NATURE'S BOUQUETS

                                                        JULY OVER THE YEARS

                                                    NATURE'S BOUQUETS

THE FOOTBALL THAT WENT TO SPACE TWICE

 

The "football that went to space twice" is a poignant, historic soccer ball carried by astronaut Ellison Onizuka aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. After surviving the 1986 disaster, it was recovered from the ocean, returned to Earth, and years later taken to the International Space Station by his daughter's principal.The incredible journey of the Clear Lake High School soccer ball is a story of tragedy, endurance, and a touching tribute:

The First Launch (1986):

Before boarding the Space Shuttle Challenger, NASA astronaut Ellison Onizuka was gifted a soccer ball by his daughter Janelle and her teammates at Clear Lake High School in Houston. Onizuka brought the ball aboard as a personal item, but the mission ended in tragedy when the shuttle broke apart shortly after liftoff.

The Miraculous Recovery

Against all odds, the soccer ball was found among the floating debris in the Atlantic Ocean by the U.S. Coast Guard and returned to Onizuka's family. His widow, Lorna Onizuka, later returned the tattered and autographed ball to the high school, where it sat hidden behind trophies for years.

The Second Journey (2017): 

Decades later, astronaut Shane Kimbrough, whose own children attended the same Clear Lake High School, was preparing for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS). He requested permission to take the ball back into space on behalf of the school. The ball officially went to space for a second time, serving as a powerful tribute to Onizuka's legacy.

Returning Home

After completing its second historic spaceflight, the ball was brought back to Earth by Kimbrough and permanently returned to the Onizuka family and the high school.

PART OF GOD AND ONE WITH HIM

 

From the moment we are born, our first and primary relationship is with our parents.

Through them, we become related to siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and many others. These relationships are not of our making. They come with our birth. Thus, whether we like or dislike them, own or disown them, they continue to exist. 

Relationships with friends and spouses are formed (inorganic formation) and can therefore be broken. Our relationship with our parents, however, lasts only during our lives..

Who is truly related to us in our life? Which relationship is the fundamental and the absolute one?

It is our relationship with God. I am a part and He is the whole. I am an individual  and He is the total. 

Can the part exist without the whole? How intimately is a part related to the whole? Is a part ever separated from the whole?

Upanishads describe God as the Virat Purush, Cosmic Being and every individual as part of God. 

While we are aware that the universe is made up of the five elements, space, air, water, fire and earth, are not individual bodies, made of the five elements, part of the totality of the five elements?

We are indeed an aggregate of these elements.  

There are countless waves in the ocean. Each wave is born in the ocean, exists in it, and subsides into it. Its relationship with other waves is temporary. But its relationship with the ocean is primary and absolute. 

Likewise we are all a part of God and one with him. How can we ignore this eternal relationship?

The Mundaka Upanishad offers a beautiful metaphor.

In a tree like body, two birds who are friends, dwell. One is God and the other is the individual.. The individual keeps pecking at sweet and sour fruits, alternating between happiness and unhappiness. Helplessly caught in the conflicts and confusions of life, it looks up to its God-friend and becomes truly happy.

Relationships bind us. We suffer because we seek support from those who are helpless and who are dependent elsewhere. We feel burdened by responsibilities. We are attached to possessions. We are worried about our children. We are hurt by rejection and insult. It happens like that because we forget that relatives and relationships are only relative - not absolute. We do not have to renounce worldly relationships to reiterate our relationship with God. 

When we realise it, we understand that not only do we belong to God, but so does everyone else - equally, totally and absolutely.  The awareness divinises all worldly relationships.

When we ignore our relationship with God, we suffer. 

How can I feel helpless when I am aware of God's support? How can I feel insecure when I am under the protection of the omnipotent? How can I feel lonely when I am always in His embrace?

Our relationship with God is binding forever.  It is the product of listening to and understanding the scripture and through the grace of God. The relationship is at once primary and absolute.

When the individual  through ignorance feels he is separated from the omnipotent, God nourishes him with the knowledge that  He never abandons him. He guides him through thick and thin.

You become one with God

Swami Tejomayananda of Chinmaya Mission in The Times of india of 30 June 2026 -          The Relationship Nobody Talks About - (slightly edited)

 

  

VIKING ROW

 THE STORY OF THE VIKING ROW

Norway had beaten Brazil 2 - 1 in the World Cup football tournament 2026.

At the close of the match the Norway team sat on the pitch. A drum was placed there on the ground. Erling Haaland who scored  both the goals began rhythmically beating the drum.The team rowed forth and back. The large crowd of supporters of Norway did the same on the stands.

It was inspiring. It was beautiful. It was the Viking Row.

I came across an article in English, The Story of the Viking Row, in the Malayala Manorama of 11th July 2026. It was lucid.

Placing it here:

Long ago, the Vikings ruled the northern seas of Europe..Thes brave explorers travelled to distant lands without modern engines or GPS. Their most remarkable invention was the Viking longship.

Viking longships were masterpieces of ancient engineering. They were built with overlapping wood to make them light and flexible. This allowed the ships to ride over rough ocean waves. Crucially, they had a very shallow bottom.

A longship could float in as little as one metre of water, so it could sail up shallow rivers or land directly on beaches. When there was no wind, the crew rowed together to a steady, rhythmic beat. 

In the summer of 2026, this ancient history suddenly became a massive global trend. During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Norway made a historic run in the tournament. Their fans stole the show by turning this ancient rowing motion into a stadium celebration called the "Viking Row."

To do the Viking row thousands of fans sit together on the ground. They lean back and pretend to pull giant oars while shouting "Ro!" (the Norwegian word for row) to a fast drumbeat. The trend quickly spread beyond World Cup stadiums and across social media.

Today, when school students do the Viking Row, they are recreating a piece of living history.

It reminds us how rhythm, teamwork and determination helped ancient explorers conquer the seas.

KYLIAN MBAPPE

 KYLIAN MBAPPE

Greats keep growing. Conjuring magic and moves.Inventing and reinventing. Inspiring. Putting society and sport in a perfect syphony of dreams and fulfilment.

A horizon opening onto new frontiers. He is the adjective for the beautiful game. Football. 

He has matured, trading efficiency to become executioner.Except that in his case, efficiency is also elegant. He creates space and finds the net with the support of Michael Olise and Desire Doue. He was elegant completing a hat-trick in the final 10 minutes. He was elegant, but also brutally effective.. He was mesmerising. He was a bundle of energy. 

Mbappe has spent the past month producing exquisite performance leaving the world gasping for breath. It has been breathless and beautiful.

People have realised that this effectiveness of execution, built on intelligence and embellishment with elegance transcends football.

It has a universal appeal.

Subodh Ghildiyal in The  Times of india of 12 July 2026

TESSY WRITES ON 'YOU CAN CREATE YOUR FUTURE'

 

TESSY IS THOMAS JACOB

TESSY REFLECTS ON 'YOU CAN CREATE YOUR FUTURE'

A little bit of this and and a little bit of that.... The team selection happened at the end of June or probably early July.... How does a team gel together before a tournament? How do you plan? How do you gauge your strengths and weakness? How can you work on the weakness of the opponents and how to restrict their strengths? All this needs time and a team that has been together for some time... 

A simple example is how Argentina came back in the 79th minute... Team work needs time and planning... I would like to tell Aaron all this, but I am positive that you will be able to pass it on to him better.... 

I was sharing an incident with Vinaya about my school days with St. Joseph's Boys Hr. Sec. School, Coonoor... We had a great football culture in the school... I played in the defense (full back) and for one match, I was asked to play half back (midfield) and this decision was taken a day before the match... The idea was to stop the opposing team captain who was very fast and I was the 100 mts champ... so there came in the planning part and then the rest of the team understanding the sudden change of plan, worked accordingly... We won that match 3-0.

Now Aaron and his friends need to come back and practice together and start to understand the chemistry of team bonding, and this only will help them form a formidable team and in the process, a team to beat! 

I replied:

Thank you for the wonderful impassionate analysis

And the creative imaginative tackle.

Happy it drew the real sportsman Tessy out into the open.

YOU CAN CREATE YOUR FUTURE

Aaron is our grandson.

Along with his Appa, he visits us on Sundays. They stay with Dr.Rajan Varghese, his maternal grandfather at Paruthippara.

We are happy to have him whenever he presents himself. 

He told us on his visit on the last Sunday of June, that he had to attend the selection trials for the 

nder 17 Basketball Team of his School (St.Thomas Residential School), Mukkola,Trivandrum, the following week. Later we learned he had been selected as a member of the School's Basketball team - under 17. Anoop who came to our residence on Tuesday told us he was on leave on Wednesday for taking Aaron to Loyola School to participate in a Basketball Tournament there. 

Anoop phoned us after the game. St.Thomas had badly lost to Lecole Chempaka. He said they were the better team. But Aaron was devastated as well as depressed on his poor performance.  They had taken him out to Dominos to lift up his spirits.

Here is the message I had sent  to Anoop and Reshma for Aaron. They are Aaron's parents.

Please tell Aaron that losing 33 - 3 to a much better opponent is not something to cry about.

What he has to or his team has to do is, do a SWOT  analysis. It opens up reform.

One thing is certain. They cannot fall any farther than this. They can only improve from there.

If we care to learn from Roger Federer or Virat Kohli or Lionel Messi or many other super heroes , we can see they go back to basics after a scintillating performance or a rout.

They spend hours together practicing - their shots, kicks or serves.

When we are enthralled by those curving grounded or flying shots from Messi you can be certain he has practiced hours together over them. 

When we see Federer's aces chipping the inner edge of the baseline, it is not a magic in operation, but the result of painstaking practice over hours and hours.

And the ease with which  Magic Jordan find the hoop need not astound us. It is his persevering practice that is edging him on.

To put it in a nutshell, efffort+effort=excellence

Speaking on failure, remember,  failures are our finest teachers. Successes  do take us forth. But they don't teach like failures do. Failures make us introspect. Then refine. Then surge ahead with a new found vigour.

It is said, 'fail and fail to win.'

Go back to the drawing board and plan your strategy to make 33-3, 33-66

This is true everywhere. 

There is no easy way out. You will have to sweat it out away from public glare.

Victory beckons you. 

You can create your future.

YOU CAN CREATE YOUR FUTURE

Aaron is our grandson.

Along with his Appa, he visits us on Sundays. They stay with Dr.Rajan Varghese, his maternal grandfather at Paruthippara.

We are happy to have him whenever he presents himself. 

He told us on his visit on the last Sunday of June, that he had to attend the selection trials for the under 17 Basketball Team of his School (St.Thomas Residential School), Mukkola,Trivandrum, the following week. Later we learned he had been selected as a member of the School's Basketball team - under 17. Anoop who came to our residence on Tuesday told us he was on leave on Wednesday for taking Aaron to Loyola School to participate in a Basketball Tournament there. 

Anoop phoned us after the game. St.Thomas had badly lost to Lecole Chempaka. He said they were the better team. But Aaron was devastated as well as depressed on his poor performance.  They had taken him out to Dominos to lift up his spirits.

Here is the message I had sent  to Anoop and Reshma for Aaron. They are Aaron's parents.

Please tell Aaron that losing 33 - 3 to a much better opponent is not something to cry about.

What he has to or his team has to do is, do a SWOT  analysis. It opens up reform.

One thing is certain. They cannot fall any farther than this. They can only improve from there.

If we care to learn from Roger Federer or Virat Kohli or Lionel Messi or many other super heroes , we can see they go back to basics after a scintillating performance or a rout.

They spend hours together practicing - their shots, kicks or serves.

When we are enthralled by those curving grounded or flying shots from Messi you can be certain he has practiced hours together over them. 

When we see Federer's aces chipping the inner edge of the baseline, it is not magic in operation, but the result of painstaking practice over hours and hours.

And the ease with which  Magic Jordan find the hoop need not astound us. It is his persevering practice that is edging him on.

To put it in a nutshell, efffort+effort=excellence

Speaking on failure, remember,  failures are our finest teachers. Successes  do take us forth. But they don't teach like failures do. Failures make us introspect. Then refine. Then surge ahead with a new found vigour.

It is said, 'fail and fail, to win.'

Go back to the drawing board and plan your strategy to make 33-3, 33-66

This is true everywhere. 

There is no easy way out. You will have to sweat it out away from public glare.

Victory beckons you. 

You can create your future.