(c) Jim Davis
Monday, April 25, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
અબઘડી, અંક: ૨ માં થી..
તમે તમારા મનને કેવો ખોરાક આપો છો?
સાભાર-સૌજન્ય: રાજીવ ભલાણી, દિવ્ય ભાસ્કર
~~~~~*~~~~~
The name of this magazine is "abghadi". "Abghadi" in Gujarati translates to "right at this moment" and this two-page magazine comes out every month, I believe. The group of people who put it together expect that you read it instantly. It is in Gujarati because most Gujaratis are forgetting how to read Gujarati because of lack of practice... this is their way to encourage more people to read in the language. Their slogan is "not just reading, a movement to change self" and majority of the writing reflects that. The above article is from the second issue of the magazine and I really liked it so I've made a feeble attempt to closely translate it to English below. Please feel free to share a better translation of words/phrases if you can think of any.
Translation:
What kind of food do you feed your mind?
Contributor: Rajiv Bhalani, Divya Bhaskar
Source: "Read Now", Issue no. 2
આપણે આજે જે કઈ છીએ તે આપણા વિચારોનું જ પરિણામ છે. બહારથી મળતી માહિતીઓ ઉપરથી જ મન વિચારો પેદા કરે છે. આપણી આંખ, કાન, નાક, જીભ, અને ત્વચા એ પાંચ ઇન્દ્રિયો માહિતી આપવાનું કામ બંધ નથી કરતી, માટે મન વિચારવાનું કામ બંધ નથી કરતું. જેવા વિચારો એવો અભિગમ અને જેવો અભિગમ એવા નિર્ણયો. જેવો નિર્ણય એવું કાર્ય અને જેવું કાર્ય તેવા પરિણામ. એનો અર્થ એ કે જો આપણે સમૃદ્ધિ જોઈતી હોય તો મનને સમૃદ્ધિની જ માહિતી પૂરી પાડવી જોઈએ. તે માટે આપણે આંખ-કાનમાં ફિલ્ટર નાખવું પડે. આ ફિલ્ટરનું નામ છે 'પ્રતિવિચાર'.
જયારે તમે કોઈ નકારાત્મક દ્રશ્ય કે વાત જોઈ-સાંભળી રહ્યા હોવ અને એ જોવું કે સાંભળવું જ પડે એમ હોય ત્યારે એ નકારાત્મક પરિસ્થિતિથી બિલકુલ વિરોધી શબ્દો મનમાં બોલો. દા.ત. રૂપિયા તો હાથનો મેલ છે. તેની સામે મનને કહો 'રૂપિયા હાથની શોભા છે.' આમ થવાથી મન એ નવા શબ્દો ઉપર વિચારો કરવા લાગશે. જો તમે તમારા મનને શ્રેષ્ઠ ખોરાક નહિ આપો તો દુનિયાના પ્રવાહો તો જાત-જાતનો ખોરાક આપવા રાહ જોઇને જ બેઠા છે. મન આપણને માત્ર એ જ આપી શકે કે જે આપણે એને આપ્યું હોય.
સાભાર-સૌજન્ય: રાજીવ ભલાણી, દિવ્ય ભાસ્કર
~~~~~*~~~~~
The name of this magazine is "abghadi". "Abghadi" in Gujarati translates to "right at this moment" and this two-page magazine comes out every month, I believe. The group of people who put it together expect that you read it instantly. It is in Gujarati because most Gujaratis are forgetting how to read Gujarati because of lack of practice... this is their way to encourage more people to read in the language. Their slogan is "not just reading, a movement to change self" and majority of the writing reflects that. The above article is from the second issue of the magazine and I really liked it so I've made a feeble attempt to closely translate it to English below. Please feel free to share a better translation of words/phrases if you can think of any.
Translation:
What kind of food do you feed your mind?
Who we are today is the result of our thoughts. Our mind creates the thoughts from the external information. Five senses - our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin don't stop relaying information, so mind does not stop thinking. Thoughts turn into approach and approaches turn into decisions. Decisions lead to effort and efforts lead to results. This means that if we want enrichment, we have to provide our minds with enriching information. For this, we have to place filters on our eyes and ears. This filter is called "rethinking".
When you are viewing/hearing about a scene with negativity and the situation forces you to see/hear that situation, then think completely opposite from that negative situation. e.g. money is like dirt of your hands. Then against that, tell (your) mind 'money adorns your hands'. By doing this, (your) mind will start thinking about these new words. If you do not feed your mind with the best possible food (nutrients) then the streams of the world are ever eager to provide (it) with various/any kinds of food. The mind can only give us what we give it.
Contributor: Rajiv Bhalani, Divya Bhaskar
Source: "Read Now", Issue no. 2
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Kutch Highlights - Day 2 - Anjar, Mata No Madh
Day 2 in Kutch started out with shopping and sight-seeing in Anjar - the sword & knife capital of Gujarat. As soon as we got there, we went straight to the market as we were going to hangout with one of our acquaintances, JS, there. After spending some time with Mr. JS, we went around shopping for some quality knives, and sudi. Anjar is famous for the metal handicrafts such as swords, knives and all other kinds of metal items. We shopped at this place called Palan Sarota Works.
Store selling knives
While shopping there, these two Kutchi women stopped by for some shopping and I got to shoot them. :) It was nice to see the details of their clothes and jewelry from so up close. They were shy at first but then smiled and posed for their photos eventually.
Kutchi women in traditional Kutchi attire
More shopping needed to be done but first thing was first. That was to visit the Samaadhi of Jesal Jadeja and Sati Toral as they close in the afternoon so we headed straight to this place. It was interesting to visit this historical landmark and hear about the story of Jesal-Toral and how he (a dacoit) went to steal the Tori ghoDi (horse) at the home of Saansatiyaaji - husband of Jesal and ended up kidnapping Jesal. They spent the latter part of their lives here.
Main entrance to Jesal-Toral Samadhi
Right across from the samaadhi are little shops selling all kinds of things such as swords/knives, music, books and other collective items.
Knife & sword store
Next stop was at the temple of Ajepal (Ajay Pal) dada. City of Anjar is named after him and there's huge class of his devotees in and around Anjar.
Entrance of temple
Once we were done with roaming around Anjar for sight-seeing, it was time for shopping! First stop was at Ahemad's Handicrafts. Oh my goodness! this place has some of the most fantastic bedsheets and dress materials I've ever seen. Even the lungis were so beautiful, I couldn't help but buy three of them for myself. Now what I'm going to do with a lungi is something I still need to find an answer for. May be I'll get a top made or use it as a table-cloth or open it up and use it as a bedsheet. If you are in Anjar, don't forget to stop by here
Ahemad Handicrafts
and also at the garment shop of Katri Ismail Haji Abdul Latif. This place is THE PLACE for ready-made clothes, baandhani dress materials/saaris, purses, wall pieces, other handicrafts along with tops and many other similar things. Their gaji silk saari are totally drool-worthy and you wouldn't want to get out of there without some for yourself/your loved ones. :D
Garment store of Katri Ismail Haji Abdul Latif
After spending relatively less amount of time than what I wished, we were off to Mata No Madh. This is where they have Maa Ashapura temple. While driving to Mata Na Madh, we got to see the TV tower, which reminded me of the Space Needle tower of Seattle,
TV tower near Mankuwa
and the Lignite project plant of Gujarat Khanij Vikas Nigam Limited and a very beautiful sunset.
Sunset
Once at Mata No Madh, we got some flowers and prasaad for the temple and headed inside the temple for darshan. As like most temples, this one doesn't allow photography inside also so I couldn't take photos of the outstanding intricate work on the inside of the temple. The visitor center personnel did let me take some photos from outside after I requested him numerous times.
Temple at Mata no Madh
If you're visiting this temple, make sure you are there to be part of the evening aarti at the temple. OH MY GOD! It is out of this world experience to be part of that event. I guarantee that it will be an experience that you have never had before. After the aarti, I just wish I had an opportunity to record even the audio of it but it practically transported me to this divine world and all I could feel was that every single hair on my body was standing up with happiness and feelings I can't describe. I'd go to this place just to be able to attend that aarti of Mataji. With the sounds of bells and nagara playing during the aarti, it was one of a kind experiences! It is said that when the district of Kutch had severe drought, this place was the only one where water remained and people came from faraway distances to drink water around here.
By nightfall, we arrived at Narayan Sarovar and had really nice, simple dinner of khichadi-kadhi at Shri Kutch Narayan Sarovar Annakshetra and Bhojanalay and spent the night at the dharmashala there.
More photos of Anjar & Mata Na Madh.
Store selling knives
While shopping there, these two Kutchi women stopped by for some shopping and I got to shoot them. :) It was nice to see the details of their clothes and jewelry from so up close. They were shy at first but then smiled and posed for their photos eventually.
Kutchi women in traditional Kutchi attire
More shopping needed to be done but first thing was first. That was to visit the Samaadhi of Jesal Jadeja and Sati Toral as they close in the afternoon so we headed straight to this place. It was interesting to visit this historical landmark and hear about the story of Jesal-Toral and how he (a dacoit) went to steal the Tori ghoDi (horse) at the home of Saansatiyaaji - husband of Jesal and ended up kidnapping Jesal. They spent the latter part of their lives here.
Main entrance to Jesal-Toral Samadhi
Right across from the samaadhi are little shops selling all kinds of things such as swords/knives, music, books and other collective items.
Knife & sword store
Next stop was at the temple of Ajepal (Ajay Pal) dada. City of Anjar is named after him and there's huge class of his devotees in and around Anjar.
Entrance of temple
Once we were done with roaming around Anjar for sight-seeing, it was time for shopping! First stop was at Ahemad's Handicrafts. Oh my goodness! this place has some of the most fantastic bedsheets and dress materials I've ever seen. Even the lungis were so beautiful, I couldn't help but buy three of them for myself. Now what I'm going to do with a lungi is something I still need to find an answer for. May be I'll get a top made or use it as a table-cloth or open it up and use it as a bedsheet. If you are in Anjar, don't forget to stop by here
Ahemad Handicrafts
and also at the garment shop of Katri Ismail Haji Abdul Latif. This place is THE PLACE for ready-made clothes, baandhani dress materials/saaris, purses, wall pieces, other handicrafts along with tops and many other similar things. Their gaji silk saari are totally drool-worthy and you wouldn't want to get out of there without some for yourself/your loved ones. :D
Garment store of Katri Ismail Haji Abdul Latif
After spending relatively less amount of time than what I wished, we were off to Mata No Madh. This is where they have Maa Ashapura temple. While driving to Mata Na Madh, we got to see the TV tower, which reminded me of the Space Needle tower of Seattle,
TV tower near Mankuwa
and the Lignite project plant of Gujarat Khanij Vikas Nigam Limited and a very beautiful sunset.
Sunset
Once at Mata No Madh, we got some flowers and prasaad for the temple and headed inside the temple for darshan. As like most temples, this one doesn't allow photography inside also so I couldn't take photos of the outstanding intricate work on the inside of the temple. The visitor center personnel did let me take some photos from outside after I requested him numerous times.
Temple at Mata no Madh
If you're visiting this temple, make sure you are there to be part of the evening aarti at the temple. OH MY GOD! It is out of this world experience to be part of that event. I guarantee that it will be an experience that you have never had before. After the aarti, I just wish I had an opportunity to record even the audio of it but it practically transported me to this divine world and all I could feel was that every single hair on my body was standing up with happiness and feelings I can't describe. I'd go to this place just to be able to attend that aarti of Mataji. With the sounds of bells and nagara playing during the aarti, it was one of a kind experiences! It is said that when the district of Kutch had severe drought, this place was the only one where water remained and people came from faraway distances to drink water around here.
By nightfall, we arrived at Narayan Sarovar and had really nice, simple dinner of khichadi-kadhi at Shri Kutch Narayan Sarovar Annakshetra and Bhojanalay and spent the night at the dharmashala there.
More photos of Anjar & Mata Na Madh.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Kutch Highlights - Day 1 - Gandhidham
Imagine that you've never seen this ad of Amitabh Bachchan or never heard him say all the things he says in the video about Kutch, including "aapne Kutch nahin dekha to kuchh nahin dekha.. kuchh din to gujaaro, Gujarat mein! hai! AYE KAKA!!" and moreover, you've never really heard of things to see/do in Kutch. The only thing you remember of Kutch is that Lagaan was shot there and read the horror news about a massive earthquake. Then you find out that you're getting to go there just the day before you are supposed to leave for Kutch.
This is exactly how I was the day before I left for my first visit to this magnificent land called Kutch. The original plan was to visit Rajasthan, possibly Jaipur, Udaipur, Ambaji and whatnot, but work took higher priority so I didn't have enough days left for the planned roadtrip. That's when plan B came to rescue - everyone else suggested we go to Kutch instead and my only requirement was that we pick a place none of us have seen before. This worked out pretty well because none of us had been to Kutch before, except for my youngest cousin. He said that he didn't mind visiting it again and got super excited about it so we were all set to go.
We started out from Bhavnagar after lunch on Monday and arrived at Gandhidham by night. For dinner we stopped by at this all vegetarian dhaba-like place called Shri Chamundakrupa Restaurant in Samkhiyali, Kutch. This is on highway and serves really nice all-you-can-eat thaali.
Shri Chamundakrupa Restaurant, Samkhiyali, Kutch
In Gandhidham, we stayed at this really nice place called Hotel Gokul. We had a booking at another hotel near by but that one got more people than they expected and gave away our rooms to other tourists before we got there. So instead of getting upset and nervous, we roamed around a little bit on the Gandhidham highway and found this really nice place called Hotel Gokul! It was better than the place we were supposed to stay at and had a wonderful time because we got two rooms connected from inside so all seven of us could stay together. I definitely recommend this place.
Hotel Gokul, Gandhidham
Next day, we had super delicious South Indian breakfast at Chawla Cafe in Gandhidham downtown and started driving towards Anjar by 10 AM.
Chawla Cafe, Downtown Gandhidham
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
My Favorite & Yours.. Old Door Darshan Ads
When I start recalling those Door Darshan ads from the 80s ad 90s, I can't help but recall Nirma to be the most easily remembered as there were so many versions of it and probably the most famous one.
washing powder nirma..
washing powder nirma
doodh ki safedi nirma se aaye
rangeen kapda bhi khil khil jaaye
sab ki pasand nirma!
washing powder nirma
washing powder nirma
Then there was another version of the goti/sabun that had a line like this one:
ab aap samjhe yeh tikiya maine kyon li?
That one had the line "ek sau pachaas gram ki tikiya ____ dhero kapda dhoye aur zyada chale..."
There was also one where the little girl from the billboard starts singing "suno suno aye babuji.. kapde kyon itne maile hai?"
Do you remember this one?
chehre ki sundarta ko nikhaare naya hamaam
se saaf rakhe tan ko de taazgi hamaam
yeh ghar ghar ka hai pyaara
hamaam hamaam hamaam!
fresca! fresca!
sundar suhana fresca khushbu ka khazana fresca!
tandurusti ki raksha karta hai lifebouy
lifebouy hai jahaan tanduristi hai wahaan!
LIFEBOUY!
I think my favorite one (music and singing wise) was the Liril one that started with a girl in white under waterfalls in a rain forest like place and singing "la.. la la la la la la la la la la la la.."
It's funny all the ads I remember on top of my head are of soaps. I know I'm forgetting Rin here.
There were the ones with Rasna, Maggie, Complan (I am a Complan boy *elbow poke* I am a Complan girl!), Boost (with Kapil Dev saying Boost is the secret of my energy), and my favorite of all Humara Bajaj.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Lijjat paapad
The one with bunny going:
..furram.. farram....furram.. farram..
swaad swaad mein lijjat lijjat paapad
lijjat paapad! eh.. eh eh.. eh.. eh eh..
~~~~~*~~~~~
Hawkins pressure cooker
Hawkins ki seeti baji
khushbu hi khushbu udi..
(can't recall the rest)
~~~~~*~~~~~
Lakhani shoes
The song was based on "mera juta hai japani" song and ended with "..rang-birangi shoes lakhani, yeh hai campus shoes lakhani...".
~~~~~*~~~~~
Thumbs Up
taste the thunder! or should I say? toofaani thanda! :)
~~~~~*~~~~~
Daabar laal dant-manjan
daanton ki kare hifaazat
moti sa chamkaaye
daabar laal dant-manjan se mukhda khil khil jaaye
arre raaju! tumhaare daant to motiyo jaise chamak rahe hai!
kyon na ho masterji.. main daabar ka laal dant-manjan jo istemaal karta hoon
~~~~~*~~~~~
Seema bulbs aur tubes
ghar ghar mein ujiyala laaye
seema seema seema
I think this was a Sridevi-ad
~~~~~*~~~~~
Oh my all time favorite:
jab main chhota baccha tha
badi sharaarat karta tha
jab meri chori pakdi jaati
tab roshan hota bajaaj!
ab main boodha.. (can't recall what goes here)
goli khaakar jeeta hoon
(....)
~~~~~*~~~~~
Khetan fan
~~~~~*~~~~~
Oneida TV
This one had green-colored taklu devil guy with tail.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Do you remember any other ones?
PS. I'll update this post as I remember more.
washing powder nirma..
washing powder nirma
doodh ki safedi nirma se aaye
rangeen kapda bhi khil khil jaaye
sab ki pasand nirma!
washing powder nirma
washing powder nirma
Then there was another version of the goti/sabun that had a line like this one:
ab aap samjhe yeh tikiya maine kyon li?
That one had the line "ek sau pachaas gram ki tikiya ____ dhero kapda dhoye aur zyada chale..."
There was also one where the little girl from the billboard starts singing "suno suno aye babuji.. kapde kyon itne maile hai?"
Do you remember this one?
chehre ki sundarta ko nikhaare naya hamaam
se saaf rakhe tan ko de taazgi hamaam
yeh ghar ghar ka hai pyaara
hamaam hamaam hamaam!
fresca! fresca!
sundar suhana fresca khushbu ka khazana fresca!
tandurusti ki raksha karta hai lifebouy
lifebouy hai jahaan tanduristi hai wahaan!
LIFEBOUY!
I think my favorite one (music and singing wise) was the Liril one that started with a girl in white under waterfalls in a rain forest like place and singing "la.. la la la la la la la la la la la la.."
It's funny all the ads I remember on top of my head are of soaps. I know I'm forgetting Rin here.
There were the ones with Rasna, Maggie, Complan (I am a Complan boy *elbow poke* I am a Complan girl!), Boost (with Kapil Dev saying Boost is the secret of my energy), and my favorite of all Humara Bajaj.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Lijjat paapad
The one with bunny going:
..furram.. farram....furram.. farram..
swaad swaad mein lijjat lijjat paapad
lijjat paapad! eh.. eh eh.. eh.. eh eh..
~~~~~*~~~~~
Hawkins pressure cooker
Hawkins ki seeti baji
khushbu hi khushbu udi..
(can't recall the rest)
~~~~~*~~~~~
Lakhani shoes
The song was based on "mera juta hai japani" song and ended with "..rang-birangi shoes lakhani, yeh hai campus shoes lakhani...".
~~~~~*~~~~~
Thumbs Up
taste the thunder! or should I say? toofaani thanda! :)
~~~~~*~~~~~
Daabar laal dant-manjan
daanton ki kare hifaazat
moti sa chamkaaye
daabar laal dant-manjan se mukhda khil khil jaaye
arre raaju! tumhaare daant to motiyo jaise chamak rahe hai!
kyon na ho masterji.. main daabar ka laal dant-manjan jo istemaal karta hoon
~~~~~*~~~~~
Seema bulbs aur tubes
ghar ghar mein ujiyala laaye
seema seema seema
I think this was a Sridevi-ad
~~~~~*~~~~~
Oh my all time favorite:
jab main chhota baccha tha
badi sharaarat karta tha
jab meri chori pakdi jaati
tab roshan hota bajaaj!
ab main boodha.. (can't recall what goes here)
goli khaakar jeeta hoon
(....)
~~~~~*~~~~~
Khetan fan
~~~~~*~~~~~
Oneida TV
This one had green-colored taklu devil guy with tail.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Do you remember any other ones?
PS. I'll update this post as I remember more.
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