School Days

When little kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up, most would blurt out ‘doctor’ without a miniscule of second thought. Some would say engineer or think of some extraordinary professions (my niece wanted to become a bus conductor when she grew up!). And though you will see them enact their teachers (shouting and scolding and beating an imaginary classroom), few kids would harbour a desire for the teaching profession.

Of course, that is not the ultimate truth. There are many whose ambition revolves around standing in front of a respectful class, with dignity, brimming with knowledge and having the power to mould young minds.

Kids love to enact their teachers – no sooner are they home from school than they take their long rulers and books and teach plants, walls or whatever they think could do for a class.

We celebrated the teacher's day a few weeks back on September 5, how many of us still remember that day. I personally believe that one should become a teacher only if one really has an insatiable thirst, an undying ambition and great respect for the profession. For being a teacher is not a menial job – it brings with it the immense responsibility of not just moulding young minds but also setting an example of oneself for the impressionist youth to follow. A good teacher can create wonders and pave the way for the future of the country, but a bad one can equally destroy both individual and in turn the society.

My purpose here is not to speak of those teachers who do not understand the basics of imparting education thereby depriving children of the advantages of good education, but of those who have shaped the lives of millions by making themselves the very epitome of righteousness and knowledge.

My own school life revolved around teachers as much as it did around my friends. It has been years since I passed out of my primary school, the school where I studied from my nursery to 7th standard, but their memories are so fresh in my mind. We had the best teachers in our school. One such teacher who taught us science really had a good handwriting. The best handwriting I have ever seen till now (other than my mom who also had a good handwriting to her credit). I used to love the Story telling class. These classes where not a part of our curriculum. They used to have it when a teacher felt that they are in no mood to teach for the day. They would come up with a lot of interesting stories to share.

I also miss out the food Fridays. This was a unique practice that was followed only in our school where a particular Friday of the month was declared as a food Friday and the management used to distribute food to all the students on that day (the normal menu would be bise bele bath and curd rice with other side dishes)

Two other teachers of whom I cherish a fond memory in my primary school are those who taught me Kannada and Hindi. We used to be so engrossed in their classes so much that each of their classes seemed to be too short.

Other than the teachers, we were also close to our school secretary. Since both my parents were working in the government service they had a good rappot with our school secretary, who was also the head of our school. Due to this closeness with the secretary, we had a special preference over other students in school. We also had the prevliedge of staying in our secretary's home (which was inside the school) after school hours when we were still young and my mom used to come over to pick us up. I still remember that our school secretary used to offer us Upma and coffee when we visited her home which we used to relish happily.

The Aayas were no exception. Our parents knew them as well and they were instructed to keep an eye on us. They also had the previledge of visiting our home if they wanted to inform our parents on anything important.

Perhaps you may wonder why I have not named any of my teachers – no, it is not because I do not remember their names – that is impossible. By not mentioning names, my only endeavour is to pay my tribute not just to the individuals who made me what I am today, but to the entire teaching fraternity, for those truly blessed people who touch our lives in a way that etches a life-long impression that can never be erased with the flow of time.

Teachers, without you, the world would have ended a long time ago. Thank you for weaving the threads of society that make up the colourful fabric of knowledge, love and humanity the world clothes itself in.

Aamir Khan my fav....

Today I am so happy for having visited one of my favourite bollywood actor Aamirkhan's blog. He is one of the many actors who has impressed me with his acting skills in movies. Apart from the Big B who will remain as my favourites in Bollywood! I like Aamir for his versatility in his acting.

His first notable movie Qayamat Se Qayamet Tak (QSQT) was a big box office hit. His movie Lagaan had been nominated for the Oscars and his recent movie "Thaare zameen par" is one of the best performances by Aamir.

I am glad for having visited Aamir's blog...I'll be a regular visitor to his blogs from now on. Thanks to the internet and thanks to blogs.. It's created a platform for each one of us to interact with the people who are close to us.

For those of you who are interested. Here is the link:

http://aamirkhan.com/blog.htm

Increasing your Face Value

I have been posting a lot of stuffs that deals with life and how to handle the challenges we encounter in our day to day activities in my blog these days.

We see a frequent change that's happening in the economic condition in the US and a lot of us have started fearing the impact of these changes in the long run. As these news on the crisis that's happening around us and the uncertainity of the future are seen and heard through the mass media, a lot of us have started to turn more pesimistic in our thoughts which really concerns me.

We usually try to complain for the conditions we are in. It's easy to complain and point fingers at others. We should understand that when we are pointing a finger at someone, four of our own fingers are pointing at us.

It's in our nature to compare ourselves with others. When we start comparing ourselves with others, we are insulting our own self. It would mean, we are questioning our own potential.

We need to understand that no one would manufacture a lock without a key. Similarly every problem will have a solution to it.

Life laughs at us when we are unhappy, it smiles when we are happy and it salutes us when we make others happy. We should accept the pain and get ready to succeed in life. For it's a fact that every successful person will always have a painful story to share and every painful story has a successful ending.

It's always easy for us to judge the mistakes of others, and it's difficult for us to recognize our own mistakes. As the saying goes, "It's easier to protect your feet with slippers than to cover the earth with carpet"

Past is past. no one can go back and change a bad beginning, but anyone can start now and create a successful ending. If a problem can be solved, there is no need to worry about it. But if a problem cannot be solved then what is the use of worrying?

Mistakes are always painful when they happen, but years later collection of mistakes is called experience which lead to success.

If you miss an opportunity we should not fill our eyes with tears. Since it will hide another better opportunity in front of us. "Changing the face can change nothing" but "Facing the change can change everything". We should stop complaining about others and change ourselves if we want peace in our lives.

We should be bold when you lose in life and be calm when we win. Heated gold becomes ornament, beaten copper becomes wires, depleted stone becomes statues. So the more pain we get to face in life, the more valuable you are to the society.

Dealing with Rejection...

One of the first and most important things to understand in life is that no matter what you do, not everybody is going to respond positively to you. Not everyone you smile at will smile back at you. Not everyone you say hello to is going to say hello back to you.

We should stop expecting a positive response 100% of the time. Just because somebody did not smile back at you does not mean that you're not an attractive person or that you made a mistake by smiling. The only thing it means is that it did not work with that one person.

We should understand that life Is All About Rejection. Everything in life has rejection involved in it. If you're a salesperson who makes 10 sales calls, you may only get one or two people to say yes. You don't have to quit simply because you experienced some rejection. Imagine if you stopped looking for work when your very first interview didn't result in a job offer. That would, of course, be ridiculous. You just have to keep increasing your odds of success in life.

When you feel like you are getting more than your fair share of rejections, instead of focusing on those rejections, focus on increasing your odds of success. The fact is that by playing the percentages you will be successful. The reason is that every time you take action -- every time you smile, say hello, or walk over and initiate a conversation -- you get better at it. Increase your odds every single day and in everything you're doing.

Remember that you will not be on the front page of the news! When you're rejected, you need to just get over it. No one is talking about you. People are concerned about themselves and what is going on in their own lives, just as you are focused on what's going on in yours. So the fact that you get rejected in front of other people at the market, at the gym, or anywhere else is not a big deal to anyone but you.

If I smile at someone and they don't respond, you should think that you are not playing hide-and-go-seek the next time you see him/her. You should be equally friendly to them the next time I see him/her, because you never know what will happen that second time. It's a different day.

These are some ways to help get over rejection. Realize that in order to get good at interacting, you are going to get rejected. In fact, you would want to get rejected every single day, because if you're not, it means you're not trying.Once you get rejected, you should start thinking as to how you can go out the next day and make it better than what it was before. Learn to not only handle but to embrace rejection, and you will meet great new people and have an amazing social life.

Three Days to See

Here is an interesting article by Helen Keller on the importance of sight. An inspiring article that I wish to share with you all.

What would you look at if you had just three days of sight? Helen Keller, blind and deaf from infancy, gives her answer in this remarkable essay.

I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight, silence would teach him the joys of sound.

Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I asked a friend, who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, what she had observed. “Nothing in particular,” she replied.

How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after the winter’s sleep. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song.

At time my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. And I have imagined what I should most like to see if I were given the use of my eyes, say for just three days.

On the first day, I should want to see the people whose kindness and companionship have made my life worth living. I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that “window of the soul,” the eye. I can only “see” through my fingertips the outline of a face. I can detect laughter, sorrow, and many other obvious emotions. I know my friends from the feel of their faces.

For instance, can you describe accurately the faces of five different friends? As an experiment, I have questioned husbands about the colour of their wives’ eyes, and often they express embarrassed confusion and admit that they do not know. I should like to see the books which have been read to me, and which have revealed to me the deepest channels of human life. In the afternoon I should take a long walk in the woods and intoxicate my eyes on the beauties of the world of Nature. And I should pray for the glory of a colourful sunset. That night, I should not be able to sleep.

On my second day, I should like to see the pageant of man’s progress, and I should go to the museums. I should try to probe into the soul of man through his art. The things I knew through touch I should now see. The evening of my second day I should spend at a theatre or at the movies.

The following morning, I should again greet the dawn, anxious to discover new delights, new revelations of beauty. Today this third day, I shall spend in the workaday world, amid the haunts of men going about the business of life.

At midnight permanent night would close on me again. Only when darkness had again descended upon me should I realize how much I had left unseen.

I am sure that if you faced the fate of blindness you would use your eyes as never before. Everything you saw will become dear to you. Your eyes will touch and embrace every object that came within your range of vision. Then, at least, you would really see, and a new world of beauty would open itself before you.

I who am blind can give one hint to those who see: Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind. And the same method can be applied to the other senses. Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never smell and taste again. Make the most of every sense; glory in all the facets of pleasure and beauty, which the world reveals to you through the several means of contact which nature provides. But of all the senses, I am sure that sight must be the most delightful.

- By Helen Keller

The Bridge

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with Brooklyn, however bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision and after much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built. Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

In spite of the mockery and his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever. . Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.


Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a "never say die" attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence.

Living in a universe of inner space..

Our biggest problem is not outer space but inner space. We live in a universe but we fail to realise that there is a universe within us. Each one of us live in a personal universe created by our mind. Our thoughts and feelings create a new world within. The quality of our life is the quality of our inner world of thoughts, feelings and personal beliefs. The root cause of all our problems is that we fail to see our inner world of thoughts. It lives and rules in a state of unawareness.

We live life mechanically and hence we suffer. Mechanically means with unawareness. We wish each other good morning, but how meaningfully do we say that? Unless we become more aware and allow awareness to guide our lives we will be like a drunkard, lost in his drunkard ness.

Reflect on this:

A group was engaged in a singing practice. They were rehearsing for the next day’s event. A carpenter was setting the stage. Every time the carpenter made some noise the choir leader looked at the carpenter silently, indicating that he was disturbing their practice. This continued for a while and finally the carpenter told the leader, “Don’t worry, please continue your practice. It is not disturbing my work.”

We are unaware who is disturbing whom. More than the external world the internal world is disturbing our lives.

What exactly is the mind? Understand that the mind is not an entity. It is a process. It is a process of thoughts. Learn to understand and transform thoughts. Mind is not the brain; it is where thoughts emerge from the brain. Learn to discipline the thoughts and you have disciplined the mind. Thoughts are nothing but internal words. Let those internal words be empowering and not dis-empowering.

You go on solving problems and problems go on surfacing. It is like cutting the branches of the tree and not its root. The root cause of the problems is that you are unaware of your unawareness. More than the incident it is the wording of the incident that is creating hell or heaven.

What else should I do to master the mind?Firstly understanding that your mind is not an entity but a process of inner wording. Secondly learn to see the gaps between thoughts. The gaps between thoughts are pure silence. Once you observe silence, you will experience silence. In the gaps between thoughts lies heaven waiting for you.

Also put this understanding into practice, that you are not the thoughts but separate from the thoughts. You see thoughts and thoughts are seen and you are the seer. Thus you will see thoughts are ‘yours’ but you are not the thoughts… the shadow is similar to the mind but you are not the shadow. Thoughts are only visitors and you are the host. You have to put this understanding into practice. Only then you will be a master of your mind.

Why is that I feel jealous when I see someone successful?You have not learnt to celebrate others’ good fortune. Don’t postpone your joy by being jealous of the other. Each one is unique. Learn to rejoice uniqueness. Don’t define your failure by some one’s success. Learn to bless others’ success. Don’t be a stingy tipper. Understand success has a way of coming where it is needed. Trust this process. Have a bigger picture of life.

Learn to visualise yourself as successful. Learn to visualise yourself happy and feel you are seeing God in others and in yourself. As you conceive yourself of rejoicing more, you will find the capacity to rejoice. Learn to use the power of visualising in a creative way that is uplifting.

Learn to open your heart and embrace others mentally. The heart of education is the education of the heart. Learn to meditate by opening your heart and giving love to others. Learn to feel that others are teaching you something beautiful.

A change for the Better....

So, here I am again after quite some time. Many things happened after the last post....

A change for the better

Well, things have happened, and It's time to move on...!! certain things just happened before I could realised; How could I think of deciding on something that you wouldn't have not done for a long time? You will start thinking if they would have happened as expected? I have taken a risk a risk to shun away from the materialistic life to a more social life. Ultimately, I will be going back. Back to my roots! When I look back in retrospect after a while, I will start wondering soon if it was really worth it.

My first reactions would be to feel as if it was the end of the world. A world which you would have dreamt of living for the rest of your life. But I should realise that I am going to my old life for a reason. A reason to find my soul mate.

It is a natural reaction to feel sad when you decide to move back. To leave the land of opportunities. I don't know why I feel so attracted and attached to a land which was very new just a couple of years back.

It is not easy to accept the unexpected - first there's shock, and then the pain sets in. Nothing different here. But how long is it worth going through when the one you're enduring it for does not even give a damn :) The pain ended sometime late evening today, when I finally convinced myself that it was no longer worth it. There are unanswered questions, but the answers do not matter any more....as I feel my decision to move back is worth it!

Last but not the least, I would like to tell myself to fall in love...before getting married at least. Fall in love with someone who knows what I'm worth and who loves me back as much as I love her. Please god, send someone my way...soon!! :)

People come into your life for a reason, season or for a lifetime.

I was just thinking of the various reasons we get to meet people. Some of them come into your life as your own sibling or as a friend or even as a collegue. It is for you to see what part they play in your life.

I always believe that people come into your life for a reason, a season, or for a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a god send and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, or desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real.But only for a season. !!!

LIFETIME relationships teach you life time lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that, love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

It is for us to identify in each one of those whom you meet to see if they have come into your lifefor a reason, season or for a life time.

Re-living Television of the 80's

Television is a widely used telecommunication medium for sending (broadcasting) and receiving moving images, either monochromatic ("black and white") or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" has been widely view and is been considered as one of the many powerful medium of sharing information along with other mediums like the newspaper and the internet.

I still remember the day when I saw the televison for the first time when I had visited a house along with my mom during the early 80's. The first picture that was viewed was that of an aeroplane that was shown in the evening news from which a foreign delegate was waving at the crowd below.

I always feel that the programme content of the 80s though amateurish was far more intelligent than today's. Hardly, we used to get 6 or 7 hours of programming a day. The best thing about the telecast was it used to wind up at 10 pm. The most frequent program was "Sorry for the interruption". Despite, all the technological glitches the content was truly "rainbow stuff".

The standards of comedy achieved by "Yeh Jo Hain Zindagi" are yet to be paralleled on Indian television. An all time great "Malgudi Days" brought to life its characters in the same way as described in the novel.

Even the mythological serials like Ramayan, Mahabharat, and Alif Laila were good in content. Foreign serials like "Old Fox" "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and "Oshin" were equally stupendous. The "Tele-match" special from Germany which used to be telecast during rain delays in cricket matches was entertainment in its own right.

Movie telecast thankfully was limited to three a week i.e. one each Hindi, local language and National Award Winner (any language). The content was highly censored and hence fit for family viewing. There used to be an air of expectation for Sunday evening films so was the wait for the twice a week Chitrahaar and Sunday mornings Rangoli. I used to hate missing the Sunday morning Rangoli when I had to attend my MCA weekend contact classes.

Sports telecast were limited to important events like Olympics, Asian Games, Wimbledon and India featuring cricket matches. This is one aspect which today's television scores because the quality of India content those days was very pedestrian. During live telecast, there used to be frequent satellite outages and cricket match coverage in India used to be done with a single camera.

The concept of "Mile Sure Mera Tumhara" was path breaking and still echoes in my ears. The one message I despised the most was promoting the use of "Iodine Salt". It was very badly conceptualized, shot and ran for ages. Advertisement and social messages had a great mix but that was possible because Television was state controlled.

Children programs were not far behind. "Giant Robot" and "Star Trek" were the introduction of sci-fi to me. "Spiderman" on Sundays at 5:30pm meant deserting of playing grounds for us. "Discovery of India" was a great way to understand Indian History apart from the mundane textbooks. Quiz Master by Siddharth Basu on Sunday nights enthralled and educated a whole nation.

Nostalgia apart, television in the 80s was entertaining, educating and enabling. Though it was of limited duration telecast the joy it bought was unlimited. It was not like television of today brash and bent upon higher TRPs. Those days will never be back again but one can recall with pride that Television of the 80s was never an Idiot Box.

The Taste of India

India has always been a land of diversities. We see diversity in all it's forms and shapes. Of all the many diversities that we see around, the most interesting one that would interest each one of us in the diversity in food habits.

I was not aware of the fact that every state in India had it's own speciality of food recepies till I received a mail with the below picture from a friend of mine. I feel, every indian should take sometime out to taste and enjoy each of them atleast once in their lifetime. There are Some dishes that I haven't heard before.

Well, sometimes I feel that I have been missing out having the indian cusines in the US. Even though we get to go to Indian restaurants in Jersey, we don't get to see the dishes having the same taste as the ones back in India.

A good friend of mine has started her own food blog. She has been posting a lot of different indian recepies with the pictures on her new blog. I really appreciate all her effort in this direction. Well with these variety of food that you get to see in the picture, I'm sure she will have a lot of recepies to post!! starting from the simple dhal tadka to the most complicated ones.

What is a Rhythmic Trance...?

It's difficult to find time to do many things, especially when you set out to achieve the impossible. It was one of those things ;-)...one of those impossible situations at work...They had expected me to complete a 2 month's project work in a couple of weeks. How do you describe that situation? If impossible is not the word, then what is?Times like these, some people get into the habit of having a lot of coke to keep up the spirits high when working. A few others who are habitual smokers would smoke a few more cigarettes. But I don't fall into one of those categories of people.

I had to turn to good music that is soothing to your ears. Not the cheap trash you see floating around the net and on stores of Music world (no offence meant..they stock good stuff sometimes). Music in general has two components - the beat that gives rythm to the composition as a whole and a more slower layered component that lets you just drift away. You could see singing, vocals, more electronica and what not; but the important thing is that it keeps moving, changing ever so slowly. That is the life of what is called as a trance, a good composition.

I love the flute compositions by Pravin Godkindi...he is one of my favourites. The songs are played using just the flute with other instruments minus the lyrics. The transition is effortless with slow beat. I found this album very recently...through a friend of mine and this had a very beautiful humming overlaid. Very hypnotic!! It was really amazing, nice rythm programming and a very catchy tune.

I could go on and on and on...!! I wonder sometimes, is it really difficult to appreciate such wonderful stuff? Common film music sounding so pathetic with the vocals, can be transformed into more soothing tunes with the flute.

Is it really necessary to have lyrics expressing all the emotions in a song? you are actually guiding a listener into a sound scape; the listener hears what you want them to hear. But taking away the lyrics, and replacing it with the flute becomes a lot more pleasing to your ears. I've come to realize that it's pretty difficult to convince people who haven't experienced this kind of a music to part with their 'filmi' with the actual lyrics. You need to feel the music to get to know the transformation that it would do to your life..I wish everyone get to experience it someday.

The story of STUFF

Here is something interesting to share: The Story of Stuff which is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Below is the link for the story of STUFF.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

A Story to Remember

I remember the story that I read long ago. It's a story of two people who fall in love through letters. Here goes the story -

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose.

His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind.In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Holly Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond.

The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II. During the next year and one month, the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked likeWhen the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting - 7.00 p.m. at the Grand Central Station in New York."You'll recognize me," she wrote, "by the red rose I'll be wearing on my lapel."

So at 7.00 p.m. he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he'd never seen. I'll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened:A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small provocative smile curved her lips. "Going my way, sailor?" she murmured.Almost uncontrollably, I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Holly Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes.

The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her.

This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever by grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment. "I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?" The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!"

Lately there's been a...

...whole lotta leaving goin' on...!

first my friend, who decided to go back to India for good...a few others were just moved to other cities far away. Some even quit their job and joined as a consultant to venture into a new career. A few others were asked to move back to India for good...What a turn of events!!...All this happening in just a few weeks. As the saying goes..."Reality bites"...you can add to it saying...."Reality really bites" specially when you see your own friends move away from you.

Well, you can't blame anyone for what's happening around you - that's life!!...u gotta live it. It's time to accept the reality in life and move on!!..but the fact still remains that there's a whole lotta leaving goin' on...

My Experiment with Cookery

As it was the weekend and I had all the time at my disposal to do things at my own pace, I decided to cook something different than usual...something that would surprise someone I know of. I thought of preparing the not so tough recepies for the day from my friend's new cookery blog site "The Fragrant Kitchen".

I started off my day with the preparation of the Masala Chai. I had tried it once before..but had missed out adding one of the ingredient's the saunf. But I decided to prepare the masala chai...the right way with the right ingredients. I had walked upto the Indian store to buy the saunf yesterday....not to forget the other stuffs that I would need for the Dhal Tadka that I wanted to prepare for the afternoon lunch and the evening dinner.

The masala chai tasted really good...and it made me feel fresh all through the day. Then I prepared the dhal tadka. The dhal didn't take long to cook as I cooked the dhal in the cooker...added the rest of the ingredients...except the kokam (which I didn't know what it really was)....instead I added 1 tsp lemon juice as mentioned in the recepie. The dhal turned out to be tasting really good. Thanks to my friend's recepies...My kitchen turned out really fragrant at the end of the day.

Music in my Life

Music has been always a part of my life and it was something I grew up on... I usually play music when I travel or when I just am having nothing else to do but to just chill out...! The craze for music started when I was still young. We had 2 huge radios (those were the days when we had to hold a license if we had a radio at home and they had to pay a yearly tax 0f Rs 10/- too ....looks weird but it's true) and a couple of small transistors.

My dad had the craze of owning different models of transistors in all it's shapes and sizes. He used to glue his ears to the radio once he was back from work. or all through the day over the weekends. It would be the usual daily news..or the election counting...or the songs or the live cricket commentory. Every program on the radio were of much interest to him. In short he was an ardent listener of the radio.

The craze to listen to music grew as days passed. The linking towards hindi music took off when my brother got a casette on a musical night called "An evening with Kishore Kumar" as a gift from his friend. We played that casette over and over again till it stopped playing. This made me inclined to listening to Kishore kumar's songs and I was soon a fan of kishore da.

When we got our first tape recorder we used to buy blank casettes and record those melodious songs of kishore da that were played on programs like "Maan chaaye geeth"...or the "aap ki farmaish" on the radio. We used to press the play, record and the pause button and wait for the RJ to complete her song announcement and once it was done..we used to release the pause button and get the song recorded on the tape. It was such fun!!...those were the days when owning a pre-recorded casette was so expensive.

I got my first walkman that was presented by my brother when he returned on vacation from US during '96. I had completed my graduation and I was doing my Masters in Computers. I got a few CD's too to listen to. Some of them were the music cd of "The Titanic"...The back street boys...the collection of Phil Collin's songs. As the saying goes...the first impression is the best impression...I got impressed with all of these songs as far as English songs were concerned. I soon built a huge collection of audio CD's ( still have a cupboard full of them back in India)...however, something was still lacking. Yeah.. the headphones were crap! utter crap.

My first taste of the better quality head phones were the sony's ear plug for a pricely sum of $40. All my apprehensions were put to rest the instant I plugged them in. It had the best audio output that one could expect.I now had a new standard for audio quality...!

The next huge jump was the progression was from my Sony CD player to my first iPod back in 2005 and a few hours of listening led to the same conclusion - even the best pack crappy headphones along with their product. I had spent close to $350 on the iPod and a case that I bought from J&R. The result - craptacular sound again! But my sony ear plug came to my rescue. It delivered the best audio output as ever.

I used the sony headphone non stop for almost 1 year. They were awesome to listen to, tiny to carry around and were imperceptible when you wore them. You would be drowned in your music regardless of what was happening around...! But something's gotta give - the rubber insulation on the wiring started to give and the left plug went dead...I was heart broken. I had to later settle down to the philip's ear phones. They are not as bad as I thought to be. I now listen to my music from my 30 Gig ipod using the philip's ear phones

I've been listening to my collection of songs on my ipod when I travel to my office in the morning. thanks to the ipod it's redefined music in my daily life!! so long, good nite

It's Movies day-in for a change..

It's raining cats and dogs in Jersey city and I've just done with watching the weekend movies. The movies were not too bad. Probably it would have made a difference if I had watched it on the big screen.

Well, with the weather so bad and nothing much to do..I guess it was a better choice to laze out the weekend doing noting but to watch the movies.

For those of you who would be interested to watch the online movie Flavors...here it is:



Happy viewing!!!

Weekend Movies

Having a couple of busy weeks at work and busy weekends of travel to places like Boston and Acadia National park, I decided to spend this weekend to relax watching a few good movies at home.

I checked with my friends to suggest a few movies that they thought were good and worth watching!!

One of my friend suggested to watch the new English movie called "21". The other gave me a link that had in it what they call as an "Inglish" movie called "Flavor" it's a english movie with Indian actors in it. she also suggested me to watch the new hindi movie called "Rock on".

Well, that's really a lot of movies to watch over the weekend..LOL!! I hope I get to enjoy watching these movies over the weekend. There is nothing like enjoying your weekends just relaxing over a bag of chips and a bottle of soda...and watching a good movie.

Thanx guys for your suggestion!!