Baisakhi marks the beginning of New Year, particularly in the northern part of India and is a seasonal festival with a special accent. This is the time when harvest is gathered in and the farmer exults in the fulfillment of his year’s hard work.

Baisakhi is celebrated with a lot of pomp and show by the Sikh community around the world and especially the ones located in the north Indian agricultural belt. It also holds historical significance for them because on this very day in the year 1699 their tenth Guru, Gobind Singh established the Khalsa and eliminated all the differences between all castes and proclaimed all human beings as equal. And, one can certainly experience that on this day in all the Gurudwaras around the world, where free food is distributed for all. They also celebrate by engaging in a lot of traditional song, dance (bhangra) & feasting and since it’s a spring festival that too in an agricultural community, it sure is one hell of a colourful affair.

As for the Hindus they too mark their celebrations in much the same manner. The only difference being that whoever can, does take a cleansing dip in the holy waters of the river Ganges. This is done to start the New Year on an auspicious note. However, this is true for Hindus of northern India only because down south in Kerala, where the festival is known by the name of Vishu, the most important ritual is called Vishukkani which literally translates to “the first thing seen on the day of Vishu after waking up”. This festival is also celebrated in Tamil Nadu but with a different name, Puthandu.

In the state of Assam they go all out with weeklong celebrations. Of the three Bihu festivals celebrated by the Assamese during the year this one is the most important and is known by the name of Rongali Bihu. They also wash and worship their cows during this festival and here too it is a very colourful and lively affair.
Orrisa, Karnataka, Uttrakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura and West Bengal are some of the other states that celebrate this festival. In the state of Himachal Pradesh, goddess Jwalamukhi and in Bihar, the Sun god is worshipped during the festival.

To succeed in any field, one has to apply three formulas:  1. Establish the goal,  2. Have a keen interest, and  3. Proper utilization of capabilities.

1. Establish the goal in life: Establishing a goal in life is as much crucial as the need for the map when traveling across unknown places and a navigation device to sail across the sea. When we know well and always keep in mind what we want to be in life and what we want to do in life, we will surely keep making continuous efforts in those directions.  There is a famous saying—”There is no wind that blows right for the sailor who doesn’t know his destination.” In other words, the ship of such sailor would remain drifting aimlessly at the mercy of the ocean waves. An individual without a goal is also destined to meet the same fate. Therefore, the first and foremost necessity is to establish a goal.
2. Having a keen interest: Next, one should have keen interest, great enthusiasm, strong determination and an attitude to work with total attention for their chosen goal. Without these, the prospects of success would always remain doubtful. No noteworthy achievement can be anticipated with half-hearted efforts or working without due attention. It is a psychological truth that enthusiasm and determination are the source of energies without which any amount of knack, talent, flair or know how would be of very little help.
3. Proper utilization of capabilities: Time is the most important among all the divine assets we have in our life. Proper utilization of time and, physical and mental capabilities can yield extraordinary achievements. Proper utilization of every single moment in working towards the set goal can produce miraculous results.
If we happen to look at the initial capabilities, qualities and other outward circumstances of both the successful and unsuccessful people, we may not find much difference. And yet they happen to end up worlds apart. The only reason for such difference is that the successful person engaged all his capabilities to work towards achieving his chosen goal while the unsuccessful person lost his way due to the lack of direction and being disorganized

Academic collaborations promote universal and equitable access to education, and develop in students’ the knowledge, confidence, and requisite skills to become lifelong learners and economic competitors in a dynamic global marketplace.

One of the most prestigious UK UNIVERSITY has valued IEC as the “melting pot” for Multicultural Competence, Resource centering, curriculum flexibility and teaching with a Global perspective. A visit from the officials of this University is the result of Post UK visit spearheaded by Dr Naveen Gupta focused on a unique business model as to how IEC and partner UK university will operate for contribution towards the mutual growth of each Institution. The visit by the UK University officials aims at a unique arrangement where IEC will deliver a range of full-time Programmes in INDIA spanning Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate education.

Viewpoints: The visiting team from the UK University and Experts Team at IEC:

• At IEC students are in tune with the first-hand knowledge of latest global developments, trends and techniques.
• Students have better opportunities for employment and international careers by having diplomas, degrees resulting from the UNIQUE arrangement between IEC and the UK University
• With this UNIQUE arrangement Students will have opportunity to transfer credits to Foreign Universities for further education
• Students can obtain International Education at low cost
• Students will receive degrees and diplomas of the UK University after successful completion of the programs in India
• The degree and diploma programs will be administered jointly.
• IEC has world-class facilities such as modern classrooms, state-of-the-art laboratories, audiovisual centers, computerized libraries, video conferencing halls, software development centers, and requisite administrative blocks for these joint degree programs.
• IEC has ventured for on-campus programs to be offered in India by the UK University in collaboration for undergraduate and post graduate degree programs.

On a Concluding note I added, At IEC we believe that World-wide education wouldhelp to buildcompetent leaders who will have both the understanding and skills to effectively, humanely, and positively navigate across cross-cultures.

]]> http://navingupta.in/international-associations/13th-march-2012-uk-university-comes-calling-iec-for-academic-excellence/feed/ 0 http://navingupta.in/wishes-and-greetings/happy-holi-greetings/ http://navingupta.in/wishes-and-greetings/happy-holi-greetings/#comments Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:51:55 +0000 Navin Gupta http://navingupta.in/?p=965

Dear Friends,

Holi is joyous festival. It symbolizes the victory of ‘good’ over ‘evil. Holi festival reminds us numerous scenes viz., rubbing gulal on each others face, sharp flow from Pitchkari, coloring air with powdery gulal, spread of rang from faces to fences, eating and feeding mithais and gujiya and gulping glasses of thandai from time to time. Friends, family and relatives greet each other and play the colorful holi. It is a day to celebrate, socialize with loved ones and get colored in hues of holi from head to toe in this Holi .

Wish you all very Happy and Wonderful Holi!!!!!!!!!

]]>

A delegation led by Head of the Department Computer Science Engineering and Head of the Department Information Systems from MUST a state University at MONGOLIA arrived at IEC Group on 13^th February 2012 and met Dr Naveen Gupta, CEO, IEC Group of Institutions, and The International Operations Department of IEC Group for signing the MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT and co-operation in various fields of Education and Training.

Dr Tsend commented that, “In addition to supporting students in receiving a higher education, social status and achieving goals in their life the MISSION of our Department is to enhance the quality of training for which we have chosen IEC Group of Institutions”

The delegation met the International Co-operation Department for discussions about various possible courses for which training could be imparted to MONGOLIAN students. It was decided that IEC group will share their knowledge base for training and research for MUST students in Computer Science, Information Systems and Business Management

During the discussions Dr Naveen Gupta and Dr Altangere opined that IEC will be playing a very important role at the International and National Level. The strong lineage IEC in the field of Education supports this ideal. Dr Naveen Gupta also shared the Expansionary vision for IEC with the delegation, and looked into several other possibilities to work together.

The visit concluded with the finalization of courses for training and the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement. The entire team of International Co-operation Department headed by Dr.Kulneet Suri was present to crystallize the collaboration In the concluding words of Dr Altangere said, “Find out by asking, get education by learning” and devoting themselves to study our students could have all opportunities of becoming highly educated and skillful specialists to develop a country’s future”

IEC University and IEC Group of Institutions is in the process of further strengthening and developing its collaborations across the world. The visit to United Kingdom spearheaded by Dr Naveen Gupta focused on a unique business model as to how IEC and partner UK university will operate for contribution towards the mutual growth of each Institution. The partnership with the UK Universities aims at a unique arrangement where IEC will deliver a range of full-time Programmes in INDIA spanning Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate education. The objective of IEC Group of Institutions is to establish an arrangement wherein the CERTIFICATION of a UK University shall be offered to students of IEC by studying at IEC campuses in INDIA. The students will have the option of studying the entire course in INDIA at IEC campus or progressing to UK University towards the Fourth year for the completion of the course. Academic staff from UK Universities shall be coming over to IEC campuses in INDIA for teaching students.

The first phase would look at Engineering and Management courses as the Priority area.

The mission of IEC is to strategically develop new and customized programmes of teaching and research in order to:

• To establish better links with HE’s in the United Kingdom for the benefit of global higher standard education for Indian students
• To develop and promote links with the Industry and other Institutions
• To help attract high quality students to IEC Group
• To promote an agenda of social responsibility
• To develop and promote research links (including research funding)

Hello friends,

There is something about India that makes you fall in love with the chaos, buzz and inimitable energy that surrounds every corner.Lyrical, passionate, colloquial, abstruse, rigorous, humorous, romantic, austere, playful. These are the words that come to my mind when I think of India. But the most enduring, or perhaps encapsulating, of all these words is: warmth. It is the warmth of my country that I love the most.

For me, India is  a sanctuary of peace, spiritual haven, a land filled with warmth and emotion that is incomparable to anywhere else in the world.

Here wishing you all a very Happy Republic Day (26th Jan 2012). May the tricolors fill your life with peace, prosperity and purity.

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY!!!!!!!!

Makar Sankranti is a festival of nature. Without the presence of nature, we can not live even for a moment. Makar Sankranti is a way or synonym to thank for this blessing. Sun is a factor of life, light and growth. It is an integral part of our life. The arrival of sun in the morning, not just start the routine of humans but all other living beings.

If we look in the geographical science, we find that equator divides earth into southern and northern hemisphere. Before Makar Sankranti, sun is in the southern hemisphere that is tropic of Capricorn. But, after this, the sun start moving towards the northern hemisphere.Where Sun is known to enter the northern solstice.

Concentrating minds in God on the day of Makar Sankranti is the thing which gives this festival a spiritual base. With this resolution, a person moves forward in life with the thinking of God and gaining knowledge about God. In search of ultimate peace and happiness,a person has to wonder in many lifetimes. Makar sankranti is the most auspicious day for taking such a resolution.

There is no such thing as being isolated. To be is to be related and without relationship there is no existence. What do we mean by relationship? It is an interconnected challenge and response between two people, between you and me, the challenge which you throw out and which I accept or to which I respond; also the challenge I throw out to you. The relationship of two people creates society; society is not independent of you and me; the mass is not by itself a separate entity but you and I in our relationship to each other create the mass, the group, the society.

Relationship is the awareness of interconnection between two people. What is that relationship generally based on? Is it not based on so-called interdependence, mutual assistance? At least, we say it is mutual help, mutual aid and so on, but actually, apart from words, apart from the emotional screen which we throw up against each other, what is it based upon? On mutual gratification, is it not? If I do not please you, you get rid of me; if I please you, you accept me either as your wife or as your neighbor or as your friend. That is the fact.

What is it that you call the family? Obviously it is a relationship of intimacy, of communion. In your family, in your relationship with your wife, with your husband, is there communion? Surely that is what we mean by relationship, do we not? Relationship means communion without fear, freedom to understand each other, to communicate directly. Obviously relationship means that – to be in communion with another. Are you? Are you in communion with your wife? Perhaps you are physically but that is not relationship.

You and your wife live on opposite sides of a wall of isolation, do you not? You have your own pursuits, your ambitions, and she has hers. You live behind the wall and occasionally look over the top – and that you call relationship. That is a fact, is it not? You may enlarge it, soften it, and introduce a new set of words to describe it. but that is the fact – that you and another live in isolation, and that life in isolation you call relationship.

If there is real relationship between two people, which means there is communion between them, then the implications are enormous. Then there is no isolation; there is love and not responsibility or duty. It is the people who are isolated behind their walls who talk about duty and responsibility. A man who loves does not talk about responsibility – he loves. Therefore he shares with another his joy, his sorrow, his money. Are your families such? Is there direct communion with your wife, with your children? Obviously not.

Therefore the family is merely an excuse to continue your name or tradition, to give you what you want, sexually or psychologically, so the family becomes a means of self-perpetuation, of carrying on your name. That is one kind of immortality, one kind of permanency. The family is also used as a means of gratification. I exploit others ruthlessly in the business world, in the political or social world outside, and at home I try to be kind and generous. How absurd! Or the world is too much for me, I want peace and I go home. I suffer in the world and I go home and try to find comfort. So I use relationship as a means of gratification, which means I do not want to be disturbed by my relationship.

Thus relationship is sought where there is mutual satisfaction, gratification; when you do not find that satisfaction you change relationship; either you divorce or you remain together but seek gratification elsewhere or else you move from one relationship to another till you find what you seek – which is satisfaction, gratification, and a sense of self-protection and comfort. After all, that is our relationship in the world, and it is thus in fact.

Relationship is sought where there can be security, where you as an individual can live in a state of security, in a state of gratification, in a state of ignorance – all of which always creates conflict, does it not? If you do not satisfy me and I am seeking satisfaction, naturally there must be conflict, because we are both seeking security in each other; when that security becomes uncertain you become jealous, you become violent, you become possessive and so on. So relationship invariably results in possession in condemnation, in self-assertive demands for security, for comfort and for gratification, and in that there is naturally no love.

We talk about love, we talk about responsibility, duty, but there is really no love; relationship is based on gratification, the effect of which we see in the present civilization. The way we treat our wives, children, neighbours, and friends is an indication that in our relationship there is really no love at all. It is merely a mutual search for gratification. As this is so, what then is the purpose of relationship? What is its ultimate significance? If you observe yourself in relationship with others, do you not find that relationship is a process of self-revelation? Does not my contact with you reveal my own state of being if I am aware, if I am alert enough to be conscious of my own reaction in relationship?

Relationship is really a process of self-revelation, which is a process of self-knowledge; in that revelation there are many unpleasant things, disquieting, uncomfortable thoughts, activities. Since I do not like what I discover, I run away from a relationship which is not pleasant to a relationship which is pleasant. Therefore, relationship has very little significance when we are merely seeking mutual gratification but becomes extraordinarily significant when it is a means of self-revelation and self-knowledge.

After all, there is no relationship in love, is there? It is only when you love something and expects a return of your love that there is a relationship. When you love, that is when you give yourself over to something entirely, wholly, and then there is no relationship.

If you do love, if there is such a love, then it is a marvelous thing. In such love there is no friction, there is not the one and the other, there is complete unity. It is a state of integration, a complete being. There are such moments, such rare, happy, joyous moments, when there is complete love, complete communion. What generally happens is that love is not what is important but the other, the object of love becomes important; the one to whom love is given becomes important and not love itself.

Then the object of love, for various reasons, either biological, verbal or because of a desire for gratification, for comfort and so on, becomes important and love recedes. Then possession, jealousy and demands create conflict and love recedes further and further; the further it recedes, the more the problem of relationship loses its significance, its worth and its meaning.

Therefore, love is one of the most difficult things to comprehend. It cannot come through an intellectual urgency, it cannot be manufactured by various methods and means and disciplines. It is a state of being when the activities of the self have ceased; but they will not cease if you merely suppress them, shun them or discipline them. You must understand the activities of the self in all the different layers of consciousness. We have moments when we do love, when there is no thought, no motive, but those moments are very rare. Because they are rare we cling to them in memory and thus create a barrier between living reality and the action of our daily existence.

In order to understand relationship it is important to understand first of all what is, what are actually taking place in our lives, in all the different subtle forms; and also what relationship actually means? Relationship is self-revelation. it is because we do not want to be revealed to ourselves that we hide in comfort, and then relationship loses its extraordinary depth, significance and beauty. There can be true relationship only when there is love but love is not the search for gratification. Love exists only when there is self-forgetfulness, when there is complete communion, not between one and two, but communion with the highest; and that can only take place when the self is forgotten.

Dear IECians…..

May this new year bring many opportunities to your way,
to explore every joy of life
&
may your resolutions for the days ahead stay firm,
turning all your dreams into reality
and all your efforts into great achievements.

Happy New Year to you & your Family.