Simple Life

God's Love

2009-07-05T12:26:00.000-07:00

I received this as a forward....felt like sharing it..

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was:
A four-year-old child, whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy just said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry.'

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Teacher Debbie Moon 's first graders were discussing a picture of a family. One little boy in the picture had a different hair color than the other members. One of her students suggested that he was adopted.

A little girl said, 'I know all about adoption, I was adopted..'

'What does it mean to be adopted?', asked another child.

'It means', said the girl, 'that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy!'
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Whenever I'm disappointed with my spot in life, I stop and think about little Jamie Scott .

Jamie was trying out for a part in the school play. His mother told me that he'd set his heart on being in it, though she feared he would not be chosen.

On the day the parts were awarded, I went with her to collect him after school. Jamie rushed up to her, eyes shining with pride and excitement. 'Guess what, Mom,' he shouted, and then said those words that will remain a lesson to me.....'I've been chosen to clap and cheer.'

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An eye witness account from New York City , on a cold day in December, some years ago: A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.

A lady approached the young boy and said, 'My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!'

'I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes, "was the boy's reply.

The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her.

She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel.

By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes.

She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him.. She patted him on the head and said, 'No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.'

As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her...

'Are you God's wife?'

--Whenever someone helps us. God is here working through our fellowmen to give us hope.

Eri Kaatha Ramar : In search of my Ramar :)

2009-06-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

I had an opportunity to visit Maduranthangam, to attend my friend's wedding. It is a very small town (The auto man charged just 30.rs to take us to the outskirts of the city...So u can imagine the size of the town). This town has the famous Eri Kaatha Ramar Temple.

The best time to visit a temple is the twilight hours. Only at these hours, the nature is at the closest and I have always believed in Nature is God. What a wonderful evening it was, slight showers after a hot day brought a pleasant change in weather. The temple is one of its kind... so peaceful & so beautiful a surrounding. I am not going to take time to describe the temple as there are enough bloggers who have already done that.

This temple has a unique form of Ramar holding the hand of Sita. This posture of Ramar and Sita is not found anywhere else. When my eyes was taking in the Dhivya Dharsan, my mind hit upon a realization.... Yes.... It is.... When i saw her holding the hands of Ram, that is when I understood the real need of a partner. It's like the secure feeling u get, as small gals when we used to hold our father's hands. Secure, content, peaceful.....and gud chums feeling - I am always there for you. You are never alone.. We are both together in this journey of life. Secure is not financial, neither physical nor mental... this is beyond words and can only be felt.

I have my Ideal Partner expectations penned down, I really have no idea whether my partner would have atleast half of them. But the real essence of any relationship is not how a person is rather how a person makes you feel. Every incident in my life is adding a new meaning to what a "Life Partner" is all about. However remorseful the incident may be, the learning is filling my heart with more happiness and peace :)

Enge Brahmanan

2009-06-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

After a long long time, something to look forward to on every evening. For the past five months, this serial had almost everyone glued to the television for half an hour. A wonderful concept by Cho - the great.

Every explanation from him would make you contemplate, what other way to explore the concept of Hinduism! Few of his thoughts gave rise to contradictory thoughts in my mind and I was craving for an intellectual company.

The best part is : "Do not try to find a logical meaning for every ritual, "faith" is more important than reason". How true! My faith in God brought more peace to mind than what the reasoning has. It is only for the past 3 years or so I have been delving deep into the logical part of it but this doesn't give me the satisfaction what mere faith used to give me earlier.

I am really sad that this serial is over and the television is again a mere Idiot box :(

Thanks to Isaitamil Live Television which helped me in viewing the serial (It was very difficult to catch this live at 8pm). Special thanks to Raghavan Sir for the blog updates (You can choose to read only Cho's answers).

Youngest Donor

2009-04-23T08:45:00.001-07:00

Declared brain-dead, 16-month-old Abhilasha Rahurikar became the country’s youngest cadaver organ donor, said Dr Anupam Sibal, group medical director, Apollo Hospitals. Her mother Vineeta Rahurikar said it was a tough decision to make. What Abhilasha’s parents have done will surely give hope to many patients, as this gesture has created awareness about organ donation. Reference Hindu

The Whole Story of the Kid - Click Here

Slowly the awareness of organ donation is picking up. Saving others life as you are losing yours is indeed a noble deed!

When I read this news in Young World, the other day, unknowingly I had tears in my eyes. Tears for the family and not for the kid.

Thanks to my sister, she is the one who introduced me to the noble deed of Eye donation. She is the first in my family to donate her eyes. I did not follow suit. It took me years to realize the importance of it. Sometimes awareness alone is not sufficient as in my case. We need to shed our indifferent attitude and realize the importance of few things in life.

When I pledged my eyes, I explained its significance to my parents but they were not keen on signing the form. My mom said, you can go ahead and do it after our death. Thanks to my weird imagination, her statement for a moment made me visualize her lying lifeless and I pledging her eyes. I was too emotionally disturbed to pursue the subject. But this really made me understand the "state of mind" of the relatives of the deceased.
It is indeed a noble deed for a person in such an emotional condition to think about organ donation, especially when it is a kid. I just bow down in honor of Rahurikar's family.

The Stranger

2009-03-04T09:49:00.000-08:00

The Cadaver Calculator - Interesting!

2009-02-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

$5540.00

Being a vegetarian in a Non-veg world

2009-02-08T08:25:00.000-08:00

Something which I wanted to express for a long time....
lavi took the lead .... Read her post here

Gigapan - President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address

2009-02-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

President Obama's Inaugral address in Gigapan...

Check this out

For people who are new to Gigapan :

Gigapan is a collaborative project of Google, Carnegie Mellon University and NASA Ames Intelligent Systems Division's Robotics Group. It is a robotic platform that attaches to a digital camera and some computer software. The robotic platform allows a user to take a photograph, then it will re-aim the camera with great precision, to take another photograph. After taking many photos, the software stitches all the pictures into a gigapixel image.

Public beta-testing of a consumer version of the robotic platform and software has begun. Beta-testing and product platform development is being carried out by Gigapan Systems, who will eventually offer the unit for public sale.

Gigapan is an open website - anyone can upload photographs to it, and anyone can place comments on those photographs. Authors have no editorial control over the comments which are placed on their photographs. - Source : Wiki

Death has the last laugh!

2009-01-31T09:57:00.000-08:00

Nagesh, the great comedian is no more. The film industry has lost one of its best artist.
A few years back, in one of those low moments I was watching a comedy clip on TV. Ofcourse, it was Nagesh's. I started watching it with tear filled eyes but ended up laughing holding my stomach.
I remember saying this to mom at tat moment, "amma, I am sure that comedians are the real actors and heroes of a movie and Nagesh is the best. If a person can lift up the spirits of atleast one fellow human in his lifetime then he has served the purpose of his life."

Today, it is more of a personal loss to someone like me who has grown up watching him...laughing with him...
but... a person like Nagesh is eternal with his humour.....

May his soul rest in peace!

Who am I?

2008-12-14T08:12:00.000-08:00

Born whole and innocent,
Now broken and confused.
You say this is the heart you want,
A heart that you can use.

Lord, I don't understand
Why you want this heart of mine.
Do you think that you can transform it,
Make it in you divine?

My heart has been crushed and is bleeding.
It is empty and void within.
But you say this is the heart you chose,
To come and abide herein.

My heart, it has been rejected,
It has suffered oh such pain.
And now you want to cradle it in your arms,
And consider it your gain.

Who am I that you should bother?
Who am I that you should care?
I am just a shattered mess,
My heart is scattered everywhere.

But there is something deep inside me,
That wants to trust you oh so much.
So I will sweep up all the pieces,
And accept you healing touch.

-- Author Unknown....

One Solitary Life

2008-12-13T05:03:00.000-08:00

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in another village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty.

Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book.
He never held an office.
He never had a family or owned a home.
He didn’t go to college.
He never visited a big city.
He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born.
He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness.

He had no credentials but Himself.
He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against Him.
His friends ran away. One of them denied him.
He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
While he was dying His executioners gambled for His garments, the only property He had on earth.
When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race.

All the armies that ever marched,
all the navies that ever sailed,
all the parliaments that ever sat,
all the kings that ever reigned,
put together,
have not affected the life of man on this earth
as much as that one solitary life.

By James A.Francis

I'm a Pug :)

2008-12-12T09:44:00.000-08:00

I'm a Pug

What Kind of Puppy are You?

Cyclone Nisha in chennai

2008-11-26T05:45:00.000-08:00

I took the day off anticipating Nisha would have crossed and the water on roads would recede by Thursday morning. But all hopes shattered with continuous rains....think I can't escape from wading thru this dirty water :(
Nisha - wondering wats tat. This is the name of the cyclone that's supposed to have hit chennai on the early hours of 26th Nov 2008. Think Madame has no plans to budge....
Any idea why cyclones are named? Very simple... for ease of communication :)
This made me curious to look out whether any cyclone is named after me....of course after the great MONA...........Yippee! I have one named after me in the Fiji Area.................
Check this out ...Upcoming Tropical Cyclone Names

Guess what? my previous post has fetched 100 hits to my blog........reason Google search for Cyclone in Chennai returns this post link ....hehe......poor people & smart google ;)

Cyclone in Chennai???

2008-11-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

I don't remember Chennai experiencing such heavy winds and rain in the past. Is it going to be a cyclone? Welll.....I do not think Chennai can really have one........ Let the night speak for itself.....

Falooda Kudai :)

2008-11-24T08:03:00.000-08:00

Had a unforgettable weekend. On Sunday, me along with suji paid a visit to my friend, snuffy's place. The purpose of our visit... her father had underwent a surgery.... so... We are meeting each other after almost a month. We did have our normal chit-chat but we were not our usual selves. You can easily guess the reason...

We three started from her place and reached vadapalani bus terminus. There was a sudden heavy downpour, though already drenched, we entered Vasantha Bhavan Hotel to escape the rain. The next 45 minutes were the best de-stressing moments in the past one month. Our silly jabber, the items we ordered - I am sure no one in the hotel will forget us for a while ;)

Think my dessert was the funniest. First a tea - a hot cup of tea in rainy weather.......followed by a Falooda... actually it was a sip of tea & a spoon of Falooda ;) I didn't have a camera, else would have sure captured the waiter's expression when I asked him for the kudai - yeah u got it right the kutti one on the Falooda...... Nice fellow he got a new one for each one of us ...hehe...
Kids were not fascinated by the common kudai but our group can never resist the craze for 'kutti-cutie' things in life :)
Even our planned outings were not as much fun as this unexpected one has turned out to be!

Hug :)

2008-11-22T23:34:00.000-08:00

My Orkut fortune read :
"The best gift you can give is a hug: one size fits all and no one ever minds if you return it".
So here is one for all my luved ones :)

Cho & Mouli on Coffee with Anu

2008-11-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the team of Coffee with Anu for bringing two great personalities on show - Mouli & Cho Ramaswamy. It is a must watch show!

Cho - the only person who can deliver such instant witty statements. Ever smart & active intellectual.... Age has surrendered before his wittiness!

Catch the trailer here

Shubh Diwali

2008-10-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

The real problem is not darkness; the problem is the lack of effort to light a lamp.
So Light a lamp ....this Diwali......
Shubh Diwali !

My Random Clicks.....

2008-10-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

An insight into present Financial Crisis

2008-10-21T07:15:00.000-07:00

An interesting article which clearly explains the root cause of the present Financial Crisis.

Read here

Chandrayaan - I

2008-10-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

Chandrayaan - The first Indian Moon mission ready for launch.
One of those pride moments of being an Indian. Eagerly awaiting the launch on Monday, 22nd Oct.

For more read here

Who appointed Bajrang Dal as our representatives?

2008-10-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

Any community needs an organization to represent themselves. But I wonder who appointed Bajrang Dal to represent Hindus!

I do agree, in the recent times the only minority group who really need an organization to fight for them is "The Hindus" in India. We have been subjected to lots of discrimination and the laws made in this state makes me wonder whether my children can have a fair deal in their generation. I for one who never ever wanted to leave India, strongly have second thoughts about it.
A simple example is the percentage of seats available for OC in Tamilnadu Engineering admission. Every community has its own share of strong, mediocre & weak students - I refer both to their financial status and intelligence. Parents have no other option than to push their children in these circumstances and we know the consequences.
Educational discrimination is merely one of the concerns. As Hindus, we feel insecure in India.

Coming back to the topic, Bajrang Dal & forced conversions :
Say for now we accept that Hindus are subjected to forced conversions. But is the manner of opposition opted by Dal justified? Dal's reaction for government's discussion about banning them enraged me. An activist sounded so confident with the statement, "The government shouldn't think about the ban with elections round the corner". Negative actions in every religious community uses the vote bank as escapism.

It is true that every Hindu thinks he is taken for granted since they do not raise a hue and cry as others do. Somewhere deep in our hearts we think Bajrang Dal is doing the right thing. From when we normal human beings turned so cruel. Thanks to the events such as the example stated above. But, can Violence solve problems?
Can't we try and find constructive solutions? We definitely can. The major part of population who opt for conversions in particular are the downtrodden, poor and illiterate people. They are not turning towards the other religion for spirituality. They merely doing it for the sake for bread, living and a roof. Christianity is showing them a path at the cost of conversion. I know their real purpose and selfishness in doing this. But they are neither stopping others from doing it. So why blame them?

The only advantage and disadvantage of Hinduism is : We never insist on anything.
You can easily count the number of Christians who skip the Sunday service, the same way one can easily count the number of Hindus who go to temple. This is because most of the temples are full of commercialisation.The only complain people have about temples is that the priests treat you depending on how much you contribute in money. The major drawback of our culture is, the priests are also married men who have families and they face the same inflation as we do. Though serving God, he is after all a human like you.
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In olden days, temples as churches were used as a place for community gatherings. It is a place where moral lesson and art was taught; village development and employment plans were discussed; you can find experienced elders who can guide you in life as per your problems, they can boost up your spirits and the financial weak were helped accordingly. Where is all this now? I do not deny few temples do this even now but they are very few in comparison to the need.

To stop these conversions we need to keep our negative loopholes in check. Try finding a solution to people's basic needs. Teach them and show what Hinduism is.

All the above good needn't be done in the name of religion alone. We can do this for the sake of community irrespective of religion. Though I embrace all religions as equal, I emphasize the need for retaining the people in Hinduism. Because in the long run religious conversions are the indirect route cause for political conquer. Moreover Hinduism is not a religion, it is Indian culture. Every ritual in Hinduism has a logical explanation and is more environment friendly.It brings us more closer to Mother Earth. Decline of Hinduism is decline of India.

There are lots of unwanted customs which seeped into Hinduism during past few centuries. This is my another concern. People who convert, carry these unwanted customs along with them to the other religion. So I do not see any purpose solved.

Religion is merely a aid in reaching God. All religions are same apart from the fact that it is evolved from different places.
Shiva is the ultimate one, Vishnu is the ultimate one, Christ is the ultimate one, Allah is the ultimate one.
When God is one, where is the truth in these statements?

Our primary duty is to reform ourselves and then help people to see the truth. I really hope and pray that these so called religious activists stop these violent activities and concentrate on development issues. Let us not discriminate and fight each other in the name of religion, after all "Vasudhaiva kutumbakam" - The world is one family!

Gandhi Jayanthi - Mahan Gandhi Mahan

2008-10-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

Oct 2nd - Gandhi Jayanthi. The only significance this day holds in my mind is - It is a National Holiday.
Yeah, times have changed.
One reason could be the shift towards cable channels from Doordarshan (This is another reason I wish today's children are exposed to DD than other channels). This neither means that I do not honour them anymore nor I am no more a patriot. I am merely confessing the truth and nowadays patriotism holds a different meaning to me.

Today, Gandhi Jayanthi brought back good old memories. During those days, DD will telecast this song every year on Gandhi Jayanthi, without fail. I think this a fave of every kid of my age - though I don't find anything extraordinary in the song apart from the fact that it belongs to the Golden era....You are right....the Golden Era of my childhood days :)

The song is ....."Mahan Gandhi Mahan". Moreover my astrology for the day says " reminisce".
So here it goes :

Mickey Mouse....................

2008-09-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

Surprise Surprise!!! A cuty gift from my Snuffy darl..... Only she can think of such gifts.
Hv a luk at the pic. Can u guess what is it??
Yeah it's a mp3 player. For a person so crazy about cuties what better gift can one get :)

Chennai Marathon - Give Life

2008-09-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

The Chennai Marathon organized by Give Life - the first of it's kind.
This Marathon had an overwhelming response, thanks to political and film fraternity support. On the whole it was done for a good cause. All the people involved in it need to be appreciated. This blog is not about appreciating their work, this is about something else which went unnoticed.

Tragedy struck Chennai Marathon, boy dies at finishing point

Chennai, Aug 31 The Chennai Marathon met with a tragic end today as a student of the Anna University died after collapsing at the finishing point here.
A stampede like situation emerged right from the word go as thousands of people thronged the place.

The start would have been worse but for a few police personnel on duty who rescued some participants who fell down at the starting point due to the burgeoning crowd.

The MARG Marathon proved to be deadly for the 22 year-old M Santosh, who belonged to Krishnagiri, when he collapsed after finishing the half marathon covering a distance of 21.09 km.

He was declared dead by doctors at the Government General Hospital when he was rushed there after being administered first aid, police said adding he died of cardiac arrest.

Meanwhile, Santhosh Kumar (UP) won the first prize of Rs 10 lakh in the men's half marathon and Surendra Singh (UP) and Sandeep (Uttaranchal) were the first and second runners-up, netting cash awards of Rs five lakh and Rs three lakh, respectively.

Netting an equal amount were Preeja Sridharan, Preeti Rao and Kavita, winners in the women's category. The event had a total of Rs 70 lakh as prize money and was sponsored by realty major MARG Ltd.

Earlier, thousands of Chennaites ran for the cause of underprivileged children. The proceeds of the event would go to Givelife Charity, a NGO working for such children, according to the organisers Tamil Maiyam.

Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, actors Surya and Napolean, Chennai Police Commissioner R Sekar, the relatives of Governor S S Barnala, and many others participated.

Union Sports Minister M S Gill flagged off the run. (Agencies)

Published: Sunday, August 31, 2008

Read the news here

There could have been many reasons to the boy's death. I even doubt the availability of proper doctors in the Marathon venue. Every newspaper reported this incident but with least significance. May be they did not like a small accident dampen a success of such a big event.

But this is a charity run and not a commercial event. Importance should be given to human life, values and feelings more than the extravagance and popularity. The event fails here as it does not stand up to this reason. Even after the death of the boy, they went ahead with the prize distribution ceremony. The worst part is, they did not even bother to observe a minute's silence or mention about the tragedy.When a person like me who is not directly involved in humanitarian service can think of this, why can't the organizers?

This incident reminds me of a line in Anbe Sivam : We do not save a person by killing/hurting another (Rendered by the nun while convincing Madhavan to donate blood).

STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images

Charity has become a Business. I do not trust any of these organizations especially the ones with so much political fervor. At end of day if few needy are benefited from it, I would be happy. But shouldn't we be thinking twice before giving out our money which we earn by losing so much in our lives?
Charity in it's true form exists only in few cases such as "Making a Difference".
Helping our neighbors, servants and vendors would ensure our help reaching the really needy ones - Just a thought.

Special Mention : Thanks to lavi who highlighted this news to me.