u/Over_Team_8834

I'm going to take some online dance classes, three days a week, during the academic year. I searched for room reservations, and they're almost exclusively for studying. Is there any way to find a room to dance, pretty early in the morning? I think the dance studios would be booked exclusively by the clubs, and I don't have any info on that. Help!

Hello! I'm trying to learn a particular song by Dr Balamurali Krishna. It's called Sri Natesa, set to ragam Vijayasaraswati. Unfortunately, I am not well-versed in Sanskrit. I only have the romanised lyrics, which I'll attach below. The words in brackets are my attempts at translation! Any help is appreciated.

PALLAVI :

SHRI NATESHA CHITHPRAKASHA

(Oh, god of dance, whose consciousness is illuminated)

SHRI THRIPURA SUMDARESHA

(Ruler of the three worlds)

SHRITHAPALANA ARDHACHANDRA

(Protector of refugees, wearing the half moon)

GANGADHARA SARVESHA.

(Wearing the flowing Ganga)

ANUPALLAVI :

BHANUKODI BHASWANTHA

(with the brilliance of a million suns)

BHOGI BHOOSHANA SABHESHA

(decorated with snakes)

BHAGYADAYI MAAMODHARA

(bestow me fortune, protect/uplift me)

SHAMBHO SHANKARA PARESHA.

(bring joy, remove pain/obstacles, o supreme lord)

CHARANAM :

MURALI JHALLARI DAMARUKA

MRIDANGA NADA VASHYAM

(rules over the sounds of flute, tambourine, dhamaru, drum)

SHARANAGATHA BHAKTHANAM

(those who have surrendered as your devotee)

THAVA DARSANAM RAHASYAM

(your auspicious sight is a mystery)

NIRATHAM THAVA KARUNAMAYA

(you are always merciful)

VEEKSHANAM AVASHYAM.

(Sight is required)

(your merciful gaze should be upon everyone)

NADAROOPAM THWAMASI SHABDAROOPAM THWAMASI

(you are sound, speech/words)

GEETHAROOPAM THWAMASI THALAROOPAM THWAMASI

(you are music, beat/jathi)

NATTYAROOPAM THWAMASI VEDAROOPAM THWAMASI

(you are dance, Vedas)

THWAMEVA SARVA THATHWAMASI

(You only are everything / you are the essence of all existence)

CHIDAMBARAM PARAM VARAM AMBARAM VARAM RAM

(sky of consciousness, supreme, boon, sky, boon, joy)

RAM VARAM AMBARAM VARAM PARAM CHIDAMBARAM

(joy, boon, sky, boon, supreme, sky of consciousness)

Thank you u/away-royal5457 for the Amrita Sher-gil card! It's perfect for pride month, since she's regarded as a contemporary queer artist. And many thanks for the botanical stickers as well!!!

I didn't know that cars and bicycles were invented in Mannheim! Do they have a dedicated museum for it, there? I would love to visit, if that's the case. I have a soft spot for those!

Thank you u/potential_virus for the beautiful Sailor Moon card! I love the way that you decorated it with the rabbit and moon-themed stickers as well- they match the card's print so well. And thank you for the music recommendations. They seem familiar despite the fact that I've never heard these songs. It'll be quite the experience!

Thank you to u/Kiva37 for the literal sun 🌞 flower card! I love the whimsy of it so much! I'm also noticing the special cancellation on the stamp, it's of a dog!

Thank you for your recommendation! The Matches seem pretty interesting, and I'll be sure to check it out! I'm currently enjoying Somnias a Luna by Hoyo-MiX and Insect Song by Elke ft Carter Ace. Oh, as well as Mokshamu Galada by Agam- it's a rock spin on an Indian carnatic song. Heads up, it does have religious roots (Hindu, if you'd like to know), and regardless, it's very catchy!

A big thank you to u/Beneficial-Ant2217 for the Toy Story 2 concept art! I had to run to my sibling (who's studying animation, by the way), and we got excited over it together!

I love how the envelope is decorated, with the holographic rose washi, and the beautiful wax seal! I had to carefully snip the side of the envelope because it's so beautiful!

And thank you for the huge sticker bomb! I was on the floor, trying not to laugh because I up turned the envelope and they all fell down! The card saying "You make the world a better place" is going into my wallet. The stickers are going straight into my new academic notebooks! I'm especially saving the stag-horn beetle sticker and the flower stickers for my entomology and biology classes! And the book for my philosophy one!! Thank you again!!

Thank you to u/Glass_Increase_6661 for the beautiful handmade card! I love the scrapbook-eque feel of it, as well as your lovely doodles of birds, vines and ladybugs! I also noticed the dragonfly hole punches. Your handwriting is such a treat to my eyes, too!

I appreciate how you've also added the country flags to each song, indicating their origin. It's going to be such a treat listening to your favourite songs!

(Alas, someone tore off the stamp on the envelope, which is incredibly frustrating! Perhaps a wayward philatelist. Well, I hope they are happy with the find, though.)

u/bananas3706 Thank you for the cheesy (pun intended) penne pals card! I agree, between penne and fusilli, penne really takes the cake. Everytime I cook fusilli, it always unravels even though I cook it to al dente :( My current favourite shape is shell, because it holds a lot of broth or sauce! Sometimes, when I add veggies, they become a nice pocket of savoury goodness!

The next one is from a meet-up! It's a beautiful unicorn card with delicate rosehips drawn around it. Thank you for all the music recommendations! A lot of these are new to me, and they're going straight to my playlists. Thanks to:

u/bananas3706

u/PureAloeVeera

u/sunflowr_prnce

u/icono-clastic

u/Christinaaaa29

u/classic-power-333

u/capncobbler

I rejoined my dance class and immediately realised how out of shape I am :p but I'm happy to be back!! Everything's changing quickly, too. Individual thanks in the comments as always!

I've been travelling a lot, and I just reached! I spent time at the Pune philately, bought some cards with cancellations, stared a bit too long at all the old and discontinued stamps, and so much more! I've also introduced a friend to postcrossing. It's going great!

Thank you to u/Calm_Channel_4431 for the lovely National Post Day card. The puppet stamp is lovely- I actually got a sheet at the philately!

Thank you to u/EmployerSpare9921 for the epost and the letter rate ypc. They reached on 25th and 8th respectively. May, of course. I'm going to listen to your playlist this evening, while doing some math practice. This epost is pretty neat!

I'm heading to the USA for university, and while I'm pretty excited, I realised that postal rates are... Not very affordable. Based on the conversion rates, I spend roughly 15 cents on each international postcard, but I believe I'll have to spend close to 2 dollars. Which means I won't be able to send as many cards as I desire, or participate in exchanges similarly :(

But, I'll still be commuting between India and the States once or twice a year, so I think the best course of action is to send cards during that time. But gah! I'll have to look into who receives my mail, etc on my behalf...

And if worse comes to worst, I guess I'll only be sending US mail to longer penpals, and India mail whenever I visit...

Any advice? Oh, and I heard you can get stamps from CVS? Is it true? I'll need all the tips and tricks coming my way!

🐞 Happy postcrossing!

I just came back from my trip to Pune! I visited the philately bureau there, as well: it was beautiful! I purchased some postcards- stay tuned for an offer or exchange soon. I was flooded with mail when I came home.

Due to the huge list, I'll post the individual thanks in the comments!