HAPPY HOLIDAYS

We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas
We wish you a merry Christmas
And a HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

HAPPY 2009 !!

Games growing up

When I was a kid, we lived in a colony. There were 5 of us who were almost the same age and played with each other every single day from 5:00pm to 6:30pm. It was a fixed routine ... be it weekday or weekend. We came back from school, had snacked and reported our days activities to our respective parents and got together to have a fun evening sharply at 5'o clock. We had this strange way to addressing each other ... we spelt our each other's name ... for example, my friends called me "P-R-I-D-E-R-A" and never Pridera. Our parents hated it and tried to correct us ... but we continued to follow our chosen way.
We played various games like:
* Jhute ... pretty simple game "Catch me" as it is called in most places
* Crocodile crocodile can we cross the golden river - here one person stood in the middle of road and declared a color ... if one had that color in our outfit, one could easily cross the road ... else they had to dodge the one in the middle and cross.
* Hide and seek ... which we called eyes pies
* Queen's palace: where we imagined the huge rocks near the compound to be castles
* Tree climbing: We did this most of the times ... there were 2 chosen trees on which we had gotten comfortable maneuvering from one branch to another
* MIrror Mirror on the wall
* Char pattar
* Bachcha - where we drew patterns of squares we had to hop on
* Hop and catch

We played many other pretend games (pretend like teacher, like a sportsperson, like mommy etc)

I distinctly remember, on wednesdays uncle N (father of one of my friends) used to play music on his stereo system and we all danced .... we hated it initially ... but slowly began to have fun with it.
Once we moved to Mysore ... I played less frequently because of lack of time, friends and slowly my interests shifted to classical music and dance. They took up most part of the evenings.

Now I am in the US and kids play either their homes or in designated areas .... very different from the way I used to play outside my house while growing up.

White Elephant

We are having a White Elephant Event next week in our office ... I am new to this place and have no idea what to expect !
Any gifting ideas?

It happens only in India ....

Yeddyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka to receive Honorary Doctorate for his contribution in "Public Life".
WHAT?????? Read here for more ...

PLEASE REMIND ME ....

the kannada serial name which had introductory song that goes

Kaala Munde ... Naavu Hinde ... Jhootaata Jhootata ...

It was aired at 3:30pm weekdays ...

PLEASE REMIND ME ....

Software enlightenment

Have you made any presentations in your work place? What have you used for your presentations ?
Well... so far I had done presentation using only Microsoft Power point. Some time back I used, Pages, a tool within iWork from Apple. I was bowled over by the various elements of this. I mean, there were ready templates available in different formats from Summer Party Invitations to Daycare Notice to Surf School program to Yard Sale. The template had relevant pictures for the different occasions as if words were hardly required. I was confident, if I made presentation to a huge crowd, I could their attention effortlessly with my wonderful templates.
That was until I saw KeyNotes today. WOW ... thats the first word that comes to my mind after having explored some of its features. I mean, here is a tool which will help me build presentations using such lovely templates and formatting capability .. I am in awe. There is this "Smart Build" feature which will help build my presentation just the way I want ... I can set my presentation text to appear like sparkles in the color I chose and have my images spin and swap whenever I need them to. And the icing to the cake ... well the audio / video feature. Yup, you can play a pleasant violin tune when you want to make presentation to students about violins and play a video demo of a tool you want to encourage users to use. Awesome or what ????

You tell me if you are awestruck by any particular application !!

49-O

Learnt about it today ...
No more "Didn't find any leader worthy of my vote ... hence did not vote" reasoning. Apparently in India, a valid voter can go to the booth and need not cast his vote if the candidates are not worthy of his vote. If the number of votes that were not casted is greater than any of the casted vote for a candidate, it calls for a re-election. And the best part, the same candidates are not allowed to contest the elections.

Please make your vote count ... check out the details here.

Terror strikes Mumbai

Terrorists once again attacked India ... this time the financial capital of India, Mumbai.
I am just saddened and angry at the same time ... sad because innocent people are targeted and have paid their lives, angry because of my helplessness. I fail to understand their motive ... how can someone be happy when they cause pain and sufferings to others????

Movie - Matadaana

Watched the movie Matadaana (kannada) over the weekend. The movie is based on the same name novel by S.L.Byrappa. One of the few realistic movies ... I'd say.
Director T.N.Seetharam has roped in the right actors for the different characters. The movie depicts the various incidents that might happen during the time of election and how common man gets affected with all the politics around election. The story is quite gripping mainly telling of a contractor played by Anant Nag and his morales and political links.
The most irritable characters of the lot to me was "Puttathamaiah", the role so well played by actor Avinash. The moment he appeared on screen made me cringe. The thought that such people exist in the real world makes me really sad.
The best scene of the movie is when Lakshmi, wife of Puttathamaiah, unable to tolerate her husband anymore, walks away from his life. This guy then in his male ego shouts out "Lakshmi, I forgive you" instead of asking for forgiveness ... Lakshmi then gives him a pitiable look.
I wish the movie ended more realistically ... but then the ending depicted was not really very bad. It needed to end on a happy note ... so it did.
Watch this movie if you are looking for some realism...

warning: A very depressing movie ... if you watch movies for escapism from real life, this one is surely not for you.

Musical interests ...

Ever wondered...

why we say 2008 as Two thousand eight, while we say 1997 as Nineteen Ninety seven?
Why don't we say Twenty zero eight OR One thousand nine hundred Ninety seven ? (I know some of us say Nineteen hundred ninety seven)

Hmmm ... I am thinking why ... you tell me.

Sanskrit language - A class of its own

One of the few reasons I regret taking up Engineering was I missed learning Sanskrit language. I was introduced to this beautiful language very early in life in the form of shlokas. My parents taught me several shlokas as a kid and also explained the meaning of the same a lot of times. Performing pooja on various festivals increased my exposure to this language. I studied in Hindi medium school (meaning Hindi was the first language in Kendriya Vidyalaya, I studied. In fact Social studies was in Hindi ... anyway I digress). So I was familiar with the script of Sanskrit. (Hindi and Sanskrit have very similar script)
I could neither talk nor understand any conversation happening in Sanskrit.

And then high school happened. Sanskrit was my first language. Parents chose this language for me perhaps because it was easier to score better marks in the all important 10th and Pre-University exams. Anyways, I will always be thankful for me for making this choice. They introduced me to a beautiful language which had mesmerizing prose and lovely poetry. The Sanskrit grammar is rich and vast that one could spend their life time appreciating and understanding it in totality. I specifically loved working on "Chchandassu" ... and I how I can I ever forget those immortal lines of "Subhashitas" ??
Quote:
"Vjradapi kathoRani, Mruduni Kusumadapi
LotottaraaNam chetamsi Kohi Vigyantumarhasi"
- Genious lines ....

It helped that I had very good Sanskrit teachers who made sure we learnt our Ramaha, Ramao, Ramaaha along with appreciating the beauty of the language. I seriously considered pursuing higher studies in Sanskrit Literature ... but alas other interests took precedence.
Its been almost 13 long years since I have read anything in Sanskrit. Its a pity I have almost forgotten what I had learnt ...

Which is your favourite language?

Morning obsession

I had never tasted or tea for about 23 years of life. My parents (mother in particular) thought that caffeine would further thin my already slim physique. So when hubby ordered 2 teas during our Manali trip, I didn't know how to react. I was newly married and he didn't know my tastes / preferences. It was a very cold evening and we had been driving for almost 5 hours and were naturally tired and hungry. I desperately wanted to drink something hot and perhaps eat something spicy too. Obviously I couldn't get hot Bournvita in a road side tea stall and so I decided to try out "Chai" for the first time in my life. The tea stall owner gave us steaming hot cups and the aroma was itself very very inviting. My unsure self, took the first sip with a lot of apprehension. But one sip and I knew I had missed something so divine for such a long time in my life. I just fell in love with that cup of tea. (of course, I haven't tasted that special tea till date)
And so, I started drinking tea occasionally... gradually it become a habit. It replaced my morning cup of Bournvita and now it is almost an obsession. First thing in the morning, I need my steaming hot cup of tea.
I like my tea light and spicy ... little milk and mix of spices. I love it when I add ginger, 1 cardamom, 1 clove and just a bit of cinnamon. Over the years I have also learnt that boiling water with the spices and sugar for an extended time and then adding tea leaves and milk gives a totally unique taste. My taste buds jump with joy every morning when I drink the first tea sip. Its extra special to me since hubby makes that perfect tea for me. I prefer nothing to come between me and my tea during the morning. 5 minutes of divinity with my morning tea and I am good to tackle the long day with a smile. Disturb my morning tea time and I will grunt about something or the other for the next 2 hours ... well thats me :)

Amma

Amma is here with us for the past 6 months and what is relief it is to have her here. She is not currently staying in our house ... infact she moved to my sister's place almost 8 weeks back ... but the thought of she being around is very very satisfying. Sister lives about 10 mins drive from my house, so can visit her anytime. Of course I do visit her almost everyday on the pretext of dropping my younger kid.
Amma who came to help me out with the kid in May is now helping out sister's kid. She is also taking care of my little one.

Sometimes I wonder, isn't it physically very draining for her? She is missing daddy for sure ... so she might be emotionally drained as well. But she keeps going about her tasks everyday ... with no fuss. If this isn't love for her kids, what else is?

Simple pleasures ... and a milestone

Your everyday routine starts before sunrise ... you rush through the preparation of breakfast / tea, get 2 kids ready for school / day care (this takes more effort than one can ever imagine), pack lunch to self, kids, spouse, get the kid to do some reading / writing ... drop the kids off to school / day care ... work in office ... rush back home to energized kids , play with them, clean up the mess they have done, prepare dinner, do the dishes .... squeeze many more tasks in between ...
Thats one insane day if you ask me... and that is how MY weekday looks like.

So amidst this madness, if spouse and I squeeze in game of Carrom (unplanned) ... well thats priceless. Its such a simple pleasure.
Thats what happened yesterday ... we played a game of Carrom, with my elder daughter cheering us and younger one cooing every now and then.

Its a different thing that I lost the game 9-0 .... well my defense I couldn't concentrate .... too much cheering and cooing :)))

And on that note, I finish my 100th post !!
Hurray !! Cheers to me !!

Matadaana ...err ... Voting

And so Barrack Obama is the 44th President of USA. The votes were cast on the 4th Nov 08 and result announced the very same night !
This day brought back memories of my voting experiences when in India. I got to vote the first time as soon as I turned 18 ... I think it was for Corporation election. The enthusiasm of voting for the first time, the pride of feeling a responsible adult, strong belief of making a difference to the country ... and many more emotions were experienced by me at that point. My great grandma, (muttajji) who was a vociferous reader and a great enthusiast in politics was my motivator. She must have been around 85+ at that time and still was very keen on casting her vote. She was a retired head mistress who stayed in my grandma's house (her only daughter) After following the local newspapers and learning about the election contestants and the political party they represented I cast my all important vote at a near by college.
I remember showing the "Black Ink" mark (an indication of having voted) on my nail to my friends and debating with them what the outcome of the election would be ...

I got to vote the second time when Lok Sabha elections were held ... again I ensured my id was right .. went early to the booth and cast my vote. And that was the last time I cast my vote ... I moved to a different city and then to a different country, so have been unable to experience the sheer satisfaction of casting my precious vote.

Do you remember your first voting experience?

Gifting

When I was a kid, my parents bought us new clothes for very special occasions:
* Festivals : usually Ugadi, Ganesha Gowri habba, Deepavali ... sometimes for Sankrathi
* Birthday : No questions asked ... all my birthdays they bought me new clothes
* Important Family event: Like wedding of a very close relative

Rarely there were other occasions like when we going on a holiday or after securing good percentage in exams I would get new clothes.

And boy, there was superlative excitement each time I got new clothes. I don't remember ever going shopping for my clothes though. Somehow anything my parents bought was accepted by me. My sister got clothes for the same occasions as well, but she preferred selecting her clothes.

Today, I longer wait to buy clothes for occasions... may be I buy them before a vacation, but thats about it. There is no more charm ... in fact there is no more charm is getting gifts any more. Heck ... no one gifts me ... If I need something, I have to buy it myself :)

Its a boy !!!

Its a boy ... its a boy ... jump with joy jump with joy !!!

Yes my kid sister delivered little baby boy this afternoon at 12:21 pm. (8lb 1.9 oz, 20.5in) Mommy and baby are doing just fine. The labor lasted about 20 hrs from start to finish ... all is well that ends well ... and we have a lovely little fella in our family now :))

Congratulations sister ... I'm proud of the determination and strength you showed during labor. May God give the little one the best of health, wealth and happiness !!

Yippeeeeeee .... I am a DODDAMMA !!!!!

A milestone reached ....

Oct 15th will be an important day for me and my second daughter .... apart from being my aunt's wedding anniversary falling on the same day ... my daughter rolled over successfully on this day. By rolling over I mean, turning to her rides, lying on her tummy, successfully lifting her head and freeing her hands completely and stretching them forward.
She had been trying the same for couple of days ... but once she figured out the process ... she took a day or two to master it and now every time we put her on the mat, she rolls over :))
Its harder for her on the carpet .... but she is pro on the mat :))

Its official ... 5 days short of 5 months she rolls over !!

Car Sale

This April we bought a new Toyota Sienna ... rather husband gifted the same to me. With a 2 car garage already occupied by our 2 cars, we had to sell one of them. After a small discussion around which car to sell, we decided on the Honda. Honda being the first car bought, (husband referred to the same as "Darling") it was a hard decision to sell it. It was the car I had my first trip in the US, it was the car that I dare to drive around in the busy US traffic. I was quite emotional when we put up the ad on Craigslist to sell the car.
The car had to be sold soon since there was no room for parking in the garage and parking spaces in the apt we live does not permit owner's car parking ... its for visitors' only quipped the lady when I tried to request the homeowner's association. Anyways, within couple of days of the ad being posted, there were responses for the car. One lady came by, took a test drive and promised to stop by in the evening with the money. But for some reason chickened out in the last minute. Then this Indian gujju guy came. He took the car for a test drive and also took it to AAA to get it checked. The mechanic who checked the car gave it Thumps up all the way. The carfax report gave it high 87 score. (average was 76) The gujju guy also verified all the Car services paperwork. (we had religiously serviced the car ... not once had we missed it). He put his negotiation skills to best use and tried to get the price down. He also played the "I am a student" card (he had been working for the past 6 months though). Anyways, the car was sold to this guy at a reasonable ($50 less than KBB). I was sad and glad at the same time. Took pictures alongside the car before it went away from our parking space. All paperwork was completed. (paperwork was handled by AAA ... thats quite a nice service)

Two weeks into the sale, by then I had my second daughter and this gujju guy came to our house one evening all of a sudden. He demanded the Car service paperwork. By then we had got rid of most of the papers since it didn't matter to us anymore. He threatened to call the police if I didn't hand over the paperwork to him. Apparently he had disturbed husband at office by calling him and demanding the papers. Husband had asked him to come over the weekend and not disturb him at work. Immediately after the call with my husband this guy decided to show up in our house and demand the papers. I for one had other important tasks like handling my daughters on hand and did not care much about his threat to call the cops. I calmly responded him to go ahead with his call ... and that we had completed the required paperwork while we sold the car.
This guy dialed 911 right then. The folks responding asked this guy to go out of our house and wait for the cop. Within minutes a cop showed up at our front door. The cop was a calm smart young officer. Our conversation went like this:
Cop: Did you sell the car to this guy?
Me: Yes
Cop: He is asking for service paper ...
Me: I don't have them handy .. I can try to look for it over the weekend.
Cop(looking at the guy): There ... you have it ... she is going to look for it
Guy(trying to threaten me again): Officer I want to make sure you understand this ... she is saying weekend, but she will never give it to me.
Cop: She does not need to. The pink slip paperwork is already taken care of. She has no obligation to give you the service papers anymore.
Guy:(now slightly ashamed ... but trying to put on a brave front): Make sure the papers are ready this weekend, I will come and collect it.
Me: If I find them, I will post it, no need to come here.
Cop: Thank you M'am ... sorry for the trouble.

Both of them left. As I watched from my room window, the cop seem to give a long piece of advise to the guy before both of them finally drove away.
As for us, we were very disappointed with the attitude of the gujju guy and never bothered to look for the papers. Infact we had joking been contemplating calling the cop ourselves if the guy showed up over the weekend. We could have lodged a complaint of mental harrassment :)) Anyways nothing of that sort happened and the weekend remained uneventful.


ps: this happened May 08 ...

Jet Airlines and Lexus Car

Jet Airlines is canceling its flight between San Francisco - Mumbai beginning Jan 09.
I remember the end of May when my cousin had excitedly told us how decent the flight fair was from SFO to Bengaluru. She was visiting India with her family to conduct the marriage of her first daughter. She had several expenses to take care of and so the low Airline fare proved a boon to her. She mentioned that during the promotional 3-day period, they had managed to get 5 tickets for the price of 3 tickets had they travelled by their regular Singapore Airlines. The prices sounded so tempting, I wanted to book tickets to India immediately ... didn't matter that our plan of visiting India next year was still in not solid. Our neighbors booked flight on Jet Airlines as well. They sent that their experience was not bad at all. The baggage restriction on the flight was reasonable as well.
So we had almost made up our mind to fly via Jet Airlines during our next trip to India. The only hitch was that we had to change airports in Mumbai ... but we were ready to take up that challenge.
Now the flight is being cancelled ... guess without shedding the extra bucks we are not destined to make our India trip :))


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On a different note, did you know that there are self parking cars? Apparently Lexus offers this as an optional feature in one of their sedans.
Click here

Nepali Goddess

Nepali Goddess ??

I am in the state of shock ... right now. I don't know what to say or write except that I am sad .. very sad.
Sad not just for the little girl's future, but also all the tests mentioned in this article.

I have not witnessed this personally nor do I have a Nepali friend to check with. But if what is written in the article is true, then I am at loss of words !!

Tele Time

There was a time when I watched television no matter what was aired .... and my parents kept asking me to switch it off ... not because they objected me seeing what was aired, but because I saw it too much. These days the parents have to really be careful and screen the programs very carefully, before allowing the kids to watch television. (especially if they are of old school of thoughts like me)
Not getting into the debate of what is reasonable television time or what should kids be allowed to watch, let me recollect what I watched as a kid and now. (who knows I may forget the programs I watch now as they are not so etched into my memory as the ones I watched growing up)
During my school days: (pre-teen)
* Nukkad - Monday
* Buniyaad (tuesday / saturday)
* Khandaan (I did not follow this one keenly - wednesday)
* Satyajit Ray presents (thursday)
* Yeh jo hai Zindagi (friday)
* Quiz time (Siddartha Basu / Kavitha) (sunday)
* Giant Robert (thursday)
* Munnota (sunday)
* Sutta Mutta (sunday / monday)
* World of sport(sunday)
* Vikram aur Betaal (sunday)
* Dada Dadi ki kahaniyaan (sunday)
* Kachchi Dhoop (sunday)
* He-Man (sunday)
* Hum panchi ek daal ke (sunday)
* Chitrahaar (wednesday)
* Show Theme (saturday)
* DD's comedy show (saturday)
* Subah (wednesay)
* Trishna (sunday ??? - more like Pride and Prejudice)
* Chunauti (saturday)
* UGC programs
* Namma Nammalli

Some programs during my teens
* Neev (sunday)
* Indradhanush (sunday)
* Sanskrit news (sunday)
* Ramayan (sunday)
* Mahabharat (sunday)
* Chikka Chikki (sunday)
* Nirmaleya Saakshi (tuesday ???)
* Kashish (wednesday)
* Flop show
* Alpha Plus (quiz program)
* Sword of Tipu Sultan (what a master piece of music this one had when during the titles)
* Jungle Book
* Swabhimaan

All the above programs were televised on Doordarshan

Some of the programs I watched on cable TV were
* Sa re ga ma (TVS - Sonu Nigam)
* Close up Antakshari (occasionally)
* Henna (only couple of episodes)
* Saaya (only couple of episodes)
* Saans (Neena Gupta serial)

And what do I watch now ... actually nothing really is very interesting, but I watch
* Survivor series (people can be so manipulative ... really !!)
* ...

As can be seen, my interest with TV drastically reduced with time.

Some things money can't buy ...

And one of them is "Mother's love" towards her kids. Whether it is me trying to do my best for my kids or my mother taking the best care for me for the past 4 months or my grandma asking if my mother was doing ok amidst her own grief when grandpa passed away.
So I have been pampered lot for the past 4+ months since my mother came to our house. That was May 11th 2008 ... she arrived around 1:00 pm. That was just few days before my second daughter was expected. According to earlier plans our second daughter was expected on 13th May ... but plans changed and so the little one arrived 20th May. Amma took over the kitchen responsibilities from 12th May itself. She made various dishes like Bisi Bele Bhath, Veg Pulao, Halbai, Obbattu, Dahi vada etc before the little one arrived. My first daughter bonded with her from the first day of arrival and stuck with her the entire day ... save for the time her dad was home. For the first 2 months, I hardly went out of the house, expect for doctor visits. Started going out only from last week of July after visiting the temple.
Since August though it has been very busy weekends and I have not had amma's precious company for most weekends. Aug 16th my sister performed Sathyanarayana Pooja, Aug 23rd was Gokulashtami at sister's place, Aug 30th we went on vacation to southern california, Sep 6th was Ganesha Mangalarthi at sister's place, Sep 11 - 14th was planned baby shower (which had to be cancelled). So its been very long since amma has spent the weekend in our house :(
Yesterday after dinner at a nice chat place, we dropped her off at sister's place. Sister is expecting baby next month and amma is there to lend her emotional and physical support.
Even after a stranous stay at our place, she is all excited and geared by for helping sister. "Mother's love is truly GODLY"

time flying

Its already 15 days since ajja (grandpa) passed away and I am still not completely convinced its true.
Its so hard to accept these facts when you are miles away.
The reality will hit hard when the next time
* I face ajji (grandma)
* I will see empty ajja's house
* I will NOT see ajja at the gate of his house (the house we spent many many summer vacations) waiting for us
* I will NOT see ajja when everyone else including my dad, uncles and cousins will be watching a cricket match.
* I will NOT give those raisin packets to anyone
* I will NOT hear him call out my name ever so fondly asking me to "Make enough Money and come back home".

Ajja, No matter where I live,
everytime I see raisin packets, I will think of you.
For every penny saved, I will remember you
For every cricket match watched your comments and presence will be missed
everytime I narrate a story to my daughter, you will be my inspiration

You were truly the best ajja !!!

Sep 11 - Fateful day

Sep 12 was going to be a very special day ... amma and I had been planning for this day for almost 3 months now. We had reviewed, re-reviewed and reviewed some more the Hindu calendar ("Panchanga") before narrowing this day. This day was chosen for my sister's first baby shower. So excited was my mother about this event, that she enthusiastically volunteered to cook for the expected 80 odd guests. Sheer pleasure of cooking for my sister's baby and to save sister / BIL some bucks was her reasoning for volunteering.
We had made several lists ... one for the menu, one for grocery, one for fruits, one for items to be carried to the rental hall, one for items to be carried from my house to sister's place, guests list, decorative items list, gifts list (gifts she has brought from India to my sister and her baby).
Everything seem to go as expected ... we bought the grocery / veggies on wednesday. Thursday, sep 11th, amma got up early, finished her daily chores by 9:00am. I grated / cut the veggies with the food processor. By 12:00 noon, Carrot Halwa, Mysore Pak (sweet), Hunase gojju (for Puliyogare) was ready. We soon packed stuff and shifted them to the car. The plan was to go to sister's place and complete the rest stuff there.... afterall she wanted to be part of all the excitement.
And so we reached sister's place around 1:30pm. After initial chat, and some rest we got to business again. Now all three (mom, sister and me) were packing the return gift bags. The "Puri Unde" for the event was ordered from India. We packed Puri Unde,(sweet) Blouse piece, Silver item (again from India), "Hurgalu" (spiced lentils). We were almost done with our packing ... perhaps there were 3-4 more packets to be done when the phone rang. I picked the phone ... caller id said "Out of Area" ... my sister asked me to ignore it dismissing it as a junk call. Something told me it wasn't a junk call ... but I kept quiet. Within a minute or so my mobile rang.
It was from my hubby .... he asked "Aren't you home?" I got rather irritated ... afterall I had told him, I was coming to sister's place ... how could he forget that? He continued "Got a call from India ... your ajja (grandpa) is sick" he said. My heart sank ... I looked at the clock ... it showed 4:20pm (which is 4:50am India time). My heart sank even more .... no one would call from India at such odd hours if it is not a serious problem. I shared the news with amma and sister. We immediately called daddy's cell phone. Daddy mentioned that my ajja's (amma's dad) health condition was serious and that he had been admitted to Apollo hospital. I refused to believe what I was listening to. Daddy handed over the phone to one of my uncles. Uncle V said "Ajja's condition is deteriorating by the second. He is counting is last few breadths". Now tears were flowing uncontrolably. We talked to my other uncle M, who was so shaken by the sudden turn of events around him. After talking to him for few minutes, we disconnected the call. Now amma, sister and me were in a state of extreme shock. Only 4 days back had we spoken to ajja and ajji. They were just healthy then. Just then the phone rang. Cousin S had called and she mentioned that ajja had passed away.
All of us were just going mad .... we didn't know what to do. My sister who is 8 months pregnant now sank on the sofa and started crying so badly that I really didn't know what I should be doing. We tried to calm her, forced her to take a couple of deep breaths, drink some water.(her BP seem to raise). The entire evening was spent on phone calls to friends and family. For the first time in many years, I felt helpless. I was reminded of the distance separating India and US every second. My mother who had spent all her life staying in the same city as my grandparents felt miserable not being there by grandpa's bedside at this time.
Without much debate, we cancelled the next day's baby shower.

The day which started on such a high note ended at a very very dull note.
Miss you ajja .... words just cannot express how I feel at this time.

Ganesha Chaturthi

This year Ganesha Chaturthi was celebrated with so much enthusiam. This inspite of us coming back from our vacation to Los Angeles and San Diego just the previous day. Thanks to my mother, everything was so well done ... it didn't seem like we had just arrived from our summer vacation.

 The reason for this post, to detail out the menu

Gowri Habba:

* Saaru

* Anna

* Bisi Bele Bhath

* Raitha

* Carrot Palya

* Mosaranna

* Bele Obbattu

Ganesha Habba

* Gasa Gase Payasa

* Saaru

* Beans Palya

* Karida Kadubu

* Kola Katte

* Chatni

* Hagala Kayi Gojju

* Mosaranna

Our house Charpu : Ganesha Mangalarthi was on 5th 2008

* Chikki

* Cocoa Benne Biscuit

* Huliyavalakki

* Fruit Salad served at home for guests

* Mixture (Karida Avalakki)

* Banana

* Orange

Sister's house Charpu:

* Chakkali

* Huliyavalakki

* Shalya Anna

* Ribbon Pakoda

* Gasa Gase payasa (served at home for the guests)

* Rave Laddu

* Banana

* Orange

Thank you Amma ... I knew you were totally exhausted at the end of the week ... but your efforts are truly appreciated.

Divine Concert

Last Sunday Sep 7th 2008, I had the lucky opportunity of attending the divine concert of Violin Maestro Duo Mysore Nagaraj and Dr. Mysore Manjunath. The vidwans entertained the crowd with kritis after kritis. Both their individual styles was unique... Vidwan Nagaraj's music was extremely melodious while Dr. Manjunath's music was filled with calculated swaras.
The concert started off with Varna in Natakuranji. This was followed by kritis in Shanmukhapriya, ShankaraBharana, Raagamaalika, Suddha Dhanyasi to name a few and the concert concluded with Tillana in Hamsanandi. While all the kritis were simply superb, the Raagamaalika was just out of this world. I was so spellbound that it just brought tears of joy in me. All in all it was an out of the world experience for me.
It had been almost 8 years since I attended a live concert. I must say sunday's experience was totally humbling.

Federer Lost - Wimbeldon 98

Watched Wimbeldon after a long long time. What a match it was ... used to be a great fan of Tennis ... it is amazing that last Tennis match I watched was some 4 yrs back.
Anyway, yesterday's match was treat to Tennis lovers. A great game of determination between world current best players - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Once Nadal won the first two sets 6-4, 6-4 I almost thought the Championship would end in 3 sets. I was to be proved wrong. Federer won the next 2 sets 7-6,7-6 ( in the fourth set he fought back championship points couple of times in the tie break). Nadal won the fifth set in great style 9-7. This ended 5 year straight winning record for Federer.
Though my loyalties are still with Steffi and Sampras, it was great fun to watch a great match. I hope to I start following the game religiously ...lets see.

Father's Day

I had done a post on my true hero,my dad few months back. Here is the link.

I still maintain that my dad is a wonderful person and great source of inspiration to me. Happy Father's day Daddy !!

All the while I thought my dad is the greatest, little did I know that I had been living with another great father for sometime now. I am refering to my dear husband here. He has proved time and again to be an excellent father. My kids adore their adore to the core. He never runs out of patience involving our kids. I wish I could write about everything he does for our kids ... but time being a constraint, let me just say "Happy Father's day !!"