Abject poverty mercilessly grinds down the masses.

Poverty is widespread in India. The World Bank estimates that 456 million Indians (41.6% of the total Indian population) now live under the global poverty line of US$ 1.25 per day (PPP). This means that a third of the global poor now reside in India.. Basically, labor sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty.
Poverty is widespread in India, with the nation estimated to have a third of the world's poor. World Bank estimates, 80% of India's population lives on less than $2 a day. According to a 2005 World Bank estimate, 41% of India falls below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 a day (PPP, in nominal terms  21.6 a day in urban areas and  14.3 in rural areas); having reduced from 60% in 1981.

However, according to the latest NCAER estimates, in 2009, only 15.6% of the households or 200 million people, had income levels less than  45,000 annually(US$ 1.4 PPP per person).On the other hand, the Planning Commission of India uses its own criteria and has estimated that 27.5% of the population was living below the poverty line in 2004–2005, down from 51.3% in 1977–1978, and 36% in 1993-1994. The source for this was the 61st round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) and the criterion used was monthly per capita consumption expenditure below 356.35 for rural areas and 538.60 for urban areas. 75% of the poor are in rural areas, most of them are daily wagers, self-employed householders and landless labourers.
Although the Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades, its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas. Between 1999 and 2008, the annualized growth rates for Gujarat (8.8%), Haryana (8.7%), or Delhi (7.4%) were much higher than for Bihar (5.1%), Uttar Pradesh (4.4%), or Madhya Pradesh (3.5%).  Poverty rates in rural Orissa (43%) and rural Bihar (41%) are among the world's most extreme.  A study by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative using a Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) found that there were 645 million poor living under the MPI in India, 421 million of whom are concentrated in Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. This number is higher than the 410 million poor living in the 26 poorest African nations.
 According to a recently released World Bank report, India is on track to meet its poverty reduction goals. However by 2015, an estimated 53 million people will still live in extreme poverty and 23.6% of the population will still live under US$1.25 per day. This number is expected to reduce to 20.3% or 268 million people by 2020. However, at the same time, the effects of the worldwide recession in 2009 have plunged 100 million more Indians into poverty than there were in 2004, increasing the effective poverty rate from 27.5% to 37.2%.

Persistence of malnutrition among children


According to the New York Times, is estimated that about 42.5% of the children in India suffer from malnutrition. The World Bank, citing estimates made by the World Health Organization, states "that about 49 per cent of the world's underweight children, 34 per cent of the world's stunted children and 46 per cent of the world's wasted children, live in India." The World Bank also noted that "while poverty is often the underlying cause of malnutrition in children, the superior economic growth experienced by South Asian countries compared to those in Sub-Saharan Africa, has not translated into superior nutritional status for the South Asian child."
A special commission to the Indian Supreme court has noted that the child malnutrition rate in India is twice as great as sub-Saharan Africa.

Abject poverty rails against ostentatious riches

 Poverty entails untold misery upon the earth. Life gives nothing at all to countless millions of children that are born and condemns them at the very moment of their birth to live in physical and moral wretchedness. They are born for sorrow and suffering. Life does not hold many happy days for them. The shadow of destitution hangs over their hovels. Fierce and remorseless is their struggle to win their daily bread. Starvation stares in their eyes. From sunrise to sunset they are on their legs for the merest pittance. Soaked in sweat, they toil and moil with their stooped shoulders and shrunken bodies. They have many more mouths to feed than the scanty food they have in the larder. They go to bed hungry on many more nights than filled. They lay on their beds of mattress or on bare floor at night. They snuggle together in a blanket, if they have one and whimper.

The poor in this world of plenty are in perpetual agony. Abject poverty mercilessly grinds down the masses. They have no wherewithal to lodge and clothe and feed and are without the barest means of sustaining life. The starving mothers could not give their breasts to their children. They slave all their lives, yet know not the joys of wholesome existence. The cold wind and frost of poverty withers them. Desperate is their plight and slowly do they starve to death. Condemned to live in the midst of dirt and filth and disease, they die of starvation and they die neglected. Famine and plague kill them like flies. Harrowing are the stories of the destitute. No wonder the poor everywhere are embittered against the whole world.

The mother earth can nourish with ease all that live upon her gentle bosom. Science and machine can make the world a good place to live in for every man and woman and child. They can relieve all men and children of undue hard labor and drudgery and leave them leisure to develop their mind. Mass production by machine can provide something for everyone in the world. Yet countless millions starve in the midst of plenty and are haunted by the specter of destitution. Man's maladjustments bring starvation for swarming millions and fattening in unbounded luxuries for a small number of parasites. Life to those who amass colossal fortunes by corrupt means is a perpetual revel. They feed fastidiously and live luxuriously. They use their riches in riotous waste.

Saraswati Puja: The Festival Of Goddess Saraswati

Goddess Saraswati is represented as a graceful woman in white, a symbol of purity and peace. She is the Goddess who signifies knowledge, learning, arts and culture. She is seen as the serene Goddess wearing a crescent moon on her brow riding a swan or seated on a lotus flower. Saraswati Puja is performed to pay allegiance to the Goddess of learning.

The Mythology

In the Vedas, Goddess Saraswati is refered as the water deity and is revered for her purifying and enriching powers. The Goddess of knowledge and learning is said to have invented Sanskrit, the language of the Brahmins, of scriptures and scholars.
It is also believed that it was Goddess Saraswati who discovered 'amrit' in the Himalayas and brought it to the other gods. She was said to be identical with Viraj being created out of the substance of Purusha or Prajapati and thus is the instrument of creation. As Brahma's wife, she provides the power to execute what Brahma conceives with his creative intelligence. She is the goddess of all the creative arts and in particular of poetry and music, learning and science.

The Celebration of Saraswati Puja

Saraswati puja is celebrated through out the country. The Goddess of knowledge is revered among the students and learned who strictly follow all the rituals to worship her. The festivities that accompany Saraswati puja is a part of the social celebrations. Young girls are seen in yellow saaries. Pushpanjali (offering of flowers along with mantras) are offered. Bright palash flowers are offerd that are a part of the worship.Young people enjoy the day with each other. Cultural programmes are staged at night. The Goddess who is the patron of music, culture and learning is revered by singers and musicians with great devotion.