John Lennon remembered

It was on this day exactly 40 years back that John Lennon of 'The Beatles', one of the most liked soft rock bands of the '60s, was shot dead in his home in New York. He will be remembered by his fans for years to come.

My brother's birthday

Today is my beloved brother's  birthday according to the Western Calender. He was born on 8 December 1957. My best wishes go with him.

Sabhari and Sabharimalaa

Amrita TV channel's Sandhyaa Dheepam is one of my favourite spiritual programmes. In this evening's programme, the speaker (shown in the screen shot below) mentioned that Sabhari Malaa in Kerala, which is popular due to Aiyappan temple, is where Sabhari, an old lady and a devotee of Lord Shree Raam, featured in 'The Raamaayanam', had her Aashram. (Though I am considered to be somewhat good in spoken Malayalaam, my reading skill is zero. Hence I don't know the speaker's name. I didn't hear his name as I was in the kitchen at that time).

It was nice to see Rajendradas jee Maharaaj, one of my favourite gurus, in this morning's episode of Shree Raam Kathaa discourse given by Shree Morari Baapu, at Mathura (where Lord Shree Krishna spent his childhood years).

I think that Shree Avadeshaanandjee Maharaaj is one of the few saintly humans who does great service to humanity through his discourses. It is a divinely satisfying experience to listen to his discourse (given in Johannesburg, South Africa) daily in the evenings, on Aashthaa channel. 

His discourses remind me of the time period during which I worked in Southern Africa.

It was comforting to view and listen to Shree Bhupendra Bhai Pandyaa's mesmerising religious discourse in Hindi and excellent English on Aashthaa channel after several weeks. Needless to say that his Sanskrit quotes are inexplainably divine.

Missed marriage

It was soothing to view David Rocco's 'Dolce India' on TV this morning, after many days, particularly so when feeling lonely. 

I some times feel so lonely that it makes me think that I committed a large blunder in having married to the wrong woman with resultant divorce, and not having got married to my colleague at a Public School in Kotagiri, India, in 1977 or to my Caucasian American penpal (from Charleston, South Carolina) who expressed her desire to marry me, when I was studying for my B Sc Degree during 1968-71, or more recently in 1993, when a dark coloured and good looking gentle colleague displayed her interest in me by saying that I was handsome, when I was working in a school in Jhansi, India; I didn't have the guts to tell that I reciprocated the same desire, to any of these women.

Tigray unrest

I wish that the bombings and unrest in Ethiopia's Tigray region and its capital town 'Makelle' stops and the region returns to normalcy. I fondly remember the friendly people, the cinema hall where I and my fellow teacher recruits from India had enjoyed watching "Noori", a Hindi movie and Abraha Castle, a Government run restaurant in Makelle, where I and Sebastian, my malayaalee colleague used to dine out, way back in 1982. 

Following are photographs taken during my stay in the region:

I and Sebastian with a colleague's daughter in front of our roomsTo my left is Mr Asafa, the school's Director.

Let me share a picture post card that I sent to my beloved parents when I was teaching in Tigray:

Indira Gandhi's bithday

I heard from Vasanth TV channel this morning that today is the birthday of Mrs Indira Gandhi, former Indian Prime Minister. She was one of the best prime ministers in independent India. Although severely criticised for having declared emergency, every sane Indian knew that there was absolutely no corruption in government offices during that period.

Festival of lights (Krishna Fest)

Best wishes for a happy Diwali