Upadesha Saara

Swami Brahmanandaji of Chinmaya Misssion is giving a discourse on 'Upadesha Saara' of Sri Ramana Maharshi at Mangalore. His discourse is very informative, easy to understand and laced with anectodes from Upanishaps, Bhagawad Gita and our own local 'Manku Thimmaana Kagga' of DVG.

Elli Mana kalukirado ...

I attended the School day of my daughter's school today. I took a day's off from office.
I was not too sure as to whether the school authorities allow me to watch the programme, as it was a Girls' High School. The apprehensions were not true as soon we onlookers were asked to occupy the chairs. I sought confirmation that we men are not chased out later.
The programme started with "Elli mana kalukirado elli thale baagirado..." rendered in most soothing tone, added with apt background music in harmonium and Tabla. It is certainly one of the songs that has impressed me most. If you want to hear that song, just stroll down near dongerkeri at 9.30am on any day except holidays.

Birthday wishes to my dear friend K K.

I am glad to state that today is the birthday of my dear friend K K.

He is gem of a man, very jovial, always positive, unassuming and ever reliable. I am not too sure whether he will approve me posting a blog in his name for his birthday(as he prefers to keep a low profile). That is one reason, I just addressed him as mere K.

So let us wish him Many happy returns of the day.

Before concluding, I must quote a superb riddle in samskrit. Those who know samskrit probably will know the answer too. Those who do not know, may furnish their email for explanation on the riddle and answer too.

Here it is:

केशवं पतितं दृष्ट्वा

पाण्डवा: हर्षा निर्भारा:

कौरवा: रुरुदु: सर्वे

हा हा केशव केशव

Quiz questions

My daughter participated in a quiz competition recently and one of the questions that was put to her was "Who is Country's first lady IPS officer?".
My daughter promptly replied "Mandira Bedi" (instead of the correct answer Kiran Bedi!)
It is no surprise as she has inherited her fathers' goof ups.
When I was in 6th std, I too had taken part in a quiz where one of the questions were:
"What should be done after Lunch?" The options were:
1. Take a Nap
2. Run little bit.
3. Eat fruits.
4. Smoke a cigaratte.
I had promptly given option 4 as answer. Thus, daughter's answer too had all the ingredients of her father's style.

Magic

Today evening, all the staff of my office were told that a magic show has been arranged. We rushed there partly to get some free entertainment and partly to avoid office work.
A young magician, with modest appearance, spoke in Hindi and introduced himself as one Chand. He said he has not studied much and it is a honour for him to perform his tricks before the well learned officers. (The officers duly nodded their head in total agreement as their learning has been accepted by an unlearned man!)
He began his show by converting a small white paper to two crisp Rs.100 notes!. The staff got interested as nothing attracts people as money!. The staff probably wished that if only they learn the trick well they can make some easy money. (Telgi would have preferred a stamp paper instead of Notes.)
Later he performed few nice tricks and unexpectedly sought contributions from the onlookers(staff)!. The officers were unable to wriggle out of the situation and out of peer pressure made contributions (though reluctantly). Thus, the show which started with the illusion of making currency notes out of white paper ended with real notes out of the ego of officers.

Nudisiri

Went to Alva's Nudisiri at Moodabidre. The idea was to get good books at discounted rates. Good books are often unread. Generally, it has to be sold at a discount. The books that I bought are
1. Neethi Vakyamrutham By Acharya Somadeva
2. Bhavabhoothi By Dr G S Gai
3. Chandombudhi By Dr T V Venkatachala Shastri
4. Leela Thilakam By P Subraya Bhat
5. Samskritha Sahithya Pravesha-2 By A S Bheema Bhat
6. Vedanga Jyothisha By Dr S Balachandra Rao
The books which are on sale can easily drill a hole in your pockets. One good idea could be to go to such places with limited money which will force you to think twice before buying. In my case it is think twice and don't buy!

Classical Music

Sangeetha Parishad, Mangalore is organising a 3 day annual music festival in Mangalore. On 30.11.07, there was Carnatic Classical vocal music by renowned Ms.Nithyashree Mahadevan. She sings in high pitch and her voice is very melodious.
She sang a kannada krithi "Satyavantharige idu kalavalla.." very sweetly with clear accent.
How true and relevant that song is for the present day. The very fact that you and me live merrily reveals that both of us are not honest in our daily life. May be this is the reason why there are so many "Vachana Brashta" people are around.

Menu

This is my food for today.
Why food of all things? you may ask.
The shortest route to my heart is through my stomach. Hence, food is very important.
OK, (I hear), what is d menu, did u ask?
For breakfast- Dandu dose (Dandu= Core of plantain (banana) tree. I confess, I do not know the english equivalent)
Chutney - Kundige (Kundige= Flower of plantain )
Sambar- Balekai (Balekai=raw Plantain)
Plate- Plantain leaf
Fruit- Plantain.
So everything made of banana!. Any part of the tree found unuseful? Shh.....
I am sure with bit of ghee and sugar, the unused parts of banana tree can be made to Halwa!
"प्राण जन्मनी जन्मनी" If one dies (because of over eating), nothing to worry as there is always another birth, ridicules my favourite poet Neelakanta Deekshitha of 17th Century.

more tips

"In stock markets, persons with experience make money; persons with money gain experience!"

These tips are meant for the second category.
Pennar Industries, presently at Rs.25 is a good bet for long term on 1-2 year horizon. The MFs are buying.
Karnataka Bank at present level of Rs.205 is also good bet for one year. It is a sure Bonus candidate.

"न वित्तेना तर्पनियो मनुष्यः I" said Shankaraacharya. "People are not satisfied with money. How true the great sage is.

Want any free tip on Indian Stock Market?

It is stated that advices freely given are often ignored.

Then why should I offer it free? you may ask. It is because these advices were given to me free by truly benevolent persons. This is my way of expressing gratitude.

I make it abundantly clear that my views can go wrong.

My good friend and relative, Shankarprasad suggested me Usha Martin @ Rs.70 about one month back and what a tip! It has doubled since and is going strong. One year target may be @300.

My classmate Deepak suggested Precision Containeurs @ Rs.15 with a yearly target of 40+. He is confident.

As lord Krishna had said in Bhagavad Gita : "yatha Itchasi tatha kuru" Do as you wish.

A new post after a long time

It is long since I posted my thoughts in this blog. The one on Kashi Yatre was only a part and I have not posted the second part yet ( I must confess that i am a follower of former Prime Minister of india, Mr. P V Narasimha Rao in porocrastinating things). The one on my radio speech also elicited No comments from viewrs. Is it not the height of optimism to expect somebody to view my blog and post comment on a boring speech?

No, as i found to my surprise, few indeed have gone through my blog (may be out of sympathy, I don't know) as the number of viewrs show.
My co brother, Advocate Srikrishna Bhat, Paya called up yesterday to find out the address so as to see my account of Kashi Yatre. That gives me enthusiasm to continue to blog. So here is my warning : watch out for more blogs!

radio speech (abridged)

Role of customs department in ensuring security to the region

(The text is deleted. In the unlikely event of you desiring to see the full text, pl inform. I will send a e-copy)

Kashi Yatre

KASHI YATRE

Preface: My mother Saraswathi (aged 62 years) had a wish of many years to visit holy Kashi and take dip in river Ganga. She was not keen to visit other places like Gaya, Prayaga or Ayodhya. However, I could not take her there due to many reasons viz., her failing health, inability to undertake a trip of many days as it happens in expensive package tour etc. Finally, I decided that I will take her on a trip from Mangalore to Kashi (also known as Varanasi) and back by train. The journey started from Mangalore at midnight on 8.12.2006 and we were back here on midnight of 13.12.2006. The following is a brief account of the said trip.

“Kathi Kavayaha Kathi Kruthayaha”{How many poets! How many poems!} wondered 17 the century Sanskrit poet Neelakanta Deekshitha. Similarly, is there a need for one more travel account when many people have already written and published books about the glorious Kashi ? I convinced that I must write to encourage those who desire to go there but not gone yet. If any of our havyaka members in google group actually benefit, however insignificant it may be, I would be glad.

Ticket booking: On the night of 25th November I checked the Indian railway and IRCTC websites to locate the trains and availability of tickets. As no internet bookings are allowed on the said sites during late night, I woke up early the next day and booked onward and return tickets over net.
Date From Leaving time To Scheduled Reaching time Name of Train
9.12.06 Sat (Kankanady)00:30 am Mumbai, LTT 16:40 Hrs Nethravathi Exp
10.12.06 Sun Mumbai, CST 00:10 am Varanasi Jn 04:30 Hrs/11.12.06Mahanagari Exp
11.12.06Mon Varanasi Jn 23:10 pm Mumbai, Kalyan Jn 02:45 am/13.12.06 MFP-LTT Pawan
13.12.06 Wed Kalyan Jn 08:50 am Kankanady 00:30 am/14.12.06 Mangala Lakshadweep

The return tickets were confirmed whereas the onward tickets were in the waiting list. I was confident that the same would get confirmed before the start of journey.

For stay at Kashi: I was told that one Mysore Vishwanatha Sharma stays at Kashi and he caters to the needs of visitors from Karnataka. I spoke to his land line number 0542-2275291. His son Kedar Sharma answered and spoke in Kannada and ascertained my requirement. He agreed to arrange a person to receive us at the Railway station, book a room at a decent lodge, arrangements for Ganga snana and a boat trip in Ganga, Darshana of Lord Vishwanatha and Vishalakshi, and other few temples. He also assured us south Indian food at a nearby mess and drop to railway station in the night. He also provided his mobile number 09450546017 and his brother Prasanna Kumar’s number 09415303222.



Preparations for travel: I prefer to travel light and my mother- lighter. Hence, there were only two bags. I stuffed my preferred companions i.e., books. Vishnu Sahasranama, Lalitha Sahasranama, Veda Kusumanjali and Shathavadhani R Ganesh’s book on Shathakatraya of Neelakantha Deekshitha.

Lord Vishnu is described as “Bhayakruth Bhaya nashanaha”, i.e. one who instills fear and then removes the same. From my own experience, I have found that a faithful rendering of Vishnu sahasranam enables one to overcome many a hurdles.
Although I have been reciting Lalitha Sahasranam for some time, I wanted read the Bhashya (commentary) on that and hence took that book.
I wanted to chant Rudra (Om namo bhagavathe rudraya..) at Kashi. Although I was taught the above mantra at Madhur during Veda learning many years back, I needed book for comfort.
R Ganesh’s book is a must read for those who want to enjoy the master piece of sharp witted poet Neelakantha Deekshitha. The book contains 3 parts: Sabha ranjana shathaka, Kali vidambana shathaka (ridiculing the happenings of Kaliyuga) and Vairagya Shathaka.

The travel: My one worry got resolved as the ticket from Mangalore to Mumbai got confirmed. We reached Mumbai 3 hours late. My relative Kumaraswami who is working for BPCL in a very senior position and his wife received us at Kurla station and took us to their quarters. After refreshing, good supper and packet of Chapathi’s for next day they dropped us at Mumbai CST. To my horror, I realized that my tickets were on waiting list 1&2 and had not got confirmed.

The resolve: It was midnight in an alien place Mumbai with a huge crowd trying to board Mahanagari express and I was stuck with my old mother and an unconfirmed AC railway ticket. I explained the situation as calmly as possible to mother. I told her the available options are:
Cancel the ticket and return home
Travel in unreserved or general compartment.
Get into the reserved compartment and see what happens.

We took the 3rd option. I calculated that, since my mother looked feeble, we are unlikely to be pushed out of the compartment. Further, we were satisfied just to travel and not concerned about the lack of comforts. The ticket examiners informed me that it is incorrect to board the train but realizing our predicament did not take any harsh measures.

At Kashi or Varanasi Junction one Santhosh received us. He took us in an auto to the Balananda Ashram near Hanuman Ghat. Enroute we saw that even before sunrise the vegetable market were abuzz with lot of activity. After a brief rest in the lodge, he took us to Holy Ganga. I was not sure whether I will dip in Ganga, thinking about the polluted water. Gladly, the water looked better than I feared and took dips merrily one each for dear ones. Later we visited the house of Mysore Vishwanatha Sharma. His son Prasanna kumar welcomed us. He suggested to take boat trip down the river and to see various ghats. Next we visited Vishwanatha Temple and saw the brutalities of Aurangazeb.