Discipline

CEO @ the Age of 17 !!!

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Computer whiz Jefferson Prince, who has built a 70-employee gaming company from scratch, tells S Saraswathi about motivations and challenges of entrepreneurship.

He is just out of high school, but 17-year-old Jefferson Prince is already the CEO of a company that is engaged in developing multi-platform compatible games for the PC and next-gen consoles (Xbox One, PS4).

He was born in Tirunelveli. His family relocated to London when he was three. He returned to India in December 2013 to head his own company, iCazual Entertainment.

The company had its humble beginnings in a small room in East London in 2011. Today it is housed in a four-storey building in Kodambakkam, Chennai, and employs about 70 people.

In this interview with Rediff.com, Prince talks about his interest in computing, his present endeavours and his ambitious plans for the future.

How did you get interested in IT?

I was introduced to technology when I was around four years of age.

Math, physics, computer science and robotics were my favourite subjects in school. I also enjoyed sports, but my greatest passion was working with computers.

Trying to understand the nuances behind the technical aspects of programming and applying them to my own innovations gave me a lot of joy.

My father has a background in computing and engineering.

He introduced me to electronics. Later he bought me a computer. I started pushing buttons and playing around with the applications and it just pulled me in.

I was amazed with what can be achieved with a big box with a screen attached to it!

From that point I started messing around with MS Word and I started to hunger for more knowledge. I started going into the technical side of computing which was programming.

Ninety-nine per cent of the things I know today, I learnt myself.

What were your early projects?

When I was 15, I was asked to take part in two programmes which taught me a lot about business and presentation.

The first programme was for the University of Warwick, for this I created an application that would allow parents to monitor their children at school when they are out of sight.

The second programme was for St Francis Hospice where I created a small game application and raised £1000 (1 lakh INR) without touching the £250 start-up MONEY, within the final week. The team had the opportunity to work with Mr Barry Hearn on this project. This was an amazing experience at school.

What were your early inventions like?

I was amazed with C programming. With that I created my own basic IRC (Internet Relay Chat) network. I used it to chat with friends with a client called mIRC.

I created my own IRC Bots to keep people informed with my social links, information, etc by coding commands into the bot, so when people would say “!website” my bot would answer automatically with my site URL.

I also created my own social media network, something like Facebook. I used it to message my mother downstairs if I wanted anything, such as food or a drink. It was much easier than yelling down two floors.

I built a robotic arm with a small computer. I made it respond to my voice. For example, if I said “Elbow up,” the elbow would move. I later made it learn more complex commands and made it store information and repeat it.

I would also mix up a bunch of junk on to a small plastic board and later make it carry out some sort of function. It amazed me because I could give something that looked useless some sort of purpose in life.

What about video games?

The first games I played were the 1980/90s version of Prince of Persia, Age of Empires and later on World of Warcraft and RuneScape.

I used to play for hours. Then I stopped for many years and focused on learning technology and programming. My love for games was once again sparked when my friend asked me to buy an Xbox. I played Halo: Reach with my friend a lot, but I got bored because I couldn’t add many things of my own.

But more than Xbox I played RuneScape. It was a private version which I tried to alter a lot. My abilities were so limited that I couldn’t add anything 100 per cent new, so I decided to create my own game from scratch for me and three other friends.

Later on I started seeing a business opportunity here and as we progressed, this project turned into something that I wanted to build for the world to see.

What prompted the decision to get into the gaming industry? Did your parents approve of your plans?

When I got into the gaming industry, I had no idea I was doing so. I had little knowledge about the industry. But I slowly got up to speed on how big it is. It’s a $70 billion dollar industry.

My parents approved of my plans. They have been really supportive.

You are just 17 years old. How well-equipped are you to handle the challenges of running your own company?

I wasn’t equipped at all! I learn new things every day. It’s fun!

I was guided by my father and a couple of other people. I’ve learnt mostly from making a lot of mistakes. It’s the best way to learn.

When did you start your company?

This company was registered in 2011 but I’ve been building its foundations from 2009.

Did you encounter initial failures?

We first built a game trailer without any plan of the game. That was the biggest mistake I have ever made and it was a lesson.

I don’t consider it a failure; it’s more of a learning experience. I was smart enough to deal with everything else appropriately.

Game developing is not easy. With a staff of about 200, creating, developing and publishing one game could take at least 3 years and would require a huge INVESTMENT. It is like making an Avatar, just smaller.

So many different technological aspects need to come together. We need a rigging artist,

dynamic artist, lighting artist, visual-effect artist and many more.

Despite offering good salary, there are not many people here for this industry. We find people in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai, but they refuse to come down to Chennai. A lack of staff is our biggest challenge; we have only about 70 employees as yet.

Do they look up to their 17-year-old CEO or do you have problems?

The fact is no one wants a kid telling them what to do. It’s a bigchallenge but I have built an excellent rapport with my team and we are a cohesive unit.

Who put up the initial INVESTMENT?

The initial INVESTMENT was put up by me as well as my father. He has given me a stepping stone and I have put it to good use.

Why did you move back to India?

I asked my parents if I could move back temporarily to India so I could finish this project as it is impossible to direct something of this scale without being physically present at the centre of it.

My parents also moved back with me until this project was complete. We’ve made a lot of sacrifices for this and it was a really hard migration. We have already made plans to move back next year.

What is the MARKET for video games in India?

India has a pretty big MARKET for games. Even though most of it is for mobile devices right now, it will soon change.

Next month, iCazual plans to host a convention, wherein we plan to bring in game developers and students from across the globe to participate and talk about the gaming industry. We hope to create an ecosystem for gaming in India.

What are your favourite games?

My favourite games are World of Warcraft, RuneScape, MineCraft, Halo and Age of Empires.

What do you think makes a particular game go viral? And what will be the USP of your product?

A viral game requires multiple addictive elements that keep pulling the user back in. It’s hard to explain as there are many different types of games.

I cannot disclose the unique selling point of my product at this time.

But what I can mention is that our title is a futuristic FPS (first person shooter) game based in the future — 150 years from now. It has a campaign (story mode) as well as multi-player (the main focus).

For the last year and a half, we have been building the elements for the game. Every game is built on an engine. And our game is built on the Unreal Engine 4 (a revolutionary toolset used for building high-quality games) that was launched earlier in March this year.

So it is only since then that we have actually been developing the game, but we are making good progress.

We are the first in the country to be developing a game for the latest next-gen consoles like Xbox One and PS4. iCazual Entertainment is the first company aspiring to not only develop but also publish a Triple A game.

We aim to launch this title in 2015, probably in the third quarter of next year. We still have not decided on the venue, perhaps in the United States or a European destination.

Who are the people who have inspired you?

Elon Musk, Sir Richard Branson, Steve Jobs.

What motivates you?

The feeling of doing something big and different every day; the satisfaction of getting one step closer to my dreams every day at this young age and the prize that waits for me at the end of this journey.

What are your future plans?

My future plans for this business is to expand it into the US (Los Angeles, California).

My academic goal is to enrol at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and this way I can strike a balance between business and education.

For my office in India, it’s too early to comment. But, yes, I am betting big on India.

After this is done I have some plans for operating in the Robotics and AI (artificial intelligence) industry in the future; this is my ultimate passion.

Image: Jefferson Prince, CEO, iCazual

Source::::S Saraswathi in Rediff.com

Natarajan

 

The Man We Should Thank for Hi Speed WiFi and 4 G…

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Meet Joseph Paulraj, a pioneer of MIMO wireless communications, a technology breakthrough that has revolutionised high speed wireless delivery of multimedia services for billions of people across the globe.

 “Though I initiated this concept, there are thousands of engineers and researchers all over the world who have made research advances and developed products that we all use. I was just a small spark that lit a pretty big fire,” says Joseph Paulraj on his achievement.

It has been an incredible journey for Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj, Professor (Emeritus), Stanford University, California who started his career in the Indian Navy.

Winner of the prestigious $100,000 Marconi Prize for 2014, considered the Nobel Prize of Information Technology, Joseph Paulraj has done India proud with this award.

The Marconi Society, founded 50 years ago by Gioia Marconi Braga, annually recognises one or more scientists who — like her father, radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi — pursue advances in communications and IT for the social, economic and cultural development of all humanity.

Dr Paulraj is known as the father of MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) — the idea of using multiple antennas at both the transmitting and receiving stations that is at the heart of high-speed WiFi and 4G mobile systems — and has revolutionised high speed wireless delivery of multimedia services for billions of people across the globe.

The big value of MIMO is that it multiplies radio spectrum, a precious and a limited resource.

‘Every WiFi router and 4G phone today uses the MIMO technology pioneered by him,’ Professor Sir David Payne, chairman, Marconi Society, and director, Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, said in a press statement.

‘MIMO will soon be pervasive in all wireless devices. Moreover, Paulraj’s work has provided fertile ground for thousands of researchers to explore and advance MIMO’s potential to enhance wireless spectrum efficiency.’

N R Narayana Murthy, executive chairman, Infosys, said in statement that Professor Paulraj ‘revolutionised wireless technology, bringing a lasting benefit to mankind.’

Paulraj joins the elite group of IT pioneers like Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web; Vint Cerf, considered one of the fathers of the Internet; Larry Page, co-founder, Google; and Marty Hellman, inventor of Public Key Cryptography.

“I feel truly honoured. I was fortunate to come up with the idea,” Paulraj told Rediff.com. “Though I initiated this concept, there are now ten of thousands of engineers and researchers all over the world that have made research advances and developed products that we all use. I was just a small spark that lit a pretty big fire.”

But to get the small spark required to light a big fire, he had to deal with a lot of push back and skepticism before getting his technology to the point where now there are about 14,000 research papers surrounding it of which he and students have written only about 300.

“It has been a lot of work, but it has all been worthwhile because MIMO is a very important technology,” he said. Paulraj not only invented and developed MIMO, he also gave India a world-class sonar technology.

Advanced Panoramic Sonar Hull mounted (APSOH), which his team developed, remains one of India’s truly world-class achievements in electronics. The ship-borne sonar system, which performs active ranging, passive listening, auto tracking of targets and classification, is used by the Indian Navy, where Paulraj began his career.

Paulraj said he always worked on research and development assignments during his 25-year Navy stint.

As part of the electrical engineering branch, his training focused on practical skills for maintaining weapons systems, but he wanted more and taught himself subjects like control theory, information theory and signal processing, said the Marconi Society.

Impressed, the Navy sent him to the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, for an MS programme in 1969.

Paulraj performed so well at IIT that he caught the eye of an influential professor of electrical engineering who convinced the Navy to allow Paulraj to switch to the PhD programme.

Paulraj had just two years to wrap up his research for the doctoral programme, but that opportunity changed his life.

It was there that he met Thomas Kailath, the man whose book, Linear Systems, is considered one of the most referenced books on the subject. The Pune-born Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, Stanford University, visited IIT-Delhi to deliver a few lectures.

Inspired by those lectures, Paulraj went on to make fundamental advances in non-linear estimation theory using tools from Ito calculus and stochastic diffusion theory. He earned his PhD for his work on non-linear estimation theory.

He returned to the Navy where he was eventually asked to lead the sonar development project that resulted in APSOH.

As a reward for his work on this, Paulraj was given a two-year sabbatical to explore new areas, and he earned a visiting scientist slot in a group working with Kailath, despite, he said, some initial scepticism from the latter.

At Stanford, Dr Paulraj worked on a multiple signals directions of arrival estimation problem that had a long history of advancements using a spectrum approach. He discovered a new method called ESPRIT (Estimation of Signal Parameters via Rotational Invariance Techniques).

“This work became very well known and led to a mini-revolution in the field,” Paulraj said. “Coming to Stanford was one of the most fortunate breaks in my life, I am very grateful to Professor Kailath for the huge opportunity.”

After two years, in 1986, Dr Paulraj returned to India where the Navy assigned him to serve as founding director for three major labs — Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics; Center for Development of Advanced Computing, Bengaluru Center; and Central Research Labs of Bharat Electronics.

But by 1991, the bureaucratic difficulties of operating in government labs had begun to take their toll on Paulraj. With the Navy’s consent, he took early retirement and returned to Stanford.

Kailath told Rediff.com, “I have known Paul since his IIT-Delhi days and brought him to Stanford and after a struggle got him a Professor (Research) appointment. He is a remarkable individual — strong in theory (not unusual for academics), but also very capable in practical technology.”

‘At Stanford, while awaiting a faculty appointment, Paulraj worked on signal separation experiments for airborne reconnaissance,’ the Marconi Society said in its announcement.

‘He noticed something surprising: In the presence of scattering, co-channel wireless signals from closely spaced transmit sources were often separable by an adaptive receiver antenna array.’

‘A few days later, sitting in a barber shop, he had an idea for increasing throughput in wireless systems using multiple transmit and receive antennas (MIMO). Paul applied for a US patent titled ‘Distributed Transmit — Directional Receive DTDR’ (with his then supervisor Prof Kailath as co-inventor) in February 1992 and the patent was granted in September 1994.’

John Cioffi, a Stanford colleague and the inventor of DSL technology, called Dr Paulraj’s capability ‘almost unparalleled in the world.’

‘But what impresses me most,’ he said in a statement, ‘is how Paul endured the tremendous, pressure, turmoil and stress of people saying his ideas weren’t going to work, and persevered until he found success.’

He remembers the scepticism Paulraj faced about MIMO’s practical feasibility, and his belief in the technology.

Paulraj took leave from Stanford in 1998 to found Gigabit Wireless, now known as Iospan Wireless Inc, and built a MIMO-based commercial system. He used his savings to build the MIMO radio, which finally made venture capital firms take notice.

Within three years he had proven MIMO’s worth in typical cellular applications and in another two years Intel Corp had acquired Iospan’s technology.

With Intel, Dr Paulraj worked on the development of WiMAX mobile standards. He continued this work with the co-founding of Beceem Communications, which became a world leader in WIMAX semiconductors before being acquired by Broadcom Corp.

Dr Paulraj told Rediff.com, “The best thing that happened to me was Stanford. It was a huge opportunity for me, but it was a loss for India. I was successful within the Indian R&D system and could have contributed much more if I had persevered there.”

Paulraj, who today straddles an academic and industry role, lives on the Stanford campus with his wife, but remains a frequent visitor to India. And when he goes back he sees the burning need for the country to build its own telecommunications technology industry.

“India imports almost all of its commercial high technology from commercial jets, to laptop and cell phones to MRI equipment and we are paying a big price for doing so,” he said. “Not only is our import bill huge (approximately $200 billion) in 2014, and probably unsustainable in the long  term, such total reliance on technology imports is a national security vulnerability since telecom networks underlie many systems — transportation, power grid, and banking/ finance.”

“Moreover the country has so much talent that could be used to build a high-tech industry. India needs somebody with great vision and determination to make us a leader in high technology. China and Korea have done it. We can do it.”

He said he hoped to find more ways to contribute personally to that goal.

Dr Paulraj, who received the IEEE Alexandre Graham Bell Medal in 2011, will receive the Marconi Prize at a ceremony in Washington, DC in fall, becoming the only India-born scientist to receive the two top global IT awards.

The Marconi Prize will include a $100,000 prize that he plans to gift back to the Marconi Society.

Source::::Rediff.com

Natarajan

 

 

 

 

” Dog and Sanathana Dharma …”

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Dattatreya is the Grand Teacher or “Guru principle” in the universe. The teachers in various planes are the manifestation of the one teaching principle who is referred to in the ancient Indian wisdom as Dattatreya.

Sri Guru Datta is accompanied by 4 dogs, in his figurative symbol. These 4 represent the 4 Vedas the 4 Yugas, and the 4 states of the Word. They also refer to the 4 states of Existence.

The 4 Vedas are : Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yayur Veda and Atharva Veda.
The 4 Yugas are : Krita, Treta, Dwapara and Kali Yugas.
The 4 states of the Word are : Para (beyond), Pasyanti (perception; Madhyama (conception), Vaikhari (vocal).
The 4 states of Existence are : Existence, awareness, thought and speech or action.

Dog at Kanchi Mutt
From 1927 a dog was following Kanchi Paramacharya. It stayed near the camp wherever he pitched the camp. It wouldn’t touch anything impure. It was taking food that was given by the Mutt workers. It was guarding the property of the Mutt. Paramacharya used to ask every evening whether the dog was fed. Whenever Swamiji was travelling in the palanquin (Pallakku in Tamil) from one town to another town, it was walking under the palanquin. As soon as the palanquin stopped it would run away and stay at a distance like a humble servant. Sometimes it used to walk under the elephant of the Mutt. It never hurt any devotee but wagged its tail to show them its welcome or gratitude.

It starved on the day it was not fed by the Mutt workers. One day a boy threw a stone at it and it came rushing towards him to bite. Mutt workers thought it was a danger to the devotees and took it 25 miles away from the camp and tied it to a pole. But it somehow escaped from that village and came running towards Shankaracharya’s camp. Even before the workers who took it to another village arrived at the camp, the dog was already there!! Till it met its death it was with Swamiji. No one hurt it. Devotees who came to see Swamiji were eager to see the dog as well.—From Sri Jagath Guru Divya Charithram in Tamil, 1959)
Who knows the secret behind its previous births?

Ramanashram
A dog used to sleep next to Bhagavan, and there were two sparrows living at his side in the Hall. Even when people tried to drive them away they would come back. Once he noticed that the dog had been chased away. He remarked: “Just because you are in the body of a human you think you are a human being, and because he is in the body of a dog you think him a dog. Why don’t you think of him as a Mahatma, and treat him as a great person. Why do you treat him like a dog?” The respect he showed to animals and birds was most striking. He really treated them as equals. They were served food first like some respected visitors, and if they happened to die in the Ashrama, they would be given a decent burial and a memorial stone. The tombs of the deer, the crow and the cow Lakshmi can still be seen in the Ashrama near the back gate.

Who knows in how many different forms – animal, human, and divine beings visited this embodiment of the Almighty! We, common and ignorant women knew only the bliss of his presence and could not tear ourselves away from the Beloved of all, so glorious he was. It has been sixty years, I think, since I came. The days I spent with Bhagavan are memorable days indeed. Somehow, in my old age, I am pulling on with Bhagavan in my heart and his name on my tongue. 


Dogs in Heaven
A universal story from Hindu mythology about dharma.

There is a very beautiful story from the Hindu mythology’s Mahabharata that provides an insight to the meaning of our existence.
Five brothers who were kings and their wife, the queen (this happened through a misunderstanding of the concept of ‘sharing’ as expressed by their mother) after a long reign were embarking on their final journey – to heaven. To do so they had to trek up a mountain and along the way they were joined by a dog. The climb was so arduous they began to die off. Even the second oldest brother, the ‘Hercules’ of his era, fell.


However, the eldest, Yudhishthira and the dog made it to the top where they were greeted by Indra the king of the gods. He congratulated Yudhishthira and told him to get into his chariot to go to heaven, but the dog walked in first.

Indra was infuriated (he had this tendency): “I will not tolerate a dog in my chariot! Get him out and let’s go.”

Yudhishthira said, “Through my journey up the mountain, my queen and my brothers left me. Only this dog stayed with me – I cannot leave him now.”

Indra exclaimed, “What! Are you mad? Dogs do not belong in heaven! Do you want to give up your place for a dog?”

Yudhishthira replied, “The dog stayed faithfully by me, I will not desert him – even for heaven.”

Just then the dog transformed himself into Yama the god of the underworld and spoke: “You have chosen rightly, my son. In life all shall leave us, our passions, our acquaintances and even those we love dearest. Only our Dharma, like the dog, stays with us regardless. To this Dharma, we must be true.” 
Source:::Input from a friend of mine
Natarajan

Message For the Day…”God is Omnipresent …”

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The Lord resides not only in the hearts of devotees, but also in the hearts of the evil-minded. Once the child Prahlada approached his mother, Lilavati, and told her, “Mother, there is only one difference between me, who is a devotee of Hari and my father, who hates Hari. Ever contemplating on the nectarous sweetness of the Lord, repeating His name, and constantly remembering Him, I am immersed in the bliss of love of the Lord, like one intoxicated. My father, in his hatred of Narayana, has turned his heart into stone and installed Him in it.” The Lord, who dwelt in the heart of Prahlada, who loved Narayana, and the Lord who was in the heart of Hiranyakasipu, who hated Narayana, was one and the same. One has to live in faith to experience happiness. Realising that the Divine is omnipresent, the devotees make their lives sublime by singing the glories of the Lord and ever dwelling on His name.

Sathya Sai Baba

Vertical Run…@ Beiging”s Tallest Building !!!

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Around six hundred vertical marathon runners take on Beijing’s tallest building, clambering up 82 floors and a total of 2,041 steps

 

The second edition of the China World Summit Wing HOTEL Vertical Run took place on Sunday morning in Beijing.

Around one thousand competitors, including 24 elite runners from around the world joined the race which is an official stop on the 2014 Vertical World Circuit (VWC) – the world’s first and only skyscraper racing circuit uniting some of the world’s most iconic skyscraper races, including the Empire State Building Run-Up in New York City.

Runners participating in the VWC are assigned points based on their results and the male and female competitors with the total highest scores at the end of the year will be declared world champions.

The challenging course took place in the staircase of THE HOTEL.

Starting from the ground floor lobby, runners climbed 82 floors and 2041 steps to a height of 330 meters and finish at the rooftop of the building.

Piotr Lobodzinski from Poland appeared at the finish line first in 10 minutes 1.4 seconds to take the trophy and a US$1,500 (£900) cheque.

In the women’s elite race, defending champion Suzy Walsham from Australia won the title again with a time of 11 minutes 50.3 seconds.

Local runners also had good performances on Sunday. Gan Xue, a university student from Beijing finished in second in the women’s elite category in 13 minutes 37.6 seconds.

Source:::: You Tube and http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Natarajan

” விளக்கால் ஒளிரும் வாழ்க்கை “…

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  • சாமுண்டீஸ்வரி
    சாமுண்டீஸ்வரி
  • அடுக்கி வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள வில்வசங்கு அகல்விளக்குகள்.
    அடுக்கி வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள வில்வசங்கு அகல்விளக்குகள்.

வீட்டின் பொருளாதாரப் பிரச்சனை நீங்க வேண்டும் என கோயிலுக்கு விளக்கேற்றப் போனார் சாமூண்டீஸ்வரி. அந்த இடத்தில் உருவான யோசனையை இன்று செயல்படுத்தி வருகிறார்.

தமிழ்நாட்டில் உள்ள பிரசித்தி பெற்ற கோயில்கடைகள், பூம்புகார் கண்காட்சி, ஆகியவற்றில் விளக்குகளை விற்பனை செய்து இன்றைக்கு மாதந்தோறும் ரூ.30 ஆயிரம் வரை சம்பாதிக்கிறார்.

கோயம்புத்தூர் கவுண்டம் பாளையத்தைச் சேர்ந்தவர் சாமுண்டீஸ்வரி. நீரிழிவு நோயால் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட அவருடைய கணவரின் வலது கையை எடுக்க வேண்டுமென மருத்துவர்கள் தெரிவித்தவுடன் அதிர்ச்சியடைந்த அவர், கணவருடைய கையை காப்பாற்ற ஒன்றரை லட்சம் ரூபாய்வரை கடன் வாங்கினார்.

அதில் ஓரளவு உடல்நலம் தேறினாலும், அவருடைய கணவரால் வேலைக்குச் செல்ல முடியவில்லை.

கடன் சுமை, தொடர் மருத்துவ செலவு, மகனின் படிப்பு செலவு என திக்கற்று தடுமாறிய சாமுண்டீஸ்வரி, கடன் பிரச்சினைக்குத் தீர்வு வேண்டி குனியமுத்தூர் லக்ஷ்மி நாராயணன் கோயிலில் வில்வ காயை உடைத்து விளக்கேற்றி வழிபட்டிருக்கிறார்.

வில்வகாய் மூலம் ஒரு முறை மட்டுமே விளக்கேற்ற முடியும். ஓடு கருகி விடுவதால் அடுத்த முறை விளக்கேற்ற முடியாது. தினமும் வில்வ காய் வாங்கும் நிலையிலும் அவர் இல்லை.

மாற்றாக என்ன செய்வது என யோசித்திருக்கிறார். வில்வ காய் , வெள்ளெருக்கு வேர், பன்னீர், மஞ்சள் ஆகியவற்றை அரைத்துப் பொடியாக்கி, களிமண் கலவையுடன் சேர்த்து சங்கு வடிவில் விளக்காக வடிவமைத்தார்.

அதில் விளக்கேற்றி வழிபட்டார். சங்கு வடிவில் களிமண் அகல்விளக்கைப் பார்த்த பெண்கள், எங்கு வாங்கினீர்கள் என்று கேட்டிருக்கிறார்கள். நானே செய்தது என்று அவர் கூறியவுடன், எங்களுக்கும் இதேபோல் செய்துகொடுங்கள் என்று கேட்டிருக்கிறார்கள்.

முதலில் சிறிய முதலீட்டில் 50 விளக்குகள் செய்து லக்ஷ்மி நாராயணன் கோயிலுக்கு வருபவர்களிடம் விற்றிருக்கிறார். அதற்கு கிடைத்த வரவேற்பை பார்த்து, கணவர் உதவியுடன் தினமும் 100 விளக்குகள் வரை செய்ய ஆரம்பித்தார்.

வில்வ காய் கலவையில் சங்கு வடிவில் அழகாக இருந்த அகல் விளக்கை, பெண்கள் பெரிதும் விரும்பி வாங்கிச் சென்றனர்.

ஆரம்பத்தில் கோவையைச் சுற்றியுள்ள கோயில்களில் மட்டும் விற்பனை செய்துவந்த சாமுண்டீஸ்வரி, தொடர்ந்து சென்னை பெசன்ட் நகர் அஷ்டலட்சுமி, வடபழனி முருகன், திருநள்ளாறு சனீஸ்வரன் உட்பட தமிழகத்தின் பல கோயில் கடைகளுக்கு கொடுக்க ஆரம்பித்தார்.

பூம்புகார் சார்பில் திருச்சி, தஞ்சை, திருவாரூரில் நடத்தப்பட்ட கண்காட்சிகளில் வில்வ சங்கு அகல்விளக்கை விற்றிருக்கிறார். இப்போது எங்கே கண்காட்சி நடந்தாலும் அழைப்பு வருகிறதாம்.

மலேசியா முருகன் கோயில், கலிபோர்னியா சிவா விஷ்ணு கோயில் பகுதிகளில் வசிக்கும் தமிழர்கள் என்னிடம் வில்வ சங்கு விளக்கை வாங்கிச் சென்றுள்ளனர் என்றகிறார் சாமுண்டீஸ்வரி.

விளக்கேற்றப் பணம் இல்லாத அவருடைய நிலைமை மாறி இன்றைக்கு பல குடும்பங்களின் பூஜை அறை, கோயில்களில் அவர் தயாரித்துக்கொடுத்த விளக்கால் அவரது வாழ்க்கை சுடர்விட்டுப் பிரகாசிக்கிறது.

எல்லா பிரச்சினைகளுக்கும் தீர்வு இருக்கிறது. அது எதுவென நாம்தான் கண்டுபிடிக்க வேண்டும். சாமுண்டீஸ்வரியைப் போல மாற்றி யோசிப்பது பல நேரங்களில் பிரச்சினைகளுக்கு தீர்வாக அமையும். நாமும் மாற்றி யோசிக்கலாமே…!

படங்கள்: ஜி.ஞானவேல்முருகன்

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பெண்கள்|வேலை|

Source::::ஜி. ஞானவேல்முருகன்  in The Hindu…Tamil
Natarajan

Message For the Day…” Emperor MahaBali Should Be Visiting us Everyday…”

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The story of the festival Onam is that of Emperor Bali, who was an embodiment of sacrifice (Thyaga), but who suffered from traces of ego (Ahamkara). Due to the predominance of other virtues and Lord Vishnu’s Grace, Emperor Bali overcame the ill-effects of ahamkara and attained mergence with Lord Vishnu, who appeared as Vamana. Bali personified the principles of sacrifice, charity and righteousness till his very end. Since Onam festival day is celebrated in memory of the re-appearance of Bali in his subtle form (sukshma rupa), it is imperative that we remember and practice the ideals for which he lived. Bali, as portrayed above, should be visiting us every day and not just once a year. We forget this and in our daily life leave ample room for the cultivation of undesirable traits such as greed, selfishness and egoism. Learning from Bali’s life you must eradicate the negative traits at all costs, and render your heart pure for the Lord to reside in it.

Sathya Sai Baba

Message For the day…” Namasmarana is the Best Way to Purify one”s Mind…”

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Emperor Bali demonstrated through his sacrificing nature that if one sacrifices everything, one will attain moksha (liberation). The real sacrifice involves two things: First, to realise the cause of our bondage in this life, and second, to sever this bondage. People mistakenly think that wealth, family, etc., are their bondages, and that by severing connections with them they will be able to sacrifice everything and become eligible to attain moksha. But these are not the real bondage. Real bondage is one’s ignorance in identifying oneself with the body. He who cuts off this bondage as Bali did, will attain moksha. For cutting off this bondage, purification of the heart is very necessary. In this Kaliyuga, namasmarana (constant remembrance of God) is the easiest way to purify one’s mind; and surrendering to God with a pure mind is the surest way to attain moksha.

Sathya Sai Baba

Image of the Day…ISS Crossing The Moon….

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ISS crosses the moon’s face

A composite of 1/2-second of time when two objects in space converged. ISS is at 300 kilometers and the moon is at 384,000 kilometers away.

View larger. | The International Space Station crosses the face of the moon on September 3, 2014. Photo by Colin Legg. Visit Colin Legg Photography on Facebook.

Astrophotographer Colin Legg captured this wonderful shot of the International Space Station crossing the face of the first quarter moon on September 3, 2014. He calls the photo “Half a Second.” He wrote:

I have more than enough gear already but that didn’t stop me buying a new camera recently. The urge was just too great!! This is my first shot with it. It’s a composite of 1/2-second of time when two objects in space converged, one at 300 kilometers and the other 384,000 kilometers away. I couldn’t get this shot with my other cameras…that’s my excuse!

ISS/Moon transit, Western Australia, Sep 3 2014

Awesome,

Source:::::: Earth sky newa

Natarajan