SVL 1.9: Palo Alto and Cousins

 Posted on October 13, 2015  |  2 minutes  |  247 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

Two days after that I went to meet a member of TransForm – an organisation that works on improving public transport http://www.transformca.org/landing-page/our-approachbecause one of the events I had previously attended was hosted by them and I had taken a short survey saying I wouldn’t mind being contacted for more information/clarification of my ideas. [Read More]
autumn  avatar  caltrain  CCARE  collapse  dean ornish  el camino real  emergencies  Ferris Bueller's Day off  Glass Pumpkin show  guns germs and steel  Harry Potter  james doty  jared diamond  orren's hummus  palo alto  Pannaiyarum Padminiyum  stanford  summer  sunday assemblies  the day after tomorrow  the last airbender  TransForm 

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 

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 

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 

Thoughts about going Vegan

 Posted on March 27, 2013  |  7 minutes  |  1325 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

I was raised vegetarian and my family has been vegetarian for generations. When I was thirteen or fourteen, my parents told me that since I will be travelling when I get older, I could start getting used to meat if I wanted to. [Read More]
10% rule  animal rights  ants  artificial insemination  babies  balance  bones  buddha  calf  compassion  conditioning  conflict  consumer  cosmic  cow  crazy  culture  dead animals  dead chicken  destruction  development  efficiency  eggs  empathy  environment  food  fruits  harm  health  human nature  humans  jainism  Krishnamurthi  lactase  lactose  lactose intolerant  lifestyle  literal  meat  meat dish  milk  nature  non-violence  peace  plants  political  pollution  protector's club  rape  science  social  system  technology  thrive  tools  trees  vegan  vegan recipes  veganism  vegetarianism  where it comes from  wisdom 

How to encourage mutual respect between men and women in India

 Posted on January 11, 2013  |  7 minutes  |  1487 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

INTRODUCTION The gang-rape and death of Jyothi Singh Pandey who was previously known in the media as Damini or Nirbhaya, was the tipping point in bringing to focus a long suffered issue of disrespect and violence towards women in India. [Read More]
aunts  ban on skirts  bangalore  blaming women  boys  change  choice  cook  crime against women  curfew  Damini  delhi  delhi gang-rape  disrespect  dress code  earning  easy targets  educated  emancipated  empathy  equal partnership  equality  eve-tease  eve-teasing  family  female children  freedom  friends  gender perceptions  girls  government  grandmothers  grandsons  grope  human rights  independent  inequality  Jyothi Singh Pandey  leer  men  mothers  NDTV  nephews  Nirbhaya  notices  overcoats  police  politicians  pondicherry  power  protests  puducherry  rape  reasons for violence  respect  roles  self-image  serve  sex  skirts  sons  strong  taboo  Tamil Nadu  teachers  uniform  women's rights 

The only way forward

 Posted on December 22, 2012  |  4 minutes  |  804 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

I tend to avoid the news when I can. It upsets me and since I can’t do much about most of those issues far away I satisfy myself by trying to live in the best way I can; compassionately, sincerely and respectfully. [Read More]
anger  buddha  castration  compassion  criminals  dehli  devastation  emotional  forgiveness  gandhi  gang rape  god  heal  hospital  humiliation  hurt  jesus  Light  limited  love  news  pain  promise  rage  rape  remorse  revenge  society  spiritual  torture  violence  well-being