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Showing posts from February, 2006

Ākāśāt Patitaṃ: Many Forms, One Reality

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Adi Shankara: The image that's stayed with me forever Sanskrit and shlokas have always fascinated me. The sheer vastness of Sanskrit literature is humbling. There are enough verses, texts, commentaries and traditions to occupy many lifetimes, and still leave one feeling that one has barely scratched the surface. But I didn't think much about any of this when I was growing up. I would recite shlokas in the morning and evening without fail. They were simply part of life. The words were there, the rituals were there, the temples were there—but much of it happened in the background. I was busy with academics. There was no time for Sanskrit or Vedanta. At least, that is what I used to tell myself. Of course, time was never really the problem. I could spend five days watching a Test match from morning to evening and somehow consider that perfectly legitimate use of my time! The truth was simpler: Sanskrit and Vedanta had not yet become priorities. Gr...
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Weathering Heights!

When I was in India, I used to wonder why the Europeans and Americans get so excited when they see the yellow metal shining in the sky. What's the fuss all about! It used to be mind boggling to see them attach so much of importance to the Sun God. But it didn't take me long to figure out. First in Stuttgart and now in Rolla. I still remember the day I landed in Stuttgart. The whole land mass was covered by the white moss that could throw anybody into depression. The pall of gloom would transform to something really miserable. That's when I realised the significance of the Germans' statement. It is a great feeling to feel the sun penetrating your skin and giving that soothing touch. It is a different matter that summers in India are pretty difficult times, but that waft of sunlight does certainly takes away your depression. That's how I felt last week when Rolla was dipping to sub-zero temperatures. The weather here is as fickle as a wife (Sidhuism! Adjus...
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Moto....

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After a lot of thought, I decided to toe the line. Yes! finally picked a mobile from Motorola (V360 to be precise). It is always fun to get something new and when it is an electronic item, it is all the more fun. I was meddling with the features all afternoon that the realization of wasting time dawned in a little late actually! But you should have a look at my new phone. Just check out the link This phone has an mp3 player with an add-on memory slot. I have just got a 64MB TransFlash Micro SD card which I was pretty excited about. If a media player with 64MB sounds interesting, imagine the latest release from SONY with its new model W950 on Feb 13. This phone has an FM radio and of course a walkman phone with a memory capacity of 4GB!!!! Technology truly path-breaking!!!
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Vegetarianism....

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When in one of those highly contemplative moments where time seems to be at a standstill, one gets a wide array of thoughts transcending across momentary happiness driving (stray)thoughts of wisdom that seemed no where within your thinking boundary. As I was reflecting on the past seven months of stay in the United States, I thought of the little things that can so easily get magnified at such moments. This is purely from a religious perspective. As the vedas proclaim, a Brahmin should never cross the seas. It sounded funny when my friend told me about this initially. I was of the view How does it matter whether a Brahmin crosses the seas and the oceans? In what way is he going to be affected? Being a strict vegetarian, I have to pour over the contents of any small item that I purchase here. Anything can get into your stomach in any form! All sorts of animal based ingredients lurk in the most innocent of meals, and the clear winner in such a product is undoubtedly Gelatin. To ...
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