Stunning Images of The Week !!!

Storm surge  A man run away as waves crash over a barrier in Yantai, Shandong Province, China. Strong storms have battered the country’s coast.

 

Battling the blazeA plane drops fire-dousing chemicals near Santa Barbara, California, during attempts to quell a 170-acre grass fire. Some 2,000 people were evacuated.

 

Ferry cross the murkyA boat navigates past the Sydney Harbour bridge in Australia amidst thick fog. Flights and ferry services were delayed as a blanket of fog covered the city.

 

Animatronic apeDesigner Sonny Tilders unveils a six-metre tall, 1.1-tonne gorilla created for the world premiere of the King Kong musical in Melbourne, Australia.

 

Rising rocketA Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft is lifted to its launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Three astronauts blasted into space on 29 May.

 

Breaking the cageTwo bears seen through the bars of a private zoo near a restaurant in Pristina, Kosovo. A campaign has been launched to free bears kept in such conditions.

 

From sea to airA Japanese US-2 seaplane takes off. Japan has just signed a contract to provide the aircraft to India – the first time Tokyo has exported arms since 1967. (

 

source::::bbc.com

Natarajan

 

 

 

A Market with Working Railway Track !!!!

Imagine a train going right through a busy market filled with tourists and locals alike! We’re not kidding; it’s a moment you won’t forget.   It is in Hua Hin , Thailand !!!!

Maeklong railway market

A marketplace with a working railway track through it.

If you’re driving from Bangkok to Hua Hin (which takes about 2.5 hours), make sure you schedule a stop in Maeklong Railway Market in Samut Songkhram, some 60km away from the capital. Locals call it Talad Rom Hoop Market, which translates to “Market Umbrella Pulldown” but tourists call it Scary Market (read on to find out why). At first glance, it looks like any typical open-air market in Thailand. The market is filled with stalls displaying juicy fruits, fresh vegetables, a variety of spices, herbs, seafood and plenty more.

The world's most dangerous …

The world's most dangerous …

The world's most dangerous …

The world's most dangerous …

source::::yahoolifestyle.com

Natarajan

” இந்த தங்க வில்வத்தை எனக்கே கொடுத்து விடு ” கேட்டார் மகாபெரியவர். !!!!

மூலம் : மஹா பெரியவா தரிசன அனுபவங்கள் – ஐந்தாம் பாகம்
நினைவு கூர்ந்தவர் : எஸ். சீதாராமன், சென்னை – 28.

சென்னையில் தங்கியிருந்த காலகட்டத்தில், தம்புச் செட்டித் தெருவிலிருக்கும் சங்கரமடம், திருவொற்றியூர் கோயிலிலுள்ள சிலா சாஸனங்கள், சுவர்ச் சித்திரங்கள் ஆகியவற்றைப் படம் எடுக்கச் சொல்லி உத்தரவாயிற்று.

‘ஆதிசங்கரர், காஞ்சி க்ஷேத்திரத்தில் ஸர்வக்ஞ பீடாரோஹணம் செய்து, கடைசிவரை அங்கேயே தங்கியிருந்தார்’ என்பதற்கான பல சான்றுகளுடன், திரு.ரமேசன் (இ.ஆ.ப.) எழுதிய புத்தகத்தில் நான் எடுத்த புகைப்படங்கள் இடம்பெற்றன.

பெரியவாள், சென்னையை அடுத்த காட்டுப் பள்ளியில் தங்கியிருந்த காலம்.

பெரியவாளுக்குக் கனகாபிஷேகம் செய்யப்பட்ட போது, தங்கத்தாலான வில்வங்களை அபிஷேகம் செய்தார்கள். அதில் ஒரு வில்வத்தை வாங்கிக்கொண்டு வந்திருந்தார் என் தாயார். பெரியவாள் கையில் கொடுத்து, அவர்கள் ஆசீர்வாதத்துடன் பெற்றுக் கொள்ள வேண்டும் என்று உள்ளூர விருப்பம்.
பெரியவாளிடம் அந்தத் தங்க வில்வத்தை சமர்ப்பித்தார் என் தாயார்.

“இதை எனக்கே கொடுத்துவிடேன்!…”

என் தாயாருக்கு உடம்பு சிலிர்த்தது.

“பதிலாக, நான் உனக்கு ஒரு புஷ்பம் தருகிறேன்..!”

பெரியவா கொடுத்த புஷ்பத்தை, நவரத்தினமாகக் கருதி மகிழ்ச்சியுடன் ஏற்றுக் கொண்டார் என் தாயார்.

இவ்வாறு பல பேர்களிடம், குந்துமணி குந்துமணியாகத் தங்கம் பெற்று, ஒரு சொம்பு செய்து, அதில் தேனை நிரப்பி, பூஜை – மந்திர ஜபம் செய்யச் செய்து (ஆஞ்ஜநேய மந்திரம் என்று நினைவு). பாரதநாட்டின் வடமேற்கு எல்லையில் நடந்து கொண்டிருந்த போரில், பாரத வீரர்களுக்குத் தைரியம் ஊட்டுவதற்காக அனுப்பி வைத்தார்கள். அந்தப் போரில் நமக்கே வெற்றி கிடைத்தது.

ஜெய ஜெய சங்கர! ஹர ஹர சங்கர!!

 

source:::::periva.proboards.com

Natarajan

Read more: http://periva.proboards.com/thread/4424/golden-vilvam/#ixzz2UwLriLNs

Message For The Day…Education Has no Meaning without Viveka and Vinaya ….

Education must result in the development of wisdom (Viveka) and humility (Vinaya). The educated person must be able to distinguish between the momentary and the momentous, the lasting and the effervescent. As an educated person, you must not run after glitter and glamour but must seek the good and golden. Keep the body in good trim, the senses under strict control, the mind well within check, the intellect sharp and clear, unhampered by prejudices and hatreds, and the feelings untouched by egoism. You must know the Divine Self,Atma too, for that is the very core. That is the effulgence which illumines your inner and outer selves. You must also cultivate Vinaya(humility). As an educated person, you must be grateful to your parents, who with great sacrifice have given you all the facilities that you now enjoy.– Divine Discourse, Jul 25, 1958.   

 

Sathya Sai Baba

Microsoft Was a Decade Ahead in Inventing a Tablet !!!!!

Apple’s iPad is a revolutionary product that is cratering the PC industry. But it wasn’t Steve Jobs’ idea.

A full decade before Jobs launched the iPad in 2010, Bill Gates launched Microsoft’s touch input tablet computer.

Here it is:
Bill Gates tablet 2000

Bill Gates with a Microsoft tablet in 2000

Two years later, Gates showed up with an improved model, a color tablet. It used the Windows XP Tablet operating system.

Here it is:
Bill Gates tablet 2002

Bill Gates in 2002

 

Unlike today, Microsoft didn’t manufacture the tablet itself. Lenovo produced the tablet in 2000 and other partners, like Fujitsu, made the XP tablet in 2002. Here’s a closer look at the Fujitsu tablet.

 Windows XP Tablet

Fujitsu Windows XP Tablet from 2002

So if Microsoft was a decade ahead, why did Apple become the King of the Tablets?

Last July, during an interview with Charlie Rose, Bill Gates explained that Jobs “did some things better than I did. His timing in terms of when it came out, the engineering work, just the package that was put together. The tablets we had done before, weren’t as thin, they weren’t as attractive.
source:::: businessinsider.com
Natarajan

 

 

 

Indian -American Boy is The New Spelling Bee !!!

MARYLAND: The US-born son of immigrants from India overcame his longstanding problem with words of Germanic origin Thursday to win the 86th national spelling bee.

Arvind Mahankali, 13, from New York City, correctly spelled knaidel, a type of dumpling also known as a matzah ball, to become the sixth youth of south Asian heritage to win the coveted title in as many years.

He is also the first boy to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2008.

Mahankali, the eldest son of an IT consultant father and a physician mother, had placed ninth in 2010, then third in 2011 and 2012. More often than not, it was words of Germanic words that denied him the championship.

“The German curse has turned into a German blessing,” he said after besting eight other finalists in a nail-biting finale to a three-day nationally televised competition that started with 281 contestants from eight nations.

Earlier in the evening, Mahankali had aced such words as tokonoma (a recess opening in a Japanese living room) and kaumographer (someone who transfers designs onto cloth with a hot iron).

The youngster plans to save the $30,000 cash prize — plus a $2,500 US savings bond — for college, where he hopes to eventually get a doctorate degree in science.

Second place went to Pranav Sivakumar, 13, from Illinois, while Sriram Hathwar, 13, from New York, came in third. Amber Born, 14, a crowd-pleaser with her tension-breaking jokes, was the best among the girls in fourth place.

Arvind Mahankali, 13, from New York City, correctly spelled knaidel, a type of dumpling also known as a matzah ball, to become the sixth youth of south Asian heritage.

Arvind Mahankali, 13, from New York City, correctly spelled knaidel, a type of dumpling also known as a matzah ball, to become the sixth youth of south Asian heritage.

source::::Economic Times..

Natarajan

What is Heaven and What is Hell !!!!

 

The old monk sat by the side of the road. With his eyes closed, his
legs crossed and his hands folded in his lap, he sat. In deep
meditation, he sat. Suddenly his zazen was interrupted by the harsh
and demanding voice of a samurai warrior. “Old man! Teach me about
heaven and hell!”

At first, as though he had not heard, there was no perceptible
response from the monk. But gradually he began to open his eyes, the
faintest hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth as
the samurai stood there, waiting impatiently, growing more and more
agitated with each passing second. “You wish to know the secrets of
heaven and hell?” replied the monk at last. “You who are so unkempt.
You whose hands and feet are covered with dirt. You whose hair is
uncombed, whose breath is foul, whose sword is all rusty and
neglected. You who are ugly and whose mother dresses you funny. You
would ask me of heaven and hell?”

The samurai uttered a vile curse. He drew his sword and raised it high
above his head. His face turned to crimson and the veins on his neck
stood out in bold relief as he prepared to sever the monk’s head from
its shoulders.

“That is hell,” said the old monk gently, just as the sword began its
descent.

In that fraction of a second, the samurai was overcome with amazement,
awe, compassion and love for this gentle being who had dared to risk
his very life to give him such a teaching. He stopped his sword in
mid-flight and his eyes filled with grateful tears.

“And that,” said the monk, “is heaven.”

 

source:::unknown

Natarajan

Carrot…Egg…Or Coffee !!!

WHICH ARE YOU?
(Author Unknown)

A daughter complained to her father about life and how things were so
hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted
to give up. She was tired of struggling. It seemed that as soon as one
problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with
water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In
one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he
placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a
word.
The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he
was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished
the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and
placed them a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a
bowl.Turning to her he asked. “What do you see?”
“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and
noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break
it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted its
rich aroma. She said, “What’s the point?”
He explained that each of the items had faced the same adversity –
boiling water – but each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong and hard. But after being subjected to the
boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid
interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became
hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the
boiling water, they had changed the water.
“Which are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your
door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

source:::: One of blogspots

Natarajan