(Lord Krishna as a child. Also called Bal Krishna)

Krishna Janmashtami is an Indian festival that is held in praise of Lord Krishna. This festival celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna himself. Janmashtami is celebrated throughout the country and it falls on the eighth day of the Krishna Paksha, in the month of Shravana (according to the Hindu Calender). Hindus across the country celebrate this festival with great vigour and faith.

Historical perspective:

Going by the Gregorian calender, Lord Krishna was born on 18th of July 3228 B.C. This means that his 5236′th birth anniversary is being celebrated this year. (3228 + 2008).

The most famous and notable celebrations take place in the cities of Mathura and Vrindavan, as Lord Krishna was born in Mathura. Lord Krishna was born in a prison. It was believed that King Kamsaa had been forewarned that the 8th son of his sister Deveki will become the cause of this death. So the evil king had decided that he shall kill the baby when he is born. Kamsaa had already killed six other new born babies that were born to Deveki.

However, Lord Krishna was saved as he was secretly moved out of prison on his birth and  taken care of by his foster parents, namely: Yashoda mata and Nand of Gokul.

In the years to come, Lord Krishna would end the tyranny of Kamsaa by killing him as destiny had planned.

Celebrations:

In the state of Maharashtra, there is a very unique celebration in the form of Dahi Handi. In this event, a human pyramid is erected that has to break a pot containing curd. The pot is usually made to hang some 3 stories above the ground. Hundreds of such Dahi Handis are erected across western India. Teams from all across India participate in the celebrations.

(Dahi Handi celebrations)

In north India, especially Mathura, religious and mass celebrations are performed by crowds that at the Krishna Janama Bhumi shrine (Krishna’s birth place). This shrine is located in the city of Mathura. Pilgrims from all across India visit the Krishna Janama Bhumi on this auspicious day and offer their prayers. On this auspicious day, Lord Krishna is worshipped as a small child, also called Bal Krishna.

Lord Krishna’s life:

As a kid, Lord Krishna was a very naughty child and the stories of his mischievous ways are famous and well documented in Hindu manuscripts. As a kid and as a young man, Krishna would come along very well with the Gopis (milk-maids) of his village. Bal Krishna loved curd and is often depicted eating curd from the pot while his mother is not looking. Hence the tradition of Dahi Handi !

As a very young man, Lord Krishna alongwith his elder brother Balram, killed King Kamsaa and ended his evil rule.

(Lord Krishna manning Arjuna’s chariot)

Later, Lord Krishna would be immortalised when he would recite the holy Bhagwad Gita in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Lord Krishna played an instrumental part in the great Mahabharata. He was the cousin of the Pandavas (one of the two warring sides). His motivational support for Arjun and the pandavas is well documented in the Mahabharata.

Lord Krishna’s death:

According to mythology, Lord Krishna was wounded by a hunter’s arrow who mistook his foot for a deer. But, according to the Mahabharata, he was cursed by Gandhari. Gandhari was the mother of the Kauravas (one of the warring sides that had lost), who were killed in the Mahabharata. Some other accounts suggest, the Lord Krishna gave up his life in the jungle by Yoga.

In a bizarre incident, a 44 pound cat is up for adoption in New Jersey ! This cat is currently residing in an animal care centre. I am not sure how many adoption calls this cat has got so far ! Anyway, this cat must have set a world record of sorts for being the biggest feline alive on planet Earth. I wonder what made it grow so big? Bad genes maybe…or some rare disorder..or this cat is a glutton (unlikely) !

The vets are calling this cat “Princess Chunk” ! Cute name for a cat ! But the cat is a ‘male cat’, as the doctors have revealed.

I wonder what was the daily food and milk intake of this cat..that made her so big ! The doctor has put this cat on a crash diet consisting of only wet cat food for now. I think a treadmill wont harm her either !

It is interesting to note, that the Guinness World Records had a category for the fattest cat until the mid 80s. A cat from Australia was reigning supreme in this category..but later this category was dropped. It will be interesting to see, if they re-open this category in the wake of this development !

An old woman who had lost her home..abandoned this 10 year old cat. The real name of the cat is ‘Powder’ ! I hope the cat finds a new home

Anyone game for adopting ‘Powder’?

DISCLAIMER: If you have a weak heart, do not read this article. Any damage, loss or temporary dizzyness caused by reading this post will be the sole responsibility of the blog surfer.

In the recent past, we have all seen Oil and gas prices soar to dizzying heights. I remember some months back, oil was around $50 a barrel….then it rose to $60….$70….$100…..and now it is almost touching $150. To add to our woes, some financial guys who keep popping up on TV have suggested that oil may even breach the $200 mark !!!

Just imagine that if oil prices keep rising at this rate, a day would come when oil will breach the $1000 mark!!

Let us envision how the world would be like when oil reaches this four figure mark !

Family-owned cars will bite the dust. People will stop buying cars, and only the super rich will be able to afford cars that run on oil ! Bicycle sales will shoot up, with companies introducing 4-seater cycles for the typical middle-class family !

When oil will no longer be affordable, the auto industry will find newer innovative ways to replace existing fuel-guzzling automobiles.

Small cars will be replaced by donkey driven 2-seater carts. Mid sized cars will be replaced by horse-driven 4 seaters. Luxury cars will be replaced by chariots and SUV/multi-purpose vehicles will be replaced by elephants. And most importantly, the traditional “fuel” for cars will be replaced by fodder ! The “fodder-efficiency” for these “cars” will be calculated with respect to the number of miles per kilograms carried ! The biggest advantage though will be that these cars will park themselves automatically.

An even bigger advantage will be that there will be almost nil road accidents and the cases of drunk driving will no longer be seen !

The traffic police will have to employ a special task force consisting of zoo trainers to manage parking problems and scuffles. The traffic cops will need to bring about drastic changes in road signs and rules. As for example, some of the common road signs would read like:

“Entry only for lightweight donkeys and horses.”

” No grazing on red light”

“Race horses not allowed”

“Speed limit 15 mph”

“No tethering(parking)”

FMCG companies will soon see a great business opportunity in such a scenario. They will come up with new consumer products to enhance performance of such vehicles. Punch-lines of some catchy and frequently aired advertisements will be something of this nature:

“Feed your horse with turbo fodder…improve mileage. Proven mileage satistics of 50 miles per kilograms”

“Speeeeeeed…enhanced multi-vitamin supplement for donkeys.”

“Ride like a king..introducing new leatherite seat covers for chariots”

“The new car wash soap…takes care of ticks and bugs..makes your car shine like a star”

Anyway, lets imagine we never get to face such a situation ever ! Lets hope the oil prices dont go over $200, or else i will have to buy a donkey myself ! 

Its always the same…every year !

A month ago, the BMC ( Mumbai’s local municipal body) had assured the masses, that this year, there will be no waterlogging on the streets due to the annual rains. They had claimed to have arranged for an efficient drainage system which was ‘monsoon-ready’ !

However, when the pre-monsoon showers hit Mumbai 3-4 days back, the city was thrown out of gear. The roads were waterlogged, cars broke down, people got late for work and the local trains were hit badly. Most importantly, the tall claims made by the BMC bit the dust. Why is it that the municipal body never learns from its mistakes? Every year, due to their incompetence, the city of Mumbai is transformed into some sort of a flood hit region. As long as there will no accountability, this apathetic attitude of the BMC towards its duties will continue.

Interestingly, just before the monsoons hit, I could see labourers digging up the roads nicely, for doing ’some work’ that should have been done during the dry months. Not surprisingly, when the rains hit, they shoddily covered up the ditches and created booby traps of soft mud for cars to stick into!

With broken roads, prehistoric infrastructure and no help in sight, God knows how the people of Mumbai will get through this rainy season without breaking a leg !!

A couple of months back, Microsoft had come up with a hostile bid to take over Yahoo inc! Soon after the offer, Yahoo’s CEO rejected the offer citing the offer price was ’too low’. All this while, Google was making all sorts of noises, as it saw this merger as a potential threat to its position as an Internet search engine giant. Microsoft on the other hand had promised to revise its $44 billion odd offer to make it more attractive for Yahoo!

On 3rd of May when Microsoft officially dropped its takeover bid, Yahoo seems to be going the Google way. Yahoo is currently reviewing Google’s offer to include Google online ads in its search engine results. The two companies can make an announcement very soon as per news agencies.

If this deal goes through, it will be a serious blow to Microsoft. It was Microsoft who had started this search engine war, but it seems that Google will  be getting a better deal….by collaborating with Yahoo, rather than a takeover. The Yahoo-Google search ad deal will ensure that the search engine ad business is monopolized by Google..leaving Microsoft far behind, and with no short term hope of catching up either. However, Microsoft claims that they have a plan to take on Google, even without Yahoo.

From the perspective of an online customer, I prefer to use Google’s services over Yahoo or Microsoft. May it be e-mail or Google maps, Google spreadsheets or even blogger, Google’s services are far more innovative and imaginative than the others. The only Microsoft product i use, is the Windows operating system ! As far as Yahoo goes, I used to have a Yahoo mail account ages back ! I abandoned it as GMAIL came along !

Whose services do you use more? Google, Yahoo or Microsoft ??

Recently, the goverenment (CONGRESS PARTY) has been in the process of trying to gather as many votes as possible ahead of the general elections next year. First, the governemnt announced that the farmers need not pay back their loans to the banks, as the government will compensate for it ! Next, the government doubled the salaries of all the government employees in the 6th Pay commision !

The expenses for waiving off the farmer loans amount to Rs 60,000 crores ( That is 60,000 followed by 7 zeroes). Salary appraisals amount to an extra 20,000 crore rupees ! This brings the grand total to a whopping 80,000 crore rupees !

It is for you to decide…if this is not a bribe, then what is it??

Not so long ago, the HR minister had raised the issue of increasing the reservations for the SC/ST and OBC classes in all educational institutions. That was also a very carefully planned out and politically motivated gesture. This whole issue also stoked casteist emotions amongst the masses and there were widespread demonstrations and clashes between various castes. Such tactics employed by the ministers of the ruling coalision reiterate the fact, that these politicians can go to any extent in order to divide the nation for their own benefit !

Let us now look at the issue of rising prices and the economy in general. The Inflation rate is almost touching a record breaking 8% (not surprising). There is a massive shortage of food grains, as the Congress government exported all the surplus grains for money…and gave the local traders a license to inflate the prices. Our industrial growth rate has halved..and the overall growth rate is expected to fall below 8%.

I find it hard to understand what this government has done for the masses in the last five years. All they have achived is to divide the people on casteist and religious lines, inflate prices and rob the nation in the process through ever increasing taxes ! Their overall performance has been pathetic. They deserve to be thrown out of power in the 2009 general elections.

For some months, I have been following the bitter and intense democratic nomination battle. Even though it hardly makes any difference to me sitting in India, this battle amuses me quite a lot. The two nominees for the democrats- Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have not left even a single stone unturned in trying to belittle each other.

Hillary Clinton and her managers have been a little complecant in their approach. They have squandered a comfortable lead that they had earlier, and it is Obama who leads the delegate count. As things seem, neither candidate will reach the magic number of 2025. However, Obama seems to be having a brighter chance of making it to the nomination. Time will tell what happens.

This nomination fight has been pretty exciting. First it was the Hillary campaign who had called Obama a ‘black man’. Then it was the Obama campaign that called Hillary a monster. Then we saw a crazy pastor jumping around on You TUBE ! So, its been quite a circus of late !

All this time, the Republican nominee John McCain has been enjoying his time by visiting other countries and socializing! It seems as if the democrats will keep fighting each other and the republicans will win the election

For all those reading this, who is your choice for President and why? Justify!

A very interesting news caught my eye yesterday. This news is about the deepest pit in the earth’s surface. A huge crater exists in East Siberia, near Mirny, Russia. The cause for this pit is unknown to me.

Maybe it was caused by a comet impact long back. This pit is amazing..it is 525 meters deep and 1200 meters in diameter. The air zone within this pit is closed for choppers. A few unfortunate accidents have occured before, as some helicopterrs were sucked in by the strong air currents inside the pit. A bustling town exists around the pit, as is shown in the picture. I am sure this pit must be a hot tourist destination in and around Siberia.

This huge pit is visible even from space…not surprisingly. More information on such amazing pits and craters on the earth’s surface can be found at the following website:

http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/

This post has come a little late….but its worth it !

The Indian team beat Australia 2-0 in the best of three finals of the Commonwealth Bank Series down under. The Australian captian Ricky Ponting had made this statement before the finals:

” The series would be over in two matches”

Needless to say, that he was vindicated. The Indian team beat the Australians in all departments of the game, as they lifted the trophy at the Gabba, Brisbane. In the first final, the Indian team beat Australia comprehensively by 6 wickets and 25 balls to spare. The second final saw a flip flop in both the team’s fortunes, but it was India who bowled out Australia and clinched the match by winning it by 9 runs. Thus the scoreline read 2-0 in favour of India. Thus the whitewash was completed.

This re-iterates team India’s stand, that the Aussies are beatable..and that they had won the Sydney test by unfair means. For more information about what had happened in the Sydney test match earlier on the tour..go to this link:

The India-Australia Sydney test match..Aussies resort to cheating.

When the Aussies were forced to play fair, the results are there for all of us to see. I believe that after this beating by India in their home grounds, the Aussie team will learn that matches are not won by just chirping on the feild…but are won by performing on the field. The Aussies showcased their unsportsman-like behaviour throughout the tour, and they were given a befitting reply in the CB series. Even during the series, Australian Matthew Hayden had called an Indian player “an obnoxious weed” on live radio, which was deemed to be an extremley racist and an offensive remark. Needless to say, that the same Indian spinner aka Harbhajan Singh dismissed Hayden in both the finals !

This series was a happy ending for the Indians…and was essentially a victory of good over evil. This series win has knocked the Aussies off their perch. Now that they have been shown the mirror,  hopefully they will play in the spirit of the game.

Everyday, during the mornings and evenings, all our news channels invite some astrologers that host some  stupid astro-shows. In India, we have a dozen news channels, so these channels have to compete with each other to stay in the race for TRP ratings. As a result, some channels invite weird looking astrologers making all kinds of abstract predictions, while some other channels invite ‘tarot’ card readers to tell our future !

No wonder, hundreds of viewers call the channels on the numbers flashed on the screens to ask personal questions relating to their future, career, academics, marriage etc !! Their stupidity amazes me !

It really makes me laugh looking at these people, who really believe that their future can be predicted ‘on the fly’ by a flip of the card or by some astrologer who is saying something, which seems incoherent to the sane mind ! It makes me wonder, how addictive and superstitious these people get even when these astrologers make statements like these:

“It might or might not happen…but it will happen if and only if that happens provided that this condition may or may not get satisfied..so you have to be somewhat careful”

Astrology and these predictions are good only if they are being looked upon as a pastime and a hobby. They can get pretty interesting sometimes..and make us laugh. But, when people start believing in them and take them seriously, it becomes a bane ! However, the TV news channels enjoy life as they get a pretty handsome viewership, and the telephone companies can hear their cash registers ring…as people try and call frantically !

I do not believe in astrological charts and their predictions. Neither do I believe in any other superstition such as tarot card readings, numerology etc. I have seen many of these predictions go haywire and totally off course many times.  I think i am better off with an uncomplicated ‘astro-free’ life.

Do you believe in astrology? Tell me about it !