LP Magazine Oct 2021

FOOD
Veggie is the way
Make the most of the sheer abundance of variety and nutrition available in an Indian plant-based diet, says Naini Setalvad
Food 51


Warning: This article may overturn cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, fenugreek
all previous information you have about a plant-based diet.
I have worked in the field of nutrition for over 21 years, and I have advised every client to eat a plant-based diet without putting fear in their mind. This World Vegetarian Month, you will be surprised to learn that following a vegetarian diet can actually save your life!
When my clients make the switch to a plant- based diet, the one feedback I always get is that they have never felt or looked better. I always tell my clients and everyone else to act now because it is so simple and easy to make the switch. Our bodies were made to run perfectly on a plant-based diet, and they definitely do so. So, just make this shift, and see the immediate improvement in your health and well-being.
I am sharing below a guide to explain what comes under plant-based Indian foods. Unlike the West, we have a wide variety in this domain and innumerable methods to incorporate these foods into our daily eating habits:
• Fruits: We are blessed with different fruits for each season: the king of fruits—mango— the ruby-like pomegranate, the cooling watermelon, and the luscious strawberries. Some other local seasonal Indian fruits are jackfruit, litchi, cherry, plum, pineapple, grapes, ice apple, gooseberry, Indian grapefruit, etc.
• Vegetables: Indians have the best access to a repertoire of vegetables: the entire gourd family, from bottle gourd to pumpkin, and other vegetables like ladies’ fingers, capsicum, onion, tomato, and cucumber, to name a few.
• Leafy greens: Best consumed in the winter months are these green leafy vegetables like
leaves, amaranth leaves, and colocasia leaves. •Root vegetables: Under these, you find potato, carrot, beetroot, purple and orange
yam, and elephant foot yam (suran). •Mushrooms: These earthy plants are an
excellent addition to your plant-based diet. • Sprouts: You can sprout almost anything from grains, seeds, nuts, and legumes, and
toss them into your food.
• Whole pulses: Chickpeas, red kidney beans,
black-eyed beans—you name it, we have it. These whole pulses form a large part of the vegetarian diet.
• Lentils and peas: Another easy source of protein are lentils that are found in the form of dals, sambhars, varans, etc.
• Whole grains: We are lucky to have a large variety of whole wheat and rice options.
• Millets: Finger millet, little millet, pearl millet, sorghum, and barley are just a few grain millets that commonly feature in many plant-based Indian diets.
• Seed grains: One of the most common seed grains is amaranth. Seed grains are most commonly used during fasting.
• Nuts: Walnuts, cashew nuts, almonds, and pistachios. We have these and many more nuts in our Indian plant-based diet.
• Seeds: The 5000-year old flaxseed has always been a part of the Indian plant-based diet. Along with this, other seeds like sesame, pumpkin, cucumber, watermelon, and sunflower are also available.
• Herbs and Spices: Healing herbs like coriander leaves, tulsi, and mint leaves, and protective spices like ginger, garlic, turmeric, red chilli, green chilli, asafoetida, carom seeds, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds are just a few plant-based foods that impart taste and health to your food.
• Cold-pressed nut and seed oils: Food
52 LifePositive | OCTOBER 2021


preparations are often done in various cold- pressed nut and seed oils such as mustard oil, sesame oil, and coconut oil, to name a few.
When the above are consumed in the correct combination, you will have a balanced, wholesome diet.
Is a vegetarian diet sufficient?
However, I’m always asked whether a vegetarian diet will lead to protein and omega-3 deficiency. Is it more carbohydrate- based? Stop worrying about all this and read below to understand why a plant-based diet is perfect for you.
It is a common myth that a vegetarian diet lacks protein, but let me bust this myth for you. Plant foods contain plenty of protein, and a combination of a grain and a dal is the way to go. It is not only pulses, lentils, nuts, and seeds but also certain vegetables and grains which contain protein.
Walnuts and flax seeds are a great way of adding in the brain-boosting omega-3 while keeping cholesterol levels in check, as no plant food can increase them.
Go for the carbs
Just stop stressing about carbohydrates. I know it is fashionable to eat a low carbohydrate diet. If you cut carbohydrates, your mood will go for a toss and gloom will set in. I say choose the right carbohydrate. Fruits, especially mango, banana, and papaya will make your body sing for joy. Whole grains will give you energy and your essential B vitamins. Bonus? These foods are high in fibre, thus increasing the feeling of fullness and reducing the number of calories you eat, which assists in weight loss. Let’s not forget to add vegetables to get the magical antioxidants that have protective powers.
Strict no-nos
Avoid a diet of fried foods, refined white sugar and white flour, processed foods, and aerated drinks.
Ideal diet
At my centre, I regularly prescribe well-planned vegetarian diets that meet all your caloric and nutritional needs of carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals. It is a stress- free way of living. This simple shift can save you from obesity, PCOS, insulin resistance, diabetes, heart diseases, cancer, and even multiple degenerative disorders. Remember to eat sustainably by opting for local seasonal and regional produce. Trust me when I say a plant- based diet makes you reach optimum weight, reverses and retards diseases, and improves moods, performance, and memory.
Tangy Tamarind Rice
Serves 3; preparation time: 30 minutes
One bite of this sweet and sour rice will take you directly to the beautiful ancient temples of South India.
Ingredients
150 grams raw rice
2 tbsp thick imli (tamarind) pulp 1⁄2 tsp methi (fenugreek) seeds
2 tbsp til (sesame) seeds
2 tbsp roasted peanuts
1⁄4 tsp hing (asafoetida) powder 1⁄4 tsp haldi (turmeric)
Salt to taste
Ingredients for the tempering
1 tbsp chana dal (Bengal gram)
1 tbsp urad dal (split black gram) 1 tbsp rai (mustard seeds)
1 green chilli, slit down its length 8–10 kadi patta (curry leaves)
2 tsp ghee
Food 53


Method
• Boil the rice with haldi powder.
• Roast the methi seeds and grind them into a fine powder.
• Roast the til seeds on a low flame until golden and grind to a coarse powder.
• Heat ghee. Add chana dal, urad dal, and peanuts. As they turn golden, pop the rai.
• Add the chilli and curry leaves.
• Add imli pulp, hing, methi powder, and til powder to the kadai (wok). Cook for 2 minutes. • Add cooked rice and salt to the kadai, mix well, and remove from the flame.
• Serve hot.
Curry Leaf Chutney
Serves 4; preparation time: 10 minutes
Delay the signs of premature ageing! Postpone the onset of white hair with curry leaves, which are aplenty in every dollop of this bottle-green delight.
Ingredients
2 cups curry leaves
20 gm thick tamarind pulp (See basic recipe) 1 tbsp jaggery
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
11⁄2 tbsp urad dal (split black gram)
2 tsp rai (mustard seeds)
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
3–4 dry red chillies
1 cup coriander leaves
1⁄2 tsp turmeric powder
1 pinch of hing (asafoetida)
Salt to taste
Method
• Heat 1⁄2 tbsp oil in a kadai (wok) and roast the curry leaves until crisp. • Heat the remaining oil and roast the urad dal
• Once the urad dal turns golden, add rai and jeera seeds to the kadai.
• Add the dry red chillies to the kadai.
• Grind the above with curry leaves, tamarind pulp, jaggery, and salt into a coarse paste. • Serve.
We welcome your comments and suggestions on this article. Mail us at [email protected]
54 LifePositive | OCTOBER 2021


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SHARING
56
LifePositive | OCTOBER 2021
Krishna, Krishna, Krishna!
Laxmi Nair has found Krishna in everything—even Shiva!
Sometimes I feel that I always knew Krishna even before I heard of him. My
mother read the Bhagavatam when she was carrying me. I think the seeds were sown there— the very first impression! She is the one who introduced me to Krishna through beautiful stories of Him with Radha, Meera, Yashoda, Balarama, Poonthanam, and Sudama. My childhood favourites were those of Meera and Sudama.
Growing with Krishna
As I grew, I got to know more about Him through the Mahabharata, where His character intrigued me the most. I was fascinated to know the course of action taken by Him, and I would think of the reasons behind it, never doubting Him one bit but always trying to find the good in it (an eternal believer forever). I then delved
into mythology and read about Vishnu and his avatars.
Another key influence in my life was the picture of Vishnu we had in our home temple and a beautiful statue as well. I could look at his face and feel like he was talking to me, not through words but just through his smile. When I was disturbed, happy, angry, or feeling low, He would surely know as I would go and empty my thoughts to Him via prayers. I would feel amazingly good and light after praying. His smile always had a message for me; when I was joyful, it indulged me, and when I felt miserable, it was a message about


not worrying and continuing to look ahead with absolute faith. Faith that whatever had happened or was to happen was just the right path for me. I would always know that it was true when I look back at my journey so far.
During my formative years, I reached a point where I would feel guilty while praying to the other gods. There was this period when I was influenced and would pray to Shiva or Devi a lot. And, as a small child, I would think that it would make Krishna unhappy. Little did I know that all paths lead to one. With the blessings of Lord Shiva, I was available to overcome this conflicting thought on duality.
Awakening
It happened when I visited Kailash, and we were asked to chant ‘Shambho’ while taking each step. Starting our trek from Yam Dwar, I consciously chanted ‘Shambho’ and tried to empty my mind of any thoughts. Coming down after a night’s stay, very tired and physically battered by the exhilarating journey, I realised that I was chanting ‘Krishna’ at every step. I felt like every cell in my body was chanting His name without any effort from my end. Imagine chanting Krishna while returning from Kailash!
I had an instant smile on my face when I realised what I was doing subconsciously, and it took me less than a second to understand the lesson
that the Universe was subtly communicating to me: both Shiva and Krishna are One and the same. I felt like I had a breakthrough moment in Love when I was returning from Kailash, realising that I loved Krishna from the bottom of my heart and, through him, also Shiva, this universe, and everything within it.
I have read about Him in diverse forms—as a lover of Radha, a mischievous son of Yashoda, a protector of his clan, a strong partner of the Pandavas, and a true friend of Sudama and Draupadi.
Ocean of Love
There are times when I have not lived up to being a true devotee, as I sometimes claim to be, lost in this world of maya. However, I have found myself returning to where I had left the journey and being able to continue on it with His grace. I have looked for him in every happy as well as tough moment and found him beside me, guiding me each time. I feel drenched in His love and grace, and do not know how I can match up to His Love.
For now, all I want to do is immerse myself in those eyes and feel His presence beside me always. That is enough to take me to the end of this journey.
Krishna, Krishna, Krishna! May I always be lost in your thought alone.
We welcome your comments and suggestions on this article. Mail us at [email protected]
Sharing 57


MUDRAS
Work your fingers
for the bone
Now patients of osteoporosis and Abhay Kumar Shah can make a ‘joint’ effort to combat this illness
Almost all Indian women are at risk of osteoporosis in their later days. They easily suffer from fractures of the spine, hip, or wrist. Osteoporosis is a disease where bones become weak and brittle due to a loss of density. In extreme conditions, even coughing can create a fracture. Our bones are living tissue which constantly undergoes wear and tear as well as replacement. Osteoporosis occurs when the creation of new bone tissue does not cope with the loss of old bone tissue.
Symptoms and causes
The common symptoms of osteoporosis are back pain, collapsed vertebrae, loss of height, stooped posture, and bones breaking easily. The causes are
Mudra therapy
common too. Low sex hormone levels can affect the production of new bone tissue. That is why females past menopause are at the highest risk. Thyroid problems and deficient parathyroid and adrenal glands also slow down the production of bone tissue. Diet plays a great role in the development of this disease. Low calcium intake is a major cause. Eating disorders like severely restricting food intake and being underweight can lead to osteoporosis. Gastrointestinal surgery to limit the size of the stomach or to remove a part of the intestine reduces the working surface to absorb the nutrients, including calcium. Also, steroids as well as excessive alcohol or tobacco consumption interfere with the bone rebuilding process.
Some mudras are good at relieving osteoporosis, and to this end, I suggest a beautiful combination of mudras which, otherwise, are also very useful in improving general health.
Aakash Mudra
Touch the tips of the middle finger and the thumb. Keep the remaining three fingers comfortably straight. Place the back of your palms on your thighs or knees.
Period: 16 minutes
58 LifePositive | OCTOBER 2021


Prithvi Mudra
Touch the tips of the ring finger and the thumb. Keep the remaining three fingers comfortably straight. Place the back of your palms on your thighs or knees. Period:16 minutes
Varun Mudra
Prana Mudra
Touch the tips of the ring and little fingers to the tip of the thumb.
Keep the remaining two fingers comfortably straight. Place the back of your palms on your thighs or knees.
Period:16 minutes
Touch the tips of the little finger and the thumb. Keep the remaining three fingers comfortably straight. Place the back of your palms on your thighs or knees. Period:16 minutes
Prana Mudra
Practice as above. Period:16 minutes
Vaayu Mudra
Touch the tip of the index finger to the root of the thumb. Keep the other three fingers comfortably straight. Place the back of your palms on your thighs or knees. Period:16 minutes
Please follow the given order and practice period. One can do it at least twice a day. Thrice is preferable.
Abhay Kumar Shah is a mechanical engineer, who has learnt Mudra Shastra from experts and established his own method of using this science correctly, and in the modern context. He can be reached at: [email protected]
We welcome your comments and suggestions on this article. Mail us at [email protected]
Mudras 59


JOURNEY
Opening up to the world
Shivi Verma’s journey through depression, near suicide, and ultimate triumph over both is inspiration enough for those who are battling life’s setbacks
L ast month, in an interview was mired in. I kept talking to prayed to Sai Baba fervently to
on a well-known YouTube
channel, I was asked how I overcame chronic depression in my youth and if the thought of suicide ever seduced me? This was the first time I was sharing my struggles with depression and suicide on a public platform.
Answering the first question, I said that I was able to overcome depression solely because I had stepped onto the spiritual path before depression rose its ugly head in my life. As a result, I could piece the puzzle of my life together and realise that years of negative self-talk and beliefs had culminated into this situation and that it was a mental ailment, not the reality of who I was. I had gained the knowledge that the Universe bends to human will and determination, and if I decide that I want to overcome depression, it will happen one day.
God, telling Him that I wanted to win this battle, and I would not give up until it happened. I knew all along that I was bigger than my problems and nothing was impossible if I decided to put my mind to it. Yet, this was not easy. Often, I would be engulfed in pain and hopelessness. I wanted to escape from this unbearable suffering which nobody could understand and empathise with.
Once, on an impulse, I decided to end it all and went to the river bridge to jump to my death. However, as I looked at the placid waters of the river, inviting me to its soothing embrace, a thought flashed through my mind: No matter how much I tried, I could never escape from my trials. If I died today, I would have to be reborn somewhere in another body to complete my journey and fulfil my life purpose. Furthermore, I would also have to go back and cover the entire journey I had undertaken so far once again. All this was not worth the effort. I hugged the picture of Sri Krishna I had taken with myself and came back.
aid me in my healing.
Soon, circumstances changed, and I came in touch with people who believed in me and my ability to recreate my life. I gave up my allopathic medicines and drank gomutra (cow urine) which eliminated every trace of depression from my body within eight months. Simultaneously, I pushed myself harder physically to do things which usually I was unable to because of depression. I believed that it was possible to be a winner despite my imperfections. All these things worked in my favour and, eventually, at 35, I was completely healed after a 10-year- long battle with depression.
No sooner had I finished my talk, messages began to pour in from all quarters telling me that I had deeply inspired and motivated the listeners. Most of them were happy to note that I had not shared a sob story and that I was free of any sense of injustice and bitterness.
If my life has a purpose, I feel I am living it now.
Editor of Life Positive, Shivi Verma is a devotee who found all her answers in loving God passionately.
We welcome your comments and suggestions on this article. Mail us at [email protected]
I used to tell myself that my
real Self—my soul—was whole,
complete, and happy, and
depression was an affliction of
an unwell mind, and I was not
my mind. I had learnt to create
a gap between myself and my
mind, and would often distance
myself internally from the
intense negativity that the mind were embedded in depression. I
From then on, there was no looking back. I held on and learnt all the life lessons that
60 LifePositive | OCTOBER 2021


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STAND UP FOR YOURSELF
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Enlightening Souls across the globe


SPIRIT
The Logic of Bhakti Yoga
Idol worship is not superstition but a valid path because whatever you study or worship becomes you, says Suma Varughese
M any sages and gurus times a day. You will also do puja
amends, whereas it would have caused me to gnash my teeth and smite my chest in agony!
I was fascinated and studied the friend as much as I could, absorbing the way he related to others, took on responsibilities, and handled erring staff members. He was as placid as a pond, while I was a frenetic bundle of nerves. Within about four months of this study, I got a deep experience where I realised that my true self was whole, perfect, and complete, and the deeply faulty person I identified with was nothing but a composite of my conditioning. It enabled me to realise that I did not have to do anything to get good self-esteem. I only had to release the conditioning that stopped my self-esteem from showing up because that was the real me.
I am confident that it was studying this friend that enabled me to have the insight. So don’t knock idol worship. It has its huge merits. And if you are lucky enough to surround yourself with people who inspire you, remember that if you study them long and hard, a time will come when that quality will unlock within you.
Suma Varughese is a thinker, writer, and former Editor-in- Chief of Life Positive. She also holds writer’s workshops. Write to her at sumavarughese@ hotmail.com.
Wewelcomeyourcommentsandsuggestionson this article. Mail us at [email protected]
consider Bhakti Yoga
to be the fastest route to enlightenment, particularly in our vitiated Kaliyuga times. Ever wondered what its secret power is?
It hinges, of course, on the aspirant’s capacity to feel. The more the capacity to feel, the greater the power at one’s disposal. Deep feeling transitions naturally to devotion. There is nothing the aspirant will not do for one’s object of worship, and there is no word spoken by the latter that is not law for her. The seeker willingly takes every step into the unknown driven by total faith in her God, and eventually reaches the hallowed space of surrender when she is no more and the worshipped is all. Usually, the object of worship is the guru, one’s personal God, or even the Source behind it all, the Nameless Formless.
As powerful as this is, there is another dimension to Bhakti Yoga which is perhaps less well-known. And that is the transmission that happens from the object of worship to the worshipper. Assume, for instance, that your object of worship is Ganesha. Devoted as you are to your deity, you will think about him all the time with love and gratitude, you will pray to him, sing his bhajans (devotional songs), and invoke his presence innumerable
(worship) for him, and when you do so, you will invoke his qualities such as the capacity to break all hurdles between you and your goals, discriminating intelligence, goodlisteningcapacity,andmany more. The more we study Ganesha and think about his qualities, the greater the chance that we too will start imbibing these qualities. In a kind of osmosis, we become what we study or worship.
To me, this is not just theory. This is actually an experiential truth. Three decades ago, I had a spiritual awakening that enabled me to transition effortlessly into a state of egolessness, simply by telling myself that it was the other’s happiness that mattered and not mine. However, after a year, I decided I was going to let this mantra go, for I wanted to naturally be in this state and not invoke it anymore. Looking within, I recognised that what stopped egolessness from being my natural state of consciousness was my poor self-esteem that kept me locked in fear, anxiety, low self-confidence, and insecurity. At that point, a colleague at work and I became good friends. To my delight, I found him to be the embodiment of self-esteem. He was unflappable. Nothing troubled him. Even making a mistake was simply a matter of acknowledging it and making
Spirit 63


BANYAN TREE
TEACHING STORY
A TEACHER’S POWER
Nobody can inspire us as great teachers can. They seem to come along at just the right moment, at a time when we need them the most. Great teachers show us things about ourselves we can’t see.
Les Brown is one of the world’s foremost motivational speakers and thought leaders on self-improvement and goal-setting. However, it wasn’t always that way for him. Born in Liberty City, Miami, on the floor of an abandoned building, he has known struggle and hardship his entire life.
Academically, Les was a struggling student from the get-go. The story goes that during his school days, he was labelled ‘educable mentally handicapped’ by the academic intelligentsia of his day and demoted from the 6th grade to the 5th grade. To make matters worse, he had a twin brother who was exceptionally bright and gifted, and as such, Les became commonly referred to by his peers as the ‘DT’—the ‘dumb twin.’
One day, a teacher asked him to come up and solve a problem on the chalkboard, but Les refused and said that he couldn’t. “Of course, you can,” the teacher responded encouragingly. “Young man, come up here and solve this problem for me.” “But I can’t,” insisted Les. “I'm educable mentally handicapped.” The rest of the class erupted in laughter. At that point, the teacher stepped out from behind his desk and looked Les straight in the eye. “Don’t ever say that again,” he told him firmly. “Someone else's opinion of you does not have to become your reality.”
Les never forgot those words and spent the rest of his life overcoming incredible odds and pursuing his goals with passion and fervour. Time and again, thanks to that one teacher’s powerful revelation, Les has lived the phrase he’s famous for, all over the world: “You have greatness within you.”
THIS, I KNOW
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL (An American Poet)
• Fate loves the fearless.
• Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.
• A wise man travels to discover himself.
• No man can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself.
• A profound common sense is the best genius for statesmanship.
• Not failure, but low aim is crime.
•One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning.
• Endurance is the crowning quality, and patience, all the passion of great hearts.
• Poetry is something to make us wiser and better by continually revealing those types of beauty and truth which God has sent in all men’s souls.
64 LifePositive | OCTOBER 2021


INSPIRATION
I WILL NOT DIE AN UNLIVED LIFE
I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid,
more accessible;
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.
—Dawn Markova
ONE-MINUTE WISDOM
RELATIONSHIP WITH ONESELF
Melissa participates in a dating experiment. She meets five different boys and clicks with two. She starts seeing them one after another and soon realises that she doesn’t fit in with any of them. She takes a week off from dating and seeing boys. The wisdom that downloads for her during this time is this: I first need to build, grow, nurture, cherish, and strengthen the relationship that I have with myself, as it is of prime importance. Then all other relationships will also reflect the same fulfilling qualities.
QUOTE
“If you want to create change, you have to do
it from a level of energy that’s greater than guilt, greater than pain, greater than fear, greater than anger, greater than shame, and greater than unworthiness. In fact, any lower vibrational feelings cannot carry the thought of your future dream.”
—Dr Joe Dispenza
JUST FOR LAUGHS
THOUGHTLESS
Two Buddhist monks (a master and a disciple) are having a conversation about the disciple’s progress on the spiritual path.
Master: I’ve never met anyone so thoughtless in my life. Keep up the good work.
Disciple: Thank you, Mastwer.
WHO?
Two people sitting next to each other in a meditation class, thinking in their heads.
First person: “Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Second person: “I wonder who that guy is.”
Banyan Tree
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Ganesh Pai
Ganesh Pai is a senior finance professional, currently working in a deep-tech start-up. Ganesh believes in leading a holistic life aspiring for materialistic abundance while being spiritually rooted.
Jamuna Rangachari
Former assistant editor of Life Positive, Jamuna Rangachari has authored two books for children, and compiled and interpreted Teaching Stories-I and II for Life Positive.
Prof AVR Rao
Prof AVR Rao is a former company executive who has worked with various multi- national companies for over four decades. He holds double masters degree in philosophy and business economics respectively, and is also a teacher and freelance writer.
Badal Suchak
Laxmi Nair
Inspired by the spiritual teachers of the land, Laxmi Nair is an ardent devotee and seeker by nature. Write to her at [email protected].
Rashmi Sundar
Rashmi Sundar : A passionate writer and reader of books, Rashmi Sundar has published a children’s book Ganesha and Santa on Mount Kailash which is available
on amazon kindle. Also, the audiobooks are available on Audible in English and Hindi.
Naini Setalvad
Naini Setalvad is a nutritionist, specialising
in lifestyle and immunity disorders. Her foundation, Health For You, throws light on healthy food habits.
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Badal Suchak runs a multidisciplinary design tech firm, Zoetic innovations, which endeavours to add value to the lives of people it touches through its projects.