His Presence Purifies

Reproducing from today The Hindu's religious column which talks wonderfully about Vaishnavite Acharyas and their total devotion to the Lord.

Lord Narayana's descent to this Earth as Krishna made this earth more effulgent than Vaikuntha, for His presence makes a place bright.

The Vaishnavite Acharya Koorathazhvar wished that he had been born in Gokul, for that was where Krishna had grown up. The cows that were in Gokul, in Koorathazhvar's time, would be descendants of the cows that existed in Krishna's time; as such they were lucky ones, weren't they? Their ancestors would have been cared for by Krishna. All great men know the value of being in a place graced by the Lord, M.V. Anantapadmanabhachariar said in a discourse.

Parasara Bhattar said he would be glad even if he were just a street dog in Srirangam. What is the use of being a dog in Srirangam, we might wonder. After all a dog is not going to be able to enter the temple for darshan of the Lord. But Parasara Bhattar reasoned out that when the processional deity of the Lord was taken out, if Bhattar happened to be a street dog there, he would be shooed off by temple officials. Hearing the commotion, the Lord would turn in the direction of the dog. Thus, the Lord's loving glance would fall on him (Parasara Bhattar). Wasn't that a blessing to aspire for?

Great men prefer living in places where the Lord has taken up residence. Once Peria Tirumalai Nambi, the uncle of Ramanujacharya, came down from Tirumala to welcome his nephew.

He had brought with him some rice to eat on his downward journey. When he opened the packet, he found ants in the rice. All he had to do was to remove the ants and then eat it. But Peria Tirumalai Nambi didn't want to set the ants on the ground, for they were from Tirumala. What if they happened to be some devotees of the Lord who had taken birth as ants to live in the divine presence? So, he took the ants all the way up the hill and left them on top of the hill.

Bees living in the hives on the wall of a Vishnu temple in Tamil Nadu are said to be the devotees of the Lord, who have taken birth as bees to worship the Lord here.

CEEBROS ORCHID

Rainwater harvesting is always in the news these days. Out apartment is undertaking this in a big way. It was featured in The Hindu couple of days back.
Here is the link http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article886972.ece

Being The Hindu Crossword fan, today is a momentous day. Today it is the 10,000th puzzle.

I follow these 2 blogs religiously.
Here are the link.

http://thehinducrosswordcorner.blogspot.com/2010/11/no-10000-tuesday-16-nov-10-gridman.html#comments This blog is exclusively dedicated to The Hindu Crossword.

http://www.crosswordunclued.com/ This blog talks about crossword in general. Very useful for greenhorns and veterans alike.

Quote

Let me share this quote. "In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you ". -Mortimer J. Adler, philosopher, educator and author.

We read so many books but few only remain etched in our mind, right ?

New book On Kashmir

Today read an article in The Hindu (Oct 23, 2010) by Hasan Suroor about a new book "The Collaborator" by Mirza Waheed. "The Collaborator, originally titled In the Valley of Yellow Flowers, has been described by its publishers Penguin/Viking as a “heartbreaking and shocking story of what happens to a community, and a family, that must live through a conflict that is all too real”.

Having liked Basharat Peer's Curfewed Night, I hope to get hold of "The Collaborator" soon.

Against Book Ban

As we all know, Mumbai University banned Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long Journey after Shiv Sena protest. I feel this is a retrograde step. As the author puts it:

“Does he have to? No. He is clearly equipped to choose for himself. He could lead, instead of following, the old regime. He could say something radical — that burning and banning books will not feed one hungry soul, will not house one homeless person nor will it provide gainful employment to anyone [unless one counts those hired to light bonfires], not in Mumbai, not in Maharashtra, not anywhere, not ever.

“He can think independently, and he can choose. And since he is drawn to books, he might want to read, carefully this time, from cover to cover, a couple that would help him make his choice. Come to think of it, the Vice-Chancellor, too, may find them beneficial. First, Conrad's Heart of Darkness, in order to consider the options: step back from the abyss, or go over the edge. Next, the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali. And I would urge particular attention to this verse: ‘Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;...Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake'.”

Hope his voice is heeded and they withdraw the ban forthwith.

Quote

The game of life is the game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy. -Florence Scovel Shinn, writer, artist and teacher (1871-1940)

How true !