Simply Divine!

This 31st December was best ever year end that I have ever had!!

I had the previlege of attending a katcheri by Sri Sri Vidhyabhushana Theertha Swamiji at the Raghavendra temple at Ayanavaram, at the occasion of inauguartion of their charitable trust called "Sri Raghavendra Granthalaya".

Swamiji's songs and his voice were simply divine. He sang some of Purandara Dasa and Kanaka dasara padgalu.

I was very disappointed when my all time favourite song "Pillangoviya chelluva Krishna", which is one of kanaka dasara padagulu, was not a part of the concert.. But I did enjoy every moment of the song "Ishtu Idhna e Vaikunta Eshtu dooravu" .. It was simply divine...
And I am glad that I was blessed enough to see Swamji.

And to share the bliss with you all.. Here is the kannada song which I love the most..

pillangoviya cheluva kriShNana elli noDidhiri
rangana elli noDidhiri?
elli noDidha alli thaan illa dhillavendu baalla jaanaru

nandhagopana mandhiragaLa sandhugondinali
chandha chandhaha Gopaala baalara vrundh Avanadadali
sundharaangadha sundhariyara hindhu mundhinali
andhadhAkala kandharugaLa mundhe mundheyali

su mangala yoga yogadhali
aagamarthadhoLage maaDuva yaaga yaagadhali
shreege bhagya naasha vaarthipa bhoga bhoghadhalli
bhagavatharu sadhaa baagi paaDutha raagaraagadhali

charaachara dhoLage janangalaache eecheyali
kEcharEndranasuthana rathada chauka peetadhali
naachade maadhava emba bhakthara vaachakangaLali
meechukonDadha purandhara vitthalana lochanaagradhali

The meaning of this song can be seen at this site..

Obama Wins!!

As gawker says .. "We are officially in the future!! "

koi fariyaad

My husband plays this song in the car whenever he finds me in a very bad mood. And I happened to be in one such bad mood over this weekend. The moment the play button was pressed, flashback scenes came rushing to my head and I could see those tortoise mosquito coils going round and round.


We watched this movie on friendship day of our college final year. We loved the songs. I remember, the whole of our batch, sitting in one room, hearing to this song , over 100 times on one night.

koi fariyaad, tere dil mein, dabee ho jaise
tune aankhon, se koi baat, kahi ho jaise
jaagte jaagte, ik umr, katee ho jaise
jaan baki, hai magar saans, ruki ho jaise


(Priyanshu Chatterjee’s dialogue: jaanta hun, aapko sahare ki zarurat nahi, main sirf saatah dene aaya hun)

har mulaqat pe, mehsoos, yehi hota hai
mujhse kuch, teri nazar, pooch rahi ho jaise
raah chalte, hue aksar, ye gumaah hota hai
wo nazar chup ke, mujhe, dekh rahi ho jaise

ek lamhe, mein simat aaya, sadiyon ka safar
zindagi tez, bohat tez, chali ho jaise
iss tarah pehron tujhe, sochta rehta, hun main
meri har saans, tere naam, likhi ho, jaise

koi fariyaad, tere dil mein, dabee ho jaise
tune aankhon, se koi baat, kahi ho jaise
jaagte jaagte, ik umr, katee ho jaise
jaan baki, hai magar saans, ruki ho jaise

Kahlil Gibran on Marriage

Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage, Master?
And he answered saying:You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.


I now understand why some people use Kahlil Gibran's poem as their marriage vow. This is one of the most wonderful poem on relationships, I have ever read.

New post on Denzel

Shameless publicity again!!
A new post on Denzel blog..

A new post on Denzel!

Hey guys and Gals!!

A new post on Denzel is up on my Denzel blog
Do check it out!!!

Gems of Kavi Arasu

பரமசிவன் கழுத்திலிருந்து பாம்பு கேட்டது
கருடா சௌக்யமா யாரும்
இருக்குமிடத்தில் இருந்து கொண்டால்
எல்லாம் சௌக்யமே கருடன் சொன்னது
அதில் அர்த்தம் உள்ளது!

உயர்ந்த இடத்தில் இருக்கும் போது
உலகம் உன்னை மதிக்கும் உன்
நிலைமை கொஞ்சம் இறங்கி வந்தால்
நிழலும்கூட மிதிக்கும்!

மதியாதார் தலைவாசல் மிதிக்காதே என்று
மானமுள்ள மனிதனுக்கு ஒளவை சொன்னது
அதில் அர்த்தம் உள்ளது!

Denzel - Part 4

Found some of denzel's personal quotes on this site.
They are very interesting

Harsha Bhogle's speech on excellence

Harsha Bhogle is a man with multiple personalities. When he is not with Cricket big shots in the commentary box, he contributes as columnist to multiple news papers. I got a chance to watch a video of his speech , delivered in IIM-A, on excellence. It was the most wonderful speech I have ever heard. It was very motivating and inspiring

I have tried summarizing some of the points which he has mentioned in his speech.These are those few lines which were really inspiring.

"What is Excellence?"
Harsha says

Excellence is not a skill
Its an attitude!

Excellence is about chasing the professional performance goal and
letting the results take care of themselves.

Excellence never seeks excuses.

Excellence is the series of 100%

In life if you seek excellence, always seek people who are better than
you

Excellence is not about talent alone. Infact major part of excellence
has nothing to do with talent. It is what you do with the talent matters.

Excellence is also about learning from mistakes. Mistakes are your best
friends.

Excellence is as much as knowing what not to do as much as knowing
what to do

Excellence is about desire.

Excellence is all about having the confidence to share
knowledge

Excellence is all about accepting criticism.

" What is crucial? The End or The Path"

His views on "The End"

The end is crucial. Because end is always the driver of the ambition. We usually set ourselves the end or the result goals. The End gives us the vision. "The End" at all cost attitude that pervades is the source for all anxiety. It also
creates the temptation to do whatever it takes to win

His views on "The Path"

Excellence is about chasing the professional performance goal and letting the results / end take care of themselves. Make the process of achievement supreme and make the result irrelevant. Make perfect the process of performance and don't allow the pressure of the results to choke your performance. And that is the wonderful journey path to excellence.

"Excellence is a series of 100%"

If you give every moment 100% and then wait for the next moment and say " You know what ! this is the moment I wanted to give 100% too" and then the next moment turns up and then you say " Actually this was the moment I really wanted to give my 100% best" . And then you will find the little things in life that makes the difference between the good and great just happen.

You don't know who is watching you, where which opportunity is coming along. So always give your 100% best effort.

Can you fill 2 litres in a 1 litre pepsi bottle?
So you can never give anything more than 100%.
But you can give 100% for every moment

There is no shame in saying "Well Done .. you are better than me" When you know that you have given your 100% effort ethically.

"Excellence never seeks excuses"

The moment someone says "I would have been good But".. it means you are trying to assign the blame of your poor performance on someone else. This means you are not great already!

The moment you allow youself to go wrong , you fall into a possibility map, then you DO go wrong!

"Stop hating Criticism"

Don't live in the rarrified bubble without taking criticism.

Never marry a fan.

"Arrogance"

Arrogance is the biggest stumbling block to success.

In the path of excellence, if you have ego and anger on your sde, you don't need an opponent. You have done 90% of the job of ruining youself.

"Talent and Attitude"

Excellence is not about talent alone. Infact major part of excelelnec has nothing to do with talent. It is what you do with the talent matters.

Attitude and Passion count far more than talent

Ability talent opens the first door but it is not going to open the last door for you.

"Luck"

Luck is all bout recognizing the opportunity before it comes.

Luck is the fantastic fusion of talent and an opportunity spotted.

Dylan wins rock's first Pulitzer

He surely deserves it!!

You got a lot of nerve
To say that you're my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinnin'

I love them

Random Quotes

“Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.”
~Henry David Thoreau

Nothing so fortifies a friendship as a belief on the part of one friend that he is superior to the other.
~ Honore de Balzac

The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught.
~ Marquis de Vauvenargues

My definition of an expert in any field is a person who knows enough about what's really going on to be scared.
~ PJ Plauger