More about the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 1 deals with No Poverty.  This is a long-term goal that requires community participation as well as Government policies and norms to eradicate.

There is a reference to No Poverty in the Hindu Mythology. Vasudeva Kutumbhakam has been the guiding light of our ancient culture.

India has always prided itself on the concept of Unity in diversity as the essence of Indian culture. Here is an analogy. Light, when viewed as a whole, appears white. However, when scattered, you can see the spectrum VIBGYOR. Spiritually, the Vedas stress the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man in several ways. While the Supreme Godhead is labelled as ‘Paramatma‘ -The Supreme Self, human is addressed as Jivatma – the limited-self engaged in earthly life.

Every man is divine in sharing the powers, attributes, and properties of the supreme self in a limited way.  An analogy to explain – Just as many lamps are lit from a single lamp, Jivatmas originate from the Paramatma during creation and amalgamate into the Paramatma during dissolution. Thus, there is no reason one human is different from another, although there are apparent differences in appearance, attributes, and accomplishments.

We can see parallels in Aesops’s fables, the Lion and the mouse story that I shared last time. Another philosophy that has similar connotations is Ubuntu from Africa.

To conclude: “We are the first generation that can eradicate poverty, and the last generation that can save the planet.” – Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General.

Interested in learning more about SDGs in an interesting way through stories, pick up a copy of my book ‘The Ultimate To Do list for Humanity’. Here is the Amazon.in link. https://amzn.in/d/9ouZ19p

While you are at it check out my other books too. From Chalk to Talk The Art of Teaching https://amzn.in/d/ihWHvmq and From Crust to Core The Elexir of Teaching https://amzn.in/d/fSbyKDV

---