EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY and NOBODY
There was an important job to be done
And EVERYBODY was sure
That SOMEBODY would do it.
ANYBODY could have done it
But NOBODY did it.
SOMBODY got angry about it
Because it was EVERYBODY’S job.
EVERYBODY thought
That ANYBODY could do it.
But NOBODY realized
That EVERYBODY wouldn’t do it.
It ended up that
EVERYBODY blamed SOMEBODY
When NOBODY did
What ANYBODY could have done!



CHAPTER VIII - WORK AND PERSEVERANCE

DO YOUR BEST

Objectives
 Do your best in any job. Set high standards for yourself and do not settle for sub standard work.
 Be willing to work hard at whatever you have to accomplish without complaining.
 Do not postpone any work. Do it yourself without waiting for someone else to do it.

Introduction
Persistence, perseverance and patience are the hallmark of a person who is hardworking. Intelligence and smartness alone will not take a person very far unless it is backed by hard work. Children should understand that they cannot and should not get away with half-baked jobs and there has to be commitment in whatever they do. Let them understand that hard work means setting their goals high, staying focussed on them and doing their best to achieve them.

A way to begin
 You can start with the story of Birbal given in story time. The question that was asked by Akbar could be asked as a puzzle and the children asked to solve it. Use it as an example to drive home the point how we should always try to do better than before. Tell them how athletes always try to better the previous records. Ask them to think of the motto of the Olympic games.
 They should try to do their best in every field, not just in atheletics or studies. Tell them that they could improve even the way they cover their notebooks! Any job should be done with the idea of doing it well. A job worth doing, is worth doing well! Give them the example of Edison who invented scores of things. He said that Genius is one- percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration! There is absolutely no substitute for hard work.
 Make them understand how important it is to set up high standards and tell them never to be satisfied with half-baked jobs. Tell them about how Japan had risen from the ashes. It was devastated in the Second World War when atom bombs were dropped on it. It could achieve its dramatic recovery because, not only did the people work very hard but also because they insisted on quality and produced the best. Now a small country like Japan is able to corner a major share of world trade. Our country with such immense potentials is not able to do this for the simple reason that we have the ‘Chalta Hai’ attitude and get satisfied with sub standard work.

Story Time
Story 1- Michael Faraday was one of the greatest scientists of this century. When he was a young boy his family was so poor that all he got to eat as food for a week was just one loaf of bread! Michael divided it into fourteen parts so that he never went hungry but he never had a full meal either. His schooling had to be stopped midway. He took up a job as a paper vendor and did his work so well that he was soon promoted to being a binder. It was here that he read voraciously and developed an avid interest in science. He wanted to be a scientist and worked hard for achieving it. He seized opportunities and worked hard to achieve his goal. Once he heard the lectures of another great scientist, Sir Humphry Davy. This inspired him so much that he spent hours copying the lectures in a very neat hand, bound them and gave it to the scientist. This resulted in his getting a job as a cleaner in Sir Davy’s lab. But soon, Michael’s keen perception, hard work and diligence made him become an assistant and there was no looking back after that. He went on to discover many things which have made his name immortal.

Story 2 - Once, King Akbar posed a problem to his courtiers. He drew a line on the floor and asked them to shorten it without touching it in anyway. His ministers thought about it for a long while and then accepted defeat. Birbal came in just then and Akbar asked him the same question. Birbal immediately solved the problem by drawing a longer line next to the first line, thus making it shorter.

Story 3 - The children in the class did not like the new class teacher because she was very strict. She insisted on many rules—their notebooks had to be always neat and tidy, their work had to be done on time, their handwriting had to be perfect etc. In short, they had to pay attention to whatever they did and they had to do it well! She even insisted that they should do well in their music class! In the beginning the children resented this ‘quality control’ but as time went by, they discovered that their work was being appreciated by all. It became a challenge to excel and do well in every field. The teacher whom they didn’t like earlier was their favourite teacher now.

Story 4 - A king liked one particular mason. One day the mason told the king that he wanted to retire. The king did not agree immediately, but later said that he would let him go but before his retirement he should build a house for the king. The mason reluctantly agreed and did his work half-heartedly. Imagine his surprise when the king presented him with the same shoddily built house!

Points to Discuss
 Who is doing it right here and who is doing it wrong? What would YOU do?
 Nita saw some water spilt on the floor. She didn’t want to wipe it and went away.
 Arun never does his homework until his mother finds out and tells him to do it.
 Lakshmi polishes her shoes till they shine! Hers are the best in the class.
 When Ram’s father gives him some work to do, he always starts to complain.
 The teacher gave a surprise test. Babu could not answer any question!
 When Niru folds the clothes she does it very carefully and stacks them in a neat pile. Hina doesn’t even try to fold the towels well.
 Part of being a hard worker is jumping in and doing a job that needs to be done. If you see a toy lying on the table at home and you know it needs to be put away. Which of the following should you do?
 Leave it where it is.
 Wait for someone else to put it away.
 Push it off the table and go away.
 Shout at the person who left it there.
 Put it away after your parents tell you to.
 Put it away yourself.
 Doing more than what is expected of you is a sure way to win. Are you willing to go that extra mile? Whatever you do, however small it is, try to do better than the best. Give examples of some things that you do which can be improved. Work does not mean just schoolwork!
 What do the following statements mean to you? What do they say about hard work?
 Whiners cannot be winners.
 Thomas Edison said “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration”

Activities
 Look up the following words in the dictionary.
Persevere, procrastinate, diligent, dawdle, determined, prompt, zealous, and lethargic
Which of them describe a hard worker?
 Have you worked very hard to achieve something? Was it easy? Did you lose your patience sometimes? How did you feel when you succeeded in it? Tell your friends about it.


CHAPTER IX - TIME MANAGEMENT

HAVE A GOAL AND A TIME TABLE

Objectives
 It is impossible to make good use of time without a goal and a timetable.
 We must be ready and alert to use time properly.
 Live in the present and stop worrying about the past or the future.

Introduction
A goal helps us to have a focus and a timetable gives us the means to reach that goal. Without these it is difficult to plan and utilise the time available. Children make a timetable to study and revise but only during exams! Encourage them to extend it to other days and other activities too. Planning helps one to manage time well and to the fullest extent.
Alertness helps one to seize opportunities. We do not have unlimited time at our disposal. Time that is gone can never come back. So, one needs to develop this skill and be alert. At the same time it is useless to dwell in the past, lamenting about lost opportunities. We must learn to live in the present and use whatever time is available, in the most efficient way.

A way to begin
 Do the children have a timetable for study during the exams? Ask them to extend it to their day to day activities also. When they have a timetable, it is easier to do things. More important than that is to have a goal. Let them think about the goals that they can have. A long-term goal can be about what they want to achieve in life. A short-term goal can be what they want to achieve in this class and an immediate goal can be what they want to accomplish today. Whatever it is, they have to plan and work towards achieving their goal and they have to find the means and the time to do it.
It is also time to think of the highest goal that they can have and that is to become a good human being and reach the kind of perfection that our creator wants us to have.
 Talk to the children about finding time to do things. Tell them how they will never FIND time for anything. If they want time, they must make it with a positive attitude. Any problem can be converted into an opportunity. Supposing their parents want them to help them at home, doing things like going to the market or taking care of their siblings, they may consider them as difficult tasks and complain or take them up willingly. There are two benefits in taking up household chores willingly; one is that they are being given an opportunity to help and secondly, it is helping them to develop certain skills, which will come in handy. They should remember that work is the key to success and happiness.

Story Time
Story 1 - You must have heard about Bill Gates. He is one of the richest men in the world and owns the biggest Computer Company called Microsoft. He was a boy from a lower middle class family. He was so interested in learning about computers that he used to even pick up pamphlets from the dustbin, which had information about them. He worked hard without wasting even a minute. When he was just a teenager, he started writing computer software programs with a team of people. Within a short period of time he had started his own company, Microsoft. This is the top most company in the world now and is doing very well.

Story 2 - A businessman had a pet parrot in his house. Once he had to go on a long trip and he asked his pet what should he bring for it. The parrot asked him to meet his relatives and find out how to get his freedom. The man found the relative and asked the question which his pet had asked. As soon as he asked this question, the parrot fell down dead. He was puzzled. When he reached home, he told his pet, what had happened. Immediately, this parrot also fell down dead! The man felt sorry for it and opened the cage to take it out. To his astonishment, the bird flew away. It had waited for the right answer, which was that the only way to escape was by pretending to be dead. It used the trick at the right time and escaped.

Story 3 - Crying over what has gone in the past is as bad as making wild castles in the air without doing anything. There was a man who was given a pot of flour. He imagined how he would use it to make rotis which he would sell to get money with which he would buy hens, then goat, then cow and he would marry a girl who might not listen to him and then he would give her a kick. He actually gave a kick and broke the pot of flour! If he had lived in the present, he would have been careful.

Points to Discuss
 Discuss who is doing the right thing and who isn’t. Give reasons for your answers.
 Ramani is still upset with the money he lost five years ago.
 Seema has to take care of her little brother when her mother is busy. Still she always completes her work on time.
 Daya watches TV programs till late at night.
 Suman learns music, dance and gymnastics apart from her studies.
 Kusum complains that she has so much homework that she does not have time to learn anything more.
 Dheer lags behind in his studies. All his spare time is spent in playing computer games.
 Talk about your professional goals. Discuss what more goals should you have in life?
 How well you use today can determine how good tomorrow will be. So far you have read about how not to waste time but to use it properly. The present should also be used in an effective way to develop the qualities that will make you a better human being.
 Read the following poem to see what can be done for personal growth.

Let me be a little kinder,
Let me be a little blinder
To the faults of those about me.
Let me praise a little more.

Let me be, when I am weary,
Just a little bit more cheery;
Let me serve a little better
Those whom I am working for.

Let me be a little braver
When temptation makes me waver;
Let me strive a little harder
To be all that I should be.

Let me be a little meeker
With the person who is weaker;
Let me think more of my neighbour
And a little less of me.


Activities
 Look at the given examples of children using their spare time profitably. What they want to become is given in the bracket below. Match them both.
 Sheela visits buildings under construction to see how they are being built.
 Ravi watches his mother while she cooks and helps her.
 Meena practices her dance steps whenever she if free.
 Ram reads good books and writes articles after he does his homework.
 Renu uses the computer in her spare time and helps her mother with her accounts.
 When he is free, Sethu is always taking things apart and putting them together again. (Chef, computer programmer, writer, dancer, mechanic, architect)
 Draw up a timetable for a week, putting in all that you want to achieve in that week.


CHAPTER X - COURAGE

COURAGE HELPS YOU TO BE FIRM AND STRONG

Objectives
 Courage is the ability to pursue legitimate actions against oppositions.
 It gives strength to stand on our own set of values, even if the majority is against us.
 It helps us to act intelligently in changed circumstances instead of accepting the fate meekly.

Introduction

Courageous people are able to stand by their convictions and by their own set of values. They don’t succumb to temptations, nor get intimidated by opposition. They are able to take appropriate action against opposition and if the circumstances change, they are able to make it to their advantage and act intelligently.
How do these qualities become relevant to children? All of us, even children, need to have some basic values such as honesty and truthfulness, respect for others and their property, having good and healthy habits, being aware of duties and responsibilities etc. One needs courage to uphold and carry on these values irrespective of temptations and oppositions.
Courage is generally thought of as analogous to fearlessness. There is a subtle difference though. We can think of courage as being the drive to carry on a task inspite of being aware of the dangers involved in the job (eg. a soldier going into the battlefield to fight). Fearlessness does not consider the impending dangers (eg. a child of two pulls the tail of a dog since he/she is not aware that the dog might bite).

A way to begin

 Talk to the children about the fears they have. Ask them what do they do when they have such fears? One way to get rid of them is to find out the cause for the fears. For eg. if they have not prepared well for the examinations, they feel scared to face them. If they have done some mistake, they are scared to face their parents. Once the reasons are identified, they should try to set them right. When their minds are clear, they can get rid of these fears.
 The second way is to believe in the divine help. If they can feel that God is there to help them, they can draw strength from Him and face the world with courage.
 Another way is to read about people who have faced challenges with courage and keeping them as a role model, try to emulate them. As courage is very essential for life, all efforts should be taken to instil it in children. Also it is necessary to distinguish between foolishness and real courage.

Story Time
Story 1 - Gandhiji wanted the Hindus and Muslims to live in peace with each other. Unfortunately, after the partition of the country into India and Pakistan there was a large-scale migration of people across the borders of the two countries.
This brought in a lot of tension between the two communities. One of the worst hit was a place called Naokhali in Bengal where many people were killed. Against the advice given to him by his friends and followers, Gandhiji proceeded to Naokhali, listening only to his inner voice. He knew his life was in danger but he went there boldly. His only concern was to somehow calm down the people and bring peace to the strife torn place. People respected his courage and the fighting stopped. Later however, he had to pay with his life for having stood by his values. But still, his moral courage has earned him a place in History.

Story 2 - Martin Luther King was a black man who was influenced by Gandhiji’s philosophy of non-violence. About fifty years back, black people in America were treated very badly. Mr. King was instrumental in elevating their status and in bringing in more benefits for them. He decided to use only non-violent methods to achieve this. Many were not in favour of his philosophy and violent fights erupted quite often. Mr. King however did not give up his beliefs and in the end he succeeded in changing the minds of the people.

Story 3 - There are many stories in Panchatantra which tell us how one can take advantage of any circumstance. The story of the monkey and the crocodile is one such story. A crocodile befriended a monkey who used to give him tasty wood apples from a tree. Once the crocodile took a fruit to his wife. She liked it so much that she wanted to eat the monkey whose stomach must be full of the fruits. The crocodile invited the monkey for dinner to his house. Midway through the journey he couldn’t hold back the reason for taking him home. The monkey was shocked as he could not jump into the water and escape. He decided to make the crocodile take him back to the shore. So he told the crocodile how sorry he was that he had not been told earlier because he had left his stomach on the tree. The foolish crocodile believed him and took him back to the tree and the clever and bold monkey escaped.

Points to Discuss

 Consider the following situations and discuss them :
a. Two teams are playing a game. A boy notices one of the players in his team cheating but the opposite team doesn’t know about it. He stops the game and tells the boy not to cheat. Did he do the right thing?
b. You have to study for an important exam. Your friend has tickets for a movie and asks you to come with him. He says you can study later but you refuse to go with him and this makes him angry. Who was in the right?
c. There is an emergency and the parents have to go to another city for a couple of days. Their two children are unhappy at being left alone. But after a little while, one of the boys cries and says not to leave him and go; the other one rings up his friend to find out if they could stay in their house during their parents’ absence. Who was bolder? Who had the presence of mind?

Activities

 Think of a person whom you admire for his/ her courage. Tell the class about him/ her and what he /she did.
 There are many interesting stories in the Panchatantra tales. Try to read some stories from it.
 Play the game of ten questions. This is how you play it. Think of yourself as a famous person who acted with courage. Don’t tell the others whom you have thought of. By asking questions, your friends have to guess who you thought you were. You can only answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the questions. They have to guess within ten questions!


What Is Success

What is Success?
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics