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Biography of Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, which was a new religious sect in nineteenth-century Bengal and which attempted a revival of the ultimate monistic basis of Hinduism as laid down in the Upanishads. He was educated at home; and although at seventeen he was sent to England for formal schooling, he did not finish his studies there. In his mature years, in addition to his many-sided literary activities, he managed the family estates, a project which brought him into close touch with common humanity and increased his interest in social reforms. He also started an experimental school at Shantiniketan where he tried his Upanishadic ideals of education. From time to time he participated in the Indian nationalist movement, though in his own non-sentimental and visionary way; and Gandhi, the political father of modern India, was his devoted friend. Tagore was knighted by the ruling British Government in 1915, but within a few years he resigned the honour as a protest against British policies in India.

Tagore had early success as a writer in his native Bengal. With his translations of some of his poems he became rapidly known in the West. In fact his fame attained a luminous height, taking him across continents on lecture tours and tours of friendship. For the world he became the voice of India's spiritual heritage; and for India, especially for Bengal, he became a great living institution. Read More

Poems of Rabindra Nath Tagore

The Gardener                                   Excerpts From The Gardener

Gitanjali (part One)                         Gitanjali (part Two)

Ungrateful Sorrow                          My Dependence

My Song                                            The Child Angel

The Gift                                              The Gardener

Benediction                                      The Banyan Tree

The Recall                                         The First Jasmines

The End                                             Authorship

Superior                                            Twelve O'Clock

The Flower-School                         Sympathy

Thrissur Pooram is the annual temple festival of the town of Thrissur in Kerala, India. It is one of the most colourful temple festival of Kerala which attracts large masses of devotees and spectators from all parts of the State and even outside.

Thrissur Pooram is celebrated at the premises of the Vadakkunnathan Temple, situated on a hillock (Thekkinkadu maidan) right in the centre of the city, on the Pooram day in the month of Medom (April-May). Processions of richly caparisoned elephants accompanied by percussion ensembles from various neighbouring temples culminate at the Vadakumnathan temple. The most impressive processions are those Thriuvambadi Bhagavathy from the Thiruvambadi Sri Krishna Temple and the Paramekkavu Bhagavathi from Paramekkavu temple. The celebrations which last for over 36 hours includes parasol displays and firework shows.

The Pooram Festival is celebrated by two rival groups representing the two divisions of Thrissur Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi vying with each other in making the display of fireworks grander and more colourful. Each group is allowed to display a maximum of fifteen elephants and all efforts are made by each party to secure the best elephants in South India and the most artistic parasols, several kinds of which are raised on the elephants during the display. Commencing in the early hours of the morning, the celebrations last till the break of dawn, the next day.

Actress Amrita Arora married longtime boyfriend Shakeel Ladak yesterday in a lavish Church wedding at the Olive restaurant in Mumbai.  The Golmaal Returns star also had a Sangeet ceremony, choreographed by Bollywood choreographer Farah Khan and hosted by Alvira Agnihotri (Salman Khan’s sister).  Dressed in an off-white vintage wedding gown designed by fashion designer Ashley Rebello, the actress will now await a formal nikaah on March 6 and the couple will then proceed on their honeymoon!  The wedding was attended by the who`s who of Tinseltown including SRK and wife Gauri, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra Ness Wadia, Urmila Matondkar and others.

May God gift you all the colors of life, colors of joy, colors of happiness, colors of friendship, colors of love and all other colors you want to paint in your life. Happy Holi.

Pichkari ki Dhar,
Gulal ki bauchar,
Apno ka pyar,
Yahi hai yaaron holi ka tyohar.
Happy Holi !!!!

Gul ne gulshan se gulfam bheja hai,
Sitaro ne aasman se salaam bheja hai,
Mubaraq ho aapko holi ka tyohar,
Humne dil se yeh paigam bheja hai.

Rango ke tyohar mein sabhi rango ki ho bharmar,
Dher saari khushiyon se bhara ho aapka sansar,
Yahi dua hai bhagwan se hamari har bar,
Holi Mubarak ho mere yaar!

Apun wishing you a wonderful,
Super-duper,
Zabardast,
Xtra-badhiya,
Xtra special,
Ekdum mast and dhinchak,
Bole to ekdum jhakaas
“Happy Holi”.

The shares of Jai Corp hit the lower circuit filter at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Thursday to close with a loss of 4.94 percent, on news that income tax authorities were conducting raids on the premises of its non-executive chairman Anand Jain.
The company's shares, which opened at Rs.79 at the BSE, eventually closed at Rs.74.15 - the lower circuit for the Jai Corp scrip on the BSE - data with the bourse showed.
"A team of 80 people is conducting the search operations at eight locations and it includes Mr. Jain's residence," said a senior official with the Income Tax Department here.
"We cannot say anything more at this moment. The operations are still on. All I can say for now is that the search operations have to do with some real estate deals," the official added.
Jain, a close confidant of Reliance Industries' chairman Mukesh Ambani, had shot into limelight in 2007, when Forbes magazine named him among 40 richest Indian billionaires. He has plans for several special economic zones in the country.
The website of Jai Corp says he is chairman of the Navi Mumbai SEZ Pvt Ltd, the Mumbai SEZ Ltd, Reliance Haryana SEZ Ltd and Urban Infrastructure Venture Capital Ltd.
The venture capital firm had raised $500 million from international investors for investing in the Indian real estate sector.
This apart, his Urban Infrastructure Opportunities Fund had raised Rs.32.86 billion from some 750 retail and institutional investors, the website said. This fund was scrutinised by the Income Tax Department last year.

Source : Economic Times

  SpiceJet announced a two-day promotional offer on Wednesday under SpiceJet Happy Hours called “Book for 2 pay for 1”. This is valid for booking on March 4 to 6, 2009. The discounted fare will be shown at the final payment page under SpiceJet Happy Hours discount, before the passenger makes the payment.

Terms and Conditions 

This Happy Hours Offer is valid on bookings done directly on spicejet.com.

1. PNR’s booked under this offer cannot be cancelled or rescheduled. Refund of money or creation of credit shell does not apply to these bookings.
2. This offer is applicable for travel on all sectors on the SpiceJet network till 24th Oct '09.
3. This is a limited inventory offer valid till Friday 6th March '09.
4. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer / discount / promotion.
5. This offer is not valid for infant bookings.
6. SpiceJet reserves the right to withdraw, change or cancel the offer without prior intimation and without assigning any reasons thereof.

IBM is believed to be the front-runner to acquire Satyam Computer Solutions, reported the Business Standard. Sources close to development said that the negotiations between the company and Satyam's government nominated board are underway and the company has evinced interest for a majority stake.
Investment bankers and lawyers from U.S. and Europe are assessing the size of the deal and the risks associated with it. IBM is believed to have conducted an initial due diligence on some of Satyam's major customers. Last week, India's Minister of Corporate Affairs P.C.Gupta, said that the bids are not restricted to Indian players.
The other suitors in the race include Larsen & Toubro, which owns 12% in Satyam and BK Modi owned Spice Group. The new Satyam Board is likely to invite bids for 31% stake in the company with an assurance of 51% stake even if the bidder fails to get the additional mandatory 20% stake from open offer.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying members of Sri Lankan cricket team to Gaddafi stadium in Lahore on Tuesday morning.

The attack took place at Liberty Chowk in the heart of the Lahore city.

The players reported injured are Thilan Samaraweera, Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Mahela Jayawardene, Tharanga Paranavithana and Chaminda Vaas.

Pacer Chaminda Vaas, too, was carried off in a stretcher. Samaraweera has been shot at.

The attackers - who came in a white car - lobbed two grenades at the bus carrying the players.

The gunmen, reportedly surrounded the team van and opened fire indiscriminately. They reportedly continuously fired for two to three minutes.

The attackers then started firing at a police van which was providing security to the Lankan team.

Officials said rocket launchers were used in the attack as well.

Five policemen are reported dead.

The van carrying the umpires was also attacked.

Dawn channel showed footage of two gunmen opening fire. At least 12 gunmen are believed to be involved in the attack.

The Sri Lankan tour has been officially called off.

"Samaravera has a thigh injury, Ajantha Mendis has also been injured, all players have been taken to the hotel but two of them are in the hospital," Sri Lanka Sports Minister Lokuge Gamini said.

5-phase Lok Sabha polls to begin from April 16

General Elections in India for the fifteenth Lok Sabha will be held in five phases, starting from April 16 and concluding on May 13.

Date of counting of votes will be May 16. With the announcement, the model code of conduct has come into force.

Elections will be held over five phases.

- Phase I polls on April 16

- Phase II on April 23

- Phase III on April 30

- Phase IV polls on May 7

- Phase V polls on May 13

N Gopalaswami, Chief Election Commissioner (EC), said that the term of 14th Lok Sabha is ending on June 1, 2009 and the 15th Lok Sabha will be constituted before June 2, 2009.

Announcing the dates Chief Election Commissioner said that though the voting will take place on six days, it will be counted as a five-phase election as voting in Manipur will take place on April 22 due to a local holiday on April 23. Gopalaswami said that 124 constituencies would vote on April 16, followed by 141 on April 23, 107 on April 30, 85 on May 7 and 86 on May 13.

Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh will vote in five phases, Bihar will have four-phase elections while Maharashtra and West Bengal will vote in three phases. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Punjab will hold the elections in two phases. Fifteen states and seven Union Territories will go in for one-phase voting.

All election related procedures will be completed before May 28.

After four years of its running, popular music reality show "Indian Idol" finally got its first female winner in the form of Sourabhee Debbarma, who won the grand finale of the fourth season of the TV programme in Mumbai on Sunday night.

Sourabhee, who hails from the India's north east, belted out popular numbers confidently and piped other finalists - Bengali girl Torsha Sarkar and army man Kapil Thapa. She walked away with a Rs.10 million contract with Sony TV and a car.

The result was based on public voting.

The special attractions of the event were Bollywood stars John Abraham, Katrina Kaif and Neil Nitin Mukesh, who had come to promote their forthcoming film "New York".

Others from the Indian film and music industry, including judges Javed Akhtar, Anu Malik, Kailash Kher and Sonali Bendre, too were present to cheer the finalists.

The 22-year-old winner is petite, charismatic and adds glamour to her stage performances with her perfect moves - a plus point she has had since the beginning of the show. However, the girl has had no professional training in music.

She recently met veteran Assamese composer Bhupen Hazarika who told her "my blessings are with you".

Source: Hindustan Times