Firstly, I eat vegetarian food. I don't like certain things. They are tomatoes, onions, garlic and capsicums. Tomatoes tastes bland and it looks like meat, for me. Onions smell dreadful. I don't like garlic since they have very strong smell. If onions smell dreadful 250 times, garlic smells 2500 times more dreadful. I don't eat these at home or outside. My mother does not prepare food that contains tomatoes, onion, garlic and capsicum. She also says that she grew up in a family where people never used to buy garlic.
Now, I will share with you a variety of vegetables that I like in my food.
Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna brings smile on my face. His pastimes bring sparkle in my eyes. I recently watched a video episode from Siddharth Kumar Tewary's Mahabharat. When I read stories or watch videos about Lord Krishna's pastimes, I become like a happy elephant who entered into a forest which is filled with fresh juicy sugar canes. Krishna makes Shakuni get into trouble often. And, Shakuni is a used up battery. He always makes machines work improperly.
During the Kurukshetra war, the day arrived when Karna breathed his last. The Kauravas sensed that almost all the legs in their chair were broken. Shakuni had to naturally come up yet again with another conspiracy. So, he approached Krishna and invited him to play dice with him. Shakuni said, "Vasudeva Krishna, if I loose in this game, then consider Duryodhana looses. If you loose in this game, then consider Yudhistra looses and he has to surrender to Duryodhana". After hearing this, the smart Krishna said, "Mamaji, I have a different rule and condition for this game. How about this? If I loose, I will do Agni Snana (get into fire), if you loose, why don't you do the Agni Snana?" The next moment, Shakuni got scared like a chicken in the cage. This is how Krishna plays tricks and pushes Shakuni into a deep ocean of fear.
Shakuni is a cunning fox who gives soup to Krishna in a shallow bowl. But every time Shakuni thinks he is too smart, Lord Krishna knows how to offer back a very tasty soup for him,
In the past, I had a desire behind wanting to study and learn. I like to learn a lot. I keep learning all the time. But there was a desire, there was an attachment. And that desire was to be the smartest. To be the smartest of all. But that desire made me cry all the time. I was anxious and scared. Wanting to be the smartest came in to my mind because
I used to go out and meet other children a lot, in the past. Nowadays, I spend my time being
at home and studying at peace.
I will tell you a story about the oath Bheeshma took. Once upon a time, there lived a King named Shantanu who ruled over Hastinapur. He had a love named Satyavati. One day, when Shantanu was spending some time on the River Ganga, when Satyavati saw a fish, she threw an anchor on that fish. That fish was very strong and big. So, the ferry had to be pulled and Satyavati was managing the ferry. Later, Satyavati's hands began to bleed. Shantanu said, "Satyavati, leave that rope right now.". After the fish died, Satyavati saw that the fish was been taken away by the fisherman. Then Shantanu came to Satyavati with some medicine and applied it on her bleeding hands. Shantanu said to Satyavati, "Satyavati, I didn't know that you had such strength from your hands". Satyavati replied, "My strength comes from my heart".
Today, I learnt about how to locate the exact position of a place on the earth. The exact position of a place on earth is located using co-ordinates measured by latitudes and longitudes. I watched few videos that my Amma showed on youtube.
Latitudes are lines that run across the globe in parallel fashion from east to west and they are called as parallels of latitudes. The distance between each parallel line is 69 miles and it is called as one degree. Each degree is further divided into 60 minutes. Each minute is further divided into 60 seconds. The equator is the middle of the earth at zero degree and it runs across from east to west half away from north and south pole. The line at 23.5 degree North is called as the Tropic of Cancer. The line at 23.5 degree South is called as the Tropic of Capricorn. The region between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are called as Tropics. These regions are known for their hot temperature and dense forests.
Longitudes are lines that run across the globe from North to South and they are called as Meridians of Longitude. Longitudes are not parallel like Latitudes. The zero degree Longitude is called as the Prime Meridian.
Now, I am going to locate the places one has to pass during the bicycle race called as the 'Race Across America'. I am also going to map it with the exact co-ordinates.
My Amma reads Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya written by Sri Madhwacharya, to me most nights. I was very excited to know about the first 5 expansions of Almighty. I came to know a lot after listening to Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya. My Amma helped me to write this article. I could narrate what I knew. But it was difficult to type this as an article. So, we did a team work in presenting this article. I happily narrated the expansions of Lord Almighty while she typed. I am also learning to chant 1000 names of Lord. That sloka's name is Sri Vishnu Sahasranama. My Amma says I have been learning this since when I was 4 years old. Until 4 years, she says I was listening to her chant.
Last Sunday, I went to the Crocodile Park. The park is situated on ECR (East Coast Road), Chennai on the way to Mamallapuram. The place is known as Madras Crocodile Bank Trust. We didn't intend to go to the crocodile park on that day. So, it was a surprise for me when we went there. It is my and my father's favorite place. My mommy took pictures while I was busy watching the crocodiles and having conversations with my daddy. In this post, I will share about the crocodiles I saw in the park.
I first came to know about Clement Ader in one of my books from the Kingfisher Readers series, 'Flight' authored by Chris Oxlade. Yesterday, when my mommy asked me to tell her what I would like to search in Google, I told her that I would like to know more about Clement Ader and his inventions.
Here is a timeline that I'd like to share about Clement Ader and other learning connections I made.
Mr. Jackie Chan acts as Passepartout in the movie. Once, Passepartout stole a precious and strange looking Jade Buddha from the Bank of England at London. The Jade Buddha belonged to a village in China. Passepartout wanted to go back to China and he was also escaping from the police.
Arjuna, Bheema and Draupadi were returning back after Draupadi's Swayamvara, in order to seek blessings from Mata Kunti Devi. The Brahmin who took the Pandavas to the Swayamvar also accompanied Arjuna and Bheema while returning back after the Swayamvar was over. Bheema made a noise, a funny noise. He kept his fingers on his mouth and made that noise. This kind of noise is made during the wedding of Rakshasas. The Brahmin who was sitting on Bheem's back asked Bheema if he married a Pisacha. The noise that Bheema made was the mantra read in the Rakshasas wedding. I will tell more about how Bheema got married to a Rakshasi.
Once, the Pandavas were trying to escape from Ashwatama. Ashwatama was the son of Guru Dronacharya. He became the King of Panchala after King Drupada got defeated by Arjuna. The Pandavas with their mother Kunti Devi accidentally wandered off into a magical forest. Before Ashwatama could follow the Pandavas into the magical forest, his soldier told him that a demon named Hidimba lives in the forest. Meanwhile, in the forest, after the Pandavas and their mother entered the forest, none of them knew the way to go out. When Bheema uprooted a tree to make a way to go out of the forest, a surprising and scary thing happened. The tree that Bheema uprooted came back again. Bheema felt surprised. After seeing this, Arjuna told that the place that they got stuck should be maya vana. (Magical Forest). Hidimba, the demon who eats up human beings was watching the Pandavas and their mother. Hidimba was hungry and started to smack his lips. He can't wait to eat the Pandavas. He asked his sister Hidimbi to trick Pandavas and bring them and their mother to him so that he and his Rakshasa clan can eat them.
After some time, the Pandavas who could not get out of the forest fell asleep. Suddenly, there was a noise. A woman was crying in a feeble voice. Arjuna woke up and he could hear the sounds of someone crying. Yudhishtra and Kunti too woke up. Then, the other brothers woke up too. Arjuna went towards the direction where the sound was coming from. He was ready to fire an arrow towards the place where the sound was coming from. But to his surprise, he only saw a beautiful woman there. Arjuna asked the woman, "Why are you crying? Who are you?". The woman replied, "I came here with my parents and brothers. Then, we got stuck here in this forest. And some Rakshasas ate up my parents and family. But, I was left alone". Arjuna promised that he will take her to his mother Kunti and that she will take care of her.
The woman who Arjuna took to his mother was a Rakshasi called Hidimbi who was disguised as a beautiful woman. Bheema saw Hidimbi and the next moment, they both fell in love for each other. Later, when Bheema brought fruits as food, they all started to eat. Bheema was eating a lot. So, Hidimbi also started to compete with him. All the others got shocked. Arjuna and Yudhistra started to doubt about the identity of the beautiful woman. Arjuna thought whoever who competes Bheema in eating so much can definitely not be a human being at all. After they all finished eating, at night Arjuna followed the beautiful woman only to find out that she was actually Hidimbi, sister of Hidimba. Yudhishtra asked to reveal the true identity of Hidimbi, then she showed her true form. And, all the brothers and Kunti became shocked to see her true form.
The Pandavas along with Kunti Devi and Hidimbi went to the place where Hidimba was living, even after Hidimbi told them not to go. Hidimbi was afraid that her brother will eat up the Pandavas and their mother. She did not want that to happen because she was in love with Bheema. Meanwhile, in the Hidimba's kingdom, Hidimba and the other rakshasas were praying to their God Vrukodara. When Hidimba saw the Pandavas and their mother, he was ready to eat them. He said he will eat Bheema and he asked other rakshasas to eat the others. When the other rakshasas approached the brothers and Kunti, Arjuna told Hidimba that he is supposed to first eat because he is the King and it is a sin if the King does not eat first. This is how Arjuna tricked Hidimba into fighting with Bheema. Yudhistra teased Bheema by saying, "Bheema, their God's name is Vrukodara. Your pet name is also Vrukodara. Why don't you bless them?".
Bheema lifted his mace and ran towards Hidimba. Hidimba took his mace too and got ready for the fight. Hidimba looked so strong. But Bheema was not less, he looked stronger too. Bheema and Hidimba fought fiercely. Sparks were falling out from their maces. The maces fell down. They continued their fight even though they were unarmed. Hidimba ran to punch Bheema. But Bheema was too quick. He jumped so high and landed behind Hidimba. Then , Bheema lifted up Hidimba by his legs and tore Hidimba into pieces. The way Bheema lifted up and tore Hidimba was so fierce. Hidimba died and suddenly the forest was filled with light. Everybody looked up and felt amazed.
According to the rakshasas custom, the person who kills their King has to become the next king and should marry the relative of the King. Thus, Bheema ended up becoming the King of rakshasas and also married Hidimbi. During his marriage, the rakshasas kept their index fingers on their mouth and moved their fingers up and down and the noise that came out was so funny.
Before marrying Bheema, Hidimbi gave a promise to Kunti that if she is married to Bheema, she will raise her son just like Vibhishana and not like Ravana. She had vowed to Kunti that she will let Kunti and her sons to leave them after Hidimbi will give birth to a son. One day, Hidimbi gave birth to a son and Bheema named him as Gatothgacha. Hidimbi remembered her vow and let Kunti and her sons leave the forest. Kunti praised Hidimbi's values such as generosity and sacrifice. So, she blessed Hidimbi that she will be respected and considered as a Goddess in the future.
My Research Work
I researched more about the story of Bheema and Hidimbi, along with my mother.
SriPadarajaru, a saint in the Madhwa community who had the amsha of Dhruva had composed Madhwanama describing the three incarnations of Vayu which are Hanuman during the Rama period, Bheema during the Krishna period and Madhwa during the Vyasa period. In his composition Madhwa Nama, he wrote while describing the Bheema Avatara,
allidda baka hiDimbakaremba rakkasara
nilladorisida lOkakanTakaranu
Meaning: He eradicated demons Baka and Hidimbika who were there and tormenting everybody.
There is a description for this in Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya - Canto 19 composed by Sri Madhwacharya.
bhIma reached the banks of ganga along with his mother and brothers. This place was inhabited by a demon named hiDimba and his sister hiDimbi. hiDimba had performed penance of rudra and obtained a boon of invincibility. hiDimbi was actually an apsara (heavenly damsel) named shRi who had been cursed by indrA's wife to take the life of a demoness. shRi had prayed to bhArati dEvi (vAyu's wife) for mitigation. Pleased with her penance, bhArati had granted her a boon that her curse would be lifted after she married bhIma. In order to make this happen, an element of bhArati incarnated along with hiDimbi. hiDimbi was sent by her brother to obtain some food. She saw the exceptionally handsome bhIma and lost her heart to him. She took on the form of a beautiful woman and asked him to marry her. He refused saying that his elder brother was as yet unwed. hiDimbi then told him that vEdavyAsa himself would come there in the immediate future and make him agree. Annoyed by his sister's absence, hiDimba came there and saw her with bhIma. This angered him and he attacked bhIma with huge boulders and trees. bhIma brushed aside all his missiles and easily killed him with his bare hands, breaking the boon granted by rudra (this is possible since vAyu is much higher than rudra in the hierarchy of gods). hiDimbi requested kunti and yudhiShTira to intercede on her behalf, which they did, but bhIma did not yield. Finally, vEdavyAsa himself came and asked bhIma to marry hiDimbi. BhIma immediately agreed (this is a good example of the verse that was stated earlier - 'hariyanallade bageyanannyaranu lOkadoLu' - he does not yield to anybody other than hari). After a year or so, they had a son named ghatOtkacha. bhIma then allowed hiDimba to go back to her heavenly abode with her son, after extracting a promise that they would both return whenever he needed them.
I further researched in Wikipedia. And, here is the information I got.
Hidimba was 12 feet tall. Do you know that 1 feet is 12 inches? And, then 12 feet will be 144 inches. So, Hidimba was 144 inches tall. Dimapur which is a name derived from Hidimbapur is the largest city in Nagaland, India. It was once the capital of Dimasa Kachari rulers. Hidimba Kunda is the place where Bheema and Hidimba got married.
Image Credit - Google Maps
Dimasa people are a group of people in Assam, also called as Dimasa Kachari. It is believed that the Kacharis are the descendants of Ghatotgacha. Bheema's son Ghatotgacha is the progenitor of Dimasa Kachari people. At Dimapur, there is a giant chess board park and it is believed that Bheema and Ghatotgacha used to play chess here.
Image Credit - http://dimapur.nic.in/
Take a look at more pictures, the ruins of Dimapur. Image Credit - http://dimapur.nic.in/
Now, I feel 'WOW'. Did Bheema really play chess with his son in this giant chess park, which still exists even today? I feel like visiting places, travel to many places and explore ancient History of Bharat Kanda. Me and my mother will go and I also feel that I can take my father with me too.
Watch the following video of Kachari women performing a plate dance.
Even today, one can visit a temple of Goddess Hidimbi. The Hidimbi temple, known as the Hadimba temple is located in a hill station called Manali, in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
Image Credit - www.himachalwatcher.com
The new words that I learnt about after writing this blog are - invincibility, intercede, intervene, hierarchy and progenitor.
I like Bheema, he is so funny and huge.
Narrated by Harmonic Hari, typed and posted by PM for Harmonic Hari
Nowadays, I am reading Amar Chitra Katha books. My favourite of all is 'Stories From The Bhagawat". You can buy the book here.
The book has five stories about Sri Krishna. They are
1. Krishna and the false Vasudeva
2. Sudama
3. Anirudha
4. Krishna and Shishupala
5. Tales of Balarama
In the story, 'Krishna and the false Vasudeva', a mighty but foolish King of Pundra claimed that he is the real incarnate of Lord Vishnu and said that Krishna is an impostor. The King also started dressing up like Krishna. He ended in a war with Krishna, the Yadava and Krishna killed the false Vasudeva. In my opinion, the King of Pundra was not being himself and he was pretending to be someone else. I thought he was jealous of Krishna and ended his life in a foolish way. I liked this story because it taught me to be myself.
In the Story, 'Sudama', Sudama who is a friend of Krishna went to Dwarka to meet Krishna. Sudama's family had very little food to eat and hence they were very sad. It was Sudama's wife's idea to ask Sudama to visit his friend. She thought that Krishna could somehow help them. She did not have anything to send with Sudama, hence she borrowed some poha (flattened rice) from her neighbor and sent it along with her husband. At Dwarka, Krishna gave his respects and love for Sudama by washing his feet and asking him to refresh by giving him a betel leaf. Then, Krishna ate some poha that Sudama brought and lo, Sudama's hut became a mansion with riches. When Sudama returned back, he saw the magic and he thought even though he did not ask Krishna for anything, but still Krishna had showered him with riches. He felt like he was in heaven and he thought Krishna was so generous and knower of all. What I learnt from this story is even simple gifts can be given out of love.
I will write the review of other stories later.
Enjoy learning.
Lost Treasure Of The Emerald Eye is a mystery story. In this story, Geronimo Stilton, his sister Thea Stilton, his cousin Trap Stilton and his nephew Benjamin Stilton go for a treasure hunt in a desert island. The story takes place in a faraway island named treasure island. It was an island that looked like as it was painted with a green paint brush. It looked like a green eye from the airplane window. The island had a resort named Ratlin's Tropical Resort. There were no Rodents in the island. The most dangerous places of the island were One Skull, Two Skulls and Three Skulls. There is quick sand in One Skull. There are some giant honey bee hives in Two Skulls. There is a dangerous trap in Three Skulls that can free someone only when they solve a riddle.
Geronimo Stiltion and his family went for a treasure hunt to this island. Geronimo Stilton hates travelling and he was feeling so nervous during his trip. He went because Thea Stilton dragged him to go with her. She had a treasure map that showed there is a treasure called Emerald Eye in the island. Thea likes travelling and adventure. Thea invites Geronimo Stilton for such crazy adventure trips just to torment him. Geronimo Stilton likes to curl up with a book instead travelling. Thea dragged Trap Stilton also into this trip. Trap Stilton is a fat mouse who is very obnoxious, annoying and loud. His tail began to twitch when Thea mentioned about this adventure trip, he is always after money and treasures. So, he was very eager to go with Thea. Benjamin Stilton, Geronimo's nephew had heard about Geronimo's plans. He also wanted to go with Geronimo and that is how he ended up going to this adventure trip. Benjamin is a sweet little mouseling with tiny flappy ears. He wanted to assist Geronimo during this trip.
When the Stilton family reached the island, they had to go through scary challenges such as escaping from the quick sand, from the bees and escaping a trap. After all this hurdles, they could not find any treasure. Thea Stilton decided to stay back in the island for few more days. But Geronimo told that it is time for him to return back. The other two also wanted to go back. Thea stayed back. When Geronimo was flying back, he noticed that island looked like an Emerald Eye. Then, he came to know that the whole island is the treasure. He shouted with excitement and told Trap, "The Emerald Eye, I saw it through the window". They thought that it is the most beautiful treasure that they have ever seen. They came back home and Geronimo wrote a book about his adventure. Thea stayed in the island for few more days. One day, she called Geronimo to tell him that she is up to another trip. That made Geronimo Stilton nervous. He knew where this was going to lead to.
I liked the book because I was fascinated by the Emerald Eye. Reading Geronimo Stilton books is always a funny experience. It was very exciting to read this story. I suggest you too to read this book.
Narrated by Harmonic Hari, Typed and published by PM.
Myself and mommy were discussing different occupations. My mommy asked me to choose an occupation that I will like to do and write about why I would like to take on a particular occupation.
One day, I wish to become a Robot Scientist. I like to make Robots. I like inventions and as a Robot Scientist, I can invent new Robots. Through my inventions, I like to help people. I wish my inventions reduce human efforts. My mommy asked me why I would like to reduce human efforts. I told, "Not all human efforts are easy for the humans to carry out. For example, it takes a lot of effort and struggle to drive a car through a rough road. It creates a lot of stress for a human being. To save the driver's effort, I will invent a Robot that will drive a car. That way the Robot can help us perform dangerous tasks."
My mommy looked into the internet and told me that there are already driver less cars that is been invented. That is fine, I will invent a new kind of driver less car.
Now, I will share some information about driver less cars. Google has already been building driver less cars. I learnt that these cars can drive on their own, that is why they are called as autonomous cars. In order to build a Robot, we need to use a computer programming language. Google has used a software called Google Chauffeur. Read more about Google Drive Less Car.
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