With pride and heart today many Indians will celebrate the 68th Republic Day of India along with the Parade in the heart of India, New Delhi. Here are a few things to know about this auspicious day. 

• It was in 1930 on 26th January when India's Independence Day was promoted along the phrase 'Purna Swaraj' which means full freedom. 
• Yet in the official freedom was adopted on 15th August 1947, and the day for republic was marked in 1950 after the declaration of freedom by the Indian Constitution. 
• Hence, the first ever celebrated Republic day was in 1950, on 26th January.
• The first Chief of guest was President Sukarno of Indonesia for the parade held in New Delhi.
• Along with the celebrations Dr Rajendra Prasad took oath for the first President of India, at the Durbar Hall of Government House.
• Most people may know it as a one day celebration, but it ends after 3-days with the Beating Retreat on the 29th of January.
• Rajpath was confirmed permanent location for the republic day parade in 1955. Prior to that it was also organised at Irwin Stadium, Kingsway, Red Fort and even at Ramlila Grounds.
• Mahatma Gandhi's favourite song by Scottish Anglican Henry Francis Lyte, 'Abide with Me' a Christian hymn is always played during Republic Day.
• And last but not the least, this day many courageous true heroes of India, get awarded for their heroism and gallantry acts.

Happy 68th Republic Day of India, 2017.

Many friendships/relations begin with simple questions like what are your hobbies? or what you do in free time?. Staying busy with something to do is good but scientific research has found doing something creative increases emotional well-being and strengthens mental health.

A study done by a group of young adults found that daily creative activities direct towards an 'upward spiral' of increased wellbeing.

Researchers from the Department of Psychology at New Zealand's University of Otago asked above 650 university students to keep a daily journal about their experiences and emotional state over 13 days.

A leading author Dr. Tamlin Conner and her team hoped to find-out whether everyday creative activities makes people feel emotionally better.

“There is growing recognition in psychology research that creativity is associated with emotional functionality. However, almost all of this work focuses on how emotions benefit or hamper creativity, not whether creativity benefits or hampers emotional well-being,” Dr Conner spoke in her statement.

Researchers studied & collected informations informally in an earlier study instead of specifically asking participants to specify the nature of their creative activity. An Indirect approach.

Songwriting; creative writing (poetries, short-fictions); knitting & crochet; making new recipes; drawing, painting & sketching; graphics and digital design; and musical performances were among the most common examples for such acitivies.
They also found that “positive affect” (PA) - which includes feelings like happiness, pleasurable engagement, excitement, joy & enthusiasm - on a particular day did not predict creative activity for next-day.

“Our earlier research found that PA appears to increase creativity during the same day, yet our latest findings showcase that there is no cross-day effect. Rather, it is creative activity on the previous day that predicts wellbeing the next,” she spoke.
Even after controlling the next-day creative activity, the previous day’s creativity significantly predicted energised flourishing and PA.

Dr Conner & her co-authors added to above: “finding suggests a particular kind of upward spiral for well-being & creativity - engaging in creative behaviour leads to an increases in well-being the next-day, & this increased well-being is likely to facilitate creative activity on the same day."
They also concluded that “overall, these findings support the emerging emphasis on everyday creativity as a means of cultivating positive psychological functioning”.

I hope you find this article helpful in upbringing your emotions and hobbies. This is to carry on with your inspirations and creaitivty. Cheers!

Remembering and reminding the ultimate 12 laws of Karma, that are must if you are looking forward to make new resolutions or rejuvenating yourself in the year 2017. Leaving behind any sort of negetivity to carry forward only positive vibes for a greater future, I wish you all a very Happy New Year 2017 with lots of love. 

Whatever we put into the universe will come back to us.

Life does not happen by itself, we need to make it happen.

One must accept something in order to change it.

When we change ourselves our lives follow suit and change too.

We must take responsibility for what is in our lives.

The past, present and future are all connected.

We cannot think of two different things at the same time.

Our Behaviour should match our thoughts & actions.

One cannot be present if they are looking backward.

History repeat itself until we learn from it & change our path.

The most valuable rewards require persistence.

Rewards are a direct result of the energy & effort we put into it.