Meandering thoughts - Sita Sreeraman

Any self help book worth the name has a section on affirmations and the power of affirmations. Almost every one of them will ask you to include positive affirmations into your daily routine of thinking and repeat them as often as possible. The power of positive affirmations has been researched, time-tested and highly recommended. Test after test, research after research shows how optimistic, successful go-getters use affirmations in their thoughts, language and behaviour.  Another closely recommended technique is visualization - how thinking of positive behaviours, past/present successes etc bring out chemical changes in the body and can affect one's thought, hence actions and life. We are what we think! Lord Budha's famous statement also comes to mind - “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” Any mantram/slokam/sahasranamam/parayanam is a beautiful description of our Gods- their physical beauty, mental m...

As you grow up, you learn more by observing than by being told, this is true of all of us, though there are exceptions. One of the things that I have observed in my father is the exceptional love for his parents. Appa has and can never say anything bad/negative about his parents(in general Appa does not complain and if he does it is more about the situation than the person). When he was working, every year summer vacations were spent at Trikkur, he visited as often as he could. Post-retirement his home and heart were where his parents were. After Thatha's demise the love continues. Every year the month before the Thevasam is spent by Appa with more austerity than usual(will not shave etc). And he unfailing does the Tharpanam every month after 10:30 a.m. etc observing all niyamas. Relatives and friends have often questioned Appa bout doing these rituals, why should we do it, what will we gain etc. People also tend to tell him albeit indirectly it is time to let go of all these...

Highligts of India trip: 1. Rudrekadesi @ Trikkur samooham 2. Arrattu @ Trikkur kovil, velai @ Paramekkavu temple, Sashta Preethi @ Punkunnam - bhajans by Ramesh garu. 3. Radhika's wedding (attending a wedding after 5.5 years and what a wedding it was!) 4. Aditya's mottai @ Tirupathi and the great darshan of Balaji and Padmavathi- for a change did not hear 'jaragandi' 5. Visit to Nataraja temple, Chidambaram 6. Club Mahendra resorts Puducherry 7. Meeting many of my relatives and friends and neighbours, what a great trip! Downlights: 1. Down with cold and cough for most of the time 2. Not meeting some of the Bangalore crowd.

Mangoes Sweet Mangoes Ripe Mangoes - goes the Karadi rhyme. Mango season has finally arrived here in Baden. The local Sri Lankan store finally stocked Alphonsos and Banganappali mangoes yesterday and they were like gone almost before they arrived. We were there just right in time - a few minutes early or late, we would have missed the frenzy. Armed with mangoes, we came home and after dinner with papa sleeping, it was time to attack. Armed with a mango each, we sat down to the serious fun business of eating a mambapazham fully, biting into its succulent orange flesh and savouring the sweetness and flavour. Was it delicious, probably not as good as what we get in India, but it was a great treat indeed! Mangoes evoke such strong poignant memories - the first being the Banganapalli mangoes that Appa would buy directly from the mango plantations in Banganapalli, Andhra Pradesh. It helped we lived a few kilometers away and Appa would go in the Jeep(Mahindra) and come back with a baske...

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The Trikkur Samooham recently completed it's eleventh Rudrekadesi in May. The Rudrekadesis at the Samooham have been initiated and conducted by Sri Vaidyanatha Vadhyaar, one event per month. 11 such auspicious events have now been completed. These are organized by Dinesh, Krishnan, Kunjappa, Ganesan Athimber, Sangam Chitappa and other local elders and they are wonderful get togethers not only for Trikkur folks in Trikkur and local adjoining villages and towns, these have also become a platform for many to conduct personal events like Sathabishegams and Shastiabdaboorthis. The religious function and the lunches are really amazing. Salutations to all the elders who have made this possible and hope this will continue unbroken for a long number of years to come!

Sri Rudraikadasinee Mahayajna – A Commentary by Sri. T.P. Sreeraman. About the author :- This commentary comes from a person who has been a visionary in the building of today’s Brahmana Samooham that we see. Known to everyone as “Sreeram Anna”, he is one of the pillars on whom this Samooham revolves around. May his presence enlighten us with knowledge and help us to serve VEDA better. Sree Gurubyo Namaha Sree Maha Ganapathaye Namaha Sree Drikpureshaya Namaha Sree Jagadambikaye Namaha Sree Maha Saraswathye Namaha Trikkur Brahmana Samooham Sree Rudraikadasinee Mahayajnam Blessed devotees, May Sree Drikpureshwara(Sree Trikkoorappan), Sree Purayankave Bhagavathi, Sree Kamakshee Kailasa Natha Swamy, Sree Dharma Sastha and other devathas and sree Drik-Ganga (Trikkur Puzha) confer all Sreyas on all of us. By the grace of god, and the blessings of our divine poorvikas, and with the sagacious advice and guidance of our Acharya Brahma Sri VaidhyaNatha Vadhyar, Sri Rudraikadisn...