Sri Ramayanam as it is called reverentially in India is an amazing epic which literally means "the movements of Sri Rama". Sri Rama is celebrated as one of the avatars of MahaVishnu and there by God hood is accorded to Sri Rama. However, in this grand epic, one is unlikely to find many instances where Sri Rama is depicted as an omnipotent God. Instead, SriRama has been celebrated as being the best among humans, with unsullied conduct, extraordinary love and one with such attachment to dharma that centuries on, it still serves as a guiding light to man. After the conquest of Ravana, the Gods come over to the city of Lanka and extol Rama as verily Narayana Himself. He however says,
आत्मानं मानुषं मन्ये, रामं दशरथात्मजम
I think of myself as a man, Rama, the son of Dasaratha.
He wails pitiably when Seetha is kidnapped. He decides to give up is his life when Lakshmana is rendered unconscious in the battlefield. He displays the the most pristine human emotions and yet he weds himself to dharma at all times, at all places. Such was his adherence to dharma that compliments came from even enemy quarters. Maricha, twice bitten umpteen shy warrior hailed Sri Rama as
रामो विग्रहवान धर्मः
Rama is the very embodiment of dharma.
Sri Ramayanam is also a celebration of human relatioships in both their most ideal and most un-ideal states. Details of these another time. Sage Valmiki's rendering of the Sri Ramayanam is at once detailed, rich in poetic beauty and unparalelled in the examples it uses to convey the situations.
Having started to write this on a sacred note, I hope to get a chance to continue soon.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Ramayana
First is that I've found great inspiration from the Rama story. Recently Bhakthi TV aired Ramayanam discourse by Brahmasri Chaganti Koteswar Ran garu. The amazing command this gentleman has over language and scripture influenced me a lot. I started to appreciate why Valmiki's praise is sung by all poets. So I figured that I need an outlet to express some of my thoughts. I shall start writing here verses that I like from Valmiki Ramayanam and take liberty to express my thoughts on those.
Secondly, due to restrictions at workplace, I'd like to explore the option of blogging from my phone starting with this.
Sree Rama Jayam!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
SRT
Let me confess to begin with. I am fan-turned-critic-turned-detractor-turned-fan of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar! And no, my latest transformation didn't happen when the little big man of world cricket took that memorable single to make 200 for the first time in the four decades that one day internationals have existed on this planet! It is rather the little master's work ethic and his insatiable hunger and unquenchable thirst to get runs after playing for 20 long years just leaves me speechless.
India were about to tour Pakistan in 1989 and the team was just anounced. A school-boy cricketer from Mumbai had just made into the hallowed team. The telugu paper read "Udayabhanudu Sachin Tendulkar" which says here is the rising sun! You bet, it met with a sneer and utter contempt from our school friends. But we were not to be blamed. Those were the times when the Indian batsmen used to lord over the bowlers in Ranji and Duleep Trophies and then miserably failed in the international outings. India was desperate to find its next hero. The little man arrived. Although he carted Qadir and co to all parts of the park in that exhibition match, not much notice was taken of. All the same, the school boy look was so endearing that we hoped and prayed he succeeded. We could relate to this little man in some way. And then we arrived in England in 1990. The little man plays a match saving knock in Manchester. We start believing the Hero we were looking for has truly arrived! 1991-92 Australia tour only strengthened our belief and endearment. The sight of Mervin Hughes - almost twice the height and width of Sachin disappearing all over Perth (the bounciest wicket at the time) - is etched in memory of die hard Sachin maniacs. What followed as they say is history. In retrospect I suspect if that telugu paper had a soothsayer on their editorial board!
Thrust with the captaincy at the age of 23 when most sons are still pocket money sons of their fathers, Sachin had a tough time. But not with the bat though. I will leave you to search around in stats guru, but he did as well as a batsman as he did at any other time. India were trounced down under and it was just too much. But then wisdom prevailed. SRT went back what he does best leaving aside captaincy - hit bowlers all over the park! It is a bit of tragedy that only in the latter half of his career, starting with the Saurav-John Wright era, the little man has found able mates who can gel together as a consistently winning team.
Whole world is waiting for a century if centuries to happen. We are also keen to see India win the world cup and SRT contribute to it significantly. After all, place your hand on the heart and tell me, does not this little man deserve this for his insatiable thirst for runs, incessant scoring of runs, exempleray behaviour on and off the field and an exceptional work ethic that has ensured he enthralls us for over two decades? Cricket was waiting for the next Don... and God said, Let there be SRT!
India were about to tour Pakistan in 1989 and the team was just anounced. A school-boy cricketer from Mumbai had just made into the hallowed team. The telugu paper read "Udayabhanudu Sachin Tendulkar" which says here is the rising sun! You bet, it met with a sneer and utter contempt from our school friends. But we were not to be blamed. Those were the times when the Indian batsmen used to lord over the bowlers in Ranji and Duleep Trophies and then miserably failed in the international outings. India was desperate to find its next hero. The little man arrived. Although he carted Qadir and co to all parts of the park in that exhibition match, not much notice was taken of. All the same, the school boy look was so endearing that we hoped and prayed he succeeded. We could relate to this little man in some way. And then we arrived in England in 1990. The little man plays a match saving knock in Manchester. We start believing the Hero we were looking for has truly arrived! 1991-92 Australia tour only strengthened our belief and endearment. The sight of Mervin Hughes - almost twice the height and width of Sachin disappearing all over Perth (the bounciest wicket at the time) - is etched in memory of die hard Sachin maniacs. What followed as they say is history. In retrospect I suspect if that telugu paper had a soothsayer on their editorial board!
Thrust with the captaincy at the age of 23 when most sons are still pocket money sons of their fathers, Sachin had a tough time. But not with the bat though. I will leave you to search around in stats guru, but he did as well as a batsman as he did at any other time. India were trounced down under and it was just too much. But then wisdom prevailed. SRT went back what he does best leaving aside captaincy - hit bowlers all over the park! It is a bit of tragedy that only in the latter half of his career, starting with the Saurav-John Wright era, the little man has found able mates who can gel together as a consistently winning team.
Whole world is waiting for a century if centuries to happen. We are also keen to see India win the world cup and SRT contribute to it significantly. After all, place your hand on the heart and tell me, does not this little man deserve this for his insatiable thirst for runs, incessant scoring of runs, exempleray behaviour on and off the field and an exceptional work ethic that has ensured he enthralls us for over two decades? Cricket was waiting for the next Don... and God said, Let there be SRT!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Solar Eclipse 2010 from Bangalore
Watched the solar eclipse with the aid of an X-ray film (caution: only the unexposed portion (which is dark) of the film is to be used for watching. Ideal would be an unused x-ray film). Thoughts zoomed away into the solar system and imagined a bird's eye view, nay, God's eye view of the eclipse! As the Sun, Moon and the Earth lined up in a row to treat us to the longest eclipse, we watched it every few minutes and were able to imagine that the shadow was moving away in the north eastern direction. What is more, even my humble canon powershot A510 got behind the x-ray film and I generously clicked away at the rare crescent the Sun was displaying. Enjoy those below:
I was facing south while clicking these pics. So it is clear how the shadow was moving. Of course, not a discovery at all, but just the good feeling that I captured it in my lenses and of course I could kill the duration of the eclipse without feeling hungry (eating/drinking during any eclipse is a strict no no!). It was a nice feeling to see the Sun light dimmed at the max of the eclipse. As per news, the eclipse was 85% full in Bangalore. We missed the annular, but whatever we witnesses was well worth it.
And here is the panel:
I was facing south while clicking these pics. So it is clear how the shadow was moving. Of course, not a discovery at all, but just the good feeling that I captured it in my lenses and of course I could kill the duration of the eclipse without feeling hungry (eating/drinking during any eclipse is a strict no no!). It was a nice feeling to see the Sun light dimmed at the max of the eclipse. As per news, the eclipse was 85% full in Bangalore. We missed the annular, but whatever we witnesses was well worth it.
And here is the panel:
Sunday, January 03, 2010
weekend trip to puttaparthi
First trip of the year 2010 was to Puttaparthi in Anantpur dist of Andhra pradesh. In case you are wondering, this place doesn't fall in Telengana! This hamlet has been put on the world map by Sri Sathya Sai Baba, God to millions, Guru to others, Guide to yet others, God man to the media and all of the above to many many on this planet across continental borders. Puttaparthi is some 160 KM from Bangalore. We started in the morning by 7AM on my wagon-R. Thanks to the wonderful Hyderabad highway, we did this distance in 2 hrs and 30 min without much of a break in between (on the way I also clocked a career best 140 kmph ;-) for a few minutes).
Puttaparthi is most noted for Prasanthi nilayam, the Ashram in which Swami (as Sri Sathya Sai Baba is lovingly refered to by devotees) stays for the most part of the year. Puttaparthi is also home to the Sri Sathya Sai University and Sri Sathya Sai Superspeciality Hospital among many other institutes of great importance.
This year, there was an alumni meet of the Sri Sathya Sai University from 30th Dec 2009 to 03rd Jan 2010, a period in which the alumni attempted to re-live their days at the university. Among other things, there was grama seva (the students go to the rural folk and offer clothes and food). On 2nd Jan afternoon, there was a session in the Poornachandra auditorium. The alumni were also permitted to bring their family to this session. So there we were! Swami came in by 4:30PM. HE was given a poornakumbha swagatam by the group of alumni dressed in dhotis and chanting vedams. Very aptly they were chanting a hymn from the शीक्षा वल्ली (Shiksha Valli) in which the preceptor tells the students at the time of convocation to always speak truth and follow right conduct (सत्यं वद, धर्मं चर). They led Swami in a procession to the dais. Swami asked two distinguished speakers to speak on the occasion, one was Prof. G. Venkatraman, formerly Vice chancellor of the university and Mr. Srinivasan who is the All India President of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations.
Prof. GV, as he is fondly called, started his message by offering his salutations to Swami and took the alumni and their families through an audio visual presentation interspersed with his comments. HE mainly thrust upon the episodes of the super speciality hospital construction at Puttaparthi and construction of 750 houses in folod hit Cuttack, Puri and Kendrapara districts of Orissa in 2008-09. The message that came clear through these two examples was Swami's love for mankind and HIS selfless initiative to eradicate the suffering of the poor and down trodden for whom nobody seems to care! The alumni were called upon not only lead a righteous life worthy of emulation but also take part in doing selfless service. He ended the show by showing a clip in which Swami had said HIS only concern was how the students would conduct themselves after passing out of the university! Very right concern, much like a mother would have for her child when he/she leaves home for studies! But I think very thought provoking concern of a Mother who has given the highest quality education without charging a single penny for the same!
The second speaker Mr. Srinivasan spoke about the role that Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations (SSSO) have been playing in many parts of the world. He recounted how pure drinking water has been supllied to many districts in India. The districts that are covered are Anantpur, (parts of) East Godavari, Medak, Mehboobnagar, Chennai among others. He said, the cost of all the service projects of Swami if they were to be valued would be a whopping USD 500 million (~INR 2000 Crores). Quite an amount for an organization which doesn't raise any donations through advertisements! He called the Sai Alumni to take up positions in the SSSO and help realise Swami's mission. He apprised the audience about the various activities being taken up by the SSSO across India and the world.
After the speeches Swami graciously looked at the offerings of the alumni in form of greeting cards, photographs, reports of service activities etc and blessed them profusely. He then came into the rounds briefly and moved to the Kulwanth hall to grant darshan to devotees who were waiting for a long time.
It was a memorable day for the alumni and am sure many of them will go back with a greater dedication to help realise the mission of the MASTER- selfless service to the needy!
We returned to bangalore on 03rd after spending one more day in the hallowed precincts on Prashantinilayam.
Puttaparthi is most noted for Prasanthi nilayam, the Ashram in which Swami (as Sri Sathya Sai Baba is lovingly refered to by devotees) stays for the most part of the year. Puttaparthi is also home to the Sri Sathya Sai University and Sri Sathya Sai Superspeciality Hospital among many other institutes of great importance.
This year, there was an alumni meet of the Sri Sathya Sai University from 30th Dec 2009 to 03rd Jan 2010, a period in which the alumni attempted to re-live their days at the university. Among other things, there was grama seva (the students go to the rural folk and offer clothes and food). On 2nd Jan afternoon, there was a session in the Poornachandra auditorium. The alumni were also permitted to bring their family to this session. So there we were! Swami came in by 4:30PM. HE was given a poornakumbha swagatam by the group of alumni dressed in dhotis and chanting vedams. Very aptly they were chanting a hymn from the शीक्षा वल्ली (Shiksha Valli) in which the preceptor tells the students at the time of convocation to always speak truth and follow right conduct (सत्यं वद, धर्मं चर). They led Swami in a procession to the dais. Swami asked two distinguished speakers to speak on the occasion, one was Prof. G. Venkatraman, formerly Vice chancellor of the university and Mr. Srinivasan who is the All India President of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations.
Prof. GV, as he is fondly called, started his message by offering his salutations to Swami and took the alumni and their families through an audio visual presentation interspersed with his comments. HE mainly thrust upon the episodes of the super speciality hospital construction at Puttaparthi and construction of 750 houses in folod hit Cuttack, Puri and Kendrapara districts of Orissa in 2008-09. The message that came clear through these two examples was Swami's love for mankind and HIS selfless initiative to eradicate the suffering of the poor and down trodden for whom nobody seems to care! The alumni were called upon not only lead a righteous life worthy of emulation but also take part in doing selfless service. He ended the show by showing a clip in which Swami had said HIS only concern was how the students would conduct themselves after passing out of the university! Very right concern, much like a mother would have for her child when he/she leaves home for studies! But I think very thought provoking concern of a Mother who has given the highest quality education without charging a single penny for the same!
The second speaker Mr. Srinivasan spoke about the role that Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations (SSSO) have been playing in many parts of the world. He recounted how pure drinking water has been supllied to many districts in India. The districts that are covered are Anantpur, (parts of) East Godavari, Medak, Mehboobnagar, Chennai among others. He said, the cost of all the service projects of Swami if they were to be valued would be a whopping USD 500 million (~INR 2000 Crores). Quite an amount for an organization which doesn't raise any donations through advertisements! He called the Sai Alumni to take up positions in the SSSO and help realise Swami's mission. He apprised the audience about the various activities being taken up by the SSSO across India and the world.
After the speeches Swami graciously looked at the offerings of the alumni in form of greeting cards, photographs, reports of service activities etc and blessed them profusely. He then came into the rounds briefly and moved to the Kulwanth hall to grant darshan to devotees who were waiting for a long time.
It was a memorable day for the alumni and am sure many of them will go back with a greater dedication to help realise the mission of the MASTER- selfless service to the needy!
We returned to bangalore on 03rd after spending one more day in the hallowed precincts on Prashantinilayam.
Friday, January 01, 2010
happy new year 2010
Best wishes for a very happy and propserous new year 2010. May our globe take us on a more peaceful, healthier and funfilled sojourn around the Sun.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Talakkadu trip
Monday, December 28, 2009
A Trip to the Mysore Zoo
We made a quick trip to the Mysore Zoo last weekend. Some of the pics are here.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
ఇంటింటా రామాయణం
Recently watched the Sampoorna Valmiki Ramayanam pravachanm in telugu by Brahmasri Chaganti Koteswar Rao garu. Bhakthi TV aired it from 9PM to 10PM on all week days for 109 days on week days. While Lord Rama's observance of truth and dharma are well known and still part of Indian life and folk lore, the orator's articulation was superb and made us glued to the screen. I ensured that I didn't miss any of the episodes. But in case I missed there was http://en.srichaganti.net/ to fall back upon where the good samaritans and associates of Sri Koteswar Rao garu had uploaded the entire discourse in mp3 format. Pl. checkout the website - it is amazing.
Brahmasri Chaganti Koteswar Rao garu has spoken on some of the most interesting epics in Indian mythology and philosophy. Please check out the discourses.
Now our friends at srichaganti.net have also comeup with dvds containing the recording of Sri Ramayanam. In case you are interested, please leave a comment and I'll get a copy of this collector's item to you. Please note that it is only in Telugu.
Thanks for your interest.
శ్రీ రామ రక్ష, సర్వ జగద్రక్ష!!!
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About Me
- manmeram
- Love to blog. Every time I turn joyous or in extreme pain, I blog. Huge believer of 'charity begins at home'.