the journey continues…

I wanted to publish this during Navaratri,but got messed up with something else..Better late than never .
“Nava-raatri” means “nine nights.” So all the 9 days we worship goddess Durga in 9 different forms.Hindus believe that Durga also referred as Devi/Shakti, is the universal mother and she created the whole world.She is the energy, which helps God to proceed with the work of creation, preservation and destruction.Most of our traditions are associated with Shakti Pooja and this festival signifies that.
During Navaratri,first three days are dedicated to Goddess Durga, the Goddess of courage, next three days to Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, and the final three days are dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of wisdom and knowledge.The festival ends with Vijaya Dashami on the tenth day.

Saraswati Pooja
We perform Saraswati Pooja on 6th day of Navaratri.That day usually school going kids will keep their books in the pooja room and pray god Saraswati.I remember all us kids will discuss seriously about which books to keep for pooja so that we will get good marks (without reading!).

Though all the days are significant,we celebrate last 3 days of Navaratri with great devotion.
8th day – Durgashtami
9th day – Mahanavami
10th day – Vijayadsashami

Durgashtami
On Durgashtami Goddess Durga killed the demon Durgasura, the son of Ruru and made the Earth free from evil forces.Its an important day to any devotee to worship the Goddess and be blessed with her grace.

Mahanavami
Mahanavami is day of Ayudha Pooja.Ayudha Pooja literally means worship of weapons.Kings used to worship their weapons so that they will get victory in the wars.So continuing with the same tradition we worship things which are bread and butter to us.People decorate vehicles,garages and perform puja.For automobile workers, carpenters its a beginning of new year.They clean everything,perform puja and start their business from the next day i.e, vijayadashami.

Vijayadsashami
Vijayadashami has great importance as its believed that on this day Rama killed Ravana and Durga Devi killed the demon Mahishasura.This day many people perform Shami Pooja also.
As mentioned in the legend Mahabharata,Panadavas kept their weapons in Shami Tree and went to exile incognito.After one year when they return they found their weapons safe in the Shami tree.They again worshipped Shami tree for guarding their weapons.the Shami Puja became a main ritual during Vijayadashami. On this day, leaves of Shami tree are exchanged among friends and relatives as gold. They wish their friends and relatives to get success in every aspect of life.”ಬನ್ನಿ ಕೊಟ್ಟು ಬಂಗಾರದಂತ ಮಾತಾಡಿ ”
(Give banni(shami leaves) and speak golden worlds).

There is also a tradition of keeping dolls and giving bombe bagina to ladies.Largely practiced in TamilNadu it is called as Navaratri Kolu/Golu.Kolu in Tamil means sovereign sitting in his royal durbar.So the concept of arranging these Navrathri dolls on the plank is to depict that Goddess Mahishasuramardini is sitting in her Kolu, prior to the slaying of the demon Mahishasura.Though dolls are kept for only 10 days the collection starts begins from years.You can keep any number of tiers but it has to be odd like 3,5,7 up to 9.

There is a rule to arrange these dolls in Kolu.First there should be Kalasha in the center for which all the nine days they will perform pooja.Pattada Gombe ( King & Queen dolls ) are the main attractions and they are kept at the summit above all the dolls.Its practice in Kannada families that when their daughter gets married and goes to other house they will send these 2 dolls with her.

Other main things I see are Dashavatara (10 forms of Vishnu), Lakshmi,Saraswati,Ram,Laxman,Sita and Hanuman,wedding ceremony and other idols.I liked few which was in the internet like this store,grinding stones etc which are really pretty.

People start collecting dolls for this from many days back and women in the house take months to decorate all the dolls.There would be healthy competition among ladies while doing this arrangement.
They also give Bombe Bagina to women and girls during all the nine days.Bagina consists of some fruits,betel leaves,nuts and small doll.Its more of women’s festival.

If you are in or near Mysore,try to visit Bombe Mane which will be very good.Its a doll house full of dolls arranged very nicely.
Every year they come with new concepts and nice decorating ideas of dolls.Its a real treat for everybody.
Below pictures from last years.

Dasara Procession

In South Canata,navaratri celebrations are little different.It would be celebrated by performing different homas in the Durga Devi temples.On the day of Mahanavami, Chandika Yaga and Maha Rathotsava are organised in temples.People participate in huge number to get blessing of Duga Devi.Mangalore Dassera/Kudroli Dasara is a popular attraction during Navaratri.In kudroli gokarnatha temple they keep 9 different forms Shri Durga Devi and on the last day they will organize a grand procession before immersing the idols in water.This is one of the biggest celebration held in Mangalore and it attracts a huge crowd.Below picture shows Mangalore Sharada during procession.

Lastly all the days of Navaratri,the Lord Krishna in Udupi temple glows in different forms of Shri DurgaDevi.Shri Swamiji of Udupi Mutt,will do Saraswati,Lakshmi,Mahishasura Mardini alankaras to krishna which is a real treat for the devotees.This years pictures are still more gorgeous.

“You can’t change the world and you do not have any rights to interfere in other’s life” Period.
My mom says this to me almost every day but I don’t agree.I certainly believe that we can change the world and we can interfere in other’s life if it is for a good cause.

When ever I meet people if they are close relatives or friends I always make it a point to correct their mistakes which my mom doesn’t like.She says you are nobody to correct them.According to her every human is born with some characteristics that we can’t change.By pointing-out their mistakes we might loose them because obviously no one is going to like when you say something bad about them.I agree to her point that no one is ready to accept changes so fast or accept their mistakes in front as we are not gods.But still we need to tell them that “Dude what are you doing is not correct.You are not supposed to behave this way” .That moment they might get offended.But later they might also think on that and might try to correct themselves.I have come across many people like that.Initially they got offended with me but later they silently called/mailed me to say that I was correct and its nice to have me in their close circles.I believe that makes any relationships stronger and more closer.

One of our dear friend is very good for all of us.He is really good from heart and in office or outside anywhere he can’t be bad to others.That’s his nature.He can’t yell at his boss when something goes wrong in office which was not his fault,he can’t yell at his colleagues etc etc.He can’t be a bad boy to anyone outside except his family.There his original character comes in to play.All the frustration that he can’t show outside he shows at his family.His wife and his aged parents are target for this.Damn…His family thinks its good if he comes late to home and its really good if he has work in weekends also!!. See whats happens? His own family is slowly moving away from him and he is not realizing it! His bonding with his parents/wife are becoming loose day by day.

Let’s take another person whom I met.She is one among my close friends.She was OK till she got married.After marriage she is very much possessive about her husband.She won’t allow him to go with his friends.No outings for him with company colleagues.He can’t speak in cellphone more than 15 min to anyone.She loves him and takes care of him very much.But there is no free-air between them.I feel he is getting suffocated by her over love or concern which is not healthy.
Both husband/wife have grown 25-30 years and over a period of time they would have made their own friends ,relatives in the society which is very normal.Obviously priorities will change after marriage but he/she can not cut down those contacts completely.One should be smart enough to understand and respect each other’s privacy.Love doesn’t mean controlling each other its all about sharing with each other ….Right?

Immature elders ?? People are supposed to get matured with age.But I have seen many elders who behave very immaturely and easily hurting their kids.When people get old,they get this unsecured feeling.They think that son is not listening to them..he is not taking care of them…they will start finding small small mistakes,show displeasure,complaining about daughter-in-law …finally ending up with the breaking up of the entire family.I have seen this in most of the families.I agree that there would be always generation gap between them but it doesn’t mean that new generation doesn’t want old people.
Every son remembers that how his dad ironed his uniforms, how he dropped him to the school everyday, how mom took care of him when he was sick etc etc.No one can take away those memories from him and every son/daughter wants to give all those nice moments to his parents also.Most of the ladies never allow their daughter-in-laws to cook as they think if they give up the kitchen they will loose their power.Whole life they are happy spend time in kitchen rather than doing anything else!!.
I believe new generation is much more matured.They might not be good in old traditions and customs but they are good in thinking/tackling people.They are much more open-minded and they can run a better/good family compared their fathers.Its time for this old generation to leave their unnecessary self-pride and add their experience in making a nice happy family.

ಅವನೊಬ್ಬ ಹೆಸರಾಂತ ಛಾಯಾಚಿತ್ರಗ್ರಾಹಕ. ಪ್ರಪಂಚದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಸುಂದರ ದೃಶ್ಯಗಳನ್ನು ಕಂಡಾಗಲೆಲ್ಲಾ ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ಸೆರೆಹಿಡಿಯುವ ಬಯಕೆ ಅವನದು. ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ಸಮಾರಂಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವಳನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದ. ಅವಳ ಚಂದಕ್ಕೆ ಮನಸೋತು ಅದನ್ನು ತನ್ನ ಕೆಮರಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಸೆರೆ ಹಿಡಿಯಲು ಬಯಸಿದ. ಅವಳ ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ಪಡೆಯಲು ಶತಪ್ರಯತ್ನ ಮಾಡಿದ.

ಕೊನೆಗೂ ಅವನ ಕಾಟ ತಾಳಲಾರದೆ ಅವಳು ಒಪ್ಪಿದಳು. ಅವನು ಹಿರಿ ಹಿರಿ ಹಿಗ್ಗಿದ. ತನ್ನ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ ಸಫಲವಾಯಿತಲ್ಲಾ ಎಂದು ಖುಷಿ ಪಟ್ಟ. ಅವಳು ಹೇಳಿದ ದಿನ, ಒಂದು ನಿಮಿಷವೂ ತಡಮಾಡದೆ, ತನ್ನ ಸಲಕರಣೆಗಳೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸಜ್ಜಾಗಿ ಹೊರಟ. ಮನಸ್ಸು ಹೊಸ ರಾಗ ಹಾಡುತಿತ್ತು, ಕಣ್ಣುಗಳು ಹೊಸ ಕನಸಿನ ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದವು. ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಅವನು ಅಂದು ಕೊಂಡ ಹಾಗೇ ಆಯಿತು. ಆಗಸದಿಂದ ಇಳಿದ ಅಪ್ಸರೆಯಂತೆ ಅವಳು ತಿಳಿ ನೀಲಿ ಬಣ್ಣದ ಸೀರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಸು ನಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದಳು. ಅವನಿಗಾದರೋ ಸ್ವರ್ಗ ಮೂರೇ ಗೇಣು.
ಇನ್ನೇನು ಅವಳ ಚಿತ್ರ ಸೆರೆ ಹಿಡಿಯಬೇಕು ಎನ್ನುವಷ್ಟರಲ್ಲಿ ಅವಳು ಒಂದು ನಿಮಿಷ ಎಂದಳು. ಒಳಗೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಹೊರಬಂದಾಗ ಅವಳ ಸೌಂದಯ೯ವನ್ನೆಲ್ಲಾ ಕಪ್ಪು ಬಣ್ಣದ ಬುಖಾ೯ ಒಳಗೆ ಸೇರಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿತ್ತು. ಸೆರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿಟ್ಟ ಆ ಎರಡು ಕಣ್ಣುಗಳು ಅವನನ್ನೇ ಪಿಳಿ ಪಿಳಿ ನೋಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು.

Photo Courtesy :shahinshah.com

Few days back I read about the death of tigers in Bannerghatta National Park,Bangalore.The news says 3 tigers and 2 lions were died in the park due to natural causes.Forest officials’ claim that the recent deaths of big cats in the National Park were due to old age and illness.It also includes the death of a 3 year old small tigress Divya.The young tigress died due to diarrhoea.
I remember visiting the park last year.On our way to safari I have seen small cute white tigers playing,jumping in the forest.They were so adorable.
I really wonder when we will understand the importance of saving animals.A study on tigers says,over the past century the number of tigers in India has fallen from about 40,000 to less than 4,000 (and possibly as few as 1,500) which is really bad.Many does not know the importance of saving tigers. Tiger plays a major role in the food chain.Saving tiger means saving forests.If we make sure tigers live then all other animals which tiger eats will live.To make sure these harbivorous live we have to preserve grass,green,water and in turn we will save forests.So saving tiger means saving the entire forest with all the animals in it!.
My recent visit to a zoo in San Fransisco has a different story to tell.The below picture shows a tiger named Tony which recently died in the zoo due to old age.

See the below picture which shows a message written by a kid “Dear Tony I miss you..Love..” Many kids along with parents visited the zoo and paid homage to Tony,the tiger when it died!.

I was touched by the care and concern people show about animals.In contrast in India,we poison animals for skin and nails.For few bucks we are ready to kill tigers,lions and elephants.
Recently Aircel launched a big initiative for saving tigers in India with a slogan “Just 1411 left.You can make a difference”.How serious was this motion no one knows, except that aircel became popular with ads on television,papers and facebooks.
As a common man its our responsibility to raise voice against this brutal act.We need to address the real issues and should start supporting the right solutions.I believe all animals have equal rights to live on this planet as do we.Extinct is forever..Let it not happen to tigers..

Some good links which tells more :
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1108-tigers.html
http://theartofstart.blogspot.com/2010/02/save-our-tigers-from-extinction-from.html
http://furville.com/Dave/tigers.html