It feels good to end any meal with a dessert. We usually have dessert with lunch and dinner. There are various types of desserts that tickle our taste buds. Some Indian desserts can be prepared anytime with easily available ingredients at home. If you can prepare lip-smacking desserts at home, then you will not have to depend on sweet shops for them. Follow the recipes of these Indian desserts.
Custard Halwa
This is a mouth-watering dessert which has a rich taste. It tastes just like the Halwa found in sweet shops.
Ingredients –
Custard powder – 1 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Ghee – Half cup
Dry fruits – According to taste
Water – 2 cups
Method –
I used almonds, cashews and raisins for this. You can use any dry fruits of your choice. I chopped almonds and cashews and fried all dry fruits in ghee.
I had used custard powder of Vanilla flavor but you can use custard powder of any flavor.
Take a large mixing bowl, put custard powder and sugar in it. Add water and mix very well. Make sure that there is no lump and sugar has dissolved completely in the mixture.
Heat a pan and put ghee to it. Add the mixture to it and stir properly. Stir continuously so that lump does not form. Stir till the mixture thickens.
Add dry fruits to it and stir vigorously till the mixture turns translucent and glossy. Serve it hot or cold according to taste preference.
This is a delicious dessert make from Chickpea flour. It is usually prepared in festivals.
Ingredients –
Ghee – Half cup
Dry fruits – According to taste
Cardamom (Elaichi) – Few pods
Besan (Gram flour or Chickpea flour) – 1 and half cup
Suji (Rava or Semolina) – Half cup
Milk – 2 cups
Sugar – Half cup
Method –
In Cardamom, remove the husk and crush the seeds in mortar and pestle. The powder should be fine. You may use powdered sugar but whole sugar will also dissolve in the dessert.
Heat a pan and put ghee to it. Add Besan to it and mix properly. Then add Suji and mix. Stir continuously on low flame. Roast till the color of Besan changes and turns dark.
Then add milk and mix very well. Stir properly so that milk gets absorbed and no lump forms. Put sugar and mix properly till it dissolves completely in the mixture.
Add dry fruits, Cardamom powder and mix well. Cook till the mixture separates from the pan. Serve it hot or cold according to taste preference.
This is a tasty dessert made from Tapioca pearls. You can prepare this on any fast.
Ingredients –
Sabudana (Tapioca pearls) – 1 cup
Ghee – Half cup
Dry fruits – According to taste
Cardamom (Elaichi) – Few pods
Sugar – Half cup
Water – As needed for soaking Sabudana
Method –
I cannot specify the exact quantity of water as that depends on the quality of Tapioca pearls. Put sufficient water so that the Tapioca pearls can swell properly.
You can use any dry fruits of your choice. I used almonds, cashews and raisins for this. I chopped almonds and cashews and fried all dry fruits in ghee.
In Cardamom, remove the husk and crush the seeds in mortar and pestle. The powder should be fine. You may use powdered sugar but whole sugar will also dissolve in the dessert.
Soak Sabudana in water for at least 6 hours. Before making the Halwa, drain out water from them and keep Sabudana aside. Heat a pan and put ghee to it.
Add the entire quantity of Sabudana and sauté for some time. Then put sugar and mix properly. Add Cardamom powder and mix vigorously.
If you have any food coloring powder, then you can add that and mix. Put dry fruits to the mixture and mix very well. Stir till the mixture separates from the pan.
Let it cool down a bit but not completely. If the mixture cools completely, then it will be difficult to make Ladoo from it. Grease your hands with oil and make Ladoos from the mixture.
Make Ladoos when the mixture is warm and serve them.
Atta Halwa
This is a delectable dessert made from wheat flour. It is prepared as an offering to God in festivals.
Ingredients –
Wheat flour (Atta) – 1 cup
Ghee – 1 cup
Dry fruits – According to taste
Cardamom (Elaichi) – Few pods
Sugar – Half cup
Water – 3 cups
Method –
You can use any dry fruits of your choice. I used almonds, cashews and raisins for this. I chopped almonds and cashews and fried all dry fruits in ghee.
In Cardamom, remove the husk and crush the seeds in mortar and pestle. The powder should be fine. You may use powdered sugar but whole sugar will also dissolve in the dessert.
Heat a pan and put ghee to it. Add wheat flour and mix properly so that lump does not form. Roast on low flame and stir continuously till the color of wheat changes.
Then put water to it and stir well. Add sugar and mix properly. Keep stirring so that all the ingredients get combined. Put cardamom powder and dry fruits to it.
Mix vigorously and make sure that there is no lump. Cook till the mixture thickens. Then you can cut the Halwa into pieces. Serve it hot or cold according to taste preference.
Vermicelli Halwa
This is a yummy dessert made from Vermicelli. It has a rich and creamy taste.
Ingredients –
Vermicelli (Semiya) – 1 cup
Ghee – 1 cup
Dry fruits – According to taste
Cardamom (Elaichi) – Few pods
Water – 1 and half cup
Milk – 1 cup
Sugar – Half cup
Method –
You can use any dry fruits of your choice. I used almonds, cashews and raisins for this. I chopped almonds and cashews and fried all dry fruits in ghee.
In Cardamom, remove the husk and crush the seeds in mortar and pestle. The powder should be fine. You may use powdered sugar but whole sugar will also dissolve in the dessert.
Heat a pan and put half cup ghee to it. Add vermicelli to it. Roast it continuously till its color changes to brown. Keep the Vermicelli aside.
Heat the same pan and put the remaining half cup ghee to it. Add water to it and let it boil. Then put the roasted Vermicelli and let it swell. Stir and let it get cooked.
Put milk to it and mix well. Then add sugar and stir properly. Cook till the mixture thickens. If you have any food coloring powder, then you can add that and mix.
Add Cardamom powder and mix vigorously. Put dry fruits to the mixture and mix very well. Stir till the mixture turns creamy and separates from the pan.
Serve it hot or cold according to taste preference.
“To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.” ~ George MacDonald
Trust is an important element in the working of not only businesses and markets but the entire world. From electronic payments to giving loans – everything relies on the essential element of trust. As a matter of fact, fiat currency functions inherently on trust. Paper money has no value of its own but it still works because we DECIDE it has value. We keep faith that it will be accepted in exchange for essential things.
While it is common knowledge that things would be smoother if everyone just trusts everyone else, a number of factors stop us from having faith. Thus the question arises, why is it so hard to trust? The basic explanation lies in the fact that it is a temporal issue. The person who makes the initial move, the truster, makes a sacrifice by doing something at the risk of his own interests. There is time involved until he gets to know whether his doing brought out some good to him or not.
Trust through Game Theory
Game Theory explores the play of trust through trust games. The Trust Game is an extensive form game. This class of games allows to incorporate non-simultaneous play, and in particular reactions to previous actions of other agents. The simplest examples, where all actions are observable, include paradigms which have been intensively used in behavioral game theory to investigate prosocial behavior, i.e., deviations from selfishness.
An initial attempt to understand the nuances of trust can be credited to Kreps who invented a Trust Game in 1990. In this game, there is a trustor, the first agent who shows the initial trust by giving out money and there is a trustee, who is the second agent who receives this amount. The trustor has the binary choice to trust the trustee or not, with payoffs of $0 for both players if no trust is shown. In case the trustor decides to trust, the trustee faces a binary choice to either honour it, leading to equal payoffs of $10 for each player, orabuse the demonstrated trust, resulting in a payoff of $15 for the untrustworthy trustee and a negative payoff of −$5 for the unhappy trustor.
The game shares four crucial features, which were put forward by Coleman (1990) to define a trust situation.
The trustor’s decision to trust is voluntary.
There is a time lag between the trustor’s and the trustees choices. Hence, revealing it to be a sequential game.
The possibility for the trustee to abuse or honour the demonstrated trust occurs if and only if the trustor does indeed show trust. Action of one player is dependent on the actions of the other, trust is a two way road.
In case the trustee decides to (fully) abuse the demonstrated trust, the trustor will be left worse off than if no trust had been shown;that is, the trustor becomes vulnerable by exercising trust. This demonstrates why lack of trust is predominant in our world.
This is also evident in common markets when we see 2 adjacent shops selling the same things. Consider two stationary shops built next to each other. One can’t decrease the price of its product to lure customers as the other will do the same. This will set off a tit for tat game where both shopkeepers suffer loss. Now, if they try to collude by promising to keep the same price, say Rs 10 per pen, one of them might break the promise and lower the price to Rs 8. This price will obviously attract more customers and hence more profit for the shopkeeper who broke the trust. It is due to this reason that such collusions are rare and competition in an oligopoly seethes by non-price strategies.
Non-price strategies are measures taken by sellers which don’t include setting and changing prices of their product to increase sales. For e.g., a priced strategy would include decreasing the price of the product to lure customers. In an oligopoly, such a price war would ultimately ruin business as explained above. Hence non-price strategies are used (such as advertising, extending customer care facilities, etc.).
In today’s time, with an augmentation of urbanisation and industrialisation, we observe that trust among people is dwindling due to which there is a need for new systems and technology which do not depend on ‘mutual trust’. Technologies are continuously evolving, building unbelievable security systems. One such example is the blockchain technology. Blockchain technology provides a way for un-trusted parties to come to agreement on the state of a database, without using a middleman. By providing a ledger that nobody administers, a blockchain could provide specific financial services — like payments, or securitization — without using a middleman, like a bank. Hence, public blockchains cut down on the need for trusted third parties to verify transactions and give people around the world access to fast, cheap, and borderless payments. This is the reason behind the success of Bitcoin.
It is the basic human psychology which is so complex that we are never assured how the other person would react or believe in our truth and ability. Sometimes, we don’t trust somebody because of their past actions and decisions and sometimes because we are strangers to them! Humans are selfish; our ability to trust also depends on how strongly we want to protect our self interests. Breach of trust is not an uncommon phenomenon – which makes us more skeptical about the people around us. A study reveals that we tend to trust someone more if they have something in common with us, like sharing the same interests. For example, people belonging to the same region will rely on each other even if they don’t know each other and happen to meet in a different place.
Additionally, it is more common to see that trust is honoured in a relation which is long term. For example, chances of paying up pending dues are higher at a neighborhood grocery store as compared to a shop in some far off place where the customer will not return. Sociological understanding is that we are more trusting in closed and smaller communities, an example being that of a rural set up compared to modern urban societies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, three things are needed for the evolution of trust.
Repeat Interactions: The knowledge of the possibility of interactions in future gives one a harbour to cling to.
Possible Win-Wins: When parties concerned play a non zero sum game, in which both can be better off, the possibility of trusting increases by leaps and bounds.
Low miscommunication: Communication is key. It pays to understand and forgive once or twice, but when the level of miscommunication is high, trust breaks down very easily.
Writing, in itself, is one of the purest forms of art. You can call it magical too. Believe me!
Isn’t it fascinating to note how a few sets of inanimate words start dancing in your head the moment you lay your eyes on them and try to scrutinize them to suck their gist with your critical mind? I bet; it is! Although not everyone tries to critically ponder over poetic pieces, even naïve readings are full of zest.
I won’t call myself an avid reader as many people these days who like to read generally do. Of course, I do love to read, but I’m quite a lazy sort of fellow who doesn’t read on a regular basis. I call myself insane, somewhat due to my extreme mood swings. But that’s pretty normal for me. It’s just that I love to tease my mini-me (my psyche), referring to her as a mad woman. But that man woman does wonders sometimes. She plays a quite remarkable role in inspiring me to indite more and more poetic pieces. Yes, she is my muse. One of my muses. Sounds strange? Wondering how can someone be one’s own muse? Well, so lemme answer all your questions regarding this. I’m sure my random cum some sort of sensible gibberish will aid you in figuring out how to get constant inspiration for writing poetry.
Who is a muse?
Portrait of a beautiful young blonde woman dressed in casual shirt, listening musing with headphones
The definition of muse is pretty simple. What inspires you artistically is called a muse. It can be ‘someone’ or ‘something’, i.e., a person or a thing, situation, event, etc. If we talk about examples, then lovers are counted as quite common examples of muses, especially in writing. In order to write poetry, several writers derive inspiration from their personal love life. But that doesn’t mean if one’s lover is one’s muse, one would only be able to write poems on love, heartbreak, relationship, compatibility, romance, etc.
A muse can inspire a person in multiple ways. It often happens that writers who find their muse in their partner or lover, write about their relationship, highlighting their expectations, compatibility, sex life, etc. But it’s often beyond that. Some writers write about what their lovers love or hate, etc. For instance, I know a great writer who is also a good friend of mine. She mostly writes on the mundaneness of middleclass working men’s lives. Sometimes, she also writes poems on sports. But she says that her only muse is her husband. She takes inspiration from the ordinariness of her husband’s life, and sometimes also writes about what he loves the most, i.e., cricket and football. So, this is what a muse does! Muses inspire – only inspire (with no strings attached). The inspiration can be in any way. All what an artist gets from a muse is some ambrosial seeds of artistry, and then they amalgamate their imagination with their inspiration to sire aesthetic pieces of art. I hope now you clearly know what/who a muse is and what it does.
Can I be my own muse?
Oh dear, it is a question of no doubt. Of course, you can. Anyone can. Even we all can. It’s all about inspiration. When you can get inspiration from others, then why and how not from yourself! It often happens with me too. Before writing a poem, I often make myself my muse.
Once I was untangling my twisted mane in front of a mirror. While doing so, I looked at myself and started wondering about the profoundness of what I was doing. Soon I realised that I can use it as a metaphor to write about the complexities of human life that how we get stuck in our lives, and the more we try to detach ourselves from the web of worldliness, the more it pinches us and makes us feel forlorn. To add some more details to my poem, I looked at the innocent face in the mirror and wondered about that girl’s dreams – what dreams she must’ve had before getting forcedly tied to the mould of a housewife. My inspiration along with my imagination pierced me, and it pricked somewhere deep down my heart, but I wrote. And, this is what a writer wants – something/someone to write on/about. I was glad on seeing myself in a new light that day – as a guide, an object of inspiration, a muse. I’d really like you to try this once. Try writing something after deriving inspiration from your own self.
Why not?! All of us have, where some notice that and some don’t. The things around us, the people around us do inspire us in some way or the other. You can be your muse, your parents can be your muse, your lover can be your muse, your friends can be your muse, the weather at your place can be your muse, your pet can be your muse, your room can be your muse, your city can be your muse, your lifestyle can be your muse, your habits and attitude can be your muse, and what not!
How to get constant inspiration for writing poetry?
Inspiration is available in multiple forms. All you need is just to figure out what works for you!
Observe a lot. Just be alert all the time and keep observing the things and people around you. Who knows where you find your muse and in what form!
Just imagine. Imagination knows no bounds. Feel free to imagine whatever you can and can’t. Be quirky with your imagination. Go wild (as much as you can). Imagination can aid a great deal in making you figure out your muse.
Merge in your mind what you observe and imagine. Let’s take the help of an example. Suppose you are in a room. Observe all what’s around you. Look around yourself. Suppose your eyes stopped roving when you looked at the ceiling fan. What came to your mind on seeing it? Suppose you were highly depressed that day, and the fan seemed to be symbolic of an escape to you. Now imagine something fresh and occupying. Suppose you imagined the fan to be a UFO sent by the Almighty as a source of energy and refreshment; it comes down to give you a chance to enter it for a couple of minutes to recharge yourself whenever you are feeling blue. Now imagine more and more and more, and connect the dots to form a fanciful or/and fascinating product of imagination. And ta-da, it’s done. Now tell me, ain’t it amazing how a simple ceiling fan of your room became your muse and helped you pen down a poetic piece? It’s interesting, no?! Wanna try? You surely should. Poetry is as simple as that when you have a muse.
I hope after reading this article you won’t have to struggle even a bit in getting inspiration for writing poetry. Well, good luck for your search for your muse/s. Feel free to share your experiences with your muse/s in the comments section.
Backpacks are not just for globetrotters heading for a mountain hike. Girls’ backpacks are a perfect accessory for jet setters because they leave your arms and hands-free to move and go; they make an excellent addition to your capsule wardrobe. Backpacks are that one accessory you can carry almost every day, and it houses all your necessary supplies. A backpack can be your go-to accessory to help you clear all your books and notepads off your desk when you are done for the day.
From bright colours and printed patterns to stunning leather pieces, there is an option for every type of personality and style. Therefore, you must analyze your options while picking up girls’ backpacks to get the best one for yourself.
To help you make a great choice, we bring you a list of stylish and trendy girls’ backpacks:
The Black Chic
Whether you are heading for a brunch date with your girlies or a mid-week date, give your look a new twist. Considered to be one of the most popular choices in girls’ backpacks, choose this Nixon black coloured backpack to flaunt a chic and classy look. For the fun yet fierce spirited, you can pair up this bag and spice up your lazy day look with a neon crop-top and boyfriend jeans. Black for the win, ladies!
The Pastel Blue
Get ready to take on the fashionable world with the heat embossed quilted girls’ backpacks! This one right here is power-packed with one compartment, two slip pockets, one zip pocket, and zips that last upto 2500 cycles. Your perfect travel companion, add a dash of drama and sass to all your adventures. Take a trip down the road and flaunt your breezy pastel look.
The Cheeky Pink
This stylishly designed casino pink backpack is both versatile and edgy. A simple and sleek style gives this backpack a designer vibe. The bag is well equipped with a front zip and pockets for storage. It is an excellent accessory for the classic street-style appeal. Take the bag with you as you stroll through the fashionable streets of Milan and New York.
The Bewitching Brown
The Lexington Backpack collection from Fastrack is the best choice to embrace your hidden college diva gracefully. The bag is made with sturdy PU leather material in an eye-catching bright red tone. A spacious choice to store all your knick-knacks. The bag’s overall look is completed by a colourful strip and metal logo on the front and a zip pocket at the back of this bag. So, brace yourself up to be the centre of attention in your college!
The Iconic Black
This classic black colour PU backpack from Fastrack is a fantastic buy; it comes with a versatile and subtle design that can work well with your casual day looks. A cute backpack for fashion-conscious girls, it is one of the popular choices for travel. The black colour goes well with every outfit, adding a bit of grace to everything. Therefore, you can pair this backpack with a pair of blue denim and a white shirt.
The Gorgeous Blue
Hey pretty girls, why not check out this stunning blue Bryant backpack for girls from Fastrack. This bag is a total head-turner if you are looking to achieve an ultimate glamourous look. Plan your weekend getaway in style, this stylish light blue bag comes with a bright orange strap, and you can easily hang it around your back. The main compartment closes with a button flap and comes with two slip and one zip pocket. Get ready to travel solo with this one of a kind girls’ backpack!
Complete Your Look With The Stunning Girls’ Backpacks
Women and girls love bags. From cute backpacks to stylish tote bags, we need different bags for different occasions. Don’t you dream of owning a wardrobe full of bags? Well, you can shop for trendy and stylish girl’s backpacks from India’s most reliable store like Fastrack. They offer a wide variety of bags, shoulder bags and backpacks for girls in different designs and patterns.
Get ready to carry your world in a stylish backpack!
When I took the decision to set out on my musical journey, I knew that it would take monotonous practice to get there. So i started practicing like hell..I would just pick up my guitar or any other instrument and ramble on for hours. But did that made me good at them? Not at all.
Cause practicing hard doesn’t always mean that you are practicing the right way and learning new things. But I didn’t realize that. I would just grab my instrument and start singing my favorite songs and call it “practice”. And this showed in my playing skills too. I wasn’t able to play correctly. You too must’ve experienced this too while learning your instrument..So what’s the best way to tackle this problem? Well according to me, there a handful of solutions for how to practice your instrument the right way:
Create atmosphere:
Get the right set-up for you. Whether you prefer to concentrate in a quiet practice room or somewhere with more stimulation, try be consistent with your choice. This will help you enter the right mindset when you begin to practise.
Make sure you have everything you need close by: water, snacks, pencils, sharpeners, rubbers, highlighters, manuscript paper – it will save you a lot of time. Technology can also be an amazing aid, providing you don’t spend too much time faffing with it. Why not download free apps that act as a metronome, a tuner or a timer (all essential tools for practising)?
Warm up:
Male Teenage Pupil Playing Drums In Music Lesson
Like a physical workout, a warm-up is essential. But don’t just plough through the same warm-up routine every-time and let your mind wander – a warm-up isn’t just about getting your muscles moving. Take it as an opportunity to prepare your body and mind for work and take stock of how you’re feeling, how you’re breathing, the tension your body is holding and why you are doing that particular exercise.
Your warm-up doesn’t always have to be 15 minutes of scales; try different technical studies or sight reading. If you are going to do scales, consider the keys of the pieces you are rehearsing. And as a cool-down, revisit a piece of music you already know well and enjoy.
Be realistic :
We all grow up with our teachers telling us “don’t leave it until the night before”. We’ve all been guilty of it at some point, and if we have an intimidating part to practise, it is easy to push it to the back of our mind. However, it is much more effective to practise little and often, and slowly chip away at your nemesis day by day.
It’s about quality, not quantity. If you aim to practise smarter, not longer, you will find yourself with a lot more willpower to draw upon. By setting small and realistic goals, you will find you overcome tricky areas much easier, and you’ll be less likely to beat yourself up for not completing absolutely everything you had planned.
Pick a certain aspect concerning you, and then practice it:
Instead of mindlessly playing your instrument, pick a certain aspect of a piece or a song that you find difficult or intricate and practice it till perfection. Only practice the part you find difficult instead of playing through the piece again and again, Thus, saving time. Play through the whole thing when you think you’re done. This will not only increase your skill level but will also help you play intricate pieces with ease.
Instead of practicing for long hours, practice short. But between regular intervals.
This will be very useful to create a creative thought process during your practice sessions as longer practice sessions tend to create a negative environment for your creative mindset to work. But make sure to have regularity in your sessions. Maintain a fixed interval between your sessions. For example, practice half an hour to one hour between a 4-6 hour time frame. In this way you can practice multiple times a day and prevent straining yourself too much.
Plan your practice sessions by maintaining a list of what to practice:
Pick a few topics you want to cover during your practice sessions before you sit down to practice, saving time and thus, moving in planned way. This helped me a lot as i always used to search for things to practice – when i was practicing. So this wasted a lot of time which i could easily utilize in a productive manner if i pre-planned my sessions. Maintain a journal and make notes of topics to rehearse, and always keep a track.
Write on your music:
Don’t be afraid to scribble on your scores. Obviously some music does have to be treasured, but photocopy your score and do whatever it takes to make it easier to interpret the music. If you miss something once, make a mental note. But if it is a common occurrence then don’t be afraid to write in the correct fingering, highlight dynamics or remind yourself of a key change.
Set a time-frame where you just jam along
All work and no play makes jack a dull boy. So pick a time-frame where you just jam along your favorite song and just have some fun! Maybe you could record covers and post them on YouTube, social media etc and showcase your talent to the world! This will also help you assess yourself and will instill a sense of confidence in you. So jam along! Cause music is all about having fun and expressing yourself!
Try to practice with a friend rather than practicing alone:
Having Fun in Music Studio
Practicing your instrument with a friend is always better than practicing alone. Having a practice partner makes your sessions more fun and involving. You could always help each other out and maintain a collective creative process. It will increase the scope for learning new things and will pull you into the learning process. So go on! Call up your buddy and start learning and having fun!
So these were some tips on how to practice the right way. Which have benefited me and my musical abilities a lot. However, besides practicing techniques and strategies, some people still find it difficult to shoot up their creative abilities and get involved in the musical process. This is mostly due to lack of motivation and inspiration. Don’t worry, I’ve been there too. If you ever feel deprived of motivation, try learning and practicing your favorite songs first, songs which you love and just can’t help but put them on every playlist you make. This will get you involved and help set up a positive learning attitude in yourself. So don’t hesitate! Remember, PRACTICE will make you perfect and push your musical abilities far beyond you can imagine…
Mandodari is one of the lesser-known characters in the Ramayana. In many versions of Ramayana, her character is portrayed as a quite insignificant one. But here, I’m going to talk about the character of Mandodari in the context of her portrayal in Manini J. Anandani’s book, Mandodari, which is based upon Sanghadasa’s Jaina version of Ramayana. However, the book’s story is not strictly adhered solely to Sanghadasa’s Jaina version of Ramayana. It involves instances connecting other Jaina versions of Ramayana as well. The book, Mandodari talks about the life of Mandodari right from her birth uptil her marriage with Vibhisana.
Mandodari, although is a lesser-known character in most of the versions of Ramayana, she plays a pivotal role in the Indian mythology. She is remembered among the “all-time great women”. She counts among the Panchakanyas that are known as the five iconic heroines of Hindu epics. Following is the Panchakanya Sanskrit shloka:
Ahalya Draupadi Sita Tara Mandodari tatha I
Panchakanya smarennitya mahapataka nasini II
which means,
Ahalya, Draupadi, Sita, Tara and Mandodari
One should forever remember the panchakanya –
the destroyers of sins
There exists a well-known belief attached to the Panchakanya shloka. It is believed that even though the lives of all these panchakanyas were full of pain and misery, they tackled all the challenges and faced the worst of situations with extreme valour and courage. So, chanting this panchakanya shloka provides valour, composure and ability to deal with difficult situations to the women who recite it regularly.
Mandodari’s role in Ramayanas
Mandodari’s role in most of the Ramayanas is only limited to the wife of Ravana who never wanted him to go to the wrong path, and who always stood by his side, and who later married Vibhisana after the death of Ravana. But there’s a lot about her character that has often been overlooked. We know that after the death of Ravana, Mandodari married Vibhisana; but have we ever wondered that was she really interested in getting married to the man whom she believed to be responsible for her husband’s death?! She was a woman who truly loved her husband despite being ignored by him a myriad of times for other women. She can be considered as an epitome of tolerance. It is often said, “love is blind”. Mandodari proved that point.
According to some versions of Ramayana, it was love at first sight for both Ravana and Mandodari. Ravana got enamoured by one of the finest looking women in the universe, whereas Mandodari felt that Ravana’s aura was so magnetic that she could feel herself being pulled towards him even when she was barely paying any attention to his face. In Anandani’s Mandodari, about the first meeting with Ravana, Mandodari says, “My eyes were transfixed on him ever since I had stepped into the room, barely acknowledging the other people present there.” (p.6). When he looked at her for the first time, she says, “I felt a river running inside me.” (p.7). This proves that Mandodari got charmed by Ravana’s personality.
In the book, Mandodari, there’s a tale attached to Mandodari’s birth that once an apsara named Madhura wanted to appease Shiva. She reached Kailash when Shiva’s primary consort, Parvati was not around. The scent from her body aroused Shiva with lust, and he made love to her. When Parvati reached there, she cursed Madhura to turn into a frog and live in a well for twelve years. Shiva calmed his wife, and consoled Madhura by giving her a boon that “she would reincarnate as a beautiful woman and marry a great valorous king – one of Shiva’s own devotees”. Years later, an asura king called Mayasura along with his wife Hema was performing penance to seek Shiva’s favour to get blessed with a daughter as the couple was fed up of their ‘roguish sons’. Mayasura heard a child crying nearby, and found that there was a girl child lying in a nearby well. He and his wife rescued the child, and felt grateful to Shiva for answering their prayers. They adopted the child as their daughter, and named her as Mandodari.
Mandodari from the very beginning is portrayed as a beautiful and highly sensible princess. In her childhood, she used to settle all the fights between her brothers, Mayavi and Dundubhi with the help of her wit and intelligence. She completed most of her education by the age of twelve, where her education comprised physical training through Yoga, deva and asura history, a few Vedic texts for literary references, social science, culinary arts, engineering and different languages. She also learnt “an ethical code of conduct essential for a queen” (p.9). Apart from this, she used to help her father in his architecture designs and matters of state by sharing her opinions with him.
When Mandodari got married to Ravana, she was on cloud nine as it was a dream come true moment for her. She married the man whom she admired from the very moment she saw him. In addition, the title of the “Queen of Lanka” added more glory to her dream. She says, “coronation in Lanka was a divine ceremony that raised a monarch to godlike stature” (p.20). On her wedding night, Ravana says to Mandodari, “Mandodari, this journey of our life might not be easy for you. You were a princess, not a stranded offspring who was always given half-caste treatment. You may find it difficult to understand me at times but you have to trust my goals.” (p.22). To this, Mandodari replies, “I will not disappoint you, my lord. I am your wife; I will always stand by you.” (p.23). It can be said that these words stayed with Mandodari throughout her life. She always supported Ravana. No matter he brought a new wife within the two months of his marriage to Mandodari, she accepted his marriage blindly. In the beginning, she felt broken on knowing about Dhanyamalini (Ravana’s second wife), but later she accepts Ravana’s second marriage as “a negotiation done for diplomatic reasons” (p.29), for she was told that the marriage took place for political advancement which would be strengthening the rule of Ravana.
Mandodari’s words to herself, “a reigning queen should gracefully accept other wives taken by the king, so said the standardized code of conduct for queens” (p.30) signify her sorrow. It is worth noting here that it can be understood as an effort of a queen to suppress a wife. Although Mandodari did try to express her disapproval over Ravana’s affairs with other women, Ravana’s words like, “Mandodari, you don’t have to worry about the other women. You know I love you the most” (p.36) and “You will always be my first choice, Mandodari. Do not compare yourself with other women” (p.45) were always enough to tame her. Looking at the constant increase in the no. of the women being added in the Antapura aggrieved Mandodari’s soul to a great extent; but her words, “but I’ve now realized that there are marriages made in the interest of the state, marriages for political reasons and marriages for gaining allies” (p.38) reflect her state of mind. She chose to make a compromise with herself.
She was a dutiful woman, for she always tries to cover her husband’s faults. For instance, when Ravana killed his sister Meenakshi’s husband, she instead of condoling Meenakshi, asks her to behave properly with her brother. She says, “Decorum, Meenakshi! This is not the way to speak to your king!” (p.157). Apart from this, there are instances like, Ravana’s decision to undergo a surgery to get elixir placed inside his body, Ravana’s decision to go to Sita’s swayamvara, later his decision to abduct Sita, and his idea of having a war with Rama. Mandodari was against Ravana at all these times, but she chose to support him as she says, “I didn’t want to infuriate him any further lest he stopped seeing me. Hence, I had to blindly support him in most of his decisions.” (p.47).
Some feminist critics argue that Mandodari suits the image of “the angel in the house”. The term called “the angel in the house” applies to such women who are “passive and powerless, meek, charming, graceful, sympathetic, self-sacrificing, pious, and above all – pure”. Mandodari was indeed a charming, graceful, sympathetic, self-sacrificing, pious, and completely pure lady. However, in several versions of Ramayana, she isn’t directly portrayed as a passive, powerless and meek woman. In Sanghadasa’s Jaina version of Ramayana, Mandodari’s decision to give birth to her firstborn without letting Ravana get a hint, and later telling him boldly that Sita is his daughter just a day before when he was to step in the battlefield to fight with Rama shows that Mandodari was an independent woman who feared none. These instances oppose the idea of Mandodari being a meek woman. She was a woman of free-will, who knew how to assert her rights. However, she always felt weak in front of Ravana’s love and affection for her. Ravana’s words like, “You know I love you the most” (p. 36) and “You will always be my first choice, Mandodari” (p.45) always proved to be her weakness.
At times, Mandodari is portrayed as a double-minded woman too. She often felt confused regarding what exactly does she want. For instance, when Ravana goes to Sita’s swayamvara, she wanted him not to win and get another wife. But when he loses the contest, she genuinely feels bad that her husband has lost the contest. Apart from this, there’s a possibility that Ravana might have started to transform after his defeat at Sita’s swayamvara. He wanted to win that contest mainly for getting Shiva’s bow. But his defeat was a huge shock to him. It made him introspect over his faults and flaws. He asks Mandodari, “Do you think it was my arrogance that failed me? How have I changed, Mandodari?” (p.153). Mandodari, at this point, could have helped him realize the faults and flaws in his character, but instead, she supports him, and says, “Arrogance is now one of your characteristics, Lankeshwar, and it makes you who you are.” (p.153).
Whenever Mandodari felt like opposing Ravana, she satiated herself with the status of being Ravana’s prime consort. She wanted to be considered a perfect “queen”. It can be said that in her efforts to prove as the well-deserving cum perfect queen of Lanka, she failed as a wife. There are several instances highlighted in Anandani’s Mandodari that in a way prove that Mandodari had full control over Ravana’s life. For example, once Ravana gave orders to kill a dasi’s husband when she refused to submit to his sexual demands. This makes Mandodari very angry, and she decides to leave Ravana. This makes Ravana restless. He stops his orders and begs to Mandodari to forgive him and stay.
Another instance which proves the importance of Mandodari in Ravana’s life is Mandodari’s suicide attempt. Once in Ravana’s absence, Mandodari, on the order of Mata Kaikesi allowed Rishi Gritsamada to complete his tapasya in the Shanti Bhavan premises. As Ravana was a half-caste, so he had suffered constant mockery and condemnation at the hands of Brahmin sages. This made him detest the entire Brahmin race. On knowing about Rishi Gritsamada, Ravana orders Mandodari to ask him to leave Ravana’s place immediately. As Rishi Gritsamada was doing a special experiment using a pot filled with milk and grass to invoke Goddess Lakshmi, in which she was expected to dwell, so he requests Mandodari to let him complete the experiment as he can’t change his place during the experiment. He explains, “I will implant a living cell from this pot into a woman’s womb. I will bring her (Goddess Lakshmi) up as my daughter and she will restore balance on earth.” (p.91). When Mandodari tells the same to Ravana and asks him to let Gritsamada stay at their place for a few days, so Ravana becomes furious and kills Gritsamada. When Mandodari opposes him, he starts doubting her chastity by saying “And why are you so hurt? Were you fond of him?” (p.94). This enrages Mandodari, and in order to end her life, she reaches for the contents of the pot and drinks the potion, and collapses. This fills Ravana with terror. When Mandodari gains consciousness after two days, she finds Ravana guilty and shameful. He apologizes for his actions by saying, “I am deeply sorry for whatever happened. It is entirely my fault.” (p.97). He shows his fear and concern as he says, “I never imagined that my anger could take your life! I almost lost you!” (p.97). This shows that Ravana genuinely cared for Mandodari, and he was unable to imagine his life without her. But it’s just that he was often blinded by his lust.
It might be possible that if Mandodari would have genuinely tried to stop Ravana, then he might have changed, but it’s just that she never bothered to control his actions in real. However, one may argue that Mandodari oftentimes tried to stop Ravana when he was planning to fight with Rama; also, she many-a-times tried to persuade Ravana to return Sita to her husband. But there exists a huge difference between trying to stop someone mere verbally, and doing some efforts to stop that person in real. Mandodari only and always tried to stop Ravana with her words, and not with her actions. Perhaps she believed that as a wife it was her duty to tell her husband that what’s wrong and what’s right, but as a queen she shouldn’t interfere in the matters of the king as a queen must have faith that whatever the king will do will be in the welfare of his kingdom and people.
From the time of Mandodari’s marriage with Ravana, it was infused in her that she was meant to be a queen. At the time of asking for Mandodari’s opinion in regard to Ravana’s proposal, her father directly said to her, “You are destined to be the queen of Lanka. You are destined to marry a great king of these times.” (p.14). So, one may argue that it was never Mandodari’s fault that she was more conscious regarding her status as a queen rather than her status as a wife. It was all because she was always taught indirectly that if she fails as a wife, then it may be acceptable; but if she fails as a queen, then it cannot be acceptable at all.
In conclusion, it can be said that it is tragic to note that although it is a major flaw in Mandodari’s character that she did nothing in real to control Ravana’s actions, yet one may conclude that she was suffering out of her fate. The expectations of people from Mandodari, the queen of Lanka led her to compromise with Mandodari, the primary consort of Ravana. Apart from this, it is ironic to note that throughout her life, Mandodari abhorred the idea of marriage as a political necessity; but after Ravana’s death, she herself was forced to marry Vibhisana as it was a political necessity for Lanka’s welfare. Mandodari, like all of us, couldn’t escape her fate. Her fate made a mockery out of her character.
They say the best comes from the best. This particularly applies to the best guitars in the world. Guitars are one of the most popular and loved instruments of the world. And while choosing one for yourself, you want it to be from the top makers of this instrument. These brands have been in the business for a lot of time and are leading experts in guitar-making. The quality they provide is unmatched by any other brand… However, the more beautiful guitars they make, the more pricey they get! But in order to get premium quality, you need to pay a hefty price. It’s a direct relationship.. But for beginners, i would recommend to invest in a slightly lower and cheaper model and then subsequently increase your budget and save up for a premium one as your skills develop and you gain experience in the art.
Talking about the brands, their guitars are used and recommended by legendary guitar players like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Slash, Don Felder, BB King..etc.. These were the most influential guitar players ever and their choice could never be wrong..
So here are the top 10 best guitar brands in the world :
1. Fender
Ahh! the makers of the all time favorite Stratocaster! The Stratocaster models were widely used by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher. The American strings manufacturer was also the creator of the Telecaster. The Fender Telecaster is one of the best electric guitar models ever. With its rich tone and bright sound, it is truly an experience to own one of these. Fender was originally a radio technicians company, founded in 1938. Slowly making its transition to manufacturing stringed instruments, it became a giant in the industry. However, these guitars do come with a high cost, quite literally. But Fender also makes affordable premium guitars with extraordinary quality. Making it a true pioneer of guitars in this era.
Check out some guitars by Fender :
Fender Deluxe P-Bass Special.
Fender Mexican Standard Telecaster.
Fender Deluxe Stratocaster HSS Plus Top with iOS Connectivity.
Fender Standard Stratocaster.
Fender American Standard Telecaster.
Fender Standard Jazz master HH.
2.Gibson
An American guitar manufacturer, Gibson is a brand associated with extremely high quality guitars. Based out of Nashville, this company has been in business since 1894. Home to the famous Les Paul, the highly acclaimed guitar, Gibson has provided to various legendary musicians like Jimmy Page, Slash, Bob Marley, etc. Although in recent times, the company is suffering due to declining business, it is still a brand you can trust with your eyes closed.Beware of the high costs though.Here are some guitars by Gibson you can look out for :
C. F. Martin & Co.® has been Inspiring Musicians Worldwide® for nearly two centuries with their superior guitar and string products. Martin guitars and strings remain the choice for musicians around the world for their unrivaled quality, craftsmanship, and tone. Throughout the company’s long history, Martin products can be seen and heard across all genres of music and in all segments of pop culture, from concert and theater stages to television and movies.The list of Martin players includes such legends as Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, John Mayer and countless others. Here are some guitars by Martin you can look out for :
Martin D-28.
Martin D-18E.
Martin DX1RAE.
Martin DRS1 Dreadnought.
Martin DRS2 Dreadnought.
Martin LX.
4.Epiphone
Epiphone is one of American’s oldest and most revered instrument makers. The name Epiphone evokes both history and the spirit of invention. The story behind Epiphone’s improbable rise from a small family repair shop to a worldwide leader in the manufacture of quality instruments could easily be transformed into the great American novel.Jazz greats like George Van Eps, country pioneers like Hank Garland, bluesman John Lee Hooker, and scores of mandolin, archtop and steel guitar players used Epiphone instruments.The Beatles’ bassist extraordinaire Paul McCartney choose an Epiphone Casino as his first American made guitar. Here are some guitars by Epiphone you can look out for :
1 Epiphone Les Paul SL Starter Pack.
2 Epiphone Limited Edition ES-335 PRO Electric Guitar.
3 Epiphone Les Paul Standard PlusTop PRO Electric Guitar.
4 Epiphone Limited Edition Slash Les Paul Standard PRO Anaconda Burst.
5 Epiphone DR-100 Acoustic Guitar Black.
5.Ibanez
Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki.As of 2017 they marketed nearly 165 models of bass guitar, 130 acoustic guitars, and more than 300 electric guitars. It was one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass-produce the seven-string guitar and eight-string guitar.People like Paul Gilbert, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani played Ibanez guitars.Here are some guitars by Ibanez you can look out for :
Ibanez GRGA120MGS GIO RGA Electric Guitar.
Ibanez S670QM S Series Electric Guitar Sapphire Blue.
Ibanez JEMJRWH Steve Vai Signature 6-String.
Ibanez AM53 AM Artcore Semi-Hollow.
Ibanez RG Series RG450DX – Starlight Blue.
6.Taylor
Taylor Guitars was founded in 1974 by Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug, and has grown into the leading global builder of premium acoustic guitars. Renowned for blending modern, innovative manufacturing techniques with a master craftsman’s attention to detail, Taylor acoustic guitars are widely considered among the best-sounding and easiest to play in the world.The company is a pioneer in the use of computer mills, lasers and other high-tech tools and proprietary machinery, and today, Bob Taylor is widely recognized throughout the musical instrument industry as the visionary acoustic guitar manufacturer.Here are some guitars by Taylor you can look out for :
Taylor GS Mini-E Koa (Editor’s Choice)
Taylor GS Mini-E Mahogany Acoustic-Electric Guitar.
Taylor 214ce Deluxe Grand Auditorium Guitar.
Taylor 150e – Dreadnought 12 String Guitar.
Taylor GS Mini-E RW Guitar.
7.Yamaha
Since 1887, when it began producing reed organs, the Yamaha Corporation in Japan (then Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd.) has grown to become the world’s largest manufacturer of a full line of musical instruments.Its products and services are recognized the world over for superior quality in acoustics, design, technology, craftsmanship, and customer oriented services. These products and services under the brand name of Yamaha are highly regarded by a large number of professionals, institutions, business people within the related industries, and consumers. Famous guitarists like Bob Dylan and Bob Marleyplayed a Yamaha guitar.Here are some guitars by Yamaha you can look for.
Yamaha JR1 FG Junior 3/4 Size Acoustic Guitar.
Yamaha FS800 Small Body Solid Top Acoustic Guitar, Natural.
Yamaha FG800 Solid Top Acoustic Guitar.
Yamaha C40 Full Size Nylon-String Classical Guitar, Tan.
8.Jackson
Jackson is a manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson. Owned by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Jackson has manufacturing facilities in the US, Mexico, Indonesia, and China.From the earliest beginnings until the present day, Jackson guitars are known for theirslender, elegant designs, and feature aggressive motifs popular with hard rock and metal musicians.Jackson also trademarked its ‘shark fin’ inlays, which inspired other famous guitar companies such as Ibanez to follow suit with similar designs.Here are some guitars by Jackson you can look for.
Jackson JS22-7 Dinky – Satin Black.
Jackson JS22 Single Cut – Satin Black.
Dinky DKA-M – Gloss Black Jackson JS32.
Jackson JS11 Dinky – Black.
Jackson JS32 Warrior – Satin Black.
9.Seagull
In 1982 Robert Godin produced the first Seagull guitars . The concept for the Seagull guitar was to take the essential components of the best hand-crafted guitars and build these features into guitars that could be priced within the reach of working musicians.All of the Seagull guitars are made in Canada from start to finish, by sustainably sourced wood from their own backyard in a controlled manner.Here are some guitars by Seagull you can look for.
Seagull Artistic Mosaic.
Seagull Natural Elements Standard Dreadnought. …
Seagull Coastline Cutaway Dreadnought. …
Seagull Entourage Rustic CW Q1 GT. …
10.PRS
Located in Stevensville, Maryland, Paul Reed Smith Guitars is one of the world’s premier guitar and amplifier manufacturers. Guitar and amplifier building are very personal things there, as most of them are dedicated players, refining their craft as builders, musicians, and artists of all kinds. Their deep commitment to the craft and their culture of quality are what drives PRS in the workplace and the marketplace.Here are some guitars by PRS you can look for.
PRS SE Zach Myers Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar
Paul Reed Smith Guitars ST24VC SE Standard 24 Electric Guitar
Paul Reed Smith Guitars 245STVC SE 245 Standard Electric Guitar
Paul Reed Smith Guitars 245STTS SE 245 Standard Electric Guitar.
SO THESE WERE THE TOP 10 BEST GUITAR BRANDS RECOMMENDED AND PREFERRED BY EVERY PROFESSIONAL GUITARIST IN THE WORLD. HOPE YOU FOUND IT USEFUL.
Have you recently decided that you want to pursue your passion for music, but have no idea where to start? Even if your end goal is to sign with a major music label, I think you still need to apply these steps. Just know that in the current climate of the music industry, thanks to the internet, you are no longer dependent on music labels to make a career in music, especially the majors. You have the freedom to do it yourself.
If you have chosen to become a professional singer or songwriter, congrats for choosing one of the most difficult professions. But that’s not a problem if you are determined and are willing to work.
So, let’s get started. First of all, let’s talk about the profession “SINGER/SONGWRITER”. Then some ideas including some tips and steps which I hope will help you.
WHO IS A SINGER/SONGWRITER ?
Most singer/songwriter records have a similar sound, which is usually spare, direct, and reflective, which places the emphasis on the song itself. James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and Joni Mitchell were the quintessential singers/songwriters of the ’70s, and most of the songwriters that followed them based themselves on their styles.
According to me, what we believe affects how we think which affects our behaviors and how we act which affects our results. [ Beliefs — Thinking — Behaviors — Actions — Results ]. I’ve heard music industry people say ‘it’s really difficult to make it in the music business’ and conversely I’ve also heard other music industry people say ‘there’s never been a better time to have a career as an artist’.
So if you really want to accomplish your dreams of becoming a singer or a songwriter, START BELIEVING that you can. This is the first and the most important step.
Let’s talk about the elements that you would require to start your career.
1. Good singing voice
You really need to have a good singing voice if you have to become a singer. So if you are one of them, you are really very lucky. Even if you are not, no need to worry because you can improve your voice by practice as many of the greatest singers did.
2. Basic recording equipment
You gotta have the basic recording gear which is available with ease. These include a budget laptop, recording mic and a software to edit your creations. Yes, that’s all you require to start to record stuff.
3. Basic music theory
You have to learn this; it’s one of the most essential things needed. You can learn from various sources like you can surf the internet or you can learn from the Youtube. It’s entirely up to you.
4. An instrument
Learning to play a musical instrument has so many benefits – whether it’s building your confidence, enhancing your memory or widening your social circle. Playing and succeeding at a musical instrument gives you a huge sense of pride and achievement, especially when you manage to perfect a passage you’ve been struggling with for weeks. It also helps to write better songs and provides some insight in the song development.
Social media for singers has become one of the most significant platforms for self-promotion. It’s important to use them wisely. Produce great content and you’ll spread the word about yourself as a musician far and wide. Social media is vital for promoting yourself, engaging with your fans and creating a brand.
Now as that you have the essentials, let’s get started. Here are some steps for you that I believe are the basic stepping stones for your career.
1. FIND YOUR INSPIRATION
Look into your own life, your surroundings, and people that you look up to in order to find your muse for writing lyrics. Find a subject you are passionate about. If you like country music, learn about Hank Williams; if its pop, study Elvis. Study hit songs to understand how they are constructed.
2. WRITE YOUR IDEAS DOWN
Once you have found your inspiration, keep some sort of journal. You never know when lyrics may come to you — you could be on the subway, at a park, or in school, and you don’t want to forget what comes to you! If you keep singing a chorus or melody line over and over your head, record it as soon as you can, so that you don’t lose it!
3. KNOW YOUR GOALS
You may know that you want to “make it” in the music industry, but what exactly does making it look like? Focus on short-term goals first.
If you’re a musician who has never played a show before, maybe getting an opening slot at a local show within the next three months is your first objective.If you would like to start a label, choosing a name and doing the paperwork required to start a business within the next six weeks is a good first step.
4. CRAFT YOUR SONG
Most successful songs have 2-3 verses and 2-3 choruses. What do you want people to feel and think when they hear your songs? While there is no absolute right way to write a song, many people start out with writing meaningful lyrics, and then putting chords or melody to the words.
5. TEST YOUR SONGS
So, you think you have your song completed and ready to put out there? I suggest performing your song live — at an open mic or a talent show — to get all the kinks out, and to see how an audience reacts to it. Or you may want to start out simple by playing it for your friends and family, since performing original material in front of a live audience can be nerve-wracking!
6. ESTABLISH YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE
If you come off as amateurish, people can subconsciously associate you with lower quality and someone not worthy of attention. This is why having good quality visual components (photos, graphics, videos) is key to a strong online presence.
When starting out, invest in a professional photographer to get high-quality photos of yourself, or band, that you use for your bio, website and social media. Make sure to communicate with them and plan out how the specific shots are going to be used ahead of time.
7. RECORD YOUR CREATIONS
Now it’s time to record your songs! With technology today, it’s easy to record your own songs with the right computer software and a decent quality microphone.
8. BUILD LEVERAGE
Sometimes it can take that one popular tastemaker, blogger or influencer to get you the publicity and exposure you need to get your career going. They have a large audience and can get your name out there to accelerate the growth of your fan base. For most artists, a random request to these individuals asking for promotion will often get ignored. So how do you get their attention? Think about what’s in it for them. How does talking about you or promoting your music benefit them?
9. COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS
It’s fun to collaborate and write with other musicians! Sometimes writing lyrics may be your strongest skill, while it may be a weak point for someone else who is better at writing the instrumental part. Many famous singers collaborate in this way.
By collaborating with others, you may find someone that truly understands your music perspective and where you want to take your music, which can be an important asset for you in your career as a singer-songwriter.
10. PITCH YOUR MUSIC
Once you are confident in your original song, it’s time to pitch your music to the industry! This is not easy and won’t happen overnight, but with technology today, you do have an advantage of getting your music heard and seen by important music industry professionals.
One way is by submitting your music online to a music catalog. Many TV shows and commercial companies will look through these production libraries to find songs for their needs, and yours could be exactly what they are looking for!
Everyone has a different journey and different conditions, but these are some basic steps which I hope will be of some help to you. Keep dreaming and keep working on your dreams; you’ll get there eventually.
College is a place for learning, but it does not have to be all about going to classes and studying. Yes, this is a major part of a school, but there are also things to do to be able to enjoy yourself. Here are a few suggestions on how to better enjoy your college years.
Involve Yourself in Extracurricular Activities
If you have a hobby, chances are that there is a club that caters to your interests. They could be formal organizations with a national charter or they could be informal gatherings of like-minded students. Look for advertisements hung on the walls of the cafeteria, dorm buildings, other common areas. They could also have pages on social media sites so look there as well. If you cannot find a club for the things that you are into, why not start one?
Take Elective Classes
Most universities require you to take elective classes. These are classes that you choose, basically whatever class the school offers, as long as it can fit into your schedule. While some students stick to subjects that correlate with their major of study, others take classes that are more fun. You can enroll in art classes, music, or even less traditional classes such as scuba tasting or wine tasting.
Don’t Stop at Your Bachelor’s Degree
If you really want to get the most from your college education, don’t stop after 4 years. To excel in your chosen profession, go for your graduate degree and really take your education to the next level. If you are nervous about how you may pay for this after already going through 4 years of school, there’s no need to worry. You can apply for a private student loan to cover the costs of schooling and any additional expenses you may incur by further pursuing your education.
Don’t Forget About Sports
If you play sports, then you already know the appeal of sports in college. Not only does it get you great recognition, but it is a great way to pay for a portion of your college through scholarships. However, even if you are not a start athlete you can still enjoy sports. Going to games or other sporting events is a great way to meet new people and possibly make new friends. It can also increase your enthusiasm for your school in general
Get a Job That’s Relevant
One thing to remember is that, while it is important to have a job while you are in college, it is even more important to have a job that is relevant to what your major is. While working in the cafeteria may help pay some of your bills, it is not going to help you in the world, unless you plan on working in a food service job. Try to network as much as possible, this will be the way to find the type of job that you need to have. Working at a relevant job is also a wise idea because you may end up getting your foot in the door of a place you want to go further in.
Remember to Take A Break
When there are breaks in your schedule, remember to actually take one. While dedication to your future is admirable, if taken to the extreme it can also lead to burnout. Go back home to see old friends, go on a vacation in another state or even another country, or just relax and read or work on art projects.
As nowadays when everyone is approaching cloud services then you can see the name of two big industry giants comes into light. The first is AWS or Amazon AWS other one is Microsoft Azure.
Are you also having some doubts about these services?
Usually, users get confused that if both of them are providing cloud solutions so which cloud service they have to choose between Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure.
Are you looking for upgrades also?
I know Users often want to know how they can upgrade using cloud services. So in this topic, I am going to help you to understand both of these cloud solutions and suggest you the best one according to your team requirements so that you can choose the appropriate one.
So without wasting a single second let’s begin with the topic discussion.
First of all, start with the first thing that what is Amazon AWS, and how it works?
The Amazon web services exist earlier than Microsoft Azure. Amazon is providing a high range of profit through its cloud services. Being a toolset it is growing at a fast rate.
Are you familiar with the types of service Amazon provides? I will help you to understand it.
Amazon supports three types of services such as platform as service, Software as service, and Infrastructure as service. Amazon provides four services such as compute, content delivery and storage, Networking, and database. The released period for Amazon is the year 2006.
Now let’s understand and discuss all your doubts about Microsoft Azure.
Microsoft Azure is made available by Microsoft in the year 2010 and is also known as Windows Azure. You can access various services like analytics, networking, storage, and cloud services using Microsoft Azure.
It provides two types of services. First is Platform as service & second is infrastructure as service. The services provided by Microsoft Azure are data management, networking, compute, and performance.
But which service suits best for your business depends on your system requirements.
Do you still doubt that which service is best AWS or Azure?
So ok, I am here to clear your doubts.
On comparing you can consider that both of them are quite similar in providing the services. They even do perform the same type of functions and similar tasks in various areas.
You can consider both of them provide various cloud services like self-service, auto-scaling, compliance, and security. But on average you can say the services provided by Amazon are quite more as compared to Microsoft Azure.
If you talk about the computing power that is an important need for any IT industry you will prefer cloud service that supports high horsepower. The Amazon services make use of EC2 that is elastic cloud computing.
Maybe you are thinking about what elasticity means in the context of cloud service?
From the elastic keyword, you can understand that such a cloud can allow resources to grow or shrink according to need. The AWS EC2 can also configure virtual machines themselves or use already configured machines.
But the Microsoft Azure has to make use of VHD to create a virtual machine. The main difference is EC2 of AWS has various options available for scalability while Azure has to take the help of other tools so that they can deploy applications.
Another point while choosing any cloud service is storage. In this area, both of these platforms are best. AWS makes use of machine instances to provide temporary storage. You can either create a storage instance or destroy it later.
But the Microsoft Azure provides the storage through D drive and block storage. It provides hot and cool storage. The object size of AWS is 5TB while Azure has 4.75 TB.
If you talk about the database point both of these platforms support a robust database.
Amazon is compatible with various database engines say Amazon Aurora, MariaDB, MySQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL, and PostgreSQL.
On the other hand, Azure is supporting only the Microsoft SQL database. The Azure platform provides a user-friendly interface to work using which you can easily write database queries.
Azure and Amazon provide their users with well-maintained firewall services so that users can extend the data center premise. Azure makes use of a virtual network while Amazon provides security through a virtual private cloud.
Last but not least I hope you might have a pricing question? Is that so? Ok so let me tell you about it.
I know the most important factor is the price. Amazon charges its users as per hour use and you can buy instances. The pricing strategy of Amazon is based on per-minute use. You can also use monthly plans. Along with that you also get more services like BT MPLS Express route pricing.
In conclusion, you can say both of these platforms are equally strong as they are proving good services. The only point is that AWS came earlier in the market for proving cloud services.
Various organizations over the globe trust Microsoft’s solution more as it is available everywhere.
The companies integrate easily with Azure as compared to AWS. The only shortcoming of Azure is that it is just young than AWS and not much enterprise-ready. The only issue with AWS is its price that is quite high.
So through all of this information provided, you can choose the best cloud solution for your industry requirement. Both of these cloud services have their advantages and disadvantages but the important thing is that we have to analyze the technology fact also. So overall I can say that it is very difficult to put the question on any of the service providers.
Yet I can say Microsoft Azure is the first choice of many industry oriented organizations as it allows others to learn about their services and even provides good services. In my opinion, if you need infrastructure as a service you can use Amazon service.
If your requirement is for windows integration or says platform as service you can opt for Microsoft Azure. Hope the article is quite informative for you. Thanks for reading.
What is the difference between Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS?
Are you having queries regarding AWS and Amazon? See here is an answer to it. The Amazon web services exist earlier than Microsoft Azure. Amazon is providing a high range of profit through its cloud services. Being a toolset it is growing at a fast rate.
In other words, Microsoft Azure is provided by Microsoft in the year 2010 and is also known as Windows Azure. You can access various services like analytics, networking, storage, and cloud services using Microsoft Azure.
Both of them are quite popular in the industry. AWS is up to some extent easy configure the VMS while Azure has to choose the virtual hard disk itself. AWS makes use of temporary storage using instances while Azure uses block storage temporarily.
You might be pretty unsure about the better cloud service for you. But you can say both of these platforms are equally strong as they are providing good services. The only point is that AWS came earlier in the market for cloud services.
Various organizations over the globe trust Microsoft’s solution more as it is available everywhere. The companies integrate easily with Azure as compared to AWS.
The only shortcoming of Azure is that it is just young than AWS and not much enterprise-ready. The only issue with AWS is its price that is a bit high.
Also, I make your understanding clear about AWS and Azure by sharing some examples as follows:
NASA is using the AWS cloud for storage purposes. Even AWS provided an alert for the floods in Cambodia. So the nonprofit organizations prefer AWS.
But that does not mean Azure has less value. It is used in Weka Smart Fridge for vaccination storage.
Which has more jobs AWS or Azure?
You have to understand that the job market keeps on changing as per demand in the industry. Various surveys related to Job search and Job Postings keep on vary as per the yearly analysis.
But you can also say that Microsoft Azure and AWS are giving a tight competition to each other. Search results for AWS kept on decreasing. But there is a bounce in Microsoft Azure.
As I mentioned that the market keeps on changing means you can say that in recent scenarios the top platform is AWS while Microsoft Azure is ranking next to AWS.
Is Azure easier than AWS?
I think being an IT person you may also have the query that is it easy to learn Azure or AWS. In a few surveys, the overall result came out. It tells you that if you are from a windows background then you can easily learn Microsoft Azure as you are already familiar with the Microsoft technologies.
Few other people feel that Microsoft Azure is a bit easy in starting but later it get complicated to figure out. The main advantage of AWS is that it is easy and simple as nice documentation is provided related to AWS.
So I think you have to once do a complete analysis of your requirements and interest.
Is AWS certification worth it 2020?
One has to take AWS certification if any only if you have interest and knowledge in that field. I even want to add in a very important point that means certification is having all the things related to theory only and very little or no practical at all.
So the task of design any solution in AWS is quite different or difficult as compared to having AWS certification because in the interview the questions will be asked for real working and not for theory. If you are having an interested in taking the certification you have to spend at least 80 or 120 hours for study.
