Sholingar

Early morning at 5 we left our house for a place called Sholingar which is roughly around 3 hours from our residence in Chennai. My parents who are visiting many Vishnu temples(part of 108 vaishnava temples) have come down to Chennai to visit some of the temples in and around Chennai. Just fun filled relaxed trips.

They visited Ahobilam last week which has 9 temples. In Ahobila, Andhra Pradesh, the nine forms are as follows:

(1) Chhatra-vata-narasimha (seated under a banyan tree)
(2) Yogananda-narasimha (who blessed Lord Brahma)
(3) Karanja-narasimha
(4) Uha-narasimha
(5) Ugra-narasimha
(6) Kroda-narasimha
(7) Malola-narasimha (With Laksmi on His lap)
(8) Jvala-narasimha (an eight armed form rushing out of the pillar)
(9) Pavana-narasimha (who blessed the sage Bharadvaja)

The red sun from the car looked fiery but soothing to the skin, eyes and senses. We were so touched by the nature’s beauty as always. On our way to Sholingar which is on the highway that connects Chennai to Vellore, we saw some old Chola period temples. One huge rock cut temple which was carved in, looked magnificient and classic. It was made by the same artisans who carved the famous Mahabalipuram. Old Pallava Grantha, Yoga Narasimha statue could be found there.

We took a few minutes halt and proceeded towards Sholingar, where there are the twin hills of Yoga Narasimha and Anjaneya (Hanuman). That is the place where the legendry Prahlada’s father: Hiranyaksha was split tore open by Narasimha (the lion-man)who was none other than Lord Vishnu. He appeared in that form as Hiranyaksha had received a boon from Lord Shiva that he should not be killed by any man or animal, neither inside the palace, nor outside his palace; neither in the day nor at the night. With a powerful boon like that, he was defeating all Devas and creating havoc in the world and destroying innocent Rishis, men, women and children. So Lord Vishnu at the request of the Devas, burst out from a pillar as a lion-man(neither man nor animal) in the evening(neither day nor night) and sat on the doorstep of Hiranyaksha’s palace(neither inside nor outside) and tore open his belly, thus not killing him but making him as good as dead. At Ahobilam temples the tourists can still visit the place where the scene occurred (as per the experts) and the water there is Red in color.

Sholingar, is a beautiful and very raw natural place where the so-called development has not yet polluted the calm of the people and nature. There are these 2 hills, the big and small hill. Yoga Narasimhar(Lord Narasimha at peace) resides on the bigger hill and Sri Anjaneya sits in meditation on the smaller hill.The hill looks like a Lion and the another hill looks like a sitting elephant

Laddooooo....

23^rd June, 2007.

Early morning at 3, I heard some muffled voices. Woke up to find Shailaja akka(actually my mami but my choice to call her akka) quite as usual, my granny hyper tensed (as usual??!), Shanti akka (first mami but again my choice to call her…) walking around hurriedly here and there doing lot of work (as usual..) and my second uncle murmuring in a low voice but all in an unusual time.. Took me around 5 minutes to realise that Shailaja Akka wants to go to hospital! The expected date was to be July 15^th!! And she doesn’t even have those pains. Granny insists to wait for some more time till labour pains start. No one to drive the car since no one knows how to. Shanti akka has learnt but could never venture out alone. Finally we decide and leave. Shanti Akka drives the car and I am needed along with them. 3 children sleeping inside. Half of them feel, I should stay back, half of them feel I should go along. Finally I go along. 3:45 a.m. the baby boy is born! No pain and complications. Was this some compensation for all the complications and tensions in the first delivery? Whatever… Anuj is here and the house has the fourth player now. Someone asked me if it is a crèche… I said “No it is the joy of a joint family!” One of the kiddos is always inside the baby room…playing…jumping around the baby... laughing .. and singing ”Laddoooo ”, “Kutttiiiiiiiiiii” or whatever they feel like...

Nailed down!

I read in one of my friend's blog about her vow to quit nail biting I thought hah! there was a time when I tried and finally had these long nails. Whate made me do that was an article in a Tamil magazine in which I saw the pic of a baby who was born with nails on the head(yes the nails that her mother had been eventually biting while carrying the baby or before). I felt a chill run through my nerves and decided that I will NEVER EVER bite nails.

Talking about nails, I've always had the urge to grow them and have those beautifully manicured hands soft like fur. But with the kind of attention I give to my overall health, Manicure is the last thing I could even think of. Although I do agree that there are people(including men) who do take care of these thigns even with tough schedules. And with these Virtual nails, nail extentions, acrylics and what not.. simply everyone seems to be having those beautiful nails.. I envy and admire people who give ample time to themselves. But most of my time generally goes for others around me. So here is a small help from my side to others like me. This is a link where you can get some tips for nice, healthy and beautiful nails.

P.S. It is not only for girls, as most of the girls despise men with dirty nails. :)

The annoying thing?!!?

I just came across this crazy frog pic in my friend's orkut profile who is one of the craziest fan of the crazy frog i've seen.

The crazy frog or 'The Annoying thing' as they call it apparently started as a hobby of imitating sounds and became a rage in the whole world. Daniel, a 17 year old was making some sounds that resembled a 2 gear moped to make his friends laugh. And as fate would have it, that was loaded on the net and happened to reach the right place (a ringtone king Jamster). Jamster gave it a face of a formula I car and put it on a site called Insanity test in which the user was supposed to see the whole race without laughing. This of course pulled more attention.

Another friend gave the current Frog look to the sound. The annoying thing then became a big controversial, amusing, entertaining thing for the kids, elders and almost everyone noticed it. Here is a glimpse of the 'Annoying thing'. Later on many albums and remixes have come out and now Crazy Frog has become the Most Wanted Frog.. Here are 2 of the most famous videos that claim the fame..

The youngest in the house!

Who says that the youngest are the most pampered ones? Tell me who is it?? I have a whole lot of points to prove that wrong. yeah! The fact is that the eldest of the whole gang gets the whole attention all the times. I have numerous evidences to prove that. When the first child steps into the world, the whole family, friends, kith and kin, neighbors and simply everyone is so thrilled to bits that they don't leave a single stone unturned to see that million dollars worth smile on the face of the baby! Ok thats fair and agreeable. But... when the poor little second child lands after some years of pampering the elder one and making it feel as if the world is under its feet, it simply refuses to accept any changes! People have so much experience now that they dont care if the second one howls her lungs out. She is just named inhuman and a cry baby. The first one gets the best "first bday", the best "first day in school", "the most tensed and worried year during board exams", "the whole bunch of pattu pavadais and fancy clothes", "all silly stupid toys which cant be generally used for playing since the child is simply overloaded with toys", "the best farewell preparation", "the most emotional see-off for college", "regular letters from the whole family flooding into the hostel" and so on...(tired of rewinding the thoughts...)

The second ones simply get the second hand toys, hurried admission and sudden realization of a school one day, used toys(or say unused toys), and scratches from the first one because the freedom and the whole attention was now scattered into 2 kids and the first one lost the glorious monopoly. The extra years of chocolates, love, attention is all bundled into a sibling rivalry and it takes ages to erase the marks and accord to peace.

Yes, I am a living witness but some time back recently my sister and me talked a lot about it and now we miss each other every day for all the fun, laughter, smiles, tears, hatred, love and the bond of being sisters.When someone who does'nt have a sister asks me now about my elder sister and how it is to have an elder sister, I proudly say that having an elder sister is a joy and I am lucky to have a sister who loves me so much. There are days when she has been nervous about my monthly pains, anxieties and worries, visited temples and perform archana for my marks, laughed on my sick jokes, get excited of our huge earings collection and fought for my problems. I am happy to be the youngest in the house :) And I also accept that she has had her share of sharing her whole life and the love of our parents and family with me which she gracefully accepted(although with difficulty :)). Her share of jealousies and anger....which dont matter any more. There are times when the parents try and 'protect' one from the other. Right or wrong, that does create splinters in the relationship. I know of people who give all the attention to the second child and leave the elder one in the safer hands of the grand parents, with all good intentions. But it turns out to be sour too. Its all luck and I believe strongly that its in our hands to resolve the natural rivalry. After all this useless 'Gyaan', I declare that 'My Sister is the Best!!'

I love you Jillu....

Mapping your Goals

“…. Imagine yourself strolling on the beautiful sea shore. A clear blue sky is above you, with just a few white fluffy clouds. Trees sway gently in a warm summer breeze, waves ripple softly against the shoreline and you feel the texture of the wet sand as it squishes up between your toes….As you walk along this safe and relaxing shore, your attention is drawn suddenly to a small blue bottle poking slightly from the sand. When you pick up the bottle the top comes open, and to your amazement there appears in front of you a large blue shining eyed genie. The genie says, “Your wish is my command. Any “thing” that you truly desire I will obey. Any “thought” that you hold in your heart I will help you achieve.”

This, in fact, is our subconscious mind which will obey any wish from us (the conscious mind) as a command!

“The most important thing about goals is having one.” –GEOFFRY F. ABERT

Goal Mapping, by Brian Mayne focuses on the first step towards achieving success; setting goals then mapping them to our actions and achieving them. It introduces the reader with the inner self and gives a refreshing insight from the otherwise chaotic lifestyle of a common man. Be it any economic, social, cultural status, every living human today has his own share of stress. The ultimate combination of ancient wisdom, extensive research and study has been elaborately explained for effective goal mapping. While the traditional goal setting focuses on the left brain by words and continuous repetition of words, to force the goals into our sub conscious ‘genie’ brain, the Goal mapping technique triggers both the left and right brain and directly stimulates the subconscious brain to concentrate on and achieve the goals more quickly through combination of words, pictures and symbols.

Simple yet a sure shot key to realizing our most latent thoughts, this book gives us various tips and facts to improvise our life instantly. For e.g. an excerpt from the book says; “There are three main aspects that make any given thought stronger and a 'dominant command'. They are: repetition, duration and emotion.” The author proves it through several examples that the longer the duration of time that we hold the belief, the stronger it grows and when we add majority of our emotions to it, it becomes a sure shot success.

The book is an instruction manual for achievement and explains a universal philosophy of success that is based on natural law and motivational psychology; the foundations on which the Goal Mapping is built. Gradually we realize that the ideas and techniques in this book are not artificial shortcuts but very natural ways that have been used by all achievers in the world history. It also answers the cause behind the fact that most of the scientists and greatest men were not formally educated but still had the envisioning capacity to achieve. The reason is their Goal Mapping nature.

Conscious (master) and subconscious (the ‘genie’)brain are the captain and the crew.

A Picture is worth a Thousand Words. The left brain and words have a much weaker connection which is why a goal that is communicated only in words must be re-written hundreds of times to achieve the same power as one created through pictures or symbols. Right brain stimulants: music, images, colour. We all think in pictures. To achieve a positive mental balance you must lead from the right and manage from the left.

The seven steps of goal mapping have been designed as a complete and self contained system for achieving success but have been designed to work in alignment with natural and universal laws of manifestation.

The seven principles of LIFT (Life, Information, For Transcendence, an organization started by the author) are strategies for personal empowerment or suggested ways of being.

1. Raise your awareness: Know where you stand
2. Develop Possibility Consciousness: Be open to the world
3. Find Balance: Don’t overdo anything.
4. Be on Purpose: Don’t allow your mind to get diverted
5. Become Fully Response- Able- The response that we show to life is what matters.
6. Maintain a Positive Focus- Even a negative thought can ruin our goals.
7. Involve to Evolve

Seven natural Laws of manifestation:

1. Have belief in yourself and your goal
2. Balance your goals
3. Live in the moment
4. State your goals in present tense
5. State your goals in positive tense. Always be positive in your thoughts and even words. When you say that you can’t, your subconscious mind believes in it and follows it literally. Change all your negative statements to positive supporting statements. Positive thinking is a strategy
6. State your goals in personal tense
7. Allow for lag time: It is perfectly OK if the goal gets delayed to become a truth. It is important that we achieve it.

DRIVE, ATTITUDE AND CONFIDENCE : THE DAC FACTOR

The greatest unexplored territory in the world is the space between our ears – BILL O’BRIEN

The book displays the method of fast track transformation of the inner person by no shortcuts but by a smart way of identifying the right goal and concentrating and time managing to achieve it.

This one step, choosing a goal and sticking to it, changes everything. – Scott Reed

Short term, medium and long term goals should be achieved in days, weeks or months, and years respectively.

If it be for my highest good and the highest good of all, then

Let me be an instrument of goodness spiritually and personally and reach the highest peak professionally

If you think you can, you can If you think you can’t, you can’t

And either way, you’ll prove yourself right!

Takeaways for freshers, managers, leaders and goal setters:

With real life examples from his workshops and practical exercises to realize one’s long term, short term and medium term goals, this book enables a virtual picture of your goal to float all over the mind and gives tremendous urge to fulfill it.

One example about a angry young woman altered my professional life and my personal attitude significantly. The lady apparently was unhappy and burst out during one of the workshops held by the author saying, “I hate my job, but I’ve got to do it to pay my bills. How can you stand there telling me that I should feel good about it? You just don’t know what you’re talking about.” Those words that I have heard at least more than a dozen times from different people at different times, triggered the inner thoughts in me and I realized that we might or might not enjoy our work and the environment, but it is those dominant thoughts about hating it, more than the work itself, that cause the feelings of bitterness and anger.

Acceptance or at least being ‘OK’ about the situation can help us take control, clear the mental chaos and provide numerous other alternatives which are not visible otherwise. Obviously within a week’s time, I got more responsibility, hardly felt annoyed with my job and started living life with more enthusiasm and jest, looking forward to the numerous other things that I used to do. I started working for the NGO that I was part of before joining my current job; I started studying for a certification and of course wrote this book review. Trying it on me has been the most rewarding experience for my self as a whole. Ideal time taken to read such a book is a calm weekend. I took around a week to study and absorb it as it is a task oriented book which keeps the reader active throughout with not a page of boredom.

The best highlight of the book is that it is full of useful proverbs and sayings throughout, with relevance to each chapter. My favorite one in the book is; 'Do everything whole heartedly and you will succeed; there is so little competition'. I have written them all, spiral bound them and kept on my desk at work. Every morning, I start my day with a new proverb that constantly reminds me a part of my chosen goal. Yes, this goal chosen needs to be multidimensional and should be able to accommodate wisdom, said in so many ways that it reinforces and strengthens the urge to reach the said goals.