Have you noticed?

There are mangoes in August!!! You get raw mangoes in October!! Watermelons are available in November!!!

When we were kids these fruits were seasonal fruits. I’m not sure if this is the effect of global warming or advancement in agriculture. Both equally dangerous.

Dhamaka and Utsah

All happening and going great!!! Have got the first of the registrations today...awaiting many more.

Obama's Peace Prize - Cartoonized

Got a forward of US media’s reaction on President Barrack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Totally hilarious.

Tu Jaane Na…

Currently addicted to this song from Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani. There are some 3 versions of the song…but I liked the unplugged version sung by Kailash Kher and the Atif version. The first because it is sung by Kher and the second because it has great tabla. The other songs in the album are also decent. Tera Hone Laga is a hummable romantic number. Oh By God brings a smile on your face when you hear the shehnai. Main Tera Dhadkan Teri is an average dance number. The others songs are just about ok.

Also trying the a Media Player. (must play Tu Jaane Na, Kailash Kher version)

The player doesn’t seem to be working

Where are you from?

Is one of the most used conversation openers. (after the usual ‘I’m so n so’.) When I’m asked this question I usually answer Bangalore. But when I’m in the mood for some fun (at the other person’s cost) I give an elaborate explanation of my family’s origins. I say something like -

“I’m a half Kannadiga, half Maharastrian. My dad is from Belgaum, mom is from Aurangabad. I was born in Aurangabad, raised in Bangalore. My husband is a Kannadiga Tamilian from Bombay. His family is a Kannadiga family that had settled in Unjuloor, a village in Tamil Nadu. But he was born and brought-up in Bombay.”

This might not be an elaborate explanation, but to a person who expected a mono syllable answer, its a little too much. Sometimes the joke has been on me – the other person has a much longer tale to tell. All in all its great fun.

I changed the template again :)

Sometimes I get bitten by this bug called 'Get a new look for your blog' and I go hunting in internet (or rather google) for new templates, add-ons, widgets, etc. For the templates I recommend Deluxe Templates. The author is a Blogger fan and converts all the Wordpress templates to Blogger. The last 3 templates that I have used are from him.

For the widgets and add-ons - I haven't yet found a single site that is like a one-stop-shop.

For the past few days have been immersed in work. Also have been scouting for a venue for Utsaah and Dhamaka. We have just a little more than 2 months left and venue isn't yet decided.

YES! - My first experience

Just finshed a YES! program in Kaggadasapura. There were very few kids but the speciality of the course was that it was held bang in the middle of exams/tests. None of them missed even a single day, even if it was their most difficult subject's exam the next day.

Arvindh took the course for the first 3 days and later Ashok, Vivek and me took over. It's an entirely different experience sitting on the chair and being Guru ka tota. And when you read the experiences of the youth, you really feel special - special that the Master has chosen you.

Some snaps...

Navratri Again...

Its the time of year when ashram wears an extra festive look. The chants of the mantras, the fragrance of flowers and chandan, the charge in the air...Ah!! all so amazing!!
Its the time of Navratri and following is the Navratri message by Guruji...

There are two attitudes that we have to pay attention to. One is when we go inward, we say everything is Ok. Not a blade of grass moves without Divine intervention. God has kept us like this, so let it be so. Everything is Ok.

This is the attitude when you have to go inward (Nivriti).

When you have to come out and work (Pravritti), then you see perfection in even small details. Wherever you see imperfection, you have to pay attention on how you can correct it. Find out ways to improve on all the things.

So while acting, we see where we can improve and what we can change.
When we retire into meditation and say that everything is perfect, only then we can go in.

Usually when people close their eyes and go inward, they say, ‘This is not ok, that is not ok and find fault with everything’. They can neither meditate, nor be quiet. And in activity, people think that everything is fine the way it is, why do we have to do anything about it? Then, we are at a loss.

So when we are acting, we see what we can do and when we have to retire we say everything is Ok. This attitude will help you go deep in meditation.

I want nothing nothing
I do nothing
I am nothing

These are basic principles of meditation. We have to pay attention to this thing.

So Navratri will start from tomorrow. These nine days are nine days of inner connection to the Divinity.

In these nine days, let us keep all our small, petty things, petty desires, requirements, our small small issues that bother us - all in one side and just say to Divine, 'Let thy will be done. I am yours, let thy will be done'.

With this conviction, when you move forward, doing your practices you will lack nothing. All that you need, will just come to you naturally, spontaneously.

So we move into our sadhana, our practices with a trust that we will be taken care of, we are being taken care of.

Navratri is a time when all those needs- physical, mental and spiritual, are taken care by the Divine. At the same time, help each other, help all those people who need your help. It is nine nights, it is very auspicious and it is uplifting to the spirit.

Yagyas (pujas) are done from thousands of years to bring peace, prosperity, to dissolve all the negative karmas and to uplift the human spirit. It has been practiced from a very long time.

It is best not to engage yourself in all other socializing, talking wordly things with people. Just be with yourself. If at all you speak, only speak some knowledge or bare essential things. It is better not to sit and gossip. But these few days its best to be in Divine knowledge.

Q. Once you said that by doing seva all our problems are solved. I have come here for seva, will my problems be solved?
Sri Sri: Yes, definitely they will be solved. For all our problems to be solved, two things are needed: one, is our effort (purushartha) and the other is Grace (krupa). God is within us. We are the embodiment of absolute consciousness (chaitanya swaroop). There is nothing separate from us. It is within us, in our form. What we do outwardly, to do pooja, is to create an atmosphere. But the purpose of all this is to be bring the vision inwards to the self.

Q. Could you please explain why we pray to Shiva, even though Shiva is called the destructor?
Sri Sri: Shiva is not just the destructor; Shiva means the transformer, the consciousness which is advaita, which is non-dual, the one consciousness, Mahadeva. The Shiva pooja- Rudrapooja is the most ancient yagya which unites all the five elements, through chanting and using the five elements. This ceremony is done to uplift the human consciousness.

Q. What is the goal of our life?
Sri Sri: This is a question you should ponder on. What is it that you want? It is a very important question. Ponder on the answer - what is it that I need? Then all that is important in your life will stand and the unimportant will fall. Then what you think is important, within that (category) you prioritize again and again and again. And when you ponder on that and when nothing remains then you are the goal. Till then its good to keep doing this.

Q. I don’t know how to pray, I understand meditation but I don’t understand prayer. How does one pray?
Sri Sri: Meditation is the finest form of prayer. Prayer is ‘Oh God give me this, give me that’ or ‘Oh, I am so thankful to you because you gave me that or this’.
But meditation is just reposing and that is the best form of prayer. Prayer happens when you are utterly helpless or when you are very grateful. There are two situations in your life. Either you are so helpless, when you have no other way. Like if you are very thirsty and you need water, you say please give me some water. Please help.

Asking for help is one form of prayer.
Thanking is another form of prayer.
And the third is just reposing, being quiet.

The third is the most supreme type of prayer.

You can be grateful for all that you have had, that is a sort of prayer. You don’t have to use particular sentences or phrases or verses for it.

The yagyas that are being done here is not just some sort of prayer. It is a technique, a procedure. You don’t need to understand what those chantings mean. The chantings, the vibrations have an impact on our whole body, mind and the environment. That is the most important thing about yagyas. It is not asking God for this thing or that. It is just chanting those shlokas. Hearing the chantings is even more beneficial. You don’t need to chant with them. Simply listening to it, itself creates the vibrations in the consciousness.

Q. Where are Shiva and Shakti?
Sri Sri: Both Shiva and Shakti are within us. You sit as though you are sitting in an ocean of bliss, in the ocean of cosmic energy, Divine energy, Shiva energy, Shakti energy. That is what is meditation.

For more knowledge from Guruji visit the Wisdom Blog.

New Mobile

I bought myself a new mobile. This time I bought a Sony Ericsson rather than a Nokia. My budget was around Rs.6000 and Nokia had a very boring collection in that range.

The one I bought is G502. Its a 3G phone (the cheapest you can get) – has the usual features Mp3 player, camera, etc. Its handy and looks really nice.

Spellings and Grammar

I finally extracted the photos that I had taken from my mobile. Found some interesting ones.

All of us have seen mis-spelt boards and horrible grammar. Below are a couple from my collection.

The first was in some loo in Bangalore. The second was in a loo on the way to Shimoga.

You fill up my senses

For the past two days I’m addicted to this amazing song.

You fill up my senses
Like a night in the forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again

Come let me love you
Let me give my life to you
Let me drown in your laughter
Let me die in your arms
Let me lay down beside you
Let me always be with you
Come let me love you
Come love me again

Let me give my life to you
Come let me love you
Come love me again

You fill up my senses
Like a night in the forest
Like the mountains in springtime
Like a walk in the rain
Like a storm in the desert
Like a sleepy blue ocean
You fill up my senses
Come fill me again

Slowly descending…

Its been 3 days since I returned from TTC. All this time I am just reliving the moments of TTC. It was difficult for me to get back into the office mode. It was difficult to accept the fact that I need to sit in front of a monitor for 8 hours in a day when there is so much work (seva) to be done. I was wondering if I should quit and become full time. Thoughts like ‘Why should I work?’, ‘Why do I need a family?’, etc kept popping in and out. But each time something like this would happen, Guruji’s words (not verbatim) that ‘Each one has a role to play’ kept coming back to me. And gradually the TTC hangover is wearing off!! Today I could put in some useful work in office. I need to pull up socks here – the project is starting in full swing and I’m the least equipped person.

Meantime, I managed to collect a couple of amazing songs that I heard in TTC. Naiharawa and Saiyyan were easy (got from Kailash Kher’s albums). You fill up my senses (TTC1), Tu Maane Ya Na Maane Dildara, Shaboon Ke Jungle Mein and Duma Dum Mast Kalandar were a little difficult. I had to extract the mp3 from the video. I am still looking for Tumse O Jori and Shivoham (both my TTC1 favorites). Need to update my iPod with all this.

Back from TTC

Its pretty difficult to describe a TTC. The experience, the learning, the fun, the masti, the knowledge… is so much that words fall short while writing about them.

And since I was doing the Art Excel and YES TTC, the masti, fun and dance just doubled. Mala with her child like enthusiasm, Shreya with her accents and imitations… the Awesome Twosome. Top it with the experiences of Children’s Kriya and the YES Home Kriya, 4 Padmasadhanas - totally mind blowing. To this add some dance, Arabic and Chinese music, all AE & YES games, 3 birthdays with cake and chocolates, playing pranks on the Hindi group and Part 1s (the ‘aratis’), organizing a fun fare, screening of a movie, etc – that was my TTC 2. It felt more like an extended party than TTC.

Now I’m back to office and all I can think about is the memories of the TTC. I look at the watch and think, ‘Oh! this time we were doing sadhana/dancing/yoga nidra…’.

And…I can now take Art Excel and YES courses. Honored to be an Art of Living Teacher – ‘Guru ka tota’ like Rishi Nityapragyaji says.

Off to TTC…

I’m off to TTC. 15 days in the Ashram!!! Awesome!!!

I couldn’t write more about my TTC1 experience…but hoping I’ll be able to write about my Phase 2.

Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince

I was eagerly waiting for the release of this movie. I booked tickets 2 days in advance. I went to the movie hall with so many expectations – And the movie lived up to most of my expectations.

A majority of story hasn’t deviated from the book. It has Harry and Dumbledore digging into Voldermort’s past, Harry getting the Half Blood Prince’s portions book, the Unbreakable Vow, felix felicis, Slug Club parties, Horcruxes, Harry and Dumbledore getting the Horcrux, and on the romance side - Harry falling for Ginny, Ron and Lavender together making Hermione jealous. And all this is done pretty well…especially the romance part. The Quiddtich is also fun. The sequence where Harry and Dumbledore get the Horcrux is amazing.

There are some deviations too. The biggest of them is the ending. There is no battle between Dumbledore’s Army and the Death Eaters. Harry (in the movie) just watches Dumbledore die, Dumbledore doesn’t freeze him. There is no burial of Dumbledore’s body. Bellatrix and Greyback attacking The Burrow is another major deviation, an unnecessary deviation. They should have rather had the battle or the burial of Dumbledore. Also it would have been interesting if they had shown the tiara in the Room of Requirement when Harry goes to hide the portions book. (Arvindh immediately pointed this out to me in the movie.)

Out of the cast I would mention Allan Rickman as Snape is perfect. Pretty much what I had imagined Snape to be like when I read the book. The trio – Daniel Radcliff, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have all done very well. Grint and Watson chemistry was there for quite sometime now, but its more enhanced here. Tom Felton too has done well.

On the whole its a great watch. For Pottermaniacs, the end is disappointing, but this is the closest you can get to the book.

Rotten Tomatoes!!!

While registering for Rotten Tomatoes I got this error message

I can’t use my name as my first name!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Truly rotten!!

ScribeFire vs Live Writer

A couple of days ago, after reading an article, I took a fancy for blog writers. I have been googling for sometime and finally settled 2 writers - Windows Live Writer and ScribeFire.
The post 'Airtel Gimmick' was published using the Live Writer and the post 'Family Pattern' was posted using ScribeFire.

At first look I liked the Live Writer. (One of the few Microsoft products I liked.) It is truly a WYSIWYG editor. It displays your blog theme which makes writing a little more exciting (for me). But Writer creates a nested folder structure on the system and creates a copy of the posts. For a simple blogger like me, I find this unnecessary. (Rather I basically trust Blogger to maintain the posts.)

I didn't like the first look of ScribeFire. It changed the font of the post after a few sentences and I had to go into the html code to edit it. Also the line spacing is not changeable. Or rather, I couldn't find a way to change it. The biggest advantage of ScribeFire is that it is an addon for Firefox. Unlike Writer there is no need to download and install. Also it doesn't store any data on the system.

There are many more editors which are reviewed and described here. Finally, I would vouch for ScribeFire mainly because its an addon.

And yes, this post was written using the good ol' blogger editor.

A Family Pattern

Looking back at my maternal family tree, I observed a pattern there - which me and my sister have unknowingly broken.My great grandmother was a Maharastrian married to a Kannadiga. She then got her daughter (my grandmother) married back into a Maharastrian family. My grandmother got my mother married back into a Kannadiga family. So, to keep the pattern alive, either Arati or me must have married into a Maharastrian family. Arati married back into a Kannada family (Vikas speaks pretty decent Marathi but that doesn't qualify him to be a Maharastrian) and I am married into a Tamil Nadu settled Kannada family.

The Airtel Sales Gimmick

Tithi and Rahul have been facing problems with their broadband connection for quite sometime. Recently their apartment had intercoms installed. And after that their broadband connection hit rock bottom. Frustrated, Rahul decided to change the service provider from BSNL to Airtel.

When the Airtel person came for installation, he said that the BSNL wires were shorted and hence the problem. Later they released that the intercom technician had come for installation had fiddled around with the connection and might have shorted it. And guess what - that the intercom service provider was Airtel!! Now the shorting was unintentionally or purposefully done – we don’t know!!!!

I got my TTC 2 call letter yesterday.

Just downloaded the Windows Live Writer. This is the first post using Writer.

Jai Gurudev!!

Found this Guruji's picture on Raj Waghray's blog. Simply loved it. The radiant all-knowing smile, the majestic stature, the elegance, the ease,the...WOW!!!! Words fail to descibe HIM!!!

Arati's Surprises!!!!!

A couple of days ago Arati called me. She sounded very excited (she usually is). After the initial how-are-yous, she said she wanted to tell me something (even more excited!). I told her to continue. Then she dropped her standard statement - "Sangu ka noko" (Should I tell or not). I knew she had some stupid surprise up her sleeve. "I have a surprise for you. I have got you a birthday present!!", she continued. I thanked her and asked her what she got. "I wanted it to be a surprise but I got you a watch", she blurted out.

There she goes...again. Every time my sister plans a surprise or buys a gift for me, she has to blurt it (basically goof up) before the occasion. Till date she has never surprised me.

A couple of years ago, she planned a surprise birthday party with Arvindh for me. She took the pains of calling all my friends, ordering a cake, hiding in Aparna's place till 11.30pm, etc...but finally goofed it all up. Most things went according to her plan - Arvindh convinced me to sleep early and ensured that I was in bed by 11pm. Sometime later I heard a mobile ring. I thought it was 12 pm and Arati was calling to wish me (she always does that). As I woke up, I realized it wasn't my mobile, the ring tone was none other than - Arati's!! I came out of my bedroom to see her, Arvindh and Aparna arranging the cake!!!! One of my friends was calling to ask if it was time to come in!! It was 5 minutes to midnight and there went her surprise party!!

I guess my biggest surprise will be when she can actually pull off a surprise on me!!!

Star Trek

Yesterday I went to watch Star Trek with Arvindh. I'm not a Star Trek fan. I hadn't even watched any Star Trek till yesterday, but Arvindh was so kicked up about watching this movie that I tagged along for his boyish enthusiasm. I did do some basic ground work - read some preludes of the movie, watched the trailer and accustomed myself with the main characters - Kirk, Spock, McCoy etc. The movie though is a prequel.

The movie starts with vengeful Romulans destroying the USS Kelvin killing Robert Kirk while his son James Kirk' is born. James Kirk grows up to be a reckless youngster who joins the Starfleets cadets after he is challenged by Captain Pike to live upto his father's standards. Parallelly we also see Spock who is taunted by his schoolmates because his father is a Vulcan and mother a human. He too joins the Starfleets after declining an offer to join the Vulcun accademy (forgot the name). During the third year, Kirk is accused of cheating in a simulation test by Spock. During the trail there is an emergency call by the Vulcans - their planet is attacked by Nero the Romulan. The cadets are asked to join the USS Enterprise (a new and advanced ship). McCoy (Kirk's friend and doctor) sneaks Kirk (he isn't supposed to be there as he is on trial) in and then begins their journey of adventure and saving planet Earth and destroying Nero's ship.

The movie is high on the sci-fi factor. Its is fast paced and has a right blend of humanity, humor and drama. The visuals are fantastic. The actors Zachary Quinto as Spock and Chris Pine as James Kirk are superb. The supporting cast too have done a great job.

The best thing about the movie is - you don't have to be a Trekker or Trekkie (found this bit of jargon on the net) to enjoy the movie.

A few days ago I woke up to a prickling sensation in my right index finger. There was a minuscule object and it was hurting me. I showed it to my mother-in-law and she said that it might have been an insect bite or a bee. The bee was ruled out because the wound wasn't red or hurting me too much. I tried using a sharp plucker to take it off, but it was ready buried under skin. Then Arvindh suggested that I leave like that only, the body will take care. It wasn't hurting so badly so decided to leave it.

After a couple of days, all pain vanished and the object stayed there as it it were a mole on my finger. Today morning when I woke up to see a small hole - like the skin had parted there and the object had fallen off!!!

New Job

Its been a week since I joined Philips Heathcare.
To get through I had to undergo some five rounds of interview in a week. There were 2 technical rounds, 1 HR, 1 managerial and last one was just a discussion with the Program Manager. The second technical round was the best. The best I have ever given. And Guruji presence was amazing then.

The pay is good. The campus and facilities are great especially for someone who comes from a small company. There is transport facility provided at a price. People around are friendly and nice.

Basically all set for a journey - Lets see how the journey will be!!

Mom knows all...

The first time my parents left my sister and me alone at home and went for a pilgrimage tour, we both were thrilled by the independence. Three days all by ourselves!!!

The first evening, we decided we'll go out for a snack (the usual sev puri at our favorite roadside vendor in Mallershwarm). We cooked some rice and decided we'll come home and have some curd rice. We went and had sev puri to our hearts content. On the way back we had some ice creams also. By the time we came back home it was 8pm, way past our usual deadline. When were climbing the stairs to our house, we smelt something burning. The moment we opened the door of our house, we knew we were in trouble. We had forgotten to turn off the cooker. It was all burnt, total black. I was surprised the neighbors hadn't noticed. (Later got to know that they had been out.) The house was smelling of the burnt rice. We put some 5-6 aggarbatis in the house. The cooker was still black, we soaked it in water overnight and asked Vasantha (our maid) to wash it. We also made her promise that she won't tell our mother about it.

We let a sigh of relief on third day - things were back to normal. The cooker was clean, the house wasn't smelling. Time to welcome Mummy and Pappa home. We opened the door, Mummy enters and says, "What did you burn?"!!!!!!

You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool mom :)

Archie Marries??

Like almost all teenagers in the world, I too grew up reading the Archie Comics. Today, I was in for a shock - Archie marries Veronica!!! I'm a big fan of Betty and wanted Archie to marry her. I like the Indian version of the story - Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Archie marries Veronica, Veronica dies, then he marries Betty. But you can expect that only in a Bollywood movie!!

The sollace is the word 'propose'. Anything can happen between proposal and wedding. Also if you read the last paragraph in the post in their offical blog, there is a possibility of a twist in the tale. And also the cover is only for the first part of a series of six. Keeping my fingers crossed!!

Wife's Poem

Got this forward...



Are my palms itching??

Dr. Manmohan Singh - your time starts now. Dr. Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India for the second time. Before the elections, he had promised that he would revive the economy in 100 days. Well Dr. Singh, the clocks ticking!!

My piece of cake...

This happened in one of my advance courses. It was the second day of silence. In satsang it was someone's birthday and they had got a huge cake. I saw the cake, it looked yummy and I wanted to have a piece of it. Amidst 'sagar mein ek lehar uthe...', Guruji cut the cake and in His very unique, mischevous style started throwing it. I was praying for a piece, but didn't get one. I forgot about the cake during the knowledge session after satsang. When the session was over, as I was going out of VM, I saw a commotion at the door. Someone was waiting there with the cake!!! I was thrilled and tried to get in the commotion, but soon gave up. As I turned to return to my room, someone shoved a large piece of cake in my mouth!!!

Yes...it has been another looong time since I wrote. I migrated to a new blog for sometime, but back on blogger.
I also tried various templates and finally settled for this one. Its bright and too flashy...not my ideal choice but its the only one that fitted fine - the others had some or the other issue with widgets n stuff. Still searching for a nice template.
Updates of my life: Just finished assisting a 144 people course in Kaggadasapura, finished a 'Cast you vote' campaign parallely, currently jobless and desperately need to workout.