Rejoice! Today is Earth Day.

For those of you wondering, 'Yeh Earth Day verth Day kya hai?” let me fill in your blanks. The celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd began in the United States in 1970 and was the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson. And Earth Day is a perfect time to reflect about what you are doing to help protect the environment. There are many ways in which you can celebrate this day both by yourself, and with your friends.

• Plant Trees: Trees are the lifeblood of the planet.  Planting trees helps reduce greenhouse emissions, cleans pollution, secures soil in place to prevent erosion, and provides homes for a lot of biodiversity.
• Build and create: Get together with your family and build a birdhouse, or make a bird feeder to encourage the local bird population, which plays an important role in every ecosystem. Use objects that would've otherwise been thrown away to create ecologically sustainable stuff. The world is your oyster, you can go crazy with your creativity here.
• Educate yourself about the environment: Find yourself wondering what the people at Copenhagen are rambling on about? Well, Earth Day is as good a day as any to find out. Go online and look up issues such as pollution, endangered species, water shortages, recycling, and climate change. Our country is at the centre of climate affairs worldwide, and it’s about time you educated yourself why it matters so much to us and why we matter so much to the world.
• Ban Plastics: Buy from your local grocer and give up packaged foods just for the day. Apart from helping your health, you will also help the environment. Carry a cloth bag for all your shopping.
• Educate your children on the environment: It’s your children who are going to take on the mantle of protecting the environment in the future. It’s about time you got them involved. By giving their old toys and games to younger children who could make use of them, older children learn two lessons: One is about giving to others and the second is about reusing and recycling instead of throwing things away.
• Clean up: Organize clean up rallies in your neighborhood. Go to your nearest hawker infested beach and clean it up. Build a sense of community. Remember, we are all in this together.
• Spread the word: Share what you have done with the world, and with people around you. Awaken them to your concerns. Use the Jiyo life website to connect with people and update your environment concerns. Set an Earth Day facebook status message, or tweet your concerns and thoughts to share them with your friends. #jiyolife it and convey them to a lot of people. Tweet to us and we will spread the word!
• Don’t burn fuel: Use your bicycle or just simply walk to work or school and to run errands. Again you are helping your health and the environment. Use public transportation if walking is not viable

And last but not least, remember that every day you wake up in the morning is Earth Day. The planet has bred the very life that we are living. And we must pay back when it needs us. Don't restrict yourself to just one day a year. Keep yourself updated. There are people who are doing useful things every day. Look up the people at Intellectual Ventures and at TERI, and see what they are up to. And do it every day.

Let our planet Jiyo its Life too.

Happiness?

You have heard this word so many times. Every time your mother calls you when you are away from home, you will always hear those words, “Khush to hai na?”(Are you happy?) Every third self help book promises you the formula for attaining eternal happiness. Even the Bob Marley song encourages you to not worry, and just be happy.

But what exactly is this happiness they are all talking about? Wikipedia defines happiness as a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. Buddhism says that Ultimate happiness can only be achieved by overcoming craving in all forms. In Christianity, the ultimate end of human existence consists in felicity, or "blessed happiness".  For Aristotle, happiness is "the virtuous activity of the soul in accordance with reason”, that is, happiness is the practice of virtue.
Which of these definitions is right? Are any of them wrong? Surely not, these are great ideas by some of the greatest people to have walked the earth. Then why do all of them describe the simple feeling of happiness with such diversity. Why is everybody’s definition of happiness so different?

Truth is, therein lies the beauty of happiness. Each one has his/her own special path to attaining happiness. His/her personal “Stairway to Heaven”, as Led Zeppelin put it. A workaholic may be happy with a promotion, while a social worker would find happiness in serving a nutritious meal to a bunch of poor children. A rocker will be as happy at an Iron Maiden concert, as an animal lover will be in the forest, with the chirping of sparrows for company.
One common thread runs through each of these definitions, though. And this is the only definition which is universal. Universally, Happiness always lies in the fine print. Happiness is not complicated. Rather, it is the simplest feeling which can be felt. It lies in the small moments that make up our lives, and in the smallest goals we achieve.
So, live each moment to the fullest, and help your family and friends live each one too. Remember the words of the great British poet W.H.Davies:
“What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?”

What is your life all about?

Is it about the big promotion your colleagues thought you could never get? Is it about the car your friends thought you could never afford? Is it about the college you never thought you could get into? Is it really all about proving yourself to people around you? Is your life really all about mere bullet pointers on your resume?
Or is it about the Jiyo Life Moments? Is it about the refreshing scent of wet earth following the first showers post a scorching summer? Is it about that lingering kiss after a hard day's work? Is it about the warmth of a blanket in the biting cold? Is it about the tea and pakoras when you're stuck indoors on a rainy day? Is it about singing along to your favorite song in a crowded train?
Live your Jiyo Life and let other people live them with you. And while you're at it, live some of their moments too. Join the Jiyo life Page and live your life today.