puthandu vaithukkal

New year, new wishes, new hopes.. let the new year 2015 - brings all the good for all, health, wealth, prosperity and happiness.

The 2014 witness loss of some of the prodigy like Mandolin Srinivas.. whose loss cannot be replaced. Similarly the demise of  Tamil Directors  K.Balachander and Balu Mahendra is a great loss to tamil film industry..

If in the beginging of the New Year, if we think of  what could happen at the end of every Year, it is a bewildering... Wishing all happy new year.. let us pray for well being of all...

Ten years of blogging 2005 to 2015

Oh my God, from blogging front the new year 2015 is very special to me, as I have been blogging since 2005, for the past 10 year. In other words, blogging for the past one decade!!! Sounds good isn't. It all started when I was in Natco Pharma, Hyderabad.

The blogging become familiar in 2002-03 period, and I was blogging then in other platform. If you look my first few posts, I had given the link to my first blog posts, which are not in blogger.com portal.

In earlier days, I used to blog in ..... I forget the link... and I am not getting the name..But now, there are many free blog sites... for amatuers to blog.. http://stylecaster.com/best-free-blog-sites/

My earlier blogs used to be motivational stories, interesting wordings, jokes, fun and all the good things in life...earlier I used to get lot of email forwards and I used to keep the interesting one in my blogs..also my son, charan demands a story everyday at night, to make him sleep I used to search for interesting stories, my blog contains some collection of short stories, I used to develop the moral of the story and elabourate it for my son.. just as a hint I used to preserve the stories in my blog.... now a days, there is gradual disappearance of email forwards, as technology gone to next level like whatsapp.. twitter.. facebook... Now I am putting travel photos and interesting tit-bits in my blogs.. as I am not conversant in putting the whatsapp messages into blog....

I use to use Orkut to save pictures, music and interesting videos,.. now even Orkut has been phased out.. I fear ever this blog may go down as History like Orkut... however, I like the concept of blogging., as it a medium to see our own writing, irrespective of whether others are reading or not. after typing and seeing our writings in view mode gives us a thrill... in earlier days, I used to get comments in the blog.. now-a-days, I doubt whether people are having time to read the blogs!!! leave alone making a comment...

Things are changing, times are changing...this reminds of the permenant thing in life is CHANGE...Looking forward to devote more time to put some real articles in my blog in 2015...

Some of my earlier blog followings are... Cableshankar, sixface, digital inspiration.. and so on.. of course, still daily I used to view Indian weatherman and I used to contribute through my tweets..about Local weather conditions...

an unique landscape

Hassargatta lake is approximately 50 kms away from Bangalore, Marathahalli. ORR, Hebbal, BEL Circle, Gangamma circle, Jalahalli, Chikka Bavana Junction, Hassarghatta main road. This is the tentative route the lake. The lake is supposed to be man made one, to cater the drinking water requirements of Bangalore.. by Harnessing Arkavathy river, in 1894. I remember the Arkavathy river originates from Nandhi Hills.

Going further, you can find the amazing, Haserghatta, the last surviving grass lands of this region. It was really spellbounding, wow kind of experience. All of a sudden you will see, vast expanse of grass lands, with never ending Horizon kind of feel, you could feel that you can touch the sky at the horizons, or at the end of the world..

the narrow - road without tar surface, long strech, both sides lush green grass lands, amazing feel

At the end of the road, tall green trees greets you

As this is my first visit to this place, I find this landscape something unique and I never seen such a wide green grass lands before, felt the need to preserve this and conserve this unique place.

If you go further, there are nice weekend get-aways such as Our  Native Village, Taj Kutheeram, Nrityarangam...There are plenty of birds around, and this place is a treasure for bird watchers

A visit to Tpty from Blore by road

Last week , Saturday, 15th Nov 2014, visited Tirupathi SVU by road.  The journey was pleasant as the NH4 and the toll road Hoskote to Chittoor is excellent and a pleasure to drive. I started the journey by morning 6.00 am and on the way could experience the mist, fog and cloudy s kies, and sun peeing out as the day progress, it was an unique experience.

Around 7.30, suddenly dark clouds engulfed as if it is going to pour like any thing...

See the threatening, dark clouds, from the eastern side, of course, this is North East monsoon period and there was depression looming in the bay of bengal, and I was expecting heavy rain. enroute...

On the way, the hill lock was kissed by dark clouds.. and it was a pleasant sight.

See the clouds hanging the hill and at the back drop the sky is getting cleared...

By aound 10.00 am after crossing Chitoor, Sun is out, and sun shining brightly.. Here is a picture of chandagiri.. a fort around the hill.

We reached the holiest of holy, Tirupathi.. backdropping the seven holy hills.. clear blue surfy skies, bright sunshine...

Mandya district Madyarangam temple

This is the aghraharam opposite to the temple, looks fabulous.

The Madyarangam temple at Mandya district, around 120 kms away from Bangalore. It can be reached by Mysore road and take a turn at Mandya direction or via Kanakapura road.

About the temple, Madhyarangam is the One of the three Rangam situated in between the Adhi Rangam and Anthima Rangam. 

The Adhi Rangam is Srirangapatana , Madhya Rangam is this and it is situated near Shivanasumdram and Anthima Rangam is Srirangam. This Madhyarangam,  is very close to Kabini Reservoir and two beautiful falls are there, it is very picturesqueue spot.  The falls are known as Gagan Chukki and Bhari Chukki. 

The temple is very beautiful, you will get a serene feeling, fresh breath, hills at the back and trademark village and agraharam surrounding the temple. 

The interesting movie I would like to watch...

Parinayam;- Yesterday, I happen to watch a glimpse of this malayalam movie in TV, but due to some work could not watch the movie, I was fascinated by the single scene, wherein incense stick smoke is captures in the camera, my interest in the movie increased and searched for more details of the movie. No wonder, the movie PARINAYAM- Malayalam was National award winning movie for the year 1994!!!!
Out of curiosity, just searched more to find interesting matters about Namboodiri's life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMyDGyOmYdQ

The Malayalam cinema "Parinayam", meaning 'Marriage', depicts the Namboodiri custom of "smARta vichAram" in a more or less realistic (I suppose so, because the last such exercise was in 1905, which was slightly different from all the previous ones.) manner. For the information of members who are unfamiliar with this custom, I may tell that among Namboodiris it was the custom (not practised now) that only the eldest of the brothers married a Namboodiri girl. The rest could have "sambandham" (sexual relationship with women of other castes, mostly from aristocratic nair households and women of royal lineage) but could not marry from their own caste.

The Namboodiri women were called "antharjanam" (lit., people inside) and were not expected to come out of their secluded quarters at any time. Some of the wealthier "mana"s - Namboodiri houses, used to have their own temples within their sprawling manors and the antharjanams could visit those temples in their mana (only) and that too after hiding the upper part of their body with an umbrella made of palmyrah leaf so as to avoid the gaze of men. (The namboodiri women were, reportedly, not allowed to wear upper garments.)

If a doubt arose as to the chastity of a namboodiri woman, there was this procedure called smARta vichAram. Although they call it 'smARta', I am unaware as to which smR^ti sanctions it and explains how it is conducted. The accused woman is kept confined in solitary confinement with an old lady as guard. A council of community elders is constituted and they question the accused and she has to state the truth as to whether she had any illicit relationship. Her statements would have to be proved, for example, she will have to state personal identification marks of the men who had liaison with her, or produce letters etc., to show that there was contact. If the charges were proved (usually it was so) the accused woman was thrown out of the house and excommunicated by what was called "paDi aDachchu piNDam vaykkal" - treating her as having died and not deserving any further obsequies. Such women could be 'captured' i.e., compulsorily taken away by men of the lower castes or even non-hindus.

The Namboodiri men who had liaison with the woman were excommunicated from Namboodiri caste and were assigned to a lower order but I am not sure about it; I read somewhere that 'chaakiar' was one such order . (The blog cited below also gives a different view.) The last "smArta vichAram" in history was a sensational one and slightly different from others. Below are excerpts from the blog:

Maddy's Ramblings: Kuriyedathu Thathriyude SmartaVicharam

"It was finally in 1905 that the shackles were broken by one woman. Call her brave, cunning, callous, whatever, but she was the first to rebel. This is the story of that beautiful Namboothiri Antherjanam who decided to use her body to lash out at society. She was Thathri. Let us now see what happened.

One fine day, a wealthy and aged but promiscuous Namboothiri man, reaches the bedroom of a well known and desirable prostitute. After a very satisfactory session, he finally gets to see her face and recoils in utter shock when he realizes that this was none other than his own young wife. The man flees the place and raises a hue and cry. Soon the prostitute, an Antherjanam known as Kuriyedathu Thathri is secluded according to the norms and a Smartavicharam trial (at the end of the story is a small description of the Smartavicharm) is launched. The Cochin King as required sanctions it. The public interest was huge, for rumor had it that the lady was a very clever and apparently popular person with much ammunition up her sleeve.

This sensational Smaartha Vichaaram involved Savithry (Thaathri) the wife of Chemmanthatta Kuriyedathu Raman Namboodiri, and daughter of Kalpakasseri Ashtamoorthi Namboodiri of Mukundapuram Taluk.

The Smartan who administers Vedic laws is none other than the famed Jathavedan Namboothiri of the Perumannan gramam. Thathri is sitting in a special outhouse (Achanpura or pacholapura) built for the seclusion and imprisonment during the trail. She has no problems at all and seems serene and ready to face the questioning. Unlike other timid prisoners, this is a proud and beautiful lady who had controlled many weak men above her for the last few years. She was not intimidated. Savithri was known for her beauty and she had been married off at the age of 18 to a 60 year old man .

The smarthan (prosecutor) and three Namboothiri scholars questioned Thaathri, who accepted all the charges but stated that the rule of law has to be administered equally. If she had to be pronounced guilty, so should the people who slept with her. They were people of supposedly high moral standing, and with that basis Thathri revealed the names of well-known scholars, musicians, kathakali artists and many other prominent people of that time, not only of the Kochi state but also the entire Malabar belt, who had slept with her. She also presented strong evidence to substantiate her charges including visual and written evidence (letters written by lovers, prominent marks on genital areas etc).

The pillars of the caste system started trembling. The King was in trouble and the public uproar severe. So against norms where only Thathri would have been implicated, the King agreed to administer equal justice. The reader must note here that a normal Smartavicharam involved only the lady and not the men. However based on the Kings ruling, the Smartan questioned the involved men as well and convicted the guilty. It was thus a landmark case. As the names started coming out, the number of nervous men increased. Many ran away, escaped to other nations even, many others conducted poojas so that Thathri would forgot their names & features (for she had to provide proof of physical characteristics of the men too). It is said that the lady was finally made to stop at man # 64. Salacious gossip to the effect that the 65th was probably going to the king himself went around like wildfire. It is said in jest that she could in theory have named not just 65, but 60,000, but the case was finally curtailed,

The verdict was pronounced on the night of July 13, 1905, indicting all the accused and of course Thaathri. They included 30 Namboothiris, 10 Iyers (Pattars or Tamil Brahmanans), 13 Ambalavaasis and 11 Nairs. Thaathri was sent to Chalakudy and settled as an intern in a riverside home, under tight security. The 64 victims left their homes humiliated, some living on bare subsistence allowance and some, begging. Another two ("Ambalavaasis") had died and hence not proceeded against.

The long list of victims of smartha vicharam had a disastrous effect on the cultural scene in Kerala. Celebrated kathakali artists like Kavungal Sankara Panikkar, Kaattalathu Madhavan Nair, Panangavil Govindan Nambiar, Achytha Poduval and many others had to leave their fields & professions. Following this event the Cochin Raja mentioned that future ‘SmarthaVicharanam’s’ required a large deposit in the state treasury for the reason that such public embarrassments (naming of prominent men) do not take place arbitrarily."

Courtesy:- http://www.tamilbrahmins.com/philosophy-traditions/4353-parinayam-heavy-malayalam-movie.html

Loyal dog protects kid from getting a beating

Loyal dog protects kid from getting a beating

short story- nothing is permanent

Buddha was traveling through a forest. The day was hot — it was just midday — he felt thirsty, so he said to his disciple Ananda, “Go back. We crossed a little stream. You go back and bring, fetch, some water for me.”

Ananda went back, but the stream was very small and some carts were passing through it. The water was disturbed and had become dirty. All the dirt that had settled in it had come up, and the water was not drinkable now. So Ananda thought, “I shall have to go back.” He came back and he said to Buddha, “That water has become absolutely dirty and it is not drinkable. Allow me to go ahead. I know there is a river just a few miles away from here. I will go and fetch water from there.”

Buddha said, “No! You go back to the same stream.” As Buddha had said this Ananda had to follow it, but he followed it with half a heart as he knew that the water would not be brought. And time was being unnecessarily wasted and he was feeling thirsty, but when Buddha said it he had to go.

Again he came back and he said, “Why did you insist? That water is not drinkable.”

Buddha said, “You go again.” And as Buddha said it, Ananda had to follow.

The third time he reached the stream, the water was as clear as it had ever been. The dust had flowed away, the dead leaves had gone, and the water was pure again. Then Ananda laughed. He brought the water and he came dancing. He fell at Buddha’s feet and he said, “Your ways of teaching are miraculous.

You have taught me a great lesson — that just patience is needed and nothing is permanent.”

See more at: http://theunboundedspirit.com

The End of the Amazon: Ecuador Approves Oil Drilling in One of the Most Biodiverse Regions on the Planet

The End of the Amazon: Ecuador Approves Oil Drilling in One of the Most Biodiverse Regions on the Planet

25 Life Changing Lessons to Learn from Buddha

25 Life Changing Lessons to Learn from Buddha

trip to nature...

Two weeks back, June 1, I was at Chikmangalur.. It is a beautiful Hill station, around 250 kms away from Bangalore. The roads are Excellent, toll roads, via Belur, Hassan.

Last year, I visited Trivandrum to witness the arrival of the Great Indian Monsoon, to hit the southern tip of India on the same day 1^st June 2013…!!!

However, this time also, my main interest is witnessing the arrival of the great South West Monsoon, however, as I was one week early to the normal date of onset of monsoon, in this part, would like to see the cloud cover pattern and the pre-monsoon showers. However, my visit proved to be little failure on monsoon front as for the whole two days, there were no pre-monsoon showers, however on the way back there were slight drizzle around!!!

Chikmagalur is situated in south western part of Karnataka. Chikmagalur literally means "The town of the younger daughter" in the Kannada language.  Coffee plantations in the hills. The hill stations around Chikmagalur are famous summer retreats since they remain cool even during summers.

 Mullayanagiri, the highest peak in Karnataka is 12 Kms away from Chikmagalur. The district is dotted with many holy spots and tourist places. Number of rivers originates from the hills of Chikmagalur district and flow in all the seasons.

Definately, I need to mention, this hill station is different from others as I could see nature in plenty, and unspoiled...Rich flora and fauna, this I could observe while our vehicle reached the destination... Yes, we stayed in an interior resort. Called "NATURE NIRVANA".. It is located around 35 kms away from Chikmagalur.

The resort "Nature Nirvana" is amazing.. If you want to enjoy crowd free, pollution free, Mobile free environment from the hustle buzzle of city life, this is one of the perfect place to spend a weekend. This resort is located away from the crowd, and one need to travel around 6 kms in hills, having no proper road, and the journey by the resort Jeep / car is amazing. On the way you can find plenty of wild animals, while I am going, we could spot, monkeys, deer, porcupine, hare, mongoose and big deer- may be Nilgai..

Also there are plenty of small waterfalls, and interesting to note that the famous rivers like Tunga and Bhadra have their sources in the mountains here which are part of the Western Ghats.

About Nature Nirvana.. I can rate it as one of the best. It is unique, as the resort is located in the middle of jungle, surrounded by coffee plantations.. Inside the resort area, you can find exclusive lake, valley, and a water-falls.. The food in the resort is excellent, camp fires, sports and games, trekking, boating, books are added attractions. While you take a stroll around the nature, you will be guided by the resort dogs- it is funny and amazing. The dogs in the resorts are very friendly and will keep on accompanying you whenever you went out of the campus..

Also the resort is having cats, which is funny to watch. In the night, there is errie silence in the night, which is distracted by the sounds of insects, howling of animals, birds, bats, reptiles. And you can spot sudden twinkle in the night from dark corners, and if you watch carefully, it could be light glowing insects.. mina mini poochi!!!

Moreover, this resort is ideal for Corporates to conduct one or two day training program...the strength could be around 50 persons... for more details please refer the link 

http://www.naturenirvana.com/

Bangalore -Where is Mango showers this year?

23 March 2013, Sunday

Bangalore was always known for its pleasant weather; it would be great if we continue to have that kind of a pleasant climate. But this year 2014, March,  looks like we are headed for tough times. Barring few drizzles during the first week of March, there is absolutely no cloud formations in the everning so far this year. 

As per hearsay, Bangalore used to get round the year rains, and particulary Summer used to be pleasant in Bangalore. When I was young, during school vacations, used to visit Bangalore - during summer holidays like hillstations, Ooty, Kodaikanal to Bangalore, as we used to consider Bangalore as another cool place for Summer Solance....

However, now the things changed. This March temp touching 30 to 35 deg C range., and no cloud formations in the evening. Old Bangalorieans used to tell, that in Olden days, whenever the temp sours it invariably rains in the evening at Bangalore. I am yearing for those kind of climatic conditions in Bangalore...

But, it appears the City is moving fast, clearing the greenaries and the lakes cover... which is also one of the reason for this harsh Weather....AS our Father of Nation Shri. Mahatma Gandhiji rightly pointed — 'The world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed.' 

Bangalore is famous for its pre- pre monsoon showers fondly called " Mango Shower"... but now where is that?  No showers and No mangoes!!!!

Some solutions:-

It is not too late, in the existing available vacant lands, clusters of green covers can be developed, and massive plantation drives and afforestation schemes can be done on priority basis with the whole hearted support of the citizens can bring back the old pleasant climatic conditions back to Bangalore....

Visit

Nandi hills is located near Bangalore airport. Approx 60kms from city. After Airport, take Highway to Hyderabad, at around 10kms, the first major left leads to Nandhi hills. Approx 12 kms from the main highway inside. There is a Bharat Petroleum petrol pump on the way to Nandhi hills.

The hills offers perfect weekend drive for youngsters, nature lovers, photographers, bird lovers... as this spot offers, long drive, good road, drive in hill with more than 40 curves, abundant nature in the hill, with variety of birds and much scope to strool around...

The hills are now a popular tourist spot during summer. The state horticulture department maintains a garden for the tourists. The pressure of tourists on the environment here is great with a considerable problem of litter, noise and physical disturbance. Skanda giri is a nearby tourist place.

1. Tipu's Drop - the famous place from where Tippu Sultan threw his condemned prisoners to death
2. Tipu's Summer Palace and Fort - During the Ganga period, the Chikkaballapur chieftains built a fort. Tippu strengthened it further and also build a rest house. This used to be Tippus summer bungalow. It is not open to the general public.
3. Horse Way - A stone doorway in the fort on the North-eastern side, is believed to have been the horse way for helping soldiers to climb the wall on horse back.
4. Secret Escape Route - A secret passage on the west, is believed to have helped the Kings to escape during unforeseen attacks.
5. Temples - there are temples dedicated to Sri Bhoga Narasimha, Sri Ugra Narasimha and Sri Yoga Narasimha and you can see beautiful old temples.
6. Gavi Veerbhadra Swamy temple: on top of the hill, on the way to the Sultanpet, from Tippus palace, natural formation of huge boulders has been transformed into a magnificent temple.
7. Children's Playground - The Horticulture department maintains a lovely garden for children to play games like the slides, merry-go-round, swings etc.
8. Nehru Nilaya - where Jawaharlal Nehru used to stay, now a guest house of the horticulture department of India.
9. Gandhi House, where the Mahatma himself stayed, is under the management of DPAR (Protocol) Government of Karnataka and is reserved for the stay of important dignitaries.
10. The Horticulture Department runs a vegetarian restaurant and the Karnataka Tourism Department runs a vegetarian / non-vegetarian restaurant "MAYURA".
11. Rivers - the rivers Pennar, Palar and Arkavati originate from these hills. Most of the sources have dried up. Amruth Sarovar is a beautiful water lake that brims with lucid water all the year round.
12. Brahmashram - it is said that Sage Ramakrishna meditated here.
13. Muddenahalli-Kanivenarayanapura - the home town of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, the legendary architect of modern Karnataka. Along withKanivenarayanapura, it is the site of the upcoming Sri Sathya Sai Baba University and College of Medicine, 600 crore Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology, and a 70 crore "Silk City".
14. Paragliding - Nandi Hills is one of the unique place in Karnataka which offers paragliding activity.
15. Cycling/biking - Nandi Hills is cyclists paradise, a good ~400 meters of altitude gain in ~7 km of ride, The bikers/cyclists from Bangalore storm there on weekends and holidays. It's a very good hill training spot for them.

Apart from these, there are other interesting places like Anjaneya temple, Nellikayi Basavanna, Antaragange, Baananthi Bande, Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple etc. [Courtesy: Wikipedia]

Some snaps;-

Sparrows ... come and occupy your nest!!!

The World Sparrow day is round the corner, to create awareness and to protect the precious Sparrows March 20th is being celebrated as a World Sparrow Day..a

We relocated from Baroda to Bangalore on July 2012. In  Baroda, I had kept a Sparrow Bird Nest in house balcony and seen four cycles of Successful egg hatching, incubation and new chicks coming out and flying  Out...

However in Bangalore, Marathahalli, though our flats is surrounded by lush greenary on both the sides, I could not spot Sparrows around..



We moved to Bangalore more than a Year back from Baroda, and  trying to invite Sparrows but in vain. Though our flat is surrounded by thick woods n greenary on both sides, spotting a Sparrow is very difficult and rare..

Hung two artificial sparrow nest - one made of wood and other made of Clay... but both are empty and awaiting for its first tentants!!!

 World Sparrow day is round the corner - March 20 every year... looking forward to have a Sparrow Guest soon!!!! In Baroda I could successfully invite sparrows in the nest and seen four cycles of egg hatching, incubation, and new chicks coming out and flying out... a happy feeling.. cannot be described in words...

Celebrate World Sparrow Day.. help to preserve the dwindling Sparrows... bring back that pleasant Chirping Sounds from Sparrows back!!!