June 2013 - Oshwal Centre

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Tigers By Meera Shah Author’s Note The below information is taken from a briefing pack issued to volunteers at the recent Tiger Tracks event held in London. Tigers are often described as majestic, dangerous and beautiful. Sadly though, these words do not reflect the current state of play with global wild tiger populations. Dangerous as they may be, wild tigers are actually endangered. What is the problem? In 1900, over 150,000 tigers roamed across 25 countries. Today, fewer than 3,500 remain and are found in only 13 Asian countries. This represents a 97% decline and the extinction of three sub-species since the 1900s. The greatest population of tigers is in India. Why does this problem exist? 1. Human encroachment The rapidly growing human population in many tiger range countries means that tigers are in direct competition for diminishing forest resources. Livestock and agriculture are shrinking tiger habitat fast, and their prey is poached by people living alongside tiger habitat. 2. Poaching Tigers are illegally killed for their body parts, used for home decor, medicines and tonics. In some countries, tigers are farmed for their body parts. There are more tigers held in such farms, than exist in the wild the world over. 3. Pollution In parks visited by tourists, tigers often ingest various forms of rubbish left behind by the visitors. Although this may not always be fatal, the long-term health and vitality of these remaining populations is severely threatened by this. Why should we save tigers? As top predators, tigers play a vital role in the ecosystems in which they live. The presence of a healthy population of tigers indicates healthy ecosystems. Conversely, if we lose tigers from the wild, ecosystems in those regions would suffer immensely. Where tigers are protected in parks, they provide a great source of employment and income for the tourist industry. The loss of tigers can therefore have a wide-ranging impact on livelihoods in these regions. Moreover, tigers have roamed the Earth for millions of years. It is our moral responsibility not to lose them, for ourselves as well as the generations to come. What can you do about it? 1. Awareness Information is power. There are plenty of resources available on tiger conservation (see below). It is equally important to spread the message about tiger conservation. Claims of health benefits of tiger bone, etc are unfounded and have no scientific proof. Often the use of tiger body parts is connected with the killing of these animals or the devastation it causes within local ecosystems and communities. 2. Shop wisely Don’t buy tiger products but buy forest friendly products. 3. Donate There are various organisations that work to protect wild tiger populations. Below are some, in no particular order. WWF: wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/tigers/ Environmental Investigation Agency: http://www.eiainternational.org/our-work/environmental-crime-andgovernance/illegal-wildlife-trade/tigers Save Wild Tigers: http://www.savewildtigers.org/ Born Free: http://www.bornfree.org.uk/animals/tigers/ 4. Volunteer These organisations are often small and need help in their day to day running. 5. Contact your local representatives Sometimes all it needs are the right people in the right place enforcing tiger protection with the right tools. Ask your local representatives to push for global treaties to protect the wild and where they are not, to introduce trade restrictions. Saving the tiger is a huge, complex but achievable undertaking, involving national and state governments, corporations, wildlife departments, international NGOs, grass roots organisations and local people. Oshwal Youth Magazine of O.A.U.K. 12 June 2013 Edition
Samayik is one of the most important ritual practices of Jainism during which we try to come closer to our soul. During samayik, we sit down in one place for fortyeight minutes isolating ourselves from our daily household, social, business, or school activities. In this time, we read religious books, pray, worship, recite navkar mantra using mara (string of beads), or do meditation. Before starting samayik, we remove our regular clothes and wear simple, but clean white cotton clothes which are reserved for samayik. We do not wear silk clothes or any leather articles which involve much violence to bugs or animals. White is the symbol of purity and calmness and that reminds us that we should stay pure and calm. Some of the items we need during samayik are an asan, muhapati, rajoharan, ghadi, anupurvi, mara and religious books that will help us to carry out some religious activities. After cleaning the ground with rajoharan, the asan is spread to sit. A muhapati is used to cover the mouth. Some people tie it to cover their mouth, while others hold it in their hand and use it to cover their mouth while speaking. A muhapati prevents small organisms from entering the mouth. It also becomes a buffer so that force of our voice and the hot air from our mouths would not kill many air beings. A muhapati also prevents spit falling on books. It also serves as a reminder to us that we should control what we say to others. A rajoharan is a kind of broom made of fine cotton or woolen threads used to clean the floor, and also to keep away the bugs coming towards us, so that they do not get hurt. If, for some reason someone has to walk during the samayik then the rajoharan is used to wipe the floor so that no bugs are crushed. A ghadi is a type of hourglass which helps us to know the time has reached 48 minutes. During the samayik some people read religious books, while others may recite Navkar mantra with mara or with the help of anupurvi or some may do meditation. During samayik, we should not talk or think of anything that involves any level of violence. Therefore, before starting the samayik we should stop our business activities, family affairs, and other matters, so that we do not get disturbed. We should inform our friends and family members to leave us alone from these matters during this time. During the samayik we should not discuss, read or talk about sensual things, or things related to worldly matters. During the samayik, our movements also should be limited so that we can observe ahimsa (non-violence) more easily. We should select a quiet, isolated place so that we are not disturbed by events going on around us. Because of such a detached atmosphere, and since we do not get involved in any worldly things for 48 minutes of samayik, we are like sadhus who live a detached life all throughout their life. Thus, this practice gives us some glimpse of monkhood and leads us in that direction. Just as we have to be careful about how we drive to avoid an accident, or get a speeding ticket, in the same way we have to be careful that we do not run into any trouble while performing our samayik. If we are not careful we can violate samayik by our mental, verbal and physical activities. Though it may look difficult, it is not impossible to do samayik the right way. This way samayik helps us in preventing the accumulation of new karmas and the penance we do during samayik helps us to remove some of our accumulated karmas. Article by, Varsha Dilip Harania There are ten MENTAL violations: 1) to be disrespectful 2) to be greedy for fame 3) to be greedy for gains 4) to be proud 5) to be in fear 6) to expect the rewards 7) to doubt the rewards 8) to be in anger 9) to be rude 10) to despise. There are ten VERBAL violations: 1) to use abusive words 2) to use alarming words 3) to say non-religious words 4) to speak inadequately 5) to use words to incite fights 6) to gossip 7) to make fun 8) to pronounce improperly 9) to use irrational words 10) to use jargon. There are twelve PHYSICAL violations: 1) to sit at an unsuitable place 2) not to sit steady 3) to walk every now and then 4) doing homework 5) to stretch the body 6) to lean against a support 7) being lazy 8) cracking knuckles 9) to clean body dirt 10) to scratch body 11) to make vulgar postures 12) to sleep. Oshwal Youth Magazine of O.A.U.K. 13 June 2013 Edition
Page 1 and 2: In this edition: • Medical Camp A
Page 3 and 4: Get involved! Here is a short summa
Page 5 and 6: ~ Sierra Leone Medical Camp ~ docto
Page 7 and 8: Life at City University Article by
Page 9 and 10: Business negotiation game After Bha
Page 11: ~ Racquet Sports Tournament ~ Congr
Page 15: Activities • Abseiling • Archer

June 2013 - Oshwal Centre

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