Sunita William's Conversion to Islam

Recently I was in Nizammudin area of Delhi and I needed to make a phone call. It is a muslim dominated area and when I went to the phone booth I saw a poster in Hindi and Urdu pasted on the shop door. The message said that when Sunita was in Space and look at the earth she could see only two place shining on the earth and. Later she discovered that they were Mecca and Medina holy places of Islam. She was so impressed that she converted to Islam. But this news has been hidden by the Christians.

When I read this I was amused at the foolishness and thought that some local person was misleading the people. There was no news in media also and on top of that Sunita Williams used Bhagwad Gita.

Later on I tried to search the news on internet and found that this was a hot topic on internet also. I personally think the photographs are hoax. I have seen many programs on Discovery which show lights from the earth from major cities. I can't understand why people need to lie...faith is internal matter and we should not be relying on miracles for them.

Yoga : India's greatest gift to mankind.

After a hectic day at work, we all feel tired, and sometimes don’t have the energy to do anything. Yoga can be very useful in bringing back the energy we required. Reason that we are tired is that during the day, in course of doing our work we are stressed mentally and gradually it spreads our organs and muscles. This saps our energy and makes us very lethargic.

Here Yoga can come to our rescue. I have experimented this on myself lots of times. After 20-25 minutes of doing asanas, the body and mind is fully charged again and we are again a fountain of energy. The tiredness vanishes. The reason that it happens I believe is because of the stretching of various muscles while performing the various asanas. As the mind’s stress results into lethargic muscles, the opposite is also true. When we stretch, the negative energies, toxins and emotions stored in the muscles are also released. There is increased blood flow full of oxygen to brain and other organs. Flow of energy again starts and there is a quite peace. We become very satisfied and content.

Re-energizing the body is just one of the benefits of Yoga. Others being increase in strength, flexibility, curing of several diseases apart from increased harmony in life. Person, who does yoga regularly, is happy and content with life, has more resistance to diseases and possesses more positive attitude in life. Its no wonder that Yoga is very popular the all over the world and has increasing number of followers in US and other countries. Every year thousands of seekers from all over the world visit India to learn about this ancient art. One of the great books on Yoga is “Light on Yoga” written by BKS Iyengar which has great details on asanas along with more than 500 pictures. BKS Iyengar has developed what is know as Iyengar method of Yoga. Other schools famous are Pattabhi Jois’ Vinyasa Yoga, Bihar School of Yoga and Sivanand’s school in Rishikesh. May you all fall in love with yoga and may India have many great yogis.

Difference between Shias and Sunnis

Shia and Sunni are the two major sects of Islam. Sunnis are the majority with around 85% population. They are majority in Arab countries,Pakistan and India. Shia are mainly concentrated in Iran and Iraq. After the death of Prophet Mohammed, there was a struggle for power in the followers of Mohammed. Abu Bakr who was the friend and father in law of Mohammed was elected as the leader called Caliph. Some of the followers thought that Ali who was son in law and cousin of Mohammed should have been made the leader as he belonged to the family of Mohammed and because of that the person would have spiritual powers in them. But the majority decided otherwise and Sunna means community from which Sunnis get their name.Sunnis believe that the leader need not be spiritually powerful but should be able to protect the faith. Where as Shias beleive that the leader should be spiritually advanced person. Later Ali became the fourth Caliph but was murdered by rival groups. Later Hussain who was the son of Ali was also killed in the battle of Karbalah along with his 72 followers. Shia mourn this period and this period is known as Ashura. Shias built shrines and visit them. Sunnis think that the Shias have deviated from Islam and lot of them don't consider the Shias as Muslims. Iran is a Shia power and in Iraq most of the people are Shias. Saudi Arab is the Sunni power house and House of Saud (the royal family) is supposed to the protector of the Sunnis. Sunnis are afraid that Shias who were till now dominated will start asserting themselfes. Al Qaeeda is a Sunni organisation whereas Hezbolla is a Shia militant organisation.

Will Bermuda triangle will lead to decrease in gas price?

For long time hundreds of ships disappeared in Bermuda triangle and those were attributed to lots of phenomenen ranging from UFO to some mysterious forces to some supernatural phenomenon.
Scientists were trying to uncover the myths. I saw a BBC documentary some time ago which proved that sudden release of methane gases from the ocean floor could sink a small ship because it cause pressure difference.
Recently I saw a programme on National Geographic channel and I came to know about a new energy source known as Methane Hydrate, thought to be the most compressed form of energy on earth. It is formed when methane gas is trapped in very hign pressure and in low tempreature below the ocean waters. When the gas is trapped inside the water molecules it forms solidified crystals. Since this is compressed a small volume contains lots of energy. This deposits is thought to contain much more than all other fossil fuels combined including coal, gas and oil.
A very small area near Carolina coast in the Bermuda triangle can meet the current US energy needs for 70 years. Nat Geo claimed that deposits near New Mexico shore can meet energy US energy needs for 5000 years and World for 3000 years. Just think of the energy potential. India also has deposits in Godavari basin and in the deep oceans.
Many countries including US, India, Germany and Japan are doing extensive research to safely extract and refine it to make it usable. I think in a few years we should see lots of progress which will lead to cheaper oil prices and save us from the blackmail of opec countries.

Hey Nick….What’s your name please?

In US people like to call each other by their nick names. From the nick names you can guess the full name, but sometimes it is difficult to understand from which name they were derived. I think it will be better off if the Indians also have nick name when working in America. Once I went to a Gym and was getting introduced to the Gym instructor and when I told him my full name, he paused for a minute and asked…."Can I call you Dave?" I agreed and he was happy. Lots of software consultants are from southern India and they have adapted to American ways by having nick names for themselves. The Americans find it difficult to pronounce the Indian names, especially the longer southern Indian names, but I think Indians also make lots of mistakes. One of the common examples is Denise. This is usually girl’s name and should be pronounced as “D-Niece”, but I have seen people pronouncing it as Dennis.

I have compiled a list of some common names and the nick names for them.

Charles Chad
Robert Bob
Williams Bill
Theodore Ted
Michael Mike
David Dave
Thomas Tom
Douglas Doug
Nicholas Nick
Mathew Matt
James Jim
Joshua Josh
Kathreen Kathy

What is Holy Grail?

Today I was reading a e-book and came across the term Holy Grail. I had heard this term before but never paid attention to it. Today I decided to search on the internet for it and found it to be very interesting. It is supposed to be the vessel on which Christ had his last Supper and supposed to posses supernatural powers. Lots of people think that it is rubbish, but few others believe it to be true.

Hollywood has made lots of movies and Indiana Jone and Da Vinci code have some inspiration from it. You can read more about it from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Grail. It was fascinating thing to know for me although lots of western people already know about it.

It is also used in common expression which means that the goal is almost unattainable.

At Lake Macbride, Iowa

We went to visit Lake MacBride two weeks back and it is a very beautiful place. Best part is it is very well maintained. Behind every beautiful place there is lots or hardwork and efforts. Thanks to the guys who maintain the lake and keep it polution free so that families can enjoy the same.