Memorable Pictures with Rhythmic Posts on Facebook – Part VII

Mera Bharat Mahan!

Mera politicians mahan!

Politicians ke relatives mahan!

Their businesses mahan!

Their overnight Crores mahan!

Sonia Gandhi mahan!

Rahul Gandhi mahan!

Priyanka Gandhi/Vadra? mahan!

How dare anyone call Robert Vadra mean?

Party workers protect all these mahan!

Mera Bharat Mahan!

Don’t worry about Doomsday rumour,

That is about 21st December.

Don’t worry about anything,

Even about your heart, till it stops beating!

Sorry for the inconvenience,

Once again this road is being dug-up,

For some pipe line spruce-up,

Hopefully for your convenience!

Please don’t ask us when the road will be re-laid,

We assure you, it will not take a decade.

Pictures are so similar!

One from the past,

Other from the present,

Of a grandmother,

And her granddaughter!

‘B&W’ are of my sister; Hema,

‘Colour’; of the granddaughter, Anisha!

Hunters Guns are hanging on walls,

And the Bullets are resting in safes,

Their Bows are hanging on walls,

And Arrows are resting in vaults.

Because their Game is almost annihilated,

And as a result Hunting is prohibited.

Guns and Bows are now mighty Show-offs!

As in these Photographs!

To the left,

Is ‘Short Uncle’ and ‘Tall Nephew’.

To the right,

Is ‘Tall Uncle’ and ‘Short Nephew’!

So in this picture,

There are four.

Two short and two tall!

NO! THEY ARE ONLY THREE!

Can you solve this riddle!?

Of course you can!

Because there is no much change in one!

A lake with no water,

And a forest with no trees!?

And which is this road with least traffic,

Along a lake, with not so good water,

But with beautiful landscaping and many trees!?

The answer to the first riddle as you might already know is ‘A MAP’.

The second riddle is for you to answer. I can only say that it is a lovely road. It is close to our house; I frequent this place and enjoy driving here.

For more rhythmic blog posts you may click on the following links:

Memorable Pictures with Rhythmic Posts on Facebook - Part I

Memorable Pictures with Rhythmic Posts on Facebook - Part II

 Memorable Pictures with Rhythmic Posts on Facebook – Part III 

Memorable Pictures with Rhythmic Posts on Facebook – Part IV  

Memorable Pictures with Rhythmic Posts on Facebook - Part V

Memorable Pictures with Rhythmic Posts on Facebook - Part VI

Remembering Hiroshima – 78 years on.

78 years ago on this day, on 6th August 1945 at 8:15 am, a USA B-29 Bomber dropped an Atomic Bomb on the Japanese City of Hiroshima. It exploded with a tremendous flash 570 metres directly above the building you see in the above pictures, instantly killing around 80,000 people and reducing the City of Hiroshima to cinders. This building you see in ruins is called “A-Bomb Dome”. Three days later, a second Atomic Bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, causing the deaths of 40,000 more. The dropping of the bombs, which occurred by the executive order of US President Harry Truman, remains the only nuclear attack in history. In the months following the attack, roughly 100,000 more people died slowly, horrendous deaths. And over the years, another 300,000 people died due to radiation poisoning.  

Every year on 6th August, “A-Bomb Day”, the City of Hiroshima holds the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony to console the victims of the atomic bombs and to pray for the realization of lasting world peace. The ceremony is held in the morning from 8:00 am, in front of the Memorial Cenotaph with many citizens including the families of the deceased. During the ceremony, a one-minute silence to honour the victims is observed at 8:15 am, the time of the atomic bomb explosion. You can see the Cenotaph in the pictures above this paragraph. It is a large saddle-shaped concrete structure, representing a shelter for the souls of the victims of the Bomb. Within this monument is a stone chest that contains a listing of all the people who died as a result of the Atomic  Bomb tragedy immediately, afterwards and over the years due to ailments caused by radiation. It also has a Flame of Peace. The flame has burned continuously since it was lit in 1964 and will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed and the planet is free from the threat of nuclear annihilation. The memorial carries the epitaph in Japanese stating, “Please rest in peace, for (we/they) shall not repeat the error”. In Japanese, the sentence’s subject is omitted, thus it could be interpreted as either “(we) shall not repeat the error” or as “(they) shall not repeat the error”. This was intended to memorialise the victims of Hiroshima without politicizing the issue. However, the English translation is clear “Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil”.

The above structures and many more memorials, monuments, museums and lecture halls are located at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, at the centre of Hiroshima City. You can see some of these in the pictures below. The Peace Memorial Park is dedicated to the legacy of Hiroshima as the first City in the world to suffer a nuclear attack and to the memories of the Bomb’s direct and indirect victims. This Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Now coming to why the A-Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. World War II was getting prolonged with uncertainty so, in August 1942, the United States launched the Manhattan Project to produce an Atomic Bomb. In September 1944, the decision was made to use the new weapon against Japan. On 16th July 1945, the United States successfully carried out the world’s first nuclear weapon test in the desert of New Mexico, a mere three weeks before the weapon was dropped on Hiroshima. By May 1945, Germany had surrendered and the tide of the war had turned overwhelmingly in favour of the Allied Forces. The United States wanted to limit its own causalities by forcing Japan to surrender as quickly as possible. At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union secretly agreed to join the war against Japan within three months of Germany’s surrender. The United States wanted to force Japan to surrender before the Soviet Union could enter the war to secure a stronger political position after the war. The U.S. also wanted to use this weapon in the war to measure its effectiveness. By the end of July 1945, most of Japan’s major cities have been destroyed by the U.S. air attacks. Hiroshima was still intact. The reason Hiroshima was chosen as the target for the A-Bombing is assumed to be high concentration of troops, military facilities and military factories that had not yet been subjected to significant damage.

With A-Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 6th and 9th of August, Japan ultimately surrendered to the Allied forces on the 15th of August 1945, ending the long World War II of over 8 years.

Am I bragging? No! No!! I am just informing...

Am I bragging? No! No!! I am just informing…

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This picture symbolizes a dangerous discussion between…

This picture symbolizes a dangerous discussion between…

…a ‘self proclaimed intelligent’ dirty PIG and a ‘so called representative of the intelligentsia’ - a mad DOG, fiercely grunting and barking, dishonoring interests and laws of the land, disturbing peace and corrupting the minds of the innocent and law abiding…

What do we do…What do I do?

Just change the TV Channel or switch off the TV until the mad beasts shut up for the day.   

His spirit lives on: Most admired and adored Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is laid to rest.

India’s greatest scientist and our former President suddenly passed away at the age of 83 on 27th July at about 6:30 pm, at the Indian Institute of Management - Shillong while interacting with his beloved people, the students and the teaching staff.  He is laid to rest today, 30th July at 12 Noon with full military honours at Rameswaram, his home town, as the entire Nation is observing seven days of mourning and paying rich tributes to him.

He is one man known and respected by the entire Nation. His scientific contributions in the development of Satellite launches, Missiles and Nuclear Technology and other related works have won him our Nation’s greatest awards - Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Bharat Ratna and the highest post in our county that of the President and Supreme Commander of our Armed Forces. He has received Honorary Doctorates from 40 Universities around the world and because of his dedicated interaction with students in schools and colleges for their development; the United Nations Organization has declared his birthday - 15th October as “World Students Day”. His activities as President were highly appreciated and he was known all over the world as India’s People’s President.

The news of his death reached almost the entire Nation within hours through media and very concerned people by word of mouth.  Immediately people remembered him fondly and talked about his life – a very modest and difficult beginning to such a great personality with extraordinary achievements. Discussions about his life and his contributions can be heard everywhere these days, just not in the media but at homes, offices, any workplace and everywhere. His life and achievements are a great inspiration to the youth. He will certainly be remembered in India forever and ever.

May his soul rest in peace and may his life story inspire and produce many great men in our country.

Sri Jham Singh Balaji Venkateshwara Swamy Devasthanam, Gudimalkapur, Hyderabad.

Two hundred and five years old Sri Jham Singh Balaji Venkateshwara Swamy Temple is at Gudimalkapur, near Mehdipatnam in Hyderabad. The antiquity of the Temple and the affix of Sri Jham Singh to the name of the Temple make it one of the most interesting Temples in Hyderabad. This Temple is not known to many people, however, we heard of it and its history long back but we could visit the Temple only yesterday. While visiting distant places from our city we make it a point to see all the tourist attractions there but in our own city, we get busy with our routine works, routine entertainment, routine leisure and tend to postpone sightseeing of lesser-known places. And finally, when we find time to visit such interesting and historic places in our neighbourhood, the experience is quite thrilling and makes us happy.

The Temple is called Sri Jham Singh Temple because it was constructed by him. Jham Singh is a Rajput who migrated to Hyderabad from Uttar Pradesh in the late 1700s. He was a Cavalier in the Army of Nawab Sikander Jah Nizam III, the ruler of Hyderabad State from 1803-1829 A.D. According to the Temple lore, Jham Singh with a sharp equine knowledge was tasked with purchasing horses for the Nizam. With a good amount of money at his disposal for purchasing horses, he used part of the money to build this Temple for Balaji – Venkateshwara Swamy around 1810. Another legend states that Jham Singh while travelling to purchase horses in a distant land got a divine message in his sleep to construct a Temple, so he returned to Hyderabad without purchasing any horses and with that money and other resources he constructed this Temple for Sri Venkateshwara Swamy and the adjoining Temples of Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna and Nava Grahalu. The Nizam was very angry when he came to know about the construction of the Temple and he initiated penal action against Jham Singh. But fortunately Raja Chandu Lal the (Hindu) Prime Minister intervened and sought mercy for Jham Singh. The Nizam relented on the condition that a Mosque is built by Jham Singh close to the Temple. It was a happy and extraordinary way of showing mercy by the Nizam. Jham Singh then built a Mosque opposite to the Temple on the other side of the road, which can be seen in the attached photographs. These details are very similar to an earlier occurrence in the province, the construction of Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamy Temple at Bhadrachalam by Kancherla Gopanna / Bhakta Ramadasu (1620-1680) the local Tehsildar, during the reign of Abul Hasan Tana Shah by using State money, for which he was punished and then with divine intervention released and reinstated.

The presiding deity of Lord Venkateshwara Swamy with those of his consorts sculpted in black granite are in the main Temple. It is said that the idol of Lord Venkateshwara Swamy has a hint of moustache like that of a Rajput warrior and a dagger tucked at his side! which can be seen at the time of Abhishekam, but are not visible to us from the entrance. In front of this Temple, facing the main deity are the smaller idols of Hanuman and Garuda. And as mentioned earlier, next to the main sanctum sanctorum, are two smaller Temples with beautiful Gopurams, of Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna. There are very imposing three Dhwajasthambalu. The main entrance of the Temple is colourful and very beautiful and in front of this is the Naqqar Khana (place meant for playing Temple drums) now in ruins. You can see all these in the attached pictures. The Temple land is quite huge and I understand that some parts are under encroachment by typical land grabbers of Hyderabad and hence under litigation. The management and administration of the affairs of the Temple are now under the direct control of the State Endowments Department. Daily rituals, bhajans, kirtans and all divine celebrations and annual festivals are conducted by following ancient traditions.

We had darshan of all deities; we performed Archana, and went about looking around the Temple and stayed back for a long time witnessing Sri Venkateshwara Swamy Kalyanotsavam and returned home after having Prasadams equivalent to a meal! And carried home some!