Letter to the Editor Times of India.

Dear Sir,

We all have witnessed a very very terrible Terrorist Attack on Mumbai on 26th November.

Last couple of days have been very disturbing for Mumbaikars as well as for people all over India.

Witnessing the incident Live on various News Channels, and  reading the Braveries of our Police, Army and NSG Javans, those who have lost their lives or those who are injured, through various news papers has left me very disturbed and i greatly feel to do something to express my Heart-Felt Condolences to Brave Martyrs and those Injured in the Attack.

This is not only my reaction, but of each and every person around me and all over India.I would like, if you can arrange for some kind of Peace March around Pune, through your esteemed Daily, so that people from Pune can show their Support and that they will always Stand-By our Dear Mumbaikars to fight against such heinous and cowardly act of Terrorism.

I'll be very happy to be of help, of any sort to condemn the attack, and show my support to my dear Mumbaikars.

Thanking you in anticipation, I remain.

Sincerely,

Prabodh Mhalgi.

Pune.

Voice HandFone # - +91-9822473283

A Million Frogs!!!

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs.The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, "There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs--millions of them. They croak all during the night and are about to drive me crazy!"

 

So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant five hundred at a time for the next several weeks.

 

 

 

The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, "Well...where are all the frogs?" The farmer said, "I was mistaken.  There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!"

 

Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also--remember that problems always seem bigger in the dark.

 

 

Have you ever lain in your bed at might worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming--like a million frogs croaking? Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

Shri Siddhivinayak, Mumbai

GANESH UTSAV

Ganesha is India's cutest god. He has the head of an elephant on which is perched a dainty tiara, four podgy hands joined to a sizeable belly with each hand holding its own symbolic object. One has a trishul, or a trident, the second, an ankush, or goad made from his very own broken tooth, the third hand elegantly holds a lotus and the fourth a rosary (which is sometimes replaced by modaks his favourite sweet). Ganesha is famous not only for being a trickster and for his sense of humour, but equally for his wisdom. He is the son of Shiva (Destroyer in the Hindu Holy Trinity of Creator-Preserver-Destroyer) and Parvati (Shiva's consort).

Every year during Bhadrapad on shuddha Ganesh Chaturthi ' Ganeshotsav ' is celebrated started in 1883 with a difference .This Ganeshotsav was celebrated by Sardar Khasgiwale first time in Gwalior. Famous and honourable citizen Ganpatrao Ghovedakar, Bhau Vaidya and Bhau Rangari installed the Lord Ganesh idol .That year he began the tradition of taking out procession, this was appreciated by Late Lokmanya Tilak and he mentioned it in Kesari on 26th Sept 1893. He encouraged to give it a public occasion and image.Thus he became the architect of this great festival. His objective was to unite the people from all faiths to celebrate it for only ten days thus encouraging national integrity. He told in categorical terms that it wasn't a small thing . It can assume higher and broader canvas. He termed this occassion into a grand festival from home to public view. With the passage of time it became more and more popular and meaningful. In this way public awareness and education through entertainment got crystalised. With the help of donation they began to arrange social, religious and cultural activities.This festival has given a new twist and image to Maharashtra's consciousness contribution and image got a great facelift.
It is not merely a festival but a vehicle and platform to raise the voice against all oppresion. It touched around all the aspects of life and lent a new meaning to collective conciousness of Maharashtra and rest of india.
Late Lokmanya's step has leapt forward and taken a great stride. Universally, integrity and brotherhood can be greatly realised through Ganeshotsav. This holy festival contributes to gaiety, faith,submission and divine qualities. This festival has variety, newness and multifarious sides. Historical and mythological narrations figure in it .
Its really a matter of great pride that all the Indians world over gather to celebrate it.
The cardinal aim is to get rid of violence, lowliness and cheapness and in the place of these substandard things, all constructive and creative activities must come to stay.This primary objective of Tilak should be retained and Ganeshotsav should be celebrated with a very lofty, real and objective way.

Load Shedding!!!

Photo Taken at 7 Loves Fly Over on 24th Aug @ 12:30 PM

Hi Friends, Today when Pune is facing 4 1/2 hours of Load Shedding daily, our dear PMC is wasting valuable energy by keeping the Street Lights on in Broad Daylight. Please Comment in your views on how can we all tackle this grave problem of power shortage.

Independance Day - An Historical Account.

Jawaharlal Nehru being sworn in as India's first Prime Minister by Lord Mountbatten on August 15, 1947

Jawaharlal Nehru's tryst with destiny speech

On 3 June 1947, Viscount Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last British Governor-General of India, announced the partitioning of the British Indian Empire into India and Pakistan, under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947. At the stroke of midnight, on 15 August 1947, India became an independent nation. This was preceded by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's famous speech titled Tryst with destiny.

"

At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.

"

Prime Minister Nehru and Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel invited Lord Mountbatten to continue as Governor General of India. He was replaced in June 1948 by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. Patel took on the responsibility of unifying 565 princely states, steering efforts by his "iron fist in a velvet glove" policies, exemplified by the use of military force to integrate Junagadh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Hyderabad state into India. J&K became a part of India when Pakistan laid siege and the then king Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession with India to save J&K from Pakistan. India responded on behalf of J&K by sending in its armed forces to counteract the Pakistani attack. Later PM Nehru went to UN and a cease fire was declared. Pakistan has not withdrawn its military forces from the occupied Kashmir, and the territory termed as POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) has ever since been a cause of contention between India and Pakistan.

The Constituent Assembly completed the work of drafting the constitution on 26 November 1949; on 26 January 1950 the Republic of India was officially proclaimed. The Constituent Assembly elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India, taking over from Governor General Rajgopalachari. Subsequently, a free and sovereign India absorbed two other territories: Goa (liberated from Portuguese control in 1961) and Pondicherry (which the French ceded in 1954). In 1952, India held its first general elections, with a voter turnout exceeding 62%; in practice, this made India the world's largest democratic country in the history of the modern and ancient world.

The Indian Flag atop the Mantralaya building in Mumbai.

Bindra claims India's first gold

Abhinav Bindra became India's first individual Olympic gold medallist when he claimed the men's 10m air rifle shooting title on Monday.

Bindra emerged triumphant in the 10-shot final with a finish of 104.5, taking his tally of points to 700.5 as against Zhu's silver winning performance of 699.7 (597+102.7) and 699.4 (598+101.4) by Hakkinen, which gave the Finn Army marksman the bronze.

The historic victory for the 25-year-old pro from Chandigarh came against heavy odds as he entered the event ranked number 17 in the world. Bindra created history in the Chinese capital by claiming the gold medal in 10m air rifle event on Monday to give India its first individual gold medal after 108 years.

BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has announced a prize of 25 lakhs to honour this Great performance.

A Facinating Story!!!

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband,dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment into the president of Harvard's outer office.
The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge.
She frowned. "We want to see the president," the man said softly. "He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped. "We'll wait," the lady replied. For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away.
They didn't. And the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted to do. "Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave," she told him.
And he sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office. The president, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple.
The lady told him, "We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."
The president wasn't touched, he was shocked. "Madam," he said gruffly. "We can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery". "Oh, no," the lady explained quickly. "We don't want to erect a statue.
We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard." The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard." For a moment the lady was silent.
The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. And the lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a University? Why don't we just start our own?" Her husband nodded.
The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. And Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.