THE YEAR THAT WAS!!!

Here we go, its flashback time.

Frankly speaking, 2009 was a mixed year for me. A new college, new friends and new interests. But I guess I met with more failures rather than success in 2009. My cricketing career sank to an all time low. The runs jus weren’t flowing freely from my bat, my wicket keeping came under the scanner, et al. the cricketing season 2008-09 came to a close with me averaging less than 15 in the last 5 matches. I had also quit my engg. course in VELTECH ENGG. COLLEGE. So there I was, back fresh from a string of failures, stuck at home for 4 whole months. :( Fortunately, I had my practice sessions going for me. The internet turned out to be my best companion during those days. I didn’t really know much about blogging back then so I really had nothing to do. There were times when I used to spend hours on the net surfing aimlessly.

And then there was light!!!

A faint ray of hope at the end of the tunnel materialized as I walked through the gates of SRM UNIVERSITY. I had been through all this before in veltech but believe me, srm was so much different. The amount of freedom we get here is amazing. in the days that went by, I found a reliable bunch of friends in class(satish, sharath, irfan, jayasurya, kai, kurry, chubby, boadha, bala, rohan, sandeep, Vivek, vishal, mani and naveen and a hell lot more, sorry for not mentioning all the names) and on the bus[umar, vikas, ali umar, ifrah, pavithra, subha and shalini akka(who of course introduced me to blogging, twitter, et al ;)].

There’s a saying that when god closes one door, he opens another. That’s exactly what happened in my case. When I was down and out, wondering what I was gonna do after I got my tc, by god’s grace I managed to get in touch with a reliable source who greatly helped me to get into SRM. And now I don’t regret the decision I took about 8 months back, to quit veltech. SRM has been so much fun, I’ve got so much time now, no stupid assignments, record work and submission stress here. It’s a perfect balance here, I get to play cricket, study and still get time to go out with friends. Now isn’t that amazing. I still feel for my buddies back at veltech. They seem to be missing the fun part of life. Hope things get better for them.

Coming back to cricket, 2009 hasn’t particularly been a good year for me. My lean patch continued into the next season as well. A string of failures saw me being pushed down the batting order. But one good thing was, despite all the things happening around me, I managed to stay positive. The runs might have been missing from my bat but the smile on my face certainly wasn’t.

But things seem to be brightening up now. The second half of the 1^st division league begins on jan 6. As I step into 2010, I have this gut feeling that I will succeed. I have this feeling that 2010 is gonna be a rocking year for me. And I know that it will.

So as 2009 comes to an end, I’d like to convey my thanks to each and everyone out there who made 2009 so much special for me. A big thanks to mom and dad who stood by me through all my failures. A big thanks to my veltech buddies, imran, yogi, shanthi, saranya, google, priya, indhu, prakash and ranjani ka. A big thanks to my SRM friends satish, jayasurya, irfan, sharath, umar, bala, rohan, kai, kurry, chubby, sandeep, boadha, Vivek, vishal, mani, naveen, vikas, ali umar, pavithra, subha and ifrah. And A special thanks to shalini akka for introducing me to my latest addiction, blogging. ;)

but my biggest thanks goes to all those who tried to pull me down, all those who criticized me and all those who said I was not good at what I was doing. Their words jus made me stronger. And believe me, am gonna make each and every one of them eat their words.As I kiss 2009 goodbye, here’s my final sms pick of 2009:

IF PEOPLE THROW STONES AT YOU, DON’T WORRY.

LEARN TO BUILD HOUSES OUT OF THEM!!!

I’ve started doing just that. Keep rocking fellas.

P.S. small problem with my net connection. Planning to get a new connection some time soon. So wont be active online for a few days from now. Hoping to catch ya all soon,

Until then,

ADIOS!!!!

MY RENDEZVOUS WITH THE HILL TEMPLES OF TAMILNADU

A sign of changing times.

When I was in veltech, I rarely had time to enjoy. I did not even have time to go out for pani puri. But that’s all a thing of the past right now. Ever since I joined SRM, life has been fun. SRM has made me see and feel the brighter side of life, that side of life where all the enjoyment, the fun and frolic come in. I’ve had more than enough time to concentrate on my cricket and my studies and still sneak in a couple of movies in between. Now that is what you call striking a balance. No wonder then that it is currently ranked India’s no. 1 private university.

What the hell, this post sounds more like an ad for SRM UNIVERSITY. :-D

Getting to the pint, as I was saying, the past few days have seen me hitting the road more than once. It was thamaraipakam last time round. This time, it was SHOLINGANALLUR, a town on the outskirts of tamilnadu (I think). This place is famous for its two hill temples, one built in honour of LORD NARASIMHAR and the other, for LORD HANUMAN.

We started off from our grandma’s place at around 7 in the morning by van. There were around 15 of us in all. It was a three hour journey with a breakfast break in between. We reached the place at around 10:15. There began our great ascent upwards. 1305 daunting steps in all. And as if that wasn’t enough, we had to deal with a hill full of intelligent monkeys. At 2 rs each, we were given mid sized bamboo sticks to protect us from the monkeys. The monkeys were particularly good at seizing eatables from people and the only advice we got when we began the ascent was to not show anything edible to the monkeys.

As the count of the steps kept increasing, a few in our group found it difficult to climb. The first 200-300 steps were rather steep. Eventually, I had to help my mom and aunt up the steps. Another fascinating thing was that these steps were carved right out of the hill. Very similar to the ones you see in TIRUPATI. Despite the occasional outbursts, the monkeys didn’t turn out to be a nuisance, if left alone that is. This problem solved, I found out another use for the bamboo sticks. They doubled up as excellent walking sticks. A few halts and lots of huffing and panting later, we reached the top of the hill. And there stood the temple in all its glory. It truly was a breathtaking sight. How they could build such a huge temple with so many steps during those days when there was no machinery still remains a fact to be admired.

After the darshan, we began our descent. The descent was quicker but my legs pained a lot as I descended those 1305 steps that took us to the top. At one point of time, my legs were shaking and believe me, I am not exaggerating. I had company as almost everyone had the same sensation.

Next stop was the LORD HANUMAN temple that stood atop the adjoining hill. After we got down, we had to walk a couple of yards to reach the foot of the hill atop which the temple stood. This was comparatively smaller, jus 406 steps!!! (omg!!!). it was déjà vu as we again began our ascent with the monkeys lining the sides of the steps. After climbing 1305 steps, 406 was a breeze. And within no time we had finished our darshan and were back in our van. The only problem was that while climbing up, we were asked to carry a single brick each. The bricks were being used for some construction work in the temple and the temple authorities had found a cost effective way to transport the bricks, jus ask the devotees to take one each and leave the bricks on top!!! Talk of cost cutting measures. :-D That proved to be the only obstacle in our otherwise smooth climb(believe me, it WAS hard work)

It was lunch time as we drove away from the temple. 30 mins later, we decided to leave, only to check our watch and realize that we were nearly an hour ahead of schedule. And then popped this stupid idea in someone’s head to go to TIRUTANI temple on the way. The reason I say stupid is because unlike the previous two temples, this was quite famous and as we found out later when we reached there, there was a huge queue extending till outside the main aalayam (tamil for “shrine”). We couldn’t really go in because if we did, we would have ended up returning the next day only, such was the magnanimity of the queue. The only worthwhile thing we did in tirutani though was to get blessed by the temple elephant, a young and rather playful adolescent (see pic).

By now we had crossed the scheduled time and now everyone was happy that we were gonna return home late. :-P a few hours of sleep and an hour of play later, we were back at our grandma’s place. By the time we reached our place, mom was too tired. She was up and about really early today morning and I realized she needed a break. So I took up the responsibility and so, there I was in the kitchen, serving up dosas for me, my mom and my dad. By the time we finished dinner, it had already turned eleven. Mom and dad were tired as hell and by the looks of it, I knew that they wouldn’t stay awake for even a few more minutes. But as always after a long trip, am fresh as ever. A nice warm shower did the trick and so, here I am, sketching down my blogpost at midnight in MS WORD. And the reason am doing it in MS WORD is because of a problem with my net connection. Anyways, will publish it asap.

and here are a few snaps i thought i should share.

Our first stop, periya malai, lord narasimhar temple. You san see how high atop the hill the temple stands.




A view of the sprawling land below. taken from halfway up the temple stairs.



second stop, chinna malai, lord hanuman temple.




Observe closely and you'll find a couple of monkeys perched on the temple's gopuram!!!



Another natural wonder. this temple pond stood atop a hill. as you can see the steps have been carved directly out of the hill. a breathtaking sight. we couldn't find out the source of water for the pond.

Got lots of photos but i guess it would be better off if you visit the temples in person. man made wonders tucked away in the glory of nature. these definitely are must visit places.

Anyways, this was my little rendezvous with a few exotic hill temples, right here in tamilnadu. For more such posts, keep coming back.

Until then,

ADIOS!!!!!!

movie review : AVATAR

With my net connection failing for the better half of the last two days, i thought i wouldnt be able to make this blogpost. but EYWA seems to have heard my prayers and so, here i am with the review of AVATAR. EYWA btw is the equivalent of GAYA(remember captain planet) in Pandora, where the movie is set in.


The movie begins with Jack Sully taking his twin brother's place on a mission to Pandora, a distant planet. The planet is similar to earth and is inhabited by a group of blue humanoids, called the Navis. A group of humans fly to pandora, there mission, to mine for a rare mineral found at the heart of the navi village. They soon setup a huge base camp. A team of scientists are assigned the task to transform a few humans into navis and communicate with the local navi population and come to an agreement to mine the minerals.



Jack sully and a few other scientists are chosen as avatars, humans in a navi's body. As the movie progresses, jack sully becomes one among the navi's and eventually falls in love with the navi princess. But the agreement fails to materialise and the humans begin war. The navis are outraged and Jack is thrown out. How jack earns back their trust and how he saves Pandora forms the rest of the story.



The first ten minutes of the movie is rather dry, but the pace picks up from then on. The CG work in the movie is outstanding. A big thumbs up to the CG crew. Without them, this movie would not have been possible, because apart from a couple of scenes, almost the entire movie is computer generated!!!


A big thumbs up for JAMES CAMEROON and his crew. the scenes have been beautifully crafted and the screenplay and CG work are definitely the plus points of the movie. The way some scenes have turned up is truly breathtaking.


In a nutshell, James Cameroon and his crew have given us a visual treat. A must watch movie for people of all ages.


Enjoy the holidays.

Merry Christmas.

Adios!!!!

Traffic, traffic and more traffic

The exams are over and the rains have stopped (well, not really but atleast the frequency has come down). No better time to head off to practice. And that’s exactly what I did.

Two days of movies after the exams and the third day I was off to practice. I set off for practice at 3 and 20 mins later, I was in the ground. A hour and a half of practice and one hour of football later it had turned dark. And I knew straight away that I was in for a long drive back home.
I practice at st.bede’s school playground(I did my schooling there), my cricketing haven for the past 10 years! The ground in itself is huge and so is the parking lot. A couple of college buses are parked here in the evenings.


After a grueling practice session, the last thing you need is to be stuck in traffic. My troubles began in the ground itself. The driver of one of the buses had parked his bus rite in my car’s path in such a way that I couldn’t reverse my car without banging into the bus. Luckily, there was some space between my car and the adjoining one. My driving skills were put to the test and a few tense minutes later, I successfully managed to manouevre the car outside without any real damage to my car.


My woes didn’t stop there. Beach road which is usually free had a huge traffic jam today. I covered about 1 km in 10 mins, during which I drove only in first gear!!! Aaargh and it didn’t stop there. One more traffic jam near central station followed. Handbrake, first gear, handbrake, first gear, handbrake, first gear was what followed as it took me another 10 mins to cross the central bridge.


And if you thought my traffic problems stopped there, then you are definitely wrong. That’s where the real trouble began. As I entered wall tax road, my traffic woes reached extraordinary heights. The people here have no regard for traffic rules and even if they come and fall on your vehicle, you are at fault. As if this wasn’t enough, the numerous cargo/goods carriers ( flat bodied rickshaws, tempo travelers, etc) make it almost impossible to drive here. And that was exactly what happened today. I was driving along smoothly when a rickshaw puller in front of me suddenly decided to take a wild right turn. I had to brake suddenly and in the chaos that followed, a Honda activa almost banged into me!!! I had no other option but to curse them under my breath and drive away.


10 more bp raising mins on walltax road later, I finally reached home!!! My goodness, I’ve had more than a few bad days behind the wheel but today was definitely the worst of them all. It took me nearly an hour to reach my home from the ground (which at any other time of the day would have taken just 20 mins). All I had done was start a couple of mins late from the ground. And this was what I got, one hour on the road, a few heart beat raising moments and a stiff back!!! Sowcarpet might be a preferred destination for many but it still fails to impress me. All I’ve seen in sowcarpet is traffic, traffic and more traffic. The only thing that keeps me rooted to the place is the totally delicious pani puris they serve here. But times have changed. With the marwaris moving out, chaat shops have sprung all over the city. This comes as a huge boon for me. Mark my words, two more years and am out of this goddamn place.


P.S: Planning to watch avatar with my cousins tomo. So my next post will most probably be a review of the movie.


AND YEAH, HERE’S MY SMS PICK OF THE DAY:


“BELIEVE WHERE OTHERS DOUBT.
WORK WHERE OTHERS REFUSE.
SAVE WHERE OTHERS WASTE.
AND YOU’LL WIN WHERE OTHERS LOSE.”

So keep working, keep winning.

Until then,

ADIOS!!!!!

a trip to thamaraipakam

A normal sunday morning. I got up from bed and went straight to finish off the remaining 180 pages of the DAN BROWN novel i was reading. "THE LOST SYMBOL" had a sense of deja vu but still it was captivating. Books totally make me forget time and this was no different. i am usually a fast reader and i'd like to finish a book the day i buy it itself. But this time it was quite different. A lot of disturbances coupled with my cousins visiting made it really difficult to finish the book. And so here i was, 7.30 am sunday morning, book in hand.

The clock ticked away and at around 9, the pages had diminished now, standing at a mere 18. With a sense of accomplishment, I walked off to join mom and dad for breakfast. That's when dad coolly exclaimed that we'll be starting by 10. I was totally clueless. Why on earth should i get ready? I didn't usually go out on sunday mornings, and if I had had a match, I would have known beforehand. And then it struck me, we were supposed to go to thamaraipakam to visit the small piece of land that we had bought some time back.

For starters, thoraipakam is jus about 40 km from central station, about 7 or 8 kms off alamathy road near avadi. So it wasn’t really a big deal. Dad usually goes there every week to check on the tree saplings that were planted there some time back. Another major thing that kept dad going back there every week were the birds that my uncle was taking care of in our land. The purchase of the land was a joint venture of my dad and his three brothers. Even my one year old cousin had been there but i was yet to visit our land. Matches every sunday made it virtually impossible to drive over to thamaraipakam. But this week, i got an off. Matches had been cancelled because of rains and dad saw this as a perfect opportunity to take me there.

10.15 am: with our stomachs full, me and dad set off to thamaraipakam. After an initial argument, we decided to ride to thoraipakam rather than drive. So there i was in the pillion; cap, sunglasses and ipod plugged in and an obvious dissatisfaction in my eyes at not having been able to complete the book.

The ride to thamaraipakam was quite smooth. We had to go via NH 5(i think, am not quite sure). This was the same route i travelled by when i was in veltech. So as we rode down NH5, a sense of nostalgia took over, reminding me of the fun we used to have inVH27(route 144 in srm, route vh27 in veltech ;)) the road was quite smooth but after we reached alamathy road, the ride jus got better. The heavens opened up a bit and there was a very light drizzle that followed us all the way to our land.

11.30 am: the drizzle subsided but the sky became dark, really dark. We had to make it to the land before it started raining. With no roof over our heads (we were riding remember) and with no place on the way that could provide real shelter from the rain, we were virtually sitting ducks. But we got fortunate and made it to the small hut just as the skies opened up. The hut was built bang in the middle of our land to house the birds my uncle had bought. So there I was in the hut with my dad, seated on a viewing sofa, the rain pouring over the thatched roofs. The hut was mid size, housing about 10 love birds, a pair of white pigeons and a pair of dancing pigeons(aka masakalli in modern terms ;) that were kept in a huge cage partitioned into two. And it also housed around 10 almost fully grown turkeys, that seemed to quite dislike the two strangers in the hut, that were me and my dad. There was also a separate room by the side of the hut that housed about 20 smaller turkeys. These were bought in maskaan chavadi(strikes a chord??) when they were very small. The turkeys had all grown now and were roaming about the room making a lot of noise.

With the rains finally having stopped, me and my dad ventured out of the hut. The smell of rain was still evident in the air. The scene outside was brilliant. With miles and miles of green around us and a steady breeze blowing, the photographer in me took over. I was off clicking pics. The abundant green formed a perfect backdrop for my photographic rendezvous. So there I was clicking away and posing as my dad joined in. and boy did I get some interesting clicks. The turkeys in the side room seemed to be more than willing to pose for pics and so were the love birds. The bigger turkeys were a bit afraid so it was mostly long distance clicks coupled with zoom. The pigeons had jus laid an egg so we were advised not to go too near them. So again it was long distance photography with max zoom.

We ventured out of the hut and into the adjoining fields. We caught a glimpse of a family of mongooses racing across our land. This really got me edgy. Because a mongoose on the run meant only one thing, they were preying. And what do mongooses prey on??? Snakes!!!!! We didn’t want to risk getting bitten by a snake, especially in a sparsely populated village with very little medical facilities near by. So we hung on. After a couple of minutes, we decided to proceed. More interesting clicks followed, a cow that had strayed onto the field and was now casually grazing on the weeds growing there, and a majestic buffalo that was not too happy with us wandering into his territory. Half an hour of walking across the adjoining fields meant that when we returned, the bottoms of our pants were covered with mud. The rains had caused the soil to become squishy and both I and my dad had slipped on more than one occasion, losing balance and getting our foot caught in the squishy soil.

By the time our little adventure came to an end, my mobile had totally run out of charge. We returned to the hut just to realize that the older turkeys had become bolder. They now ventured near us and didn’t run off when I took out my mobile ( I was using my 3.2 mp cam mobile for taking snaps). What followed was a stunning array of clicks, the male turkey showing off its plumage being one of my favourites. Anyways, it was already 1 pm. One and half hours had flown by in a flash. It was getting late for lunch so we decided to set off. With a final wave to our little feathered friends and mr.sambandham, the caretaker, we set off.

The ride back was out of the world. A steady breeze, a shiny sky and a light drizzle (probably the aftermath of the rains) followed us as we rode back. And believe me, it was absolute bliss. As we rode off, I realized just how much we were missing in life. In the name of modernization, we had severed all ties with nature and in a sense, deprived ourselves of those simple delights nature offered us. In the name of technological advancement, we have become ultra sophisticated beings yearning for a house in the stars when all we had to do was sit back and enjoy the world around us, the world that was already ours. As I walked back, I realized that we needed a change, a change that would transform us from the savage beasts we are now to the humans we were once. And then I realized that we could all make this happen, when people unite for a common cause, they can move mountains. All you need to do is initiate the change. A simple thing like not littering the road could go a long way in saving the world. All you have to do is contribute.

Let’s all unite to save the world, THE WORLD THAT IS OURS. Let’s make it a better place to live in.

Adios!!!!!

THE RENAISSANCE MAN

A polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer combined together!!!!!
cant find out who he is.. here's a clue:
his works include "THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI" and "MADONNA OF THE ROCKS"

still didn't get it.. here's something simpler..

he exhumed corpses from graveyards and studied them.. after loads of research, he came out with the VITRUVIAN MAN, a work of art that gave the most accurate dimensions of human anatomy..

still didn't get it??? well, here's the simplest of them all..

he was the creater of one of the most controversial and most popular paintings of all time, the MONA LISA!!!

ah, now you got it.. yup, am referring to none other than LEONARDO DA VINCI..

Born in vinci, a small town in florence, his full birth name was "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, (son) of (Mes)ser Piero from Vinci".. nothin much is known about his early years.. at the age of 14, he apprenticed under one of the most successful artisies of his times, Verrocchio..

The artistic talent of Da Vinci is well known, his ADORATION OF THE MAGI, MADONNA OF THE ROCKS, THE LAST SUPPER and the MONA LISA being immensely popular works of art.. But his scientific talents have not really come under the notice of the larger section of public..



What people didnt know was that Da Vinci was an immensely talented inventor as well.. As an engineer, Leonardo conceived ideas vastly ahead of his own time, conceptually inventing a helicopter, a tank, the use of concentrated solar power, a calculator, a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics the double hull. In practice, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, astronomy, civil engineering, optics, and the study of water (hydrodynamics). his most famous inventions include a helicopter, a parachute, a paraglider, a fully functional model of a french medeival knight and many other war machines.. but sadly none of them materialised..








A few years back, a team from bbc put together the machine but though it worked, it didnt move forward as was given in the draft.. the team modified a small gear and the machine worked perfectly.. it was later found out that Da Vinci did it on purpose just to avoid people from copying his works..

Da Vinci had other strange habits as well.. if you look closely at the pistures posted above, you'll notice that all the scripts have been written in a strange language.. look closely and you'll absorb that it is just english written in mirror writing ( mirror image of the actual text, this feature was shown in the movie THE DA VINCI CODE).. Such was the ingenuity of Da Vinci.. not only this he had other strange traits as well.. da vinci was known to buy caged birds and after studying them, he released them from their cages.. in 1505 he came out with a manuscript titled "CODEX ON THE FLIGHT OF BIRDS" which begins with an examination of the flight behavior of birds and proposes mechanisms for flight by machines. such were his observation skills..

Da Vinci had an unknown side as well which the church didnt like.. as exposed by DAN BROWN in his book "THE DA VINCI CODE", he was actually a GRANDMASTER of the PRIORY OF SION, a secret society that believed in pagan worship and worshipped the SACRED FEMININE.. it was believed that da vinci incorporated many feminine and rather "un-church" like symbols into his paintings.. His "LAST SUPPER" fresco has come into a lot of controvercy after dan brown explained in his book that instead of 12 male disciples as originally given in the bible, he had painted 11 male and one female.. the female was actually mary magdalene, who was believed by the PRIORY OF SION, to be the wife of jesus christ!!!!!!



Well, i could just keep going on and on about this great man.. but time and words fail me.. he pioneered the SFUMATO style of painting.. The Italian word sfumato (pp. of fumare, 'to smoke') captures the idea precisely. The finished product appears as though a veil of smoke had drifted between the subject of the painting and the viewer.. THE MONA LISA was painted using this technique.. well, jus like the style he was famous for, his life has also been unclear.. there have always been shades of doubt in the mind of the people whenever it came to da vinci.. why didn't he marry?? why didn't he finish most of his painting assignments?? why did he incorporate unchurch like articles into his works?? why did he act like a pious christian in front of the public but headed a secret anti church society?? these and many more questions still remain unanswered..

doubts may linger in people's mind regarding the life of da vinci, but his sheer brilliance remains unquestionable.. he still remains one of the most talented human beings to have ever walked on earth..

This, my friends is my tribute to the EPITOME OF MYSTERY, LEONARDO DA VINCI..


P.S: a team of researchers and builders have decided to bring Da Vinci's creation to life.. the show is currntly being aired on DISCOVERY CHANNEL titled "DOING DA VINCI", every friday night at 9.. don't forget to watch it..


p.s: after publishing this blog post, i accidentally stumbled on an article published in http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1935965/posts

this is how it goes:

Did Da Vinci Hide God's Face In Painting
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 12-7-2007 | Aislinn Simpson

Posted on Friday, December 07, 2007 9:19:29 AM by blam

Edited on Saturday, December 08, 2007 4:02:32 AM by Lead Moderator. [history]

Did Da Vinci hide God's face in painting?

By Aislinn Simpson
Last Updated: 2:54am GMT 07/12/2007

A new storm is brewing in the world of Da Vinci theorists after a mysterious group claimed it has used mirrors to uncover hidden biblical images in some of the great master’s most famous works.

The Mirror of the Sacred Scriptures and Paintings In recent years, art history scholars have unveiled Templar knights, Mary Magdalene, a child and a musical script hidden in the Italian’s paintings.

[Mod: Images removed due to threat of legal action from source]

These images, from the group's website, show how the original The Virgin and Child sketch (left) can be manipulated with mirrors to supposedly show the ancient Old Testament god Jahveh (right)

It is well-documented that Da Vinci, who lived between 1452 and 1519, often wrote in mirror writing, either in an attempt to stop his rivals stealing his ideas or in a bid to hide his scientific theories, often deemed as subversive, from the powerful Roman Catholic Church.

But now a group known as The Mirror of the Sacred Scriptures and Paintings World Foundation believes that he applied the same technique to some of his best-known creations, including the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper, to conceal mysterious faces and religious symbols.

When applied to the sketch The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist, which hangs in London’s National Gallery, the authors say the mirror image reveals the ancient Old Testament god Jahveh, who "protects the soul of the body’s vices" and wears the Vatican’s crown.

Their theory would explain why many of Da Vinci’s characters seem to be pointing or staring into space, as if searching for the Divine.

The group claims they are indicating where the mirror should be placed to reveal the painting’s secrets.

In the Virgin and Child sketch, they say, it explains why John the Baptist appears to be staring past Jesus into the distance.

A similar face appears when a mirror is applied to the right hand shoulder of Mona Lisa, and the experts also claim to have found an upturned holy grail on the table in front of Christ in the celebrated Last Supper fresco.

The mirror-technique is applied to another painting of John the Baptist to reveal the four-legged image of creation and the Tree of Life in Adam and Eve’s Garden of Eden.

Again, John is pointing with both hands to the place where the mirror needs to be placed to reveal the "hidden" image.

According to the group, the same technique was used by Michelangelo and Raphael, in artwork exhibited in the Vatican, and Renaissance artists including the neoclassicist Jacques Louis David. Similar images have also been found in famous paintings and sculptures of Buddha.

The Mona Lisa supposedly shows a similar face

The study’s authors wrote to the Vatican last year to explain their discovery, but received a lofty reply saying that while their findings would no doubt be the object of much discussion in the art history world, their ideas required "solid proof" and needed to be supported by a general consensus among art critics before they could be taken seriously.

Critics of the project will claim the authors want to cash in on the worldwide fascination with Da Vinci conspiracy theories, brought to a head by the publication of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code and the subsequent Tom Hanks film.

These featured the theory that the male figure on Christ’s immediate right is actually Mary Magdalene and the couple had descendants living in the modern world, and multiplied visits to sites all over the world to which Da Vinci was linked.

The latest theory, expounded by The Mirror of the Sacred Scriptures and Paintings group, whose website www.mirrorandart.com, is owned by the Sacred and Divine Reason and Foundation Corp, follows the revelation in July by an Italian amateur scholar that the Last Supper contained a hidden image of a woman holding a child.

The figure, he said, appeared when the fresco was superimposed with its mirror image and both were made partially transparent.

yet another example of da vinci's ingenuity.. the more i read about him, the more i get fascinated.. kudos to Da Vinci!!!!!!

are we ruining our own lives??????

I received this very nice forward a couple of days back and i thought i should share this with all of you..

While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old son picked up a stone and scratched lines on the side of the car... in anger, the man took the child's hand and hit it many times, not realising he was using a wrench..
at the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures.. when the child saw his father, with painful eyes he asked, "dad, when will my fingers grow back?"
the man was so hurt and speechless. he went back to the car and kicked it many times, devastated by his own actions.. sitting in front of the car, he looked at the scratches.. the child had written
"LOVE YOU DAD"
next day, the man committed suicide.

Anger and love have no limits. always remember that things are to be used and people are to be loved. but the problem with today's world is that people are used and things are loved..

Well the reason i decided to put up this post was a series of incidents involving a few of my close friends and family members during the past few days which had a slight resemblance to the above story..

I've just got one thing to ask, why have people become so money minded these days.. why have people in an effort to become rich, ended up becoming selfish, ruthless and crooked.. where has all the love in the world gone.. where have all the bonds of family gone..

Well the entire concept of living and letting live seems to have gone down the drain.. we started off with animals, killing them for our own selfish needs and pushing them to the brink of extinction..now that the animals are gone, we have started killing our own brethren..

Money has made all of us evil.. it has made all of us ignore those living around us, our family and our friends..

Well, the people to whom this post was meant will surely have no idea that i've been venting all my anger and frustration on them in a blog.. but let this atleast be a lesson for those who might actually visit my blog and end up reading this.. remember, life is a cycle.. you might be on top one day but there will come a day when you'll have to meet with failure.. you need people to help you out during those times of failure.. look at people as people and not merely as investments to improve your future, cos you never know, you might have to be under them one day.. and for all those who have been good, kind and loving all along and still havent met with remarkable success in life, dont worry.. you've done your part, you've sowed your seeds in the right places, and when the time is right, your seeds will bear fruit.. and rest assured, your fruits will be the sweetest of the lot..

ADIOS!!!!!

we owe so much to nature!!!!!!

The visit to maskaan chaavadi this sunday  really inspired me to blog more about nature.. nature has given us so much but we fail to recognise it.. for all of you who dont quite get what i am trying to say, here's a detailed explanation of how nature has inspired humans to come up with inventions to cope with the numerous problems we face today.. this field of science is called BIONICS..

let me start off with a paint ad which shows a small boy wreacking havoc in his room, playing football and spilling paint, sauce et al on his walls.. and then the maid walks in and cooly proceeds to clean off all the sauce and dirt marks from the wall....well this ad was about a washable, dust proof paint variant.. and do you know what inspired the scientists to come up with it???? its none other than the humble LOTUS plant..the leaf of the lotus plant is covered with tiny bumps or ridges which cause the water droplets to roll of carrying away dirt and dust.. this was termed "THE LOTUS EFFECT".. this technique was used to develop many self cleaning paints and water proof clothing..

The TROPICAL BOXFISH has inspired automotive giants DAIMLER CHRYSLER 's new concept car, the BIONIC CAR.. this car, which mimics the fish's aerodynamic(or hydrodynamic) shape and rigid protective skin is believed to consume 20% less fuel and emits 80% less nitrogen oxide than conventional automobiles!!!!!!

Speaking of fishes, here's one fish species that is truly spectacular in all aspects, a fish species that has been surviving on the surface of the earth for more than 420 million years, a fish species that has diversified into 440 sub species, the true rulers of the water kingdom, the SHARKS.. Sharks have always been the centre of human attraction.. they have always been said to possess one of the most aerodynamically perfect bodies in the animal kingdom.. in the recent past, ever since BIONICS gained popularity, none of the animals have been more researched than the shark.. and all this research has paid off big time.. the world's fastest train, the brainchild of the JAPANESE has a long tapering nose which is modelled on the snout of the GREAT WHITE SHARK.. the snout of the great white is said to be so aerodynamically streamlined such that it can propel the shark at great speedswith minimum effort.. similarly, the latest FASTSKIN LZR RACER swimsuits manufactured by SPEEDO,  are made of special fabric that mimics the shape and rough texture of sharkskin..

this swimsuit has created a lot of controversy in the international circuit with top swimmers(those using other brands) and swimsuit manufacturers protesting against it claiming it gives undue advantage to those using them..

The list doesnt end here.. BIONIC experts are coming up with new inventions everyday.. a few already in use include the the VELCRO which was developed after studying the BURDOCK FRUIT ..

Nature has so much to offer.. we owe so much to it.. the least we could do is stop destroying it.. many exotic bird and animal species have already been destroyed.. and many, like the ROYAL BENGAL TIGER are on the brink of extinction right now.. these are beautiful creatures which deserve their place on earth.. we for our selfish needs are brutally pushing them to the brink of extinction.. let's stop all this.. pls join me and all the other animal lovers out there to stop all this..

LET US LIVE AND LET LIVE!!!!!!!

and as always, here's my quote of the day: 

 

To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.

                                                                  Shakespeare

ADIOS!!!!!