We all know that Yoga is good for us. The South African team knows it too. They are pictured here doing a modified Vasistasana. They all have sthiram, but sukham is completely missing.  Here’s Boston’s Big Picture on World cup 2010.

For more on how  iPad will change your life, here’s Attaining Nirvana through iPad.

With an imperious swirl of her ermine cloak and a hiss of ice crystals in glittering hair, the Winter Queen officially resumes the throne in her icy palace at 9:47 a.m., Monday. In truth, this is just the culmination of a long coronation processional through the province. An irony, though — the formal commencement of her reign also marks the beginning of its end, for the days grow longer and the world begins to warm from the moment she ascends her throne.

The darkness is done with. I am not sure about the rain though. It seems like a permanent feature in this part of the world. I am hoping that I may be able to make peace with the rain and simply ignore it.  It takes a bit of training to look at the cold rain and say, it does not bother me. Last week it snowed for a couple of days. It was so beautiful to see the snow and for some reason, the sky is blue after the snow. Not the case with the rain. Rain makes everything grey and wet.

This is the logo for British Columbia. I cannot help but wonder how a logo like this can be designed with a huge Sun over the mountains, when the Sun is absent most of the time. I would like a correction to this logo. British Columbia, the best on place on earth, spring and summer only. Or, the Sun should be removed from the logo. Color scheme in dark grey and grey dotted lines across the logo for rain. But that may not bring the tourists where tourism is a huge industry.

I feel like I am the only one excited about Olympics in all of Canada. Until now, I had never paid any attention to winter Olympics. When I notice the mammoth effort that goes into putting on a show like this, I am so impressed. Most of the locals I speak with seem to complain about this event. Road closures, budget cuts, yada yada yada. I believe some sacrifice is always needed for great things to happen. Anyway, I am looking forward for some Olympic fun.

It is one of the immigrant stories which was fresh, light, funny and sad. Life in Palestine seems like being in a prison and the move to America is not without issues. The confusion between Jews and Arabs cannot be quite explained to the Americans.  It is a well made film and has a sense of humor.

I also learnt that checkmate is an Arabic phrase. Shah mate in Arabic means the king is dead, which is borrowed in English as checkmate.

The main character in the film is one confused person. He confidently jumps from one set of ideals to the other one. While he is at it, he strongly believes in it and then leaves it for something else when he reaches the end of the line. The other characters around him question his behavior. Is he really so shallow that he leaves one for the other?

The film starts of with Sachish, the main character being an atheist and studying English literature in what looks like India during the British rule. He is inspired by his uncle who is a strong character who opens a private hospital at his house to treat the plague victims of all religions. After his uncle’s death, our main guy is lost. He turns to religion now, precisely what he did not like before. He follows a guru and is part of some cult. He meets a young widow at her house whose husband had donated the house to the guru. The woman is attracted to Sachish, but he is following the religious advice. So, he cannot accept her. This is where the questions for spirituality come up. What does it solve and where does it lead one to? Sachish’s friend mentions that spiritualism is like fake currency, absolutely useless. It is a flight of the weak from real life. The film ends with Sachish leaving the guru and being lost again.

I enjoyed the film a lot. The movie is made like a play with just a few people in it.

Here is one of the clips for the festival. They are all hilarious.

I came across this quote while I was walking in downtown Vancouver. I asked the woman at the Vancouver Humane Society stall if she knew that today is Gandhi’s birthday. She said yes and the World Animal Farm day was chosen for October 2nd for the same reason.

The chickens will be happy for that. They were explaining to me the jargon one needs to avoid while buying eggs. They gave me a brochure as to what certifications one needs to look for while buying eggs. The brochure had more jargon than what one needs to avoid. I left more confused than when I stopped by.

Here’s one of Gandhi’s favorite bhajans.