Biospehere Empathy

I was hearing NPR this morning - I did not get the name of the author however the topic was how human consciousness has evolved over centuries from hunters to religion to theology to philosophy to psychology to empathy.
And how we extend it to various groups - The concept of empathy started in late 20th century and earlier it extended to groups which people could relate to but then extended beyond religious boundaries and cultural boundaries. And in last five years it is extending beyond humans in general to other mammals.

Beauty is .. by Swati Goel

Swati wrote this in October 2009 as part of one of her school projects. The topic was "Beauty is..."

"The beauty of HUMAN lies in the heart and mind. That is what makes us intelligent, strong, and kind. This is the beauty of human.

The beauty of LIGHT is to give us sight so we can appreciate every object in day or night. Light gives us color, warmth, and life. This is the beauty of light.

The beauty of SPACE is that it is earth's home, just like houses and buildings are our habitat. Space inspires us to imagine and explore. This is the beauty of space.

The beauty of EVOLUTION is having life repeat over and over in different forms. Usually it gets smarter, just like we do by learning in school. This is the beauty of evolution.

The beauty of NATURE is to make the earth look like more than a humongous mound of dirt. Just like we wear clothes, plants decorate the earth. This is the beauty of nature.

The beauty of COMMUNITY is that it lets a group do more than any single person. Community helps creativity because the best work comes when one person's ideas mix with the others. This is the beauty of community."

Animals by Swati Goel

This is another poem Swati wrote on her experience in Children's Eternal Rainforest in MonteVerde Costa Rica in Dec 2009. She is 7 years old.

"As they flutter around with wings,
As they leap and hop on feet of web,
As they pounce along to show their strong,
As they slither and hiss to show their venom;
A chain of life that never ends, the only end is where they began."

Another short one on active volcano is Arenal in Costa Rica

"Thundering explosion of melted rock, breaking and building in an endless stock"

The Rainforest by Swati Goel

This is the poem Swati wrote on her trip to Costa rica based on what she experienced in San Gerado de Dota (a place famous for birds). It was raining and we took this hike in the rainforest to the waterfall.

"I slipped in the mud, I loved the way the canopy sealed me in.
Raindrop water was all around and yet it was hot and dry.
I couldn't bear to not look for birds and butterflies as I stared at plants, while climbing steep ground, as I finally reached the waterfall, I was panting."

Finding a social cause to fight for

For a while, I have been thinking of finding a social undertaking that would help me grow as a person. One of the ideas that I cam across was during our trip to Costa Rica. In 1990s, a group of kids in order to protect the forests collected funds to buy back land in Costa Rica and plant the forest again. Today, it is called the International Children's Forest and occupies a huge area and thus prevents deforestation. I thought it was such a great idea and may be I can do a similar thing in other countries. However, for such an idea to sustain itself I need to develop a business model around such initiative so that local population have incentive to protect the natural resources. Without the involvement of local community such idea is not sustainable.

I would love to hear more ideas on this or if someone else out there who is passionate about this issue would like to work on this let me know.

Costa Rica Trip

Agastya is 2 years and 2 months now and like all two year old his favorite words are "I do", "Mine", "Why", and "Mine". All these were in full swing when we went on our year end trip to Costa Rica. Swati and Agastya bonded really well. Swati taught Agastya almost half a dozen nursery rhymes. Agastya learned how to call a monkey. He would put one hand on his mouth and will say ouuuuu. On the beach he would run and jump over the waves hitting the beach and almost got carried by the waves a couple of times. In two weeks I really felt that Agastya has grown by two years.