Girish's Blog

Until 1975, when Sikkim became an Indian state after a referendum, it was a small country surrounded by India in the South, Tibet in the North, Bhutan in the East and Nepal in the West. The original inhabitants were Lepchas and Bhutias and in the 13th century, at Kabi-Lungchok, these two tribes signed a blood oath invoking all the powerful spirits of the valley, swearing to remain blood brothers until the River Rangit ceased to flow and Mount Khan-Chen-Dzo-Nga remained.   A shrine marks the place where the treaty was signed and it still retains the peace and the presence of the powerful spirits who were invoked over seven centuries ago. The river Rangit still flows here and the Mount Khan-Chen-Dzo-Nga, more familiarly known as the Kanchenjunga still stands. Khan-Chen-Dzo-Nga, the second highest peak in the Himalayas and the third highest in the world is the guardian deity of Sikkim and in deference to the religious significance of the mountain, mountaineers do not...

There's been a lot of press about Hindu fundamentalism - so this post is an attempt to understand  the fundamentals of Hinduism. I started with Swami Vivekananda, who made the Indians aware of their vast spiritual and cultural heritage. Swami Vivekananda's second lecture in India, after his return from the West provided a succinct summary of the essential principles of Hinduism. "I will ...present before you the salient points of our religion in as simple language as I can.  I shall take up the common grounds, the essential principles ... which every Hindu must believe The first is the question of creation, that this nature, Prakriti, Mâyâ is infinite, without beginning. It is not that this world was created the other day, not that a God came and created the world and since that time has been sleeping; for that cannot be. The creative energy is still going on. God is eternally creating — is never at rest. The whole of this nature exists, it becomes finer, subs...

Driving in Bangalore is a pleasure - from 6:30 AM to 9:30 AM and from 6 PM to 11 PM. No, it's not the potholed roads, or the random unmarked speed-bumps, or the yellow-board Indicas who believe traffic rules don't apply to them, or the two-wheelers streaking between the sluggishly moving cars or the big red Volvo buses in Brownian motion. It's the FM radio station Amritavarshini, 100.1 FM. Amritavarshini, is probably the country's only classical music station and it's a pleasure to listen to Hindustani and Carnatic music uninterrupted by commercials, with the RJ speaking briefly and in chaste Kannada to introduce the program. There are no ads promoting the channel, no RJs speaking in mongrel tongues and no agenda except allowing the audience to forget the misery that is the Bangalore roads and listen to some great music. Here's hoping that 100.1 FM remains funded, is able to extend their operating hours and continues to play great music for the years to co...

Henry David Thoreau, in his 1854 book, Walden , narrates his experience of living in solitude for two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst the woodland. While we didn't have the luxury of spending as much time around our neighborhood Kaikondrahalli Lake , this Saturday morning walk around the lake was a delight with the variety of birds, bird calls and nature on exhibition. We reached the lake at around 9 AM by when most of the joggers and serious bird watchers with the telescopic zoom lenses have left. We start the walk with the call and sighting of a White Cheeked Barbet.The barbet is rarely seen outside the thick green foliage of mature trees and it is a rare sighting for us to see it perched on an electric wire. A White Throated Kingfisher flies to its perch - a wall on the edge of the lake and a little egret takes flight, splashing along its liquid runway. We walk towards th...

As the countdown to the Greatest Democratic Exercise In The Known Universe kicks off, it's great to see that there are some candidates who have excelled in the private sector and are now throwing their hat into the election ring. The most prominent of these candidates, of course, being Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and former CEO of Infosys, Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, newly minted member of the  Indian National Congress and candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Bangalore South constituency. There's no doubt that Mr.Nilekani had a successful stint as the CEO of Infosys. He took over as CEO of Infosys in 2002 when revenues were $500 Million and in 2007, when he handed the baton to Kris Gopalakrishnan, revenues had crossed $3 Billion.His book, Imagining India, covers the many complex issues facing the Republic of India and also lays out some solutions. Nr.Nilekani has now thrown in his lot with the  Indian National Cong...

The quote: Expansion is life, contraction is death. - Swami Vivekananda, Lectures from Colombo to Almora, Reply to the Calcutta Address The story: An aging master grew tired of his apprentice complaining and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. "How does it taste?" the master asked. "Bitter," spit the apprentice. The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake.The two walked in silence to the nearby lake and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, "Now drink from the lake." As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the master asked, "How does it taste?" "Fresh," remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" asked the master. "No," said the young man. At this...

May 2013 We leave the small town of Kidangoor, near Kottayam, at 730 AM to head out to Thattekad. En route we stop at the ancient Subrahmanya temple at Kidangoor . It is absolutely quite except for the calls of a few Oriental Magpie Robins pecking at worms in the circumambulatory path around the temple. Women are not allowed inside the temple which has a beautiful image of Karthikeya with his spear and peacock. There is a small Vishnu temple on the side. We step out and walk onwards the river which has a bathing ghat for devotees. It is an amazing view - clear water lined by lush greenery as far as the eye can see. In a tiled hall nearby we hear the rhythmic tapping indicating that a Kathakali class is in progress.As we turn back our progress is arrested by the sight of two Asian Paradise Flycatchers, a Rufous Treepie and a few Oriental Magpie Robins. On the drive towards Thattekad we see many acres of land have been stripped bare of the native vegetation and rep...