Bala's learnings :: Better late than never...

Ratan Tata's unmatched Philanthropy

2010-11-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

Image Source: Fun on the Net

A few weeks back, I got the below email. I was very much moved after reading it and forwarded it to all my colleagues & my ex-Manager. After sometime, the ex-Manager replied, praising Ratan Tata's noble gestures and asked whether it was a chain mail or was it from any authentic source.

Immediately, I googled for What TATA did to 26/11 Mumbai victims. But, didn't get any information regarding the source. Then, I happened to visit the Welfare trust site and got the email ID of Mr. Deepak S. Bhatia, the Welfare Trust Manager. I forwarded him the above email and asked for its authenticity. The next day, he replied, confirming its genuineness and asked me to read the October 3rd issue of "The Week", which had covered the trust activities.

As I couldn't get the back issue from the News stands and from my neighbours too, I emailed the magazine's Customer Care team and they haven't responded so far. I emailed Deepak explaining my situation and he was willing to courier me a photocopy of the article. Even this gesture shows the Tata's culture of helping people.

Yesterday, I got the courier and was very much delighted to see the cover story titled Wah Taj! (No other title would have been suitable for this article). Soon after reading a few pages, my eyes were filled with tears. I understood the true essence of Corporate Social Responsibility from Ratan Tata and the Taj group. I also found another article giving more information on the Tata's Philanthropy. This reminds me of JRD Tata's saying: When you are successful, you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. The article was very much thought provoking and I have also decided to make small contributions.

Facebook's security feature

2010-07-08T23:25:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: Accessing social networking sites from a corporate network with VPN is a security breach and may result in legal action. But this policy can be broken with hidden approval and unofficial support :-). Check this feature at your own risk and in no way, I would be held responsible for any of your lawsuits.

Last night, my brother finished browsing and I logged onto Facebook. After clicking the login button, I got a warning message saying: You are signing in from a location we're not familiar with. For your protection, please take a moment to answer a few security questions. Then, I realized my brother had forgotten to disconnect the UK VPN which he was using for awhile. I closed the browser and started the screen-recording application, Camstudio. With my brother’s permission (At his own risk. Hope he doesn't read this post.), I signed into facebook with the VPN connection.

After logging in, the URL pointed to Roadblock and the screen indicated a 4-step security check. After the Captcha verification, the screen displayed a warning: To pass, you cannot get any answers wrong. If you aren't sure about a question, please skip it. You can only skip 2 questions.

The first photo was one of my ex-colleagues
The second photo was one of my school mates
The third photo was also one of my ex-colleagues
The fourth photo confused me a bit. I thought of skipping, but after scrolling down, I found him to be my school mate
The fifth photo didn’t load for a long time and I pressed the skip button
The sixth photo was my boss. After correctly answering 5 questions, I was not prompted to take the 7^th question

Now, the security check got over and I got a thank you message saying my account was successfully restored.

I googled for this feature and found someone who couldn't login because of this feature. Those who have gone abroad and accessed facebook would have been very much surprised by this feature.The facebook’s security feature clearly gives a different perspective of implementing security. This incident reminds me of one of my ex-colleague’s session on the difference between a Programmer and a Developer. I feel I am a programmer yearning to become a Developer :-)

PS: Due to the encoding done by the hosting site (Viddler), the video will be a bit blurred. As I recorded the video in a wide-screen flat monitor, please change your screen resolution to 1280 by 1024, if you feel the video quality is not good.

Facebook's security feature video

2010-07-08T22:56:00.000-07:00

Email routed to Manager

2010-07-02T01:48:00.000-07:00

One of my college-mates is getting married and he decided to give us a party. So, he started an email thread and asked our suggestions. As usual, the thread was getting diverted from the discussion and my friends started fighting.

(Un)fortunately, I was also in the list and he being a hostelite, was in touch with a lot of friends in all the departments. I being a day-scholar, have seen most of them in hostels (when we bunk classes) but never interacted with them.

There were a lot of responses and one day there was a reply from Anuj. I wondered as to which department this guy belonged to. After opening the mail, from his signature, I came to know that he was a Project Manager in my friend's company. (Please click the above image and read the email. For privacy concerns, I have obscured a major portion.)

From his email, I came to know that my friend had resigned a few months back and all the emails to his ID were routed to this Project Manager. Though the manager had requested us to remove the Email ID from the Emailing List, I was worried as to how many official/personal emails would have Anuj read.

If a person had resigned, the mails addressed to him would bounce back saying: The recipient's e-mail address was not found in the recipient's e-mail system. But, this was a very strange experience and this practice of automatically forwarding the emails to the managers is unethical and an intrusion to one's privacy. It's better to disclose such policies well in advance to the employees.

From this incident it’s clear that if you resign, do inform your friends about the job change and ask them to update their Address book. Also, don’t give your office email ID to the banks and other official purposes.

My friend's Nikkah

2010-06-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

Seeing the above image, you would be wondering what it means. The above letters mean Nikkah in Arabic. It refers to the matrimonial contract between a bride and the bridegroom within Islamic marriage. Yesterday, one of my muslim friends got married. Five of us Raja, Sugeesh, Badhma, Saravanan and I decided to go to the marriage. So far, I haven't attended any of the Muslim's marriage and I was very much eager to attend this one. Before entering the hall, I called Raja and came to know that he was on the way and would reach in 15 minutes. As I was late, I missed the wedding rituals :-(.

Soon after entering the hall, I saw only the groom on the stage. And there were a lot of men hugging one another. I haven't seen this in any of our marriages. I was very much astonished by this scene and didn't even notice Sugeesh waving at me. Only Sugeesh was punctual and was fortunate to see the rituals.

The remaining three had gone for purchasing gifts at the last minute and were late. We signed the greeting card and was waiting for the bride to make her presence on the stage. After sometime we knew that all the men were in one hall and the women including the bride were in another room. It was time for lunch and we gave the gift to her brother and moved to the dining hall.

Even in the dining hall, men were seated in a separate hall and the women were in another hall. Mutton Briyani, Chicken Masala and Sweets were served. The briyani went well with Chicken masala. The fresh bread with Rava Payasam and Carrot Halwa was a superb combination. As we were eating, one of the hosts gave us a Trendy Pouch with Dry fruits and Sweets. Seeing the pouch, I remember my grandma's Surukku Pai. A special thanks to Badhma and Saravanan for those wonderful photographs.

Even after finishing the lunch, we didn't see the bride. We chatted for sometime and planned to go to Citi Center for Window Shopping. The lunch was very heavy and on the way we drank Sprite to ease digestion. In the Citi Center, Raja took a lot of pain to take a snap with Volkswagen.

I wish to attend a North-Indian marriage. Friends do invite me. :-)

Linkedin's Data Mining

2010-06-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Last night, I logged onto Linkedin to check for any new connections. There were 3 invitations and I accepted them. When I was about to Logoff, the Company Updates Section caught my attention. It said:

*****soft (India) Limited has 6 new hires, 2 promotions or changes, and 6 recent departures.

I was a bit surprised to see this and checked those links. I expected some to be known faces but I knew none of them. Then, I did a blank search on Companies and got the list as below:

We can’t expect accurate values as it depends on the user to update his/her profile. Anyway, with this feature, one can get some idea about attrition in a company.

Thanks! to Data Mining.

Fly your face in Space

2010-06-10T08:09:00.000-07:00

Travelling to space is impossible for us, but imagine if we can atleast send our photographs. Sounds strange and interesting. NASA, known for its space missions has come up with a new program. It has decided to send our photographs in one of its forthcoming missions.

After uploading your photo in their website, do print and save the confirmation page. We can also print our flight certificate signed by the Mission Commander. I have chosen both the missions and got the confirmation numbers. Also, don’t forget to check back after your flight returns to earth to receive your certificates.

I remember reading one of my friend’s blog about the Skywalk tour in Grand Canyon. After completing the tour, she was awarded the below certificate of achievement. I guess the flight certificate will be a treasured possession.

See you soon in one of the NASA missions!

Ad Model :: Divya Parameshwar

2010-05-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

Seeing the above photo, you would immediately remember the model who comes frequently in the Tamil ads; but you wouldn't be knowing her name. Even you would be very eager to know about her. Before writing this post, I had the same feeling as yours. Later, I googled and found her to be Divya Parameshwar, from Bangalore.

One of the blogs claim that she was the first runners-up in the 17th Miss India Worldwide. She is wearing her crown in the below picture (standing extreme left).

Hamam Soap

This was the first ad I had seen and was very much impressed with the "strict look" she makes at her daughter. Every time the ad goes, I would wait for the "strict look" and only then switch to the next channel. But, recently they have released a short-version and I am not at all satisfied.

3 Roses Tea

Later, I saw her in the 3 Roses Tea ad. This ad makes good use of the guy's absence of mind and later shows his increase in memory power after having the tea.

Rin vs Tide
This Rin ad makes a direct attack on its business rival Tide.

Sun DTH

MGM Dizee World

Anil Idly Maavu

Lion Dates Syrup

After a bit of youtubing, I found that she had done some ads which were broadcast a few months back and now off-the-shelf.

Aachi Masala

Dove Shampoo

Lalitha Jewellery

Rathna Stores

Some of her works include:

Ajinamoto
Prestige Mixer
Kohinoor Jasmine
Ashok TMT

and many more in Hindi and other regional languages.

After googling, you would realize there are lots of blogs about this beautiful model.

Now a days, I have started watching her ads instead of the TV programmes :-).

My experience during a meditation

2010-05-02T01:37:00.000-07:00

From my previous post, you would know that I was very much interested in Isha Yoga and Meditation. After a bit of googling, I saw the above video and found it was the signature tune for Athanaikkum Aasaippadu. Later, I extracted the audio and loaded the song in my iPod Shuffle.

A few days back, at around 11:30 PM (midnight), it was very silent and I thought of doing meditation. I sat in my swivel chair and switched on the iPod. After closing my eyes, I felt the darkness as I started listening to the melodious tune. Even the fan's sound was not heard due to the ear phone. After a few seconds, I visualized the Dhyanalinga and immediately there was even more darkness. I was really surprised and couldn't belive myself that I got this wonderful feeling at the first instance.

After sometime, I felt like sweating and opened my eyes to find there was a power cut :-). Then I smiled at myself and hurriedly searched for my mobile phone. I left my room with the camera light and enjoyed the cool breeze outside the house.

A visit to Dhyanalinga

2010-04-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

Recently, I came to know about Dhyanalinga and was very much interested in visiting Isha Yoga Foundation in Coimbatore. I was under a misconception that we can only attend residential programs. As I couldn't take off from work, I forgot about my plans.

A few weeks back, one of my ex-colleagues from Coimbatore had invited me to his sister's marriage. As the Reception was on a Sunday, two of my friends (Robert & Raja) and I decided to attend the function. We also planned to visit a nearby place in Coimbatore. As Pollachi was a bit far, we decided to go to Dhyanalinga. Though Robert being a Christian, he was also interested in joining us.

We booked the tickets in Tatkal and started our trip. Fortunately, our friend had booked a room and soon after reaching the station we went to the nearby lodge and had a good rest. As Robert had studied in PSG College of Technology, he was well-versed about the city.

We had our breakfast at Gandhipuram. As we didn't know the exact bus number, we asked about Dhyanalinga to one of the hawkers. But, he gave us a puzzling look. Then, we rephrased the question asking about Isha Yoga. Hearing this, he pointed towards a bus. Still, we were confused and we saw a Traffic Inspector and asked him. He asked us to go in 14 D.

After sometime, we saw the bus with the board Isha Yoga Maiyam. Immediately, we rushed in to get a seat. Within a few minutes, the bus was full. We heard one of the passengers saying it would take 90 minutes to reach Isha Yoga Foundation. Soon after travelling a few kilometers, we heard a strange noise from one of the back tyres. We thought the bus would break down and we would be left mid way. Fortunately, the bus ran smoothly and we reached the Isha Center.

As we walked towards the entrance, we were very much fascinated to see the huge pillars and the snakes on top.

The Nandi present near the entrance was huge and you can see how small we look. The Construction process and the Gallery has a lot of photos.

We were asked to leave the Mobile Phones, Cameras and Foot-wears. All the items were collected in bags and a token was given to us. No fee was collected for depositing them. A volunteer in plain, white clothes asked us whether this was our first visit or have we visited earlier. This being our first visit, he gave a brief introduction and asked us to see Trimurthy Panel, Linga Bhairavi, Theerthakund and then go to the Dhyanalinga.

As we walked towards the Linga Bhairavi, we heard a lot of squirrels squeaking near the Coconut trees. Of course, this is a rare sight in the cities. Then we saw the monolithic Trimurthy Panel depicting the three fundamental qualities essential for a human being's inner growth : Rudra, Hara, Sadashiva.

Rudra: An intense state of mind
Hara: The quality of childlike meditativeness
Sadashiva: An ever blissful state of being

A closer look of the above photo shows the dome under construction. Some of the interviews in Athanaikkum Aasaippadu have taken place in front of this panel.

The Linga Bhairavi temple in the form of an equilateral triangle is considered as the feminine form of Linga. It represents the Divine in its feminine manifestation. A lady in the temple gestured us to apply the Vermillion with the ring finger and offered us a few jasmine and neem leaves . We sat in a corner meditating for sometime and left for Theerthakund. The construction and consecration photos are interesting to watch.

The Theerthakund is a few meters away from the Linga Bhairavi. We paid Rs. 10 each and were asked to wash our legs or have a light shower. Even towels are provided, if you want to take a dip in the holy water. There are alternate 30-minute slots for men and women. We washed our legs and proceeded to the tank. The mercury lingam is placed in a subterranean tank located 35 ft below. As we were walking downstairs, we heard the pleasant sound of a waterfall.

As it was not much crowded, we clearly saw the mercury linga immersed in water . I thought no one should touch the linga, but after sometime I saw a foreigner lying flat in water holding the linga. All the people touched the linga and had a holy bath. You can have a good view of the Linga in one of the Athanaikkum Aasaippadu interviews with Parthiban. A semi-circular brick vault covers this tank, the inner sides of which have murals depicting a Maha Kumbha Mela scene. We washed our legs and came upstairs. Maybe in my next visit, I wish to take a holy bath.

The 2 ft Linga weighing 680 kgs, is ellipsoidal in shape and is 99.8% pure mercury, solidified at room temperature. I even tried to calculate the weight with the density multiplied by an approximate height; but I didn't have enough patience to recall the formula in Physics. The rock beneath, the avudayar, which is at least 5 or 6 times bigger than the lingam itself, weighs just about 150 kgs or maybe 200 kgs, not more.

The modern science doesn't believe in solidifying mercury at room temperature, but ancient Indian alchemy claims to have techniques to do so. I remember my school days and the Chemistry Lab where I had seen a glass jar of mercury weighing heavy. I read in one of the Science snippets that it's dangerous when your cut fingers are exposed to mercury. And now from this link, I realize the seriousness.

As I was browsing for Mercury Linga, I visited this blog and their site has more photos. They claim that the Shivlinga weighs over a tonne and is around 30 inches in height. Mercury when purified and brought to a solid state is called the ‘Philosophers Stone’ or Paras Mani (Mercury Gem).

Then we had a security check with metal detectors and were asked to go to the Dhyanalinga. Near the entrance we saw a 17 feet white granite monolith, the Sarva Dharma Sthambha. The symbols of major religions of the world (Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto) are inscribed on three sides of this Sthamba forming an appropriate sign of welcome for one and all, beyond religious divide.

In the above photo (with Ramdev), the back of the Sthamba shows the schematic of the 7 chakras of human body, in the form of lotuses that represent different levels of consciousness.

As one enters the parikrama, on the left is the statue of Pathanjali, the celebrated author of Yoga Sutras, regarded as the father of yogic sciences. We were told that the snake covering his head represents the raising of energies through the seven chakras, which is the main objective of meditation and yoga. Opposite to this statue is the Vanashree shrine. The Vanashree, made of green granite, is a sculptural relief of a peepal tree. A gold leaf at the center symbolizes warmth and prosperity. The corridor leading to the sanctum sanctorum has sculptures on either side - each one depicting different stages in a Sage/Sadhu's life.

Sculptures of Sadasiva Brahmendra and Akka Mahadevi with a short note explains their devotion to god.

Kannappa Nayanar, considered to be the first eye donor and Meiporul Nayanar, a famous king who showed mercy on the murderer is also portrayed.

Poosalar, a great Siva devotee who built a temple for him in his heart and Sadhyaguru Parabrahma bestowing grace on a sadhak are some of the incidents, I have never heard of.

Initially, I was a bit shocked to see the below sculpture. Later, I understood that it is a form of a yogi prostrating before the Dhyanalinga suggesting the sense of surrender that is required to enter the Dhyanalinga space. Such a similar sculpture is also present in the Linga Bhairavi temple.

I was very much eager to know the construction process of the dome and this site explains in detail about the science behind the construction without concrete. For every 15 minutes, a bell is rang and the people waiting in the mandapam were asked to go inside Dhyanalinga. We were sitting silently in the corridor waiting for the bell to ring. The bell rang and we moved slowly to the Dhyanalinga.

The linga made from a huge granite is 13 ft high. I haven't seen any linga so big. The linga rests on a coiled snake with 7 layers called Avudaiyar. Surrounding the magestic lingam are 28 energy cubicles called 'Aura Cells' looking like little cubicles. They are meant for meditation. All were occupied by people who were meditating for a long time. The linga has 7 copper rings denoting the seven chakras of a human being. We went around the linga and sat meditating for 15 minutes. Though my mind was wandering, I liked the silence and the ambiance.

Here, I wish to share some facts I got after googling. The architectural style is different from a conventional Hindu temple. A large ellipsoidal dome covers the sanctum sanctorum(Garbhagriha) instead of a conventional Gopuram. It was Sadhguru's wish that all the visitors to the temple be allowed directly into the Garbhagriha. As a result, the garbhagriha had to have a very large free spanning structure. Conventional buildings built of cement, steel and concrete were ruled out, as the life span of such structures is not expected to be beyond a 100 years. Eventually, it was decided to build a dome using only traditional materials like burnt bricks, mud mortar stabilized with lime, sand, alum and some herbal additives. Huge blocks of granite were extensively used, eliminating steel and concrete.

The most important aspect of a temple is the energies of its deity. The process of enshrining this energy in such a way that it is available to the visitor is called the Prathista or the Consecration(Kumbabishekam). Long back in one of the television interviews, I heard a sculpture saying that while making an idol/statue, the workers may accidentally step on it and such an act would not harm them in any way. It seems the stone gets its special power and becomes a deity only after the consecration process.

Basically, there are two kinds of consecration processes - Mantra Prathista and Prana Prathista. When consecration is done through chanting of certain mantras and performing certain yagas and yagnas, it is called as Mantra Prathista. And this mostly happens once in 12 years. Deities so consecrated constantly require poojas and other rituals to maintain its energies.

In contrast, Prana Prathista is done in such a way that the energies are locked. The deities, then, maintain their energies at a constant level and do not require performing of rituals or any means of re-energizing. In the Dhyanalinga, through an intense process of Prana Prathista, energies of all the 7 chakras were raised to the very peak and locked to prevent dissipation over time. Hence there are no poojas or rituals in the Dhyanalinga. It is expected that the energies of the Dhyanalinga will not suffer dissipation for at least 5000 years. Usually, during Prana Prathista, people involved in the consecration use their own physical and energy bodies as tools for the process of the consecration. As a result, it becomes difficult for the people involved in the consecration to retain their physical bodies after the consecration process is over.

The consecration process lasted over three years and complex to explain. It's better to learn from Jaggi's books Dhyanalinga: The Silent Revolution and Mystic's Musings. The Dhyanalinga is taken care of by both men and women. It is said that in the 14 days in a lunar month - towards the full moon - women take care of the Dhyanalinga. The next 14 days - towards the new moon - men take care of it. On every full moon and new moon days any visitor can personally offer milk and water to the linga.

The central opening is covered by a gold plated Linga-shaped copper dome, which blocks direct light and acts as a ventilator at the top. The copper Linga above the dome vents out hot air from the dome so that the cool air passes in through the vault and ventilators.

As I googled for images, I got some photos of actress Shreya meditating inside the Dhyanalinga and attending one of the meditation programs.

After hearing the bell, we applied the holy ash and started leaving. As I don't meditate, I didn't have any strange feeling. But a seasoned meditator will definitely have a wonderful experience.

As we came outside, there were stalls selling Prasadam and Holy ash. We bought Sesame balls and Vibuthi. There were displays explaining why holy ash should be applied with a ring finger and the significance of Prasadams. Usually, I use my index finger to apply holy ash. But after publishing this post, I have decided to use my ring finger.

We collected our belongings and went to the Isha Shop. We thought of having lunch in Coimbatore and decided to leave in the waiting bus. We asked one of the visitors to take this photograph.

The bus from Gandhipuram after reaching Isha Yoga Maiyam will wait for 45 minutes and then take the passengers back to Gandhipuram.

As the bus began to move, we saw the bus timings. The credits go to Raja for picturing this.

After this visit, I started watching Jaggi's videos and reading his books. I wish to learn some meditation techniques and then visit it once again. I have a plan to visit the Velliangiri hills too.

அத்தனைக்கும் ஆசைப்படு (Athanaikkum Aasaippadu)

2010-04-03T04:55:00.000-07:00

I began this post about our visit to the Dhyanalinga. But, when I browsed through some sites, I found a lot of videos about Isha Yoga. So, I decided to write about Jaggi Vasudev and then post about my experiences at the Dhyanalinga.

In this post, I have collated 30 videos and all are worth watching.

Shekhar Gupta, the Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express and the presenter of Walk the Talk calls Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev as the Monk in a LandRover. Within a few minutes, you would realize Sadhguru's wit and sense of humor. From this interview, I understood the exact meaning of a Mystic. He remained a sceptic and says he hasn't read the Vedas, the Upanishads and even the Bhagavad Gita. He learnt Yoga at an young age of 11 and explains how he attained Realization in the Chamundi Hills.

The discussion then moves on to the Dhyanalinga and Sadhguru says this temple is not meant for worship or ritual and is meant only for meditation. The buildings were designed by Sadhguru himself and were constructed using Bricks, Lime, Stones and Mud. Cement and Steel were not used. When questioned about the difference between ancient wisdom and contemporary wisdom, he explains with a good example of the superstitious belief in a Cat crossing the street. Now, the relaxing sound of cascading water becomes much more audible and the interview ends in the Theerthakund.

The special guest in this week's Koffee with Anu is Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. Sadhguru describes his childhood days: why he hated learning in school, how he was amazed by seeing a Gutter, bunking classes and resting on tree tops and how he meditated unknowingly.

After completing PUC, Sadhguru didn't go to College. He educated himself by studying throughout the day for a year in the University Library. He had done the maximum reading only during this period and after that he didn't get much time. He explains the significance of snakes in temple and Kundalini and how it brought life through Adam and Eve. From the book, Autobiography of a Yogi, I got a different perspective about the Tree of Life.

Sadhguru learnt yoga from Malladihalli and kept practicing it. According to him "Any human being who is not doing what he can do is a criminal in some way." The reason for the largest number of volunteers in his own words: Every human being, if he's given an opportunity to find expression to his potential, he always wants to do it.

The On TV Segment features friends and family sharing their thoughts about the guest. His Dad, Grand-dad, Sister-in-law, S.A. Chandrasekar and Sudha Ragunathan express their views and praise the goodness in him.

In the Album Segment, you can find some rare photos (which you won't find in Google) and Sadhguru comments about them. From one of the photos, I came to know that he is married and has a daughter.

In the Rapid Fire round, questions are fired in quick succession at the guest. Sadhguru answers them graciously. In the Koffee Award segment, the guest would select a person who will be given a coffee cup autographed by him. And do watch the video to find the lucky person.

A few years back, Vijay TV had broadcast an excellent program Athanaikkum Aasaippadu. I could recall those days when Spiritualism meant only praying to God and would occasionally watch this program. The signature tune for this show is available in one of my posts, my experience during a meditation. The guests in the program were:

Crazy Mohan is a popular Tamil comedy actor and writer. In this interview, he questions about Dharma Dharisanam and the Special Dharisanam. An artist among the audience beautifully sketches Sadhguru. He also asks about the offerings to god in Hundi.

Sadhguru assures that anyone can achieve Spiritualism, if they have involvement and says going to temple and praying doesn't mean spiritualism.

Crazy Mohan's next question is about people's interest in miracles and wonders. The interview ends with Sadhguru's thoughts.

Thirumavalavan, the current President of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (Liberation Panthers Party) asks Sadhguru whether being a Dalit will have any negative impact for learning his teachings. Sadhguru affirms that his teachings is not meant for any specific community or religion but is meant for all human beings.

Parthiban looks like an obedient student listening to his teacher. The interview happens near the Theerthakund. Please watch this video carefully to have a clear look of the solidified, Mercury Lingam. The view is superb and even you won't get such a view if you visit the place. Sadhguru answers Parthiban as to why people don't meditate blaming lack of time.

Parthiban's next question is about the difference between Karma and Destiny. This is one of the most interesting questions, I had seen so far. The discussion is a bit confusing and I had to watch the video more than once.

Karma is the result of our actions we do knowingly or unknowingly.

Destiny is the cooked-up story we create.

He also explains the Cause and Effect and asks us not to give importance about the Outcome. This reminds me of one of the lines from Bhagavad Gita: You should do your duty and should not expect any result of your labour.

Parthiban shares his personal experience about Black Magic. As I browsed for Black Magic, I found this interesting site. Now, I understand the penetration of Web 2.0.

Vivek, a leading comedian in the Tamil cinema is amazed by the humility and modesty of the volunteers of Isha Yoga Foundation. Sadhguru gives a good, pragmatic explanation.

The next discussion is about the significance of Moon.

The discussion about Female Infanticide and Euthanasia(Mercy Killing) is equally interesting. His explanation with a short story will remove the fear of death.

How can one control one's mind? is the question from Cheran, reputed for directing and producing culturally strong films like Autograph, Thavamai Thavamirundhu etc.

The authors Suresh and Balakrishnan have written a lot of novels, jointly under the pen name Suba. Their question is whether eating Non-vegetarian is good or bad. Sadhguru says killing a plant or killing an animal for food is both Himsa. By nature's law, to sustain life, one should take another. Scientifically speaking, our body is not meant for eating non-vegetarian; but it will accept whatever we take.

The next interesting question is about the pleasure derived from smoking and drinking. To this, Sadhguru explains the difference between happiness and divine happiness.

Sadhguru wonders why we give more importance to other's view on us.

Suresh questions about the recent trend in Love marriage and Divorce. Sadhguru's answer is really interesting and humorous.

How to avoid Procrastination? is the question from Bala. To this Sadhguru says "As the life is very short, don't postpone any good action; but do have a postponing attitude for all your bad habits."

Sudha Ragunathan, Vivek and Sadhguru discuss about the Indian Culture and tradition. This interview happens in front of the monolithic structure containing the 3 faces of Shiva

This video is not complete and I guess the initial discussion is about love at adolescent age. When Sudha questions about Time management, Sadhguru asks us not to focus on quantity of time but on the quality of time spent.

The discussion happens near the entrance to the Dhyanalinga and you can get a good glimpse of the Lingam and they discuss about natural disasters and Global Warming.

Now, they discuss about the various versions of Yoga and their impacts on the common man.

Nanjil Nadan (open in IE), a famous writer asks about the authors (involved in art and literature) who are very much profit-oriented these days. To this Sadhguru says a person living with a selfless attitude for the benefit of others will definitely lead a very good life. On hearing this, I remember watching a program recently on CNN IBN about the Real Heroes and was very much moved by it.

Now, we have reached the concluding part and all those who took part in the discussion thank Sadhguru and Isha Yoga Foundation.

I wish Vijay TV to re-broadcast all the programs.

Yellow Screen of Death

2010-03-31T22:41:00.000-07:00

Any Microsoft Windows user would have definitely seen his computer crashing with a blue screen containing a cryptic error message as above. Such a screen has been termed as Screens of Death, as they indicate some serious problem in the Hardware/Software. Rebooting the system may restore to normalcy. But, even after rebooting, if the problem persists, the only solution is to reinstall the Operating System or fix the hardware.

Later, the Screens of Death were not only referred to the Operating Systems, but also to the applications being used. While browsing some websites, we would see a small, yellow triangle popping at the right bottom of the Status Bar in Internet Explorer (from Microsoft :-)). This is called as the Yellow Triangle of Death and it indicates a JavaScript error (Website developers would know the real pain of fixing such errors). When I view my blog, I get this error and didn't know to fix it.

Two days back, one of my colleagues asked me to check whether the salary has been credited or not. So, I visited the Axis Bank site and soon after clicking the Login button, I was taken to the below page. I was a bit shocked to see the URL pointing to localhost. This is called as the Yellow Screen of Death (unhandled errors in ASP.NET web applications). The next day, I checked the site and it was fixed. I am sure the entire maintenance team would have been taken to task.

I had a similar experience when Hutch was officially rebranded as Vodafone. Unfortunately, I didn't blog then and didn't take a screenshot.

12 Angry Men

2010-03-07T07:35:00.001-08:00

A few weeks back, one of my cousins told me to watch 12 Angry Men. I hadn't heard of this movie and I totally forgot. Yesterday, my brother had watched this movie and asked me to watch it. He said the whole movie was shot in a single room. I got curious and today, I googled and downloaded the movie(Thanks! to Rapidshare).

This movie released in 1957 is about a jury of 12 men [only men, no women in the movie too :-( ], whose verdict will decide the future of a boy who has been accused of murdering his father. The judge requests the jury to provide a unanimous verdict(all 12 men should give the same vote). If the jury gives a guilty verdict then the boy will be given a mandatory death sentence (the electric chair).

The 12 men leave the courtroom and assemble inside the jury room where they are locked on an extremely hot day with a fan that isn’t working. An initial vote is taken and the 11 jurors vote guilty. The Protagonist, Henry Fonda votes not guilty and tries to convince the rest of them. The movie becomes very interesting when all the jurors gradually join him and vote not guilty. Only one of the jurors remains adamant and votes guilty. And finally the last juror after a long confrontation breaks down after glancing at and furiously tearing up a picture of him and his son. It is understood that this juror has not seen his son in two years, and his rage had made him to vote guilty. The final vote is unanimous for acquittal. All jurors leave and the defendant is found not guilty off-screen.

It seems the filming was completed after a short but rigorous rehearsal schedule in less than three weeks on a budget of about $350,000. Though the movie is not a suspense thriller, it needs appreciation for holding all the audience in a single room for 96 minutes.

Phir mile sur

2010-01-26T18:15:00.000-08:00

Zoom has launched the new version of "Mile sur mera tumhara" as "Phir mile sur". The video runs for more than 16 minutes. Some sites claim 60 celebrities while some say 70 icons have lent their support to this initiative. But, I could identify only 29 of them. Zoom has also given airing rights of the song to all major TV and Radio networks in the country. Today, I watched it in Times Now. Doordarshan with all its kendras is also expected to air the song. The song has been shot at many historical places.

The song starts with A.R.Rahman's music. In the beginning, I couldn't recognize the instrument. It looked like a Keyboard, but after sometime, I found it's name on one of the sides of the instrument. It's called as Continuum Fingerboard.

I thought Amitabh would come along with his son and daughter-in-law. He is the only icon from the original video to figure in the new one. Also, he is the only non-singer who has actually sung the opening lines himself. He sang in the backdrop of the Gateway of India. The song has also been shot near the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, where the 2008 Mumbai attacks had taken palce. The Shankar Mahadevan-Ehsaan-Loy trio sang near a sea-shore. I mistook the Sitar player Anoushka Shankar to Rukimini. She is the daughter of the Legendary Sitar Virtuoso Ravi Shankar.

Vikram sang on the shores of Elliot's beach in the backdrop of a Memorial. Many of us would have seen this memorial in a lot of movies, but we woudn't be knowing its significance. It is the Kaj Schmidt Memorial which was built to commemorate the gallantry of Schmidt, an European sailor, who had drowned near the spot trying to save the lives of others, on December 30, 1930. We have to thank the ZoOm team for shooting at this spot. Surya sang near a big stone, which I guess to be Mahabalipuram.

Aishwarya and Abhishek sang together in one of the temples. Mahesh Babu sang with a lot of elders and Zakir Hussain along with his two brothers gave a wonderful Tabla performance. Juhi Chawla sang near the golden temple. Shilpa Shetty sang with women installing Solar Panels. In Salman Khan's part, there was no singing. He, along with the deaf children sang the lyrics in sign language. Sivamani drumming in the water was very much different.

Amjad Ali Khan, the Sarod player performed with his two sons. K. J. Yesudas sang with his son and Mammooty, dressed in white dhoti did well. Louis Bank, the one who composed this music played along with his son. Shobana gave a Bharatanatyam performance. Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Aamir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar did their part well.

Abhinav Bindra, Vijendra Kumar and Sushil Kumar formed a tri-colored outfit. Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal and Baichung Bhutia were other sports-persons.

The song ends with the Army, Navy and Defence parading, leaving the viewer's mind with the spirit of Unity in Diversity. The "making of Phir mile sur" videos have also been released and it's worth watching them.

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

2010-01-24T06:16:00.000-08:00

A few months back, in Youtube, I was watching some of the old advertisements telecast in Doordarshan.

The videos were really nostalgic and I was taken back to the days of Doordarshan. Then, I saw the National Integration song. As a kid, I didn't knew the lyrics. Recently, from Wikipedia, I came to know that Mile Sur Mera Tumhara was telecast for the first time on Independence Day in 1988. Also, the song's lyrics are unique. The song has one phrase, repeated in 14 Indian languages, but Sanskrit is missing.

"Mile sur mera tumhaara, to sur bane hamaara", meaning "When my tune and your tune merge, it becomes our tune".

Many celebrities took part in the song, but I could recall:

Amitabh Bachchan
Mithun Chakraborty
Kamal Hasan
K.R.Vijaya
Revathi
Hema Malini
Om Puri
Shabana Azmi

Balamuralikrishna
Lata Mangeshkar

S Venkataraghavan
Narendra Hirwani
Syed Kirmani

Pratap Pothen
AV Ramanan

It seems ZoOm has recreated the iconic song and is ready for release. The video first premieres on 26th January, 2010 featuring more than 60 of India’s biggest names from Music, Bollywood and Sports.

Amitabh Bachchan is the only artiste from the earlier music video to feature in the new version. It would have been nice if they had included those in the original one too. Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Salman, Shilpa Shetty and Deepika Padukone are the other celebrities from the entertainment sector to be featured.

Let’s see if the updated version of the song lives to its expectations! Anyway Old is Gold! No one can beat the original version.

33rd Chennai Book fair

2010-01-03T03:49:00.000-08:00

I have heard about the book fair since my school days, but never been there. I was very much determined to go this time. My friends had given a very good feedback and asked me to visit it. Soon after getting the entry ticket, I entered the hall and was very much surprised to see the huge number of stalls. There were 466 stalls and I decided to go in an order from Stall 1.

Long back, I read the review of Akkaraipachai - Life of H1-B Software Engineer in the Land of Opportunity in Kungumam(Page 1, Page 2). Even the title is very catchy.

The author has written one more book titled Dhooram portraying the life in villages.

I went around the stall to get this book. But I couldn't find it. I have to buy from any of the book shops in
T. Nagar.

As I was moving around, I noticed a person whom I have seen in TV. I couldn't recall his name but wanted to get his autograph. So, I went to his stall and browsed the books. From one of his books, I knew he was Muktha Srinivasan. He has written a lot of books and they were very cheap. I went through the books and picked one. Its price was just Rs. 18. I had a guilty feeling and picked one more book. After paying for the two books, I went to him and asked for his autograph. He asked my name with a smiling face and autographed in one of the books.

I knew the story of Mahabharata from the TV serial broadcasted during the Doordarshan days. Now, I am very much eager to get the essence of our epics.

Rajagopalachari has tranlated the Thirukkural into English. Seeing his work on Mahabharata, I grabbed this copy. He has also translated the tamil Kamba Ramayana into English.

I would buy books online or from Landmark. The tamil books in Landmark fill only a few racks. But there were lots of tamil publishers in the stall. Only in this fair I knew there were a lot of Tamil books and novels to be read.

My younger uncle had told me that to know Spiritualism, there is no good book in any language other than Tamil. This book has simple explanations for most of the religious practices in Hinduism and provides the logical reason behind them.

I haven't read any of Vairamuthu's books. Seeing Karuvachi Kaviyam and Kallikattu Idhigasam, I bought them. There were lots of books written by Sujatha and I went for Moondru Kuttrangal.

Then, I visited the Krishnamurti Foundatation stall. Krishnamurti was one of the famous philosophers.

He has written a lot of books and most of them were costly. They offered this book at a subsidized price of
Rs. 50.

This book was earlier published as This Matter of Culture.

I have seen Nithayanda's talks in TV and Open the door... let the breeze come in... (Kadhavai thira...Kaatru varattum...) is one of his famous works.

Though the books are printed in India, still they are costly. I went through the collections and this book felt strange to me. This book is in the form of Questions and Answers.

One of the common question is Why do we worry?

It was already 5'o clock and I decided to leave. Then, I saw a book on Pregnancy and went inside the stall. There was a book on Sex. I just went through a few pages and it was very interesting. This book is a compilation of all the questions and answers available in Doctor NDTV. The series includes Pregnancy, Child Development and Adolescence too. I have planned to buy them in the future.

As I was moving to the next stall, I found a book on Diabetes. This book is the Indian version of Diabetes for Dummies.

Soon after coming out of the venue, I found a lot of old book sellers on the pavement. I didn't have the intention to buy, still I went and saw the books. Now, I have decided to buy books only at the book fair. Just waiting for the 34th Book fair.