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ಯಾಹೂ!!!!!!!!!
This is my 100th post on ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ.
I wrote my first post on September 11th, 2007. You can be sure I did not consult the panchanga 
for a good day to start the blog!
However, the 100th blog entry post happens to be a good day. Yugaadi.
Yes – I know every day is a good day, but Yugaadi a tad bit more I guess
As luck would have it, ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ has seen 25000 hits as of today. Yippee……..
25000 hits does not sound like large number as for as blogs go- but considering the breadth of my posts, I consider this as a good achievement. If I don’t feel happy, then who will 
?
And, I would like to thank each of you for coming by ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ!
-neelanjana
ವರುಷ ಹೊಸತು ಬಂದಿದೆ
ಹೆಸರು ವಿರೋಧಿ
ಆದರೆ ಅದು ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೆ
ಆಗಲಿ ಅವಿರೋಧಿ
ಅನ್ನೋದಷ್ಟೇ ನನ್ನ ಬಯಕೆ!
ಎಲ್ಲ ಗೆಳೆಯರಿಗೂ ಇಂದು ಯುಗಾದಿಯಂದು ಒಂದಿಷ್ಟು ಹಾರೈಕೆಗಳು.
-ನೀಲಾಂಜನ
You have obviously heard of chain letters. They came in a variety of ways, back in the days of the postcard and the inland letter. These letters typically instructed you to copy the letter and mail to some number of people, and also describe you the misfortune you would face if you did not comply to the instructions therein.
Except for the post office, I wonder who would have made money of such a scheme. Now things have changed. You get spam e-mail with a picture of Lord Venkateshwara or Lord Manjunatha (You can fill in your favorite deity here!) that directs you to forward to some number of people. At least, these we can comprehend as attempts to get hold of e-mail addresses.
But a chain story? Don’t worry. This is no scam.A chain story is one where a story writer picks up where the other left, and so a group of people come up with a short story which is, hopefully, interesting.
I made an attempt to start such a ‘chain story’ in Kannada. I am posting a link to that story here- for any of those who come by, and might be interested in writing a part of this chain story.
Click on the link to go to the story.
-neelanjana
Today is the Vernal Equinox. In plain English, it is also called the Spring Equinox, or the first day of the Spring.
The day is called Equinox to imply it is the day of the equal day and night. Wherever you on the Earth, that is. Whether you are near the tropics or near the poles. Little hard to believe, but true.
If you are standing somewhere on 13 degree North latitude in Bengalooru, India, here is how the Sun’s path goes aound the sky. The yellow line indicates the path of the Sun, and the little yellow disk represents the Sun.
Path of the Sun as seen from a place 13 Degree North, on Vernal Equinox
On the other hand, if you were somewhere in the temperate lands, such as the San Fransisco bay area, this is how the Sun’s path would look like.
Solar path on Vernal Equinox, from a place 37 degrees North
Now, this is what happens if you go much to the North – say somewhere near Anchorage, Alaska.
View from further North
What if you go down South, to Sydney, Australia or Johannesburg, South Africa?
At each place, you may notice the Sun rises in the true east, and sets in the true west. And this is the reason why the day and night are of equal length everywhere today.
-neelanjana
All the pictures were captured using the solar simulation tool here:
Of late, I have seen a surge of traffic to my blog. People are visiting my blog from all corners of the world. Now don’t ask me how come there are corners in a world which is a spherical!
This increase in hits is in spite of the fact that I not writing so often. I was perplexed with this influx of traffic. If you think the quality of my writing has improved, then I would not stop you from thinking so. At least I would like to think so too If I don’t make assumptions favorable to myself, who else will?
My parents have always said: Everything in this life, good or bad, is due to ‘God’s grace’. Old habits die hard – So now I say that the blog hits are just plain ‘God’s grace’ too.
Do you find hard to believe it? But wait till I provide you with documentary evidence! I noticed that this traffic increase started once I wrote a post about Tirupati Timmappa last month.
This single post “Lord Venkateshwara and Udupi Restaurants“ attracted lots of hits in the last month. You might ask what is so special about this post. Didn’t you notice the name of ‘Lord Venkateshwara‘? I wonder if that was the reason why Purandara dasa said “ಸ್ಮರಣೆ ಒಂದೇ ಸಾಲದೆ? ಗೋವಿಂದನ ನಾಮ ಒಂದೇ ಸಾಲದೇ?” (smaraNe onde sAlade? gOvindana nAma onde sAlade?)- Isn’t just remembering not enough? Isn’t merely reciting Govinda’s name not enough?
But then, I am reminded so many other posts of mine, which don’t seem to get so many visitors – Why is the Almighty not showering his blessings on those poor posts of mine? And some of those also carry his name, if I remember correctly!
May be it is time to do some more ‘nAma smaraNe’ to solve this puzzle – No. Not the names you are thinking. A more contemporary one. One and the only big brother. GOOGLE.
This is the next table I see in the blog stats. Almost every hit on “Tirupati Venkateshwara and Udupi Restaurants” has come from a Google search for an image of Lord Venkateshwara
Now, I am sure you would agree it is indeed God’s Grace . I would leave it you to decide which one!
-neelanjanawhi
Just now it occured to me today is the full Moon day in the month of Phaalguna. Also known as Holi and Kaamana habba. This day is believed to be the day when Shiva burned Manmatha into ashes with his third eye. According to the Mahabharata, this day also happens to be the day on which Arjuna was born. He wasn’t called Phalguna for nothing – He was born on the full moon day of the month of Phaalguna, when the Moon was near the star Uttara Phalguni (Denebola, or Beta Leonis).
If you think it is a close chance that the Moon was near the star Phalguni, in the month of Phalguna – rest your thoughts right there. It is [ntrntional, because the months are in fact named after the stars near which the Moon appears when it is full during that month. So, in the month of Chaitra, you can find the full Moon near the star Chittta (or Chitra, Alpha Virgo) and in the month of Vaishakha you would find the full Moon near the star Vishakha (Alpha Libra) and so on for the other 10 months of the year.
Before the invasion of numerous Hindi TV channels and movies to the south of India, Holi in our town was never called Holi. It was called Kaamana Hunnime (The full moon of Kaama) or simply Kaamana Habba (The festival of Kaama). There were no colors that were thrown at people walking in the streets. It was marked by a bonfire in the full Moon night, where old stuff from homes around the block was thrown into the fire. May be this was a way of spring cleaning, I really don’t know! But the bonfire under the full Moon night was surely a fun event.
Kaamana habba was dear to me for another reason. Kaamana habba signalled that the end of the school year was nearby. The Yugadi festival would follow in couple of weeks, and closely behind would be the rathotsava at my native village. The rathotsava at the village meant that we’d have uninterrupted fun!
Where have those days gone? They seem to have totally disappeared, at least from my life.
-neelanjana
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