DESERT THOUGHTS

Diwali is a grand festival celebrated by hindus and Noth Indians. It is a very colorful festival. It comes every year in different dates.   Diwali is celebrated in India more often than everywhere. People distribute sweets and burst crackers.   So it’s a special season. Every one lights a candle with an object as they call it Dia. Even I also celebrate Diwali every year in Kuwait. I go to Salmiya and burst crackers with all my family and relatives. This is my experience on Diwali.

Today I was reading an article on St Augustine. From that what I have understood is that he wasn’t born a Christian. Actually he got converted into a Christian. They say that he was a Roman African. In his article he has written that Christians should avoid astrologers. What he has said is true. Because God is the one who made us and he decides our future and destination. But there was nothing about his death written.

Recently, I went with my family on a train journey after a long time. We went by the Rajdhani express from Kochi to Udupi in an a/c, three tier 2nd class compartment. We had dinner before we boarded from Cochin. When we got into the train we noticed it was not very clean and we were very surprised. Many times they came and offered us food and drinks which were part of the fare but we rejected it as we were in the compartment near the kitchen and noticed it was not neat at all. We slept the whole night in the train and woke up by 6 am as we were to reach Udipi by 7 am. The train was in Mangalore station and didn’t move for a long time. After half an hour we got to know the reason from our fellow passengers. The tracks ahead were blocked due to a land slide. We waited for over nearly four hours hoping the train would move. After some time a passenger sitting near me asked me where I am going and my father overheard them talking to me. And they encouraged us to go by road since Manipal...

Recently, I went with my family on a train journey after a long time. We went by the Rajdhani express from Kochi to Udupi in an a/c, three tier 2nd class compartment. We had dinner before we boarded from Cochin. When we got into the train we noticed it was not very clean and we were very surprised. But we didn’t have the food there coz it wasn’t good and our compartment wasn’t clean. Many times they came and offered us food and drinks which were part of the fare but we rejected it as we were in the compartment near the kitchen and noticed it was not neat at all. We slept the whole night in the train and woke up by 6 am as we were to reach Udipi by 7 am. The train was in Mangalore station and didn’t move for a long time. After half an hour we got to know the reason from our fellow passengers. The tracks ahead were blocked due to a land slide. We waited for over nearly four hours hoping the train would move. After some time a passenger sitting near me asked me where I am going and my f...

Onam is the biggest and most important festival of Kerala. It is also a harvest festival and is celebrated with joy and enthusiasm by people of all communities. According to a legendary popularity, the festival is celebrated to welcome King Mahabali whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam. Onam is celebrated in the first month of chingam which is from August to September that is in the gregorian calender. Carnival of the festival is celebrated from 4 to 10 days. The first is Atham and the 10th is Thiruvonam. Elaborate feasts, folk songs, energetic dances, elephants, flowers and boats, all are part of onam. Government has taken due notice of the vibrant and colourful festival. Onam is internationally promoted in a big way and celebrates tourist week. Thousands of domestic tourists and foriegn tourists come to India to take part for onam. There is also a tradition to play games which we call onamkalli. On the ocassion of onam ladies draw a flower shaped ...

Shashi Tharoor was born in London, He did his schooling in Kerala and Bombay. He did his high school in Calcutta. And also he did his bachelors of arts in Delhi.  He has also worked in countries like Singapore,Geneva and New York. He was actually a theatre buff and an actor in his school days. Tharoor has 2 twin sons. He married a Canadian girl named Christy Gile. Later he got divorced to her and he married Sunanda Pushkar who is actually a Kashmiri. He had been giving her lot of money. They got married in his ancestral home.

Wishing you all a happy and a prosperous onam 2010. God bless every1.