Balarangam Newsletter March '11 - put together by our children
1. What would you pray to Lord Vishnu to protect?
I would pray to Lord Vishnu to protect everything that I love..... It is such an honor to have what I love be protected by Lord Vishnu. ~~~~Uma
I would want Lord Vishnu to protect my family and my friend. Because he's the strongest God. ~~~~Sravanth
I would want Lord Vishnu to protect my family and friends......He expects us to protect the creatures He made.....This is important to me because without Him protecting us we would all be in misery....We live in peace because Lord Vishnu is protecting us. ~~~Sanjana
Lord Vishnu should protect the Earth. We need help from things like global warming......we need Lord Vishnu to stop all wars to protect everyone and we can live in peace together......Everyone should be able to have rights and do what they want. ~~~~Ashvin
I would pray to Lord Vishnu to protect my family and friends. I would also pray to him to protect every living thing on earth, because everybody deserves to be alive and protected, bad things or not. ~~~~Rohit
I would like lord Vishnu to protect nature. Because animals are dying to death. Humans get cancer of smoking ~~~~~Rohan
My stuffed toy dog cherry and me and the rainforest ~~~~~Sowmika
2. Bali, inspite of being an Asura, was a noble and just King and kept his promise to Vamana. Why do you think keeping a promise is important? Write about an important promise you have kept.
Promise is a unbreakable pledge. It shows our values. An important promise I have kept is not to talk back to my Mom. ~~~~~Vrishin
I think keeping a promise is important because other people will trust you. ....I promised my friend that he would be on my team......Even though we lost my friend always trusted me. ~~~~~~Ashvin
A promise from someone is saying that they trust you. Why ruin that trust?......I have been keeping many promises from my friends by not telling anyone their secrets. Although it is hard, remembering that it is my duty to keep a promise keeps me from opening my mouth. ~~~~~Uma
I have kept a promise not to break any rules and keep secrets ~~~~~Sneha
Keeping a promise is important because a promise is like keeping a secret. Uf you break a promise or secret, it is bad. ~~~~~Sreeja
Keeping a promise is very important because only then your friends & family will believe in you. I promised my parents to sleep in my bedroom the whole night, I find it a very hard promise to keep, but I try hard to sleep by myself in my bedroom the whole night.~~~~~ Sowmika
I think keeping a promise is important because if you say you will keep a promise to somebody, you might set their expectations very high about you and if you do not keep your promise, they probably will be disappointed or mad.......Most often I promise my brother I will make him a paper airplane~~~~~Rohit
3. The holiday season is a time for thinking about others and giving. If you could give a gift, who would you give it to and why? Remember that a gift doesn’t always have to be something you buy. It could also be something you do for others.
Holidays are the time of giving and caring. I would give a gift to my mom because she is loving and caring....I would give her a picture of me and her sleeping together. I washed dishes for her on New Year's day. Everybody should take care of their mother~~~~~Vrishin
I think God deserves a gift. He does everything for everybody....I would give God more love.....God is not appreciated although everybody asks Him what they want...Love is the greatest gift~~~~~Uma
If I could give a gift, I would give it to my family because they take care of me. I would also give a gift to all my teachers because they teach me and take care of me in school...then if I could, I would give a gift to all the poor people~~~~~Rohit
If I were to give a gift I would give it to my family,teacher and poor people who really need that thing.It is better to give than receive the more you give the more you get of the same thing~~~~~Rohan
I would give my brother his own computer with lots of games. I would give my Dad anything he wants me to do....For my Mom, I would give her a new car...Another gift I could give her is love because she will always be there whenever I need anything from her~~~~~Ashvin
4. Kacha was the best student his teacher could have. So when the time came, his teacher readily taught him the secret mantra to revive the dead. A mantra that others had failed to learn from the teacher. Clearly Kacha was a worthy student and his teacher, a honorable man. What, in your opinion makes a good student and a good teacher? Write a short paragraph.
A good teacher cares for his/her student, is funny and teaches us a lot of good things....A good student is a good listener, patient, attentive, be interested in what the teacher teaches and should respect the teacher ~~~~~~Sowmika
A good student can do things like paying attention, participating, working hard and doing homework. To be a good teacher, you can be kind ~~~~~Aditya
Listening ~~~~~~ Aniruddh
A good student is one who listens attentively to his/her teacher.....He/she thinks of his/her teacher as a mother or father....A good teacher is one that thinks of his/her student(s) as their son/daughter. He/she teaches their student(s) everything they know willingly ~~~~~Rohit
A good student listens to his teacher. A good teacher should make one learn. ~~~~~ Sreeja
A good student listens to his teacher. A good student respects his teacher. A good teacher should make one learn. ~~~~ Sneha
A good student cooperates in class, respects the teacher, helps out his classmates....listens to teacher. A good teacher makes a good student. A good teacher is a good parent. She never hits you or yells at you ~~~~~Vrishin
5. What does the story of Gajendra Moksham tell you about Vishnu and the love he has for his devotees?
It tells me that when you have love for God, God says "I will help you" ~~~~ Neha
He saves his devotees when they are in danger. ~~~~ Sudeep
If you really pray to him, he will surely come to you. ~~~~ Meghana
When you think of God, God will think of you and will bless you and help you when you need it. ~~~~ Vrishin
This story told me that if anyone shows great devotion to Lord Narayana at any age or form, they will immediately be protected and loved by Lord Narayana. ~~~~~ Shreya
He says a lot of prayers to Vishnu and think about him when he is in trouble. ~~~~~ Spurthi
If you call Vishnu with pure love, he'll come immediately. ~~~~~ Vikram
It tells me that if any of his devotees are n trouble, he will save them. ~~~~ Sudarshan
It tells me that Vishnu loves his devotees because he saved Gajendra from harm's way. ~~~~ Jay
It tells me that Lord Vishnu will always guard and protect his devotees at any time. ~~~~ Devi
Vishnu proves that he will help anyone who gives Him love and respect. When in a hard time, Vishnu will help you if you sincerely pray to him. ~~~~ Uma
This story tells me that Vishnu tries to protect his devotees as much as he can. ~~~~ Sanjana
6. We listened to the story of Sudama. Do you think we should give a gift to Krishna? What would you give? What would you ask in return and why?
I would give him a painting. I wouldn't ask anything of him because he already knows what I want. ~~~~~~ Rohit
I would serve him sweet sugar and ask if he wants more. ~~~~~ Neha
Yes, I would get him puffed rice. I would ask nothing of him. As long as he knows that his childhood friend was here, he would read my mind and give whatever I need. ~~~~~Rohan
I would give Krishna butter. I will ask him to be my friend forever. ~~~~~ Sravanth
Yes. I would give him a peacock feather and a bttle of ink for writing. I will not ask anything just like Sudama. I will love Krishna and Krishna knows what is best for me. He will always take care of us. ~~~~~Vikram
I wil give him butter. I will ask him "do you want some more?"~~~~~Srijan
I would give Krishna my greatest possession and ask for nothing in return. ~~~~~Sanjana
I would give Krishna lots of butter, curd and puffed rice. In return I would ask for happiness for my family. ~~~~~Shrilakshmi
I would give Krishna love and yes, I would give Krishna a gift. And in return I would want nothing. ~~~~~Vinny
We should give a gift to Krishna. We should give him our prayers, .ove and devotion but not expect anything in return because Krshna knows what everyone should have or deserve.~~~~~Divya
Yes, I would give Krishna anything I have and I would ask for lots of wealth and knowledge. ~~~~~Sneha
I would give Krishna puffed rice. I would ask Krishna to help my family be happy. ~~~~~Nayana
I would be extremely overjoyed by his presence....I would be ready to hand over whatever he desires of me. Even if it is something that was special or something that I valued very much, I would be ready to give it to Lord Krishna. Because I know how many miracles Lord Krishna can perform and how affectionate he is to his devotees...... seeing Lord Krishna itself is an opportunity and privilege and I will seek his blessings.~~~~~Shreya
I would actually give Him the gift of love and devotion for life and in return I would seek his blessings. ~~~~~ Meghana
I wold give Him love. I would ask for nothing in return because I don't need anything. ~~~~~ Vrishin
I would give Krishna butter. I would then ask for a animal shelter for me to take care of animals. ~~~~~Shrividhya