Life in India

Terrorist attacks, security lapses, economic downturn, Droughts and floods..Indians can pick one of these as their choice when eking out a living and trying to support their family.These are some hard choices people have to make everyday.Actually these are not optional you have to choose one (or more if you are lucky)!!
That's why the farmers of Yavatmal in Maharashtra, chose to end their lives gracefully.Now in a bid as to not offend the Laws of the constitution and the indian state , who has bestowed the rights to decent living(?!??), they appealed to the President to grant permission to do so.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/23_farmers_seek_Prez_permission_to_end_lives
/rssarticleshow/3491699.cms

What is happening is a total lack of leadership.I mean there are NO leaders at all.No mandate on national security,no comprehensive policy on Natural Disaster Recovery for Citizens, no absolute rules on Taxation and poverty eradication.Nada..Nothing..Zilch..Zero.

In-laws

When I mentioned to my colleagues that my in-laws were going to spend the summer(a mere 3 months) with us..most of my lunch-table-diversity-club went..OMG..You poor thang!!Hmm..that was not a reaction you get when you talk about elders(be it in-laws or parents).Well the thing is..Americans are much more conscious about independence and freedom than credit card debt and savings.
We in India accept this as social norm and families are close knit with 3 generations living under one roof.Of course we do have the newer generation living across India on their own..but this might be due to better opportunities and not mandated by a dislike for family traditions.
Anyways we had a great time and the kids enjoyed the grandparents company.I think for the next generation a good dose of living with extended family is a lesson in sharing and connecting and living for more than just themselves.That's why we want to let the kids have their summer in India next year and hope they come back with much more than they left here with.

Yearly Goals

Unlike others I make up my goal for the year ,around April..Why?After spending 6 months in the cold I am ready to go waste some money and also that's the time my company passes me some Bonus moolah(woo hoo).This year my goal was to setup a true 5.1 channel Home theater.
Now speakers and receivers can cost from the low thousands to the upper tens of thousands.Obviously if budget and room size were not a limit(and If I were not married or had kids) this would have been an easier task..easier because there are literally 200+ speaker makers to choose from.And the worst part is you have to listen to the exact speakers IN your home before you can buy them!!!
What started as a goal has become an obsession,but at least I can fulfill my goal this year.AND I DID..This is awesome..Movies sounds like we are in a theater..Music is very satisfying(and I listen to a lot of those) from Alan Jackson to
Yuvan shankar Raja..
So what is my goal for next year..Save up..America is going belly up..and cash is King..We have cut down on all holiday shopping and birthday gifts(except for the kids)...Invest the savings for better times ,hopefully in 2 years..

Sahana..

I love to startup and shut down my laptop..Cause these are 2 moments I can stare at the picture of Sahana-Vinay on my desktop..it is great feeling..I would've just dropped Sahana of at the daycare 10 mins ago..but still their lit-up faces makes my day..

In the evening just the thought of seeing the both of them is precious..Albeit after spending 2 hours trying to avoid clashes between them,feeding(or atleast trying),giving a bath,bedtime story,preparing for next day,getting vinay ready for school the next morn..Ahhh..I wait to go to the office..Only to stare at my desktop and forget all those chores!!

Back to college

I had enrolled in Online course through my company for a Masters degree..

2 semesters have passed..Got a few B's(and one A)..learning something new is always fun and this is no different..only this time it is all through the web..listen to lectures online,get together in virtual rooms with colleagues to discuss projects,open-book exams(hence the B..illaina!!)..Enna no new people to "meet"..you can only judge someone by ones discussions...There is no presumptions about physicality,race,color,appearance and so on..it is just a voice..

Sometimes it is just 2 boring..but when you can relate to what you learn at work thats when I retain some of it atleast. Looking forward to the summer classes and hope in the end of the course I can use what I learned..unlike the Bachelors..

Good Night

gary

Doctors and skiers

                 Nope ..they dont have anything in common. Just that we have run to Sahana's doctor in the last 6 months more than we did for Vinay till now!! Ear infections,cold,allergies,ear infections.. the cycle repeats.We have been there so often that the doctor quipped that we missed 1 week during New Years..I had to remind him he was on vacation and we saw someone else.

Nags and Vinay took to skiing during christmas and they loved it.Me..I tried Snowboarding and OMG.. it is much easier than skiing. The thing is you don't have to control 2 hands(with 2 poles) and 2 feet(with 2 skis) to follow 1 mind. And you are not staring head first into the eye-popping slope,you are looking sideways.. which means you can no not-look if u don't want to.

I have had enough of being cooped up inside and this was a good break.

Heres Nags.

Skull & Bones on Cigarette Packs

The Indian Government decided today(oct 9th) to mandate pictorial depiction of the dangers of smoking on Cigarette packs.There should be a skull & bones symbol along with oral-cancer depcitions.Also the words "Smoking Kills" should be imprinted on the side and should cover 50% of the printed area.

In contrast,in the US we dont have such signs.Smoking kills 700000 Indians every year(only 400000 in US).Even the words on the box states something akin to "Smoking causes Lung Cancer and MAY complicate pregnancy".So it is a step in the right direction for India..I guess.

The highest influence on smokers is during the College days.These youngsters dont buy packs but in singles(or how many ever they can afford at a time).So the general smokers will avoid seeing the signs and pictures warning against smoking.SO how can the government reach them.Make mandatory advertisements to show that 50% of the area be covered with the warnings.

6 sixes in Twenty20

Cricket is back to its glory..i love it..After only reading the news about Yuvraj Singh's 6 sixes..I missed watching it!!Youtube saves my day..and here it is..

Flintoff must have really pissed him off..

Solli..solli adiche maathree irukku...

Gotto love this game ..again.:)

Being a Parent

Time: Monday Morn 6:45AM
Loc : Kitchen Table

Me: Vinay eat quickly..bus will be here in a few minutes..
Vinay:Ohhkaayyy...
Me: Drink all the water in the bottle else your skin will become old faster than you..
V:??
Me: Sahana (daughter of 14 months) eats more than you..
V:NO.. she does not!
Me: YES..she does.If only you had gone to bed early..you wont be so tired!!
V:..I am NOT tired(voice quivers a bit)
Me:(in softer tone)..Ok..ok..I meant you will feel very refreshed if you go to bed early..
V leaving the table...
Me:Put on your uniform..its getting late..
V:I have to go to the potty...
Me:Yeah!!..finish quickly..
After 2 mins..knocking on toilet door..

R u done..
No daddy..
2 more minutes..bus will be here..
Ohhkaayyy!!!

I cant believe that I have turned into..none other than my dad..same concerns,same annoying tone and the same love that he had...If only I had realised this to the same extent as my son does..

History repeats itself..

Twenty20 Format

The 20/20 format is an awesome version of cricket.Period.It has taken off quite well and brings the zing back to cricket.Personally I haven't followed cricket for many years now...What will all the "oldies" dominating the game..I feel old too to watch(I mean follow the matches on the web) these days..
Right now I am following the India/Pak match and it is nearing a nail-biting finish..Man..I cant control my anxiety and my urge to pee(holding for the last 1 hour)...hopefully it is all worth it..
(pak is 152/10..YEA..we WON!!!)..Let me make a pit-stop first!!!
Whew..that feels better.Now,the format clearly establishes the fact that people don't have the time anymore to spend a WHOLE day watching cricket..Why?First of there is something called Life..which is passing by soo fast..like broadband and your hairline...Second the pace is fast and cricket is no more leisurely but intense and you cant afford to miss a minute..which in turn holds the viewer to the screen..Third the excitement is mind-blowing..I know I can get my adrenaline pumped up so high in the next few hours and it is legal to do that!!!!
Love the cricket..again..and hope this brings the game back to its glory days...

We won the match!!..Nana..nana.naa naa..we beat Pakis..Nana nana naa naa..

Lighting up many lives(literally)

In the world that we live,we take so many things for granted..love,health,your spouse,money..but then there are things we truly cant even imagine life without.Things which are beyond "being taken for granted"..Water,electricity...It came as a surprise for me when there people who have not heard of "Lights"..artificial one that is!!These folks have depended only on sunlight as their only source of light..I mean imagine a world without power(electricity)..no TV,Microwave,AC/Heat,cellphone(OMG..no text messages!!!)

People in the village of Gudda,Rajasthan have something to celebrate.One 80-year-old woman is the proudest of all!!!They have Light in the Night..such an unheard of thing for centuries in that village..All possible due to the vision of one man, Hanuman Ram , and the support of the whole village.

Mr.Hanuman Ram has installed Solar light panels on every rooftop in this village.Now students can study in the night,eat dinner at night and watch the world on TV..Maybe they can dream about what they have been missing and motivate many others to do what Hanuman did.


Link to the article below


http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/26/india.solar/index.html#cnnSTCText





Personally,in my lifetime If I could make one good action like this guy did..It will all be worthwhile!!Well..many such actions wouldnt hurt either...





Regards

Calorie Counter

I have a bagel every morning and was wondering how many calories was I munching down..So a search got me to this site
http://www.calorie-count.com/

A toasted plain bagel has the following

Calories 363
Total Carbohydrates 70.7g
Protein 13.9g
Sodium 706mg

Type in "Chicken Biryani" and you get details about it too.I have never bothered to get calorific value for Indian foods..and never cared about it either..until now..There is a link to the company which makes the pre-packaged product.

Nice site..check it out
-Sankar

Mango Mania

Of a dozen things I miss (of India) living in USA,the summer season evokes all the wafty,aphrodisiac(y) smell of Mangoes.Malgoa,Alphonso,Banganapalli ..oh my Gawd!!Juicy is all I can recollect.Today a colleague shared a mango(what?? Sharing MANGOES!!!..crazeee!!!) from Puerto Rico.It was delish.

Back in my school days we used to have a Rumani Mango tree.Summers were fun..Trying to keep the kids from throwing stones was a constant task for my Mom and dad..and they were pretty hyper about it...The ripening season starts in May and they are ready to be plucked by June.

If you wait longer then the squirrels and crows have a go at it ... I am employed to climb the tree and hand-pick the fruits,load em in a bag around my waist.Sitting precariously on a branch I then lower the bag tied to a rope down for my Dad to unload.This went on for several hours.

Later we would hire someone to climb to those parts which are unreachable.Also we had a hook attached to a long bamboo pole which was used for low hanging fruits..That instrument was pretty ingenious in that there was bag under the hook..The trick was to cut the stem holing the fruit and deftly catch it while doing..Of course we also had "catchers" to catch the unfortunate ones.

The fruits are neatly staked on hay ..got to be careful to keep the end which was attached to the branch facing down,else the "milk"(sap) would get inside the mango and produce a sour taste.
The usual summer haul was 600-700 mangoes..which were distributed unequally among my relatives and the rest was sold to any local vendor..
I felt very sad when we had to cut down the tree after several years...

I miss the mangoes...

Marathon Boy

Found this article in CNN.Link Below

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/06/06/boy.walker.ap/index.html?eref=edition_world



Now here is an opportunity for Indian Olympic Association to recognise the talent of this toddler(just past it maybe) to encourage him and his family and provide support for his cause.Instead we go ahead and stop his ambitions.I mean If someone this young can run a 60 Kms(37 miles) marathon(albeit being severely exhausted!!!) wouldnt we jump at this chance ..that maybe he might win us an Olympic Gold for us..and might turn out to be the youngest marathon runner in the olympics.
If I were Suresh Kalmadi(IOA president) I would be very jubiliant about this news.
I would offer him a scholarship and train him to be the pride of India that he ought to be.
But thats me..
BTW..you can email Mr.Kalmadi from his website(http://www.skalmdi.org) maybe a few voices will do the needful..

-Later

Got an iMac!

Yeaaaa...It is so good to get gadgets and expore the hell out of it..But this one is awesome!!Love the iMac..with the intuitive interface,setting up was a breeze,detected my home network.I added airport express and now can listen to my iTunes in my Home theater speakers(Yamaha YSP-1000..which is cool by the way).
The smallest details are taken care of..this is truly a computer created just for us.

We also have the advantage of having windows on another partition..since my wife needs VB,.Net and stuff..
iMac rules..I have spent atleast 1 hour everyday for the last 20 days on it,and still not started the imovie or iweb yet,which I hear are very cool too.
Thanks Nags!!

I am happy

We are off to a good start in 2007.Sahana is doing well,still trying to set some routines for her night time sleep.Cant believe Vinay starts school this year!!Time is churning so faast..as someone said "after 30 with a family it is all downhill"..that is for the time..But as for the mood I am HAPPY..maybe contented too..

The weeks from Jan 19th-Jan 31st was "awesome and blissful"..what say Nags?.In the midst of all this,my Mom had her first heart-attack.If only my family had known the symptoms we could have rushed her to the hospital and prevented several complications.She is recovering at home and needs 24/7 care.We owe a lot to my Sister-in-law(lakshmi) who is taking care of her in chennai along with 2 school going kids.

Life itself,not 2 sound philosophical(but cant help it!!), has so much twists.Never there is a dull moment.We can only take it as it comes.Vidya and myself need to take care of our health more than anything.

Love all(especially Vinay for his maturity in understanding us parents)

Holidays 2006

I have resigned from Ingenix.After 4.5 yrs with a company makes your friends almost an extended family and this was a difficult choice for me.The new job(unilever) is close to home and this will give me more time with Sahana(2nd kid).The folks at Ingenix were awesome and I miss them a lot.I am moving forward with my career but with change in direction.I will keep in touch with the junta.

Hopefully the holidays will keep me in an up-mood..My in-laws are leaving too and we are shit scared of how we will handle a household on a daily basis..Vidya is pretty cool under pressure and I am leaning on her to take charge and let me mop for a few more days.

Change is constant!

2nd Baby adventure

Whew!!We gave birth to a beautiful girl baby,sahana on July 19th,2006.Well..it was my WIFE who gave birth BUT I did assist her a lot!When my wife was pregnant we talked about how unprepared we were for the first one and so we got everything ready the second time..Freshly painted room,crib,bassinet(on loan from a friend),clothes(since we knew beforehand that its going to be a girl),car seat(for my son I bought it AFTER he was born and the nurse told me to get one!!!),bottle warmer,nail clippers,wash cloths,burp cloths,receiving blankets..you know.. the works.
We were fully prepared.Hmm..Or so we Thought!!
Sahana was delivered on a wednesday afternoon at the Doctors office!!Stop..did I say Dr's Office..YES I DID!!!
Man that takes all certainity and preparedness out of life.
Without getting into all the details(contractions for 6 hrs,No sedations for my wife,10 minute birth,our first ambulance ride) all I can say is we are DAMN lucky!!

So there it is an adventure every time!!
Maybe for the next one we will be fully prepared!!..maybe not..But hey..I will take what comes!!!
Ciao.
PS:My wife's friend gave birth to their 2nd baby at home.The cops who came there first delivered the baby!!

Birthday party at 32!!

Went to my sons friends bday party one saturday.Had pizza,fun and went back home..SURPRISE!!!Camera flashing,video rolling..man I was in the spotlight..All my friends were there..atleast those that could make it.I was dazed.I couldnt believe that Vidya(my wife) had actually arranged all this.She has never ever surprised me before and also on this grand scale..there was food ,music ,games..all the kids had videos to watch..Amazing!!2 hours into the party she is still busy you know talking to people she is meeting for the first time and I am still dazed!Unbelievable..I steal a moment..a kiss..a thank you..It was too surreal.
The most amazing part was ..we had another secret we hadnt told anybody else..she was 8 weeks pregnant!!!She was nauseous,tired and sleepy(unlike the first time when she was pregnant and that was smooth sailaing all the way)..I just couldnt beleive she had taken the time everyday last 2 weeks to arrange this party..
Man..I thought ..I must be lucky..Did I tell you that I have never had a Birthday party in my life!First time in 32 yrs and that was great!!Felt like a kid..a little embarrasing at times..but the thoughtfulness(is that a word) was aawwright!!!.Nice!
That was sweet..got the memories on tape.

Those who Came:
Sandeep,Archana,Sparsh
Subhash,Madan,Minu,Saatchi,Simi
Suresh,Maha,Rohit
Hong,Alice
Sreevalli,Shiva
Raja
Shari,Naresh

India vacation???

Well I wouldnt call it a vacation..starting with booking our tickets just 3 weeks prior,sending my (just expired) passport for renewal,giving vaccines to my son (3 of em just ) just 2 weeks b4 travel,yet to start packing,assuring my manager that I dont have to check email everyday,moving my plants to a friends place,staying up till the wee hours to complete the work which I might miss completing during my vacation...the list goes on.
Trying to get to talk to someone about the status of my passport is horrendous.You have a number to call which prompts you to call 2 other numbers,one of which always goes to a mailbox called "INFORMATION" and the other which cycles you back to the first number!!!Arrgh!!!.The email lets you type some information and off that goes..no one knows where to cos the emailid's are hidden.
Well one good thing about such short-notice-vacation is that the "shopping for india" was reduced to just a marathon mall-hopping straight 8 hours.Thats it!! We were done..we were so proud that we (being chronic shoppers-who-return-like-crazy) had done the impossible.Longer notice meant more planning,shopping,returns,requests from home,shopping and returns.
Officially my wife is working for a week (outsourcing) and managed to squeeze out another week.So I have to hop between her work place and our home town with my 3 yr old in tow!!!
Would be very sad If I didnt make it(thanks to Indian embassy) and had to stay 2 1/2 weeks alone in my house!!!
Getting late..gotto work..