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Jaisalmer Desert Festival: Rajasthan unplugged

It gives us great pleasure to inform you this February, The Jaisalmer Desert Festival is your definitive one-stop to take a deep dive into the colours, the sounds, the smells, the sights, the glory and that unadulterated bliss that is Rajasthan. The Jaisalmer Desert Festival returns with a melange of eclectic renditions and soulful melodies in a resplendent celebration of awe-inspiring Rajasthani art and culture.  Romantic, remote and unspoiled, the festival is set to the backdrop of the majestic city’s forts, the Gadisar Lake and then the beautiful dunes of the Thar Desert. 

The Festival, spread across three days, is a colourful extravaganza of the art, music and culture of Rajasthan with a strong message of revival of local arts and folk music together with women empowerment. True to its legacy this year to the Jaisalmer Desert Festival coincides with the Magh Pournima (full moon day of the Hindu month of Magh that essentially falls in February), as it runs between the 20th to the 22nd of February, 2016.

February, the Jaisalmer Desert Festival is your definitive one-stop to take a deep dive into the colours, the sounds, the smells, the sights, the glory and that unadulterated bliss that is Rajasthan. The Jaisalmer Desert Festival returns with a melange of eclectic renditions and soulful melodies in a resplendent celebration of awe-inspiring Rajasthani art and culture.  Romantic, remote and unspoiled, the festival is set to the backdrop of the majestic city’s forts, the Gadisar Lake and then the beautiful dunes of the Thar Desert.

Jaisalmer Desert Festival

Jaisalmer Desert Festival

Jaisalmer Desert Festival

Jaisalmer Desert Festival

The Festival, spread across three days, is a colourful extravaganza of the art, music and culture of Rajasthan with a strong message of revival of local arts and folk music together with women empowerment. True to its legacy this year too the Jaisalmer Desert Festival coincides with the Magh Pournima (full moon day of the Hindu month of Magh that essentially falls in February), as it runs between the 20th to the 22nd of February, 2016.

“Jaisalmer Desert Festival presents Jaisalmer in its true glory. Not only is it the pulse of the locals but it also appeals to the well-traveled Indian together with international tourists. The Festival is a medley of culture, folklore, music, dance, traditional competitions and more, and attracts people across age-groups with a growing community every year. For every participant of this three-day fiesta the promise is an undiluted taste of Rajasthan and Jaisalmer,” said Shailendra Agarwal, Principal Secretary, the Department of Tourism and Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan 

Celebrated as one of the “must do” things in Rajasthan this season, the entire  city, including the stretch of Sam sand dunes (42 km from Jaisalmer), will turn into a montage of vibrant colours, festivities and enthrallment. The celebrations of this festival make the desert come alive with color, enthusiasm and happiness. Even as it focusses on wholesome entertainment and engagement; at its core the Festival focuses on reviving the local arts, the local crafts and the sounds that are so Rajasthan.

“Jaisalmer Desert Festival is not an implant but a homegrown coming together of Jaisalmer’s people in festivity and tradition. It is Rajasthan as Rajasthan is: pure, undiluted; a sensory overload. As partners and consultants, Percept One has endeavoured to present Jaisalmer and its historic Desert Festival at its pristine best. A work in progress we endeavour to elevate the experience year on year,” explained Nupur Mahajan, CEO Percept One.

The festival begins with a ceremonial procession known as Shobha Yatra where local Rajputs and other clans dress in their traditional attire. Men carrying swords atop horses, camels, and elephants are cheered on as they enter the Dedansar Stadium, one of the main venues of the desert festival. The locals dress in traditional and bright costumes. They sing and dance depicting the tragedies and accomplishments of the desert. The Gair and the fire dance are highlights of the festival among other Indian dance forms like Lavani and Kalaripayattu. The Kalabaz or the Nats are a group of local nomads who are popular for their gymnastic acts. The Bhopa’s Langhas and Manganiars create an enchanting environment with their poignant folk music recitals and ballads.

Be a spectator of rare competitions like camel polo. Cheer for camel races. Gymnastic stunts on camel back and camel formation dancing are the crowning jewels of the festival. The Border Security Force Camel Tattoo follows these competitions. Tug-of-war, turban tying, Maru-Shri (Mr. Desert competition) and the longest moustache competition are other allures seepd both in a rich legacy and equally a contemporary setting.

Folk music is at the very core of the festival and this year performers include the mellifluous Swaroop Khan and the celebrated folk singer Manganiyar Ghazi Khan. Kutle Khan - the voice of Jaisalmer, would make the desert come alive during the grand finale...an evening set at the majestic Sam sand Dunes.

The festival also takes a plunge into rendition of old folklore Moomal Mahendra wherein Princess Moomal set herself on fire (Sati) to prove her love for Prince Mahendra. This year the highlights include “Jaisalmer’s Got Talent” – a talent hunt and felicitation of local artistes & performers from the fields of art and music. Ecelectic food, interesting stalls displaying artifacts, handicrafts and other souvenirs will also be a Festival highlight. Desert safari and camping can be also enjoyed at the eve of the festival.

The festival is a sensory overload of all things Rajasthani, which is extensively popular with tourists from across the globe. The festival ends in the Sam dunes with the “Sonar Qila” Jaisalmer Fort in the background creating a fairy-tale ambiance with a promise to come back with even more fun and entertainment next year.
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For more details please contact:
Delhi – Mushrat Perveen: +91 9999422763
Mumbai – Aanchal Tripathi: +91  9987553870

Hinduism for Kids and Beginners

I excited to say that I have published another ebook and its called "A Pictographic Journey into Hinduism and the Hindu Culture: Hinduism for Kids and Beginners". I always wanted to publish a book with lots of pictures in it and here it is. Good thing is that these pictures are my own personal images which I have taken over a period of time. This book is about Hinduism and Hindu culture particularly - what we pray, how we pray, what we eat, what we do etc. Kids will particularly like this book as it has lots of pictures along with brief explanation of each of the pictures. There is no better way to explain something than to use images. Anyone wanting to learn about Hinduism and Hindu culture will definitely like this book. Its available as an ebook and also as paperback. Click here to go to the ebook version (best value only $0.99) and the paperback version.

Gratitude journal ideas

We live in a very materialistic society. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements for us to buy things - like or not, we want it! We would go to the ends of the earth to obtain it. Children are constantly asking for us to buy them things. Be is shoes, clothes, bags, toys, you name it, they want it. We as adults too want things, a better job, a better house and more money than our friend. No matter what we persuaded by the pressures of society to compete and get all the materialistic stuff that we can get our hands on. One way to express gratitude in our lives is to write a gratitude journal.

In all spheres of life it seems as if are expected to get, strive and obtain – this is the mantra that we have been and now we feed it to our children. But we forget that we are human beings, we can only do our best and at the same time, we must be content of what we have otherwise things really get out of hand. If one is in a job, we are asked to compete and do our best which is fine but sometimes we must are pushed to the limit. At school, children are asked to do their utmost best in every walks of their education which is perfectly fine, but again they seem to be pushed to the limit. We are constantly seen as successful if we have bigger houses, bigger cars, better mobile phones, go on holidays, spend money on birthday parties etc and even then we are not happy. Why do we have to do it? It’s because we live in a very materialistic world! The only way to become free from all this is to express gratitude every day. It only takes a few minutes to say a few words and sentences of gratitude and you will realise that you will feel better.

Gratitude Journal
Gratitude Journal

Alternatively you can write only a few lines of gratitude in a gratitude journal. It should not take more than 5 to 10 minutes of your time and you will feel a lot better. You will realise the importance of life and you will be more content about yourself and all the things you have. You don’t have to write assays or paragraphs of gratitude, just a few lines of thankfulness. This will help you become happier and more content about who you are and become from free from the ridiculous rat race of life we are in.

Here are some gratitude journal ideas for personal gratitude journaling

express gratitude that you have enough to eat
express gratitude that you are healthy
express gratitude that you did not have an accident today
express gratitude that you are still have a job
express gratitude that you safe

So you see that it only takes a few minutes of your time to express some of these very basic gratitudes and you will find that you are more content with yourself.
There are many ways to express gratitude. You can buy a readymade gratitude journal, you can use a gratitude app on your mobile or you can use a piece of paper- you just have come up with something. But my opinion is that you get a gratitude journal and write your thoughts down. Here’s a free gratitude app I found.

Gratitude Journal App


Here’s my own personal gratitude journal I created and is available on Amazon. I have been keeping a gratitude journal for some time and it has helped me a lot.



India to USA converter plug

If you are travelling to India then you would need a India to USA converter plug otherwise you won't be able to charge your mobile phones, cameras etc. You can buy these "India to USA converter plugs" in India or you can buy them while in India. I suggest you get them before coming.


Here are some of the popular India to USA converter plugs in the market:

2 Packs of High Performance Universal UK/EU/ AU to US Adapter Travel Power Adapter Convert By iRulu

India to USA IOU-2F Plug Adapter Non Grounded - (ACUCRAFT® USA Plug Lifetime Warranty)

Ceptics Grounded Universal Plug Adapter for US (Type B) - 3 Pack

Tmvel Universal UK/EU/ AU to US Adapter Travel Power Adapter - Black

eForCity Universal World Wide Travel Charger Adapter Plug, White

Try this out of body experience

You can float your soul out of your body. But do this at your own risk as I do not take any responsibility. Yes, you can actually float out of your body and look down upon yourself. Next time you go to sleep - Try it. Here’s how to do it!

Out of body experience

  • Put the light off.
  • To do this, you’ll need to sleep with one hand on your chest.
  • And go to sleep.
  • If you keep thinking about it, it’s not going to work. Just go to sleep.
  • Eventually you’ll float out of your body.
  • First you will see yourself down at your sleeping body from the ceiling of your room.
  • You can then float out of the house from the roof and see everyone else.
  • You will be able fly to any destination you want and then come back into your body again.
  • You can fly at incredible speed over towns, cities, oceans and countries.
  • You think of a place, you will fly at it.
  • You will soon get fed up and want to go back to your body.
  • The joining of the body and the soul will wake you up with a jolt.
  • When your soul is joining, you will find yourself being crashed into the body as if you are falling.
I have tried this experiment and to my amazement, it works. If you have any issues or want to share your experience then leave a comment below. It’s an amazing experience. 

What's on the mind of 8 out of 1.3 billion?

Note from the Production Team:


The idea behind this video was to amplify voices which aren't often heard, in hopes of helping us understand our country better.

We walked the streets of a neighboring town and looked for people who lived quietly, who did not seem to occupy a large stage.

Though we listened to the voices of just 8 people - all of modest means and living in the same small town - we couldn't help but feel that the hopes and fears they expressed illuminate a universal set of impulses that drive us all.
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People featured in the video:

Gangu, Manoj, Niloufar, Saif, Usha, Kamle Mama, Minal, Datta

buy gobar "cow dung" online

I just realised that you can buy cow dung online called "Gobar" on Amazon. Although most people in the West won't need to buy gobar (unless for fertilizers) but for Indians gobar serves multiple purposes.

Personally, we use gobar all the time at home but since I own a cow I never had to buy gobar online, all we have to do is just go to the cow shed and take it.

The cow is a holy animal and is highly revered in the Hindu religion. Even cow urine (called Gau Mutra) has some uses and is bottled and sold in India.


buy gobar cow dung online
Buy gobar online- Gobar being sold on Amazon (withdrawn - not sold anymore)

Some uses of gobar include
  • air purifier, apparently has some anti-microbial properties. 
  • havan or fire rituals in Hindu religious ceremonies (You can learn more on Hinduism in my book).
  • bio-gas to produce electricity although normal households won't be buying it for this purpose.
  • can be used as anti-sceptics as used widely in Ayurvedic medicine.  
  • gobar-cakes can be used for lighting kitchen fires.
Lady using cow dung and straw for cookking
There are a number of places to buy gobar online. For instance you can buy them on Amazon.com as sold by the "The Big Indian Store Cow Dung Dry" or on Ebay or a number of other places.


Click on the image on cow dung above to take you to Amazon to check it out for your self. It might seem odd to some to buy cow dung but in fact its a very useful product. Just ask any Hindu! For those living in the west or cities where they have no access to a cow, it might seem easy for them to just buy the cow dung on the internet. So grab yourself some pure "desi" gobar online.

Please Note: The above gobar has been withdrawn and is not longer available. However a new Gobar item is being sold and is available. Please check it out here - Authentic Angus Cow Dung Patties (1pc)

buy gobar "cow dung" online
 Authentic Angus Cow Dung Patties (1pc)


Remove date from blogger post url

How do you remove the blog date/numbers from the URL of blogger posts? I have been looking for an answer to this question but it seems there is no answer which simply means that we have to live with it. However there is a few things that can be done. The first one is to use a page for your blog. For example if you see about me page, you will see that there is no date in the URL but then it will not appear in your RSS feed. If you are OK with that or you don't have a lot of subscribers then you can simply create a page. Remember you still have to get it out as it wont appear on the homepage.

Remove date from blogger post url
Can you see the numbers at the start of the post. 
There used to be a way to remove the date/numbers from the posts but it has been removed and is no longer possible to switch it off. It would have been nice to remove these dates from the URL as it gives it freshness in the eyes of the reader. But to be honest, it does not really matter as far as SEO is concerned. Most people do not look at the URL when they are reading a website. You will notice that there are no dates at the top or at the bottom of this blog post. The least you can do is just switch it off at under "Layout" and "Post Page Options".

The second thing you could do is move your blog to a platform like WordPress. Here's how to create a website using WordPress. Moving from Blogger to WordPress is easy (not the other way round).

So you just have to live with the fact that you can't remove the date/numbers from the blogger post URL?



The day I died

If you thought that near death experiences was fake, then you might just be wrong. Near death experiences are much more common than you thought. Near death experience is an experience of being dead where the being (perhaps the soul) comes out of the body. People who have experienced it, swear by it. I once had an out of body experience where I actually came out of my body and was hovering on the ceiling looking down upon myself. You can try this for yourself. All you need to do is too sleep with your hand on your chest. Bu then this is nothing compared to the near death experiences some people have experienced. Just watch this amazing documentary made by the BBC. This documentary is rare a one this amazing experience.

 
The Day I Died - NDE - Consciousness Documentary by spiritsandbeyond An interesting book on this is the “Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife” by Eben Alexander.

Real ghost and paranormal stories from India ebook

If you like ghost and paranormal stories then you are going to like this one. I have published an ebook about ghostly and paranormal activities that have occurred in my own life. The book is called, “Real ghost and paranormal stories from India”. It contains real life ghost and paranormal stories, some of which are my very own while some of them have been told to me by others which I believe to be true. Everyone has ghost stories to tell and I decided to compile some of my best ones together in the form of a book. There are not many of these weird stories, only a handful, but enough to scare the hell out of anyone. There are 7 stories altogether with an introduction of the types of ghosts believed to exist in India (more about types of ghosts in India here).



The stories include

My Great Grandfather And The Churail 
My Out Of Body Experience
The Haunting In The Mirror 
Death Pact With God
Ghost Near The Bedside
Possession By A Dead Man’s Spirit 
Ghost In The Toilet

Mahatma Gandhi timeline

Mahatma Gandhi was the most important leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. He led India to freedom peacefully using a method called “Ahimsa” or non-violence. His methods inspired movements for civil rights and freedom movements across the world. Here’s a time line of events in the life of the great leader.

1869 - October 2nd, Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi was born in Porbandar in the state of Gujarat, India.
 1876 - Mahatma Gandhi and his family moved to Rajkot in Gujarat.
 1883 - Mahatma Gandhi gets married at a young age of 13 to Kastur Kapadia later known as Kasturba Gandhi.
 1888 - Mahatma Gandhi goes to England to study law.
 1891 - Mahatma Gandhi returns to India from England and begins practicing law.
 1893 - Mahatma Gandhi accepts a job in South Africa.
 1903 - Mahatma Gandhi opens a law office in Johannesberg, South Africa.
 1906 - Mahatma Gandhi organizes his first ever protest against racist anti-Indian laws in South Africa .
 1908 - Mahatma Gandhi is imprisoned for his protests in South Africa.
 1915 - Mahatma Gandhi returns to India.
 1922 – The British authorities arrested and tried Gandhi for seditious acts. After a huge trial, Mahatma Gandhi was sentenced for 6 years.
1930 - Mahatma Gandhi organises a Salt-March, a 200 mile march from his ashram in Ahmedabad to the coastal town of Dandi in Gujarat to break India's Salt Laws forbidding an Indian to make salt. He makes salt and was arrested.
1932 - Mahatma Gandhi fasts to prevent the creation of so called “untouchables” of India as a separate electorate by the British.
1933 – He decides to help the untouchables.
1934 - He launches an organisation called the “All Indian Village Industries Association”.
1942 - Mahatma Gandhi begins the nationwide "Quit India Movement” for complete Independence of India. Was arrested and imprisoned.
 1944 - Mahatma Gandhi's wife Kasturba Gandhi dies at the age of 74.
 1947 - India becomes an independent country.
 1948 - On 30 January,  Mahatma Gandhi was killed at a prayer meeting in Delhi.

Mahatma Gandhi For Kids And Beginners



Haunted stories of Bhangarh Fort

Bhangarh Fort is considered as one of the most haunted places in India. When a list of the most haunted places of the world is compiled then Bhangarh Fort always comes up on the list in the most haunted of places. The place is so haunted that even the Government of India’s organisation the “Archaeological Survey of India” has put up a board in Hindi asking people not to enter the area after sunset and before sunrise. Those disobeying the orders will have to face the consequences and the law. This is a very strange signboard if you ask me.

Why would the government prohibit people from entering the place when it’s dark? Does the government know anything that we don’t?



The story of Bhangarh Fort in Hindi The video below was made by a popular news agency and they show interesting stuff about the place. The news teams went to Bhangarh Fort with professionals that used gadgets to find what the truth was about this place. They found that there was some kind of negative energy emanating from certain rooms of the Bhangarh Fort. In fact, these negative energies seem to be coming from the very places that were thought to be the most haunted. In one of the rooms where heaviest negative energy was coming out, it is thought that was the room where Rani Ratnavati used to live. Although, they were not able to figure what these energies were but nonetheless these energies seemed to be very profound and watching some of the gadgets at work was very fascinating indeed. Despite nothing was found, these energies do seem to suggest the presence of some entity whatever that maybe. For now, we can simply say that it’s just inhabited by snakes and bats and the occasional wild animals. In addition to this, they also took photos of the entire place and showed that there were orbs in some pictures. Funny thing is that the orbs were of one particular shape in many of the photos. Why would orbs appear in the same shape in numerous photos? Very spooky!

Haunted stories of Bhangarh Fort

If you go to Bhangarh that lies about 85 km from Alwar town and about 50 km from Jaipur, you will realise that no one visits this place after dark. You will realise that there are no houses within a mile of Bhangarh Fort. The place is completely deserted. There are no houses and even if there are any, no one lives there. Funny thing is that you will realise these deserted house have no roofs. The roofs have collapsed. The fact is that no one builds houses around the area because of fear. There are some theories behind these fears. I can’t say if these haunted and ghost stories surrounding Bhangarh Fort is true or not but the place certainly has an eerie feeling. Locals say that strange noises can be heart at night in and around the fort, some say that there is a ghost market that springs to life, and some people have claimed to have been slapped while they were in the fort and so on. But many of the locals do not want to talk much about this fort and if you do happen to ask them about the fort then most of them will tell you to stay away from it and give you strange looks. The reasons are simple! Many people have died in the place. But the thing is that there are lots of loose boulders and stones lying around. In fact, the place is an excavation ground and people could have simply tripped over and hurt themselves. Wild animals roam at night because there is a Tiger Reserve called the Sariska Tiger Reserve on the edge of Bhangarh Fort and it is possible that many of these wild animals cross over at night to get away from tigers. No wonder people hear strange noises coming out from the fort at night. In addition, there are many open holes in many of the rooms of the fort. It is possible that those who stayed for the night at the fort could have fell into it and have died. This could be explanation of the missing people who spent the night at the Bhangarh Fort. You are not allowed to stay at Bhangarh Fort after dark Some have tried to stay in the fort after dark and many of them disappeared. There is a pool in the fort and in the summer locals bathe in it. Every year a few of these people die there but this hasn’t stopped them from taking a dip. Some have said that ghostly apparitions have been seen around the pool. Some have even said that the apparition is that of Rani Ratnawati who was a beautiful princess of the fort.

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