Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

Of the 10 recognised incarnations of Lord Vishnu , legend has it that nine have already appeared before us. Let us have a look at these various avatars. The first one of these takes the form of Matsya or fish . Hindu mythology believes that the world is subject to a cycle of periodical destruction. It was during one such cycle that the four Vedas were submerged beneath the water. In order for Brahma to carry on with his work of creation, the Vedas were a must as they were manuals of instruction. Vishnu was commanded to recover these books and to do so, he took the form of a fish. In his next incarnation, Vishnu takes the form of a tortoise, Kachyup or Kurma that took the newly created, trembling earth upon its back to give it some form of stability. The third incarnation is that of Varaha or boar . Taking this form, Vishnu is supposed to have descended into the water and drawn up the earth with the help of his huge tusks. Narasimha is Vishnu’s fourth incarnation. This form of a hal

Princes William and Harry want Sir Paul McCartney, Beyoncé Knowles and Justin Timberlake to join the line-up for their Diana tribute concert. The princes are desperate to convince the world’s biggest music stars to take part in the event to mark the 10th anniversary of their mother’s death. They are keen for The Beatles’ legend to lead a supergroup who would perform the Fab Four’s greatest hits. A source told Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper, “The princes know they need to get artistes who are loved around the world, but particularly in America, to ensure it’s a truly worldwide event no one will forget. They would love it to be the biggest since Live 8 or Live Aid. They really want Justin and Beyoncé to ensure there’s massive coverage in the US. Paul would be the icing on the cake, he met Diana many times and is a living legend. He has been approached and is in talks. He could do something special, like lead a supergroup, just as he did with Bono to kick off Live 8.” The princes have a

San Francisco: Google has expanded its popular mapping technology to allow users to create their own personalised maps complete with their own pictures and locations. The new features launched on Thursday allow creators to share maps, giving them the possibility of creating localised maps of points of interest in specific neighbourhoods. Users can choose whether to make their maps public or private. Maps can be further customised by specify ing the scale of the map, the order the landmarks appear in the sidebar, and even the design of the landmark icons on the map. They can also be toggled between map and satellite views. The Silicon Valley company is hoping the simplicity of the new features will generate millions of highly specialised maps to be stored in its search index. Google Maps is currently the thirdmost popular map site, after AOL’s Mapquest and Yahoo Maps.

The central and major deity of the Hindu Trinity, Vishnu the Preserver , is said to be all-powerful, all knowing and all pervading. The two most commonly seen representations of Vishnu show him either sleeping comfortably in the coils of Shesh Nag , the king of the serpents , as he floats on the waves of the ocean or as standing on the waves. In his four hands he holds his chief attributes: The conch , symbolic of the five elements; the discus; the lotus and the mace which is a symbol of primeval knowledge. Now let us take a closer look at what exactly these four attributes really symbolise. As mentioned above the conch is a sign of the five elements which are water, fire, air, earth and sky. The discus or wheel, which is called the Sudarshan Chakra has six spokes and represents the limitless control the God has over all the seasons. It is also a weapon that dismembers evil. The lotus referred to as Padma is a symbol of purity and represents the birth of creation while the mace is rep

LONDON: A life-size wax statue of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was inaugurated at the world-famous Madame Tussauds museum here on Tuesday. Shah Rukh Khan, also called “King Khan” by his admirers, is the third celebrity from Bollywood to have his replica in the museum. He joins Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and beauty queen Aishwarya Rai who made their wax presence in the Museum earlier. Amitabh Bachchan’s wax statue is reportedly watched by 25 lakh visitors to the museum every year. Among the Indian leaders figuring in the Museum are former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Madame Tussauds was set up by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. One of the major attractions at the museum is the Chamber of Horrors. This features statues of several victims and murderers of the French Revolution. Madame Tussauds is a major tourist attraction in London. It has branches in Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Las Vegas.

Let’s learn about Thomas Alva Edison who patented 1093 inventions in his lifetime Undoubtedly one of the greatest inventors of all time, many of Thomas Alva Edison’s inventions changed man’s lifestyle. The electric bulb, sound recording and a crude form of movies were just a few of them. Born in 1847, in Ohio, USA , Edison had little formal schooling. Yet, he was fascinated by science. He spent his young adulthood working extremely hard, and would often spend days experimenting, just to make something work. In 1869, Edison moved to New York City, where he improved upon a machine called the ‘ticker’ that was used to relay information about the stock market. With the money he earned from this, Edison built what he called an ‘ invention factory ’ at Menlo Park, near New York. This was, in fact, the world’s first research laboratory. His next major contribution was in 1877, when he invented the phonograph , a device used to record and playback sounds. What is interesting is that although

The capital city has a distinction. New Delhi has been declared as the best city to live in among the metropolitan cities of the country. The Mercer Human Resource Consulting survey says that the capital has the highest standard of living in the country. The Mercer Human Resource Consulting that is surveying the worldwide quality of living had select ed 215 cities around the globe. New Delhi has been ranked at 148, two places up from 2006 position. The other cities of the country that featured in the list include Chennai and Mumbai. In fact, Chennai has been put at 177 ahead of the financial capital Mumbai (209). The Mercer’s analysis of world cities was based on evaluation of 39 criteria that include political, social, economic and environmental factors.