The Festival of Lights- Diwali

It is the festive season in India and as per the Hindu Calender, Diwali or the vedic new year is just around the corner- to be celebrated on the 17th of october. Diwali has many stories and signifies different aspects in different parts of india.
As per Hindu calendar, the five day festival of Diwali is centered on the new moon day that ends the month of Ashwin and begins the month of Kartika, beginning on the 13th day of the dark half of Ashwin (Ashwin 28th) and ending on the 2nd day of the bright half of Kartika (Kartika 2nd). The main day of celebration varies regionally- in south diwali is celebrated one day earlier -this is called chotti diwali in the punjab and the rest of north india. Basically, on this day , the homecoming of Ram from exile is celebrated with great pomp and crcakers are burnt. On this day, Lakshmi and Ganesha poojan is done - to bring wealth and prosperity in to the house.
Diwali isnt only celebrated by the Hindus in Inidia but today has become a global phenomenon thanks to globalisation.
In Jainism, Diwalli marks the attainment of nirvana by Mahavira on 15 October, 527 BC.
Deepavali has been significant in Sikhism since the illumination of the town of Amritsar commemorating the return of Guru Har Gobind Ji (1595-1644), the sixth Guru of Sikhism, who was imprisoned along with 52 other Hindu kings at Fort Gwalior by Emperor Jahangir. After freeing the other prisoners, he went to the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) in the holy city of Amritsar, where he was welcomed happily by the people who lit candles and divas to greet the Guru. Because of this, Sikhs often refer to Diwali also as Bandi Chhorh Divas - "the day of release of detainees.
The festival is also celebrated by Buddhists in Nepal, a majority-Hindu country, particularly the Newar Buddhists.
In India and Nepal,Diwali is now considered to be a national festival, and the aesthetic aspect of the festival is enjoyed by most Indians and Nepalese regardless of faith. Kerala is the only state in India where Deepavali is not a big celeberation.
Kidha is celebrated for a differing number of days by different communities. Though the core days are common and fall on exactly the same set of days across Nepal and India, they fall in different Gregorian months depending on the version of the Hindu calendar being used in the region. The Amanta ("ending on the new-moon") version of the Hindu Calendar has been adopted as the Indian national calendar. According to this calendar, which is prevalent in southern India and Maharashtra, the 6-day celebration is spread over the last four days of the month of Ashwina and the first two days of the new month of Kartika. According to the Purnimaanta ("ending on the full-moon") version prevalent in northern India, it falls in the middle of the month of Ashwayuja/Ashvin. In the Gregorian calendar, it falls generally in the months of October or November. In Nepal, it is celebrated according to Nepalese calendar. The festival marks the last three days and the first two days of Nepalese era.
On the day of Deepavali / Deepavali, many wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks. Some North Indian business communities start their financial year on Deepavali and new account books are opened on this day.

A refreshingly refreshing Drink

okie so its the ingredients that make this drink an absolute delight- a version of the desi adrak-pudina shikanjvi but with a modern twist to it.
i will put up th epics in a few days as im having a problem with my net conection here.
so here goes:
for the ingredients:
a few leaves of fresh pudina (mint) ( i used approx 5-7 as i like it a  bit mild)
freshly grated ginger - about 1/2 to 1 tsp (depending on how strong you want the ginger flavour)
sugar or jaggery-about 2 tsps of sugar, i used fructose a healthy low cal sugar alternative ..
juice of  1/2 a lemon
a pinch of black salt( optional)
okie so now in a stone/steel mortar and pestle grindle the mint leaves into a paste- this brings out the amazing mint oil(incase you dont want to continue making the drink after this, the mint oil is an excellent remedy for joint pains when heated with olive oil or an excellent remedy for acidity-mix the mint oil and a little bit of the paste in watre and boil until warm and drink it up)
then add the freshly grated ot finely chopped ginger(for this recipe finely chopped is better)to the mint and grind some more,
then add the sugar and grind again for about 1 min approx.
Add this to a serving glass,then add the lemon juice - i love lemon juice so i used half a lemon but one can use less if preffered-the lemon basically balances out the flavours and acids when soda is used- yes the twist in the drink is soda- so after this adda pinch of black salt if desired and then add chilled soda and voila - a modern twist of the traditional desi pudina - adrak shikanjvi is ready.
the recipe takes about 5 mins approx and it actually isnt a stedious as i make it sound here but then ive even engligtened on the effects of pudina ka taila and what the use of lemon in the drink is etc, etc.
This drink is exceptional when served mid afternoon on a hot  summers day or even after a hearty meal- be it lunch or dinner- it has ingredients which aid digestion.Hope you all like this and od leave your comments.

A new Layout or Template- Suggestions Please

okie so am a bit bored with the existing layout and template of my blog. So am open to suggestions as to what kind of colours and layout i can have now. Also, what more would the redaers of the blog like in terms of content?
stuff about my life ever since i got back from sydney my opinions on everything and anything , recipes and restraunt reviews,stuff about spirituality and related things, or anything else?leave your comments and do lemme know....

BBMP at Fault or parental negligence?

For the last two days , Karnataka's new and popular local english news channel News 9 has been running stories about an 18 month ols boy Vijay , who was washed away in a storm watre drain.
Many of the press people and bangalores high elite intellectuals feel that having an uncovered drain in the backyards of of one of Bengaluru's poshest and busiest suburbh i.e Koramangala, is all the fault of the BBMP and also negilienge of the BBMP.
OOk, i agree that the state of infrastructure in this city is quite appalling when compared to say Delhi . But what about Vijay's parents who couldn't use their common sense and stop their child from playing in the heavy rain and near an uncovered drain?are they not to be blamed equally or as much as the civic authorities of BBMP? In bfact it has been the civic authorities who have been conducting the search for the body in different lakes for the last two days. Okie so what? Children have fallen into wells in NCR region, Punjab and Haryana and other cities but how much has the state media or national media blamed the civic authorities for negligence?It in fact, in my humble opinion is a sheer waste of media airtime where they were called BBMP "sick" and running a campaign to send "Get Well Soon Roses" to the BBmp. How ridiculous to run the story for 48 hrs. non stop when they were more pressing matters of state and national importance for the channel to cover. Ok so isnce this is a blog and im entitled to air my views,here is what i feel: yes its the fault of bbmp partially - yes the lack of covered drainage and other civic amenities and proper garbage dispensing systems but this is only 40 to 50% of the faults. The rest is the fault of or negiligence on part of the parents as well.
As for issues like cleanliness well all the citizens of bangalore are also at fault. As far as covered drainage is concernedyes i think it is a must - even 5000 yrs ago the Indus Valley people were more civilised than us - atleast they had a proper grabage collection system and covered drainage. In the face of modernisation and globalisation , are the citizens of India and especially the citizens of Bangalore retrograding? For, i think that it only when the citizen scome together or support the civic bodies like bbmp can the civic bodies take action. For example, 2 years ago, the bbmp started waste segregation for recycling plastic in whitefield and koramngala. The experiment flopped in whitefield. Why? residents thought throwing plastic waste and paper paste in seperate bins was too much of a hassel. But considering that whitefield is a locality where many Nri's live, it would have been easier because in the western nations garbage segregation is a must but why? their logic was that the local authorities didnt supply them with bins - that imho is nonsens- it worked and is still wokring in koramangala- the reason being the citizens of koramngala wanted to make a difference . So all am saying is it is in the attitude of citizens that can make all the difference. The drain in koramangala could have been covered but for some residents who oppose it. I hope now that the people opposing the covering of the drain( its been on blueprint for 5 yrs) suport the endeavours ofbbmp insted of opposing it. I seriously do hope they wake up now.

A short Update

okie so ive taken the semester off because of the racism issue and other reasons.what ive been doing:
just got back frm delhi and had a bad back so got an amazing session of cranio sacral therapy yesterday.
Watched love aaj kal- yup its watchable especially for the hep looks of saif and teh aahun aahun song and the punju twist to it.
catching up on my sleep..

A unique Gurubani Satsang in Bangalore......

So, it was the 19th of June, a friday evening and quite a pleasant one at that in bangalore city but i had other plans being from Punjab and a punju kudi at heart , i was craving for some kara parsad and gurubani as i couldnt make it to amritsar during these holidays. So , i headed to kanakpura road,H.H Sri Sri Ravishankarji's ashram for a Gurubani kirtan. It was beyond amazing..mesmerising. It all started with the traditionally served langar khana with maa ki kali dal, gobi, chawal , kara parsad. Then to the Vishalakshi Mandap the main meditation hall( which is in the pic) which was decorated with a floral Ek Onkar. It all started with a normal satsang sung by Richa Chopra and then a small talk on the Granth Sahib by teh Granthiji and Gyaniji of the Gurudwara in Bangalore aand they proceed to sing the ardas and shabads with explanations the posts which follow will complete the series.
JGD...

On Pain and Suffering