Are we doing any justice here??

If u happen to be a responsible father, how many times did u think about ur family today??? If u happen to be a young lad in love, how many times did u think about ur girl/boy friend today??? If u happen to be a bachelor like me, how many times did u think about the next best way to have fun ( watever be it) ? If u happen to be anywhere far from ur parents , how often do u think about ur parents and how often do u get 2 communicate with them? Now , raise ur voice if u don't frequent ur thoughts over them at least a few times ! I doubt there wud be any of u guys.. Now, am gonna ask u another question that will make u think more than just twice..:) If u can think about all of them at least few times a day, how many times wud it be required to justify thinking about the reason for ur thinking and everything ?? U GOT IT..., am talking about the creator of all of 'em.. now, wait .,wait ,wait, b4 telling me that u do, in fact, think about him at least few times...think about y u think him for??? I would't be surprised to find quite a bunch of folks that only exchange signals of requests ,responses and a corresponding acknowledgement (depending upon how u r request was responded ) compare and contrast this with y u think about ur intimate ones.. am sure most of u wud be able to see the difference that we actually think about them coz 1. We are obsessed with the subject (due 2 their qualites) 2. We care for them. and so, their shadows are visited by our thougts so often..we even pray god for their well-being.. Most of the time, we get a gud response to our prayers when the Karunamurthy (Supreme) showers prosperity .. Having said all this , How many times do we have to think about the good qualities of the Lord and how many times should we have to praise him ( just like u praise ur wife when she pleases u or thank ur parents when they show u the right way when u are in need of advice) and how many time should we utter his Holy nama (name) (just like u keep repeating the name of the person u love)??? Wud Infinite suffice????? I see somebody from the FBI /CBI raising a question ....Aye man,, My life is not so great as i want it to be..ave been facing one too many problems..How do u explain this ? ... A Great Question that deserves to be answered.. Right now , i can think about 2 ways around it 1. If God satisfies the requests of all the people in this world most of the time, wud we ever get 2 realize his importance??? only if something fails 2 happen, we get 2 know about his importance and pray him not 2 bring back the problem. If everything happens fine, wat is the need for God??? 2. Before asking a justification , ask urselves truly how many we think we have done or thought something bad?? and how many times we tolerate the troubles of ourfriends/spouse/children?? Forget about the troubles.. u can always blame the God ...But for all the good things that he has offered us, aren't we indebted to chant and think about him for our life time??????? i'll leave my thots right there for ur thougts to imbibe the essence of mine..:) Also, get urselves geared for my next post on how all we can justify his dhaya showered on us..especially when getting trapped in this world of maaya , which acts like an anti-propellent in an accelerating space-craft...:) Om tat sat krishnaarpanam

Musical Musings of a different kind

Music means different to different people. I have come across the differnt kinds of music listening folks. Here, I' d like 2 catergorize them into 3 broad categories and also i'd like to take a view point of a purist to say how much they actually like the music they listen to . 1. Some like the words expressed or the thoughts conveyed in the music more than the music..(definitely not music lovers) 2.Some like the proper melange of the music and the words ..in other words they think the music to be fitting the thoughts expressed and the words used..( quasi-music lovers) 3. Some people dont give a damn about the words,, they just want 2 enjoy listening to the music..( true lovers of music) Having said all that. let me go one step further...y do true music lovers enjoy listening to the music they like,,There can be varied reasons again.Some of them are 1. It drives them crazy.. 2. It makes them feel like floating in the air 3 It takes them 2000 miles 2 their home 4. It rocks.. But they alll listen to music primarily because IT SOUNDS GOOD . ( if u are a music lover , u won't say that the music that u like actually sucks and if it does , u wud fend it away) Now , coming 2 the point that i wanted to convey thru this post ..... the purpose behind the music and its importance... From the above lines of thought, It has become clear that the primary purpose behind the music they listen to is aural pleasure..So, u dont actually gain nothing by listening to it except sensual pleasure.. This is where i feel carnatic music goes a step beyond. Eventhough it may or may not evoke aural pleasure (depending upon the listeners musical taste) ,it definitely offers something EXTRA to the listener that enjoys and appreciates it .. The extra thing that's pretty much unique to this form of music is DEVOTION (bhakthi )towards the Supreme , which is one of the 3 ways(jnana and karma being the other 2) to reach the Supreme. and this is priceless. No matter how much wealth or fame u acquire, if u don' get 2 like this form of music , ur path to the Supreme is definitely long-routed. By uttereing and listening to the name of the Supreme, u are only taken a step closer to him...take this analogy,, the more u listen to and talk about ur friend, the more clearer u are in getting 2 know about him.. This is a remarkable aspect of this form of music, unfortunately perceivable only to a few people. Guess that explains the few difference of opinions on my last blog post . I can only hope and wish that the ignorant (especially young folks) would understand the importance of listening to music for reaching god over listening to music for mere aural satisfaction. A quick question b4 i quit , Did I sound pig-latin??? :)

Beauty and the Beast ..How Ugly??

How can one ever do this???? that 2oo by an indian website! Shocking indeed!

Securing our most valuable asset..it's high time..

hey folks, This is quite a long-winded post .. I hope y'all hold ur patience till the end. Just wondering! Everyone's pretty concerned about security . It's probably the first thing that wud come into mind when someone ventures into some unknown territory, be it a place , an investment , installing a piece of a software or even marriage sometimes.. We want to keep things secure because our mind ,out of experience, knows the importance of it. Now , what if the mind becomes the subject and get's influenced by malicious signals it receives?? (by malicious, i mean any signal that deteriorates the performance of the brain and by performance deterioration , i mean , reduction in our ken and hence productivity, resulting in stupid or thoughtless actions) How can we shield our brain from those signals ??? Obvious and simple answer .don't let the brain to feed on those signals...let's see if this is actually the work around the problem in hand.. In order to stop those signals, first , the mind has to determine if the signal is ,in fact , malicious . Without going to the discussion on how to detect the mailicious signals from the good one ( which is definitely a very difficult question to come up with an answer), let me take an example to show that how we have been influenced by malicious signals (which can never be avoided) and the reaction of our mind to those signals.. Taking Anger as one of the unwanted signals , we can notice that a mother (only for the sake of correcting the child ) scolds a child . It should be noted here that even though scolding is a very mild form anger, it changes the childs' state of mind. Now, the child hates being scolded coz it can't realize that the mother is actually scolding for the sake of its own betterment. ( btw,, do we like if we get a scolding from our parents even now??). But the child's thoughts will later be overridden by good thoughts when the same parents later show more love so that the inherently developed discomfort is removed. It also works the same at least to an extent when it comes to friends..But here there are chances that the contempt developed (mainly due to greed that arises out of lust ) can actually be reverted back on the same person. We do that because we dont like being offended ( as always) and since we've been feeded by the fact that when people get discomfited they usually eventually resort to fighting back (once they start doing that,, it can be said that the person can become as crazy as a mad elephant.). Now , If u arent the kind of person that i described above , raise ur voice..I'd love to hear such a noble voice. What does this all have 2 do with ignoring bad signals?? well, just like this we have been subjected to so many signals that can be either treated by our mind to be good or bad depending upon the situation and past experience..watever be the situation , for sure we can't let the signals like anger, greed, lust etc to take control over us.. but from the above example of how most of us manage anger , it can be realized that we certainly are lettin the signals take control on us... so, what's the whole point ??, u might ask. I think the only way to secure our mind from losing its control to the signals is by seeking help from what is beyond the mind??Now,, that makes sense right??? Hence, The only way out of this world of sense domination is to seek the Supreme god to direct us towards that state of Sidha ( the state where we don't want anything to happen but just see what are all happening without any sensual feelings about the happenings). Y do we have to seek god ??? well, then can u tell me , whom can u ask?????u can't ask nobody,right?..So, let's all pray the Supreme Lord to lead us towards the most important goal in life of attaining sidhi and get moksha.. Hey ,Rama , the Supreme Lord ,please give us the knowledge that'll always let us think about you and reach you..What better prayer can a jeevathma perform????

Ah! Time to hear me...

hello folks, Since this is my first audio blogpost , I have decided to dedicate it to Lord Vinayaka ..Here ,u can hear me singing a bit of one of Papanasam Sivan's krithis, popularized by Nadayogi Shri Madurai Mani Iyer. Also be prewarned that this is a Carnatic Music Krithi sung by a person not trained in singing krithis.. I have learnt a little bit of violin (till varnam 1) and have never taken any formal vocal training.. Here is some song related info, courtesy http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/Homepages/shivkuma/personal/music/ Ragam: Reethigowlai (22 mela janyam) ARO: S G R G M N N S || AVA: S N D M G R G M P M G R S || Pallavi: Tatvam Ariya Taramaa Moolaadhaara Ganapathe- Surapathe Unathu Anupallavi Satva Gunamum Jeeva Dayayum Jnanamum Satrum Illada Keeradhanu Unathu Charanam Madhura Paripoorna Modhaka Karanee Maha Vigna Vana Kootara Varane Nidhi Yunbhadum Anba Karul Parane Nitila Charaachara Bheejankurane Madhishekaran Maghane Sumukhane Madavaarana Mukhane Sruti Mudi Unarvarum Chitparane Guha Shodharane Raamadaasanuku Unathu Meaning: (approximate) Can I ("tarama") ever understand ("ariya") your ("unathu") greatness and significance ("tatva"), O Moolaadhara Ganapathi? O lord of celestials ("surapathe")â€ï¿½ I am one who does not have even an iota ("satrum illada") of serene qualities ("satva guna"), kindness ("jeeva daya") or knowledge ("jnaanamum"). How can I understand your greatness? \You are one full ("paripoorna") of joy ("madhura"). You have a sweetmeat ("modaka") in your hands ("kara"). You can dispel even the mightiest of obstacles ("vigna"). You are justice ("nidhi") and kindness ("anba") personified. You permeate the entire universe ("nitila charaachara") and are the cause of it ("beejaankurane"). You are the son ("maghane") of Madishekhara (Shiva). You have an auspicious ("su") elephant ("madavaarana") face ("mukhane"). You inspire the mind ("chitparane"). You are the brother ("sodharane") of Guruguha (murugan). How can this Ramadasa understand your greatness ? For all of u guys that are pretty much into this kind of music, I would seriously recommend to check out the original song as sung by Shri Madurai Mani Iyer which got me into learning this song ..I bet he'll leave u spellbound. Check it out over here anyways,Here is my version of the song which is pretty much MMI's..:)

Let's call the KarunaaMurthy- the distress buster

Avoding misery is something that is not possible in this life of ours.. Unless u are an atheist , u wud normally pray god whenever u are into troubles..As a temporary relief, it is always handy to have a mantra or sumthing that wud come to our help...The following is a mantra that promises to bring relief in times of distress... YA thwarA DroupadI thrAnE yA thwarA gajarakshanE mayyarthE karunAmurthE sA thwarA kwa gathA HarE The above sloka is asking the Lord why he is not responding to our calls the he did for other devotees. Credits to : http://www.bhajanasampradaya.com/ UPDATE: Here is another mantra from Mukundamala " KRISHNO RAKSHATU NO JAGATRAYA GURU: KRISHNAM NAMASYAAMYAHAM KRISHNENAAMARA SHTRAVO VINIHITA: KRISHNAAYA TASMAI NAMA: KRISHAADEVA SAMUTTITAM JAGAD IDAM KRISHNASYA DASOSMYAHAM KRISHNAE TISHTATHI SARVAM ETAD AKHILAM HEY KRISHNA RAKSHASVA MAAM!" Credits to: Anand known thru http://dwaarakavaasin.blogspot.com/

Getting praised by the greatest

Pancharatna Krithis ,without doubt, are one of the greatest musical compositions from one of the few great composers in carnatic music. Its a well known fact that Saint Tyagarajha, is an exceptional talent that exemplified Rama bhakthi to the core but did you know that the most popular of the pancharatna krithis, "Entharo Mahanubavulu" was dedicated by Tyagarajar to the performance of a simple but an extremely talented musician that took great efforts to bring Saint Tyagarajha to his king's court by performing in front of him?? The musician in picture is the gifted musician and composer from Raja Swathi Thirunal's court, Shadkaala Govinda Marar from Kerala. Here is a direct extract from an an article at swathithirunal.org about the performance of Marar in front of Tyagarajha, "During the performance he was strumming the tambura with his right hand, and playing the ganjira with his left hand, holding the latter instrument in postion between the toes of his right leg" Great he is, indeed. blogging out , krishna Entharo Mahanubavulu Anthariki Vandanamulu (Salutations to all those great people in the world)

Sudoku -for the Numeromaniac

Whew, ,,finally I got a chance to solve a rather easy Sudoku puzzle today in just 33 minutes...mind-blowing huh??? Do you think I can do better ? ..oh yeah..I definitely can.. By the way, it was whole lot of fun to fit in the numbers in the 9*9 grid...an .extremely addictive game to play.... if u have nuthin else to do.. Here is my first Sudoku board Just in case u were ignorant abt this japanese puzzle, Here and Here is Sudoku 4 u. happy Sudoking..:) bloggin out krishna

Rakshamam Sharanaagatham

Am gonna kick off this blog post with a question to all u Gen-Y... "How often do we pray god and wat do we pray for?".. The reason y am questioning is because today I was struck by a very hurtful throat-pain and I am having great difficulty in swallowing any kind of food. At this point of time, like most average humans, I am praying god that it should be a minor problem and it should fade away ASAP. Basically , am pleading god to give me a free treatment (to take the pain off) ,who would eventually appear as a doc that wud prescribe some medication if it is not a major problem ..but wat if it isnt a minor problem.. at this point of time , I have got no clue abt the reasons behind this pain that appeared just like that. It can even be a serious problem ( but i hope not). Nevertheless, the chances of this pain turning out to be a serious problem can't be ruled out. For sure,, I am asking a great deal from god . How much more selfish can i be? Does it sound fair to pray god (,,,thinkin abt god for my own physical betterment) just when I am in need? Nothing relly comes in this world for free.. U reap wat u sow or in other words.. ur actions determine wat u are gonna be getting. So ,if i am inflicted by this pain, doesn't it mean I shuld have done somthing negative in my past life???? It surely does. What this essentially means is that if i had done zero or very few negative actions in my past, there is every reason for me to believe that I woundn't have gotten this pain...So, what I shuld be praying at this point of time is to ask god to help me be a better person right from this second so that at least i can avert the chances of this throat pain turning out to be a major problem with the means of some positive thoughts ..... Pray him to guide me to do the right things coz it is way too easier to perform something negative rather than simply asking "Please ,god take the pain off my throat" ..Doesn't that sound more rational????? So,Wat is the bottom line?? As i inquired u guys upfront, it is very very essential for us to pray god each and every day and so ,...wat should we pray for??? ... health and wealth???????nay....Let us all request him to help us do the right and positive things rather than asking him for materialistic favors that include wealth, health and bla bla bla...Let us all pray god to make us better humans to the world (everything that surrounds us) than to ourselves..Let us pray god not to let us impede the virtuous beauty of life .... Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavantu (May all live in peace) blogging out krishna