The voice within

MEDITATION Meditation is an ancient practice and also a popular culture practiced globally. Meditation is known as Dhyana in India. Dhyana focuses on attention towards body and mind. The practice of Meditation helps in achieving transcendence. Today, meditation is practiced in various forms all over the world where people try to seek inner calmness. The origin of the practice of meditation is observed in several religious factors. Meditation is associated with Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Early findings (such as wall art) about meditation were found in Indus Valley civilisation dated 2000 BCE in the form of wall arts which was recovered by archaeologists. It was later found in Vedas and Puranas in India. Veda purana Kaala (1200 BC) had Dhyana(Meditation). It was passed on by word of mouth to the next generation. The Bhagavad Gita, an ancient epic poem of India dated 400 BCE also mentions meditation. The purpose of Dhyana was to ...

In India, the Guru Shishya parampare is the traditional way of learning or acquiring knowledge. Even if it is the vedas, music or medicine, the knowledge was passed on by the Guru to his/her disciple in small amount for a long period of time. The Guru always has the capability to understand the capacity of a student and decides how much a student can learn. If a Guru is unhappy with his/her student, he/she might not teach anything but give an opportunity to assist them. A disciple completely surrenders to the Guru and offers "seva" in return for the knowledge. source: google images "Vidya" or "knowledge" is expressed as a sacred blessing in India, for which, a Guru used to choose his disciples carefully. A fear that the disciple may misuse his/her teachings, would make them teach only to family members. The outsiders accepted as disciples would be taught very less and only an exceptional talent could master a top level of knowledge by sheer perse...

The term devotional music doesn't have a particular definition. The language and cultural variation in India is very vast and the interpretations of Devotional music leads to fantastic diversity. Often performed at gatherings, Devotional music is commonly described as "Bhajan" all over India. "Gurubani" in Punjab, "Keertan" in Bengal, "Dasara Sahitya" in Karnataka, "Tevaram or Tirupugazh" in Tamil Nadu, "Ram charit manas" in Uttar Pradesh etc. Devotional Music are often a contribution to Gods and Godesses, or expression of feelings towards spirituality. The technical perfection of "taala" and "raga" are not mandatory in Devotional songs but the perfection increases the depth and evokes the spiritual feelings. It's said that pronunciation of the lyrics is of utmost importance. The contributions by Pandit Onkar Nath, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit D.V. Paluskar, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan created ...

Runa means repaying the debt. Runa is a very vast topic and cannot be covered in an article or two. This debt (Runa) may be in the form of materials, deeds, feelings. Generally we hear about Maatru Runa : Debt of the Mother Pithru Runa : Debt of the father Annadaata Runa : Debt of those who have provided food Ashraya Runa : Debt of those who have provided shelter Nelada Runa : Debt of the motherland Guruvina Runa : Debt of the knowledge given by the teacher Neerina Runa : Debt of the water bodies which provided water Repaying these debts may take place in this birth or next birth. Runa is mentioned in Epic stories such as Mahabharatha. Runa is also mentioned in Vedas, Puranas and ancient scriptures which have existed since thousands of years. In Mahabharatha, Karna repays the debt of his mother (Maatru Runa) by sacrificing his own life. In Ramayana, the squirrel helps Rama to construct the bridge to Sri Lanka. Rama repays the debt by displaying love and affection ( Pre...

Rural Entrepreneurship is developing in India. There are many NGOs that empower women in setting up successful business ventures. Entrepreneurship is not distinguished between men and women these days. However, due to lack of support from families and lack of confidence in women becoming business persons is seen. So there are many NGOs who help Rural women with moral support so that they become more determined in taking up Entrepreneurship. NGOs such as RUDSETIs help rural women get access to information related to entrepreneurship. This type of development in establishing rural women entrepreneurs is very encouraging, motivating and a hope for many women. Jahnavi Participating in A to Z challenge

Hotels are transforming these days in a wonderful and spectacular way. Whether it is a five star hotel or 10 star hotel the ambience of some of the hotels are just stunning! I had been to Banjara Melting Pot in Koramangala and came to know that it was an artist's house. The house belonged to artist M.F.Husain. The experience was like eating food at an art gallery. It was a pleasure for my eyes and stomach :). The Lalith Mahal Palace in Mysore is also a hotel. It is built in marble. The Renaissance architectural style of the hotel makes one feel the luxury and grandeur. It is also famous for the cuisines they serve. Hotels like these are attractions to tourists. It helps in tourism development. Cultural programmes are held in such hotels for selected audience. I love to have such experiences and so does thousands of tourists who visit India. Jahnavi I'm participating in A to Z challenge

Gotu Vaadya is one of the ancient instruments of India. There are very few people who play this instrument. This instrument is also known as Chitra Veena. source:http://kksongs.org/instruments/citra_vina.html Gotu vaadya has minimal information of its history. Samudragupta of Gupta dynasty was an expert in playing this instrument. It is said that this instrument was known during 370 A.D. Gotu vaadya is generally made out of Jack wood. The wooden spherical bowl closed on the top with a wooden plate is the resonator ( reference: Musical Instruments by B.C.Deva). The instrument is kept horizontally and played. The naagapaasha which is a piece of wood at the tail end of the resonator is used to tie the strings from the pegs fixed in the head. The edges of Gotu Vaadya is usually made with ivory. Very well known artists of Gotu Vaadya are Usha Ramamurthy, N.Ravi Kiran. Jahnavi I'm participating in a to z challenge

Forts were built for protection. Each kingdom in India had forts and each village in India has forts.  Forts were not just built for protection as they are all architectural wonders. Forts of England, Europe and Russia are known .for its architectural splendors. The Chitradurga fort in India is famous for its entrance because no one could find the correct entrance to the fort. There are 19 gateways and 36 entrances in Chitradurga fort. It is also said that they used to spill oil on rocks for an entrance so that no one could climb it and the oil pits can be seen in the fort even today. The Golkonda fort is famous for its architectural splendor. Anybody who enters the fort can hear their footsteps echo. Just clap or make a sound and you can hear the echo. Srirangapatna fort in Srirangapatna island has water gates that inundate the water levels whenever necessary. Shivaji who conquered many forts used monitor-lizards to climb the walls of the fort. These are some interesting fact...

Daughters are precious. The emotions attached with daughters are very special. Wanting them to have everything in the world, wanting to watch her be strong and able to live the life she wants is what every parent wants. In India daughters were not given much importance, many women were under pressure to give birth to a son but now there are many changes and the Indian Government is very supportive to its daughters. There is a saying that there should be a son at home to get Moksha (salvation).  but now a days thanks to the education and societal changes a daughter is equal to a son. Daughters are very fond of their parents.There are many songs in the folklore of Indian languages which appreciate their parents and their village. Daughters are symbols of love and wealth. I'm participating in A to Z challenge

Everybody face problems at their workplace but tend to remain hush about it. Mobbing is spreading widely in almost all work places in the world but the topic is hidden because no one wants to experience any kind of loss at their work place. “Mobbing” is a term started by Duffy and Len Sperry which means “nonsexual harassment of a coworker by a group.”   It is defined as: "MOBBING IS...EMOTIONAL ABUSE in the workplace. "Ganging up" by co-workers, subordinates or superiors, to force someone out of the workplace through rumor, innuendo, intimidation, humiliation, discrediting, and isolation. Malicious, nonsexual, nonracial, general harassment. Other expressions for MOBBING are: Bullying, psychological terror or aggression, hostile behaviors at work, workplace trauma, incivility or emotional violence. We consider MOBBING an emotional injury that impacts a target's mental and physical health. MOBBING is a workplace safety and health issue." N. Zanolli Davenpo...

At present in India, the traditional infrastructure is being utilised for e-governance. Cloud computing in government of India can provide efficient usage of infrastructure and resources. The lack of resources in certain regions of India can be discriminated by making use of cloud services effectively and efficiently.  Society for Promotion of e-governance,  defines e-governance as follows: E-governance is the application of information & communication technologies to transform the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of informational & transactional exchanges with in government, between govt. & govt. agencies of National, State, Municipal & Local levels, citizen & businesses, and to empower citizens through access & use of information. India being a developing country implements the traditional infrastructure for e-governance. The Indian government can improvise in e-governance by implementing cloud computing and...

The beginning of the year 2014 was filled with worries and sadness for me. Every day was just passing by and I completed my part time job. I had nothing else to do other than taking care of myself. It hurts when you get injured because of something else and it was not your fault. Worries occupied me completely. One of my hobby is to paint. I started to paint but worries and sadness would not go away. Slowly arrived , the month of March. My parents called my uncle and aunt, we went out for lunch on my birthday, I was a little happy at that moment but started to feel low again. My uncle called my dad the next day and asked us to join them for a concert at vanaranga. It was a Sarod-Veena jugalbandi from Pandit Rajeev Taranath and Veene Vidwan D.BalaKrishna. D.Balakrishna is the son and disciple of  Veene Doreswamy Iyengar and is an authentic practitioner of the Mysoorubaani in veene. The percussionists were Vidwan Anooru Ananthakrishna Sharma on the Mridanga and Pandit Udayaraj Ka...

India has the highest number of road accidents in recent years. According to Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013, more than 231000 people are killed in road accidents in India. This causes a huge concern towards road safety in our country. People in India must begin to implement the traffic rules instead we often see people jumping signals, overtaking from the wrong side, overtaking on bridges and curved roads, driving in the opposite direction in one ways and not following the speed limits. Many people drive their two wheeler motor vehicles with atleast 4 children sitting in them i.e, an entire family. Two adults and a child or two are the maximum number of people that can be allowed in two wheeler motor vehicles in India. A distance between two vehicles will not be maintained. Wheeling all of a sudden in main roads by youngsters. Talking over the mobile phone using ear phones or listening to loud music in the car may lead to distraction. All these are the dominant causes of...

In today's world, with the changing lifestyle and the changing mindset of the younger generation a big/wide topic such as Karma will not be taken deeply or considered as knowledge but instead, what is shown on TV will be believed. A little bit of reading, discussion with scholars will help in developing  knowledge and some weightage can be given to their thoughts. Pic source: Google images for Bhagavadgeetha According to Bhagavadgeetha, Karma is explained well in the third chapter.  The fifth verse says : न हि कश्चित्क्षणमपि जातु तिष्ठत्यकर्मकृत् | कार्यते ह्यवश : कर्म सर्व : प्रकृतिजैर्गुणै : || 5|| Translation: A person can never achieve freedom from reactions to activities without first performing prescribed vedic duties; neither can perfection be attained by renouncing them as well.   Nineteenth verse says : तस्मादसक्त : सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर | असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुष : || 19|| Translation: Therefore, without a...