Vatican
Vatican is obviously a must see. The most powerful religious establishment in the world does justice to itself by having its own ambassador at Washington DC and even having its own country . Make sure you do have a guide when you visit the site as you can get easily lost in its ancient history. You can find many Roman and Pagan symbols which can confuse the eye , so, a guide can be a valuable source to explain a lot of their origins.
Basically, it is the site which has the most monuments in the whole world . There are so many Roman gods depicted as early Christianity had to accommodate lots of pagan elements atleast in its initial phase.
Dont miss the Sistine chapel which was painted by the great Michael Angelo , well, you have to see it to believe it. Spend a good half an hour in the chapel and examine the origins of life which includes stories of Adam and eve and a lot of biblical characters.
St Peters Basilica is a masterpiece . We were lucky to have witnessed a service during our visit . Keep photos ready in the Basilica as you might need them for memories , surely. No photos in Sistine chapel and you will attract the attention of Italian police if you take your camera out of your bag. They will show you the exit, beware.
I learnt about Porphyry in the Vatican. Vatican has the most extensive collection of this stone in the whole world . It costs as much as gold. It was mined in Egypt 2000 years ago which was brought by the Roman emperors to Italy. I was shocked to see a huge bath made of porphyry [ 2500 year old ] which looked new. It catches your eye .
You will also be surprised to see an Egyptian obelisk in front of St Peters Basilica and these obelisks are common all over Rome. They were symbols of Roman power as I was informed that the Romans used to get them from Egypt to show off their power of conquest.
We did get a glimpse of the Pope's room but unfortunately could not see him. The Swiss guards who guard the Pope have a very different costume. I did manage to click a few photos of the guards.
Lastly, dont miss the Raphael rooms in the Vatican. Masterpieces of art. Lovers of art , please note that his cartoons are on display at Victoria and Albert museum London [ worth checking their website].
You need more than half a day for the Vatican . Try not to buy in the gift shop near the Vatican. You can get gifts cheaper in the city.
Do some research on Wikipedia before your visit just to get a history lesson before your start.
BTW , there are over 950 Churches in Rome and many of them had the work of some of the greatest painters and sculptors . We visited a church called the Church of the holy crucifix near Piazza Novona which was nice.
Monday, 1 February 2010
Rome - Intro
Rome , an ancient capital city continues to attract much attention to this day . I understood the saying '' Rome was not built in a day '' after visiting this great city .
The hotels in Rome are generally small and can be a bit archaic , especially the one we stayed which is called '' Atlante star '' hotel. Thankfully , I bid for a reasonable price on a website called '' Priceline.co.uk '' [ 50 pound a night ] . Surely, its not worth more and I understand that it sells for 150 Euros which is a rip off.
It is however very close to St Peters Basilica[ Vatican] and Castle Sant Angelo . If you follow the Tiber near Castle Sant Angelo and cross it over the bridge, you will head towards Piazza Novona and other good places. The Metro station [ Ottaviano] is not very far from the hotel which is another bonus I would say.
Food is not an issue in Italy for Vegetarians. My wife and myself survived on a diet of Pizzas, Pastas , Risottos, Stroganoffs etc but boy, your tongue will start yearning for that curry and rice and be prepared to binge on Indian food as soon as you see your home kitchen.
Driving in Rome is like India. The cab driver who took us to our hotel was treating the drive like a video game. He didnt believe in indicators and appeared nonchalant towards the lanes . He was all over the place man but we reached in one piece.
Dont expect politeness as seen in Britain. Control saying thank you's so very often and dont say sorry many times .
Well, you will enjoy Rome or ROMA as it is fondly called by people
The hotels in Rome are generally small and can be a bit archaic , especially the one we stayed which is called '' Atlante star '' hotel. Thankfully , I bid for a reasonable price on a website called '' Priceline.co.uk '' [ 50 pound a night ] . Surely, its not worth more and I understand that it sells for 150 Euros which is a rip off.
It is however very close to St Peters Basilica[ Vatican] and Castle Sant Angelo . If you follow the Tiber near Castle Sant Angelo and cross it over the bridge, you will head towards Piazza Novona and other good places. The Metro station [ Ottaviano] is not very far from the hotel which is another bonus I would say.
Food is not an issue in Italy for Vegetarians. My wife and myself survived on a diet of Pizzas, Pastas , Risottos, Stroganoffs etc but boy, your tongue will start yearning for that curry and rice and be prepared to binge on Indian food as soon as you see your home kitchen.
Driving in Rome is like India. The cab driver who took us to our hotel was treating the drive like a video game. He didnt believe in indicators and appeared nonchalant towards the lanes . He was all over the place man but we reached in one piece.
Dont expect politeness as seen in Britain. Control saying thank you's so very often and dont say sorry many times .
Well, you will enjoy Rome or ROMA as it is fondly called by people
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Web Pata Sala
Hope this platform can generate useful contributions and discussions about Hinduism and our Vaishnavite ideology. International religious discussions welcome as the aim is to understand and respect spirituality.
Religion
Human beings have always believed in differentiating them from others in the way of colour of the skin, caste , Religion. This is based on the belief of God. The wonderful creator who has given us everything that we wish for. Man has been instrumental in creating a number of religions to reach the goal of attaining the good will of the supreme lord. People call him by various names - Vishnu, Buddha, Jesus, Allah, Yahweh etc etc etc. People try to reach their God by a variety of means. Pooja for Hindus, Prayers five times a day for Muslims, regular service for Christians.
Even within each faith, we have been successful in dividing us in one way or the other. The splinter groups from each religion is so many that the original belief systems take a back seat and we are literally governed by the sect leaders of the so called splinter groups.
The Zealots constantly argue that their religion is the best and even put forward various scientific theories to prove their point .
I believe with my conscience that God protects us like how our parents protected us as children. There is no need to fear him. I am a Hindu, hence , believe in Hinduism but love is common to all religions and mutual respect is what we require to realise the same God through the various faiths.
Religion
Human beings have always believed in differentiating them from others in the way of colour of the skin, caste , Religion. This is based on the belief of God. The wonderful creator who has given us everything that we wish for. Man has been instrumental in creating a number of religions to reach the goal of attaining the good will of the supreme lord. People call him by various names - Vishnu, Buddha, Jesus, Allah, Yahweh etc etc etc. People try to reach their God by a variety of means. Pooja for Hindus, Prayers five times a day for Muslims, regular service for Christians.
Even within each faith, we have been successful in dividing us in one way or the other. The splinter groups from each religion is so many that the original belief systems take a back seat and we are literally governed by the sect leaders of the so called splinter groups.
The Zealots constantly argue that their religion is the best and even put forward various scientific theories to prove their point .
I believe with my conscience that God protects us like how our parents protected us as children. There is no need to fear him. I am a Hindu, hence , believe in Hinduism but love is common to all religions and mutual respect is what we require to realise the same God through the various faiths.
DJ Dharma
Music is one of those things that any living organism can appreciate. Recent theories about plants responding to music must be noted. My experiences of music started when I was a child . Thyagaraja kritis and Bradrachalam Ramadas Keerthanas in praise of Lord Rama used to reverberate in my house. My Grandfather was very fond of Telugu that at one stage , he made me learn the language but I regret at present that I could have given it a more serious thought . My Grandfather however succeeded in making me appreciate and recognise a few of the raagas and I can do it subconsciously at present although not perfectly I must admit as I have never had formal training.
I started to listen to Tamil music in its glory days. The music of Illayaraja , especially the violin can bring tears even to stone hearted souls. English music became a household phenomenon and my stay at the Med College got me exposed to Rap , Rock, R and B and loads more. I should admit that I am a big fan of Metallica, GNR , Aerosmith, Akon, Whitesnake , Pearl Jam and loads more.
I know that there are some serious music lovers here in our blog who have a very rich experience of appreciating and also playing various instruments . Shall we start this thread with useful contributions from them , especially links to some classic songs , instrumentals.
One other thing I would really appreciate is for people to write about Raagas and Taalas which I am keen to understand. I do not want to be a Wiki Scholar. I'd prefer to hear it from the Horses mouths or rather Hoofs as we are using internet. Thanks.
I started to listen to Tamil music in its glory days. The music of Illayaraja , especially the violin can bring tears even to stone hearted souls. English music became a household phenomenon and my stay at the Med College got me exposed to Rap , Rock, R and B and loads more. I should admit that I am a big fan of Metallica, GNR , Aerosmith, Akon, Whitesnake , Pearl Jam and loads more.
I know that there are some serious music lovers here in our blog who have a very rich experience of appreciating and also playing various instruments . Shall we start this thread with useful contributions from them , especially links to some classic songs , instrumentals.
One other thing I would really appreciate is for people to write about Raagas and Taalas which I am keen to understand. I do not want to be a Wiki Scholar. I'd prefer to hear it from the Horses mouths or rather Hoofs as we are using internet. Thanks.
Saturday, 25 July 2009
Pub Jokes
Feel free to post jokes here. Those without too many inhibitions but with due respect to net etiquette.
1. Two drunks are walking along.
One drunk says to the other, "What a beautiful night... look at the moon."
The other drunk stops and look at his drunk friend, "You are wrong, that's not the moon, that's the sun."
They started arguing for a while when they came upon another drunk walking, so they stopped him.
"Sir, could you please help settle our argument? Tell us what that thing is up in the sky that's shining. Is it the moon or the sun?"
The third drunk looked at the sky and then looked at them and said,
Sorry , I dont live around here.
2. The 'Corporate' language !!
'We will do it'
means
'You will do it'
'You have done a great job'
means
'More work to be given to you'
'We are working on it'
means
'We have not yet started working on the same'
'Tomorrow, first thing in the morning'
means
'Its not getting done...
At least not tomorrow !'.
'After discussion we will decide - I am very open to views'
means
'I have already decided, I will tell you what to do'
'There was a slight miscommunication'
means
'We had actually lied'
'Lets call a meeting and discuss'
means
'I have no time now, will talk later'
'We can always do it'
means
'We actually cannot do the same on time'
'We are on the right track but there needs to be a slight extension of the deadline'
means
'The project is screwed up, we cannot deliver on time.'
'We had slight differences of opinion'
means
'We had actually fought'
'Make a list of the work that you do and let's see how I can help you'
means
'Anyway you have to find a way out, no help from me'
'You should have told me earlier'
means
'Well even if you told me earlier that would have made hardly any difference!'
'We need to find out the real reason'
means
'Well I will tell you where your fault is'
'Well... family is important, your leave is always granted. Just ensure that the work is not affected'
means
'Well you know...'
'We are a team'
means
'I am not the only one to be blamed'
'That's actually a good question'
means
'I do not know anything about it'
.
.
AND FINALLY, THE BEST OF ALL...
.
'All the Best'
means
' You are in trouble
Must read above 18
A little boy goes to his father and asks "Dad, What is politics?"
Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way. I'm the head of the family, so call me the prime minister.
Your mother is the administrator of the money, so call her the government.
We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the people.
The maid, we'll consider the working class.
And your baby brother, we'll call him the future.
Now think about that and see if it makes any sense”
So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what dad has said.
Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parent's room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the maid's room finding the door locked, he peeps in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the maid.
The next morning the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now."
“OK, Tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about."
The little boy replies, "the prime minister is screwing the working class while the government is sound asleep. The people are being ignored and the future is in deep shit.”
3. Sardar Jokes
3a, A thief snatches a mobile from a "sardar" and does a runner.
Sardar shouts to him: Run man run, I've the charger...
3b Santa Singh and Banta Singh bump into each other at the hospital gate
Santa Singh: Oye Banta where are you coming from?
Banta Singh: Don't ask yaar. Went for a test and these silly doctors slit my finger just for a cross match(blood) test.
By the way why are you here Santa??
Santa Singh: (looking terrified)........ I am not sure if I want to go ahead with my urine test now .
3c,
letter to Mr.Bill Gates from Banta singh
Dear Mr Bill Gates,
This letter is from Banta Singh from Punjab. We have bought a computer for our home and we found problems, which I want to bring to your notice.
After connecting to internet we planned to open e-mail account and whenever we fill the form in Hotmail in the password column, only ****** appears, but in the rest of the fields whatever we typed appears as it should, but we face this problem only in password field. We checked with hardware vendor Santa Singh and he said that there is no problem in keyboard.
Because of this we open the e-mail account with password *****. I request you to check this as we ourselves do not know what the password is.
We are unable to enter anything after we click the shut down button.
There is a button 'start' but! there is no stop button.
We request you to check this.
We find there is 'Run' in the menu. One of my friend clicked 'run' has ran upto Amritsar! So, we request you to change that to sit so that we can click that by sitting.
One doubt is that any 're-scooter' available in system? As I find only 're-cycle', but I own a scooter at my home.
Also there is 'Find' button but it is not working properly. My wife lost the door key and we tried a lot for tracing the key with this 'find', but unable to trace. Is it a bug??
Thanks,
Banta Singh
Punjab _______________________
3d
Interviewer: what is your birth date?
Sardar: 13 th October
Interviewer: Which year
Sardar : Oye ullu ke pathe _ _ _ EVERY YEAR
3e
Manager asked to sardar at an interview
Can you spell a word that has more than 100 letters in it?
Sardar replied: -P-O-S-T-B-O-X.
3f
After returning back from a foreign trip, sardar asked his wife,
Do I look like a foreigner?
Wife: No! Why?
Sardar: In London a lady asked me Are you a foreigner?
3g
One tourist from U.S.A. asked to Sardar: Any great man born in this village???
Sardar: no sir, only small Babies!!!
1. Two drunks are walking along.
One drunk says to the other, "What a beautiful night... look at the moon."
The other drunk stops and look at his drunk friend, "You are wrong, that's not the moon, that's the sun."
They started arguing for a while when they came upon another drunk walking, so they stopped him.
"Sir, could you please help settle our argument? Tell us what that thing is up in the sky that's shining. Is it the moon or the sun?"
The third drunk looked at the sky and then looked at them and said,
Sorry , I dont live around here.
2. The 'Corporate' language !!
'We will do it'
means
'You will do it'
'You have done a great job'
means
'More work to be given to you'
'We are working on it'
means
'We have not yet started working on the same'
'Tomorrow, first thing in the morning'
means
'Its not getting done...
At least not tomorrow !'.
'After discussion we will decide - I am very open to views'
means
'I have already decided, I will tell you what to do'
'There was a slight miscommunication'
means
'We had actually lied'
'Lets call a meeting and discuss'
means
'I have no time now, will talk later'
'We can always do it'
means
'We actually cannot do the same on time'
'We are on the right track but there needs to be a slight extension of the deadline'
means
'The project is screwed up, we cannot deliver on time.'
'We had slight differences of opinion'
means
'We had actually fought'
'Make a list of the work that you do and let's see how I can help you'
means
'Anyway you have to find a way out, no help from me'
'You should have told me earlier'
means
'Well even if you told me earlier that would have made hardly any difference!'
'We need to find out the real reason'
means
'Well I will tell you where your fault is'
'Well... family is important, your leave is always granted. Just ensure that the work is not affected'
means
'Well you know...'
'We are a team'
means
'I am not the only one to be blamed'
'That's actually a good question'
means
'I do not know anything about it'
.
.
AND FINALLY, THE BEST OF ALL...
.
'All the Best'
means
' You are in trouble
Must read above 18
A little boy goes to his father and asks "Dad, What is politics?"
Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way. I'm the head of the family, so call me the prime minister.
Your mother is the administrator of the money, so call her the government.
We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the people.
The maid, we'll consider the working class.
And your baby brother, we'll call him the future.
Now think about that and see if it makes any sense”
So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what dad has said.
Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parent's room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the maid's room finding the door locked, he peeps in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the maid.
The next morning the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now."
“OK, Tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about."
The little boy replies, "the prime minister is screwing the working class while the government is sound asleep. The people are being ignored and the future is in deep shit.”
3. Sardar Jokes
3a, A thief snatches a mobile from a "sardar" and does a runner.
Sardar shouts to him: Run man run, I've the charger...
3b Santa Singh and Banta Singh bump into each other at the hospital gate
Santa Singh: Oye Banta where are you coming from?
Banta Singh: Don't ask yaar. Went for a test and these silly doctors slit my finger just for a cross match(blood) test.
By the way why are you here Santa??
Santa Singh: (looking terrified)........ I am not sure if I want to go ahead with my urine test now .
3c,
letter to Mr.Bill Gates from Banta singh
Dear Mr Bill Gates,
This letter is from Banta Singh from Punjab. We have bought a computer for our home and we found problems, which I want to bring to your notice.
After connecting to internet we planned to open e-mail account and whenever we fill the form in Hotmail in the password column, only ****** appears, but in the rest of the fields whatever we typed appears as it should, but we face this problem only in password field. We checked with hardware vendor Santa Singh and he said that there is no problem in keyboard.
Because of this we open the e-mail account with password *****. I request you to check this as we ourselves do not know what the password is.
We are unable to enter anything after we click the shut down button.
There is a button 'start' but! there is no stop button.
We request you to check this.
We find there is 'Run' in the menu. One of my friend clicked 'run' has ran upto Amritsar! So, we request you to change that to sit so that we can click that by sitting.
One doubt is that any 're-scooter' available in system? As I find only 're-cycle', but I own a scooter at my home.
Also there is 'Find' button but it is not working properly. My wife lost the door key and we tried a lot for tracing the key with this 'find', but unable to trace. Is it a bug??
Thanks,
Banta Singh
Punjab _______________________
3d
Interviewer: what is your birth date?
Sardar: 13 th October
Interviewer: Which year
Sardar : Oye ullu ke pathe _ _ _ EVERY YEAR
3e
Manager asked to sardar at an interview
Can you spell a word that has more than 100 letters in it?
Sardar replied: -P-O-S-T-B-O-X.
3f
After returning back from a foreign trip, sardar asked his wife,
Do I look like a foreigner?
Wife: No! Why?
Sardar: In London a lady asked me Are you a foreigner?
3g
One tourist from U.S.A. asked to Sardar: Any great man born in this village???
Sardar: no sir, only small Babies!!!
Kashaaya
A joke my music master (who is 86 and now cannot sit down but still wants to teach!) tells us. (We may ask him to stop after I learn the 2nd pancharatna kirthane - Yentharo mahanu bhavu -- absolute master pieces of compositions).
His story ...
Ramanujacharya while preaching his philosophy (near trichy?) got threatened by local tamils and his disciples whisked him away. He ran and setup his mutt in Melkote near mysore. He built many temples and in order to spread his theory he also converted locals and taught them just enough to do the daily puja in the temples. They were called Saatanu? brahmins. Brahmins of regular cadre would not take thirtha from them.
One day the chief minisiter Purnaiah (we are related thru Ragahva mama) visited one of these temples and unknowingly extended his hand for thirtha. To which his muslim body guard I believe shouted and cautioned "Aat Aane se yek kum Saat Ane"
Cheers,
Jagannath
His story ...
Ramanujacharya while preaching his philosophy (near trichy?) got threatened by local tamils and his disciples whisked him away. He ran and setup his mutt in Melkote near mysore. He built many temples and in order to spread his theory he also converted locals and taught them just enough to do the daily puja in the temples. They were called Saatanu? brahmins. Brahmins of regular cadre would not take thirtha from them.
One day the chief minisiter Purnaiah (we are related thru Ragahva mama) visited one of these temples and unknowingly extended his hand for thirtha. To which his muslim body guard I believe shouted and cautioned "Aat Aane se yek kum Saat Ane"
Cheers,
Jagannath
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