leadership – Page 104 – Take off with Natarajan

This Artist Decided To Bring A Van Gogh Painting To Life In A Very Literal Way…

September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Flying into Minneapolis, you might be surprised to find yourself face-to-face with a Van Gogh painting — one that stretches out over more than a square acre of land. The unique thing about this version of the painting is that it is etched directly into the ground.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

This is the latest project by landscape artist Stan Herd, who uses fields as canvases to create large-scale interpretations of art. He recreates famous pieces (like the Van Gogh painting seen here) and even works on some originals. They’re unique because they can only be seen in full from the air.

This piece is composed of different plants, tracks, and soil patterns. Herd used grass of different lengths to create various tones and values.

This is the painting that Herd recreated with living plants.

Wikimedia Commons

It’s Vincent Van Gogh’s 1889 piece called Olive Trees.

First, the painting was measured and the land was parceled out.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

The grid you see on the print helped Herd and his team create a scale model.

After that, the real work began.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

This piece of landscaping art is located near an airport in Minneapolis, and it’s visible to passengers as they enter the city. Herd has been working on these landscaping projects, which he calls “earthworks,” since 1981.

The project was commissioned by the Minneapolis Institute of Art (which is home to the original painting) in an effort to get people excited about visiting the city.

Each element of the painting had to be carefully planned out to ensure that the proportions were right.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

Creating an earthwork like this is no simple feat, and it requires a lot of physical labor.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

And this isn’t even the largest earthwork that Herd has created.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

In the early 1980s, he made one that covered 160 acres of land in Kansas.

With patience and hard work, the image started coming together.

Vimeo / Minneapolis Institute of Art

(via Colossal)

The Van Gogh earthwork will be on display near the airport throughout the autumn season. Herd plans to mow down the creation when winter arrives, but even his method of destruction is symbolic. He will remove the earthwork in a concentric circle pattern that mimics Van Gogh’s painting method.

You can see more of Herd’s earthworks on his website, and learn more about the original Van Gogh painting from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. If you happen to fly into Minneapolis this fall, snap a picture of the field and share it with the tags #BDayMia and #vangrow.\

Source….www.viralnova.com

Natarajan

Never Laugh at an Old Man…He may Surprise You !!!

September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

This group of friends were playing football (soccer), when old grandfather Memo came and insisted to be given a place on one of the teams. While they didn’t want to disrespect their elders, they weren’t happy about this. That is, until this old man gives the game a real twist. In reality, this old man is a freestyle football legend who has gone through hours of make-up to make him look 30 years older. Find out what happened on the court, as he shocks everyone in sight, and will even cast a spell on you, because this guy – he’s good.

Source……www.ba-bamail.com and http://www.youtube.com

Natarajan

Da Vinci’s Inventions that Were Ahead of their Time….

September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

When I hear the name Leonardo Da Vinci, my first associations are his incredible works of art, such as “The Mona Lisa” or “The Last Supper”. Da Vinci, however, was a man of many talents and not just a mere painter – he was also a prolific inventor who came up with concepts that were so advanced, they could only have been realized in our time.

Da Vinci used to write down his ideas and sketch designs in his notebook; most of them were preserved after his death in 1519. There isn’t any evidence that most of Da Vinci’s inventions were constructed during his lifetime, but these 6 designs most definitely were centuries ahead of their time.

Da Vinci's Inventions

The Flying Machine

Da Vinci's Inventions

Da Vinci had hundreds of sketches in his notebook that revolved around flight. The design he put most of his time into, was based off of the body structure of birds and bats.

The design included a set of very large wings, attached to a wooden frame where the pilot is meant to lie down on his stomach and control the device with some levers. Sadly, Da Vinci never constructed the flying machine, and experts claim that even if he did – it wouldn’t be able to get off the ground or sustain flight without an engine.

It took 400 years until people managed to build a machine that can actually fly.

Da Vinci's Inventions

Da Vinci’s Tank

Da Vinci's Inventions

Most people consider Da Vinci to be a delicate soul, mainly concerned with creating art. Da Vinci was also heavily involved in military technologies, and one of his greatest patrons, Ludovico Sforza, the duke of Milan was the man entrusted with defending Italy from the invading French army.

To receive Sforza’s financial patronage, Da Vinci designed a variety of military contraption, an armored tank being one of them. The invention included a human-powered carriage, covered in sheets of metal with slits that would allow Italian soldiers to fire their rifles safely.

Like his flying machine, Da Vinci’s tank also never saw the light of day. 400 years later, tanks became commonplace in all of the world’s armies.

Da Vinci's Inventions

Diving Suit

Da Vinci's Inventions

Even though he wasn’t the first person to come up with the idea of a diving suit, his design was the most ingenious and advanced for its time. According to his sketches, the suit was to be made almost entirely of leather and included a full body combination of a jacket, pants and a helmet with tiny glass windows. Air was to be kept in the front bulge of the jacket with tubes attached to the mask to allow the diver to breath.

The suit even had a small compartment for urine collection, because Da Vinci didn’t know how long the diver will have to remain underwater. Special pockets for various tools were also designed into the suit, including a knife, and even a horn he can blow to signal he needs to surface.

It was not until Jacque Cousteau invented the “water lung” in the middle of the 20th-cetury that diving suits became common.

Da Vinci's Inventions

The Machine Gun

Da Vinci's Inventions

Another one of Da Vinci’s ingenious military designs was the machine gun, which has some resemblance to modern-day weapons. The design was for a typical cannon, but with 12 barrels. The device could shoot one cannonball, then quickly be moved to the next loaded barrel and show again, as the used barrel is being loaded.

This design was also never constructed during Da Vinci’s lifetime, and the first modern machinegun appeared on the battlefield in 1862, during the American Civil War.

Da Vinci's Inventions

The City of the Future

Da Vinci's Inventions

During the 15th-century, Europe was still recovering from the black plague, which annihilated more than a third of Europe’s population. Da Vinci noticed that cities were more vulnerable to the plague in comparison with rural areas and hypothesized that the cause if how cities were constructed, making them more vulnerable.

The solution was a whole new futuristic city, full designed from top to bottom to provide the best sanitary conditions to the inhabitants. Da Vinci’s City of the Future was divided to several “layers”. Anything that was considered to be unhygienic would be located at the bottom layer, to be evacuated via canals. Each part of the city would enjoy running water thanks to an intricate hydraulic system that also served as the basis of modern plumbing.

The result was a marvel of city planning, but its construction was beyond Da Vinci’s means, and he couldn’t find a patron that would support his endeavors.

Da Vinci's Inventions

The Robotic Knight

Da Vinci's Inventions

Even today, autonomous, human-like robots seem like a piece of science fiction, but under Sforza’s patronage, Da Vinci invented a “Mechanical Knight”, which was supposedly capable of moving its arms, neck and even open and close its “mouth”. This strange mechanical doll was controlled via external cables that were attached to sets of pulleys inside the robot’s body.

The design was discovered nearly 450 years later and in 2002, a functioning replica of the “Robotic Knight” was built by Mark Rosheim – A robotics researcher from NASA.

Da Vinci's Inventions

Source…..www.ba-bamail.com

Natarajan

Message for the Day…” All of us Will have to Leave this world Empty-Handed …”

September 27, 2015September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Sathya Sai Baba

Though Alexander the Great conquered most parts of the world, he could not take with him even an iota of the property he won. He left the world with empty hands. To demonstrate this truth to the world, he instructed his ministers to take his dead body in a procession through the streets of his capital keeping both his hands in a raised position pointing the sky. When the ministers asked him the reason for this strange request, Emperor Alexander replied, “I conquered several countries, accumulated great wealth and controlled a vast army; yet, I am going back with empty hands – demonstrate this truth to everyone.” You may spend a lot of time struggling to acquire a lot of wealth. Yet, not even a handful of earth will come along when you leave the body. Hence at least now accept the fact that you are Divine, and strive to appreciate the same Divinity in everyone around you.

Did You Know? There Is A World Cup For The Homeless & India Put Up An Awesome Show….

September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Yes, there is a world cup for the homeless and India’s Slum Soccer organisation has represented the country there. What’s more? The men’s team won the Sports Gen cup and the women’s team got the 6th place among 16 participating nations. Here’s more.

Homeless World Cup is an annual football tournament organized by the Homeless World Cup organization – a social movement which inspires homeless people to change their lives with the power of football. They organize an annual football tournament, where teams of homeless people from more than 70 countries get a chance to compete.

In India, selections for the Homeless World Cup begin at the National Slum Soccer Championship every year. Slum Soccer is an Indian organisation which uses football as a tool for social empowerment, to change the lives of street dwellers in the country. An initial lot of 32 players are selected during the championship, in which teams from over 15 states across India participate. The selected players then undergo training at the Nagpur, Chennai and Kolkata centres of Slum Soccer. And then, the final selection takes place.

More than 500 players from 48 teams took part in the 2015 edition of the Homeless World Cup.

This year was the 7th time that the Slum Soccer team represented India in the World Cup which was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Indian contingent

The Indian men played a total of 12 games against teams like France, Netherlands, Finland, and Grenada. They finally won the SportsGen Cup.

The team led by Sahrul Hoque, defeated Belgium in the quarter-finals 3-2. They faced Israel in the semi-finals and won with a score of 4-2. The final match was against Grenada, one of the best performing teams, and India won 4-3. Players in the team included Mohit Sharma, Saddam Hussain, Shubam Varma, Anikesh Tandekar, P Parthiban, Manikumar, and Ashutosh Bobde.

The Indian women’s team played 13 games in all. They attained the 6th place out of the 16 participating nations.

The team performed really well, defeating England, Finland and Scotland with huge, unexpected margins.

The Homeless Behind The Players

All these players have faced a lot of suffering and struggle. But Slum Soccer helped them in overcoming those days, and leaving their struggles behind. Today, they are making India proud.

P Parthiban: The men team’s defender from Chennai lost his father and a younger sister at a very young age. The hardships he had faced all his life had turned him into a ruffian. It was football that changed his life, and turned him into a winner!

Shubam Varma: A resident of Nagpur, Shubam is the vice-captain of the team. He understands the importance of being a leader, and the kind of roles one has to take up in order to help others, as well as oneself, in taking the right life decisions.

Apeksha Wankhede: She fled from Chandrapur and reached Amsterdam with the help of an NGO, Shivprabha Charitable Trust in Pune. Her mother works as a domestic helper and brother works in a salon. In spite of weak financial conditions, her determination to play for the country has always been strong.

The Captains: Sahrul Hoque

His life took a turn when one of his friends, who had returned after completing his higher education from Nagpur, asked him to contact Mr. Barse of Slum Soccer.

Since then, Sahrul started playing for the Slum Soccer team in Kolkata. He is now coaching 100 slum soccer players in Kolkata.

“I never thought that I would fly to a foreign country. My parents and elder brothers and sisters did not say much as I am the youngest, but they did not like that I was playing football all the time. They called me ‘Khela Pagol’ (mad for sports). But now, they feel proud about me,” he said.

Reena Panchal

Reena comes from Sonipat, Haryana. She had a strong inclination towards football since childhood. Her father worked at a small garment shop as a salesman, and though her family members were supportive, they could not go against the norms of how girls should lead their lives, created by the orthodox villagers.

“My father never differentiated between my brothers and me, but our neighbours called names if I wore trousers to play football. It’s not easy for a girl from Haryana to break the rules and come out of her shell,” says Reena.

She started playing football at school (Hindu Kanya School, Sonipat) without telling anyone at home. But when she got selected to play at the national level, she had to tell. Her coach, Mr. Ankush Mallik, convinced her parents, and she nailed it at the game.

Reena could not stop thanking Slum Soccer, who not only gave her the opportunity to play, but also made her the captain of the team.

“Indian team was everyone’s favourite at the Homeless World Cup. I wore the No.5 jersey and everyone used to say No.5 plays really well. I can’t express in words how happy I am to represent India in the world cup. It was always a dream. A few months back I couldn’t even think that I will be awarded as the ‘best player’”

21-year-old Reena, who is the top goal scorer in the team, is an arts graduate and has also done a diploma in Bachelors of Physical Education (B.PED).

She wants to help other girls in her village to come out and build a future of their own. She wants to make them realize that if they get an opportunity they should just grab it.

“There’s nothing better than the feeling of representing India in front of the world and Slum Soccer made this dream come true. There can be no other organization like Slum Soccer. I want everyone to learn from them that even the underprivileged part of our society is talented and one should help them grow too,” she concludes.

Slum Soccer has been discovering many such gems from the past seven years. But it’s an irony that every year they have to ask for financial help from different NGOs.

We have been doing the entire event, including the training with the help of online fund raising. Last year Ashok Leyland helped us and this time keto.org came forward. I wish the Indian government too helped our team, just like the Scotland team is funded by their government as a part of their common wealth youth development program,” says Abhijeet Barse

Mr. Barse, however, praises the police department, which really helps them with the documentation work for the players.

About the author: A mechanical engineer, Manabi Katoch has been brought up listening to Tagore’s poems and stories, so she is kind of an emotional person within. She loves writing poems and stories on social and political issues. Few of her poems can be viewed on http://www.poemocean.com and satires on http://www.mindthenews.com. She has worked with Wipro, Frankfinn and Educomp in the past.

Source…..Manabi Katoch….www.the better india .com

Natarajan

From Kolli Hills to Italy, two women win hearts with ‘Murukku’….

September 27, 2015September 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

‘I had to stop going to school after 7th standard as my parents did not have enough money to even feed us’

‘I was just an uneducated and poor farmer till I joined the self-help group. Going to a foreign country to highlight our achievements was a dream come true’

‘My dream is to see all women like me who live in villages to come up in life and be independent’

Malliga and Jayalalitha talk to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com about how millet farming changed their lives, their successful trip to Milan and how their ‘murukku’ was appreciated at Milan.

Image: Malliga Seerangan and Jayalalitha Easwaran in Chennai. Photograph: Ramesh Damodaran

The journey from a remote village in Kolli Hills in Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu to flashy Milan has been an unforgettable experience for Malliga Seerangan and Jayalalitha Easwaran.

Their background is similar – poverty, no education and cut off from development. But today the success story of the two women, 35-year-old Malliga Seerangan and 27-year-old Jayalalitha Easwaran, is an inspiring lesson in women empowerment.

These two women are part of a self-help group supported by by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, that promotes biodiversity through farming. They were in Milan to attend an event on ‘Agricultural biodiversity, value chains and women’s empowerment’ organised by Bio Diversity International, on September 17.

The event was organised to celebrate the women ‘who grow, harvest, process, cook, buy or sell a variety of food and agricultural products to sustain their families and contribute towards conservation of agricultural biodiversity’.

“Women and agricultural biodiversity are closely linked,” say the organisers. So both Malliga and Jayalalitha were the right people to represent what the event stood for; Agricultural biodiversity, value chains and women’s empowerment.

Image: Malliga (second from left) and Jayalalitha in Milan. Photograph, courtesy: MSSRF

It was their first trip abroad and accompanying them was Dr Oliver King of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. MSSRF is playing a key role in transforming the lives of many women by promoting different types of millet cultivation — little millet, Italian millet, finger millet, common millet, and Kodo millet under different agro-climatological and landscape conditions.

The organisation has helped them follow locally suited traditional agricultural practices like inter-cropping, multiple cropping, mixed cropping and crop rotation based on soil types and rainfall pattern focussing on the food and nutritional security of the people. For example, mixed cropping is practised to maintain the family’s food security.

The nutritious products made from millet are sold through Kolli Hills Agro Biodiversity Conservers Federation (KHABCoFED) in attractive packs as organic food in nearby cities. MSSRF follows the four ‘C’s: conservation, cultivation, consumption and commercialisation.

Image: Millet farming transforms the lives of farmers. Photograph, courtesy: MSSRF

How millet farming transformed Malliga Seerangan’s life

‘My family has been involved in farming for many generations and I grew up seeing my grandparents going to the fields. From the time I could remember, I was also helping them and my parents in the fields.

‘I had to stop going to school after 7th standard as there was not enough money to even feed us. We had a small farmland. Since there was no market for millets, naturally there was not much income from farming. I continued doing the same work after getting married.

‘People in and around Kolli Hills do only farming and that too, only ragi and samai. There was a time when we farmed just enough for us to consume, and nothing more than that.

Today, we are farming six varieties of millets, thanks to MS Swaminathan Research Foundation which came to our village around 15-20 years ago. Other than helping the farmers in cultivating, they also helped us start small self help groups groups of men and women.

‘There are more than 1500 farmers in our small region itself and each group consists of 13 women. I am the head of our group.

‘We pool in small amounts of money and put it in the bank, and then each member can take a loan for farming. Earlier, we didn’t even have a bank account, nor did we know how operate an account.

‘They also taught us how to do farming depending on the weather. We had no knowledge of good farming practices. Now, we are producing several folds of different varieties of millets.

Image: The murukkus turned out to be a big hit at Milan. Photograph, courtesy: MSSRF

‘Earlier, we had to grind millets physically which involved hard labour but today MSSRF have installed mills so that in less than half an hour, the powder is ready.

‘They also taught us how different products can be made of these millets to make it popular among people. We were used to eating them as it is but today, we make and sell products like millet rice, ragi murukku in attractive packs.

‘Now, we know that these millets have high iron content and are excellent for good health. You won’t believe, not a single person is diabetic in our village, and it is only because we have been consuming millets for generations.

Today, even city-dwellers have understood the health benefits of millets. They make tasty upma so children also enjoy eating it. Our ragi malt powder, murukku powder, samai, etc are available in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka under the Kolli Hills brand.

‘Life has changed for us after all this! We had no voice in those days; we never went to the market alone. Today, we go to the market with our products.

We have our own bank accounts and we need not beg for money from our husbands. If you take the case of our group itself, all of us make a profit of Rs 2500-3000 every month and each one of us deposits Rs 100 in our group.

‘Now, after taking care of the household needs, I can buy saris and jewellery with my own money. I am able to educate my children better.

‘My dream is give as much education to my children as possible. I could not study much but I do not want my children to have the same fate. I want them to do better in life.

‘Till the groups were formed, there was no respect for women; now the men in our village know that we are as capable or better than them.

‘We are financially independent as well. We operate bank accounts, deposit and withdraw money. We take loans and also repay them. We know to do all these things without anybody’s help now.

‘We also have the knowledge about millets and can talk to people about its nutritive values.

‘From being confined to the four walls of the house, if women in our village have progressed today, it is all because of MSSRF urging us to form groups, helping us diversify and selling our products in the markets.

If you take my case, till they came, I had not even stepped out of the village. Now, I got the opportunity to travel to Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and for the first time abroad too.

‘When I got into the flight the first time when I went to Delhi, I just couldn’t believe it.

‘This time, when we were going to Milan, I thought it was a dream. I am just a small, uneducated farmer who was born in a very poor home, and here I was going to a foreign country to show them what we do.

‘We were asked to make ‘murukku’ for the delegates there. All of them enjoyed eating our ‘murukku’. We made around 50 murukkus and they got over in no time, and we felt really happy and excited about it.

‘They took photographs and videos of us making ‘murukku’. They had so many questions for us and as we don’t understand English, Sir (Oliver King) played the role of an interpreter. I have no words to express my happiness. It was an overwhelming experience.

‘Then, we went around sightseeing. I am so impressed with the cleanliness of the city. I did not spot any garbage on the road and I didn’t see anyone throwing anything on the road.
‘They have built good footpaths for people and I also liked the pedestrian crossings. Here, we have to run to cross the road but there the vehicles stopped for us.

‘After seeing Milan, I wondered why we can’t keep our cities clean. I really liked their city better than ours.’

Image: When they appreciated the ‘murukkus’ we made, I felt extremely happy, says Malliga. Photograph, courtesy: MSSRF

A life changing experience for Jayalalitha Easwaran

‘In our village, everybody has been farming since generations. Though I helped my parents as a child in the farm, I got involved in farming actively 10 years ago.

‘Malliga Akka who was my neighbour told me to join the self help group started by MSSRF, and from then on my life changed completely. She told young women like me that if we join the group and start working we would become independent and capable.

‘I was just a school drop-out who had no confidence to even to talk to strangers but today, I can confidently talk about the importance of eating millets and its health benefits.

‘I go to the bank all alone, I have learnt to open an account and operate it. I also take loan from the bank, repay it on time and manage my finances well.

‘Till I joined the group, I was an illiterate young girl confined to my home. I had to depend on my husband for money.

‘Today, I manage my household expenses with the money I earn from my work. My husband is also proud of me!

‘Earlier, we had to physically plough the field, now with the machines given by MSSRF, we do not have to labour so hard.

Similarly, they have installed grinding machines to powder millets. All these have helped in our work tremendously. We concentrate mainly on ragi malt and ragi murukku and sell them in attractive packets in 15 markets.

‘It’s only because of MSSRF that I travelled to Mumbai in a flight for the first time in my life. Till then, I had not stepped out of our village.

‘Now, I have gone to a foreign land also. I cannot explain how excited I was about the trip.

‘I could not believe that a school drop-out like me could go abroad to showcase what we make. I had never dreamt that I would have such good fortune.

‘When they appreciated the ‘murukkus’ we made, I felt extremely happy.

‘My dream is to see all women like me who live in villages to come up in life and be independent.’

Source…….Shobha Warrier /www. Rediff.com

Natarajan

Now, fly from Delhi to San Francisco non-stop on Air India….

September 27, 2015September 27, 2015Natarajan1 Comment

Air India is planning to launch a direct flight between New Delhi and San Francisco in December. The thrice-a-week flight, which will cover the distance in 16 hours, will be the first direct flight between India and the US west coast.

On the San Francisco route, Air India will use its three Boeing 777-200LR aircraft.

Sources said the airline had already secured slots at the San Francisco airport and was planning for a December launch. “It will be a Delhi-San Francisco flight and we are working on hub-and-spoke connections,” said a senior airline executive.

Earlier, the airline was considering a Bengaluru-Delhi-San Francisco flight, deploying a Boeing 777 aircraft on the entire route.

Currently, Air India operates daily non-stop flights to Chicago and New York (from New Delhi) and Newark (from Mumbai). The Mumbai-Newark flight, which takes 16 hours, is the longest flight from India as of now.

On the New Delhi-San Francisco route, Air India will compete with major airlines from Europe, the Gulf countries and East Asia. As of early 2014, about 600 passengers travelled daily between Delhi and San Francisco (one-way); all opted for flights that went via another location, according to Delhi International Airport Ltd data.

Air India has three Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, with 238 seats (eight first class; 35 business class and 195 economy class). Currently, these flights are sparingly used on routes to Saudi Arabia. These are among the 68 Boeing planes it ordered in 2005 for long-haul routes. In 2013, Air India sold five planes in this category to Etihad for $68 million. It had said retaining the fuel-guzzling aircraft would have aggravated losses.

Initially, the airline plans to offer a three-class service to San Francisco. The Air India management is also considering reconfiguring its Boeing 777-200LRs through the next few months, doing away with the first class and increasing the economy class seats. In the past, the airline has found it difficult to sell eight first-class seats on the route and occupancy in the premium segment has been poor.

With domestic jet fuel prices down 41 per cent year-on-year, Air India is likely to keep its operating costs down. And, rising passenger demand is likely to boost yields.

Bengaluru and Delhi are the top source markets for San Francisco flights. Air India’s marketing efforts will be weak if passengers from Bengaluru have to change aircraft in Delhi. Also, rival airlines offer daily connections to San Francisco,” said Devesh Agarwal, editor of Bangalore Aviation, an aviation blog.

In the past, other Indian airlines, too, have explored connectivity with the US west coast. Air India operated flights to Los Angeles through Frankfurt, while Jet Airways briefly flew to San Francisco via Shanghai. Though Kingfisher Airlines considered starting a Bengaluru-San Francisco flight, the plan didn’t take off.
LONGEST FLIGHT ROUTES

Dubai – Panama City: 13,821 km; 17 hrs 35 mins (Emirates)
Dallas – Sydney: 13,802km; 16 hrs 50 mins (Qantas)
Atlanta – Johannesburg: 13,573 km; 16 hrs 40 mins ( Delta)

Note : Emirates proposes to launch a Panama City flight in February 2016; Route planning is automated and routes chosen by airlines vary daily, based on en route wind conditions and the temperature and weather

Source…..www.Aneesh Phadnis ….in www.business-standard.com and http://www.malaymailonline.com

Natarajan

Message for the Day…” Cultivate Faith in Righteousness as the core of Your Personality…”

September 26, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

No other person can bind you; you do it yourself! You choose to become bound, straying away from the righteous (dharmic) path. If faith in God’s omnipresence is deep-rooted, you would become aware that He is within you and you will choose to be free. For that faith to grow, you must grasp the Divine (Atmic) bliss firmly. The reality of the Divinity (Atma) is the bedrock, that is the incontrovertible wisdom (nishchitha-jnana). Without that foundation, you will easily become the target of doubt, despair, and delusion. Therefore, first endeavour to be free. That is to say, as a prerequisite to successful living, cultivate faith in righteousness (dharma) as the core of your personality, and then learn and practise the discipline necessary to reach down to that core. When you acquire that qualification, you can engage fully in worldly activities, following the prescribed right conduct (dharma). Thus you transform yourself to be a moral individual (dharma-purusha).

படித்ததில் பிடித்தது ….” மறந்து போன மனித நேயம் உன் ஜனன தேதியில் மட்டும் தலை காட்டும்” ….

September 26, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

அமைதி ஆயுதம் போதும்!

உலகம் போற்றும்
உத்தமனே
உன்னால்தானே
உரிமை பெற்றோம்!

நாங்கள்
உயரப் பறக்க
சிறகுகள் தந்து
உன் உயிர் சிறகை
உதிர்த்துக் கொண்டாயே!

அன்னையின்
அடிமைச்சங்கிலி உடைக்க
அர்ஜுனனைப் போல
அஸ்திரம் ஏந்தவில்லை!

சச்சரவுகள் தீர்க்க
வாசுதேவனைப் போல
சாவகாசமாக வந்து
சர்க்கரை பேச்சு பேசி
சமரச முயற்சியும்
மேற்கொள்ளவில்லை!

ஆயுதம் எடுக்கவில்லை
அறைகூவல் விடுக்கவில்லை
அடிமைச்சங்கிலியை
எப்படி அடக்கம் செய்தாய்?

அமைதிப்பிரியனே…
உன் மவுன யுத்தத்தின்
உச்சி தவத்தால் தான்
எத்தனை மகத்துவம்!

மறந்து போன மனித நேயம்
உன் ஜனன தேதியில் மட்டும்
மறுமுளை விட்டு
மறுபடியும்
மறைந்து கொள்கிறது!

ஆனாலும்
மகாத்மா என்ற சகாப்தத்தின்
தலைமகன் நாமம் மட்டும்
மறந்து போவதே இல்லை
கருவறையிலிருந்து கல்லறை
செல்லும் வரை!

நீ அழைத்துச் செல்ல மறந்த
அகிம்சையென்னும்
அமைதி ஆயுதம் ஒன்று போதும்
இந்த உலகம் உயர்ந்து நிற்கும்
உன் பேர் என்றும் நிலைத்து நிற்கும்!

— க.அழகர்சாமி, கொச்சி.

Source….www.dinamalar.com

Natarajan

Image of the Day…Nile at Night

September 26, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, recently past the halfway mark of his one-year mission to the International Space Station, photographed the Nile River during a nighttime flyover on Sept. 22, 2015. Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) wrote, “Day 179. The #Nile at night is a beautiful sight for these sore eyes. Good night from@space_station! #YearInSpace.”

Image Credit: NASA

Source……www.nasa.gov