Smart yet innocent nephew ;)

My mom has this nailcutter from Indonesia - which for aesthetic reasons, has a cover. It is all baby pink in colour :P My mom had used it yesterday and left it on the bed. My nephew who loves jumping on the spring mattress[which is fairly new] in my mom's room, strolled into the room, found the nailcutter and played around with it. The cover fell off. My nephew, cute li'll thing, is totally scared that my mom would yell at him. He takes the cover to my mom, and tells her

"The hand broke it.. the hand did it Mini[he calls my mom Mini ;) ].. Chi Chi hand"

P.S. Chi Chi - meaning bad or dirty.

As he was telling her this, he was hitting his hand with the other hand....

So so cute :) But I wonder if he is so smart as to say such a thing and get away or is it his innocence to not know that it is his own hand :)

Holiday season '09

Well well well.. the holidays are finally here - one of the advantages of working in a US based company :) I am looking forward to having my in-laws over for a few days - however, I am really scared. No, not cause they are evil, in fact I have the best in-laws. But, I am a very moody cook - so I am like - I have got to make sure the food is good enough - all 3 meals in a day, for 4 days... this is really freaking me out. Nonetheless, apart from the visit, I plan to find out and get myself vaccinated against cervical cancer - did not know that a vaccine has been in existence for the last 2 years. If you are a lady and you are reading this, and if you are between 20 and 30 years of age, please do consult your gynec about this vaccine. Cervical cancer is the 2nd highest cause for death in women after breast cancer. I also plan to get a lasik surgery done to correct my eyesight - spectacles have been hoisted on my nose since I was in the 2nd standard :P Just a bit scared about this as well... not sure if this will help prevent further weakening of my left eye.

Anyways, happy holidays everyone :) Merry christmas and a very happy new year :)

I wonder....

Man must've come after all the land on earth was already present. How did man go about dividing land and owning it?

Working across cultures

We had a talk a few days back about "working across cultures". Well, it was all about the mentality of people in different countries and how to work with them, interpret what they mean, etc.. However, what is most important is not that people have different mindsets in different countries alone. People within a country can have different mentalities and thoughts too. It should be a team building exercise to make everyone be able to adjust and work with people who may be very unlike them. Take for example my team! Most of my team members prefer to keep things down and don't like being confronted and I, on the other hand, prefer to be confronted[I HATE BACKBITING] and I prefer being open and honest. One of my team mates who attended the same talk, came and gave me the same feedback -that "I had an American mindset". I guess, it should be more of a team building talk than "working across cultures".

Nostalgia

The "pich-pich" climate in Bangalore, these last few days, brings back memories of the "very dear" Niligiri Networks. The way we all used to huddle around the "antique" heater [which Ismail always wanted to sell off to Mohan's :) ] and warm our feet or Ismail would use to dry his wet clothes. The gossip, Suja's chai.. playing with the "bambarams" from the cheetos packets - I don't believe I used to eat so much and that too junk most of the time. The all-time favorite second breakfast of bun n butter from the local bakery - playing carrom.. playing badminton.. playing cricket... taking walks with various different people.. the kadalai mittai that Partha and ADS never forgot to buy me.... Bike rides!!! Yaay!!! Riding in the rain... Biking on my scooty pep.... the treats of pizzas, choclate croissants, chocolate log.. the list is never ending... oh and how can I forget the "togetherness"? The fights that I had with Ambareen on bugs...

I truly miss all you guys... Ismail, KP, Navin, Siva, Jayanthi, Suja, Murali bhai, Kishor, Ambareen, ADS, Partha, Nanda, Senthil, Abu, Rags, Hema, Lavanya, Selvi, Shiju.... I am glad I got a part of all this as my hubby - B.Prashanth :)

Innovation

Most companies nowadays talk, advertise and advocate "Innovation". And this one word is given a lot of importance in the team that I am in too. I was told that it would be the deciding factor for the performance grades and that did put a lot of pressure. It has kind of forced me to try to be innovative. I have been seeing other people and their innovations and have been thinking 'Now, how did he get that idea?', 'Am I not creative?', 'Why did I not think about that?', etc.. I also bought books on how to be innovative,etc. However, I don't think I have succeeded in the past one year :( I happened to watch this video by some Allan guy on TED.com, about thinking simple... Now, I am overusing my head to think like a child[as children think simple?] - to see how a child would perceive what my eyes can see, to rekindle the childlike curiosity and hopefully after all this, I will someday be innovative.

Hmmm.....

My colleague asked me to read his blog and I did not know that he had one till I noticed the link in his gtalk status message. Well, his blog posts seem to be a nice refresher. However, they got me thinking - is it that girls are very cynical about the way we see the world? I can get very cynical I know and I do know a few others who are very cynical about mundane happenings. Are guy's very easy-going as compared to the fairer sex?

Poor doggy

On my way to work today, I happened to notice a dog crossing the road, dragging one of it's hind legs. It was howling[louder so when a vehicle was approaching - may be as signal that it was there]. I guess some bike or car had run over its leg or it had hurt itself before. Whatever the case may be, the poor doggy. Do we really care about the animals around us? We get to read about the number of people who were killed or wounded in an accident or bomb blast or other natural calamity, but what about the animals??

I am not perfect!!

It has been a while since I found the time to blog. Though my schedule is as hectic as ever, I deserve a break. :) Every one of us are entitled to our opinions and judgements[I am not a very judgemental person though I can be very opinionated]. When it comes to poverty, I can be very nasty. It is not my fault that I may be better privileged than many others around me. However, that does not entitle me to be ignorant of the suffering of others around me. No, I don't feel guilty that I am more privileged. It is just that I feel for the under privileged and their suffering. I do try to do my bit for such people via donations/buying clothes for street kids/buying expensive biryani for street kids. I am not trying to show off or any such thing here. All I am saying is that I am doing my bit. I am happy with what I have and I don't want more and more. Yeah, but I am a human being and I can get greedy. But, is it entirely wrong on my part to be greedy sometimes just cause I feel that people should not be ignorant towards the needs of the under privileged? Does my feeling entitle me to be so austere as to not enjoy my privileges within my means?
Is it not ok for me to eat out at an expensive restaurant once in a while? Or do I need to donate all my earnings? Just cause I feel that the better privileged should help under privileged people?

Hubby makes it into IIM :)

I am so relieved and glad that hubby dear got "selected" for the EGMP[Executive General Management Programme] at IIM, Bangalore. It is a one year executive course which I believe is very intense and would require him to read material for 2 hours everyday. Whew!! Nonetheless, I bet this will take him places. :) Am so happy for him...

Hilarious!

One of the most hilarious things I've heard in the recent past is about the late YSR Reddy,[ex]CM of Andhra Pradesh. I heard that YSR Reddy was able to win the elections this time around since he has the power to bring rains to Andhra whereas Chandrababu Naidu did not have this godly power[LOL]. Hey, why then did YSR not become PM of India? There would be no floods or droughts right?

Now, to add to this, I am also told that YSR Reddy has gone to god to ask for more rains :)[ROTFL]

To anyone reading this : Please note that I am not against YSR Reddy nor Chandrababu Naidu. I just wanted to capture the "light" moment that I had shared with my friends.

Celebrating our 4th month wedding anniversary

Pras and I finally decided to go to the multiplex to watch Kaminey. We went to Prestige Forum Value Mall and booked for the 6pm show at Fame cinemas. Well, though Kaminey has been influenced by movies like "Snatch","Lock stock and two smoking barrels", etc., it is a movie worth watching. Shahid Kapoor has done a fantabulous job. The movie does have dramarama, comedy and hilarious action. And guess what? I ended up buying a new jean ;)

Dal payasam anyone??

My parents-in-law were very upset to know that Pras and I wont be visiting them for Onam. Hence, my mother-in-law quickly got down to making some dal payasam for us. I thought that it would be a very tedious task but she made it look very simple. Yet, I think I shall take the shortcut of using coconut milk from a tetra pak rather than extract it myself ;)

Here goes the recipe[this will also help as a reminder for me]
Ingredients
1. Coconut milk extracted from one coconut - don't mix the first and second pressing
2. yellow mung dal - 1 cup boiled
3. Jaggery - 250gms
4. ghee - 1 tbsp
5. cashew nuts - a few for garnishing
6. elaichi - a few for garnishing

Method:
1. Boil the jaggery in a little water
2. Pour the second pressing coconut milk and jaggery into the dal and allow it to boil for a while.
3. Fry cashewnuts and elaichi in ghee.
4. Add the first pressing coconut milk, ghee, elaichi and cashewnuts. Do not let it boil.

For extracting coconut milk, boil a little water. Grate a coconut. Add a tiny bit of hot water to the coconut and squeeze the coconut bit by bit, extracting the coconut milk. This is the first pressing.
Add a little more water to the squeezed, grated coconut and squeeze again to get the second pressing coconut milk.

Giving Ayurveda a try

After attending Remya's wedding, I went to an ayurvedic specialist. Off late I've been facing a lot of dandruff, hairfall and skin related problems. My in-laws accompanied me. It was a one-of-a-kind experience with the specialist telling me a list of problems just by feeling my pulse rate. No, I did not tell him that I had any of those problems. I was a bit surprised for most of what he told me was true. He gave me 2 Kashayams and one hair oil. I am gonna start using those from tomorrow. He has promised to cure me completely of these problems in 3 months. I shall keep you posted :)

Snake Snake Snake!!!

I had been to Palakad last weekend. Pras and I had gone to attend Remya's wedding. Remya is Pras's "muh-boly behen"[sister not by birth] :) The climate was really good... raining for a while and then sunny for a while - the sun and the rain were playing a game for sure. The wedding was simple, like ours, 10 mins and it was done. Remya was looking great and I really like Pratheesh, the bridegroom, for his simpleton like looks. After the wedding, we were returning home, and my mother-in-law who had entered the house gate first was standing still, looking at something, without unlocking the door. I walked upto her and asked her what the matter was and with movement of her eyes she motioned to me to look there. Looking ahead I saw the tail of a snake, entering the pipe coming from the bathing area in the toilet. Just going a bit off topic here, my father-in-law has built the house in a very eco-friendly manner :) He has about half an acre of land, but has built the house on a small area, growing turmeric, ladies finger, drumstick, mung bean[green moong], a different variety of french beans, coconuts, papaya and bananas. The water from the bathing area is diverted to the coconut trees/banana trees and the garden. Rain water harvesting has also been incorporated in the design. It is a very beautiful place and you get to see a lot of butterflies, which stopby at the flowers, squirrels and different varieties of birds. Some butterflies are so big and they seem to fly around just like birds.
Getting back to the topic, Pras rushed to the toilet to pour some water to scare the snake. However, the snake did not come out when Pras poured water. Pras very cleverly then poured some phenyl down the pipe and voila - the snake's head popped out, it put out its tongue to sense any danger and then made a dash for the garden. I wonder where it went. I was pretty scared to go near the garden. I must appreciate my mother-in-law's guts for she went into the garden a while later to pluck some ladies finger and beans for our next meal :)

Contradictory

We women need to make up our minds on whether we want to be treated as equals to men or we want men to follow "Ladies first". I've heard a lot of women complain about being treated as inferior or the weaker sex. The same women have also complained about not being given respect when men do not follow discipline such as "ladies first". It is either this or that. Unless you are very lucky, you can not get the best of both worlds. So all ye women out there, make up your minds! I know I am one of y'all ;)

Cruel humans

Well, the past week has been quite hectic. I have been getting home after 5:45pm, leaving home at 7:15am and cooking dinner for hubby dearest. Well, this may not sound like much, but it does especially after a tiring journey back from Ernakulam. So, on Tuesday evening, after completing all my chores, I sat down to watch television with Pras. Pras put on National Geographic and there was this really beautiful scene of colourful crabs, red, yellow and orange, crossing a road somewhere in Austrailia. A "wow" just escaped both our mouths when they showed a car just run over the poor things. How cruel can the videographer be to take a video of this and not to anything about it? The poor crabs are water beings, so they go to the water to mate and this is the fate we humans put them through. On the funny side, the car tires do have numerous punctures and the crabs which don't get crushed, do end up eating the remains of the crushed crabs :) Well, the humans do deserve the breakdowns, don't they?

The next scene was more horrific. They showed some very pretty birds building nests. The birds are allowed to mate and lay eggs and then boom!!! Some human being blasts a bomb below the tree on which these birds have built their nests, setting the tree and the nests on fire. All this, to control the population of the birds so that the crops are saved and enough is harvested to provide for human beings. Grr...

I agree we human beings are smarter than most living things today but why you this to our own advantage and commit such grevious crimes towards other living beings? Can we not use stringent measures to control our population so that all beings can survive? Why is it that human population is allowed to explode whereas the poor birds are killed.
Human beings are very cruel and I would not like to add one more to this mess. I am so thankful that I married Prashanth, who from day one has only talked about adopting a kid. Hence, we shall adopt a kid and try to make him/her a better person and give him/her a better life. But I will not add one more to the misery.

This and that of Alleppey

As part of our "staggered"/"scattered" honeymoon, my hubby and I visited Punnamada resorts in Alleppey. The resort is a beautiful place with a lot of attention given to detail, so much so as to have wooden locks for the doors. Personally, I did feel that they've gone a bit overboard with the wooden interiors. That said, the place is very beautiful, peaceful, calm and serene, overlooking the Punnamada lake/backwaters. The staff there were very welcoming, everyone from the sweeper to the manager kept smiling always and were always willing to help.
We spent the first day on a houseboat. Well, I was thrilled - it was just Prashanth and me with the captain, a cook and a helper on the boat. Just before getting onto the boat I was cribbing about having to share the deck space with some noisy north-indian family. It was a welcome surprise when we were shown the way to our boat via the north-indian family's boat :). We were garlanded once we entered the boat and given a yummy pineapple juice. It was all hospitable and warm. We then set sail. The backwaters are very still and calm - smooth sailing :) I had a look around the boat and went to take a shower and to my disappointment was unable to get a single water droplet to fall on me :( Then hubby dear tried and he too failed. Finally, came captain to the rescue and all that had to be done was to turn the knob upwards :-P After a cold shower, it was time to enjoy the beauty of the backwaters - green rice fields, calm water body around us, other house boats passing by, noisy government transport boats, private boats with people ever willing to wave me a "hi", women busy at work outside their homes - they are so lucky to have a house just on the side of the river. Sadly, these people dont realize that they are polluting the water by bathing in the water, washing clothes in the river/lake, washing their vessels in the river. I wish they would realize this and instead of washing in the river/lake, take water out of the river/lake to do the needful on land with proper drainage facilities. Hmm.. this did sadden me quite a bit.

Anyways, forgot all that with scrumptous spread Syjeeth put in front of us. Once done with that, we played some carrom and I beat hubby dear 2 to 1. We then were joined by a very sweet couple from the US as we went in a row boat across the Venice of the East. Once back, we went a bit further and stopped the house boat for the day. Took a small stroll with Anoop[helper] leading us. We went near a lotus pond and saw a water snake... with its head nicely perched on top of a leaf - sadly we only got a glimpse and could not take a pic cause as Pras went closer to take a pic, it dived into the water. We walked back, played some cards, had another yummy meal and hit the bed.

The next morning, we awoke to the smell of pooris being fried. Once we ate, we set sail back to the resort. Back at the resort, we checked into our lake view room. The same had a view of the pool in the front. We took a shower, some snaps and went cycling. Once back, we showered and got into the pool. I tried to relearn swimming with Pras's help. We then had lunch, played carrom and table tennis at the activity center and then went on the speed boat.

I was very frightened when I heard the word "speed boat". However, not wanting to play spolit sport, I got into the boat and put my hands to my ears and looked down. We started and to my surprise I did not get the usual speed butterflies in my tummy. The person in charge also gave Pras and me a chance to try our hand at the speed boat. Was real fun. I never wanted it to end. Waterways are fun as you have no "right" way :)

Back at the resort, we took a walk around the nearby village with one girl coming out of her house and politely asking us to photograph her, which we willingly did so. We then had dinner, did another photography session and crashed for the day.

Next morning, we woke up, had bath and went in a row boat. Pras and I took turns with the one paddle given to us. It was a good exercise. One more bath and it was time to leave :( We were dropped at the alleppey bus stand from where we took a bus to ernakulam. On the way we got off to take an auto to "Fort Kochi". Fort Kochi is very much like Goa and you get to see a lot of foreigners in "short" shorts. ;) We visited the Maritime Museum whose caretaker was a very nice gentleman who asked me to take a look at his security guard when I asked him if it was safe for me to leave my haversack with him :) After walking around, we entered a gallery cum cafe, the manager of which was surprised to know that we were not from Goa - my thali confused him quite a bit. Infact, I think it confused many people since many of them kept glaring at it.

We had dinner at the "Abad Metro" hotel near the KSRTC bus stand. The food was very tasty and worth every rupee. We did not expect the bill to be just 115 rupees from the looks of the place. Got onto our bus and I slept through the entire journey on hubby's shoulder waking up for the first time when the bus had stopped cause there was a minor fire mishap due to faulty electrical wiring, which the conductor fixed in a few minutes. However, the bus got delayed and we were on the bus for more than 12 hours :(

I enjoyed this trip so much as I had Pras by my side at all times - the TV did not come in between us - not even once, which I had not anticipated. ;)

The world's fastest Indian

Well, so much for bikes with more vroom. My hubby and I were on our way back home after attending the intro to the landmark forum. Riding smoothly past us was a Bajaj Pulsar R220 cc bike. The guy riding the bike was wearing a helmet and the tiny guy behind him was holding onto the seat so that he does not fly away. We had stopped for a tender coconut on the HAL Airport road. When we started back, we saw that the bike was lying on the road having taken an exact 180 degree turn. The pillion rider seemed to have bruised his nose and was walking to the side of the road. The rider was looking very innocent and tried getting his bike up. The bike's front was not recognizable. Well, they had crashed into a poor cycle guy who was crying on the side of the road.

I wonder why people want faster bikes and other modes of transport. It is just a matter of a few minutes that will be saved and I don't think we are gonna acheive anything critical in a matter of a few minutes. Humans have weaved such a tangled web for themselves and are only moving rapdily towards spider's mouth by the day.

Back to Chennai

When I was a kid, I always told my mom that I would never marry anyone who is from a hot place like Coimbatore or Chennai. I had visited Chennai on a school trip and hated it. We stayed in a youth hostel and got brown coloured water to drink. However, I ended up doing my bachelor's degree from Coimbatore and working in Chennai - all out of my own free will. What's more? I can not stop praising these 2 cities. Coimbatore is a nice city to live in - kind of a prosperous place. Chennai is an awesome place compared to Bangalore, where I currently am put up. I felt very safe in Chennai. I DON'T feel safe in Bangalore.

Well, I convinced my husband, and we went last weekend to Chennai. I was so excited about the whole trip. I was on a high. The heat never bothered me except for 5 minutes on the way to Sathyam cinemas - we got lost and were trying to find our way[lot of diversions cause of the so-called infrastructure building]. Sathyam cinemas has changed a lot from when I left Chennai but it is beyond comparison with the INOX/PVR in Bangalore.

The beach is such a lovely place to go to. The vastness of the ocean makes me feel so small and my problems much smaller that I get back riding the wave. It does depress me to see that people don't keep the beaches very clean but is that not the case everywhere? I wish I was more bold to tell every person I saw throwing paper or rubbish onto the road, that he/she was doing wrong.

Lunch at Tiffany's in IIT was really good. Somethings never change. Oh, but they have increased the prices quite a bit.

We spent a lot of time with the NMSWorks folks - and it never felt like I did not belong there. Everyone was so warm and welcoming. I love this about the place and the folks there.

After dinner, I enjoyed getting out of the A/C restaurant - the warm, balmy air hugging every inch of my body. It made me feel so welcome. I was so happy to be back "on my turf". We rode back to the guest house in a light drizzle. Now, can you think of doing this in Bangalore? It is too cold to really enjoy it.

Somehow I don't think I will ever change my views about Chennai. I guess, you never realise the goodness of the place unless you experience it yourself. Who knows, sometime in future, when I move from Bangalore, I may end up saying Bangalore is a good place too...

Moody Moody

I know that I am a very moody person. I don't need anyone to second that. Infact, things are better these days. It used to be worse when I was in Chennai. My mood swings were very popular with the team in which I worked. People were always not sure of where they stand when it came to me. It irks me to have hurt someone unknowingly and I did it just yesterday again :( I am still feeling guilty. The funniest thing is that the whole morning I was low and spoke harshly to my team and the rest of the day I was my usual chirpy self. I need to learn and put into action, how not to be moody and even if I am in a bad mood, not to take it out on some poor innocent soul.

Tomato cheese rice

The other day I wanted to make pizzas. Unfortunately, after I had prepared the toppings, I found that the base was bad. So, I used my intuition and made the following

Ingredients:
One large onion - sliced
Two large tomatoes - sliced/chopped
Garlic paste - 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Cheese - 3 cubes grated
Oil - 3/4 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Rice - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Once oil is hot, put in the sliced onions. Once the onions start turning brown, put in the garlic paste. Put in red chilli powder and fry for a minute. Then add the tomatoes and the salt. Once tomatoes are cooked and soggy, turn off heat and leave to cool. Grind this into a paste.

Put this paste in a cooker alongwith the rice, cheese and water. Pressure cook till rice is done.
Tasty and yummy tomato cheese rice is ready :)

What am I on earth for?

I wish I knew why I was given this life and why I am living this long. I don't seem to be doing anything useful at all. Yeah, I do get a salary out of which I meet my expenses and send home some money. But, something is seriously missing. I keep getting this feeling now and then. I know many people who live their lives working hard, spending money and saving some with no real purpose in life. I wish I knew my purpose. I wish I could really help someone - not just monetary aid. And my friend Sastha just informed of a 36 year old friend of his who died of a kidney failure!!

My first trip to Ooty as Mrs. alongwith my Mr. :)

Well, I knew from the start that it will take Pras sometime to get used to my family and the formalities. I only hope he does not take forever ;) But, he did get along very well with Guddu[my nephew]. My nephew refused to come to me but went on kissing this fellow on his cheeks :( Grr...
Well, it was great to be in Ooty and for the first time "I WANTED" to wear a saree :) We attended Nanda's wedding in Srinivasa Perumal Kalyana Mantapam. Was good to meet all our friends one more time and spend time with them. Pras showed me his NN's first office and where he sat when joined Dr. TAG. Somehow, you may feel you know a person very well, but there is always something new to be learned :) The day just sped by and I just hated the comments I got after the trip, about MOI!! Pras told me that I should change the way I talk. I know that it would be a shock for him to see the real me at home. For those of you who don't know me - I am a very frank person and can be very blunt at times. I am very blunt with folks at home. I also tend to get rude - this usually happens when I am very close to a person. So, Pras wants me to change this. I never comment unless it is for the benefit of others. I never mean any harm or try to gain anything for myself. If it is for my own benefit, I generally shutup. My mom has been trying for many years to make me a diplomat and now add one more person to that list - my husband :)

Adam Gilchrist

I loved the way he scored 80 something in 30 something balls against the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL 2 semi-final. I was real upset when he got out for nothing in the final match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. But who cares, Deccan Chargers won!! Yeah!!! And Gilly was smiling most of the time, though his team's chances were slim. I was thrilled to hear that in the news this morning[could not stay awake till the match got over].

Delhi 6

I never really read any reviews about Delhi 6, but I did hear that the movie got mixed reviews. My opinion - very nicely put together. I loved the way the true India has been portrayed. I did not get bored at anytime through the movie. It was total entertainment :) The kala bandar stuff was dragged a bit though.

Fantastic climate in Bangalore this morning

I enjoyed coming to work this morning. Except for a little "black" pollution near Marathahalli bridge, the air smelt so fresh. The air wasn't so chilly or anything. Was great. Just wish I could have come on my bike to work today.

First morning after marriage

I was terribly sick on my wedding day - cold, fever and bad throat. For the bad throat I always rely on Strepsils lozenges. I went to sleep on the day of my marriage with one of them in my mouth. Guess what? When I woke up, my upper lip was all swollen up. I looked awful. Prashanth was a bit irritated ;) Guess who had bitten me? An ant - which wandered to my lip cause of the sweetness of the lozenge. Was real funny and embarassing ;)

Getting Married...

People told me that my wedding was gonna be real simple and quick. I was real cool about the whole thing hearing all of that. I did not care much for the type of saree that I chose - some materials are easily wearable. I was in complete shock when I got to the temple that morning. I was already sick and my make-up was all messed up. Mom and I had done a rehearsal earlier but at that moment, she got tense and started shivering. Me, being a real pro :-p, took over and did a fantabulous job[people who know me will know better]. There was a huge crowd. Many brides and bridegrooms with their fan following ;) I was still cool cause I had heard of a token system. Well, there we had to buy the token but that did not apply for that time window since there were too many couples to be married off. How stupid!!! Should the token system not apply especially at this time? Well, I was pulled and pushed near the mandap... sweating profusely in the heat.. The worst was when a fat man wanted to get out of the enclosure. I ended up climbing the stairs to the mandap with my bindi fallen off and my blouse falling off of my shoulder cause some imbicile caught on to my saree palav and would not let go until my father-in-law pushed and freed it for me. Once in the mandap, it was a cool ride... real smooth and quick. I really liked the fact that Prashanth and I could talk to each other and just be ourselves. There were qualms or glaring eyes or some dumb rules to be followed..... Once married, Prashanth held my shoulder and kept rushing me to eat lunch. I could not talk to everyone who had come for the wedding. No time to even click a snap with everyone who came. Purna has been pestering me for a snap of his!!! I am real sorry guys. I never knew things would be so rushed. But, I am so so glad that I am finally married to "MY PRASHANTH BHASKARAN".... :)

Well, but things are a bit different after marriage. It is not just Pras and me, it is Pras and his family and me and my family. But, it has been a very nice experience and I am looking forward to a long and happily married life. I do know that there will be the occasional sadness but why think about that now?

A week to go before I am "married"

I've not really been keeping a count on the number of days but I do know that days are going by and I think there's a week left now. Sometimes I am so happy and excited - waiting to show the entire world that Prashanth is now finally mine, and there these times when I get so upset and feel low. I really don't know why I feel this way - usually it starts off cause someone whom I really like tells me that they can't come to witness one of the happiest days in my life, the day my love will be victorious legally ;) And there the times when I am wondering if I will be able to do justice to the new in-law roles - daughter-in-law, sister-in-law and co-sister. I am sure that I will be a good wife - I will just follow my mom's footsteps and I damn well know that my mom is a perfect wife. I did not get along well with my brother's wife and so this things frightens me a lot. No-no, it's not that I am a bad person but I can get real frank and easily irritated with minor things. Anyways, let's see how things turn out...

A land of a thousand suns - Khalid Hosseini

Thanks to a Nargis, I did get down to reading the book. It is a wonderful book. It expresses the cruelty to the female sex in Afghanistan with the changing political environment in such a way that pulls the strings of your heart. It irks me to think that there are men out there who look down on women, think low of entertainment - even playing chess!! It irks me that people fight for land, money, etc. too and I do know that there are many such people around me. I am glad that the book ended on a positive note. I am so glad that Laila and Tariq do end up together[I am the filmy sorts ;)] On the whole, it is a book worth reading. The language is simple and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Training at HP campus at Electronic City, Bangalore

I was in complete awe when I walked into the HP campus at electronic city near Gate 1. It is such an amazingly beautiful campus, with so many trees and greenery around. What's more? They have signs to use a handkerchief and avoid paper towels, they provide only steel tumblers for water, only coffee/tea mugs and no papers cups. Moreover they use recycled water for watering and maintaining the lawns. It is a really beautiful place. It reminded me so much of IIT. For once I did not really miss IIT. I agree that there are not as many trees but it was a bliss to be there, to be able to hear the beautiful birds chirping. There also was a beautiful waterfall - all well planned. I wish I was a part of HP Globalsoft such that I went to that campus everyday. The tea they provide is awesome too - real tea - boiled!! Not the horrible tea bag tea. The space is more open with a wonderful ambience. GRTP in Whitefield does suck.
Oh btw, I did notice quite a few trees-to-be on the outer ring road on the way to mahadevpura post. I am really glad to have noticed something positive about Bangalore[Bengaluru]

The TWO REAL EVILS in today's world

Is it not obvious? Can you not guess? Can you not see? Well.. I will tell you.. In my opinion, they are MONEY and RELIGION. I wonder why did man ever come up with these two things. All human beings are equal. They come into the world the same way and leave the same way. Why then do we need to distinguish based on which religion one follows, whether one prays to stones/trees/water/etc., or a cross or the Quran or some prophet or some holy person? Why can't people see that all these are man-made and hence are no basis for distinction or discrimination? It irks me to see people fighting to prove that their religion is the way of the lord. Who said there is a lord God anyway? When neither can prove the existence, why can they not just live and let live? Religion does not help me go about my daily activities. I wake and go the bathroom just like every other Hindu/Muslim/Christian/Sikh/Buddhist. I don't go to the toilet or take a bath or go to work or clean my house just cause of the religion that I follow or belong to. But, the good that I see.. humans are getting killed in wars and suicide bombings, etc. This is a good thing cause they deserve to die - atleast for the way they treat the other living things in this world. There needs to be some way to control the population right? Especially with the standards of living going up and the average existence increasing.
Coming to the second evil. I know that competition, anger, jealousy are all natural feelings, in-built in each and every one of us. But all of us are the same. We need food to eat, air to breathe. When all of us get air for free, why should we not get food to eat for free? Why can we all not get clean water to drink? Why can't atleast the basic amenities be provided to all for free? Why do I need to have money to get the basic necessities? Money brings in racial discrimination. Money is looked at a source of power which is often misused. Should not everything be equal? Should we not share what we get for free? If I have excess, can I not give it away rather than wanting more and more? When will this wanting stop? Is there an upper limit for our wants? If I have enough clothes to wear, why do I still want the type of dress that is in fashion, when there are so many who don't have a single complete outfit to wear? It is not that I don't have desires, but someday I would like to see a changed world - a world in which there is no poverty, everyone has a house to stay in, food to eat, clothes to wear, clean water to drink.
I am trying to improve myself and control my desires. But I think I alone can't change the world, I hope I am doing my bit.

Vegetaranism

Kesavan, my good friend in college, introduced me to vegetaranism. Well, I did not really get influenced by him but decided to give it a try nonetheless. I was a vegetarian for over 4 years. It is not that my skin cleared up and glowed or anything like that. I still got pimples - may be cause I am too lazy and expect miracles by trying a new thing once or twice. ;) I got back to eating non-veg when I fell sick in Chennai for the first time, ending up with dehydration. To gain back my strength, I had lamb paya almost every other day. The truth is, non-veg is real tasty. And soon after I tried all my favorite non-veg dishes, I decided that I had had enough and turned vegetarian for a while again. Once I started going out with Prashanth, I started eating non-veg. You see, it is not feasible to order veg and non-veg when there are just two people to eat the dishes and you will agree more if you know how much I eat. ;) But I've had enough again. Especially after I have seen the way people treat the animals that are about to be killed. Humans need to be butchered that way, it is only then that they will understand the pain involved. Have you ever seen the scooter carrying the chickens to the chicken centre? It is so pathetic. All of them hanging half dead with their feet tied and their bodies squeezed. Have you ever really heard and felt the fear in the hen's voice when it is taken out of the cage? There are so many vegetable available, why don't you try those rather than wanting meat all the time? You will have more variety.

I truly believe that people can do without killing innocent animals. Many people who want meat tell me that the numbers of these animals will go above the human population indices. My answer - so what? Their requirements,including space, are far less than ours. They don't need luxury villas or cars. Their carbon footprints are far less than ours.

I know that many people still wont agree with me and I am not trying to force my opinions on you. I just felt like writing about this. It would be my humble request to you, try opting for a veg meal atleast once.

The other side of my life

Almost everyone knows how a software engineer's life would be. So, here I account some memories from the other side of my life :)

I am so thankful that I got such loving parents who gave me almost everything and let me do whatever I wanted to do. It is not that they did not stop me from doing certain things but I am happy they did so. But parents in India don't really understand one thing, that the more you stop your child from doing something, the more the urges to do exactly that. :) Well, I had such urges. Thank god I woke up on time :) My parents let me work. I enjoyed working in Ooty. I just love Ooty. It was 3 years of fun. Nilgiri Networks is a fantastic place - to work as well as make friends. Since it is a small company, you get to learn a lot of things and grow fast. There used to be a lot of freedom. I can not forget the games that we played. I joined the guys when they played cricket. I always played badminton. I used to go home with pants and shoes all muddy like I'd toiled in a field the whole day. I used to be sent to Chennai pretty frequently on official trips[cause the main office was there - inside the beautiful IIT-M]. Initially, I was not sure how my parents would take it, if I told them that I wanted to move to Chennai. My initial plan was to move to Chennai for a few months to enjoy independence ;) Unfortunately, the branch office in Ooty was closed down and I had to move to Chennai with no plans of coming back to Ooty. I did everything on my own without giving my parents much control cause I did not want to be stopped ;) My dad did tell me to stay back so that he could get me hitched but fortunately he gave me one year's time :) I am glad...it almost reached 2 years before things finally worked out between Prashanth and me. I moved to NMSWorks, Chennai and was there for almost 2 years. I loved those 2 years though I used to be depressed most of the time. I made so many friends in Chennai. I can not fail to mention Usha, Jemimah, Ambareen, Aruna, Priya, Radha, Sakthi, Nirmal, Ismail, Abu, Senthil[Peter], Monian. I had a flat of my own and never really had to ask anyone permission to do anything. I could go to the beach when I wanted. I could go for a late night movie with my room mates without having someone worrying about me and me having to feel guilty about it. I remember waking up early and going for walks along the beach with Prashanth. Sometimes we walked inside IIT. IIT is a beautiful place, with loads of trees[I wish they would not cut down the trees as they have started doig so lately] and deer. There are quite a few stray dogs off late. There are cute squirrels. I've only heard about the snakes. I loved riding on those roads. It is funny how we don't feel like doing things when we are asked to do them :) I hated my parents telling me to go to the temple on my birthday and other special occasion. But there was something about the IIT temple. I loved spending Saturday evenings there. No one told me to go there. I went there on my own.

There is something about going to a supermarket. It fascinates me. I can spend loads of time in the supermarket, just looking at the various things available for sale. It was a favorite weekend timepass for me in Chennai.

Another weekend timepass was going to Usha's place on Friday night, stuffing myself with delicious food and waking up early the next morning to have some coffee having the sea in front of my eyes and then going for a long long walk along the beach. Oh and I remember the walks I took with Usha, in the hot sun, every afternoon to have tea at staff canteen after lunch :) I got hooked to walking, yoga and tea - thanks to Usha :) I really miss Usha now.

Another thing that I can never forget is the walks that I took with the various people whenever I needed a break. Mostly it was Sakthi and Nirmal. But there were others like Jeyastin and Radha. I totally admire Mr. RadhaKrishnan[Radha in short]. He is a true gentleman in the way that he deals with women and the fairer sex and always made sure he took time out for his kids and wife. He brought his daughter, Smriti, to our office outings and took care of her so well.

My blog posts may be real mixed up but that's just cause the thoughts in my head are that way - may be I am one mixed up person :)

Me n music

I just love listening to music. Well, the type of music I listen to differs with my mood. I am a very moody person. Many of you, who know me well, will agree ;) There was a time when I could not get enough of BackStreet Boys, Boyzone, Spice Girls, and all love songs... but now, I hardly can listen to those. They usually pull me down. I prefer peppy numbers - no matter what language. The music and beats are what matter. It is not that I don't listen to love songs at all, I do like them but.... I listen to them but I can't figure out when I really like them. Nowadays almost all songs sound the same to me. None of them really stick in my head. Well, there are some exceptions like "Tujh mein rab dikhta hai" from RNBDJ.. I really don't know what it is about that song but I could just keep listening to it without getting bored.

On the other hand, here are a few of my favorite artists...
I love Abba, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, ol' Kishor da numbers, Ace of Base, UB 40, Boyzone, Backstreet boys, Spice girls,Bryan Adams, Roxette, Michael Jackson, BeeGees....
I love the songs Kal ho na ho[Kal ho na ho], Tujh mein rab dikhta hai[RNBDJ], pal pal dil ke pass[blackmail], minnalai pidithu[from shahjahan], Mama[Spice Girls], I believe I can fly[R. Kelly], Summer of 69[Bryan Adams], The one[BSB], Everytime[Janet Jackson], Reach[Gloria Estefan],The more you give, the more you get[Boyzone], All that matters[Boyzone], Father and son[Boyzone], Jai ho[Slumdog Millionare]

These are quite a few which come to my mind right now.. There are many many more. I have been shifting base these last few years and have somehow lost quite a few of my favorite songs but thanks to the internet, I manage to find them one by one as I remember them :)

Chennai versus Bangalore

I've heard hundred people talk about the heat in Chennai. Have all these people really lived in Chennai for more than a week?

Have these people taken a walk in Bangalore during April around 12 in the afternoon? My skin burns in Bangalore. It never did so in Chennai. I walked a lot in the sun in Chennai. People talk about how cool Bangalore is. I wonder if these people really know what cool is.

The traffic is so bad in Bangalore. This so called "silicon valley" of India sucks at planning. There is no planning whatsoever. Traffic moves inch by inch almost throughout the day. And the air is so polluted that there is a pinkish cloud hovering in the skies, almost every night. I never saw this in Chennai. I guess the sea took all the pollution to clear the air in Chennai.

Bangalore has just grown enormously but has not really developed. You do find so-called supermarkets everywhere which dont really have everything and are just equivalent to a general merchant or provisions store.

Another thing about Bangalore is the number of wine shops. You will find one on every street. How do people feel safe here?

I am not sure if the problem is with me or if it is the others, but I just can't stand the place nor the people in Bangalore. I miss Chennai a lot. I miss my friends in Chennai. I miss IIT. I miss the trees, the deer, Gurunath and cup noodles.

Society!!!

Who the hell coined out this term? Where the hell is this so called society when I am facing pain? Where the hell is this society when I suffer loss?? All the society does is take from an individual and tax him into doing things beyond his capacity. Think of the poor farmer who takes huge loans on his land to get his daughter married, just because society expects to hear a huge dowry and attend a lavish reception. Where the hell is this society when his daughter is divorced and back in his house? Oh yes, I will tell you. The society is busy spreading evil things about the girl.. the same girl with whom their child played and grew up.. the same girl who they all admired for her skills...

Does this society not feel for those who don't have? Does this society not feel fortunate to have got so much for free? Does this society never want to do their bit for the earth that has given them so much? Are there not so many other important, pressing matters to get this society involved in?

Society is there for me only when I am happy and I don't really want it. Society is never there for me when I am sad and want to talk to someone and offload my burden. Why then should I care about the society? Why then do my parents care so much about this useless society? Can I not be different? Will this society not let me be different?

Cost cutting verrsus greener planet

All employees of so called MNCs need to change their thinking. I agree companies are on a cost cutting mode, but can you not see the brighter side of it all?

Do you miss those paper cups on top of the water dispenser? It may be due to cost cutting reasons but think about the trees which have been saved, the energy that has not been wasted on recycling those extra paper cups.

Finding it irritating to use the hand dryer instead of the paper towels/napkins? Have you ever heard of a handkerchief? It is a good time to get those handy pieces of cloth out of your closets and start using them. Best part of it all, they are definitely recyclable ;) The electricity used by the hand dryer may not be from a clean/renewable source of energy so try avoiding that too.

Please start thinking of the environment. If not for your sake, for the sake of your children/nephews/niece.

IT companies and campuses in villages

IT companies need to seriously rethink on settling in cheap villages. Seriously, it is just a productivity hit. Why? Wait.. wait.. I shall give you an example. Consider the life of an employee working in the an office in ITPL, Whitefield, Bangalore. The cabs start around 7 in the morning. Hence, the employee reaches work by 8:15am. He then checks his mails for 30 mins or so and heads off to have breakfast. After 45 mins to an hour, after discussing the headlines for the day, he comes back and checks some more mails. He then does work, may be. Then comes lunch time. Once again, he discusses some more headlines and gets back to his cubicle only to check more mails, browse the internet, etc. And these companies have their cabs start early to beat the evening traffic. At 4:00pm, he goes to his friends' cubicles and asks them to pack up so that they don's miss the cab at 4:30pm. And he reaches home early enough, staying in office for shorter periods of time and doing lesser work than otherwise.