Dasavatar

Who has not heard of the 10 Avatars of Vishnu? He was said to have taken (to take) 10 different avatars in the different yugs to destroy evil and protect good. But the weird thing about the dasavatar is that only the first 7 avatars are kept same in all the different lists that people give. I have seen Buddha included in the list, even Gandhi (for god's sake).
But mostly people include Balaram who was the elder brother of Krishna. Ironically the same people will also agree that Balaram was re-incarnation of Vishnu's snake, Adhisesha. So, if Balaram is taken out of the running then who next? how do we make the navavatar, dasavatar?

Do you know that the last male child in most Hindu families are names Janardhan? This is because Janardhan is supposed to be the last avatar, even after Kalki. Interesting, huh?! I am trying to dig into Lord Janardhana to see if there is more info about him.

So that makes the Dasavathar

Matsya (Fish)
Koorma (Tortoise)
Varaha (Pig)
Narasimha (Lion)
Vamana (Little man)
Parasurama
Rama
Krishna
Kalki
Janardhana

Do you notice an interesting fact in the sequence of the avatars? They follow the evolution of creatures on the earth to a great extent (and this 1000s of years before Darwin was even born).
The fish, then the amphibian, then the lower level mammal, then the higher level mammal, the small man and the cave man or saint (parashuram was said to have been most comfortable living in the forest) and so on.

our Rights to Freedom of speech

So how are you all this festival season? What festival? you ask. Why, its the festival of Valentine's day, of course. The merchants are going crazy marketing their wares and giving 30-50% off on all products, from shoes to dresses to jewelry to vehicles to you-name-it. But the red balloons, roses and heart shaped everythings are what make me sick. Poor St. Valentine, he died for a cause and it has been twisted to help the marketing world best.

But but but... this valentine's day has been chosen as the Free speech day - To celebrate free speech and to protest book bans, censorship in the arts and curbs on free expression.

All the great democratic countries who have given their citizens the right to speak are curtailing and banning all forms and means of expressions, using one excuse or the other. And in India, what could irritate the government and its opposition alike, more than the firangi "festival" of valentine's day which promotes dirty, immoral western ideas such as love?


There is a call out for #flashreads where folks are all called to meet at a popular public place and do a flash read.  Nice thought.


Ain't it sad that 64 years after gaining independence from the foreigners, we are still fighting to free speech.

Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such thing as Wisdom; and no such thing as public Liberty, without Freedom of Speech. - Benjamin Franklin

“Free speech means the right to shout 'theatre' in a crowded fire.” 
― Abbie Hoffman


“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”  ― George Washington


“This is slavery, not to speak one's thought.”  ― Euripides, The Phoenician Women


"Freedom is fundamentally the possibility of standing on a street corner and shouting “There is no freedom here!”  ― Yoani Sánchez


“The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship.”  ― John Paul Stevens


(All posters courtesy the generosity of Sanjay Sipahimalani--for all four free speech posters, go to Antiblurbs.)

Hola!

 Happy New Year, Pongal, Makara Sankranthi and all that folks.

Had actually planned to retire this blog in 2011, but could not. After all, what would I do without you people to rant and grumble to?

Is it possible to die of boredom? Coz I have all the symptoms of ennui, an absolutely classic and fatal case of boredom. Boring movies, boring books, boring work.


But boredom aside, I was just seeing this article on 10 places across the world that will be gone in the near future and at least 4 of my dream places are in it :-(

1. Egypt - The Valley of Kings
2. Greece - Olympia
3. Jordan - Dead sea
4. Italy - Venice

With the world at an end in 2012, I better get going and faaast


The other places of interest expected to disappear include

5. Maldives (I wouldn't mind visiting these islands)
6. The great barrier reef in Australia
 7. Our own Taj Mahal (Not only visited it, but also had my pocket picked. Very memorable place for me and for all the wrong reasons :-) )
8. The Amazonian forest in Brazil
9. The Poles
10. Waterlands in US

So what do you all want to do, in this last year of your lives?

Suddenly things make sense

This was one really good piece that I wanted to share with you all. A post about a reformed sexual harrasser.
Suddenly the reactions of some of the men in my life seem to make a lot of sense.

If I don't get to meet you again before the new year, Happy Holidays to all of you :-)

Good Ones

Read couple of good articles/posts today and wanted to share it with y'all

My friends would say that I am a bold person and well read on most matters too. But at my old work place, when I was being harassed, I didn't even realize it. I was just losing my confidence and getting more and more depressed.
It was a slow process and as this writer very correctly calls it - Gaslighting. It happens to women across the world.

A male friend and I were discussing the marriage norms and our ideas on it. He said he was looking for a girl who would live at home and serve his parents and understand that his mom knows best. Needless to say it didn't sit well with me. I told him that this was the kind of mentality that brings about DIL-MIL fights in marriages. Well! here is a man's take on why there is friction between women and their MIL