Avant Garde

The beauty of Bissen

2011-11-22T19:15:00.001+05:30

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bissen

http://trialx.com/i/2011/07/29/see-photos-for-bissen/

How To Really Listen - By Peter Bregman

2011-10-20T14:37:00.000+05:30

Reference: http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2011/10/how-to-really-listen.html

One morning, my wife Eleanor woke up, turned over, and said, "I am not looking forward to this day." I asked her why.

What came out is that we were at the start of the Jewish high holy day season, which means colder weather and three weeks of big social meals, long religious services, broken routines, and children out of school. Eleanor didn't grow up with these traditions, and they can be overwhelming.

Now, I run a management consulting company; problem solving is what I do. So it didn't take me long to jump in.

"Cold weather means ski season is about to start," I said. "You love skiing. And these holiday meals are fun and filled with people you love — they'll make you feel better. And I'll be with you; you won't be alone with the kids. Also, you know, Jesus was Jewish, so it's kind of your tradition too."

Even as I said it, I knew that last one was a reach. It became clear that I was making her feel worse and now she wasn't just sad, she was angry.

And when she got angry, I felt myself get angry too. And self-righteous. Here I am trying to help her and this is what I get?

But then I smartened up. Instead of giving in to my anger, which would have really blown things up, I shut up and listened. When I did, I began to hear the real stuff, the things that neither of us was actually saying.

What I discovered was that she was upset because the focus on mothers during the Jewish holidays taps into her insecurities about motherhood, not being a Jewish mom, and not having time to spend on her own work.

I also discovered that my own babbling wasn't so much to help her feel better as to help me feel better. I'm the reason she's in New York City, living through cold winters, and part of a Jewish family.

In other words, by trying to make her feel better, I was doing the opposite of making her feel better. I was arguing with her. In fact, most of the time when we try to make people feel better, we end up arguing with them because we're contradicting what they're feeling. Which, inevitably, makes them feel worse.

Listening, it turns out, is magic. Not only did it help me understand what was going on with both of us, but it helped Eleanor feel better, too. It made her feel that she wasn't alone in her feelings; I was with her.

All I had to do was listen.

But listening isn't easy. The more we listen to others, the more likely we will react — or overreact — to what they say. Listening, it turns out, is much harder than speaking. We have to allow things we might disagree with to hang in the air. We have to move over a little and create space for those things to linger.

That kind of listening takes tremendous courage.

But if we're interested in learning — about ourselves as well as others — then it's worth it. And if we're interested in being connected to others, showing them respect, helping them feel better, and solving problems between us, than it's more than worth it. It's essential.

Until people feel heard, they will fight to be heard. But once they are heard, there is little left to fight for, and then we can move on, not as "us vs. them" but simply as "us."

So how do you listen in a way that transforms conversations and relationships?

Actually listen. And only listen. That means don't multitask. I'm not just talking about doing email, surfing the web, or creating a grocery list. Thinking about what you're going to say next counts as multitasking. Simply focus on what the other person is saying.
Repeat back. This feels a little silly at first but works magic. If someone says she is angry about the decision you just made, you can say "you're angry about the decision I just made." I know, I know, she just said that. But it shows you're listening and it communicates to the other person that she's been heard. If you don't have the courage to try it with an adult, try it with a child. You'll see what a difference it makes and it will embolden you to try it with a colleague or your spouse.
Ask questions. Explore the other person's thoughts and feelings more deeply. And "You don't really believe that, do you?" does not count as a question. You are not using the Socratic method to prove your point; you are trying to better understand what's going on so you can better understand your partner in this conversation.

Really listening can feel risky, which seems strange because listening doesn't materially change anything. But sometimes you'll hear things that are hard to hear.

Remember that listening is not the same thing as agreeing. And it will never force you to take any particular action. If anything, it will reduce the intensity of people's insistence that you take a specific action. Because in many cases what they're looking for is proof that you've heard them. So if they feel you've really heard them, their need for action diminishes.

As Eleanor spoke, I noticed my own resistance to various things she was saying. There's no question that it's hard to really listen. But once I relaxed into it, I heard her in a much deeper way. That made her feel better. Call me co-dependent, but it made me feel better too.

It turns out that sometimes, just listening is problem-solving.

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

2011-10-06T08:12:00.001+05:30

Reference: http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/05/steve-jobs-has-passed-away/

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." -Steve Jobs.

Tom and Jerry Online Puzzle

2011-10-03T11:27:00.000+05:30

Tom and Jerry online puzzle

B'Day Poems' Collage

2011-09-30T10:24:00.000+05:30

P.S. : Specials thanks to the authors Tina M. Marascia, Mike and Kay Theese who have shared their amazing piece of work in public and others who shared amazing B'day pics on inter-net!

Happy Birthday Dear

The little princess in our family turns three today!

Small poem written by me on her B'day eve!

Birthday Bells

@ Pilot-Pooja

As the beautiful day ahead,

All set to carve another marvellous year ahead,

Is about to come and spread its fragrance,

A pre-B'Day gift, from somebody your own, though from quite a distance,

Some feelings shared, some words written,

From none other but amazing souls like you two,

Penning their thoughts into words so precious few,

Please scroll right bar down, this sorted gift is just for the partying crew,

Your sweet poetic sister found hard to resist the wordy lace,

Spun by some magical people in poems below shining ablaze.

An Angel Left Her Wings

I have this little angel. For me she left her wings.
She has no idea how much happiness she truly brings.
She brightens up my days with her smiles and her laughs.
She helps me to remember all the blessings that I have.

Her face, it is so perfect, she's sweet and soft and pure.
Sometimes she can be willful and sometimes she is demure.
She tries her very hardest to please and do what's right.
She gives the greatest hugs from morning until night.

Every person that has known her sees this light within her soul
I know that in this whole great world, she has a special role.
She's helpful and considerate to everyone she knows
This light in her shines brighter as my angel grows.

When she sees someone is sad, it opens up her heart.
She wants to do all that she can; she wants to do her part.
She'll squeeze away the sorrow and make me forget about my pain.
She shows me where the sun is when we're hiding from the rain.

I know that God must love me, He showed me with His Grace
I knew just how completely when I saw my angel's face.
And in that very moment when she came into my world,
I knew that she was so much more than just my baby girl.

She would be my sunshine, with a sweetness that won't end.
And when she grows up one day she would be my closest friend.
She would be the reason I would always try my best.
For my little angel baby girl would be my greatest test.

When God entrusts to you an angel, who has left her wings for you.
Encircle her with love with everything you do.
Let her know God made her, and that He trusts you with her care.
Be sure to make time for special moments with her to share.

And when at night she finally says her prayers and goes to sleep
I Thank Him for my angel, and ask for him to always keep
A watchful eye and hand to protect her from this world.
Protect my little angel; protect my baby girl.

Source: An Angel Left Her Wings, Daughter Poem and 27 Stories http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/an-angel-left-her-wings#ixzz1ZJJFeemZ
Family Friend Poems

Daughter Poem

A fathers love to his little princess.

I Am Yours To Keep

You are a princess in my heart,
and I care for you so much.
I love the fondness in you eyes and your tender little touch.

I looked at you when you were born,
and knew then straight away,
that I would be forever here
to watch you grow and play.

You bring to me a heart of joy,
and memories so great,
and a powerful sense of fatherhood that no one can debate.

I watch you sleep and dream of things that I can only wonder.
That innocent look upon your face just makes my heart grow fonder.

I see you run and jump and shout and calling out my name.
No love that I have ever known could ever feel the same.
No suffering or tragedy nor deeply seated pain
could ever over shadow the bond that we retain.

And so my little princess before you go to sleep,
Remember I am your daddy and I am yours to keep.

Source: Fathers Love To Daughter, Daughter Poem and 7 Stories http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/fathers-love-to-daughter#ixzz1ZJJ6Y9uI
Family Friend Poems

A mother writes to her daughter letting her know how much she loves her.

As I Watch You Grow

Do you know how much you mean to me?
As you grow into what you will be.
You came from within, from just beneath my heart
it's there you'll always be though your own life will now start.
You're growing so fast it sends me awhirl,
With misty eyes I ask, Where's my little girl?
I know sometimes to you I seem harsh and so unfair,
But one day you will see, I taught you well because I care.
The next few years will so quickly fly,
With laughter and joy, mixed with a few tears to cry.
As you begin your growth to womanhood, this fact you must know,
You'll always be my source of pride, no matter where you go.
You must stand up tall and proud, within you feel no fear,
For all you dreams and goals, sit before you very near.
With god's love in your heart and the world by its tail,
You'll always be my winner, and victory will prevail.
For you this poem was written, with help from above,
To tell you in a rhythm of your Mother's heartfelt Love!

Source: As I Watch You Grow, Daughter Poem and 16 Stories http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/as-i-watch-you-grow#ixzz1ZJKOVhal
Family Friend Poems

Ways to teach Science in schools

2011-09-10T18:31:00.001+05:30

I came across an intersting article by Kartikeya V. Sarabhai where he has demonstrated via an example how kids could be involved in scientific learning.

Reference: http://www.greenteacher.org/?page_id=11

Learning Science

About 20 years ago, my colleague from Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC), Jayshree Mehta and I used to go to teach once in a week or so in a school in Rajoda village near Ahmedabad. This was a part of our effort to understand how science and mathematics were being taught in schools, and how children learn. I would like to describe an incident from this experience, which was a very important lesson to me in terms of how to teach.

One day, we gave a multiplication problem to the students. The problem was simple: what is 25 X 5. We expected that some would get it right and some would get it wrong. What surprised us was that the answers fell into four clusters. One group gave the right answer, viz. 125. And the three wrong answers, each given by a group of children, were 30, 45 and 105.

We asked the children to make groups based on the answers they had given. We asked each to explain how they had arrived at their answers. The operations that the 3 groups with wrong answers had carried out were:

· The group with answer ‘30’ had just added. In other words, they did not know what multiplication was, or how to carry out the operation.

· The group with ‘45’ as answer had started by multiplying. They had even carried over ‘2’. But they had forgotten or did not know that the second digit too had to be multiplied. They had added the second digit to the carry over digit.

· The group with ‘105’ as answer had carried over ‘2’ but forgotten to add it.

We asked the teacher what she did when students made mistakes in the multiplication lesson. She told us that she made them repeat the concerned multiplication table eight times.

When we discussed the analyses of the class performance with her, it was obvious that no child had made a mistake because he or she did not know the multiplication table. Rather, it was to do with not understanding the process of multiplication. So repeating the tables would not really help.

The teacher appreciated the point and we set about teaching each of the groups individually, based on the mistakes the group had made. And sure enough, within a fairly short time, the whole class could actually multiply.

There are many lessons for educators. Unless we understand where we are not communicating, we cannot help learners. It is necessary to bring the method of science to the teaching of science. Rather than assuming why the children are not learning and take “corrective” action based on this, it would probably be better to observe the children and set up a hypothesis as to why children have not learnt a concept, then actually try to scientifically test and validate it, and then proceed from there.

Kartikeya V. Sarabhai
Director
Centre for Environment Education

Quotation on Tourist by John Carroll

2011-09-09T14:46:00.000+05:30

http://quotes.dictionary.com/The_tourist_is_first_of_all_an_adventurer?__utma=1.555004383.1315559339.1315559339.1315559339.1&__utmb=1.2.9.1315559339&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1315559339.1.1.utmcsr=(direct)|utmccn=(direct)|utmcmd=(none)&__utmv=-&__utmk=35298337

Quote

"The tourist is first of all an adventurer. The dream is of the pioneer, the explorer, the great voyager or the conquering emperor. He leaves the security of home far behind and sets out beyond the perimeters of the known world for fame, fortune and excitement. He wants to take on the minotaur, scale the Matterhorn, discover a lost Amazonian tribe or sample the delights of a Thai brothel.... The essence of the tourist adventure is exhibited in the contours of the excitements that it provides. And these contours are best inferred from the stories that are told and re-told with animation to relatives, friends and colleagues at home. It is virtually never what has been seen that is recounted with enthusiasm. When the sites are described it is in the form of ritualized cliches: the Eiffel Tower really is a wonder—we went up it, and you get such a nice view. It is rather the personal moments of the tour, moments of near-crisis, that in retrospect were exciting: when one of the suitcases failed to arrive off the luggage chute at Frankfort Airport. Touring itself has been turned into a routine, restricting adventure to those moments when routine breaks down."

-John Carroll

Wetlands are Precious!

2011-09-08T19:00:00.002+05:30

Came across a wonderful old article by an environmental expert Ms. Sadia Zahid:
Mass awareness on wetlands stressed.

"An Inconvenient Truth"

2011-08-30T15:16:00.000+05:30

David Gray

2011-08-13T14:15:00.001+05:30

Lyrics | David Grey - This years love lyrics

FlowPlayer - Flash Video Player for the Web

2011-08-08T12:17:00.004+05:30

I have recently developed a liking for FlowPlayer while watching nptel tutorials on web.
Here is some embedded code for this blog-page visitors to explore it more.

My Ecological Footprint

2011-07-14T18:25:00.007+05:30

Take the Quiz | Reduce your footprint

A Time To Rejoice ...

2011-07-01T12:28:00.000+05:30

ISRO scientist 2011 written exam were out a fortnight back and seeing a 189 all India rank only made me wonder, did the exam really go this well when i was expecting it to be good but not my best seeing a couple of silly mistakes in this time packed exam!!

Hurrah..good job..
This being my first attempt, had to take help from internet to understand the overall selection procedure. Experienced students say i should be expecting an interview call by none other than IISC and ISRO panel by mid of August..

Oh God, i just hope i am able to express knowledge of fundamentals well if not all the real-time electronics and communications applications.
Anyone who happens to read my post and has some good idea of ISRO scientist interview, please drop a comment or two.

A good senior friend of mine who recently met some ISRO scientists feels i should leave no stone unturned in the preparation; it wil surely be a wonderful experience!

Hoping for the best, i stop now!
Happy July!

Centre for Environment Education, CEE

2011-06-16T18:38:00.000+05:30

Centre for Environment Education, CEE

Centre for Environment Education, CEE was created in recognition of the importance ofenvironmental education in India's overall environment and development strategy. The result of a unique partnership between government and a non-governmental institution, CEE was established as a Centre of Excellence in 1984, supported by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India.

CEE has inherited the rich multi-disciplinary resource base and varied experience of Nehru Foundation for Development, its parent organisation, which has been promoting educational efforts since 1966 in the areas of science, nature study, health, development, and environment.

At the time it began its activities, CEE was perhaps the only organization actively engaged in environmental education in the country. While carrying out programmes in different parts of the country, it was located only at Ahmedabad. Within five years of activities, it was realized that for a country as vast as India and its diversity, physical presence was important for effective implementation. Based on this, the first regional office was opened for the Southern region in 1988-89. Since then it has been a conscious effort to have an office or presence in the geographical area of work.

After completing a decade of activities in 1994, it was decided to move more from environmental education to environmental action. This was an outcome of the learnings and experiences in the first ten years. CEE began more pilot, field-level and demonstration projects towards sustainable development which could be scaled-up and replicated. Within the next ten years, these projects formed a major chunk of Centre's activities.

Today, CEE works for a wide range of sectors, target groups and geographical areas. CEE sees a major opportunity in the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-14) to further contribute towards sustainable development.

CEE's Sister Organisatons

			CHETNA (Centre for Health Education, Training and Nutrition Awareness)
			VIKSAT (Vikram Sarabhai Centre for Development Interaction)
			VASCSC (Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre)
			KHAMIR (Centre for Kachchh Heritage, Arts, Music and Information Resources)

Thrust Areas

			Education for Children
			EE in Higher Education
			Examination System for EE
			Education for Youth

			Communicating through Media
			Experiencing Nature
			EE Through Interpretation
			Knowledge Management for SD

			Industry Initiatives
			Sustainable Rural Development
			Water and Sanitation
			Sustainable Urban Development
			Waste Management
			Disaster Preparedness and Rehabilitation

			EE for Fragile Areas
			Biodiversity Conservation
			Eco-Tourism

			Training, Networking and Capacity Building
			Facilitating NGO and Community Initiatives
			Initiatives for the UN DESD
			Research in EE and ESD

An Interesting Comparison!

2011-06-12T21:07:00.000+05:30

Habit

2011-05-24T16:15:00.000+05:30

Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it.

-Horace Mann

Aditya Hridayam

2011-05-23T14:05:00.001+05:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oIrgLehqKA&feature=related

Aditya Hridayam, or Aditya Hrdaya, is a hymn dedicated to Lord Surya (Sun God) in Valmiki Ramayana. It has 31 verses and is found in the 107th chapter of Yuddha Kanda of Ramayan. It was narrated to Lord Rama by Sage Agastya to energize him in the battle against Ravana.

Thatho yudha parisrantham samare chinthaya sthitham,
Ravanam chagratho drushtwa yudhaya samupasthitham. 1

Daivathischa samagamya drushtu mabhya gatho ranam,
Upagamyabraveed ramam Agasthyo Bhagawan rishi. 2

Rama rama maha baho srunu guhyam sanathanam,
Yena sarvaanareen vatsa samare vijayishyasi. 3

Adithya hrudayam punyam, sarva sathru vinasanam,
Jayavaham japen nithyam akshayyam paramam shubham. 4

Sarva mangala mangalyam, sarva papa pranasanam,
Chinthasoka prasamanam, ayur vardhanamuthamam. 5

Rasmi mantham samudhyantham devasura namaskrutham,
Poojayaswa vivaswantham bhaskaram bhuvaneshwaram. 6

Sarva devathmako hyesha tejaswai rasmi bhavana,
Esha devasura ganan lokan pathi gabasthibhi. 7

Esha brahma cha Vishnuscha Shiva skanda prajapathi,
Mahendro, dhandha kalo yama somo hyapam pathi. 8

Pitharo vasava sadhya hyaswinou marutho, manu,
Vayur vahni praja prana ruthu hartha prabhakara. 9

Adithya savitha soorya khaga poosha gabasthiman,
Suvarna sadrusa bhanu, hiranya retha divakara. 10

Haridaswa sahasrarchi saptha sapthir mareechiman,
Thimironmadhana shambhu thwashtwa marthanda amsuman. 11

Hiranya garbha shisira thapano bhaskaro ravi,
Agni garbha adithe puthra sanka shisira nasana. 12

Vyomanadha sthamobhedi rig yajur sama paraga,
Ghana vrushtirapam mithro vindhya veedhi plavangama. 13

Aathapee mandali mruthyu pingala sarva thapana,
Kavir viswo maha thejaa raktha sarvodbhava. 14

Nakshtra gruha tharanam adhipo, viswa bhaavana,
Thejasam aphi thejaswi dwadasathman namosththe. 15

Nama poorvaya giraye, paschimaya draye nama,
Jyothirgananam pathaye dhinadhipathaye nama. 16

Jayaya jaya bhadraya haryaswaya namo nama,
Namo nama sahasramso Adithyaya namo nama. 17

Nama ugraya veeraya sarangaya namo nama,
Nama padma prabhodaya, marthandaya namo nama. 18

Brhamesanachuthesaya sooryadhithya varchase,
Bhaswathe sarva bhakshaya roudraya vapushe nama 19

Thmognaya himagnaya sathrugnaya amithathmane,
Kruthagnagnaya devaya jyothisham pathaye nama. 20

Taptha chamikarabhaya vahnaye viswa karmane,
Namasthomabhinignaya ruchaye loka sakshine. 21

Naasa yatyesha vai bhootham tadeva srujathi prabha,
Payathyesha thapathyesha varshatyesha gabhasthibhi. 22

Yesha suptheshu jagarthi bhootheshu parinishtitha,
Yesha evagnihothram cha phalam chaivagnihothrinam. 23.

Vedascha kradavaschaiva krathoonam phalameva cha,
Yani kruthyani lokeshu sarva yesha ravi prabhu. 24

Yena mapathsu kruchreshu kanthareshu bhayeshu cha,
Keerthayan Purusha kaschin aavaseedhathi raghava. 25

Poojaswaikegro deva devam jagat pathim,
Ethath trigunitham japthwa yudeshu vijayishyasi. 26

Asmin kshane maha baaho ravanam thwam vadhishyasi,
Evamukthwaa agasthyo jagam yada gatham. 27

Edath sruthwa maha theja nashta shoka abhavath thada,
Dharayamasa supreetho raghava prayathathmavaan. 28

Adhithya prekshya japthwa thu param harsha mavapthavan,
Thrirachamya suchir bhoothwa dhanuradhaaya veeryavaan. 29

Ravanam preshya hrushtathma yudhaya samupagamath,
Sarva yathnena mahatha vadhe thasya drutho bhavath. 30

Adharavira vadha nireekshya ramam,
Mudhithamana paramam prahrushyamana,
Nisicharapathi samkshyam vidhithwa,
Sura gana Madhya gatho vachasthwarethi. 31

How WFP feeds 90 million people per year!

2011-04-29T16:22:00.002+05:30

Iqbal - Aashayein

2011-04-17T12:32:00.002+05:30

Life

2011-04-10T18:52:00.002+05:30

Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments.
Rose Kennedy

Anniversary Terms

2011-04-10T12:53:00.003+05:30

I recently came across a chart showing specific names for some wedding anniversary milestones.
It really helps while wishing a couple, here it is:

First: Paper
Second: Cotton
Third: Leather
Fourth: Fruit and Flower
Fifth: Wood
Sixth: Sugar
Seventh: Woolen
Tenth: Tin
Twentieth: China
Thirty-fifth: Coral
Fortieth: Ruby
Fifth-fifth: Emerald
Seventyth: Platinum
Seventy-fifth: Diamond, Gold

The nomenclature may vary as per the region. For more information, please refer wikipedia at given link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_anniversary

Writing poetic verse after long, here is an ode from my side to the great couples we have seen struggling and moving forward and enjoying together in our lifetimes:

Straight from the mighty heart,

We wish you the best of the best,

Magic bells swaying high,

Crackers touching heights, making galore noise,

Our poetic toasts to a great couple,

Hoping every moment brings them loads of cheer,

In blissful moods, we see them dancing n enjoying,

Wishing a great year ahead, to the apple of our eyes.

Ugadi Shubhakankshalu!

2011-04-04T17:08:00.000+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugadi

Yugadi Telugu: ఉగాది,(Kannada: ಯುಗಾದಿ, Konkani: युगादी) is the New Year's Day for the people of the Deccan region of India. IPA: [juga:di] from yuga + aadi, yuga means era, aadi means start, so Yugadi is "the start of an era".

It falls on the different day every year because the Hindu calendar is a lunisolar calendar. TheSaka calendar begins with the month of Chaitra (March–April) and Ugadi marks the first day of the new year. Chaitra is the first month in Panchanga which is the Indian calendar.

While the people of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh use the term Yugadi/Ugadi for this festival.

The people of Maharashtra term the same festival, observed on the same day, Gudi Padwa.

Sindhis, people from Sindh, celebrate the same day as their New Year day Cheti Chand.^[1]

Manipuris also celebrate their New Year (Sajibu Cheiraoba) on the same day. While it is observed as Baisakhi in Punjab and Puthandu in Tamil Nadu. However, it is not celebrated on the same day in Tamil Nadu as Tamils follow Solar calender.

When you meet any Telugu people and want to wish them for Telugu New Year, you say "Ugadi Shubhakankshalu - ఉగాది శుభాకాంక్షలు (Noothana Samvatsara Shubhakankshalu - నూతన సంవత్సర శుభాకాంక్షలు)". In response they greet you with, "Meeku kooda Ugadi Shubhakankshalu - మీకు కూడా ఉగాది శుభాకాంక్షలు (Meeku kooda Noothana Samvatsara Shubhakankshalu - మీకు కూడా నూతన సంవత్సర శుభాకాంక్షలు)".

In Kannada, the greeting would be "Yugadi Habbada Shubhashayagalu" - ಯುಗಾದಿ ಹಬ್ಬದ ಶುಭಾಷಯಗಳು (Greetings for the festival of Yugadi) or "Hosa varshada shubhashayagaLu" - ಹೊಸ ವರ್ಷದ ಶುಭಾಷಯಗಳು (Greetings on the new year).

In Konkani,it would be Navve varsache shubhashyay,Samvatsar padvyachi shubheccha.

In Marathi, it would be 'गुढी पाडव्याच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छा'(Gudhi padvyachya hardik shubhechcha).

Qualcomm's April Fool Special

2011-04-02T18:27:00.001+05:30

loved this post on 3G and 4G blog:

http://3g4g.blogspot.com/2011/04/april-fool-jokesin-case-you-missed.html

The River Clyde

2011-03-30T07:39:00.000+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Clyde

This photo of Glasgow is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Tradeston Bridge

Solar Lily pads at river Clyde

Ref: http://inhabitat.com/solar-lily-pads-planned-for-glasgows-clyde-river/

Whereas most urban design schemes to generate more renewable electricity would usually focus on rooftop photovoltaics or wind turbines on public buildings, it takes a creative leap to envision Solar Lily Pads. But of course, the idea is perfectly natural, and makes good sense when you consider that the intrinsic design of the lily pad is all about maximizing access to the sun’s rays. We hope this great idea takes off and inspires both city governments and other designers to get creative with the design of photovoltaics.

Read more: SOLAR LILY PADS Proposed for Glasgow’s Clyde River | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

A Gateway to Knowledge!

2011-03-29T11:30:00.000+05:30

Looks like 2011 is a lucky one for me on the acedemic front.

I have cleared GATE 2011 in EC! Hurrah)), though performance figures are no better than my 2003 score when i had just passed out from PEC!

GATE 2011 RESULTS

Registration Number:EC 8126029

Name of the Candidate:POOJA GUPTA

Marks Obtained:38.67 Out of 100

GATE Score:464

All India Rank:6692

No of Candidates Appeared in EC:137853

Qualifying Marks for EC:GeneralOBC

(Non-Creamy)SC / ST / PD

26.11 23.5 17.41

With just 50% preparation that time, i had almost decided not to appear for the exam, but then last minute mood swings helped!

All fingers crossed for May, June exams!
I have cleared PHD cut off in most of the IITs, but then i still need some more time to decide what i want to do next !!

Till then, keep studying harder!!
Cheer$$

Emptiness- Rohan Rathore

2011-03-20T11:42:00.000+05:30

Libya: WFP Calls For Safe Access As Food Ship Turns Back

2011-03-07T08:13:00.000+05:30

Libya: WFP Calls For Safe Access As Food Ship Turns Back

‘Ant Philosophy’

2011-03-05T17:10:00.000+05:30

http://in.education.yahoo.com/news/yeducareers360/secret-success-get-mindset-an-ant-20110304

by Careers360 - 04 Mar, 2011

All of us tend to look up to big people for lessons on how to get better. We are keen to learn the secrets of their success. But we forget that sometimes the biggest lessons in life come from the smallest folks around us. Now that’s a good lesson to remember!

Take ants for instance. Would you believe those small creatures can teach us how to live a better life? Jim Rohn - the great motivational guru – developed what he called the ‘Ants Philosophy’.
He identified four key lessons from the behaviour of ants that can help us lead better lives. Jim Rohn is no more – but his messages continue to inspire. Here then, are the four lessons from Rohn’s ‘Ants Philosophy’.

1. Ants never quit.

Have you noticed how ants always look for a way around an obstacle? Put your finger in an ant’s path and it will try and go around it, or over it. It will keep looking for a way out. It won’t just stand there and stare. It won’t give up and go back.
We should all learn to be like that. There will always be obstacles in our lives. The challenge is to keep trying, keep looking for alternative routes to get to our goals. Winston Churchill probably paraphrased the ant’s mindset when he offered this priceless advice: “Never give up. Never, never give up!”

2. Ants think winter all summer.

Remember the old story of the ant and the grasshopper? In the middle of summer, the ant was busy gathering food for the winter ahead – while the grasshopper was out having a good time. Ants know that summer - the good times – won’t last forever. Winters will come. That’s a good lesson to remember. When the going is good, don’t be so arrogant as to believe that a crisis or a setback cannot happen to you. Be good to other people. Save for a rainy day. Look ahead. And remember, good times may not last, but good people do.

3. Ants think summer all winter.

As they suffer through the unbearable cold of the winter, ants keep reminding themselves that it won’t last forever, and that summer will soon be here. And with the first rays of the summer sun, the ants come out – ready to work, ready to play. When we are down and seemingly out, when we go through what looks like a never-ending crisis, it’s good to remind ourselves that this too shall pass. Good times will come. It’s important to retain a positive attitude, an attitude that says things will get better. As the old saying goes, tough times don’t last. Tough people do.

4. Ants do all they possibly can.

How much food does an ant gather in summer? All that it possibly can! Now that’s a great work ethic to have. Do all you can! One ant doesn’t worry about how much food another ant is collecting. It does not sit back and wonder why it should have to work so hard. Nor does it complain about the poor pay! Ants just do their bit. They gather all the food they can. Success and happiness are usually the result of giving 100% - doing all you possibly can. If you look around you, you’ll find that successful people are those who just do all they possibly can.

Follow the four simple steps of Jim Rohn’s ‘Ant Philosophy’ – and you’ll see the difference. Don’t quit. Look ahead. Stay positive. And do all you can.

And there’s just one more lesson to learn from ants. Did you know that an ant can carry objects up to 20 times their own weight? Maybe we are like that too. We can carry burdens on our shoulders and manage workloads that are far, far heavier than we’d imagine. Next time something’s bothering you and weighing you down, and you feel you just can’t carry on, don’t fret. Think of the little ant. And remember, you too can carry a lot more on your shoulders!

Prakash Iyer is MD, Kimberly-Clark and Executive Coach.

Sree Saraswati Stotram - by Sage Agastya

2011-03-04T18:47:00.001+05:30

Football Challenge on Free Rice

2011-02-01T16:20:00.002+05:30

'Dusk' - a short story by 'Saki'

2011-01-22T17:44:00.002+05:30

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/375/

Title: Dusk
Author: Saki [More Titles by Saki]

NORMAN GORTSBY sat on a bench in the Park, with his back to a strip of bush-planted sward, fenced by the park railings, and the Row fronting him across a wide stretch of carriage drive. Hyde Park Corner, with its rattle and hoot of traffic, lay immediately to his right. It was some thirty minutes past six on an early March evening, and dusk had fallen heavily over the scene, dusk mitigated by some faint moonlight and many street lamps. There was a wide emptiness over road and sidewalk, and yet there were many unconsidered figures moving silently through the half-light, or dotted unobtrusively on bench and chair, scarcely to be distinguished from the shadowed gloom in which they sat.

The scene pleased Gortsby and harmonised with his present mood. Dusk, to his mind, was the hour of the defeated. Men and women, who had fought and lost, who hid their fallen fortunes and dead hopes as far as possible from the scrutiny of the curious, came forth in this hour of gloaming, when their shabby clothes and bowed shoulders and unhappy eyes might pass unnoticed, or, at any rate, unrecognised.

A king that is conquered must see strange looks, So bitter a thing is the heart of man.

The wanderers in the dusk did not choose to have strange looks fasten on them, therefore they came out in this bat-fashion, taking their pleasure sadly in a pleasure-ground that had emptied of its rightful occupants. Beyond the sheltering screen of bushes and palings came a realm of brilliant lights and noisy, rushing traffic. A blazing, many-tiered stretch of windows shone through the dusk and almost dispersed it, marking the haunts of those other people, who held their own in life's struggle, or at any rate had not had to admit failure. So Gortsby's imagination pictured things as he sat on his bench in the almost deserted walk. He was in the mood to count himself among the defeated. Money troubles did not press on him; had he so wished he could have strolled into the thoroughfares of light and noise, and taken his place among the jostling ranks of those who enjoyed prosperity or struggled for it. He had failed in a more subtle ambition, and for the moment he was heartsore and disillusionised, and not disinclined to take a certain cynical pleasure in observing and labelling his fellow wanderers as they went their ways in the dark stretches between the lamp-lights.

On the bench by his side sat an elderly gentleman with a drooping air of defiance that was probably the remaining vestige of self-respect in an individual who had ceased to defy successfully anybody or anything. His clothes could scarcely be called shabby, at least they passed muster in the half-light, but one's imagination could not have pictured the wearer embarking on the purchase of a half-crown box of chocolates or laying out ninepence on a carnation buttonhole. He belonged unmistakably to that forlorn orchestra to whose piping no one dances; he was one of the world's lamenters who induce no responsive weeping. As he rose to go Gortsby imagined him returning to a home circle where he was snubbed and of no account, or to some bleak lodging where his ability to pay a weekly bill was the beginning and end of the interest he inspired. His retreating figure vanished slowly into the shadows, and his place on the bench was taken almost immediately by a young man, fairly well dressed but scarcely more cheerful of mien than his predecessor. As if to emphasise the fact that the world went badly with him the new-corner unburdened himself of an angry and very audible expletive as he flung himself into the seat.

"You don't seem in a very good temper," said Gortsby, judging that he was expected to take due notice of the demonstration.

The young man turned to him with a look of disarming frankness which put him instantly on his guard.

"You wouldn't be in a good temper if you were in the fix I'm in," he said; "I've done the silliest thing I've ever done in my life."

"Yes?" said Gortsby dispassionately.

"Came up this afternoon, meaning to stay at the Patagonian Hotel in Berkshire Square," continued the young man; "when I got there I found it had been pulled down some weeks ago and a cinema theatre run up on the site. The taxi driver recommended me to another hotel some way off and I went there. I just sent a letter to my people, giving them the address, and then I went out to buy some soap - I'd forgotten to pack any and I hate using hotel soap. Then I strolled about a bit, had a drink at a bar and looked at the shops, and when I came to turn my steps back to the hotel I suddenly realised that I didn't remember its name or even what street it was in. There's a nice predicament for a fellow who hasn't any friends or connections in London! Of course I can wire to my people for the address, but they won't have got my letter till to-morrow; meantime I'm without any money, came out with about a shilling on me, which went in buying the soap and getting the drink, and here I am, wandering about with twopence in my pocket and nowhere to go for the night."

There was an eloquent pause after the story had been told. "I suppose you think I've spun you rather an impossible yarn," said the young man presently,with a suggestion of resentment in his voice.

"Not at all impossible," said Gortsby judicially; "I remember doing exactly the same thing once in a foreign capital, and on that occasion there were two of us, which made it more remarkable. Luckily we remembered that the hotel was on a sort of canal, and when we struck the canal we were able to find our way back to the hotel."

The youth brightened at the reminiscence. "In a foreign city I wouldn't mind so much," he said; "one could go to one's Consul and get the requisite help from him. Here in one's own land one is far more derelict if one gets into a fix. Unless I can find some decent chap to swallow my story and lend me some money I seem likely to spend the night on the Embankment. I'm glad, anyhow, that you don't think the story outrageously improbable."

He threw a good deal of warmth into the last remark, as though perhaps to indicate his hope that Gortsby did not fall far short of the requisite decency.

"Of course," said Gortsby slowly, "the weak point of your story is that you can't produce the soap."

The young man sat forward hurriedly, felt rapidly in the pockets of his overcoat, and then jumped to his feet.

"I must have lost it," he muttered angrily.

"To lose an hotel and a cake of soap on one afternoon suggests wilful carelessness," said Gortsby, but the young man scarcely waited to hear the end of the remark. He flitted away down the path, his head held high, with an air of somewhat jaded jauntiness.

"It was a pity," mused Gortsby; "the going out to get one's own soap was the one convincing touch in the whole story, and yet it was just that little detail that brought him to grief. If he had had the brilliant forethought to provide himself with a cake of soap, wrapped and sealed with all the solicitude of the chemist's counter, he would have been a genius in his particular line. In his particular line genius certainly consists of an infinite capacity for taking precautions."

With that reflection Gortsby rose to go; as he did so an exclamation of concern escaped him. Lying on the ground by the side of the bench was a small oval packet, wrapped and sealed with the solicitude of a chemist's counter. It could be nothing else but a cake of soap, and it had evidently fallen out of the youth's overcoat pocket when he flung himself down on the seat. In another moment Gortsby was scudding along the dusk- shrouded path in anxious quest for a youthful figure in a light overcoat. He had nearly given up the search when he caught sight of the object of his pursuit standing irresolutely on the border of the carriage drive, evidently uncertain whether to strike across the Park or make for the bustling pavements of Knightsbridge. He turned round sharply with an air of defensive hostility when he found Gortsby hailing him.

"The important witness to the genuineness of your story has turned up," said Gortsby, holding out the cake of soap; "it must have slid out of your overcoat pocket when you sat down on the seat. I saw it on the ground after you left. You must excuse my disbelief, but appearances were really rather against you, and now, as I appealed to the testimony of the soap I think I ought to abide by its verdict. If the loan of a sovereign is any good to you - "

The young man hastily removed all doubt on the subject by pocketing the coin.

"Here is my card with my address," continued Gortsby; "any day this week will do for returning the money, and here is the soap - don't lose it again it's been a good friend to you."

"Lucky thing your finding it," said the youth, and then, with a catch in his voice, he blurted out a word or two of thanks and fled headlong in the direction of Knightsbridge.

"Poor boy, he as nearly as possible broke down," said Gortsby to himself. "I don't wonder either; the relief from his quandary must have been acute. It's a lesson to me not to be too clever in judging by circumstances."

As Gortsby retraced his steps past the seat where the little drama had taken place he saw an elderly gentleman poking and peering beneath it and on all sides of it, and recognised his earlier fellow occupant.

"Have you lost anything, sir?" he asked.

"Yes, sir, a cake of soap."

-THE END-

Dusk, a short story by Saki [H H Munro]
from the collection of 'Beasts and Super-Beasts'.

________________________________________________

Aas Pass Hai Khuda

2011-01-05T21:47:00.001+05:30

Aas Paas Khuda - Unplugged

RadioReloaded.com | Download thousands of MP3s

What 'Avant Garde' conveys!

2010-12-26T19:39:00.003+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avant-garde

Avant-garde (French pronunciation: [avɑ̃ɡaʁd]) means "advance guard" or "vanguard".^[1] The adjective form is used in English, to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics.

Avant-garde represents a pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm. The notion of the existence of the avant-garde is considered by some to be a hallmark of modernism, as distinct from postmodernism. Many artists have aligned themselves with the avant-garde movement and still continue to do so, tracing a history from Dada through the Situationists to postmodern artists such as the Language poets around 1981.

No wonder this amazing word "Avant Garde" reflets such a stupendous aura, i love using this word so much, be it my one of the most favorite blog's title or the group i have made on freerice portal in collaboration with WFP:

http://beta.freerice.com/content-group/avant-garde

My group with current member count of 7has donated 1,80000 grains to needy people world-wide by now!

Amen!

Merry Christmas and wishes for a wonderful decade ahead!

Lakshya Song Lyrics

2010-12-13T21:27:00.001+05:30

Haan yehi rasta hai tera, tune ab jaana hai
Haan yehi rasta hai tera, tune ab jaana hai
Haan yehi sapna hai tera, tune pehchaana hai
Haan yehi rasta hai tera, tune ab jaana hai
Haan yehi sapna hai tera, tune pehchaana hai
Tujhe ab ye dikhaana hai
Roke tujhko aandhiyaan, ya zameen aur aasmaan
Paayega jo lakshya hai tera
Lakshya toh har haal mein paana hai
Mushkil koyi, aajaaye toh, parbat koyi, takraaye toh
Taaqat koyi, dikhlaaye toh, toofaan koyi, mandlaaye toh
Mushkil koyi aajaaye toh, parbat koyi takraaye toh
Barse chaahe ambar se aag, lipte chaahe pairon se laakh 2
Paayega jo lakshya hai tera
Lakshya toh har haal mein paana hai
Himmat se jo koyi chale, dharti hille qadmon tale
Kya dooriyaan kya faasle, manzil lage aake gale
Himmat se jo koyi chale, dharti hille qadmon tale
Tu chal yunhi ab suboshaam, rukna, jhukna nahin tera kaam 2
Paayega jo lakshya hai tera
Lakshya toh har haal mein paana hai
Haan yehi rasta hai tera, tune ab jaana hai
Haan yehi sapna hai tera, tune pehchaana hai Tujhe ab ye dikhaana hai

RadioReloaded.com | Download thousands of MP3s

The Indigo Agitation

2010-12-04T09:36:00.001+05:30

http://www.sos-arsenic.net/english/homegarden/indigo.html

0 father come let us go
To the field to plough,
Place the ploughs on oxen shoulders
and Push, push, push.

We who bring out food
From the depth of earth,
We who provide food for the whole world
Why can't we eat can any one tell us ?

My wife has hanged herself
She could no longer bear hunger,
Now I plough deep into soil
In hope of seeing her again.

We plough the fields
Our bosom is also flayed
But from the fields we get harvest
None from the scarred bosom.
We shall plough no more the earth for rice
But to see how far it is to the graves.

-Jasim Uddin (A popular folk song in Bengal- HMV record. Kolkata)

Ruth Na Jaana - 1942 A Love Story

2010-11-25T12:25:00.002+05:30

Rooth na jaana - Ruth Na Jana

Found at abmp3 search engine

Kumbh Mela

2010-11-24T09:20:00.001+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbh_Mela

Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage.

The normal Kumbh Mela is celebrated every 3 years.

The Ardh (half) Kumbh Mella is celebrated every six years at Haridwar and Prayag.

The Purna (complete) Kumbh takes place every twelve years,^[2] at four places (Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nashik.

The Maha (great) Kumbh Mela which comes after 12 'Purna Kumbh Melas', or 144 years, is held at Allahabad.

The previous Maha Kumbh Mela, held in 2001, was attended by around 60 million people, making it at the time the largest gathering anywhere in the world in recorded history.

Kumbha Mela is a massive pilgrimage in which Hindus gather at the Ganges river.

It is celebrated at different locations depending on the position of the planet of Bṛhaspati (Jupiter) and the sun. When Jupiter and the sun are in the zodiac sign Leo (Simha Rashi) it is held in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik; when the sun is in Aries (Mesha Rashi) it is celebrated at Haradwar; when Jupiter is in Taurus (Vrishabha Rashi ) and the sun is in Capricorn (Makar Rashi) Kumbha Mela is celebrated at Prayag; and Jupiter and the sun are in Scorpio (Vrishchik Rashi) the Mela is celebrated at Ujjain.^[10]^[11]

The last Ardh Kumbh Mela was held over a period of 45 days beginning in January 2007, more than 70 million Hindu pilgrims took part in the Ardh Kumbh Mela at Prayag.

It is believed that during the battle, Lord Vishnu flew away with the Kumbha of elixir spilling drops of amrita at four places: Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik.^[18]

^{The major event of the festival is ritual bathing at the banks of the river in whichever town it is being held.Nasik has registered maximum visitors amounted nearly to 75 million.}

After visiting the Kumbh Mela of 1895, Mark Twain wrote:

“

It is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining. It is done in love, or it is done in fear; I do not know which it is. No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination, marvelous to our kind of people, the cold whites.

The Purna Kumbha Mela will again be held at Prayag in the year 2013 (January 27 to February 25)
Nasik will host the Ardha Kumbha Mela in 2015 (August 15 to September 13)
Ujjan Purna Kumbh Mela 2016 (Also Known as Simhasth @ Ujjain) (April 22 to May 21)

Sports in India

2010-11-22T18:32:00.000+05:30

http://www.thecolorsofindia.com/interesting-facts/sports/

1. Norman G. Pritchard, an Anglo -Indian athlete from Calcutta, was the first Indian to take part in Olympic Games.

2. India made its official debut in the Antwerp Olympics in Belgium in 1920.

3. PT Usha became first Indian lady to enter the finals of any olympic event.

4. Leander Paes was the first Indian to win Junior US Open Title.

5. Leander Paes won a bronze medal for India at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

6. Parimarjan Negi is the youngest Grandmaster in India.

7. Parimarjan Negi also holds the record for being the world's youngest International Master.

8. Vishwanath Anand is India's first Grandmaster.

9. First Olympic Gold Medal won by India was in 1928 Olympics in hockey.

10. P.T. Usha was nicknamed as Payyoli Express.

11. Ramanathan Krishnan, is the first Indian to win Wimbledon Junior Singles title.

12. Prakash Padukone is the first Indian to win All England Badminton Championship.

13. Anju Bobby George entered the finals of Women Long Jump at 2004 Athens Olympics.

14. Anju Bobby George is the first Indian athlete to win a medal in World Athletics Championship.

15. Milkha Singh was the first Indian athlete to reach Olympic finals.

Some Interesting Facts About India

2010-11-22T17:40:00.000+05:30

http://www.thecolorsofindia.com/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_and_union_territories_of_India_by_population

1. State with lowest population in India - Sikkim

2. State smallest in area - Goa

3. State second smallest in area - Sikkim

4. Largest town of Sikkim - Gangtok

5. Most populous city of India - Mumbai

6. District with lowest population in India - Yanam in Pondicherry ( it lies in delta of Godavari river)

7. Union Territory with lowest population density in India - Andaman & Nicobar Islands ( a group of 572 islands lying in the Bay of Bengal)

8. Union Territory with lowest population in India - Lakshadweep ( has capital at Kavaratti)

9. Union Territory with highest population density in India - Delhi

10. Delhi was made the capital of India in 1911.

11. Delhi is surrounded by Haryana on all sides except the east where it borders with Uttar Pradesh.

12. State with highest population in India - Uttar Pradesh

13. The five states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh account for almost half of the total India's population.

14. Union Territory with second lowest population in India - Daman and Diu

15. State with second lowest population in India - Mizoram

Lobo -Stoney

2010-11-19T14:47:00.001+05:30

Lobo - Stoney

Found at abmp3 search engine

Devaki Pandit

2010-11-17T10:08:00.000+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devaki_Pandit
http://www.devakipandit.com/
http://www.soundofindia.com/showarticle.asp?in_article_id=1985356676

Devaki Pandit is a playback singer from Maharashtra,India. She is also a trained classical singer.Besides Marathi, she has also sung songs in Hindi.She received^[2]^[3] her initial music training from her mother Usha Pandit.In 1986, she recorded her first playback song for the film Ardhangi which went on to win her the Maharashtra State Award for "Best Female Playback Singer".She has not only given performances in India, but has undertaken concert tours all over the world at the invitation of prestigious institutions. She has also sung for various films, with renowned music directors, but her attention remains focussed on Hindustani Classical music. Devaki has developed her own style of singing and has won many hearts through her performances.

Here are some of the compositions of Devaki Pandit:

1) "Daayi Aankh Bole" from the film "Daayra"
2) "Phir bhor bhayee jaaga madhuban" from the film "Saaz"
3) "Raag Baageshri" from her classical album named "Inner Soul"
4) Bhajan "Sai Se Lagan Kathin Hai.." from "Inner Soul"
5) The ghazal "Aankhonse Baatein..." with Hariharan in the album "Halka Nasha"
6) "Krishna Jal Mein.." & "Shyam Ki Ratt Ab Lagi..." from her album Vrindavan, music composed by Shrinivas Khale
7)"Sanwaren Rang raanchi.." & "Bhayee Hun Baawaree.." from her album "Mohane man Harayu".

Apart from this, she has also sung bhajans by Ramdas Swamiji in the album "Shyam Rang"; shlokas in "Upanishad Amrut";along with Shankar Mahadevan (music by Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma). Her other films include "Kabhi Haan, Kabhi Naa" with Jatin-Lalit, "Betaabi" with Vishal Bharadwaj, "Guddu" with Naushadji. She has recently released an Album called "Aradhana Mahakali", the music of which is composed by herself.

She has also sung for "Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia in his album named "Krishna Utsav".. Devaki's talent is also honoured by the prestigious awards bestowed upon her. She is the only recipient of the prestigious Kesarbhai Kerkar Scholarship for two consecutive years.

Saul Bellow's Quotations

2010-11-15T22:30:00.000+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Bellow

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/saul_bellow.html

We are always looking for the book it is necessary to read next.
Saul Bellow

What is art but a way of seeing?
Saul Bellow

When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.
Saul Bellow

Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take small steps.
Saul Bellow

Goodness is achieved not in a vacuum, but in the company of other men, attended by love.
Saul Bellow

Hapiness can only be found if you can free yourself of all other distractions.
Saul Bellow

Conquered people tend to be witty.
Saul Bellow

Everybody knows there is no fineness or accuracy of suppression; if you hold down one thing, you hold down the adjoining.
Saul Bellow

Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.
Saul Bellow

"[There is] an immense, painful longing for a broader, more flexible, fuller, more coherent, more comprehensive account of what we human beings are, who we are and what this life is for."^[32]

"I feel that art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos. A stillness which characterizes prayer, too, and the eye of the storm. I think that art has something to do with an arrest of attention in the midst of distraction."^[33]

"A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."^[34]

"People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned."^[35]

What critics feel about Saul Bellow

2010-11-15T22:25:00.000+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Bellow

Martin Amis described Bellow as "The greatest American author ever, in my view".^[21]

“

His sentences seem to weigh more than anyone else's. He is like a force of nature... He breaks all the rules [...] [T]he people in Bellow's fiction are real people, yet the intensity of the gaze that he bathes them in, somehow through the particular, opens up into the universal.^[22]

”

For Linda Grant, "what Bellow had to tell us in his fiction was that it was worth it, being alive."

“

His vigour, vitality, humour and passion were always matched by the insistence on thought, not the predigested cliches of the mass media or of those on the left which had begun to disgust him by the Sixties... It's easy to be a 'writer of conscience' - anyone can do it if they want to; just choose your cause. Bellow was a writer about conscience and consciousness, forever conflicted by the competing demands of the great cities, the individual's urge to survival against all odds and his equal need for love and some kind of penetrating understanding of what there was of significance beyond all the racket and racketeering.^[23]

”

On the other hand, Bellow's detractors considered his work conventional and old-fashioned, as if the author was trying to revive the 19th century European novel. In a private letter, Vladimir Nabokov once referred to Bellow as a "miserable mediocrity."^[24] Journalist and authorRon Rosenbaum described Bellow's Ravelstein (2000) as the only book that rose above Bellow's failings as an author. Rosenbaum wrote,

“

My problem with the pre-Ravelstein Bellow is that he all too often strains too hard to yoke together two somewhat contradictory aspects of his being and style. There's the street-wise Windy City wiseguy and then-as if to show off that the wiseguy has Wisdom-there are the undigested chunks of arcane, not entirely impressive, philosophic thought and speculation. Just to make sure you know his novels have intellectual heft. That the world and the flesh in his prose are both figured and transfigured.^[25]

”

Sam Tanenhaus wrote in New York Times Book Review in 2007:

“

But what, then, of the many defects -- the longueurs and digressions, the lectures on anthroposophy and religion, the arcane reading lists? What of the characters who don't change or grow but simply bristle onto the page, even the colorful lowlifes pontificating like fevered students in the seminars Bellow taught at the University of Chicago? And what of the punitively caricatured ex-wives drawn from the teeming annals of the novelists's own marital discord?

”

But, Tanenhaus went on to answer his question:

“

Shortcomings, to be sure. But so what? Nature doesn't owe us perfection. Novelists don't either. Who among us would even recognize perfection if we saw it? In any event, applying critical methods, of whatever sort, seemed futile in the case of an author who, as Randall Jarrell once wrote of Walt Whitman, is a world, a waste with, here and there, systems blazing at random out of the darkness -- those systems as beautifully and astonishingly organized as the rings and satellites of Saturn.^[26]

”

V. S. Pritchett praised Bellow, finding his shorter works to be his best. Pritchett called Bellow's novella Seize the Day a "small gray masterpiece."^[5]

Bellow's account of his 1975 trip to Israel, To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account, was criticized by Noam Chomsky in his 1983 bookFateful Triangle: the United States, Israel & the Palestinians. Bellow, Chomsky wrote, "sees an Israel where ‘almost everyone is reasonable and tolerant, and rancor against the Arabs is rare,’ where the people ‘think so hard, and so much’ as they ‘farm a barren land, industrialize it, build cities, make a society, do research, philosophize, write books, sustain a great moral tradition, and finally create an army of tough fighters.’ He has also been criticized for having praised Joan Peters's controversial book, From Time Immemorial, which challenged the conventional history of the Palestinian people.^[27]^[28]

Tough Words for 15-11-2010

2010-11-15T09:25:00.000+05:30

1. Eristic: disputatious

2. Festinate: hasten

3. Mitis: malleable Iron

4. Mampara: fool

5. Crump: Make a noise typical of an engine lacking lubricants
http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/crump.htm

6. Abroach: open

7. Fleche: spire
h ttp://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/spire.htm

8. Apotropaic: preventing evil

9. Apocope: loss of final vowel

10. Fungible: interchangeable

Revisiting Daffodils! (How 'laughing' was replaced by 'jocund')

2010-11-15T08:45:00.000+05:30

http://www.textetc.com/workshop/wr-wordsworth-1.html

The Daffodils: 1802 Version

William Wordsworth's The Daffodils was modelled on an entry in his wife's prose Journal of 1802, and she also contributed what her husband considered the best two lines of the poem: They flash upon the inward eye / Which is the bliss of solitude.

The first version of 1804/07 was as follows:

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of dancing daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such laughing company:
I gazed — and gazed — but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Republished in 1815, the poem had two changes and an extra stanza:

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed — and gazed — but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Both changes were immense improvements. Replacing dancing with golden avoided a repetition and gave the flowers a pollen-heavy splendour. And such a jocund company has a pleasing fulness of sound missing from such laughing company.

The added stanza brought amplitude to the poem — we see the daffodils in their wider setting — thoughtwinkle is not quite the right word (milky way stars may glimmer but not twinkle, though we could charitably suppose the milky way referred to the backdrop, not the stars themselves).

In general, however, poems have their optimal tone and size, and Wordsworth in a simple revision found both.

Omkareshwar

2010-11-14T22:32:00.000+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omkareshwar
http://www.projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=6639

http://hydropowerstation.com/?tag=salient-feature-of-omkareshwar-power-station

Omkareshwar is a Hindu temple in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh state in India. It is on an island called Mandhata or Shivapuri in the Narmada river. It is one of the 12 revered Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva. It is about 12 miles (20 km) fromMortakka in Madhya Pradesh. The shape of the island is said to be like the HinduOm symbol. There are two temples here, one to Omkareshwar (whose name means "Lord of Omkaara or the Lord of the Om Sound") and one to Amareshwar (whose name means "Immortal lord" or "lord of the Immortals or Devas").

Omkareshwar is formed by the sacred river Narmada. This is one of the most sacred of rivers in India and is now home to one of the world's biggest dam projects.While traveling from Khandwa to Omkareshwar, on the left side of road in the outskirts of Khandwa you can see the memorial to the celebrated singer, Kishore Kumar.

SALIENT FEATURE OF OMKARESHWAR POWER STATION (520 MW)

Posted on June 16th, 2010 by admin | No Comments »

Omkareshwar Project is a multipurpose project with an installed capacity of 520 MW with designed annual energy generation of 1166 million units in initial stage and annual irrigation of 2.83 Lac. Ha on a culturable Command Area (CCA) of 1.47 Lac. Ha. Total Catchment Area at the Dam site is 64880 sq.km. Generation of power at Omkareshwar Project is directly related to the regulated release of water from Indira Sagar Project, hence it is one of the beneficiary project of Indira Sagar Project. Project has been commissioned in November 2007.

Salient Feature
Location	Khandwa District of Madhya Pradesh
Approach	77 Kms. from Indore
Capacity	520 MW (8 x 65 MW)
Annual Generation	1166 MUs (90% dependable year.)
Project Cost	Rs.2224.74 Crore (Nov. 2002 price level)
Beneficiary States	Madhya Predesh
Year of Commissioning/Completion Schedule	2007

Technical Features:

949m long Concrete Gravity Dam, 53m high from the deepest foundation level.
171.5m long H.R.C. and 145m long T.R.C.
A surface Power House to accommodate 8 units of 65 MW each.

Gol Gumbaz

2010-11-13T11:54:00.003+05:30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gol_Gumbaz
http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=7616

http://www.4to40.com/photo_gallery/picture.asp?pid=1532&photo=Gol_Gumbaz.jpg

Gol Gumbaz is the mausoleum of Mohammed Adil Shah (1627-55) of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Indian sultans, who ruled the Sultanate of Bijapur from 1490 to 1686. The structure consists of a massive square chamber measuring nearly 50 m (160 ft) on each side and covered by a huge dome 43.3 m (142 ft) in diameter making it among one of the largest dome structures in world. It appears to have been the desire of the ruler to build a mausoleum that was comparable to that of his father, Ibrahim Adil Shah II. Since his father's mausoleum, known as the Ibrahim Rauza, was exceptional in composition and decoration, the only means of avoiding direct competition was through size.

The acoustics of the enclosed place make it a whispering gallery where even the smallest sound is heard across the other side of the Gumbaz. At the periphery of the dome is a circular balcony where visitors can witness the astounding whispering gallery. Any whisper, clap or sound gets echoed around 7 times. It is also said that the Sultan, Ibrahim Adil Shah and his Queen used to converse in the same manner. During his time, the musicians used to sing, seated in the whispering gallery so that the sound produced could reach every corner of the hall.

This mausoleum is one of the Bijapur's main architectural treasures. Despite its incomplete condition, the sheer majesty of the structure renders visitors awestruck. The towers with their hemispherical domes, the carved petal borders and parapet give the building an exoticism that blends with monumentality and prevents this building from becoming just another building emulating classic Mughal architecture. A building that inspires admiration for its boldness would most definitely have been a spectacular experiment in completion.

Words picked from Free Rice Game

2010-11-13T10:22:00.000+05:30

1. Vaquero - cowboy

2. Rejoinder - quick reply

3. Thespian - a theatrical performer
http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/thespian.htm

4. Potage - thick soup

5. Coquette - flirt

6. Stripling - youth

7. Enounce - articulate

8. Plaintive -sad

9. Circumlocutory - wordy

10. Fractious - easily irritated or annoyed
http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/fractious.htm

11. Hussar - cavalryman

12. Dusky - swarthy
http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/swarthy.htm

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

2010-11-12T07:25:00.002+05:30

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abul_Kalam_Azad

http://www.mapsofindia.com/who-is-who/history/maulana-abul-kalam.html

http://indianmuslims.in/50th-death-anniversary-of-maulana-abul-kalam-azad/

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born on November 11, 1888 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. A leading figure in India's struggle for freedom, apart from being a noted writer, poet and journalist, he adopted the pen name Azad (Free). In his childhood, he had a traditional Islamic education, alongwith training in subjects like mathematics, philosophy, world history and science by tutors at his home. Through his own efforts, he learnt English, alongwith Western philosophy, history and contemporary politics. He visited countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. He opposed the partition of Bengal in 1905. He established an Urdu weekly newspaper in 1912 named Al-Hilal. It was consequently banned in 1914, following which he started a new journal, the Al-Balagh.

He published many works criticizing the British rule and advocating self-rule for India. It was as a leader of the Khilafat movement that he became close to Mahatma Gandhi. He became the youngest President of the Indian National Congress in 1923.He always supported the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity and opposed the demand for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan. After India's independence, he served as the first Minister for Education.

As India's first Minister of Education, he emphasized on educating the rural poor and girls. As Chairman of the Central Advisory Board of Education, he gave thrust to adult illiteracy, universal primary education, free and compulsory for all children up to the age of 14, girl’s education, and diversification of secondary education and vocational training.^[17] Addressing the conference on All India Education on January 16, 1948, Maulana Azad emphasized,^[17]

“We must not for a moment forget, it is a birth right of every individual to receive at least the basic education without which he cannot fully discharge his duties as a citizen.”

He oversaw the setting up of the Central Institute of Education,Delhi which later became the Department of Education of the University of Delhi as “a research centre for solving new educational problems of the country”.^[18] Under his leadership, the Ministry of Education established the first Indian Institute of Technology in 1951 and the University Grants Commission in 1953.,^[19]^[20] He also laid emphasis on the development of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Faculty of Technology of the Delhi University.^[21] He foresaw a great future in the IITs for India:^[21]

"I have no doubt that the establishment of this Institute will form a landmark in the progress of higher technological education and research in the country."

His Birthday, November 11 is celebrated as National Education Day in India.

He served in the Constituent Assembly formed to draft India's constitution and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1952 and in 1957. In 1956, he served as president of the UNESCO General Conference in Delhi. His exhaustive book on India's freedom struggle titled India Wins Freedom was published in 1957. This great leader passed away on February 22, 1958.

ow Others Viewed Maulana Azad

Mahatma Gandhi: “Maulana Azad is the most forceful, truthful, and fearless satyagrahi and fighter against oppression and injustice that I have come across”.

Jawaharlal Nehru: “ Though I am grateful to all my companions, I would like to mention especially Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, whose erudition has delighted me incredibly, and has sometimes overwhelmed me. In Azad along with the good qualities of the past, the graciousness, the deep learning and tolerance, there is a strange and unique mixture of the urges of today and the modern outlook”.

“Maulana Azad was a very special representative in a high degree, of the great composite culture which has gradually grown in India. He represented the synthesis of various cultures which had flown in and lost themselves in the ocean of Indian life and humanity, affecting and changing them and being changed themselves by them. In that sense, I can hardly conceive of any other person who can replace him, because the age which produced him is past.”

Maulana Azad’s Own Views

“I am a Muslim and profoundly conscious of the fact that I have inherited Islam’s glorious tradition of the last fourteen hundred years. I am not prepared to loose even a small part of that legacy. The history and teachings of Islam, its arts and letters, its culture and civilization are part of my wealth and it is my duty to cherish and guard them…… But, with all these feelings, I have another equally deep realization, born out of my life’s experience which is strengthened and not hindered by the Islamic spirit. I am equally proud of the fact that I am an Indian, an essential part of the indivisible unity of the Indian nationhood, a vital factor in its total makeup, without which this noble edifice will remain incomplete.”

“ If the whole world is our country and is to be honored, the dust of India has the first place………. If all mankind are our brothers, then the Indians have the first place.”

“ Not only is our national freedom impossible without Hindu-Muslim unity, we also can not create without it, the primary principles of humanity. If an angel were to tell me: “Discard Hindu-Muslim unity and within 24 hours I will give freedom to India”; I would prefer Hindu-Muslim unity. For the delay in the attainment of freedom will be a loss to India alone, but if the Hindu-Muslim unity disappears, that will be a loss to the whole humanity.”

“ It was India’s historic destiny that many human races, cultures, and religions should flow to her, and that many a caravan should find rest here…….. One of the last of these caravans was that of the followers of Islam. This came here and settled for good. In India everything bears the stamp of the joint endeavors of the Hindus and Muslims. Our languages were different, but we grew to use a common language. Our manners and customs were dissimilar, but they produced a new synthesis. No fantasy or artificial scheming to separate and divide us can break this unity.”

Sports Heroes

2010-11-11T15:54:00.000+05:30

Diego Maradona:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona (born 30 October 1960) is an Argentine former football player and was manager of the Argentine national team between November 2008 and July 2010. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time.^[1] Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors,Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting world-record contract fees. In his international career, playing for Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals.

On 22 March 2010, Maradona was chosen number 1 in The Greatest 10 World Cup players of all time by The Times,^[30] a London based newspaper.

Louis Oostuizen:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Oosthuizen

Lodewicus Theodorus "Louis" Oosthuizen (born 19 October 1982) is a South African professional golfer, who won the 2010 Open Championship. In March 2010, he won his first European Tour event at the Open de Andalucia de Golf.^[4] He also won the 2010 Masters Par 3 Contest.^[5]Oosthuizen claims his exemplary focus during the tournament, which enabled him to win by a wide margin, was due to a red spot marked on his glove, designed to act as his trigger, in the same way that the referee's whistle concentrates a player's mind in football. He would look at that spot as the beginning of his pre-shot routine and use it as his whistle, remaining totally focused and relaxed before every shot.

Oosthuizen had consulted Karl Morris, a Manchester-based sports psychologist, prior to the event for ways in which he could improve his concentration.

Some Autobiographies With Excerpts

2010-11-08T20:23:00.002+05:30

1.
Friends Not Masters - Muhammad Ayub Khan

http://www.desistore.com/friends1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Khan

It is a story of struggle-struggle to get new ideas accepted. Whoever presumes to act as a pioneer in the field of ideas must be prepared to face criticism and resistance. I have had a good deal of both. But my conviction of the need and validity of the changes which I have tried to bring about in the social and political life of the country remains as fervent and unfaltering as ever. We gained freedom after a long period of domination which left in its wake a legacy of old attitudes and habits. The problem was to change these attitudes and habits and to bring about a more direct and intimate awareness of contemporary realities. I venture to think we have made progress in many fields. I have not hesitated to admit failures. Progress is a long and tortuous process, full of trials and errors.

2.

My Early Life - Winston Churchill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Early_Life
http://www.churchillbooks.com/GuidePDFs/g13.pdf

The book includes an observation made upon the death of his nanny. He wrote "She had been my dearest and most intimate friend during the whole of the twenty years I had lived."^[3]

The film Young Winston was based on this title.William Manchester points out in his introduction to a recent edition of My Early Life:

"...One must realize that his youth was virtually incomprehensible to most people

then alive. He had been born into the English aristocracy at a time when British

noblemen were considered (and certainly considered themselves) little less than

godlike. His grandfather was Viceroy of Ireland....These dominant forces—the

class into which he had been born—were masters of the greatest empire the

globe has ever known, comprising one-fourth of the earth's surface and a quarter

of the world's population, thrice the size of the Roman Empire at full flush. They

also controlled Great Britain herself, to an extent that would be inconceivable in

any civilized nation today. One percent of the country's population—some 33,000

people—owned two-thirds of its wealth, and that wealth, before two world wars

devoured it, was breathtaking."

Story of My Life - Moshe Dayan

http://www.amazon.com/Moshe-Dayan-Story-My-Life/dp/0306804972

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Moshe Dayan" is the autobiography of a soldier who never forgot his roots as a farmer, a loner who rose to the highest echelons of government. Here he describes his kibbutz childhood, his involvement in the Jewish underground, the battles he fought as the head of a commando unit in the War of Independence, his experiences as chief of staff and mastermind of the 1956 Sinai Campaign, and his tenure as Minister of Defence during the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars. One of the greatest generals in modern history, Dayan was also a man who hated the suffering that war brings, and who loved the land of Israel more than himself. He writes of his heroes, friends and enemies, providing candid portraits of Kissinger, Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir and other notables. This is a story of a brilliant soldier who grew up to be one of the most respected and heroic figures in the Middle East.

4. Freedom In Exile - Dalai Lama

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/567720.Freedom_in_Exile

The Dalai Lama's autobiography should leave no one in doubt of his humility and genuine compassion. Written without the slightest hint of pretense, the exiled leader of Tibet recounts his life, from the time he was whisked away from his home in 1939 at the age of 4, to his treacherous escape from Tibet in 1959, to his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. The backdrop of the story is the 1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet. He calmly relates details of imprisonment, torture, rape, famine, ecological disaster, and genocide that under four decades of Chinese rule have left 1.25 million Tibetans dead and the Tibetan natural and religious landscapes decimated. Yet the Dalai Lama's story is strangely one of hope. This man who prays for four hours a day harbors no ill will toward the Chinese and sees the potential for good everywhere he casts his gaze. Someday, he hopes, all of Tibet will be a zone of peace and the world's largest nature preserve. Such optimism is not naive but rather a result of his daily studies in Buddhist philosophy and his doctrine of Universal Responsibility. Inspiring in every way, Freedom in Exile is both a historical document and a fable of deepest trust in humanity.

--Brian Bruya

Dancing Divas

2010-11-08T16:35:00.000+05:30

1. Rukmini Devi Arundale:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rukmini_Devi_Arundale

An Indian theosophist, dancer and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatnatyam, and also an activist for animal rights and welfare.Rukmini Devi features in India Today's list of '100 People Who Shaped India'.^[4] She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956, and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1967.

Rukmini Devi was nominated as a member of the Indian Parliament's Council of States, the Rajya Sabha in April 1952 and re-nominated in 1956.^[23] Keenly interested in animal welfare, she was associated with various humanitarian organisations, and as a member of the Rajya Sabha, was instrumental for the legislation for the 'Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960)', and for later setting up of the Animal Welfare Board of India, under her chairmanship in 1962, she remain on its board, until her demise in 1986.She was a strict vegetarian and did much work to promote vegetarianism in the country. She was Vice President of International Vegetarian Union for 31 years from 1955, until her death in 1986.^[24]In 1977, Morarji Desai offered to nominate her for the post of President of India, which she turned down.

2. Yamini Krishnamurthy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamini_Krishnamurthy

http://www.artindia.net/yamini.html

Mungara Yamini Krishnamurthy (b. 20 December 1940) is an eminent Indian dancer of Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi^[1] styles of dancing.She imparts dance lessons to younger dancers at her institute, Yamini School of Dance, Hauz Khas, New Delhi. She released her autobiography, “A Passion For Dance”, a book well received by the readers.

Yamini Krishnamurthy didn't marry.Her dancing career brought her many awards, including the Padma Shree (1968)^[4] and the Padma Bhushan (2001), which are among the highest civilian awards of the Republic of India.^[5]

^{Her initial training in Bharata Natyam took place at Rukmini Devi Arundale's Kalakshetra, at that time India's premier institution for training in this art. After acquiring an impeccable structural base at Kalakshetra, she went on to higher studies under renowned masters such as Kanchipuram Ellappa Pillai, Thanjavur Kittapa Pillai, Dhandayudhapani Pillai and Mylapore Gouri Amma.}

^{3. Sitara Devi:}

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitara_Devi}

^{Sitara Devi (born early 1920s on a Diwali day) is an eminent Indian dancer of the classicalKathak style of dancing. When she was in her teens, Rabindranath Tagore, after watching a performance by her described her as Nritya Samragini, meaning, the empress of dance. The epithet continues, and she is still described as the Kathak queen.}She has been honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1969) and the Padma Shri.

^{She learned to write English to sign on the autograph books of her fans.}In Mother India, she performed a holi dance dressed as a boy, and this was her last dance in any movies. She stopped performing dances in movies, as the same were adversely affecting her passion for excelling in the classical dance, kathak.

4. Darshana Jhaveri:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darshana_Jhaveri

Darshana Jhaveri (Gujarati: દર્શના ઝવેરી) (born 1940), the youngest of the four Jhaveri sisters, is a leading Indian exponent of Manipuri dance, an Indian classical dance form.^[1] She is a disciple of Guru Bipin Singh, and started performing on stage in 1958 along with her sisters^[2]. She is one of the founder of the Manipuri Nartanalaya in 1972, which popularized Manipuri dance in India, and is currently headed by her, with centres at Mumbai, Kolkata and Imphal ^[3]^[4].

At the age of six she saw her elder sisters, Nayana and Ranjana, learn Manipuri dance from Guru Bipin Singh at their home, soon she too started learning the dance form, along with her sister Suverna.Darshana Jhaveri received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1996 by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Dance, Music and Drama ^[11] . She was honored with the Padma Shri in 2002.

Deepawali Week Wordlist

2010-11-04T17:29:00.000+05:30

1. Glyph - Symbol

2. Extol - Praise

3. Poikilotherm - Cold-Blooded

4. Preternatural - Extraordinary

5. Relict - Surviving Remnant

6. Glean - Gather

7. Haft - handle

8. Discernment - Insight

9. Gestate - Conceive

10. Cogitate - Think

Sharing Diwali quotes just received from my cousin:

Many Deepavali festivals have come and gone. Yet the hearts of the vast

majority are as dark as the night of the new moon. The house is lit

with lamps, but the heart is full of the darkness of ignorance. O man!

wake up from the slumber of ignorance. Realize the constant and eternal

light of the Soul which neither rises nor sets, through meditation and

deep enquiry.

May you all attain full inner illumination! May the supreme light of

lights enlighten your understanding! May you all attain the

inexhaustible spiritual wealth of the Self! May you all prosper

gloriously on the material as well as spiritual planes!

May This Diwali be as bright as ever.

May this Diwali bring joy, health and wealth to you.

May the festival of lights brighten up you and your near and dear ones
lives.

May this Diwali bring in u the most brightest and choicest happiness and

love you have ever Wished for.

May this Diwali bring you the utmost in peace and prosperity.

May lights triumph over darkness.

May peace transcend the earth.

May the spirit of light illuminate the world.

May the light that we celebrate at Diwali show us the way and lead us

together on the path of peace and social harmony .

Lobo's Best!

2010-10-29T20:42:00.002+05:30

Close to A Lakh

2010-10-27T14:44:00.000+05:30

Starting Aug, 2010 i have donated 97600 grains of rice to the hungry via WFP using beta.freerice.com portal.

In a day or two, i would be crossing 100000 border, pretty excited...hurrah!
http://www.thefreedictionary.com website has a big role in this success :)

Some tough words witnessed for the day are as follow:

1. lanceolate: Tapering from a rounded base toward an apex; lance-shaped

2. bongo: A large, forest-dwelling antelope (Boocercus eurycerus) of central Africa, having a reddish-brown coat with white stripes and spirally twisted horns

3. palaver:

a. Idle chatter.

b. Talk intended to charm or beguile

4. ort: tiny scrap

5. titutal: nominal

6. lenitive: soothing

7. jactitation: false boasting

8. supercilium: eyebrow

9. deracinate: uproot

10. wonted: accustomed, usual