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Showing posts from 2013

SANKARA JAYANTI : 14 May

Sankara Gurukulam is a temple for Adi Sankara established by Bramhasree Thetiyur Subramania Sastrigal in 1947. The temple is located in C P Ramaswamy Street(not Road) in Abhirmapauram, Chennai. Sastrigal received  his initiation in Sree Vidya from H.H.Chandrasekara Bharathi Theertha Swamigal of Sringeri. According to other sources, he is said to have received inititaion into Srividya from the Goddess herself. The Acharyas of Sringeri and Kanchi Madam have visited Sankara Gurukulam and continue to do so. Thethiyur Periyava's teachings on Sanatana Dharmam and Advaitham have had a profound influence on many of his disciples. Thethiyur Periyava's commentary of Soundarya Lahari is especially famous. Sankara Jayanti, the birthday of Adi Sankara, is celebrated with great aplomb at Sankara Gurukulam. This year it falls on May 14th. Adi Sankara was born in Kaladi, Kerala and lived for 32 years. Yet, in this short life span his contributions to Hinduism have no parallel - Advaitha - the

Spring

Time to welcome spring: time for us to stow away heavy coats, sweaters, ah, what relief I say! time for the green plants to lift their tender but proud necks towards the sun.. time for the trees to shed their gray barks and welcome the sunshine as they turn a rainbow of colours before turning green.. time for the bird s to sing and dance as they fly frantically to feed the tiny young chicks in the nests.. time to open the windows letting in the warm sun rays and cool winds time to bloom and sing and do! It is spring, the time to wake up and find expression in a million myriad  ways! The eternal dance from inertia to creativity, chill to warmth and from pathos to passion continues..the race is on to make the most of the sunshine before we move away from him again! Any greater transformer than the SUN, you ask?

Living abroad...

I have been living abroad for a few years now. And there are many things I miss about India - my family, friends, work place, concerts, temples, festivals, various events in the family etc. But what I subtly miss are the myriad ways of sharing and support, people being there for you in both good and bad times, appreciation and celebrating, correcting and criticizing. There is this chronic unease, gnawing of the heart, not too painful but definitely there; of missing something intangible! Back home if I cooked something or bought something nice say like mangoes, sharing it would be so easy. And the joy of sharing would be instantaneous. A new dress/accessory and the compliment it may bring. A nicely cooked food item and the joy of sharing it A good 'chaat' and eating it with cousins A new addition to the family and the joy it brings A new song and watching it sung by many in the family A new slokam and its benefits A pradhakishnam in the temple and the joy of seeing

Pottu.. bindi

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This has been a post that I have been wanting to write ever since I found myself buying a multi-coloured chandu (tilakam or pottu) in a Fancy store in Trichur and Thazhamboo kumkum in Giri Trading, Mylapore. It bought back nostalgia of the many hours spent in Fancy stores(another thing disappearing from our landscapes), selecting bindi stickers, bangles, hair pins, ear-rings etc ... I thought of what I can remember about this lovely bindi: I am a Tamil brahmin (Iyer) with ancestors who settled in Kerala many generations ago.  For us or until my generation , Pottu is sacrosanct. When I was young(say 20 years ago), our mothers and grandmothers wore kumkumam made of turmeric. Then came the Eyetex paste which was applied and then kumkum applied on this. After this came the 'chandu' or 'tilakam' (with the white cap) initially in red, black and maroon. The multi-colour chandus made their appearnace soon after. The stickers came next, initially in circular shapes and th

Peace of Mind.. By Jayaraman Trikkur :

Nothing new here, but it is a good reminder for us to practice every day. Stress is a normal part of life. Every day we are faced with countless tasks that they sometimes become overwhelming and cause us to stress out.   Here are 15 ways you can overcome daily stress and maintain a happy life. 1. Eliminate unnecessary commitments 2. Stop over analyzing and start doing. 3. Do one thing at a time. 4. Learn to say no and really mean it. 5. Don’t compare yourself to others. Life is not a contest. 6. Find reason to laugh. Even laughing at yourself helps. 7. Let go of trying to control everything. 8. Walk away from anything or anyone that makes you miserable. 9. Practice gratitude. That you are alive is still a gift 10 Control over expectation to avoid disappointment. 11.Stop being a perfectionist and move on. 12. Don’t stress out trying to get everyone to agree with you. 13. Stop longing for the past and start living in the present. 14. Don’t trade sleep for work and don’t

India Political party

If I had lived in the US, I would support the Democrats. In UK, it would be the Labour.  The values of the Party, the manifesto make it easier to decide where I want to lean.  But as many things Indian, after all these years, I still can't make up my mind where I want to be - Congress, BJP, Janata Dal! The ruling Congress is highly highly corrupt. The BJP rule was good, brought about a lot of goo d for towns and cities, but the villages were left out, the older generation were left out. I wish the Civil Service was powerful enough to continue to implement and continue good schemes and keep the ministers in check. The judiciary and police were powerful enough to ensure justice would prevail and all citizens are equal before law. The Government officials would take pride in their work and people they represent and ensure things work. In a country with so many skilled and educated people and whose children are leading many organizations across the world, is it too much to ask for a Pa

Setting up a new kitchen in a new country

If you are like me, you moved to London or Europe after your marriage, found yourself in a strange country where every thing costs 10 times what it does in India and had the task of setting up a kitchen, knowing you may have to throw/give away stuff when you leave/move, but obviously of decent quality. When I started out and I realized how expensive it was, I decided to stop and make do with whatever containers etc I could find - one of my friends confided she used old yougurt pots as containers untli she re-discovered pearlpet at an Indian store(according to her, finding Pearlpet drove her to Nirvana). I saved Minute Maid juice bottles and jam bottles. Anyways, this list can be handy for others just starting it out. London stores are expensive. So find an Indian store- Wembley is a good place to start - The Poppat store is great, it has everything at affordable prices(familiarity is comforting?). IKEA is another good place. Rice: varieties Ponni, Sona Masoori for daily cooking