I think what I think matters!

My hubby turns 30!

2011-02-08T09:47:00.000-05:00

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Great sense of accomplishment

2010-03-31T16:32:00.002-04:00

These days ofcourse, it is limited to typing on a key board. I still derive pleasure from creating an article, whether or not for a specific purpose. that is why blogging is great.

But, every time a new technology threatens an old technique that everybody has mastered especially the ones you grow up valuing a lot, it is painful to watch those things drop in value and not be a great asset any more. The ones that I grew up valuing are writing skills [on paper], presentation skills and reading books [with paper]. Although presentation skills are not as much affected by the electronic world, writing and reading have undergone a dramatic change. Almost all writing and reading that i come across these days is electronic.

Writing skills have many facets, your language strength, vocabulary, sentence formations, grammar and your hand writing itself.

Although electronic writing helps you with your vocabulary, grammar and eliminates the aspect of handwriting, it still distinguishes a persons strength in the language and smart sentence formations, concise reporting, etc. But I do miss the dearness of having my own handwriting on my ideas or comments. I used to take pleasure in making my writing look pretty, very soon in school i realized that my fast handwriting which is primarily used while taking notes was terrible, but when i gave it the time it deserved, i could make the sentences look much better. I was recently penning down my thoughts on some work related issues and realized how much pleasurable it was to pen it down on a paper and see the results shape up.

Also, talking about book reading which I also value a lot, recently I was traveling with my husband and happened to notice the penetration of E-book readers like the kindle. We sat next to a lady who was reading a book on Kindle and he asked me if I would enjoy reading a book on a e-book reader and if it would make any difference for me. My immediate reply was that I would not mind reading it on the electronic reader, once I get into the story. However I would definitely enjoy the literal 'page turning' more in an interesting book. Finishing a 998 'page' book, like Gone with the wind, gave me a great sense of accomplishment, as the accomplishment was very visual.

When new technology comes out like computers, MS word, e-books and readers, it is initially very exciting. I am not even thinking about how some of these technologies are changing the way we do things around me. I am eager and happy to adapt to the new technology, but when the reality of change hits you and you realize there is no going back, it sure is a little painful. I think it is because deep down, we all enjoy our times as a kid and everything associated with growing up, we hold dear in our heart.

Most people refer to this as the 'Good Old Days'. i say, those were the 'Good Young Days!' :)

Happy Birthday

2010-02-03T15:44:00.001-05:00

It is Kiran's birthday today. Interestingly, ever since I have known him, I have probably looked forward to his birthday more than my own. When I was a child, I liked my birthday because of all the attention and gifts that I was showered with. This one day made me feel like a special person in an otherwise 'fight to be noticed' world.
   It is probably maturity with age that I care about wishes only from near and dear now and all other attention is not really welcome. However, when it comes to Kiran's birthday, I am still interested in showering the same kind of attention and gifts on him that I used to enjoy myself.
   Last night I decorated the house with balloons and birthday decor to surprise him when he came home. It is a very satisfying feeling to see him surprised and happy :)
Then I got him chocolate cake from Carinos, which he recently like a lot when we were dining out there. invited our neighbor friends over to help celebrate his cake cutting. wanted to call everyone i knew to celebrate the b'day but Kiran had told me a few days before that he would not like too many ppl coming and singing 'Happy B'day. Apparently he does not like it when ppl hesitate in singing happy birthday. I tried to convince him it is not abt him that they are hesitating, but in general ppl are hesitant in singing song in public, especially if they are not trained and used to it.
   I bought him an ipod touch to replace his ancient first generation ipod, which was ofcourse the coolest thing ever when i gifted it to him 5 years ago :). Thankfully he seemed to like the gift. Also bought him a dvd player for his netbook which he has been needing. At the end of the day, it makes me very happy to see him excited about something and especially if I helped get him excited :)

Happy Birthday Kanna...

On the topic of travel: Tamil Nadu: First stop Kanyakumari

2009-09-18T23:26:00.006-04:00

As long as I am in the mood of talking about travel, let me try and pull together my travel memories from childhood. There is an interesting common theme to it all. It is all in the state of 'Tamil Nadu' :D.

My dad was a huge Tamil Nadu/Chennai and Travel fan. He used to take us on a travel vacation every summer in our summer holidays at school. The letters 'LTC' meant lot of fun!.Untill recently i just assumed he loved tamil nadu so he always took us to places in TN. But I asked him recently in my India trip as to why he never took us on vacation in the north and he said 'It gets too hot in Summer in the north'. I was a little thrown off at his answer because of my assumption. But with personal experience, it is TRUE!! South is so much better because of the peninsular humidity. North is just plain dangerously hot in summer.

I dont know the exact order and time line of which year I visited what place, but I will blog in the order of most memorable and most liked places. In that list ofcourse the first would be :

1. Kanyakumari

This is most memorable because I have been to this place more than once. If I remember correctly three times.

Once with my mom, dad and sisters. Second with my family along with pati and thatha [dad's parents] and the third time was just me and my dad.

The most memorable things at this place for me are :

(1) Sunrise/Sunset at the Ocean. Kanyakumari was my first experience of seeing an 'Ocean'.

I had been to beaches on bay of bengal before, where I have seen sun rise and set at the horizon, in a vast expanse of water, however watching the same at the Indian Ocean, with no landmass on three sides of the peninsular tip of the country is a whole another experience.

It was very memorable for me. The time me and my dad went on our own, my dad was trying to capture the sunset picture when a foreigner from Japan, named Oshido approached us and asked if we can take a nice picture of him looking at the sunset.

He had no knowledge of the english language and my dad could not understand a thing he said, but as a kid I guess we are better at understanding sign language or get what the fellow human being is saying without the language barrier. I interpreted the request to my dad.

Oshido posed like he was looking at the sunset and asked my dad to take a side profile of him. He then told my dad I was cute and asked if he can take a picture with me. Of course that is the reason I still remember his name : D

(2) The three seas meeting at the southernmost tip of the country. You can see three distinct colors in the ocean. Darkest blue farthest is the Indian ocean. Light green and light blue are the Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea, closer to the land. I kept wondering why they maintained their original colors and did not mix-up when they met. well, still wondering...any thoughts?

(3)Vivekananda Rock is of course one of the main attractions when you get here. This is a very small island rock close by the shore. Apparently Swami Vivekananda spent a lot of time at this place and used to swim to this rock to meditate. Now there is a constructed Vivekananda memorial with a meditation hall in it. Again the view of the seas from this rock is spectacular, now surrounded by water on all sides.

(4) Vattakottai Fort is another memorable place. It is a few kilometers away from the southern most tip. What I remember is the walk on the mud roads to the fort from the main road where the rickshaw walla dropped us. I had a camera around my neck that belonged to dad of course. There were kids running out of their huts on the road side and would shout at us to take their pictures. I guess the foreigners got them used to that 'fun activity'. Since I was also a child at that time, I was not too excited by this. But now I feel like I should have taken a picture with them. It would have been memorable. The interesting things about the fort are that it extends into the sea quite a bit. As a kid I could not contemplate how you can build a fort on water. So I was amazed! This fort was apparently used as a coastal defense fort and has some history of a war. There is an elevated vast open area in the fort where it extends into the water and you have a beautiful view of the ocean on one side and western ghats on the other side. If i remember right, it is believed that one of the hill that you can see from there called 'Marutha Malay' was a portion of a hill dropped by Hanuman when he was carrying a hill to Srilanka. This is known to be a very medicinal hill and the rishi Agasthya seems to have practiced his medicine here.

(5) Suchindram temple is close by also, where I remember seeing the tallest Hanuman statue ever. We were told by locals that the statue has been growing in height every year and that the original statue was no bigger than a regular human being. Wikipedia says it is 6 meters high. This temple also has musical columns. When you tap on different columns in a row, you get different notes of music. Pretty neat architecture.

These are what I remember. If you are looking for travel guidance to this place, you cannot miss the latest 'Thiruvalluvar Statue' which is right next to the vivekananda rock, supposed to be taller than statue of liberty. Would love to go back there sometime and see the statue.

Going back on memory lane I will continue to write about the following places that I visited as a kid, as individual posts whenever I can .....

2. Rameswaram

3. Madurai Meenakshi temple

4. Trichy, Tiruttani Temple

5. Kodaikanal

6. Ooty

7. Tirunelvelli

8. Chidambaram

9. Tanjavur

10. Coimbatore

11. Kutrallam falls

12...etc as I remember more.

Travelogue: Delhi, Agra, INDIA

2009-08-27T16:49:00.035-04:00

Photo Courtesy: Phani Kiran Vajapeyazula.

I have to write about my trip to Delhi and Agra, primarily to see the Taj Mahal. It has been my childhood dream to visit this beautiful monument and I want to remember exactly how I felt when I saw it.

Me and my husband took a days layover in Delhi while flying back to US from Hyderabad. We reached Delhi on Aug 20th night, stayed in Dwarka, Sector 10 at my father-in-law's guest house. We had a house keeper Hari who took excellent care of us. I arrived with fever and cough and he brought me a fresh fruit plate and warm water when asked. He always had a smile on his face and was very polite. He seemed like a young boy. Later he told us he was 22 yrs old, the first shocker. Second shocker, he was married, third shocker he had a daughter in kindergarten!

The next day, at about 10:45 am, we started off on our way to Agra with Mr. Surender from Zenith travels in an indica. He picked us up from the apartment and we stopped on our way at the Lotus Temple. It was a really hot day and I was not feeling very well, but the quick view of the lotus temple as we were approaching the gate enthused me to take the walk in the sun. It is a very beautiful building in white, going with the theme of our trip to the Taj. There was no entrance fee which was constantly at the back of our minds as we toured, because the lawn and gardens around

the temple was well maintained, the walkways were very clean, there was a free service where you could check-in your foot wear, jute bags were also offered for free for families who wanted to keep their footwear together. After you check-in your footwear, there was a thick jute mat laid on the ground to the temple, which would keep your feet cool instead of walking on the hot concrete. It was interesting to see people speaking different languages, from different countries and my touristy feeling kicked in. Kiran kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to go in, as it was only a large prayer hall and nothing much to see inside. I insisted we go in as a few moments of absolute silence and sitting down under shelter seemed very appealing.

At the entrance of the temple, there were a couple of employees who were letting only a few people at a time inside, after briefing us about the prayer hall and the need to be silent. It was interesting to note that these people had a smile on their faces and were speaking very politely. Once we entered, a wave of silence hit me, we walked up to one of the long benches in the middle of the hall and sat down. I closed my eyes and the silence was very blissful. It was occasionally disturbed by women entering and exiting the hall with their payal resounding in the big hall. Shortly after, we walked out of the hall and back to the car. The walk in the sun added to my tiredness and I dozed off as soon as the car started off towards Agra.

On the way we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that was also a handicraft store as you entered. This place seemed very much like a tourist trap, especialy designed around foreigners. We were shown to our table and no wonder the menu showed prices that would be an obvious conversion of dollar amounts. I ordered a vegetable sizzler for Rs. 400 and Kiran ordered meals. Although I did not have an apetite for any food, the appearence of the sizzler got me to eat some. It was bland, but still apetising. I also tasted jeera pani, which was very very tangy. I winced everytime i sipped it but got a kick out of it.

We reached Agra at about 5 PM and our driver/agent thought we would still be able to make it inside the fort if we got in within 15 minutes. So he tried to speed around the town while he was lost. He kept stopping and asking rickshaw walas 'Agra Kila kaise jana?' and everyone would tell him, 'bas seedha chale jao'. I thought that was limited only to hyderabad auto walas but apparently it is a countrywide issue. It is interesting how many turns we took between the 'seedha chale jaos'. We happened to enter small streets that were jammed with buffalo herds walking in the middle of the tiny road. no one except for me seemed to be bothered with that. When we would stop and ask for directions, sometimes there will be a buffalo staring at me through the window.

Finally we managed to get to the main road that led to Agra fort. our agent stopped in the middle of the road to pick up our 'guide'. "Hello, my name is Asok, I be your guide" introduced he with a heavy accent and seemingly broken english. We responded 'Namaste' and introduced ourselves in hindi. After Asok and Surender had their quick arguments of how we were too late and that we cannot enter Agra Fort, Asok turned to us and told us we cannot climb the Agra Fort today but he can show it to us from the backside and tomorrow we can see the main fort. Kiran asked him if we had to pay the entrance fee twice to which he said "No, backside free!". We thought good deal, agreed and told him to continue explaining to us in hindi as we both could understand Hindi. He nodded and continued in his broken english.

Shortly after, Asok asked Surender to pull over on the side of the main road and asked us to get down. We both were a little surprised but we did it anyway. then we took a couple of steps and realized we were on the back side of the Agra fort, but ON THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, OUTSIDE THE FENCE!! He started explaining to us how Shahjahan had tea with his wife from here, as we looked at him in Dismay. I interrupted him and asked him if we were going to enter the fort at all and he said " par fort tho band hain ". Due to my sickness, I was already out of patience for this silly stunt and told him to get back in the car.

Then our guide, Mr. Asok told us, since we have some time to kill in the evening he will take us to the 'Star of India' the next best attraction to Taj Mahal in Agra, where they will show us how Taj Mahal looks in the moonlight. We asked him if it is a like a museum, to which he said " Yes, Star of India, number 1, taj mahal in moonlight". By this time, we did not know that our Asok does not answer to questions. He is more like Bing's search overload ad. He will pick up a key word in our question and pull up an answer from his broken english database along with rattafied information he has in his head.

Star of India: We pulled over in a narrow street, which had a few houses and shops and Asok pointed to an entrance with two big doors and said, " Here star of India, see taj mahal in moonlight". We bought into his hype and entered the place. For the first few seconds after we entered, I was confused and dazed. It looked like a jewelery store with display cases everywhere in a single room. There was an elderly guy who greated us and started pulling out a tray with a bunch of different precious stones and started explaining what stone is what and he pulled out one particular round stone and showed how when light reflected on it, there is a star like reflection that appeared and that it was called 'Star of India'. In my head I was going, "Wait a minute..doesnt seem like anyone is going to lead me into another door here that is a Museum. Is Star of india just the piece of stone that this guys is trying to sell me??? ". I was right :( . Then this guy pulled out an old photograph with crumple marks on it, inserted into a yellowish transparent plastic cover, which showed a corner of some structure he pointed out as the Taj Mahal, gleaming in some places in the night. The store guy told us that is the star of india stone shining on the Taj Mahal in the moonlight. I was appalled at this, comparing what Mr. Asok had made me imagine, 'Start of India, How Taj Mahal looks in moonlight, number 1 attraction". I was gritting my teeth and controlled my anger for Mr. Asok, but went around in the jewelery store anyway as we did have time to kill. We made a few purchases and when we returned, I was ready to give Asok an ear full when the car gave starting trouble and they asked us to get down. Then Asok and Surender asked us to go into another store and kill time while they troubleshooted the car. By the time we were ready to leave, I was more tired and sick and had no energy to shout on this guy. I just wanted to go to the hotel and crash on the bed.

Like I wanted, we went to our hotel, The Grand Imperial and crashed. While walking in the corridors, I managed to see in the garden in front, there were two kids dressed in Rajasthani dress singing to what looked like a puppet show. Wanted to go check it out but was too tired. Our room interestingly had two layers of door. later made me wonder about the need for two layers of hard wood doors with 15 locks! Kiran meanwhile found out that our Hotel was able to call in a doctor to the room so I can get some medicines to feel better. I remember waking up when the doctor knocked on the door. The doctor also had an interesting north indian accent. I am not good at telling from where he was, but seemed Bihari. Kiran told him I was having fever and was coughing and his first concerned question was " are you having difficulty breathing ?" the look on his face was priceless. I shook my head to say 'no' and immediately there was a wave of relief on his face. Indian media has successfully installed 'Swine Flu' terror in everybody. I can bet atleast 1% of indian public wears a breathing mask in all public places including shopping malls. The doctor hurriedly enquired my symptoms and searched through his briefcase for a couple of medicines that he had and wrote down some that Kiran needed to go get from a pharmacy. Then he enquired where we were from. We told him we are from US and that we work there. When Kiran enquired how much he would charge for his visit, he asked " donon kaam kartey ho" and Kiran said "haan, donon" and his next sentence was "ok, ek 2000 dedo".

Then after Kiran stepped out for the medicines, I crashed and woke up to Kiran asking me to taste dinner. He gave me a couple of spoons of jeera rice that he ordered and I remember that it was the best jeera rice I had tasted. i didnt know there can be so much flavor in it.

Next morning, we were initialy supposed to start at 6:30 so we can see Taj Mahal in the morning sun, beating the rush and be able to cover 'Fatehpur sikri' before our return to Delhi. But with me not feeling so well, we decided to drop Fatehpur sikri and start for Taj Mahal at 9 AM instead. We got ready in the hotel, where interestingly we were even provided a tooth brush and tooth paste and Kiran was pleased to see a mini shaving kit. Overall a pretty good 4 star hotel.
We then went to the breakfast buffet, where the crowd seemed out of place. there were a couple of foreign tourists as expected but then there were a large number of college going and young indian males dressed in formal shirts having breakfast and everybody had strange reactions to tourist entering the breakfast hall. The buffet is not worth mentioning, but the strange crowd is. Either in Agra, young working, college going professionals normally have breakfast in 4 star hotels or these guys had some connections in the hotel. They were neither tourists nor hotel employees.

After the breakfast we checked out of the hotel and while Kiran was filling the paper work in the lobby i was paying attention to the brazilian tourists with their desi guide. When I am touring, seeing tourists speaking languages i cant understand always gets me in the vacation mood. Our agent Surender and Asok were waiting in the parking lot. As soon as Kiran finished explaining to Mr. Asok that I was not feeling well, he smiled, nodded and said "Excuse me I now to tell you about Taj Mahal, we are going to see next" and he continued about how it was built by ShahJahan in 22 years, etc. It seemed a little blunt that he did not acknowledge what Kiran was saying before he started off, which we learned by the end of the trip that he could never understand our questions or requests so either he chose not to 'listen' to what we were telling him or he was looking at us all the while and thinking " What language are these buffoons talking??".

We then started driving towards the Taj. We pulled into the parking lot. Kiran had to go with Asok to the building next to it, to get the tickets. Meanwhile I had the option of choosing between a tanga walla and a zero emission vehicle, which are the only allowed transport to get closer to Taj, due to the emissions requirement in that area to protect Taj Mahal from pollution. I ofcourse picked the 'Tanga Walla', as it was more exotic. Apparently foreigners and NRI have to pay Rs. 750 to see the Taj and indians pay only Rs 20. Asok briefed us that at the entrance they will be able to tell that we were NRIs {although technically we are not} and that he did not want us to pay the extra fee. So they suggested we tell at the entrance that we are living in Delhi, not even hyderabad, as that would make them suspect we live in US. So we memorized the address of the guest house we stayed in just in case. It is soooo not right to penalize foreigners for visiting India. I dont know of any other country that has this blatant difference in charging a foreigner vs a resident for tourism.

I did enjoy the tanga ride to the Taj entrance. As soon as we got down, there were about 5 people who started pestering us to stop at their store to buy handicrafts. there were shops set up on both sides of the road and since the road was not crowded, every shop owner was calling at us in addition to come to their store. For such an international attraction, i did not expect to see this behavior entertained at the entrance. When we were entering from the 'West Gate' which is apparently the gate for foreigners [Locals have a different gate], someone stopped us and asked where we were from. we both said 'Delhi'. I was let in easily, but Kiran was stopped and asked to turn his pocket out. then they asked him to open his wallet. When he did open it, there were a couple of dollar bills popping out and all of our hearts slowed down. But thankfully they did not pay any attention to it and let him in.

Once we were in, Asok approached us, told us he was concerned when he saw the dollar bills and started " Excuse me, My name is Asok, I am your guide. The Taj Mahal was built by Shahjahan in 22 years ...... " I and Kiran exchanged looks and were dumbstuck at the sudden Re-introduction. Later we had a good laugh about it and we theorized that our guide, Mr. Asok has rattafied some information about Taj Mahal and cannot recite it if he does not start from the very first sentence..'Excuse me, My name is Asok ... " :D :)))

Then as we walked towards the Main Taj Mahal gate, few of the photographers approached us and told us they can take our pictures, starting from a 24 picture album and told us " here is the foreigners price, Rs. 2600 for 24 pictures, we give you indian price Rs 80 per picture" I was again shocked at how openly foreigners are charged higher for everything. Kiran managed to bargain , which he was increasingly getting good at and settled at half the price and for only 10 pictures. This photographer then tagged us till we approached Taj and I must say took some really nice and professional pictures of us with the Taj in the background. Sadly they are hard print outs and not soft copies, neverthless worth paying for.

Once we approached the gate, we were able to see our first view of the Taj Mahal. The picture on the left is the view you get from the gate. It is my favourite memory from the trip. I dont have the best words to describe what I felt, but the view of the large monument in white standing against the light blue sky background, defined by the dark entrance, combined with my feeling of finally making it there gave me goosebumps. It was the moment of realizing my childhood dream. Inspite of all the hype about Taj Mahal that I had heard all my life, Looking at it for real was a great feeling. It is defenitely the most beautiful monument that I have ever seen. Being in person gave me the perspective of how huge this building was and the flawless symmetry and purity of white marble suddenly increased my respect for the surroundings, for history, for India and for humans.

Then we slowly made our way close to the monument all the while posing at different places to get photographed. Once near, we had to leave our foot wear. Although there was a mat laid on the floor that people could walk on, we soon realized the marble was much colder than the mat itself in the hot sun. It was infact very pleasant to walk on. I was awe stuck by the expanse of white marble around me and was very thrilled to be actually touching the makrana marble walls of the Taj Mahal myself. Apparently the 'makrana' marble is the hardest marble available and was hauled all the way from Rajasthan, where it was originally found. This marble is non-porous which makes the monument resistant to effects of natural elements over the years. This also made it difficult for the crafters to carve art into this marble and inlay precious stones in it. Our guide told us taking personal offense that Shahjahan did not cut the hands of the artisan and that they lost their fingers working on carving and shaping art on this hard marble with their own hands.

Once you enter the interiors of Taj Mahal you are not supposed to take pictures, although we spotted quite a few tourists taking shots in crowded areas. The interiors were dark and cool. The tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shahjahan were at the center, surrounded by semi-walls with art work on them creating a mesh like pattern. Only the very front of this wall had a full view of the tombs.

After walking around the interiors, we walked through the side chambers and exited on the back side of the Taj Mahal looking on to the Yamuna river. Asok pointed out that across the Taj Mahal on the other side of Yamuna river lay the foundation of the 'Black Taj Mahal' which Shahjahan had intended to construct and apparently Aurangazeb, his son, imprisoned shahjahan in agra fort to stop him from carrying out this plan and prevented him from investing the tresurys money in construction instead of the invasion wars that Aurangazeb wanted. Personally, i would have loved to see a Black Taj Mahal on the other side.

I was heart broken to learn that the brass structures on the Taj Mahal were originally gold and our guide pointed out that the British east india company had stripped the Taj Mahal of its gold and lot of the precious stone inlay work. It is not apparent from any photos, but there are black metal hooks all around the top globe of the Taj Mahal, which were support structures installed by the government to hide and protect Taj from air attacks during indo-china and indo-pak wars.

After resting on the beautiful white marble of Taj Mahal, we started walking back to our Tanga and stopped at one of the roadside stores outside to buy a Taj Mahal replica and a coaster set actually made out of the makrana marble. Since the govt. of India banned any industries in Agra around Taj Mahal, they gave the local artisans tax exemption on their handicrafts. So the beautiful handicraft that you see in Agra can be bought for 30% less cost.

By the time we were on our way to Agra fort, our next destination, the heat had started taking its toll on me and I started to feel sick one more time. But I was holding on with my will power to finish the agra fort visit and them told myself I can sleep all the way back to Delhi.

Before we reached agra fort, our guide Asok suddenly tuned to us, folded his hands together in a namaste and told us he needs to take leave. We both were shocked at this, as he had shown us only one of the three monuments we had originally agreed to. Our Mr. Surender tried to put some sense into him to stay back till he showed Agra fort but in vain. Once we reached the fort, he got down and told us how he has to go to some exam and then asked kiran for tips. Kiran was ofcourse mad and refused to pay any tips. Then Asok went " but sir, service ? no service ? I showed taj mahal". He meant tips. Kiran told him he was paid for and that abandoning the tour did not warrant any tips. That was the end of our entertaining guide, excuse me , my name is Asok :).

We were then assigned another guide hanging around the fort. He was not too bad, although not worth mentioning in detail as Mr. Asok. We walked through the entrance and of what I remember in my dazed state, we saw Jodha Bhai's temple which had a architecturally beautiful archway, although much of the temple had been destroyed, the archway and the main walls remained. There was hindu influenced art on the walls, also including swastikas.

Then we saw the palenquin shaped rooms of Shahjahan's daughters adjacent to the khaas mahal. He had reconstructed these areas in his favourite white marble. Taj Mahal was visible in distance from this place. I was loosing energy in the hot sun and decided to sit down for a while in Jahanara's palenquin room. The guide pointed out to us that some of the rooms had walls through which hot and cold water were run to keep the rooms warm or cool depending upon the season. I was very impressed with this tit-bit. All of the royal rooms did not have four walls, they were well aerated, spacious and had simple technology to beat the extremes of nature, just by architechtural genius. Shahjahan was the fountain head of Mughal architecture according to me.

Next was the Diwan-e-Khaas which I sat down and saw from a distance, but Kiran got to see from upclose and got a good picture of the Royal seat made from 'Kasauti' the stone used to evaluate gold purity. Once again this was just out in the open, not an enclosed room. As you can see in the picture, the emperor had a good view of the Taj Mahal over his shoulders. We then saw 'Musamman Burj' the place where Aurangazeb imprisoned his father Shahjahan for the last 7 years of his life. Our guide told us, there was a small mirror that was placed such that he could always see the Taj Mahal in its reflection. However, online it has been suggested that it was infact the 'Kohinoor Diamond' from his famed peacock throne, in which he was allowed to see the reflection of Taj Mahal.

Last but not least, we visited the 'Diwan-e-Aam', the hall for the public, where Shahjahan and his predecessors used to run their public court and is also home to the famous peacock throne. Ofcourse my interest in Diwan-e-aam and agra fort in general was roused after seeing the movie 'Jodha-Akbar'. I was very intrigued by the simplicity of the place where the Emperor of a big country ran his court. infact, as Kiran put it, this is the only 'court' of a king that we have ever seen. Once again the architecture of this place is worth mentioning. There are several pillars here that support the structure of the hall, that are artistic at the same time designed in such a way that they will not obstruct the view of the emperor from any corner of the hall, from any distance.

That was ofcourse the last highlight of our tour. Next we got into the car and dozed off while Kiran carried out conversations with Surender. We reached Delhi, and scrambled through the city traffic to our guest house. Hari made us an awesome dinner with roti, sabzi, sambar and rice. We then packed our bags and left for the international airport and made our way back home.

Long story short :D, one of the best tourism of my life!

"No Man's Land"

2009-08-26T13:39:00.005-04:00

Just returned from an India trip. After traveling on roads quite a bit within the short span of two weeks, couldnt help but wonder about indian roads.

In my trip I visited Hyderabad, Tirupati, Karimnagar, Chennai, Delhi and Agra. Everytime I am on the road, I couldn't help but be displeased with the crowded streets, pollution, non stop honking, pot holes on main roads, etc.

Shortly after I picked up coughing, pollution on the streets started to seem more and more disturbing. This is when i started paying attention to what has been there in front of my eyes since childhood, but I never paid any attention.

"No man's land"

What i mean is the small strip of mud that runs along ALL the roads in India that I have seen. Even on the 'posh' roads in the city, between the road and shops or houses, there is always a strip of mud. Some places it is narrow and some wide, but it is always there. Why ??

Seems to me like the government told people 'Stay away from the roads' and everyone who builds anything next to the roads leaves a respectable distance before they build pavements in front of their stores and houses. it almost seems like the #1 rule of construction :" leave a feet of mud between your construction and the road, this land belongs to noone"

What i had been perceiving as pollution, was actually mostly this mud that was being thrown into the air continuously by motor vehicles. When I noticed vehicles that had been parked alongside the road for a long time, there was a thin layer of mud on these vehicles. when i run my finger through the dust, i can feel fine sand. I don't think pollution from exhaust of vehicles would settle like this.

It is surprising to me how people on the roads can breathe mud and not have a problem with it. People always attribute repiratory problems to increasing pollution. I think it is this mud from the 'No man's land' that is increasingly in the air as the number of motor vehicles have increased.

When we were returning from Chennai to Hyderabad, as we boarded the flight the air hostess handed us wet towels, as soon as I wiped my face, the towel turned brown. this was not pollution. this was a thin layer of mud!

Who is to take any ownership/action? the govt who layed the roads ? or every individual who owns a shop or house next to the road?

A Moment Like This...

2009-07-28T21:43:00.003-04:00

A song by Kelly Clarkson on her american idol winning emotional moment in 2002. Can't see a more appropriate song for a dream come true moment. I dont think anyone else could have had the powerful delivery Kelly had. Her voice has the ability to convey unspoken emotions.
This song makes me more thankful for those moments that some people really wait a lifetime for. All of us are blessed with these moments in different aspects of life. Not all of us have the same kind of great moments. Some have it in love, some in career, some in friendship, some in social service... you get the general idea.
Whenever I hear this song, it reminds me of my special moments....
In my head I sing this song as well and as pationately as Kelly Clarkson, but when I start singing along with her, I end up screaming in my car...oh I so wish I could sing this song like she does...the day I do..........I shall let you know :)

The Amazing Newspaper..

2009-07-13T23:36:00.004-04:00

Well, we all know what a newspaper is...no need for a definition there...unless this post is being read after a century when paper might seize to exist, for those future beings, here is a definition :
"Wiktionary defines 'newspaper' as a publication, usually published daily or weekly and usually printed on cheap, low-quality paper, containing news and other articles "
I was watching a movie yesterday called 'The edukators' and couldnt help but notice one of the guys trying to disguise a fake gun by wrapping it quickly in newspaper...which made me think how many different uses there are to this newspaper intended to share everyday news with the public.
So i decided to put together a list of 'non-NEWS' uses of Newspaper, some from my own experience and some from seeing others use..feel free to post your own innovative use of newspapers as comments....

Note book covers...as a kid i used to think this was cool...
Wrapper for tiffin box with sambar rice in it [those golden days when plastic bag was not common to use]
Can be sold in India for cash on per Kg basis
Wrapper for food packed in banana leaf for travel
Road side bandis use newspaper instead of plates to serve fried bajjis [Interesting to note how many food related usage it has]
Wrapping paper and cushion for articles being packed in boxes for a move
Used by anonymous people to create a letter without handwriting by cutting out text from the paper
Bon fire starters
Tails for kites that are flown in the sky, in some rare cases i have seen people create kites from newspaper
inexpensive material for learning art and craft at home [I once decorated a box by rolling up newspapers and paint them brown to make then look like cylindrical wooden pieces]
Used for covering floor while doing a paint job on the walls
Can play ink blotting game...when you press the nib of an ink pen on a newspaper, because of the texture of fibers, you can see the the ink spread on the paper
Oh, ofcourse paper boats for floating in rain water....
I used to cut out pictures from the newspapers for my scrap book collection, glad to still have it
During winters we used to stuff newspaper under the doors to prevent cold air from coming inside...very good insulator
When moving to a new house this was the quick and easy window treatment until you buy a new set
I have seen bike workshops in india use this for preventing messy grease from falling on the floor while working in the shop
When my sister was 1 yr old apparently she and my dad used to tear up newspaper for fun...great timepass i guess
Shreaded newspapers are thrown in movie theaters as confetti during songs like 'mustafa mustafa...dont worry mustafa...'
A rolled up fresh newspaper is a great inset killer

So...what else did you use newspapers for ?

Tesla's birthday

2009-07-10T10:28:00.006-04:00

Apparently today is Nikola Tesla's birthday. I found out thanks to Google. I was amused by their logo on their front page today. This made me go look up more about Tesla on wikipedia. My interest driven by his portrayal in the movie 'Prestige'. There were a few scenes of bulbs lighting up with wireless electricity and his hostility towards Edison, which intrigued me about him.

I think Tesla is a genius, way ahead of his time, after about a century, technology still hasn't caught up to his vision. Following are a couple of points which I was amused/impressed/astonished by after reading the wikipedia article :

Tesla demonstrated wireless communication (radio) in 1894 : In 1943, the Supreme Court of the United States credited him as being the inventor of the radio.
Tesla effect of wireless energy transfer: to wirelessly power electronic devices which Tesla demonstrated on a low scale (lightbulbs) 1893
He had a photographic memory
He could visualize an invention in his brain very precisely : picture thinking ability
Tesla was hired by Edison to work in his company and assist him with Direct Current motors
Tesla was offered equivalent of $ 1.1 million in 2007 to fix Edisons inefficient motor and Edison went back on his word, which made Tesla quit his company and develop animosity towards him
Tesla demonstrated "the transmission of electrical energy without wires" via natural media in 1891
Tesla was influenced by the Vedic philosophy teachings of the Swami Vivekananda
He demonstrated radio remote control in 1898, which only became reality in 1960s
Tesla produced artificial lightning as long as 135 feet
in 1906 he demonstrated bladeless turbines
He demonstrated a engine less flight, which is also known as lonocraft
Tesla had OCD and was obsessed with the number 3
He was disghusted by overweight people
He became close friends with Mark Twain
Tesla's opinion of Edison: "Just a little theory and calculation would have saved him 90 percent of the labor. But he had a veritable contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge, trusting himself entirely to his inventor's instinct and practical American sense"
Tesla: "humanity's future would be run by "Queen Bees" ". He believed that women would become the dominant sex in the future
He believed in later years that eating vegetables is superior in regard to both mechanical and mental performance
There is a bronze statue of Tesla at Niagra Falls, NY
There was no woman behind this man's success!

Fireworks from our backyard!

2009-07-04T22:21:00.003-04:00

How often does it happen that you have a private musical fireworks show in your backyard.....almost never! well, we had something close.... Today is July 4th, American Independence day and last night our city hosted musical fireworks..they claim is the best in the state of Indiana. Since I have not seen any other fireworks in Indiana, I have to go by their claim.
Its defenitely got to be atleast one of the best, as Jeff Saturday of Indiana Colts, American football team came to see the fireworks in our city. This show is hosted very close from our house and interestingly, we had a great view from our backyard.
This show is coordinated by our rocking radio station QMIX 107.3 and they ask everyone to blare their radios while the fireworks is orchestered to the music on the radio. So, we blared our radio in our backyard, layed out a few chairs, turned off all the lights and sat back and relaxed and watched the sky being lit in wonderful colors and sounds from the fireworks.
This is one of those few times our small city [Columbus IN] comes alive. almost the entire city was around our neighbourhood, and people had gotten their sheets, chairs and sat down on the grass in the open areas around our house. kids were wearing the lighted glasses and head bands and it felt like a party for the entire city.
Kiran managed to capture some excellent pictures, which I hope to add to this post soon. The best part is, our city hosts the fireworks in the same place every year....next time, we need to invite friends and family and enjoy this event.

Like--Dislike: Jan 22, 2008

2009-07-02T15:18:00.000-04:00

When you like someone for who they are as a person, and can have a quality time with them, it is easy to overlook their shortcomings and not be bothered by small habitual differences. Infact it is even possible that you appreciate even the most mediocre things that they do. I strongly believe that when you like someone, even the not so good looking people start to appear handsome and beautiful….

In the contrary, when you do not like a person, even the smallest habitual difference can be majorly annoying…. the way they make sound while sipping water, the way they laugh, their suggestions, everything can be irritating. You cannot see goodness even in the nicest things they do, even if it is for you. If they are good looking, you would attribute all their short comings to ‘arrogance associated with looks’.

When you want to please some one, we should probably focus on making that person like you by striking identity with them, having a good conversation, and having fun together in whatever you do, rather than focusing on a certain situation, activity or time.

I have had this conversation with so many people in different ways now…so I thought it deserves a blog entry….

Munbe Vaa En Anbe Vaa - Translation- Sillunu Oru Kaadhal: Dec 20, 2007

2009-07-02T15:14:00.000-04:00

Movie: Sillunu Oru Kaadhal
Song: Munbe vaa en anbe vaa
Singers: Shreya Ghosal and Naresh Iyer

(Shreya)

Munbe va en anbe va
Come in front of me, oh! my love

poo poo vai pooppom va
Lets bloom like flowers together

munbe va en anbe va
Come in front of me, Oh! my dear

ona va uyire va…
Come once .. oh! my life

Naan naana ketten ennai naane..
Am I myself? I asked thy self…

Naan neeya…nenjam sonnadhe…
Am i you? asked my heart

munbe va en anbe va..
Come in front of me, Oh! my love

ona va uyire va…
Come just once, Oh! my life.

munbe va en anbe va..
Come in front of me, my dear love

poo poo vai poopom va…
Lets bloom like flowers together!

Chorus

Rango rangoli kolangal nee pottal..
Colorful designs drawn by you..
kolam pottaval kaigal vazhi…
Valazhil satham…jal jal…
Bangles on the hands that drew the colorful design make the sounds (jal..jal..)
Rango rangoli kolangal nee pottal…
kolam pottaval kaigal vazhi…
Colorful designs made by you and the hands that made the design are..
sundara malligai sandhana malligai…
Beautiful flower, sandal flower…
sindhiya punnagai minna minna
like gold that dropped and glittered...
[Stanza]

(Shreya)

poo vaithai poo vaithai…
you kept a flower over a flower..
nee poovaikkor poo vaithai…
you made a garland from the flowers
mana poo vaithu poo vaithu poo vaikkul thee vaithai…
while doing so, you arose fire in the flower like you did in my heart

(Naresh)

Theyney nee mazhayil ada…
My dear honey while you dance in the rain…
nan maan nan nanaindhu vaada…
I am drenched in sadness….
en naazhathil un raththam naadikkul un saththam .. uyirey…
feels like your blood in my veins and your sound in my pulse, oh! my life…..

(Shreya)

thozhi oru sila naazhi…
Dear friend, even for sometime….
thani yena aanal…
If i am away from you…
Tharayinil meen UM UM ….
I feel like a fish out of water….

(munbe va….poopom va)

[Stanza]

(Naresh)

nilavidam vaadagai vangi…
Shall we borrow the moon
vizhi veettinil kudi vaikkalaama…
and make him stay in our house
naan vazhum veettukku verarum vandhale thaguma….
How can I take it if someone else stays in the house where I stay with you…

(Shreya)

then malai thekkukku nee than…
The honey comb you hunted…
undhan tholgalil idam tharalaama…
you carry on your shoulders…
naan saayum thol mel verarum saaindhale thaguma….
How will I be okay when you rest something else on the shoulders that I rest on….

(Naresh)

Neerum sembula cherum, kalandhadhu poley kalandhavar naam…
The way water and the golden sand mix, we both came together

(munbe va….pooppom va)
(humming rango rangoli….sindhiya punnagai minna minna)

Translated by Uma Ramadorai.

Volunteering is fun! :Oct 31, 2007

2009-07-02T15:06:00.001-04:00

Having been an organizer for quite a few events in the last few years, I have always looked at volunteers as somebody we can use to get things done when we cant afford to reward the hard work in cash or kind and hope that the person volunteering enjoys what he does.
I have almost forgotten what it feels like to volunteer to help for something, not take responsibility (like a title or position to do the same) and expect nothing in return for the work we do. I have always been the kind who would rather enroll in a committee, or try to be a member, leader, etc, which would atleast give me a title and make me responsible for conducting or organizing events. Most of those positions have never paid me in cash but have atleast paid in kind in the means of title, responsibility which leads to valuable experience, name and fame.

Of late, I have been just a volunteer. Plain volunteer, who does the hard work, has no title, is not really held responsible for anything at the end of it either. this made me realize that I am on the other side of the table and the same event looks a whole lot different…and sometimes more fun too.

I realized that people who volunteer usually know what they are getting into (or so I hope) and know exactly why they are volunteering….well it is all about having fun……

The whole aspect of volunteering to perform on stage for a function suppose, the practice sessions are the best part..not the final performance itself. It is very satisfying when the performance goes well and people come back and tell you they liked it. But nothing can negate the amount of fun you have when preparing and participating for the event. It is very refreshingly different from routine and adds memories to your life.

The aspect of helping organize an event for a committee is a whole different fun aspect, because then you get to meet people, socialize for a reason, be useful occupied and busy, all for no cost of responsibility

When you do the same work as a committee member, the fun part of it drains off a little, because there are deadlines to meet, checklists to adhere to, people to answer to, etc. ofcourse cant beat the recognition you get for a good event put together, but again, I think, you compromise fun for that…

Volunteering for non profit events that benefit someone else, like the book buddies program that I and my husband signed up for is a whole different fun because in that event we get to meet 2nd grade kids, a generation that I haven’t been talking to or have been in touch with for may be 10-15 years? It is very interesting to talk to them, and almost surprising to learn how they think respond and react. It is a great learning experience , very enriching, refreshing and playful…so a whole lot fun!

So bottom line, I have realized ‘Volunteering’ is an awesome thing to do if you want to have some fun and do something different on a routine day!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:July 23, 2007

2009-07-02T15:04:00.000-04:00

Starting with my salute to J.K. Rowling…

I am a HUGE fan of Harry Potter! since 2001, that was when the first movie came out ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone ‘. The popularity of the movie even before its release intrigued me and the feedback I got from readers compelled me to read the first book before I saw the movie, since I am a firm believer that books are always better than the movie. The freedom of your own imagination is better than the directors time and ability confined imagination and portrayal of the story. Then started my journey with Harry Potter, his friends and adulation for J.K. Rowling.

This month, July 2007 can aptly be named “Harry Potter Month” with the 7th, final and most awaited Harry Potter book coming out after the well made 5th Harry Potter movie “Order of Phoenix”. I couldn’t wait to see the movie, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the book. and I am writing this post in the spirit of having completed the 7th and final version, not having slept the whole night before trying to finish the book.

Ofcourse it was a page turner but more importantly I wanted to do it before I stepped out of the house or browsed internet, accidentally landing on an article or news that would kill the suspence for me. I shut myself from media and outside world until I finished reading the book. I wanted to savor it and thoroughly enjoy my journey with Harry Potter on his final quest…

The feeling of ‘no more harry potter’ kept bothering me all the time … I was anxious to know what happens to Harry Potter at the same time was reluctant to complete it, since I knew once I am done with this book, no more Harry Potter suspense….. a suspense that has intrigued me and a million others over the last decade (six years for me).

According to Rowling, she spent 17 years on the 7 books and she has been contemplating the end over the 17 years…and I guess the book was a good reflection of her hard work, brilliance in imagination and perseverance…. she held up to my expectations. In fact even surpassed it.
With all the popularity of the book, crazy fan following and pressure from publishers, I am sure Rowling would have been forced into a direction for the ending of the story, neverthless, she did a fantastic job of making the 759 page book a page turner, gripping the reader with suspence at the end of each page, not letting the reader take a break or for that matter take their eyes off!!

Rowling had her usual turn of events and suspence in the book, yet unpredictable. She leads you through the jig saw puzzle of the mystery, letting you solve the mystery along side Harry yet not letting you solve until she reveals it herself….after reading seven books from the same author, you would think the turn of events can be predicted….but no. For Rowling, that is her cherished genius….you can never tell what the characters are going to do next or what is in store for them in the next page….

Although the fan base of Rowling over the internet was smart enough to put all the options she had for the end of the story out there, I thought she made the best use of her talent to keep the ending intriguing and kept me guessing.

I surprised myself when I was done with the book. I was thrilled because “Now I know what happened to Harry Potter and Voldermot” I was happy for myself…. I was as stressed as Harry Potter himself by the end of the book, my day and nights were as gloomy as his when I was reading it…

Harry Potter reminds me of my school days, teenage thoughts, hardships of growing up, struggle to understand the difference between right and wrong, identity quest….”who am I?” questions, and continues to make me think in directions I haven’t thought, imbibes in me the Gryffindor qualities and inspires me…..

Harry Potter is definitely one of the best thing that happened to people who grew up with him…I am one of them.

My favorite quote from the book, which I am sure changed my perspective about leadership for the rest of my life is by Dumbledore :

“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it.”

An Indian State to be proud of 'SIKKIM': June 6, 2007

2009-07-02T15:03:00.000-04:00

Me and my husband visited the state of sikkim, Gangtok city for tourism purpose in the month of April 2007. There are a lot of things about this state that caught my attention and commanded my admiration and respect.

First is the beauty of this state. Well, I guess i will stick to beauty of the ‘Gangtok’ city since i really did not get to see much else of the state. This city is spread over the hills near the himalayan mountain range and has an amazing view of ‘Kanchenjunga’ the third highest mountain peak in the world and the highest peak in India. We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this peak, since the tourist guide mentioned that there have been many a tourist who have stayed in this city for weeks together and have returned without a view of the peak.

For a mountainous region, this place is amazingly green…..

To add to the beauty of this place, the city of gangtok does a great job of keeping the city and streets clean. It was a big deal to me because, we had just then returned from visiting darjeeling, the hill station which is currently extremely polluted in human inhabited regions, I almost felt guilty towards nature for being a part of human race.

Our tourist guide who was a rather friendly and warm hearted person gave us some backgorund about this city and state which was very interesting. He mentioned that the city of gangtok is free from corruption and that you cannot get anything done by trying to bribe a person in uniform. now that is something to be extremely proud of in India, since the country has been more popular for corruption than anything else in the last few decades.

The government of Sikkim is formed by a local popular group and it seems like they intend to do good for the state. Atleast they succeeded in making the residents of this state proud of their government.

There are a lot of places in India, where the local people in tourism popular areas try to take advantage of the tourists, especially if they are not from India. It was interesting to learn that the city patrol officers talk to the tourists directly, not communicating with the tourist guide or cab driver and find out what price they are paying for the tour/trip/hotel, etc… this keeps the locals on check and tourism flourishing…

Among all states I have been in India, Sikkim is one that I am really proud of!

Wedding: Nov 8, 2006

2009-07-02T14:59:00.000-04:00

Wedding, the picture perfect day of life…where everything is prepared, planned, coordinated and well executed…. Indian weddings are very charming I think. They are so colorful, joyful, eventful and memorable….

Every little girl in India dreams of her wedding day and every women cherishes it for the rest of her life, the wedding sarees, jewellery, decorations, the spotlight…. Its every girls own red carpet walk and Oscar night.

The excitement of starting a relationship, the butterflies in stomach about becoming part of a new family…it should definitely be an exciting day…..The wedding preparations give us so much to look forward to everyday……..wonder how it would feel the day after wedding, when your mind urges to plan, think, act due to habit cultivated in past few months of preparation but you dont have to do the same…..

Life would defenitely be different….guess will write about how different it is after the wedding

Five dysfunctions of a Team: Oct 3, 2006

2009-07-02T14:56:00.001-04:00

My latest book read was the book titled “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”- Patrick Lencioni. It is a really good read. You would want to read this if you are part of a team, if you sit in your team meetings feeling you dont belong there, or when you listen to your team mates argue about an issue over and over forever you think “what a bunch of loosers”, orrr If you are part of a team, where you admire and adore every individual for their potential, yet you cant see you team go anywhere with important decisions…the common issues which might seem endless and solution less are dealt with excellently in this book, and the author has done a great job of creating characters that would be close to real life people you might meet. as i was reading the book, i kept telling myself…’oh this person is sooo like the one i know…’ and sometimes i could even identify myself in situations described and i would have reacted very similar…

The thing is, all our school life there is so much stress on proving yourself to your teacher, your parents, your friends and your self that it is almost never stressed enough that being a Team Player is whats going to matter for the rest of your life…and that success is almost impossible if you cannot be a team player. Wanting to be a winner is not wrong…….but companies are all about team work….they dont care how good you personally are if they cannot use you to win the team games….

I guess it just makes a lot of sense when people in sports are given special privileges and have reservations when it comes to positions in companies and colleges, so are veterans from war…they all have been part of a team, and winning has always been about the team, never about thy self. That attitude can fetch great rewards for companies, whatever size, if combined with intellectual power…..defenitely recommended for a read…

New York Nagaram-'Sillunu Oru kadal': Oct 25, 2006

2009-07-02T14:55:00.001-04:00

I am in love with this song…. every time I hear it, i become so emotional and blissful at the same time….. The lyrics are so beautifully written…it is the ultimate combination of melodious music and meaningful-beautiful lyrics…. sweeps me away every time…. I am not trying to compete the ‘Musical Musings’ part of this web page in anyway ….. but couldn’t help writing about it….. I dug the lyrics for the song out and am ready to write a English translation (of meaning) so non-Tamilians can enjoy the song equally when they hear it …

{Check out this link for an awesome ALTERNATE picturization http://kaysonline.blogspot.com/2006/09/newyork-nagaram.html }

**Sillunu Oru Kadhal**

Movie :Sillunu Oru Kadhal
Hero: Suriya
Heroine: Bhoomika, Jyothika
Music: A.R.Rahman
Direction: Krishna
Singer: Isai Puyal AR Rahman
Song: New York Nagaram
Written : Lyrics Translation by sWEEtmICHe
Production: K.E. Gnanavel
Website: http://www.sillunuorukaadhal.com/

mmm.m…mmmm..mmmm [humming](ARR)

New York Nagaram urangam neram thanimai adarnthathu

{As the New York City gets ready to sleep, my Loneliness intensifies}

paniyum padarthathu kappal irangiye kaatrum karayil nadanthathu

{The Chill of the night starts to spread…boats are pulling to the shore, so is the wind….taking a walk on the shore}

naangu(4) kannadi suvarkalukule naanum meluguvarthy

{ Among the four glass walls…me and the candle……}

thanimai thanimayo.. { Loneliness…O! Loneliness….}

kodumai kodumaiyo { Torture….its..Torture! }

[music..]mm…m..mmm…..mmmm[humming] (ARR)

New York Nagaram urangam neram thanimai adarnthathu

{As the New York City gets ready to sleep, my Loneliness intensifies}

paniyum padarthathu kappal irangiye kaatrum karayil nadanthathu

{The Chill of the night starts to spread…boats are pulling to the shore, so is the wind….taking a walk on the shore}

naangu kannadi suvarkalukule { Among the four glass walls………}

thanimai thanimayo.. { Loneliness…O! Loneliness….}

kodumai kodumaiyo { Torture….its..torture! }

(music…..oh………oh………..oh….) (ARR)

pechellam thaalatu pola ennai uranga vaikka nee illai

{ you are not here to put me to sleep with your sweet talk like a lullaby}

thinamum oru muttam thanthu kaalai coffee koduka nee illai

{ you are not here to kiss me and give coffee in the morning everyday}

vizhyil vizhum thusi thannai yeduga nee inggu illai

{You are not here to blow the dust that falls into my eyes}

manathil yezhum kuzhappam thannai thirga nee ingge illai …

{You are not here to clarify the doubts that raise in my heart (mind) }

naan ingge neeyum angge…intha thanimai nimishangal varusham aanatheno

{ I am here and you are there…these moments of loneliness…why do they seem like years ??}

vaan ingge neelam angge intha uvamaikku iruvarum vizhakamanathu yeno ?

{’Sky is here and the blue color is there’ why did we become anologous to this simile ??}

oh………oh………..oh…. (humming)[Female (background)]

New York Nagaram urangam neram thanimai adarnthathu

{As the New York City gets ready to sleep…………}

paniyum padarthathu….. {The Chill of the night starts to spread…}

(music…..oh………oh………..oh….)(ARR)

naatkurippil nooru(100) thadavai unthan peyarai ezhthum enn penna..

{This pen writes your name 100 times in my dairy….}

ezhuthiyathum erumbu moikapeyarum mariyathenna thEna…

{after writing did the name turn into honey that ants seek?}

oh………oh………..oh….(F–humming) (ARR)

jillendru bhoomi irunthum intha tharunathil kulir kaalam kodai yantheno

{Even when the land is cold, in this moment why did Winter become the Summer}

oh………oh………..oh….(F–humming) (ARR)

Vaa anbe neeyum vanthal senthanal kuda panikatti pola maarume

{Come my dear, if you come this burning coal will also turn into snow balls}

oh………oh………..oh….(F–humming) [female]

New York Nagaram urangam neram thanimai adarnthathu

{As the New York City gets ready to sleep, my loneliness intensifies}

paniyum padarthathu….. {The Chill of the night starts to spread}

naangu (4) kannadi suvarkalukule naanum meluguvarthy

{Among the four glass walls…me and the candle…}

thanimai thanimayo…(2) {Loneliness…O! Loneliness…}

kodumai kodumaiyo…(2) {Torture…Its torture…}

ah…..yei…..yei….

Our Deepest Fear... :Sep 19, 2006

2009-07-02T14:37:00.000-04:00

I am a Huuuuge admirer and believer of this Quote. My belief was renewed when i saw the movie Akeelah and the Bee, where this quote is quoted a couple of times…the movie itself is inspirational, although about a much younger girl than me…..it reminded me of those challenging times of participation in competitions at school, an urge to prove myself…a fear of being judged, compulsion to downplay my abilities so my friends wont alienate me…and the desire to be appreciated for who I am and want to be recognised for my abilities……..

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, now our darknes, that most frishtens us.

We ask ourselves,

“Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?”

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people wont feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.

It is not just in some of us; It is in all of us, in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

a return to love - marianne williamson

Smoky Mountains: Sep 7, 2006

2009-07-02T14:36:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am so thrilled about my visit to the smokies that i wanted to write about it. It was the labor day long weekend and i happened to do some hiking in the TN, smokies. The drive itself was sooo beautiful…it is the perfect break I wanted off from work.. These mountains are so aptly named ’smoky’…they literally appear as if a fire was put off and all that remains is smoke…but ofcourse the smoke is white in color and hence looks beautiful…well ofcourse it is not smoke…its the clouds that are so close to the mountain surface, they appear to emanate from within. these clouds are infact sometimes close to the bottom of the valley inbetween the mountains.

I hiked 6 miles at the Laurel Falls and beyond..i guess the hike was called cove mountain trail..I am not sure…due to the weekend rush..the Laurel falls which also happens to be one of the popular hikes was crowded with people. .you couldnt walk 0.1 mile without bumping into another human being. Plenty of Desis. The fall was very beautiful initself but was not worth the hype….what wasdissappointing the most was that it was infested with humans….defeating the purpose of taking a hike in the mountains…but ofcourse i was one of them at that time…we decided to continue to hike beyond this point and that was the most beautiful hike. It was walking in a beautiful and safe rain forest…lush green and the unforgettable aroma…seems like i can close my eyes and recollect the aroma anytime….very refreshing….

Cades cove drive, which is also very popular was good but not great…we saw two black bears in distance on a tree and some deers….the view of mountians and forest was decent. another good hike was the 1 mile roundtrip hike at the clingmans dome beyond the TN-NC border….the weather was perfect to take a walk in clouds at the highest peak in smokys at about 6600 feet… the clouds were moving pretty fast across our paths…i got reminded of the ‘aamani paadave haayigaa …” song from geetanjali…. would defenitely recommend as a holiday getaway….

please dont stay in downtown gatlinburg or pigeon forge…that place is so soooo commercialized, we were shocked at first…took a moment to realize we were still in smokies and not Las Vegas…this place is full of mini Golf…atleast 20 within a mile and go karting. there are some popular dinner theaters, which we chose not to go to…we were there for the beauty of nature ofcourse….not for commercial entertainment….well…people were flocked inthese places neverthles…defenitely a memorable time

How to get people to do what you want them to : Feb 16, 2006

2009-07-02T14:34:00.000-04:00

Although people are trying to make a science out of admistration, by offering PhDs in administration, i think it still is and always will remain an ART!

A lot of other fields like metallurgy, which was considered the art of a blacksmith once has developed to become a science. However mastering the mind of human beings still remains an art. You might say, well there are courses offered in psycology and that helps understand how humans act and react….but dont fail to notice the fact that, Psycology is still offered in ‘School of Arts’ and not in any ‘School of Science’. All that the schools can do is what a blacksmith did for his son to learn his art.

One of the things that made me wonder is that it is so easy to get someone to do what you want them to, yet seems so difficult and complicated. I dont think a person having authority and power over others officially, i.e. by law or by responsibility assigned, can get his subordinates to do whatever he/she wants them to. Every one has a certain level of Ego and Self respect (SR). However, the way they react when they see a threat to self respect is different. Some are proactive, who try and make sure it doesn’t come to loss of SR and some are reacitve, who shount scream, call names and make a scene. And then there are the cold blooded people, who smile when somebody is trampling their SR and then make sure they take a silent unnoticed revenge, by either purposely not doing what they are being asked to do or delay the pace of work or by generating faulty outcomes of the task. And then there are those people who get done with whats being asked of them and then screw some other thing that they are not accountable for and trouble the person who caused damage to their SR.

The reason i classify these people over damage SR is because, often administrators oversee the thin line between asking and demanding. The difference is not as simple as the difference in tone of your voice or the choice of words. What matters is if you have considered the load and time constraint that the person is capable of.

However, people might listen to you once, twice, thrice….but if they see it as a pattern, they will start showing their reactions. If you have made sure they know their mistakes and criticized them (because you were told in school feedback is important), then you have made sure they dont care about your opinion anymore.

Consider this, If you have a scribbled slate, you will continue to use it for more scribbling, as it does not need maintainance anymore. It is going to look bad no matter how much more or less scribbling you do.

I have observed that if the other person thinks that you think good of him and have a good impression on his/her capabilities, they will value it more than gold and try not to tarnish that image. ‘cos in this world, each human is limited to knowing a bunch of people of which not many like them because of various differences. That small bunch of people who like you, called family and friends are taken granted for, because they like you know matter what you do. But then when you meet a person at work per say who has a good impression of you in the menacing competitive environment, wouldnt you make sure that impression is untarnished? wouldnt you value it a lot, simply because it makes you feel good about yourself? That simple feeling can automatically give the other person some authority over you. If that person asks you to do something for him/her, you would take that as a priority, cause you want to reinforce the fact in their and your mind that you are capable and good at some things….Also because you cannot handle the fact that you offended this nice person who likes you. you are scared that your image might slip down if you did not carry out the requested task with high quality and in a short time.

This is not a trick uncovered. This is very natural, we experience it everyday and even know that we do it (didnt you nod your head in agreement when you were reading?). The difficult part in making this happen is that we FORGET! we find it so convinient to kill the other person with blame than to kill them with kindness. Although blame has a short lived security, it has a long lived bitterness. Kindness is a bliss from the moment it is showered upon, both for the person who gives and receives. Yet it is not a natural instinct.

That doesnt mean you can get things done by letting people walk all over you. This is resolved by communication. All you need to do is ask the person to do it for you and let them know how important it is for you and that you think that person is the best choice to do the job for you…..and then when they do it, look at the result factually and do not judge the person…..trust me people always sense it when they are being judged. whether or not it is said explicitly. Give your peers benefit of doubt, when in doubt. to state my point clearly, look at the results factually, resolve issues based on facts…not feelings and intuitions….do not try to jude and pigeon nail others…..no one likes to be categorized into a ‘Type’.

Some great person put all that i said in a simple statement:

“Give respect to take respect”….

A problem well defined is half solved -- Albert Einstein: February 9, 2006

2009-07-02T14:33:00.000-04:00

Isn’t that so true….the more i think about it, the more sense it makes. Seems like a simple sentence, but has so much meaning. Everytime i take up a new project, i try to remind myself of this statement and that is when i realize that the toughest part of any project is knowing clearly what you want to accomplish or what you are expected to do… Once you know your deliverables…and establish steps to achieve it….it is just a matter of time to finish the project.

u might think …yeah yeah…everyone knows that…..If so, then why is it that, people spend the least amount of time in planning the project? something like a 5%? is it because of the pressure on us to prove that the project is moving at a fast pace? is it because we are afraid people might interpret too much time on planning as ‘He/She is lazy’ or ‘He/She is not action oriented’?

I try to place myself in the shoes of a manager and think, would i be patient with my subordinates if they want to spend 60% of the project time in planning ( Taught in one of the project management classes that i attended) or would i be keen on getting some things done ? If i put it that way, my obvious choice would be getting some things done i guess..

But then i can prove myself wrong only by experience. I will try out the 60% planning on a project…..hopefully a low priority one and let you know how good it was….and how much weight the statement by Einstein has, when it comes to practicality. Then may be i will be a better manager one day….

Hindu Crossword: Feb 1, 2006

2009-07-02T14:30:00.000-04:00

One of the very few things that i used to do consistently everyday was solving the ‘Deccan Chronicle’ crossword…..i had a two hour ride to my college and there wasnt anytihng more exciting than being able to complete the crossword…..I used to solve DC crossword because, we were subscribing to that everyday other than the weekends…when we would get THE HINDU….an amazing newspaper…have always respected it for the reporter’s and editor’s command over the english language, which is not a native language for any of them…i am yet to see that quality in everyday newspaper in the english speaking country that i am currently residing in .

I used to have a lot of respect for anyone who could solve THE HINDU crossword. because, i used to be able to solve a maximum of 3-4. It would be interesting to meet the people who actually create the crossword….i think it is an amazing brain work…both creating and solving the crossword….

The other day, i and Kiran were working on a print out of the hindu crossword from the net after a long time…and it was so much fun…Kiran taught me how to work on the clues couple of years back….he is really really good at solving them and i adore him for his ability to do so…i didnt realize the time fly by…and kept feeling good about it all day ….so i thought it should be worth mentioning here…chao!

I need to move my website, hence forgive some outdated blogs

2009-07-02T12:56:00.001-04:00

I am creating this blog, so I can discontinue my service with Yahoo, as I am not happy with not being able to see my website and having to pay money monthly. All i do is blog anyway. so why not do it free?