Spiritual healing sessions for Sri Lankan Cricket team

Sri Sri Ravishankar & Art of Living Foundation took the efforts to help the Sri Lankan Cricket team heal from the terrorist attack. Though they are recovering from the physical injuries, it is difficult to combat the mental stress created by the attack. The efforts of Sri Sri and Art of Living is commendable. I have done the course and it helps in beating the stress.

The article appeared in Economic Times Colombo

Sri Lanka Cricket Team Counselled by Guru after Lahore attack!

Fri Mar 20, 5:42 am ET COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka's cricketers on
Friday wrapped up a post-trauma course of deep breathing and yoga
taught by an Indian spiritual guru to overcome the shock of the Lahore
attack.

Swami Sadyojathah, from the Bangalore-based Art of Living Foundation,
taught the 23-member squad special breathing techniques and meditation
to "unlock the stress" after the deadly assault.

"Proper breathing techniques sort out the imbalances in the mind and
the body," Sadyojathah, sporting a long white beard and flowing robes,
told AFP. "We showed the Sri Lankan team how they can move beyond
Lahore and get back into their game," he said.

Seven Sri Lankan players and their British assistant coach Paul
Farbrace were wounded when unknown gunmen ambushed their convoy in
Lahore, Pakistan on March 3, killing eight Pakistanis. The squad
immediately flew home and the last wounded player, star batsman Thilan
Samaraweera, was discharged from hospital this week. The wives of
Samaraweera and captain Kumar Sangakkara also joined the four-session
course.

"There was so much written about their experience in the media, that I
think they mentally blocked themselves out of talking about it. Which
was OK by me," Sadyojathah said.

"Few players have resumed training. Some began playing in a domestic
tournament this week. So I think, mentally, the players are getting
stronger. The team is on the mend."

Geethanjana Mendis, head of the sports ministry's medical unit, said a
group of doctors had also conducted counselling sessions with the
cricketers and their families. "The cricketers seemed to prefer the
spiritual counselling, going by the 100 percent attendance for the
entire session," said Mendis. "In fact, Sangakkara wants the sessions
to continue."

Samaraweera said the counselling and meditation greatly helped his
wife, who was still traumatised by her husband's bullet wound.
"The sessions have helped her a lot," he said. "She is yet to fully
recover from the shock, but she is improving."

"Any time a thought, a sentence, or paragraph inspires you or opens up
your thinking, you need to capture it, like a butterfly in a net, and
later release it into your own field of consciousness."

> When you become very peaceful and quiet, you perceive the Existence. You say, "Oh, this is my nature, this is my true Self. What was I doing --- being agitated, yelling, shouting, doing all that stuff?" ..... Sri Sri !

An Interview with Lalit Pandit

These are the excerpts from an exclusive interview with Lalit Pandit(of the Jatin Lalit duo)

His fifth solo film Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye released last week, Lalit Pandit is now upbeat about the musical scene in general and his career in particular
The ’90s, say careful music observers, belonged to Jatin-Lalit more than to anyone else. From Yaara Dildaara in 1990 to Sarfarosh and Sungharsh in 1999, the duo touched peaks as momentous as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Khamoshi and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. In the millennium, the hits turned few and far-between (Mohabbatein, K3G, Hum Tum, Fanaa) and after the last film Jatin and Lalit Pandit parted ways professionally, even if they still appeared together on reality television.

After the split, Lalit Pandit soon went on to release Life Mein Kabhi Kabhie, Showbiz, Rafoo Chakkar and the audio of Horn OK Pleasss. His Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye has just released. But in this same period music underwent a paradigm change.

As we lounge in his cool music room, Lalit exhibits a calm that seems at variance with the turbulent change in musical trends. “I agree that music has changed a lot since Jatin and I parted ways. And it’s not all for the better, because they are too much into finding tunes from the ‘Net. We know of a top-name filmmaker who had to pay a huge sum to the original rights’ owners because his music director had not informed him that a song had recorded was copied from a foreign source!”
But Lalit is quick to add that there are new music makers who have impressed him too. “Shankar-Ehsaan- Loy are very strong in composition and orchestration. Vishal-Shekhar’ s songs have a lot of freshness. And A.R.Rahman has set a goal for all of us to aspire with his awards and Oscar nomination for Slumdog Millionaire. It may not be his best work but his mehnat has paid off and that an Indian has reached there is a very prestigious moment for the country.”

The composer is also confident that melody is going to come back in a big way. “Good songs always register,” he points out. “Jatin-Lalit’s strength was always melody and now I am enjoying the process of changing my music to blend with modern orchestration and today’s phrasing. Frankly, our ’90s music was easier to make. Today’s music, if one has to integrate melody, is tougher, more challenging.”

A guitarist and pianist besides being a composer, Lalit says that he is not out-of-sync with such change. “We were the youngest from the ’90s lot of Anu Malik, Nadeem-Shravan and Anand-Milind, all of whom technically belonged to the ’80s. We came in during the transit phase and got the best of both worlds, down from working with R.D.Burman as child singers to composing songs written by Anand Bakshiji and Majrooh Sultanpurisaab.”

Lalit admits that his solo work to date has been lacklustre, but stresses that more than ever before the director’s vision has become important in inspiring a composer today. “Every word has to be interpreted. When the director has done his homework on a film good work becomes easy. It becomes still easier when a big film is there and also big stars. In that sense, my real break will be Muddassar Aziz’s Dulha Mil Gaya, my ninth film with Khansaab (as I refer to Shah Rukh Khan). I have experimented with Amit Kumar’s voice on him in both songs, for the first time after Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa.”

But two trends that Lalit would not care to follow are the current fads for using non-singers and also pitching male voices high. “I cannot think along such lines,” smiles the composer. “I come from a gharana of musicians and singers and singing for films is no joke. A good singer can even lift a kamzor song. But I have always believed in introducing fresh, deserving talent and today I am glad that new voices are being accepted better than before.”
Finally, we have been hearing that the estranged duo are coming back together. Is that true? “I am afraid not,” says the composer.

SCREEN INDIA-----13. 2.2009

Goodwill - simple way to Value

Pepsi used a very simple and effective way of calculating Goodwill. After the Satyam issue Goodwill Valuation by using the financial statements seems to be less reliable.
Pepsi did a survey where it went to people and asked will they buy a Rs 10 Pepsi cold drink bottle. When the reply was 'Yes'. They asked the same person by showing another bottle will he buy it for Rs 10 (This bottle was the same cold drink bottle as one shown before with a difference that it didn't have a Pepsi tag on the bottle).He said NO. Then they reduced the price and asked if he will buy at Rs 9. Again the answer was NO. They reduced the price and finally the person said he will buy the cola bottle at Rs 5. So Pepsi said Goodwill of the company is Rs 5 per bottle. By putting a tag of Pepsi people are ready to pay an extra ampunt of Rs 5 every bottle.
What an innovative way to value Goodwill!!!

Prayers

A boy was admitted in a hospital for high temperature. The next day in the hospital he asked his mother for a cup of ice cream. Since he was suffering from high temperature mother refused as it would have made matters worse. Boy was pretty adamant on having an ice cream at that instance. Boy was upset with his mother. Mother did the right thing and yet had to see her child upset with her.

Many times we pray to god for certain things but get upset when we don't get what we had demanded for. God always does the right thing for us in that particular situation. We need to have faith in God and continue with our prayers and let him give us in a way which may trouble us in the short run but will always be beneficial in the long run.

What we think is the correct solution for the problem very often is not the right solution. Many of us get upset if we don't get the desired results. What we desire may not be the correct solution for the problem.

Answers to the Bollywood quiz

1.Abodh - a movie by Rajashri productions

2. Sridevi

3. Ram Laxman in maine pyar kiya. The song is Aate Jaate Hanste Gaate sung by Lata Mangeshkar ji and SP Balasubramanian sir.

4. Bobby

5. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

6. Amitabh Bachchan

7. Baadshah

8. Shahrukh and Juhi Chawla

9. Ramgopal Varma

10. Kamal hasan

11. Yaadon Ki Baaraat

12. Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum

13. Tera Mujhse hain pehle ka naata koi from the film "Aa Gale Lag jaa" one version sung by Kishore Kumar and the other version sung by Kishore kumar and Sushma Sreshta(popularly known as poornima). The somposer is R D Burman.

14. False. Director of kasoor is Vikram Bhatt with wonderful music by Nadeem Shravan.

15. Salman Khan

16. Amitabh Bachchan

17. Lagaan

18. Seeta Aur Geeta

19. Kumar sanu. He won 5 in a row from 1991 to 1995. Aashiqui(1990) -Ab tere bin, Saajan(1991)- Mera Dil bhi kitna pagal, Deewana(1992)- Sochenge tumhe pyar, Baazigar(1993)- Yeh kali kali aankhen, 1942 a love story(1994)- Ek ladki ko dekha toh aisa laga.

Earlier Kishore Kumar had won 4 consecutive Filmfare awards from 1983 to 1986. Namakhalal(1982)Pag ghungroo, Agar tum na hote(1983) Humein aur jeene ki, Sharabi(1984) Manzelien apni jagah hain, Saagar(1985) saagar kinare.Infact Kishore da also won the Best singer award in 1981 for Thodisi Bewafai- Hazaar raahein mudke dekheen. 1982 best singer went to Amit kumar(Kishore kumar's son) for Love story- Dekho maine dekha hain.

20. Amitabh Bachchan & Shah Rukh khan

Bollywood quiz

This are the questions which I had prepared for a bollywood quiz so just thought of posting it here. Hope you will enjoy it. Happy quizzing.

1. What was Madhuri Dixit's debut movie?

2. In "Chaalbaaz" which actress played the double role of separated twin sisters?

3. I just called to say I love you a song by Stevie Wonder is copied in a Hindi movie? Name the music director of the movie in which the Hindi song is played? Name of the Hindi movie?

4. In the Priyadarshan directed movie "Hulchul" about two warring families, which movie are Anjali (Kareena Kapoor) and her family watching when Jai (Akshaye Khanna) enters the house from the window?

5. Which Bollywood star was selected as jury member for the Cannes Film Festival in 2003?

6. Which great Bollywood star received the award of "The Star of the Millennium" from BBC?

7. In the film 'Baadshah' what was Shahrukh's name in the film?

8. Who produced the film 'Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani'?

9. Name the director of the film 'Satya'

10. Which South Indian actor starred in a double role in "Appu Raja"?

11. In the movie "Swades", which Salim-Javed written movie are the people of Charanpur watching before the power cut happens and Mohan Bhargav (Shah Rukh Khan) breaks into the song 'Yeh Tara Woh Tara"?

12. Name Karan Johar's 2nd directorial film comprising of a cast of- Amitabh Bachhan, Jaya, Shahrukh, Hritik, Kareena, Kajol and Rani

13. 'The Yellow Rose of Texas' is a song sung by Elvis Presley from the movie Viva Las Vegas (1963). Which Hindi song is inspired from this song?

14. True or False: Ramgopal Verma is the director of 'Kasoor'.

15. This superstar was imprisoned after a man was killed by his rash and careless driving in Mumbai. Who is he?

16. Which actor is popularly known as 'the angry young man'?

17. Which Bollywood movie got a nomination in the Oscars for the Best Foreign Language Film in 2002?

18. In the film "Akayla", which movie is the police officer Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) watching when he realizes that Braganza (Keith Stevenson) has a twin brother?

19. Name the only Bollywood male singer who has won five consecutive Filmfare awards for the Best singer.

20. "Don" had one of the leading stars of Hindi cinema in a double role. What was his name?

Jeetu - Super star global runner up

This is a song sung by Jeetu in super star global- a reality show on a malayalam channel Amrita TV. Its a song from the film Kalyug sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan saab and composed by Anu Malik. Hope You all will enjoy this version of the song. Please comment about the singer. The singer is a very close friend of mine so your comments will help him to improve his singing.