April fools day is celebrated on 1st of April in many countries. It is also called as "All Fools day". People play practical jokes and tricks to each other on that day. People tell hoaxes on that day. Have you ever been fooled on April Fools' Day.  you may wonder how this tradition  started. Nobody knows how the tradition started. We can get explanation from the calendar.  In the past, people used to celebrate New Year’s Day on April 1. They used to celebrate the day very, very well. Just like today, people would have big parties to celebrate. They enjoyed a lot of this celebration. Over time, the calendar changed and so did the date for New Year. In the year of 1500s, the new calendar marked New Year’s Day as January 1st. In the past, there was no media to spread the news of this change of New Year Day. It was spread very, very slowly by the word of mouth from one to another. Some resisted this. They did not accept the change. So they continued the celebration on April 1st. The people who celebrated the New Year Day on April 1st is called as "April fools".

People following the new calendar played tricks on the "April fools" by sending them on “fool’s errands”. They had the "April  fools" deliver invitations to big New Year’s celebrations that  weren’t really going to happen. In France, "April fools" were called "Poisson d'Avril", the meaning is "April Fish". The name came because fish were easily catched, likewise they also easily be cheated. Children used to tag the paper fish on the persons back to mark them as an "April Fish". The person discovered the paper fish on back, all used to yell as "April Fish". Not everyone is convinced that this is actually how the tradition of April Fools’ Day began. Many tried to pinpoint the exact date of the first 'April Fool's Day, but this also led to more pranks. Similarly we aren’t sure how this tradition began. People still celebrate April Fools’ Day by playing  tricks on each other. They enjoyed if anyone is fooled by these tricks. So the next time you prank  someone and yell “April Fools!” remember that the day may actually be about the people who didn’t want to change their traditions when the new calendar was adopted. 

Simple tips for fooling others

• Hide something and let them find out
• tell him that his dress is dirty. Check it. (Usually playing like this)
• Tell him somebody wants you 
• Somebody is waiting in reception to meet you
• See your earring is missing. Please check.
• insect behind your leg
• You failed in exams
• Your money is lying on the floor

April fools day is not a national holiday. The day is giving a chance to all of us have some fun and enjoy. In the year 2010, Google changed its name to "Topeka" for a day.  

We all heard about people celebrating Mother's Day, Father's Day, Friendship Day, Lovers Day, World Music Day, Fools days etc.  Have you heard of any people celebrating Guru's day in our tradition? We used to celebrate Guru Purnima (aka Vyasa Puja) on Ashada or full moon day during Chaturmasya of the Hindu calendar (3rd July – 2012 this year). In the year 2011, it was celebrated on July 15, 2011. Guru Poornima was celebrated by Hindus and Bhuddist. The word Guru is derived from two words namely, "Gu" and "ru" .  Gu - means ignorance of people or darkness in people. Ru means - removing the darkness or remover of darkness. Guru is the remover of darkness deom mind of people. Guru is more popularly called Acharya.

Guru is a link between ordinary people and God. One who removes our darkness is called GURU.  In this day all people worship God. They perform Poojas for Guru. The meaning of 'Guru' in English is 'Sprittual Guide'. We express our l gratitude to Sage Vyasa on Guru Purnima day. Sage Vyasa is worshipped as an incarnation of Lord Mahavishnu. It is believed that there is nothing in the world that has not come from Sri Vyasa's mouth (Vyasochishtam Jagat Sarvam).

Sri Vyasa wrote the Brahma Sutras, the Mahabharata and 18 Puranas. So he is the author of Brahma Sutras, the Mahabharata and 18 Puranas. Yet, the greatest contribution of Sri Vyasa lies in his classification of the Vedas. In olden days, people used to study all the Vedas. But, with the passage of time, it became very, very difficult to learn all of them. Sage Vyasa classified and compiled the Vedas into four categories- Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana and taught them respectively to four of his disciples Sumantu, Vaishampayana, Jaimini and Paila. The Vedic tradition is alive today only because of Sri Vyasa.

In the modern times we have lots of  modern gadgets to save anything in any format. We can save it in CD, Pen drive, Hard Disk or Computer. In the past, the storage of data was not possible. So how we got all this. The Vedas, Ithihasas and Puranas have reached us simply by word of mouth!. Just imagine it is a very, very great thing.

Bhagavan (the almighty) is considered the first teacher or the Adi Guru of the tradition. Between Bhagavan, and our Guru there are so many teachers in our Guru Parampara (tradition). We offer our salutations to each of them, who have dedicated their lives for the sake of maintaining this tradition. Sanyasis in our tradition begin the Chaturmasya Vrata on this Guru Purnima day. In those days, Sanyasis used to walk by foot everywhere. So we used to get their blessings on that day. Sanyasis used to pray for our wellness to the God. 

Piu, whose father was killed by extremists in Assam and mother died of cancer; Ankit, whose mother was abandoned by his father because she has thalassemia; Surja, whose mother committed suicide and father was taken by the police; Rahul, whose mother had to run away from abusive in-laws in Uttar Pradesh; all have found a new caring family in Familia, a welfare organization located in a peaceful rural ambience in Kanchrapara, a place 50 km north of Calcutta. There are 65 children in the Children’s Home, each having a story behind them, a tragic story in most cases.

Kunapalli Chako Thomas, founder and director of Familia, who came to Calcutta during the Bangladesh Freedom War in 1971 as a volunteer to serve the refugees displaced by the war, decided to join the Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa, where he discovered his vocation within vocation, the call to provide loving families to the orphaned and abandoned. He believes that parental love is essential for the proper growth of a child. When a child loses one or both parents it loses the supportive environment necessary for it to grow as a balanced human being. It finds an emptiness which can only be filled to some extent by caring foster parents. He founded Familia on 11th August 1977 with a mission to provide caring families to those who have none.

“How far have you been successful?” When I asked him, Thomas answered, “At least 50 per cent.” A visitor cannot miss seeing that the children in Familia look happy. Thomas tells that almost all children go to school. Some attend colleges. Yet others are doing professional studies like hotel management, computer studies, motor mechanics etc.  A girl has just completed her law studies .Thirty-five girls have been married and well settled. One of them lives with her family in Delhi. Another one has settled in Germany with her husband who is a teacher. Grown up boys have taken up jobs of different kind like driving, teaching, business etc.

In spite of financial problems, Familia has continually extended its welfare activities. From a five-children-foster family in a dilapidated classroom at Shikarpur, a village at the Indo- Bangladesh border, to the present site in Bhaluka village, in the district of North 24 Parganas, it has come a long way. Sixty-five children are divided in four foster families, each looked after by a married couple. Fifteen children live with their relatives and continue to receive support from Familia. 

Since 1996, a home for senior citizens has been added to Familia's welfare activities. A school was built to cater to the people of the locality in 2006. A crèche to keep children of working mothers started functioning in May 2012, the newest extension of the Familia’s service to humanity. A women emancipation centre will come into being soon. The list of social welfare activities does not end there. Monetary support for studies is provided to the poor students of the surrounding villages. An ambulance service is available free of cost to the villagers of the neighborhood, a service most needed as the nearest government hospital is about 15 km away. When poor villagers need help to give their daughters in marriage, it is at Familia’s door they knock.

“Do you supervise all these welfare activities alone?” I asked Thomas.

“I am supported by a band of dedicated colleagues. Each of the four foster families is taken care of by a foster father and a foster mother. The foster parents also help me in supervising the activities.”Thomas tells.

Familia, a family for those who have none, has brought about a considerable progressive change in the condition of the local population. It has been holding a burning torch and spreading light where there is darkness of pain and suffering. It is a genuine reason to rejoice that the labor of love of so many generous of heart is bearing fruit.

Some patients do deal with problems patiently while another group may emotionally attach themselves to the problems and respond in that way. It depends on each person’s personality and it can deeply influence his character, relations and even his success in career. An attractive personality helps one person to get easy attention, love and care from his family, co-workers, friends and society. It can increase both self respect and self confidence as well. Also, the positive energy it gives can help one person to go up each step of his success journey more easily and also helps him to develop and maintain healthy relationships with everyone far and near.

For personality development

First step is to know oneself better – both the positive and negative faces of your character, your abilities and weak points. Also, you need to know what else is needed for the improvement. You should be able to identify your positive inspirations as well as criticisms to move up one step further. If you are able to correct according to the criticisms taking them as positive points, no doubt, it’s a nice step. No need to change your character to attract others. It won’t work too long as wearing a new, strange face is just temporary. But if you are a person who is not able to develop new relations, then you should think about it seriously.

One should decide, ‘which factors should I change?’. If you get frequent advices from family members, friends or even strangers, never hesitate to check if they are right. For that, a self study is needed and slowly you can develop positive changes in your character. It’s true, it’s more difficult to change the character of an adult than a child. Child’s mind is just like wax which can be moulded to any desiring shape which is not at all an easy task with an adult’s mind. Sometimes, it may take years to adopt a new style of thinking, talking, approaching a similar situation in a new way etc. So, it’s better to start from simple things by changing small habits, later taking more tasks. For a person who spends a lot of time worrying, thinking about unnecessary things, it’s better to decide, “I won’t spend more than half an hour daily for such thoughts” than determining fully, not to worry at all. When this target is achieved and your mind has adjusted the change, carry forward that decision one step further reducing that thinking hours from half hour to 15 minutes. As it’s told, ‘slow and steady wins the race’, slowly he will reach the goal. The pleasure attained by your mind at this level is a kind of satisfaction and self confidence for your mind to meet more challenges of life. Also, if you set your targets very high far from your finger tips to reach, its failure attempts may prompt you not to try at all and slowly you may move away from the tasks.

It’s oneself who decides those tasks. Yet, you can seek opinion of your life partner or friends who know you near. Ask them to examine if they are seeing improvements in your attitude. A person who is near to us can access our mind easily, even our simple improvements of our character. Also, one can seek the help of a councilor, psychiatrist, books, personality development workshops etc.

Develop better skills of communication

For any field, to remain there and to attain success communication skill is an inevitable factor. First, know the person with whom you are interacting. Show patience to hear his views, ideas and opinions. Also accept its positive facts. Give him more opportunity to talk and ask questions. Use language fitting to his communication skills and knowledge rather than showing our skills. Also confirm yourself, if your ideas are reaching him through your words and body language. That’s why it’s told body language is very important. Facial expressions, gestures, eyes, body movement, sound pulse and its variations, touch etc can play an important role in getting a good impression about you. Even a sweet smile with little or a few words can touch the other person’s heart more easily than thousand words. Even if our ideas are good, if it’s not conveyed in a good way through our body language and expressions the other person may get a bad impression about you. A simple smile or occasional nodes when he talks make him feel that you are listening and that you are interested in his talks. Also, maintain good eye contacts while talking. Directly looking into someone’s eyes can increase your self confidence level and can also leave a good impression about you.

Stepping stones to personality development

Control habits

Very often, controlling your habits can give you good results in return. Choose dress codes most suited to the occasion. Avoid bad breath and maintain hygiene. Have complete and healthy diet. Exercise regularly and have good sleep. Yoga practices can also help you. Gradually developing such good habits can deeply influence your personality giving you more positive energy and a little more discipline in your life. Nail biting, putting fingers inside the nose, scratching hair and body parts – such habits show lack of self confidence while talking to a person and should be avoided at any cost.

Be a good listener

Though you are able to talk well, if you are not giving enough room for others to talk, you need more improvement. It’s good to help others by giving them information. Yet, if you are not willing to hear what he talks, will he make you his friend? Never! Instead of talking like a radio, make it a two way telephone talk. This will help you to know his interests and carry forward the communication in a better way. Also, never interrupt while he is talking. Be patient and try to become a good listener. You can clear your doubts too, by asking him questions suited to that situation. Pre-assuming his character, less attention to his talks and remaining quiet till he stops are also bad remarks. Never serve advices and solutions before hearing problems fully. Also, never fall under sensitive emotions like anger, jealousy, anxiety and despair while he is talking. It can transmit bad impulses and make him worry too.

Spend time wise and effectively

If you are able to complete a task within the time horizon, the self confidence, satisfaction and happiness you get back is really precious. If you are able to spend your time wisely, you can complete your targets without tensions. Isen Hover principle, Parato explanation, ABC technique etc are some of the common management time management techniques. Giving more importance to emergency task modules can often help you to use your time more effectively. In between, you can do some easy and interesting tasks to avoid boring created by some less interesting tasks. Use your best efficiency time for critical tasks while lazy hours for simple and less important jobs. The feeling that, I have completed some difficult and important modules itself can give you more confidence and less worries and tensions helping you to complete the remaining ones more effectively.

Just check, where you are spending more time and work on improving corresponding functions. Also, never give your assigned jobs to others for completion. It may develop a lazy habit inside you. But if needed, you can seek help from others without hesitation. Also, keep everything in your table neat and tidy. Also, arrange things in an orderly manner giving first preference to most important things. Never misplace anything carelessly because even searching an important file can take a lot of time from your pockets without any reason.

Easy solutions to difficult problems

If you are able to foresee problems of future, you can take precautions today itself. Prevention is always better than cure. Very often, you can solve your problems scientifically. Knowing the root cause of an issue is the first step towards its solution. Thus you can determine its present situations and changes if required. For a solution, prepare a chart consisting of both positive and negative problems and analyze each of them before taking a decision. You can include suggestions of both your family members and friends. For each suggestion, think both its positive and negative consequences which form the next step. After that, most useful, less complex, less time consuming, less problematic and more practical ways should be selected. Then collect things and gather information needed for its fulfillment. Also reassure if your selected path and solutions are feasible and practical. If your answer is no, then go for the second choice in the list and repeat everything as same.

New knowledge and new acquaintance

Attain every piece of latest information. It’s the gun powder to talk before everyone with confidence. Knowledge of different subjects can help you to make relations with persons of different tastes. Also, it gives more opportunities to make more friends. In return, you can know more about different subjects and helps you dealing with persons of different cultures and life style. Communicating with successive people can give you good principles to grow further. Also, keep distance from people with negative thoughts.

Expert opinion

You can seek an expert’s help if you are not able to achieve your own kept targets to overcome negative impulses of your character. Counselor, Psychiatrist and Psychologists can offer their timely help if needed. Through personality tests, it’s easy to know one’s character and personality and it helps to clear the negative points more easily. Also, a psychologist can give good advices too. To overcome anger, anxiety, shyness, denial of criticisms etc an expert opinion can help you a lot. To keep yourself away from bad thoughts and increase your confidence level, psychotherapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy are also available now. Depression, anxiety etc may need medical aid which should
never be avoided.

Never give up self confidence

The most   important factor is our self confidence. So, at any stage never lose your self confidence or self respect. Instead seeing what treasures you already have feel yourself that you are lucky. It you try to catch unachievable targets, it may result in despair and feeling that you are unlucky and that you are a less important person. Never lose your self respect at any circumstance. Be humble in your talks. Yet never feel or make others feel that you are a less important person. God has given everyone some talent. Finding them and choosing right paths at right time can help you reach your dream world if you are willing to work hard. Instead of thinking about the bad incidents and experiences of your past, better concentrate your mind to the next bright day morning and dreams to achieve.

Through this article, I have given some simple points about personality development. Hoping it will help you at least a little bit.