Saturday, October 18, 2008

Desis at Universal Studios

Hi All,
Been more than a week so i thought i would come back with another trip of mine , but this time i would also like to add an experience that i had with our Desi guys :).

To people who have not been here or have not heard about it a brief intro on Universal Studios.
Universal Studios Hollywood is a movie studio in the Universal City
community of unincorporate Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is the original Universal Studios theme park. Woody Woodpecker is the mascot for Universal Studios Hollywood and the rest of the Universal Studios Theme Parks. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood movie studios still in use. Its official marketing headline is "The Entertainment Capital of LA," though during the summer it is often advertised as "The Coolest Place in LA."
It was initially created to offer tours of the real Universal Studios soundstages and sets. It is the first of many fully-fledged Universal Studios Theme Parks, along with Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Japan, and the upcoming Universal Studios Singapore, Universal Studios Dubai, and Universal Studios South Korea theme parks.

My day at the Studios:
It had been more than 2 weeks since i landed in US ans so we(me & my hubby) decided that it was high time i started visiting places nearby. We decided that we would begin with Universal Studios , Hollywood. Going into Universal Studios reminded me of our country's theme parks , the major difference being that this was more properly panned out and well maintained than what we had back home.Of course the cleanliness made a lot of difference :)
After the tickets , and security check we made our entry into the studios. As we were walking around we decided we would take it slow as we had the whole day ahead of us. The fact that we had gone there on a normal weekend meant that we did not have the heavy crowds that usually are there during the long weekends.

As we went around we came to Shrek-Fiona standing in a corner and joining the crowds for photos. We decided to join in the queue for a snap. Right behind us were a group of Desis(both boys & girls), 8 in number. All around 25 and it seemed as if they had come as a group for a project from their discussions going on. All of a sudden they reverted from English to Hindi(Guess on the assumption that neither me nor my Hubby would know the language :) but guess they did not know i could speak the language well and my hubby could follow the conversation).
The general flow of the conversation was that - "We(maane me and my hubby) were Indians ,we were before them in line for the photos and hence we would finish ahead of them.So we could easily take photos of them using their cameras and that it should not be difficult for us to do so :) and so on". The same discussion went on amidst them for around 5 mins and none of them came forward to ask me or my hubby if we would take a snap of them together with Shrek and Fiona. After 5 mins i really felt sorry for them so i turned around , spoke to them in Hindi and told them that we would not mind taking their pictures. The whole group was shocked and then gave an embarassed smile :). After we took our pics we were handed all of their cameras(all 8)for us to take their snaps. It would not have been a probs , but i guess the basic courtesy would be that they could have decided that 2 of them could use their cameras and share the photos later on rather than giving all the cameras.They would have done this if it had been someone apart from Desis taking their snaps , so y not extend the same courtesy to us Desis? What also struck me was that - y assume blindly that the person standing in front would not know the language they were speaking and discuss about them?
The whole day the group kept crossing us at various points and everytime they saw us they gave an embarrased smile and walked away. Guess nothing more could have been done.
Apart from this incident i should say that i had a gala time around the studios and i especially enjoied the ride in the Jurassic park:).Coming back home i was so tired and to tell the truth it had been a long time since i had had such masti(fun) after my college days.
In fact the past couple of weeks i have been telling my husband that we need to go out to the Studios once more and have lots of fun.

In the meantime do leave me ur comments on my blog.
Also check out my other blog .........
http://booksaremysecondlove.blogspot.com/

Its getting late for me so iam gonna bid u adieu for now.
Will catch up soon with u people.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Autobiography Of A Yogi - Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda:
Paramahansa Yogananda born Mukunda Lal Ghosh,was an
Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a Yogi.
Yogananda's seeking after various saints mostly ended when he met his
guru, Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, in 1910, at the age of 17. He describes his first meeting with Yukteswar as a rekindling of a relationship that had lasted for many lifetimes:
“We entered a oneness of silence; words seemed the rankest superfluities. Eloquence flowed in soundless chant from heart of master to disciple. With an antenna of irrefragable insight I sensed that my guru knew God, and would lead me to Him. The obscuration of this life disappeared in a fragile dawn of prenatal memories. Dramatic time! Past, present, and future are its cycling scenes. This was not the first sun to find me at these holy feet!”
In 1920, he went to the
United States and that same year he founded the Self-Realization Fellowship to disseminate worldwide his teachings on India's ancient practices and philosophy of Yoga and its tradition of meditation. For the next several years, he lectured and taught on the East coast and in 1924 embarked on a cross-continental speaking tour. Thousands came to his lectures. The following year, he established in Los Angeles, California, an international headquarters for Self-Realization Fellowship, which became the spiritual and administrative heart of his growing work. Yogananda was the first Hindu teacher of yoga to make his permanent home in America, living there from 1920-1952
In 1935, he returned to India to visit Yukteswar and to help establish his Yogoda Satsanga work in India and in 1936, while Yogananda was visiting Kolkata, Yukteswar died in the town of Puri.
On March 7, 1952, he attended a dinner for the visiting Indian Ambassador to the U.S.,
Binay Ranjan Sen and his wife at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. At the conclusion of the banquet Yogananda spoke of India and America, their contributions to world peace and human progress, and their future cooperation, expressing his hope for a "United World" that would combine the best qualities of "efficient America" and "spiritual India." According to two eyewitnesses — long-time disciples Swami Kriyananda and Daya Mata — as Yogananda ended his speech, he read from his poem My India, concluding with the words "Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and men dream God—I am hallowed; my body touched that sod". At the very last words, he slid to the floor,dead from a heart attack.Kriyananda wrote that Yogananda had once stated in a lecture, "A heart attack is the easiest way to die. That is how I choose to die."

The book – Autobiography Of A Yogi:
In 1946, Yogananda published his life story,
Autobiography of a Yogi. It has since been translated into twenty-five languages. In 1999, it was designated one of the "100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a panel of spiritual authors convened by HarperCollins publishers.
Autobiography of a Yogi describes Yogananda's spiritual search for enlightenment, in addition to encounters with notable spiritual figures such as
Therese Neumann, Anandamoyi Ma, Mohandas Gandhi, Nobel laureate in literature Rabindranath Tagore, noted plant scientist Luther Burbank (the book is 'Dedicated to the Memory of Luther Burbank, An American Saint'), famous Indian scientist Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose and Nobel Prize winning physicist Sir C. V. Raman.
Amelita Galli-Curci, one of the most famous opera singers of the early twentieth century, said about the book:
"Amazing, true stories of saints and masters of India, blended with priceless superphysical information–much needed to balance the Western material efficiency with Eastern spiritual efficiency–come from the vigorous pen of Paramhansa Yogananda, whose teachings my husband and myself have had the pleasure of studying for twenty years."


Kriya Yoga:
Kriya Yoga is described by its practitioners as the ancient
Yoga system revived in modern times by Mahavatar Babaji through his disciple Lahiri Mahasaya, c 1861, and brought into widespread public awareness through Paramhansa Yogananda's book Autobiography of a Yogi. The system consists of a number of levels of Pranayama based techniques that are intended to rapidly accelerate spiritual development and engender a profound state of tranquility and God-communion.Kriya Yoga is traditionally learned via the Guru - disciple relationship.
Yogananda gave a general description of Kriya Yoga in his Autobiography:
“The Kriya Yogi mentally directs his life energy to revolve, upward and downward, around the six spinal centers (medullary, cervical, dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal plexuses) which correspond to the twelve astral signs of the zodiac, the symbolic Cosmic Man. One-half minute of revolution of energy around the sensitive spinal cord of man effects subtle progress in his evolution; that half-minute of Kriya equals one year of natural spiritual unfoldment.”
Kriya Yoga is referred to by Krishna, India’s greatest prophet, in a stanza of the Bhagavad Gita:
“Offering inhaling breath into the outgoing breath, and offering the outgoing breath into the inhaling breath, the yogi neutralizes both these breaths; he thus releases the life force from the heart and brings it under his control.” The interpretation is: “The yogi arrests decay in the body by an addition of life force, and arrests the mutations of growth in the body by apan (eliminating current). Thus neutralizing decay and growth, by quieting the heart, the yogi learns life control.”

My Introduction to the Book:
My introduction to the book came when I was going through a crucial period of my life in 2000. I had just lost my uncle who had been a guiding factor throughout the major part of my life and my mother gave me the book to read. She was infact given the book by someone else and she recommended it to me. The book gave me a relief and a sense of comfort at a time when I needed it. To this day whenever iam upset or worried , I just need to pick up the book and read a few pages of my favourite chapters and I have a feeling that come what may be ,I can solve anything. Thx Mom Dear.
The narration in the book is matter of fact , truthful , simple and beautiful – to describe it in a few words. I have a number of my Western colleagues who have told me this book is a good read, especially for people who would like to know more about India and its cultures. The search of a young man for God is beautifully told. The language that the author has used to write the book is something which none can outdo in the current days.
I would highly recommend it to any one interested in spirituality, India, history, Yoga and just life. The more you read about Kriya Yoga , the more one wants to start putting it into use. The effects of practicing is good for mind and body.
I recommend this book to all my friends , and for friends who are avid readers I gift this book. To date I have a copy of the book wherever I travel. In fact Post marriage I was leaving for US and i did not bring along my copy of the book.So i went rushing around in Chennai to get a copy of the book and finally got it in the third shop(it was in great demand).My husband was so surprised he said he had to read it. Now he is also an avid reader and we have good discussions at home.

For people who would like to read the book , Wiki has an online edition. The link is as below :
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_a_Yogi

People who have already read the book / reading / planning to read please do leave your comments on the book.

Hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I do.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Malibu

My first trip was the week after i came here.....it was to Malibu. We made a visit to the Temple there , which is listed as "Hindu Temple"............ guess that came as a surprise for me :) for obviously none of us would expect that there would be temples in every nook and corner as we are used to in India, but then one would naturally expect that at least the temples name be the Chief residing deity's name , that of Lord Venkateshwara!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To those who do not know about the Hindu Deity , let me explain. Lord Venkateshwara , also known as Venkatachalapathy /Srinivasa /Balaji and is a form of the Hindu God , Vishnu. In Tamil , he is known as Perumal. Venkateshwara means the Lord who destroys the sins of the people. According the Hindu scriptures, Vishnu, out of love towards his devotees, incarnated as Venkateshwara and appeared for the salvation and upliftment of humanity in this Kali Yuga and is considered the supreme form of Vishnu in this age.

The name Venkateshwara can be split into multiple parts in Sanskrit: Ven (sins), kata (destroyer), and ishwara (Supreme Lord). Using this etymology, Venkateshwara refers to the Supreme Lord who destroys sins.

We made the trip to the temple first for it was our elders insistence that it was the first time in a new country and we shud begin it by visiting a temple. And i guess explaining that its a 90 minute drive one way does not convince the elderly and they are very insistent that theres no option but paying a visit to the temple :).

And to top it then begins the explanation - The month that we came here was the first week in October and as per the Tamil Calendar its the belief that the month of "Purattaasi"(mid September to mid October) is the month of Lord Venkateshwara and going on a Saturday to his temple is very auspicious.
Purattaasi is auspicious to the effect that, most of the non-vegetarian Tamil people do not eat meat during the month. This faith can be considered much similar to the fasting by Muslims during the month of Ramadan. Each Saturday of this month is set apart to venerate the planet Saturn.

Considering all the explanations and to add to the fact that my hubby dear is an ardent devotee of the Lord , we decided that it would be better not to give any reason or excuse , so we made the trip :). Guess its not possible for us to make a trip every week or every fortnight for something or the other does crop up, but we do visit the temple once in a month. Of course we made a visit this year also for the month of Purattaasi :).

I think i shud add that i also enjoi the drive along the PCH( Pacific Coast Highway) everytime i make a trip to Malibu.

To conclude ..... as per Hindu mythology its the belief that Lord Venkateswara borrowed a heavy sum from Lord Kubera(Lord of Riches) to get married to his consort and is still repaying his loan to Lord Kubera.Based on the pact that Venkateswara agreed upon with Lord Kubera, monetary donations know no limit at temples where a statue of Venkateswara can be found.

Before i wind up let me add that the Lord Venkateshwara Temple in Malibu is one among the famous Venkateshwara temples that have been built abroad.

Adieu for now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Tribute - Nora Roberts

About the Author :

Nora Roberts (b. Eleanor Marie Robertson, October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA), is a bestselling American author of more than 150 romance novels, and she writes as J.D. Robb the "In Death" series. She also has written under the pseudonym Jill March, and by error some of her works was published in the UK as Sarah Hardesty.
Nora Roberts was the first author to be inducted into the
Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. As of 2006, her novels had spent a combined 660 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, including 100 weeks in the number-one spot. Over 280 million copies of her books are in print, including 12 million copies sold in 2005 alone. Her novels have been published in 35 countries.

My luv for her books:
My passion for her books when i was doing my Masters degree in India. I accidentally happened to pick up 2 books of hers - Without A Trace and Skin Deep. These 2 were light reading but i enjoyed her style of writing and there began my love affair with her books.
I have read nearly all her books and i have a copy of all the books that i have read. Even if i have read a book online i still make it a point to own a paperback. Pre-marriage my Dad used to keep telling me that i spend my salary only on books and post marriage i have a husband who does not mind me spending his money on my books :) .I still remember when he asked me what i would like as a wedding gift , i told him that one of my favourite authors books was releasing in November and would he get that for me. Guess he found out then for the first time that he had a wife who was crazy on books :)

With my love affair on her books , i have made a couple of my friends go crazy and i have introduced lots of my friends to her books. I remember that i used to be a walking library before my marriage at my office :)

The latest book that i read of hers was "Tribute" and iam waiting for the last book in her "Sign of Seven" trilogy.

Editorial Review of TRIBUTE :

Cilla McGowan, former child star and granddaughter of the legendary actress Janet Hardy, moves to her late grandmother's Virginia farm to make a new start and to bring the once famous house back to life. Little does she know that someone in her grandmother's past doesn't want her there to solve old mysteries, and that person will go to any length to drive her out. Jennifer Van Dyck brings all the Southern characters to life: Cilla's handsome love interest, Ford Sawyer, her petulant mother, her latest stepfather, and her hippie ex-husband. The dialogue is witty, the characters interesting, and the story a thriller filled with the unexpected. Most worthwhile.

I hope you enjoi reading the book as much as i did.

Will come back to you with more of her books as and when as i can.

My first trip to USA

I dont think it as unwise to make comparisons , but like most women from India i also came here to the US post marriage.I have completed a year of marriage and i thought let me start blogging :) so here iam.

I met my hubby-to-be just a week before marriage for the first time but in between i guess our mobile bills just shot up. My dad was telling me just the other day that he happened to find a bill of mine and that Thank God , i was still working when i got engaged :) as he would not have been able to pay my bills :)

I got married on Sep 16 , 2007 and coincidentally we share
the same wedding day as my parents. Coincidence also that
my parents also got married on a Sunday in 1979 :) and i hope
that i share similiar long years of married life as my parents do.

I left India on Oct5 , 2007 and shud have reached here at noon on Oct 6 ( US time) but Mother Nature played a different role and we were stuck out in Malaysia for 24 hours so my very first trip to the US began with a 1 day delay and i finally did arrive late night on Oct 7 ( Thk God !!!!!!!!!!!!)

Its been a year to date for me since i left home and i have been here in California for the past 1 year.

This is my first post and let me continue with my trips in the US in my later posts.

Till then cya all :)