We got our freedom on 15th August 1947 after many struggles with the British Raj. Many freedom fighters gave up their lives, resisting the tyranny, during a long duration of more than two centuries. It was the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, with the support of many great heroes (some of them being unsung heroes), that we won our freedom.
The major tools of our battle were non-violence and non-cooperation. These were the magic tantras applied by Mahatma Gandhi to secure freedom for his beloved Indians.
So, let us follow these ideals set by Mahatma Gandhi.
Make India great through non-hatred, non-violence, brotherhood, and mutual cooperation.
I am at the far end of the right in the middle row, wearing a slaty shirt (colour).
Hi, Friends. I am a Hindu, South Indian, Telugu-speaking senior citizen presently living in Bangalore with my son. Born in Chennai (the then Madras city), educated in Sri Ramakrishna Mission School and Vivekananda College, I served as an Accountant in the cement industry for four decades.
I love music, dramas, cricket, nature, and books.
I never thought that I would become a writer. But, by chance, I got attracted to writing and publishing my articles on many platforms. I even published a book on Economics for a year or two on the Amazon self-publishing platform. Now, those chapters are lying on my blog titled soothenlearn.com for free.
I started my writing on a platform known as Instablogs during the year 2011. I might have published some small posts there. But it was closed abruptly and I lost my posts. Then, I started my own Blog on the Blogger platform with the help of my son.
Now, I have six to seven platforms where I keep posting something or other periodically. All of these are due to your support and engagement.
Though nowadays, I am not regular on any platform, I keep visiting at my convenience to interact with you. I keep reading articles published by most of you, though occasionally.
Hi, Friends! Wish you all Jaya Ekadashi, Bhishma Ekadashi, Bhaimi Ekadashi.
By whatever name you call this celebration, it is the day when Bhishma’s soul left his body to reach the Lord’s abode.
Bhishma was a great warrior of the Mahabharata war who was fighting with Pandavas on the side of Kauravas, due to an oath to abide by the crown. He was granted a boon from his father, Shantanu Maharaj, to die as per his own wish. He was defeated by Arjuna who used trickery to defeat him. Arjuna could not defeat Bhishma on his own and so used Shikhandi to defeat him. Bhishma is a great warrior and can’t tarnish his image by fighting with a half-man-woman. So, he dropped his weapons and allowed Arjuna to defeat him. Bhishma fell down in the battle field wounded by Arjuna’s arrows.
Bhishma lies on his death bed made up of arrows so that he can quit his body on an auspicious day. After the war was over, Lord Krishna advised the Pandava King Yudhisthir to learn Rajadharma and governance skills from Bhishma before he leaves his body. He told that if he dies, there can be nobody else to impart Yudhisthira that much wisdom.
So, Yudhisthir, along with his brothers and Sri Krishna, reached Bhishma pitamah and kept learning all the knowledge that is essential for a noble emperor, starting from Magha Suddha Ashtami to Magha Suddha Ekadashi (for four days). He sought spiritual knowledge also during that period. On the final day, Yudhisthira requested Bhishma to enlighten him regarding the divine nature, the purpose of life and the law of creation, the source behind all this creation, what happens when one leaves his body, etc. Finally, he asks to whom he should worship and by reciting which prayer can human beings attain Moksha.
In reply, on the advice of Lord Krishna, Bhishma imparts the Vishnu Sahasranamam to Yudhisthtiir and tells it is the only powerful prayer that can remove all sufferings from one’s life and provide moksha.
Thus, Vishnu Sahasranamam was born on this day of Bhishma Ekadashi.
Hi, Friends. It is the Margazhi (Dhanurmasam) month from today. Today, the sun entered the Sagittarius. So, Tiruppavai recitation starts from today. I recited the first Pasuram of it today while performing my morning puja. It will continue for the next 30 days (one hymn per day). The culminating day is celebrated as Bhogi Festival, to be followed by the Makar Sankranti celebration.
So, I wish you all, whoever is performing this ritual, a Happy and Blessed Pongal Month.
Today is Ekadashi and Gita Jayanthi anniversary. Wish you all a Happy Celebration of this auspicious occasion.
Lord Krishna imparted the Bhagavad Gita knowledge to Arjuna on this day some thousands of years ago. Arjuna was sad on the first day of the Mahabharata war. He was in front of a vast assembly of warriors. Most of them were his own relatives and friends. There were grandfathers, uncles, brothers, children of siblings, his own Teachers and their sons, etc. He realised that he is fighting against his own people for the sake of a piece of land and pride. So, he becomes depressed and unwilling to fight. He turns to his charioteer Krishna and expresses his feelings.
Seeing Arjuna’s condition, Sri Krishna imparts him the duties of a Kshatriya (a warrior’s duties and responsibilities). He imparts him the truth of body and mind, mithya and may, the foolish nature of the mind which thinks that the person embodied by it is the real doer and owner of all this destiny.
So, Arjuna’s ignorance gets diffused at the end and he fights the war and emerges victorious, leaving all the fruits of his actions to Krishna and destiny.
There is much more in the knowledge of Bhagavad Gita. One can grasp the essence of it only by reading it throughout one’s life.
What I wanted to let you know is that I bathed my Gods (the idols of Lakshmi Devi and Sriman Narayan) today morning before doing my daily puja.
It is the Pongal Month from 16th December during which one paasuram of Tiruppavai is to be read per day for 30 days ( worshipping Krishna/ Sri Ranganatha swamy and AndaL/Goda Devi).
Hi, Friends! It is Kartika Purnima today as well as Dev Deepavali celebrations.
Most temples and river banks are flooded tonight with hundreds and thousands of oil lamps lit in reverence to the Gods in the sky. It is believed that Lord Vishnu sleeps for four months in a year (our human calendar year) from 15 July to 15 November and wakes up again on this Dev Deepavali Day. So, people celebrate this occasion by welcoming him with lights and prayers.
Our one year is equal to a single day for God. Just like we spend one-third of our day (8 hours) in sleep, He sleeps for four human months that are equal to 8 hours. During the period of his sleep, his devotees observe fasts and pray for the safety and well-being of God.
This festival reminds me of my childhood. I used to live in Chennai (then Madras City) in the 1960s. Our residence was in West Mambalam on Kodanda Ramaswamy Temple Street. There was (I hope it is still there) one Ganesha temple at the end of the street near my residence. I used to visit both the temples- Kodanda Ramaswamy Koil and the Pillaiyar Koil. On Dev Deepavali day, the Pillaiyar Koil (Ganesha Temple) courtyard used to be filled with hundreds of oil lamps shining brightly in the nighttime. It was a great relish for my eyes and heart.
So, wish you all a blessed Dev Deepavali and Guru Nanak Day festival.
Hi, Friends! We recently celebrated the Ganesha Festival.
The Ganesha Festival known as Ganesh Chaturthi was from the evening of 06/09/2024 to the pre-evening hours of 07/09/2024 as per IST time zone.
In my home, we installed the idol at 6 pm on 06/09/2024 and worshiped the Ganesha with flowers, kumkuma, akshata, etc. chanting stotrams and the 108 names of worship.
We made the wooden frame known as Paalavelli and decorated it with some mango leaves, to hang it over the idol before starting the puja. Some years before, we used to decorate it on a grand scale with flowers, leaves, and fruits.
After the worship, I read the story of Ganesha Chaturthi’s significance to my family members. It is believed that one should not see the Moon without hearing/reading the story on this Chaturthi tithi due to a curse on the Moon by Goddess Parvati. After completing the story, we put some grains of the Akshata on our heads.
I performed the complete puja again the next morning also and offered naivedyam. After that, I moved the idol towards the North-Eastern direction for visarjan purposes.
I am sharing some photos of our Ganesha and the large Ganesha from our community also.
Hi, everybody. I have been recently suffering from knee pain for one full month. During that time, I had to curtail my walking errands and do some quadriceps exercises after having medicines for two weeks and doing hot bag/ice bag treatments.
Gradually I started stepping out into the corridors and then onto the ground floor to take a few steps of walk.
Now, I feel completely recovered, though some swelling of my feet is still there. I am doing my routine walks of around 3 rounds inside our spacial compound area measuring 800 steps in one round. I am walking both times, mornings and evenings. I feel glad whenever I do the walks admiring the beauty of the clouds and the blue sky above me, and the green flowering plants and other tall trees greeting me with smiles. I adore the creator of all this wonderful world.
Today, I came across a wonderful post which is in the form of a letter written by some parent to his children. In that letter, the parent gives some very important guidance to his children so that they can prepare for their struggle in life. He advises them to be very careful in their moves and at the same time be aware that they have to mold themselves to be ready to face any kind of circumstances which could be either comfortable or even adverse to their life.
I am providing the essence of those advices that needs to be taught to every growing child or grown-up young man.
Do not grudge against your surrounding people. Nobody bears the responsibility to treat you nicely, except your father and mother.
No one is indispensable in this world. The world will move on without you. In the same manner, you can move on without anybody to support you.
Be cautious with people. Even though they may be very good to you, you should not blindly trust them. In this world, everybody acts with some motive or intention to receive something back. So, you need to be cautious of their intentions in being around you.
Life is very short. A day wasted is a life wasted. So, grab every moment of your life and try to better yourselves.
Love is nothing but a feeling that can fade away with time or dependent on one’s own moods. So, don’t feel sad or fret when one deserts you. Be patient, and time will erase your pains.
All successful people need not be well-educated. But it doesn’t mean that you can become successful without being educated. Whatever knowledge you gain through education can be of some help always.
I think all these tips are of great value to us. We can follow these for the betterment of our lives.
Recently I have shifted to a new place to live with my son. So, my son hired a new flat in a big posh residential complex in East Bangalore, located near his office.
It is a big residential gated community with 5 towers containing 20 floors each. And, each floor is of seven flats. A very comfortable place with greenery all around inside the boundary walls, with fountains, playgrounds, and small parks. There is a grocery shop also inside.
I started exploring the premises recently and decoding the information available.
Living Better 