Procrastiblog

Translations of common yoga prayers from Prasad:

Om Om Om
Asatho maa sath gamaya
Thamaso maa jyothir gamaya
Mruthyor maa amrutham gamaya.
Om Shanthi. Shanthi. Shanthi.

Om Om Om
Lead me from unreal to real (untruth to truth)
Lead me from darkness to light (ignorance to knowledge)
Lead me from death to immortality (temporary to the eternal)
Peace, peace, peace be to all.

Sarve janaha suhkino bhavantu
Sarve santu niraamaya ha,
Sarve bhadraani pashyaantu,
Ma kaschid dukha bhaak bhaved.

May all live happily
May all be healthy
May all look to the good of others (May welfare be unto all)
May none experience distress.

Yogena chitasya padena vacham
Malam sarirasya cha vaiyakena
Yopakarottam pravaram muninam
Patanjalim pranjaliranato´smi

Let us bow before the noblest of sages,
Patanjali, who gave yoga for serenity and sanctity of mind,
grammar for clarity and purity of speech,
and medicine for perfection of health.

BONUS YOGA TIP: The trick to Vrksasana (Tree Pose) is to push your foot really hard into your thigh. I don’t know why this helps, but trust me it does. I normally can’t hold Tree Pose for more than a few seconds; doing this I didn’t teeter once. (Thanks to Prasad, again.)

You will probably not regret watching this. Via this post from John C. Dvorak.

A German medical intern here in Bangalore assures me that this behavior leads to bad outcomes. So there.

Goats chillin near Russell Market
Originally uploaded by Chris & Hilleary.

Err, mutton?! And chickens. At Russell Market.

The list of my most viewed photos on Flickr is perplexing. Obviously some photos just have popular keywords that make people I don’t know want to look at them. But why do so many people want to look at this picture? Are lots of people searching for “shoes bangalore”? (It’s not even in the Top 50 for “shoes”, which goes to show how odd Flickr users can be. (I include myself in that statement.) And why is this the most popular photo from my Savandurga set? I guess people love to hate poor little village boys.

OK, I’m throwing down. Please add a comment to this post explaining what kind of pictures you like and why. The upshot is I will try to accomodate audience interests. On the downside, you will have to prove you are not a robot.

P.S. I have a feeling this is going to end in much the same humiliation as the “first caller gets a $20 bill” contest on my WNYU AM radio show: The prize went unclaimed. I unilaterally cancelled the show shortly thereafter. 😦

[UPDATE 6/22/2006] Self-fulfilling prophecy? Thanks to my wife for providing me a statistically random sample…

A survey of “sexually progressive, young Indians” in India Today magazine caused much merriment and despair amongst my single comrades from abroad. Some sample questions:

Do you think it is okay to have sex before marriage?
Yes 20%
No 79%

(7% of females responded Yes.)

Would you be willing to [live] with a person you love before marriage?
Yes 28%
No 70%

(16% of females responded Yes.)

Do you agree with the statement: It is not necessary to marry the person you date?
Yes 42%
No 54%

(58% of females responded No.)

Which type of marriage do you think is more successful: arranged or love?
Arranged 73%
Love 24%

Source: India Today, 20 Feb 2006. Available online to subscribers only.

On the street near my house. It’s the first cat I’ve seen, believe it or not. I did not get a picture of it.

For those keeping score:

Animals I have seen and not photographed: cows, donkeys, lizards, chipmunks, and a cat.

Animals I have seen and photographed: horses, monkeys, and—oh, yeah—dogs.

I had a dream as I was falling asleep last night that I was playing frisbee and when I jumped to catch the disc I woke up with a strong sensation that I had just jumped face-first into a wall, which was actually my bed. Weird.

Rusty Bracket on Lamp Post
Originally uploaded by Chris & Hilleary.

Many of the lamp posts in my neighborhood have these seemingly useless brackets with sharp, rusty corners mounted conveniently at forehead level. Luckily, I’m up to date on my tetanus shots.