Ugaadhi greetings

Best wishes to all my friends and well-wishers for a happy Ugaadhi. 

Raamaayanaa

I usually make it a point to see that the last TV program that I watch every day is a spiritual one. For the past few months, this program had been `Sampoorna Ramayanam' discourse by Mr Chaganti Koteswarararao on Bhakthi TV Channel. I am sure that numerous fans of Chaganti gaaru will miss this highly enriching discourse that came to an end day before yesterday. 

Coming to Raamaayanaa, there was a Global Raamayanaa Conference held in Bangalore in January. In this context, I recollect how Cambodian people still cherish this epic as shown in their TV channels (Thanks to Classical Dance Companies such as Apsara). 

When thinking about Cambodia, it was nice to receive a phone call from Murugesh, one of my good friends. He was a manager in `Annam', a popular Indian restaurant in Phnom Penh.  I remember their 100% veg food items prepared in utensils allocated exclusively for cooking and storing veg food items as requested by me. I used to carry these food items during my travels out of Phnom Penh, on work. 

Captivating Commercials

Very few commercials in our TV channels seem to be captivating, sensible and free from obscenity. One of them is the Good Night Neem Mosquito Repellent Coil. Let me leave you with this interesting commercial. Bye for now. 

Mahaa Shiva Raathri

Past night was an auspicious one for Hindus all over the world. It was Mahaa Shiva Raathri.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2015

I have always been interested in viewing media programs on development oriented international relations. One such program is Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2015 telecast on Bharati TV Channel (which seems to telecast highly interesting programs). The program marking Mahatma Gandhiji's return to India after 20 years of his non violent struggle against apartheid in South Africa included distinguished speakers sharing common goals. As our Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi put it, I think that we all live in `Vasudeva Kudumbakam'. Interestingly the program included people of Indian origin converging in Gujarat from different countries in the global village.

(As a professional who spent a few years in South Africa, I have seen the interest shown by South Africans of Indian origin on cultural events in their country of origin). 

It was interesting to know from the speech by South Africa's external affairs Minister that today is also the anniversary of the founding of African National Congress.

  

102nd Indian Science Congress

As I am writing this post, I am viewing the telecast of the proceedings of the 1st day of the 102nd Indian Science Congress being held in Mumbai.

Hope this year's session extends beyond ritualistic speeches and routine displays and gets into deeper aspects of how science and technology can enhance the living standards of common folk. I think that it is high time that aspects such as mobile technology and its use by small farmers and artisans, wi-fi in school classrooms and ethical aspects of working in science and technology are discussed in detail with well defined action plans.   

I think that by bringing in drastic improvement in how we run such conferences, we can enable our youngsters smell the sweet aroma of scientific works carried out by our ancestors in ancient India for the welfare and prosperity of people. This certainly requires a drastic revamp of our Teacher Education Programs and K12 School curriculum and textbooks towards quality. School Education professionals know too well as to how several education commissions and reports developed so far in our country (including the Yashpal Committe Report) have failed to bring in significant improvement in the quality of school education and teacher training. (If we had adapted the philosophy of education as proposed by great visionaries such as Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, we would have probably been the most scientifically advanced country with strong ethical base).

(Even after 67 years since we got independence, most of our K-12 schools do not have well defined home work policies either because they don't have time or because ministries of education lack guidance documents. I think that it is important for educationists at different levels to work on such issues and steer our school education towards quality).   

Vaikunta Ekaadashi

Yesterday was a very auspicious day for Hindus and was celebrated as Vaikunta Ekaadashi.

Hanumad Vratha

Today is a very auspicious day for Hindus. This day, associated with Hanumaan, the greatest devotee of Shree Raam, is celebrated with Hanumad Vratha. In some parts of India (for example Tamil Nadu) this day is also known as Hanumad Jayanthi.  

Konarak Dance Fest 2015

In many parts of India, winter is usually accompanied by seasonal cultural fests. One such fest is the Konarak Dance Festival held on the banks of the sacred river Chandrabhaga in Odisha. Held annually since 1986, this year's events included dance performances by foreign artistes. As someone who spent 4 wonderful years in Bhutan, I thoroughly enjoyed classical dances by Bhutanese dancers, thanks to Bharati TV Channel.

Spectacular sense of the sidelined snail

We often associate snails with inactivity and slow movement which I think, is due to our unreasonable superiority complex. Let me share an interesting experience that I encountered on a rainy morning a few days back.

I and my mother reside in a cottage rented out to senior citizens. It is a reasonably well furnished cottage with a corridor and green plants in the front. Our food is supplied by the management. Usually after completing eating, we place our plates at the corridor and workers clear the plates (and left over food) away.

Once when I went out to the corridor to see as to whether the rains subsided, I was surprised to see a snail coming out of its shell to feed on the breakfast left-over by me. Let me share my observation that proves beyond any atom of doubt that snails aren't inactive.