सम्भाषणसन्दॆशॆ गणकसंस्कृतम्

संस्कृतभारती "सम्भाषण-सन्दॆशः" इति नामाङ्कितां पत्रिकां चालयति । तस्याः जनवरी-सञ्चिकां ह्यः प्राप्तवान् । सञ्चिकायां हरीश-तन्नॆति कश्चित् गणक-संस्कृतस्योपरि लॆखनमलिखत्। तत्र संस्कृतॆन उट्टङ्कणं कष्टमित्यासीत् । तत्तु सत्यमॆव । परन्तु "बरह", "Itrans" इत्यादयः तन्त्रांशाः सन्ति यॆषु उट्टङ्कण-कार्यं तु तावत् कष्टं नास्ति । मयाप्यधुना "बरह"-साहाय्यॆनैव इदं ब्लाग् लिख्यतॆ । सम्पादकीय-सूचना तु लॆखनॆ आसीत् । परन्तु यॆ जनाः तत् पठन्ति तॆ सर्व ऎव चिन्तयन्ति यत् संस्कृतगणकयोः मिलनं कष्टसाध्यमिति । मम विचारः तु ऎवमस्ति - "कष्टमित्युक्तॆ कष्टम्" इति । microsoft-इत्यादिसंस्थाः एतत्-कार्यं सुलभं कृतवत्यः सन्ति । गृहात् बहिरागत्य पश्यन्तु जनाः । गणकॆ संस्कृतस्य उपयॊगं कर्तुं कष्टं नास्तीति त एव पश्यन्ति ।

गीता-जयन्ती-सन्दर्भॆ श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतां कर्णाटभाष्य-साहाय्यॆन पठितुम् आरब्धवान् । कर्णाटभाष्यं तु आधुनिक-कन्नड-गीताचार्यॆण श्रीगुण्डप्पवर्यॆण कृतमस्ति । ललितया भाषया मनोज्ञशैल्या च गुण्डप्पवर्यः गीतां विवृतवानस्ति । अत्र विशॆषांशः तु - "गीताग्रन्थस्य अधिकं तु लॊकजीवनॆ धर्मविषयॆ च प्रयोजनम् । एतत्प्रयॊजनं प्राप्य जीवनॆ अनुष्ठीय च परवस्तुविषयॆ जिज्ञासा कर्तव्या" इत्यस्ति । अन्येषु भाष्येषु आत्मज्ञानस्यैव औन्नत्यम् । अपि च धर्मविषयस्य गौणत्वम् । परं धर्मविचारं विना आत्मज्ञानपर्वतस्य दर्शनमॆव कष्टतरं भवतीति मम चिन्तनमपि । पूर्णं भाष्यं अधीत्य मित्रैः सह चर्चयित्वा च कन्नडॆ अस्मिन् ब्लागॆ एव मम विचारमण्डनं करिष्यामि ।

मम प्रकृतप्रश्नः तु अर्जुनविषादयोगॆ अस्ति । अर्जुनः वीरः धैर्यशाली चासीदिति सर्वविदितम् । परं तस्य विषादः युद्दभूमावॆव उत्पन्नः । प्रात्यक्षिकतायाः शक्तिरॆषा इति गुण्डप्पवर्यस्य विचारः । चिन्तनॆ कृतॆ एषः समीचीनः इति भासतॆ । अपि च अर्जुनस्य कारुण्यं प्राकृतं अविचारपूरितमासीत् । अस्य विषयद्वयस्यॊपरि मननं कुर्वन्नस्मि । किं च बुद्धिद्वारा तु विषयज्ञानमन्यत् । परं कृतॆ मननॆ यत् ज्ञानम् उदॆति तदॆव उत्कृष्टम् ।

॥ इति शम् ॥

Fishermen rescue tourists in Kanyakumari - NDTV.com - Latest News from India

Fishermen rescue tourists in Kanyakumari - NDTV.com - Latest News from India

Situations like these bring out the best and worst in a lot of people. Look at these brave fishermen! I feel proud to be their compatriot.

Instead of complaining and playing the fool as a few people did (mentioned in my last blog), these people actually did something about it.

If the Chennai Sabha music season people have not expressed due condolences and donated something substantially to the PM's relief funds or a similar effort, fie upon them! They should have actually expressed their condolences and should not have continued with their celebrations. I hope they do that today at least.

|| sarve janAH sukhino bhavantu ||

USGS: Warnings could have saved thousands | CNET News.com

USGS: Warnings could have saved thousands | CNET News.com

This is indeed a big tragedy when more than 14 thousand people have perished in this colossal disaster. But there were a couple of bigger tragedies I saw.

One is in this site. Warnings could have saved thousands of people. When in the Bay Area, I used to check the USGS website once a week sometimes. Since I am a regular browser, this could have come to my attention. I (or anybody else) could have called people in TV stations and so on and lots of lives could have been saved.

Even in this age of satellite TV and the Internet, it is amazing to see that warnings cannot be communicated to people. A TV station apparently told people that everything was OK after the mild tremors experienced in Chennai. Why could they simply not go to the USGS web site which, IMO, is simply the best resource for earthquakes and their after effects ? Well, people will know now. But at what cost ?

I was just thinking the day before that with all this uncontrolled and ugly growth everywhere, that it was just a question of when and not if Nature would retaliate. Retaliated She has.

The worse tragedy I saw was in the minds of people. People have lost all their humanity even in the face of such a huge tragedy. The worst of the West has come to us. The New Indian Express carried articles on how the Annual Music Sabhas of Chennai continued their programs with absolutely no qualms even after more than 200 people had died in their own city. "Who cares for poor fishermen?" was one beast's retort. Another insensitive brute said that India could afford to lose people. How would it have been if it were that moron's family or himself that had perished? He would have wept with fear and horror when being swept away by the waves. He should realize that he too will die one day. These retorts are not of a stoic kind - but of the boorish one. This death of humanity in the people of Chennai is a far bigger tragedy than the physical deaths of so many innocent people.

Another ugly aspect of this incident was the Tamil Video Channels trying to increase their TRP points by portraying the survivors and kin of the victims. One guy apparently thrust the microphone into the face of a woman who was weeping at the death of her children. Have some sensitivity, people! Why can't you think of how the poor children would have died? I suppose that this is the state of the Media everywhere in the world. I for one have reduced my time watching TV for the past three-four weeks. It is really a blessing.

It was a better situation in Bangalore as far as humanity went. I was attending a large gathering where a Swamiji presided. He made it a point to tell the audience that such a tragedy had occurred. It managed to take the color off the event - but that was a must, IMO, in the face of such an event. There were donations given by the Swamiji as well as the other people on stage towards the victims of the Tsunami. Everybody I knew was really shaken. Not like people in Chennai who continued to revel in shopping at Spencer's plaza and in music concerts.

|| sarve janAH sukhino bhavantu||

Memories ?

I was in the US for slightly more than 7 years. After being in Bangalore for the past 3-4 months, I have just realized that I miss the Bay Area.

The thought of the Bay Area naturally came back when I listened to a net broadcast of KQED (www.kqed.org). This was a station my wife and I immensely enjoyed when in the Bay Area. The radio broadcaster was going on about the Thursday weather and how it was going to be a sunny day. I felt a kind of void though I am back amongst my own people.

Humans are weird. While in the US, I was missing Bangalore a lot. On every trip to India, I rued getting back to the US. I decided to move back just for that. Now that I am back, I suddenly am missing the US. I recall the evening walks with my wife, my car (a nice Lexus - which I really miss), a certain set of friends and relatives there. I suppose they miss me less or not at all because I am just one person gone from there with the rest of them left there. I miss my Uncle - who unfortunately passed away just after I left. I miss the wonderful library system there and all the nice movies. Can you believe that I miss calling my parents ? Though we live with my parents and I can still walk with my wife, it was something I was looking forward to every weekend.

In traffic-ridden Bangalore, coming to work itself is a big pain. Now, is that the biggest reason for my grief ? Thinking further, I conclude that it is definitely a major reason.

But it is plain human nature that is the cause of suffering - this stupid idea of 'greener grass on the other side' and all the other junk that makes our conditions pitiful.

As Sri Krishna declared in the Gita - 'mana eva manuShyANAM kAraNaM bandhamokShayoH' - the mind itself is the cause for human suffering and emancipation.

As I wrote this blog, it has almost been like emptying my mind and I am feeling relaxed now.

Life is life wherever we live. As humans, we need company and as long as we have that, we should be fine.

An amazing rant, isn't it ?

The New Yorker - The Diagnosis by Ian McEwan

The New Yorker

"Like an expensive car, it’s intricate, but mass-produced nevertheless, with more than six billion in circulation."


What is the above sentence talking about ? It's a really nice wisecrack!

A good story. I just got a nice feeling - the one I get from reading an interesting well-written story.

These New Yorker stories are good. Ever since I found them, I've been coming back.

Great stuff.