Friday 31 December 2010

Bye Bye 2010

Today is the end of 2010
But, it is not the end of the world!


New beginning starts tomorrow
And so your life will follow


Forget all your worries
keep the hopes alive


You cannot change what has happened
but you can decide what is going to happen!


Write your own destiny
and let 2011 be just yours!



Wish you a very happy, prosperous and successful New Year 2011!

Tuesday 26 October 2010

An interesting fact about October 2010 - Hoax mail

In this month of October, a mail is being circulated in internet which reads like this:
An interesting fact about October 2010: 
This OCT. has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays, all in 1 month. It happens once in 823 years.
Is it true? A simple and quick check in the calendar shows that it is not true.

If we only consider October, it happened in 2004 and it happens again in 2021. So, we do not have to wait for 823 years as the mail claims.

If we take any other month, it happened in Jan 2010 and next it happens in July 2011.

Tuesday 19 October 2010

CyberFunda - Ask and Answer in your language

You might know there are many websites where you can ask questions and get answers. Some of the popular ones are Answers, Yahoo! Answers, and Ask. In these web sites, you can ask question or provide answer in English.

Gurudeva from HitXP has come up with an unique website called CyberFunda where in you can ask question and also answer in your choice of (Currently mostly Indian) language. Currently it supports 15 languages (Alpha version) including English, Nepali, and Sanskrit. This website is developed using Open Source applications and libraries. You don’t have to register to ask or to provide an answer. But, if you register, you’ll get points for every question you ask, and every answer you provide.


Go ahead, register and share the knowledge in the language of your choice!

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Karnataka Politics - Hopeless Politicians and Helpless People!

As the drama is going on in Karnataka politics, we, the citizen, are feeling totally helpless! After a misrule by Congress and JDS, we decided to give BJP a chance. When we gave chance, it was not for 1 or 2 years, but for 5 years. Who wants to waste our own money for more and more elections!

As things seems to have got settled, problems only started surfacing. Initial blackmailing from Reddy brothers only showed us how weak our CM is. Some tainted ministers were inducted to “strengthen” the government! As reshuffling happened, dropped ministers and other MLAs started blackmailing. It only showed how elected representatives are only interested in making money than serving the people. This was the plight of BJP.

Coming to our opposition, the Congress has ruled (looted) the state and country for so many years that it finds it difficult to sit in opposition. With governor acting like a BJP-hater, things never look easy for the state. Congress even went for padayatra, but we really didn’t hear any positive outcome from it. The only positive, perhaps, was that some of our netas shed some kgs! Congress has never acted as a responsible opposition.

Coming to JDS, the party which does not have any morals or principles left! Even though the people of Karnataka clearly said “No” this party, it is still dreaming of ruling the state! Gowda and his sons cannot digest the fact that they are rejected by the people. They are always trying to dislodge the government and sit in the hot seat by hook or crook! They do not hesitate to seek the support from it’s equidistant enemy Congress. In the recent drama, JDS was seen openly supporting BJP dissidents to dislodge the government.

As we see each of these parties, one thing is pretty clear. Everyone is acting for their own vested interests. No one is least bothered to ask the people what they really want. We, the people have voted each of these MLAs. But, today we are in a back seat. We have become a mute spectator. Unfortunately, even the media is of no help. These media are just dancing to the tunes of political parties!

With all these natakas in Karnataka, the loser is pretty clear. It’s us, the people. But, who cares! We have made the selection and we have to suffer! Long live democracy!

Friday 20 August 2010

Salary Hikes for MPs - What are the criterion?

In any organization, salary hike is decided based on the performance of an employee. I'm not sure in the government office but in any typical organization, this is the case. Based on the performance of an employee, hike percentage is also decided.

But, look at the salary hikes for MPs. Government has decided to increase by 3 times! This percentage of hike applies to every MP. We, the people of India, have no idea why and on what basis these hikes were given!


As one of the tax payers, I would like to know what were the criterion used for this hike.

1. Did they take the attendance of MPs into account?

2. Did they evaluate the performance of each MP based on the work carried out in the respective constituency?

3. Did they consider "mannerism" of MPs during the sessions?

4. Did they consider the corruption background of each MP?

5. Did they evaluate how the constituency development money was utilized by each MP?

6. Did they consider whether MP has come up with any new idea for the development of constituency?

7. Did they consider if MP has done anything to improve the living conditions of people?

8. Did they ever talk to people of the constituencies to access MP's performance?

In an organization, without proper assessment employees will not get hikes. Then why is this difference when it comes to our MPs?

Are there any MP(s) who are listening to these questions? It would be great if you can answer to some of these if not all.

Thursday 19 August 2010

tweet4blood - Twitter for Blood!

Today I got one SMS from my friend seeking a help for his friend's mother. She needs AB- blood and she's hospitalized in Bangalore. At that moment, one thing which came to my mind was Tweet4blood. It is a simple yet effective application which utilizes the power of popular micro-blogging and social networking site Twitter.

If you need blood, just hit http://tweet4blood.com and submit your request. No need to login and no need to register!

If you are a donor, follow tweet4blood at http://twitter.com/tweet4blood and you'll get notification for all blood requests. Currently, 405 people are following tweet4blood (including me!).

Is it not so simple? The credit goes to Thejesh who has developed this application.

Placement of the Indian-Rupee Sign on QWERTY Keyboards - Survey

Which key combination in QWERTY keyboard do you prefer to input the newly introduced Indian Rupee sign? Voice your opinion!

Indicate your preference by taking this small survey. This survey contains only one question. All you need to do is select one key combination which you think should be preferred location for Indian Rupee sign. You also have any option to type in your own combination.

Click at Kwik Surveys and have your voice count!

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Shri Sapta Maatrukaa Chowdeshwari Temple Mysore

Snaps taken at Shri Sapta Maatrukaa Chowdeshwari Temple, Mysore.
Address: #D-1, D Block, 3rd Stage, Vijayanagar, Mysore

Thursday 5 August 2010

Snaps from Lalbagh Flower Show 2009

Here are some snaps of Lalbagh Flower Show taken in August 2009. This year, Independence Flower show at Lalbagh, Bangalore starts from 6th August. Do not miss it!

Wednesday 21 July 2010

Time Pass Blog Post!

[This was written on 15th July]
I'm writing this while travelling to Mysore in train. I just finished reading newspaper. Finding difficult to pass another 1hr. I've nothing much to do, so started observing people around me...

Opposite to me, two ladies in their late 20s are talking continuously in a language I don't understand! I guess, it might be Konkani, Tulu or Kodava.

In the other side of the compartment, four women in their late 40s are discussing about their families and relatives. Among them seated, a young guy seems to be lost! Once in a while, he is staring at those young ladies! Poor chap!

Behind me and diagonally opposite, there's a young mother with his 1+ year son. This cute boy seems to have lost patience sitting for a long time and she's having tough time in consoling her son!

In the next (front) compartment, there is one cute young lady (may be teen) napping on her mother's shoulder. Next to her is a handsome guy, busy in reading some book. He looks uncomfortable with his shoulder touching hers! May be he is bit nervous! Wonder if he can concentrate on his reading! Opposite to that teen is one old man who looks completely bored!

Oh! my train has reached Shreerangapatna. One advantage in the train is one can pass time by just observing co-passengers! Every time I travel in train, I get to see new kind of people! Signing off as my train is approaching Mysore!

Thursday 15 July 2010

Indian Rupee gets a symbol!

It's official. Indian Rupee gets a symbol similar to USD ($). The new symbol is an amalgamation of the Devanagiri 'Ra' and the Roman 'R' without the stem. And it looks like this:














With this, Indian Rupee joins the selected currencies having its own symbol. Image credit: IBNLive

Thursday 8 July 2010

Now Secured Google Search!

Ever wondered of having a secured Google search wherein no third party will come to know what you are searching for and also the results returned by the search! Well, Google has it for you!

Welcome to https://encrypted.google.com/ 

As you can observe, this site is SSL enabled (that is why it is https instead of normal http in the URL). Secure Sockets Layer aka SSL provides a secure communication between your computer and Google server. What does it mean is whatever you search in Google cannot be intercepted by any third-party including your employer! Even the result pages returned by search is secured!

Before you start using the above link, keep in mind the following things:

1. This secured search is only for web search. It is currently not available for say Google Images and Google Maps. You can observe that when you click on the above link: Image, Map links may not appear in the left or top panel.
2. If any of the search results is http (meaning not SSL enabled) and you click on it, you are coming out of secured channel.
3. You might experience small delay in the search and it is obvious because of secured channel. Of course, the results will not get truncated.
4. You may want to know about some technical limitations to SSL at the protocol level which Google has mentioned in their help site.

So, enjoy this new experience! Should I say, Happy Secured Googling!

Wednesday 7 July 2010

Future Airplanes - What's in it for us?

If you are asked how planes might look like in 2030, you might recall some of the pictures from fictional space stories/movies. And you might think the planes look jazzy and super sexy! Well, hold on! This may not be the case!

A research sponsored by NASA has produced some of the designs which might look like any ordinary plane but it would be way advanced when it comes to sound, comfort, fuel-efficiency and more! Yes, some aircrafts may look super cool like this one!

Detailed report on this research can be found at NASA website. If you are aeronautics person, do look at PDFs linked at the end of the report.

Tuesday 6 July 2010

Bangalore Auto Woes - Register Complaints

Prashanth has posted information on how to register a complaint on common auto problems faced in Bangalore. Read the full post here.

I also checked Karnataka RTO web site. In web site, it is mentioned that, Autorickshaw complaints should be mailed to these email IDs: addlcptrafficbcp@gmail.com, acat@kslmd.com, clm@kslmd.com. Note that, these mails will go to Additional Comissioner of Police (Traffic), Assistant Controller of Legal Metrology (Auto & Taxi Unit), and Controller of Metrology.

Monday 14 June 2010

Easy Cabs – No, they are Difficult Cabs!

It was a long weekend spending Saturday and Sunday in office. On Sunday night around 8.40PM we booked a cab with Easy Cabs for pick-up at 9.30PM. We also got booking id through SMS. As the time was approaching, there was no call from the cab driver. Normally, we get a call from the cab driver confirming his time of arrival. As there was no call, we called up Easy Cabs number and customer service agent told that we’ll get the cab in 5mins. So, we waited and waited till 10PM but there was no sign of the cab. I again called up the number and the guy who was talking to me asked me to hold the line for a minute and he’ll check the status and update. I waited patiently for 5mins but the guy didn’t turn up! I ended the call and again called the number, this time another guy was at the other end. I vented my anger on managing customer calls and he said he’ll check the status and immediately update me. He again put the call on hold and it went for another 3mins. Sensing that these people have no sense, I ended the call and called another cab provider. The cab arrived within 20mins.

Summary: Easy Cabs are most unprofessional cabs I’ve encountered in Bangalore. I’ve booked in many cabs provider but Easy cabs beat them all! Do take a note of it when you book for a cab.

Tuesday 1 June 2010

Top 25 Cleanliest cities in India

Recently, Ministry of Urban Development published a list of cities ranking on sanitation 2009-2010 under National Urban Sanitation policy. Cities and towns were rated on parameters such as complete elimination of open defecation, elimination of open scavenging, safe collection and disposal of total human excreta.

Here are some interesting points:

> Small towns have fared better than metros
> Kanpur, once most polluted city finds place in Top 10
> None of the cities is listed under top classification "Green" (which requires city to cross 91 points out of 100)
> Only 4 cities are listed under the next best classification "Blue"
> Once plague hit Surat has come third in the list (I mentioned about this city in my article Making Breakthrough Innovation Happen)
> Karnataka state has more number of cities (5) in Top 25

Here is the list of top 25:

1. Chandigarh, Chandigarh
2. Mysore, Karnataka
3. Surat, Gujarat
4. New Delhi Municipal Council area, Delhi
5. Delhi Cantt, Delhi
6. Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu
7. Jamshedpur, Jharkhand
8. Mangalore, Karnataka
9. Rajkot, Gujarat
10. Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
11. Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
12. Bangalore, Karnataka
13. Chennai, Tamil Nadu
14. Rourela Industrial Township, Orissa
15. Mandya, Karnataka
16. Bidhannagar, West Bengal
17. Noida, Uttar Pradesh
18. Shillong, Meghalaya
19. Ahmadabad, Gujarat
20. Alandur, Tamil Nadu
21. Haridwar, Uttarkhand
22. Bidar, Karnataka
23. Achalpur, Maharashtra
24. Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh
25. Kolkata, West Bengal

The complete list is available at India Environment Portal

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Google SMS Search

This is another product from Google. By sending a simple SMS, you can use the power of Google search and get the results right to your mobile phone. You can send SMS to get cricket score, Indian train PNR status, flight schedules, hotels information on a particular area, stock quote of a company, city weather, definition of a word and more. An interesting note here is, all these SMSs cost you only standard rate not any premium rates!

You have to send SMS to 9-77-33-00000 (India number). Say, you want to know the definition of a word you just heard while moving. Send one SMS to the above number with the text as "define caveat" and you'll get the meaning of the word caveat. If you are interested to know today's horoscope for your sun sign, type your sun sign and send. If you don't know what is your sun sign, just type horoscope followed by birth date as "horoscope Oct 1".

You'll get results as SMS. There are many things you can do using this SMS Search. Check this link for a list of search features available. This is really a handy tool especially when you don't have access to internet but you still want to search in the web!

Do store this number in your mobile device and happy SMS searching!

Thursday 6 May 2010

An Open Letter to the President of India

Dear Honorable Ms. President of India,

I’m a common man from India. As I heard the news of Kasab’s death sentence, like any other Indian, a lot of questions came to my mind. As I’m sure that no other person would be able to answer these questions, I thought of asking the first citizen of my country. I know you are very busy person, but still I request you to take some time to read these questions and if again time permits, kindly respond.

I heard that the terrorist Afzal Guru’s petition is still pending with the union ministry to be processed and sent to your office. We do not have any hopes on Union government on moving these files. In fact, we have even lost the slightest hope we had. Can I request you to order union ministry to expedite the process and send the request to your office?

We really do not want some terrorist taking the hostage of some useless politician with an exchange offer for Afzal and our country paying the (huge) price for it. Can you please take a note of it to expedite the process?

Even common man knows what Afzal Guru is and I’m sure you will also agree that he does not deserve to be alive. Can I request you to out rightly reject the petition and order for his death sentence?

Also, I heard that there are nearly 52 people waiting for your assent on their execution. Afzal must be somewhere down the line. I really do not know who these other people are and what are their crimes. May I request you to give special attention to Afzal as I believe, as a terrorist he deserves it and pull him to the front in that list and give the consent? I’m sure no one would really mind it!

As a common people, we are very angry with this creature called Kasab. Killing innocent fellow citizens is very hard to forget and forgive. We Indians, are eagerly waiting for his execution. Whether we look at it as tit-for-tat, or a message to all terrorists who look at our country, we want him to be executed at the earliest. We are sure that one day a mercy petition will come to you. Can you please help us realize our dream at the earliest?

There are some senseless people who call themselves as Human Rights Activists, who are right on their toes to oppose the execution of Kasab. May I request you to ignore these people as their logic does not make any sense in case of terrorists?

We are the citizens of India. You are the head of the state. Whenever we citizens are in trouble, we look at you for your help and assurance. When someone from outside created a chaos in my country, we look at you for your action and help. We look at you for your assurance that everything will be alright. I believe you understand the pulse of your people. You are the only hope for us. May I request you to give a signal to all your countrymen that you will uphold the feelings of your countrymen?


Sincerely and warm regards,
A common man

Monday 3 May 2010

Bengaluru School in Bill Gates Website

Parikrma school in Bengaluru was featured in Bill Gates web site. What is so special about this school that caught the attention of BG?

Parikrma is an innovative school which serves students from some of the poorest communities in Bengaluru. Parikrma's goal is to transform lives by providing children with world-class educational opportunities.

What is more interesting is some of the statistics:
About 89.4% of the students knows what they want to achieve in life compared to 86% from private schools and 42.9% from government school! About 72.7% knows how to achieve this and 86.4% feels they'll achieve this in their life time.

It is very heartening that we do have schools who take the admission from poorest communities, not only educate them, but also instill positive attitude, and confidence to achieve their goals. Compare this to some of the famous schools who take the admission from brightest students (criteria like more than 90%), ensure that they'll also pass out with highest marks (again number is what matters here) but little or no attention to what we call behavioral skills!

Do read the article at BG web site and also the Q&A between the students of Parikrma school and BG.

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Now, it is www.sureshc.com

As you might have observed, twopaise.blogspot.com has changed to sureshc.com. Yes, I bought the domain sureshc.com from Host Me. Also, the site design has undergone changes.

I'll keep posting interesting and knowledgable articles. Keep visiting and do provide your comments.

Thursday 15 April 2010

World of Magicians!

The very word “Magic” brings excitement to the people. It brings us the memories of Indrajala comics, or the story of Gatodghaja, or our famous magician PC Sorcar! Obviously, people will be interested to know more about magic and magicians. Now, this has become more easy with the launch of World’s first complete magicians website: http://www.worldofmagicians.com/index.php

This website was launched just few minutes back! Visit the site and get to know more about magic and magicians.

(I got to know about this site from Prashanth)

Sunday 4 April 2010

Making Breakthrough Innovation Happen – Book Review

Book Title: Making Breakthrough Innovation Happen – How 11 Indians pulled off the impossible

Author: Porus Munshi

Publisher: Collins Business

ISBN: 978-81-7223-774-5

Price: Rs. 295

We rarely hear about innovations by Indians. It doesn’t mean that Indians rarely innovate but we, common man, are not aware of such stories. Also, there is a common belief that India is the place where innovation is something very foreign. For innovation to happen, you don’t have to have best of the technologies, or best of the facilities. All it is required is passion and perseverance. And this is what this book is going to tell to the readers. This book is a collection of 11 case studies on innovations in India spread across diverse fields.

The stories are really inspiring. The first case study is a story of Dainik Bhaskar, a newspaper, who became No. 1 on the day of launch! We normally know how we are addicted to one newspaper, and it is very difficult to change the newspaper. In such circumstances, how a newspaper which is never heard of, can become No. 1 on the day of its launch!

The second case study is about Aravind Eye Hospital. An wonderful story of Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy or Dr. V, who introduced assembly-line technique of surgery to increase the productivity of surgeons! As book mentions, what’s remarkable about Aravind is that only 30 percent of its patient pay! The remaining 70 percent are treated free or almost free! It still makes 35 percent operating profit!

What it requires for you to take on giants worth billions?! A mere Rs. 15000 capital! Yes, this is how Cavinkare jumped into the market to take on giants like Hindustan Lever! Today, Cavinkare is Rs. 750 crore company! This is the third case study presented in the book.

Another story is about eChoupal, a new business model from ITC-IBD on commodity trading, a marriage of “technology” and “trading in rural markets”. An interesting model which deals directly with end farmer with both farmers and the middlemen being co-opted.

The case study of Trichy Police is really an interesting and eye-catching story which should be made a role model for all other states across India. Do you believe when the figure says Trichy police brought down crime rate by 40 percent with mere 260 constables, who were not highly trained commandos but ordinary constables?! How was it possible?

We all know Swiss are masters in watch making. If Swiss says something cannot be done, everyone else agree. But, there was one team in India which transformed the thinking from “If Swiss cannot do, we cannot do” to “If Swiss cannot do, we’ll do!”. That is how, Titan Edge, the slimmest water-resistant watch in the world was innovated! This was achieved by R&D team in Titan headed by B.G. Dwarakanath. One interesting note is the way Dwarakanath himself tested the watch. He calls it Bangalore-Hosur road test! He ties the watch to the shock absorbers of his car and makes several trips on the terrible roads between Bangalore and Hosur, covering 200km!

Another astonishing story is of Surat, which transformed from one of India’s filthiest cities to India’s second cleanest city in twenty months! This credit goes to S.R. Rao, whose transparent model is becoming the standard across the country.

There are similar interesting stories such as Bosch India, which created a new pump, which is cost effective and meets Euro norms, Chola Vehicle Finance which grew from Rs 140 crore to Rs 800 crore, Shantha Biotech, which reduced vaccine dose from Rs 750 to Rs 50, and Su-Kam, which shows what it takes to create an industry!

As the title says, all these stories shows how the people pulled off what it was termed as impossible and made that big and striking difference to the world and the society!

Go, get this book, and get inspired!

Wednesday 31 March 2010

LPG Cylinder expiry date

Here is another mail going rounds in the internet. The text of the mail goes like this:

Have u ever heard about LPG cylinder's expiry date.

How to find LPG cylinder's expiry date? Very important information. Do you know that there is an expiry date (physical life) for LPG Cylinders? Here is how we can check the expiry of LPG cylinders:

On one of three side stems of the cylinder, the expiry date is coded alpha numerically as follows A or B or C or D and some two digit number following this e.g. D06. The alphabets stand for quarters -A for March (First Qtr) B for June (Second Qtr) C for Sept (Third Qtr) D for December (Fourth Qtr). The digits stand for the year till it is valid. Hence D06 would mean December qtr of 2006. Share this message with everyone you know, Ur kind cooperation will save life of many people and create awareness among the public. Please do not accept the cylinder if the date has already expired.


Mail Status: False

Correct information:
This is not cylinder's expiry date, these digits stand for the year when the cylinder is due for statutory testing. Details are given below:

On one of three vertical stay plates (side stems) of the LPG cylinder, the date is coded alpha numerically as A or B or C or D and a two-digit number following this e.g. D06. The alphabets stand for quarters - A for Qtr. ending March (First Qtr), B - Qtr. ending June (Second Qtr), C-Qtr. ending Sept (Third Qtr), & D for Qtr. ending December (Fourth Qtr). The digits stand for the year when the cylinder is due for Statutory testing as explained above. Hence D06 would mean that the particular cylinder is to be taken for the next Statutory Testing by December 2006.

In any case, this is not the date of EXPIRY of PHYSICAL LIFE of the CYLINDER .

It is further clarified that, during service, every empty LPG cylinder when it comes from the Distributor to the Bottling Plant for filling, is checked for its condition including the marked date for Statutory Testing due. Cylinders due for testing are segregated and sent for testing. Every cylinder after its filling with LPG is checked for correctness of its weight and soundness, before despatch to the Distributors. Every care is taken to ensure that cylinders which are safe for use are only sent to our Distributors for further distribution. It means if a customer gets a cylinder in June 2006 with marking as B06, it does not indicate that the physical life of the cylinder has expired. It only means that this cylinder is due for Statutory testing by end June 2006.


Source: Indian Oil Corporation website

Tuesday 23 February 2010

Yet another display of Sycophancy by Congress!

President in her address to parliament on 22nd Feb 2010, has announced a new scheme of rural LPG distribution namely "Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitarak Yojana". Yet another scheme under the banner of "Nehru family" (read Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi)! Yet another display of Sycophancy by Congress government!

Tuesday 16 February 2010

Electronics City Elevated Expressway

As my office base re-shifted to Electronics City, I got the chance to use newly constructed elevated expressway which was opened for public recently. I've driven between silk board and e-city for more than 1 year and I've seen the pain. It was a horrible 10km drive with traffic jam, loads of dust because of express way construction, mindless driving by almost all types of vehicles, senseless honking and the list goes on. So, it was obvious that every motorist like me was desperately waiting for this express way (Yeah, am not sure if I'm going to use it once toll fee is introduced!).

With all those excitement and joy, I drove my vehicle on express way and wow, it was a non-stop, consistent at 70KMPH drive over a stretch of approx. 9.5kms! I was in E-city in 10mins from silk board (I used to take 35mins to more than 1 hour before). I really enjoyed the drive.

Not sure how many people are going to use this when toll fee is introduced. Again, it depends on how much we have to pay for one way. A word of caution though, ensure you have enough fuel in your vehicle before you hit the express way. Otherwise, you have to tow your vehicle to either side of 9.5KM stretch! By the way, my colleague has already experienced it!

Wednesday 20 January 2010

Have you really seen Arundathi?!

In Hindu marriage, one of the customs is to see Arundathi star. Here, husband has to show the star to his wife. Why is this custom? Some says this is to test how sharp the bride's eyes are! Well, this can be applied to groom also. Others says this is a symbolic method to describe the story of Arundathi. Whatever the reason is, typically what happens is, this custom happens in a day light. Symbolically, priest asks husband to look at the sky and the husband yells to his wife "There is Arundati star"! In day time, It is very difficult to see Venus, the brightest object in the sky after Sun and the Moon, forget about the Arundathi star. So, actually husband and wife does not see the star. I'm sure you might have come across this situation!

Well, I'm going to tell you how you can locate Arundathi star. Before I jump into that, let me explain you a bit on Arundathi and the star.

As per purana, Arundathi is wife of sage Vasishta. And Vasishta is considered to be one of the sapta rishis (The Seven Great Sages). Now, let's look at these from Astronomy.

Often people relate Pleiades to Sapta rishis. This is wrong. Pleiades is a open star cluster and in Hindu Astronomy, it is referred to as Krittika nakshatra. Sapta Rishis are identified by modern astronomers as Big Dipper. This is a pattern of seven stars which is visible throughout the year in most parts of the Northern hemisphere. Big Dipper is situated in Ursa Major constellation. One side of the Big Dipper looks like a bowl and the other side as handle.

From the handle, the second star is called Mizar. In Hindu astronomy, it is Vasishta. Now, you can guess where you can find Arundathi! Yes, a faint star visible nearer to Vasishta is Arundathi star! In modern astronomy, it is called, Alcor. It's apparent magnitude is +3.99. In Astronomy, that means, if you can see this star in a naked eye, your eye sight is really good!

Now, let me show you the picture so that you can identify this in the sky. Of course, if you cannot locate this star, this could also be because of light pollution in your city!


Image Credit: Wikimedia (Click this link if you cannot see the above image properly)

(My point of reference is Bengaluru). Go out after 10.30PM IST, face yourself to North-East direction. Observe carefully, you can see the pattern of stars similar to the one shown above. Once you have located it, check if you can see Arundathi! Of course, let me know your (eye test) result! (By posting a comment)

Note: If you are still wondering how to locate this in your city, take the help of Sky Chart. Enter the co-ordinates of your city and use the sky map!

Friday 1 January 2010

Greetings

Wish you a happy, prosperous and successful New Year 2010!