Dear members,

It has been a little over a month since the launch of the 'Hamaara Bharat Mahaan' site, and I believe it is time for a brief note on what the objectives behind the idea are.

India is a great country ... there is no two words about that. The pride each one of us feels in being an Indian is not quantifiable. Predictably, however, as all other great things about life, our country has its share of problems. And unfortunately, today these problems seem so insurmountable, that every discussion of India ends with a note of pessimism.

What we need to realise, and appreciate, is that there are still a lot of great things about India we can be proud of!

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings."

And THAT is the basic objective of this site.... an attempt to highlight the achievements and inspirational stories that India, and Indians, can be proud of.

At the same time, we cannot rest on our laurels, and push all the problems under the carpet. Ignoring problems is not going to make them disappear. And it is each of our individual responsibility to contribute our ideas & efforts to help solve these problems, and making India the GREAT country it really is.

Oops !! This newsletter is getting a bit too long ... and a bit too serious, eh ? Sorry folks. The idea is to build up a community-like atmosphere, where we get to know each other, bound to each other by a common love for India, ... and have a NICE time doing what we enjoy doing.

Please mail me a short note about yourself ... how you would like to introduce yourself to the rest of the gang ... and we shall include it in the next newsletter so that we can get to know each other better.

And now, before this mail gets too large, a brief note on WHAT IS NEW at the site :

We have added a couple of pages on the 'Sharing and Caring' site .. an article on Dr. Prabhakar's efforts in a small village in Kerala to bring self-sufficiency to the rural women, and another article on Kishor's efforts in Guwahati to help the blind people.

There is also an 'Articles' section where we have reproduced an article by Tavleen Singh that appeared in India Today about a church's efforts in Mumbai to bring smiles on the faces of the children living in slums.

We have also added a 'Links' page with links to other india-related sites. Please do mail us the list of links that you would like to see added to this site. Later on, we intend to start ranking them based on your inputs. More about that later.

And before I end(all of you must be heaving a sigh of relief !), we wish to thank you once again for deciding to sign up as a member. Just remember, that was just the first step. We need you to actively participate in the development of the site content, and your ideas and suggestions are very critical.

Here is a small poem I read on the net, which I thought was great:

One SONG can spark a moment
One FLOWER can wake the dream
One TREE can start a forest
One BIRD can herald spring
One SMILE begins a friendship
One HANDCLASP lifts a soul
One STAR can guide a ship at sea
One WORD can frame the goal
One VOTE can change a nation
One SUNBEAM lights a room
One CANDLE wipes out darkness
One LAUGH will conquer gloom
One STEP must start each journey
One WORD must start a prayer
One HOPE will raise our spirits
One TOUCH can show you care
One VOICE can speak with wisdom
One HEART can know what is true
One LIFE can make a difference

Author Unknown

And on that uplifting note, here is wishing you all a Great Week!!

Regards

Mahesh Balan

Our Web site : https://members.tripod.com/MahaanBharat/index.html
Mail to : mahaan_bharat@hotmail.com

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