Why do we chant Om?

Om is one of the most chanted sound symbols in India. It has a profound effect on the body and mind of the one who chants and also on the surroundings. Most mantras and vedic prayers start with Om.
All auspicious actions begin with Om. It is even used as a greeting - Om, Hari Om etc. It is repeated as a mantra or meditated upon. Its form is worshipped, contemplated upon or used as an auspicious sign.
Om is the universal name of the Lord. It is made up of the letters A (phonetically as in "around"), U (phonetically as in "put") and M (phonetically as in "mum"). The sound emerging from the vocal chords starts from the base of the throat as "A". With the coming together of the lips, "U" is formed and when the lips are closed, all sounds end in "M".
The three letters symbolize the three states (waking, dream and deep sleep), the three deities (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva), the three Vedas (Rig, Yajur and Sama) the three worlds (Bhuh, Bhuvah, Suvah) etc. The Lord is all these and beyond.
The formless, attributeless Lord (Brahman) is represented by the silence between two Om Chants. Om is also called pranava that means, "that (symbol or sound) by which the Lord is praised". The entire essence of the Vedas is enshrined in the word Om. It is said that the Lord started creating the world after chanting Om and atha. Hence its sound is considered to create an auspicious beginning for any task that we undertake. The Om chant should have the resounding sound of a bell (aaooommm).
Om is written in different ways in different places. The most common form symbolizes Lord Ganesha’s. The upper curve is the head; the lower large one, the stomach; the side one, the trunk; and the semi-circular mark with the dot, the sweetmeat ball (modaka) in Lord Ganesha's hand. Thus Om symbolizes everything - the means and the goal of life, the world and the Truth behind it, the material and the Sacred, all form and the Formless.Om is one of the most chanted sound symbols in India. It has a profound effect on the body and mind of the one who chants and also on the surroundings. Most mantras and vedic prayers start with Om.
All auspicious actions begin with Om. It is even used as a greeting - Om, Hari Om etc. It is repeated as a mantra or meditated upon. Its form is worshipped, contemplated upon or used as an auspicious sign.
Om is the universal name of the Lord. It is made up of the letters A (phonetically as in "around"), U (phonetically as in "put") and M (phonetically as in "mum"). The sound emerging from the vocal chords starts from the base of the throat as "A". With the coming together of the lips, "U" is formed and when the lips are closed, all sounds end in "M".
The three letters symbolize the three states (waking, dream and deep sleep), the three deities (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva), the three Vedas (Rig, Yajur and Sama) the three worlds (Bhuh, Bhuvah, Suvah) etc. The Lord is all these and beyond.
The formless, attributeless Lord (Brahman) is represented by the silence between two Om Chants. Om is also called pranava that means, "that (symbol or sound) by which the Lord is praised". The entire essence of the Vedas is enshrined in the word Om. It is said that the Lord started creating the world after chanting Om and atha. Hence its sound is considered to create an auspicious beginning for any task that we undertake. The Om chant should have the resounding sound of a bell (aaooommm).
Om is written in different ways in different places. The most common form symbolizes Lord Ganesha’s. The upper curve is the head; the lower large one, the stomach; the side one, the trunk; and the semi-circular mark with the dot, the sweetmeat ball (modaka) in Lord Ganesha's hand. Thus Om symbolizes everything - the means and the goal of life, the world and the Truth behind it, the material and the Sacred, all form and the Formless.

Why do we fast?

Most devout Indians fast regularly or on special occasions like festivals. On such days they do not eat at all, eat once or make do with fruits or a special diet of simple food.
Fasting in Sanskrit is called upavaasa. Upa means "near" + vaasa means "to stay". Upavaasa therefore means staying near (the Lord), meaning the attainment of close mental proximity with the Lord. Then what has upavaasa to do with food?
A lot of our time and energy is spent in procuring food items, preparing, cooking, eating and digesting food. Certain food types make our minds dull and agitated. Hence on certain days man decides to save time and conserve his energy by eating either simple, light food or totally abstaining from eating so that his mind becomes alert and pure. The mind, otherwise pre-occupied by the thought of food, now entertains noble thoughts and stays with the Lord. Since it is a self-imposed form of discipline it is usually adhered to with joy
Also every system needs a break and an overhaul to work at its best. Rest and a change of diet during fasting is very good for the digestive system and the entire body.
The more you indulge the senses, the more they make their demands. Fasting helps us to cultivate control over our senses, sublimate our desires and guide our minds to be poised and at peace.
Fasting should not make us weak, irritable or create an urge to indulge later. This happens when there is no noble goal behind fasting.
The Bhagavad-Gita urges us to eat appropriately - neither too less nor too much - yukta-aahaara and to eat simple, pure and healthy food (a saatvik diet) even when not fasting.

Why do we do Namaste?

Indians greet each other with namaste. The two palms are placed together in front of the chest and the head bows whilst saying the word namaste. This greeting is for all - people younger than us, of our own age, those older than friends, even strangers and us.
There are five forms of formal traditional greeting enjoined in the shaastras of which namaskaram is one. This is understood as prostration but it actually refers to paying homage as we do today when we greet each other with a namaste.
Namaste could be just a casual or formal greeting, a cultural convention or an act of worship. However there is much more to it than meets the eye. In Sanskrit namah + te = namaste. It means - I bow to you - my greetings, salutations or prostration to you. Namaha can also be literally interpreted as "na ma" (not mine). It has a spiritual significance of negating or reducing one’s ego in the presence of another.
The real meeting between people is the meeting of their minds. When we greet another, we do so with namaste, which means, "may our minds meet," indicated by the folded palms placed before the chest. The bowing down of the head is a gracious form of extending friendship in love and humility
The spiritual meaning is even deeper. The life force, the divinity, the Self or the Lord in me is the same in all. Recognizing this oneness with the meeting of the palms, we salute with head bowed the Divinity in the person we meet. That is why sometimes, we close our eyes as we do namaste to a revered person or the Lord – as if to look within. The gesture is often accompanied by words like "Ram Ram,” "Jai Shri Krishna", "Namo Narayana", "Jai Siya Ram", "Om Shanti" etc - indicating the recognition of this divinity.
When we know this significance, our greeting does not remain just a superficial gesture or word but paves the way for a deeper communion with another in an atmosphere of love and respect.

HttpConnection using java

Many of you might be wondering how to make a HttpConnection from java. Here is a small program that helps you to make the connection from pure java code. This has been tested and I have been using this from a long time. It’s very simple and easy to use. If required you can just copy and start using this code, I don’t think you will need to change any part of this code. It’s ready to use as is. Just place this code in your utli folder of the code and just call this method. That’s it.

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.BufferedWriter;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.URL;
import java.net.URLEncoder;
import java.util.HashMap;

/**
 * This class is used to make the HTTP Connection from a java code.
 * @author Prabesh Bhaskaran
 */
public class MakeHttpConnection {

    /**
     * The getConnection method takes 2 parameters, the URL string of the site that you would like to connect 
     * and the other parameter is the parameter that you would like to pass through the query.
     * @param urlString: The URL of the site that you would like to connect
     * @param query: The parameter that you would like to pass to the site.
     * @throws java.lang.Exception 
     * @return 
     */
 public String getConnection(String urlString, String query) throws Exception {
            String retStr = "";
            URL url = new URL(urlString);
            String responseString = "";

            HttpURLConnection urlConnection = (HttpURLConnection)url.openConnection();
            urlConnection.setDoOutput(true);
            urlConnection.setRequestMethod("POST");
            urlConnection.setAllowUserInteraction(false);
            urlConnection.setRequestProperty("Content-type","application/x-www-form-urlencoded"); // the content-length should not be necessary, but we're cautious

            BufferedWriter bw = new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(urlConnection.getOutputStream()));
            bw.write(query);
            bw.write("\r\n");
            bw.flush();
            bw.close();

            if (urlConnection.getResponseCode() == HttpURLConnection.HTTP_OK) {
                BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(urlConnection.getInputStream()));
                String inputLine;

                while ((inputLine = br.readLine()) != null) {
                    responseString = responseString+inputLine;
                } 
                System.out.println("responseString="+responseString);
 }
 return responseString;
    }
}

As the saying goes

Necessity is the mother of all invention

this program was also developed when there was a necessity. My office had blocked many sites from viewing due to some junk reasons, but I needed some sites that would help me. So from a java code I just make a httpconnection and call the required site, this code will return a string that will give the full website page. That’s it I was able to view the website even when my office had blocked that particular site.

Go ahead and try out. Let me know if you need any help or if you come across any issues when using this code.

Happy coding!!!.

IPL or NRIPL ?

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE

Nowadays you can hear about the IPL fever. Every news channel or sport channel or paper talks about IPL. This year's IPL is special. I am sure you would have guessed y this years IPL is special. To start off what does IPL stand for? IPL - Indian Premier League.

Well if its Indian Premier league then it should be happening in India. But this year IPL is special. The games are not played in India; instead it’s been played in South Africa. So I guess the organizers’ should change the name from IPL to NRIPL. When an India goes abroad he gets a status called NRI then y can’t our cricket board call this event NRIPL? Hopefully next season of the IPL will be played in India.

I am sure many would be wonder or thinking about the schedule of the match. Below is the schedule of the matches for this season. Go ahead and enjoy the match.

IPL Season II - Schedule, teams and players, in South Africa

Date Teams Venue Time (IST)
Saturday, MI Vs CSK Cape Town 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
18-Apr-09
Saturday, RR vs RCB Cape Town 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
18-Apr-09
Sunday, DD vs PKXI Cape Town 4 p.m. to 7p.m.
19-Apr-09
Sunday, DC vs KKR Cape Town 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
19-Apr-09
Monday, CSK vs RCB Port Elizabeth 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
20-Apr-09
Tuesday, PKXI vs KKR Durban 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
21-Apr-09
Tuesday, RR vs MI Durban 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
21-Apr-09
Wednesday, RCB vs DC Cape Town 8 p.m. to 11p.m.
22-Apr-09
Thursday, CSK vs DD Durban 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
23-Apr-09
Thursday, KKR vs RR Cape Town 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
23-Apr-09
Friday, RCB vs PKXI Durban 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
24-Apr-09
Saturday, MI vs DC Durban 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
25-Apr-09
Saturday, CSK vs KKR Cape Town 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
25-Apr-09
Sunday, RCB vs DD Port Elizabeth 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
26-Apr-09
Sunday, PKXI vs RR Cape Town 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
26-Apr-09
Monday, DC vs CSK Durban 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
27-Apr-09
Monday, KKR vs MI Port Elizabeth 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
27-Apr-09
Tuesday, DD vs RR Pretoria 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
28-Apr-09
Wednesday, KKR vs RCB Durban 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
29-Apr-09
Wednesday, PKXI vs MI Durban 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
29-Apr-09
Thursday, DC vs DD Pretoria 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
30-Apr-09
Thursday, RR vs CSK Pretoria 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
30-Apr-09
Friday, MI vs KKR East London 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
1-May-09
Friday, PKXI vs RCB Durban 8 p.m.to 11 p.m.
1-May-09
Saturday, DC vs RR Port Elizabeth 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
2-May-09
Saturday, DD vs CSK Johannesburg 8 p.m. to 11p.m.
2-May-09
Sunday, KKR vs PKXI Port Elizabeth 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
3-May-09
Sunday, RCB vs MI Johannesburg 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
3-May-09
Monday, CSK vs DC East London 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
4-May-09
Tuesday, RR vs PKXI Durban 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
5-May-09
Tuesday DD vs KKR Durban 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
5-May-09
Wednesday, DC vs MI Pretoria 8 p.m.to 11 p.m.
6-May-09
Thursday, RCB vs RR Pretoria 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
7-May-09
Thursday, PKXI vs CSK Pretoria 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
7-May-09
Friday, DD vs MI East London 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
8-May-09
Saturday, DC vs PKXI Kimberley 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
9-May-09
Saturday, CSK vs RR Kimberley 8 p.m. to 11p.m.
9-May-09
Sunday, MI vs RCB Port Elizabeth 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
10-May-09
Sunday, KKR vs DD Johannesburg 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
10-May-09
Monday, RR vs DC Kimberley 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
11-May-09
Tuesday RCB vs KKR Pretoria 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
12-May-09
Tuesday, MI vs PKXI Pretoria 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
12-May-09
Wednesday, DD vs DC Durban 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
13-May-09
Thursday, RCB vs CSK Durban 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
14-May-09
Thursday, MI vs RR Durban 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
14-May-09
Friday, PKXI vs DD Bloemfontein 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
15-May-09
Saturday, CSK vs MI Port Elizabeth 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
16-May-09
Saturday, KKR vs DC Johannesburg 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
16-May-09
Sunday, PKXI vs DC Johannesburg 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
17-May-09
Sunday, RR vs DD Bloemfontein 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
17-May-09
Monday, KKR vs CSK Pretoria 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
18-May-09
Tuesday, DD vs RCB Johannesburg 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
19-May-09
Wednesday, RR vs KKR Durban 4 p.m.to 7 p.m.
20-May-09
Wednesday, CSK vs PKXI Durban 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
20-May-09
Thursday, MI vs DD Pretoria 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
21-May-09
Thursday, DC vs RCB Pretoria 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
21-May-09
Friday, Semi Final 1 Pretoria 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
22-May-09
Saturday, Semi Final 2 Johannesburg 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
23-May-09
Sunday, FINAL Johannesburg 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
24-May-09

Choice @ Work

Last week there was training on Choice @ work in my office conducted by an institute called Arbinger. After attending this training I am not sure what happened to me I seam to be a changed person. The way I look at things and the perspective I have has changed. This training came at the right time, when I need some change in my life. I really need to thank Mr Senthyil. This is one of the best trainings I have ever had in my life.

Before I tell about the training I would like to tell something about Senthyil (Not an intro about him) the way he presented to the class. Never have I seen such a presentation. No ppt’s for the presentation and still keeping the people in the classroom awake and enthusiastic. I am sure no person in the class would have slept or nor would he have ever left his mind wandering. Senthyil know how to get peoples attention and how to keep the class active. The voice modulation that he has is just amazing. The stories and examples that he gives are just awesome.

Now let me tell you something about the training. A week before the training started we were given a book from Arbinger, its titled “Leadership and Self-Deception”. To be very frank I have never read any book till now. Well I am not talking about technical books. This is the first non technical book that I have read in my life. And the book is so great that I was just hooked to the book. Each chapter is so interesting that when u read that you feel that you need to finish the next chapter and you will be curious to check what is there in the next chapter. I finished maximum chapters before the training.

The training was supposed to start at 9 AM and last till 5 PM but as expected the training started 30 min late. But the time was not wasted by Senthyil. As people were occupying the seats he went and introduced himself to each person. He asked our names and made a note in a piece of paper. At 9:30 AM he started the course. He introduced himself to the room. He was in the Singapore Army and retired as a Major. After that he joined the Arbinger and is currently heading the South East Asia operations. Then after introducing himself, he told each of our names. There were around 25 people for the training and without missing a person he told everyone’s name in the room. I was totally zapped by that. Don’t know how he remembered all these names in less than half hour.

After that he started the course. He was giving his own life experience and examples. I am sure most of the people in the room would be thinking or relating to their own life experience. As the book name suggests the course is not only for people for their leadership, it is for anyone and everyone. This course information can be used in everybody’s normal life. The training is all about how you see people and what you see about them.

If at any time in your life if you get a chance of attending this training DON’T MISS IT. If you miss this training, you are really missing something in your life.

Go ahead and enjoy your life. !!!