Ramakrishna’s first photograph

Today during the discourse swamiji narrated how the first photograph came about. Bhavnath, one of his devotees, got the photographer and asked Ramakrishna(RK) if he could take his picture. RK apparently did not like it and went and sat in the radhakrishna temple. Narendra (Vivekananda) happened to pass by and offered to help Bhavnath. He asked him to wait and went in to meet RK. RK, as always, was jubiliant on seeing Narendra. Narendra started asking him difficult questions in advaita. While answering him RK went into samadhi at which point Narendra asked the photographer to take the picture. However, RK’s posture was slightly inclined and the photographer tried to get the posture straight. However, when he tried to do so RK’s body floated up like a piece of paper. Narendra intervened, asked him to not touch and offered to correct the posture. The picture was taken. Later when the picture was shown to RK he was delighted and said that that was how people in a high state of yoga looked like. He added that this picture would be worshipped by lakhs of people. An enlarged version of this picture is in the main worship hall at Bangalore RK math.

Another way to live

The picture of a sadhu, with ash smeared face and a large naamam (a U with a line bisecting it arising from the center) on the forehead, on the front cover got my attention to this book.  It is an account of Professor/Dr. Kapur’s experience with yoga and yogi’s. I use the word yogi here synonymously with sadhus swamis and sanyasis. There are extracts and summaries of several of his interviews with yogis. However, in all his travails Dr. Kapur never came across a yogi with powers (siddhis). So there are no stories about magical/supernatural powers or even mind reading. The one sadhu who was shown to him to be a realised soul Dr. Kapur suspects to be schizophrenic! In his interviews he asked the sadhus  why they chose the path.   The answers are varied ranging from “i was on the path from childhood” to “i took it to avoid misfortune” and “it was a way to meet the challenges of old age”!  There are detailed accounts of some of them and they form interesting reading.

Dr. Kapur also joined as an apprentice with a Guru to learn yoga. He narrates his experience during training and also the effects after continuing it when he was back home. These chapters make interesting reading. There is also an account on changes in his behavior at home after and before yoga in his wife’s words.  To quote her ” Having observed my husband’s practice for an year, i came to the conclusion that regular practice of yoga enhanced the positive aspects of his personality and reduced the negative aspects. However, interrupted practice proved to be  more harmful than not practicing at all”.

The comments and guidance from his guru are listed as bullets in a couple of pages. They are real gems. I skipped the parts which dealt with the theory of yoga and details on psyco-analysis.  On the whole this book is a good read.

BSA MACH?

i bought the bsa cycle today. on the web i had read that mach 19 and mach 22 are the two bsa options. but when i called up RRcycle yeshwantpur he said they didn’t have those numbers. when the wrappers were removed from the frame i found only ‘mach’ written on the top bar of the frame and BSA on the inclined bar. the bicycle is in red and black shaded. the front half of the cycle is black and the read half is red. It has plastic mudguards shaped like wings. i am not sure if they will protect the mud from flying on to me. it has thin wheels-the racer type (the tyre print reads 27×1-1/4″. I got the handle bar changed. The original handle bar curved in and had a cushion all over the front. So one would have bend while driving. i wanted the gears fitted. i was told that i had to go for straight bars if i wanted gears. So now i have a straight bar with 6 speed shimano gears. the original seat looked to stiff and a little small. I got the it changed to a larger one with springs beneath it. Its a hercules seat. the cycle came with a standard bell and a cable lock. It cost me 5200 Rs everything included. Only i dont know what mach number it is!
After i came home i found on casual inspection that the BSA and MACH labels are not so transparent stickers. The BSA label in fact got damaged a little possible when the wrapper was being removed.
The ride home from cycle shop was cool. I am glad i finally own a bicycle. Bicycling is my only hope of getting some exercise.

My experience at dr. Batra’s-3

(read about the earlier parts here and here)

Today i visited the doctor a week earlier than scheduled. Thats because my scheduled visit falls on a long weekend and i will be out of station. The doctor asked the same questions i had the same answers but i found myself talking a bit louder. In between giving the same answers i told her a bit firmly that i didn’t think there was any reduction in hair loss.  She had a camera with her this time and she fished out the snaps that were taken in one of my earlier visits about 6 months back. A comparison of the snaps taken on this visit and then showed no difference.  There seemed to be some new hair growth near the fore heard( in the region where the hair loss forms the shape M). But there is a catch.  When the earlier photograph was taken my hair was oiled and easily grouped together. But this time i had not oiled the hair and they were not grouped.  The dr. said that the fact that there is no further growth of bald area is a positive sign.  And that my thinking that there was no hair loss could be more out of my anxiety! and need not be taken seriously. I was however asked to take a blood test for iron content and something connected to thyroid. Though, she said the latter was not of concern with males.

So i am supposed to take a blood test. I will get back a month later on this.

Forgot the house keys and…

I went to have brunch in McDonalds. When i sat down with the McVeggie i found that i had the house key in my hand. So i kept it on the table. While doing so the thought crossed my mind that it would be better to put the key in my pocket. But nevertheless i kept it on the table thinking i would remember. After munching i walked towards my apartment. I live on the first floor. As i started taking the stairs it struck me that i had forgotten the key. I rushed to the security of our apartment borrowed his cycle and speeded up to McD’s. Luckily they had found the key and kept it safe. I was glad atleast i remembered that i had forgotten it at McD’s. Before McD’s and after it i had to got other places too. Now with the key in my hand as i climbed the stairs towards my apartment i found the door wide open! I had forgotten to lock the door!!!

I checked inside. My laptop was lying on the table in the drawing room and everything else was intact. Lucky me.

My experience at dr. Batra’s-2

(read the first part of this series here)

I had started with a 6 month course. At that time i thought i would continue for more time if i see any improvement in hair fall/growth at the end of 6 months.  Well, i can say that as a result of the treatment the hair grew faster-i had to visit the hair cutting saloon earlier than normal. However, i could not say whether the hair loss had reduced. Nevertheless i paid for extension of the treatment by one year.

Every visit, which is monthly once, the doctors ask the same questions. Do you see any improvement? Is there a decreases in hair loss? And every time i would say that i could not conclusively answer those questions. The reason being that before i started the treatment i used to wash hair once a week whereas now i was, on the doctors suggestion, washing hair every alternate day. And then i would ask the doctor if he/she thought that there was an improvement in the hair condition.  As i had mentioned in a previous post i had asked this question everytime to a different doctor because the doctor who attends to you is decided by when you go and how much rush is there and how many doctors are available on the day you visited.  The answers were never a clear yes or no. One of the doctors said my hair was now stable ( after 6 months).  Another said that i was 60% cured and that i had to continue until i was atleast 80% cured.  This suggestion was based on the number of follicles that still had fungus at the root.

The last visit about a month ago when i was asked if saw any improvement i gave the usual answers but then added that the dandruff was increasing. I never had a visible dandruff problem. But ever since the treatment started i could see white particles falling of my hair whenever i dusted it. There was also a little itch. To this suggestion the doctor asked me to stop using the liquid they had asked me to apply before hair wash.  She also give some other homoe medicine. And this medicine worked immediately. I cant say though whether it was the medicine that cured me of dandruff or it was because i stopped applying the liquid. But the dandruff did stop! So homoe does work.

About the reduction in hair fall, i am not so sure. I think that though the hair is growing faster, the density of hair (the number of hair on the scalp) is decreasing. I have meeting coming Monday. I have to get this doubt cleared.

Funny Visa form

This issue of Scientific American  has an article on why creative people are often eccentric. However, the funny part comes when the article talks about the Visa procedure for the connecticut island kingdom that goes by the funny name north dumpling. This island has “seceded” from US and issues its own currency in units of “pi”. Sounds bizarre to me but wait.  The Visa form has spaces to fill in identification marks on both face and buttocks!!!

You read it right. Buttocks. Yes!.

While one may have the only identification mark on buttock but I never thought it would be specifically mentioned in a Visa form or  for that matter any form. Funny!

Inspiring!

I was back from office and was visiting the campus (my alma matter). I was in my former lab when i got to know this inspiring incident. Ashish (name changed) suddenly entered the lab and we were both surprised and happy to see each other. When i asked if he or Aarti had plans of attending Shantanu’s marraige, he said that would depend on their children and whether they would be available. Ajay(name changed), his elder son, who is in KV (higher secondary school) has gone on a cycling trip. Not to any place nearby Bangalore but to far off Goa! (Goa is ~550 Kms) and that too all by himself. It was shockingly surprising but i should have expected. 5-6 years ago  i saw him going to Chennai by himself . Before returning to Bangalore he may go further south (like Kanyakumari!). I still cant believe it and will wait to meet him and get first hand info.
However, it has inspired me. The farthest i had gone (about 7 years ago) cycling was 30 kms. No major trips after that. The cycle broke beforea couple of years ago when  i left the country. I am back now…did some trekking but the enthusiasm was dropping…But after getting to know Ajay’s bold cycling decision i am recharged. I will buy a new cycle drive a few kilometers every weekend and eventually make a long intercity trip. Its also high time that i went on a trek. This Saturday i have a meeting but i will positively plan something new this Sunday.
It amazes me how a simple unplanned meeting has raised my spirits. I hope i find more such people who do different things. It will keep me going.

how to know the model number of your nokia?

today my cousin called up to know the model number of my nokia. i had bought it nearly an year back and had forgotten. The number i remembered as i found later was the wrong one.
Well, i googled and found this link useful to find the model number. Simple. Just switch off your mobile, open it up and remove the battery. You will see the model number soon after you remove the battery. Simple!

A.R. Rahman The musical storm

I like Rahman’s music, the oscar not withstanding. ‘The musical storm’ is a biography (the first?) of  Rahman by Kamini Mathai.  This book is the story of his musical life from working with music directors like illayaraj, composing jingles for advertisements, bands to becoming the big music director he is.  His personal life the little time he got to spend with his father, the influence of his mother, his friends and children and a little about his marriage and wife is also covered. The book is divided into 12 chapters with interesting titles that had me reading the book end to end in criss-cross manner.  Faith was the title of one of the chapters and i jumped to read that one first. It deals with why/how Rahman went from being Dileep to Rahman.  But wait a minute…its not like the author interviewed him specifically on this topic or for that matter on any of the topics/chapters in the book.   Rahman’s conversion to islam had a lot to do with his father’s illness and subsequent death. Sekhar, his father was suffering from an ailment which not treatment could cure. However, he did get relief for a while from a Sufi healer started treating him. The same Sufi healer however predicted that Sekhar wouldn’t last more than year.

I would recommend the chapter titled ‘wait’ to know how much Rahman means to the film industry.  Big film directors, lyricists and anyone who wants Rahman’s music has go wait in until his turn comes. Apparently there are different waiting rooms at Rahman’s studio and one would be allotted them based on their perceived importance! Mani Ratnam, Subhash Ghai, Shekhar Kapur, Javed Akhtar a budding singer all had to wait. The wait could be hours, weeks, months.  Rahman hates to say no to anyone and so the waiting.  But does he do that to everyone. No. Some know how to get around the wait. Director Ravikumar is one of them. He got the music for the Rajni film ‘Padayappa’ done by Rahman on time. Ravikumar could do that by taking Rahman away from Chennai to Cochin.  That is one of the ways that seems to work if one wants music on time. It worked with M.F Hussain who sent him to Prague for his film Meenaxi and with Rajiv Menon for Kandukondein. Javed Akhtar has even built a very interesting story around this phenomenon.

There are several other interesting things covered in this book.  Did you know that Rahman’s father Sekhar was the first one to buy the keyboard in the indian film industry and for that the company sent Sekhar on a free trip to Japan! Did Rahman get the training in western music? Is he comfortable with carnatic? What is his take on Illayaraja with whom he worked? What do big singers like SPB think about him? What if ever ruffles him  What are his idiosyncrasies and much more. I loved getting to know all this. There is a lot of stuff repeated in the book.  The book is based a lot on the  information from people who are close to him or have worked with him and a little on the author’s interviews with  Rahman. But its a must read for all those who are interested in knowing Rahman.