Are you one of those who like to
tinker around wires and plugs and switches? If yes, maybe you need to check the following sites:
Thursday, February 21, 2013
I managed to watch an episode of
“Highway On My Plate” after a long time. The episode seemed to feature Rocky
and Mayur’s journey along the southern coast of India. At one point, they
talked about a temple in Kerala, the Ananthapura temple, where a crocodile – a
vegetarian one at that(!) –has been guarding the temple since many years. The
temple person mentioned that the crocodile eats only jaggery and rice which is used
for offering at the temple. He called out to the crocodile but he seemed camera-shy,
preferring to nap in its cave instead of coming to meet and greet Rocky, who in
my opinion had ventured too close for comfort.
When the camera zoomed in on the crocodile the top of his head seemed to be covered with rice. There was rice
elsewhere in the cave too. Clearly, the food offered was more than what the
animal could (or would care to) eat. This disturbed me a lot. Aren’t these
people wreaking havoc on the natural eating patterns of the animal, its
digestive system and health – all in the name of faith? Isn’t it unhygienic to
let the rice stay in its cave, possibly rotting and polluting the lake? Wouldn’t
it be wiser and more practical to feed some of the offering to the needy and
the poor instead of letting it all go to waste?
P.S. you can
read more about the crocodile at http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=33896
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Mummies Ahoy!
I knew that the exhibition was on at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (formerly Prince of Wales Museum) Vastu Sangrahalaya since November last year, I was not able to make it there until now. But this weekend, I was determined to go there. With its vast rooms filled with paintings, idols and other artworks, it is a veritable treasure trove of knowledge about the centuries gone past. You could spend an entire day here and yet not get bored. I hope I am able to do that one day.
Anyways, the reason for my visit this weekend was an exhibition of the Egyptian Mummies and other artefacts. At Rs 60 per head, the entry fee was reasonable. But for the life of me, I could not fathom the reason behind the security asking everyone to leave their water bottles behind. I dutifully left mine behind and excitedly rushed towards the first floor which housed the exhibition. At the entrance, a replica of the Rosetta stone greeted visitors. I had heard about it but was seeing it, even though it was a replica, for the first time in my life. Looked mighty complicated!
I pushed on. The displays contained so many things - amulets, ceremonial pots, clay tablets depicting scenes from Egyptian life, replicas of the containers that were used to preserve vital organs of the dead, idols of the Gods and the Mummies! There were about 4-5 sarcophaguses. I wondered if they really contained Mummies inside. There was one Mummy without its sarcophagus though - the board next to it said that imaging has revealed that it contains body of a young man. It is one thing to see the Mummies in movies and another to stand next to one. I stepped back in alarm. It definitely creeped out, must confess. The information on displays ranged from the mundane - like the names of the kings and their descendents, to the interesting - like the Egyptians' ideas about life and the afterlife, to the gory - like people killing cats by twisting their necks just so that they can offer their mummies to God. It was unreal to think that these very objects who had now become part of a public display were once handled by real people like you and me, who led real lived filled with both - grief and sorrow. I recalled words from Author's note of a novel that I recently finished reading - Each of us is a time capsule.
By the time I reached the end of the exhibition, I wondered - these people seemed to spend so much time thinking about death and the afterlife, did they ever find any time to live in the present?
Anyways, the reason for my visit this weekend was an exhibition of the Egyptian Mummies and other artefacts. At Rs 60 per head, the entry fee was reasonable. But for the life of me, I could not fathom the reason behind the security asking everyone to leave their water bottles behind. I dutifully left mine behind and excitedly rushed towards the first floor which housed the exhibition. At the entrance, a replica of the Rosetta stone greeted visitors. I had heard about it but was seeing it, even though it was a replica, for the first time in my life. Looked mighty complicated!
I pushed on. The displays contained so many things - amulets, ceremonial pots, clay tablets depicting scenes from Egyptian life, replicas of the containers that were used to preserve vital organs of the dead, idols of the Gods and the Mummies! There were about 4-5 sarcophaguses. I wondered if they really contained Mummies inside. There was one Mummy without its sarcophagus though - the board next to it said that imaging has revealed that it contains body of a young man. It is one thing to see the Mummies in movies and another to stand next to one. I stepped back in alarm. It definitely creeped out, must confess. The information on displays ranged from the mundane - like the names of the kings and their descendents, to the interesting - like the Egyptians' ideas about life and the afterlife, to the gory - like people killing cats by twisting their necks just so that they can offer their mummies to God. It was unreal to think that these very objects who had now become part of a public display were once handled by real people like you and me, who led real lived filled with both - grief and sorrow. I recalled words from Author's note of a novel that I recently finished reading - Each of us is a time capsule.
By the time I reached the end of the exhibition, I wondered - these people seemed to spend so much time thinking about death and the afterlife, did they ever find any time to live in the present?
Some drama or other. Almost every day. Guess the best place to have one is in the BEST buses of Mumbai. The other day, I was busy reading about the credit card frauds that are becoming common these days when angry voices made me look up from the newspaper. 3 commuters had boarded from the front entrance of the bus - they looked positively angry. At first, I thought it was directed to either the driver or conductor of this bus. But it soon became evident from their conversation that the driver of the bus that they had recently got down from was responsible for that. Seems that he was driving the bus at snail's pace. I recalled an expression an examiner at the US DMV center, where I gave my first driving test, had used while referring to my driving skills, or lack thereof - you were turtling along! I was puzzled. We have have heard of the BEST drivers and their rash driving all over Mumbai roads. This slow-driving was unheard of, well, until now at least.
The driver and conductor of the bus I was riding in heartily joined the discussion. The sole male from the trio of commuters was most vocal in volunteering the facts - the driver had been doing this since the past 3 days, when they confronted him he said that he was suffering from loose motions (enough of a reason for a commuter to get out of the bus, in my humble opinion!), they were in danger of missing their morning punching time and losing over a thousand rupees or so. The driver and conductor made sympathetic noises but seemed more amused than surprised.
Two hapless ticket checkers happened to be present at two of the bus stop en route. The trio made it a point to complain to them and requesting that the offending driver who happened to be driving the bus somewhere behind us be reprimanded. The ticket checkers said they would look into this. The bus chugged on ahead, the matter was forgotten and I was able to return to my article on credit card fraud.
The driver and conductor of the bus I was riding in heartily joined the discussion. The sole male from the trio of commuters was most vocal in volunteering the facts - the driver had been doing this since the past 3 days, when they confronted him he said that he was suffering from loose motions (enough of a reason for a commuter to get out of the bus, in my humble opinion!), they were in danger of missing their morning punching time and losing over a thousand rupees or so. The driver and conductor made sympathetic noises but seemed more amused than surprised.
Two hapless ticket checkers happened to be present at two of the bus stop en route. The trio made it a point to complain to them and requesting that the offending driver who happened to be driving the bus somewhere behind us be reprimanded. The ticket checkers said they would look into this. The bus chugged on ahead, the matter was forgotten and I was able to return to my article on credit card fraud.
Scavenger - by David Morrell
Time capsules, letterboxing, messages from the past......pretty interesting stuff, if you ask me. That's what made me pick up this book by David Morrell from the library last weekend. Of course, from the storyline on the back cover it was evident that this one was sort of a sequel to his 'Creepers'. I didn't see 'Creepers' anywhere and the attendant was busy with other patrons. So I checked out the book and left.
Turned out that reading of 'Creepers' was not a pre-requisite to reading this one. It was enough to remember that Belanger, a cop, had survived the fire at Paragon hotel along with Amanda who looked a lot like his kidnapped wife. The novel begins when Belanger is trying his best to forget what happened at the Paragon and moving on with his life. Since he doesn't have anyone to look after him after being discharged from the hospital, Amanda takes him to her home. They soon become a couple (surprise! surprise!).
Then one day, they receive an invitation - from some history club, where a prefessor is going to deliver a lecture about time capsules. They attend, are duly drugged and separated. Amanda is nowhere to be seen when Belanger wakes up outside the ruins of the Paragon.
While Belanger is agonizing over whether Amanda is safe or not, she is going through a hell of her own - along with five more people. Someone wants them to play a game - of overcoming the obstacles and finding a long-lost Time Capsule.
The novel made a good read - though the hero, like in almost every crime or thriller novel, seems almost superhuman in overcoming the obstacles, surviving attempts on his life, solving the clues and finally managing to reach the Damsel in distress. The Author's Note mentions that many of the references in the novel are facts so I duly noted the links he provided. I hope that one day I will find time to go through the following:
Capsule History
Tales of future past
Crypt of Civilization
Black Hills Secrets
Geocaching
Letterboxing
When I went to the library to return the book this weekend, the attendant told me that the library stocks more novels of the author and promised to look them up for me next weekend.
Whether I read them or not, one sentence from Author's note will remain forever etched in my memory:
Nothing passes as long as we remember it. Each of us is a time capsule.
Turned out that reading of 'Creepers' was not a pre-requisite to reading this one. It was enough to remember that Belanger, a cop, had survived the fire at Paragon hotel along with Amanda who looked a lot like his kidnapped wife. The novel begins when Belanger is trying his best to forget what happened at the Paragon and moving on with his life. Since he doesn't have anyone to look after him after being discharged from the hospital, Amanda takes him to her home. They soon become a couple (surprise! surprise!).
Then one day, they receive an invitation - from some history club, where a prefessor is going to deliver a lecture about time capsules. They attend, are duly drugged and separated. Amanda is nowhere to be seen when Belanger wakes up outside the ruins of the Paragon.
While Belanger is agonizing over whether Amanda is safe or not, she is going through a hell of her own - along with five more people. Someone wants them to play a game - of overcoming the obstacles and finding a long-lost Time Capsule.
The novel made a good read - though the hero, like in almost every crime or thriller novel, seems almost superhuman in overcoming the obstacles, surviving attempts on his life, solving the clues and finally managing to reach the Damsel in distress. The Author's Note mentions that many of the references in the novel are facts so I duly noted the links he provided. I hope that one day I will find time to go through the following:
Capsule History
Tales of future past
Crypt of Civilization
Black Hills Secrets
Geocaching
Letterboxing
When I went to the library to return the book this weekend, the attendant told me that the library stocks more novels of the author and promised to look them up for me next weekend.
Whether I read them or not, one sentence from Author's note will remain forever etched in my memory:
Nothing passes as long as we remember it. Each of us is a time capsule.
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