Hayagreeva Jayanthi

Today is an auspicious day in the Hindu calender. This day is celebrated as Hayagreeva Jayanti.  Lord Hayagreeva, an avataar of Shri Mahaa Vishnu is worshipped today.

Independence day

As we celebrate our 70th independence day, our country seems to forge forward. But still, we have a long way to go.

When we were of school going age, independence day used to be celebrated meaningfully with a lot of good fun. But today, our children and youngsters have no time for obvious reasons rightly or wrongly.

I and my mother reside in one of the 150 or so apartments situated on one of the main roads in the city. We reside in 3rd block and my brother and his family reside in the next block. Though I am not a very pushy guy like my brother or my dad, I do try to keep cordial relations with people around me. Though I have always tried to keep a low profile in public functions, I could not succeed in refusing our Apartment Owners Association office bearers' request to hoist the national flag and deliver a speech this morning . 

As I mentioned in my brief 5 minutes speech after hoisting our national flag, our youngsters have important roles to play in eradicating evils and contributing to multidimensional development at different  levels.

I think that  problems of corruption, environmental pollution and  poverty should be solved effectively.

A few years  back I was employed as Curriculum  Specialist by  a Delhi based k-12 Assessment Company with offices in the US. I worked for nearly 4 months but was paid only a month's salary. I had lodged complaint to Delhi police as well as Tamilnadu Government Police  Department's Cyber Cell. Still there is no response from them. While the situation is so inert at the Government level, profile of the rogue founder of the fraudulent Company is still active displaying that he is a product of Colombia University, New York.

I think that we need drastic changes in how Government Agencies handle law and order at least from now on, 70 years since independence.

Shree Mahaa Lakshmi Vratham and Krishnaa Mahaa Pushkarani Fest

Today is auspicious to Hindu people for two reasons. This day is observed as Shree Mahaa Lakshmi Vratham. Today is also the beginning of Krishnaa river Mahaa Pushkarani festival lasting up to 21 August.

Sreejith's birthday

Today is the birthday of my friend Sreejith about whom I have mentioned in my earlier posts. He is a nice young gentleman.

My best wishes for a very happy birthday to him.   

Birthday wishes to Dr L Subramaniam

Best wishes for a happy birthday to violin maestro Dr L Subramaniam

Guru Pournimaa: Teachers' Day in the Hindu Calender

Today is observed as Guru Pournimaa by Hindu people all over the world. Sage Veda Vyaasaa, an incarnation of Lord Naaraayanaa Himself presented the Divine Epic Mahaa Bhaarathaa that contains the Divine Words of Wisdom from Lord Krishna. Not content with what he wrote in Mahaa Bhaarathaa, the sage wrote Shreemadh Bhaagavatham at the request of Deva Rishi Naaradaa.   

Events on this day take Hindu people one step closer to spiritual goal from the `teacher - student' perspective. 

Prime Minister's tour to Africa

While there is no doubt that our Prime Minister's 4 nation tour of Africa recently would strengthen ties in areas such as trade and  investments further, it would be nice if it paves the way for closer cooperation in school education systems in general and teaching of Indian languages in African schools and African languages in Indian schools.

Jagannaath Fest

Today is a very auspicious day to Vaishnavites. Idols of  Lord Jagannaath, Bala Raam and their sister Shubadra are seated in chariots and pulled along by devotees as part of 15 days of festivities organized by Puri based Shree Jagannaath Temple. The fest, like other such fests, is humbly revered as spiritually enlightening. 

World Yoga Day

Today is World Yoga Day. Thanks to efforts by people like Baba Swami Ramdev and our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (However it is a pity that even today our school curricula do not contain Yoga as an important component). 

Sincerity and service to senior citizens

This morning I had a phone call from one of my former neighbours. Due to medical problems, he has an attendant to look after him round the clock. (Interestingly he and I are of nearly the same age). As he was speaking, he mentioned about how difficult it has been to hire a good attendant and how he needed to change 6 attendants in the past few months. I can very well understand his situation as someone who faces problem with lazy, insincere and incorrigible attendants. I have hired a female servant from 8 am to 8 pm to do daily household works and to take care of my ageing mother with a few medical problems. My experience with attendants is that they work sincerely for the first few days. I keep changing them for this reason. I myself administer medicines and serve food to my mother (like my cousin Shreedhar who took care of my maternal aunt after his wife passed away a few years back). Very often it is frustrating when the servant does not do even normal chores like washing utensils, mopping the floor, drying clothes on the clothes line etc. (If I were blessed with a good wife, I would have expected her to take care of our household so that the attendant and I can serve my mother from 8 am to 8 pm and the remaining time respectively). I wish that attendants do their work at least 75% sincerely.