Random Thoughts

Steve Jobs - A Great Soul

2011-10-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

When he died, they showered posthumous encomiums! For days, my Facebook page was filled with RIP messages for Steve Jobs, with adulations like genius, visionary, scientist etc. Some of them took to the extent of comparing him with Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton! The funniest comment that I saw was - If Apple is religion; Steve Jobs is its GOD! OK, agreed, Steve Jobs was a great visionary. But, was it necessary to elevate him to the Almighty status only to take every opportunity to rebuke him a fortnight later?

It is no doubt true that, Steve Jobs built great devices. He revolutionized the laptop, and smart phone industry. He changed the way we listened to music. Probably, it takes eons to come up with next Steve Jobs. The charisma, determination to change the world, aggressiveness he possessed was extraordinary. It isn't a child's play to come up with such great ideas in a career span of 35 years. The same guys who lauded his contribution to the tech world, now utter everything possible - "Steve Jobs wasn't great - not even close to!" Well, if he wasn't even close to being great, what are we? If he fell short in the graph that measured greatness, I guess, we would not even cross the zero-mark!

At least Steve Jobs achieved what he wanted to. He stood by his words. He stayed hungry and foolish most of his life. He didn’t let others’ opinions drown out his inner voice. Passing slanderous remarks need no thinking. They need no brains. But, it needs more than just brains to lead thousands of people, to take timely decisions, to design wonderful devices and ultimately to change the world. Instead of wasting life trying to malign Steve Jobs’ image, let the departed soul rest in peace. Let his near and dear ones get the strength to live without him.

Maama my hero!

2010-10-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

Off late, I have been viewing a number of petty crimes in our locality. Last year, the economic crisis could have been held responsible for such crimes. But, it is surprising to see them happen now. Or probably, I could be observing more of them these days. Few days back, on afternoon I saw 3 police cars near our apartment complex, and four to five cops were interrogating two people. This reminded me of something that happened last month when on a bright sunny day in the last week of August, I was all set to attend the orientation at my graduate school.

   We were four of us who had decided to meet at the bus-stop near my apartment. I happened to be at the bus-stop 20 minutes ahead of other girls. I am used to waiting for the buses on the otherwise busy, lively, safe El Camino Real (which I have previously referred to as Gandhi-Bazaar in one of my posts). Well, I saw two buses arrive and depart. At some point, I was the only one waiting for a bus. I have had such experiences in the past where I have stood alone waiting for a bus without any fear. But on that day, suddenly a short-lean guy wearing a red T-shirt, and carrying bag-pack, came to the bus-stop. He looked drunk from every angle. Seeing me waiting alone, he tried to begin a conversation. "Hey youuuuuu, are u going by bus?"... "I am going by a bus"... "Coming with me??"... etc...

   I didn't panic unlike how I had when I had taken my in-laws to visit my grad school at San Jose downtown. On that day, a well built, drunk guy almost attacked us. My little-cute mother-in-law's fair face had almost gone tomatoes on seeing him. I had even dialed 911 to report. The connection failed though :(.

   It wasn't the scenario in this case. It was more like an Indian film hero trying to save the heroine. Now, I don't mean, my husband came on a bike like a hero to save me from the red-shirt attacker. I started walking towards the other end of the road, immediately when I saw a maama appearing in front of me from nowhere in his bike.

   He had already slowed down his bike. Well, now, I panicked a bit. He saw me. I saw mama, the red-shirt guy and stopped in front of him. He parked his bike, started questioning the drunk guy. It looked like, he was behind the guy for some reason and he just found him and everything happened in front of me... In two minutes, there were 2 more police-cars and the interrogation became intense. My batchmates slowly arrived and I had to narrate the entire story to three of them one after the other. In the next two minutes, one of the cops kept his bag in the trunk of the car and the guy was handcuffed at his back, our bus arrived, we entered the bus, the guy entered the police-car and all of us left the scene.

A weird incident on the day I was to embark my graduate studies. A day to remember indeed :-)

Happy Dasara

2010-10-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Dasara to all the viewers of my blog :-)

This is one of my favorite festivals since my childhood days. I always liked Dasara(Navaratri) more than Deepavali. The very idea of arranging dolls fascinated me. "Bombe pradarshana" in kannada means - displaying the dolls. As a kid, I arranged all the dolls, souvenirs and some attractive flower vases on a small table in my house and invited my friends from my dance class to have a glimpse of the arrangement.

This year too, I arranged the dolls in my house. I was afraid, that my school commitments could come in the way of Dasara celebration. Thankfully, it didn't. Unlike my childhood days, when arranging the dolls was just fun, I now feel, I have grown up to be a more matured individual. I see "bombe pradarshana" more as a passion combined with responsibility.

I have posted a few pictures of the arrangement.

Unforgettable Dosa Experience

2010-08-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

   Few days back, my husband and I went to an Indian restaurant to eat dosa. The place boasts of varieties of dosas. Unlike SLV dosa camps in Bangalore, dosa places here lack the aroma of butter or dosa batter, unlike Vidyarthi bhavan, the dosas lacks the taste, unlike MTR, the chutney-sambhar isn't spicy. But, being lucky enough to atleast have something than nothing, we decided to munch the dosas.

   My husband was placing orders while I took sometime to do my hair in the ladies restroom. The restroom was a single room with sink, toilet, everything at the same place. Well, now, I double-checked as always to ensure that, the rest-room was locked. A minute later, a lady opens and bumps in!!! I was horrified. To avoid the embarassment, I was combing my hair. Both of us were shocked for a moment. I couldn't blame her as well, since the mistake was with the locking system in the restroom... After exchanging apology messages, she went on to complain the waiter regarding the non-working locks...

   Then I came out and joined my husband at the table. My husband had ordered Rava-onion masala dosa, mysore masala dosa, and cream of tomato soup. To our dismay, the soup smelled rotten and tasted bad. After the ghastly restroom experience, I was determined to return the soup. The waiter, was indeed friendly. He apologized and served us with another bowl of soup which didn't taste great but was at least fresh. He did admit that, the cream used was old. Ironically, the tomato soup we ordered as an appetizer served as a dessert :-).

   We had our "dessert". The waiter was happy. We were happy to at least get something for our money. Happys Endings :-)

Sports and I

2010-08-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

I have always had a terrible experience playing any sport. My sole achievement in sports till date is winning a First Prize in Slow-cycling competition when I was a 12-year-old girl. I have always wondered what it takes for one to excel in sports. My relation with sports has always been worse. As a kid, I used to follow the tennis matches on DD-1, the only source of entertainment

Sometime back, I tried my hand in bowling again. To my dismay, I scored the least in all four games. Last year, I tried to play tennis with my tennis-maniac husband and ended up injuring my shoulder. After series of failures, I am not a player, just a sports-watcher is what I have surmised. Though my records have always been low, I enjoy watching so much that, my heroes have always been sports-persons. All my teenage crushes were cricketers and not film stars ;) I have been a huge fan of Sachin Tendulkar and tennis star Roger Federer. Few years ago, I used to be an aficionado of F1 too.

I used to wonder that I might be lucky at least in playing indoor games. To my chagrin, I am bad in that either. I am probably one of the worst carrom players. I can't hold a cue properly in snooker let alone striking a cue-ball :P...

With this terrible history of my connection with sports, I almost gave up playing anything. But now, I have finally decided to start afresh by learning tennis from none other than my husband ;). After my first session, I feel, I should wrap his mouth with a piece of cloth, while we are playing. I have heard from many that, husbands are the worst teachers. Let me see... how long I remain hooked to tennis!

Musical magic

2010-05-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

The old and young, rich and the not so rich, lovers and non-lovers of music, were all compelled to shed their egos, inhibitions, become speechless and let their hands and legs talk for one evening. It was a magical "musical" beginning to the week-ahead. To all those who wanted to reminisce those days of pre-Mungaaru Male era, it was a perfectly made occasion, thanks to the Kannada Koota of Northern Calfiornia who took painstaking efforts in what was considered one of the best programmes ever arranged. Once again Padmashri Dr. SP Balasubramanyam and his troupe proved that there are only two kinds of people in this world - lovers and non-lovers of music. If there are non-lovers of music, then yesterday had been the day of enlightenment for them.

    As always, the Indian organizers in the Pacific time zone proved their strict adherance to Indian Standard Timings. The fabulous evening kick-started at 4:50p.m. which was 25 minutes beyond SPB's plan. But, there was absolutely no sign of impatience or anger given his preference to begin a program atleast five minutes before the start of Raahu Kala. A true patriot, SPB started his concert with Vande Mataram, joined by his singer-sister SP Shailaja, Kalpana, a talented singer from Tamil Nadu and Sri Krishna,music based reality show winner from Andhra Pradesh. The sleep-deprived team after having performed in North Carolina, the previous night, travelled to California over night, and with less than two hours of good sleep, they were back on the stage for an excellent performance.

    SPB and his troupe went on deliver some of the best songs ever made in the Kannada film industry. Some of the old unforgotten songs like Maamaravello Kogileyello, Jeeva Veene, Madikeri sipayi were a tribute to the recently departed Kannada super-star Dr. Vishnuvardhan. The artists on the instruments performed brilliantly with the co-singers doing more than justice to the original singers, though SPB stole the thunder. If one thought, he or she was blessed to watch the God of Indian music perform, the God himself surrendered to the ultimate supernatural power, when he removed his sandals while singing Pavadisu Paramaatma Sri Venkatesha from Sreenivasa Kalyana. The concert also included some of his ever-green hits from the movies Geeta, Bandhana, Nammora Mandara Hoove, recent hit Nenapirali. The ardent fans unfastened their seatbelts to dance for the song from Nenapirali.

    The singing troupe had less than three songs of the post Mungaru Male era. The budding singer from Andhra Pradesh Sri Krishna got an opportunity to realize his potential when he sang what is apparently considered the second Kannada Anthem Anisuthide from Mungaaru male as a token of appreciation for the "AmeriKannadigas" who boast of the renowned Bay-area based music director Mano Murthy. Kalpana, another budding singer from Tamil Nadu, sang on the Kannada stage for the first time. She proved her prowess singing some of the best hits of the South Indian singer Chitra. Her solo performance of the song Nadheem Dheem Tana from the recent Kannada flick Gaalipata was mind-blowing. SP Shailaja, undoubtedly did justice to S. Janaki by co-singing with SPB and singing a few solo songs.

    At the age of 65, the living legend cast a magical spell on the insatiable music lovers not just by his wonderful rendition, but also by his mild and timely sense of humor. The mesmerized house-full audience had nothing in return other than ovation, and saying "once more", "awesome", "excellent", "superb" and "come back again". The audience seemed relentless to even let the organizers share stage and wanted only SPB and his group to make maximum use of the three hours. This short, beautiful, triumphatic musical evening came to an end with the much awaited song "Santhoshakke haadu santhoshakke" from the movie Geeta.

One life - live it

2010-05-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

            Few months back, I read "Last Lecture". Yes, I know, I should have listened to the lecture. I prefer reading than listening or watching. So, I chose the former. A lot of professors are invited to give Last Lectures. A professor has to keep in mind that, his death is imminent. So, what does he want to impart to others in his last lecture before leaving this world forever? With regard to Randy Pausch, former professor at CMU, this was indeed his ultimate lecture since he was suffering from pancreatic cancer then. But surprisingly, the last lecture from a 45-year-old man nearing his death was more filled with life than a person who had breathed 80 years without living completely.

          One thing, I realized from Randy's lecture is that, you must implement whatever you plan and should never regret about not doing so. Only by executing all plans will you really live life to the fullest. His last lecture was more rejuvenating than actually it should have been given his deteriorating health. No wonder, there is always a paucity of time, energy, resources etc. But overcoming all odds is the only solution. I feel, we are all crazy about several things in our life. After reading the inspirational book, I started noting down all those crazy or whatever it be things I wanted to accomplish in my life. My list seems to be endless. His words resonate in my mind so much that, whenever I think about something impossible, the gut-feeling I got after reading his lecture, makes me take up the task seriously.

          This book, undoubtedly was an eye-opener to me. It gave an insight into how you should lead your life, do whatever you wish, etc. Trust me, if you happen to read the book or listen to his lecture or if you have already done either or both, then you should start applying it in your lives. You will surely realize how worthy you could be. You will not just breathe but you will live your life. After all it is one life - live it.

Hello Again

2010-05-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

           After a short hiatus, I am back on blogging arena. I recently enrolled in 2 part time courses in a near-by community college. I had to accustom myself to the new change in my daily chores which explains why my "blogosphere" went to a hibernate mode. I have taken up a course in Marketing and the other in Journalism, both of which I was keen on learning from a tutor to make my skills more professional.

The marketing course I am currently studying gives an insight on how a company should view the market place, understand the needs, wants of customers, marketing environment that can affect the business, buying behavior of the customers etc. Well, I don't want to go more technical into the subject. All I can say at this stage is am lovin' it. So, if you or your organization needs a marketing manager, here I am :-).

         In journalism, I am pursuing a feature writing course. I could say, I have to start from learning the alphabet in journalism. I am happy that, I have a wonderful instructor who makes learning, writing more passionate. I am learning a lot from this course. The very first lesson I learnt was, the job of a reporter is to get the news right, keeping it objective, targeting the news and not the news-makers(who-so-ever it could be). Unfortunately this principle is hardly followed these days. When you read a movie review, you see the reviewer saying a word or two about the actor. An actor plays a great role in making a movie good. But an actor is not responsible if the movie turns out a box-office disaster.

       From now on, I have decided to post my feature stories. I wish you guys could highlight my positives, mistakes and help me take corrective measures.

2 States in Marriage

2010-03-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

I recently completed reading Chetan Bhagat's newest book "2 States". One thing I feel like appreciating about this guy is that, no matter whatever he writes, he duly admits that he sticks to his protocol.

All his books are titled with a number. 5 point someone to 2 states.

The male protagonist in the book bears one of the several names of Lord Krishna.

His books are always priced 95 bucks which provides an access to a large section of the society.

It begins with 2 students from 2 different states in India, (one of the several factors considered in Indian marriages), falling in love. I feel, it is a must read for people in love and their families, especially applicable to the ones, belonging to different states, caste, etc... The story goes about their attempts in converting their love to a fruitful marriage. Easier said than done, the Tam Brahm girl and the Punjabi boy realize it is no incing on the cake convincing both sides.

When a guy proposes to his girl-friend for marriage, he must ask her - "Do you speak my language? Are you from my state? If yes, will you marry me?"

I wonder how many Ananyas and Krishs in our country have to face a similar situation everyday! However, not all undergo this. But their percentage is far less compared to the former. In the era of globalization when different cultures, economies, societies are integrating, and denationalization is becoming a trend, why should Ananyas and Krishs have to suffer in the process of the marriage.

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara To Sur Bane Hamaara!

Nearly all Indians during the early 1990s who had access to televisions at home must have listened to this wonderful "National Integration" song at least once. Moreover with limited or no access to Cable TV, and DD1 the only source of entertainment, one would hardly want to miss this program. Agar mera sur aur tumhara sur nahi milega to hamaara sur kaise banega??

I feel, the multiple language system in India is more of a bane than a boon. It is high time we became less chauvinistic about region, language etc and developed the feeling of Indian-ness. The book "2 States" is more of an educative than an entertaining one, thanks to Mr. Bhagat!

Pursuit of Dreams

2010-03-19T12:25:00.001-07:00

After 24 years of my life, I wonder how many years have I spent leading my life the way I wished!

Dil hai chhota sa chhoti si aasha :-)

Undoubtedly, this is one of the most meaningful songs I have ever heard. Nearly twenty years old, I find this number so fresh and everytime I listen, it reverberates in me - What are you doing to chase your dreams? Our lives are so heavily filled with desires. But I wonder, how many of us dare to fulfill them.

I feel most of us are trapped in the boundaries laid by our ancestors, society that is constantly watching us, fear that, we may see ourselves in the extreme left of a success measuring scale in the pursuit of our dreams. We fail to understand that, we are forgoing our happiness making our lives more miserable in not crossing the red-boundaries. We are letting our dreams wither away in leading the monotonous lives.

I was trying to find answers to a maelstrom of questions continuously bothering me
- what you wanted your life to be?
- how far have you reached from your dreams?
- have you reached a stage where is no looking back?
- given a chance, will you start living your dreams? etc. etc...

If only, for once, we listened to our hearts without giving a damn about the external factors which have been so harsh on us, trying to dictate our lives, making ourselves lose our identities!

Crisis Management

2010-03-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

It is common for anybody to face a crisis. But dealing with the crisis, conquering it is a big challenge. Any crisis be it finance, family, health, or education is bound to hit your confidence levels. By dealing the crisis courageously, you can come out it. Easier said than done, for a person whose confidence levels have nose-dived with the crisis , how really is it possible to face something courageously. More than dealing with the crisis, I guess you should try to boost your confidence levels which could help overcome any barrier. Few things like, remembering one's past, being in the company of people who admire you for what you are can offer a great help.

I strongly feel your past plays a vital role in boosting the confidence levels. When you think about some events in your life, be it childhood, school days, college life etc, which made you feel proud about yourself, or others appreciate/notice you, it makes you realize that, you still have those qualities in you which you have forgotten or not realized so far that they are few of the highlighting points in you, and incorporating them in your life will rejuvenate you. Those positives in you for which you were known will definitely help you become the person you were. This kind of self-realization will re-assure you that, you are still the same person, which for some reasons like current circumstances, situation you are in, and people around you to a certain extent might have made you feel low and not be yourself.

When you are doing low in your life, people around you can either be a back-bone or a hindrance to you. At these times, the ones around you mostly de-moralize you by to high-lighting only the negatives in you. One way to deal with them is by giving a deaf ear to what they blurt though it is difficult to do. Instead, if you have somebody who can admire you and can provide you some emotional support, highlight the positives in you, and help you deal with the phase you are in, you can be indebted to them for being your biggest source of strength. Emotional support can conquer any everest-like crisis. If only you had someone like that!!!

A Healthy-cook?

2010-01-02T18:23:00.000-08:00

It is another new year again. I wish all my blog readers and non-readers a Happy New Year. I wish all your dreams come true :)

A new year signals some new resolutions to be made nevertheless, keeping up is difficult. I had never resolved to take up any task sincerely till last year. It was only in 2009 that, I resolved to be organized in life. I guess, to a certain extent I was. It is quite difficult to be highly organized. However, when considered my previous years of life, I was more organized in 2009. So, this boosted some confidence in me that, I could keep up to my resolution.

Now that, we entered 2010, I had been thinking deeply about making a resolution for this year since yesterday morning. Given my passion for cooking, I decided to become an expert in healthy-vegetarian cooking. I wish I could accomplish my target for this year successfully.

Transition

2009-12-15T01:02:00.000-08:00

Few days after my marriage got fixed, and before I got engaged to my then fiancee, (now husband Ashok), I was talking to him over phone when he came up with some topic.

Wake up call:

He told me that, my then to-be in-laws would be more than happy if I had in future started addressing them Amma & Appa (mom and dad in Kannada) since my relationship with them would be more than just an "aunty & uncle" one, although it wasn't a condition :). So, I stumbled a bit and then told him, that, I would start addressing them that way after engagement. I was quite sure that, my husband would inform them in tact. However, my in-laws never mentioned about it during any of our conversations. I still don't know why I replied in that manner. Nor did I analyze that deeply, like - was I rude, was it because I wasn't matured enough, was it too late after engagement to start addressing them in that way or was it my way of procrastinating the wake up call etc. Well, I guess, most of the girls do come across similar situation, at least if not the same way.

My fiancee and I got engaged. My father-in-law just said casually - "Engagement is over" and didn't say anything. I could quickly understand why he said so and I said - "Yes, I remember my promise (uncle - swallowed) :)". But how to keep up my promise was a million-dollar question. I was comfortable addressing them aunty & uncle. Also, I found it embarrassing, funny, weird, and every odd feeling to start addressing somebody Amma Appa one fine day. Though I was aware that this situation would come up one day in my life, and it was inevitable for any girl, I wasn't prepared for the transition so soon.

The transition:

Version 1.0

Well, I stopped addressing them Aunt and Uncle after getting engaged. But it didn't mean, I had started following the new way. I didn't address them at all for a week or 10 days. More precisely, I neither mentioned aunty & uncle nor Amma & Appa while conversing with them. I found it quite eccentric. But this was again with a purpose. Most importantly, I felt, if I did this, then a day would come when I unknowingly addressed them in the new way.

Version 1.1

Thankfully it didn't take too long for the transition, despite the initial hiccups and few embarrassing moments. My in-laws were kind enough to understand my position and gave me time to get adjusted to the new way, thanks to them. My mother-in-law at one stage even mentioned that, I could stick to my old way if I really had difficulty.

Version 1.2

No doubt, I started addressing them the way they liked, but, it was difficult for me to stick to the new way of addressing in front of my own parents. For few more days, I followed Goto -> version 1.0 when I was around both my parents and in-laws.

The Release

After release, which not really implies marriage, more or less with the passing of time, I came to terms with the new way of addressing. Now, I am glad to say that, it comes naturally with no pause, hiccup, or hesitation :).

Mantra:

Today, I feel, the new addressing method adds a great value to the relationship. In general, I attribute the success of the release to both the girl and the in-laws. The bride must be inclined to get along with her new family. At the same time, in-laws should be patient enough to understand and provide some latitude to their daughters-in-law along the journey :).

My update :)

2009-12-06T23:11:00.000-08:00

It has been quite sometime since I posted anything here. So, this means, either I am engaged in something else or I have started finding "blogging thing" boring. The latter is not really true. I am still interested in blogging. But of-late I have been quite involved in a number of activities.

I watched few movies, though I didn't like most of them. Watching movies is an activity to a person like me who hadn't really watched movies before. The worst among them was Kurbaan - a completely illogical movie!!! We were three of us sitting together, my husband, my bro-in-law and I. We couldn't stop making fun of the dialogues, scenes, characters in the movie.

I found out that recently that, I enjoy sitting and reading books in a book store than in a library. The ambiance at a book store is splendid. The soft music, internet facility people walking-by, sound of the coffee machines drives me there.

I am excited to share with my readers that, I have started decorating my house now with all home-made craft-work, thanks to my craft teacher who forced me do all the hand-made art-work during my school days. My craft works by no means look professional. But it gives me fun and satisfaction to decorate my house myself. I shall post 2 to 3 pics of the ones I have made in my next post.

Well, that is all for now. Will be back with some pictures in my next post.

UID - not really unique!!!

2009-11-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

THE BIG CHALLENGE

I was reading about the Unique Identification Number Project led by ex-Infy CEO Nandan Nilekani. Initially I felt skeptical about it's success. I wondered whether census would be carried out within a year to get the exact head-count. With the already present identification schemes like voter-id, passport, PAN card, what unique purpose will the UID serve? How will it be possible to assign a UID to every single Indian?

THE PROMISE

Despite so many challenges, UID project head Nandan Nilekani has promised that, the first batch of the UIDs will roll out within 12-18 months. Given his extraordinary corporate background, one could trust this words unlike that of our politicians who are known for their false promises.

WHY UID?

No doubt, if the project accomplished successfully will obviate the people to carry multiple documents and id-proofs like ration cards, credit cards etc. It seems logical to have one common ID proof. A person holding a ration-card won't have a credit card. One with credit card doesn't have a voter's id. I recently got my voter's id and always used a PAN card as my ID. Don't you think there should be one uniform system to maintain the identity of the citizens?

TWIST IN THE TALE

Now, Mr. Nilekani, says - UID is optional!!! It isn't a proof of citizenship.

Phew!!! why then should one carry out such a project? PAN cards, passports, voter's id are already serving the purpose what UID project has promised to achieve. With the other forms of ID proofs too, one doesn't need to carry multiple documents. People with PAN cards or any other ID are anyway not questioned to show other documents. Why should one add more confusion by introducing something which is again optional??

Help me!!!

2009-11-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

I am short of recipes these days. I have tried almost every possible Indian recipe. My dear reader, please pour your ideas. Well, it should be a strictly vegetarian recipe, containing no eggs too. I hope you come out with some wonderful and challenging recipes.

Bees saal baad

2009-11-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

We are so hooked to facebook, orkut, twitter etc that, we spend at least 30 minutes in a day on social-networking :). But will we be doing this 20 years down the lane at the same rate as we are doing now? Or will anything else overtake social-networking websites? With the increase in the number of such sites, I sometimes question myself - "Where will people have time to follow each one of them religiously?". I was myself a big fan of orkut in my college life. But, it gradually faded out now. Though I frequently log into facebook and rarely into twitter, I still ask myself whether I will be using all these accounts a few years from now. Like my husband says - Don't use any of them... You will be leading a hassle-free life. Is it true? Sometimes yes may be. For instance, you happen to miss out wishing some close friend of yours on his/her birthday, wedding anniversary etc. You may be too busy to reply to their scraps, or wall-posts. Or vice versa. It strains the relationship more than what it is intended to do! With day-to-day lives becoming more hectic, will we really have time to continue surfing the social-networking sites? No doubt, thanks to social-networking sites which have brought separated friends, acquaintances etc together and also helped making new friends. But will it help maintain the relationship 20 years from now? Only time should answer :P

Unforgettable Shepherd

2009-10-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

It is shocking to hear the news of David Robert Shepherd's demise. He died exactly 2 months before he would turn 69. He is one umpire who can never be hated. He was one of the most fairest-minded umpires that, he turned down the opportunity to maintain ICC's neutral umpiring policy in Test matches when he was offered to umpire the England Test at Lords as his final test. As a good umpire he gave both right decisions and earned respect and trust among the players. His eccentricities too can never be forgotten. The way he used to hop at the score 111(111- considered Unlucky Nelson among British) or its multiple. And what was even more whimsical was that, he continued to hop until the score crossed 111 or its multiple. Alas! it wasn't 111. It was 68 at which misfortune struck his life.

Umpires like Shepherd are just irreplaceable. May his soul rest in peace.

Injection

2009-10-28T16:51:00.000-07:00

My nearly 3 year old nephew had to be given flu-shot. He is such hyper-active kid that, one will lose oodles of weight running behind him :)... I had accompanied my co-sister and nephew to the health-care center to hold him tightly while he was given the injection. Believe it or not! I still fear taking an injection :P... My innocent nephew had no clue about the flu-shot. He was active, happy, playful as always he is. He was made to believe that, his mom had to see doctor. The nurse held his legs and my co-sister and I held his hands and saw to it that he lied down properly. My cute nephew was for a moment confused as what was happening to him. Then as fast as blink of an eye, the nurse injected syringe and he was unmanageable. He started crying so loudly that, the nurse should have felt guilty of hurting him... All he said was - Aunty hurt me (in Kannada - aunty chuchbittru)... He continued to cry for another 5-10 minutes. In next few minutes, he had forgotton about it and was as usual the cheerful Anirudh :)

Resolution

2009-10-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

I have always been blamed by my parents, brother, husband, and friends for my shrewd temper. I am never able to control my temper. This is something I should fight. Off late, I have myself felt the need to check my temper. The funniest thing is if my mom says me to be calm and not get excited over small issues, I get excited again! But is it really good? Obviously not good for health. But above all, I have realized the after-effects of short-tempered nature. I don't think I gain anything juggling over small issues. Given a situation, it is better to calm down, relax, think and then react rather than uttering something in haste and later regretting over having done so. I have been wondering about this for quite sometime. It is high time I calmed down. I have resovled to change myself. Better late than never :)

Few Deepavali pics

2009-10-21T14:27:00.001-07:00

An evening in Kabul

2009-10-14T12:29:00.001-07:00

On a rainy night, my husband and I decided to dine out. After trying almost all Indian restaurants in our locality, we decided to try Afghani cuisine. The novel Kite Runner had influenced me to such an extent that, I was desperate to try Afghani food. We went a place called Kabul which proudly displayed a few cut-outs from newspapers which had written abt the restaurant.

To our dismay, the restaurant offered less options for vegetarians!. We decided to order some spinach based curry with challow(that is what they call rice, chaval) and a vegetarian platter which was again served with challow and a glass of juice. With the main-course was served Afghani bread. The restaurant offered a great ambience with some light music. We waited for nearly 10-15 minutes for the waiter to take our order. Nobody seemed to notice our presence. I tried to brushed aside all those negative thoughts that were bothering me - are they deliberately avoiding us since we are Indians? - or do they care for only American customers and neglect people from sub-continent? etc. Instead of letting my mind further ponder over such negative thoughts, I decided to take a glance at the walls of the restaurant. The walls were pleasantly decorated with some famous pictures of Afghan sea-green eyed girl and another of a bearded man. To my surprise there were some Afghani costumes hung on the wall behind me. It looked like some cotton fabric with the zari, golden border, and old tabla. Finally, a French-bearded guy, politely took our order. We were offered salad, a sub-dish which is served as a complimentary dish to every customer. The salad was so delicious that, I wondered whether I could request for another plate :)

We found the Afghani food very different from Indian food. I somewhat disliked the food though I had initially insisted to go to an Afghani restaurant. I could clean half the plate of challow. Though I didn't like the curry much, I liked the challow which was different from our chaval... :). Afghani bread was quite good which was similar to Indian masala bun. My husband had no complaints!!! In fact, he requested for some boxes to pack the food. But the best was yet to come. The saunf which is a common item placed at the exit doors in the Indian restaurants was absent. In its place was a box of colored pieces of mint, which were similar to the polo mint. I grabbed a few pieces which were just irresistible :).

While coming back, my mind was overflowing with numerous thoughts - The Kite Runner, its characters, the restaurant, food, and the rain which had almost abated by the time we were done with the special dinner.

Rain

2009-10-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

It has been raining since last night. I stepped out to the balcony to click few pictures of the apartment complex. Awesome would be an understatement to describe the weather. The bulbs are still on in the apartments at 12 noon. Hot-spicy samosas would best suit the cold windy rainy weather.

Small cravings

2009-10-07T00:40:00.000-07:00

I feel it is common among we, the humans to crave for something or the other. It is normal for one to do so. It is common to say - I wish, I were like that, I had this, etc. Sometimes we crave so much for certain things though we know we can't obtain them. I am sure all of you would have craved for somethings in life. Or you may be craving even today for some or the other thing. You must have dreamt a lot about it. But not always do our dreams come true. You are sometimes sure, that you can't obtain it. Still, you are reluctant to give up your hopes!!

A musical evening with a pleasant surprise

2009-10-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

We had been to a music concert at a nearby temple. The performing artist was from Bangalore, Sri Shashidhar Kote. I had decided to attend the concert till the end, regardless of when it ended. It has perhaps for 2 reasons - My husband and I are fans of Indian music, especially when such divine artists are performing, we wouldn't want to miss. Another reason, I have fond memories of going to Kote uncle's house as a 13 year old girl. I had received some dance tips from his wife Seeta who is now a popular face in ETV soaps. Infact, she had taught me the steps for some of Kote's songs too :).

I was eagerly waiting to meet Kote uncle ever since he came to US. However I had never been able to attend any of his concerts all these days. And as soon as I got to know about his concert last evening through my relative, thanks to her, we decided to go!. Kote uncle performed with the same ardor as he used to a decade ago. The audience too persuaded him to continue beyond the schedule. That explains how audience were bowled out by his performance.

Now, the most interesting part of the program. As soon as it ended, I went to talk to him. Since it was more that a decade that, I was meeting him in person, I thought of all possible things, relations and even the songs which his wife had taught me to introduce myself. Kote uncle as modest as always he is, spoke with me when I went up to him. To my surprise, with little introduction he could remember me. I was humbled by the artist's memory. I was just any other ordinary girl who used to go to his house for some dance tips.. a decade ago. And he still remembered me :). He even introduced me to his brother and few people there. He was also overwhelmed to see me there!!!. It was my biggest surprise.

The music concert had already made me high and then with uncle remembering me, I was totally on cloud nine!!!