Uniting India
Archive for October, 2011
Happy Diwali
Oct 25th
Diwali is one of the biggest festivals of Hindus, celebrated with great enthusiasm and happiness in India. Each year on the Ammavaasya in the month of Ashwayuja the glittering lamps, the dazzling fireworks, sounds of crackers announce the arrival of the most vibrant festival of India-Diwali. Originally, the name was Deepavali, which has its origin from Sanskrit, meaning “Rows of light”. This festival is still called Deepavali in South India. Of all the festivals celebrated in India, Diwali is by far the most glamorous and important festival. Enthusiastically enjoyed by people of every religion, its magical and radiant touch creates an atmosphere of joy and festivity. The festival of Diwali is not only significant to Hindus, but, has importance in Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism as well. Diwali is considered auspicious for shopping, inaugurations of new homes, business deals or for starting any new ventures and projects.
Historically, the origin of Diwali can be traced back to ancient India, when it was probably an important harvest festival. However, there are various legends pointing to the origin of Diwali or ‘Deepavali.’ Some believe it to be the celebration of the marriage of Lakshmi with Lord Vishnu, whereas in Bengal the festival is dedicated More >
Kavi Saamrat Viswanatha Sathyanarayana
Oct 20th
Viswanatha Satyanarayana, the Poet Laureate of Andhra Pradesh and winner of Jnaana Peeth Award, is undoubtedly one of the greatest scholar-poets of Andhra Pradesh. He was actively involved in literature even as an an octogenerian with continuous and untiring activity extending over six decades, Viswanatha Satyanarayana has had the good fortune of living in the era of excellent writers of three generations.
Viswanatha Satyanarayana was born on September 10, 1895 in a Vaidiki Shaiva Brahmin family to Shobhanadri and Parvatamma in Nandamuru village, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. His father was a philanthropist and a devotee of Lord Shiva. In 1902, he brought an idol of Shiva Linga from Benaras and built a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Nandamuru. Thus, Lord Sri Visweswara became their family Deity. Viswanatha wife was Varalakshmamma.
He had his primary education in Nandamuru, Indupalli and Pedapadu villages and higher education in Bandaru City. He was lucky to have the great scholar Chellapilla Venkatashastri as his Telugu teacher in Bandaru High School. Pingali and Katuri, the twins, were seniors to him by one year. He too had a poet companion in Kodali Anjaneyulu and some of the earlier compositions came out with the two in one name “Satyanjaneyakavulu” More >
The United States of America
Oct 17th
United States of America has been the dream destination for couple of centuries for people universally to make it big in their life till recently. The population of America is about 310 million. The total area is about 9.83 million square kilometres. The Country is third and fourth largest in the World in terms of population and total area. It has 50 States and a federal district. Its Independence Day is celebrated on July 4th every year. America is not just one Country. People from all over the Globe have settled here as citizens and are therefore called Americans. Many people out side America think it is the richest Country in the world,certainly not. Many Americans are also very crazy about lotteries like Indians may be because of financial insecurity. The fact is that global currency revolves around American currency since Global business is Dollar- Centric.
Spanish speaking population is said to be 1/6 th of America’s population. There are about 50 million Hispanics in America. This is an immigrant Country. All languages of the World are spoken here. This Country is unique in this respect. People are attracted to visit and settle in America mainly because of the huge difference More >
Andhra Nataka Ratna- Ballari Raghava
Oct 14th
Tadipatri Raghavacharyulu or Ballari Raghava was one of the greatest Telugu drama artists. He was born on August 2, 1880 in Tadipatri, a village in Anantapuram district. His father was Narasimhachari and mother was Seshamma.He finished his Matriculation in Ballari High School and graduated from Christian College, Madras. He was married to Krishnamma, daughter of Lakshmanachari of Kurnool. Besides being a versatile actor, he was also a busy lawyer and an ardent social worker .All his earnings were spent in development of the art that was his passion and for the uplift of the down-trodden. As a man he was incomparable.
Raghava practiced law after graduating from Madras Law College in 1905.Very soon he became rich and popular as a criminal lawyer and well known for his cross examination tactics. The British Government recognized his talent and appointed him as a public prosecutor and also awarded him the title “Rao Bahadur”. From his childhood, he was very interested in drama and started his acting career at the age of 12. His uncle Dharmavaram Ramakrishnamachari, who was a pioneering dramatist in Telugu, initiated him on the stage. He founded Shakespeare Club in Ballari and played Shakespeare dramas. Raghava portrayed main characters in More >
Black day in Indian History-Babri Mosque Demolition
Oct 13th
Sixth December 1992 is a horrific day in the history of India. On this very day an old Muslim religious structure Babri mosque was demolished by Hindu fanatics due to the blind faith that the structure happens to be the birth place of Lord Ram. This structure was located in Uttar Pradesh state in India. I fail to understand how can they demolish a structure which is believed to be the birth place of their God. It doesn’t make sense to any right thinking Hindu. Does it not amount to cutting the branch of a tree on which we stand?
The demolition of Babri mosque sent shock waves among Muslim masses all over the globe especially those in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and also among right thinking Hindus in the rest of the world and in India even. This particular sinister design has made the lives of millions of Indians miserable. The government of Pakistan capitalized on this particular tragic incident. Pakistan has brainwashed Muslim youth for waging jihad against India by using the Muslim hatred speeches by the Hindu fanatics especially Bal Thackeray. Unfortunately Bal Thackeray failed miserably to understand this ploy. People should not fall prey to religiously fanatic political More >
Rama Bhakta- Bhadrachala Ramadasu
Oct 8th
Kancherla Gopanna or Bhadrachala Ramadasu, is one of the most popular personalities in Telugu history, music and literature. There is hardly anyone in Andhra Pradesh that never heard his songs. Many people right from scholars to beggars know some of them. They are known for their superb lyrical quality and ‘Bhavauchityam’ with great Bhakti Bhava. His ‘Dasarathi Satakam’ has also been an extremely popular Satakam. Many old timers know several poems of the Satakam by heart. He became popular not by virtue of being a king, a warrior or a great scholar but because of his captivating life story and his equally touching songs and poems.
Kancherla Gopanna was born in Nelakondapalli village of present day Khammam District. He was a nephew of the famous Akkanna and Madanna. They were the Chief-of-Army and the Prime Minister, respectively, in the court of the Muslim king Abul Hasan Kutub Shah (alias or Taneesha). This Kutubshahi king was the last and the most liberal in a line of very open-minded rulers of Golconda (which later became the Hyderabad State under the Nizams). Akkanna and Madanna rose from the ranks of courtiers and in CE 1682, occupied the highest offices under the king. Their popularity More >
GOD
Oct 8th
God is everywhere in this universe. That is the reason why God is beautifully explained in Sanskrit as ‘sarvantharyami’. We fail to recognize God in our fellow human beings. We travel long distances in search of God. God is a kind of external power that guides us in our happiness and our sadness as well. We have given so many names and so many shapes to God as per our religious practices. Christians call him Jesus. Hindus fondly gave him numerous names and shapes. Muslims call him Allah. Muslims believe God has no shape. Hindus believe that it is extremely difficult to concentrate on God having no shape. So they worship God in feminine form and masculine form as well. Muslims say how the mere mortals can dare to give a particular shape to God. Even Hinduism mentions God is shapeless and nameless. No one knows whether God is a male or a female.
It is a male dominated society irrespective of the religion since ages. So God has become practically a male. Human being is not a supreme authority in this planet. There are many things which we mere mortals don’t know and Science simply can’t explain. We need not More >
Grooming Young Indian Cricketers
Oct 8th
It is the right time to groom young cricketers. BCCI should put in efforts seriously in this regard. Rahul Dravid, V.V.S.Laxman,Sachin Tendulkar,Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel are most unlikely to play international cricket for more than 2 to 3 years. The backup players like Yuvraj Singh,Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sarma should take up the mantle soon. It needs plenty of dedication and sincerity for them to succeed at the highest level. They should treat each and every match like their first match. BCCI should make them aware of their shortcomings. They should be told to work out on their short comings in their interest and in the interest of the Nation. Even the invincible Sachin Tendulkar has shown chinks in his armour and so did all our top batsmen except Rahul Dravid in the recently concluded England test series. They appeared like gutless players and sense of shame is not seen on their faces. What a shame. Our cricketers were totally under prepared. The least thing Dhoni could have done is to play five bowlers in every match and drop Suresh Raina. I certainly don’t think our youngsters are worth the money they are being paid in IPL.
Suresh More >
Happy Vijaya Dashami
Oct 6th
Navaratri is one of the most auspicious festivals for Hindus of India. Nava means number nine in Sanskrit language and Ratri means night. Hence the word Navaratri means nine nights. Hindus in India and abroad worship Goddess Durga, a ten-armed goddess, who destroyed evil and brought peace in the universe. These nine days of Navaratri are considered as one of the most auspicious times of the Hindu calendar. Nine different forms of Devi Durga are worshiped over nine days and nights. The nine night’s festival of Navaratri begins on the first day of Ashwayuja of the bright fortnight. Seeds are sown, sprouts are watched, the planets are consecrated, and on the 8th and 9th days, Durgashtami and Maharnavami, Goddess Durga is worshipped. The day after Navaratri the 10th day of Ashwayuja, is Dussehra or Vijayadashami which celebrates the victory of lord Rama over Ravana and the victory of Goddess Durga over evil king Mahishasura.
In different parts of India, different legends describe the significance of Navaratri:
According to the legend in North India Mahishasura, the mighty demon, worshipped Lord Shiva and obtained many powers . Having empowered he started harassing and killing innocent people and set out to win all the three More >
