Bangalore Diaries

A spur of the moment decision, next I know we are planning or rather packing for this day trip to have the darshana of the very divine Hasaanamba Devi. Multiple attempts in the previous year landed up with disappointments and hence, I was eager to have her darshana this time around. Along with a couple of my colleagues, the family of one of them joined us in this trip. It was such a blessing to be in the presence and to listen to the timeless wisdom of the elders of the group. The entire trip was a very happy family experience, with the elder couple caring for all of us as their own children.   
We started from Bengaluru around 5:45 am. Enroute we stopped at MTR on Bengaluru - Hassan highway and treated ourselves to a sumptuous breakfast. Food is really good here !!! Haasanamba Temple 
A very divine temple nestled within the Haasan city, a much revered Devi whose darshana is available only for a specific period in a year. First and the foremost, we need to thank the Government, di...

  This book was released by Subbu recently, which piqued my interest. Agastya Muni (as he is commonly referred to) is a very revered saint in the southern parts of Bharathavarsha and naturally I was attracted to this work. Overall, I feel the first half of the book is a good introduction to those unfamiliar with the stories, legends and history associated with Agastya muni. The second half of the book is a fan account of one of the prominent Kalari teachers of modern era and culminates with the author’s personal encounters with the revered sage. The author’s father is said to have been a medium to encapsulate the teachings of the great saint which is captured in the last part of the book. There are quite a few aspects of the book which I differ with and I try to capture my observations as below: Timeline of Ramayana and Vedic period as captured by the author is incorrect. Vedic is much more older and Ramayana is quite old Quantifying Ramayana and Mahabharatha as epic diminishes the...

 Words are just insufficient to describe the sense of loss of a great person for the country, for the society and personally for me. One of my friends asked me to speak about SLB sir, but no matter how hard I tried, mind didn’t cooperate. Perhaps, it required some sinking in about the loss of an individual as accomplished, influential master like him. I am sure there are many more accomplished writers and authors who have worked closely with SLB sir and have written eloquently about the great man. I tried to put to words what impact he had on me in my life. To describe S. L. Bhyrappa in words is to attempt to describe an ocean holding a fistful of water. The impact of his words on his audience was very individual, but highly impactful. I found SLB sir quite late (on relative terms) in my life. Though I had heard and read about him in papers, I never took up the courage to go and start reading his books. Perhaps, it was providence that I found his writings at a time when I was searc...