Kumar Gandharva - how to tell a story.

Dear rasikas,
Thanks to my good friend Varsha, I am revisiting some great moments with Kumar Gandharva over the years. I want you to enjoy these two WONDERFUL narratives about a man who discovered God through music:
1. Shabnam Virmani's classic : http://bit.ly/kumargkoisuntahai
2. Films Division Documentary on Kumar Gandharva: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLw5sZ273vM

A few things for those few who may not know Kumar Gandharva:
-b. 1924 near Dharwad, began singing famous Bal Gandharva and other masters' songs at the age of 8, well enough to merit the title Kumar Gandharva.
- was a star already when he enrolled in Deodhar music academy in Bombay for methodical training.
- married his own student Bhanumati in mid 1940s.
- was stricken with TB and doctors said he didn't have a chance to sing any more, and he went away to Devas in Malva region of MP a sad recluse.
- was nursed back to health by his wife in mid-50s, and rediscovered himself and found a new path to music through Kabir Vani.
- created a new chapter in Hindustani music shorn of gharana tabs and sang thematic concerts for many years afterwards.
- lost his first wife, a great woman...remarried another disciple, and left behind a great legacy and many talented students.

Coming to these two films, unlike many films I have seen especially on South Indian artistes, these two films are not a series of eulogies using words like fantastic, incarnation, prodigy, musicians musician and so on; they are carefully-worded sincere (non-self-projecting) attempts to describe what was unique about the man and his music, with examples and musical audio/video clips. At the end of it all, you are left in a world of music and artistic sensibilities that go beyond hagiography.

The visual content of the films is also very artistic and moving.

I will surely recommend this as a BIG Sunday treat!!!

Ciao
Sachi R

Slouch trouble

From Economic Times Corporate Dossier today:

Life has no clean lines.

Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram - values to live by

The expression "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" invokes very happy vibrations in most Hindus. This expression is associated with the Vedas (Rig Veda, Rudra worship etc.?) and comes often in discussions of Adi Shankara's works. I read this morning a chapter on Saundarya Lahari - interpretations by the Kanchi Paramacharya. He explains that Devi, the mother goddess, is depicted by Shankara as the ultimate confluence of overflowing love = goodness and physical bodily beauty and that confluence can happen only in godhead. Man connects with everything that is beautiful and good instinctively, and that is because these values seem intrinsic to the loftier ideals of humanity.

I think Plato talked of Truth, Beauty and Goodness as abiding values for the philosophic progress of mankind. I just found a fine lecture by Steiner in 1923 on this theme.

Therefore these values of "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" = "Truth Goodness and Beauty" seem universal aspects of philosophical thought from time immemorial.

Osho has given a series of very beautiful lectures called Satyam Shivam Sundaram. He says that whereas "Sat-Chit-Anand" is a goal to be pursued in meditation, Satyam Shivam Sundaram is the external manifestation of the same ultimate reality that we can connect with in the world of creation.

Precisely. I think all values and philosophies start with me, as the perceiving, thinking, living entity. Without me, there is no Satyam Shivam Sundaram. Just as all conceptions of God, whatever religion and whatever deities we may worship, are only projections of our own philosophical pursuits and values.

Poetry and prayer are rooted in our conception of God or the Ultimate Reality. We can build fantastic treatises and books of prayer to expand this, and expound to others our thinking. That results in cults and religions. That results in beautiful works like Saundarya Lahari.

We can even connect mathematics, geometry, physics, music, art, and everything else in human artistic and scientific endeavour to this basic infrastructure of values of Truth Beauty and Goodness. Fundamentally, it all starts with human consciousness. That is the core principle. So Ramana said, ask yourself, "Who am I"
When I understand universal connectedness of consciousness, I think I have arrived. All the books and songs about "truth, goodness and beauty", and even, let me say it, Raj Kapoor's eponymous film, are entertainment on the way. It is like keeping school children entertained in a picnic with songs, dances and games so they don't get lost in the woods!

Now my own thoughts.

The first, truth, is something absolute, unassailable, undistortable. All pursuit of reality has to be based on truth. Truth is beyond sentiment, beyond preferences, beyond distortions. Of course absolute truth is beyond comprehension. But pursuing truth as a value is something like taking in a pathology report or a school marks card or report card. We may like to see something else, or we can project it into the past or future, but truth is something which is 100% The Present, not memory or wish. It is the basis of any progress. It is a bit like walking. In order to take the next step, I have to deal with the reality of the earth beneath my feet.

The second, goodness, is even more separated from my own preferences. When I see goodness, I have to appreciate it even if it is against me. For example, if I have a need for something selfish or mean, and someone is being good in denying me this, I have to deal with it. In fact if I am very self-centered, I often do not see goodness. I can be childish, churlish, corrupt or mean. I need to pursue the value of goodness by overcoming this. Goodness here is not a quality like fresh or pleasant, don't believe the ads. Goodness is an intrinsic quality of loving and giving. It is in the people, and even in abstract ways in things, like the cool and still water that nourishes the thirsty birds and animals in summer or the early morning sun.

And beauty is about MY preferences and desires! I like a sky-blue colour for my car. I like a nice warm pinkish glow in the cheek of a baby. I like the sparkle of beautiful music, the striking appeal of a well-done dance movement. Beauty is an ideal that exists in the abstract, but lives in my consciousness. That is why the bard said beauty is in the beholder's eye.

Now why this sequence? Because truth is inviolable and cannot be wished away. It is something universal. Goodness is a real, palpable, feel-able thing, for which I have to go beyond my selfishness and ego. Goodness connects me with the rest of humanity and creation. And beauty is a luxury, a value that I will embrace when I become a fuller being, a more developed consciousness. In fact at that level, it makes the three-fold value my personal path to liberation.

Truth goes beyond you and me. Goodness starts with you. Beauty starts with me. But to pursue the trio, my consciousness is the basic pre-condition.

Sunday @ the park

Sony Xperia Z photos

In the silence of the night

My newest Gizmo Sony Xperia Z

Well, I shall act all proud and shy and what not as you applaud my newest acquisition bought with hard earned money and hard suppressed craving. It's the latest and greatest Sony mobile phone. It is the sixth Sony phone I have owned. Apple and Sony are my two favourite gadget brands. Unlike Bose with which I have an uneasy intimacy, with these two I have pure love. I forgot to list Canon DSLRs and Lumix point & shoots. For their design, user interface, quality, reliability and long life. My second android phone this, sports everything I want in a phablet, and works fine as a phone too. I was one of the first to own it in Bangalore, but they sold four more in the same Sony store as I was standing at the checkout. Waterproof, full hd, lots of cool apps. Like blogger here. Well, talk to you soon with pics shot on this 13MP camera!

The Dying Indian Post Office.

Today's ET shows what I had been suspecting all along. The Indian Post Office is a dying phenomenon. Far gone are the days when we we waited for the postman with bated bath to bring us news of IIT admission, someone's job or wedding or a new arrival. Gone too the days when we had so much pleasure going and buying lovely postage stamps with lovely pictures of famous people or lovely art. Gone too perhaps the postal savings scheme and such. The PIN code we proudly show in everything called our postal address, is more like an epitaph to a dead institution.

When I lived in Germany, Australia and Singapore, when I used the US Post, I saw how cheerful those places were. They sold a lot of useful things, apart from postal stationery. They sold packing boxes and prepaid speed post envelopes. Hardy covers that would proudly withstand the ravages of transport and proudly declare where their trip began, when delivered with your lovely handwriting to your near and dear ones far away.

When I sent a lovely book recently by speed post to Canada, at a fraction of the cost of a private courier, the Indian Post delivered it fast and safe. Even today, we can't help going and checking every day our post box at the gate for some nice surprises. Alas, we find some useless handbills for pizzas and Andhra Chicken Biriyani.

Why can't we use our national imagination to make the Indian Post Office the centre of our social life? Here are a dozen ways we can bring the glory back:
1. The Post Office handles all postal and courier parcels with guaranteed efficiency and speed at lower cost and basically becomes the first mode of delivery. Revenues will grow 10X.
2. They have door to door pick up and delivery for a convenience fee.
3. You can buy all your stationery needs.
4. You can buy school books.
5. You can do your health insurance.
6. You can do national postal savings.
7. They offer all payments online through a single gateway with a credit card tie-up with SBI.
8. They offer scanning, faxing and binding services.
9. They have community events in each locality.
10. They offer special door to door service to all senior citizens.
11. They have special school events and projects.
12. They tie up with Railways to showcase how Post and Railway are big national integrators.

By doing all this, we will be using prime-location, trusted, government real estate for doing what the government can do best to serve the community well.

A story about three grains of wheat.

I heard this story from Osho.

A king was about to retire and wanted to select one of his three sons to inherit the reins of his kingdom. He called them all and told them that he was going to decide who among them would make the best successor. He gave each of them a grain of wheat and said they should each do what they deemed fit with the grain during the next couple of years when he would be gone on his travels.

On his return, the king called each son to narrate what he had done with the grain of wheat.

The first replied, 'father, as your successor, I should preserve the safety of our kingdom. I understood at once this grain of wheat is your metaphor for the kingdom. Here it is, I have kept it safe in a gold box.' When the box was opened, the grain looked wasted and dead.

The second son replied, 'father, I knew you wanted to test how well I would inherit the richness of our kingdom. The wheat grain was your metaphor for our wealth. The wealth of a grain is in its eating, so I cooked it and ate it up.'

The third and last son told his father, 'father, I request you to come with me to see what I have done with the grain'. He took him to a field, and showed a rich harvest of wheat. He said, 'father, the true potential of our kingdom is to grow and prosper. I knew your grain was your metaphor for the productive potential of our land. I took it, sowed it, and turn by turn, it has grown into a lot of wheat here in this field'.

The richness of life is in its living and growing. Not being hoarded away like gold.

Various mobile Internet options

From the "Right Choice" magazine:

Eating a Gold Dosa.

I admit I am a bit backward, because I did not see this BBC news item or read in the papers how a Darshini type of joint in Malleshwaram is making a killing selling Gold Plated Dosas.

My first reaction is disgust. As someone who travels long distances to eat good dosas, I have an intrinsic adoration for dosa as a divine food article. But I also know that many Indians regard Gold to be a symbol of all that is good and holy. Today our country has more than 750 million hungry and poor people because other people have been stashing away their wealth in idle gold so it appreciates and they make a killing, instead of employing their wealth in productive activities.

Gold represents all that is worldly and self-seeking and NON-productive. The Indian mind is warped and ill. Hence the craze for gold. And now will I eat a Dosa costing Rs. 1011/-, because it has a gold leaf stuck to it, whereas a decent dosa should not cost you more than Rs. 50/-?

Modern medicine says all heavy metals and heavy metal salts are TOXIC. The most benign explanation of the "pure" gold leaf's edibility is that it will not be digested and go out with the faeces the next day.

Ancient people used to take gold as medicine and as a fortifier because of myths. The rich people of the world today lace their chocolates and drinks with gold foils to show off. But a Darshini dosa costing Rs 1011/- because it has gold foil stuck on it...It is simply REVOLTING.

But I was revolted when I heard about a Devi temple built in pure gold by some self-made god-man. I think I have a problem with the obsessions people have with gold.

PS: I am amused when the rich poor young lady says in the video that the gold dosa is ISO certified. She doesn't know that ISO standards are not endorsements for products but a certificate for factory processes. I don't think this guy has any ISO process. Perhaps the municipal hygiene inspectors would have eaten his dosas before signing off his shop certificate.

Sharing photos with friends

Way back in 2001, my uncle celebrated his 100th birthday. It was a great event in the extended family, and I had great pleasure in meeting so many relatives and celebrating the grand old man's birthday. My uncle was fully active, healthy, happy and could remember names and details of all his relatives of four generations there.

I also had a camera which I had just purchased in Japan, the Sony DSC-P1. This camera made lovely 1 MP photos which I could see as I shot them, and I could also share them via the Sony photo sharing application on the Internet. Overnight, lots of people in the family around the world could see the birthday photos and feel happy.

Since then, I have shot and shared several thousand pictures. I am into my dozenth digital camera, and I have the cult camera Canon 5D Mark II which shoots in 21 MP and HD Video using a full frame sensor!

The beauty of digital cameras, whether they are the ones on your cell-phone or other DSLRs or Cybershots, is that

1. You can compose and optimize the photo as you shoot it.

2. Show it around right away.

3. Save it on your computer for future viewing.

4. Share it on the Internet.

By definition, digital cameras have a way to transfer the photos to your computer from the camera either directly using a USB cable or by removing the memory card and attaching it to your computer through a USB card reader. Once the photo is stored on your computer, you can use your Google or Yahoo account to upload the photo to a web album and share it.

Step 1 : how to transfer photos from camera to computer using Picasa

Step 2 : How to share pictures on web albums:



S. Balachander talks about the Veena, tanam playing and ragas

S.  Balachander (photo from Srutimag Blog)

There is a wonderful LecDem delivered at Indian fine Arts Society in 1985 by the veena virtuoso S. Balachander. It is available online at Sangeethapriya.Org for your listening or download.

The talk is over 90 minutes long and covers various aspects of playing the veena and the ghana-raga tanam. Balachander explains how his style of play leverages the left hand and comes close to vocal music:


Click here:
http://bit.ly/SBalachanderLecDem

S. Rajam - a genius beyond all labels

Thanks to Dr. VKV, I was able to buy the Kalakendra DVD on S. Rajam and watch it.
Congratulations to SB Khanthan and Lalitha Ram. They have produced a long documentary and tried to capsule the man's multifaceted genius. A number of distinguished musicians, artistes and others describe him and his greatness as it touched them in reverential joy. But I feel the labels are all like flowers that adorn a beautiful deity in such a way that we feel finally the flowers are only a token of our devotion, they can hardly embellish the true beauty of the idol.




I learnt to my astonishment that Sri Rajam-
...Learnt music from Balu Dikshitar, Papanasam Sivan, Muthiah Bhagavatar and Madurai Mani Iyer and many others.
...Learnt Purandaradasa krithis from Smt Lalithangi and won a first prize at MA in his teens, where she also competed and was placed second.
...learnt art and later visited Ajanta and decided to chalk out his own path with watercolours and brushes
...mastered and a taught 72 melakarta compositions of Koteeshwara Iyer
...tuned Sarvam Brahma Mayam in Madhuvanti
...was a famous extremely handsome film star when S Balachander, the brother was much younger and unknown
...could draw at 70 as he could draw at 25, and sing too the same way
...taught a song to anyone who asked, even someone on the street opposite BVB in Mylapore
...discovered the beauties of so-called Vivadhis and sang them so positively as to earn praise from SSI
(That's like a master discovering hidden beauty, flowering potential and fragrance in plants we long neglected in a well-tended garden showing off the roses and dahlias)
...created masterly multilayered watercolour works to embody the visualisations of Dikshitar and Thyagaraja and others...
...was least rewarded by the Carnatic community for his unremitting labours of astounding creativity.....

Yes, the labels fall off this man. Should we hail the era and milieu that gave birth to this man, or thank God that we breathe the same air that he breathed?

The survey of Carnatic music rasikas' preferences

Go through the survey results compiled and saved here:
http://bit.ly/YmYZPK

The survey attracted 293 responses to the four key questions.

The answers showed that musicians and rasikas have a clear ranking of attributes in their minds of what constitutes good Carnatic music.

An analysis showed that there was no significant variation of ranking patterns among respondent sub-populations.

The confidence level of 95% with 293 sample responses represents only 5.7% error margin even for an assumed large population of one million rasikas.

The top attributes of Carnatic music voted are:

1. Shruthi-alignment
2. Bhakti/Bhava of lyrics
3. Niraval and Kalpana swaras
4. Alapana Virtuosity
5. Trinity Compositions
6. Ragam Tanam Pallavi
7. On-stage Chemistry including accompanists
8. Big Six Ragas (Kalyani, S'bharana, K'priya, Todi, Bhairavi, Kambhoji)

Hopefully musicians and patrons can derive some insights from this survey.

Ciao

Wow, blazing broadband at 999 all told

Installed ACT fibre/Ethernet at home. Performs at >15X speed that I was getting with BSNL BB Combo! See acttv.in for details.

Radio- the greatest thing that happened to Carnatic music

A country of 1.3 billion people, many in corners unreachable by land air or water can listen to and enjoy the best of Carnatic music. Whatever instrument or voice, is recorded with fidelity. The announcers show respect for the artistes and the composers. They make you want to listen to it more and more.

Sick people, old people, poor people, uneducated people, unhappy people, drunks and derelicts, derive a connection with the best of Indian culture instantly. 24x7.

Artistes don't need to supplicate to Sabha secretaries. They need no guru recommendations. They can be handicapped, infirm, poor, ugly, incapable of selling themselves. All they need is to do well in the audition, and find their way up.

Famous musicians who want to navigate the popularity charts, who want to guide public tastes, who want to pay their tributes to their inspirations, can do so in an emphatic way, with reach and impact like no other medium.

Students who want to learn new krithis, understand the maestros, study the great composers, can do so. Almost at no cost.

Can we say Thank You enough to All India Radio? It is the modern avatar of devarshi Narada.

"nArada bittida dhareyoLage".

Internet on the Mobile

I have been using the Internet on my mobile phone for over 11 years now. Of course I have used during this time a high-end "smart"phone with a slick interface, fast processor, camera and memory on board.

But you will be surprised how good even the basic Android phones are today.

In order to use the Internet on your phone, you need to have :
1.A phone with features like E-Mail and Internet Browser. This is different from SMS & MMS.
2. It should have a good enough memory capacity ( at least a couple of GB).

Then you need a phone connection with either 2G or GPRS service or a 3G service.
When you get the connection, the phone company will help you via SMS or via phone call, to set up your mobile for Internet access.

If you don't have your phone set up for this service, you cannot access emails or browse the Internet from your phone.                                                                                                                                                              

Í currently DON'T USE my mobile phone 2G or 3G network for Internet, since I have multiple computers and iPads and I want to reduce my bills. By not accessing the 3G service on my mobile phone, and by changing my service plan (Airtel example shown above), I have saved more than 50% of my phone bills! I used to pay over 2000-3000 Rs a month, now I get around Rs 1000-1300 Rs a month. That's for my smart phone.

I have an iPad 3G on which I have a 6GB+ Internet connection with a flat Rs.900 pm plan.

So summary of tips on using Internet or Email on your mobile phone:

1. Make sure you have a phone with EMail  and Internet features.
2. Set up your 2G or 3G service plan with your mobile service provider based on your planned usage.
3. Use the mobile internet SPARINGLY or you will run up huge bills.
4. If you are a smartphone user with heavy on the road usage, go in for a large screen/phablet device with a 3G plan like my 6GB plan. 
5. Use Wifi wherever possible (surely at home, office and common places like Coffee Shops and Hotels where they will give you courtesy access).
6. Turn off the Mobile Data while roaming or using Wifi as inadvertently you can run up huge bills otherwise.
7. Remember, watching You Tube clips, downloading concert MP3 files, or similar heavy files can be costly on a mobile phone.
8. Always sync your phone with a computer to save/back up contacts and photos/videos/audio files.

You can check the speed of your internet connection at speedtest.net. 2G  gives me download speeds like 1.7 MBPS and 3G on my iPad gives me above 3 MBPS (sometimes 7 MBPS!) with Ping below 70 ms. Wifi is a bit slower, thanks to BSNL, but I have a Rs 1111 plan with a 15 GB limit there.

India does not really have a 4G network yet. 

For those who do lots of office email:

Go for BlackBerry. They have good plans and use a BlackBerry server for mail as well as BB messaging (it's like SMS but more private).

If you really want lots of apps on your phone, some wonderful camera work, and want to show off your Internet skills, Android or iPhones are better.

3G Tablets are for those who consume lots of  You Tube videos, movies etc. as well as read ebooks and blog etc. on the move. 

Read more about Airtel Internet from their website by clicking below:

Link: http://www.airtel.in/wps/wcm/connect/airtel.in/airtel.in/home/foryou/broadband+and+fixed+line/

Prayer to the Goddess - inside story

Today's Sunday lunch was with close friends. The topic first was how all husbands are really under the wife's thumb, so to speak. But then again, if you see the tomes of prayer to the goddess, it is obvious men worshipped women's great goddess-like qualities.
See this picture. The book of prayers to the goddesses is 3 times the size of that to gods.

So shall we conclude that men worshipped their women as goddesses?
But wait! The real story of these prayers was revealed at this juncture by a scholarly and witty lady. We all know that the great rishis never wrote their works down, it was the disciples who heard and wrote down the verses in Kannada etc. Sorry, folks,  there seems to have been a small typo or transcription error. For example,

If what is written is
OM MAHA RUPINYAI NAMAH - OM, Prayer to the great beautiful goddess!
The actual could actually be ( say it loud - they both sound the same)
OM MAHA RUPINI YEN MAHA - OM, Big deal! Why should I call you beautiful goddess?

So I list some common prayers and give you the suggested real meaning.

1. OM TRIPURASUNDARI YEN MAHA - OM, Big deal! Why should I call you the most beautiful in the three worlds?
2. OM JAGADDHATRI YEN MAHA - OM, Big deal! Why should I call you the support of the universe?
3. OM SARVADUKHAHARINI YEN MAHA - OM, Big deal! Why should I call you remover of all sorrow?
4. OM VARADAYAKI YEN MAHA - OM, Big deal! Why should I call you giver of boons?
5. OM SHARANAGATAVATSALAA YEN MAHA - OM, Big deal! Why should I call you loving saviour of those surrendered to you?
6. OM SARVAPARADHAKSHAMAPINI YEN MAHA - OM, Big deal! Why should I call you the forgiver of all misdeeds?
7. OM LOKAMOKSHAPRADAYAKI YEN MAHA - OM, Big deal! Why should I call you giver of liberation to mankind?
8. OM MANDAHASINI YEN MAHA - OM, Big deal! Why should I call you one with the gorgeous smile?

Ode to the Obnoxious

Ode to the Obnoxious

Oh you scums that come in late,
And amble pompously to front-row seats,
Throwing broad smiles, snooty glances,
and looking propahly bored throughout!

Don't bloat when musicians bow to you.
Don't gloat as sabha cronies scrape to please you.
Take your business elsewhere and spare us your presence.
Throw your weight without a care, but spare us this excrescence.

If you want to cultivate culture, mend your manners.
Bring in your bourgeoisie bums, but without banners.
Avoid your antics, crass officious intents, and irresistible
Sudden cellphone urges. Or evaporate into thin air.

Those with weak bladders, wear adult diapers. If the music
Bothers you, amuse yourself outside with tepid pakodas.
Music halls need decorum, you're not here for whiskey and rum.
We, seated at the back,would like to give you a real smack.

Remember, those 'Reserved' placards on your seats
Look like they're from the coffin house.
You're anyway walking dead in concerts.
God save our music.

- Sachi R


The Hindu, which should be described as the ultimate Panchanga for all things pertaining to the South Indian way of life, published this piece called December Mist and Magic.

Credit card fraud

This came in today's ET. It gives the process for making complaints in case you're wrongly charged on your card due to fraudulent misuse.

Modi talks of how new-age India can tap opportunity.

Several months ago I shared here the impressive speech of the Singapore PM about the development of that island nation. Now I share the pitch delivered extempore by Narendra Modi, India's new-age leader, who has just started his fourth term of leadership of India's most exciting development model state Gujarat.

So what are the different buttons an Indian leader can push compared to Singapore PM talking of development?

Skills. 65 percent of Indians are less than 35 years of age and can be the new-age superpower when properly skilled..mentions 1000 skills.

Scale. Modi talks of double digit agri growth, 80% milk yield increase, and looking to become the supplier to the global economy rather than being Walmart's biggest customer.

Speed. When governance makes things happen, becoming a catalyst of enterprise.

Watch this video,you're sure to be inspired:

Shocking Spelling.

Trust the Germans always to be richtig,
They're well known for their fetish.
They now invent a pen, that checks as you write
It vibrates in despair when your spelling isn't right.

They call it 'Lernstift' - yes it sounds like an abuse
But your writing's all awry, as Germans would accuse.
Gone will be days when people spelled as they wished.
Nobody will write letters saying their spelling is swished.

Becos the pen will korrect every word gone rong
This 'write right' rite sets the mood all wrong.
I question all this buzz, why make such a big fuzz?
There's Spellcheck and Gummi to fix what Bleistift does.

Safer Internet.

The Young World article in The hindu today:

Osho: Worshipping a Tree

From The Discipline of Transcendence:

If the child is forced into a dogma, into a dogmatic ideology, then the ego will gather, then the ego will become Christian, and the ego will be against the Hindu and against the Mohammedan. Then the ego will become Hindu, and will be against the Christian and against the Mohammedan. But if the house is really religious -- by religion I mean meditative, loving -- they help the child to be, but yet without the ego. They help the child to feel more and more the affinity, the unity, that exists. The child has to be helped; he is helpless, he does not know where he is, he does not know where he is going. If he is loved and there is a meditative rhythm in the family and the family vibrates with silence, understanding, the child will
start growing into a more organic way. He will not feel himself separate, he will start learning how to become part. That has not happened. I am not telling you to have any grudge about it -- but you can do it right now. You can stop helping your ego and you can start dropping the burden. Make it a point not to miss any opportunity where you can feel one with anything. If it is a full moon night, feel one with the moonlit night. Allow to flow... stream with it, dance, sing...and drop your ego.

There is nothing better than dance for dropping the ego; hence I insist that all meditators should dance. Because if you go really in a whirlwind, if you are really a whirling pool of energy, if you really are in the dance, the dancer is lost. In the dance the dancer is always lost. If it is not lost then you are not dancing. Then you may be performing, then you may be manipulating, then you may be doing some bodily exercises, but you are not dancing.

Dancing means so lost, so drunk -- and enjoying the energy that is created by dance. By and by you will see your body is no more so solid as it was before. By and by you will see that you are melting; the boundary is losing its sharpness, it is becoming a little vague. You cannot exactly feel where you end and where the world starts. A dancer is in such a whirlpool, he becomes such a vibration, that the whole life is felt as in one rhythm.

So whenever you can find a time, a place, a situation... you are in love with somebody; don't miss this opportunity. Don't talk nonsense, don't bring your ego and bragging. Drop that! Love is tremendously divine, god has knocked at your door. Be lost. Hold hands with your woman, or with your man, or with your friend. Get lost! Sing together, or dance together -- but get lost. Or sit together -- but get lost! And feel that you are no more an individual. Sitting by the side of a tree, get lost.

That's how it happened to Buddha. In that moment the bodhi tree and Buddha became one. For five hundred years after Buddha, Buddha's statues were not built. Instead, only the bodhi tree's picture was worshipped. It was tremendously beautiful. Those people must have understood. Just the bodhi tree was worshipped. In buddhist temples there was just a symbol of the bodhi tree. Because in that moment Buddha completely disappeared.

He was not there, only the bodhi tree was. He was completely lost. Disappearing, you appear. Non-being is your way of real being. And this can happen in ordinary life. You need not go to the Himalayas or to a monastery. There are millions of chances in ordinary life, millions of momentous situations where this can happen. You just have to be a little watchful and a little courageous to use them. Once you start using them, more and more situations will be coming. They have always been coming, but you were not aware so you missed them.

Sitting on the beach taking a sunbath, melt with the sun. It is an energy experience. Suddenly you see you are nothing but sun energy. Melting and meeting with the sun, hindus came to worship the sun. They said, 'The sun is god.' They said, 'The moon is god.' They worshipped trees as divine. They worshipped rivers, mountains.

It is very significant. Wherever it happened that they met god... sitting by the side of a river, listening to the beautiful music of the river, seeing the beautiful patterns of ripples, if they got melted, dissolved, the river became the god. It happened there. Sitting on a lonely mountain, they dissolved and disappeared -- that mountain became their god.

God comes in millions of ways to you, but your ego never allows you to see him. And he comes in such ordinary ways that you miss. He never comes like a monarch with a great procession, with a great band and noise and fuss. He never comes like that. Only foolish people do that. God comes very silently -- he never comes shouting, he comes whispering. You will have to be very quiet to understand his message. It is a love whisper. And man tends to forget the natural.

Sita's abduction: an allegory for art?

(source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/8247537.cms )

These thoughts are bouncing around in my head for some time. I have been listening to classical music for over 50 years, and have known many musicians well. I can be called crazy about Carnatic music.

The wonderful Barbra Streisand has a website called 'Art in the pursuit of Truth'. The following is a quote from Einstein:

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives. 

Why are children so beautiful? Because they seem to be in an innocent search of life, beauty, truth or whatever you wish to call it. In fact Tagore says that

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man. 

 Is there some deep drive within man that makes him pursue art? I believe the answer is yes. The impetus for creative arts is in my opinion a deep-seated search for truth, or bliss, or beauty, call it God or whatever, and this search begins in childhood.

Definitely the ultimate inspiration for great art cannot be just fame or fortune or success. The lure of success and wealth and fame comes to artistes no doubt, at some stage of their lives, but that is not what made them start their journey.

There are many skilled, workman-like practitioners of art, who have been pushed by parents or teachers or even some circumstances to pursue artistic careers. I am not talking of them here. I am talking of those who stake all, who pursue art with a madness of excellence, and who think it is above everything else. To me, their search begins with that search for beauty, or truth, or bliss, that beckons to them early, and makes them strive for it, through the medium of art.

Now, along the way, in fact I think in 100% of the cases of artistes, I have also myself felt in them, and heard them talk about a deep feeling of an unfinished journey. That is even the title of Yehudi Menuhin's autobiography. I have read about such feelings expressed by great poets like Milton and Tagore. By even scientists like Einstein, who demonstrate an artistic creative genius. No artiste has ever said, 'I have achieved all and my journey is finished.' I am not talking of mystics, I am talking of artistes.

In their journey, the artistes are followed by their audiences and avid followers whom I call rasikas, who find in them an unassailable charisma and an irresistible aura of even divinity. That is because, I believe, even rasikas are in the same quest. Their quest for truth or bliss or beauty is silent, whereas the artiste is gifted with the power of expression. It is a blissful, sometimes stressful journey, but according to me that journey is never finished.

That means that ultimate goal is never reached.

That is because, according to my hypothesis, art is a mirage. It promises truth and bliss, but never delivers it. It draws you far and away, with the chimeral, charismatic attraction of the magical golden deer, who lured Rama in hot pursuit. Rama, the artiste, ever devoted to truth and bliss and beauty called Sita, who pursued art to fulfill Sita.

Lakshmana was the rasika, equally devoted to Sita, or truth, and in total adoration of Rama, the artiste. When he heard the call for help by the feigned voice of the artiste, he ran to help him. That was also a magical trick of the golden deer.

What finally happened? Sita, or the allegory for ultimate bliss, truth, or beauty, was abducted. By Ravana, who stands for the worldly lure of existence. In hindsight it is maya. But in that moment, the world conspired with art to lure the artiste away in a path that promised fulfilment. Of course, truth is never abducted, but the artiste and the rasika both lost sight of it until the big battle to overcome worldly lure afterwards.

So Rama is the artiste, Lakshmana is the rasika, Sita is the ultimate truth or bliss or fulfilment. Mareecha is the allegory for art, that makes the artiste rise to extraordinary effort.

In other words, according to me, art never delivers the ultimate fulfilment for the artiste. Unless he becomes the mystic and gives up the 'practice' of art and surrenders to Life, or Existence. In Zen, they say that the artiste finally breaks his lyre, and attains Nirvana.

So Ramayana, the greatest epic, narrates the story of the artiste, art, rasika, and worldly lure, in an interplay for the pursuit of truth or bliss.

What do you say?

PS: did I hear 'Lakshman Rekha' mentioned? Sorry, the original Ramayana had no such thing. Read Valmiki.

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Lee Kuan Yew on India

See this extract from his article published in today's TOI wherein he gives reasons for India failing to fulfill its potential for greatness.

Indian currency most undervalued vs. its purchasing power

Read this!
http://www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index

Indian Rupee is the MOST UNDERVALUED by more than 50% vs. US$.

What this means is that if  I can buy the same goods in USA and India, I am better off converting 100 dollars into 5500 Indian rupees which will buy me the goods for 200 dollars.

Wow!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Money Matters.

If I have a bank account which allows e-banking, and I also have a valid credit card, I can do the following with a computer+Internet:

1. Check my bank balance and transactions. So no need for statements or passbooks.
2. Issue Demand drafts and send them by courier without leaving my couch.
3. Transfer money to other bank accounts in the country, or any bank account worldwide.
4. Make FDs.
5. Sell and make investments like in mutual funds.
6. Pay bills for utilities like electricity, water, telephone and pay Income Tax.
7. Donate to charity.
8. Purchase goods and services at e-shopping sites like Flipkart, eBay, Jabong, Landmark, etc.
9. Purchase music and movies online at iTunes etc.
10. Settle credit card dues of any type.

Click here to see this e-banking demo by HDFC Bank

Email basics

Email is something I use very often. In fact I find that email is much better than postal service because:
1. It is virtually instantaneous.
2 I can send the same Email to many people at the same time.
3. I can write long or short emails.
4. I can attach articles, photos, links to other Internet documents or sites etc.
5. I can reply to other's emails.
6. I can store thousands of emails at no cost.
7. I can track conversations I.e. the original message, the reply, and its reply and so on.
8. I can search for old emails and information in emails instantaneously.
9. I can store emails in folders.
10. I can attach details of person's address, phone number, website etc. along with his email ID in Contacts.

Emails are stored in servers like Yahoo or Google.
So you need to type the words 'Yahoo mail' or 'GMail' in the browser address bar and click. Once you go to the correct site, you have to sign in with your name (also called ID or sign-on etc.) and then the password.

Each email ID is unique. One person can have several email IDs. They will all remain separate and be stored and viewed separately. You cannot access two Yahoo mail accounts or two GMail accounts on the same computer at the same time.

An email ID looks like
rsachi@y7mail.com.

It is a good idea to create your email ID which is easy to remember.
Never give your password to anyone else!!!

Don't put your phone number, credit card number, or passport number etc. as your email ID.

It is also not a good idea to share email IDs between people and read/reply using other people's email IDs.

Start your email journey now. Click on the link below and read the articles in this excellent website for more information!

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/emailbasics

Facebook. The billion dollar questions you may have.

So should you or should you not sign up for Facebook?

Facebook is the fulcrum of a global phenomenon of connectivity, for people
to easily chat,
share news of their lives,
send photos, videos,
and gossip.
It is also a means to rise and shine socially.

It can also be used for 'networking' within groups of friends.

You can even advertise,shop etc.

So should you sign up? Well,it is all up to you.

I do have concerns about Facebook being an easy way to let others know inadvertently about your life and I do believe you have to be VERY careful on Facebook.

What are the  positives of Facebook? It is VERY easy to use!
To chat, share photos, to send messages, etc. It works from any smart phone also.

Click on the line below for some gyan on Facebook:
Face book details

Osho: what does it mean to be selfish?

From The Discipline of Transcendence:

YOU HAVE TOLD US MANY TIMES: BE SELFISH. WHAT IS IT TO BE SELFISH?
Drop the self. Because that is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you. That will be the greatest contentment that can come to you.
Drop the self, if you really are selfish. If you really want to be blissful, drop the self -- because self is creating all your miseries and all your hells.
Difficult, because it looks like a paradox. But have you watched? All miseries come to you because of your self, because of the ego. You are hurt again and again, you suffer so much because of the ego. It is like a wound which remains always alive, and anything, even a breeze, a cool breeze, hurts you. Somebody smiles and it hurts, somebody laughs and it hurts, somebody is going on his way, maybe lost in his own thoughts, not looking at you, then it hurts.
Mulla Nasrudin was saying to his wife, 'Don't annoy me any more! You are irritating me!' And he was really mad.
The wife said, 'But I have not said a single thing. I am doing my work.'
Mulla said, 'That's why. You are keeping so quiet, it is annoying. For god's sake, say something!'
Now, if you keep quiet, then too somebody can get annoyed. If you speak, then there is trouble. Ego is ready to be hurt; it will find ways and means to be hurt. So a person who lives with the ego, with the self, is not really a selfish person, he is a foolish person. Because he only suffers. What type of selfless selfishness is this, if you only suffer?
I show you the way: drop the self. Forget all about the ego. Be as if you are not, exist as an emptiness, and see -- millions of beautiful experiences become available to you. Everything becomes a deep, satisfying experience. Everything brings a gift, a grace. Everything becomes a benediction.
The ego is always expecting and hence always being frustrated. The non-egoistic person expects nothing, hence everything is fulfilling; whatsoever happens is tremendous, whatsoever happens is fantastic. Even if he comes across a small grass flower, he is hypnotised by it. 'So beautiful a flower! And I have not done anything, I have not deserved it, and it is there just waiting for me.' Just looking at the sky, and he is fulfilled. Just listening to the birds, and a great song arises in his heart. Then everything fulfils him.
Remember, frustration is out of expectation, and ego is always expecting. The ego is a beggar.
I have heard a beautiful Sufi story.
A beggar came to an emperor and the beggar said, 'If you are going to give me anything there is a condition.' The emperor had seen many beggars -- but beggars with conditions? And this beggar was really strange, a very powerful man. He was a sufi mystic. He had charm, a charisma, his personality had an aura. Even the emperor felt a little jealous. And conditions?!
The emperor said, 'What do you mean? What do you mean by your condition?'
The beggar said, 'This is my condition: I accept only if you can fill my begging bowl absolutely.'
It was a small begging bowl. The King said, 'What do you think I am? Am I a beggar? I cannot fill this dirty small begging bowl?'
The beggar said, 'It is better to tell you before, because later you can get into trouble. If you think you can fill, fill.'
The King called his vizier and told him to fill it with precious stones: with diamonds and rubies, emeralds. Let this beggar know with whom he is talking! But then there was difficulty. The bowl was filled but the king was surprised -- as the stone fell into it, it would disappear. It was filled many times and each time it was again empty. Now he was in a great rage, but he told the vizier, 'Even if my whole kingdom goes, if all my treasuries are emptied, let them be -- but I cannot allow this beggar to defeat me. This is too much.'
And all the treasures, it is said, disappeared. By and by the king became a beggar. It took months. And the beggar was there and the king was there and the whole capital was there and everybody was wondering what was going to happen, what would happen in the end. Everything was simply disappearing.
Finally the king had to fall at the feet of the beggar and he said, 'Forgive me, but before you leave just tell me one thing. What is the secret of this begging bowl? All has disappeared in it.'
The beggar started laughing. He said, 'It is made of human ego. I have made this begging bowl of a human ego: everything disappears in it, nothing ever fulfils it.'
It is a tremendously beautiful story. That's what is happening to you. It is not a story, it is your life. You go on putting in your begging bowl houses, cars, bank balances -- everything disappears. Again you are empty. Never any satisfaction, never any contentment. Again you are begging. You have been doing it for many lives. It is your story. It is literally true, it is not just symbolically true. It is a truth in everybody's life, in every man's life.
We remain a beggar. The begging bowl remains empty. It seems it has no bottom to it. You drop anything, it simply disappears.
The ego is never fulfilled. So the egoist is a person who is very unselfish. Remember this paradox: the egoist is a person who is very unselfish, because he is never fulfilled. The non-egoist is a person who is very selfish because he is fulfilled. He attains to bliss.


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Better be safe than sorry! Computer dangers

Most of us are afraid that computers can be dangerous and destroy
1. Our health
2. Our wealth
3. Our relationships
4. Our physical safety
5. Our mental well-being.

Let me tell you what I do to use computers safely:

1. Health and ergonomics
I do not use computers for long hours at a stretch. I take breaks in-between. I sit in a well lit room and adjust the monitor brightness so it does not burn my eyes. I sit at a comfortable height and work with my hands and neck placed at the right angles. I don't strain my wrists by continuous stress. I don't play sound too loud. I don't watch long movies or videos.

2. Financial safety
I do net banking and online purchases. I use HDFC Bank which prides itself on net safety. I use Visa card with 128 bit SSL along with Verified by Visa double security. After many years I can state I have never lost a penny because of computer thieves. Once, someone in Amsterdam at a store used my credit card to steal some 28000 rupees. I lodged a complaint with Amex over phone and they refunded the amount to me. But this was Card theft and not computer theft.

3. Social risks
I do not risk myself hobnobbing with strangers on Facebook or Twitter or Yahoo Messenger. I protect my phone number and address in all online chats etc. I believe the mobile phone poses in general a bigger risk. But I have so far faced no issues.

4. Physical safety
I have logical reasons to believe that my physical safety is assured by my life-style and social circles. I am helped by not being too rich or too adventurous. No added risk due to computers.

5. Mental well-being
When I read about people having insane lives driven by computer excesses and watching bad stuff etc. I do see all those dangers. Luckily I am a sober and uninteresting creature of safe habits.

Well, what about VIRUSES? I use AVG SECURITY free licence since 2009. I have had nothing lost due to viruses. I back up data on a removable USB hard disk regularly.I store a lot of personal data on a free Drop Box account. So far I have not lost data or programs to viruses or crashes.
The Apple computer and iPad are intrinsically way more safe compared to Windows computers, due o the sheer architecture of software. But I must say that 80% of my work is on Windows computers.

Read more about computer safety here: http://bit.ly/cccsafety

Windows 7 For Dummies Cheat Sheet - For Dummies

Windows 7 For Dummies Cheat Sheet - For Dummies

MacBook All-in-One For Dummies Cheat Sheet - For Dummies

MacBook All-in-One For Dummies Cheat Sheet - For Dummies

Computers For Seniors Glossary: A - For Dummies

I am sharing here a link to a glossary. Don't feel offended that it is called for Seniors or Dummies. It is a kind of "hep" language to describe those of us who are keen on learning new stuff despite our not REALLY needing to do so...
So we are a privileged lot who use computers just for pleasure!
'By the way, Dummies series of books is the MOST POPULAR of all easy how-to books in the world. Just google "For Dummies" and you will get a ton of information.
So click here and learn the terms used in computers!
 
Computers For Seniors Glossary: A - For Dummies

Computers - basic school stuff.

View all

Get your own

These are three slides I made for a school some years ago. Please click on the image to go to the next/previous slide.

Computer + Internet. Your Choices

Today you have a whole lot of choices.

As you can see from the photo I just took, with my iPad, I am using:
1. A desktop with Wifi broadband Internet from BSNL.
2. A laptop with Reliance Digital Internet 'dongle'
3. A smart mobile phone with Android Wifi Internet,
4. An iPad with 3G data plan with which I took this photo and am typing this blog!

So you have a plethora of choices. If you're only an occasional Internet user, generally at home and having a laptop or desktop (don't bother which make etc., you can get a fine laptop or desktop today in mid RS. 20,000's), I suggest you get a data plan along with your landline connection, with a charge ranging from a few hundred rupees to less than RS. 1500 per month.

If you have a laptop and you generally travel around out of your home, you can get a data dongle from any Mobile carrier like Airtel, Reliance, Tata DoCoMo, BSNL etc.

If you have a smartphone or a tablet or iPad, you can take a 3G SIM card which allows Internet connectivity. A smartphone has a small screen size but also allows phone calls well.

The choice is yours and it all depends on your convenience and budget.

If you really don't care to spend much money, you can always go to a Cybercafe or a friend or family computer and access and use the computer and Internet!

Now should you buy a Windows 7 or Windows 8 computer or an Apple iMac or Android phone or tablet or an Apple iPad or iPhone?

IT REALLY DOES NOT MATTER FOR US RIGHT NOW. ANYTHING WILL DO.

If you're using a computer for the first time, and you are interested in using it anywhere and everywhere, and don't type too much, you can consider any android tablet or an iPad. They are simple to use, they have built-in batteries which can be charged like a phone, and very easy to touch and use.

If you want to write and publish articles, in English or Indian languages, easily, a regular computer with a keyboard will be more useful.

A laptop today does everything VERY nicely and doesn't cost much.

How to use Google Search better.

In all probability, without Internet and Google, people would not be interested so much in computers. As you saw before, out of the four C's, the "Consume" list is easy to get interested in, as you find more information on the Internet today than you can imagine.

Some three days ago, I read an article on the Internet about the history of the London Underground railway. It just completed 150 years and became a model for all the world to follow for metro transportation. The same article came two days later in the newspaper in Bengaluru. But I had already read it, and shared it with a couple of people. That is the power of the Internet!

Now those using computers and Internet cannot deny a dependence on Google. Google is a HUGE and profitable company built on the service of a Search Engine. A Search Engine is a powerful network of computers with extremely intelligent methods or programs to CONSTANTLY search the millons of computers around the world as well as various publications, archives, and data bases to collect and  catalog information. Each piece of information has at a minimum two propoerties:
1. It has a linkable URL or address which can be connected to using the Internet.
2. It matches some search terms which we can use to find out its existence and URL.

For example, if I google the search terms "white tiger population in Bannerghatta zoo Bengaluru", let me see what results I get:
Search Results

The top two reults are:

Web Results

• Bannerghatta National Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  The journey to the park takes nearly one and a half hours from Bangalore. This
  hilly place is the home for one of the ... White Tiger at Bannerghatta National Park ...
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bannerghatta_National_Park

• Tiger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  The global population in the wild is estimated to number between 3,062 to 3,948
  individuals ..... A Bengal white tiger in Bannerghatta National Park in Bangalore ...
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger

These results came up because Google's Search method ranks them to be MOST LIKELY to answer my area of interest.

Try making some searches on Google Search. You can't go wrong... you will see lots of information of interest. In addition, the Search can be restricted to images, websites, news, videos etc.
Since Google Search is a free service supported by advertisements, you will see lots of advertisements all over the page. Skip them if you do not want to buy something or book a trip etc. Just go down the page and click on the Web Results.


Just also always remember, all the information on the Internet is NEITHER ACCURATE NOR UP-TO-DATE NOR TRUSTWORTHY. So think and consult local experts before you take up health treatments, diets, shop or travel based on Internet advice.


Now I give you a link to a nice "Infographic" which means information arranged like a poster on Google Search. Click on the image at the top, or the line below to see a number of tips on how you can use Google Search better.

Note: once you click the link, depending on your computer settings, you may see the poster of tips or just see a vertical colourful ribbon pakora on the left. Dont try to eat it, but click on the image and it will bloom into a typical American-looking poster.


Some tips and trick on searching and using Google Search.

See what you can do.

Click on the image to see it full-size.

Are you computer-phobic?

Hi!

Here is a definition. Now are you computer-phobic?

If you're, you have company. Here. I was once phobic too, and I have since conquered it.
So let me help you to do it, too!

Now you no longer need to shrink away from even simple computer tasks, or beg to be excused the moment someone talks Blog, Picasa or Google Docs.

You see, you can even say there seems to be a conspiracy out there to create a great digital divide. Not so much about the computer-haves and have-nots, but computer dudes and dodos.
But let's get our own back!

So I will write a simple one pager every week. To demystify the computer and make you do
simple things easily and faster than before.
Watch out for my one pager soon!

Maha Kumbh Mela

Prof. Nagamani Srinath- Concert Excerpts

Prof. Mysore Nagamani Srinath - Haridasa Darshana

Some excerpts I just heard from this 2 CD set are shared below:

You can find out more about this highly accomplished senior artiste here:
Nagamani Srinath Website