Always say I have no fear

Bhopal: A 12-year old swimming champion from Bhopal, Ira Parihar, has accomplished what most swimmers have not even attempted, despite suffering from Down syndrome. Ira Parihar has been swimming since she was 3-year old.   At the age of 8 she crossed the breadth of Bhopal's Historic Upper Lake. This is nothing unusual, except that Parihar has Down Syndrome, a genetic disorder associated with learning disabilities. Now, the 12-year-old can swim for hours without showing any sign of fatigue. And although she has clocked 1.5 km in a little less than 30 minutes, her love for the water keeps her away from the finish line.   But coach Mukesh Mishra pushes her gently to move towards the bank when attempting a record. " She finds it diffcilut to comprehend between start and finish. Otherwise she is as good as anyone ," coach Mishra said.    Ira Parihar won two gold medals at the special state Olympics in Mandsaur in 2006. She also participated in the sp...

PANCHAAMRITAM Pancha is five in Samskritam, Amritam is nectar Poornima, Kali Yugaabda 5111, VIRODHI Panguni 22 (April 5, 2010) ONE Sri Gurupadalinga Mahaswami, who heads the Virakta Math in Gulbarga district (Karnataka, Bharat), single-handedly converted 25 acres of barren land into a virtual gold-mine through a mixture of organic and conventional farming. The swami participates in every aspect of agriculture, right from the preparation of the land, tilling, sowing and harvesting of the crop. He spends at least 10 hours in the fields supervising operations. The agriculture and horticulture farm owned by the math is self sufficient. It has an open well and three high-yielding borewells that provide sufficient water for the farms. The entire horticulture farm is watered through drip irrigation; not a single drop of water goes waste. To improve the water table in the village, the swami donated five acres of land for constructing a tank and that has helped in improving the grou...