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Some new releases...

Spring 2.0.1 : This is the first maintenance release for Spring 2.0, including fixes for most bugs that have been reported since 2.0 final as well as many minor enhancements. This release also introduces OpenJPA support and GlassFish weaving support.

JUnit 4.2 : JUnit is a regression testing framework used for implementing unit tests in Java. Its new version JUnit 4.2 have released . This is a bug fix release. JUnit 4 takes advantage of Java 5 features like annotations, varargs, and generics to simplify unit testing still further.

JOOConverter 2.1.0: This is an Open Source Java/OpenOffice Document Converter, ie a tool to perform conversions between different office document formats. Its 2.1.0 version is released.

Technorati tags: Spring Framework, JUnit, JooConverter

JTrac 2.0 released

The open source issue tracker JTrac's new version (v2.0) is released. This version is more flexible than the old versions. So many options like the new Dashboard which includes search, view status are more useful to the user. It also features multi-language support now. The latest spring technology "Spring web flow" is also used during it's development.

Click here to visit JTrack's home. To download click here

Related post : JTrac

The new version of Compass is released

The third milestone release of version 1.1 ( version 1.1 M3) of COMPASS is released. It includes the following major features...

• Support for polymorphic relationships
• Better cyclic mappings support
• FS Transactional Log
• Runtime Settings
• JdbcDirectory support Oracle 9
• Initial XA Support
• Performance Improvement

At the same time one other important news is that, hibernate is already started to add more features which will helpful to integrate Lucene directly to an application without using Compass framework.

Read more about this from it's founder's blog
Related post : Compass- a java search engine framework build on lucene

Technorati tags: Compass, Hibernate

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Write AJAX applications in the Java language with Google Web Toolkit

Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a Java software development framework that makes writing AJAX applications easy. With GWT, you can develop and debug AJAX applications in the Java language using the Java development tools of your choice. When you deploy your application to production, the GWT compiler translates your Java application to browser-compliant JavaScript and HTML.

New Yahoo mail Beta version released

Finally yahoo released their new mail with full of Ajax. It's some features are same as the new rediffmail which had launched some weeks before. But Yahoo is always keeps its standard and this time also. The one thing I really liked is its tab facility.I think it is very very helpful to the users.

You will get more information and list of features from this post by Richard MacManus.

Picture of a stingRay barb that killed Steve Irwin

Here is a picture of a Stingray Barb that killed Steve Irwin. They are pointy and poisonous to boot.

Some Amazing Pics of Antarctica

This is actually a mail which i had received today. I think it reveals some interesting facts:-)

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The air in Antarctica is frequently very dry. The low temperatures mean that little or no water vapour is held in the air, instead it freezes and falls out, or builds up on surfaces as frost. Sometimes however depending on the particular atmospheric conditions, the frozen water vapour remains in the air as suspended ice crystals. In these conditions the crystals can reflect sunlight in a variety of ways forming atmospheric phenomena of different types.
One of these phenomena is the "Solar Pillar" seen above. The sun is reflected very strongly so that the reflection is almost as bright as the sun itself. Like a rainbow, this sight is dependent on where the light is coming from and where the observer is standing. The pillar appears to move when the observer moves, but always remains directly below the sun.

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At the beginning of the austral winter starting around March, the loose pack ice that has spent the summer months circling Antarctica begins to drift northwards. Pack ice is old sea-ice, frozen sea water that is a year old or more, it froze and formed elsewhere and later floated off with the winds and currents. Pack ice is heavy stuff and when it arrives somewhere it has the effect of steadying the ocean swell. The continuous rolling motion of the sea is stopped completely by a relatively narrow band of pack ice only 100m or so wide. The result is that where pack ice is present in reasonable quantity, the sea calms down sufficiently for low temperatures to freeze it easily - moving water cannot freeze as easily as static water.

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This is sea-ice in the very early stages of formation. Sea-ice that forms in situ and is attached to the coast is called "fast-ice", it is stuck fast. In this picture the surface of the sea is beginning to freeze as the temperature is dropping to -20C and below. Pack ice has come near to the shore and so all movement of the sea has been killed completely allowing low temperatures to freeze the sea water. At this stage the ice is around an inch (2.5cm) thick but it has a spongy texture, you could poke a finger or certainly a fist through it relatively easily. The patterned effect comes from the rise and fall of the tides. As the tide rises, so the surface of the sea enlarges slightly and so the ice cracks apart, as the tide falls, so the surface of the sea decreases slightly and so the slabs of ice overlap at the edges.

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Sea ice in the process of forming, the shore of the island in the distance is about 5 miles (8 kilometers) away and the whole of the sea surface in-between is made of forming fast ice. Notice how the slabs of forming ice become larger further out to sea as there are less undulations of the coast to push the slabs together as the tide falls

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The ice near to the shore here is known as "pancake-ice" . This is formed when slabs of ice that are forming are jostled by the wind and / or movement of the sea. The pancakes of ice bash against each other around the edges and start to curl upwards at the edges.

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A picture taken of consolidated pack-ice. The ice that you see is mainly pack-ice, last years ice that formed elsewhere, broke up and floated here. As the temperature dropped, then this ice became stuck together by fast-ice, sea-water frozen in situ and attached to the coast that acts as a glue for the loose bits of pack. The ice-bergs that you see have been frozen in position and will remain son until they are freed by the spring break-up of the surrounding sea-ice.

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Once fast ice (sea-ice frozen in situ and attached to the coast) has become established, the patterns of the earlier pieces disappears. The tide still rises and falls however meaning that the sea surface expands and shrinks slightly as it does so. Tide cracks are a result of this movement (as ice is not known for its elastic properties) they are formed when the ice moves apart, they close again when the tide falls. A tide crack is often many miles long, in this case stretching for around 5 miles (8 kilometers), but never more than about 18", 45cm wide between Signy and Coronation Islands in the South Orkneys group. Tide cracks are valuable resources for wild-life as they provide a region where birds such as snow petrels can fish through for krill and also as a breathing hole for crab eater and Weddell seals.

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This is pack-ice in the summer months around the Antarctic peninsula. The ice looks fairly continuous, but has quite a lot of open water between the pieces and so can be relatively easily pushed aside by an ice-strengthened ship, in this case HMS Endurance. Larger pieces such as this one that are hit by the bow of the ship crack up into smaller pieces.
Proper Ice breakers have rounded hulls and rounded bows rather than being sharp and pointed. When breaking through very thick ice, the front of the ship rides up over the ice and the weight of the ship breaks through.
Passage is slow though, and heavy on fuel. Most of all, it takes an experienced and well informed ice-pilot to be confident in entering such ice so as not to be locked into the pack should the wind direction change and consolidate the ice.

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At the end of the winter, rising oceanic swells and increasing temperatures cause the stable winter sea-ice to break-up and begin to drift away from where it formed. This years fast-ice therefore becomes next years pack-ice with a portion of it melting and disappearing completely. Here a small inflatable zodiac-like craft is (not entirely sensibly) negotiating quite close, but relatively light pack-ice. One person drives the boat, while another sits on the bow pushing the larger pieces of ice out of the way with his feet.
If the wind gets up and closes the ice, it could well be goodbye to the boat and the people in it too.

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Ice-bergs drift around the Southern Ocean carried by the currents and blown by the winds. In the winter the sea-ice freezes around them and effectively glues them in place until the spring when the ice breaks up and they can begin to move again.
During this frozen-in time, it is possible to travel out across the sea-ice and walk right up to the bergs. This guy in the picture has an almost identical picture to this - with me in front of the berg though.

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It can be quite magical standing next to an ice-berg, especially when the sun is shining and glistening off the ice. The sun can also penetrate the ice and be reflected off inner surfaces giving a whole variety of effects and colours from white through a range of vivid blues, quite an unreal experience.

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The tip of the "ice-berg." Everybody knows that most of an iceberg lies under the water, but most don't know that the amount beneath the surface varies from about 50% to 99%. The cause of the variation is largely in the amount of air that is trapped in the ice so affecting its buoyancy. An average iceberg will be about 80-90% beneath the surface. Very low lying pieces of ice of whatever size in the water are known as "growlers". These often have a green tinge to them.
They are known as growlers because they present a particular hazard to shipping with the small amount visible above the water and the colour making them especially difficult to see and therefore especially dangerous.

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This is a part of a land-based snow slope. In the spring when the winters snow begins to melt, water flows across the top of glaciers and snow slopes carrying with it dissolved nutrients in the melt water. In these conditions, algae grows within the top layer of the ice or snow catching the goodies as they flow by and taking advantage of the extra energy from the longer days and stronger sunshine.
In this case the algae is predominantly a red-coloured species, but further down the slope, green and blue-green colours are discernable. This is relatively short-lived spring phenomena as soon the very snow and ice layer that the algae are living in will melt and the algae will flow down to the sea with the water that provides them with their nourishment. It is not unusual to see distinctly red, green or blue-green topped ice bergs in the spring as a result of the growth of such algae.
There are over 300 species of such algae that live in such harsh and cold conditions. The red colour is a protective chemical (carotenoids such as astaxanthin) that the alga produces against exceptionally high concentrations of visible and ultra violet light that bounces off the snow and ice surfaces and so saturates them to a point where it become harmful and destructive. Such algae are also found in other parts of the world, often in high mountains where extra u-v light due to the thinner atmosphere and again increased light scattering by ice and snow requires protection by similar pigments.
Sometimes, walking across such an area will leave behind red footprints as the algae are concentrated by the walker as the snow is crushed, and sometimes there will be a a faint smell of fresh watermelon accompanying the phenomena.

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Ice bergs are carved and shaped by wind and wave. As they are eroded, so the balance changes and they tip up to a new stable position. This continuous erosion, moving around and occasional breaking up into smaller pieces produces all kinds of weird and wonderful shapes that belies their original origin as a part of a flat freshwater glacier.

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Ice bergs are eroded by a combination of temperatures above freezing and the effects of wave action. Here in a fairly rough sea, waves are washing up the side of this berg to a point about 2 metres above sea level and will probably make two separate upright areas that are divided by the developing trough. We did for a short time consider trying to speed through the gap when it was awash in our small powerfully driven zodiac boat, but decided against it - probably for the best!

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The hard angular shapes and edges of this berg remind me of a cubist painting. Notice that the area at sea-level towards the left is very smooth and curved by contrast to the rest of the ice. The sharp geometric edges will probably have been made when this piece of ice calved from its glacier, the fracture planes of the ice being usually straight and plate-like. That it is not yet smoothed out indicates that this region has not yet been under the water to be sculptured into the more usual curves seen on ice bergs, it also means that it only recently fell off the glacier, although it could well be a fracture plane from the collapse of a larger ice berg that broke into pieces.

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It's windy in Antarctica, like nowhere else on earth, so the clouds go scurrying by most days giving ample opportunity for photography. If the lighting isn't quite right at the moment, then just wait a little while and it soon will be - but not for long.

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I used to think that a new word was required to describe the scenery in Antarctica, around the coast it was frequently difficult to tell where the land ended and the sea began, and sometimes what was land, glacier, sea-ice or ice berg all blended into a single continuous flow of features. "Whitescape" sums it up for me although that belies the subtlety of the details of the vistas. Everywhere consists of white and shades of blue, as made by an artist with a limited palette, and with so much reflection around, there are no real dark shadows.

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Clear skies mean clear sunsets, but because of the high latitudes, they develop and fade quickly. Snow and ice are a great bonus in sunsets as they colour up beautifully in reflection, in these conditions, beautiful sunsets don't even need to contain the sun in the picture.

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This picture captures a very rare calm moment where there was no breeze at all to cause ripples on the sea and so disrupt the reflection. There was just enough time for me to get into position, grab a few shots and then sure enough, back came the wind and away went the reflection.

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Mountains in the Antarctic interior are few and far between. Many are a special kind of mountain called a "nunatak". The Trans Antarctic Mountains that stretch from one side of the continent to the other break through the ice cap in places to form such nunataks - they are mountains that are surrounded completely by an ice field. A sort of cold version of the ocean and islands except that these are on land and raised high above sea level.
Due to their isolation and sterile surroundings, many nunataks are little or never visited, though there are records of some Antarctic birds such as snow petrels nesting on nunataks over a hundred kilometres from the coast where they feed. Why they do so is unknown, maybe they just like the scenery.

Engineering services outsourcing(ESO)

ESO : After the IT services and IT enabled services this would be the next great oppertunity for the Indian IT related industries. Engineering services outsourcing in India has the potential to grow to $10 billion in three to five years, from its current level of $3.5 billion and will jumo to more than $40 billion at the end of 2020 !!! (according to NASSCOM, India's apex body of the software and services sector).

India with its wealth of expertise in Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) is in a strong position to give you solutions that combine aesthetics, functionality and cost. We can take essential tasks in the Architectural Design Process off your shoulders.

Value in Outsourcing Architectural Design Functions

Outsourcing important Architectural Design services like Building and Structural Design, Exterior/Interior 3D Rendering, Plans, Elevations & Sections, Cost Estimation and so on makes good business sense. Your company can maximize profits as you save on time and human resources. Your key personnel can focus on the critical design phases of your project, or even begin on your next project!

A new Service from Google: Google News Archive Search !

Google is planning to announce a new service today, through which we can search through the archives of newspapers, magazines and other publications. The important thing is that it may uncover some matters or news those dated more than two centuries back!!! For example we can search for the news published on 1947 about India's independence in the world’s famous newspapers.
Google will display the results both as part of standard searches and through a new archive search page i.e. thru http://news.google.com/archivesearch

Back to work...

After two days of Onam Holidays im again entering to the world of Java and its frameworks. Hope the memories of onam will last for the coming one year. During this busy routine the traditional touch of my state is always giving a special feeling to my mind.

Happy Onam :) Enjoy !!!

PARIPPU CURRY
SAMBAR
AVIAL
KALAN
OLAN
THORAN
PULIINJI
INJITHAIR
PINEAPPLE PACHHADY
ERISSERY
KOOTUCURRY
NARANGA PICKLE
MANGA CURRY
BANANA CHIPS
SARKARAPURATTY
PAYASAM
PRATHAMAN
LADY'S FINGER KICHADI


Rice is the main course. With rice, various kinds of dishes are served... curries, 'upperies' (things fried in oil), 'pappadams' (round crisp flour paste cakes of peculiar make), 'achchars' (pickles of various kinds), 'payasams' and 'prathamans' (Desserts). Fruits are also served, mainly plantain.

Onnashamsakal :)

Microsoft has using an open-sourse software for its upcomimg product !!!

Microsoft has finally confessed to using open-source in a forthcoming product: Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Edition. The reason why Microsoft uses BSD-licensed TCP/IP for its network stack was the same reason almost everyone does: The BSD TCP/IP works well, and its socket-based API (application programming interface) was already becoming the accepted way for computers to work with each other. I had gone through an article by Mr.Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols in which he is discribing all these matters. One word in that article is some more naughty...He says that "Of course, Microsoft could have come up with something that duplicated what MPI(Message Passing Interface). does, but this is one field where Microsoft can't move in and make up its own rules".

More about our Onam

The Origin of Onam



Onam or Thiruonam originated as a joyous annual reminiscence of the golden rule of King Mahabali, a mythical king, who ruled Kerala a very long time ago. It recalls the sacrifice of the great king, his true devotion to God, his human pride and his ultimate redemption. This king once ruled over the Keralites during the Golden Age before caste existed, "when all men were equal, when no one was poor, when there was neither theft nor dread of thieves".

The Legend

Facts and fables blend as Kerala celebrates this royal return, year after year with the festivities of Onam. Legend has it that the gods plotted against Mahabali to end his reign. For this they sent Lord Vishnu to earth in the form of a dwarf Brahmin. But before being trampled down to the netherworld, Vishnu granted the king's sole wish: To visit his land and people once every year.

The Custom

Pookalam


A flower carpet called 'Pookalam' is laid in front of every house to welcome the advent of the vanquished king, and earthen mounds representing Mahabali and Vishnu are placed in the dung-plastered courtyards. Traditional rituals are performed followed by a lavish feast called 'Sadhya'. Onam also means new clothes for the whole family, sumptuous home-cooked delicacies on plantain leaf and the lingering aroma of the sweet Payasam.

Kaikottikali

Onam is in the air.Its time to revive our rich folk arts when women come out with their dances, especially kaikottikalli.This is the period from "atham" to Onam when the Malayali celebrates a bumper harvest and is in a festive mood.

The women-folk neatly decked up in mundu-veshti and ornamental flowers in their hair decorate their frontyard and "nadumittam" with flowers and light a lamp near an idol of Ganapathy in a gesture to overcome all hurdles in their pah to prosperity.

The simple rythmic group dance which involves clapping each other's palms while encircling the pookalam is what's known as kaikottikali, the essence of Onam.

Women, young and old, take part in the folk dance which signifies joy, happines and festivity. Though kaikottikali is neither a ritual form of dance or stage art, it derives its "ragachaya" from kathakali and the songs are based on episodes and legends like Krishnaleela, Shakunthalam, Kuchelavritham and Dhruvacharithram. Emphasis is given on rythmic movements than on mudra.The uniqueness of kaikottikali lies in the fact that the songs are sung by the participants themselves and the dance involves just simple steps in unison.

The most common ragams found in the kaikottikali songs include the Hussaini, Bhairavi and Kamboji and on several occasions the song deviate from puranic tales to folk stories.

Songs are also sung in praise of Saraswati, Ganapathy and Krishna which is considered to be very auspicious. Sadya over, on Onam day, women dance away to glory till the euphoria wanes.


The Spectacle

Spectacular parades of caparisoned elephants, fireworks and the famous Kathakali dance are traditionally associated with Onam. It's also the season of many cultural and sport events and carnivals. All this makes Onam-time a perfect period to visit this coastal state, touted as "Gods Own Country". No wonder the Government of Kerala has declared this time every year as Tourism Week.

The Grand Boat Race

One of the main attractions of Onam, is the 'Vallamkali' or boat races of Karuvatta, Payippad, Aranmula and Kottayam. Hundreds of oarsmen row traditional boats to the rhythm of drums and cymbals. These long graceful Snake Boats called "Paliyodam" and 'Chundans' are named after their exceedingly long hulls and high sterns that resemble the raised hood of a cobra.


Then there are 'Odis', the small and swift raiding crafts adorned with gold tasseled silk umbrellas, the 'Churulans' with their elaborately curled prows and sterns, and the 'Veppus', a kind of cook-boat. This traditional village rivalry on watercrafts reminds one of ancient naval warfare.

Thousands throng the banks to cheer and watch the breathtaking show of muscle power, rowing skills and rapid rhythm. These boats - all pitted against their own kind - rip through the backwaters of Kerala in a tussle of speed.


Onam is for All


Although this festival has its origin in Hindu mythology, Onam is for all people of all class and creed. Hindus, Muslims and Christians, the wealthy and the downtrodden, all celebrate Onam with equal fervor. The secular character of Onam is peculiar to this land where unity had always coexisted with diversity, especially during festivals, when people come together to celebrate life's unlimited joys.

A long long time ago, an Asura (demon) king called Mahabali ruled Kerala. He was a wise, benevolent and judicious ruler and beloved of his subjects. Soon his fame as an able king began to spread far and wide, but when he extended his rule to the heavens and the netherworld, the gods felt challenged and began to fear his growing powers. Presuming that he might become over-powerful, Aditi, the mother of Devas pleaded with Lord Vishnu to curtail Mahabali's powers.

Vishnu transformed himself into a dwarf called Vamana and approached Mahabali while he was performing a yajna and asked for alms. Pleased with the dwarf brahmin's wisdom, Mahabali granted him a wish. The Emperor's preceptor, Sukracharya warned him against making the gift, for he realized that the seeker was no ordinary person. But the Emperor's kingly ego was boosted to think that God had asked him for a favor. So he firmly declared that there is no greater sin than going back on one's promise. He kept his word.

The Vamana asked for a simple gift "three paces of land" and the king agreed to it. Vishnu in the guise of Vamana then increased his stature and with the first step covered the sky, blotting out the stars, and with the second, straddled the netherworld. Realising that Vamana's third step will destroy the earth, Mahabali offered his head as the last step.


Vishnu's fatal third step pushed him to the netherworld, but before banishing him to the underworld Vishnu granted him a boon. Since he was attached to his kingdom and his people, he was allowed to return once a year from exile. Onam is the celebration that marks the homecoming of King Mahabali. It is the day when a grateful Kerala pays a glorious tribute to the memory of this benign king who gave his all for his subjects.

Another Legend

Another legend has it that King Mahabali was a devout worshipper of Lord Vishnu. He was sincere, honest, just and a good ruler. But he had one weakness ego. And to eradicate his pride and redeem his beloved devotee of this one sin, Vishnu came to earth in the form of a dwarf Brahmin named Vamana.

The king in his pride asked the Brahmin what he wanted for he could give anything. Vamana asked for three paces of land and the king agreed. To humble him Vishnu, as Vamana showed Mahabali that he is just a puny creature in front of God's universal stature.
Mahabali, who was a man of principles, realized God's purpose and offered his head for Vamana's footstep, as he was sent to another world. This fatal step proved a blessing in disguise for the good king the foot salvaged and released him from the recurrent cycle of birth and death. That is why Onam is celebrated by wearing new clothes and resolving to lead a new life of truth, piety, love, and humility.

'Onasadhya' is the grand feast served during the celebration of Onam in Kerala. It is served in Banana leafs. There is a way of placing the leaf and an order of serving the dishes. The picture given below shows the serving order beginning from the left with 'Upperies'.

Pesticide Percentage (%) in cool drinks !!!

Pesticide Percentage (%) in cool drinks released from IMA recently.

1 Thums up 15.2%
2 Coke 13.4%
3 7 up 12.5%
4 Mirinda 0.7%
5 Pepsi 10.9%
6 Fanta 09.1%

If the Range exceeds 2.1%, then its very dangerous to the Human Liver.Results in Cancer! "This Message is from Indian Medical Association."

The TEN days of Onam

Atham - Day One
First day is an important one and is considered holy and auspicious by the people of Kerala...

Chithira - Day Two
On the second day of Onam, people add to the size of the Pookalam with different flowers...

Chodhi - Day Three
Size of the Attha Poo gets further increased with an addition of design with a different flowers...

Visakam - Day FourOnam Celebrations
Brisk activities in the market and households can be witnessed on the day of Visakam...

Anizham - Day Five
High point of the day is the grand boat race event called Vallamkali...

Thriketa - Day SixOnasadya
People, who may be staying away from their homes, start coming to their homes as the main day approaches...

Moolam - Day Seven
With just two days left for the festival now, enthusiasm grips the state of Kerala...

Pooradam - Day Eight
The day holds significance in Onam festivities. Devotees create clay idols in the shape of small pyramids...

Uthradam - Day Nine
It is a day prior to Thiruvonam. Some people begin festivities on a large scale on this day...

Thiruvonam - Day Ten
The biggest day of all, is the tenth day called Thiruvonam...

Onam : The National festival of Kerala

ONAM, OUR harvest festival, is round the corner. It comes in the month of "Chingam" according to our calendar. The festivity begins ten days before Thiruonam, by putting floral decorations (Pookkalam) on every home. Every day, fresh flowers are used to make fresh patterns, whose elaborate structures grow increasingly grand as Big Day draws near. Even the moss growing on the monsoon-soaked, laterite walls is used as a finishing touch. Indeed, there are contests as to who makes the best pookalams.

This festival is celebrated by All Malayalees with much enthusiasm both within and outside Kerala, is a symbol of plenty. This is when the rice has been harvested, and markets saturated with vegetables of all kinds. People get themselves new clothes and the smell of the legendary banana chips, both savoury and sweetened with jaggery, hangs in the air. People buy themselves new clothes, and, in today's consumerist Kerala, jewellery and white goods.

In my childhood, on these Onam days we were always busy with plucking flowers from the fields. But now in this modern life people are buying the flowers from the market. This is become the biggest business season for the flowers in Kerala. Lots and lots of flowers are reaching from the other states...

Today Life is became fast and no one has enough time to do their work...but ONAM always makes a special feeling in the mind of all malayalees and bring colorful thoughts and fills our mind. Honestly says, I can't describe that great feeling in words.... :)

Some facts about Taj Mahal

Building of Taj Mahal



Besides the miraculous architectural features and the elaborate ornamentation of the Taj Mahal, many additional features, which can often be overlooked, help complement and enhance this spectacular monument.

Background
Unlike other Mughal tombs, the garden of the Taj Mahal has been laid out entirely in front of the tomb and does not play any part in the 'background'. Instead, the background has been provided by the sky. This background is not constant; it changes its colour and texture more than often, and the Taj is always presented in a variety of tints and moods. Its shades are subtly reflected on the white marble surface of the Taj Mahal which changes its colour and complexion accordingly.

Marble
The Makrana marble used is of such a nature that it takes on incredibly subtle variations of tint and tone, according to the changes in the light, thus picturing the passing colour of the moment.

Soaring Effect
The colossal height of the tomb, along with its pyramidal appearance (which is obtained by the receding plinths, the square tomb and the bulbous dome, along with the pilasters surmounted by pinnacles, the tapering minarets and the decreasing volume of the dome culminating in a kalasa) give it a soaring effect. It appears as if it is about to rise into the sky...an ethereal quality full of lightness and grace.



Correction of Illusionary Effects
Taj Mahal, Agra TourismThe indigenous builders of the Taj Mahal fully understood the deceptive nature of the human eye. They knew that the reality and its perception and interpretation thereof differed. The plinth of the main tomb is 2'10'' high on an average. But the height varies at different places, particularly the central point between two piers being in each case 0.5" to 0.7" higher than the sides. This convexity has deliberately been given to the plinth in the centre of each arch, or else the building would have appeared as if it were falling down! The facades are not exactly at a right angle with the plinth, but are slightly inclined.

The finial is a stupendous crowning feature which measures nearly 10 meters!! The architect fully anticipated the apparent size which a finial would present from such a great height. It has therefore been very ingeniously been planned. These features of construction demonstrate the ability of the Indian architects to reconcile the illusionary effects created by distance and light.

Inside The Taj Mahal


The interior of the mausoleum comprises a lofty central chamber, a crypt immediately below this and four octagonal corner rooms originally intended to house the graves of other royal family members.

In the centre are the cenotaphs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan's cenotaph is to the left and is higher than that of his beloved which rests immediately below the dome.

The cenotaph of Mumtaz Mahal stands in the centre of the marble screen, it has inscribed on it in Persian with texts from the Koran. The cenotaph of Mumtaz has the single epitaph inscribed on it- "Marqad Munavvar Arjumand Bano Begum Mukhatib bah Mumtaz Mahal Tanifiyat fer sanh 1040 Hijri" (Here lies Arjumand Bano Begum called Mumtaz Mahal who di((d in 1040 A.H. or 1630 A.D.)



The cenotaph of Shah Jahan is inscribed in Persian- .'Marqad Mutahar Aali Hazrat Firdaus Ashiyani Sahib-qiran Saani Shah Jahan Badshah taab surah sanh 1076 Hijri" (The sacred sepulchre of his most exalted Majesty, dweller of Paradise, the second lord of constellations, the king Shah Jahan, may his mausoleum ever flourish, 1076 A.H. (1666 A.D.).

Inside The Taj Mahal, Agra Travel Above the tombs is a Cairene lamp, the flame of which is supposed to never burn out.

Marble screen of trelliswork surrounds the graves. Both tombs are exquisitely inlaid with semiprecious stones.

The acoustics of the building are superb with the domed ceiling being designed to echo chants from Koran and musician's melodies.

It is suggested that one walk around the outside of the tomb, before retrieving your shoes, to appreciate it from all sides.


Taj Mahal Story



The story of Taj Mahal reflects the intensity of love. The fairy tale began when walking through the bazaar of Agra prince qhurram saw a girl. The girl was exceptionally beautiful. It was a love at first sight for both of them. After five years, on an auspicious day they were married and from that moment began the great epic of love.

Shah Jahan, "The King Of The World"

Prince qhurram was the fifth son of emperor Jahangir. He was the man of extraordinary brilliance, a great diplomat, a warrior and a lover of art. Once Jahangir wrote, "In art, in reason, in battle there is no comparison between him and my other children". In the honor of his numerous victories Jahangir entitled him as "Shah Jahan", "The King of the World". After Jahangir's death all his sons quarreled for the thrown, after fighting for years Shah Jahan killed all his brothers under suspicious circumstances and became the emperor, besides him stood his queen, comrade and confidante.

Mumtaz Mahal "The chosen one of the palace"

Shah Jahan titled her "Mumtaz Mahal", "The chosen one of the palace". A rare found combination of beauty and brain. She was her husband's best friend and confidante. She would counsel him in the diplomatic matters. She too was a great lover of art.

The End of the Fairy Tale

Shah Jahan & Mumtaz MahalIn 1631 Shah Jahan set up to berahanpur with his troops to subdue a rebellion, accompanied by Mumtaz Mahal Unfortunately during childbirth she suffered some complications and died. According to legend before dieing she extracted a promise from Shah Jahan that he would build a mausoleum as a tribute to their love.



The story of Taj Mahal begins Shah Jahan was obsessed to fulfill his wife's last wish. He invited the architects and artisans all over the world and planned for the building with absolute perfection. Taj Mahal was structured in Persian style combined with carvings of artisans called from Afghanistan and the garden designers from Kashmir. It took 22years to complete the Taj Mahal, a memento of love with the perfection of art. The carvings of Taj Mahal were decorated with very precious gemstones.

The story of Taj Mahal is unique in itself. It is an evidence that how the emotions and feelings are important to human life. The story of Taj Mahal is an example of devotion and faith. The story of Taj Mahal is a love story not found in papers but stands in the structural form. The story of Taj Mahal is rare.

The beauty of Taj

Some rare pictures from the computer world

I got these pictures through a mail. Really rare ones. Ist it? :-)

Tim Berners Lee -- Founder of the World Wide Web

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Picture taken when INFY was started. This picture was found in the album of the clerk who took this picture...
The picture was with that clerk only because it was his birthday and he just told everyone to stand together at one place to take a pic.
He borrowed a camera from his friend and as he could not tell any of his boss to take the pic, he took the pic himself... though it was his birthday.

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Linus Torvalds of Linux Operating System Linus Torvalds originally used the Minix OS on his system which he replaced by his OS.
Hence the working name was Linux (Linus' Minix).
He thought the name to be too egotistical and planned to name it Freax (free + freak + x).
His friend Ari Lemmk encouraged Linus to upload it to a network so it could be easily downloaded.
Ari gave Linus a directory called linux on his FTP server, as he did not like the name Freax.
Linus like that directory name and he kept the name of his new OS to LINUX...

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Andreas Bechtolsheim , Bill Joy, Scott Mc Nealy and Vinod Khosla of SUN(StanfordUniversity Network) MicroSystems.
Founded by four StanfordUniversity buddies.
Andreas Bechtolsheim built a microcomputer;
Vinod Khosla recruited him;
Scott McNealy to manufacture computers based on it;
and Bill Joy to develop a UNIX-based OS for the computer...
SUN is the acronym for Stanford University Network ..

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Gordon Moore(L) and Bob Noyce(R) ,founders of Intel.
Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new company 'Moore Noyce'.
But that was already trademarked by a hotel chain...
So they had to settle for an acronym of INTegrated ELectronics... INTEL

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Larry Page(L) and Sergey Brin(R), founders of Google.
Google was originally named 'Googol'.
After founders (Stanford graduates) Sergey Brin and Larry Page presented their project to an angel investor...
they received a cheque made out to 'Google' !...
So they kept name as GOOGLE

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Ken Thompson (L)and Dennis Ritchie(R) ,creators of UNIX.
Dennis Ritchie improved on the B programming language and called it 'New B'.
B was created by Ken Thompson as a revision of the Bon programming language (named after his wife Bonnie)
He later called it C.

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Bill Hewlett(L) and Dave Packard(R) of HP.
Behind them in the picture is the famous HP Garage.
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.
And the winner was NOT Bill... the winner was Dave.

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Steve Woznaik(sitting) and Steve Jobs of APPLE Computers.
He was three months late in filing a name for the business because he didn't get any better name for his new company.
So one day he told to the staff: "If I'll not get better name by 5 o'clcok today, our company's name will be anything he likes..."
so at 5 o'clock nobody cameup with better name, and he was eating APPLE that time...
so he kept the name of the company 'Apple Computers'

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Microsoft Corporation 1978 :Picture taken when microsoft was started The person in