The Number Nine

The Number Nine seems to have some unique characteristics. It is called nau (in Hindi), nava (in Sanskrit), neun (in German), and neuf (in French) - all sounding somewhat similar.

In Hinduism, we often use the words Nava graham, Nava dhanyam, Nava dwaram etc. Nava graham means the nine planets. Nava dhanyam refers to the nine important grains that are consumed as food. Nava dwaram refers to the nine holes in a human body.

We have the Goddess Navadurga in Her 9 forms (viz.Kumarika, Tri-Murti, Kalyaani, Rohini, Kaali, Chandikaa, Saambhavi, Durgaa, and Bhadraa).

Jewellery is often made up of Navaratna - the nine stones (pearl, ruby, topaz, diamond, emerald, lapis lazuli, coral, sapphire, and Go-medha) each of which represents one of the 9 planets.

Human sentiments are described as "The Navarasa"(Shantam, Shringaram, Roudram, Beepatsam etc.,).

Navaratri refers to the nine nights that we celebrate in worship of Devi; Navaamsam is the most important sub-divisional chart that we use in conjunction with Rasi chart in matching horoscopes.

The auspicious number 108 is nothing but a multiple of nine. The number of chapters in Bhagavath gita is 18. Mahabharatha war lasted for 18 days.The number of steps at Sabarimala is 18. Number of puranas are 18.

Playing with figures; if you add and re-add the single digits of the resultant obtained by multiplying any number by 9 will always be nine too. Example say, 263x 9=2367. Then adding the digits, 2+3+6+7=18. Again, adding the digits 1+8=9.

If you write a three digit number and add the the three digits and subtract the sum from the number,the sum of the balance will be nine.The largest number that you can write with just 3 digits is 9 to the power of ninety-nine.

When a two digit number is reversed and subtracted from the greater one the sum of the digits in balance is nine.

The number of important Nakshtras (stars) is 27. The number of dasas is nine [ketu, sukra etc].
For muslims, their holy month of Ramdan is the ninth month. The 36th chapter Yasin is the heart of quran. The 9th of the month of Dul Haj is the most important day of Haj.

The list seems endless.

India Fest

Many people here are not aware that you can get a glimpse of India, at least once a year, without spending a lot of money. You can have India right here in the middle of USA at the "India Fest".

Yesterday, my family and I enjoyed a quick trip to India at the "India Fest" in Peoria, Illinois. Peoria is a beautiful small city about 50 miles west of Bloomington (where I live) in Illinois State. India Fest was a mixture of various events that included Indian art, culture, food, music, and religion.

The day-long India Festival was organized by the Indo-American Society of America of Peoria (IASP) - a fledgling organization founded in 2000. IASP celebrates Indian culture and its values such as respect for diversity, importance of public service, and development of a harmonious community.

The India Fest featured the most-loved Indian sport- Cricket. There were two matches - a Celebrity Cricket (30-ball match) and another between the teams of Bloomington and Peoria. In a country where sport means either football or baseball, cricket was a refreshing change. Of course, the better team of Bloomington won.

The festival included informative talks on a variety of popular Indian topics such as Ayurveda, Meditation, and Yoga.

The venue for the India Fest cultural events was the beautiful Peoria's River Front overlooking the majestic Illinois River. The audience was typically what you will find back in India at public gatherings- a delightful mixture of young and old dressed in the most colorful salwar kameezes, sarees, casuals, and pyjama kurtas.

Stage entertainment at the India Fest was a plethora of events featuring Bharatnatyam, Bhajan Songs, Bollywood Songs, Classical and Western Dance Fusion, Folk Dances, Tribal Dances, Instrumental Music and Variety Entertainment. The artists were mostly young boys and girls with lots of enthusiasm and talents.

Kids in the age group of 3 to 10 seemed to enjoy the events much more than the adults. It was a delight to see the kids run around, chase others, and dance off-stage without any inhibition.

Housed underneath camping tents, the festival site included a henna (Mehendi) shop to paint beautiful designs on palms, gift shops that sold Indian dresses and art items, and some cultural exhibits on India.

And who can forget the food? How can there be India without Bhel Puri, Samosas, Spicy Rice, Roti and Garam Chai? All of these delicacies and more were on continuous supply to please the Indian tastebuds.

Next year, if you are planning a visit to India - Save your precious money and time. Visit the India Fest!

Chitra Pournami

The day is Saturday, May 13. My tear off calendar says today is Chitra Pournami. It is the full moon of the Hindu month of Chitra, when the star Chitra (Virginis) is close to the moon. Several New Years came before this, including Ugadi (the Telugu New Years day), Tamil New Years day, and Holi-Baisakhi. Every religion has something very dear to celebrate and Chitra Pournami is one such occasion celebrated in parts of South India. Despite the hatred that exists among various sects of humanity, such festive occasions bring a fresh promise of renewal and joy to its followers.

Chitra Pournami is considered as the birthday of a very important person in the celestial world: Chitragupta, the Keeper of Deeds who assists Yama, the God of death. It is believed that Chitragupta keeps the good and bad deeds register of every birth that helps tally your positive karma against the negative. Chitragupta is remembered on this day. I am not sure if this was just an ancestral device to alert us on our conduct and put us on the path of austerity.

Chitra Poornima is also sacred to remembering your mothers. Austerities done on this day are supposed to please the mothers. Suggested activities on this day include: An early bath, praying for the welfare of your mother and giving them gifts, performing a good deed like helping/feeding somebody, sitting peacefully and praying to be cleansed of emotional toxins: anger, bitterness, revenge, jealousy. It is interesting to note that tomorrow Mothers Day will be celebrated in the USA.

There’s also the legend that Indra, king of the celestials, once managed to offend Brihaspati or Guru and was forced to come down to earth for expiation. He spotted a Shivalingam under a kadamba tree and this struck him as so auspicious that he worshipped it with a golden lotus from a pond nearby. This feeling of piety and repentance in his manas heart, formalised externally as worship, redeemed him from his sin. The day was Chitra Pournami and the place where his penance was performed and accepted is Madurai. Indra is believed to have built a temple there and even today, in the great Madurai Meenakshi temple, Devendra Puja is observed on Chitra Pournami while in the grand Vaishnava temples like Tirupati and Azhagarkoil, devotees bathe in the natural springs.

Knowledge and Wealth

Knowledge and Wealth

Today is Sunday May 7, 2006. As usual, I scanned the news over the internet. I was fascinated by the review on a new book "Wisdom for the New Millennium" by His Holiness, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. In this book, the saint-author describes four pillars of knowledge and six types of wealth.

The final chapter discusses the four pillars. The first is 'Viveka'. Though 'grossly translated as discrimination' this is more: it is "the understanding or observation that everything is changing." Changes, not only the prices of shares that keep ticking on the screen, but also in your thoughts and emotions. For instance, "You cannot maintain the same degree of sadness every day all the time... You can never be unhappy for the same reason continuously." How does it help to know that everything changes? "The moment you see that things are changing, simultaneously you start seeing that the one who is observing the change is not changing." The reference point of change is non-change, explains Shankarji.

The second pillar is vairagya, dispassion. Which is not the same as apathy, or being unenthusiastic, depressed, or not being interested in anything. "Dispassion is a lack of feverishness," be it in what you desire, hope or aspire for.

Then comes the third pillar, which includes the six wealths: shama, dama, uparati, titiksha, shraddha and samadhana. The first wealth, shama, means tranquility of the mind. "When the mind wants to do too many things, it gets completely scattered." With shama, you can focus your mind and be more alert, counsels Shankarji.

Dama is about having a say over your senses; essential, because many times you don't want to do something, yet you do! With dama, your senses don't drag you; instead, "you will say 'yes' or 'no' to the senses."

The third wealth, titiksha is 'endurance or forbearance.' When difficult things come, forbearance allows you to go on without getting completely shaken and shattered, guides Shankarji. Opposites such as health-sickness, losses-gains... come and go; armed with titiksha, however, you aren't deterred by whatever happens. "Often, whatever is unpleasant can become pleasant later on. These are the changes that go on in life... The ability to not get carried away by the events, the judgments, is titiksha."

The fourth wealth, uparati, means rejoicing in your own nature. How? By not doing things because someone else says or does something, by not labouring hard to win approval, or keeping up with the Joneses. "Being in the present moment, being in the joy that you are, the ability to rejoice in anything that you do, that is uparati."

Faith or shraddha is the fifth wealth. "Faith is needed when you have found the limit of your knowing... Your willingness to know the unknown is shraddha." It would be fanaticism to think there is nothing beyond. Absence of faith is doubt -- in yourself, others, or the whole. "Ninety nine per cent of people doubt the whole, because they do not believe that there is a whole that is functioning."

The sixth wealth, samadhana, is being at ease, being content. "Being at ease with everything, the whole existence... a great wealth by itself."

These six wealths together form the third pillar, he says, before moving on to the fourth pillar, mumukshatva -- "the desire for the highest, a desire for total freedom, for enlightenment."

Quotable Quotes

Subispeaks

Let me share the following inspiring quotes:

"To put the world in order, we must first

put the nation in order; to put the nation

in order, we must put the family in

order; to put the family in order, our

personal life, we must first set our

hearts right."

- Confucius

"The only thing that interferes with my

learning is my education."

- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

"Of all the scriptures in the world, it is

the Vedas alone that declare that even

the study of the Vedas is secondary.

The real study is that by which we

realize the Unchangeable. And that is

neither reading, nor believing, nor

reasoning, but superconscious

perception, or samadhi."

-Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)


"You must remember the value that you

add to others and not just what others

have added to you. That's how we build

self-worth, which, in my opinion, is just

as important as net worth."

-Suze Orman
Financial planner and writer

"Fear less, hope more; whine less,

breathe more; talk less, say more; hate

less, love more; and all good things are

yours"

- says a Swedish proverb

Self-introspection

Due to travels and other business, I could not write earlier.

In recent times, my mind is turning more towards religious pursuits. My intention is to share my thoughts - not to preach!

As I see it, Hinduism has grown by devotion, meditation and self - purification. Don't we hear about the enormous powers acquired by Rishis due to "Tapas" (meditation)? Many of my friends have expressed joy at the results of Transcendental Meditation (TM). I strongly believe that if one is able to control the mind, it is much easier to control the body. Hinduism teaches us ways to acquire control over the ever-wandering mind.

Deiva Upaasana is dhyaana or concentration of meditation. To focus the mind, a physical form is required eventhough God, as the Ultimate Reality, is believed to be Formless. Upasana of a Form is usually done with a purpose, namely, the attainment of a given benefit. The purpose to be attained by worshipping or concentrating on a Form differs. The scriptures tell us how to meditate and on what all Forms and with what results. The different upasanas aid us in the path to the ultimate goal, namely, understanding Reality. Scriptures prescribe Upaasana in order to train the mind to concentrate. Upasana is entirely up to the individual; there is nothing collective about it.

Recently, I heard an audio tape that has some recordings of the lectures by the great Kanchi Paramacharya. He says that our minds should automatically seek and cling to God just as iron filings get attracted by the magnet; the heart of a chaste wife seeks her husband; the creeper embraces the tree; the rivers find a way to the sea.

We do not know the mercy of Universal Mother. Our vision is limited. The good or harm coming to us has its source in Her Grace; We must accept whatever comes to us, good or bad, as Her Grace. We do not know why she gives it.

When adversities overtake us, there is a tendency to pass the blame on someone. It is easy to blame God and complain that He is blind to our misfortunes. But a little self-introspection will reveal that there are enormous faults within oneself. In spite of the faults, if we are able to get food, shelter and clothing, it is due to the abundant mercy of God. We must consider the difficulties we encounter as a blessing in disguise.

Why is it that millions of people still remain within the fold of Hinduism despite all the ordeals they face/d in India. The reason seems to be the superb leadership provided by some great saints like Adi Shankara, Tukaram, Ramadoss, Sai Baba, Ramana Maharishi, and several others. When we see a great man (Mahatma) in our midst, we are impressed. The great men make us think- look at one's self and introspect.

So, let me do a bit of self-introspection, ask questions, find answers and meditate. I hope this 'modus operandi' helps to control my monkey-mind. You may like to try it too!

Then and Now

Then and Now

It is a nice feeling to recall (g) olden days and trace how ways of living have changed over the last 50 odd years. Whether the quality of life has changed for the better or worse is a debatable issue. However, this blog provides me an opportunity to share some of my observations on living in India then and now.

As I recall, people then seemed a lot more contented in their lives. The pursuit of wealth and other materialistic pleasures was certainly less aggressive in those days.

Years after my father retired, I asked him one day “Appa, how would you like to lead your life if you were to live all over again?” His spontaneous reply was “Exactly the same way I have lived”. His response reflected the supreme contentment he had in his life. He often said “one can buy the best of dunlopillow beds (it was a craze then) with riches – it still doesn’t guarantee him sound sleep”.

In our home near Pune, an elderly man delivered the newspaper and magazines. Judging by the geographical area he covered on his bicycle, my guess is that he pedaled over 20 miles a day. Rain or shine, he never missed even a single day to deliver the morning paper. As I remember him, he was a very contented man who performed his job with absolute dedication. He was a great soul!

In those days, people socialized a lot more with their families and friends. My parents regularly hosted dinners to families of friends and in turn we got invited to their homes.

I think people trusted the government a lot more than what they do today. Bureaucracy was not all that complex and corruption was much less. In general, there was a higher degree of mutual trust and people were more tolerant of one another.

Employment opportunities were very limited. Government jobs were preferred for the security and perks they offered. Even in the dullest professions, the dignity for work and the sense of responsibility ran pretty high.

I was often amazed at the variety of professions people pursued to make a living. I use the word “profession” because people who were in it hardly ever changed their line of work.

The breed of workers who made a meager but honest living included: fruit sellers; vendors of bread, eggs and vegetables; milkmen; ice-cream and candy sellers; snack vendors (typically carrying their wares in a large basket over the head); carpenters, barbers; ear cleaners/masseurs; door-to-door sellers of fabrics, bangles, utensils and household items; street entertainers like rope walkers, snake charmers; tongawalas – the list is almost endless. I have hardly seen them exploiting the consumers to make a kill for themselves. The relationship they built with their consumers was based on mutual respect and trust.

More later……..

My teachers

My teachers

To continue with the Sanskrit adage, “Acharya Devo Bhava” – meaning “Revere your teacher as God”.

Teachers mould a person. They provide not just education but a great deal of inspiration and motivation to a child. It is also true that some of them can hurt a child’s sensitive feelings. To be honest, I detested some of my school teachers because they imposed harsh punishments on erring students. Many students faced the humiliation of caning, slapping or standing on top of the bench for failure to complete homework or doing some mischief in the class. Such punishments are unthinkable these days. However, looking back, I think the teachers meant well for the students. They really wanted to discipline them as they do in the armed forces to make good soldiers.

Some of my teachers were the best. They laid a solid foundation for my higher education in the colleges. I can vividly recall how my physics teacher taught me the fundamentals related to light, sound and motion. Perhaps, his teachings inspired me in later years to take up studies in engineering. History, a subject that I did not fancy much, was made lively with lots of humorous talk by my teacher from Karnataka. To facilitate easy remembrance, he had very innovatively composed a musical poem to describe the sequence and chronology of British viceroys in India starting with Lord Cornwallis.

My Sanskrit teacher (he hid his tuft under a cap) struggled to drum the grammar into my thick skull. If I am able to read the ‘Devanagari’ script and understand many of the Sanskrit terms today, the credit goes entirely to him.

It’s a pity that I do not have even a single photograph of any of my teachers. It does not matter. I can visualize them in my mind and pay my respects.

Some of you may be wondering if I am writing my autobiography. Well, I am just setting a background of older years to progressively lead into the future.

Au revoir- as they say in French!

My parents

Having begun blogging with Lord Ganesha, I move on to remember my dear parents.

As the old saying in Sanskrit goes, "Mathru Devo Bhava, Pitru Devo Bhava". Here I present a picture of my parents taken in Madras sometime in1940 before World War II.
I found this picture from my father's treasured possessions.

My father had an excellent set of teeth, and my mother quite the opposite. That's why my father is smiling while my mother is tight-lipped.

Men in those days of British regime were switching to western dress - long trousers and full shirts - while women continued with the traditional Indian saree (I think this is largely true even today). The striped tie my dad is wearing was a gift that he received for his wedding. My mother is wearing a simple 6-yard silk saree.

In those days, color pictures were unknown. What you see is a black and white picture taken by a professional in a studio. The camera used for taking this was one of those large contraptions with a fixed focus and mounted on a tripod. To expose the film, the photographer had to take out a circular lid out covering the lens for a few moments and swiftly replace it over the lens. The exposure time , and consequently the picture quality were entirely dependent on the skills of the photographer. This picture must have taken by a skilled photographer.

I got interested in photography when I was 8 years old when I made a pinhole camera using a small cardboard box. Later, after pleading for months, and a strong recommendation from my grandmother, my father bought me a Kodak box camera. It was one of those simple devices that had a fixed focus focus lens and a click button. It would take a roll of eight films. I clicked hundreds of photos with that camera and became almost a pro at weddings and public functions.

More later.... 

Subispeaks

Subispeaks

January 25, 2006

Thoughts for the day

Beginning with Lord Ganesha

I felt great this morning having unusually risen at 4:30 AM. It is pretty cold outside with temperature in 30s. Fortunately, our home is comfortably heated.

It is my practice to begin the day by praying to Lord Ganesha- called by many names such as Pillayar, Vinayaka, Vigneswara, Ganapathi and so on. According to our ancient scriptures, He is the one who clears obstacles. In Chennai, almost every street corner has a temple for him. In some of them, there are two idols of Ganesha that led me to think why two of them. Do you know why? Let me leave the readers to think about it.

There is also the practice of doing "Thoppikaranam" before the Pillayar. It is a unique exercise wherein one holds both the ears with crossed hands and move the body up and down (is there a single word for it?). The story goes that Ganesha pulled out the Chakra from his uncle Vishnu's hand and put it in his mouth. Vishnu pleaded with Ganesha to return the Chakra- you know how hard it is to extricate anything from a child! Eventually, Vishnu did "Thoppikaranam" - In Sanskrit, "thorpi" means hands, and "karnam" means ears- Ganesha started laughing and out came the Chakra. Vishnu grabbed the Chakra and vanished.

So much for now. Enjoy the day.

Greetings to All!

Greetings to everybody who views this blog!

Though I have heard the word 'blog', I did not know what it was. I assumed it must be one of those difficult-to-understand technical expressions like 'cache' or 'cookie' used in the computer world. So, I did not really venture into deciphering what 'blog' meant. However, events today turned out in such a way that I decided to become a 'blogger'. Let me tell you what happened today and how I was led into the 'blogworld'.

This morning, I received an e-mail from Ranjani- my dear`brother-in-law Ravi's charming daughter (a budding journalist)- inviting me to view her newly created blog. It was then my curiosity got ignited. Immediately, I shot off an e-mail to my son Kumaresh who is an electronics engineer and generally well-informed on the latest developments in the fast-growing field of electronics. His response was pretty swift. He briefly defined 'blog' and provided me the links to educate me further and help me to create my own blog. So, here I am speaking to you as a brand new member of the amazing blogworld.

More later!

S. Subramanian