AWAKENINGS

Namaste Trump Event was a massive success. Potus – President of the United States – Donal Trump and Flotus – First Lady of the United States – Melania along with their daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner who serve as senior advisors to Trump were very much moved by the warmth, love and affection of more than 1.25 lacs who gathered at Motera Stadium , Ahmadabad, Gujarat – Home State of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi .   Potus and Flotus had actually enjoyed the 22 km long road show from Ahmadabad Airport to Motera Stadium via Gandhiji’s historic Sabarmati Ashram decked with festoons and bill boards. Many Cultural Troupes of India had lined up the entire route with their traditional dresses displaying India’s colourful traditions, playing varied musical instruments, dancing many types of dances and many more which had enthralled US First Family Members their hearts and souls. Motera Stadium is the world’s largest cr...

Karadayan Nonbu is a festival of fasting [ vratham ] wherein married Tamil women pray for the well-being and longevity of their husbands. According to tradition, this nonbu will be performed exactly at the time when tamil month of Maasi ends and the following month of Panguni begins. The background behind this fasting that Sathi Savithri fought with Yama to save her husbands life on this day. Similarly, married women fast on this auspicious day for the long life of their husbands. The speciality of this nonbu is the nivedyam . The nivedyam of this fasting is the Karadayan Nonbu Adai with butter along with betel leaves ( vetrilai ), arecanut ( pakku ), banana ( pazham ) and coconut. Yellow strings are worn by the womenfolk of the house. In each string a small flower is tied up; one string is worn on the Kamakshi amman picture while the other strings are worn by the women in the house. The prayer ' Urugadha Vennayam oru adayum vaithu nonbu...

History of Holi Holi was originally a festival to celebrate the start of Spring, good harvests and fertility of the land. The first mentions of it date back to a poem from the 4th century. Holi was described in a 7th century Sanskrit play called " Ratnavali ," written by the Indian emperor Harsha . "Witness the beauty of the great cupid festival which excites curiosity as the townsfolk are dancing at the touch of brownish water thrown ... Everything is coloured yellowish red and rendered dusty by the heaps of scented powder blown all over," wrote Harsha . Today it is better known as a symbolic commemoration of a legend from Hindu Mythology. The story is that there was once a king who resented his son, Prince Prahlada , worshipping Lord Vishnu. He tries to murder the prince on several occasions but fails each time. Finally, the king's sister Holika who is said to be immune to burning sits with the boy inside a fire. Howe...

The Budget Speech delivered by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on the 1 st February 2020 in the Lok Sabha was the longest ever at 2 hours and 41 minutes and it is her second budget presentation. She is also the second women to present the budget for a second time after Indira Gandhi. She could not complete her budget speech due to exhaustion.  It indicates that she should have restricted her speech but due her over enthusiasm to touch all points had cost her this embarrassment. Though she pleaded to complete her speech – stating that there were only two pages left, she was advised not to stress too much both by Rajnath Singh, our Defence Minister and then even by our Prime Minister who were seated next to her on the front bench. In January 2020 Nobel Laureaates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo advised the Government of India thus: The critical problem in the Indian economy is demand. We should forget about Budget deficits and meeting targets. We...