Bali - The Ocean of Milk

I started reading this new book about The churning of the Ocean of Milk. Well I knew the story quiet well from the puranas but never like this.

In the preface the author mentions a discovery of an ancient city in the Himalayan mountain ranges near Arunachal Pradesh by the Chinese engineers which was covered up and a slab that tells a story.
I was intrigued but then there is nothing I could use to search on the net. Google every thing... just like me... but then If I had found it easily then it would not be a mystery. And I like a good mystery.

Getting back to the book, the first impression I got of the book after a few pages was, it is for today's youth, like the mention of words like TLC made me think that the author wrote the book, but for the adolescent readers, well he was trying to introduce the age old stories to the new generation in their own lingo. IMPRESSIVE but then the reference to our Gods in such a casual manner like they were mere humans is a bit .... you know disappointing. Like they could make parchments appear in air but are sooooooo concerned about the gold and silver. What do Gods want with gold and silver, according to me their wealth are the number of devotees that have faith in them. Their power comes from the offerings that these devotees offer, so I read in one of the puranas. May be he should have written something in that angle.

Oh well! to each their own, but I have completed just half of the book and I like it. Especially If I do not think of them as the Gods we know, but new characters in the book. This opens up a whole new world, these characters are definitely more real and conceivable than the almighty figures we were told.

I will be writing more once I finish reading...

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Jaal - the Kaal triology

Jaal started out great, promising to become the next best seller. The story being the fist of an ambicious triology needed a lot of introduction. The new magical land of this book were explained indetail and the Gods of the land were discussed. Aushij, the lord of maya tried to dominate the other three primal Gods and a war ensues in which the three Gods were successful in imprisoning him in a prison of his own dreams. But they knew he would rise once again so they propheciesed the birth of Devnampriya who would save the world.

The commander of Kozipuram one of the kingdoms of the land assasinated the king and assumed the throne. He belonged to a secret sect of the population who worshipped Aushij and eagerly awaited his arrival. When the queen heard about the death of the  king she suspected the commanders hand in it and fearing for the safty of the unborn child in her womb fled the country and took shelter in an island. She gave birth to a girl.

In another kingdom a blacksmith and the trusted friend of the king makes a magical sword for the prince. Something told him that the king would not live long. As suspected the king was dead so he smuggles the young prince to the ashrams in the borders of the kingdom where he was rised to be a justice seeking vigilanti.

Meanwhile the commander after assuming this throne immediately sent his trusted kinnaras in search of the prophecised Devnaampriya. Accodingly they reached a small village where they knew the Devnaampriya was to be born. They arsoned the village to kill the new born baby but the rishis who were also bent on safeguarding the Devnaampriya were also there. The mother to whome Devnaampriya was to be born gave birth to twins, the rishis managed to rescue the boy, but the girl was taken to the commander where she was brought up in a severe conditions, to host the spirit of Aushij himself. The boy was raised in a remote village by the name of Arihant, in a loving family who took great care of his education. But when trouble came looking for Arihant in the form of a trader who recognised the signs and suspected Arihant to be Devnaampriya the adventure starts....

A nail-biting chases, thrilling fights, innovative magical worlds, politics and intrigue. A book you would want to read...
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Hampi - Melody in Stone

Hampi is an ernstwhile village in Karnataka
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Happy Independence Day

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Religion - Science

There is an age old battle between Science and Religion. While Religion is like the wise old man, though withered and bent with age still holds the power to control and command, Science is like the strong and sturdy young man with a confidence to conquer the world. When the ripe old religious man expects to be obeyed without question as he speaks from experience, the young man of science who wants to question everything and find out for himself through experience and understand for himself. While religion may not have the strength to explain every single thing, so expects us to put our faith in it, science spends time and energy to explain and gives us proof for what it does. While religion does not oppose science, it just expects science to take its experience into consideration and slow down and think before taking the leap. For what good is an atom bomb if it does more harm than good, and what good are mere prayers if you cannot get the medicine. All we need is the energy of the youth of science with the wisdom of the religious experience. That should be our bright future, that is all we should aspire for our future generations.


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Green Shine - Emerald and Pearl

Yesterday we went to a Andhra style restaurant in JP Nagar Banglore and they were serving dinner on a banana leaf. I was playing with my Golden Rings when they fell on the leaf. I was so impressed by the look of bright stones on fresh leaf that I immediatly clicked some pictures before the food arrived.

WoodWork

Getting wood work done in your home is a job you should consider carefully. Todays minimalistic designs expect us not to be pacrats and keep the bear minimum, but to me all stuff count, they are reminders of a sweet yesterday which I like to preserve for tomorrow. So I needed a closed loft for my apartment where I could save all my memories. Before we went for wood work we had a lot of doubts and not many knew about what we are supposed to do. We did a lot of research in that are so I am sharing that experience with you so that you too might find it useful.



Things you should know before consulting your carpenter:

• Before consulting a carpenter you MUST have a very clear idea of what you want like I need a wardrobe, a dressing table, study table in the bedroom, crockery unit, tv unit, bath unit etc. It is easy to get overwelmed by all that the carpenter recommends and go over budget. So carefully plan what you really need in your home. Do not crowd your home with unnecessary things just because they look good.


• After that decide how you want the woodwork to be done. Using hard wood like teak, pine or even rubber wood will give the woodwork life but will cost you a lot. So the other option is using plywood. Plywood comes in different brands some are national and some are local made, ask around and different shops have different brands of plywood which they say are the best. You need to make the choice of whether you want a local brand or a national brand.


• If you have chosen hardwood you can make a lot of designs in your wood, bevelling, carvings could be included in your designs. The finishing is done by using paint and varnish. Whereas if you choose plywood the finishing is done using either veneer or laminates. Venner gives a wood finish to the whole thing, it looks almost like real hardwood. Laminates come in a wide varieties and colors, there are laminates with all kinds of wood finishing, aluminium finishing, different colours.

I have checked various designs on the net and these are a few I really liked...