Making Sense Of Goddess Shail-Putri Of Navratras In India

This October or about every October is the time in India of the navratras i.e. the days of worship of Goddess Durga, MahaGauri or MahaKali. The entire period of nine moon days is full of festivities, starting new ventures as the days are considered auspicious and Indian style prayers.

What I want to talk about is about the first of the nine days; its ruling deity is called Devi Shail-Putri where Hindi/Sanskrit word shail is rock or stone or mountain and similarly Putri means daughter and devi means Goddess so Shailputri would mean Goddess Daughter of the Rocks/Stone/Mountain. Nature worship is an ages old thing and probably worship of Shailputri is something similar.

Here I want to add my own interpretation of things: We all have come across the term 'son of the soil' for people or a person who is born and is an inhabitant of a local area and identifies strongly with it. Similarly can we say that someone born in the mountains of India, Tibet, China or elsewhere where there is a mountain is a Son of mountain/stone or he is a Shail-Putra. Here Putra means Son. Looking at the variety of locales in the world we can apply the same rule to people of the desert and say that they are Sons Of the desert or Desert-Putra or Maru-Putra. I am not sure of the Hindi word for desert but it could be 'maru' because 'marusthal' in Hindi means a desert.

Here I remember another story about Goddess Lakshmi of Indian Hindu religion. She is sometimes called Samudra-Putri or Goddess Daughter of the Seas/ Oceans. Lets apply it to the people who live in the plains be it river plains like plains of the river Ganges or simply a plain without a major river flowing through it. In this case the people could be called Mrida-Putra or Maidan-putra or literally the sons of the soil as 'mrida' is soil in Hindi. My knowledge is limited as i can not think of a sanskrit word for maidan. People of snow bound areas could be called Him-Putra or HemPutra as Him or Hem is snow or ice in Hindi.

Point to note here is that people in various locales are identified by local cultures and geographies like mountains, deserts, plains, plateaus and islands have a strong influence on the inhabitants. I  don't know how far we can stretch the idea of Shailputri or Shail-Putra but it does have a focus when we come across a person of the mountains or the deserts or the plateaus.

Life is like that.

Happy & Auspicious Navratras to Everyone

The Big Apple Intro

New York is the American apple that shows everything American at its best. The city is expensive for a traveller on a budget so a city pass is the best option to use in the city. The skyline is full of landmarks and once you are done with them you can begin to discover its people, their personalities that match the city so well. There are events always happening here so its not hard to meet somebody who is not yet famous but is making a mark on the scene and you get to know him first hand!


Neighbourhoods of New York are there own versions of the city. The ones close to the river are more interesting and lively. Closer to the city centre its mostly busy and business like. Corporate travel is big here so the tourist on a budget is at a loss but there are ways to manage this and searching online for deals and free or discounted offers can really help. There are mobile apps about the city that can help with many things like accommodation and getting around and even place to eat and so on the list is endless.

Most tourists turn up in summer so the prices are higher. If you can manage then plan your visit sometime later than the peak season and you will face less crowds and your budget will buy you more.

The Broadway is a must see as there is always a show and its a treat for the travellers who are traveling to New York for the first time.

Bon Visite !

CANCUN VACATION

VACATION RENTALS IN CANCUN

Cancun offers plenty of choice to travellers as they can choose between a short vacation and may be even a half year long stay. A rented villa or condo is often the best choice as it can provide the space for friends and family and also escape the city center crowds.

The Hotelzone in Cancun is expensive and touristy it would be better to go beyond the hotelzone and downtown area where Cancun reveals itself in its local flavours.

If you can adjust to the commute then Puerto morelos offers cheap accommodation. The local features are very prominent and you can get away from the conventional idea of a Cancun vacation.

Blvrd Kukulcan is a road you should visit if you plan to rent a villa or condo. Prices here are reasonable and there is great variety to choose from. Blvrd runs along the shore from Puerto Cancun to the International Airport of Cancun.

CORPORATE TRAVEL

All of us travel as per our budget and choices of spots....compared to this corporate travel is totally different.
Just reflecting on this I found that it is without choice that one starts on such a trip and the time period of travel is also bound by some rules and professional commitments...this adds a certain flavor to corporate travel...just like bitter coffee once you get used to it you start liking it

Corporate travel or C.T. as I like to call it is an old characteristic of companies and travel and efforts are usually to focus on the employee and his behavior. Which is very good and mostly what you cannot do on a much fancied luxury tour you can do better on a CT but you have to take the pressure..

Is CT improving the overall travel scene or spoiling it????

I personally feel an average traveler is more conscious of his environment  than a CT traveler ....its just the pressure may be...average traveler is more free to do so

LEARNING EXPERIENCE

It is quite slow in the start as I have started to earn money from a blog.

First -you must have content
Second- you must get traffic to your blog
Third-your visitors must find it worthwhile to click on your ads....

Overall, it is a simple 3 step process if you have been successful at it do let me know ... I have just started out and I know so much only... I guess the rest will come by and by 

One thing I have come to know from many people is you must not give up. While blogging. In fact make it a part of your daily routine or weekly schedule to go to your blog and write something original and useful for your readers..

As you keep adding articles you will get noted and your efforts will start showing results---but I feel it's not as simple as it is said... Here come in your " must not give up " bit of effort

MAY 25


Hello to everyone I had something more to share and here it is---
The first item content has to be adequate from the reader's point of view. It should hold the reader's interest through out ....how to do this is a skill that can be learned with time....people are afraid of writing down their thoughts for others to read ....the best step for this to make a beginning ...

Its the most hard to do but once you have taken that first step and written the first few lines of your first post rest will come easy believe me!!!! The work you will have to put in will gradually reduce to a daily fun activity--blogging....that is a great return for the effort made..as I said it's a skill that can be learned with time. Remember the first step is the toughest and after that it's easy..

Our Work | United Way

Our Work | United Way

I think these guys are doing a great job

Rainforest Vacation in Belize

BELIZE

Its one of the smaller countries of the world and no spotlight usually finds it in its range. Tucked away peacefully in a corner of central  America Belize has unique hotspots that attract in a tropical
way....must visit for nature lovers.

You can expect to find rivers, waterfalls, lush green forests, caves, if you love water and warmth you will find love for Belize and come back again and again. Caribbean sea in itself is great place for vacations....combine that with Belize and your hands are full of unexplored regions and depths.

Wildlife in the lush green rainforest is varied and beautiful.

In my view smaller countries are better tourist destinations as they have a small size so there is some sort of cohesion there. Don't know what the popular vote on this is but I personally like smaller countries they are more attractive to me.

Belize history has its own flavor the Mayans were a great people and whatever they have left in the lap of nature is now a source of amazement.