Light of the Lamp

Hi everybody,                      How has been the year 2011 for all of you? Did you work on the resolutions you made? Did you feel you could have worked harder? Well, you all will be holidaying somewhere someway or other till the Monday blues start. This may well explain the reason why Anna Hazare's 3rd round of fast was a damp squib. Sorry Annaji, we are in a mood to eat, drink and make merry and so please excuse us!!!                            We ended the year with a visit to Tirupathi Temple which was long pending in our list. I believe, a visit to any place is incomplete without seeing the surrounding areas there. Most of the people  come to Tirupathi just to have a darshan of Lord Venkateshwara which itself may take about a day, depending on the waiting time. We were in the queue for 6 hours and got the darshan of the Lord at the stroke of the midn...

Hello,     'Oh, you did not listen to the newest sensation? Dai Kolaveri(You, Kolaveri) !!.' This will be the reaction from somebody if you say you have not heard Dhanush's Promo song 'Why this Kolaveri'? This song, for which the actor Dhanush penned the lyrics and sang in his own voice to the tune set by an eighteen-year-old debut music director, has become an unexpected rage with more than 8 million viewers touching the YouTube for the song within the first 10 days. This should break all the Guinness records for the YouTube search if there is one.           I have to say that I listened to this song out of curiosity. To be frank, I could not make any sense of the lyrics in this song. The tune of this song is definitely catchy which made me hear the same multiple number of times. Many of us would have now searched for the meaning of the word 'Kolaveri.' There is one word which still does not make sense to me. This word is 'bouv-u' coined to rhy...

Hi everybody,                   As the old adage goes: East, West, home(or rather hometown) is the Best. For all of us, our hometown or the place we grew up always holds some special place in our hearts. Every visit is a chance to re-live those lost moments, be it connecting with the childhood friends, visiting the landmark places, or loving mummy's food which was most fussed while our growing up. For a woman who is married off, a visit to her parents' place is even more special or a sort of luxury that she can afford a few times in her life. An old song mostly associated with Christmas goes like this:          " There is no place like home for the Holidays                                   For no matter...

    Hello,            How is everybody out there? Did you all have a bursting and cracking diwali filled with delicacies, get-togethers? I know. Though diwali is only for a day, unlike Dussera, the celebrations start after the finish of Dussera  and the hangover remains for some more days which will continue upto the New Year.               As this year draws to a close, many historical events have taken place for good or bad. The most notable among them were the series of popular uprisings in the Middle-East. A self-immolation in Sidi Bouzid in Tunisia triggered a series of street demonstrations in December 2010 which led to the ouster of the President Ben Ali on 14th January 2011 ending the 23-year rule. The movement was fuelled by unrest due to corruption, unemployment, poverty, lack of freedom of speech. It was like a volcano waiting t...

Hi folks,                  This time, the subject is more into nature, birds, arts. There is a small story behind this topic. On my recent visit to Lalbagh botanical gardens(Bangalore), I came across a board which displayed the pics and names of different types of birds existing there. I jotted down 2-3 names of species of birds (because they are forgettable and also we do not get to see them around in our tree-less cities).              One such bird is Coppersmith Barbet. I googled and wikipedied for more information, and I came across some wonderful pictures of this Wonder Bird. OOOH,  I'd like to meet you live instead of seeing you on a screen.                                ...

              Hi folks,                Today is September 11, the 10th anniversary of famous 9/11 which shook the whole world. Today is also declared as 'Grandparents' day, to highlight the role of grandparents in the society.  Why should I not write about one of these topics? A lot has been already written about 9/11 and will be done in future. As for the 2nd topic, nothing much to write about my grandparents. But, today is also the major immersion day of Ganesh idols in many parts of India. Celebration of Ganesh festival and subsequent immersion of idols in lakes, rivers and seas which is repeated every year set me thinking  whether we are killing all these waterways.                             Lo...

    Hi folks,            Yes, the fever has gripped the whole nation! The fight against corruption and the unity, solidarity of our people against the government witnessed as never before. People from all walks of life-school going, college going students, employees, home-makers, businessmen, senior citizens, even the dabbawalahs of Mumbai got together to be with the 74-year-old gandhian who want to see the effective JanLokpal Bill paassed by the government. He is now seen as an icon, the Pied piper of India etc. As I write this, Shri Anna Hazare is preparing to head to Ramlila maidan to begin his 2-week fast (which can be extended-we see here the bowing down of government) . What has amazed me is the power of people getting together to bring a change, inspired by gandhian, peaceful demonstrations. Recently, we witnessed the upsurge of people in countries like Egypt, Libya against the dictatorial regime...

              Hi Folks,           How are you all? This time, the topic is a departure from normal, light ones but, nevertheless, one which requires some serious thought and attention by the current generation, if the generations after us should not suffer.                                                      WRITE UP                                                        ...

       Hi folks,                 How r u all?? It has been raining  here off and on and the Software city (previously Garden city:))) is back with windy, gloomy (sleepy) days. Steaming cups of tea with snacks, a nice book,  a corner couch, good backgroud music-if you have all these, voila, heaven on the earth!!             We South Indians cannot do without sambar, or many other preparations with tamarind pulp.  Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) (from Arabic تمر هندي, romanized tamar hind, " Indian date") is a tree in the family Fabaceae. (source Wikipedia).  I remember my mother storing tamarind in ceramic jars (or bharani) mixed with table salt. ( still do not know the purpose of storing like that!!Maybe, for preservation) Tamarind in natural form is seeded. To make the lives eas...