Country of Immigrants?? Country of Racists??? Country of Shame - Australia... Oz.. Aussies... Aussie Hate...

For a country settled by immigrants and having an ethnic native population which is different to the settlers one would think australians would learn to live together and share the bounty of nature.

Unfortunately these islanders do not have a heart as big as their country. They are stuck in the ways of the 16th century and continue racist attacks on people of Indian origin.

On helpless students who come to their country to learn. Students of south asian ethnicity, Indian from India, Britain, Malaysia, Singapore, Europe are all potential targets and the Aussie authorities ask the INDIANS to keep a low profile.

I cannot imagine that this first world country cannot look after its residents who look different. Is this OK??? Are there no Australians who find this as offensive as I do??

Prejudice comes in all forms and it behoves on us all to make sure that at least they system is not racist. I think in Australia IT IS !!!

When you have the chief of police asking Indians to keep a low profile !!! What is that??? Should Native Australians, African Australians and Indian Australians look 'white' and Blend in ??? Should they 'conform'? Should we get rid of Chinatowns or little Indias.. all those things that make life and places special???

For God's sake Aussies Grow UP and learn to live in a multicultural world !!!!!

SHAME!!!

Shame !!! Australia Shame !!! Racist Australia Shame, Oz shame, Aussie shame !!!

What a shame. Attacks on Indian students in Australia is not OK !!! There have been more than 20 attacks in the last month !!!Australians it is time to grow up. You live in a multicultural world as do us all and Indians are part of it. There are Australian Indians, British Indians, Indian Americans, African Indians and New Zealand Indians ....

I think it is shameful that you have not learnt the concept of living together with different communities of different colours.

What is really sad is the Australian authorities asking Indians to keep a low profile !!! What a shame. Instead of keeping their racist cohorts at bay you are asking the victims to change their legal ways!!!

Perhaps Indians should Boycott Australia. Indians visit Australia, about 100,000 Indians study in australia spending millions of Dollars. I think they should be denied all those Dollars.

I think Australians of Indian Origin should write to their MPs, and authorities to make sure ethnic Indians are protected.

I think right minded australians of whatever colour should also make their presence felt.

Such a state of affairs is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Indians will not be soft targets!

I am appauled at the Australian authorities and hope they take strict action to save whatever credibility they have left.

Slumdog millionaire

Must watch this good film.
5***** RATING

Mumbai - Bombay

This is what some people think about Mumbai

The Lonely Planet guide to Mumbai

Measure out: one part Hollywood; six parts traffic; a bunch of rich power-moguls; stir in half a dozen colonial relics (use big ones); pour in six heaped cups of poverty; add a smattering of swish bars and restaurants (don’t skimp on quality here for best results); equal parts of mayhem and order; as many ancient bazaars as you have lying around; a handful of Hinduism; a dash of Islam; fold in your mixture with equal parts India; throw it all in a blender on high (adding generous helpings of pollution to taste) and presto: Mumbai.
An inebriating mix of all the above and more, this mass of humanity is a frantic melange of India’s extremes. It is the country’s financial powerhouse and its vogue centre of fashion, film and after-dark frolics. Glistening skyscrapers and malls mushroom amid slums and grinding poverty, and Mumbai slowly marches towards a brave new (air-conditioned) world. But not everyone made the guest list: more than half of the population lives in slums, and religious-based social unrest tugs at the skirt of Mumbai’s financial excess.
Only once the initial shell shock of Mumbai’s chaos subsides, can one start to appreciate the city’s allure: a wealth of Art Deco and grand colonial relics; cacophonic temples; warrens of bazaars; and the odd spiritual bastion of tranquillity. In Mumbai you can dine at some of the finest restaurants in the country, and work off the appetite gyrating at ultrachic bars alongside Bollywood starlets and wannabes. With a pinch of gumption, a dash of adventure, an open wallet and a running start, there’s no excuse not to dive into the Mumbai madness head-first.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/mumbai-bombay

An Englishman from Newcastle

What can you tell about this man whose picture was taken in 1889 in Newcastle, England.

Perhaps his hat, his dress gives more information???

Did he have a good life?

Did he have a lot of money?

Where do his progeny live today?

Would love to have comments from readers....

Imperial crown of India

The Imperial crown of India.

India the jewel of the crown.

Pakistan - You need a reality check!

We are at the crossroads of humanity. Terrorism , the kiling of innocent people to justify any cause is wrong. To qualify such sickness of the mind with social causes and movements is absolutely absurd.

David Miliband the foreign secretary on his visit to New Delhi and Islamabad vaguely linked terrorism to solving the Kashmir issue.

I think this is absolutely wrong. Kashmir, secessionism, islam have nothing to do with terrorism. The terrorists are simply wrong and deserve to be tried by the law enforcing agencies of the land. Of course social problems need to be solved but they have nothing to do with terrorism. Terrorists are inhuman pieces of S***.

Pakistanis need to have a reality check. They need to understand that terrorism is a cancer and if they do not amputate this rotting limb they risk death for themselves before their neighbours are affected.
Islam like any other religion is open to interpretation and is used by many for their own ends.

Therefore for the sake of humanity the Pakistanis need to have a reality check.

Pakistanis are intelligent people. I am sure they want to live in a peaceful environment with freedom of thought and want their kids to grow in a place where their full potential may bloom.

I hope they pick up the gauntlett and get rid of the terrorists. For their own good.

2009

It's here. I hope it brings in good tidings for all. I hope the monetory credit crisis settles. I hope there are more discoveries in the health sector. I hope there is less poverty in 2009.

Here's to good times...2009... for all...

P.S. Thanks to Abhijit for the wonderful photo. Cheers

New Year 2009

Wishing everyone a wonderful New Year 2009.
May this bring happiness and joy to everyone.

Mumbai - Lonely Planet Description

Measure out: one part Hollywood; six parts traffic; a bunch of rich power-moguls; stir in half a dozen colonial relics (use big ones); pour in six heaped cups of poverty; add a smattering of swish bars and restaurants (don’t skimp on quality here for best results); equal parts of mayhem and order; as many ancient bazaars as you have lying around; a handful of Hinduism; a dash of Islam; fold in your mixture with equal parts India; throw it all in a blender on high (adding generous helpings of pollution to taste) and presto : Mumbai.

An inebriating mix of all the above and more, this mass of humanity is a frantic melange of India’s extremes. It is the country’s financial powerhouse and its vogue centre of fashion, film and after-dark frolics. Glistening skyscrapers and malls mushroom amid slums and grinding poverty, and Mumbai slowly marches towards a brave new (air-conditioned) world. But not everyone made the guest list: more than half of the population lives in slums, and religious-based social unrest tugs at the skirt of Mumbai’s financial excess.
Only once the initial shell shock of Mumbai’s chaos subsides, can one start to appreciate the city’s allure: a wealth of Art Deco and grand colonial relics; cacophonic temples; warrens of bazaars; and the odd spiritual bastion of tranquillity. In Mumbai you can dine at some of the finest restaurants in the country, and work off the appetite gyrating at ultrachic bars alongside Bollywood starlets and wannabes. With a pinch of gumption, a dash of adventure, an open wallet and a running start, there’s no excuse not to dive into the Mumbai madness head-first

Agni

Romesh Chunder Dutt (1848-1909)
Agni, or the Fire

Lighted Agni flames forth high,
Flings a radiance on the sky,
And his lustre, glorious, bright,
Mingles with the morning light.
And Visvavârâ chants her holy prayer,
Faces the east, and brings her gifts to Fire!

Lord of Eternity! Lord of skies!
Presiding Lord of sacrifice!
Agni! Whoso worships thee,
By him with thy blessings be!
Whose blazing altar sacred Agni lights, --
Affluence dwells with him and pious rites.

Agni! On the altar shine,
Flames and radiance bright be thine!
Grant us wealth with thy red flame,
Quell our foes, increase our fame!
Invest our homes with blessings from above,
And link our men and wives in bonds of love!

Agni! On the altar shine,
Flames and radiance bright be thine!
And I lift my pious hymn
To thy bright effulgent beam!
Bounteous god! Red lustre e'er be thine,
Flame on our altar, glorious and divine!

With pious hands we light thy flame,
With pious lips we chant thy name!
Invoke unto our sacrifice
The glorious bright gods of the skies!
For thou art Priest in every pious rite,
And makest gifts to gods with radiance bright!

Then let us unto Agni pray,
And he our offerings will convey!
And let us unto Agni sing,
And he the radiant gods will bring!
Priest and God! to thee we humbly pray,
Our pious offerings to the gods convey!
Notes
1] "Rig Veda, V. 28" (Dutt's note.)"Agni is the god of Fire; the Ignis of the Latins, the Ogni of the Sclavonians." -- Muir's Sanscrit Texts."All the names of the Fire and the Fire-gods were carried away by the Western Aryans; and we have Prometheus answering to Pramantha, Phoronus to Bharanyu, and the Latin Vulcanus to the Sanscrit Ulka." -- Cox's Mythology of Aryan Nations.The hymn translated below is one of peculiar interest, because it is said to have been composed by a pious lady, Visvavârâ." (Dutt's notes.)
29] "`As no sacrifice could be performed without fire, Agni, or fire, was called the invoker of the gods.' -- Civilisation in Ancient India, vol. i. p. 85." (Dutt's note.)

To India - Sarojini Naidu

To India

O YOUNG through all thy immemorial years!

Rise, Mother, rise, regenerate from thy gloom,

And, like a bride high-mated with the spheres,

Beget new glories from thine ageless womb!

The nations that in fettered darkness weep

Crave thee to lead them where great mornings break . . . .

Mother, O Mother, wherefore dost thou sleep?

Arise and answer for thy children's sake!

Thy Future calls thee with a manifold sound

To crescent honours, splendours, victories vast;

Waken, O slumbering Mother and be crowned,

Who once wert empress of the sovereign Past.

Sarojini Naidu

गायत्री मंत्र - The Gayatri -The Holiest Mantra of them all...

॥ ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥

The essence of the scriptures...the holiest of holys... thekey to the universe... the great purifier...the gayatri mantra.

As scientific as I am and agnostic as i truly maybe, even an atheist at times... I feel the gayati mantra is the key to the spiritual wisdom of the ancients.

It has been passed down to us through the mists of time and has been the pillar of faith and strength for millions.

"May we meditate on the glory of Him who has created the earth, the nether world and the heavens (i.e. the universe), and may He guide our intellect"

Winter Solstice - Uttarayan- उत्तरायण

Yeah It's Winter Solstice the longest night of the year. The smallest day is done and the days will only increase in length from now on... until the summer solstice that is..

Uttarayan has begun.

The Maha Mrutyunjay mantra

॥ ॐ त्रयम्बकं यजामहे सुगंधिम पुषटीवरधनम उर्वारुकमीव बंधनाम मॄर्तयोर मोक्षीय मामृतात ॥

\\*\\ konkani क्रिसमस विशेस \\*\\

ॐ
नाताळाचो शुभिच्छा ।
कोंकणीन्तु बरयता आनी तुम्मी सरवांक हांव नातालाचों सुभिच्छा दित्ता ।
देवू तुमका बरें कोरों।
आम्चीगेलांन्तुं आम्मी उल्लेयलॅरी आन॒नी बरय्लॅरी आम्मी कोंकणीक चड वाडोचाक जात्ता ।
जय हिंद ।

East Pakistan Embankments- Philatelic History

East Pakistan dissappeared into oblivion on the 16th of December 1971.

The Mukti Bahini and the Indian forces liberated Bangladesh -The Land of the Banglas.

West Pakistan and its Punjabi establishments had gone into overdrive to show that its erstwhile eastern wing was still a part of the Pakistan federation and so many stamps, first day covers and bank noted were issued in Bengali and Urdu.

Inspite of all these superficial efforts there was no warmth in the heart of the west Pakistanis for the eastern wingers.

Our west bengal was flooded with Refugees and Indira Gandhi decisively stepped in and when West Pakistan attacked us we respeonded tooth and Nail and helped the Mukti Bahini to liberate themselves to form the New state of Bangladesh.

This First day cover is therefore part of the philatelic history of a country which showed that religion alone cannot bind people.

Gandhi & Churchill- The epic rivalry that destroyed an empire and forged our age- Arthur Herman

Book Review.

Gandhi & Churchill The epic rivalry that destroyed an empire and forged our age.

Arthur Herman.

This book focuses on the alledeged extensive rivalry between Gandhiji and Churchill. I supose it should be the rivarly between Churchill and Gandhi!

Churchill was surely given the run for his money by Dear ol' Gandhiji.

Anyway the book is a nice flick through for its snippets of history and a British perspective of Gandhiji. It has great pictures of Gandhi and Churchill andother leaders of our Independence movement.

£25

Publisher : Hutchinson London

ISBN 9780091797164 (Hardback)

ISBN 9780091921323 (trade paperback)

Huchinson

Best wishes for a happy Christmas

Especially Wishing all our Christian Konkani friends and all other konkanis and everyone else a wonderful Christmas and a very happy new year.

Our father in Konkani for you....

Churchgate, Bombay, India

This is a picture of the old Church-gate. The gate facing St Thomas' church in the ex- walled city of Bombay. The walls came down in 1862 as the city was growing and most of the mainland territory was under british rule and hence the threat of attack was less.

The only part of the walls of bombay that still survive is a small part on the back side of the St George's hospital. This obscure bit of Bombay's history is sometimes hidden by a few hutments.

A tribute to the people of Bombay, Mumbaikars over the generations....

Good Morning... This is the Taj Mahal hotel.....

I heard this story on NDTV and it goes straight to the heart.

On November the 27th at 3 am when the terrorists were causing mayhem and the Taj was in flames a relative of someone in the Taj who could not get through to his relative on the mobile called the reception desk at the taj.

Inspite of all the bullets and chaos... a lady picked up and said good morning this is the Taj mahal hotel...

Wow... Hats off to the sense of duty this person has. In the midst of life threatening mayhem she continued to do her duty.

India I am proud of you.