Tag: travel

Posted in Interests

Bag person.

Posted on by veeskitchen

Are you a bag person like me! Still I am not for luxury brands such as Gucci,Burberry, Hermes, Luis Vuitton, Armani, Valentino, Tori Burch, Chanel etc., because I am well aware, they are beyond my middle class existence. But what is the harm in trying out entry level ones such as Michael Kors, Kate Spade or Coach. I did just that last year after a lot of deliberation. I have been to the Outlet malls but studiously kept out of them for years. Then I checked prices in Amazon and found that their prices were slashed in sale. So why not? I decided to venture into Outlet mall once more where I found the rates to be much more compatible than online stores. I got my first Michael Kors last year both top zip tote and messenger cross body bags that I love. I am discovering their pleasant lightweight and long handle drops extending to 11 to 12 inches that is perfect for me, for that makes for comfortable carry. Algorithm lands critics in your You tube where every single luxury brand is denounced. I agree with the views to some point. Even if I am to be loaded with money, I don’t think I will splash it on the likes of Bvlgari or Christian Dior or Estee Lauder or Dolce & Gabana that are flooding the airport dutyfree. Love the window shopping though in the dutyfree. Never bought a single bottle. I know my range. Durability and affordability matter to me most over anything when it comes to bags. Sleek bags within my shoestring budget of $100 fit my bill. For the first time this year got my Coach station tote as I am a frequent flyer. Rare to find an external pocket in top brands but surprisingly this had one. I also find that the quality of fabric be it leather or canvas or nylon/polyurethane is too good in the luxury brands. The finishing is class and that is what the pricing is all about when it comes to elite brands. This year I have also made a few more purchases to complete my bag collection (!). I got them at excellent rates – not at all at overprice. I am happy with the entry level brands such as Michael Kors, Coach or Kate Spade. Elegant and minimalistic : two words for them.

In India I love Calonge (also comes without an external pocket) and Hidesign and Companero. The problem with the Indian brands is, the handle drop is not to desired length stopping short by 9 to 10 inches that makes carrying for too long the bags makes it tiresome for me. The finishing also leaves a lot to be desired for. Calonge is one Indian brand that is savvy and can match with any entry level luxury brands that you may find in the US markets. Its not on Amazon but available online from the outlet store. Hidesign is trying to go lightweight. Of late they are getting better although generally they are rugged in make. Companero is a big disappointment for me as this weighs literally a ton. I found out that Fossil is Indian and since the outlet is there in Chennai, I don’t look at Fossil in the US. Other foreign brands such as Coach are there in airport dutyfree wherever I go. The prices used to be a great dampener. In the US I have access to Amazon and outlet malls where sale makes it all affordable to you.

I too used to believe that luxury is sin and that things are overpriced – until a few years back. That is when I stuck to only garish Indian brands with uneven finishing. Then I developed an open mind. I don’t think its wrong to want value for your money. I like Indian brands that are good enough and competent enough. But just because something is Indian make, if its lacking in quality, I don’t want to pay for that.

Luxury bags have great styling and have stunning finishes, no doubt about that. For one thing, I don’t buy anything for brand’s sake. I look at the prices first. Then at the quality. Durability is extremely important. Only if all my conditions are satisfied I buy something. Entry level luxury bags are more than enough for me. They come in a vast range to suit all my needs – be it wristlets or wallets or clutches or crossbody bags or satchels or handbags or totes or hobos or curved zips or whatever. You name it I have it! As someone who travels a lot both within India and outside India, the bags are of vital significance to me. I have to factor in the monsoon season of India that can be relentless. At these times, waterproofs matter. I got a big polyurethane tote from Westside, India for this purpose. Have had a run with Aldo, Milano from Italy in Doha and Guess as well. Don’t miss them now. Calvin Klein could belong with this group. All faux leather but long lasting. Somehow the plastic in them shows. Canvas with logo still looks better on Michael Kors than on Guess, I guess! Me no expert in these matters. Just a casual connoisseur with acquired tastes that may not have aesthetic appeal at all!

Its a wrong notion to dismiss all the luxury brands as being vain and useless and overpriced. Wanting exclusivity if you are from creamy circle cannot be blamed. For middle class like us, and for housewives like me, the affordability of entry level luxury bags is still a blessing. Years back when I visited US for the first time in 2017, I didn’t know of Kate Spade. Big wallets sold at $7 at outlet malls then. I got a dozen for my friends back in India, not aware of the brand name. I never kept one for myself! I am getting brand conscious only in last few years. I like the sleek finishing of the entry level bags and the comforting handle drop length – main reasons for which I am shopping for them now.

*******************************

Many ladies have cosmetic fetish, shoe fetish etc. I could be rare woman buying only dour moisturizers from foreign shopping which could be very basic. Neither have I shopped so far for perfumes. Burlington and Costco tees are enough. I get my branded jeans from Mango, Zara, Marks & Spencers, American Eagle from Doha which are also entry level luxury apparel brands – not too fancy. I have found even cheaper alternatives that are as good in Pull & Bear, Bershka, Stradivarias and H & M. Here too I step in only during sales. Footwear is almost always Indian except for sneakers that is Skechers, also from Indian outlets.

********************************

Brands don’t define who we are. Brands for me are merely best buys at affordable rates – value shopping, that’s all. I like the fit of Mango. I keep watching for Sale and shop only during the sale.

Brands that I shop for – back in India my friends are NOT even aware of. They already think I am a big spender! Well, they don’t travel like me. Travel makes you realize the importance of carrying a good, cavernous bag that can hold all. It has to be at the same time lightweight. It has to serve multipurpose. I need to carry my documents, keys, pills, wet tissues, hair clips, wallet, jewelry, charger, power bank everything in my handbag. I am fortunate enough not to add more than minimal cosmetics along barring from a hair brush to lip balm unlike most women who pack entire makeup stuff into large tote. So that bag has got to be a real good one. It took me decades to finally bring myself to shop for brands during sale. I won’t be discouraged!

But my friends in India do acknowledge how different bags may work for different reasons. For ATM/bank lockers, you need huge zipped totes with inner pockets. We ladies in India have to hurry scurry in crowded streets and market places on our foot, bargaining with subzi vendors and flower girls. We need a huggable dependable bag for that apart from a huge open tote. Many go for nylon totes for grocery shopping naturally. For provisions again we may need a canvas tote. Here I use the free canvas totes coming from silk sari shopping! They can carry some serious load! Same canvas totes also help me in stacking my clothes meant for pressing. Nalli and Kumaran textiles totes make for international headlines, with their air travel capabilities! They double up as cabin bags for small town people of India! Yeah, we have to make a mention of train totes here. Train travel is a big part of every Indian’s life. For temples you need again something you can hug to under your armpit, not coming in your way. With friends you need a light crossbody for lunch outings. Backpacks strictly for teenagers. For tours we need an assortment of bags starting from airport to catering to our day tours being lightweight. Totes to carry water bottles and sweaters can do well in hill stations. Not to leave out the assortment of pouches for every single little need for holding cosmetics to jewelry. Coin purses. Even Vibuthi pouches for temples! In India, our women are used to local nameless brands that’s all. They are affordable and are not so sleek when it comes to finishing. Extremely price conscious, my friends visit export company outlets to procure bags at economic rates. I too used to until a few years back!

(Most of my handbags have vibuthi/kumkum/haldi stains from temples and dried flowers! I take small plastic bags to hold these yet they spill out. All labels are one and the same and my son can’t believe I am buying a white Kate Spate tote to take to Kumbakonam temples. This one can hold a water bottle and ziplocks packed with vibuthi haldi kumkum hahaha! Kate Spade shall have a heart attack! Well, I have to send them pictures with broken coconut, betel leaves, flowers and other prasad from temples nicely stored in their tote! What a buy! If you are from India, you have to think a lot about these things! This 17 inch one with enormous holding space just suits me at $104 – a great bargain. To travel with me to temple, the bag/cow must be blessed in my opinion. Seriously, no kidding. Jokes apart, functionality of a bag matters. The white colour was the only one available. Let me try to find a black bag for the temple tours and spare poor KS!)

I think Hidesign made in India is a big hit with Indian ladies with its limitless range and affordable prices. Some bags in Hidesign may be too good and better than international brands – like those I have. Last year from Hidesign I got a self embossed airport tote with top zip that is both lightweight and sleek. Printed with leaf motifs on entire body, it makes such a fashionable statement drawing looks wherever I take it. But my preferred Indian brand will always be Calonge. Sophistication – to put it in one word. My suggestion to Indian brands could be to ask them to increase handle drop length to minimum 11 inches. Twelve may be even better. Zips are fine. I have no complaints. I have never had problem with Indian brands that I own for over a decade each bag. Finally I have to get tired of them and give away! There was this Indian brand Holi that used to be lightweight and colourful with ethnic motif prints. It is around no more and I miss it. I still have their bag.

Men keep asking, ‘how many bags will you have?’ Only if they have a clue!

***********************************************

Middle class life is living from sale to sale that’s all. I don’t remember when I last shopped for something at full price. If I ever do that, I don’t think I can sleep for weeks.

Posted in Economic

India is not new to gold/silver shopping.

Posted on by veeskitchen
Indian Households have more gold 🪙 than the combined reserves of these countries' central banks.
byu/SevexMx inGold

From Google:

The latest figures show Indian families hold approximately 27,871 tons of gold, valued at over $1.5 trillion. This estimate dramatically exceeds the World Gold Council’s July 2023 report that pegged household gold at 25,000 tons.

Let me clarify here that this does not include the temple gold of India which shall be many many times more than the domestic gold held in our families.

https://www.angelone.in/news/economy/indian-household-gold-holdings-surge-to-27871-tons-amid-global-price-rally

India’s Hidden Wealth: The Power of Gold in Indian Households

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/indias-3-8-trillion-gold-181235837.html

*************************************************

Surprised by the world headlines screeching that the whale called India swallowed 6000 tons of silver in 2025. Correction: this is annual silver consumption by India for years. In fact in 2022 or 2023, India bought a whopping 7000-8000 tons of silver. Precious metals such as gold and silver are traditionally hoarded by Indian homes along with gems such as diamonds, rubies etc. In fact during a wedding, mostly the brides get entire puja articles in silver as gift from parents. Son-in-law is gifted a silver plate with side plate. Wealthy families have their entire dinner sets in silver. We the middle class mostly limit our silver collection to mere puja articles that may include big plates and flower baskets, apart from tumblers and bowls and cute little storage dabbas for haldi, kumkum etc. Not to leave out the Diyas. We ladies just love having our silver diyas. I got one for my Diya puja here too to middle east along with a smaller one. Some friends especially those with daughters have huge impressive collections of silver. Gold and silver are the real wealth of Indian homes. Its our family custom to invest in appreciable assets be it gold or silver or real estate. India’s hoarded gold is the hugest holding of gold in the world – not only in recent times. Its been so historically.

Our temples even today have tonnes and tonnes of gold, silver and diamonds that does not come into any calculation. This is why from turks to mugals, from British to the Portuguese came to India. Jan 5 by the way was the day Somnath temple was ransacked by Mohammed of Ghazni after a record 17 time failed attempts. The final time he razed the temple, breaking the Jyothirlinga to pieces and looting the temple gold. Over 50,000 Hindus sacrificed their lives fighting to protect one of the 12 Jyothirlingas (Shiva stals) of India. Exactly today PM of India Shri Narendra Modi ji, was at Somnath, as the temple completed 1000 years since 1026 January when it was ransacked and runover completely. Even the shattered pieces of the Jyothirlinga were zealously collected by the Hindus who have tried to reconstruct it recently. The Jyothirlinga of Somnath was a hanging one suspended in air. Can you imagine a levitating huge Shiva Linga in white colour stone? That was precisely Somnath since time immemorial. This stone is NOT FROM PLANET EARTH. To us this establishes already our Lord Shiva as master of the earth. Imagine now what kind of maniacs these marauders of India were to go for Somnath and destroy not only the holy shrine but also loot the temple of the wealth passed on for centuries. That very idea of Shiva/symbol of Hindu Dharma made the turks and mugals go mad that they wanted Somnath completely destroyed. At the base of this destruction also lay the greed for India’s gold. Even today so much looted Hindu wealth in gold and in sculptures lies with United Kingdom, as the British decamped with whatever the Mugals could not lay their hands on. India’s riches invited the marauders, the most violent of them, but then after centuries, see the condition of their native nations today – from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan.

Somnath is just one Hindu temple destroyed by barbaric invaders for our golds and riches. The idea was to batter the very Hindu civilization itself and make it into dust. Well, they failed. This January 1, 2026, this is how Lord Balaji/Venkateshwara of Tirumala gave darshan to thousands of Hindu devotees: all gold and diamonds. And He is a 6 foot deity!

Only ignoramus judge India without knowing about our basics or traumatic history.

I don’t mean the paper gold or paper silver like in the west. I mean the REAL PHYSICAL GOLD, PHYSICAL SILVER THAT INDIA HOLDS. Without physical gold/silver to back up, what are these jokers hoarding in paper.

https://www.brightdigigold.com/digital-gold-blog/the-magnificent-temples-of-india

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/indias-hidden-gold-empire-38t-in-homes-plus-billions-more-in-temple-vaults

Sadly, this is what we Indians are left with AFTER THE MUGAL LOOT, TURK LOOT, ETC. After our nation was torn apart for centuries. After the British looted whatever was left including the Kohinoor diamond that principally adorned the crown of Ma Badrakali of the Warangal temple in Andhra Pradesh. And you have these jokers in Pakistan claiming ownership of Kohinoor. But note: no Hindu great grandmothers of theirs taken into mugal harems.

You are talking about the world’s one and only CONTINUOUS AND UNBROKEN CIVILIZATION OF OVER 10,000 YEARS WHICH IS HINDU DHARMIC CULTURE. Our gold,silver and diamond must neither come as surprise nor shock. This is what we are. Landing on the dark side of the moon was not by fluke. It is what we have always been. India is now merely reassembling, reconstructing. We have been through a 1000 year trauma and even today we have CANCER right within that we are fighting to get rid of.

Without a sense of history or basic relevant knowledge, how the world media is making assessment on India’s gold/silver purchases is shocking. Acquired by fair, legal means. Not stolen.

From Google:

India has also historically been the largest consumer of silver jewelry and silverware by volume. Over the past five years, analysts estimate that Indian consumers, particularly low-income individuals in rural areas, have purchased approximately 29,000 tonnes of silver jewelry and 4,000 tonnes of silver coins.

Gold, silver and even diamonds are part of Hindu culture. As simple as that. This is the mark of the real OLD RICH understood? Old rich native nation.

Posted in nature

Preserve Aravalli PM Modiji.

Posted on by veeskitchen

Not just saddened but more of shocked on hearing that Aravalli could get compromised in new India’s developmental reforms. So much so that our legal updates are to favour destruction of our precious ecology for the sake of short term benefits, that too for a handful of stinky rich Indians. I rated Arnab Goswami poorly but he finally showed us what a fine journalist he is: its not his brashness that must be the measure of his journalism. He is going against the center openly and brazenly, taking up the cause of nature – in this case Aravalli – knowing that he is taking on none other than PM Modi himself. Many of us associate journalism with sleek sophistication. Truth about journalism is this: NOT SELLING YOUR SOUL, HEAR IT? You defend TRUTH. Nothing less. Anyway now that the Supreme court has stayed the case, we have some breathing time to gather our wits wits to prepare and argue for a tougher case for our forests and mountains. This is why I cannot stand ISHA of Jaggi Vasudev; the megalith bust of Shiva permanently blocked the path of the pachyderms in the Nilgiris mountains, changing the route map of over ten thousand year elephant corridor forever. To legalize the take up of forest lands, what do you do? Invite the prime minister himself for inauguration. You expect nothing short of such a drama from someone not yet absolved in the public eye, of murdering his wife. Shiva to me is those forests made into car park for Isha and the stage for the annual KOOTHU by the old man on the Shiva Rathri. Shakthi to me resides right in the Aravalli. And in the forests taken over for Patanjali by another supposed godman of India Baba Ramdev. And they shamelessly claim you can do business and be a sanyasi in five star luxury. Well, then Ambani and Adani can’t be really blamed.

You don’t have to hoist the tricolour in the surface of the Moon and call it ‘Shivshakthi’ point, Modi ji. Shiva and Shakti are right here in India – in our forests and mountains and rivers, can’t you see it? Destroy Aravalli – whole of India will vote Rahul Gandhi for our next PM. Now you understand why we need even those like Stalin and Mamta Banerjee. Imagine this dear nation of mine going into the hands of power hungry political party dancing to the tunes of AFTER ALL BUSINESS TYCOONS. Well, this is not America Modi ji. This is India. Here MASSES WILL DICTATE TERMS NOT BUSINESS COMMUNITY. Government is for INDIAN MASSES , not for your industrialists and business class who would like to open something fancy like Vantara and invite vulgar Hollywood stars to family weddings, as you go on rampaging our beautiful rural and forested India.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/aravalli-hills-news-aravalli-hills-supreme-court-case-what-is-aravalli-hills-controversy-10095841

Already the Sardar Patel statue in Gujarat has done immense damage to the dugong population in the sea there. Don’t even dream of doing anything to Andaman Islands. Its already a seismic zone. Same goes for Himalayas. WHO ASKED FOR THE CHARDAM CORRIDOR. This is MESS – GOING AGAINST NATURE. This could make a powder of the mighty Himalayas and raise the chances of a quake in future. Do you even call this development? Denying access to millions to the great heights of Himalaya can only save the glaciers of the mountains that feed the Ganga and other perennial north Indian rivers. Affordability works as a great deterrent when it comes to cutting footfall to this ecologically fragile area. But what has the government done? Opening up the place so that it turns out to be the next Tirupathi.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/aravalli-hills-case-sc-puts-its-decision-regarding-100-metre-definition-of-ranges-in-abeyance/articleshow/126225402.cms?from=mdr

BJP IS ZERO WHEN IT COMES TO ENVIRONMENT/ECOLOGY PRESEVATION. They need to learn a lot. They have to do the necessary corrections on warfooting basis or otherwise pack your bags Modiji to go home on retirement. You touch India’s nature ONE SMALL SQUARE CENTIMETER – You forget your votebank.

Posted in History-Culture, Indian Art Culture Music

This is why I stopped shopping at Farida Gupta

Posted on by veeskitchen

FG is my favourite brand and I have an account with her. But she got on my nerves repeatedly referring to Diwali as ‘festival season.’ I stopped shopping at her totally. I still look at hers sometimes but I know I will never again shop with her UNLESS SHE REFERS TO DIWALI AS DIWALI. And apologize for even unwittingly committing a mistake. You don’t send me season’s greetings for Diwali. You greet me PROPERLY ‘Happy Deepavali.’ You refer to sale as proper DIWALI SALE. You refer to Oct-Nov as Diwali season or (Navratri) Puja season or Dusshera season. Or simple, fold up your business, QUIT INDIA and start a boutique in downtown Dubai. GOOD RIDDANCE. We need to get rid of this kind of so-called benign tumours first. This is what shall later develop as malignant cancer. No, none of these manipulators are secular.

There are even more sinister attempts to secularize Diwali in some quarters by NON REFERRING THE FESTIVAL BY NAME AND REFERRINNG TO IT AS ” FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS’ OR EVEN ‘JASHN E RIWAZ’ . The nerve. We need to address this kind of cultural onslaught on warfooting basis.

Today in news is the London Khan trying to similarly remove Christmas from the celebrations. You tube has videos.

Now Diwali aka Deepavali is declared as an intangible world heritage by UNESCO. Its celebrated from time immemorial, from the day Ram and Sita returned to Ayodhya from Sri Lanka, literally in another plane of time. Fireworks were in full display welcoming them as Valmiki Ramayana mentions. Organic though.

https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/deepavali-02312

This move also serves to authenticate the history antecedents and cultural roots of Hindus dating back by some 10,000 years (even if we need no certificate from any authority whatsoever).

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/historic-moment-as-diwali-makes-it-to-unesco-list-deepavali-joins-yoga-durga-puja-among-intangible-cultural-heritage-full-list/articleshow/125883637.cms

DIWALI/DEEPAVALI IS PROBABLY THE WORLD’S OLDEST/MOST ANCIENT FESTIVAL THAT IS IN CONTINUUM UNTIL THIS DATE. JAI SHRIRAAM. May Ram Rajya return to India to eternity.

Posted in Books

The one and only book that matters: ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ by Paramahamsa Yogananda.

Posted on by veeskitchen

Its a shame although I have known for years or perhaps decades, and that too being an ardent, born and practising Hindu, I still finally got to read this lifechanging book only very recently. Reading for months now from my desktop Kindle. About to finish. Who am I to even review God’s own writing. This book is not fictional and this book is for those who are born outside the Hindu India to understand about the Hindu philosophy/Hindu Dharma. Why, even all of us Indians could make the best use of Shri Yogananda ji’s excellent autobiography – the kind of which I have not come across so far. Not that I am a voracious reader. Being part of the Hindu society makes most things familiar to me. Still the book holds my interest totally and I kind of don’t want it to end. I have been reading rather slowly for that reason. REason for my slow reading is that, if I finish a book fast i forget it in a flash whereas slow reading helps me retain the subject matter for long.

Anyway, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Nothing more to add. Except that, in this dry desert that is my second residence, I experienced a total of 6 rain draps in a span of 2 weeks. 3 rain drops during a walk before national prayers were called for rain. That when I checked with my spouse who was walking besides me was refuted by him that I began doubting myself. As if to confirm my doubts, the week after the national prayers, 3 more subtle rain drops fell on me. Both the times, as it is my practice, I was chanting the Lalitha Sahasranama in my mind. I chant Sahasranama always in my mind while I go for walks. For me, IT WAS LALITHA ANNOUNCING HERSELF TO ME. Just cool 3. No more raindrops. Nobody else felt them. Just 3 + 3 = 6 that grazed my skin so softly, so feebly ,and that too the first one caressing my crown – my scalp. The beauty of faith. I leave it anyone who reads this to believe this or not. But I don’t have to be reading Yogananda ji to believe in my Lalitha. I am enjoying Her subtle leela with me for years now. Very recently She gave me another unbeatable vibe. A stone is a stone if that is what you believe in. An idol becomes God when you believe God dwells in the stone.

Blessed to be born a Hindu, blessed to have been born in my punya bhoomi Bharat (India). My birth is probably REQUESTED. Souls ask to be born in my country. Evolving of faiths happens only with the arrival of the Avatars. Only Hindu Dharma has been NON STOP producing saints and avatars, hundreds and even thousands of them, for centuries and centuries now.

Before I close this post, I add one incident from a friend’s life story. Her name was Bindhu. She was my bosom school friend’s sister. We met almost everyday at school. We drifted apart. She moved to her native state Kerala. Worked for a central government department. Became a mother to two beautiful daughters. Just into her 40s, she was afflicted with kidney cancer. Died within 3 months. But Bindhu was a follower of Sri Sri. She had completed her entire course of Art of Living and had perfected a particular breathing (Yoga) technique. As the course progressed, she was becoming detached from everyone. The course seemed to have brought in a change with her. Before she passed away, she told her sister that she was peaceful, she did not fear death as she kept seeing her last 7 births then for sometime or ever since she was bedridden (for a week’s time). That made her accept her current role and her current body as temporary abode. Her sense of attachment at that point of time sounded shocking to her parents and family. Her sister and my best buddy until today, was stunned. I am using original names here. Once she was detected with kidney cancer at an advanced stage and was not given any hope, Bindhu went to see Sri Sri for one last time. Gurudev paused for a moment at a distance and looked away it seems. HE KNEW without being told – that’s what my friend says. And Bindhu accepted her destiny. After hearing this real life incident, I think of the mahans, India is producing even today. Sri Sri – for the first time in my life, I want to listen to his speeches and follow his Art of living. As I have already chosen a path to nurture my spiritual instincts, I am hesitating that’s all. All this I am saying, happened just 15 years back. This is the beauty of my holy Bharat.

You missed something so precious and unmissable in your life, if you don’t read this book. So, it goes without saying that there is no excuse of any Hindu skipping it or missing it. I am too late but better late than never.

At the back of my mind is always the omnipresent Lalitha. Its like I cannot shake Her out of my system. She is there behind my thoughts and actions; behind my every second. The books has widened my horizons of thoughts.

The swamijis of the last century: Shirdi Baba, Ramana Maharishi, Ramakrishna Parahamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Shri Lahiri Mahasiya, Shri Yuketeshwar, Shri Yogananda Parahamsa, Shri Ananda Moi, Sri Aurobindho …. the list goes on and on and one.

Even in present times we have the Siddhas and great swamijis in our midst in India. Sai Baba of Puttabarthi is no more. His centenary anniversary was held very recently. Hindu dharma is the only faith in the world that has been producing avatar after avatar for millennia.

May Dharma prevail to eternity. Sanatana Dharma ki Jai (Hail Hindu Dharma)!

Posted in Economic

Who wants Tesla when Electric Auto Rickshaw is here?

Posted on by veeskitchen

Yesterday was my first time in Electric auto rickshaw from Anna Nagar East to my home. Booked through Uber. I was surprised by the green colour of the auto. Did not even notice the details of booking that stated clearly that my upcoming ride was an EV, the electric auto. It was only on few minutes into the ride that I paid attention to the EV marking of the auto. Then I asked the driver. He said, yes indeed the auto was electric. He was driving it for last seven to eight months. No noise, no pollution. Smooth as silk he said. He said he charged the auto at home as Chennai is yet to have charging points for auto rickshaws. As of now, the city has electric vehicle charging points only in petrol bunks where owners of both cars and two wheelers can have their vehicles charged apart from at their homes. The green electric auto that was my ride was Bajaj make. It was economical – may not be too very cheaper but definitely not expensive, said the driver. Up until now the battery was good and the charging at home held good for entire day. I wanted to take a picture with him and his auto, but I stopped with just a selfie. Let the driver and his auto have some privacy!

my first ever ride in EV auto rickshaw!

Why do we need anything from America when we can have a far better, wiser Indian option. Who cares for luxury sedan? I am carless and happily carless! I love the autos and the city metro that are my favourite modes of transport. And of course I depend on Nataraja service (walking my way around the city’s congested streets). Life is beautiful. India WILL survive. Not here for nothing going by same name Bharat for 10,000 years. Not exactly the mushroom that sprang up in last evening’s rain.

By the way, I am here since the third week of August only – home at last in 2025. The profusion of EVs is staggering as I can see, compared to last year exactly around this time. Two wheelers lead the rally.

See, these are our needs: electric autos, EV two wheelers and then finally EV sedans mid size. We don’t need the plush range. I have no shame in admitting that I am middle class and I come from a third world nation. We have to think about affordability and durability. We will do what is GOOD FOR INDIA, NOT AMERICA!

Autos in the city mostly switched over to CNG fuel many years back, so that has actually supposedly reduced a bit of pollution. But this latest moving over of autos to electric mode is the best thing to happen to our city. I mean, for EVs normally you visualize sedans, SUVs and even two wheelers. How many of us ever factored in the EV auto? Auto is anyway my most favoured means of transport. Excited by the transformation! Hopefully the auto rickshaw walas of Chennai enmasse go electric soon! For that to materialize, may we have more charging points for autos around the city. Jai Bharat!

Posted in Food For Soul

Krishna’s Heart

Posted on by veeskitchen

HARE RAMA HARE KRISHNA!

Jagannath temple, Puri

Shocked by the gunfire on ISCKON temple in the US. Krishna lived eons before Jesus when modern communication network was practically non existent on planet earth. Further Hindu history is believed to have happened in another plane of time before catastrophe struck. We Hindus believe, we are someone who picked up the shreds of the lost civilization and rebuilt our society from the banks of the Sindhu yet again. Krishna’s heart lives on for us.

Hindu Dharam never spread by the sword. We don’t bribe or coerce anyone into conversion. On the contrary, Hindu deities may want you to REALIZE them. My Ishta devata is Ma Lalitha. We call Her ‘guhyapriya or rahasyapriya.’ She does not even want ignoramus to talk about Her or think about Her, as per scriptures. The realization has to come to people on their own – if not by birth as in the case of the biologically/culturally born-Hindu. Mostly Krishna devotees around the world thus REALIZE KRISHNA on their own as roads may lead them to Krishna mandir.

Puri Jagannath Mahaprasadam is unique, satwik food.

Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra is also reenacted around the world by ISCKON temples. Its a massive event in Odisha that draws lakhs of Krishna devotees from all corners of the globe.

You simply cannot erase Krishna Consciousness. Hindu deities are very much realizable as more and more of non Hindus in America are realizing Lord Ganesha, Kali, Krishna, Shiva among others. (Deities come to us in the form we may manifest them in. In other words, deities are energy forms with names and images that YOU give them. Nobody can shake them off. Most of us seek deities manifested by our ancestors). Krishna is the most accessible and realizable deity who millions around the world find themselves in the same frequency with.

Dharmic Hindu faith, the Sanathana Dharma, is a conscious choice for millions around the world. Of the six schools of Hindu Philosophy, Vaishnavam (under which Krishna Consciousness falls) is more popular with Krishna as its supreme deity or Brahman. Before Jesus was a shepherd, Krishna was tending to cattle. Before the nuns were married to Jesus, thousands of Gopikas were married to Krishna very much in similar fashion. So tell me who copied who.

Posted in Environment

Say NO to Kamakhya temple corridor.

Posted on by veeskitchen

I am with Shri Rajarshi Nandy totally on this. Missed a golden opportunity to go to Kamakhya with my guru last year. Its in my bucket list. For Shakthi marg followers, Kamakhya is basic. Our spiritual guru conducted homams/yagnas/havan there last year with shishyas. The group also worshiped the Dasa Mahavidhyas who are extremely important for those who have taken diksha or vow for Shakthi Upasana. So the Kamakhya temple corridor case is very much relevant for us as we can understand what it is about. Only someone who is spiritually elevated and someone like Shri Nandy who is doing Bhairav Sadhana and is also a presence at the powerful Kamakshya temple can know about the significance of leaving the shrine undisturbed.

One of the Shakthi peeths, Sati’s yoni fell in this part of Assam. Mother Goddess bleeds therefore a few days (in red) every month even now in Kamakhya. This is rivulet or stream that branches off from the mountains into the temple’s garbagraha (sanctum sanctorum). We don’t know how this is possible as was facilitated by our ancestors. Or by Mother Herself. But until today this is a reality.

Shakthi peeths are most powerful. They determine the destiny of a nation as Shri Nandy ji says in another video. Disturb Kamakhya who is looking after North East, be ready to lose North East. As Nandi ji says, the Mother Goddess will leave Her abode in that case. Without the deity, the pitah will cease to matter.

Some of us are just at the base of the pyramid when it comes to Shakthi Upasana. We have a whole lot of mountain to climb in front of us. Yet Mother’s presence is something we feel deep in our soul. We experience strongest of vibes. So one can imagine the level of spiritual elevation of those like Shri Nandy ji. I am not an expert in anything. I listen to many online. Many online gurus too for me who have been shaping up my thinking for years now. Shri Nandy ji is by far the best and most sincere and is reachable at grass roots level. Very accessible and also so genuine, real. Bhairava energy flowing out of him is unmistakable.

May our PM Shri Narendra Modi ji get some time to look into this matter personally once the Indo-Pak conflict emergency is over. The temple’s eco system needs to be preserved.

Varanasi corridor is an entirely different matter that has got no connection with Kamakhya environment. There it was necessary given that entire Kashi boasts of some 84 ghats. The cleaning up and restoration work was absolutely necessary.

Today I heard another shocking news: that an aerodrome is planned for Sabarimala – at the top of the western ghats. What madness is this. That is totally an elephant country where even tigers roam freely. A heaven for the wildlife of India. Such a biodiversity as in western ghats, you cannot find in more than a handful of places in the world. Bird species count alone exceeds over 200. Western ghats is the LUNGS of India somewhat along with the Himalayas. Already enough damage has been done. Even Lord Aiyappa shall walk out of Sabarimala permanently if this airport materializes. The communist state government of Kerala don’t have it in them to factor in these valid points. You don’t have to kill a 1000 elephants and precious-precarious ecology to make room for temple devotees. What kind of religiosity is this. I can never understand this destructive streak when it comes to nature in our countrymen. I am even against the Char Dham corridor through Himalayas. Anything against nature can never please Shiva or Shakthi. Already Jaggi Vasudev, in the name of Shiva, encroached a vital elephant corridor robbing our pachyderm families of their rightful home of tens of thousands of years. He speaks of enlightenment through crash courses (such as Inner Engineering for this precise reason: If he could only see that Shiva is that elephant… ) How much more must we destroy nature in the name of our deities you bloody fools. Did they ever ask you to do that?! That kind of spirituality I simply cannot figure out. I directly appeal to my PM: Modi ji please STOP plans for any aerodrome for Sabarimala. Don’t send away our deities permanently out of India. They will never return if we turn against nature.

Anyone who by chance comes across my blog, I request to contribute generously to the court case for fighting the proposed Kamakhya commercial infrastructure corridor to promote tourism. This kind of development we just DON’T need around our shrines.

I am waiting for a link that can enable one to make a monthly/regular contribution for Kamakhya corridor case.

Donate

I think this one is for one time contribution.

A request to Nandy ji too. Please also ascertain whether any aerodrome is proposed for Sabarimala in Kerala and if so, please address this issue as well. You can take up the discussion in your you tube channel. Thank you.

Posted in Political

Meet the Face of Indian Defence: Col. Sophiya Qureshi and Wing. Cdr Vyomika Singh

Posted on by veeskitchen

This is what Indian women are. The face of Operation Sindoor : Col. Sophiya Qureshi, a muslim, and Vyomika Singh, a punjabi sikh.

Look at what this Pakistani man from Karachi has got to say. It is because of those like him I still nurture solid faith in humanity. NOT EVERYONE SELLS THEIR SOUL IN PAKISTAN, looks like.

Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi. I am someone moved to tears just looking at people queuing up in Pakistan in front of banks to withdraw cash. But Krishna said in Bhagawad Gita, sometimes, Adharma has to be routed out by Adharmic means. I believe in that too. Unlike most, we Hindus have this philosophical take about everything be it politics, economy or war. For me, its entirely Hinglaj Mata’s leela. She has waited enough. Pakistan is HER HOME. Deities can remain dormant for a while but won’t go to sleep forever. NATIVE DEITIES. You don’t know about them. To know, you have to be born a native following native faith.

Let us call off things here and may peace return.

It cost Pakistan some cool 1,600/- crore worth of (cheap) Chinese equipment today, reportedly. But why must they worry. They got IMF grant of 1.3 $ billion coming their way. India takes nothing free. Last year of aid for India was 1991. We were still a young country then, under 50 years old.

Very proud of my mother country, Mother India. For me Mother India comes first. I am a Hindu only after that. I am Tamil last and I can give up my claim to Tamil identity if I have to, for the sake of Mother India. For a Hindu, war is the last resort.

Why did Ghazni and Ghori succeed. Because Prithviraj etc., forgave them for multiple times after defeating them so that they could come back with reinforcements, and maraud Somnath and raze our shrines, looting our temple wealth. Now what is the condition of Ghazni and Ghori. What happened to the Mogul’s native country. How is Uzbekistan, the land of Timur, faring. Indian medical students go there because their education is cheap. With that degree, you can only work as cosmetologist in beauty salons in India. But Uzbeks come to India for critical medical surgeries. India is viewed a rich and wealthy country there – which it was even when Timur invaded and blood ran in Delhi like a river. Karma will always catch up sooner or later. Nothing can erase Dharma from this Dharmic bhoomi of ours.

Posted in food as therapy...

Appetizing African Food!

Posted on by veeskitchen

Huge fan of Ethiopian cuisine here. Every time I go to the US I don’t miss eating out at Ethiopian restaurants. Curious, interesting menu on cards. Food is amazingly similar to south Indian, nutritious, sumptuous, yum, and so laboriously prepared. Value for money, no junk food. Highly recommended.

the unbeatable Ethiopian tea
my vegetarian Ethiopian platter

Simply love their Injera breads that are fermented to heavenly perfection. Made of maize flour, the staple African foodgrain? After almost 2 months in the US that’s what I desperately needed ! I chose the Ethiopian restaurant over Indian which is very expensive. Injera reminds one of dosa. The Shiro or the red chutney is typically like what we call ‘thokku’ or ‘thogaiyal’ in Tamil . In reality it is lentil chutney made spicy. What we call ‘paruppu thogaiyal.’ The spinach, the mixed veggies everything tastes like Indian. Spice level is left to your choice. Ethiopian food is so original, flavourful, seasoned with native spices, and is very affordable. Healthy as well. I opted for vegetarian fare but family had meat which they said was too good. I have eaten at a few more African restaurants that I don’t remember much about. I can only recall that every single one of them was GOOD. Authentic African recipes, sometimes simple (like their bread) and sometimes elaborate cooking very much like our Indian curry. Delicious. NEVER MISS THE EHTIOPIAN TEA POT! Runaway hit! However don’t expect the KFC McDonald Pizza hut Coke Pepsi culture to understand anything substantial, deep and meaningful in the real sense.

A dozen Ganeshas of various sizes greeted me in a 100% vegetarian Mexican restaurant. In most Mexican restaurants I find Lord Ganesha idols everywhere. Food was great here too. I really don’t care for the names of the dishes. I left the ordering to my family and only made sure that everything was indeed only vegetarian.

I come from a culture that is 10000 years old at least. We are the only unbroken continuous surviving civilization in the world. All around us the Mayan, the Greek, the Egyptian, the Mesopotamian all floundered. Only Hindu civilization survives to this 21st century and will survive to eternity. We appreciate and respect the goodness and uniqueness in every culture. That is how we grow as civilized humans. Beautiful Africa and Africans. African cuisine differs from border to border. Signature menus. The choice of breads and the accompaniments give one an idea about the healthy lifestyle of their local culture. Even the art on display in the restaurant served as a treat to our tired eyes.