Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Youth!
I have in my hand The Indian Express dated Sept 30 2009, The Platinum League 75+ a 4 page marketing feature celebrating Indian enterprises 75 years or older. Bank of Maharashtra turned 75 this year! Anyway coming to the point it starts with a great quote by Samuel Ullman "Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul." This is from his poem Youth.
Leave you with the poem to enjoy,
Bhaskar.
Youth - Samuel Ullman
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.
I have in my hand The Indian Express dated Sept 30 2009, The Platinum League 75+ a 4 page marketing feature celebrating Indian enterprises 75 years or older. Bank of Maharashtra turned 75 this year! Anyway coming to the point it starts with a great quote by Samuel Ullman "Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul." This is from his poem Youth.
Leave you with the poem to enjoy,
Bhaskar.
Youth - Samuel Ullman
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Story of Stuff
Instead of writing my own sentences, let me quote.
"What is the Story of Stuff?
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever. "
Visit Story of Stuff site and watch the video.
Instead of writing my own sentences, let me quote.
"What is the Story of Stuff?
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever. "
Visit Story of Stuff site and watch the video.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Dubiya on Indian Apetite
US faces food shortage. Dubiya chooses to hint that this is being caused by hungry middle class Indians (and ofcourse the Chineese). Yet all the facts tell a different story. Biofuels, reduced food production and increase in per-capita consumption... don't they matter?
Rather than making offhand referenece to imaginary causes, a President should invest time an energy on fact .... Wait... thats going to be too much to ask!
Jug's taken a good dig at this.
Read: Jugular Vein
-Bhaskar.
US faces food shortage. Dubiya chooses to hint that this is being caused by hungry middle class Indians (and ofcourse the Chineese). Yet all the facts tell a different story. Biofuels, reduced food production and increase in per-capita consumption... don't they matter?
Rather than making offhand referenece to imaginary causes, a President should invest time an energy on fact .... Wait... thats going to be too much to ask!
Jug's taken a good dig at this.
Read: Jugular Vein
-Bhaskar.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
55th Sawai Gandharva Music festival
Swara Bhaskara, Padma Bhushan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is singing after a gap of 4 years.
I am lucky to be listening to him live.
His Golden voice has enthralled audience.
This is a memorable moment.
Swara Bhaskara, Padma Bhushan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is singing after a gap of 4 years.
I am lucky to be listening to him live.
His Golden voice has enthralled audience.
This is a memorable moment.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Pune to Tarkarli & Back
MTDC has a beautiful beach resort in Malvan at Tarkarli. This is close to the historic Sindhudurga fort. We visited Tarkarli between 30th Sept and 1st Oct 07.
We Started from Pune on 29th Morning and reached Kolhapur by the evening. We had darshan of Mahalakshmi on 29th evening and 30th morning. Both times we went to the temple during Aarti time. The early morning darshan was special. We got to visit Ganapati and Shiva temple on the 1st floor directly above the Laskhmi temple.
Kolhapur is famous for its spicy (read tikha) food. Veg-Kolhapuri... makes your mouth water?... We wanted to try the Kolhapuri Misal. We went to the Bauda misal on saturday evening but it was closed. So we made our enquires and Sunday morning on our way out of Kolhapur, we visited the Phadtare misal. You must visit this place and see for your self how busy a place it is. The misal was very tasty. It was more on the Puneri side than the Kolhapuri side (not thikha).
We drove from Kolhapur to Tarkarli via Radhanagri and Kankauli. The road goes through a nice forest and a wild life sanctuary. However the road is was not in a good condition and it took us 4 hours to reach the Bombay Goa highway.
We reached there by 4PM on Sunday and stayed there till Tuesday morning.
Tarkarli resort is a bunch of cottages on the beach. You can take a bath in the beach play in the water and walk back to your cottage. The food was good but the service as very slow. Not many hotels/resorts except for MTDC there.
Sindhudurg fort and sangam are must see places near Tarkarli.
On our way back we wanted to avoid the bumpy ride via Radhanagari. Mr.Magdum the manager of MTDC resort gave a detailed route from Tarkarli to Pune.
We drove along the following route:
Tarkarli -> Malvan -> Kasal -> Kankouli -> Via Goa Mumbai route -> Drive upto Pali ( you'll pass Rajapur and Lanja on the way).
From Pali take a right turn (catch NH204 to Kolhapur).
On this route drive via Sakarpa, Amba, Malkapur. At Malkapur near the ST stand take a left to go to Kokrud. From Kokrud go to Shedjewadi Phata and from there to Karad. At Karad you touch the Pune Kolhapur highway.
This route was very good to drive. Except for a few patches, we drove comfortably on this route.
We started at 7 in the morning were back in Pune by 8 PM tired after the long drive.
MTDC has a beautiful beach resort in Malvan at Tarkarli. This is close to the historic Sindhudurga fort. We visited Tarkarli between 30th Sept and 1st Oct 07.
We Started from Pune on 29th Morning and reached Kolhapur by the evening. We had darshan of Mahalakshmi on 29th evening and 30th morning. Both times we went to the temple during Aarti time. The early morning darshan was special. We got to visit Ganapati and Shiva temple on the 1st floor directly above the Laskhmi temple.
Kolhapur is famous for its spicy (read tikha) food. Veg-Kolhapuri... makes your mouth water?... We wanted to try the Kolhapuri Misal. We went to the Bauda misal on saturday evening but it was closed. So we made our enquires and Sunday morning on our way out of Kolhapur, we visited the Phadtare misal. You must visit this place and see for your self how busy a place it is. The misal was very tasty. It was more on the Puneri side than the Kolhapuri side (not thikha).
We drove from Kolhapur to Tarkarli via Radhanagri and Kankauli. The road goes through a nice forest and a wild life sanctuary. However the road is was not in a good condition and it took us 4 hours to reach the Bombay Goa highway.
We reached there by 4PM on Sunday and stayed there till Tuesday morning.
Tarkarli resort is a bunch of cottages on the beach. You can take a bath in the beach play in the water and walk back to your cottage. The food was good but the service as very slow. Not many hotels/resorts except for MTDC there.
Sindhudurg fort and sangam are must see places near Tarkarli.
On our way back we wanted to avoid the bumpy ride via Radhanagari. Mr.Magdum the manager of MTDC resort gave a detailed route from Tarkarli to Pune.
We drove along the following route:
Tarkarli -> Malvan -> Kasal -> Kankouli -> Via Goa Mumbai route -> Drive upto Pali ( you'll pass Rajapur and Lanja on the way).
From Pali take a right turn (catch NH204 to Kolhapur).
On this route drive via Sakarpa, Amba, Malkapur. At Malkapur near the ST stand take a left to go to Kokrud. From Kokrud go to Shedjewadi Phata and from there to Karad. At Karad you touch the Pune Kolhapur highway.
This route was very good to drive. Except for a few patches, we drove comfortably on this route.
We started at 7 in the morning were back in Pune by 8 PM tired after the long drive.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Sawai Gandharva Music Festival 2006
We had the opportunity to attend the prestigious Sawai Gandharva Music Festival (7th ~ 10th Dec) this year.
Day 1:
Day 1 was a mesmerizing treat. Was lucky enough to leave work early and listen to the Shehanai of Sailesh Bhagawat. Later that evening Dilshad Khan and Sabir Khan enchanted the audience with their Sarangi Jugal bandi.
Day 2:
We were in late a bit on Day 2. Kaushiki Chakraborty's Vocal was a gem of a performance. Pandit Shiv Sharma had just transported the audience to the dream land with his Santoor. Kaushiki Chakraborty came next and enthralled the audience with the agility and sweetness of her voice. This was her first appearance in Sawai Gandharva and I am sure she will make more. It would be worth mentioning that as she was about to leave after finishing the planned pieces, the crowd demanded one more. She obliged with another sweet song. However at the end of that piece she was asked to sing one more, this time by the organizers. All this despite the fact that the next performance was by Pt. Jasraj.
Day 3:
Rahul Deshpande recreated the same magic that Kaushiki had done the earlier day. He a great artist and holds a promise for the tomorrow of Indian classical music.
Day 4 (Morning):
Sunday the programme started early, we reached a bit late missing a major part of Rakesh Chaurasia's performace. Rakesh Chaurasia is a disciple of the great flute mastero Pt.Hari Prsad Chaurasia. He had filled the auditorium with melody. All one had to do was close his eyes to disconnect form the real world and get transported to beautiful lush green meadows and show capped mountains riding on the sweet sound emanating from his flute. We were lucky to listen to the last two renderations which were essentially extensions to his planned programme on public demand. Boy this guy has a sense of humor. When the public demanded one more. He said time up. When the public said never mind he said they (organizers) won't call me again.
Day 4(Evening):
In the evening session, Pt.Amjad Ali Khan and the two young tabala players who accompanied him enthralled the audience. We were lucky to have watched this performance from a very close distance. Pt.Amjad Ali Khan was completely immersed in the music he was creating.
Sawai Gandharva festival has a history of more than 50 years. It is a showcase of best of artists of Hindustani classical music. It is also one of those stages that introduce the legends in making and proves that classical music has an audience and a future.
It is also an opportunity to classical music lovers to drink from of river of music that flows at the festival and quench their thirst. It is an opportunity for people like me who have little to do with social life and public gatherings to unplug from day to day hectic IT life. To sit in the midst of fellow men. It is an opportunity to share a few moments with a stranger and have a gossip. Make new friends and remind my self that man is a social animal and has to make efforts to remain so and not become an IT animal or a virtual animal with an avatar.
Couple of items that go into side notes:
Who ever decided to call sitting on the floor Bharatiya Bhaitak... was an ingenious person. To sit an average of 5 hrs per day, 4 days in a row, on the floor is, to me an amazing feat.
I know it is easier said than done but I strongly feel that a music festival of this acclaim and celebrity deserves better patronage from the government. The least the Government could do was to build a descent auditorium that could provide a dust free and safe environment for artists, organizers and audience. I am sure that in a city like Pune with its rich cultural heritage, and rasika population, such an auditorium would not go unused for the remaining 361 days of the year.
The present venue New English School Rambaugh is brimming to its capacity and people will soon come home with mixed feeling of having attended the festival if the government and organizers do not manage to find a larger and better place for this festival.
Another option that the organizers must consider is live telecasting the entire event. Tyagaraja Aradhana Utsavas are live telecast and benefit all those who cannot make it to the venue.
-Bhaskar.
ps:- I do not have the most seasoned ears for classical Indian music. I know practically nothing about it either. Certainly every one who performed in the festival is a great artist and I found each performance thoroughly enjoyable. I wrote about the ones I enjoyed the most.
Endaro mahanubhavulu... andari ki vandanamulu...
We had the opportunity to attend the prestigious Sawai Gandharva Music Festival (7th ~ 10th Dec) this year.
Day 1:
Day 1 was a mesmerizing treat. Was lucky enough to leave work early and listen to the Shehanai of Sailesh Bhagawat. Later that evening Dilshad Khan and Sabir Khan enchanted the audience with their Sarangi Jugal bandi.
Day 2:
We were in late a bit on Day 2. Kaushiki Chakraborty's Vocal was a gem of a performance. Pandit Shiv Sharma had just transported the audience to the dream land with his Santoor. Kaushiki Chakraborty came next and enthralled the audience with the agility and sweetness of her voice. This was her first appearance in Sawai Gandharva and I am sure she will make more. It would be worth mentioning that as she was about to leave after finishing the planned pieces, the crowd demanded one more. She obliged with another sweet song. However at the end of that piece she was asked to sing one more, this time by the organizers. All this despite the fact that the next performance was by Pt. Jasraj.
Day 3:
Rahul Deshpande recreated the same magic that Kaushiki had done the earlier day. He a great artist and holds a promise for the tomorrow of Indian classical music.
Day 4 (Morning):
Sunday the programme started early, we reached a bit late missing a major part of Rakesh Chaurasia's performace. Rakesh Chaurasia is a disciple of the great flute mastero Pt.Hari Prsad Chaurasia. He had filled the auditorium with melody. All one had to do was close his eyes to disconnect form the real world and get transported to beautiful lush green meadows and show capped mountains riding on the sweet sound emanating from his flute. We were lucky to listen to the last two renderations which were essentially extensions to his planned programme on public demand. Boy this guy has a sense of humor. When the public demanded one more. He said time up. When the public said never mind he said they (organizers) won't call me again.
Day 4(Evening):
In the evening session, Pt.Amjad Ali Khan and the two young tabala players who accompanied him enthralled the audience. We were lucky to have watched this performance from a very close distance. Pt.Amjad Ali Khan was completely immersed in the music he was creating.
Sawai Gandharva festival has a history of more than 50 years. It is a showcase of best of artists of Hindustani classical music. It is also one of those stages that introduce the legends in making and proves that classical music has an audience and a future.
It is also an opportunity to classical music lovers to drink from of river of music that flows at the festival and quench their thirst. It is an opportunity for people like me who have little to do with social life and public gatherings to unplug from day to day hectic IT life. To sit in the midst of fellow men. It is an opportunity to share a few moments with a stranger and have a gossip. Make new friends and remind my self that man is a social animal and has to make efforts to remain so and not become an IT animal or a virtual animal with an avatar.
Couple of items that go into side notes:
Who ever decided to call sitting on the floor Bharatiya Bhaitak... was an ingenious person. To sit an average of 5 hrs per day, 4 days in a row, on the floor is, to me an amazing feat.
I know it is easier said than done but I strongly feel that a music festival of this acclaim and celebrity deserves better patronage from the government. The least the Government could do was to build a descent auditorium that could provide a dust free and safe environment for artists, organizers and audience. I am sure that in a city like Pune with its rich cultural heritage, and rasika population, such an auditorium would not go unused for the remaining 361 days of the year.
The present venue New English School Rambaugh is brimming to its capacity and people will soon come home with mixed feeling of having attended the festival if the government and organizers do not manage to find a larger and better place for this festival.
Another option that the organizers must consider is live telecasting the entire event. Tyagaraja Aradhana Utsavas are live telecast and benefit all those who cannot make it to the venue.
-Bhaskar.
ps:- I do not have the most seasoned ears for classical Indian music. I know practically nothing about it either. Certainly every one who performed in the festival is a great artist and I found each performance thoroughly enjoyable. I wrote about the ones I enjoyed the most.
Endaro mahanubhavulu... andari ki vandanamulu...
Labels: Sawai Gandharva Music Festival
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Google Videos Middle East Mess and the PR Machine
The raise of Google is well know to Netizens... Addition of features is more a habit than an event/news in Google....
One of Google's many features is video. It has a top 100 feature where you get to find out what the Net likes... this is probably one medium of information/news which is not under the control of the state..... While most serious minded people would brush aside most of the top 100 videos as a mere waste of time, there are a few exceptions....
Two of them that came to notice, both critical of the state and both points of view not presented by main-stream media.
One is a video titled 911 loose change and the other one titled Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land.
Frist video most would dismiss as yet another conspiracy theory.... The second a damning analysis of Middle East mess, and the power of the PR Machine....
Both interesting at the very least....
The raise of Google is well know to Netizens... Addition of features is more a habit than an event/news in Google....
One of Google's many features is video. It has a top 100 feature where you get to find out what the Net likes... this is probably one medium of information/news which is not under the control of the state..... While most serious minded people would brush aside most of the top 100 videos as a mere waste of time, there are a few exceptions....
Two of them that came to notice, both critical of the state and both points of view not presented by main-stream media.
One is a video titled 911 loose change and the other one titled Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land.
Frist video most would dismiss as yet another conspiracy theory.... The second a damning analysis of Middle East mess, and the power of the PR Machine....
Both interesting at the very least....
