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Showing posts from 2011

A visit to Tirupathi.

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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 midnight!! Imagine to everybody's chagrin that these thousands of devotees are made to wait for hours together when the VIPS,

Why this Kolaveri on lyrics?

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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

Glimpses from my Hometown Visit

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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 how far away you roam -             When you long for the sunshine of a friendly gaze,             For the holidays - you can’t beat home, sweet home!"                Having grown up in the 'God's own country-KERALA', I took the place for granted un

Arab Spring, Indian Spring, voice of the women

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    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 to erupt. It not only erupted, but the heat spread across the country of Egypt.              Egypt, the land of historical ancient wonders

Nature's work of art -- Coppersmith Barbet Birds

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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.                                                                          A Little information on these birds.                                               __________________________                            These birds are found in some parts of South East Asia and also in India. They are known by this name because they make a ch

ARE WE REALLY WORSHIPPING LORD GANESH?

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              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.                             Lord Ganesha is worshipped as the first among the dieties in Hinduism as He is looked as the remover of all obstacles when one wants to start something new. This elephant-headed, pot-bellied God has always fascinated our minds and He is the most sought after diety compared to m

Anna, Anna, rock the empire!!!

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    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 regimes, but could not feel the pulse as the uprising was 'somewhere'. Now, I

Energy Prospects for future

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              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                                                                               This is a write up on our energy scenario 50 to 100 years from now ; and the same has been prepared by my father after carrying out in depth studies. Being a topic of relevance for all I am putting the same here                                                         We intake energy every moment, and therefore we are alive. In other words when we stop intake of energy in the form of food we die. This reason is sufficient for us to acquire awareness on availability of energy for all for the future. The young ones of today are unaware of the conditions in which our great grandfathers lived. That

The humble, obstructive tamarind seed

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       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 easier for working women, we find seedless tamarind, tamarind concentrates these days in all the markets.                  I don't know why, suddenly, one day, I fell in love with th