HOLI - Festival of colours

The festival of Holi is celebrated on the day after the full moon in early March (Phalguna) every year.

Holi celebration begins with lighting up of bonfire symbolizing the victory of good over evil.

A public bonfire is held, commemorating the burning of Holika. Traditionally, Hindu boys spend the weeks prior to holi combing the neighborhood for any waste wood they can find for the bonfire.

On the second day, known as Dhulhendi (Dhulwad), people spend the day throwing coloured powder and water at each other. The spring season, during which the weather changes, is believed to cause viral fever and cold. Thus, the playful throwing of the coloured powders has a medicinal significance: the colours are traditionally made of Neem, kukmkum, Haldi, Bilva and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Ayurvedic doctors. A special drink called thandai is prepared, sometimes containing Bhaang. People invite each other to their houses for feasts and celebrations.

Legends & stories associated with Holi.

Holi is now a symbolic commemoration of a legend from Hindu Mythology. The story centres around an arrogant king who resents his son Prahlada worshipping Lord Vishnu. He attempts to kill his son but fails each time. Finally, the king's sister Holika who is said to be immune to burning, sits with the boy in a huge fire. However, the prince Prahlada emerges without injury, while his aunt burns to death. Holi commemorates this event from mythology, and huge bonfires are burnt on the eve of Holi as its symbolic representation.

This festival is also associated with the immortal love of Krishna and Radha, and hence, Holi is spread over 16 days in Vrindavan as well as Mathura. Apart from the usual fun with coloured powder and water, Holi is marked by vibrant processions which are accompanied by folk songs, dances and a general sense of abandoned vitality.

Holi in different parts of India:

In Maharashtra, Holi is called Shimga or Rangpanchami.

Holi differs from North India in Maharashtra, People of Maharashtra celebrate Holi like the North Indians. Play with colours is Rangpanchami, which comes five days after Phalgun Poornima. Puran-poli is dish of festival.

In Bengal, Holi features the Dolayatra (Swing Festival), in which images of the gods are placed on specially decorated platforms and devotees take turns swinging them.

In Punjab, they call it 'Hola Mohalla', Holla Mohalla is celebrated a day after Holi in Punjab especially by the Nihang Sikhs.

In Rajasasthan, The Braj Festival is held in honour of Lord Krishna a few days before Holi, in the month of March. There are different holi traditions in rajasthan like Mali holi, Gair at Godaji, Dolachi holi at Bikaner.

In the towns of Rajasthan — especially Jaisalmer — the music's great, and clouds of pink, green, and turquoise powder fill the air. The grounds of Jaisalmer's Mandir Palace are turned into chaos, with dances, folk songs, and colored-powder confusion.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi

http://www.indiaexpress.com/rangoli/holi.html

http://www.religionfacts.com/hinduism/holidays/holi.htm

http://www.holifestival.org/

I am not thinking of retirement -- Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar on latest tour, experience with youngsters, and about him.

I am not thinking of retirement.
After my debut (in 1989), every day has been special. I am still living my dream.
I'm getting to learn lots of lessons from the youngsters in team. They're young but all chalu guys.
We played very competitive cricket in Australia.
The dressing room atmosphere is very lively.


Talking about latest Australia tour:
This series has been very satisfying. We played very competitive cricket. We were competitive in Tests and won the ODIs, which makes it a very special tour.

Experience with younger generation:
I've been part of terrific sides and this is one of the top sides I've been a part of.
All the youngsters are very talented. They’ve worked hard. All I can say is the future looks good.
I'm getting to learn lots of lessons from the youngsters in team. They're young but all chalu guys. They're good-humored. The dressing room atmosphere is very lively. I like the atmosphere. It is fantastic to be around such good players.

Thanks to NDTV to bring such fantastic interview.

http://www.cricketndtv.com/convergence/ndtvcricket/cricketstory.aspx?id=SPOEN20080043266

http://www.cricketndtv.com/convergence/ndtvcricket/cricketstory.aspx?id=SPOEN20080043272

http://www.cricketndtv.com/cricket/ndtvcricket/cricketstory.aspx?id=SPOEN20080043275

India won CB tri-series by beating Australia

India have won the Commonwealth Bank Series, A brilliant performance by young Praveen Kumar and Sachin's 91 runs took India to historic win.
Beating Australia by 9 runs in a thrilling second final of the CB Series, India brought historic win over Australia.
Praveen's first spell was splendid, he took 3 wickets of Gilchrist, Pointing and Clarke, Australia was on 32/3, and before that Sachin Tendulkar's knock of 91 runs with help of Yuvraj and Dhoni headed India to win.
Last few overs were thrilling.

Mahendrasingh Dhoni: "It was the building stage of my team. There were a few doubts if this team can do well in Austalia. The bowlers did well but the way we improved our batting was great. The way Sachin gave us a start was great. It can't get better than this, beating them(Australia) in two finals. With their batting line there were a few concerns with all of them not scoring."

On Praveen Kumar: He looks quite deceptive, he's a bit skiddy, he moves the ball both ways, he's one of the bowlers to look out for in the coming seasons.

Ricky Ponting:" All credit to the Indians. Our level of cricket over the last week has dropped off. Thats disappointing. We've stumbled at the last turn again, can't take anything from India again. We've probably played our worst cricket over the last week. There are no excuses for that."
about newcomers: "Ishant Sharma was very good in the series and Praveen Kumar also came good in the last couple of games. Ishant's presence was vital for the team but others made up well for his absence."

Sachin misses another one:
This is the sixteenth occasion when he missed his century-knock in One-days. The Little Master, who hit his 42nd ODI hundred in the first final against Australia on Sunday, in the past one and half year he has missed seven ODI centuries.
In 2007, he was dismissed thrice on 99 against South Africa, England and Pakistan. Sachin Tendulkar tops the list of batsmen with maximum dismissals in nineties in the history of cricket. The second Indian, who has been a victim of nervous nineties next to Sachin, is Mohammad Azharuddin with seven dismissals. Sourav Ganguly closely follows erring six times in nineties. Other Indians in this unfortunate list are K Srikkanth with five dismissals, Ajay Jadeja and Rahul Dravid with four missed opportunities.

http://www.cricketndtv.com/cricket/ndtvcricket/cricketstory.aspx?id=SPOEN20080042997

http://www.ndtv.com

Sachin Tendulkar's 42nd ODI century.

Sachin Tendulkar's first ODI century in Australia and his 42nd overall.
Another milestone in his career.
In 18 years of his career, he hits his first ever century in Australia.
He scored his 42nd century on his favorite ground Sydney cricket ground.
Tendulkar slams an unbeaten 117 from 120 balls.
Sachin grabbed 57th man of the match awards, this is another record.
In 18 years of his career he has hit centuries in 11 countries, another milestone.
In 18 years of his career he has faced 19k balls, one more record.
India beat Australia by 6 wickets in first final of tri-series. Now India leading 1-0 in best of three finals.
He had played 38 ODI's in Australia before that century but was unable to made century. 93 was the highest score in Australia.





source:
http://cricket.indiatimes.com/
www.youtube.com

IPL Bid: Game of Money.

In India cricket is not only game,, It's passion. It's love, It's joy.... yes it is more than game .. now it becames game of money.
Cricket is Religion in India.
That is the only reason owners( eight Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises) bid historical prices for players.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni topped with 6 crore. means more than 35 lacks per match. it's almost 17 time more than what he get for one-day.

Name of the player	Bidding Price	Team
MS Dhoni (Ind)	$1.5 million	Chennai
Shane Warne (Aus)	$450,000	Jaipur
Adam Gilchrist (Aus)	$700,000	Hyderabad
Shoaib Akhtar (Pak)	$425,000	Kolkata
Mahela Jayawardena (SL)	$475,000	Mohali
Muttiah Muralidaran (SL)	$600, 000	Chennai
Anil Kumble (Ind)	$500,000	Bangalore
Glenn McGrath (Aus)	$350,000	Delhi
Harbhajan Singh (Ind)	$850,000	Mumbai
Sanath Jayasuriya (SL)	$975,000	Mumbai
Kumar Sangakarra (SL)	$700,000	Mohali
Ricky Ponting (Aus)	$400,000	Kolkata
Brett Lee (Aus)	$900,000	Mohali
Andrew Symonds (Aus)	$1.35 Million	Hyderabad
Michael Hussey (Aus)	$350,000	Chennai
Daniel Vettori (NZ)	$625,000	Delhi
Matthew Hayden (Aus)	$375,000	Chennai
Brendan McCullum (NZ)	$700,000	Kolkata
Jacob Oram (NZ)	$675,000	Chennai
Stephen Fleming (NZ)	$350,000	Chennai
Graeme Smith (SA)	$475,000	Jaipur
Herschelle Gibbs (SA)	$575,000	Hyderabad
Chris Gayle (WI)	$800,000	Kolkata
Shoaib Malik (Pak)	$500,000	Delhi
Shahid Afridi (Pak)	$675,000	Hyderabad
Younis Khan (Pak)	$225,000	Jaipur
Mohammad Asif (Pak)	$650,000	Delhi
Jacques Kallis (SA)	$900,000	Bangalore
Zaheer Khan (Ind)	$450,000	Bangalore
S Sreesanth (Ind)	$625,000	Mohali
Dinesh Karthik (Ind)	$525,000	Delhi
A B deVilliers (SA)	$300,000	Delhi
Mark Boucher (SA)	$450,000	Bangalore
Parthiv Patel (Ind)	$325,000	Chennai
Kamran Akmal (Pak)	$150,000	Jaipur
Tatenda Taibu (Zim)	$125,000	Kolkata
Albie Morkel (SA)	$675,000	Chennai
Ajit Agarkar (Ind)	$350,000	Kolkata
Shaun Pollock (SA)	$550,000	Mumbai
Irfan Pathan (Ind)	$925,000	Mohali
Scott Styris (NZ)	$175,000	Hyderabad
Farveez Maharoof (SL)	$225,000	Delhi
Tillakeratne Dilshan (SL)	$250,000	Delhi
Cameron White (Aus)	$500,000	Bangalore
Yusuf Pathan (Ind)	$475,000	Jaipur
Joginder Sharma (Ind)	$225,000	Chennai
Ramnaresh Sarwan (WI)	$225,000	Mohali
Simon Katich (Aus)	$200,000	Mohali
Justin Langer (Aus)	$200,000	Jaipur
Gautam Gambhir (Ind)	$750,000	Delhi
Robin Uthappa (Ind)	$800,000	Mumbai
S Chanderpaul (WI)	$200,000	Bangalore
VVS Laxman (Ind)	$375,000	Hyderabad
Wasim Jaffer (Ind)	$150,000	Bangalore
Rohit Sharma (Ind)	$750,000	Hyderabad
Loots Bosman (SA)	$175,000	Mumbai
Mohammad Kaif (Ind)	$675,000	Jaipur
Suresh Raina (Ind)	$650,000	Chennai
Manoj Tiwary (Ind)	$675,000	Delhi
Chamara Silva (SL)	$100,000	Hyderabad
David Hussey (Aus)	$625,000	Kolkata
Nathan Bracken (Aus)	$325,000	Bangalore
RP Singh (Ind)	$875,000	Hyderabad
Murali Kartik (Ind)	$425,000	Kolkata
Makhaya Ntini (SA)	$200,000	Chennai
Lasith Malinga (SL)	$350,000	Mumbai
Chaminda Vaas (SL)	$200,000	Hyderabad
Ramesh Powar (Ind)	$170,000	Mohali
Umar Gul (Pak)	$150,000	Kolkata
Dale Steyn (SA)	$325,000	Bangalore
Dilhara Fernando (SL)	$150,000	Mumbai
Ishant Sharma (Ind)	$950,000	Kolkata
Piyush Chawla (Ind)	$400,000	Mohali
Munaf Patel (Ind)	$275,000	Jaipur
Nuwan Zoysa (SL)	$110,000	Hyderabad

source: http://cricket.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2797922.cms

14th February - Valentine's Day - Lover's day

14th February is Lover's day celebrated all over world with lots of love, energy, joy.
And St. Valentine is the saint of lovers.
14th February is the traditional day, on which lovers express their love.
Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. Valentine day originate from St Valentines death on February 14, 269 A.D. He was the Roman Priest.
In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.

History of the Valentine's day:
Claudius II the Emperor of Rome, Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. The reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius canceled all marriages and engagements in Rome.
The Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270.



Birth of Valentine Card:
In the United States, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first valentine cards. Commercial valentines were introduced in the 1800's.
Now there are many commercial ways to celebrate valentine like, valentine cards, Flowers, Gifts, chocolates, and any more ways.

Myths:
In some countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a young man. If she keeps the gift, it means she will marry him.
Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.
In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week.

sources:
http://www.pictureframes.co.uk/pages/saint_valentine.htm
Google images