The voice within

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...

After painting 24 of my paintings I finally realized how to clean the brushes after oil painting. It is important to use clean brushes in every painting because cleaner the palette and brushes, better are the colors. Never use muddy brush, palette and cloth. Firstly, dip the brush in turpentine or any thinner, roll the brush with newspaper or a towel and squeeze the bristles from bottom to top so that excess paint in the brush is removed. Then, take a soap bar, hold it in your hand and start brushing on the soap bar with the brush. Wash it with water. Repeat this 3 to 4 times till the colour is completely gone. Lastly, apply a bit of hair conditioner to the bristles of the brush and leave it for 5 minutes and wash it lightly with water and leave it to dry. By doing this the bristles of the brush won't become too dry and revives the brush. - Jahnavi

It is very common for everybody to have experienced an instance where a faint fragrance fetches a lot of memories.  In our daily lives we tend to forget about these moments completely but it emerges in our minds as it is present somewhere in our brain. Every morning when I water the hibiscus plant in our garden I remember travelling to Coorg. I like to visit  locales that have blissful atmosphere and a magical spiritual element. On our(myself and my husband) way to Tamara resort in coorg there were a lot of hibiscus flowers on the sides of the road. A few moments later a mysterious yet attractive smell came through the car windows which I realized was from the pepper vines spiraling around the Arecanut trees.  As soon as we reached the resort, we were greeted with a Polianthes Tuberose (Sugandharaja flower) garland and put a dot on my forehead with sandalwood paste. The refreshing Polianthes tuberose and sandalwood aroma made me forget the long and tiring journey. ...

Life is so unpredictable. So is Hazel's in "The Fault of Our Stars" by John Green. I'm not writing a book review here. You've got to read this book :) This fabulous book just doesn't allow anything to dislike in it and is a gripping story which is smart, funny and heartbreaking. Hazel is a 16 year old cancer patient who recently starts attending a support group. Her story changes when she meets Augustus Waters in the supporting group. As you go on reading you find some amazing lines, I found my amazing favorite line in the book: " The existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the taste of chocolate". Image source: Google Images, animated by me I appreciate John Green's work and efforts for this book. I mean these days there are hardly any writers and some so called writers watch TV soaps and publish a book. Well this is happening in my country atleast.  There are people who write about cancer as if it's going to come a...

Richness is an entity taking different forms for different people. The dream of many people is to become "Rich". Rich according to the dictionary means a) wealthy, b) abundance and c) valuable. A common man generally thinks of the word "Rich" in terms of money. So, it is evident that every man's dream is to become Rich. I too want to be rich but not desperate to become one. I want to be rich by good means. Richness is in the heart of a person but not in metals and neatly printed currency notes. I consider the word "Rich" in terms of abundance. I feel rich when I'm standing in the line where no one breaks the line. I feel rich when I roam around the beautiful bounty of nature. Pic source: Google images I feel rich when I remember my great grandmother's grin. I feel rich when my uncle showers blessings on me. I feel rich when I'm not bullied by others. I feel rich when I watch crystal clear water flowing down the hillocks I fee...

picture source: Google images ಮುಷ್ಟಿ ಮುಚ್ಚಿ ಕೂತೆ ಹಕ್ಕಿ ಹಾರಿ ಹೋಗದಿರಲೆಂದು, ಮರೆತೆ,  ಕಾಣದದು ಏನನ್ನು. ಗೆರೆಯನೆಳೆದೆ ಸೀತೆಯಂತೆ ಮೋಸ ಹೋಗದಿರಲೆಂದು, ಮರೆತೆ,  ದಿಕ್ಕುಗೆಟ್ಟಿತ್ತದು ಬೆಳಕು ಕಣ್ ಕೋರೈಸಿರಲು. ತುತ್ತನಿತ್ತೆನರಿಯದೆ ತಾಯಂತೆ ಮಮತೆ ದೋ ರಿ, ಮರೆತೆ,  ಬೆಳೆವುದಲ್ತೆ ಜೀವನದ ಪರಿ. ಮುಂದೇನು, ಭವಿಷ್ಯವೇನು ನುಡಿದೆ ಬಟ್ಟೆ ದೋರಿ,  ಮರೆತೆನಲ್ತೆ ಕಾಪಿಡಲಾನು ಪ್ರೀತಿಯ ನವಿರು ಝರಿ. ಆರಾರು ಹಿತವರೋ ನೀನು ನಾನರಿಯದೆ ಝರಿ ಬತ್ತಿ ದಡ ಹೊರಳಿ ಮುಂದೆಲ್ಲ ಮರಳುಗಾಡು  ಮರೆತೆ, ನಾನಿಲ್ಲೆ ತಂಗಾಳಿಯೂ ಆಗಬಹುದು ಕುಳಿರ್ಗಾಳಿ. ಓ ನನ್ನೊಲವೆ ಮುಷ್ಟಿ ಬಿಚ್ಚಿ, ಗೆರೆಯನಳಿಸಿ,  ಮೌನವಾಂತು ಕುಳಿತೆ ನಿಂತಲ್ಲೇ. ಬೀಸಬಹುದೆ ತಂಗಾಳಿ. ಮಾತನಳಿಸಿ, ಕ್ರಿಯೆಯನಳಿಸಿ, ತಂಪೆರೆಯಬಹುದೇ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯ ಝರಿ, ಮರೆತೆ, ಕೇಳಿಲ್ಲ  ನಾನೆಲ್ಲೂ ಮರಳುಗಾಡಿನಲ್ಲರಳಿದ ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆಯ ಕಂಪಿನ ಕಥೆ,ಮರೆತೆ,  ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆಯ ತುದಿಯ ಸುಟ್ಟ ಮೊಗ್ಗಿನ ಮಸಿ ಗಾಢವಿಲ್ಲಂತೆ, ಹಾರಿ, ತೂರಿ ಮಸುಕಾಗುವುದಂತೆ. ಹಾಂ ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮರೆತೆ,  ಶಕ್ತಿಯಿ ಹು ದೋ ಅರಿಯಲ್ಕೆ, ಮನವಿಹುದೋ ಕ್ಷಮಿಸ ಲ್ಕೆ ನಿನಗೆ ನೀನರಿಸಿ, ನನಗೆ ನಾನರಸ, ನವಿಲ್ಗರಿಯ ಬೀಸಣಿಕೆಯ ತಂಪು ಗಾಳಿ ಲಾವಂಚದ ಗರಿಯ ತಂಪು ನೀರು ಮರೆತೇ ಹೋಯಿತಲ್ಲ ತಂಗಾಳಿ, ಝರಿಯ ತಿಳಿನೀರು. ...