Antarnaad … Pune
Posted by: Abhay on: January 5, 2010
Guess Where you can listen to Shri. Shankar Mahadevan, Pandit Rajan Mishra & Pandit Sajan Mishra together this month!??!?
A musical symphony of 2000 vocalists, these maestros will be performing with.
The event is Antarnaad, a voice within… an Event with His Holiness Sri Sri Ravishankarji!!
12 Jan, 6pm, SP College Grounds, Pune….
Why Mac!?
Posted by: Abhay on: December 10, 2009
Many friends asked me how much I bought the Macbook for,etc. They didn’t ask me “hey, what all you can do with Macbook, and why did you go for it!?” So here is a brief.
1. No virus. Mac works in operating system similar to Linux, where no software can be installed in your hindsight. Of course, you should be careful when you install new software, as it may contain spyware, but there is no way to sneak in and put a virus on Mac. That saves you a lot of trouble, and money for Anti-virus packages and their updates.
2. Loads of installed abilities, which makes it all in one pack:- You can annotate pdf files, put underline/circle/rectangle/comments. This is very important for a research scholar like me, reading lots of pdf files. Image editing is easy, you can rotate the images with swirling motion of fingers! Installed Webcam and internal microphone. Self detecting of internet sources like hi-fi, ethernet/pen drive internet data card connector. Ease of installing softwares- just double click and drag to the applications folder.
3. User friendly
A trackpad that can do wonders! Zoom in and out, Rotate, use three fingers to browse between applications, four to see all open windows… its fun.
4. Excellent graphics and tricks take cursor to various corners of laptop, to see different effects of windows open. scroll with two fingers fantastic presentation capabilities
5. Java, C, are all inbuilt. Guitar can be plucked in and videos can be easily edited.
6. Loads of templates from monthly budget to job resumes.you name it. Makes life simple and systematic. A versatile planner similar to google calender, only better one.
7. It is not booted or shut down at the beginning and end. It is switched on and off- like TV, Fan etc… 
its pretty fast.
8. Attention to small details:- the new macbook comes with a magnetic attraction at the plugin point of charging device to the machine. that keeps the charging wire in close contact, and solves the “loose connection” problem.
9. Data back up. Data backup made very easy with “Time Machine” app in macbook. Save your precious files in back up with one click. Very good for research scholars like me.
10. the genie and jumping effect of apps opening icons. the spaces- a chance to have apps in diff view spaces, as in linux, not available in windows…
11. And I guess… there are many apps in mac which I haven’t yet explored… !
Apprehensions for Mac:
1. Not all programs run on it:-
There will be alternative equally good or better programs…. find out! Also lots of shareware programs are designed by mac users, who wanted to shift from other OS to MAC. So these issues will get sorted out.
2. Its costly!
Well, find out ways to afford it…
3. Do repairs become easily available…
Doesn’t require much repairs…
~~~~~
All said and done, its a electronic device, so it has its own lifetime. I had a fantastic Mac Powerbook G4(and still have) but it gave up in a crash after lot of service. But I think it did best among the lot. So take your call…!
Laptop Care
Posted by: Abhay on: December 9, 2009
- In: Useful Info
- 1 Comment
Like you have brain, heart, lungs, stomach, a computer has a Central Processing Unit, Hard Disc, RAM, CD/DVD Drive, and other input output devices.
Now you have seen how bulky a desktop used to be, and how sleek a laptop is. So its like compressing capabilities of an elephant and lion into a human size!
First result of such compactification is heating. If your laptop gets hot by continuous use for two hours, buy a heat sink or a cool pad for base of your laptop.
Laptops are portable, and hence we carry them from place to place. Now, if you carry a laptop while it is switched on, even in the sleep mode, it is bound to damage the hard disc, which keeps rotating even in the sleep mode. So if you carry it in sleep mode while travelling, the reading-writing head might brush up extra on the hard disc and cause mutual damage. So always switch it off and then carry.
Using a scratch guard for the screen and a dust guard for the keypad will tell you how much damage you have saved for these, when you look at these guards after a year. It keeps the original things intact.
Laptop reads a CD/DVD with a pointer tip. Now if you run two applications based on a data DVD, e.g. one of copying a file, and other of playing a song on the DVD, then the tip has oscillate rapidly between the two different locations on the DVD where these data are stored. This slows down the two applications, and more disadvantageously, it can damage your DVD Read Write Head.
Battery of Macbook is expected to last for 1000 cycles. 1 cycle means complete charging and total discharging. To make best use of battery and enhance its life, charge it fully and then let it discharge fully.
Flood Relief work:- North Karnataka -2
Posted by: Abhay on: October 12, 2009
I visited the flood affected village “Benal” बेनाळ in north Karnataka near Bagalcot. The route of trip was Bangalore-Hospet-Bagalcot, the village comes after Ilkal, Sirur, Ameengarh, and then 6 km interior from Kamadgi, about 22 km before Bagalcot. The village resided on the bank of river Malprabha. The flood caused ruining of fields and houses of 250 farmer families in this village, among many others. Many families have lost the shelter as water entered in many houses, leaving behind half of the structure of houses. Government has provided the temporary shelter and basic electricity requirement. Water tankers are also issued and NGOs are sending trucks of food grains, bread and buiscuits, roti, chatni and related material. In my visit I saw workers from RSS, Chittoor Mattha, Davangere volunteers, and Art of Living volunteers. Art of Living Divine Karnataka Project has deployed one yuvacharya, Gadigappa, for 24 hour help of the villagers. He stays on a mat in a temple premise on a hillock top of the village, along with some others who have lost homes. He coordinates much of the food distribution, as the crowd management is required for any such distribution. He also teaches relaxation breathing techniques, yoga and satsang in the village, helping them recover from trauma of the event.
The river had expanded to about 20 times its width and 3 times its depth. Water has receded but lots of water ponds and mud is noticed.
Due to extra cost of transport, any relief material is purchased locally only, and any amount of donation is most useful.
Flood relief work:- North Karnataka -1
Posted by: Abhay on: October 11, 2009
From Divine Karnataka Project website:-
Relief Efforts in North Karnataka – Appeal for Help
| Torrential rains over last one week have left over 200 people dead and rendered over 3,00,000 people homeless in the state. The floods have affected all 14 districts of state’s northern region.According to official sources, over 26,000 houses have collapsed in North Karnataka. Most of the eleven districts in the region are inundated, as all the rivers are flowing above the danger mark. Road and rail transport services have also been disrupted.
Poojya Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar ji has been actively monitoring the situation and had visited some of the worst affected areas. Art of Living has started relief work in few of the worst affected villages (Buradepad, Thalamari) of Raichur district. More teams are being deployed as we identify more villages for relief work. We are in the process of mobilizing the relief material and resources for managing this situation. We need cash donations for buying essential materials and rebuilding the houses. Please issue the cheques / DDs in the name of ‘VVKI – DHARMA STAMBA YOJANA’ and mail to VVKI – Divine Karnataka Project, #1431-A, Ground Floor, 39th Cross, 22nd Main, 4th T Block, Bangalore -560 041. Or directly transfer the funds to: Beneficiary: “VVKI – DHARMA STAMBA YOJANA” (please send a mail to divine.karnataka.project@gmail.com with the details of transferred amount and date. Also in the transaction remark please put ‘ flood relief KAR ‘). For all donations, 80G certificate will be provided. You can also donate the essential items. WE NEED THE FOLLOWING ITEMS IMMEDIATELY: Food Items: Request you to sort the materials and label the same (Rice in one packet, Sugar in packet etc). This will help us in reducing the processing time and minimize transportation costs. Relief material can be sent to: VVKI – Divine Karnataka Project, #1431-A, Ground Floor, 39th Cross, 22nd Main, 4th T Block, Bangalore -560 041 OR please call 080-42173285, 9845589393, 9986487255 and our volunteers will pickup the material from your centers. For more info and status of relief work visit http://www.divinekarnatakaproject.org/v1/floodrelief.htm About Art of Living: The Art of Living Foundation is an international non-profit, educational, charitable, and humanitarian organization, offering programs in more than 150 countries around the world. As a Non-Governmental Organisation, Art of Living Foundation works in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, participating in a variety of committees and activities relating to health, education and sustainable development. For more info visit www.artofliving.org. For Divine Karnataka Project, Nagaraj Gangolli State Coordinator. |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 03 August 2009 10:22 ) |
Navaratri -5. Vijay Yatra!!
Posted by: Abhay on: September 26, 2009
The tenth day, Dussehra, Vijayadashami is celebrated by crossing one’s boundaries. There is tradition of travelling outside one’s routine area and going to unknown place. We all follow Guruji’s Car. And wow, what a surprise he gave!!
We went out of Ashram, some 30 cars and 20 bikes and 5 buses… following Guruji’s Car accompanied by police also. They took a close by right turn, and so did the carwan took turn. the normal kanakpura traffic was held off. we went on a curvy road on a village side, and it soon led us to a lake!!
It was so pleasant a place!!!! He did some puja there, gave prasadam to the villagers there. the whole adventure of following him on the bike was amazing!!
In the Satsang back in Yagyashala, he spoke:-
“All your past karmas are washed off. Know that you are blessed so very much. Have this prayer that ‘If something is not good for me, even if I want it, let it not come to me.’ Yoga gives yogyata, Yadnya gives happiness. Utilize this happiness that you have got to complete the works that you need to do in the world. “
All over the country at 24 places this Yadnya happened. Also in One place outside India. The telecast of the Yadnyas was done through Internet. It was a very worthwhile 10 day experience. Later back home, I was missing the chanting and a presence of thousands of happy faces so much!
Navaratri -4. Yagyas
Posted by: Abhay on: September 26, 2009
The following days were full of Yagyas.
~~~~
Yagnas are the ancient method of enriching the subtle. They also purify the individual and the collective consciousness.
Yagna has three aspects:
1. Deva Puja: Acknowledging and honoring the Divine in all the forms.
2. Sangatikarana: Hastening the process of evolution by bringing together all the elements and people in creation.
3. Dana: Sharing and giving what one has been blessed with.
– Sri Sri
~~~~
Before the Yadnya begins, the priest takes permission of the host. Then the Mantras are chanted to invite the presence of deity. Even the musical instruments are played which are pleasant. Chants from all four vedas are offered. in the homa, 108 different kinds of herbs are offered, which have a cleansing effect on the body, through their fumes.
In Sudarshan homa I heard the line “Jwalam Paridhay” means to wear the fire! I was quite thrilled. I have decided to learn the Samskrit well so that I can understand the shlokas they sing!
Chandi homa, Rishi homa were amazing. It seemed as if, that I can’t easily take so much energy, and to contain it, I need to do much more sadhana and seva. It seemed that the true being of Guruji is very different and only for our ability to comprehend him and withstand him, he behaves the way he does. Otherwise Trance is a natural state for him!
Night Garba and Dandiya was also very good. One more thing on the agenda is to learn those Gujarati dance steps!!
The honor with which the priests do the puja, the reverence with which they keep repeating some of the routine things is amazing. The rituals are followed exactly as they are told in the scriptures, and everyone is in so much bliss as to dance on the day of ashtami…
Ashtami I obediently overate!
Navaratri -3. Rudra Homa
Posted by: Abhay on: September 25, 2009
I was late for Ganapati homa. The atmosphere of joy spoke about the homa proceedings I missed. I spent some time and returned to work. The major new thing that had happened was laptop was not functional. So I spent the whole night debugging it in vein.
The next day was the Rudra Homa. I had given the donation for the Sankalpa. Thanks to Anand I continued my nightout after taking bath, straight into the Yagya Shala. I did my kriya and sat in the Sankalpa enclosure. The proceedings were bit slow, but mind was at peace and no hurry. Next few hours went into a seemingly endless series of chantings which were – don’t know why – where pleasing and peaceful. It was another touching experience to see Guruji in Trance.
I received my new locket and prasadam.
Navaratri -2. Pooja s
Posted by: Abhay on: September 23, 2009
The first three days of Navaratri are Tamasik in nature… the whole creation kind of wakes up slowly from the sleep.
And you also don’t want to do much work. That’s why they suggest fruit fasting in those three days. I didn’t fast, but I was happy to do good sadhana and with Sabari I also did some nice seva.
The puja this day was so fantastic. I almost got lost in meditation. Generally I open eyes in middle of puja but this time 1/2 hour 45 minutes just like that passed.
It rained and rained and rained on the way to Ashram. Still I drove in it, stood there in wet clothes during the puja, and came back in another burst of rain.
I gave a lift to an Infosys person who stayed in ECity. I admired that he took so much time and effort to travel all the way from there to Ashram and back.
The third day the energy seemed to be on a peak. Guruji went into trance during satsang. Rudra puja chantings were awesome.
Fourth day it didn’t rain much I guess. Rudra puja chantings had become so much wanted by then. Also the crowd was increasing, and there was so much happiness in the atmosphere.
Fifth day Guruji came out of Silence. He just spoke that be in Bhavpurna Vishram. Divine is not far, its within, so no need of any effort is there. Rest with feelings.
Navaratri -1. Pratima
Posted by: Abhay on: September 19, 2009
The very first day in Ashram was crowded and Yagyashala, double its size the last year, was already 2/3 full. The first five days of Navaratri, there is Advanced course in Ashram, and Guruji also maintains silence. It’s very profound. He is fully there in every action, without speaking a word.
Since the stage was very far, I could see only a tiny image of Guruji, and hence I was glued to the projector screen to see the closer view.
Suddenly it downed to me… I could have seen the video on TV or computer also… I am in Ashram to see him personally. And then as I gazed to his far off stage location, another thought came isn’t this also an apparent image of his true being!? Am I getting stuck in the image and missing on the true reality behind!?
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