बनारसी साडी/ Benarsi saree

Enough of cheap Chinese imitations. The Benarsi saree, possibly the most important component of a traditional Indian wedding, has been granted the Geographical Indication or GI certificate by the Indian government. Only saris produced in Varanasi, Azamgarh, Chandauli, Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Sant Ravi Dass Nagar (Bhadohi) -all in Uttar Pradesh-will be considered Benarsi saris. This also covers Jamdani, Jangla, Jamawar Tanchoi, Tissue, cut work, butidar and silk embroidery saris.

Indian classical dance for Diwali

SATURDAY, 24 OCTOBER 2009
5 - 6.30pm

DIWALI – THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT
An evening celebrating a beautiful event, the re-igniting of the lamp of the soul, by the Great Light. In these times of greatest need, the Light of hope, courage and wisdom guides us back to our home of light, the land of peace. This evening will consist of a description of the spiritual significance of this festival.

The evening will include classical indian dance by Dhruv Pandey together with other cultural items.
FREE ADMISSION
sabato, 24 ottobre – ore 17:00/18:30

‘DIWALI’ LA FESTA DELLA LUCE
Musica, performance artistiche e
meditazione per celebrare una delle più
avvincenti festività indiane.

Danza Indiana…… canzone……..musica…………!

Una serata per celebrare un evento magnifico, la “riaccesnione” della fiamma dell’anima, attraverso la Grande Luce. Nel nostro tempo di estremo bisogno, la Luce della speranza, del coraggio e della saggezza, ci guida e ci riporta alle nostre origini là dove dimora la Luce, nella terra della pace. La serata consisterà in una descrizione del significato spirituale della festa.

Presso
UNIVERSITA’ SPIRITUALE MONDIALE BRAHMA KUMARIS (ONLUS)
Via Laura Mantegazza 59/c - 00152 Roma (Monteverde). - Tel: 06 5342405
E-mail: info@it.bkwsu.org
Sito: www.bkwsu.org/italy

Happy Diwali

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous Diwali to all.

Join the dots below

They say that the charges against this man, the alleged mastermind of 26/11 in Mumbai, are not worth the paper they are written on. His organisation continues to function with impunity. Another horrific bloodbath today in Lahore.
Chickens coming home to roost?

Particles and Pasta

A delightful article on pasta with appetizing pictures from the New York Times. In the same paper, an article on the Return of the Large Hadron Collider after a year out of action and the continuing quest for the earliest particles.

The misnamed spectre

It is ironic that a bunch of violent, bloodthirsty extremists are called the Taliban. The word itself means 'those gaining knowledge' or in short, students. 4 days ago, they inhumanly killed 5 humanitarian workers of the World Food Programme (headquartered in Rome) in Pakistan. Today, they attacked the Indian embassy in Kabul and the toll so far is 12. This is the second attack in a year on the embassy. The earlier one in 2008 claimed as many as 41 lives.

Unfortunately, there is unlikely to be any let up in their campaign of senseless killing.

For more disturbing news about what this means for India, read here and here.

Wherever you are, stay safe.

The ubiquitous code!

Google marks the invention of the bar code in it's own style.

Wiki-building Rome

Millions of tourist visit Rome every year and click even more millions of photos. Now, a computer algorithm uses these tourist images and synthesises 3-D views of Rome's most famous landmarks. Enjoy them through this link.

Happy Dusshera and Shubho Bijoya!

Greetings to all for Vijay Dashami and Bijoya. Do visit the pujas latest by 28th evening (locations in the previous post) before Durga returns to Shiva at Mount Kailash. These pictures are from the celebrations at Teatro San Luca in Rome.

Durga Puja 2009 in Rome

The festival season is here. Like every year, Durga Puja will be celebrated at the the following locations from the 24th of September:

Teatro San Luca, Via Renzo da Ceri, 136 (Map)
Organised by Om International.

Casa Popolare, Viale Irpinia 50 (Map)
Organised by Hindu Puja Udjapan Parishad.

All are welcome.

Cursive writing, filling a fountain pen.....

.....using log tables,formatting a floppy disk, ironing clothes are now termed obsolete skills! If need be be,you can refresh your memory here.

At last, a reality show with genuine winners

This stunning dance of Sri Krishna by a troupe from rural Orissa won the inagural edition of 'India's Got Talent. Watch and shake your head in disbelief!

From the NY Review of books

Two articles, one on how journalism could rejuvenate itself through the Internet even as newspapers struggle to survive and the second on a exhibition of Venetian masters -Tiziano, Tintoretto and Vernonese.

Four of the finest

India lost four of its finest and most beautiful citizens last week. Gangubai Hanagal and Damal Krishnaswamy Patammal were doyens of classical music who overcame economic and gender prejudices. Leela Naidu was the ethereal beauty of the Hindi film, Anuradha (1,2) also marked by its outstanding music score composed by Pt.Ravi Shankar. Gayatri Devi was in many ways the last of the Rajputana Royals with lineage, class and mass appeal. Rest in peace.

Clones take on drugs

South Korea's Incheon airport has started using a group of cloned sniffer dogs to detect drugs. Science fiction is here and real.

Berlusconi,Tehran and Kung Fu panda

This article in the London Review of Books links the three.

No tigers in Panna

The Panna National Tiger Reserve has no tigers left.

Follow the monsoon

Will there be sufficient rain this year? Regular updates via the Indian Met Department.

No charisma required

This article from Time magazine on the most Obama-unlike world leaders - Merkel and Manmohan Singh.

Spend,spend,spend!

Budget 2009 in India is a reaction to the current state of the world economy apart from rewarding the electorate for re-electing teh government- increase spending and cut taxes. With cold capitalism locked in the deep freeze especially in the West, what are the prospects of reforms -read here and here. Does anyone have a shadow budget to suggest?

For the off beat traveller

From the world's largest man-made swimming pool to a petrified forest, a collection of beautiful and bizarre tourist destinations.

Speechless!

courtesy Churumuri.

Desperation vs Hope

A cautionary tale of the Maoists' hold in India's tribal belt by Sudip Mazumdar (author of the book,Red Sun). By the same author, another article chronicling the rise of Rahul Gandhi in the Hindi heartland. Mihir Bose, BBC columnist,waxes eloquent on why Indians are high individual achievers but India has yet to assume its position on the world stage.

Real scandal or storm in an espresso cup!

The right-wing politician Francesco Storace said in a recent radio interview, “People don’t vote for Berlusconi because he tells the truth; they vote for him because they like him.” More about the recent events in Italian politics in this New York Times article.

Diamonds on show

Bulgari is holding its first retrospective of diamonds in the brand’s history, in Rome at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni on Via Nazionale. It is open to the public from May 22 to September 13, 2009.