Gandhi Vihar, North Campus, New Delhi.

Hi All,

Some friends of mine conduct spoken English classes in a slum in  Thilaknagar. One of the girls in their class has just written her 10th Std exams. Unfortunately she has not cleared 4 subjects - Science, Maths, Hindi and Social Studies. The result coupled with peer pressure and parental pressure took a bad toll on her mind and she is extremely depressed about it.

 They are sure that with little tutoring she will be able to clear the exam comfortably. But the challenge is that she will have to re-write the exam in June, which is not too far away. They require someone who can  teach her the above mentioned subjects fast and well, preferably during the day. Also, they  really need someone with good Kannada speaking and reading skills as she studies in a Kannada medium school.

To summarise the following are the requirements:

  * Comfortable with Kannada reading and speaking
  * Capable of tutoring 10 standard government state syllabus level in  Science, Maths, Social Studies and  Hindi
  * Can teach during the day, as she has only until June 1st week

Any help will be welcome. Ideally they are looking for someone who can do this for free or at minimal cost, as these guys work on a voluntary effort with very little funding. But even so, please do not hesitate to contact them if you can help as the matter is very very urgent. Even if you are comfortable with teaching any ONE or TWO of the above mentioned subjects and not all, please contact them at : swagath.english@gmail.com

Thanks Guys!

Hello all. I am a student of religious studies and philosophy at Indiana University. Recently, in a course on women and religion, I participated in a group project that opened my eyes to a Hindu religious practice that I was entirely unaware of, Devadasi. Most of my fellow students were also unaware that the practice exists.
Devadasi began as a holy practice of women devoting themselves to (or "marrying") a deity, but as the focus has shifted to economics the traditions have been diluted. Devadasi's are now being forced into a life prostitution by family members and are struggling with disease and poverty. A member of my group made an excellent video, which sums up the basics of Devadasi


In addition to the information in the video, here is what Wikipedia had to say about Devadasi:


The term Devadasi originally described a Hindu religious practice in which girls were "married" to a deity. In addition to taking care of the temple, they learned and practiced Bharatanatyam and other classical Indian arts traditions, and enjoyed a high social status. Following the demise of the great Hindu kingdoms the practice degenerated. Pressure from the colonial "reform" movement led to suppression of the practice. Adherents of this movement considered devadasis immoral since they engaged in sex outside of the traditional concept of marriage, and described them as prostitutes. As a result of these social changes, devadasis were left without their traditional means of support and patronage.

In modern India the tradition has become associated with commercial sexual exploitation, as described in a recent report by the National Human Rights Commission of the Government of India. According to this report, "after initiation as devadasis, women migrate either to nearby towns or other far-off cities to practise prostitution". A study from 1990 recorded that 45.9% of devadasis in one particular district were prostitutes, while most the rest relied on manual labour and agriculture for their income. The practice of dedicating devadasis was declared illegal by the Government of Karnataka in 1982 and the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1988. However the practice is still prevalent in around 10 districts of north Karnataka and 14 districts in Andhra Pradesh. The high regard with which they were previously held has deteriorated in recent years due to their association with prostitution.

Does anyone have personal experience with the Devadasi tradition?

My name is Jimi "45" Wilson and I am a graduate student working on a Master of Arts degree in Asian Religions at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I am conducting research on punk and other alternative forms of music and fans’ identification with Hinduism and/or knowledge of presence of Hindu ideas. I need responses to my survey, through which I intend to examine Hinduism, and use of elements of Hindu religious traditions, in punk and post-punk music scenes.

Please note that my definition of 'post-punk' is broad, as I rely upon the continuity between some of these scenes--in terms of the philosophy, people involved, etc. I include techno and electronica, and even some forms of 'worldbeat,' as post-punk genres of music.

Examples of musicians and styles are Krishnacore bands, Poly Styrene, Nina Hagen, Kula Shaker, and techno/worldbeat musicians such as Joi and DJ Cheb I Sabbah.

I would like to learn about your knowledge of, and participation in, alternative music culture and your experience of Hinduism through that music culture. You don't have to be an authority on the subject, nor do you have to consider yourself either a Hindu or part of a 'scene,' (i.e., punk, straightedge, goth, rave, etc.) since it is important that a variety of viewpoints be presented.

Please email me, if you are interested in filling out my survey (in an easy-to-fill-out MS Word document format), at: jimi45_skin@yahoo.com

Feel free to forward this message to anyone you think might be interested in taking part in the survey.

Hi,

I'm looking for someone on Bangalore who does mehendi. Ideally I would like someone who can come home and do it (I stay in Sanjaynagar). Do let me know if you know anyone! Thanks!

Advisory Board Nominations Begin

This morning we are opening the nomination process for the user-representative positions on the LiveJournal Advisory Board. A full description of the process can be found here.

To get you started, here are the basic things you should know:

- You may only nominate yourself
- Each nominee will need 100 motions of support in order to be eligible to be a candidate
- We ask that you keep your comments on the nomination posts to "I support this nomination" or something to that effect; be kind to those who will need to count the "supports", please.
- Although the nominations and election poll will take place in lj_election_en, you do not need to watch the community in order to keep up with the election; we'll announce everything here as well.

Everyone here at LiveJournal is looking forward to this first-ever User-Representative election! We'd like to thank everyone who is participating. Some words from our current Advisory Board members:

danah boyd: “LiveJournal is filled with very passionate users. These users have helped shaped LJ's various communities over the last decade and it gives me great joy that LJ is recognizing and incorporating users' voices into the decision-making processes. Having user representatives from different parts of LJ on the Advisory Board will help make sure that the company is meeting the needs of its diverse constituents.”

Esther Dyson: "I'm sure we'll learn a lot from the process, and later on from the two users selected as well. Especially, I hope that the discussions before the voting will be more meaningful and more focused on policy than those in some offline campaigns."

Brad Fitzpatrick: "It's cool that SUP is getting users involved with the LiveJournal decision-making process. I look forward to seeing who the community elects and the results of our efforts working together."

Professor Lawrence Lessig: “The user elections will provide a critical check on LJ's process of maintaining a valuable and trustworthy environment for the LJ community. The mandate of the elections will give the user representatives pride of place among the members of the Advisory Board. Each of us will look to them to guide us in our judgment about how best to make LJ the community we all aspire that it will be. I look forward to welcoming the user representatives, and learning a great deal from them.”


chasethestars has also made some banners for you to use, if you'd like to show your support for the candidate of your choice!

( Banners + code for you to use! )

Current Mood: chipper

Preview:



Over here

Pragathi Travels, Malleshwaram - DON'T USE THEM

A few days back I was stuck at Race Course road at 3 in the night. We called Pragathi Travels and asked for a cab back to Koramangala. The cab came and we noticed that the driver was talking funny. I suspected that he was drunk and asked him, he said he wasn't. So, at the MG-Brigade junction, this guy didn't stop the car and tried to cross it at a speed of 90kmph. Oh, he was also on his cellphone at that time. Our car got hit by another cab coming from the other side. It was a terrible accident, our car flew and flipped in the air and landed upside down. Thankfully, we weren't that hurt. I just broke a finger. Enter the normal drama after any accident; the police asked us if we wanted to press charges against the driver, we didn't. I honestly thought it was a one time incident and didn't take any action. BAD MOVE.

I have been talking to a few friends who know the place well and apparently reckless driving, drunken drivers etc. are common things with Pragathi Travels. Unlike the rest of the cab services, they don't keep a check on their drivers. I called the travel agency to question them and they said, and I quote here, "You should have pressed charges if you wanted to. It is not our fault." It IS your fault dammit. If you don't keep a check on how your drivers are doing their job, who else will! I wasn't even asking for anything. I just wanted to tell them to be more precautious in the future.

Bottomline, if you need a cab, call City Taxi or someone else. Anyone else. Don't trust Pragathi. I did, and it was a big fault of mine that I am having to pay for with a broken finger.

   
More here at

nuitdediamants

Hi everyone, I'm back with a few more icons. There's some from the latest or upcoming movies and there's some celeb-specific ones. Almost all of these have matching signatures (banners) as well, so please be sure to check them out in the Gallery, if you like the icons!  Thanks!  ^_^

Movies :
Anamika, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Boothnath, Dostana, Sarkar Raj, U Me Aur Hum, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Hum Tum, Sarkar Raj, Mission Kashmir

Celebs:
Trisha Krishnan, Shriya Saran, Minissha Lamba,  Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Shilpa Shetty, Viveik Oberoi, Sushmita Sen, Sridevi Kapoor, Manisha Koirela, Amisha Patel, Priyanka Chopra, Bipasha Basu, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Dino Morea, Kajol Devgan, Ajay Devgan & Shiney Ahuja

Total: 87 icons
- If you'd like to view them all individually in the gallery, click here! ^_^

Preview:
| |

( Bachna Ae Haseeno ... Lo Main Aa Gaya! )

Hello, let me introduce myself. I am a student of various religions and have always been fascinated by Hinduism. However, every time I try to grasp some of Hinduism's core by reading online(i.e. wikipedia), I am left entirely confused by the use of terminology and name references I do not understand. I am most interested in the literature and stories which introduce the deities, their actions, ect. So, my questions are many and vast, but here are the main ones. Please excuse my ignorance, but that is why I am here, to learn!

1) What is the difference between these books a) Mahabharata b) Ramayana c) Vedas d) Upanishads e) Bhagavad Gita. Which came first?
2) I am under the impression that Vishnu is the supreme being. Vishnu entes the world through various avatars, is this correct? Do Hindus choose thier favorite avatar to devote to? How do they choose this? Why not just worship Vishnu because he is all avatars?
3) Are Hare Krishna considered hindu? What other "types" of devotees are there?
4) Is there Nirvana in Hinduism, or is that a Buddhist concept? How does this differ from samadhi?
5) What is the difference between a sanyassa, yogi, sadhu, and guru?
6)How do the other dieties relate to Vishnu? Vishnu is everything right? So then what is the role of shiva, ganesh ect. In what texts do they first appear?


Thanks in advance, if you can answer just one ofthe questions I will be very grateful.

40 Bollywood Icons and 2 Sigs

Preview:

This is a scene from the Canadian show Little Mosque on the Prairie. In a flashback from five years before, Amaar the Iman, previously a lawyer, gets asked to come home by his mother on New Year's Eve.

Little Mosque

Weekend was good. We flew from Hillsboro Airport (KHIO) to Tillamook (KTMK) to see the Air Museum. We landed and then parked the airplane in the wrong parking lot. The museum was at the other end of the airport, so had to taxi all the way around the airport fencing and then onto a side road to get to the museum aircraft parking. Weird experience considering this was the first time we were doing anything like this - parking an airplane like a car at an unfamiliar airport.

And then to Siletz Bay (S45) where we walked across the highway (right next to the airport) and had berry pie + ice cream at the Side Door Cafe. That was the best berry pie + ice cream we have ever had. We will surely miss that part of Oregon.

We had done the same route a few months back too but this time we stopped at both places and spent some time on the ground.

It was a lot of fun.

Hello,

I'm a student of Moscow City Pedagogical University (Russia) and major in English and Cross Cultural Communications. Currently I am conducting a research where I compare some aspects of English and Russian grammar. These are there is a need, it is necessary and we need . The crucial point is whether these constructions can substitute each other in sentences.

It is not time-consuming.  What is needed - is simply to fill the form in the web-page

 http://mgpu2.awardspace.com/

The results of the research will help to better understand the structure of the language.

Thanks a lot.

Sveta

Hello,

I'm a student of Moscow City Pedagogical University (Russia) and major in English and Cross Cultural Communications. Currently I am conducting a research where I compare some aspects of English and Russian grammar. These are there is a need, it is necessary and we need . The crucial point is whether these constructions can substitute each other in sentences.

It is not time-consuming.  What is needed - is simply to fill the form in the web-page

 http://mgpu2.awardspace.com/

The results of the research will help to better understand the structure of the language.

Thanks a lot.

Sveta