SVL 1.5: A weekend in Michigan

 Posted on August 11, 2015  |  3 minutes  |  464 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

<p> <img class="aligncenter" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=bc3f134ea3&view=att&th=147c738735f746ac&attid=0.3&disp=emb&realattid=ii_hyqcavj23_147c7125b21f0304&zw&atsh=1" alt="" width="342" height="456" /> </div> <p> <img class="aligncenter" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=bc3f134ea3&view=att&th=147c738735f746ac&attid=0.6&disp=emb&realattid=ii_hyqcavdy2_147c7125b21f0304&zw&atsh=1" alt="" width="342" height="456" /> </div> <p> <img class="aligncenter" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=bc3f134ea3&view=att&th=147c738735f746ac&attid=0.1&disp=emb&realattid=ii_hyqcav8a1_147c7125b21f0304&zw&atsh=1" alt="" width="342" height="456" /> </div> </div> <div class="gmail_default"> This was between meeting a group of Santosh&#8217;s friends for Philz coffee and a walk around the Infinite Loop and meeting more of his friends in Zenny, an Ethiopian restaurant in San Jose. [Read More]
ABCD  advaitam  ann arbor  apple headquarters  Apple's Mothership  avatar: the last airbender  bhakti  Bharatnatyam  boating  california  canoe  chinmaya mission  culture  devotion  dvaitam  english  Ethiopian restaurant  faith  Germany  kayak  language  Michigan  Phoenix  raft  regional language  storm  USA  zenny 

The Relevance of Culture

 Posted on July 5, 2015  |  16 minutes  |  3291 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

A conversation with an old friend of mine revealed to me that the word culture is too often associated only with religion and ritualism and dismissed as irrelevant. [Read More]
art  avatar: the last airbender  ayurveda  clothing  cuisine  culture  customs  dance  dean ornish  devdutt patnaik  diet  diseases  food  good and evil  herbal remedies  home remedies  language  lord of the rings  mc donald's  medicinal plants  medicine  meditation  music  mythology  myths that mystify  philosophy  preventive medicine research institute  Religion  ritualism  stories  translation  values  western science  yoga 

Sunnyvale Letters (SVL) 1: Wedding and After

 Posted on June 21, 2015  |  18 minutes  |  3816 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

June 21st 2014 Happy Summer Solstice everyone! 🙂 I woke up at 5am because of jetlag and my husband, Santosh, is still sleeping. I’ve been wanting to write every day of the last month but things have been so busy. [Read More]
bangalore  birds  bison  california  chennai  coimbatore  cousins  elephant  emu  family  friends  honeymoon  kalahasti  langoor  letters  masinagudi  ooty  peacock  sunnyvale  tirumala  tirupati  travel  US visa  wedding 

LOG 4.1: Thoughts on a rainy afternoon

 Posted on September 14, 2014  |  7 minutes  |  1313 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

14th September 2013 Hello everyone, I live close to the Uni so my daily space is very small. But recently I have visited my old flatmate Lea in Bremen once for dinner and once for their housewarming party. [Read More]
books  bremen  cloud atlas  education system  identity  indian  letters from oldenburg  letters home  nordenham  politics  reading  the egg  train  travel 

Starry night

 Posted on November 30, 2013  |  1 minutes  |  163 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

The stars are so pure in their brightness tonight. No earthly sources of light can begin to compare. Sirius sparkled in a clean and loud tone as the others seemed to harmonise in the music of the galaxy. [Read More]
astronomy  night  orion  sirius  sources of light  stars  venus 

Feel good links

 Posted on October 21, 2013  |  2 minutes  |  319 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

I’d like to share here some of the interesting links I’ve read recently: This oneis the less covered story about ordinary and good Indian men. After all the nasty stories we’ve read, this comes as a breath of fresh air and points out all the nice qualities Indian man have. [Read More]
acceptance  be the change you want to see  buddhism  community  Dalai Lama  environment  family  gandhi  generosity  good  good men  good people  habit of happiness  happiness  His Holiness The Dalai Lama  kindness  love  man without money  meditation  meditation techniques  money  pro community  simple  tibet 

Come dream with me

 Posted on October 10, 2013  |  10 minutes  |  2056 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

What does our country really need? We need to make sure every citizen gets enough to eat, clothe themselves and opportunity to enrich themselves using good quality education, and employment. [Read More]
abundance  appreciation  apprival  assembly lines  Attention  basic needs  bike lane  business  capitalism  citizen  clothes  consumerism  contentment  cycles  development  dream  e-waste  eat  education  education system  employment  empowerment  enrichment  family  food  forests  gandhi  grass roots  gratitude  imagine  kindness  livelihood  local products  marketing  materialistic  passion  pedestrian  phone  poverty  public transport  resources  responsibility  rich and famous  schools  self reliance  self sufficient  skill  socialism  strengths  system  training  use  waste  weaknesses 

Prologue III

 Posted on October 8, 2013  |  1 minutes  |  72 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

Where are you? I’m here, waiting But no longer half; I’m now a grown woman Strong, independent and capable Living every day well; I find happiness in [Read More]
love poetry 

Introduction to the Indian Caste System

 Posted on April 10, 2013  |  8 minutes  |  1506 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

Let me introduce you to the caste system in India. There are four main castes usually listed in the following order; The Castes Brahmins, the teachers, and priests who occupied themselves with the task of performing common ceremonies such as weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals and house-warming as well as yagnas and other religious activities. [Read More]
administrators  archery  auspicious days  brahmin  brahmins  buddhism  business  caste  caste system  caste system in india  castes  ceremonies  cleaning  construction work  corrupt  dharma  discrimination  duties  duty  economic status  education  education system  equality  equals  farmers  funerals  genetic predisposition  god  grudge  height of buildings  hierarchy  identiy  indian caste system  inferiority  inter-caste  inter-caste marriage  kingdoms  kshatriya  land  largest genetic experiment  later vedic era  marriage  meat  menial labour  money  naming ceremonies  neighbouring kingdoms  opportunity  order of castes  outcasts  paraiya  policies  policy  poor  positive discrimination  power  predisposition  priests  quota  reformation  religious  reservation  respect  richest  rigid  rituals  servants  shudra  simple  spiritual life  spritual  strategic thinking  strength  strong arms  superiority  swordsmanship  travel  unskilled labour  untouchability  untouchables  vaishya  values of a society  vegetarian  warriors  weddings  yagna