Timeisthemaster

Thiruvannamalai Simply Divine :Part 3

2012-01-27T21:40:00.000+05:30

Thiruvannamalai Simply Divine :Part 3

While I'm sharing my thoughts and inputs from my experiences based on my visits to thiruvannamalai , i also referred some websites and resources for the same. When i started this search i landed up with a huge list of useful information on Thiruvannamalai , so thought of sharing the some references which will be handy during Thiruvannamalai trip

Sketch of the main Shiva Temple at Tiruvannamalai town by a 19th
century traveller. Behind is Mount Arunachala .

Here's a small documentary on Thiruvannamalai temple Courtesy :www.thiruvannamalai.in

It's always a pleasure to watch Holy Hills of Arunachala, came across this website which has good archives of Arunachala Darshan.

Glimpse of the holy Hill Courtesy : http://www.arunachala-live.com/

Some interesting Websites on Holy Arunachala and temple

http://www.arunachaleswarar.com/

http://richardarunachala.wordpress.com/
http://www.omarunachala.com

http://davidgodman.org/index.shtml

http://hellothiruvannamalai.com/

Feel free provide your inputs on other informative and interesting websites.

Thiruvannamalai Simply Divine :Part 2

2012-01-26T18:50:00.003+05:30

Thiruvannamalai Simply Divine :Part 2

Girivalam: Giri = Hill, Valam = circumambulation. Hence Giri Valam means circling the hill, The Thiruvannamalai Girivalam, is to circumbulate the holy hill. Girivalam Padhai is a 14 KM route around the hill , there are 8 Shivalingams enroute, as a matter of fact the first Lingam namely Indira Lingam is very close to the temple. There is lots of spiritual & scientific reasons on this circumbulation. “The greatness of this giripradakshina has been described at length in Arunachala Puranam. Shri Ramana Maharishi, has encouraged all of his devotees to make the nine-mile circuit. It's very good to do this girivalam by foot or through any motor vehicle or cycle, the road is well laid and well lit (Thanks to Super Star Rajini), who had sponsored the sodium vapour lamp en route. Sri Sadguru Seshadri Swamigal Ashram & Sri Ramnashramam are en route this girivalam. There are new temples that have sprung up , so are the Ashrams. Apart from the 8 Lingams, other important temple is "Ner Annamalai Temple", it's a pretty beautiful but small temple that houses Shri Annamalayar & Unnamalai Amman along side with Shri Gayathri Matha. An interesting info about this temple is on first day of Chitthirai (first month of tamil calendar) every year the Sun's rays fall on the holy sanctum.

Out of the new temples that have come up recently, the Chandra Lingam & Shri Venkatajalapathi temple is quite impressive. Shri Ramanshram has published a detailed map of around 52 temples around the Girivalam route. The detailed note of all the temples around the girivalam shrine is published in the following link of Agsthiyar.org website

Guide to Girivalam Temples: http://www.agasthiar.org/AUMzine/0009-gv.htm

Iduku Pillayar shrine:

Iduku pillayar shrine is a narrow a shrine with a narrow slit. There is a small Nandhi that faces the holy hill. It's very holy to worship the Arunachala Hill from this spot. The mode of worship in this temple is to pass through this slit without showing back to the hill. Doing such worship is believed to get rid of future births. As always, I believe there must be more scientific and profound reasons behind such process of worship. It was a great experience to get in and out of that shrine.

Other References:

http://www.omarunachala.com/giri.asp

http://www.thiruvannamalai.in/tiruvannamalai-temple/girivalam-Timing.html

http://www.agasthiar.org/AUMzine/0009-gv.htm

http://richardarunachala.wordpress.com/

TiMaS Tip: It's good to go around the hill by foot, however going around the hill through motor vehicles or cycle is easy , the road around the hill is well laid and lit. The auto wallas are available right outside the Main entrance of the temple near hotel Abirami., you can have your food and start from there ,The local auto wallas charge any where around Rs 200/- to Rs 250/- to go around the hill along with the 8 Lingams, Saibaba temple and Iduku Pillayar temple and back to main gate. There is Hotel Ramakrishna at the end of girivalam path. You can have food there once your girivalam is complete. It's a very peaceful experience to go around the hill, one has to experience that and there are no words to express the happiness one rejoices circumblating the hill.

Thiruvannamalai Simply Divine :Part 1

2012-01-09T09:08:00.001+05:30

Thiruvannamalai Simply Divine :Part 1

"By seeing Chidambaram, by being born in Tiruvarur, by dying in Kasi, or by merely thinking of Arunachala, one will surely attain Liberation." - Arunachala Mahatmyam.

The greatness of the holy hill of Arunachala, there are huge voluminous information of Thiruvannamalai. This post would be a handout for novice visitors. The portions of this series would cover brief introduction of places in thiruvananamalai that would be covered, good hotels for Veg food, convenient places for stay at different budgets, Giirivalam it's significance and temples en route the girivalam. The objective of this post is to plan an effective 2 full day stay at Thiruvannamalai.

Legend of Arunachala:
According to the legend, associated with the Temple, a dispute occurred between Brahma the creator, and Vishnu the preserver, over which of them was superior. In order to settle the argument, Lord Siva was asked to be the judge. Lord Siva told them that whoever was able to see his crown as well as his feet would be termed as the greatest. Lord Shiva is said to have manifested as a column of light, and then the form of Arunachala.Vishnu,took the avatar of varaha (wild boar) and dug deep into the earth to find Siva's feet but at last accepted defeat. Bramha took the form of a swan and flew to see the crown of Siva. Unable to see the crown, Bramha saw a thazhambu flower which had decked Siva's crown falling down. He asked the flower as to the distance of Siva's crown whereby the flower replied that he had been falling for forty thousand years. Bramha, realizing that he would not be able to reach the crown asked the flower to act as a false witness.The thazhambu flower acting as a false witness declared that Brahma had seen the crown. Siva became angry at the deception and cursed that Bramha should have no temple on earth and that the thazhambu flower should not be used while praying to Lord Siva. The place where Lord Siva stood as a column of fire to eliminate the ego is Thiruvannamalai.

Location:

The Holy Hills of Arunachala city is located about 180 kilometres from Chennai. The best Way to reach Arunachala is by road, which are well laid and gives a smooth ride, which is uncommon in India. Other means of transport is train, one can reach Tindivanam or Villupuram by train and then there on take road to Thiruvannamalai. The place is around 80 Kms from Vellore.

TiMaS Tip: If you are going from Chennai, either pick up cab from Chennai to and fro or if you plan to pick up cab at thiruvannamalai, reach out to some cabs or rental taxis from Tindivanam or Villupuram -pick up and drop. Normally people charge any where between Rs 8 to 11/- per KM for A/C Tata Indigo and Driver Bata of Rs 150 per day. You will get the best price if you can negotiate better and go through some local people. If you pay around Rs 8 per Km with driver bata of Rs 150 per day- you have a good deal for Indigo and for Rs6/Km for Indica

View Larger Map

Staying at Thiruvannamalai:
Thiruvannamalai has lots of hotels to stay and Ashrams also offer a good accommodation at affordable prices and depending on budget you can choose to stay you will get good facilities. If you are staying in Hotel, check with them before you start a day before to re confirm and in case if you want to stay in Ashram, you need to book anywhere between 3 weeks to 4 weeks ahead of time. All these hotels and Ashrams have online booking and telephone booking. When you are booking through online or taking a package through IRCTC check for the discount code and promotional code if any, you can get some good bargains. Best time to visit Thiruvannamalai is during off season especially during week day, and you can negotiate on the tariffs and get good discounts during off season

TiMaS Tip: Please choose a place close by Sri Ramanashram if you do not have cab. If you have a cab then you can choose the places near Polur road or at the end of Girivalam path. Do not choose accommodation close to temple because it's crowded and has issues with traffic and you may have to always head towards the Chengam road or Polur road to go around places. The temple is easily accessible at a radius of 3 to 4 Km on either side.

Wish you a happy and prosperous New Year

2012-01-02T00:37:00.001+05:30

Timeisthemaster wishes you a happy and a prosperous New Year

Sunday Thought : AN INSPIRING STORY OF OUR LIVES

2011-12-18T22:52:00.000+05:30

A group of alumni, highly established in their ... careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. Savor the coffee, not the cups! The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

From: spiritual-short-stories.com

Birthday Wishes to Super Star

2011-12-16T21:52:00.000+05:30

Here is a glimpse of India Glitz compilation of tinsel town celebrities speaking on Superstar Rajinikanth and spill the beans on interesting behind the scenes experience, working with the ace star and a lot more.. timeisthmaster wishes Happy Birthday to Super Star...

Things to note while buying Android smart phone

2011-12-06T17:56:00.002+05:30

Andoroid Smart phone is everybodies fantasy.But the challenge is how will you choose one.Last time i bought a cellphone was in 2005. Post which i was given a black berry and i never had issues with the set i got ,till very recently the handset took a retirement after a long dedicated service. I was looking for a good handset .The specification of the requirement has also changed over a period. I would have never imagined that I'd be blogging using my mobile .It used to be a humor when someone told that my phone has washing machine on it now it could be a reality with an iPhone or an android application . I had a great challenging experience while selecting a shop and phone. Here are some of the tips before you buy android phone.

Android version : latest android version can be a key differentiators. Check for the latest version of the android OS. Unlike iPhone the android devices do not get a software update. To ensure that you can have best value out of your phone make sure you have latest OS or at least 2.2 & above.

Battery life: check for the battery life since you would be using applications that might use lots of power

Hardware features :

Camera specifications higher the resolution better it is. Look out for both primary & secondary camera (front &back). Check for the software of the camera sometimes poor camera resolution & software can prevent you from having the best utility.

Screen resolution : higher the resolution better the experience. Look for touch wiz specification
CPU : check for processor specification.
Key board : check for the type of key board & means of input their software specification.
These are some of the points that will be useful when you buy an android phone ,there are many more however based on the budget one can decide on the same

Eating Healthy : Desi Mexican Wrap - Recipe

2011-11-26T22:02:00.000+05:30

Week End is back here, since it's a rainy day again. Was chatting sitting in the balcony and discussing about various stuffs..in short chit chatting ..soon topic shifted to foods and snacks in various countries and i was sharing my experiences of Mexican food. It's said ,Heaven is when you have an American Salary, British house, Chinese food and an Indian Wife. Not sure why Mexican food or Mexican girl friend is missed in the list ;-) This is a season of fusion, be it music or Movies rightso why not an experiment on the Mexican and Desi food combination. I call it as "Desi Mexican Wrap"

Required:
Sweet Corn - 3 Cups; Grounded Pepper 3 Tbsp, Salt 1 tbsp, Hing 1/2 tbsp, Chopped onion 1 cup , Chopped Tomato 1 cup, 1/2 Cup chopped coriander , flattened rice flakes, ground nuts, 10 tortillas, Cheese as required.

Step 1 : Mix the boiled sweet corn with chopped onions, tomatoes, green chillies,ground nut, flattened rice flakes

Step 2: Add the grounded pepper with Tomato Sauce for taste

Step 3: Heat the mix for 10 mins and prepare Masala corn mixture

Step 4: Heat the tortillas on the pan

Step 5: Fill the Tortillas with the masala corn mixture add cheese if required

Step 6: Wrap the tortillas and fry in the micro wave for 30 sec and serve hot

rain in balcony , hot Desi Mexican wrap, masala chai .and i call it as ...forget it.....try and let me know what you call it as

Assorted Platter - It happens in India

2011-11-19T23:41:00.001+05:30

Satyam's Ramalinga Raju, two others get bail : Two years and nine months after he was jailed for admitting his role in India's biggest corporate scandal, B Ramalinga Raju, the disgraced promoter of Satyam Computer Services, is set to walk out as a free man. On Friday, the Supreme Court ordered his release on bail saying that no useful purpose will be served by keeping him and others in jail as the prosecution was at the fag end of presenting its evidence.

This happens only in India, people like Ramalinga raju who have cheated people, spoilt the careers of more than 50,000 people walks free without any punishment. There are more people involved in this scam at a higher levels than Raju. It's not possible to commit the scam of this magnitude and walk out freely without spending even a small time in Jail. Most of the time Raju had spent in hospital stating he was not feeling well. Then there were hue and cry on his several hundred visitors in hospital but he was not able to co operate with CBI. Even the investigation report ran several thousand pages, even if some one has to go through and give the punishment, it will take several decades. So by design itself , the Raju's case was itself a mere eyewash.

In countries like US, financial frauds of ENRON, Allen Stanford , Rajarathinam have been dealt with excellent efficiency , this kind of enforcement will only can act as deterrent in future scams. On contrary, In India all these scams are orchestrated by the politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen, hence the guilty when caught also easily slip through the gaps of the law.

UID data not secure, says Chidambaram Home Minister P Chidambaram has said that the biometric census done by the Unique Identification project does not pass security criteria. Say's a CNN-IBN news, It also says it has accessed Chidambaram and the Registrar General's letters red flagging the biometric data collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Pro is opposite for Con..what is opposite of "Progress"

Kingfisher needs to be helped out: Manmohan Singh : Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday assured that the Government would find ways to get Kingfisher Airlines out of the trouble, just when civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi seemed to have distance himself from any “bailout” for the troubled airline. Ravi’s clarification follows criticism by both, the Congress and the BJP on Friday of any move by the government to bail out Kingfisher. Both parties had pointed out that as a private airline, it was Kingfisher’s duty to find ways to remain viable and the airline should shut down if it cannot sustain itself Speaking to reporters on board Air India One, Singh said though the private sector should be more efficient, his government would try to find ways to get Kingfisher out of trouble and that he would speak to Ravi about this issue

Not sure whether somebody informs on the losses and issues of Air India (ET article), so that Govt can intervene there too. There is a crappy statement made on Tax..paid by these companies then what about the taxing that happens on Fuel prices in India.. 40% fuel price is made up of taxes..will Govt bail out of the personal or business debts of everyone filling petrol or diesel.

Here is are couple of Videos on Kingfisher and Vijay Mallaya, for the reader to decide on what his view is all one could say is this can happen only in India

Eating Healthy :Yummy Corn Delight - Recipe

2011-11-19T22:35:00.000+05:30

It was rainy day in Chennai, and as usual power was off, I was looking outside my window an idea struck me, and i came up with this "yummy,light,delicious and healthy" recipe. It is "Yummy Corn Delight".

Required:

Sweet Corn - 1 Cup; Potato 1, Carrot 1, Grounded Pepper 3 Tbsp, Salt 1 tbsp, Hing 1/2 tbsp, onion ,coriander for seasoning, Corn flour.

Method:

Step 1: Boil Sweet corn, Potato and carrot. Ensure that it's completely boiled. Peel the Potato and carrot skin.

Step 2: Mix the grounded pepper, hing,salt and prepare Pepper mixture

Step 3: Add the pepper mixture with the boiled corn, potato, carrot and grind into into a form of a dough.

Step 4: Roll the dough with the bread crust and prepare the roll and dry it for 5 mins

Step 5: Fry it the pan and ensure that the oil is completely strained with the help of suitable strainer and tissue.

Step 6: Garnish with onion, pepper powder and serve it hot with sauce

This is a good rainy day snack that has good calorific value and a balanced diet. Since this uses pepper instead of chilly, it's very good for health and gives a great company during rain. ting healthy, is the motto of the day. Many a times when i say people to be diet conscious, they look me upon and say healthy foods are not delicious and difficult to prepare. I disagree on this. I always say, all it requires to shift into a healthy diet is will to change.

Try this on a rainy day with the people whom you love ...you will know where is heaven.

Lateral Thinking and Fun

2011-11-01T08:31:00.000+05:30

Quick wit, is an important factor to keep the audience engaged. Some interesting answers though may be incorrect factually, but can sound right logically. Most of the interesting retorts in the history have word smiting and based on play of words. These are the outcomes of the Lateral Thinking. Our Ancestors used some indicators for predicting weather, here's some one who is using those logic :-) :-)

The History has a huge list of intelligent and quick wit people who have tackled complex situation with their intelligent answers. From India we have examples like Birbal, handling Akbar's puzzles ,Thenali Raman resolving Sri Krishnadevaraya's complex questions. Britain's Churchill has been a person who had been know for his spontaneous with witty replies.. Our Engineers are smarter today !!!

Here's series of Q &A's which uses lateral thinking. Many say this has been answers given in UPSC test, however the authenticity could not be traced out.

1.How can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
2 If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall,how long would it take four men to build it?
3 If you had 3 apples and 4 oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in the other hand, what would you have?
4 How can you lift an elephant with one hand?
5 How can a man go eight days without sleep?
6.If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become?
7.What looks like half apple ?
8 Bay of Bengal is in which state?

Answers
1.Concrete floors are very hard to crack!

2. No time at all it is already built.
3. Very large hands.(Good one)

4 It is not a problem, since you will never find an elephant with one hand.

5. No Problem , He sleeps at night.
6. It will Wet or Sink as simple as that.
7: The other half.
8 : Liquid

Assorted Platter - Steve Jobs

2011-10-30T11:14:00.000+05:30

Steve Jobs, enough has been spoken and written about his contribution and the innovation revolution he created through APPLE. Walter Isaacson's comprehensive biography of the Apple chief weaves together the story of Steve Jobs. A Must Read for any of the Steves Fans, and any one who would think to make it big in their chosen field.

All About Steve portal built in the Memoriam of Steve, looks into the bio summary of Steve's life. Provides some interesting facets of Steve on stage, @ work, @ home his inspiration , his Pics. I enjoyed every component of this portal, it gave a complete feeling of going through a bio pic of an ultimate icon of inventiveness who knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century with technology.

Steve's had been the topic of various news papers in the last few days,
Times of India explores 15 Little Know facts on Steve in it's compilation special slide show.

This article is not about Steve but about the product developed by him iMAC, Business Insider report says People Who Use Macs At Work Are Richer And More Productive, it says "In a report released yesterday, analyst David Johnson recommended that IT departments should formally support Macs as well because the best employees prefer them and are bringing them to work anyway." You can catch up this article @ http://www.businessinsider.com/mac-users-are-more-productive-2011-10#ixzz1cEzZfmlK

Wilson Great Batch - Implantable pacemaker inventor

2011-10-30T08:07:00.000+05:30

People are born , people die, but a very few would transform the life. The world is a better place today because of this transformers. The world mourns for those who had impacted them..

Here are two people whose inventions and innovations transformed life, one on business ,and other on Health.

Wilson Greatbatch (September 6, 1919 – September 27, 2011) The man who invented the first practical implantable cardiac pacemaker, Wilson Greatbatch, has died in Buffalo, New York, aged 92.

He was not the first to come up with a surgically implanted pacemaker. That happened in 1958 in Sweden, using a device designed by Rune Elmqvist. But the pacemaker failed after three hours and was replaced with a second one that lasted two days. An improved version of the Elmqvist pacemaker was implanted in February 1960, in Montevideo, Uruguay. That device functioned successfully for nine months, until the patient died. The Greatbatch pacemaker featured a mercury battery that last for two years. He later acquired the rights to a newly developed lithium-iodine battery, which proved even more effective.

Inventing was Greatbatch's lifelong passion. In 1998 he was admitted to the National Inventors' Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio.He held more than 350 patents and was a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Lemelson–MIT Prize. In 1983, the implantable pacemaker was named one of the 10 great engineering contributions to society in the part 50 years, by the National Society of Professional Engineers.

In later years, he invested time and money in developing fuels from plants and supporting work at the University of Wisconsin in Madison on helium-based fusion reaction for power generation.

He also visited with thousands of schoolchildren to talk about invention, and when his eyesight became too poor for him to read in 2006, he continued to review papers by graduate engineering students on topics that interested him by having his secretary read them aloud.

The American Heart Association says that more half a million pacemakers are now implanted every year., in America

TiMaS Salutes - The Inventor who elongated Life of Millions of people. People like Greatbatch may have left their earthly body, but their inventions are eternal

Source:

Wikipedia

New york Times

BBC News

Diwali Wishes

2011-10-26T22:43:00.000+05:30

Wishing All the visitors "WISHING YOU A HAPPY DEEPAWALI"

R K Laxman - 90 years

2011-10-26T17:40:00.002+05:30

RKL & RKN two brothers without whom the Reading Indian Childhood is not complete. An inspiration for any one who would like Political Satire

7 Best Practices to keep the brain active while aging

2011-10-17T18:35:00.001+05:30

Aging - the defining activity that everyone is constantly engaged with. Sometimes it appears that life's objective is to get old. One thing that accompanies old age is a series of deterioration of performance - in all ways :-), including the mental efficiency. It's strongly possible to keep up the spirit of youth in all kinds of performance. All it takes is practice. Here is an excerpt compiled from various sources on the account of keeping the brain active even when you age.

Many scientists say, Depression, drinking, tension tends to deteriorate the performance of the brain. Having a proper breath control, practising music that requires breath control. Trying something new, beating monotonous life style. Learning some thing new, giving exercise to brain etc, can help in improving and sustaining brains efficiency despite aging. Here is a summary of best practices to keep brain active.

Source :http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/diet.html

Food Habits: Healthy foods,like vegetables, leafy stuffs, fresh fruits tend to keep brain active. Especially vegetables like Ladies Finger, Brahmi Leaf, Valalrai leafs, are said to have positive impact on brains efficiency. Avoiding fat rich content is good to keep brains efficiency intact.
Exercise: Physical fitness has a great length impact on sustained efficiency of the brain. Walking, Yoga, breath control exercises will help a long way in this regard
New Ventures: Try some thing new, keep learning and embark on some thing that you have never tried before. A constantly renewed attempts in life keeps your brain active
Appropriate Rest:Brain like any other machinery requires timely over haul and rest. 6 to 7 hrs of sleep is mandatory to keep the brain efficient.
Sufficient Mental work: Just like physical work keeping the body active, mental work will keep the brain active. Try solving crosswords,remembering things, names, phone numbers. Don't use calculator for simple arithmetic. Try chess. It's an amazing brain squeezer.
Reading:My favourite author Sujatha, in in his article for youngsters said, read at least 4 pages related to learning and knowledge everyday in a year you would have read 1200 pages of knowledge content. Yes.. Reading keeps the mind active.
Good Habits: Good girls hardly make into history, but god habits play a key role in remembering history and ensure the experiences and knowledge is converted to intelligence and efficiency . Avoid smoking, alcohol and other intoxicants that can act on your nerves. Remember nerves are wires that connect brain to various parts of the body. It's important to keep them well maintained. Ensuring a disciplined lifestyle enables a better efficiency of brain. Try Meditation and stimulating hobby .

Source:

http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/diet.html

http://www.aan.com/

http://www.franklawlis.com/

http://www.bri.ucla.edu/

Assorted Platter - Happy Birthday Google

2011-09-27T08:21:00.000+05:30

There was this friend who used to talk a lot about Vedic Maths. Once he said, Indians were advanced in Science & Maths. Recently came across this article in which researchers from the universities of Manchester and Exeter say a group of scholars and mathematicians in 14th century India identified one of the basic components of calculus

Calculus created in India 250 years before Newton

The "Kerala school," a little-known group of scholars and mathematicians in fourteenth century India, identified the "infinite series" — one of the basic components of calculus — around 1350 Dr. George Gheverghese Joseph, a member of the research team, says the findings should not diminish Newton or Leibniz, but rather exalt the non-European thinkers whose contributions are often ignored. "The brilliance of Newton's work at the end of the seventeenth century stands undiminished — especially when it came to the algorithms of calculus. "But other names from the Kerala School, notably Madhava and Nilakantha, should stand shoulder to shoulder with him as they discovered the other great component of calculus — infinite series."

India has been a land of Innovation and advanced sciences, the universities like Kanchi, Nalanda have been standing epitomes of knowledge even before the wester world realized the concept of Universities. Innovation, it reminds me on the series in Discovery "My Technology" . Here is a classical example of Indian Innovation -suffice to prove Innovation can happen anywhere

When talk about innovation, it's not possible to avoid talking about google. The company that has transformed the way we live life. Google began in March 1997 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Ph.D. students at Stanford^[1] working on the Stanford Digital Library Project (SDLP). For More history of this innovative company , i'd recommend "Google Story" . Today Google is 13 years old, but it's as new and latest. There are very many reasons to be happy and delighted about google. For me personally google has been a source of great support. I'm sure it would be for everyone. A dependeable friend who will never let down for personal and professional support. Here is the Beta Screen Shot of google when it was launched 13 years back.

Snippet about Google - Doodle: The first Google Doodle was in honor of the Burning Man Festival of 1998. The doodle was designed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin to notify users of their absence in case the servers crashed. Subsequent Google Doodles were designed by an outside contractor, until Larry and Sergey asked then-intern Dennis Hwang to design a logo for Bastille Day in 2000. Hwang has been designing the Google Doodles ever since. Clicking on a Google Doodle links to a string of Google search results about the topic.

Google doodles have been produced for the birthdays of several noted artists and scientists, including Andy Warhol, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Rabindranath Tagore, Louis Braille, Percival Lowell, Edvard Munch, Nikola Tesla, Béla Bartók, René Magritte, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Akira Kurosawa, H. G. Wells, Freddie Mercury, Samuel Morse, Hans Christian Ørsted, Mohandas Gandhi, Dennis Gabor, Constantin Brancusi, Antonio Vivaldi, Abdel Halim Hafez, and Jules Verne among others.

Today's google doodle is on Google's birthday - It's really difficult to imagine life without google especially on the cost & effort that would have been spent otherwise.

Many More Happy Returns of the Day - GooGle

TV and it's Impact - 1

2011-09-05T01:13:00.002+05:30

TV has become part and parcel of life.,Was on a vacation for last 5 days in a place where there was no access to media, Internet, or telephone. Life is pretty cool and peaceful without these.Truly, Life was much better when Apple and Blackberries were just fruits.

TV is an important form of social media and for sure has greater impact on our day to day lives.

In SuperFreakonomics - part 2 of freakonomics there is a survey on Impact of TV on Indian women, the message that came out was very intriguing than what the perception collectively is.., there are some hard data based conclusions on where awareness has improved on issues like lower birthrate, wife beating acceptance levels, girl child education, preference of girl over boy at households etc...the article say's peoples point of view has changed because of the TV .. but authors did not know anything that had Govt interventions in India has never ever been proper, effective and above all reached the appropriate people.. so no wonder when someone draw a comparison between Govt initiatives and their impact with reference to anything , results of Govt's initiative would be always inferior

" TV somehow seemed to be empowering women in a way that Govt interventions had not"

Coming back to the point .. the survey result did not talk about is number of households that had lost peace, happiness and closeness within the family by the advent of this TV syndrome...India's strength lies at it's family structure and bonding. But the TV seemed to have taken over the space and time that family used to share before TV percolated like this.

How about TV's impact on men..may be that qualifies for a separate post. For sure, Indian men would not have known Mandira Bedi and cricket would have remained a gentleman's sport only

between happened to watch neeya naana.. interesting point of view on reservation in Jan Lok Pal team ...now things will turn nasty.. unfortunately ruling party did not know how to kill this Jan Lok Pal.. this one point is sufficient to dilute and kill Jan Lok Pal. Media has done it's part by blowing the issue out of proposition and went back to Cricket mania..some peoples 1 Hr to 12 Day fast would now go for a toss..between if many did not understand what is 1 hr fast.. there are instances where people had fasted in between breakfast and Lunch as mark of protest in India. So all that matters is 15 sec visibility in media and news channel. Rest all can be left in history books for the next generation like the satish acharya's cartoon below..

The experience of living without the TV disturbance and the moment the break was over and TV was at high volume in the drawing hall had prompted this blog...

(to be contd...)

Anna's Protest - e-Media , economics and twitter

2011-08-20T22:24:00.003+05:30

Here is a different perspective on Anna's Protest , there seems to be interesting economics around it. Media which encashed on IPL is now cashing on the Anna's protest. Anna launches a protest a week before IPL and there is hue and cry all of a sudden on the day IPL inaugurated in Chennai, Anna calls of fast stating promises of some politicians from the ruling party. I do not understand, even a 3rd class fail will not believe in the promises of politicians ... how did the so called civil society members , many of them are IPS, IAS believed in a party that did not do any good to people for last 50 + years when it was in power will immediately do good..Now they are crying foul when the politicians have rejected their version.

Coming back to the point, Here is a sample of report published in Moneylife -Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption campaign was an unexpected money-spinner for broadcasters

According to the report by Esha, the news monitoring agency, the coverage of the hunger protest at Jantar Mantar was a business delight for TV channels. The report says that on 5,657 video clips of the protest broadcast between 3rd April and 11th April, the channels earned Rs 175.86 crore.

It's not only the media but also the social media like the twitters and Facebook are running high temperature on Anna's issues

Here are some sample

Anna Hazare Fast - Reactive Lok Pal Protest

2011-08-20T11:40:00.000+05:30

Anna Hazare's Movement against corruption, has got unprecedented public support in the recent past. India has been lead by a party that always against progress . The democracy is supposed to be "By the people , For the People" of India.. but off late this has become a single family property not only @ centre but also across states.

It's very obvious why Anna's movement is getting such a huge support. Support to Anna is the representation of public resent against the nepotism, corruption and inefficiency of Govt which a common man is already fed up with . It's really worrying , that people who are at the top leading the country are not aware of the ground realities or they are pretending to be so.

Is the awareness sufficient...does people of India do have any way to punish the corrupt. Is Lokpal the only solution..I do not think so. There are various ways in which this could be achieved. I'm personally of the opinion..all the systems today we have is reactive, What is required is a system pro actively do not allow corruption to happen. The process should so effective that it has appropriate checks and balances to prevent people from getting their hands on the corruption.It will take a very long time to awaken to that system.

Till then any agitation is not going to do any good to people.other than increasing the TRP Ratings of the TV channels.

One good thing Anna's movement had done is it had made the common man to realize the present Govt which is a "Masala -Mix" of series of corrupt political people across parties is not doing any good to the people of India. It's made up of selfish people who look only for their personal gains.

Treasure trove of gold in Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple

2011-07-03T22:39:00.000+05:30

Sri Ananthpadmanabhaswamy Gopurams Sparkling like Gold during Lakshdeepam- May be it was communicating the message that it was "Golden Temple"

"Treasure trove of gold in Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple". - is the headlines today. The Padmanabhaswamy temple has turned out to be one of the richest shrines in the country overnight.The ongoing valuations of the temple jewels stored in the chambers of the temple has been reported to be more than Rs1 lakh crores. The list of jewellery reported is very long and seems to be old by several centuries. It would take some more time for the details to emerge, however it's no doubt that the treasure found would have the Antique Value. It seems that there is no specific way to evaluate the Gold Value for the antiques, so the real value for this Gold is not measurable by the face value of the Gold and would be multiple times more than what is being debated.

The news of Sri Ananthapadmanabhaswamy temple also reminds of the richness of the cultural heritage and wealth that is available in India. Looking back at history, India has been invaded and plundered in the past by Mongols,Turkish and many more..How much of wealth would have been robbed.

Assorted Platter : Snippets read in web

2011-06-25T01:07:00.000+05:30

Twitter has become a powerful means of communication, just happened to stumble upon somethings on tweets and blogs

Snippets:

The world consumes 2 quarts (approx. 2 liters) of oil per person per day
You burn about 100 Calories for every mile (60 Calories/km), whether you walk or run.
The average person has at least 6 pounds (about 2.7 kg) of skin
A hard working adult can produce up to 4 gallons (15 liters) of sweat a day

Source : http://twitter.com/wisegeek

If you have a twitter account, the above pages provides step by step process for updating your profile picture and personalize and make it look more authentic. How to Update Your Twitter Profile Picture? Source: http://www.trishtech.com/

Read in a Blog: http://arvindsdad.blogspot.com/2011/06/complaint-letter.html

COMPLAINT LETTER TO THE RAILWAYS IN 1909!!!

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Okhil Babu's letter to the Railway department:

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I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with lotaah in one hand and dhoti in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man and female women on platform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station. This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report to papers.

Okhil Chandra Sen wrote this letter to the Sahibganj divisional railway office in 1909. It is on display at the Railway Museum in New Delhi. It was also reproduced under the caption Travellers Tales in the Far Eastern Economic Review.

Any guesses why this letter is of historic value?

It led to the introduction of TOILETS in trains in India.....!!!!

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So please don't think any idea is stupid and discard it. Always Speak up.

Read in PKP.in:

If you would like to print the content in the web on the paper, you should have started as early as BC1800

If internet is printed,

Useful link:
BSNL has the telephone directory online. An useful reference handy and probably we can get off with the heavy pillow sized directories moving forward.
http://www.bsnl.co.in/map.htm

Found on the Web:

Frustrating Autos to Pleasnat temples all in Chennai

2011-06-19T19:49:00.000+05:30

Chennai has never failed to amaze me, currently reading the book on Madarasapattinam by historian Narasaiha. Spending week ends in Chennai has always been a trouble. Frankly speaking there is not much of the places where one can hang out during week ends in Chennai. How many times a person can go to Kishkinta, or Express Avenue. Moreover , Chennai's only attraction that has a repeatable opportunity is Beaches(Eliot and Marina). I' have my own concerns in going these places during crowded times.Traffic has deteriorated in Chennai. Did not think it would be pathetic of all cities i had been. This is a snap shot of the a typical week end.

I had a meeting in Anna University on Friday. It was at 6:00 PM in the evening. I started around 5:00 PM from my home with an umbrella. I stopped the Chennai's most corrupted system of transport - Auto. One autowala asked Rs120/- and other Rs 100 and one another Rs 80/-. I thought for a while, there is an variance of more than 50% on the rates. I called up my father and enquired what will be the appropriate charge for Anna University from T.Nagar Bus Stand. He said, it would be around Rs 35/-. I had to take a bus since i could not find even a single auto that could drop less than Rs 80/-. The Bus Charge was Rs 3.50/-. While coming back, i again enquired few autos, this time it was flat everyone asked me Rs 120/- (from Anna University to T. Nagar). A good example of cartel. I again took the same bus in the return route the charge was Rs 3/- only.

How come there could be so much of variation in the auto charges ~ which clearly means there is not guideline to this. None of the parties in Tamilnadu have guts to take these people on and put a control on this, since 50% of the autos are owned by party men or policemen, i'm informed. Best choice i adopt today is Fast Track or Friends Track call taxis. I hired a taxi to go to the

We went to the Neelavarna temple in Nanmangalam , near Chennai. It was really great experience but sure test for our patience. It's a beautiful small temple. There was not much of crowd, but the gurukal over there took his own sweet time for completing his pooja and we were waiting outside since the temple could accommodate only a small group of people. All my frustration vansihed when i stood in front of Sri Neelavarna perumal and Thayar. Same gurukal impressed all our family with his hearty sankalpa and pooja. I was really happy when i saw he offered all the flowers to Sriman Narayana without ignoring even a small flower. The prasadam - tamrind rice was good and very good quantity. Later we went to Lakshmi Kuberar temple. Unfortunately the temple was closed and they said there is a temple for Araikasu Amman. However the Araikasu amman sannadhi was closed. But there was sannidhis for 108 ammans and karupar.Would write about them individually in later post

Assorted Platter : Entertainment

2011-06-19T19:26:00.000+05:30

Today, there are n- number of avenues for showcasing creativity and skills. Fastest way to reach people on their work today is thru facebooks , blogs and tweets. Found an interesting teaser for a short film, in tamil. Was very creative.

The recent entertainment , The IPL T20 matches have more bollywood presence than cricketers themselves. What makes the TRP to shoot up are the damsels of all woods cheering their favourite teams. I do not follow the IPL matches , however it's really difficult keep your eyes off the colorful and vivacious moments of the actress. Right from the colorful opening ceremony in Chennai where Shriya Saran, Celina Jaitely performed on the ground/stage to the every moment that is captured on Priety, Shilpa or Divya Spandan or Deepika, attracts more viewership than the cheer leaders. Not sure what happened to IPL night parties, which was a key element of attraction in the last IPL season.

This is also an improvement in , earlier it used to be only Mandira Bedi who would keep the viewers glued to the TV sets.

Guess What this was the headliner in most of the websites for the last couple of days, Deepika's latest boy friend Sid - got cosy with deepika in a recent IPL match.

Assorted Platter :212 degrees to Steve Jobs

2011-06-19T19:23:00.000+05:30

Many a times wedding becomes an object of humour. Most of the time wedding turns out to be issue because the bride and bridegroom does not understand each other. The compatibility analysis was performed through "Astrological Match Making", given today's love marriage scenario most of the time these astrological stuffs have been ignored.

No Man Can Ever Be Satisfied with 4 things in life. (1) Mobile (2) A utomobile (3) TV (4) Wife because there is always a better model in neighborhood .

Recently came across, an article on "35 INTIMATE questions to ask your would-be!" by Khristina Patra in http://indiwo.in.com/ . This is pretty logical and looks into aspects of Money Matters,Career Aspirations,Medical Aspects,Behavioural Aspects,Sexual Awareness and Social/cultural/religious issues.

I do agree with the final words of the author There was this interesting debate on inspiration. The classic example on change of perspective is the concept of 212 degrees. The Concept of 212 Degrees -- one tiny degree between 211 and 212 degrees, but it makes all the difference in the world. Just like it is in life and business, the difference between running with the pack and leading the pack is that small extra degree of effort, focus, determination.

"there is no way to be 100 per cent certain about how your marriage will turn out, but if you have the answers to these sensitive questions, you sure can go a long way"

Perseverance Matters !!!

When i mention about perseverance , one name that comes to mind is Apple's Steve Jobs. This man is amazing. Fighting a cancer in one direction, this guy has made some thing that is near impossibe. As Bluewater president Darren Davis says, "His innovations command front page news, speculation of his health affects the stock market. Not bad for a college dropout". His life is now in the form of comic book. Bluewater's biography of Jobs comes well ahead of an authorized biography by Simon & Schuster biographer Walter Isaacson. Dubbed "iSteve: The Book of Jobs," that work arrives next March.