New poll space

There is a new space added to my blog- the Mini Poll box. I thought of doing some online research about the likes and dislikes of people. There will be a new poll every time the old one ends. You can choose your option with one of the radio buttons and vote. It's that easy. The statistics of the ongoing poll will be displayed to the public instantly. So, vote in your responses and know where you stand amongst other voters. The poll box is placed in the side bar on to the right of this page.

Scroll down and vote now!

Satellite images

Regardless of the Mithila controversy, I am posting a link to the satellite images of the Palk Strait bridge between India and Sri Lanka. The images are very specific and make the details quite apparent to the viewer. The images can be viewed at the following link.

www.mithilaonline.com/nasa.html

Source: www.mithilaonline.com
Images courtesy: NASA

Flattered this time

It usually doesn't bother me when someone tries to flatter me, but today I felt happy on receiving a compliment from a girl whom I know well. Moreover, I don't mind being flattered once in a while. It so happened that I was singing a song at the top of my voice to clear and tone up my vocal cords which otherwise were not being used regularly for singing. She heard me sing and waited for me to finish the song before saying anything. After I finished my song, she said that she wished she had my voice. She said,"Will you give me your voice? If only I could take it ...."

We may not take every compliment seriously or flattering enough. This one, indeed, has shown its effect on me. This again rang the same question in my mind that had been ringing persistently throughout my life, but now pointing towards me. 'Why do people waste talent when they have enough of it?'

Bondage to Freedom- I

From today onwards, I will be writing bits and pieces on the life of Indians during the pre-independence days and their struggle against the British for freedom. The piece that I am writing below is the result of my attempts at drawing my grandmother out on her experience of the British rule and the lives they were compelled to live. I am also planning to do some research on this by seeking help from people who had braved all that misery and are still alive.

My grandmother was a child at that time. She was hardly eleven years old when India became independent in 1947. So, I am trying to put in all that she could remember.


1942: My grandmother and her parents used to live in Ramachandrapuram, a remote village situated near Kakinada, now in Andhra Pradesh. (Note: There were no states formed during those days). The then prominent freedom activist, Durgabhai (Deshmukh) also hailed from the same place. It was the time when the world war was at its peak. The British took away all the young Indian males with them in order to increase their man-power at war against other countries. Many petrol tankers used to be secured near the beach at Kakinada. At the time of war, one of the rival countries (my grandmother thinks it was Japan. I myself am not sure about it, but I will somehow try to find it) started to drop bombs on the tankers to increase the level of destruction. The natives of Kakinada and the nearby villages emptied the tankers as a precautionary attempt.

1943 and later: The Quit India Movement was getting into its full course all over the country. The Dandi March strike was taking place actively at the Kakinada beach apart from other places. Indians, no matter how educated, were never employed for anything more than a clerical job. My grandfather also worked as a clerk under some British employer in 1946. People were not allowed to light bright lamps at nights so as to not alert the rival jet fighters about occupied lands on the ground. My grandmother told me that she spent most of the nights in the first eleven years of her life in almost complete darkness. There was electricity in almost no Indian house apart for some rich ones. (Unfortunately, this is the plight in most of the Indian villages even today). When bombings became frequent, people used to hide, at nights, in the tunnels they would dig for protecting themselves. Women were sent over to safer places and men remained back unable to leave their livelihood. Many people living in those parts migrated to Gorripudi, a small village situated between Ramachandrapuram and Kakinada. One more interesting fact to be noted here is that the British rule was confined to mostly the parts of India other than the Southern region. The Telangana and other regions used to be under the Nizam rule.

The fight against the Moughal rule started becoming fierce under the leadership of the Rajaakaaras (Muslim radical group). The Rajaakaaras abducted Hindu women and killed them. The Moughal rulers could not withstand such resistance from them anymore. Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel came to the rescue of the Moughals. He brought in the military forces to suppress the Rajaakaaras. The Nizams later repudiated their power and it was concerted to give Hyderabad then called Bhagyanagaram, named after Hyder Ali’s lover, Bhaagmati to Telangana. Later, after many contentions, Madras was given to TamilNadu, which used to be in Andhra Pradesh earlier.

Music and Soul

That is how I talk of them. Good music always touches the soul. It will take you to salvation, if any. This is the way I have been spending the past few hours. Music. Listening to soulful carnatic music. Blessed be the fellow blogger who directed me to a good music site online. It's www.musicindiaonline.com . It provides a wide range of music from classical-Carnatic and Hindustani, to regional film songs. Though, I am happy listening to only Carnatic classical music. It has got great collection of some rare artists from the past and also each song sung by different artists in different raagas, especially the Krishna nee begane baaro one. Who said music has no bounds? long live thee!

New contributor

This blog will have a new contributor from now on. Kadambini. She resides in Hyderabad and is pursuing her graduation there. She too is a singer and has good music sense. I won’t tell anything more about her since she herself didn’t want to create any personal profile of hers. So that is it about her for now until she comes up with her own profile.

Lyrics from Swades

I like this song, for not only its lyrics but also its composition.

ये जो देस है तेरा,

स्वदेस है तेरा

तुझे है पुकारा,

ये वो बंधन है जो कभी टूट नहीं सक्ता

मिट्टी की है जो खुश.बू,

तू कैसे भुलायेगा

तू चाहे बह जाये,

तू लौट के आयेगा

नई नई राहों मॆं,

दबी दबी आहों मॆं

खोये खोये दिल से तेरे,

कोई ये कहेगा

ये जो देस है तेरा...

तुझ्से ज़िंदगी है ये केह रही,

सब तो पालिया अब है क्या कमी

युं तो सारे सुख हैं बर्से,

पर दूर तू है अप्ने घर से

आ लौट चल तू अब दीवाने,

चल कोई तो तुझे अप्ना माने

आवाज़ दे तुझे बुलाने वोहि देस

ये जो देस है तेरा...

ये पल है वहिं,

जिस्में है छिपी

पूरी एक सदी, सारी ज़िंदगी

तू ना पूछ रास्ते में काहे

आयें है इस तरह दो राहें

तू ही तो है राह जो सुझाये

तू ही तो है जो अब ये बताये

जाये तो किस दिशा में जाये वही देस

ये जो देस है तेरा...

GDP bosie!

The business bigwigs have challenged the government estimates on the GDP of India for the current fiscal. This is what they have got to say.

http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/feb/09gdp.htm

New blood!

The Indian politics is now gushing new stream of young blood. Five ex-IITans have floated a political party Paritana last month. Two of the party heads, the president and the national vice-president returned to India from the US in the wake of doing something for their soil. All the five of them participated in many social activities before venturing into active politics. Their philosophy is very clear- to remove distress from the country.

This is a new wave of hope. Let this become the intitial step taken toward making the young blood foray into the Indian politics.

You can check out their website, which is still under construction. www.paritrana.org