NAVRAATRI,

http://www.blessingsonthenet.com/temple/currfestival.asp?festivalid=F0736

http://www.iimageworld.com/image788.html

From today Navraatri are starting,it is a festival of nine days and the starting of auspicious time considered good for starting any new venture, entering new homes,buying property, vehicles etc etc. It is a celebration of nine days, ceberated through out the country but with a little difference in the way.

When i was in Kharagpur and Ranchi, the enthu for Pooja was so infectious:), all our neigbourhood used to be busy in shopping for new clothes, then give the dress to all their relatives., then from Shashtthi-sixth day, they used to be all decked up and go out to various programmes held in the city and then Pandal hopping:) what fun it was ! There Durga ma is brought home like a daughter,loved and feasted,celebrated and when she goes back, she is sent with lots of emotions, Sindoor( red color) khela, and evrybody feels really sad.

While in MP it was celebrations all the way, with Daandiya and Garba every where, and what used to amaze me that evryday around 10.30 pm in the main chowk, around 20-25 ladies and girls used to gather and do it, all decked up in colorful dresses and jwellery, looking gorgeous, and there used to be lots of spectators, but never saw any comments or teasing anything of that type. And one thing I really miss about Indore is there we could go out and eat even in our fasts, as in the markets everything is available with fasting ingredients like aloo tikki,Gulabjamun, namkeen, almost everything:) and same was there inNagpur. There we used to get some sort of leaves a symbol of friendship and on Dashmi(tenth day) people used to give them to their friends showing their friendship.

We worship the nine forms of Durga--

-shailputri,brahamcharini,chandrabhanta,kooshmanda,skandmata,katyayni,kaalratri,mahagauri,siddhidaatri

We do the fasting for 8 or 7 days as the case may be, according to Tithi.On the first day we sow the oats also. and then worship ma durga.Some people get the puja and paath done by Panditjee. For those days I dont even cook onion in my house.we eat only certain vegetables like Potato, colocascia, red pumkin and a particular flour and sago and rock salt only.

then on navmi, I make Pooris,Chola and halwa and call the girls...all young below 10 yrs and one boy is a must.on theses days....girls are considered an image of ma durga. so we felicitate them.worship them, we give them prasad and anything else whatever we want to.

The oats we sow are cut on Dashmi and used in Pooja and for tika to brother.

On dashmi--my mother used to make a big rangoli type and then put flowers and all that and then my father used to make new account books.and pens This day all the weapons u have are cleaned and put in the pooja. Today according to feng shui Fish is a symbol of prosperity, but in our house, even in those days, when none knew about feng shui.......many girls and boys used to come with fishes to show us and we used to give them money.

In south i have seen people putting many dolls and the festival is called Kolu,More than this I dont know anything, may be some of my blogger friends will enlighten me?

For me navraatri is not only about fasting......its for us to......remain pure for those days and follow the code of conduct for that

dont get angry

or irritated

no lies or cheating.

no bad thoughts at all

be kind to everybody

HAPPY NAVRAATRI TO YOU ALL !

RIGHT TO KNOW

International Day for Your "Right to Know"
Ever wondered why the next-door new school building is falling down?
Whyevery year you bump on same repaired road?
Why you never get your rationcard or the passport on time?
Why it is impossible to get a patta from theTaluk office for your land?
Why did you fail in the examination, which youwere confident of passing?
Where is that elusive Income Tax refund?
Why doyou have to literally drive around in circles to get your driving licence?
What happens to the promises made every five years ?
You will be surprised to hear that now you can not only have the answers toall these nagging questions but also speed up pending issues with thegovernment and other civic bodies, without greasing palms or paying speedmoney.
September 28th is the International day for your "Right to Know".We Indians can exercise this Right, by seeking information under the Rightto Information Act 2005 (RTI Act 2005). In other countries, similar laws arecalled "Freedom of Information Act". The Indian law is the strongest in theworld and covers the widest possible range of "information" which you canseek from the Government. Indians staying abroad, PIO Card holders and OCI'scan also exercise this Right, through Indian Embassies and Consulateslocated abroad.The RTI Act 2005, also known as the Common Man's Law or the Sunshine Act isbeing used by Citizens with great effect and immediate positive results, forresolution of day to day issues, that we face with our government and othercivic bodies. From getting all the missing manholes replaced in the city ofMumbai within 12 days to revealing what really is genetically modifiedBrinjal - it is a panacea to all your inquisitiveness.Applications made under the Right to Information Act 2005, have uncoveredwasteful expenditure and exposed important frauds/scams like:-
IIM admission criteria (CAT does not count)
- Fraud (called "Computer error") in IIT/JEE entrance exam
- Maharashtra CM's Relief Fund used for Carrom/Kabadi tournamentsand Weddings
- Use of Kargil Relief funds for buying Nappies, A/c's and HomeTheatres
- Electricity Bills of Rashtrapati Bhawan (Rs. 4 Crores a year)-
Rs. 7 Crores missing from donations to PM Relief Fund
- Supreme Court Judges expenditure on Foreign Travel (one trip of 7days costs Rs. 10.6 lakhs !)-
Law Minister Bharadwaj "lost" his passport, to protect details ofhis London visit to release Bofors funds
Shares worth Rs 25,000 Crores lying in dormant DMat accounts-
10 Lakh bogus ration cards discovered in Delhi-
Income tax returns of all political parties
All kinds of citizens have used the RTI Act - from industrialists like AnilAmbani and Nusli Wadia to politicians like Arun Jaitley and Jaswant Singh,from a 9 year old boy who was refused the right to file a FIR for a missingbicycle to the 82 year old Hyderabad lady who could not get her passportrenewed even after 2 years, from Anuj Dhar who wanted to find out whatreally happened to Netaji to Commodore Batra who exposed that the NationalCouncil for Women was sleeping during the Nithari killings. Journalists inthe media have used the RTI Act that have led to regular cover stories inmagazines like India Today, Outlook and The Week as well as TV Channels likeNDTV and CNN-IBN, besides articles everyday in mainline newspapers.If any of you are interested in knowing more about this sunshine Act,learning how to draft and file an RTI application or are interested inorganising a complete RTI presentation for your friends, colleagues and clubmembers, please contact me on my email id: karira@eth.net or visit thepopular online RTI community portal at www.rtiindia. org<http://www.rtiindia .org/> .Take a few minutes to listen to this nice video about your "Right to Know"(Janene Ka Haq) and you will know the importance of this right:http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=iZ1yvrMDUMU Remember, if you don't know, you can never exercise your right to "freespeech" or ultimately, your right to "life and liberty".
It is your "Right to Know" !
This i got in my BITSAA mail:)

Email from the boss

Mail sent by Narayan Murthy to all Infosys staff:

It's half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on... PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing... And who's at work? Most of them ???

Take a closer look... All or most specimens are ?? Something male species of the human race... Look closer... again all or most of them are bachelors... And why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!! Any guesses???

Let's ask one of them... Here's what he says... "What's there 2 do after going home...Here we get to surf, AC, phone, food, coffee that is why I am working late...Importantly no bossssssss!! !!!!!!!!! " This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices. Bachelors "Time-passing" during late hours in the office just bcoz they say they've nothing else to do...

Now what r the consequences. .. "Working" (for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute or company culture. With bosses more than eager to provide support to those "working" late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good feedback, (oh, he's a hard worker... goes home only to change..!!). They aren't helping things too...
To hell with bosses who don't understand the difference between "sitting" late and "working" late!!! Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours. So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family... office is no longer a priority, family is... and That's when the problem starts.... b'coz u start having commitments at home too. For your boss, the earlier "hardworking" guy suddenly seems to become a "early leaver" even if u leave an hour after regular time..... after doing the same amount of work..

People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labelled as work-shirkers. .. Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays... though) leave on time are labelled as "not up to it". All the while, the bachelors pat their own backs and carry on "working" not realizing that they r spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that they would have to regret at one point of time.

So what's the moral of the story?? * Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!! * Never put in extra time " unless really needed "

* Don't stay back unnecessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues. There are hundred other things to do in the evening..
Learn music...
Learn a foreign language...
Try a sport... TT, cricket..... ....
Importantly, get a girl friend or boy friend, take him/her around town...
* And for heaven's sake, net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low (plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change.
Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: *"Life's calling, where are you??"
* Please pass on this message to all those colleagues and please do it before leaving time, don't stay back till midnight to forward this!!!
IT'S A TYPICAL INDIAN MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC. PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DON'T KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME. SIMPLE !
Regards,
NARAYAN MURTHY

shraadh

I saw a post on Shradh on hobo's blog and i wanted to write something.In indian calender a month is divided into two fortnights and except Amavasya and Poornima, rest of the days are named in the same way----first second,third fourth.one fortnight is called Krishna paksh and other shukl paksh. now-a-days.krishna paksh is going on, and this fortnight is devoted to shraadh.
Shradh is a ceremony where we remember our departed parents and grand parents (called pittr or poorvaj). we invite a Pandit and he does some pooja and sankalp and then we serve him the same variety of food liked by our dear ones and give him Dakshina.It is considered that the day our poorvaj died like on dooj, teej like that, in that tithi they visit us, and feel happy and satisfied when they see our love for them,and bless us.
Earlier traditionally nobody bought anything new or did any auspicious work in those days,but i think why not? they are our loved ones and they wud like us to be happy so.....
This day is a symbol of our Indian culture where we give respect and love to our departed souls also.and remember them with love.Its only our emotions which make it more meaningful.

means to an end

I have been thinking for a long time, what is right?
To reach the aim or target , by any ways or
The ways we follow are more important than the end?
Some people say-there is no harm in a little twisting here or there if our intentions are good and our ultimate aim is for the benefit of may be society or country or mankind whatever it is.But then like they say--chori to chori ha--one cant give it any other name.and it will always leave its footprints on your mind.
Personally i think means are more important than the end, we must choose the right path and it will always take us to a good end,may not be the pinnacle of success , but the satisfaction of the journey will certainly outweigh that.Journey is more important than the manjil(end).Intentions only make us feel good......like may times we say..but my intentions were not like that ,so what.., but they dont affect anything else, its only our deed which bring results. and any unfair mean for a righteous cause also will certainly somewhere bring unfairness.
What do you think?

karan johar and sooraj barjatya

As soon as I switched the TV on saw the movie--Maine Pyaar kiya.. that antakshari round, and I became engrossed in watching, everything is so nice and perfect in this movie. Then i started thinking what is so special about Sooraj Barjatya's movies, not that I liked everything, I didnt like--main prem ki diwani hoon and ham saath saath ha(this was too much of a sugary dose, too sweet also doesnt taste good) Ham aapke hain kaun and Maine pyaar kiya....both i have seen umpteen times, but still can watch them(just like Silsila), so what is so good about them. karan Johar also makes good movies but not so repeat value, so why?
S has perfect ,ideal families, the way we want them to be, but mighty impossible, whereas Karan;s families are normal people with some flaws also.
Karan goes over the top in opulence, of coure S also has house like mansions where u can cycle inside,but they are not garish and emphasis is more on the characters than their dresses and houses.
And the equation between Salman and madhuri or bhagyashree both is very natural sort, everything comes so slowly and naturally, nothing like love at first sight,, I found Kajol a little too loud in K3G, and it seemed a little strange that a boy like Shahrukh will fall for her.
And then emotional part---its so melodramatic with K's movies, whereas in S.....they are subtle,powerful without being loud.
So Swats if u ever interview Sooraj barjatya, tell him audience like me want to see more of his original types, even I liked Nadiya ke Paar also very much.

Get ready for a tag marathon....
Le Belle dame sans merci tagged me .. and a Tag is very important because that shows somebody cares about u, about how u think, so i feel i am lucky to be tagged, and Swarna we love to read about you, we wont ever get bored, so keep on writing........

What have you realized recently?
I realised that with a positive bend of mind u can make ur life very pleasant and beautiful, but make sure nobody takes ur positivity for granted..........
.Have you given your first kiss away?
its a very old story:)
.If you were to be stranded on a deserted island, who are the 11 blog buddies you would take?
If i am stranded on a deserted island , i wudnt know it in advance, so how can I choose, but in case i am stranded, i will make friends with everyone who is there with me.
Where is the place you want to go the most?
Hmm..........to go....it cant be home, becuase that is where I like to comeback where ever i go:), so it wud be to ......presently to my hometown or Zurich(my son is there).
If you have one dream to come true, what would it be?
MY dream is never to see anyone suffering, because whenevr i go outside and see that, my whole apetite for shopping and eating out goes off.
.Do you believe in seeing the rainbow after the rain?
i am an eternal optimist, always believe that after rains, sky gets clear and colors come:), But as such rain reminds me to eat Pakoras with a hot cuppa tea:).
What are you afraid of losing the most now?
AS such nothing, I always believe that whatever god does, is the best for us and we must accept it with pleasure, as a gift of god.
If you win $1 million, what would you do?
I will have a world tour and donate the rest.
If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?
How cud i love someone ,if I am meeting just now, first we meet only then may be, but yes I dont believe in hiding the feeling(seen in many movies, the silent one is always loser:),no ego issues here,if I love ,then I go all out, no half way measures for me, nothing else matters to me except my loved ones.I want to declare my love all the time fearing that I may not get time otherwise to say so.
List out 3 good points about the person who tagged
1..She is a girl with values.
2-She is affectionate and caring.(guessed with ur feeling towards ur inlaws.)
3--She has a progressive mind and writes very well, sometimes I dont know why she feels lonely sometimes, wud like to know:)
What are the requirements that you wish from your other half?
Respect me for what I am, I always believe that respect is more important, love always follows . And I cant stand unethical,dishonest or corrupt people.On a day to day label, i am no different from any other woman, wud love to be pampered
What type of people do you hate the most?
FAKES!
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
My AC cant stand heat:)!I
If you have faults, would you rather the people around you point out to you or would you rather they keep quiet?
I always believe that constructive criticism always brings improvement, but the problem is most of the people instead of listening, get defensive and start justifying. I wud prefer to know my faults, as i am always for improvement, but it shud be from the person I think he/she has the wisdom to know, or I hold them in high esteem or I value their opinions, or at least I know they are my well wishers , certainly not from every Tom Dick and Harry,because criticism done at the wrong time and place can create heavoc
Are you a shopaholic or not?
I love shopping but no, I cant be termed shopalcohalic:)
Find a word to describe the person who tagged you
She is a tre belle dame
If you have a chance, which part of your character you would like to change?
I can write but never can say what is on my mind aur.....geeli lakdi ki tarah sulagti rehti hoon---this is hindi and I am not able to find the right words for it in English:), so always keep having those conversations in my mind.I cant seem to remember the right thing at the right time.
.What’s the last shocking thing you’ve seen or heard?
Just read in the paper... a woman was kept without water for few yrs by her husband and MIL for not bringing dowry...
Would you rather have love but no money or money but no love?
Ideal would be to have both,but if there is a situation where i have to choose between my loved one and money, it wud be loved ones, but i am just starting life and have no one in life, i wud give preference to money, love I will find:)
Now you answer.. tagging...
Cess.
Monika
Aneri_masi