tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219464597819808682024-03-20T04:40:59.165-07:00My MusingsVGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-21837537107945498812011-06-28T17:03:00.000-07:002011-06-28T17:05:01.052-07:00Wood apple and education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">One of my favorite slokha which I read in school is about an elephant eating wood apple. Finally found the slokha today and here it is:<br />
<br />
<i>kapitthasya phalam chaiva yathaa kunjara bhakshitam <br />
tasya saaram cha grihneeyaat tathaa havirasam prabhu </i><br />
<br />
<i>Meaning:</i><br />
<i>When an elephant eats a wood apple, it consumes just the pulp and leaves the shell as is. Such should be the learning by a student. He/She should absorb just the essence of the 'reading'/lesson and leave the rest.</i><br />
<i>My understanding : Whenever we learn something we should understand the intent of it and ignore the rest. </i><br />
<i> </i><br />
<i>However just happened to find an alternate meaning for it too in the web - </i>"Just as the elephant (kunjara) consumes the wood apple fruit along with the shell, but accepts only the core of the fruit, the All-capable Supreme Lord accepts the essence (taste) of the offered food (havir), though He consumes the offering".</div>VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-36402738179649184282011-06-28T16:26:00.000-07:002011-06-28T16:28:04.687-07:00Day and night of Brahma<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
An interesting excerpt from the wiki on the night and day of Brahma compared to the modern science.<br />
Wiki link: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_creationists">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_creationists </a><br />
<h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Day_and_Night_of_Brahma">Day and Night of Brahma</span></h4>Science writers <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan" title="Carl Sagan">Carl Sagan</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritjof_Capra" title="Fritjof Capra">Fritjof Capra</a> have pointed out similarities between the latest scientific understanding of the age of the universe, and the Hindu concept of a "day and night of Brahma", which is much closer to the current known age of the universe than other creation myths. The days and nights of Brahma posit a view of the universe that is divinely created, and is not strictly evolutionary, but an ongoing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth of the universe. According to Sagan:<br />
<blockquote class="toccolours" style="display: table; float: none; padding: 10px 15px 10px 15px;">The Hindu religion is the only one of the world's great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of Brahma, 8.64 billion years long, longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_creationists#cite_note-9">[10]</a></sup></blockquote>Capra, in his popular book <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tao_of_Physics" title="The Tao of Physics">The Tao of Physics</a>, wrote that:<br />
<blockquote class="toccolours" style="display: table; float: none; padding: 10px 15px 10px 15px;">This idea of a periodically expanding and contracting universe, which involves a scale of time and space of vast proportions, has arisen not only in modern cosmology, but also in ancient Indian mythology. Experiencing the universe as an organic and rhythmically moving cosmos, the Hindus were able to develop evolutionary cosmologies which come very close to our modern scientific models.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_creationists#cite_note-10">[11]</a></sup></blockquote></div>VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-56342993522047384112010-06-17T16:23:00.000-07:002010-06-17T16:23:04.450-07:00JuicerMonths after its arrival we finally opened my sister's gift, a Jack Lalanne juicer. One of our friend gave a good review about it and the juicer proved it to be true. We tried apple juice and it came out wonderful. Very minimal wastage for a juicer and the quality of the juice was good as well. On top of it we didn't spend a penny on it. That's comforting. Thanks to my sis for the birthday gift. Hope she remembers my wedding anniversary too. :-)VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-6391404354360034202010-06-07T12:16:00.000-07:002010-06-07T12:16:48.955-07:00Airport PickupHave you ever heard of people playing pranks on themselves. Well it was our turn y'day. Srini & Shyamini, our buddies, came over for dinner to our place y'day. These guys had to pick up their cousin from airport at 9.55pm. After the dinner, Srini developed a severe headache. (Yeah! I know what you are thinking. I just hope it wasn't the food.). Jolly & Srini, as usual did their online research and found out that the flight touch down is delayed by 66 mins. What an opportunity to play Wii. Just when we were in the middle of the bowling. We got a call from Chinni (Srini's cousin) precisely at 9.50 saying that the flight landed. What happened to the delay indicated in flight stats? We didn't have time to ponder over it anyway. Our Jolly fellow offered to drive and we quickly started our drive to SFO. This was bulb no:1. There is more to come.<br />
<br />
On the way to the airport, we cleverly planned to trick Chinni. The plan goes likes this: Srini calls Chinni and informs he cannot make it to the airport and so Jolly will pick him up. Jolly will call and confirm the same with Chinni. We will drop Srini & Shyamini few yards before the pick up point and they will walk to Chinni. I and Jolly will drive to the point and pick up Chinni. Wow! what a plan. Chinni will be surprised to see all four of us.<br />
Voila! We reached SFO airport and informed Chinni that we are there in the Alaskan arrival point. He confirmed that he is right there. We searched and searched, Chinni was nowhere in sight. We called him to check again. He said he was at terminal C. There was no terminal C in SFO. Now, came bulb no.2. We just realized that we are in the wrong airport. We called up and faced the moment of truth that he was indeed waiting in SJC airport. After an hour of drive, we finally reached the airport and picked up Chinni. Poor Chinni took it all with cheer.VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-350946507716243012010-02-02T18:16:00.000-08:002010-02-02T18:16:27.426-08:00Earth911We visited our sister's place in Utah last month. Needless to say we had a good time. Enjoyed the breathtaking views of snow clad mountains and my sister's cooking. All was well except the trash disposal system. We were only surprised to see that there was no separate garbage bins for recyclable items in their apartment complex. So I googled to check for recycling plants/centers near their home and found this interesting website: <a href="http://earth911.com/">http://earth911.com/</a>. This site goes a long way in helping recycle things. So? Make use of it.VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-89350727165113340402010-01-29T00:46:00.000-08:002010-01-29T00:46:03.728-08:00Weekend Sleeping | விடுமுறை நாள் தூக்கம் நல்லதுதான்<a href="http://tamil.webdunia.com/miscellaneous/health/healthtips/0912/14/1091214033_1.htm">Weekend Sleeping | விடுமுறை நாள் தூக்கம் நல்லதுதான்</a>VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-78254567324713009182010-01-20T00:55:00.000-08:002010-02-02T18:22:26.891-08:00Pollution eating plantsThinking of decorating our hall with indoor plants, I started looking for some small, low maintenance plants. The air quality in our apartment is making me sick. My south Indian cooking is only adding to the bad air quality as I use lot of oil. Since we are in a rented apt, we cant really clean the duct using professional help. Initially we thought of adding filters to vent. My idea was to buy the ac filter mesh from OSH and cut it to the vent size and stick them using some magnetic strips. But we weren't sure if it will be very effective. Then I was wondering if any indoor plants will help reduce the pollutants. When I googled for pollution eating plants, I got these:<br />
<a href="http://www.ecoartisan.org/pollution.html">http://www.ecoartisan.org/pollution.html</a><br />
<a href="http://www.wolvertonenvironmental.com/airFAQ.htm">http://www.wolvertonenvironmental.com/airFAQ.htm</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/37020.aspx">http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/37020.aspx</a><br />
<a href="http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jun00/soil0600.htm">http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jun00/soil0600.htm</a><br />
Hope this will inspire me to buy some indoor plants sooner :-)VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-14488069577972705332010-01-14T12:52:00.001-08:002010-01-14T12:52:37.740-08:00Your Mobile Giving by State<a href=http://redcrosschat.org/2010/01/14/your-mobile-giving-by-state/>Your Mobile Giving by State</a><br /><br />Posted using <a href="http://sharethis.com">ShareThis</a>VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-20700338463908168742009-10-24T23:22:00.000-07:002009-10-24T23:22:31.128-07:00Bejeweled blitzI've been enjoying the free games in facebook. My favourite is bejeweled blitz. Though the game itself doesn't demand flexing your brain muscles, off late I'm almost addicted to this game. Have decided to slow down a little and play less.VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-80187082400214480152009-09-24T23:55:00.000-07:002009-09-24T23:55:32.025-07:00Unnai Pol OruvanIn the evening, my hubby managed to come home early. Out of the blue we decided to watch some movie before dinner. We checked the schedule in the nearest IMC and started at 8 to watch the 8.30 show of "Unnai pol oruvan". We wanted to go a little easy on it and thought will miss the movie if we dont make it on time, as the theatre was 20 mins drive from our place. My hubby's "Bio GPS" failed us a little, so we ended up searching the theatre for 10 mins. We barely made it on time to the theatre. My hubby worrying that we may not get the best seats, checked with the seller for the sold tickets. We were relieved though a little skeptical, when he said 13 are gone so far. Finally we got our best seats too. Movie was good. We liked the storyline (though a little far from reality) and the cast. A decent movie portraying the better side of the police force. Shruthi Hassan's score was not bad for a fresher. Worth the watch.VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-70538937984293581132009-09-23T13:14:00.000-07:002009-09-23T13:14:14.707-07:00Was it Kal Penn?On Friday night, we (I, Chintu and Jolly) were driving to muniyandi vilas for dinner. When we were on lawrence expressway, Chintu saw someone just like Kal Penn in a car in the adjacent lane. We all got curious and wanted to confirm if it was really him. We drove past the other car to get a glimpse. After catching a glimpse of that person, I too felt it was Kal Penn. Now Jolly got really excited and wanted to drive parallel. But he didn't really want to break his good driver record and do gimmicks on the road. We also weren't ready to annoy the people in the next car by tailgating. So we drove in our lane like good kids, only hoping that Kal Penn would somehow pass our car to give a darshan. Alas, I think the other driver sensed us, he switched to our lane to one car behind. We lost the car in the next signal. All this drama would have lasted for 2 mins but we ensured that we carry the excitement back home and convey it with more dramatic effect to the guys waiting for the muniyandi vilas briyani at home.VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-63092958349203301642009-09-17T01:17:00.000-07:002009-09-17T01:20:25.999-07:00Interesting coincedenceI wasn't getting sleep and so decided to watch this movie "America's sweethearts" for a while. Initially I started watching it for Julia roberts then suddenly realised that the movie has been shot in the same hotel (<a href="http://www.loewshotels.com/en/Hotels/Lake-Las-Vegas-Resort/Overview.aspx">Loews Lake Las Vegas</a>) were I and my hubby stayed last month during our Vegas trip. The whole movie has been shot in the same hotel. We ended up watching the whole movie just for this :-)VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-62089784702237709132009-09-15T19:41:00.000-07:002009-09-15T19:42:45.575-07:00Colour, colour, what colour?I've always been captivated by the beautiful white bridal gowns. When I was 7 I even persuaded my dad to buy me a white gown with a veil and a white hair band with lot of decorative white roses on it. I guess they were worn by the girls for their baptism. I also used to wonder why white of all colours and used to think it had some reference to something from the bible or some religious custom. Well I have the answer now. This practice of wearing white dress started with none other than the empress with longest reign in history, Queen Victoria. She started this practice and it has continued to this date. Before Victoria's wedding a bride would wear her best dress of no particular colour.<br />
<br />
In south India, yellow or red are considered auspicious though there are no restrictions to the colour or texture of the dress. Mostly the brides wear exuberant silk sarees. Sometimes its a simple cotton saree for the knot tying ceremony, since the wedding saree doubles as a cradle for the first born.VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-74314889164058583542009-09-07T15:26:00.000-07:002009-09-07T23:54:26.081-07:00A spectacular sight!Last friday I and Jolly sighted a shooting star in twilight. It was so bright and the trail was long that we had a doubt if it was indeed a shooting star or a crashing plane. Good heavens after checking the local news we were relieved that we sighted an astro rarity. This is the first time that I've sighted a shooting star after sunset/before dark. August is supposed to be a month for meteor showers. We were in Las Vegas on aug 11, 12 perfect days to watch Perseid meteor shower. The observatory in vegas closed around 8pm and the perfect time to the shower was midnight to early morning. I was concerned about the luminescence and wasn't sure if we could spot few or any shower at all. We even thought of driving down to a far of place or red rock canyon. Our enthusiasm died over midnight and we stayed back at the hotel. However we could spot at least four shooting stars in 20 mins of gazing from the lounge. Our weary eyes said enough and we went back to bed. Awaiting for the Orionids on Oct 21st. Hope I can spot more shower then.VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-39766445673526291902009-08-31T02:54:00.000-07:002009-08-31T03:04:47.402-07:00Planet Earth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Sundays are becoming even more interesting with the planet earth serial from discovery. Truly a landmark tv serial in HD. I've started enjoying even the re-runs. One of the episodes was on "Birds of paradise" (Not to be confused with the plant of same name).Was surprised to know that they are very closely related to crows & jays. I was under the impression that they are named after their flamboyant plumage, but little did I know that a misconception of explorers is the reason for their name. Wikipedia says:<br />
<blockquote>This species was described from specimens brought back to Europe from trading expeditions. These specimens had been prepared by native traders by removing their wings and feet so that they could be used as decorations. This was not known to the explorers and led to the belief that the birds never landed but were kept permanently aloft by their plumes. This is the origin of both the name "birds of paradise" and the specific name <i>apoda</i> — without feet.</blockquote> They also seem to use the swayamvara (lek-type) technique for finding their mates. Interesting :-)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNBFeAM8EsT7vNALmkOZd4EoaIQStSJCeprFh-XruSvuliChzifdxJuuwcAOAamhFxsmLt4ZCrBcANHKdfB_XS-QpsQY3WidqftYADyG4yU8f6ExwdvIEgQKTnkpVMksURj5qNX9P7Ls/s1600-h/BOP3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNBFeAM8EsT7vNALmkOZd4EoaIQStSJCeprFh-XruSvuliChzifdxJuuwcAOAamhFxsmLt4ZCrBcANHKdfB_XS-QpsQY3WidqftYADyG4yU8f6ExwdvIEgQKTnkpVMksURj5qNX9P7Ls/s320/BOP3.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJsDpadMizwfGz8TQ_mGv8Uifo9I4IJuSspxKuKTZuvv4HsapmJOulIgffT6IF0Z4znayCa5j3JCOyCMyvVt0DOZSnIyw2IeILdzVHWoIrcfTxpQGaXQr8UJ_XmwvIBJsi2D4X4OhqOY/s1600-h/BOP2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJsDpadMizwfGz8TQ_mGv8Uifo9I4IJuSspxKuKTZuvv4HsapmJOulIgffT6IF0Z4znayCa5j3JCOyCMyvVt0DOZSnIyw2IeILdzVHWoIrcfTxpQGaXQr8UJ_XmwvIBJsi2D4X4OhqOY/s320/BOP2.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGFpVzrbEgp2l6LXtly2ZDdMGKxrcnOHSeNVcZ2OcnxGiNn3qlANC7DksGUy6R9qHx4_tsLkfe3X9RlrlDuRzrHgP4yTKQZcm0QsAbJ-kBY7WOUdXZkzMKMq2pV491oRpTGkst82ibfU/s1600-h/BOP4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGFpVzrbEgp2l6LXtly2ZDdMGKxrcnOHSeNVcZ2OcnxGiNn3qlANC7DksGUy6R9qHx4_tsLkfe3X9RlrlDuRzrHgP4yTKQZcm0QsAbJ-kBY7WOUdXZkzMKMq2pV491oRpTGkst82ibfU/s320/BOP4.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNiBqpaPlaXftKsSv_zXtymlnuFpGkrqJwr9JJHdnkcU9Cylj_eBA7qLtq1o2gseVuJJHeT2Uq9pzL6nyfqsAvxwd_MxXHImauCFdOC0w-MhQbPoVR6U86qoPJ88wI52r_3LYb6kHTHM/s1600-h/Birdofparadise1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNiBqpaPlaXftKsSv_zXtymlnuFpGkrqJwr9JJHdnkcU9Cylj_eBA7qLtq1o2gseVuJJHeT2Uq9pzL6nyfqsAvxwd_MxXHImauCFdOC0w-MhQbPoVR6U86qoPJ88wI52r_3LYb6kHTHM/s320/Birdofparadise1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-65184176111032460412009-08-29T22:10:00.000-07:002009-08-29T22:16:42.905-07:00Frustrating shopping!Shopping? frustrating? Sounds like an oxymoron isn't it? Especially for a shopaholic like me it wasn't a possible phrase till y'day. Online shopping with "indiatimes" has become irritating off late. Ten days after placing an order, I got a mail saying that my order has got canceled. There was no explanation as to why the order was canceled or why the status update happened after 10 days? The order was for my nephew and I just had to pity that kid who has been calling me every now and then, asking when he will get his gift. This is the second time that I'm having a bad online shopping exp with "indiatimes". Though I had few good shipments from them, I'm skeptical about my future purchases with this online shop.VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-58545428024231373722009-08-26T18:09:00.000-07:002009-08-26T18:10:26.631-07:00Go soda go!Its been 6 months since the carpet in our home enjoyed a shampoo. When I was just planning to rent a rug master from Safeway this weekend, a tip from a TV program came as a remedy. Here it is: sprinkle baking soda on the carpet and leave it as is for 15 mins. Then vacuum the carpet. This is supposed to remove odours from the carpet. Good for a house with kids or pets. I plan to try it this weekend. Let me see how it comes out.VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2121946459781980868.post-81577241934173531992009-08-24T12:27:00.001-07:002009-08-24T12:27:50.098-07:00Begin blogAfter contemplating for a while I too have decided to jump into blogging. What a way to vent out after everyday chores for a housewife? Now that I have time, I hope to scribble a line or two everyday.VGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11115686480734026386noreply@blogger.com0