A special day!

Hello! Hi! Good Morning! Hallo!Guten Morgen! Gruss Gott! Gruezi! Wie geht es? Salut! Coucou! Bon jour! Hola! Que tal? Buenos días! Ya ho! Ohayo gozaimasu! Konnichiwa! नमस्कार! काय, कसे काय चाललेय? मजेत ना? सगळे ठिकठाक? नमस्ते! क्या हालचाल है? सुप्रभात! 

Why all these greetings, informal as well as formal, in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Marathi, Hindi and Sanskrit? Is that the question bothering you? Well, it is just to wake you up to a special day. It is known as the World Hello Day! 

Observed every November 21 since 1973, it is a kind of peace appeal. McCormack Brothers, then Ph. D. scholars in Arizona State University and in Harvard, wanted to give peace a chance. Raging then was the Yom Kippur war. The McCormack brothers, it is reported, mailed one thousand three hundred and sixty letters in seven languages to government leaders worldwide to encourage participation in the first World Hello Day, thence observed annually.

What is the significance of the day? The observance of this day suggests that conflicts should not aggravate in to wars. Instead, there should be a genuine and committed  attempt at resolving issues through communication. 

What is the ritual associated with the day? We have to greet, to wish, at least ten people. A "good morning" even if gruff and habitual, always carries a possibility of some communication opening up, right? Hence such a beginning of our blog. Please do greet as many people as you want in as many languages as you prefer! Happy Hello Day! 

Pratima@Any gesture, small or big, that leads to a peaceful togetherness is most welcome, right? 

Quote of the day:                                              "Peace cannot be kept by force," felt Albert Einstein. "It can only be achieved by understanding.”

Word of the day: peacenik.                    "Peacenik" is an informal term for a person, absolutely opposed to war and violence. She/he may often actively protesting against it. The term is mostly used positively to describe a pacifist, an individual who prefers negotiation over armed conflict. It is often used, however, in a rather disapproving or dismissive way, especially to label an activist such as a war protester.