Collective nouns- an interesting concept!!

I was just browsing through my home page on facebook and one of my friends had posted the question,"a flock of geese, a herd of cows, a of journalists" ? I started googling and came across the site http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/collnoun.htm#People

Its interesting to read so many collective nouns..By the way, the answer is "A passel of journalists" !! There are other interesting coll. nouns like "A rope of onions, A phantasmagoria of phantoms, A troop of mushrooms, A goring of butchers, A curse of painters, A gaggle of women, A quiver of cobras, a nest of vipers, A rhumba of rattlesnakes, An intrusion of cockroaches(well, can there be any place devoid of roaches, so thought of giving them access to my blog too!!), A sloth of Bears, A mob of kangaroos, a leap of leopards, A convocation of eagles and a cast of falcons.." Wow, thats quite a list and there are lots more in this website..Quite a collective of coll.nouns!!

A sufi poem

This is a beautiful poem by a Sufi saint..

Prayer for Peace - Pir Inayat Khan

Send Thy peace, O Lord, which is perfect and everlasting,
That our souls may radiate peace.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may think, act and speak,
Harmoniously.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may be contented and
Thankful for Thy bountiful gifts.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that amidst our worldly strife we
may enjoy Thy bliss.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may endure all, tolerate all
In the thought of Thy grace and mercy.
Send Thy peace, O lord, that our lives may become a divine
vision, and in Thy light all darkness may vanish.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, our Father and Mother, that we
Thy children on earth may all unite in one family.

We need this in this age of chaos..

A letter to All people who involve in strikes and protests at the slightest opportunity!!

In India, I have seen public sector employees involving in strike at the slightest opportunity. This affects lot of people because as such bureaucracy is difficult to handle..So in addition, when they involve in strikes, files move rather slowly and this puts the common man in lots of distress..There was one interesting poem I read long back which goes as follows..

If God Went On Strike

Its just a Good Thing that "God" above
has never gone on a strike.
Because he wasn't treated fair or He didnt like.
If He had ever once sat down and said
"Thats it- I'm through!
I've had enough of those on earth
So this is what I do"

"I'll give my orders to the Sun
'Cut off your heat supply to man'
and to the moon 'Give no more light'
and run the Ocean dry
Then just to make it really tough
and to put the pressure on
I even turn off the air and oxygen
Till every breath is gone".

Men say they want a better deal
and so, on strike, they go
But what a deed we've given to God
when HE gives us everything
We dont care whom we've hurt or harmed
to gain the ship we like
But what mess we'd all be in
If God went on strike


Cool poem, right?

People and tendencies

Every person tends to act in a different way towards another person. Some people are good listeners whereas others are good talkers.. Listeners gain a lot , while people who talk a lot generally dont hold much.. The proverb,"Empty vessels make much noise" is true in many cases. Sometimes we find people going on and on about something without having the slightest clue of what the topic is about.. Thats really pathetic. I feel that when people dont actually listen to another person, they generally do not understand the motives of the other person thereby misleading themselves and sometimes accusing the other person.. I generally dont like people who do a lot of backbiting. I consider it the most intense sort of garbage that they involve themselves in.. You tend to be wary with that particular person because you never know when they are going to do the same thing to you.

I am a moderate person who doesnt involve in a lot of talking and I do think a lot before i speak. I analyse whether my actions really affect another person or hurt them and if I find it to be so, I definitely take remedial steps, I generally think before I speak.. So many may think that I am an introvert, but what I am is a measured talker.. Some people shoot out of the mouth and dont give a damn about what other person's feelings are, they give scant regard to that. I am sometimes hurt by that..Call me sensitive, but I feel people ought to be a bit sensitive about feelings. Or what do u say??

Poetry that I love most!!

The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This is the best poem I have ever come across.. Although it was written a century ago, it remains everfresh, evergreen even now.. Robert Frost is surely a genius, such wisdom which surpasses ages and the flowing lines..Happy Sankranthi and Pongal!!

Ice Roads

It was a really cold spell in Calgary this December.. We had almost 2 weeks of continuous cold spell with temperatures ranging in the minus thirties.. I was thinking thats cold when I happened to come across a website in which they describe about Ice roads..Ice Roads are constructed to connect the Far Northern regions of Canada with the civilization..Temperatures here range in minus 40 to 60 Farenheit..My goodness, Can anybody survive here.. was my first thought..It literally freezes your arse off.. The speed limit on these Roads are below 20 kms.. It is fascinating to read about these Man made marvels.. But these Ice Roads exist only during 4 months of peak winter..So the supplies for the whole year for the remote mines are transported by trucks through these Ice Roads..Have a look at these pictures in this particular webpage..http://www.thedieselgypsy.com/Ice%20Roads-3B-Denison.htm

One should definitely see this webpage..It amazes me how the truckers put their life in line while transporting the goods..

See ya later,

Vaikunta Ekadasi

Vaikunta Ekadasi.. What does this mean? It is an important festival dedicated to Lord Vishnu and celebrated predominantly in South India. It is celebrated with pomp and grandeur at Tirupathi, Srirangam and the various Vishnu Temples. The story behind this is that Lord Vishnu took the form of a female energy "Ekadasi" to kill demon Muran. Impressed by her, He said that whoever worships Him this day will reach Heaven. So in every temple, the door called "Vaikunta Dwara" opens and people pass through it the early hours of the morning with prayers to the Lord. Some people fast the whole day and then eat early the next day morning.. Nellikai(Gooseberry) Kichadi is an important part of the menu on Dvadasi(next day). Generally people make food without tamarind.

I did fast the whole day on Ekadasi this time, I started with eating just once the previous day and fasting the whole day on ekadasi and then completed the fasting on Dvadasi day by taking Tulasi Theertham.(water) Surprisingly, I didnt feel hungry the whole day..I assume the body gets used to it as the time passes. It was nice to read lots of slokas and Vishnu Sahasranamam. I decorated the Lord too and it was a memorable experience.

I also saw a youtube video and in that a person from Singapore had decorated the home deity with so much grandeur and love that it rivalled the temples.. Here's the link for that website..http://thiruman.com/. Its so nice to see such devoted souls.

It reminds me of the time I used to decorate and deck up Lord Krishna's idol at the hostel prayer hall. I miss doing that now.. I have been searching for an idol of Krishna which looks so lovely like that, but am unable to get that..I sure do hope that I am able to get that some day..

Signing off for now

Happy New Year

Wishing Everyone a very Happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful New Year.

New Year means new beginnings, new joys and new hopes..New year always begins with a tremendous promise and definitely usher in new moments.. This year, we had a relatively quite New Year sans all partying.. We ushered in by chanting some prayers and like every other year we started the day by wishing our folks back in India. Then wishes for all others followed..and it still goes on and on, Oh my, we sure do have lots of people whom we know..Come to think of it, we have been in so many places and sure do have lots of friends..We might have missed some, but surely not on purpose and so wishing everyone a very Happy New Year..