Under the Bodhi Tree

I always had a penchant for Music.  It might have been either actually playing it or then just listening to it.  At one time I would actually refer to a track by its # in my playlist!!  Ripleys believe it or not!!  Hillarious when I look back at it but thats the degree of passion I had (n still have) for the songs I really liked.  🙂  Apart from a stint at learning to play some strings, I never really trained myself at any form of Music.  The first time I played an instrument was when I was part of EYF (Express Youth Forum, under the aegis of Indian Express, Pune) where we were more famous for managing VERVE.  It was during my time at this forum that I started playing some percussion.  Bongo, congo, tumba to be specific!  Forgive me for sounding a bit arrogant but it was then that I learnt that I had a flair for playing percussion.

Somewhere down the line….I started enjoying making my friends listen to my fav tracks.  Tracks they had perhaps never heard and least identified with.  However, they would lend their friend an ear for a few minutes.  There is no doubt that staying in Nigeria at an impressionable age had its effect on me….Musically 4 sure!  MJ would be a regular menu and a part of daily chores.  I have been and continue to be a great fan of MJ, although I do listen to many other artists now.  Enjoy artists like Midival Punditz, Deep Forest, Safri Duo,  Irish music, Linkin Park, Rammstein, etc to name a few.

Coming back to the title of this blog.  Its just a few days back that my roomie shared a new software that he had.  A free source “Virtual DJ” turntable software!! :)))  Boy was I happy.  Played around with it for a few minutes and after that I am nothing but HOOKED to it.  The bad part is that my study time has taken a beating (not that I did study alot :).  Have learnt how to mix songs, fast to fast – fast to slow n vice versa.  Enhance the mixing by using external sounds embedded in the software, rec my mixes (still getting better at it though), tampering with the pitch or tempo of a track to allow mixing, etc…

I guess we all need something different to keep our sanity intact and survive the mad race that you run each day.  We all need that free time when we wish to do only what we like and enjoy doing most.  Well I’ve just stumbled upon something that keeps me Musically engaged..something I definitely seem to like at this moment :).  N I wish to spare some time for this as long as possible…

An “Analyst Report on Cipla Ltd” that I worked on & presented as part of my Corporate valuation assignment on 9th December 2006.

Please feel free to go through, copy, edit, update and anything else you wish to do with it. For any kind of further details & discussions feel free to contact me*. I’ll share the Report that I worked on from which the presentation originated after which we could discuss further.

Eagerly awaiting all and any comments on it.

The Presentation

Cheers! 🙂

*mailto:siddharthghaisas@gmail.com

The Bodhi tree was a large and very old specimen of the Sacred Fig, located at the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya (about 100 km from Patna in the Indian state of Bihar) under which Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later know as Gautama Buddha, arrived at Bodhi. The Bodhi Tree belongs to the Sacred Figs (Ficus religiosa), also known as Bo, Pipul (Peepal) or Ashwattha trees, which are sacred to Hindus, Jains and Buddhists. According to Buddhist belief, Siddharta Gautama meditated under this tree, mentioned as Ashwattha in the Tipitaka, when he achieved Nirvana. The word ‘Ashvattha’ is derived from the Sanskrit roots ‘Shwa’ meaning tomorrow, ‘a’ indicating negation, and ‘tha’ meaning “one that stands or remains”. (The Hindu philosopher Shankaracharya interprets the name to indicate “One which does not remain the same tomorrow”, such as the universe itself.)The Sacred Fig currently growing at the Mahabodhi Temple is not the original specimen, but probably a direct clone descendant of it. This tree is a frequent destination for pilgrims, being the most important of the four holy sites for Buddhists. Another sacred specimen, also propagated from the original Bodhi tree, is the Sri Maha Bodhi in Sri Lanka, planted in 288 BC, making it the oldest verified specimen of any angiosperm.

In religious iconography, the Bodhi tree is easily recognizable from its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed.

Cheers!

Siddharth Ghaisas

Source: A curiosity to find the origins of my name led me to the follwing site. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_tree