Indian Ocean and Euphoria

Snaps from the Kashi Yatra-2005:Most memorable music festival of my life...

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Lyrics of Title Song from Bharat Ek Khoj

सृष्टी से पहले सत्य नहीं था, असत्य भी नहीं अंतरिक्ष भी नहीं, आकाश भीं नहीं था छिपा था क्या कहाँ, किसने देखा था उस पल तो अगम, अटल जल भी कहाँ था सृष्टी का कौन हैं कर्ता कर्ता हैं यह वा अकर्ता ऊंचे आसमान में रहता सदा अध्यक्ष बना रहता वोहीं सच मुच में जानता. या नहीं भी जानता हैं किसी को नहीं पता नहीं पता नहीं है पता, नहीं है पता........... वोह था हिरान्य गर्भ सृष्टी से पहले विद्यमान वोही तो सारे भूत जात का स्वामी महान जो है अस्तित्वमाना धरती आसमान धारण कर ऐसे किस देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर जिस के बल पर तेजोमय है अम्बर पृथ्वी हरी भरी स्थापित स्थिर स्वर्ग ओर सूरज भी स्थिर ऐसे किस देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर गर्भ में अपने अग्नी धारण कर पैदा कर्व्यपा था जल इधर उधर नीचे ऊपर जगह चुके वो का एकमेव प्रान बंकर ऐसे किस देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर ॐ ! सृष्टी निर्माता स्वर्ग रचायता पूर्वज रख्सा कर सत्य धर्मं पलक अतुल जल नियामक रक्षा कर फैली हैं दिशाएं बहु जैसी उसकी सब में सब पर ऐसी ही देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर ऐसी ही देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर......
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Book Review: Putin's People by Catherine Belton

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Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West  - Catherine Belton Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West by Catherine Belton | Goodreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly Recommended Catherine Belton’s Putin’s People  is less a conventional political biography and more a forensic examination of how money, power, and state institutions fused to produce modern Russia under Vladimir Putin. For readers seeking to understand Putin not just as a man, but as a system, this book is essential reading—even if it leaves you uneasy about where responsibility truly lies.  Origins: Perestroika, Collapse, and the Intelligence State Belton begins the narrative in the early 1990s, just before the Soviet Union collapsed. Russia lagged far behind the West technologically, while Dresden - where Putin served as a KGB officer- had become a hub for smuggling and covert intelligence networks.  During Perestroika , KGB closely monitored the Soviet Union’s...
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Kanpur Coaching Gurus

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Memories of coaching days at Kanpur are inseparable from me. I have done a separate post on Kanpur coaching mandi only. The most remembered image of my coaching days was the advertisement of Ankush Bhatia by Pran classes, and it was pasted on each wall of Kanpur. His photo was spread at distant corners of the city, showing All India Rank 51. Never seen any local marketing campaign like this. Sometimes, I recall the rush of students from one coaching center to another for seat capture, xerox copying of assignments, and 'out-of-course' study material. The JEE course was never completed on time in the Kanpur coaching mandi. At the end of March, the mad rush to complete the course began with various test series taking place simultaneously. I could not forget that pressure till now. I will never forgive Anish, Pankaj, and Vishnoi sir for combining their individual treats into 1 party for JEE-qualified students. For information on the pre-2000 AD days of coaching mandi, check this l...
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Bahadur Shah Zafar - Last Mughal King

Lagta Nahin Hai Dil Mera Ujde Dayar Mein Kiski Bani Hai Aalam-e-Napaidar Mein Bulbul ko baghban se na sayyaad se gila Kismat mein kayd thi likhi fasle-bahaar mein Kehdo In Hasraton Se Kahin Aur Ja Basen Itni Jagah Kahan Hai Dil-e-Daagdaar Mein Umr-e-Daraz Mang Ke Laye The Chaar Din Do Aarzoo Mein Kat Gaye Do Intezaar Mein Din zindagi ke khatm hue shaam aa gayi phaila ke paanv soyenge koonje mazaar mein Kitna Hai Badnaseeb “Zafar” Dafn Ke Liye Do Gaz Zameen Bhi Na Mili Koo-e-Yaar Mein English Translation: My heart is not happy in this despoiled land Who has ever felt fulfilled in this transient world The nightingale laments neither to the gardener nor to the hunter Imprisonment was written in fate in the season of spring Tell these emotions to go dwell elsewhere Where is there space for them in this besmirched heart? I had requested for a long life a life of four days Two passed by in praying/wishing, and two in waiting. The days of life are over, Its evening of death Now I can sleep w...
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Book Review: Snow by Orhan Pamuk

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Snow (Kar) by Orhan Pamuk Snow by Orhan Pamuk | Goodreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰ Worth Reading By imagining through the eyes of others, we tap into the heart of their culture, circumstances, and surroundings. It makes our world a little more complete knowing that we share experiences, and celebrate differences, across a broad spectrum of possibility.   Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish novelist and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, invites readers to explore the complex social and political landscape of Turkey in his novel Snow ( Kar ). Set in the cold, far-off town of Kars situated near the Armenia, Georgia & Iran border, the novel follows Ka, a Turkish poet who returns to his country after twelve long years of exile in Germany. He comes back to Kars  posing as a newspaper reporter, officially to cover local municipal elections and investigate the troubling suicides of young girls who wear headscarves. But beneath this professional reason lies a very personal one: Ka wants to me...
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