Happiness is a way of Life

One Little Word - Perseverance

2011-01-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

This year I decided to follow Ali Edwards "One Little Word" idea. It spoke to me and as I read her Original Post on this and all the comments, it was just something that I felt that I needed to do.

I have been following Ali Edwards for a while now and love her ideas for Project Life :) So when she posted about the One Little word, that got me thinking. There were lot of words that came to my mind like - Re-Discover, Hope, Focus etc. I was almost going to chose Hope, but my cousin told me that Hope is something you had to have all the time without which life does not go on. So, I had to rethink my choice.

So I chose the next word that I kept thinking about - "Perseverance". This seemed to best define who I want to be this year and also where I want to be with some of my goals. I need to persevere to achieve my goals and to keep moving forward.

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another. ~Walter Elliott, The Spiritual Life

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. ~Newt Gingrich

So, here is to "Perseverance" in 2011...:)

Thanks for stopping by and please leave me a comment if you have a word for 2011, would love to hear about it.

Thanks and have a great Tuesday!!

Authors on my Shelf

2010-11-10T16:24:00.000-08:00

My friend Dee tagged me to list the 15 authors on my shelf. She said not to think too long and to list Fifteen authors (poets, and screen-writers not included) who will always stick with me.. So here we go in no specific order,

1. Georgette Heyer
2. Clive Cussler
3. Arthur Conan Doyle
4. J K Rowling
5. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
6. Ta Ra Su
7. Vasudhendra
8. Alistair MacLean
9. Paramahamsa Yogananda
10. James Herriot
11. Sidney Sheldon
12. Stephenie Meyer
13. Anton Chekov
14. Jeffery Archer
15. Sidney Sheldon

When I look at the list, I see a lot more fiction writers..but I guess I have always been a fiction reader :)

If I had some more spots, I would have loved to add Barbara Wood and Rick Riordan.

Have a good evening and it would be nice to hear your comments on this.

Top 5 Classics Movies that I want to see

2010-09-16T11:53:00.001-07:00

I was listening to this interview on NPR Radio today morning with the German director Werner Herzog and his "Rogue" Film School. He said that he required all his students to read..loved loved that part. Along with that they were also talking about the movies that he wants his students to see and that sparked of this post.

1) The Treasure of Sierra Madre - it is interesting that WH also mentioned this movie in his list, but recently we have been talking a lot about this movie at work as well. Apparently, there is a dialogue in this movie about Badges. :) So I had been wanting to see this movie and then WH mentions it as well. So, more the reason.

Link to Wikipedia to know more about this "We don't need no Stinking Badges" Dialogue.

2) Tootsie - I have always liked Dustin Hoffman. I think he is an excellent actor and I wanted to see this movie for a long time. Just never got to it :)

3) Suspicion - I have been wanting to see all of Alfred Hitchcock movies after seeing the Movie The Rear Window directed by him and the description of this movie sounds interesting.

4) The Philadelphia Story - Just because this movie has three of my favor tie actors in the cast - Cary Grant, James Stewart and Katherine Hepburn

5) SwingTime - Starring Fred Astaire. I want to see this movie because WH mentioned it in his interview and his description of the movie was so fantastic that I wanted to see it and plus it was in AFI's top 100 Movie list as well.

Story of Geometry Box and other school memories

2010-09-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

I was admiring my friend Ning's pencil holder today and then we started talking about different kind of Pencil Boxes. Her daughter has one from China which has levels that open up when you open the lid. She also remembered the foam pencil boxes with magnet closure that could be opened on either side. If the magnet got messed up, you would have a mess of pencils and erasers in your bag.

This reminded me of my quest for "Camel Geometry" Box. During my school days we used to get two different brands of Geometry boxes - Camel and Nataraja. Geometry box is basically a Tin Pencil holder with all the tools needed for a geometry class like Set Squares, Protractor, Compass, Divider etc. You could also carry a pencil, pen or eraser in this box. Nataraja brand was slightly cheaper compared to Camel, so my Mom was like just buy that, as I had a tendency to lose things. Also this cover of this brand had a matte finish. So, I would sit in the class room bench flanked by two of my friends who would open up their shiny Camel Geometry boxes and I would open my box stealthily under the desk and not keep it on top of the desk. Thus began my saga of convincing my parents that I just could not do without the CAMEL Geometry box. :)

Top 5 Childhood school memories that arose due to the discussion on Pencil box,

1. Chalk on white canvas shoes - We used to have white uniform along with white canvas shoes for Saturdays and I always used to forget to apply white shoe polish to my canvas shoes the day before. Since these were canvas shoes, we used to get this wet white polish - the shoe had to be washed, dried and then coated with this wet polish that needed some time to dry and hence had to be applied the day before. So, to avoid getting caught in the inspection line at School, I would take white chalk and methodically cover the whole shoe, so it would look like I had applied polish to it.

2. Distributing Chocolates on your birthday - We could wear a non Uniform dress on our birthdays to School (if it fell on a school day) and we could take some "chocolates" to distribute to the whole class. It would be something inexpensive like Individually wrapped Eclairs or something like that. It was really fun.

3. Getting Autograph books signed at the end of every major school year end - Typically 7th grade, 10th grade and 12th grade. I am not even sure where my autograph books are now and what was the whole point of it. It was not like at that point we had cell phones, twitter/facebook accounts or anything. Many of us did not even have Landlines. So, it would be some sort of "you are the best friend" epithet followed by signature and lots of doodling. I cannot believe how much we used to search for the perfect Autograph book and have long discussions about whom we should ask and whom we should not ask.

4. Amarchitra Katha, Chandamama and other fun comics - I love these comics and would wait with bated breath for the release of new one. My favorites were Amar Chitra Katha, Wisdom, Tinkle and Chandamama. Chandamama used to have these series that I would be waiting for. Wisdom was perfect for all the trivia and for me to conduct quizzes for the youngsters in our neighborhood. I still remember the day when my cousins introduced me to TinTin and Asterix. Billions of Blue Blistering Barnacles, thousand of thundering typhoons...Amazing.

5. Games - There were all these different games that we would play. Four Squares, Gold Spot, Crocodile can we cross the river, hopscotch and what not....Another post another time to talk more about these games.

Please share some of your school related memories....

Artistry of Cooking - Banu's Epiphany #1

2010-08-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

Artistry of Cooking ---- I always thought I hated cooking or thought that I had to cook because I had to and not because I wanted to. But I was talking with Jen about this topic today and had a epiphany about this. My brain considers Cooking to be an art form. So, I need time, energy and freedom to create whatever I want. As soon as there are rules put in about how much fat I can add, how much of calories the dish should be and what not....the art dies and it becomes a chore and then it becomes one of those Have To Do list. Then I lose interest in cooking and I am like I can eat whatever and it does not feel fun to cook!! Sometimes I want to be like one of those celebrity chefs who have this superb cool Kitchens, they do not have to clean after cooking and they do not have to watch what they put into the dish..

Following my epiphany, I started to think how can I make cooking interesting even with all my rules about it and figured out a few simple things that can help me,

1. Try to cook with colorful food, so even if you cook it with little or no oil, it still appeals to the artist within you
2. Try to use fancy ingredients that does not add any calories or fat to your dish, but still makes you feel nice about cooking. I added some Oregano and Lemon Pepper to my Chayote Squash Curry..making me feel nice about the creating part.
3. Last but not the least, I figured out that I felt good if I put the cooked food in a nice serving bowl or tray before I ate it. Even though the food was not up to my own high expectations - the nice display made up for it.

Thanks for stopping by and please leave comments about your own thoughts about this.

Mnemonics

2010-08-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

I was working on a card challenge that needed me to incorporate all colors of a rainbow. Immediately, I thought of VIBGYOR. This is how I used to remember the colors of Rainbow. VIBGYOR is a Mnemonic. Mnemonic is a method or an aid to remember some complex lists or details. The term covers a wide variety of memory aids, but is now often used as a synonym for acronyms. Even though it means that you need to know what the individual letters of the Mnemonic means, once practiced, this can be an effective way of remembering lot of complex details.

Another Mnemonic that I know is HOMES to remember the names of America's Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior)

I could not think of any other Mnemonics...:) If you remember any, please do let me know.

I choose to go with Faith

2010-08-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

"I choose to go with Faith. Because without it I am nothing. Faith is all I have"

This is a dialogue from Prison Break Television Series. The "Hero" Michael Scofield tells this to his girlfriend. Somehow this dialogue struck a chord with me. So many times you are doubting your decisions, your journey of life, the paths you took, the decisions you made. There are times when you are frustrated and asking "why me" questions. The only way to prevail and go on with life I guess is to have Faith. I am not talking about blind faith, just sit around and do nothing, but more about having Faith that things that are meant to will happen and if you are a good human being, good things will for sure happen to you despite having to go through some trials and tribulations.

So, I choose to go with Faith.

OSJ for Friday August 6th, 2010

2010-08-06T05:44:00.001-07:00

Addicted to the Television Series "PRISON BREAK"!!!!!!!

Five things that made me happy today

2010-06-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

1) Sparkling Clean tile floors in kitchen and bathroom - Thanks to my dear hubby
2) Herbal Essence Hydrating Shampoo...My hair is feeling nice and soft
3) Awesome Bangalore Style Masalapuri......Total road side style...
4) Soothing Rose Smell Candles from Ikea in a beautiful candle holder on the dining table
5) Guest Designer Spot at Paperworks Co Blog :)

Have a Great Sunday.

Do Deewane Shehar Mein

2010-06-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share this awesome Song with you all - Superb lyrics, music and acting from the Movie Gharonda - Do Deewane Shehar Mein.

Sung by Bhupinder and Runa Laila so well...and of course superb acting by Zarina Wahab and Amol Palekar. There are no dress changes, no fancy locale - in fact most of the shooting is done in an apartment construction site in Mumbai, no background dancers, nothing fancy. But some how this song makes such a big impact. There is so much love shown between the two and I love how Amol Palekar keeps carrying her purse through the song in such a nonchalant way. Using the construction workers as part of the song is neat as well - reminiscent of Gurudutt using similar concept in the movie Aar Paar. Owning a home is not just an American Dream..it is everyone's dream.

Gulzaar's lyrics and Jaidev's music makes this song so easy to sing with and it is just so much fun.

Do Diwaane Shahar Me, Raat Mein Yaa Dopahar Mein
Aabodaanaa Dhoondhate Hai, Yek Aashiyaanaa Dhoondhate Hain

In Bhoolabhoolaiyyaa Galiyon Mein Apanaa Bhee Koee Yek Ghar Hogaa
Anbar Pe Khoolegee Khidakee, Yaa Khidakee Pe Khulaa Anbar Hogaa
Asamaanee Rang Kee Aakhon Me, Basane Kaa Bahaanaa Dhoondhate Hain

Jab Taare Jameen Par Jalate Hain, Aakaash Jameen Ho Jaataa Hain
Us Raat Naheen Fir Ghar Jaataa, Wo Chaand Yahee So Jaataa Hain
Palabhar Ke Liye In Aakhon Mein, Hum Yek Jamaanaa Dhoondhate Hain

The other songs of this movie are nice as well - Ek Akela (a bit sad), Tumhe Ho Na Ho.....

Have a good weekend, listen to some good music and feel happy :)

OSJ for June 13th Sunday

2010-06-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

Apple never falls far from the tree.

OSJ for June 12th, 2010

2010-06-12T08:34:00.001-07:00

Precious are simple happy moments of life and I count my blessings for having them.

OSJ For June 9th, 2010

2010-06-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

OSJ for today is,

I deserve to be happy and healthy :)

Please see this post of mine for more info on OSJ.

Forgiveness and Reconciliation

2010-05-31T04:00:00.000-07:00

We saw the movie "Invictus" yesterday. The film is a true story of how Nelson Mandela tried to unite South Africa by working with Captain of South Africa's Rugby Team. Mandela understood that Rugby is hated by the Black South Africans who saw it as a symbol of Oppression and also violence. But at the same time Mandela, being a man who was imprisoned in a tiny cell for 27 years also foresaw and believed that winning the Rugby world cup could be the thing that the country needed to feel unified. The overwhelming theme of the movie is Reconciliation and forgiveness and in turn to foster a new "Rainbow Nation".

I was very impressed with a scene in the first 30 mins of the of the film when Mandela's Head of Security is not too happy with the white bodyguards being added to his detail, and that is when Mandela's talks about Forgiveness. This particular statement that he says made a very deep impact on me.

"Yes I know, forgiveness starts here. Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon."

Invictus is at its very essence a classically Hollywood, inspirational underdog sports movie--but very well executed by Clint Eastwood. I enjoyed the movie immensely. I think Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon have acted extremely well. Clint Eastwood has set up the context very well and the movie has been woven well enough for the audience to realize what the winning of the Rugby World cup means to the entire nation of South Africa.

Even though the movie has it's share of cliches, it offered me an insight into the power of forgiveness and how it can change the hearts and attitudes of others. I hope you can see the movie and share your thoughts as well.

I am the Captain of my soul

2010-05-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

I saw the movie Invictus today and it was very inspiring. Look out for another post on my review of the movie. But today I wanted so share the Poem by English Poet William Henley that President Mandela quotes in the movie. I was very very impressed by that poem. The entire poem (as I found it on wikipedia is given below), but here are the four lines that made an impact on me,

I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

It was just awesome and very inspiring. "I am the captain of my soul".

Here is the entire poem,

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

OSJ for May 28th, 2010

2010-05-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

My friend Deepthi introduced me to the Happiness Project website and in turn I was impressed by the One Sentence Journal Concept that Gretchen Rubin has introduced on this website.

So, today OSJ is,

If Life gives you Lemons, make Lemonade :)

Carpe Diem

2010-05-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

Carpe diem is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace. It is popularly translated as "seize the day". We have to live in the moment, be happy and enjoy it. Does this mean we can be carefree and not worry about future. Not really, for me this means put your mind, heart and soul into whatever you are doing at that point and just enjoy it.

I went to vote for Flower Mound Elections and there was a long line. My first thought was that "Oh Shoot, I should have voted early and I could have avoided this". Then I corrected my self, but then I could not have had this fun of waiting in line enjoying the most beautiful spring weather, talking to other people in line to get their opinions on different things, see the amazing volunteers taking time to wave the banners, serving water, giving out pamphlets..in general the overall excitement of the election day. It was lots of fun and I enjoyed it a lot as soon as I stopped worrying about if's and but's.

It is debatable as to how this applies to life in a bigger picture and how we can try to live in the moment with bigger decisions of our life. But we can keep trying. As my father says - Be in the moment and Be Happy. I have not quite reached the zen place that he has yet...but I am trying. His latest technique is saying to yourself that you are a happy being and over a period of time you will start believing and feeling it. I am certainly giving it a try.

Please let me know your thoughts on this and Carpe Diem - Go Seize the Day.

2010 - Time is Flying Fast - Here is a blast from the past

2010-01-27T08:25:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

I know it is already one month into the year 2010..but still since this is my first posting of the year...Happy New Year :)

I was talking to my sister-in-law on the phone today about her driving/learning experiences on her new two wheeler and that reminded me of an article I had written a while ago (on one of my older blogs) about my own Saga of Driving :) So in "Blast from Past" moment, here is that article :) Please feel free to leave comments and your own experiences in the Saga of Driving.

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Driving….. Now, I know most of you don’t think I would write an article about driving, that is because most of the times I write philosophical articles, but this time I thought I will write about driving and my experience with it.

Fact is that I was always a little bit scared of riding or driving because of a small accident I had when I was a small kid, but needs cannot be ignored. I was in my second year of engineering and had to manage my college classes, extra credit classes, tuition, and my social life. That is when I felt the need to learn riding as all of these could not be managed via public transport. So, in the traditional way, I first learned riding a bicycle along with my friend, who just like me shared the predicament of learning riding at the age of 20, and guess where we started, on my friends terrace !! Well I say this because; my brother who was 9 years younger to me had already riding the bicycle and was ready to try higher. So, started the saga of my riding & driving, of course latter I rode all kinds of two wheelers and it was fun. On a side note, I owned a ‘HERO PUCH’ and for people not familiar with it, it is a run down version of a motor cycle.

In the course of my life, I ended up working in New York City. Now the traffic there is just…… well what can I say, it is just NY traffic. There were of course the subways and since I did not know how long I would work at New York, I did not bother about driving. I could just hop in a train and go anywhere I want. And as life goes on, I met Rajesh, fell in love with him, got married and moved to Grand Prairie, Texas. Well for those of you who are wondering where Grand Prairie is, it is a nice small suburb midway between Dallas and Fort Worth. (I have to say nice, because Rajesh is right here and giving me that evil look).

The first thing I noticed here, was that there was no public transport and the nearest grocery store to us is 5 miles away. That meant, I had to drive! So, with Rajesh as my teacher, I started to learn driving with Good Ole Betsy. Oh! She is our Ford Taurus car. It was different than riding my two wheeler.

For starters, the car was so big, that I could not see all the four corners, so I was not very sure where I was going, whether I would scrape the wall or hit the curb. Then there was the gas pedal, I just wouldn’t go beyond 35mph., and as a result, I used to have a convoy of frustrated drivers behind me. Anyway I got over all that and was driving pretty well, I even attempted the highways and succeeded in driving on them. So, finally we decided that I was ready to take the drivers license test, except there was just one obstacle and that was my parallel parking. Somehow, I never liked it, I failed to understand the need of it, as we live in this big big state of Texas, where land is plenty and believe me there are no shortages of parking spaces, except in downtown and in front of my favorite Indian Restaurant, but I had already determined that it would be easier to make Rajesh work on his walk, than me practice this dreaded parallel parking. Well I wasn't the only one who felt that way, I guess God was on my side too, when Rajesh called the department of public safety in Grand Prairie, they told him that they would not test parallel parking for the summer.

So, off I went on the very first day of summer to take the test, if I passed it, fine else at least I will know what to do right, next time. To tell you the truth, I was scared. But as soon as I started to drive with the examiner next to me, it was cool. And guess what, I passed the test Hip Hip Hooray!! He did tell me that I had to practice more in certain areas, but now I was authorized to drive on my own. I now have a state photo id, which I would dare not show any of my friends, as they would fail to recognize the face. As a special perk of the whole ordeal I can now write checks at the local supermarkets! Now, I am pretty confident and drive around quite a lot on my own. But if I look back to the days of learning to ride the bicycle, I feel I have come a long way. SIGH…

Elevator Observations

2009-11-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write a quick post to share my elevator observations,

The first thing is that - it does not matter if a button is lit (indicating that it is already active), people (at least most people, there are always exceptions) press it again. I mean even inside the elevator, if your floor button is already lit up, they hit it again anyways. Now, I'm not innocent of this. We've all done it. You're in a hurry, you get into an elevator and hit a button without even thinking or realizing it's already lit up. I'm not talking about those people. I mean the people that habitually feel the need to double hit.

I was waiting for the elevator in the 6th floor lobby to go down to the cafeteria. I had already pressed the down arrow button indicating that I need to go down. Then came this another person who looks at me, looks at the elevator and presses the down button again....as if I am totally incompetent of summoning a elevator or re hitting the button will reposition the elevator queue and make it come faster...

Next time somebody does this - I might have to say--"Oh this is so vintage and you have to press the button...in the future where I come from, you have floor sensors which does it for you"

The second thing is that I always seem to meet some high level executive of my company in the elevator and I am never ready with my 30 second speech :( 30 second speech also known as Elevator speech is to put together some very conscise information (me and concise..that in itself is a contradictory things) to your manager or executive about who you are and how you are an asset to the company and group or something to that effect :) So I always end up saying a Lame Hello and shuffling my feet and wishing that the sixth floor comes up quickly and wondering if I should ask the executive about pay increases while I stare at the floor numbers on the elevator display. ..Next time maybe I can have a good speech ready or at least try :)

:) More Elevator observations to come :) Please feel free to post some of your own observations on this.

Childhood and Memories

2009-11-25T08:27:00.000-08:00

I was at Jagjit Singh Concert this past Saturday with Rajesh and my friend Anjali. It was nice, not great. I am not a great Gazal fan but wanted to hear some of his famous movie songs etc. But he was singing all new songs probably from his latest album which I did not know about and did not enjoy much. But the live music was amazing and out of this world. Esp the Violinist and Sitarist.

But as soon as he started singing "Yeh Kagaz Ki Kasthi" song, the crowd was in an uproar. They were like WOW. I had not liked this song much earlier even though I had heard it a lot, but that day sitting there and just thinking about the lyrics of this song made so much sense. I mean I long so much for those worry free child hood days, the days when there things were simple, easy and enjoyable. There was no judging of people, no worries about calories or dieting, no worries about bills to be paid or savings :D Not that these are necessarily bad things, but just things had seemed so much more simple and lot more enjoyable.

As I was thinking about this, another thought came to my mind, the memories from childhood are stronger. What I mean is, if you ask me what I did for last Christmas or Diwali, I can tell you what I did factually. But if you ask me what I did for my summer vacation during my 8th grade, I can narrate it with emotion and feelings. I can remember the Hunise Gojju (Tamarind Sauce) that my grand mother made with such clarity. I can even feel the taste of it today in my mouth. I can tell you how the grass felt to my feet as I walked out side in the back yard or how the soft skin of the new born calf felt to my hands......

So somehow the childhood memories seem to have more emotions in them...is that just how our brain works where as we grow older it is more factual? Or is how we have become...if the later is true, then it is truly sad :(

Just my musings....Feel free to share your thoughts on this :)

Happy Thanksgiving and have a great long weekend. :)

Is Happiness the ultimate goal of life

2009-11-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

Many hold the belief that the ultimate goal in life is to be in a state of complete contentment, free of struggle and suffering. However, one must take into consideration that all things are relative. Without salt, there is no sweet; without dark, there is no light; without suffering, happiness cannot exist.

A life consisting only of happiness would quickly lose its beauty. It would be living life in a straight line; every day, happiness would deteriorate further into normalcy, until finally one would be caught in a state of boredom. Happiness would become like a drug – more and more would be needed to lift the spirits until, finally, stagnation would be the only sensation remaining, there being no further levels of happiness to be achieved. The smallest hitch in a plan would feel like ultimate devastation.

So what are my thoughts on this? Happiness is one of the goals of life not the ultimate goal. If feeling content was all we needed then we need not be intelligent for that. Cows in the pasture are quite content with their state of being. So, we need to look at our lives - what is our purpose, what is our function and what we want to be? I want to be a good person, while feeling happiness among all the other suffering and worries we might have. I want to work out the challenges of life with the help of my family and friends and I want to make the world a better place with small steps :)

Happiness is flourishing and growing in the midst of crisis. Happiness is to love life, enjoy the purpose of your life and be who you want to be (Or who you are)

One of the examples of a happy person I can think of is the character Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption. Despite his predicament, he found a way to flourish and triumph. He built a library, amassed a fortune, helped others, played chess, got revenge, and tunneled his way out of that place. That character gives us an example to live by.

What about Forest Gump Movie? He was naive, but it was Love, Love of life, love of things he wanted to do that made him happy :)

Some thoughts from my side :) Please feel free to share your thoughts on Happiness and goals of life.

Paths of Glory - Jeffery Archer

2009-04-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

I am a fan of Jeffrey Archer's fictional writing - and this book was no exception. Although Archer has presented well researched facts, this should not be treated as a factual book about Mallory but instead to be read as a story. If you see just the plain words this book could be called a catalogue of one person's achievements and set backs, but being the consummate story teller that he is - Archer has woven facts with fiction and created an amazing tale of Mallory's obsession. Despite the fact that I have no clue or love about Mountaineering or rock climbing, it's a testament to Archer's story telling skill that I was so engrossed in the book that I could not put it down until I finished it.

This book was a quick easy read told in Archers own style, but still I could not but feel disappointed that there were not more details given. I would not probably understand complicated details about Mountaineering, but still it seemed as if there were no details about the hard ships encountered by Mallory and his team. Please do not take me wrongly, I loved this book, but some how I did not feel how hard it was to climb Mount Everest when I read this book. I mean from Mallory's perspective it might not have been hard, but I knew from facts that it indeed was and it did not come through in this book. Also I felt like he could have developed a little bit more insight about what motivated Mallory etc. My two cents anyways.

But the book is absorbing and hard to put down. You would think there would be nothing interesting about Mountain climbing and a mountain itself, but the way Archer writes, you are transported to a world where the Mountain is transformed into something else, where time is enchanted and passes quickly and before you know you are the end of the book. I ended the book with feelings of wanting more, sadness for Mallory and his wife, euphoric feeling that Mallory had indeed succeeded and more. Definitely a must read recommendation from my side.

As I end this post, wanted to quote the the description on this book as mentioned on Archers's own website, highlighting the last line from it.

"This is the story of a man who loved two women, and one of them killed him.

Some people have dreams that are so outrageous that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. Francis Drake, Robert Scott, Percy Fawcett, Charles Lindbergh, Amy Johnson, Sir Edmund Hillary and Neil Armstrong are among such individuals.

But what if one man had such a dream, and when he’d achieved it, there was no proof that he had fulfilled his ambition?

Paths of Glory is the story of such a man. But not until you’ve turned the last page of this extraordinary novel, will you be able to decide if George Mallory should be added to this list of legends, because if he were, another name would have to be removed. "

Badavara Badami - Kadlekai

2009-03-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

Kadlekai - this humble legume (Yes it is actually a legume along with Peas and beans) but yet so rich in protein that it gets categorized under nuts is a delicious snack. My husband and mom are much more peanut fanatics than I am, but some how I seem to have a penchant for this specific type of Kadlekai snack called "Congress Kadlekai". It could stem out of the fact that this road side churmuri I used to eat used to utilize Congress Kadlekai or it just has this addictive taste.

When I went to India for my brother's wedding, the first thing I asked my Mom was that I wanted to take some Congress Kadlekai back to US. She promptly got me some from Subbamana Angadi in Gandhibazaar. I have eaten them from the famed V.B. Bakery as well near Sajjanrao Circle. Congress Kadale is very popular around Bangalore/Mysore Area and probably around Karnataka as well. But of course it is a know fact that South Bangalore is a good source of them.

There are many interesting stories behind this special little delicacy. One theory is that these roasted groundnuts were distributed in various Congress rallies conducted in Bangalore during the freedom struggle.They became wildly popular, and were thus named.

Another guess is that Gandhi helped to promote them as ‘Badavara Badami’ or the Badams of the poor, as they were rich in nutrients and easily accessible by the poor.

I also read some where that the color of the kadlekai after adding all the masala that makes it Congress Kadlekai was the color that Congress was using at that time and hence the name.

Whatever might be the story behind this interesting snack, it has definitely made to the must eat list of mine.

I was about to end my post here, but then remembered the famous Kadalekai Parishe of Bangalore. We stayed so closed to the Dodda Basava Temple that we attended this annual Groundnut Fair (Literal translation) every year. Apart from heaps and heaps of ground nuts we used to have stalls of Battasu (colored sugar candy), bendu, and what not. Plus stalls for toys and stuff. This used to be the highlight of our childhood days where we collected money so that we can spend at the Parishe. There used to be parades and dances and all the interesting stuff.

History of this Kadalekai Parishe as I got it from Wikipedia,

In the past, Basavanagudi was surrounded by places like Guttahalli, Mavalli, Dasarahalli and other places where groundnut was cultivated. On every full moon day a bull would charge into the groundnut fields and damage the crop. The farmers then offered prayers to Basava (Nandi) to stop this and pledged to offer their first crop.

Subsequently, an Idol of Basava was found close by. It has been said that, the Idol was growing rapidly, and the farmers nailed an iron peg on the head of the idol, which is visible in the form of a trishula even to this date. Later in the year 1537, Kempe Gowda, dedicated a temple to ‘Dodda Basava’ on top of the Basavanagudi hillock and installed the Idol. This temple is known as Bull Temple. Ever since, the farmers from surrounding villages come here every year and offer their annual harvest of groundnut as offering to Lord Basava. This is accompanied by the annual fair, which is known as the Kadlekai Parishe.

Back from India Vacation

2009-03-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

It had been 4 weeks of fun filled vacation in India along with my brother's wedding. Sad and glad to be back. Sad because I miss family and friends and all the cool stuff we did together. Glad because it is always nice to be at your own home, sleep in your own bed and to get back to stamping and scrap booking. Many a times during my vacation there were so many things that happened or things that people said that I wanted to blog. But now that I am back, I seem to be having writers block and cannot seem to think of a single topic to write.

Hopefully in the days to come I can write about some of the interesting things that happened and people I met and about the wedding itself.

It was really a happy event to welcome Kriti into our family. She and Tejaswi make a great pair.

Just wanted to dash off this note that I am back and will be back with more things to write about.

Have a good week,

Lost in Twilight series

2009-02-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

My Life was going normal until my friend Anjali told me that she had bought the first two book in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer and then it turned upside down. lol. I know I am kind of exaggerating it, but this series is just amazing. I have read all the four books in the series non-stop and in a way it was good that I arrived late into this frenzy and got to read all the four books in series. I had read quite a few Vampire related romance novels by Tereasa Mediros earlier and had liked them. The TV Serial Moonlight based on Vampire and falling in love with a human was also one of my favourites.

I have read a lot of reviews on these on various sites. They range from Most Favourite to hate it...Which in itself is kind of unique. From the opening statement you might have realized that of course I love the series despite the romantic cliches. I think the most engaging thing I found about this series was the witty and humorous narrative that kept me completely engaged and was indeed a page turner. The cliff hanging endings for each chapter also helped of course. Meyer may not be a great writer, but she is a great story teller. The series has quite a few moments of insight into life, mortality, soul and love and Meyer has a gift to create artistic and sensual imagery of her writing.

A wry and sometimes witty narrative voice that engages the reader, complete with a few surprising moments of genuine insight about life, mortality, and love, combines with a gift for artistic and sensual imagery.

I do agree with many reviewers about Bella being whiny, shallow and having very low self esteem. But again this is just how the author felt her heroine should be and everyone feels like they would have portrayed her differently. But that is how she is. The number of times she feels or tell that she is too good for Edward also grated on my nerves some times. I am like just get on with it!! I also think that Meyer has portrayed Edward as being tortured and angst and could have developed his character more. He who has been in existence for more than a 100 years could have been portrayed differently - again that is just my opinion. But then again how many women have not fallen in love with Darcy type character who are brooding, angst, intense and are slightly controlling as well...too many? Yeah totally.

So in essence less-than-perfect characters experience for the first time the vampire-human love and all the joys and pains accompanying it actually make the book more interesting and not less. There were humorous dialogues and upbeat situations in the book making it really a feel good book. For example there is a scene in the book where Edward is taking Bella to meet his family for the very first time and she is worried that they might not like her and Edward comments that - "You are not worried that you are going into a house full of Vampires but the fact that they might not like you?"...Which I thought was really cool.

If you have not already read the book, please read it with a open mind and then let me know if you liked it or hated it!!! You might be surprised at your reaction.

Happy Reading
From the one is currently re-reading New Moon (2nd book in the series)

Things have a way of repeating itself

2009-01-27T20:40:00.000-08:00

I am sorry for a long winded post, but wanted to share a story first and then proceed with my ramblings.

My grandma (my dad's mom) used to come all the way to the bus stand in my native place to see us off. It was not that big of a walk or it was not that she could not walk, but there was no need or necessity, but she did it anyway. Curiosity kills the cat or in this case gives a new insight. Of course, I asked her why she did that. She said that one of her cousins or sisters (I cannot remember who) used to do this and my grandma used to tease her a lot about it and had complained about it several times. She told me that there was nothing like next life to reap the benefits (I always feel everything in life is a benefit even if we might not know it or realize it) of your actions, it is always in this life, so now that her cousin/sister had passed away, my grandma felt the urge to come see us off till the bus stand.

This talk with my grandma had a very big impact on me and made me rethink my actions in several situations (sometimes in retrospect - but that helps too). I used to argue about certain things with my Mom and I notice that I am doing the same things that she used to do that was bothering me then.

Anyways, the reason I thought about this today was because it is very very cold today here in Flower Mound, TX - 28 degrees Fahrenheit which makes it below freezing and we are having sleet rain and very icy conditions on the road. There is nothing on the TV other than road conditions, weather updates and news snippets related only to this weather. There are so many accidents because Texans are not used to this kind of weather and they just cannot drive in this weather.

When I was young I went to school in Ulavi (a small village in Karnataka) near Dodderi (which is the home of my grandfather and the famous novelist Dr.D.V.Rao). I used to notice that people could talk for hours even like half a day about the buses. Yeah, buses - like did Krishna Bus come in today? I am sorry if this is a huge information overload, but buses back there have names and then run at specific times. So, the conversation would be something like,

"Did Krishna bus come today?"
"No Not yet, although Gajanana bus did go the other way."
"I have heard that there is a new driver in Krishna bus along this route."
"Hmm, maybe he is a better driver than the last driver, who was so rash that I was always scared when he turned around the Hosabale pond."

Of course all this dialog would take place in Havyak language - my native tongue which is a variation of Kannada - the state language of Karnataka.

So, all the teasing and complaining about the way they could talk for hours on buses have come back to haunt (or is it benefit) me in Flower Mound, where we have talked nothing but the icy weather in the past half a day.

Life is awesome indeed.

HAPPY 2009

2009-01-12T14:23:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a great 2009. WOW 2005 to 2009 - four years of not posting on this blog. So one of my resolutions this year is to blog more often, but at the same time not to be too caught up in this virtual world that I forget the real world and also my other commitments this year like eating healthy, losing weight etc.

Sometimes I wonder if the different options available for "Virtual Social Networking" is actually more confusing to people than helping them? I mean there is Orkut, Face book, Linked In and of course blogs (I have resorted to Google Reader to help me keep track of the blogs). I hardly get enough time to stamp/scrap and post to my blog and now I need to make time to visit Face book (Yes I do have an account there) and other virtual networking sites :)

It has been ages since I did anything with my Shelfari Account. If you are wondering about that - it is the virtual bookshelf - to let your friends know which books you own, what are you reading now etc. I am spending more time updating Shelfari rather than actually reading anything :)

Does some of this sound familiar to you? Then you are in my boat.

A short post for today. Hopefully will have more to say in my next post and there will not be such a big Gap this time.

Judas Strain by James Rollins

2008-11-14T12:58:00.000-08:00

James Rollins is relatively a new comer in the Science/Fantasy fiction arena, but he has made a good impression on me with his writing, his imagination, character development and able to keep the reader engrossed in his created world. He has also managed to continously improve. Any Action or adventure author would always trying to strech the limit of credibility a little, but what I like is how James Rollins brings in the right mixture of science/facts to make this strech feel real. :)

I am still in the process of reading Judas Strain, but the first chapter was totally amazing. I mean a good first chapter always sets the trend for the book, it makes the reader want to know more, it raises questions that you want answered, it intrigues you and more.. The voyage of Marco Polo from Asia back to Europe was really well written....

I do not want to write more about the story and plot and spoil the surprise for your if you have not yet read this book. On the other hand, if you have already read the book, then you know :)

The very first book I read of James Rollins was Sandstorm. It was just an amazing book and then after that I tried to catch hold of all his books and have read most if not all of them.

Cannot wait for his latest book "The Last Oracle". Am I greedy or what?....Yet to complete Judas Strain, but already wanting his next book....lol.

Have a good weekend and more to come next week.....

Reading Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's books

2008-10-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

I have become a great fan of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. She has a way of portraying the women that stirs something deep within my own heart. She weaves a world of fantasy so good that you are lost in it and it is hard to put the book down lest you have to face reality....

Recently I read her book "Sister of my heart" which portraits the life of two girls growing up together and how their life changes after marriage and how they seek each other to comfort them in times of sadness and tragedy.

Divakaruni has described the Bengali life very well and does a great job in building up the relationship of the sisters.

Great book to read and would recommend it to all.

On a side note, there is a sequel to this book called "Vine of Desire" which for some reason I did not like as much.

But I really liked her other books - "Mistress of Spices", "Queen of Dreams" and "Palace of Illusions".

More about my thoughts on Palace of Illusions in my next Post.

Cheers and have a great week.

PS: I know I have been kind of lax in posting to my blogs. But hopefully I am back on track and will post more often.

Back to Miss One Thousand Spring Blossoms

2006-04-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

Miss One Thousand Spring Blossoms by John Ball has always been one of my favourite books. Am back to reading this.

John ball has done great job in narrating the experience of an American facing the Japanese culture with the fine tunes of romance woven in it. The characters of people are nicely built. The description of Japanese culture is excellent. The author has dealt the realationship with Richard and Miss One thousand spring blossoms with great sensitivity and very realistically. The supporting characters play a very strong but subtle role in bulding the story. A great reading.... Really a master piece from a great story writer. A Must read.

Some of my Fiction favorites

2005-12-29T21:35:00.000-08:00

These are some of my fiction favorites. The list might be too long....So, for now let me put a few here. Will post more later....

Clive Cussler
- Sahara
- Inca Gold
- Treasure
- Night Probe

Henry Denker
- Horowitz and Mrs. Washington
- Error Of judgment
- Kincaid
- Physicians

Georgette Heyer
- cotillion
- These Old Shades
- Masquerader

Currently Reading

2005-12-29T21:24:00.000-08:00

Tess Gerritsen's - The Sinner

Maura Isles - the main character in Gerristen's books is a Medical Examiner and most of her books deal with Forensic Sciences combines with a good detective work. She keeps the readers glued to her book with the vivid descriptions of scenes and the characters themselves are well developed.

Small Victories

2005-12-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

The temperature here in Dallas has suddenly dropped to the 20's and 30's as we have a cold front that moved in. Also Sunday night, I was doing some stuff around the house and slept late. But still woke up at 4:45 AM and went to Gym in the morning. This probably is not that high in the list in the big scheme of things. But still I felt very victorious for having done this. Small steps....so even this matters. I enjoyed the work out and it was a good feeling. :))))

1/3 of the Day

2005-10-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

I was feeling very sleepy today morning (just like the other mornings ;)) and was thinking that the reason I did not want to wake up early was that I needed my 8 hours of beauty sleep.

When I was driving to work I was thinking more about this and realized with a start that 8 hours of sleep is 1/3 of the day. And if I am spending 8 hours at work. That only leaves me with 8 more hours to do other things.......which I feel is not sufficient. Sigh.....

I am thinking it will be so hard to cut back upon sleep. I mean it is like an addiction. You gotta sleep......... And there quite a few articles out there which talk about how less than 8 hours of sleep can make you obese(!!!) and also affect your health in many ways etc. So there is no dearth of supporting information for my 8 hour sleep claim :))

Of course - if only that thought at the corner of mind which keeps reminding me that if I slept less, what more I could do in those extra hours would go away, then I could sleep in peace for 8 hours. But it does not...and the eternal battle of thoughts/theories/ideas - to sleep or not sleep for 8 hours keeps continuing.

2005-09-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

It says it all I think :)

The Road Not Taken - By Robert Frost

2005-09-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-- Robert Frost

My Cousin Shashi would always bring this poem up whenever I question any decision or thought whether there would have been any difference If I had done something else etc etc.....

The Road in this poem is a good metaphor in life for changes, journeys, adventures, partings etc. But that is just looking at this poem at a superficial level. If you keep peeling the layers, I think there are many more meanings to this poem. The author feeling sorry that he cannot take both roads is so reflective of how at so many crucial junctions of our life, when we have to chose one or the other - we wish if we could just have both....(could be a decision, or a change in life or people) kind of like having your cake and eating it too I guess. I have also felt the this poem indicates at some level that the two roads might not be that different than we feel.

I don't know why, but I was thinking about this poem a lot today and just wanted to penn my thoughts here.

My foray into short stories world

2005-09-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

I was reading a post by my brother Teju regarding short stories and his own short story of 55 words and I thought this was a good time to post my own shorty story here. Enjoy...(comments are welcome).

Disclaimer: This was one of my first attempts at a short story written ages ago..

WAIT - A short story

As the taxi sped past the lush green meadows and towering trees, my mind raced to the past. I still remembered him as if I had seen him yesterday and not 12 years back.

Time seems to have flown so fast. His exuberance, vitality and joyful nature were not the only endearing qualities about him. He himself as a person appealed to anyone who went near him. I came out of my trance with a jolt when the taxi halted at a traffic signal. I could see the control towers of the airport in the distance. I was very nervous at the thought of coming to the airport to receive him and had planned to stay at home. But the strong urge to see him had made me take up this travel to the airport.

I consciously smoothed my yellow cotton sari, his favorite of course. He always had found yellow color pleasing to eyes, soothing and refreshing. I glanced at myself in the rearview mirror of the taxi. My hair had started graying near the temples and years had taken their toll by putting wrinkles on my once smooth face, but nothing could dim the shine in my eyes at the thought of seeing him after 12 long years. A long sigh escaped my lips. I hoped that his love for me hadn’t changed in the ensuing years. I was only dreading about his reaction on seeing me. Suddenly, a horrifying thought came into my mind – what if he doesn’t recognize me? Then I reassured myself that a person who had loved me so much couldn’t have forgotten me so easily. Still, I entered the airport with a fluttering heart. I was wondering whether I made a mistake by coming to the airport, when I heard them announcing the arrival of the flight.

I craned my neck to scan him among the passengers entering the lounge and there he was. All my fears went flying when my dear, lovable 12 year old grandson Suhas came running towards me to hug his favorite albeit old grandmother. Tears of happiness were flowing from my eyes when my son and daughter-in-law touched my feet. As hugged Suhas to me, I realized that my WAIT had come to an end and I had happiness in my hand.

Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli.................

2005-08-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

Today morning as I was driving to work, I was listening to this beautiful song from Anand - Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli...Hai, Kabhi tho hasaye, kabhi yeh rulaye...

Not just the first line, but the whole song is very nice. Music, Lyrics and Singing of course.........Made my day :))

In fact all the songs in Anand are very nice. I love the movies that I call as A4.

Anand, Abhimaan Amar Prem and Anupama.

Monday Musings

2005-08-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

We had a very good weekend. Saturday we totally relaxed at home, played around with iTunes, iPod and ripped some music into my iPod. Generally lazing at home. Evening we went out for a dinner date and movie. :) Sunday morning both me and Rajesh went to gym exercised, then relaxed and in the evening we went shopping and we cooked food for the week. In between this we did some laundry (some because I did not fold the clothes...just washed them) and some general house cleaning. So, overall if I look at it, it was really a good weekend, because it was a good blend of relaxation and work.

But I am still feeling guilty that I still did not lot of other stuff like folding the clothes, ironing (which I have do myself here :((( ) and writing birthday cards and sending them out.......etc etc etc.....

But I was analyzing as to why I was guilty and could not find a satisfactory answer. Sometimes (not always), I feel that maybe I set my own expectations very high and then feel bad when I cannot meet them. :( I used to rebel against Amma and Rajesh when they told me something, now I am doing that to myself. LOL. Life is very strange indeed.

Anyways, despite my guilty (so not so guilty) feelings, we had a good weekend and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. We saw Monster In Law Movie in dollar theater. So did not feel bad that we spent 3 dollars only for that movie. Also watched Forgotten at home. Watched Rush hour 2 on TBS. :))

Finished a book by Kay Hooper (Hunting Fear) and Iris Johansen (Face of Deception).

Choice and Regrets

2005-08-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

You might be wondering how come I have a title like this for my post. I realized that at some level they are kind of intertwined. I was reading a post about Choices that we make on one of my friends post and that kind of started me off on my own post.

This past weekend, we were in a Pool Party and one of our friends are going to India to get settled there, so the topic of conversation was how to make that choice and how somebody had regrets that they could not spend much time with their parents etc. So, the choices we made are what we regret.

So many times when me and Rajesh have talked about this, I always tell him that we should not regret the choices we have made in the past because the - situation/circumstances and parameters now are not the same as they were during that time and we cannot decide now if that decision/choice was wrong or right. But what ever we think or not, we will still regret some of those choices. We tend to analyze (or not) and make the best choice at any given point of time.

And as my cousin Shashi would say - The road / path never traveled. There are always thoughts on what would have happened if you had taken the other path.. We will never know it, but we have to go on with life with the belief that this is the best choice we could have made.

Then I was thinking that regrets are part of life, and if we accept them and move on, that's it kinds. And personally speaking of regrets, they are fleeting and then as my friend said life goes on. Back to Iris Johansen books, gym, food, movie/tv... etc.