The last on the Caltech Tsunami Relief Effort

With the conclusion of the dance concert this Sunday at the Beckman Auditorium, the Caltech Tsunami Relief Effort has concluded the fundraising half of its objective. Lahari, the classical Indian dance concert featured three Bharatnatyam performers and their schools -- Ramya Harishankar and the Arpana Dance Company, Ramaa and Swetha Bharadvaj and Viji Prakash and the Shakti Dance Company and was compered by Ramesh Srinivasan. The turnout was over four hundred.

Personally, it was a very satisfying experience for me to be in the thick of it all. There will be a point somewhere down the road when I will want to look back at these past few weeks and though there are enough records strewn here and there that shall present as good a picture of it all as I can get, there is nothing like placing on print my own recollections. With that in mind, I intend to write a little note on how the last few weeks played out and this public memo shall be a constant reminder for me to get it done as quickly as possible.

* * * * *

The headlines, the same old headlines

With all the attention on Caltech Tsunami Relief Effort, there has been very little time to devote on other important happenings-on over the last couple of days. In a very chilly reference to a previous entry I had written on the Kumbakonam fire tragedy, there was a stampede at a religious pilgrimage in Maharashtra. Two yesteryear Hindi film stars died. A president renewed his oath of office. Another got sworn in amidst great fanfare and much angst in the past. I discovered the wonderful world of Wikipedia, Wikimedia and Wikiquote. The inbox feature in del.icio.us is back, and I am now a part-time del.icio.us evangelist. Technorati has cottoned on to "folksonomy" and now provides an invaluable resource for those who think of the Web in terms of tags. And, to end this post rather abruptly, either the media is misquoting Federer or Federer is hyping himself no end.

Lahari: A dance concert in aid of tsunami victims

Arpana Dance Company

Ramaa Bharadvaj

Shakti Dance Company

Scores killed in Indian stampede