Tides of Thoughts

   SABARI is one of the popular characters from the epic Ramayana. But have you ever considered whether the character of Sabari was mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana or not?  Here is an interesting Twitter post with the same question.  Out of 83 votes polled, 72.3% (60 out of 83) voted YES and 27.7% (23 out of 83) voted NO.  This question got very less traction. So, posting again. I request to those who come across this post to RT for maximum reach.🙏 Was Sabari mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana or not? — The Phoenix🐦 (@3011_ajit) January 3, 2024 Now, we will see whether there is a mention of Sabari in Valmiki Ramayana or not. Balakanda Sarga-1 of Ramayana starts with Sage Narada narrating the characteristics of Lord Rama to Valmiki and in the process of explaining the characteristics, Sage Narada mentions all the important events in Lord Rama's life.  One such event was the killing of Kabanda,  मार्गमाणो वने सीतां राक्षसं सन्ददर्श ह । कबन्धन्नाम रूपेण विकृतं घोरदर्शनम् ।।1.1.55।। Me

Here is an interesting post I asked about the birth of Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, & Shatrughna.   Here is a tricky question about Ramayana. Were Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata & Shatrughna born on the same day? #Ramayana — The Phoenix🐦 (@3011_ajit) September 29, 2023 Before going into the answers, let's be clear that a day in the times of Ramayana used to be based on the lunar movement. Out of 17 votes, 5 people thought that all four brothers were born on the same day and the remaining 12 people voted that four brothers were not born on the same day.  And the majority is correct here. So, how can we conclude this? Valmiki Ramayana is very clear about this. Bala Kanda Sarga 18 discusses the birth of Sri Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata & Shatrughna.  Let's look at the slokas describing the birth of each of the four brothers. ततो यज्ञे समप्ते तु ऋतूनाङ षट्समत्ययु : । ततश्चा द्वादशे मासे चैत्रे नवमीके तिथौ || Transliteration: tatō yajñē samāptē tu ṛ tūnā ṅ ṣ a ṭ samaty

  Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer My rating: 5 of 5 stars INTO THIN AIR is an interesting read. It is a chronicle of events that happened during the Everest expedition in May 1996 where 11 climbers died in 2 days in an erred attempt to reach the summit. The book starts with a mundane narration of how the author Jon Krakauer became a part of the expedition and what went thru his mind before the expedition. The narration picks up speed and vigour from the time the expedition reaches the base camp and intensifies as the team reaches the summit. Melancholy creeps in as the author unveils the unfortunate events on the day of approaching the summit. A bit of eery calmness descended into the narration once the narration of dreadful events is completed. Overall, it is an interesting read to know about the perils associated with mountaineering at high altitudes. View all my reviews

One of my friends highlighted recent RTI information from RBI about NPAs and write-offs citing an article from Indian Express. Before going into the details mentioned in the article, let me go through the technical terms like Stressed assets, NPA, provisions for bad debts, Write-off, Waive-off, and ARC (Asset Reconstruction Company). Stressed assets - A loan is an asset for the bank since it earns interest on loans. A stressed asset in banking terminology is any loan that has become an NPA and undergoing a legal process for recovery. So, what is NPA? NPA - NPA is an acronym for Non-Performing Asset. A loan is termed as NPA when the repayment of principal or interest is not made as per the schedule for more than 90 days. Every loan given by a bank will have a certain risk of default. Banks will assess such risk at the time of disbursement of loan and such risk is actually covered by provisioning for bad debts at the end of every financial year. So, what is this provisioning for bad debt