VEGETARIANS
Don't Have A Cow
Need we add more than Saint Tiruvalluvar's provocation in his Tirukural 2,000 years ago, "How can he practice true compassion who eats the flesh of an animal to fatten his own flesh?" Well, carnivors need a lot of convincing to end their muscle-munching and gristle-grinding, as well as alternatives dropped on their plate. Vegetarian Resource Group (www.vrg.org) does just that. Feast on recipes from "Low-fat Indian Cuisine" to "A Taste From the Andes." Wondering how to get enough nutrition? Essays like "Healthy Fast Food for Pre-Schoolers" tell you how. Peaceful Palate and Meatless Meals for Working People are among numerous great books. You can sign up for free e-mail news or subscribe to the magazine Vegetarian Journal (some articles posted on-line.) Eating out or traveling often? Learn how to take a "Vegetarian Vacation," or where to get the best vegie meals in US and Canadian restaurants. Last but not least, find out just how pro a vegetarian you are by playing the "Vegetarian Game"–it throws some tough questions at you. Bon appetit!
CD-ROM
The Wisdom Weaver
Sweet are the sounds of the flute and the lute, say those who have not heard the prattle of their own children." This beautiful couplet is from the 1,330-verse Tirukural, a revered scripture in Hinduism. Two thousand years ago the weaver Saint Tiruvalluvar etched the nature of virtue, wealth and love on ola leaves with a stylus. Could he have imagined they would later be digitally etched on round plastic "leaves"? Well, it's finally here. Each verse is chanted in Tamil, written in English and Tamil, and accompanied by a painting. US$39. Windows only. Write: Caltron Pte Ltd., 9 Kallang Place, #01-09, Singapore 339154, Phone: 65-295-2323. E-mail: caltron@signet.com.sg
SOCIETY
Time Traveler
If you love history and ancient civilizations, the elegant Harappa website (www.harappa.com) will keep you digging far into the night with its "glimpses of South Asia before 1947." You'll browse through hundreds of rare photos and postcards of India and Sri Lanka, listen to numerous sound clips of Mahatma Gandhi and other independence giants and watch movies of their struggles, as you witness the people who freed India. Tour the Harappa and Mohenjo-daro cities in the Indus Valley through slides of excavations, computer landscape maps and even a 3-D movie recreating a walk through a Harappan gateway.
KUMBHA MELA
Memoirs
Didn't have time to visit the pilgrimage spot for 1998? Not a problem. A great website (www.smsu.edu/contrib/relst/kumbhmela.html [http://www.smsu.edu/contrib/relst/kumbhmela.html] ) by Mela fan J. E. Llewellyn brings on-location photos and interviews right to your computer. Professor at Missouri State University, he documents religious centers in Haridwar, what happens at the festival, what the pilgrims do and why, major spiritual leaders present and roles played by Haridwar's permanent residents. Print the web pages to show and brag to your friends about the world's largest human gathering!