The Gita advises that service to the society (Sangha) is the highest service (Seva), as well as the most beneficial spiritual discipline (Sadhana). No one can run away from this obligation; you have to use the community wherein you are born for sublimating your ego and saving yourself. Service taken up as a Sadhana teaches fortitude (Sahana). That is why Krishna directed Arjuna to engage in battle to win back his share of the Kingdom, and ensure for the people righteous administration and an atmosphere wherein they can strive successfully to attain salvation. This he had to do in a spirit of dedication and surrender to the will of God, irrespective of his own likes and dislikes, and the consequences that might flow from his unselfish activities. Even Avatars (incarnations) demonstrate in their lives the supreme importance of Seva.
Once there was an Antartian that was down on his luck. In order to get some money he decided to kidnap a kid and hold him for ransom.
He went to the playground, grabbed a kid, took him behind a tree and told him “I’ve kidnapped you.”
The Antartian wrote a note saying “I’ve kidnapped your kid. Tomorrow morning put $10,000 in a paper bag and put it beneath the pecan tree next to the slide on the north side of the city playground. Signed, An Antartian.”
The Antartian then pinned the note to the kid’s shirt and sent him home to show it to his parents.
The next morning the Antartian checked, and sure enough a paper bag was sitting beneath that pecan tree. The Antartian opened up the bag and found the $10,000 with a note. The note said, “How could one Antartian do this to another Antartian?!”
A copy of John James Audubon’s Birds of America was sold at an auction in London for £7.3 million ($11.5 million), and thus became the most expensive book ever sold. The auction was a rare chance to own one of the best preserved editions of the 19th century masterpiece, with its 435 hand-colored illustrations. The winning bid was placed by London-based art dealer Michael Tollemache, who outbid three others during the auction.
Only 120 complete sets of Audubon’s 435 hand-colored, life-sized engravings of America’s birds are believed to exist today, with the majority (107) owned by institutions. The last full edition of The Birds of America, which went up for auction in 2010, sold for £7.3m at Sotheby’s, breaking the world record for a single book.
“Birds of America is most significant for its sheer beauty. It’s a masterpiece of illustration,” the words of Richard Davies, a rare and used books specialist. “Aside from being famous in the rare book world, Birds of America has also immense historical and ornithological importance. Some of the birds John James Audubon painted are extinct and he also discovered new species.”
Measuring over three feet in height and running to four volumes, The Birds of America was created by Audubon between 1827 and 1838. The illegitimate son of a French sea captain and his creole mistress, Audubon was an itinerant artist who traveled America’s wilderness drawing the birds he loved. He was insistent that The Birds of America was made up of life-size illustrations, and that it showed all the known species of north America, making the finished volume
Each of the printed book were colored by hand, and it was an extremely laborious process. Even by today’s standards, the vividness of its illustrations of birds is extraordinary but when it was being released in the 1830s it was mindboggling. Audubon employed a rather shocking technique to produce the book. He hunted the birds down and shot them before propping them up on wires to paint. Each drawing would take about 60 hours to complete. Ironically, many of his beautifully rendered subjects are now extinct, such as the Carolina Parakeet, Passenger Pigeon, Labrador Duck, Great Auk, Esquimaux Curlew, and Pinnated Grouse.
Picking up a copy of the “book” is a two-person job, said the dealer, who examined an edition at Sotheby’s once prior to an auction. “The (very nervous) resident expert and I (gingerly) turned the pages together, him at the top and me at the bottom, and peeled them back (respectfully) into just the right conjunction with the rest of the plates,” said Gekoski. “You have to be careful how you handle a gargantuan book worth more than 10 million dollars.”
Clever Bird Hunts Intelligently!
Birds, except for Parrots and a few other, are not considered to be very clever compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, which is where we get the term ‘bird brain’. But in this video (We believe this is a Heron hunting for Brill), we see another side to this animal. The bird patiently and cleverly fishes, much like humans do, using a bait for the unsuspecting fish. It’s truly a pleasure seeing such a clever hunter at work!
A man was just waking up from anesthesia after surgery, and his wife was sitting by his side. His eyes fluttered open and he said, “You are beautiful.” Then he fell asleep again. His wife had never heard him say that, so she stayed by his side. A few minutes later, his eyes fluttered open and he said, “You are cute!” The wife was disappointed because instead of “beautiful,” it was now “cute.” She said, “What happened to ‘beautiful’?”
Her husband replied, “The drugs are wearing off!”
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To tag birds migrating, the U.S. Department of the Interior used metal bands that bear the address of the Washington Biological Survey, abbreviated:
Wash. Biol. Surv.
Until the agency received the following letter from a camper:
Dear Sirs,
While camping last week I shot one of your birds. I think it was a crow. I followed the cooking instructions on the leg tag and I want to tell you it was horrible.
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A patron at a restaurant was continually bothering the waiter about the air conditioning: first he would ask for the air conditioning to be turned up because it was too hot, then he would ask it be turned down because it was to cold, this went on for about a half an hour. To the surprise of the rest of the customers, the waiter was very patient, walking aback and forth and very pleasant. So finally a customer asked; why don’t you just throw out the pest? “Oh, I don’t care,” said the waiter with a grin, we don’t even have an air conditioner.”
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Q. What would happen if you have a wooden car, with wooden wheels, a wooden chair, and a wooden engine?
A. It wooden start!
தன்னிடம் அளவு கடந்த பக்தி கொண்டவர்களுக்கு மஹான் தேவையான போது ஆசிகளையும் பிரசாதங்களையும் வழங்குவது வழக்கம்.
நான் சொல்லும் இந்த நிகழ்ச்சி திருச்சி சுந்தரேசனைப் பற்றியது. அவருக்கு மஹானிடம் இருந்த ஈடுபாடு கொஞ்ச நஞ்சமல்ல. எல்லாமே தமக்கு மஹான் தான் என்று மனதார நம்பிய பக்தர்களில் அவரும் ஒருவர். சுந்தரேசன் தனது ரயில்வே பணியில் இருந்து ஓய்வு பெற்ற பின்னர் சென்னை நங்கநல்லூரில் தன் மகன் வீட்டில் தங்கியிருந்தார். அப்போது அவருக்கு உடல்நிலை முற்றிலும் கெட்டுவிட படுத்த படுக்கையாக இருந்தார். இந்த நிலையில் காஞ்சி மஹானைப் பார்க்கப் போகவில்லையே என்கிற கவலை அவரை ஒரு பக்கம் வாட்டி எடுத்தது.
அந்த சமயம் மஹான் பிறந்த அனுஷ நட்சத்திரத்திற்கு மறுநாள் பெரியவா கிரஹ ராஜகோபாலும், பிரதோஷம் மாமாவின் நெருங்கிய சீடரான ஆடிட்டர் ரவியின் தந்தையும் அனுஷ பூஜை பிரசாதங்களை எடுத்துக் கொண்டு மஹானைப் பார்க்கப் போயிருந்தார்கள். மஹானிடம் பிரசாதத்தை சமர்ப்பித்த பிறகு, அங்கே வரும் பக்தர்களுக்கு வழி விட்டு ராஜகோபால் ஒரு பக்கமாகப் போய் அமர்ந்து தியானத்தில் ஆழ்ந்துவிட்டார்.
அந்த சமயத்தில் மஹான் அவரை அழைத்து, “இந்த பிரசாதத்தை கொண்டு போய் சுந்துவிடம் கொடு” என்று சொல்வது போன்ற நினைவு அவர் மனதில் ஓடியது.
திடீரென்று விழித்துப் பார்த்த அவர், தன் அருகில் யாரும் இல்லாததைக் கண்டு வியந்தார். தனக்கு மஹான் இட்ட உத்தரவு பிரமையா, மஹான் இட்ட கட்டளையா என்று தடுமாறிக் கொண்டு இருந்தபோது மஹான் அழைப்பதாக மடத்து ஊழியர் ராஜகோபாலை அழைத்தார்.
மஹானின் முன் பவ்யமாக அவர் நின்றபோது, மஹான் அவரிடம் பிரசாதத்தைக் கொடுத்து, “இதைக் கொண்டு போய் அவனண்டே உடனே கொடு” என்று மட்டும் சொன்னார். பொறிதட்டியது போல் ராஜகோபாலுக்கு உடனே அந்த சுந்து யார் என்று புரிந்து விட்டது. வேறு யார்? அவருடைய பெரியப்பாவும் மஹானின் தீவிர பக்தருமான சுந்தரேசன் தான்.
அவன் யார்? என்று சொல்லாமல், பிரசாதத்தைக் கொண்டு போய் கொடு என்றால் தியானத்தில் இருந்தபோது மஹான் சொன்னதும் உண்மையான கட்டளை தான்.
தன் மனதில் தோன்றியதற்கும் இப்போது மஹான் கட்டளை இடுவதற்கும் சம்பந்தம் இருப்பதாகத் தெரிந்தது.
ராஜகோபாலும் “யாரண்டை” என்கிற கேள்வியை எழுப்பிக் கொண்டு நிற்கவில்லை.
பிரசாதத்தை எடுத்துக் கொண்டு போய், நங்கநல்லூரில் இருந்த தன் பெரியப்பாவிடம் சமர்ப்பித்தார் ராஜகோபால்.
“நான் பார்க்கவரலேயேன்னு நீயே எனக்குப் பிரசாதத்தை அனுப்பினியா மஹானே?” என்று கண்களில் நீர் வழிய கேட்டபின் அந்த முடியாத நிலையிலும் பிரசாதத்தை பயபக்தியோடு உட்கொண்டார். உடல்நிலை மோசமாகத்தான் இருந்தது.
இருந்தாலும் மஹானின் பிரசாதத்தை உட்கொண்ட பின்னர், மேலும் சில தினங்கள் அவர் உயிரோடு இருந்து பிறகு இறைவனடி சேர்ந்தார். மஹான், தன் பக்தர்களை எப்படி எல்லாம் ஆட்கொண்டார் என்பதற்கு இது இன்னொரு உதாரணம்.
During training exercises, the Lieutenant driving down a
muddy back road encountered another car stuck in the mud
with a red-faced colonel at the wheel.
“Your jeep stuck, sir?” asked the Lieutenant as he pulled
alongside.
“Nope,” replied the Colonel, coming over and handing him
the keys, “Yours is.”
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During basic army training, a sergeant was telling his group how a submachine gun sprayed bullets. He drew a circle on a blackboard and announced that it had 260 degree.
“But, sergeant, all circles have 360 degrees,” called out a conscript.
“Don’t be stupid,” the sergeant roared. “This is a small circle.”
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Officer at the shooting range: Get ready, aim, fire at will.
Soldier: Which one is Will?
If you’ve gone through the 90s as a kid, then this video will make you nostalgic. A trip down the memory lane when things used to be simpler and fun; from textbook cricket to Nagraj comics, from Duck Tales to Surabhi, from F.L.A.M.E.S to approaching a girl through a wingman, from familiar postmen to a single landline in a Mohalla, this film has covered it all.
“Woh Din” is a tribute to the glorious decade of 90′s by the creative ‘emotional fools’ at EmotionalFulls.
Edmund Thomas Clint was a child prodigy from Kochi, Kerela. Sadly, he lived only for 7 years and passed away due to kidney failure.
But what he did in those 7 years is a work of sheer genius. At such a tender age, he had the creative bent of an artistic legend: he created some fine 25,000 artwork in just 2522 days!
Clint Road in Kochi is named after him. There are books and films on his unbelievable journey, yet this is an untold story. The video rightly attributes,
“Isn’t it true, “he bellowed, “that you were I given $500.00 to throw this case?”
The witness did not answer. Instead, he just stared out the window as though he hadn’t
heard the question. The attorney repeated himself, again getting the same reaction – no response.
Finally, the judge spoke to the witness, “Please answer the question.”
“Oh,” said the startled witness, “I thought he was talking to you.”…
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A New Yorker was forced to take a day off from work to appear for a minor traffic summons. He grew increasingly restless as he waited hour after endless hour for his case to be heard. When his name was called late in the afternoon, he stood before the judge, only to hear that court would be adjourned for the rest of the afternoon and he would have to return the next day. “What for?!?!?” he snapped at the judge. His honor, equally irked by a tedious day and sharp query, roared out loud: “Twenty dollars contempt of court! That’s why!” Then, noticing the man checking his wallet, the judge relented: “That’s all right. You don’t have to pay now.” The young man replied, “I know. But I’m just seeing if I have enough for two more words.”
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The judge was instructing the jury that a witness was not necessarily to be regarded as untruthful because he changed his statement from one which he had previously made to the police. “For example,” he said, “when I entered my chambers today, I was sure I had my gold watch in my pocket. But then I remembered that I left in on my nightstand in my bedroom.” When the judge returned home, his wife asked him, “Why so much urgency for your watch? Isn’t sending three men to get it a bit extreme?” “What?” said the judge, “I didn’t send anyone for my watch, let alone three people; what did you do?” “I gave it to the first one,” said the wife. “He knew exactly where it was.”
Take off with Natarajan 