Goddess to ashes

the popular people turning into villians overnight

Kushboo..

Twelve years ago, the same people who burn her effigy today had built a temple for her .. She was worshipped.. !! Neither was that sensical nor is this ? Is this what the people have 'learnt' in 12 years time ?

Suhasini follows suit.. and so do the jobless people burnign effigies !

How does it bother one, if Kushboo or Suhasini was pro-pre-marital-sex. After all, everyone is entitled to some opinion. She did not 'force' any woman into pre-marital-sex, nor did she give any incentive to those people, that the poor ones who don't feel left out ! :)

It is the bloody politicians who give incentives to people who are ready to burn effigies, rather than mind their own work. As long as these people are attracted to this incentive, the politicians will continue to exploit and make politics out of it.

As I leaned back on my chair seated on the patio,

Screwing back the time machine, and living life yet again ..

Walking the beach as the sun sets on the west Daddy teaching me to say clock tower from TV tower, and I cleverly mess up once again Building castles in the sand .. Drilling tunnel with the hand .. Molaga bajji that was so spicy .. Pataani Sundal mom would get me .. Sling between my mom and dad bringing my meagre weight up down on them.. hating to go back to the Math homework, I would have to do, yet longing to show the 10/10 to the family .... I would walk away..

wrrrrrrrrr.... the cooker whistle goes ....
Dal is cooked and Sambar is waiting to be made..

:)

இனிய தீபாவளி நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்

My first attempt at a fictional story

Any remote association to a living character is purely accidental. All characters in this story are purely fictional


trngg.............

School bell rang....

He rushes out of his class, waving hands to his class buddies and with in minutes, finds himself on the bank of this river. This is the usual routine for him, he thought. He hurriedly leaves his book bag behind, unwinds his shoes and settles down as close to the shoreline as possible. He is so happy being there, looking at the waters flowing beneath his feet, still warm for the late afternoon, relaxing. The curative powers of warm waters cannot be better proved to him. He looks at the stray dogs that wobbles in the mud, and thinks, why its mom never scolded it for making a mess of itself.

The scene changes.. He continues to watch... After the dirty dog, passed by, an elderly woman and a little kid in tattered clothes come to the river to fill the wooden flask with water for the evening. They are very popular people in the neighborhood, as they are the only ones who wash and clean the public toilets everyday. It was their home and they had to do it anyways. He is sad as the little kid never gets to meet friends at school, as he does, but at the same time, he envies him, that he never Has to go to school.

A few years back, when he was younger, too young to find his way around, his mom and he would walk together to the river bank, play a little, listen to the stories the mom told him, play blind fold, skip around a rope - his mom used to maintain shape that way. Born with no siblings, his mom was his playmate.

As he walks down the memory lane .....

Sun descends on the horizon, as watches a beautiful sun set. Seems like, the sun gets lost inside the river, and rises itself on the other side after a nights journey underneath the river. As the dusk settles down, he picks his bag and walks a lonely long walk back to rest for the evening. He never speaks a word again. He is scared of the dark evenings, that unsettles him. The village so familiar to him, the screeches of the bicycles speeding by, to reach home after work and fresh "kolam" that adorns every doorstep is silent and strong on either side of him. As he reaches the verandas of his house, he hugs the old frailty figure waiting for him. After habitual ablutions, he prays the Thulasi for a couple of minutes. His mom has taught him the power of prayers.

Now it is study time. Imperceptibly walks to his room, opens the suitcase placed in the corner of the tiny room, and picks a picture that is freshly framed - holds it close to his heart, as tears run down his cheeks. It was his mom, smiling at him from inside of the frame and guiding his action every moment. As he holds the picture so tight that his mother is unable to breathe, vivid, heavy and grim memories of his mom being carried away by the doctors unreel. She was mentally sick. She had tumbled over, skid down and hurt her head, the previous night. That dusky evening, his mother unaware of his son's cries, smilingly walked with the men in white coats. He cried asking for his mother back. The villagers held him back. Days passed by and the villagers explained that his mom would be back when he grew up. There he stays, trusting the powers of his prayers, that he would grow up to see his mother back. He wraps the picture back with the crumpled cloth that is wet with his tears and places it back into the suitcase. He rushes back and hugs his caretaker granny once again.

This post coming a little late....

Coming from a Desi living in a Green Village, in the US, where Tam movies seldom get released, is this late review of live Ghajni, where Asin is full of verve and new life all over.

Well, if you have read any review of Ghajni earlier, may be this one is on very similar lines. I had no clue about the movie when I saw it, so it was a pleasant surprise. The movie has Asin and her effervescence written all over the first half. The friendly banter between Surya and Asin, stealthy Surya, the Bombay stories of Asin and her many little things that lift the spirit of anyone around is phenomenal.

The director has shown Asin is the best light, an outgoing, bold and helpful girl that enjoys the little pleasures of life while working towards her ambition of buying three Ambassador Cars. Her character is neatly depicted with the rest of the story.

The director has again, picked the best actor for the role, in Surya, who has given an exceptional performance. It is a novel idea of making a mentally challenged man as the hero, for the Tamil industry that will soon be followed by a few copy machines :)




Though credits are due for the performance of Surya, the idea of the director and the music of Harris Jeyaraj, what continues to act on your head, after the movie, is the tale of Asin, the music of Kalpana that lingers on and on and refuses to wane. It sure has a positive effect on you.

many a fight
I have had to face
many a gory sight
I have had to see

many a painful blow
have I had to bow to
many a silent wail
have I had to weep

Yet,
cant deny a memory
that I cherish
cant deny a joyful moment
etched for life

Variety is the spice of life .. eh ?

Life is not as thorny and tough as this minute is,
Sometimes, it is even worse

But come in, get in touch and feel the pulse
Sometimes, it is ecstacy

Uncles, aunties and grandmother were engaged in a chat session. It was a period of catching up, many of the family, had just then reached Madras, assembling in the family home at our grandma's. My cousins and I, four of us, @ an average age less than 10 were locked up in a room, as we were too noisy for them to be heard from each other.

In those time, when cordless was unknown, having more than one connection for a phone line was luxury, when people from the neighborhood would use your phone in emergency, phone majestically occupied the space in the outermost of halls, popularly called the "phone room" in our grand ma's place. This room, a tiny 10x10 room, which no one used except to make calls was the hottest of the rooms, anyone dared to live in. Now, this was the room into which we were locked. It was our paradise. The place saw us play dark room, kannamoochi, antakshari, Trade, trump, 56, play drama for Shakespearean "Merchant of Venice", which happened to be in our English texts, in which we made poor Sandhya to play the wicked Shylock !! Every brick in this room, knew more of our joys, fights, games and us better than any other entity outside of it.

Though we were a little upset that the 'elders' had actually locked us here, there were no complaints, we loved being there, enjoying the sweltering heat that heated up further, as our energy soured. It was the time, when cable televisions had started making entry into the market. Sun TV was evolving. Sun TV which was still telecasted only between 6: 30 pm and 11 pm had some special programmes for occasions like Diwali, New Year and Pongal. It was novel for us kids to watch Pepsi Uma on the screen talking to people around the world, playing songs of their choice etc. Also, we were kids who were meeting after a long time. Unlike the elders who had some catching up to do, we were "GO" from the minute 1. Immediately we would start playing, from where we left the last time we met, half a calender year ago. :-) Those were the kid like qualities.

The frustration of having gotten locked up and the excitement of speaking on the Sun TV programmes, had mischievous chemical reactions in us that led us to what we did. We played a drama, this time not Shakespearean but one of our own to vent out our spite and excitement. This program, that we were trying to create and market was an innovative one. "Our Pepsi Uma" was suppose to pick random people from the telephone book, and announce that the called was one among the lucky few to who Uma was calling and that the program would feature her talking and play the song of the her choice in a fortnights time, when the program was suppose to be on air. That was too much of an incentive to get any next door man up on his adrenaline. We took the roles of Pepsi Uma and started calling random people from the Telephone Directory. Now, I appreciate why it costs bucks to get your name ticked off the directory here in the US. It was euphoria for us, as the random people we picked had amazing enthusiasm to talk with Pepsi Uma.

Seemingly a middle aged woman and the mother of a college going son said "Edho en payyan paduvan oorvasi oorvasi nnu .. andha paatu podunga.. ayoo ipponnu paathu en payyan veetle illiye.. avan ketta romba kushi ayiduvanga.. nethu dhan avan kitte ketten, yaaru da orrvasi, therinja ponna nu, edho paattu nnu solli , en vayathula paala vaathaan". It was the time, when Shankar's hit Gentleman was in box-office

Someone, lost in the myriad of songs in this age, that made no sense to this poor old man picked "Oru Naal Podhuma". He was so happy that he actually sang the song for the world-wide audience. Little did he know that his songs were for the private audience locked up in the "Phone Room"

We also had some responses like, "what ? " , "who ?", "wrong number ", that we promptly disconnected. There were a few who did not know of Pepsi Uma or Sun TV , quite surprising !! ?? that we again disconnected, because we did not want to do much of the talking. There was not as much fun in as it is in letting people talk with pushed up frenzy, ardor and intensity and passively listening to it !! The phone was a such a hot item in the heated "Phone Room" that it kept going between us, trying to listen to the pumped up vigor ! For once, we stuck with the rule, of making no noise.

Even today, 15 years later, as I lean back, think and want to be warped in time, the voices of the people of Madras, will bring tears to my eyes, tears of a little guilt, a little victory, a little magic and a little joy. Those were the ages, that we knew no fear, no limits and when no means of joy was wrong ?!

Please read it in a lighter sense !

Simply because my program and I are fighting over who is more powerful - I give it junk values and it gives me junkier results and the stage is set for the junkiest show !!, I lean back on my chair, and stretch my hands outside of myself , as outside as it can be inside the cube ..... my mind would run in seemingly parallel crooked lines..

......
Mentally challenged are people who have some retarded growth in the brain. Physically challenged are people who have some form of physical disability. These are sort of euphemisms for certain disorders. These days you hear even romantically challenged - who are .... whatever ?

.....

But as my crookedly minded head turns around and feels that the office chair could have been more comfortable, I see this dimensionally challenged man with a packet of chips in one hand and coke in the other braving the office aisle space. The junkiest fight switched places !

p.s. Characters and instances in this write-up are purely fictional and any material reference to any living character is truly accidental and the author disclaims responsibility. :-)

Nature speaks

In Portland,
rains 10 months in a year.. slow and steady.. that no one ever rushes around.. there is no disruption in life.. rain seems to be pleading "slow and steady, yet persistent ways of life makes a the city green"

In Madras,
If at all it does, it does 3 weeks in year, hard down pour, not enough reservoirs to hold the water, much of the water is wasted out to the sea with in 10 days of rain
The people you see are all in a hurry that they want to get off rain, asap. The people of Madras show an unwelcome attitude to the rain, that rain stopped showing its face these days. Worst water scarcity in history, today.

Nature teaches human kind a lot of things in subtle unknown ways. Rain was just another example. In today's modern world, with people getting busier by the day, atrocities galore. People are in a forceful rush attending their business that they often forget that benefits are better in persistent and slower ways of life. I am not advocating easier lifestyles but just some styles that gives her the time to fathom whatever is happening around her. Persistence pays, not pressure. A political campaign- vehement and forceful slogans often preaching non-cooperation to the youngsters of tomorrow ; A Murder - a exhibition of forceful brutality; cheating and manhandling a next-door neighbor (http://sbcbrutes.blogspot.com. You must have read this via the Email forward carrying the import of this link. ) , are all exhibitions of man-made attempt to forceful invasion trying to achieve supremacy teaching unproductive ideas to the next generation.

Cramming in a fast paced course is as unproductive as rain in Madras. Taking the time for things to sink in, apiece and using the full span of life to learn is the way to go !

Mani Aji

My grand ma .. my cousins and I would affectionately call her mani aji. She lives with my cousins in Triplicane, Madras now. It is the house that we virtually grew up, though I actually only visited during my holidays.. She is my maternal grandmother.

Just as I think of her, many memories flow over.... Many many fond memories, today I am thousands of miles away from her. I speak to her may be once a month, definitely this soul whose every breath and wish is our well being deserves more than that.

Her life made her strong. She was born rich, can you believe, she was taken around on a parade, around the city on a palanquin, to celebrate her first birthday. Born with the silver spoon, she lost her father when she was 5. She grew with no siblings. But she had plenty of cousins who she would dearly call Anna. Her mom, thankfully was well off to bring her up. According to the custom, she was married off in style when she was only 13. She would recount, she was made to agree to the wedding saying " Adi Tissue Saree vangi tharuvanga di" .. not that she would know how to disagree with what elders told her.. And there you go she was happily married. Her first child, when she was 15, passed away with in 10 days of its birth. btw, that was my uncle. He was a blue baby. Then they discovered that she had high blood pressure. She has been on pills ever since. With heavy treatment of pills, she delivered four children, the second of them is my mom. But her blood pressure would not come down - till date. When she was 29, the worst thing happened. Her husband, my grand-father passed away peacefully in sleep. He was not known to have any illness. It was a total shock, the least expected. Its hard to imagine how she could stand though those times and successfully bring up four children, the eldest of whom was 14 when this happened. The youngest was a mere 5. A lady in the 30s, with hardly a 8th standard schooling, high blood pressure, no means of income and four children to take care of came out of her immense grief. She is a woman of extreme courage, faith in God and goodness epitome. She is the most successful woman I have heard / come across. To me, she is larger in life than the most intelligent people that walked this earth.

She stands tall .. in my mind now and always.

Her tribulations continued.. She was operated on umpteen times, her uterus, her gall bladder and her appendix. "Virtually, my stomach is empty", she would jokingly recount. She taught me to laugh at my troubles, smile at their smallness in comparison to God, to His strength, to His power and to my faith.

She followed a custom of lighting "Shravana Deepa". She would light one for each son /daughter/son-in-law/daughter-in-law/grandkids she has to take care of. A month typically has 2 Shravana Deepa days, when she would light these lamps for the well-being of us. Every time, a kid was added to the family, her son got married, lamp count would get incremented. Her beliefs and prayers go a long way into making us what we are. She would carry with her, this set of lamps when ever she goes out of town, to make sure she does not miss Sharavana Deepa. She has not missed one yet. If she is too busy, she would get up at 4 am and finish it before the world wakes up and looks for her help.


Every summer holidays, I would come to stay with her and we would make great friends. She will take me to the market in the evenings, to the temple and to the beach. We would read "Washington il Kalyanam" together. We would buy mango and make thokku. I would help her make 'vadaam' and stealthily eat the maavu kept for 'vadaam'. Then, we would walk up to the terrace to spread it out. It was a lovely experience. We will boil water, make Rasna and store it in the first fridge we had. We would go to Hindu High School to listen to "Katha" recited by some Shastri. I hardly remember their names.. but I remember enjoying the evening sitting in the sand and making hills. When there is an interesting scene in the story, like Sita being carried away or Kumbakarnan coming to the battle, I would get excited and listen with awe to the story. We would shop for flowers and she would make a long flower plait for me and make me a bride ! When I grew up, she respected my changing tastes, she would happily buy me a pair of Jeans at Rex Fashions, would not force me to have flower plait ( I miss it today though ). She got us (my cousins and I) permission to watch the India vs Pakistan Independence cup match played at Chepauk. This was my last school summers. Off to work, summer holidays stopped coming. :( I get to meet her less often than I would want to.


She is well informed, talks about politics, cricket, cinema, TNPCEE, F1, H1 and GRE. In ways she does not know, she has influenced me positively. While I was still at school and did not have any big plans about under-grad, I over heard her say to one of her friends, that I was a bright student and that she was looking forward to seeing me make it big. Not sure if I were even close to it, but it kindle my enthusiasm to study. So long, a lethargic student started to at least work hard. She would build contacts around our extended family with people whose sons/daughters are 16 and ask them to guide me !!!! Sounds interesting here ? She sure did. We have had hot debates on non-vegetarianism, alcoholism etc and have gladly lost. Today I am a vegan !!


I sure owe her a lot, I owe her more than what I have given her. The influences they have made on me is profound and irreversible, the power that she had taught me a lot of things. It taught me I am not lost until I think I am. And I can refuse to think I am. What a bold and accomplished lady she has been.. a spring of energy, love, tenderness, poise and will power. I thank YOU for the wonderful opportunity I have to be her grand-daughter.

Love you mani aji.

Life after spamming !!

It seems like ages since I got some actual written email on my inbox.. My friends around the world have become that busy that they can manage forwarding spam emails but not write a line of their own.. well, I am one of them too. Its been ages since I wrote one too.. Suddenly, this saturday afternoon, post lunch, post an hour long warm bath, when there was nothing on TV except easterman color movie, I thought I would 'write' email to someone.... As my thoughts go on, I pick my laptop and click on 'Inbox' ..... and there I see an email... well it looks like a 'written email' -- shorter subject and definately not I spam forward I thought....

It read
Sangita Singh Hello Preethi Tue 09/27 6k


wow ! I thought and opened it..

It read

Hi Preethi,

Long time no news. how are you ? I am doing very good. How is your new life? How is work? When are you coming home? We have a lot to catch up on. Just as I write this, I figure that we have almost lost contact off late. In fact, I searched through my old diaries to get your email. Chal, I want to tell you that I have changed my name, as it reads on this email.

keep in touch,

take care ..
cheers,
Sangita

wow !! What a personalised email. But the saddest part is I dont know who is the person who has changed her name to Sangita Singh now. Did she change her first name ? What was it before? or was it the last name that she changed ? Did she get married ? I know some 4 'Sangeetha', with who I am in regular conact. Do I really know her ? or is this, just the newest colour in spamming.. No it really looks like an email addressed to me..

well.. I am waiting for a reply.. Any Sangita Singh reading this blog, let me kno, if you are the ONE..

Labor Day weekend

Being "our" first long weekend, (after being married) A and I spent it in a rather special way .. in his university town, Corvallis @ his friend's place. After a special dinner cooked by his Bachelor friends, I got to ride cycle err... bike after a span of 7 years.. That felt great and that was just the beginning.. Then it was cards time.. For about a hour and a half, we were blissfully engaged with it, with A accumulating A-spade, A-Hearts, A-Clubs, A-Dice and K-Spade until ....... To Him, 8/52 cards went this way and just 5 came via random distribution !! We thought that was unfair and switched gears to plain lacha...... Went on and on and on and on till 4 am !! It is easily one of my longest evenings .... Topics ranging from college fun, which payyan see which ponnu, love marriage vs arranged marriage, Ashes, US open and back again to trashest of talks..

Late morning, the next day, hogged at Izzys - Pizza bar, Salad Bar, Dessert bar and Fruits Bar .. was really too much worth the money .. that I could hardly walk to the car, bend down and make to the inside of the car!

Indeed a fun way to spend a weekend .. right?

I have donated blood just a couple of times earlier and it feels so good after u r through. Feels like u r the reason for a couple of men walking thsi earth.. Moreover, my mom went thro' major complications in pregnancy (when i was born) that she had to use a few bottles of blood donated by good-hearted men 25 years ago, for survival. I feel deeply indebted to them.

Today, I wanted to donate blood after a long time. I also had the opportunity to do, atleast I thought so. I had registered with Red Cross, as they are camping here, at my workplace. Sadly, for a silliest of reasons, I was not allowed to donate blood today. The reason stated : I had travelled to India in the last six months. What the heck? So what ? Just because parts of India was affected my Monsoon, everyone in the country is not affected by Malaria. I want to call it Racism.. Why did the worker from Red Cross had to cite such a reason to deem by blood undonatable. It sickens me.

Earlier, while I was at college, my blood was refused too. The reason then was that I had low levels of Heamoglobin. It took me a couple of days to digest that fact itself.. but I made sure that my Heamoglobin levels reach the right levels so that I could donate, and I did. Ever since then, I have never had complaints about low levels of Hb.

But today, ....

But we still have to fight this way in the daily turmoils of a foreign country.... because we are here for a living in the US of A.

Disheartened,
Preethi

This Day That Age .. oops .. Seems like ages..?
This Day That Year !!

I landed in the US of A this day last year. In this one year, a lot of things have happened in my life.... Life suddenly is more serious and more fun !! I met the man of my life, got engaged and got married !!!! :)

Whatever this US had done to me ?! ;-)

Suddenly, I feel a surge of positive energy flowing, suddenly everyone seems right, everything seems just in place.. I want this moment to continue into eternity; a prolonged moment of satisfaction and comfort makes me realize the power of positive energy !

Every word uttered and every thought unuttered; every action that ensues in some way will change the perspective towards life at that point in time and hence the quality of life over a period of time.

Hence, the attitude and outlook have such a powerful influence in the material of the best being u can be. Clearer outlook, hence clarity in thought, hence decisive and focussed. Now u know what u want and hence there is a higher possibility that what u attain is what u wanted, because u have a direction to go. With better decision, u r more confident - At this time, u fall in love with urself. Being able to love urself is a good indicator of ur mental health. When u r able to love urself, u r more receptive to the love people around u offer. Now u have received love, u r more than ready to share it. The love cycle has a wonderful impact again on ur positive energy.

B+ve is my blood group !!

Mom,

I must have listened to u..

U told me to learn Karnatic Music when I was 8
I thought it was fashionable to say "I wont"

Despite ur best efforts I won my game of ego..
and I ended up not learning it

Today, I repent ..
Wish I could sing aloud..
Wish I could sing my heart out..
Wish I dinn have to carry on with the heaviness in my heart ....

Wish it was "Kurai Ondrum illai, malai moorthy kanna"

~ Realization thats late by a few years, To be Precise, 16 years ~
I promise to listen to u in every bit of detail, now on.

I live on the ninth floor of a 14 storey building. The apartment has a balcony that looks out towards the city. I have lived here for the past 10 months now.

However I never realized until today that the balcony made a wonderful piece of scenic and pictureque view point. I have always been accused of spending 95% of my non-sleep and non-class hours on the phone. Well, no one actually accused me. Tis just that I have enjoyed being online! Nothing has changed now than the realization of the fact that being on the phone in the balcony rather than in the bed behind the comforter would probably be more exciting !!

If I were Wordsworth, I would pen a poetry abt the scene. All green, ever extending blues, no traffic and a panoromic view of the world in its entirety.

Sadly, that I am not wordsworth, I stop here.

With the list of things that are yet undone......

Draw sequence diagrams for an assignment due tommorrow
Draw class diagram for a project thats due tommorrow
Grade 100 odd papers
ERP project thats due a long time later - 3 more days to go
EBIZ project - behind by just 2 weeks
Mrinalya Project - behind by just a month !

To top the academia,
"Collect addresses so that I can post the wedding invitations",
"Go to Kroger and Do Some HAVE-TO-DO shopping for the weekend retreat !"

The next week is going to be hectic, with prof meeting, beating and slacking !!:) Am I beyond repairs? The irony of the situation is that I am not too bothered about any of the above mentioned 'to-do's.

Lethargy and laziness has built into my system so much that I would probably miss it if it chooses to bid adieu. So it stays on and I stay put on blogger world rather than start even with one of the action items

As happy and Smiling :~: as ever

One of my 'da gang' friends is getting married today. This post is a tribute to his marriage, to the couple, toast on our friendship and a note to say "Wish u a great life ahead"

Nalam vazha ennalum en vaazhthukkal
Tamizh koorum pallandu en vaarthaigal

100 varusham indha maapliyum ponnum dhaan
peru vilanga nalla vazhanum !

Little would the couple understand the meaning of the above verses.

Yes, we are a group of friends from diverse cultures that found a meeting point in the name of Oracle, when we joined the company on the 29th April 2002. For most of us, it was the first job, high expectations, honey-moon period in a company paid guest house and a team building experience that brought us into a close-knit group of well mannered, mature friends who are again now seeking different experiences in different parts of the world.

Yesterday, I had been to a 'party' party, where people expected me (and some of my friends) to actually party which we dinn know how?! The day before the hosts of the party had held one for the undergrads where those kids seems to have made a mess of a place. And we the graduates were well-behaved which was puzzling for the hosts. Part of the reason is probably the fact that most of us were from a low-profile background that kept enthusiasm of the real 'party' folks damped too. Ideally, it musy have been the other way round, the real party folks egging on the others to perform (:p ;)) , energize and party.

Yours truly is a vegetarian and doesnot mind eating anything under the sun under the belief that what she is eating has no meat. The moment she knows that something contains meat, no one can make her have it - come what may.

I noticed a fellow me who walked across the buffet table, looked at the different platters and moved on and soon he found himself at the end of the buffet table and the plate was empty. And there was potato chips at the end that he could finally pile on into his plate. :)

Considering the number of vegetarians in a typical party, I would vouch to have a few veggie dishes that she can mouth. In the next year's party, its gonna be a treat from yours truly in preparing a vegetarian meal section. By that time, I hope to be an expert cook !

Fine, now the scene change. You find a bunch of guys playing soccer. I am not a big player of soccer but would have loved to try my hand (sorry leg) at the game. What kept me at bay .. Well, I hate to admit it was the fact that there was no other 'girl' who could play. All the other girls were chit-chatting and so was I !:(

I spent 34 bucks getting there! Thankfully, one of the kind-hearted professors offered to drop me back. Thank You sir. Thank You party for a few facts that quite threw me off like the style of the outfit to the lifestyle of a Indo-American family !!

Long live partying !!

May 22 2005 - Once again, I created the blog

I have had a perpetual desire to start a blog and begin blogging. However it required a much stronger drive that I today (hopefully) got by reading my roomie's writing escapades.

I would owe u a thank you note if this materializes into a regular blogging window. Wait on the timeline until then !

Now that I have started, I have 1001 scenes, reaons, incidents, stories and anectodes that I want to write about. But I wonder if one of them will entify into a BLOG ENTRY.

Dont cut things short !!

Scene: A bunch of people in a general conversation. Three students and two professors.

A New Topic: What was the daughter of one of the professors doing !

Past Info in the group: She was looking to join an under-grad school. Which school was the question

Professor Says:
She is going to Wash U.

Thunder burst out laughing !!!!!
She was just going to the 'Washington University, St Loius", which was universally said and understood as "Wash U"!!!!

The truth of the matter is these days, everything has an abbreviation.. Ther is no time left in the world to speak every word in its details. And once in a while, the sentence parts of verb and noun, subject and predicate fall in such a precise place that the whole sentence is mind-blowingly ....

Does life suck ?

When something sucks, it saps your energy and undermines the quality of your life. It makes you feel smaller and wish you hadn't participated. It sabotages your joy and you walk away feeling crummy. When it comes to your life sucking, you cant just walk away from it. If your life is getting in your face, you might want to know why, so you can do something about it before it gets worse. As you face and plug each hole, you will transform every challenge into a gift.

Together we can turn tragedy into triumph and make it all a win. You are not a victim, you are a powerful creator. You can make the changes in your life that will get you the results you want. I guarantee that if you practice the principles you learn here, your life will change for the better. Plugging one leak at a time. Along the way, you might even fall in love with yourself.

Unsucking your life is an inside job. You do not need to import power, for you were born with it; you just need to plug the holes in your bucket through which it is leaking. The quest is about peeling away the lies and illusions you have been told, and went on to tell yourself, that have kept you living smaller than you deserve. When you do, you will be amazed to realise how much you have settled for. Then you will have little patience for halfhearted living and reclaim your right to live from choice rather than default.

Any experience that leaves you feeling empty, less-than, or needy does so for only one reason: You entered into it feeling empty, less-than, or needy. The illusion is that relationships will take away the pain that keeps you feeling small; the reality is that relationships magnify the pain that keeps you feeling small. And yet there is a gift in the process: you remember that the source of your strength is inside you. When you elevate others at your expense, nobody wins. When you source your life from inside out, everyone wins.

- as said in Times of India -

Round is the shape!

Did Megellan know that the earth was round before he discovered it.?
Do all us of us know that life on earth(as if I had a choice to choose Mars) is round too!?

Life comes as a round.. a circle that has no beginning and no ends.. c'mon thats old philosophy.. but its new realization.. a new discovery of its purpose.. and a new idea to feel the relation!

But does the circle have the same radius everytime u travel around? if they were not, how do u jump between the concentric cirles, no its not geometry.. is the period of jump a high or a low? as u live farther away from the center, u get a better perspective of the world.. which means your granny is so much more better off understanding life than u .. How often do u realize and buy it!? Understanding Software code and understanding life .. are they inversely related.. nay.. they r jus not related!

The joy is not moving away from the center sooner to get a better view.. The fun is in experiencing the view from every possible perspective, direction, angle and relation. As u move further .. there are times when u want to live by to ur soul.. and u realize that the soul is at the center of the earth and that u r jus too far .. and there is no road connecting the two. ..... Now u have to maneuver ur way to the center.. and this path is nor a free ware.. nor is it a licensed product available for distribution. It is when u need to learn the language, code, and test urself thro' it.. a real life beta testing!!

I can go on and on.. but the gist is.. Follow ur heart and not ur head.. Heart travels thro every path.. and teaches you to live and love every experience.. And it is the heart that will take u back to the center too.. not the head.. The Power of .. change.. The power to change.. the eternal truth, the guiding factor, ur God .. its all in the heart..

Enjoy every moment! Enjou ur rambling thots!

My Knight in the Shining Armour !

the dating period.... the getting-to-know period.... These are typically not well known in the place where I come from.... The way it works is see the guy for a few minutes, have a not-so-private conversation for some 30 minutes.. It either works or does'nt at the end of it !

However for us, its been a little different. No very different..

My guy is no knight .. no armour of course ! no question of a non-existing-thing shining?! Yet to me, he is going to mean the world to me.

Welcome to my world my Knight!