Bhavana penned

Winter is here and so is skiing which is a sport of recreation for the natives of temperate zones. Thankfully this year I am witnessing snowfall once in every two days and the temperature is below freezing point on almost every day (not sure if I am thankful for the latter though). Sometimes just after the snowfall, the temperature warms up a little bit and then rain pours on this snowfall. After this rainfall, the temperature ‘decides’ to goes below freezing point and then freezes this rain water. This creates a life threatening situation for people and animals alike to walk on the ground at that point (imagine walking on a huge piece of ice!! Scary thought isn't it?) . But native people here (and even their pets) are at ease while walking on these icy ground surfaces. People here even try and slide on these icy grounds sportively which really freak me out.  But for tropical mortals such as me, these icy ground surfaces are threatening as this was n...

I love to read 50/60s Kannada novels, but the social injustice existing at that time makes my blood boil whenever I read them. 1) "It is the responsibility of my elder son to educate my other kids" --Just imagine educating one son takes these irresponsible parents all their lives and they expect their "this" son to educate other children of their's. Such unfair system! 2) "oh, your daughter is very fair and beautiful, I want my son to marry only her ." --Why should a girl be looked as a "thing" for match makers?? Weighing people with their body colors. What has girl's dark skin got to do with match making?? and yes, these girls got adjusted >stupidly< with this unfair system. They should have had done a revolution against this. Even now, I see advertisements which is about making skin "fair". Shame!! 3) "oh, why should we educate our girl child anyway, they are going to become "property" of oth...

27-Oct-2011 It was a very cloudy morning and looked as if it was going to rain heavily. I took my tram and travelled for nearly 20 minutes to city center where I work. I then got down at my tram stop in city center and the weather was still terrible and it had started to drizzle slowly. I did not feel like taking my umbrella out. Tram Stop: Riverside walk to Business park: From the tram stop in city center, I have to walk for 5 minutes to reach Business Park where my office is situated. There are many employees from the business park working for different companies, who get down at the same stop as I do. We have to cross traffic signal once and walk next to river and it is a very soothing morning walk, but for few smokers who smoke while walking as well (pity them) ! Today while crossing the traffic signal I happen to hear a conversation behind me. The conversation was between an obese American (it might be due to the result of Mac Donalds and KFC,...

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday). Easter customs vary across the Christian world, but decorating Easter eggs is a common motif. In the Western world, customs such as egg hunting and the Easter Bunny extend from the domain of church, and often have a secular character. Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter Definitions apart, to me Easter signifies colour and beginning of spring season. We will appreciate spring season only when we face harsh winter.  I would like to share some pictures of Easter celebrations in Czech Republic. Czech Folk dances: The main thing about this fountain is you can see the poetry about water by Jan Skacel: Poet's name Those ring like base is carved with Skacel's poetry.

There are several reasons for me to love Mysore, 1) being my native is/was in Srirangapatna, a village in it which is now submerged in Kaveri waters called "Gibikote". 2) Mysore Dasara celebrations 3) Mysore is the cultural capital of Karnataka and many others. I would love to introduce you to a Mysorean board game called "Chauka Bara". This is primarily a game of chance, but involves thinking and planning. It also helps in developing counting skills. It is an interesting and fun way to develop strategy skills. The rules for this board game can be found in here  http://kreedaakaushalya.blogspot.com/2008/05/chauka-bara.html We got a chance to introduce this wonderful game in Czech Republic among our friends in a restaurant which was previously a wine celler. I would love to share some of the pictures Kiran Explaining the rules At the end of the day I was really proud of myself and Kiran and we decided to keep such lovely evenings again and...

What is this about? In the main city Square of Brno, the second largest city of Czech Republic after Prague, a giant Clock is installed. This does not look anything like a clock. Then why is it called a clock and why it is such a main attraction in Brno nowadays?? -Picture Source:  http://brnonow.com/2010/09/brno-cock-clock/ This is not a giant clock dildo but,  the clock symbolizes a bullet. It reminds the 1645 battle of Brno , in which the town defended Swedish army by a smart trick: the Swedish wanted to abandon the fight if they wouldn’t have conquered the town until 12 p.m. – so people of Brno chimed noon earlier, at 11 a.m.. More info:  http://brnonow.com/2010/09/brno-cock-clock/

ನನ್ನ ಆರನೇ ವಯ್ಯಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವು ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಜಯನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಸಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆವು. ನನಗೆ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದಾಗಿನಿಂದಲೂ ಒಂದೆಲ್ಲ ಒಂದು ಆರೋಗ್ಯದ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗಳು. ವಣಕಲ ಕಡ್ಡಿಯಂತೆಯಿದ್ದೆ. ಸರಿ, ನನ್ನ ತಾಯಿಯು ನನಗೆ ನೃತ್ಯ ಅಥವ ಸಂಗೀತವನ್ನು ಕಲಿಸಲೇಬೇಕೆಂದು ನಿಶ್ಚಯಿಸಿದ್ದರು. ಮೊದಲಿಗೆ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಒಂದು ನೃತ್ಯದ ಶಾಲೆಗೆ ಕರೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗಿದ್ದರು. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ನೃತ್ಯದ ಮೇಷ್ಟರು ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಹಾಗು ನನ್ನ ತಾಯಿಯನ್ನು ಒಂದೆಡೆ ಕೂರಿಸಿ ತಮ್ಮ ಪಾಠವನ್ನು ಮುಂದುವರೆಸಿದರು. ಕೆಲ ಸಮಯದ ನಂತರ ಆ ಮೇಷ್ಟರು ಒಬ್ಬ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿನಿಯ ಕಾಲಿಗೆ ತಮ್ಮ “ತಾಳ”ದಿಂದ ಹೊಡೆದುದನ್ನು ಕಂಡು ನಾನು ಚಿಟ್ಟನೆ ಚೀರಲು ಶುರುಮಾಡಿದ್ದೆ. ಇದಾದಮೇಲೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಹೊರ ಓಡಿದ್ದೆ, ನನ್ನ ತಾಯಿಯು ನನ್ನ ಹಿಂದೆ ಓಡಿ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಹಿಡಿದು ಮತ್ತೆ ಶಾಲೆಯ ಒಳಗೆ ಕರೆದು ಕೊಂಡು ಹೋದರು. ನೃತ್ಯದ ಮೇಷ್ಟರು ನನಗೆ ಒಂದು ಡಬ್ಬಿತುಂಬ ಸಿಹಿ ತಿಂಡಿಯನ್ನು ಕೊಟ್ಟು, ಅಳಬೇಡಮ್ಮ, ಅಳಬೇಡ ಅಂದಿದ್ದೂ ಅಂದಿದ್ದೆ. ಅವರು ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಹೊಡೆಯುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಅಂಥ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದು ಹೇಳಿದ್ದೆ. ನನ್ನ ಕೂಗು ಚೀರಾಟ ಇನ್ನು ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಲು ಶುರುವಾದಾಗ, ನನ್ನ ತಾಯಿಯು ಆ ತಬ್ಬಿಬ್ಬಾದ ನೃತ್ಯದ ಮೇಷ್ಟರರಿಗೆ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಮತ್ತೆ ಕರೆದು ಕೊಂಡು ಬರುವಂತೆ ಹೇಳಿ ಜಾಗ ಖಾಲಿ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರು. ಅದಾದ ನಂತರ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಆ ನೃತ್ಯದ ಶಾಲೆಗೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಕಾಲಿಡಿಸಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಪಾಪ! ಈ ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ನನ್ನ ತಾಯಿಯು ನನಗೆ ಸಂಗೀತ ಪಾಠವನ್ನು ಶುರುಮಾಡಿ...

That’s what most of our Hindu conservative Indians ask to those who are fortunate enough to celebrate February 14th with their loved ones. The usual question is “Does Indian society needs Valentine culture??? If yes.. whyy???” -- I say “why not”??? To such people my questions are as follows: ‎1) Please define Valentine's day “Culture”. 2) Why don’t I hear any Indian >woman< asking this question, why are only men bothered about this. 3) Lastly please define Indian society. The so called Valentine day culture is only a >mild< copy of what India had in the 6th century AD... -Kama sutra. We were far more advanced than this. In India, in the antiquity, there was a tradition of adoring Kamadev, the lord of love; exemplificated by the erotic carvings in the Khajuraho Group of Monuments and by the writing of the Kama sutra treaty of lovemaking. This tradition was lost around the Middle Ages, when Kamadev was no longer celebrated, and public displays of sexual...

I and Kiran visited the Christmas market in the centre of Brno called Freedom Square (Namesti Svobody). I had to buy some gift as “Secret Santa” which was organized by my colleagues in the office. So what better place there could be to buy a gift for Christmas than a Christmas market? It was freezing -9 degrees outside and we met after work in the square. The smell of the market in that freezing temperature was very inviting indeed. There were smell of hot wine, burning wood to prepare snacks, sweets, sausages and etc. Children were all over the place shouting with excitement. It was a typical festival market scene. There was also this huge screen which was showing some local cartoons for the toddlers. We had our share of hot honey wine (yummy it was), potato pancakes and some sweets. And then my attention fell on the Christmas tree and all of a sudden a question popped into my head. “If Christianity was born in Jerusalem, a place where no coniferous trees grows anywhere nea...

I have been living in Czech Republic for nearly 4 years now. In these 4 years, I have had an opportunity to know a bit Czech Culture, its relations with other European Nations etc,. This country has a history of being ruled over than ruling themselves or ruling other countries. Me, who used to hate history before, started to like it after trying to know about communism and Nazism etc. This is because it is a new concept to me after coming from a country which is the largest democracy. Some Czechs that I have come across do not like foreigners and their presence in Czech Republic at all. I have seen other sorts of Czechs as well who are extremely humble (to a core where they lookdown upon themselves in front of foreigners, especially other Europeans). Czechs also have a reputation of being sarcastic most of the time. Maybe this humbleness I mentioned can also be a sarcastic response to the foreigners. This sarcasm is a complicated issue and foreigners tend to get confused sometimes ...