diwali facts...

Here are some interesting facts regarding Diwali... Deepavali... I did not even know... :-)

The festival marks the victory of good over evil, and uplifting of spiritual darkness. Symbolically it marks the homecoming of goodwill and faith after an absence, as suggested by the Ramayana.

On the day of Diwali, many wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks. Some North Indian business communities start their financial year on Diwali and new account books are opened on this day.

Hindus have several significant events associated with it:

Return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya: Diwali also celebrates the return of Lord Rama, King of Ayodhya, with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana to Ayodhya after a 14 year exile, and a war in which he killed the demon king Ravana. It is believed that the people of Ayodhya lit ghee lamps along the way to light their path in the darkness. Since Lord Rama traveled from South India to his kingdom in North India, he passed through the south earlier. This is the reason why the festival is celebrated a day earlier in South India!

The Killing of Narakasura: Celebrated as Naraka Chaturdasi, two days before Diwali day, it commemorates the killing of Narakasura, an evil demon who created havoc, by Lord Krishna's wife Satyabhama. This happened in the Dwapar Yuga during this time of Lord Krishna's avatar. In another version, the demon was killed by Lord Krishna (Lord krishna provokes his wife Satyabhama to kill Narakasura by pretending to be injured by the demon. Narakasura can only be killed by a woman) himself.[citation needed] Before Narakasura's death, he requested a boon from Satyabhama (believed to be an Avatar of Bhudevi), that everyone should celebrate his death with colorful light.

Austerities of Shakti: According to the Skanda Purana, the goddess Shakti observed 21 days of austerity starting from ashtami of shukla paksha (eighth day of the waxing period of moon) to get half of the body of Lord Shiva. This vrata (austerity) is known as kedhara vrata. Deepavali is the completion day of this austerity. This is the day Lord Shiva accepted Shakti into the left half of the form and appeared as Ardhanarishvara. The ardent devotees observe this 21 days vrata by making a kalasha with 21 threads on it and 21 types of offerings for 35 days. The final day is celebrated as kedhara gauri vrata.

Birth of Goddess Lakshmi: According to the Puranas, the goddess of Wealth, Prosperity and Luck Lakshmi was born from the churning of the Milk Ocean, along with other magical beings and objects including Amrit, Kamadhenu,Chintamani, Halahal aka Poison, etc. She was sought by both the Devas (Gods) and Asuras (Deamons) but in the end she chose her husband as Vishnu.

Krishna defeating Indra: Govardhan Puja is celebrated the day after Diwali. It is the day Lord Krishna defeated Indra, the deity of thunder and rain. As per the story, Krishna saw huge preparations for the annual offering to Lord Indra and questions his father Nanda about it. He debated with the villagers about what their 'dharma' truly was. They were farmers, they should do their duty and concentrate on farming and protection of their cattle. He continued to say that all human beings should merely do their 'karma', to the best of their ability and not pray for natural phenomenon. The villagers were convinced by Krishna, and did not proceed with the special puja (prayer). Indra was then angered, and flooded the village. Krishna then lifted Mt Govardhan and held it up as protection to his people and cattle from the rain. Indra finally accepted defeat and recognized Krishna as supreme. This aspect of Krishna's life is mostly glossed over - but it actually set up the basis of the 'karma' philosophy later detailed in the Bhagavat Gita.

why are ppl like that...

Insecurity breeds fear and this leads to incompetence. We try to hold on to whatever we have, blaming the rest of the world instead of looking deep into our own limitations and deficiencies. Many people portray themselves to be something they are not... and these are clearly habits of typical hypocrites and liars.

Greed overcomes the need to be rational and calm... which over time causes unnecessary fear and stress for themselves. This greed can be traced to their self-lying nature in finding the easy way out... looking for loopholes to make themselves comfortable and popular. They lack good understanding and skills at work but manipulate and twist their way round all situations by playing games, challenging authority and gossiping.

Incompetence is a by product of laziness and mostly an attitude problem that’s very hard to change. In this age of globalization… expecting spoon fed jobs… safe monthly incomes … not having personal growth plan… and just staying put only rots the mind… affecting every aspect of company, human and national growth. Change is the only thing certain in this world… and change is not really that bad.

ESRI - User Conference 2008 - San Diego - Part 2

Sorry... I've been so busy with work... forgot to update this blog. Got some emails asking me on more updates for the ESRI UC. I really had some memorable experiences during the UC... and it was quite fun.


I reached the conference centre and surprised to find everything seems orderly. In a strange way... everyone knows where to go too. I passed so many coffee corners (with long silent queues)... thought prob the plenary might be boring and ppl really need to keep themselves awake with coffee. Reached the hall to find an ocean full of people... this GIS community is really huge. I felt a tinge of pride and some consolation ... so many people in my industry... never really imagined so many ppl interested in GIS.


I found a seat a few rows in front of the stage... the seats were close and small... but at least I get to see the whole show closer. I think the San Diego weather helps too... everyone seems comfy in their summer clothes... some in shorts ... many in their ESRI t-shirts. I was in my usual jeans and rock t-shirt... should have brought a baseball cap tho.



With a short intro music... Jack arrived! No time to waste I suppose. He tends to tilt his head to the side when talking... prob in anticipation for some crowd challenge or challenging the crowd to react. He made a good long speech... introduced new functionality and capabilities. He cracked some jokes too... and I was surprised GIS people laughing... we do have a sense of humour after all. Phew!

Technically, I think the 9.3 release is more for the server side enhancements ... the Desktop version is quite cool but ArcGIS Server upgrade is what the buzz is all about. Shared Applications, Web 2.0, Flex API, JavaScript API, 9.3 ArcGIS Server Manager enhancements and ArcSDE improvements caught my attention the most. I think we still have a long way to go before web applications can replace desktop software but the advent of Mashup Applications and integration of multiple web services.... allows for better information dessemination and solves a lot of enterprise integration. GIS is now definitely in the mainstream IT arena and gone are the days I use to spend time in university labs experimenting and prototyping.