Venkat's Random Thoughts

 Rivika - My grand daughter and best friend On this very day 11th September ten years back two things happened, 1) The tenth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the twin towers in the US and  2) The birth of my Grand daughter Rivika, The second child of my son Anand and Mallika. Both the events are unforgettable in my life ,On the day of the 9/11 attack, I was in Bath UK on a visit to my son in UK and heard the news on the TV at a relation's house. On the day of Rivika's birth I was in Mumbai and on hearing the news , i booked my tickets to visit my son's in laws in Ghaziabad, U P to visit the latest arrival. I immediately posted on my Facebook page the following lines.   "Off to Ghaziabad to meet the latest addition in the family!!      My grand daughter" Needless to say I was very excited and was keen to see and hold this bundle of joy in my hands. We did travel and attended the naming ceremony in Ghaziabad. I next met her on her first birthday when I ...

              A humble tribute to a great Soul I am writing this post in memory of my first cousin Renuka alias Bala who was snatched by the cruel hands of death from us all on May 21, 2020. For those who do not know  who Bala was She was my first cousin, eldest daughter of my father's sister Rajalakshmi. Our families were closely linked right from the days when we were neighbors in pre-partition days in Karachi. Though I was born in Karachi, in 1944  we landed up in Mumbai as refugees during the partition. The two families with some  other handful of South Indians ended up in Dombivli, a distant suburb of Mumbai. We continued to be neighbors. In 1958 we moved to Sion, my father having purchased a flat there. As luck would have it my Athai's family also landed up close to Sion, in the then Koliwada now known as GTB Nagar, continuing to be close by. I am writing below a short narration about her life. I was very close to her and used...

                                Happy birthday Nakshatraa!!!! Happy birthday dear Nakshatraa!!  May GOD being you abundant happiness and joy in your life. I am writing this as a blog , since as you as a four year old is not in position to read and comprehend this , my humble offering today , but in future when you grow up and read this you will appreciate my love for you. I am asking some one  to read this out aloud at today's family gathering to celebrate your fourth birthday. At the gathering many of the family members are planning to present their performances to entertain the participants. Some one asked me "What will be your performance as a proud grand parent? " My reply was  "Our (me  and my wife's) greatest performance in life was when we were there in UK to help your parents and do our bit to bring you in to this world and continue be there for another three months till your pare...

Today I come to the last Of "The Hindu Rituals". Thus ends a rather long series of posts by me. I may have bored many of you,Got on many persons nerves, but I am sure there were a few of you who patiently waited for and looked forward to this posts of mine. Thank you one and all for suffering this. :) For the time being I am taking a break from blogging for some time now. If any of  you have any suggestions on what topics I should write blogs , your suggestions in the form of comments are welcome. You may also discuss amongst yourselves in the WhatsApp group and decide/vote on a topic of common interest. 22. Why do we do aarti? Towards the end of every ritualistic worship (pooja or bhajan) of the Lord or to welcome an honored guest or saint, we perform the aarti. This is always accompanied by the ringing of the bell and sometimes by singing, playing of musical instruments and clapping. It is one of the sixteen steps (shodasha upachaara) of the pooja...

Hindu Rituals 20 & 21 20. Why do we offer a coconut at the temples, functions etc.? A coconut is homologous to the individual. According to Hinduism an individual consists of 3 bodies (śarīras) sthūla śarīra  — gross physical body represented by the external husk of the coconut sūkṣma śarīra  — subtle or astral body consisting of the mind, emotions etc. represented by the white kernel kāraṇa śarīra  — causal body consisting of the seeds of subliminal latent impressions (saṁskāras) the cause of rebirth represented by the water inside. The three eyes on the top in the coconut represent the 2 physical eyes and the third eye of wisdom (jñāna cakṣuḥ). Coconuts are broken for two reasons:- The breaking of the coconut as an act of sacrifice - self-sacrifice for the welfare of all beings. We hope and pray that we may use this human birth to benefit others and for the service of all beings (sarva-bhūta-hita). As a sacrifice to the elementals...

  My Experiences with Panchakarma Ayurveda Treatments III A Lot of effort has been taken to gather the information in the following details of treatments of Panchakarma. I have done a lot of research on the web as also discussions with the therapists who administered the procedures to me. The Senior doctors and the Post Graduate interns at the hospital also played a major role in trusting me to part with the information I asked for. I hereby recors the invaluable support from all who have helped me in this endeavour. The treatments when I started to write seem to be going on and on which might make the blog too long to read and grasp in a single sitting. I having taken an opinion poll have decided to split the blog into two parts for easier reading. This effort will be incomplete without my going on record to thank my wonderful readers and followers  of my blogs who are the inspiration behind the whole project and have been egging  me on to write more and m...