5 Love Languages - Gary Chapman

The most common issue in any relationship is the communication barrier. Everyone experiences love differently, and it’s easy to miss the mark when it comes to showing that you care.

5 Love Languages - Gary Chapman are:

Acts of Service

Can vacuuming the floors really be an expression of love? Absolutely! Anything you do to ease the burden of responsibilities weighing on an "Acts of Service" person will speak volumes. The words he or she most want to hear: "Let me do that for you." Laziness, broken commitments, and making more work for them tell speakers of this language their feelings don't matter. Finding ways to serve speaks volumes to the recipient of these acts.

Words of Affirmation

Actions don't always speak louder than words. If this is your love language, unsolicited compliments mean the world to you. Hearing the words, "I love you," are important – hearing the reasons behind that love sends your spirits skyward. Insults can leave you shattered and are not easily forgotten. Kind, encouraging, and positive words are truly life-giving.

Quality Time

In the vernacular of Quality Time, nothing says, "I love you," like full, undivided attention. Being there for this type of person is critical, but really being there – with the TV off, fork and knife down, and all chores and tasks on standby – makes your significant other feel truly special and loved. Distractions, postponed dates, or the failure to listen can be especially hurtful. Quality Time also means sharing quality conversation and quality activities.

Receiving Gifts

Don't mistake this love language for materialism; the receiver of gifts thrives on the love, thoughtfulness, and effort behind the gift. If you speak this language, the perfect gift or gesture shows that you are known, you are cared for, and you are prized above whatever was sacrificed to bring the gift to you. A missed birthday, anniversary, or a hasty, thoughtless gift would be disastrous – so would the absence of everyday gestures. Gifts are visual representations of love and are treasured greatly.

Physical Touch

This language isn't all about the bedroom. A person whose primary language is Physical Touch is, not surprisingly, very touchy. Hugs, pats on the back, holding hands, and thoughtful touches on the arm, shoulder, or face – they can all be ways to show excitement, concern, care, and love. Physical presence and accessibility are crucial, while neglect or abuse can be unforgivable and destructive. Physical touch fosters a sense of security and belonging in any relationship.

An Atlas of Impossible Longing - Anuradha Roy

A book in three parts – Part 1 called The Drowned House - The story focuses on Amulya in 1920's, who is described as a learned man who left his family’s home in Calcutta twenty years ago to set up a business in a small country town at the edge of the jungle, Songarh. Living with Amulya is his wife, Kananbala, and their two sons, Kamal and Nirmal.

Part 2 called The Ruined Fort - Eleven years have passed. Amulya’s household is now headed by his oldest son, Kamal. Nirmal, the second son a widower, is living in another, undisclosed city. He has been traveling most of these eleven years. He stops at home only briefly to check on his daughter Bakul and then disappears again.

Part 3 called The Water’s Edge - The setting shifts to Calcutta around the time of Partition and now the book focuses on Mukunda as he matures into adulthood. The longing mentioned in the title is Mukunda’s longing.

“The astrologer looking at Mukunda’s hand say – “A veritable atlas – What rivers of desire, what mountains of ambition!” “

Cultures may differ but Longing and love are universal. Bakul and Makunda do resemble Heathcliff and Cathy from Wuthering Heights but this book is a lot more broad. The story starts before either are born and the other characters' stories are a lot more fleshed out. Wuthering Heights is really just about Heathcliff and Cathy. Bakul and Makunda's longings in the book are not the only ones that are impossible.

Seeking solitude and a niche for himself, Amulya moves to the idyllic village of Songarh, and sets up a factory that manufactures authentic herbal potions from the unique plants of the region. As much as Amulya appreciates Songarh, his family, especially his wife, dearly misses the bustling life of Calcutta. Her loneliness is an implacable longing. The longing starts there. Each person has his or her own deep longing, and grapples to fill the void caused by it. Due to the stringent rules imposed by a complicated social structure, the characters realize that their longing is almost impossible to be quenched. So, they move on and live through life, trying to swim against the currents, until they resign themselves to the path charted by destiny.

A widower struggles with his love for an unmarried cousin. Bakul, a motherless daughter, runs wild with Mukunda, an orphan of unknown caste adopted by the family. Confined in a room at the top of the house, a matriarch goes slowly mad; her husband searches for its cause as he shapes and reshapes his garden.

As Mukunda and Bakul grow, their intense closeness matures into something else, and Mukunda is banished to Calcutta. He prospers in the turbulent years after Partition, but his thoughts stay with his home, with Bakul, with all that he has lost - and he knows that he must return.

10 Years - Journey of a Decade

An amazing journey of 10 years the FSS team has had in Kochi. This was part of the GSS team. On 01 Sept. 2008, the first project of GSS went live with a 5 member team supporting the UK HR Function. Gradually the team started providing services that touched the entire life cycle of customers. Bid support team works with the global sales and marketing team in getting new clients, ITG provides technological solutions, GSS-HR provided the Hire to Retire support like recruitment, On-boarding/off-boarding, Employee Data Management, MIS reports, Trainings, Benefits administration and Secretarial outsourcing. Strategic Sourcing helps procuring materials efficiently and finally FSS provided end to end Financial support across all regions. FSS started its operations in July 2009, and was a 9 member team supporting 4 divisions – the names of which changed periodically – basically being DS, GMS, PVP/LP and MS; later the four divisions were Creative production, Sourcing Solutions, Customer Com & Publishing and Digital and Document work flow in UK providing financial management and controllership support. FSS US team started operations with a modest headcount of 4 in 2010 supporting P2P, O2C, R2R and FP&A process. The commitment, sincerity, passion that people had here is immense and worth mentioning. The atmosphere was like a second family, people got along very well and atmosphere was lively. In 2009 Aneesh O I from OPI joined WL, and he referred me here. Did not have even my resume updated then. Probably this was destined. Back then we were like one family, Admin team lead by Vincent Shaji, only Neema and Rijo in HR.

Raghu Ram Interviewed me in Dec. 2009, Sharyn Coleman from UK in Jan 2010 and my official joining was in Feb 2010. Remember the discussion with Alex Sir on my last day at OPI saying how my father was sad, I was leaving the company so soon, but hope to complete 10 years at Williams Lea. Never anticipated at the end of 10 years situation would be this – An interesting journey indeed! Venkatesh was instrumental in setting up the GSS team for WL. Stuart Trood was the CFO then, and Kristien Elgey was the division head. With Raghu moving out – the division was split into two with Ranjith managing FSS-UK and Anil managing FSS-US both reporting into Head of Group Shared Services – Milton Fernando. One of the most valuable advise I had received was from Srinivas who said, put your head down and work, Beaware of what is happening around. Then there was restructuring of teams from Region wise to process centric – with FinOps team and FP&A team. Ram Nishanth took over FinOps and Sudeep was heading the FP&A team. Williams Lea acquired Tag and there was lot of learning, as this was being integrated with Sourcing. Some of the interesting facts of working here are – entrepreneurial spirit of the company and working closely with clients; hardwork along with having lot of fun, daily challenges/surprise; it never gets boring within this company. Started as a print company, they were the corporate solutions providers, providing services to various sectors like Financial services, retail, consumer, Life Science, Legal & Professional, Public Sector, Automatic, Energy and Chemical. Another valuable advise was from Tobias who said make your own career development a personal priority. No one else will do it for you. He had come from DHL group and moved back. Soon after Advent took over WLT from DHL. Here one learns to accept and adapt to change. There is some or the other change every other day. We had opportunity to visit places/countries as well. On Ram leaving could take up the challenge of leading the Finance Operations team.

Over the years, there has been so many changes in the people. When I joined, the thought was people are important. It’s important to take care of them to make an organization successful. Be it any process. Starting with Sharyn, a great learning from her was Have confidence in yourself. Have the courage to call a spade a spade. Be more confident and challenge if something’s wrong. Now am taking one day at a time, reminiscence the days gone by, looking forward to what is in stored. Now the focus is on process. It doesn't matter who is doing, let people come and go; we need to have a strong process in place, seems to be the attitude now. For me personally both are equally important and like two sides of the same coin. People have been just moving out, and before the end of my 10 years, there would be No FSS team at all here in Kochi as the process would have completely moved out to Accenture.

Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus - John Gray

This book written by John Gray, made me think of the dialogue in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna; relationship books are written by those who have had failed relationship. Gray married self-help author Barbara De Angelis and they divorced in 1984, after which he re-evaluated his ideas about relationships. Gray married his second wife, Bonnie, in 1986.

· When Men and women are able to respect and accept their differences then love has a chance to blossom. Love is magical, and it can last, if we remember our differences. Love actually has nothing to do with talking — it is all about showing. If both parties can understand that the other partner simply has a different interpretation of what it means to show and give love, they can move forward. There is a big emphasis placed on love — after all it is a relationship advice book. (Well there you can refer another book - 5 LOVE LANGUAGES by Gary Chapman say they are – Words of affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time and Physical touch)

This book unfolds new secrets for creating loving and lasting relationships as good intentions are not enough.

Values of Men and Women are inherently different. Men mistakenly offer solutions and invalidate feelings while women offer unsolicited advice and direction.
The way both cope with stress are different. While Martians tend to pull away and silently think about what’s bothering them, Venusians feel an instinctive need to talk about what’s bothering them.
What motivates both are different. Men are motivated when they feel needed while women are motivated when they feel cherished.
The language they speak differ so the reasons for them to stop speaking.
Both have different needs for intimacy. Men automatically alternates between needing intimacy and autonomy. Women should not demand that man talk, but ask that he truly listen to her.
Women have sudden shifts of feelings. Their loving attitude rise and fall rhythmically in a wave motion.
Each give the kind of love they need and not what the other want. Men need trusting, accepting and appreciative love, while women need caring, understanding and respectful love.
Avoid painful arguments. By acting as always right, men will invalidate a woman’s feeling, Individuals often taken one of the 4 F’s as their stances to avoid getting hurt – viz. fight, flight, fake or fold. Don’t do any of the four. Argument arise when women disapprove men’s point of view or the way he is talking to her.
Each keep score differently. – Little things can make a women happy, Man needs appreciation and encouragement to continue giving. When a man is in a negative state treat him like a passing tornado and lie low. Men need love when he has made a mistake, feels embarrassed, sorry or ashamed.
Communicating during difficult times too is tricky and different. Writing out is good.
Asking for Support Venusians have difficulty and Martians commonly resist them.
Four seasons of love. Spring – when everything seems perfect, Summer when frustration and disappointment arise, Tend the garden in summer, there would be rich and fulfilling autumn, Winter is the time when men hibernate in their caves and women sink to the bottom of their wells. Love is seasonal.


The secret of empowering a man is never to try to change him or improve him, but trust, accept, appreciate, admire, approve and encourage him.

Use words like:

It’s not your fault
OMG what adventure you are having, how are you going to solve it?
Be loving and forgiving and not attacking.
Page 89 say, A man often blames a woman for being blaming when she is innocently talking about her problem. This is very destructive to the relationship because it blocks communication.

When Misunderstandings arise, we speak different languages, take time to translate and understand, what is actually meant and said. Learn to listen without getting angry.

There is one big similarity between men and women in relationships—showing understanding is key. In relationships, men pull back and then get close, while women rise and fall in their ability to love themselves and others.

Men and women are different. They are different physically, biologically, emotionally, almost in every way. Yet, the reason so many of these relationships can work out in the end is because these differences provide a balance. You just need to find that balance. At times it could be untrue that men and women think about their relationships in qualitatively different ways, but this book do give some food for thought.

Kashi Darshan

Shiva has three forms one as Adinath who meditates in the Serene isolation atop Mount Kailash; and the other is Vishwanath who mediates in the affairs of man in the market place called Kashi. Then there is the ultimate Sada Shiva who is beyond these he is consciousness.

On 16th September we began our Kashi Darshan from Chalakudy. Earlier days the chances of our ancestors returning after their visit to Kashi was remote. Even then it was considered auspicious to take up this journey.

We reached Gorakhpur the biggest railway station in India on the banks of Rapti River on the 18th September.

Naimisaranyam and Chakratheertham is believed to be of significant antiquity with contributions at different times from the ruling kings. There are three different stories associated to it. We saw a very old Banyan tree and the Sarayu river. It has mention in the Yudhakanda of Ramayan, the banks of the River Sarayu is also the place where King Dashratha accidentally killed Shravan Kumar.

Located on the banks of the Sarayu river, Ayodhya is a popular pilgrimage centre for the Hindus which was our next destination. The town is closely associated with Lord Rama, who is believed to be the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. According to the epic Ramayana, the ancient city of Ayodhya was the capital of the Surya dynasty in which Lord Rama was born. We visited the Ram Janma Bhoomi, the place Bhabri Masjid was destroyed and necessary arrangements are made for the construction of new temple, awaiting permission. After a view of the Holy Land Ayodhya we passed through Prayag and was fortunate to take a dip at Thriveni Sangamam.
Prayag is referred to as Triveni Sangamam - where it is believed that the subterranian river Saraswati also meets the Ganga along with the Yamuna. This is where Kumbhalgarh Mela happen every 12 years. The famous Ashoka pillar is near here. This place is also called Allahabad or Illahabad or Prayagraj.

We could visit Chitrakoot as well. Chitrakoot means the 'Hill of many wonders'. Chitrakoot falls in the northern Vindhya range of mountains spread over the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The ghats that line the Mandakini river are called Ramghat. During the exile period Rama, Lakshmana and Sita took bath here and are believed to have appeared before the poet Tulsidas.Bharat Milap temple is located here, marking the spot where Bharata is said to have met Rama to persuade him to return to the throne of Ayodhya. It is said that the meeting of four brothers was so emotional that even the rocks and mountains of Chitrakut melted. Foot prints of Lord Rama and his brothers were imprinted on these rocks and are still present today and seen in Bharat Milap Mandir. Bharat milap mandir is situated beside kamadgiri mountain, in the circumambulation path of kamadgiri.Janaki Kund is situated upstream of the Ramghat where it is believed that Sita bathed in the crystal clear waters of Mandakini river during the years of her exile with Rama.There aare many places of historical prominence here.Janaki Kund is situated upstream of the Ramghat where it is believed that Sita bathed in the crystal clear waters of Mandakini river during the years of her exile with Rama. There is Hanuman Dhara,
Sphatik Shila is a place with two massive rocks which are believed to have the footprints of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita. Sphatik Shila literally means crystal rock and is located amidst dense forests, close to Janki Kund on the banks of river Mandakini.

Then we reached Sarnath. Sarnath is a place located 10 kilometres north-east of Varanasi near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pradesh, India. The deer park in Sarnath is where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, and where the Buddhist Sangha came into existence through the enlightenment of Kondanna. Dhamek Stupa (also spelled Dhamekh and Dhamekha, traced to Sanskrit version Dharmarajika Stupa, which can be translated as the Stupa of the reign of Dharma) is a massive stupa located at Sarnath.The Dhamek Stupa is said to mark the spot (Rishipattana which can be translated as "where the Rishi arrived") where the Buddha gave the first sermon to his first five brahmin disciples after attaining enlightenment.In its current shape, the stupa is a solid cylinder of bricks and stone reaching a height of 43.6 meters and having a diameter of 28 meters.

Finally we reached Varanasi or Banaras or Kashi regarded as the spiritual capital of India. Traditional etymology links "Varanasi" to the names of two Ganges tributaries forming the city's borders: Varuna, still flowing in northern Varanasi, and Assi, today a small stream in the southern part of the city, near Assi Ghat. The old city is located on the north shores of the Ganges, bounded by Varuna and Assi. The city is referred to as Kāśī (Kashi) from the Sanskrit verbal root kaś- "to shine", making Varanasi known as "City of Light" They are Twin towns, – She has sister city know which? Kyoto, Japan.In the words of Mark Twain, "Older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, And looks twice as old as all of them put together." Varanasi, the city that is more than just the spiritual capital of India. The city which can be aptly described as a melting pot where both life and death come together. The city that you only need to visit once for it to stay with you forever.Places here are: Kashi Vishwanath Temple importance also stems from the fact that it finds mentions in several holy scriptures of the Hindus. On the outside, the temple is adorned with intricate carvings that impart a divine quality to the facade. There is also a well present within the temple complex called Jnana Vapi or wisdom well. Other than that, the temple also houses several other small temples such as Kaalbhairav, Vishnu, Virupaksh Gauri, Vinayaka and Avimukteshwara. Generally travel from Assi to Dashaswamedh Ghat in the evening by boat, will help see the famous aarti conducted there every evening which is an experience like none other. Assi ghat is near Banaras Hindu University, and hence it is frequented by students.Dashashwamedh Ghat, Varanasi as the name suggests, it is believed that this is the place where Lord Brahma performed the Dasa Ashwamedha sacrifice. This ghat is a religious spot and many rituals are performed here. There are so many temples in and around here, you will never have enough of them. Considered as a gateway to the next life, Manikarnika Ghat is a highly sacred riverfront in India. It is believed that spending the last few days of life at the Ghat and completing the rituals of cremation here ensure a painless passing and also a way to attain freedom from the endless cycle of birth and death. One special people we meet there are Agori's we see them specially in cremation grounds.

While returning could visit Gaya, it is the place where Rama, with Sita and Lakshmana, came to offer pind-daan for their father, Dasharath, and continues to be a major Hindu pilgrimage site for the pind-daan ritual.Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, 16 km (9.9 mi) from the modern city, and became the Buddha.

Recollecting the places Rama had been in this auspicious month. Thanks to almighty for helping this happen. Radhe Shyam.

Science of Eating

Have always lived to eat, liked trying various recipes, with no control over it, inspite of putting on weight - A food lover. Loved to read The best diet is the one you don’t know you’re on and the tips to achieve that:


Happened to read - https://www.scienceofpeople.com/the-science-of-eating/ and just loved it as it was needed.



Food is and should be a pleasure.
One of the scientific food principles that intrigued me most was the idea that we shouldn’t restrict our eating;
The moment we consciously deny ourselves something, the more we’re likely to end up craving it more and more.
Our taste perceptions are biased by our imagination; Food for Thought
Take the time to make your food look awesome; your eyes eat first.
· Convenience leads to consumption and distractions really can slow us down. Put all of the unhealthy food in your fridge, in the drawers or bottom shelves.- Out of Sight, Out of Stomach
When we put all of our food on one plate–in other words see it all at once instead of going back for small plates, we eat less. When we see how much we have eaten, we stop eating. – Vision helps
Smaller cups, plates and bowls makes a huge difference. This helps you feel like you are eating more. EVERYONE eats more if given a larger portion.
·

With difficulty have been trying to implement some. Having read that in case we eat in smaller plates we tend to eat lesser, started trying to do so. Agree when we are very hungry, eating in small plate will not restrict the quantity, we will go for second serving. But when we eat in small plate, we should not use side plates.

Vaishno Devi Darshan 2019 Feb 28 to March 15th

The trip started from Delhi where shawls were distributed to all the pilgrims so that they could be easily identified and not missed.

Most of the pilgrims landed in Delhi by train and few of them landed in flight. On reaching Delhi all the further trip was through a good well equipped AC bus.

First day we all moved around Delhi visiting Lakshmi Narayan temple that is Birla Mandir, Lotus Temple, India Gate- Amar Jyothi, and Rajghat. Had plans to visit Akshardham but could not so had to postponed it doing while returning.

On the forward trip next day we landed at Kurukshetra in Haryana District, the first place there that we were fortunate to be was at the Geeta Updesh Sthal (place). 5000 years old banyan tree - Jyotisar stood at the Birthplace of Bhagavad Gita, Kurukshetra. Then we visited Bhishma Kund, Savitri Shaktipeeth, Maa Bhadrakali Shakti Peeth and from there on went to Sarveshwar Shiva temple Kurukshetra that was just amazing. Brahma Sarovar is one of the holiest water tanks in all of Kurukshetra. Located in the Thanesar area, this is the place where Lord Brahma conceived the earth planet. It is also said that Lord Brahma created the entire universe from the land of Kurukshetra, after performing a large yajna. Thus, Brahma Sarovar is considered to be the cradle of civilisation. The Sarovar itself is understood to represent the naval of Lord Brahma. We were blessed to witness Kurukshetra Aarti.

The Rock garden in Chandigarh was huge, well maintained and a good example of best out of waste. From there we visited the very informative SHRI KRISHNA MUSEUM; which gave a living touch to his life.The museum, unravels the mystique of the cult of Lord Krishna. It endeavours to present the multifaceted personality of Krishna as narrated in the episodes of Mahabharata and the Bhagvata Purana. The museum has six galleries, three each in two blocks. On display are stone sculptures, bronze castings, leaf etchings, miniature paintings, clay pottery and terracotta artifacts. An extension of this museum is the Multimedia Mahabharata and Gita Gallery set up by Haryana Tourism in collaboration with Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

Onwards we visited Shri Naina Devi Temple where the eyes of Sathi Devi is expected to have fallen, Jwalamukhi Temple, being parts of Sathi Devi. According to Hindu Mythology, the fiftyone Peethaas or holy places came into being when the dissected body parts of Sati (the first spouse of Lord Shiva and the sixteenth girl or Prajapati Daksha or king Daksha) fell over different places. When the supreme god Lord Vishnu, cut Sati's dead body with his Sudarshan Chakra, (a weapon), being carried by Lord Shiva, was cut into pieces and was scattered all over the Indian sub-continent.
Countrywise number of Shakti Peethaa's are :
Sri Lanka : One (1) Shakti Peethas
Pakistan : Two (2) Shakti Peethas
Tibet (China) : One (1) Shakti Peethas
Bangladesh : Six (6) Shakti Peethas
Nepal : Two (2) Shakti Peethas
India : Thirty Eight (38) Peethas


Then we visited Kangra Devi Temple, Sri Chamunda Devi, Kapilashramam, Sandeepamy- of the Chinmaya Mission Trust, Chinmaya Tapovan. Could listen to the stories of Swami Chinmaya anda, how the installation of Hanuman statue brought rain to that region, and as per his prediction had to arrange gathering of thousands of people as he attended Samadhi in due course.

The day in Punjab it seems it was destined to be a patriotic day we visited Jallianwala Bagh, Wagah Border, Wagah border was beyond words. It brings out Patriotism to the core. We could see BSF Jawans Marching, and similar task done by the soldiers from other side. From there we went to the Golden Temple at Amritsar, a beautiful and enchanting Guru dwara.

From there we set forward to the destined and planned destination at Jammu - Vaishno Devi temple. The Holy Cave is situated at an altitude of 5200 ft. We had to undertake a trek of nearly 12 km from the base camp at Katra on Trikuta mountain. Enroute we had an ariel view of Jammu. The Darshans was in the shape of three natural rock formations called the Pindies. There are no statues or idols inside the Cave. They are believed to be Mahasaraswathi, MahaLakshmi and Mahakali.The Temple or Bhawan is 13.5 km from Katra.A newly installed ropeway is also available which runs from the Bhawan to Bhairav Ghati, which is further 2.5 km from the Bhawan.

The return trip was at a stretch to Delhi and a straight drive of 15 hours. Before the return trip was fortunate to visit SwamiNarayan Akshardham temple. Next day borded flight to Kerala bringing an end to a memorable trip.

We were around 90 people for the trip, unfortunately some of them could not complete due to illness and some other foreseeable circumstances. Missed them during the trip. Thanks to Sri Murali Kizhakadam our program coordinator and all the volunteers for making this happen, providing us with homely food, amazing memories with visit, photos, videos and album; it was my 5th trip with them. Praying that God shower on them abundant blessings to make many more Travel possible for us. RadheShyam.

Wedlock is it Creepy

“Whoever invented marriage was creepy as hell. Like I love you so much I’m gonna get the government involved so you can’t leave.”

Society’s way to create economics rolling with so much spend on costumes, decorations, food, travel, invitations and many more thereby creating a social gathering as well, has been happening in various forms since time immemorial. Is anyone really bothered on what happens thereafter other than to have a topic for gossip?

Most women want a life partner a person who they are compatible with, who are settled and financially stable. Men want a partner who can be a good friend and shares the same tastes.


With the intention to share the need for freedom to live as one please, to be there for each other including families and to be true to our gifts got into matrimony. The goal of marriage in Hinduism is to foster, not self-interest, but self-restraint and love for the entire family, which keeps the family united and prevents its breakdown.

Well communication might be the key for a successful relationship, but when one should not question or give opinions, what else or how can there be a communication?

Arranged marriage or love marriage - marriage as a whole is not easy. It is a commitment. It is a responsibility. We have to work a little harder to reap the full benefits out of this relationship. When we fail to do so, divorce will take over. It will take over us. It will take over our life. It will take over our happiness and peace.

It need lot of 'adjustments' and ‘sacrifices'. Today many fail because:


We need love, but we don't adjust most of the times.
We need love, but we are not ready to sacrifice even little things.
We need love, but we are not ready to trade our comfort.
We fancy 'always and forever', but we don't work for it.
We fall in love, but we fail to stay in it.

Matters where we tend to differ or the problem arise are:
1) Finance
2) Priorities
3) Preferences

Present day couple tend to be in partnership.. Believe that to be better than getting into wedlock. Definitely in very few wedding there would be real partnership.

Paulo Coelo & The Winner Stands Alone, Eleven Minutes, The Fifth mountain, The Pilgrimage

Born on 24th August 1945 in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, to a father who was an engineer , Paulo Coelo lived life as a hippie, traveling through South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe and started using drugs in the 1960s, Back home, In 1982, Coelho published his first book, Hell Archives, which failed to make a substantial impact. In 1986 he contributed to the Practical Manual of Vampirism, although he later tried to take it off the shelves since he considered it "of bad quality." After making the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in 1986, Coelho wrote The Pilgrimage, published in 1987. The following year, Coelho wrote The Alchemist and published it through a small Brazilian publishing house that made an initial print run of 900 copies and decided not to reprint it. He subsequently found a bigger publishing house, and with the publication of his next book Brida, The Alchemist took off. HarperCollins decided to publish the book in 1994. Later it became an international bestseller.

While trying to overcome his procrastination about launching his writing career, Coelho said, "If I see a white feather today, that is a sign that God is giving me that I have to write a new book." Coelho found a white feather in the window of a shop, and began writing that day.[13] Since the publication of The Alchemist, Coelho has generally written at least one novel every two years. Four of them – The Pilgrimage, Hippie, The Valkyries and Aleph – are autobiographical, while the majority of the rest are broadly fictional. He is unquestionably part of the most successful authors of his time having sold more than 200 million copies of his books in at least 150 countries worldwide. List of his books are:

Publication Order of And On The Seventh Day Books

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept -1996

Veronika Decides to Die -1999

The Devil and Miss Prym -2000

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

The Alchemist -1993

The Pilgrimage -1995

The Valkyries -1995

The Fifth Mountain -1995

Eleven Minutes -2003

The Zahir -2005

The Witch of Portobello -2007

Brida -2008

The Winner Stands Alone -2009

Manuscript Found in Accra -2013

Adultery -2014

The Spy -2016

Discover Your Destiny -2017

Hippie -2018

Publication Order of Short Stories

The Way of the Bow -2012

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Like the Flowing River -2005

Stories for Parents, Children and Grandchildren: Volume 1 -2008

Christmas Stories -2014

Publication Order of Anthologies

Inspirations: Selections from Classic Literature -2010

Publication Order of Graphic Novels

The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel -2010

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

The Diary of a Magus -1992

Warrior of the Light -2003

Journeys -2004

Life: Selected Quotations -2007

Aleph -2011

The Book of Manuals -2013

The Supreme Gift -2014

Love: Selected Quotations -2015

Warrior of the Light, Volume 3 -2016

Had already written reviews on

Brida, Adultary, Alchemist, By River Piedra I sat down and wept (1994), Veronika decides to die (1998), The Devil and Miss Prym (2000) and Alep . Some other books, on which the review’s were missed are:



The Fifth Mountain

Fleeing his home from persecution, 23-year-old Elijah takes refuge with a young widow and her son in the beautiful town of Akbar. Already struggling to maintain his sanity in a chaotic world of tyranny and war, he is now forced to choose between his new-found love and his overwhelming sense of duty. Evoking all the drama and intrigue of the colorful, chaotic world of the Middle East, Paulo Coelho turns the trials of Elijah into an intensely moving and inspiring story – one that powerfully brings out the universal themes of how faith and love can ultimately triumph over suffering.

The Pilgrimage

On a legendary road across Spain, travelled by pilgrims of San Tiago, we find Paulo Coelho on a contemporary quest for ancient wisdom. This journey becomes a truly initiatory experience and Paulo is transformed forever as he learns to understand the nature of truth through the simplicity of life.

Eleven Minutes

In Maria, the author has created a strong, sensual young woman who grabs our sympathy from the first, as she suffers unrequited love as a child, learns a bit about sex as a teenager and, at 19, makes the ill-advised decision to leave Rio on a Swedish stranger's promise of fame and fortune. Maria's trials and triumphs—she goes from restaurant dancer to high-class prostitute—would make for an entertaining if rather prosaic novel, but Coelho, unfortunately, does not leave it there. Instead, he embarks on a philosophical exploration of sexual love, using Maria's increasingly ponderous and pseudo-philosophical diary entries as a means for expounding on the nature of sexual desire, passion and love. At the end, the story boils down to a rather predictable romance tarted up with a few sexy trappings.

Men can beat you up. Shout at you, threaten you and yet they’re scared to death of women really. Perhaps not the women they married. But there’s always one woman who frightens them and forces them to submit to her caprices. Even if it’s their own mother.

Human Beings can withstand a week without water, two weeks without food, many years of homelessness, but not loneliness. It is the worst of all tortures, the worst of all sufferings.

No one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it.

Passion makes a person stop eating, sleeping, working, feeling at peace. A lot of people are frightened because, when it appears, it demolishes all the old things it finds in its path. Keeping passion at bay or surrendering blindly to it – which of these two attitudes is the least destructive? I don’t know.

Everything is important. If you live your life intensely, you experience pleasure all the time and don’t feel the need for anything else.



The Winner Stands Alone

Had written a lot on Diamond’s but not the Book Summary. Spanning 24 hours during the Cannes Film Festival, this scintillating parable about shallowness, greed and celebrity worship unsparingly examines the Superclass, the elite's elite, whose members' dependence on luxury corrupts. Wealthy Russian businessman Igor Malev, who's obsessed with his ex-wife, Ewa, now married to a fashion designer turned producer, morphs into a serial killer to get Ewa's attention. No one is immune as Igor targets a comely street vendor, an influential movie distributor and a big-name actor. The power plays among the various directors, movie stars, starlets and producers make Igor's antics appear almost banal in comparison. Coelho's trademark mysticism and spiritual messages provide an extra boost to the thriller plot.

Like Amitabh Bachchan of Bollywood, and Rajinikanth from Tollywood, here is an author who proves age is not a barrier and continues to shine brighter as years go by. Waiting to read many more of his.

Fashion Pageant's

Winning the Miss India pageant is a dream which many uphold, but only few taste the glory of its success. Often wonder what is behind these? It is not only a platform to represent one's state, culture and traditions, but also a contest which provides a great opportunity to celebrate one's beauty as well as thinking. Winners participate in one of the global titles viz:

The Miss Universe a company run by women for women. The pageant started in 1952, and requires a combination of beauty, brains, and class;
Miss World one of the oldest beauty contests in the world. It was established in 1951 by a British advertising agent named Eric Morley. It was initially envisaged as a one-off event, but it turned out to be so popular that it became a yearly event.
Established and organized in 1968 by a group of professionals and civic-minded businessmen, Miss Asia Pacific International, was originally a non-profit corporation with the principal intention of promoting peace, goodwill, trade, and tourism among participating nations - in Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific.
Miss Earth and Miss International are one of the Big Four most coveted pageants.

From Zeenat Aman to Aishwarya Rai, India's achievements at the international pageants are remarkable. The first Miss India was Pramila (Esther Victoria Abraham), from Calcutta, who won in 1947. It was organised by the local press. Her daughter Naqi Jahan, was crowned Eve's Weekly Miss India in 1967, representing India at the Queen of the Pacific Quest beauty pageant in Australia. They are the only mother and daughter to have both won the Miss India title.

In 1952, two Miss India pageants were held, Indrani Rehman and Nutan were the winners of the pageant. Nutan was crowned as Miss Mussorie. The pageant was held by the local press. Indrani Rehman was crowned at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in the month of April 1952. She is the daughter of Ragini Devi (nee Esther Luella Sherman), who was a great dancer and worked for revival of Kathakali, and her father was Ramalal Balram Bajpai. Indrani later represented India at Miss Universe 1952, the inaugural edition of Miss Universe pageant. Fleur Ezekiel brought India into the spotlight after becoming the first Indian to participate in Miss World, in 1959. Historically, the Femina Miss India pageant sent the winner of the pageant to the Miss Universe pageant and a runner up to Miss Asia Pacific pageant and on some occasions the 2nd runner up used to represent India at International Teen Princess contest, whereas Eve's Weekly, a rival women's publication sent the winner of its Miss India contest to Miss World and Miss International.

The first ever Femina Miss India pageant was held in year 1964. After acquiring the rights to send India's representatives to Miss World, Femina Miss India used to select three winners who were then sent to Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Asia Pacific International pageants, respectively. In 1994, after India's dual historic win at the International pageants, the organisation ended the practice of crowning a single winner and instead decided that the top three winners were designated as winners with equal visibility and prizes. In 2010, after the I Am She - Miss Universe India acquired the rights to send India's representatives to Miss Universe, Femina Miss India crowned three winners as Femina Miss India World, Femina Miss India Earth and Femina Miss India International, the third winner represented India in Miss International pageant. Since 2017, each of the 30 candidates represents their state at Femina Miss India pageant: I AM She – Miss Universe India sent its delegates to Miss Universe from 2010 to 2012. since 2013 a separate pageant Miss Diva has been held to send delegates to Miss Universe and the Miss India winner will represent India at Miss World annually.

Meenakshi Seshadri, Juhi Chawla made big in Bollywood from here, Mehr Jesia, Madhu Sapre created waves being super model, and brought in many people’s interest.

1994 was an epochal year for Indian beauty queens internationally. Sushmita Sen won the Miss Universe crown in Philippines and in the same year, Aishwarya Rai triumphed in the Miss World title in South Africa. It was a year when even girls from strict families and conservative small towns were given the go-ahead--even encouraged and goaded---to follow the footsteps of Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai. coaching institutions sprouted all over India to groom girls in pageant participation skills. That year

Miss India International - Francesca Hart

Miss India Asia-Pacific - Swetha Menon

Miss India Tourism World Wide - Barkha Madan: 3rd Runner Up

Francesca was not able to represent India internationally? It’s still a mystery. ‘Sushmita participated in Miss India’s beauty pageant the same year when Aishwarya Rai gave her name and at least 25 participants withdrew their names because they thought that Aishwarya was too beautiful [an way too established a name as a model] to be outshined during the beauty pageant. But as fate had it, Sushmita won the Miss India Universe title and Aishwarya came in a close second and had to make do with the Miss India World title

Though Aishwarya Rai was a known model and also a favorite contestant of the judges in the 1994 Miss India pageant, Sushmita Sen was relatively new to the circuit. When the name of the winner was announced, speculations started as to what made Aishwarya Rai lose the game to Sushmita Sen.

Aishwarya dealt with fame much better than Sushmita. But she has penned down a beautiful note.

Three Indians made a total sweep in 2000: Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza went on to win Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Asia Pacific International (predecessor of Miss Earth pageant) titles respectively

India holds the most Miss World title holders - 6 winners. The first Indian crowned Miss World was Reita Faria in 1966, followed by Aishwarya Rai in 1994, Diana Haydon in 1997, Yukta Mookhey in 1999, Priyanka Chopra in 2000 and now Manushi Chhillar in 2017

Two — Miss Universe crowns viz Susmitha Sen and Lara Dutta and three Miss Asia Pacific International. Zeenat Aman in 1970, Tara Anne Fonseca in 1973 and Dia Mirza in 2000.

In 2010, Nicole Faria from Bangalore became the first Indian woman to win the Miss Earth pageant .

“I am still a part of the crowd today, as inconspicuous as everyone else, the faint spot light that once shone on me long gone. And yet I believe that each one of us is conspicuous in our own way. In our little world that we have created for ourselves. The people whom we have chosen as our life partners, the little lives whom we have brought into this world, are all greater accomplishments I would say, and as such we all are Miss India's or Miss Worlds in our own right!” – So says Mehroo Turel who participated twice in the Pagent… A date with Fate…

Sleep

Can’t have enough of it, though there are so many wanting it.



Phases of sleep

There are five phases of sleep in a sleep cycle:

Stage 1: Light sleep, slow eye movement, and reduced muscle activity. This stage forms 4 to 5 percent of total sleep.

Stage 2: Eye movement stops and brain waves become slower, with occasional bursts of rapid waves called sleep spindles. This stage forms 45 to 55 percent of total sleep.

Stage 3: Extremely slow brain waves called delta waves begin to appear, interspersed with smaller, faster waves. This accounts for 4 to 6 percent of total sleep.

Stage 4: The brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. It is difficult to wake someone during stages 3 and 4, which together are called "deep sleep." There is no eye movement or muscle activity. People awakened while in deep sleep do not adjust immediately and often feel disoriented for several minutes after waking up. This forms 12 to 15 percent of total sleep.

Stage 5: This stage is known as rapid eye movement (REM). Breathing becomes more rapid, irregular, and shallow, eyes jerk rapidly in various directions, and limb muscles become temporarily paralyzed. Heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, and males develop penile erections. When people awaken during REM sleep, they often describe bizarre and illogical tales. These are dreams. This stage accounts for 20 to 25 percent of total sleep time.

Neuroscience offers explanations linked to the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep as a likely candidate for the cause of dreaming.

Over time, a person is likely to experience changes in sleep timing, structure, and electroencephalographic (EEG) activity.

It seems many of the illness is cured when one has proper sleep.

Dreams

Are dreams merely part of the sleep cycle, or do they serve some other purpose? Dreams are stories and images that our minds create while we sleep. They can be entertaining, fun, romantic, disturbing, frightening, and sometimes bizarre.

They are an enduring source of mystery for scientists and psychological doctors.

· We may not remember dreaming, but everyone is thought to dream between 3 and 6 times per night

Around 95 percent of dreams are forgotten by the time a person gets out of bed.
Dreaming can help you learn and develop long-term memories.
In all likelihood, the things you experience in your dreams are probably a reflection of the concerns you face in your daily existence. What goes through our minds just before we fall asleep could affect the content of our dreams. Freud maintained that undesirable memories could become suppressed in the mind. Dreams ease repression by allowing these memories to be reinstated.

A study showed that sleep does not help people forget unwanted memories. Instead, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep might even counteract the voluntary suppression of memories, making them more accessible for retrieval.

Two types of memory can form the basis of a dream.

These are:

· autobiographical memories, or long-lasting memories about the self

· episodic memories, which are memories about specific episodes or events

Most dreams are entirely forgotten by the time someone wakes up, but it is not known precisely why dreams are so hard to remember.

There are factors that can potentially influence who remembers their dreams, how much of the dream remains intact, and how vivid it is.

Some dreams may seem to predict future events.

Some researchers claim to have evidence that this is possible, but there is not enough evidence to prove it.

Death is another common subject of dreams and one that can be particularly disconcerting. Dreamers sometimes dream of the death of a loved one or even dream of dying themselves. Popular dream interpretations sometimes suggest that such dreams reflect anxiety about change or a fear of the unknown.

"Like death, change can be scary because – also like death – we do not know what is 'on the other side,' of the change, which is why the dreaming mind equates change with death," suggests Lauri Loewenberg in her book Dream on It: Unlock Your Dreams, Change Your Life.

Loewenberg also believes that dreaming about the death of a loved one can reflect a similar fear of change, especially with regards to children reaching milestones and growing up. Such changes, she suggests, indicate that a child is growing up and a parent's mind begins to wonder where the younger version of the child went. Such dreams of dying, therefore, reflect a sort of mourning for the inevitable passage of time.

Had not been a dreamer, but don’t know recently had seeing old office’s – First current office, then George and Paulson, and then confused future – someone trying to help fix things and then finally cutting my hand off.

And then finally Achan. Asking if the breakfast is ready, I said no. Then he comes to kitchen, I am not there, food is burning. He switches off the gas, gets 3 masala dosha for all of us from Arya's. !?

Books and Blurbs

Of books and blurbs: By Revathi Krishnan

Reading a book is like no other,

Even space travel goes no further

I explore within a single page

The entire earth, Man’s bonded cage.

Books are my passion. My addiction.

A never-ending world of fascination.

To me they represent the best of thought

Of men and things long forgot.

Crime, romance, reality, myth

Filled with love, valor and grit

I ask for no more than a book

And a pillow near a merry brook.

Reading gives me a sense of direction

A cloak of intelligence. An armor of protection.

Ask me to stop and I’ll say, “Sorry, ma’am

You see, I read, therefore, I am”.

Wanderlust: A Book Club Sampler from Simon & Schuster By Alice Hoffman is your boarding pass to the beautiful, the mysterious, and the unknown. This book club sampler was created to pay homage to a book’s unique ability to transport your imagination around the world, taking you on journeys across distance and time. Whether you’re in the mood for a historical love story set on a sheep station in rural Australia or an illuminating memoir of life in the war-torn Middle East, these are books you and your reading group won’t want to miss: Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and War by Annia Ciezadlo, Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman, The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman, Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum, The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais, The Distant Hours by Kate Morton, This Burns My Heart by Samuel Park, An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy.

Each excerpt in Wanderlust is accompanied by a collection of bonus materials intended to enrich your reading experience, including discussion questions, suggestions for enhancing your book club meeting, and author interviews. In the spirit of looking to the horizon, we also asked each author featured in this sampler one question: “What is your favorite travel memory?” Their answers are fittingly diverse—from Christina Meldrum’s summers spent at a family cottage in Lake Margrethe, Michigan, to Alice Hoffman’s inspirational first trip to Masada, the setting of her epic new novel The Dovekeepers. Anuradha Roy, the author of An Atlas of Impossible Longing, describes the lure of armchair travel best: “All readers…carry within themselves sediments of the places they have traveled to in books, the people they’ve met on the way. Therefore the strange déjà vu is when you land in a foreign country and wonder if you’ve been there before.”

So, sit back, relax, and get ready for the trip of a lifetime.

Bon Voyage!

Often wonder how authors write – It needs not only literary skills, a lot of creativity, imagination and the ability to connect the dots. May be an Idea strikes them from true life events, they connect various events, add their experiences of people and places and create first draft, and then do a lot of research and develop on that? Well writing is just the first step, you need to find a publisher, promote it, select the cover, font, editor, and make it a best seller. A tough task indeed.

Cricket World Cup 2019

World cup final 2019 New Zealand Vs. England was one of the most thrilling match in the history. Was not watching it and expecting it to be over, just before hitting the bed, googled to see if it was over, and who the winner was and it was turning to be interesting with a couple of overs left.

Though England had lost early wickets, B Strokes kept the game going. Towards end New Zealand had missed catches, catch becoming six, and a two becoming four which eventually turned to six, all pointing towards a lucky day for England and the match ending in a tie of 241 each. Now it was time for Super Over. 6 balls per team. Six balls or two wickets whichever is earlier finishes the super over. England Scored 15 runs with batting continued by Stokes and Buttler. Neesham and N Guptil from NZ took over. And here to there was a tie, with Guptil being run out on the last ball!! England became champions based on number of boundaries. England scored 26 boundaries in total in the entire duration of the match as compared to 17 by the Black Caps and were thus crowned as champions. Indeed hard luck for New Zealand.

Bachchan took to Twitter to mock the ICC rule and tweeted: "You have Rs 2,000, I have Rs 2,000. You have one note of 2,000; have four notes of 500. Who is richer? ICC: The one who has four notes of 500 is richer."

The claims for Sunday’s final to be the greatest game of one-day cricket ever played are stacking up. It’s hard to beat the super over format for drama but the game’s answer to the penalty shootout is always going to be quite rare. The 1999 semi-final between Australia and South Africa was tied and has to be rank alongside this final. The two best teams in the competition were deadlocked, with the Australians going through because they had beaten the Proteas earlier in the tournament. The climax of the semi – like Sunday’s final – came with a run out, albeit one of the most comic in cricketing history. Even after Winners are declared and Cup is handed over, fans across keep questioning the rule! New Zealand have advanced to the finals for the second time in a row, after qualifying for the summit clash in 2015. They had met Australia at Melbourne four years ago.

For England it is 44 years of dream come true!! They are the first player to win all three work cups - football world cup in 1966 and Rugby world cup in 2003 and cricket world cup in 2019. Their motto appeared to be “ Never Ever give up, until you achieve”. 7/15 players of England were from other part of the world. Ben Stroke – The Man of the Match is from New Zealand; then there are 2 each from Pakistan and South Africa, One each from West Indies and Ireland. So they say, to win world cup England gathered people from all over the world.

Finishing match is an art. Guptill runs out Dhoni, Jos Butler says I’m a huge fan of Dhoni, and he runs out Guptill. An amazing man Guptill is – seems he has only two figures on one leg. “With the expectations come the pressure to win and Kohli said that his team is better equipped to handle that pressure as they are now used to it. He went on to add that it was no secret that not going forward from here would be a huge disappointment.” Kohli had mentioned before Semi Final and India was on Top of the chart then. But it rained that day, when NZ was about to finish their batting, they got time to prepare to bowl for India, and next day, we lost three quick wickets for One run each, and lost the semi-finals. After the match Kane Williamson who plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, and has also captained the franchise, knows a thing or two about the passion of the fans from India, and spoke about it at length. "I hope they're not too angry."Obviously, the passion for the game in India is unrivalled and we are all fortunate to play this sport and have a country like India be right behind it."But hopefully we can adopt 1.5 billion supporters and they'll be supporting us, what do you reckon?"

Kane Williamson has become a very respectable Man not for his becoming the Man of the Series, but for being very cool, simple and sincere player. No sledging, No controversies, No arguments with umpires, no attitude, no anger, no over reactions. He kept smiling – As though his reaction was ‘ Dear Life, No matter how many times you break me, I’ll smile again and again because I gave everything I had, so I don’t need to feel regret.” Just said – “ I don’t know how they won it, what was it, boundaries or something? Someone had to walk away with the title and we’re gutted that it’s not us. England had a very good campaign and they deserve victory”. Heart really breaks when you give your 200% best yet fail, only because on one fucking cricket rule. They had given their blood and sweat for the game with the sensational fighting spirit ever. Indian’s respect them and consider both team as winners. In fact it is said that as England and New Zealand, both are winners, let the trophy remain in the middle, and in case there is a line passing from England to New Zealand, the trophy would remain in India! Men in Blue would have the trophy for 2019.

Mahabharat

If there be a word for the most incredible tale ever told – then it is the story of the Mahabharat. There is a great debate about whether there is any historical accuracy in the story of Mahabharata. This narrative is so remarkable that it has made numerous people speculate - ‘Did it really happen? Let’s find some proofs that indicate mahabharat is our itihas.



It has been written in the epic from time to time that Mahabharat is a "itihas" which exclusively means "thus occured". The words "Puraan" and "Itihas" were specifically coined by the ancient people to categorize the "ancient" and "recent" events. Both the words denote history that has occurred at different times. If the intentions of the writer were to write a poem or a work of fiction, he would have stated it to be a "mahakavya" or "katha".



All places mentioned in Mahabharata are real places, all are identified as real places. For instance, Hastinapur is in UP. Indraprastha is the present day Delhi. Dwarka is located in Gujarat coast. Moreover, Mahabharata cities are not limited to present day India because Mahabharata referred Indian subcontinent as Bharata. For example, Gandhar could be present day Kandhar. The country is named Bhaarat after the king Bharat (son of Dushyant & Shakuntala). What country would be named after the hero of a novel!



Among the extensive and deep underwater discoveries were the massive Dwarka city wall, a large door socket and a bastion from the fort wall, natural harbour, two rock-cut slipways of different width and sizes extending from the beach to the intertidal zone and numerous old stone ship anchors were excavated.



Read the description of Kaliyuga as mentioned in Mahabharata. Whatever Shree Krishna said tallies with creepy, mysterious accurateness with modern life as it exists today. And remember - this was written thousands of years ago! Fiction? Unlikely because there are way too many corroborations and tallying circumstances for it to be fiction.



Citing Oppenheimer

The architect of modern atomic bomb who was in charge of the Manhattan project was asked by a student after the manhattan explosion, “How do you feel after having exploded the first atomic bomb on earth”. Oppenheimer’s reply for the question was, “not first atomic bomb, but first atomic bomb in modern times”. He strongly believed that nukes were used in ancient India.

learned Sanskrit in 1933 and read the Bhagavad Gitain the original form, citing it later as one of the most influential books to shape his philosophy of life. Oppenheimer later recalled that, while witnessing the explosion of the Trinity nuclear test, he thought of verses from the Bhagavad Gita (XI,12):

कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः। ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वे येऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः॥११- ३२॥

If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one ...

Years later he would explain that another verse had also entered his head at that time:

We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.



The Indian Epics, especially the MAHABHARATA, pick up the thread of the tale of devastation and destruction. Sanskrit scholars could not comprehend what was being described in the Epics until the dropping of the first atomic bombs on Japan.

There are Authentic Verses from Mahabharata: “Gurkha, flying a swift and powerful vimana (fast aircraft) hurled a single projectile (rocket) charged with the power of the Universe (nuclear device). An incandescent column of smoke and flame, as bright as ten thousand suns, rose with all its splendour.”



If you write a story, then the main character of your story will be shown as superior to everyone and glorified. He will not suffer. Just like movies, The villain dies in the end not hero. Arjuna forgets his dhanur vidya and can not lift his Gaandeev. Shree Krishna leaves his body and his entire dynasty ends.



Indeed Mahabharat is the greatest epic ever covering all aspects of life, written so long ago – this cannot just be a story, it has to be Hi-Story.

Also there is another school of thought:
*MAHABHARAT*
_Imagination or Reality_

It is said in the texts that 80% of the fighting male population of the civilization was wiped out in the eighteen days Mahabharata war.

Sanjay, at the end of the war went to the spot where the greatest war took place; Kurukshetra.

He looked around and wondered if the war really happened, if the ground beneath him had soaked all that blood, if the great Pandavas and Krishna stood where he stood.

“You will never know the truth about that!” said an aging soft voice.

Sanjay turned around to find an Old man in saffron robes appearing out of a column of dust.

“I know you are here to find out about the Kurukshetra war, but *you cannot know about that war till you know what the real war is about*.” the Old man said enigmatically.

“What do you mean?”

*The Mahabharata is an Epic, a ballad, perhaps a reality, but definitely a philosophy*.

The Old man smiled luring Sanjay into more questions.

“Can you tell me what the philosophy is then?”
Sanjay requested.

Sure, began the Old man.

*The Pandavas are nothing but your five senses*,
sight,
smell,
taste,
touch
and sound...,

and do you know what the *Kauravas* are?
he asked narrowing his eyes.

*The Kauravas are the hundred vices that attack your senses everyday but you can fight them*... and do you know how?

Sanjay shook his head again.

“When Krishna rides your chariot!”

The Old man smiled brighter and Sanjay gasped at that gem of insight.

*Krishna is your inner voice, your soul, your guiding light and if you let your life in his hands you have nothing to worry*.

Sanjay was stupefied but came around quickly with another question.

“Then *why are Dronacharya and Bhishma fighting for the Kauravas, if they are vices*?”

The Old man nodded, sadder for the question.

It just means that as you grow up, your perception of your elders change. *The elders who you thought were perfect in your growing up years are not all that perfect. They have faults. And one day you will have to decide if they are for your good or your bad. Then you may also realize that you may have to fight them for the good. It is the hardest part of growing up and that is why the Geeta is important*.

Sanjay slumped down on the ground, not because he was tired but because he could understand and was struck by the enormity of it all.

*What about Karna*? he whispered.

“Ah!” said the Old man. “You have saved the best for last. *Karna is the brother to your senses, he is desire, he is a part of you but stands with the vices. He feels wronged and makes excuses for being with the vices as your desire does all the time.*

*Does your desire not give you excuses to embrace vices*?”

Sanjay nodded silently. He looked at the ground, consumed with a million thoughts, trying to put everything together and then when he looked up the Old man was gone....
disappeared in the column of dust.........leaving behind the great philosophy of Life!

Ramayana

Ramayana is recited everyyear in the month of Karkidakam. Often remember Ammumas chanting 'Balagan Ayodhayil, Araniyan Thanil Poku,Kishkindan Rajanodu, Sundaran Yudham Cheyathu......'

The Ramayana is one of two epics, the other being the Mahabharata, which have had a crucial influence in shaping the nature of Indian civilization. The Ramayana existed in the oral tradition perhaps as far back as 1,500 BCE, but the fourth century BCE is generally accepted as the date of its composition in Sanskrit by Sage Valmiki. Many historians claim that Ramayana actually happened and is not a mythological folklore. There are so many versions of it - Valmiki Ramayan, Adbhuta Ramayan, Kamba Ramayan, Local versions like Bengali Krittibasi Ramayan.


The epic Ramayana can basically be divided into eight parts or kandas:

Bal kanda - In this kanda, the birth of Lord Rama and his four brothers is narrated. How they were born, their childhood, studying at the gurukul and learning archery, etc.

Ayodhya Kand - This is when Lord Rama grew up to be a prince, Sita's swayambar and breaking Lord Shiva's bow, marriage of the four brothers to Sita and her sisters. It also includes Dashratha's decision to declare Lord Rama as the king and Kaikayi sending Lord Rama, along with Sita and Lakshman, to exile.

Aranya Kand - It includes the first thirteen years of their exile, Bharat coming to convince Lord Rama to come back, meeting Jatayu, killing Demons, and finally Sita's abduction.

Kishkindha Kand - It includes Lord Rama meeting Hanuman and Sughreev, killing Bali and sending troops in search of Sita.

Sundar Kand - This Kand primarily includes the struggles of Lord Hanuman to find Sita, his visit to Lanka, killing Ravana's younger son and setting Lanka on fire and the search party returning to Kishkindha with the information.

Lanka Kand - It includes Lord Rama's struggles to reach Lanka and the entire battle between Rama and Ravana. Rescuing Sita and coming back to Ayodhya.

Uttar Kand - This includes the crowning of Lord Rama, his life with Sita and his brothers.

Lav-Kush Kand is not normally considered a part of Ramcharitmanas, which is a book only about Lord Rama and not his sons, and therefore it has only seven kands. But the epic Ramayana consists of all rights of them. This Kand includes Sita's pregnancy, the blame that was put on her 'purity', her exile, birth of Lord Rama's sons, Lav and Kush. The two children are brought up in Valmiki's ashram and are unaware of their true identity. They come to know about their true identity when they capture Lord Rama's Ashwamedha's horse. They question Rama about the reason he sent his preganent wife for exile. Unable to get a satisfactory answer, a depressed Sita calls upon her mother Earth and disappears into it. Years later, Kala(Death or Time) comes to take back Rama, and in a turn of events Rama returns to his celestial abode along with his brothers.

- There is one superhero - Hanuman.
- Keep Calm Trust Ram; like Rahul Dravid
- Mantras earlier are like spells.Vishwamitra gave them to Rama and Lakshman
- Jatayu and Ravana were equally powerful but on agreeing to share their weakness Jatayu confessed it was in his wings while Ravana lied that it was in his feet when it was in his stomach.
- Sita and Hanuman underwent suffering and signify strength within us, while Vaali and Ravan represent weakness, all within us. Ram in between is the balance.