May 21, 2008
March 08, 2008
January 23, 2008
January 20, 2008
MUNNAR
Whenever I hear or remember about MUNNAR, Kerala, India the thought which is coming to my mind is “HONEY MOON HUTS”. Immediately my memories would go to those days when we were there in the Huts to celebrate our Honey Moon. Oh God, it will not vanish from my brain. It was in December few years back. The Hut was already booked. We reached there in the afternoon. The Hut was well furnished like a Star Hotel. 7x5 wide Bed with feather bed covered with smooth sheets and two Pillows. Why this two pillows? I thought. One only was need or even not. We are here for not to sleep. We both told simultaneously she embraced me and fell in the bed.
A couple who would like to enjoy their Honey Moon they must stay in the Huts, at least for three days, of MUNNAR, Kerala especially a foreign couple. Till the end of their life they cannot forget those enjoyment they experienced in the Honey Moon Hut at MUNNAR, Kerala.
Of course, once you must visit and stayed there. Then you will feel the experience of enjoyment. So do not wait, Go to Munnar and enjoy your Honeymoon. From Cochin by road it is only 140 KMs. Government Transport Services is making frequent trips to Munnar everyday.
A couple who would like to enjoy their Honey Moon they must stay in the Huts, at least for three days, of MUNNAR, Kerala especially a foreign couple. Till the end of their life they cannot forget those enjoyment they experienced in the Honey Moon Hut at MUNNAR, Kerala.
Of course, once you must visit and stayed there. Then you will feel the experience of enjoyment. So do not wait, Go to Munnar and enjoy your Honeymoon. From Cochin by road it is only 140 KMs. Government Transport Services is making frequent trips to Munnar everyday.
January 05, 2008
Keep A Dust Free Mind
Keeping the Mind Dust free
SOME STUDENTS suffer from lack of enthusiasm and are unwilling to work hard. Some parents mistake their child's "abundant interest in his goal to become something great" as "willingness and enthusiasm to work hard." Both are entirely different, says psychologist Radhakrishna Menon
SOME STUDENTS suffer from lack of enthusiasm and are unwilling to work hard. Some parents mistake their child's "abundant interest in his goal to become something great" as "willingness and enthusiasm to work hard." Both are entirely different, says psychologist Radhakrishna Menon
People who say "our child is very much interested in studies but lacks concentration" or "we are sure he is intelligent and if he studies, he gets good marks" should know this basic fact. What the children need to acquire is that enthusiasm to "work smart." To "work smart, " a clean mind is needed. A person spends five minutes to brush his teeth and ten to bath. He hardly spends a second to dust his brain.
"Mind Cleaning" makes a student very bright, prosperous, energetic and, above all, enthusiastic towards life. It's a 12-minute daily exercise, three minutes at night and nine in the morning. It gives a positive approach to life, increases retention power of mind (by developing permanent neuron bonds), capacity to adhere to the time schedule and avoid procrastination.
This 12-C technique may appear non-practicable to begin with for some, who are lazy even to fight their laziness. But you will witness how simple this is. Those who followed it meticulously for a month or two later conveyed that they had benefited. Once you start your studies at night, do not talk to anybody, even during the dinner break. Avoid bedside stories after the study hour, pleasing conversations with family members during study intervals and watching short break visuals on the small screen. They make your night study an unavoidable "part time ritual". You develop a psychological feeling to finish it off at the earliest and revert back to your interesting conversations/ visuals. You may hold the book in your hand but you inwardly treat the study hour as a responsibility thrust upon you by yourself. To avoid this state of mind, you should make sure that there is no "further interesting thing" in the night. Pray for a minute and then start studying. It's like a karate player entering into his highly solitude isolation.
Calmness
After completing your studies, go to bed and close your eyes. Close your ears with a pillow for one minute. By closing two important sensory organs, you are engulfed by quietness and the mind becomes calm. It appears difficult and unattainable in the beginning but within 10 days you will know the difference. Just observe your breath for a minute. Only one minute. That's it. It's like cleaning the slate before writing.
Collect
Collect
Next, start recollecting the subjects you studied before going to bed. You have one minute to recollect. Let us suppose that you studied the Ramayana and the Archimedes Principle. Condense them to "Ram... wife... forest... kidnap... fight and rescue" and "Article immersed in a liquid... loss of weight... equal to... displaced liquid weight". This is called keynoting. Now, neurons in your brain are supplemented with these ingredients.
Continue
Now, settle in your habituated comfortable position and try to sleep. Expand the key points in a story form. This is called "recall." While thinking, slowly slip into sleep. Sleep has three phases: drowsy stage (DS), slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement sleep (REM).
As you keep thinking of your subjects and slip into the drowsy stage, the ingredients given to your neurotransmitters gradually become "Neuron Bonds." The electromagnetic waves in the brain, which rage like a hurricane during the daytime, comparatively calm down during your sleep. Hence these bonds become permanent neuron bonds (PNBs). Your will never forget your subject in your lifetime, if you recall them once a week. Practice the above three for a week.
As you keep thinking of your subjects and slip into the drowsy stage, the ingredients given to your neurotransmitters gradually become "Neuron Bonds." The electromagnetic waves in the brain, which rage like a hurricane during the daytime, comparatively calm down during your sleep. Hence these bonds become permanent neuron bonds (PNBs). Your will never forget your subject in your lifetime, if you recall them once a week. Practice the above three for a week.
You Can Start Today Itself.
December 07, 2007
December 01, 2007
VISHU
Vishu is the most joyful festival being celebrated by Keralaities, in South India. Vishu is the time to rejoice with family and friends. People from the northern districts of Kerala, South India. Vishu means the Vishukkani, Vishukaineettam, new clothes, crackers and the elaborate sadya. Vishu evokes a lot of nostalgia. The entire family would get together to celebrate the festival.
The festival is a time of prosperity. The arrangement of the Vishukkani the night before by the senior most woman member of the family, seeing the kani, the Vishukaineettam, and the feast that follows are what make this traditional festival special. The amount paid to kids as Vishukaineettam has increased by leaps and bounds over the years.
But the atmosphere associated with Vishu is to be found no more. As children, we eagerly waited to see the Vishukkani, but the children these days are not very enthusiastic about this tradition. Vishu is a festival to be celebrated with the entire family, and neighbors and friends too, but in the city, rarely does one get company from them.
The Vishukkani is something that most people was eloquent about. The traditional Vishukkani is a beautiful arrangement of kanikonna, flowers of Konna Tree that blossoms during Vishu period only in Kerala, and other flowers, fruits, vegetables, rice, pulses, coconut, betel leaves, areca nuts, gold jewelery, gold and silver coins, kasavu, mirror, bell metal lamps and vaalkannadi, all arranged in a bell metal vessel called uruli. Vishukkani would be brought to the households early in the morning, Almost all families in olden days used to own cows and the kani would be shown to them as well. While most people would see the Vishukkani at their homes, there are others who would first see the kani at the temple.
The bright yellow kanikonna flowers used in the Vishukkani here are not the traditional konna flowers, though they belong to the Cassia family. The actual kanikonna is found only in a couple of places in Thiruvananthapuram. Similarly, the red and yellow vellarikya (cucumber) that is a significant part of Vishukkani gives way to the green vellarikya . Traditionally, only ripe fruits are kept in the kani.
Kaineettam is the highlight of the Vishu festival. The oldest member of the family would give kaineettam to all those younger to him. Then other elders in the family would follow suit. Kaineettam had to be given to everyone coming to the house on that day - friends, neighbors, servants, people working in the fields and even the newspaper boy. Gold nanayams (coins) were symbolically given as kaineettam after seeing the kani. These were taken back and coins would be given as kaineettam later on.
Crackers are what add zing to the Vishu celebrations. Crackers were burst in three stages - the night before Vishu, after the kani has been seen the next day, and following the elaborate lunch. For those in Thrissur and Palakkad districts in Kerala, Vishu is a three-day affair. Crackers are burst the morning before Vishu till late into the night. Local temples conduct Vishupooram. It is somewhat similar DEEPAVALI in Northern India. The difference is that Deepavali falls in November and VISHU in April. Dance and Kathakali recitals are held on the temple premises. Traders selling knick-knacks, bangles and toys make their appearance and children throng to them.
The sadya comprises rice made of newly-harvested grain, dishes such as erisseri, olan, aviyal, kaalan, thoran, puli inji, pacchadi,(the very delicious Kerala cuisines) and payasams such as paalada and ada pradhaman (the very tasty deserts of Kerala).
Vishu was not something you looked forward to each year, for a change, treat yourself to a Vishu that is traditional and worth remembering.
For a foreign Tourist who is interested to see India especially KERALA, the best time to visit is during VISHU period.
The festival is a time of prosperity. The arrangement of the Vishukkani the night before by the senior most woman member of the family, seeing the kani, the Vishukaineettam, and the feast that follows are what make this traditional festival special. The amount paid to kids as Vishukaineettam has increased by leaps and bounds over the years.
But the atmosphere associated with Vishu is to be found no more. As children, we eagerly waited to see the Vishukkani, but the children these days are not very enthusiastic about this tradition. Vishu is a festival to be celebrated with the entire family, and neighbors and friends too, but in the city, rarely does one get company from them.
The Vishukkani is something that most people was eloquent about. The traditional Vishukkani is a beautiful arrangement of kanikonna, flowers of Konna Tree that blossoms during Vishu period only in Kerala, and other flowers, fruits, vegetables, rice, pulses, coconut, betel leaves, areca nuts, gold jewelery, gold and silver coins, kasavu, mirror, bell metal lamps and vaalkannadi, all arranged in a bell metal vessel called uruli. Vishukkani would be brought to the households early in the morning, Almost all families in olden days used to own cows and the kani would be shown to them as well. While most people would see the Vishukkani at their homes, there are others who would first see the kani at the temple.
The bright yellow kanikonna flowers used in the Vishukkani here are not the traditional konna flowers, though they belong to the Cassia family. The actual kanikonna is found only in a couple of places in Thiruvananthapuram. Similarly, the red and yellow vellarikya (cucumber) that is a significant part of Vishukkani gives way to the green vellarikya . Traditionally, only ripe fruits are kept in the kani.
Kaineettam is the highlight of the Vishu festival. The oldest member of the family would give kaineettam to all those younger to him. Then other elders in the family would follow suit. Kaineettam had to be given to everyone coming to the house on that day - friends, neighbors, servants, people working in the fields and even the newspaper boy. Gold nanayams (coins) were symbolically given as kaineettam after seeing the kani. These were taken back and coins would be given as kaineettam later on.
Crackers are what add zing to the Vishu celebrations. Crackers were burst in three stages - the night before Vishu, after the kani has been seen the next day, and following the elaborate lunch. For those in Thrissur and Palakkad districts in Kerala, Vishu is a three-day affair. Crackers are burst the morning before Vishu till late into the night. Local temples conduct Vishupooram. It is somewhat similar DEEPAVALI in Northern India. The difference is that Deepavali falls in November and VISHU in April. Dance and Kathakali recitals are held on the temple premises. Traders selling knick-knacks, bangles and toys make their appearance and children throng to them.
The sadya comprises rice made of newly-harvested grain, dishes such as erisseri, olan, aviyal, kaalan, thoran, puli inji, pacchadi,(the very delicious Kerala cuisines) and payasams such as paalada and ada pradhaman (the very tasty deserts of Kerala).
Vishu was not something you looked forward to each year, for a change, treat yourself to a Vishu that is traditional and worth remembering.
For a foreign Tourist who is interested to see India especially KERALA, the best time to visit is during VISHU period.
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