Unveil the Other Side

Last week, an evening as I sit watching a reality show on TV, dad came home with a set of coins and placed two coins on my palm - heads facing up. He then asked me to guess their denominations. Instead of wondering why on earth he is asking me such a silly question, I rather concentrated on the coins. Without any hesitation replied back - Of course appa(Dad) they are one rupee each. He had a cunning smile on his face which revealed the signs of his victory. Yes he won the game. They were two different coins - 1 rupee and 2 rupees in denomination. I stood there gaping at the coins for a moment. He then placed another pair of coins and repeated the same question. This time I was defintive than before. In a confident tone I said "You cant fool me around. These are 50 paise coins. Aren't they ?" He smiled again. On no not again. They are of 50 paise and a rupee denomination , he replied. The confused me was now even more confused. Beware people! There are new series of...

As a child I was so fascinated of the Bell that sounds so majestic when gonged. Even today I get the same feel of astonishment when I hear it go " Gong ". It would rather not surprise many, if I say I have been having various bell sounding tones for the message and call alerts on my mobile. The intention of visiting a temple besides the fact of offering my prayers , is accompanied by the joy of hearing the uninterrupted, reverberating, deep and sonorous sound from the bell( Ghanta ). I recollect to have read this piece somewhere - "A well-designed bell produce long strains of the sound ‘ OM .’" Surely it does sound like that if you could closely observe. I had a question on mind from a very long time, ever since I realised that I was attracted to this sound emanated by the bell - Why do one ring the bell when he/she enters a temple? Do we need to do this just to obey the rules bestowed by our elders? Definitely there should be a purpose. Do we ring the bell to...

I was returning back home from other part of the city, this time I was taking the bus ride - unusual corporate me. Mostly I tend to incline myself to the 2 wheeler or if am too tired to ride then I take complete advantage of the gifted, yet stubborn auto fellows for a drive. It costs me several bucks which I hesitantly shell out, but rather forget about the fact when the eventual event is worth it. Since the scorching sun was right above my head and not a drop of water had trickled down my throat from a couple of hours, I was bathing in vehemence. Adding spice to the already provoked anger, the smell of shit and urine hit my nose every step I took.[ This is the case in most of the bus stops - Wonder where all the tax paid has gone to? ]. Battling the sweat and avoiding the street hawkers I finally managed to reach a counter where I could get some refreshment to quench my thirst. On the menu I could either opt for a bottled drink or a freshly squeezed cup of cane juice hinting a bit of...

Makara Sankranti First festival of the year 2011. Definitely some freshness and a feel of joy! From my childhood, the only things I have got to know about this festival are: - It marks the beginning of the transmigration of Sun in his celestial path along northwards direction. - UttarayaNa - The harvest festival known better as " Suggi " in Karnataka, " Pongal " in Tamil Nadu ," Tilgul " in Maharashtra - eLLu bella , sakkare acchu shared and exchanged among the households. - kichuchu haisodu - The cattle is made to cross the pyre. Is this all this festival has to do with? My thirst for reading and gaining more facts led me to the path of discovering something I had not thought about earlier. Wonder why this did not strike to me when I was an enthusiastic school kid. An excerpt from the Wikipedia : " According to western astronomy the festival SANKRANTI takes place around 21 days after the tropical winter solstice (between December 20 and 23rd) tha...