Hyderabad Times Party

Attended the Hyderabad Times (HT) Party at ITC Kakatiya on 16th,
Saturday.

Hmmmm, what can I say.

Having attended Bangalore Times parties, I have to say, Hyderabad was
nowhere near the mark of Bangalore, forget Bombay and Delhi.

Other than Azhar and Sangeetha, for a non-telugu movie watcher there
were no celebrities at all. Tollywood supposedly turned up in force
judging by the coverage in Hyderabad Times (HT)today but none of them
were recognisable to our group of 10.

There were the occasional designers and the rest of them, but for the
most it was compised of the Hyderabadi Reddy's whose names are dropped
so often in the same HT. We normally get to meet more celebrities at
each visit to Preetam Reddy's "Touch" than the whole of the HT party.

The entertainment was restricted to a couple of dancers from the Bombay
dance bars, 3 Russian women who danced what the MC called the Can-Can
but from my limited knowledge of music and dance it seemed more of a
Flamenco oriented, Spanish-Gypsy music and dance number. Except that
they did kick their legs up high which could be reminiscent of the
can-can I guess. Then there were these 2 males from bombay who were
supposed to be strippers, but they didnÂ’t take off anything other than
their shirts. And they were wearing jeans so totally unfair
entertainment policy I should say, given that the female dancers were
wearing the barest minimum of fabric.

The MC did an absolutely lousy job of it. She kept repeating "so is this
party going to rock" as if willing it to rock just by her constant
repetition. Sad fact being that the attendees were usually, actually
having a good time until she came on stage to ask her rocking question.

The MC then conducted a so called "Spot Prize" distribution and called
out names of tolly wood stars to receive gift vouchers worth Rs.3000/-
each. Neither the distributor or the distributees could be located for
quite awhile. Finally the distributor n his wife were duly located, but
only 2 of the distributees were to be found. Allu arjun for most
eligible bachelor and some other guy who couldnÂ’t speak English too well
for dressing Bollywood style. Guess he was going for the Sallu look
since he had most of his buttons open.

The Band "Tidal Waves" from Goa was great. Their English numbers were
quite good, but with the theme being Bollywood remixed, they were
compelled to play such numbers too which werent up to the mark.

DJ Ryan Beck was brought in to play some music post 2AM and that was
pretty decent too.

The bar tender who did some juggling with flaming bottles did a good job
but he was more interested in pouring shooters down the throats of the
PYT's around.

Having cribbed about all this, the brightest spot which overshone
everything else was the FOOD. Kakataiya's food in Hyderabad has to rank
among the best.

There were buffet tables for salad, Haleem(veg option on offer too),
Hyderabadi cuisine, Oriental cuisine, Lebanese cuisine, Frontier &
Awadhi cuisine, an Indian Grill section apart from the desserts.

Check out My pub & restaurant
review blog for a Detailed Review of the Food

Dublin rocked for a while too. But after the amazing meal, and the
flowing Chivas Reagal, sleep was the only interesting option. Totally
agree with href="http://kimelody.blogspot.com/2004/10/paanch.html">Dipta, that
we have reached the Uncle/Aunty phase in life.

NASA Mission on Bannerghatta Road

-----Original Message-----
From: Rohit Punnoose 

 

For one who travels to Electronics City every day on Bannerghatta Road, making each trip to and fro in atleast 1.5 to 2 excruciatingly painful hours, this certainly makes sense!!!! Conspiracy Theory anyone???!!! J

 

NASA Mission on Bannerghatta Road

Well, it was that time of the night when loneliness is your only companion, and shadows the only followers. It was around 2.00 AM in the morning.

I was bouncing away merrily on Bannerghatta road, when some bright lights stopped me. It took me a few minutes to realise that it was not a movie shooting. It took me a few more minutes to convince myself that this was not an alien landing either.

Though there was a modicum of clarity, there was a shade of doubt too. I proceeded to gamely question a well-clad man of foreign origin. "Shhh" he cautioned me.

Softly I asked him " What's happening brother". "NASA..."he whispered, "I am Dr. Morgan from The Lunar Exploration programme". Like all of us, I was sure I was drunk, or he was!

On watching a few men in spacesuits bumping around I realised he was speaking the truth. On further enquiry, he told me, that NASA had tried to create surroundings that would resemble the rocky, crater filled Moon's surface and had failed miserably. This led to a desperate search for test sites on planet earth.

Very few in earth qualified, only Iraq (An exploded Oil Well), Sri Lanka , and our own Bannerghatta road.

Of course, we were the lowest cost proposition, with Iraq ruled out as a high-risk venture, Sri Lanka because of the prevailing ceasefire, it was expected to have decent roads soon. What matched their needs best was the irreproducible surface that Bannerghatta road offered.

The Mars rover and Endeavour were bouncing away too, on the rugged surface.

Suddenly, I spotted the CM standing quietly in the distance. I walked up to him and smiled. He nodded, smiling softly. I looked at him enquiringly and asked him "Was this your idea"? My eyes gazed at the dilapidated piece of broken earth in front of me.

"Yes" he said almost humbly, too modest to acknowledge the enormity of his effort. "So, what's in it for us?" I probed. "Millions of dollars, that's what they have promised, once this gets approved as a broken earth site it will be used regularly. I also have plans of breaking up the other roads, which are happening under the guise of flyovers" he confided.

I shuddered at the enormity of the attempt. How all of us mortals, cribbed, raved and ranted every time we came across a broken road. How blind we have all been, eyes shut, we refused to view the big picture.

Every bad road is a million dollar opportunity. I bade quiet farewells to Dr. Morgan and the CM and quietly rode away.

As I reached the BTM flyover and my tyre went flat, I pushed my bike smiling softly.... a million dollars in every bad road I told myself...what do you think?  

Disclaimer --> any reference to any person dead or alive is purely intentional !!!

Grandma's operation successful

Thank you to everyone who prayed for my grandma. She was taken into the
operation theatre finally at 3:00PM IST today. She was brought out at
5:30 PM. The doctor has inserted 3 stents in her heart. The procedure
was successful. They will be removing the tube at midnight today and by
tomorrow, she will be brought to the room. If things move smoothly, we
can bring her home by Friday. There arent too many complications in post
operative in a case like this. So thanks to all ytour prayers, grandma
is doing well.

Thank you once again from everyone in the Aranha family.

Women 'better at holding drink'

Thanks to Ramnath Shenoy.





Women 'better at holding drink'



Some men may not want to hear this - but scientists have found women are
better at holding their drink.


Kentucky University researchers found men's loss of inhibition was three
times greater than women's with the same blood alcohol levels.


Writing in the journal Addiction, they said the finding might explain
why men are more likely to become aggressive.


It found men appeared to become more stimulated after drinking while
women became more relaxed.

The researchers gave 12 men and 12 women, all classed as "social
drinkers" a set amount of alcohol each. They then tested their ability
to hit a button at the right time when a symbol flashed up. Participants
had to hit a green button when a green symbol flashed up. If a blue
symbol appeared, they were told not to hit anything. People became less
able to prevent themselves hitting the green key when a blue symbol
appeared the more drunk they became.


But the men's performance was around three times worse than the women's.


The participants were then asked to evaluate the effect they thought
alcohol had on them, rating how well certain adjectives applied to them.


The men reported levels of stimulation, including aggression, confidence
and loss of inhibition, which were two and a half times higher than
women,
In contrast, the women reported a six times higher level of sedation
than the men.

Writing in Addition, the researchers led by psychologist Dr Mark
Fillimore, said: "The gender
difference in response inhibition could reflect differences in
alcohol-induced arousal in men and women. "Men reported increased
stimulation and women reported increased sedation in response to
alcohol."


They added: "Evidence that men report greater stimulation than women
could reflect a basic gender difference in the degree to which alcohol
increases arousal that might also contribute to disinhibited
behaviour."


The team suggested that biological and psychological differences could
explain why men and women respond to alcohol differently.

"Social and cultural learning cannot be ruled out as a causal factor.
For example, men and women differ in the types of effects that they
expect from alcohol, and such expectations could influence behaviour
under the drug."

Dr Fillimore added: "There is a general supposition that women don't
hold their liquor very well but our results show that it is men who
become uninhibited and get a high more quickly."

Jim Orford, professor of psychology at Birmingham University, told the
Sunday Times newspaper:
"Women on average are entering drinking situations a bit more
cautiously, whereas men have less reservation about how they are going
to behave, with more expectation that they're going to get stimulated."

He added: "If men go out in order to feel stimulated - they're 'up for
it' - then they're going to feel more stimulated. If women are going out
in order to relax, then at the same blood-alcohol level they're going to
feel more relaxed and sedated."

A spokeswoman for Alcohol Concern told BBC News Online: "We need to see
more evidence to back these conclusions up."


Sudz inference :

so the men who walk straight and drive straight aftur a drink are less
macho and more feminine and therefore more eligible to face the glass
ceiling..........and if "thats" the way women relax aftur a drink then
its safer to be just stimulated........

and women who do 'nautankee' aftur a drink are definately wearing menz
underwear..........

are u relaxing or am I stimulated ???? .............oooooo the futility
of this existence

sudz

Spiritual reading list.

This has been compiled by a friend of Prof Fenn. It seems extremely
comprehensive to me.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dr. Mathai Baker Fenn, XLRI

Sometime Ago I was asked to send out my spiritual reading list. My
friend collected results from many respondents like me and made this
list. I think its a wonderful exercise and would like to share it all
with you.

Mathai

Spiritual Read List:
Navaratri 2004

One day I was asked, ‘What are the best books to read on spirituality?’
I did not know how to answer this question forthwith. I said I would get
back. Then, for a start, I made a list of all the books that had made an
impact on me spiritually. I also discussed this with several people:
among them were my friends and fellow seekers, and people from all walks
of life; artists and littérateurs, scholars and philosophers, priests
and religious heads,
office-goers and men of commerce.

There was much deliberation about the criterion and inclusions to such a
list. Several opinions emerged, starting from ‘what is spirituality?’ to
‘what is the literature that can ennoble, initiate, start, transform and
convert one towards the felicity of the Spirit and benediction of the
Divine. Spirituality appeared to find its allies in varied kinds of
literature. I have edited the titles, which came up in this search in
the hope that they will benefit one and all.

So here are the books that have helped my spiritual journey and also
those dear to me.
The list has predominantly titles from Hinduism but it is in no way
limiting to one faith or belief. You may be surprised at the eclectic
list that has emerged.

A. BEGINNERÂ’S LIST

METAPHYSICAL POETRY
1.Sudha Dhara: Sitaramdas Omkarnath
2.Gitanjali: Rabindranath Tagore
3.Works of Kabir(Kabir Padavali, Bijak, Songs of Kabir: Rabindranath
Tagore)
4.Tulasidas(Ramcharitmanas, Gitavali, Kavitavali, Vinaya Patrika, Barvai
Ramayana,
Hanuman Chalisa)
5.The Essential Rumi: Jalaluddin Rumi
6.Songs of Ramprasad
7.Duino Elegies: Rainer Maria Rilke
8.Paradise Lost/ Paradise Regain: John Milton
9.A Book of Luminous Things (Anthology): Czeslaw Milosz
10.Religious Poems: John Donne

SPIRITUAL PROSE/ FICTION
11.Siddhartha: Herman Hesse
12.The Prophet: Khalil Gibran
13.Resurrection: Lev Tolstoy
14.The Plague: Albert Camus
15.The Outsider: Albert Camus
16.RazorÂ’s Edge: W. Saumerset Maugham
17.The Age of Reason: Jean Paul Sartre
18.Illusions: Richard Bach
19.The Way of All The Earth: John S Dunne
20.Stepenwolf: Herman Hesse
21.Demian: Herman Hesse
22.Night: Wiesel, Elie
23.Silence: Shusaku Endo
24.Care of the Soul: Thomas Moore
25.Potrait of An Artist As A Young Man: James Joyce
26.The Alchemist: Paulo Coelho
27.The Pilgimage: Pulo Coelho
28.By The River Of Madeira I Sat Down And Wept

BIOGRAPHICAL
29.The Autobiography/ My Experiments With Truth: M K Gandhi
30.My Guru & His Disciple: Christopher Isherwood
31."Leela Prashanga" - Life of Shri Ramakrishna: Swami Sharadananda
32.Among The Great: Conversations with Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi,
Rabindranath Tagore, Romain Roland, Bertrand Russel. Dilip Kumar Roy.
33.Meetings With Remarkable Men: Gurdjieff, G.I.
34.Notes to myself: Hugh Prather

EXPLORATORY
35.The Eternal Festival: Kinkar Bitthal Ramanuja
36.Autobiography of a Yogi: Yogananda, Paramahansa
37.Living With The Himalayan Masters: Swami Rama
38.Search In Secret India: Paul Brunton
39.Hermit In The Himalayas: Paul Brunton
40.Teaching Beyond Yoga: Paul Brunton
41.Toward The Silver Crests Of The Himalayas: G P Pradhan
42.Many lives, many masters: Brian L Weiss
43.Wisdom of the Ancient Sages: Swami Rama
44.New Discovery - Swami Vivekananda in the West: Mary Louis Buck (Vol.
I - VI)

BASIC SPIRITUALITY
45.Amar Chitra Katha
46.Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: Vol I & II. Swami Nikhilananda
47.Sai Sat Charitra
48.The Spiritual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi
49.Commentaries On The Bible: William Barclay
50.Prayers for the common man: William Barclay
51.The Good Heart: Dalai Lama
52.The Song Celestial: Edwin Arnold
53.Bhagwat Gita: Swami Chinmayananda
54.Bhagawat Gita: Dr. Radhakrishnan
55.The Message of the Upanishads (Ramakarishan Mission)
56.Krinshnavatara : C. Rajagopalacharya
57.Anashakti Yoga:MK Gandhi
58.Works of Vinoba Bhave
59.Am I a Hindu: Ed Vishwanathan(Gita Pravachane, Ahimsa Ki Khoj, Maha
Gufa Mein Pravesh)

CONTEMPLATIVE TREATISES
60.The Road Less Traveled: Peck, M. Scott.
61.Light On The Path: Mabel Collins
62.Wise Blood: O'Connor, Flannery
63.Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism: Chogyam Trungpa
64.The Seven Storey Mountain: Merton, Thomas.
65.Thoughts in Solitude: Merton, Thomas.
66.The Power of Now: A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment: Eckhart Tolle
67.Stillness Speaks: Eckhart Tolle
68.The Inner Look: Silo (Mario Rodriguez)
69.Living Enlightenmment: Andrew Cohen
70.Embracing Heaven & Earth: Andrew Cohen
71.Works of Thich Nhat Nanh(Being Peace, The Blooming of Lotus, Breath!
You Are Alive)


B. ADVANCED LIST

TIMELESS CLASSICS
72.The Vedas
73.Upanishads
74.The Puranas
75.The Bible
76.The Kuran
77.Guru Granth Sahib
78.Mahabharata
79.Ramayana(Tulasi Ramayana, Valmiki Ramayana, Adhyatma Ramayana, Anand
Ramayana)
80.Works of Adi Shankara(Saundarya Lahiri, Vivekachudamani, Bhaja
Govindam, Adi Giri Nandini)
81.Manu Smriti
82.Patanjali Yoga Sutras (Aphorisms of Patanjali)
83.Imitation of Christ: Thomas aÂ’ Kempis
84.The Cloud of Unknowing and the Book of Privy Counselling: Author
Unknown, edited by William Johnston
85.The Gospel of Thomas: Anonymous; Marvin Meyer
86.The Sayings of Confucius
87.Tao Te Ching: Lao Tsu

GITAS
88.Avadhuta Gita: Dattatreya
89.Guru Gita
90.Ram Gita
91.Ashtavakra Gita
92.Uddhav Gita

WORKS OF/ ON SAINTS/ SEERS
93.Works of Sri Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath:(Andhare Alo: Light in
Darkness, Maharasayana: The Great Elixir, Sudha Dhara:: Streams of
Nectar, Abhay Vani: Hope Abounding, Sri Sri Mahamantyra
Samkirtana: Chanting of the Name, Tri Ratna: Triple Gem, Amrit Bindu: A
Drop of Nectar, Birahinir Abhisar: The Maid In Quest of Her Beloved,
Naad Leelamrit, Naamamrit Lahari, Guru Puja, Bhakta Leela, Guru
Mahimamrit)
94.Chaitanya Charitamrit (Life of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu)
95.Sadhak Sanjeevani (On Bhagawat Gita): Swami Ramsukhdas
96.I Am That: Nisargadutt Maharaj
97.Chitshaktivilas: Play of Consciousness: Swami Muktananada, Paul Zweig
98.Churning of the Heart, Introduction to Spiritual Life (Vol. I-III):
Swami Shivom Tirth
99.A Guide to Shaktipath: Swami Shivom Tirth
100.Trek of Spirituality (Sadhan Path): Swami Shivom Tirth
101.Essays On The Gita: Sri Aurobindo
102.Hindu Dharma: Chandrashekharendra Saraswati Mahaswamiji
103.Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Vol I Vol X
104.Works of Madhusudan Saraswati(Commentary on Gita, siddhaantabindu,
vedaantakalpalatika and bhakti rasaayana)
105.Sri Amritanandmayir Jibani
106.Mind, Its Mystery & Control: Swami Sivananda
107.Bharatiya Sanskriti Aur Sadhana: Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Gopinathji
Kaviraj
108.Deeksha: Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Gopinathji Kaviraj
109.Sadhu Darshan Evam Satprasanga: Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Gopinathji
Kaviraj
110.Tapobhumi Narmada: Shailendra Narayan Ghoshal
111.Be Here Now: Ram Dass
112.Yoga Darshana (commentaries by Acharya Sharma)
113.Surya Namaskara by Appa Pant
114.The Holy Kural: Saint Tiruvalluvar
115.Works of Bhartrihari(vairagya satakam (hundred verses on
renunciation), niti-satakam and
sringara-satakam (hundred verses on worldly wisdom and love)
100.Periyapuranam compiled by Sekkizhar (life of 63 saints [nayanmars])
101.Ekanathi Bhagawat: Sant Ekanath
102.Jnaneshwari: Sant Jnaneshwar
103.Zero Experience: Swami Agehananda
104.The Truth Is: HWL Poonja
105.Purana Purush Yogiraj Sri Shama Churn Lahiree: Dr. Ashok Kumar
Chaterjee
106.The Eternal Sage: VR Prabhu (On Akkalkot Swami)

OTHERS
107.Hindu Shastra: Rameshchandra Dutta
108.Ved Vichinta: Vil I & II: Mahanaamvrata Brahmachari
109.Vaishnav Vedanta: Mahanaamvrata Brahmachari
110.Glimpses of Indian Culture: Dr. Dhyanesh Narayana Chakravarti
111.Dev Devi Udbhav Kramvikas: Hansanarayana Bhattacharya

SUFI
112.Caravan of Dreams: Idries Shah
113.The Way Of The Sufi: Idries Shah
114.Sufi Teachings: Hazrat Inayat Khan

CONTEMPLATIVE TREATISES
115.Pensees: Blaise Pascal
116.Meditations: Marcus Aurelius
117.The Varieties of Religious Experience: William James
118.Modern Man In Search of A Soul: Carl Jung
119.Memories, Dreams, Reflections: Carl Jung
120.Self Reliance & Other Essays: Ralph Waldo Emerson
121.The Nature & Destiny of Man: Niebuhr, Reinhold.
122.Mysticism: Underhill, Evelyn

PHILOSOPHIC
123.Perennial Philosophy: Aldous Huxley
124.Think on These Things: Jiddu Krishnamurthi
125.Freedom from the Known: Jiddu Krishnamurthi
126.In Search of Miraculous: Ouspensky, P.D.
127.The Fourth Way: Ouspensky, P.D.
128.The Idea of the Holy: Otto, Rudolf
129.Art of Loving: Erich Fromm
130.You Shall Be As Gods: Erich Fromm

ZEN THOUGHT/ BUDDHISM
131.The Way of Zen: Alan Watts
132.Behold The Spirit: Alan Watts
133.Feeling Buddha: David Frazer
134.Zen Mind, BeginnerÂ’s Mind: Suzuki, Shunryu
135.Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: Reps, Paul and Senzaki, Nyogan.
136.Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: Robert Pirsig
137.Guide to Bodhisattva Way of Life: Shantideva
138.The Way of The White Clouds: Lama Govinda
139.Essays In Zen Buddhism: Suzuki D.T
140.Awakening The Buddha Within: Lama Surya Das

BIHAR SCHOOL OF YOGA
(Kundalini Tantra, Prana Vidya, Yoga Nidra, Kriya Yoga, Swara Yoga,
Surya Namaskara, Asana, Mudra Bandha, Pranayama, Meditation and the
Tantras)

Thus ends the first Spiritual Read List edited by Raj Supe. This one is
Navratri 2004 edition and it will be revised and published every year.
Inclusions and comments to this list are kindly solicited from the host
of spiritual aspirants, practitioners and adepts from all quarters.

*****