Satinder S. Panesar

1)  Indian men and women born as Mangliks are believed to be cursed. It is believed that Mangalik Dosha negatively impacts married life, causing tension and sometimes the untimely death of one of the partners. To cancel these effects, a Kumbh Vivah can be performed before the wedding. This is a wedding between a Mangalik and either a statue of Vishnu or an earthen pot or peepal or banana tree.   2)  In parts of Germany, a ritual called Polterabend is practiced. It typically starts with profligate feasts and finishes with the entire guest making as much noise as possible. Dishes are damaged, pots are clashed and cookeries are smashed. It is believed that the cacophonous sounds caused by all this represent the inevitable future trouble that the couple will face in their married lives. By breaking the dishes in advance, the community is preparing the pair for the obstacles ahead and at the same time wishing them luck. 3)  In South Korea after the wedding ceremony, ...

Couple of weeks back, i went to Punjab. It's been quite some time that i have been there, and more important reason was, went to see my ailing father. Though he is still on medication but is making good improvement. Coming back to trip, below are things i still remember: Mandatory gurudwara visit There are more Gurudwaras in Punjab than schools Kite flying sessions After diabetes & heart related diseases, latest is Hemorrhoids Marriages in Punjab evolved so much that now in snacks , you will get only Pastries & other bakery products. No Indian sweets. Orchestra in marriages now have female dancing troupe. Throwing money over Orchestra dancers is still in fashion or a priority In any function, if there are 6 dishes, 4 are bound to be of Paneer Indian Railways have funny announcements  Dont buy things from strangers Dont show your ticket to strangers as if we know all the catering & ticket checking staff Shatabdi trains should hav...

We all say/believe that world is full of mean / skeptic people but the fact of the matter is, we only make people mean and skeptical about everyone / everything. If someone is nice, we keep on telling that person, don't be that nice, people will take undue advantage of you. And people generally succumb to peer pressure. No matter what people say on the surface, but when you ask them in private, you will be amazed by their thinking as they will give totally different answer. When i come across such incidents, i often wonder, why people want others to be skeptic? Wouldn't it be nice, if someone approaches you & says, they recognize you from Twitter / FB / Blog / Newspaper, you say thank you with a smile. Wouldn't that make other person happy? Ofcourse, it will. We all agree to this saying - Be the change you want to see in the world. So, if we become and be nice (instead of skeptic), eventually this world will become a better & trustworthy place.

NH7 Weekender is one of the most amazing music event of India. 3 days, 6 stages playing different genres of music, is simply superb. Hats off to the organizers & management team for putting so much energy & efforts and giving public such an awesome event. Vibes of people and the smile on their faces, will take you to another dimension.  Below is my diary for this year's NH7 Weekender: I like @ NH7 coz there is "no internet" & people eat, drink & enjoy music Security / checking was quite loose. NH7 is perfect example that music knows no age , religion, language & boundary Alcohol in buckets NH7 is one tight slap on those faces who blame women clothes, their drinking or smoking habits for Crime Against Women If i'd been a doctor, all i would think about diseases for half clothed people but thank god i am not If i'd been a smoker i would have smoked min. 1 packet a day (like others) but luckily i am not When @thevirdas ask who's ...

I think it would have been altogether a different story.... Once upon a time,long long ago..in the treta yuga lived the noble,just and benevolent king Ravana of Lanka. A devout follower of Lord Shiva,he possessed immense knowledge of vedas and upanishads and was the author of Ravana Samhita - an astrological scripture narrated by lord shiva. Ravanayan is the story about his war with bad people and his ultimate victory. Ram and Lakshman, the princes of Ayodhya were admonished and sent to exile in forest for their misdeeds by their father King Dasaratha.Ram's wife Sita,a pretty,coy lady feared the repercurssions of living alone in Ayodhya and decided to be with her husband during the exile, she believed the wild forest to be safer than living as a single woman in a repressive society with three royal mother-in-laws. One day during their exile in forest, Minakshi,the beautiful and much adored sister of King Ravana saw Ram. She was bewitched by his handsome looks and fell for him. Min...

Yest. a dear friend came to my place and we were just talking here and there. After sometime, she said her sister is dating someone, who is a complete ass-hole. Though she has warned her not to go ahead but she is not listening. I asked her how is that possible that she is not listening to her real sister? She said - this guy have told her few sympathetic stories and that's how he has been holding her. And then she asked - How long will the relationship go if it's build on Sympathy?? I said - most of the relationships start with sympathy and most of them are not meant to last long coz that person knows s/he has to move quickly before the other person realize or keep the other person blind with their stories. Though i also don't know how long the relationship will lasts if it's based on Sympathy. So am asking all of you to share your inputs.

If you live in India, you often have heard from your spiritual leaders / Gurus that this world is " Maya ". But if you ask them what exactly is the Maya, they will just recite some versus from some religious book and leave you no where. I have been contemplating this for a while and came to the answer that Maya is nothing but what other people make you feel / believe. For example if you watch all the Harry Potter movies many times over a period of time, you tend to believe that Harry Potter is real. You might even search for "Hogwarts" school on google. But this isn't real, it's just a fiction created by 1 person which makes you believe it's real. I will call it as it's her Maya that makes you believe that Harry Potter is Real. So, if one person imagination can make you believe of something which is NOT real as Real than imagine the power of existence, who created us. It's that power which make us believe that we are living in a real world...

When i was a child, a read a story how 1 king had a dream where he was roughed up by the neighbor king and how it was getting difficult for him even to eat. King got so scared after the dream that he announce a big prize if someone solves this puzzle. The puzzle was Is this real or that? Many sages/ intelligent people went there to solve Kings puzzle but they failed, coz they can't understand what exactly the king is asking. After many many years, there came a sage who solved his puzzle. He said: Like that even this is not real. King asked how? He said - You are the one observer of all, and in reality always free. Your bondage is this: you see the other -- not yourself -- as the observer. King got satisfied, not only he gave him a big reward but also he became his disciple. Ordinarily we perceive our lives through the eyes of others. We use the eyes of others like a mirror. We forget the observer and become the observed. Lately, I realize  that there is no suc...

Everyday we come across many people with different facets of life. But just by the thought of meeting a Gay / lesbian sends shivers. It was same for me till I had an encounter with a Gay person but believe me your perception will change once you meet any person with the same sex orientation. It so happen that i was going home on my bike (pic below) that 1 person start talking to me. Initially, he start talking like my bike is nice & am looking very good on that, on that i said - Thank you. After this, he said can we talk for a while, i said - sure & i parked my bike. He initiated by saying that he is married, runs a dance school and often visit other places to teach classical dance. During one of his visits he came across 1 gay person and they hit it off instantly. Though he was married still his relationship with this person goes on for 2 years till that person move to another city. After that he had many flings but no relationship. I asked him, if his wife knows a...

Too many things happening around, too many disappointments, so much of frustration often lead us to wish that 2012 will come soon or this world should end soon. Was exactly my thoughts when i came to the office today but as i was walking in our office garden, i saw a flower (pic below)... it was sooo beautiful that my inner being felt so happy and all the frustrations are poof .. gone. One of the reason why we often feel disappointed is because either others say so or others are but should we have to be concerned about what "others" say? I mean people will always  say things ir-respective whether you do something or not. So why should we bother about what others say? Second, Frustrations are mainly due to coz we can't do anything or we feel we can't do anything. But do we need to "blame" ourselves for that? Ofcourse, we need to take the "responsibility" for not doing anything but blame ourselves?? No way. I just want to say one thing, wh...