Random dispersion of thoughts

Nature or nurture ?

2010-05-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

I was sitting & eating ice-cream near a fountain over the weekend. The fountain was nondescript, except it had a few tiny flowers floating in the water. A little boy, maybe two years of age, came to the fountain, started playing with the water, and in that playfulness threw some of the floating flowers on the ground. His mom then called him and he ran away to her.

A few minutes later, a little girl came to the fountain. She was probably the same age or even younger than the little boy who I had seen earlier. She saw the flowers in the fountain water, and also saw that there were some flowers on the ground. Then took the flowers on the ground and carefully laid them on the water in the fountain. She seemed pleased, and then walked away.

It was amazing to see the stark contrast in their behavior at that age. Makes you feel whether some things are ingrained after all!

Birding and photography

2010-04-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

I now have a DSLR - a Canon EOS Rebel T1i and a while back I also bought a Tamron 18-270 "all-purpose" lens. I have been playing with this camera and lens a lot, used it for my New Zealand and Death Valley trips. And of course many more to come.

And finally earlier this year, I joined the birding class at the Palo Alto Adult School. This is my second quarter of taking the class. In the winter quarter, I learned mostly about shorebirds, and in spring, I am learning about passerines in the area. I am thoroughly enjoying birding so far. You can really appreciate the diversity of life as you pay attention to details in the birds.

Birding and photography go hand in hand. Good pictures serve as a memory aid in birding. Another thing that I am just beginning to learn is identifying birds by songs. It seems very difficult right now, but I hope to get better!
Birding requires a lot of patience and detailed note-taking. Many a time you don't have time to open the field guide and check which bird it is.

I'm having a lot of fun and if you like nature, I encourage you to give it a shot!

My struggle with psoriasis

2010-04-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

I don't usually talk about this, but I attended a conference last weekend that prompted me to spread awareness about psoriasis, an autoimmune condition that I have. I thought I'd take the opportunity to educate everyone.

Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that affects the skin and in some cases the joints. It is non-contagious, is believed to have a genetic component (though I am the only one in my family to have it), is chronic (lifelong) and not curable as of today, but I do hope to have a cure in my lifetime! More information about psoriasis can be found at

http://www.psoriasis.org/netcommunity/about_psoriasis

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/psoriasis/DS00193

Last year I joined a support group for Psoriasis in the Bay Area and got to know several people in the same boat as me. Their support has helped me be more frank about the disease and I want to join in with the National Psoriasis Foundation so that more people understand psoriasis.

For most people psoriasis is mild but my condition could be characterized as moderate-severe. I don't have psoriatic arthritis (which affects many psoriasis patients) so far. Though I haven't let psoriasis affect my academic and professional life (hey, I'm an engineer at Google and a good one at that!) I have had to make several compromises in lifestyle.

So here is my story - I was diagnosed with psoriasis at the age of four and have had it ever since. I have many lesions on my body and get occasional flares when my entire skin flakes and I get uncontrollably itchy. Since psoriasis is fairly unsightly, growing up in India, where people may not always be politically correct or sensitive, wasn't easy. Though my kindergarten teacher was informed that psoriasis is not a contagious disease, she made me sit separately from the rest of the class (I was told I was "special", hence the "special" seat). Of course, when my parents came to know of this they changed my school. The new school wasn't exactly better because I faced some discrimination there as well (with being forced to wear a full-sleeved shirt, when everyone else was wearing half-sleeves). The swimming pool did not take me in because of my condition. I do not blame anyone, because the discrimination arose more from lack of awareness rather than prejudice. I did not socialize much while growing up due to such reasons, buried myself in books instead. Turned out very well I think!

Living in the United States has changed my life positively in several ways. I don't get stares and unsolicited advice from random people about which herbs to take, which deities to please and which rituals to perform to ward off my disease. I also have better access to healthcare here - better doctors, who are also aware of the psychological implications of the disease and who work with me to identify with and deal with them. Currently I am under narrowband UVB phototherapy treatment, twice a week. In addition I use corticosteroid topical creams. I have to apply my creams every night to all the spots and keep my skin moisturized at all times, failing which I flare-up. Thankfully for me I am able to afford my copay for my twice a week treatment, but for several others, this is a big problem.

Psoriasis is still not completely understood and no cure exists. There are a number of drugs though, that control and make the disease manageable. The most effective drugs are systemic medications and they suppress the immune system as a side effect. I have stayed away from those so far. Maybe I will try them in the future. But reports like this scare me :(

If you want to know more, please talk to me. I would love to spread the word. If you know someone who was recently diagnosed, don't hesitate to put me in touch with them.

I'd like to thank my family and friends and all the folks at the National Psoriasis Foundation. Without them, I might still be in hiding.

Italy trip

2009-11-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

It has been ages since I went to Italy and I should have written this post long time back but you know how things get delayed and then never happen. Recently a couple of my friends found my Oahu trip post useful, hence the motivation for writing this. Now I can just point to this post when someone asks about planning an Italy trip ;)

Time to visit
I visited in April, when the tourist season is just beginning. Sometime in April, there is a culture week in Italy when admissions to most museums is free. That is when I visited, though I did not plan for it - just got lucky. Though you save a lot of money that way, all sites are filled with school kids. The good thing is that there is better police protection than usual during this week because of the school kids and that's why pickpockets are less active.

Pick pockets
So pick pockets are pretty active, so you need to take adequate care. I wore a money belt that had my passport & extra cash. I also wore a cross-body purse that is difficult to steal. Keep an eye on your luggage at all the times especially at train stations.

Transport
I visited three cities - Rome, Florence and Venice. I flew into Rome and flew out of Venice. We traveled by train between the cities. I found the inter-city trains to be very comfortable. All stations have an automated machine where you can buy tickets with your credit card. The machine has English instructions. For inter-city trains, the machine will assign you seats but for local trains, it doesn't. If seats are not assigned you have to validate your tickets at a yellow machine on the platform. The reason being tickets that don't have a reservation are valid for a longer time and you need to tell them you are using them. BTW, this is written on the ticket in Italian, so better know it.

Guides
As always, Rick Steve's books are a must. He has a book on Italy, but the city books (on Rome, Florence & Tuscany and Venice) have stuff in more details like you'd probably want them.
So if it not too much of a hassle to carry three separate books, carry them.

Language
People there do speak English, but don't count on it. Of course no need to go overboard and take a course in Italian like I did :) but some basic knowledge helps. Know the numbers (very easy), directions (like where is, how do I go to, left, right, straight etc) and the time and have your phrasebook. I found English was more prevalent in Venice than in Rome with Florence to be somewhere in between.

Itinerary
So here's our detailed itinerary and what I thought of each of those places:

Day 1
The flight landed at Rome (FCO) in the afternoon. From FCO to Rome taxis cost a fixed EUR 40, plus any additional tips you choose to give to the taxi driver. We stated at Hotel Panda, which is very close to the Spanish steps. Due to its proximity, we visited Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain that evening itself. Hotel Panda is good, but the shower was way too small. But not bad for the price!

Day 2
We took the Metro to Vatican city. We took a guided tour that we found via the Rick Steve's book - Roman Odyssey tours. Our guide was Rahul. He was pretty knowledgeable, and we covered quite a lot of the Vatican museum. The School of Athens aka Greek Hall of Fame is a great painting. And of course the Sistine Chapel. I wasn't very familiar with stories from the Abrahamic religions, so having a guide was very useful. Security was lax at the Sistine Chapel that day (you are not supposed to take pictures) but I managed to click this picture of the Judgment Day. Picasaweb's face detection software recognized the face of Jesus and asked me to tag it. Picasa's salutation to the great artist Michelangelo!

After the Vatican museum, we went to St. Peter's Basilica where you can see Michelangelo's Pieta. If you get the time, I recommend visiting the top of St. Peter's Basilica from where you can see the entire city of Rome and also the Pope's apartment. And you can see the mosaic on the ceilings that look like a painting from below.

We then walked from the Vatican over the Ponte Sant Angelo to Piazza Navona. It is a long walk, but silly taxi drivers asked for some ridiculous fare and we figured it was just easier to walk over there than haggle in broken Italian. On the way, we saw a FabIndia shop :) After Piazza Navona, the Pantheon is a short walk away, but don't forget to bite into a gelato at one of the shops in that lane. The Pantheon is an engineering marvel of its time and is just awesome to look at. After visiting the Pantheon, we went back to the hotel. Indeed it was a long day!

Day 3
We went via the Metro to visit the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We used a guide from the same company Roman Odyssey. Having a guide was useful else the Roman Forum will just look like some ruins. Having someone tell you the history associated with those ruins makes the trip more interesting! We came to know that Julius Caesar was actually cremated at this place. That makes Shakespeare ("I come to bury Caesar ...") historically incorrect :) Visiting both the Forum & the Colosseum requires a lot of imagination. They are pretty old structures and the grandeur is in picturing how it must have looked two thousand years ago. Then we headed over to the Victor Emmanuel Monument and then walked back to the hotel. The day got over early (we were done by the afternoon) but we were exhausted by the walking! We just rested that evening.

Day 4
Got up early and took a train from Roma Termini to Florence. We stayed at Relais Il Campanile. This hotel is very close to the Duomo. Actually everything in Florence is very close and walking distance. We just walked around the Duomo and had lunch and then went for our 2pm reservation at Galleria dell'Accademia to see David. We had asked the hotel to make our reservations in advance. You pay a reservation fee, but skip the (extremely long) lines. David is of course the main attraction, but there are a few other interesting sculptures and paintings at the museum. We then walked through Mercato Centrale, appreciating the sculptures on ordinary buidings.

After this we walked all the way to Piazza della Signoria, where there is a David replica and other sculptures. At the church of Santa Croce here, one can see the tombs of Galileo, Michelangelo and Rossini, amongst others. Florence pictures are here. Florence pretty much shuts down at 7pm so make sure to grab dinner before that. Even the central Duomo square is deserted, just one visa-accepting restaurant serving bad food is open :(

Day 5
We went to Piazza della Signoria again, this time to visit the Uffizi Gallery. This is a must-see, even if you are not an art-lover! Unfortunately they don't allow photography inside, but you can see works of Boticelli, Leonardo da Vinci etc. The Birth of Venus is my favorite, and I remember it well even after so many months. After the Uffizi, we went to Ponte Vecchio and saw the Arno. After lunch, we took the local train to Pisa Centrale station. We followed Rick Steve's directions and walked towards the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Day 6
We took the train to Venice. At Venice we bought the 48 hour pass for unlimited use of the vaporetti. People under the age of 30 get a huge discount on this pass, so make sure to ask for it if you qualify. We stayed at Pensione Guerrato, that is in an 800 year old building (or so they claim). It is in a great location, two blocks from the Rialto. That afternoon, we walked from the Rialto to San Marco, visited St Mark's Basilica, the Bridge of Sighs, the Doge's palace etc. You will get struck by pigeon poop at San Marco. Accept it before you head there. Venice pictures are here.

Day 7
We visited the islands of Murano and Burano, Murano has really nice glass shops and you can buy some great jewelry here. Both these islands and Venice are just nice to walk around. The houses are very pretty and the narrow lanes give it a very rustic and lost feel. To top it all people actually live there on the water - and it is fun to watch them go about their everyday activities like line drying their clothes :) and drive and park their vehicles (boats, of course). Take some time to go to a narrow alley and just site there and watch a gondola go by. The experience is priceless.

Day 8
We take the flight back home!

Do leave a comment if you happen to find this post useful!

Two photographers

2009-05-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

(Note: This is a part of an assignment for my photography class)

I visited the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art today. There was a special exhibit of Ansel Adams photographs. Also they are currently showing Robert Frank's photos as well in their regular exhibits. I am just beginning to develop an interest in photography and although I knew that Ansel Adams was some big-shot photographer, I had never really paid much attention to his photographs. Robert Frank, I had no idea who he was.

I started with Ansel Adams. What struck me most was his ability to see beauty in everyday things. For example, there were a few pictures of homes in New Mexico. These weren't the multi-million dollar Malibu mansions, but humble abodes of regular people. Adams marvelously captured the simplicity of these homes, the very simplicity that makes them beautiful. Then there were photographs from the various national parks and gardens - Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Foster Botanical gardens in Honolulu. I have visited all of these. But it takes Adams to find appeal in dead trees, stumps, lichens, roots, rocks, water and other things. Such creativity! Also the B/W imparts a sense of mystery and elegance to the picture.

Robert Frank's photos on the other had, were all about people instead of nature. He also used his photos to make political statements, like this picture celebrating the 4th of July ( ... that all men are created equal ...) followed by a racially segregated trolley. One photo showed a glamorous Hollywood ball with finely dressed and bejeweled people for a charity event. Another set of pictures captured five people living on his block going about their everyday activities. A photo of a man sleeping on a park bench. A woman selling hot dogs. Children playing in the park. And so many more.

Art for appreciation and beauty is one thing. But using art as a means to debunk social injustice, that's taking art to a completely different level. In that sense, I liked Robert Frank's photographs more than Ansel Adams' today.

Hiking on Mount Tamalpais

2009-04-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

I went on this hike today, but in the opposite direction. I found the opposite direction to be better, you can start at the parking lot, descend on Matt Davis trail to the beach and have a nice lunch and rest on the beach midway your hike. The Dipsea part of the hike uphill was extremely strenuous - there is this whole bunch of steps to climb and can easily tire you. Thankfully, there was a creek up the Steep Ravine trail and I washed my face with creek water :) And that was super-refreshing. There is also a 10-foot ladder to climb on the way back to the parking lot. On the way back, we stopped in the city at Kasa and had a kati-roll. This was the first time I had been there and I liked the frankie-like roll. I managed to click a lot of photos today. All as a part of an assignment for a photography class I started last week.

Rivermark shootings

2009-04-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

The Rivermark shooting incident was shocking.

Some thoughts

This person obviously suffered from mental illness. Mental illness is taboo in India and most Indians do not even accept that they have it, let alone treat themselves for it. But people, wake up! It is just an illness. Your mind, like any other part of you sometimes gets sick and malfunctions. But like most other illnesses, it can be fixed. And it should be - else you could have disastrous consequences like this one.
Ok, so you are a psychotic person who has decided to end your life. Fine. But why kill others ? And more so why your children ? If you think your children cannot survive without you overlooking them, you are mistaken, my friend. Just because you brought your children into this world does not mean you have a right to end their life as you please.
You and only you are responsible for your happiness. Never blame others for your situation, for it is up to each one of us to make the most of what we have been given. Sometimes things go wrong. Perhaps you are an innocent victim. Perhaps you are plain unlucky. You life may suck, but it is only a temporary phenomenon. Things come back to normal in some time. Your life is precious. Value your life.

Thank you for reading.

He's Just Not That Into You

2009-03-29T20:45:00.001-07:00

I went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" the other day. The movie is nice, better that what I expected from a theme like that. I haven't read the entire book, just the first chapter that is available online. It sounds like a good reality check when you find yourself in that kind of a situation :)

Back to the movie, I found the Ben-Janine story to be the best. I like it when women stand up for themselves. Jennifer Aniston - Ben Affleck story was sweet. I think Jennifer Aniston's age is showing up on her - maybe because I see too much of Friends all the time. But oh well, we all have to age someday.

Mission Peak

2009-03-21T19:49:00.001-07:00

I went to hike at Mission Peak last week. I was a bit concerned about doing it, but I enjoyed it. It is strenuous, but with ample breaks and water, even I could do it! I am looking forward to go there again. We took about two hours to go up and an hour to come back.

The views from the top were great, and we were greeted by the Rain-Gods at the top. That wasn't so nice as I spent the next week fighting with flu (but I'm not sure this caused my flu, there is a virus going around.)

I think hiking is a great way of getting into shape. A few of my friends have decided to go hiking every weekend. I'm trying to join them whenever possible.

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-03-01T01:22:00.000-08:00

I liked watching Slumdog Millionaire. It was a nice story and most of all I liked the direction. Like it begins with a question "How did Jamal get so far" and in the spirit of the show, the choices were

* He cheated
* He got lucky
* He is a genius
* It was written

I interpreted "It was written" to mean it was "scripted", and it seems a plausible answer at the beginning.

At the end of the movie after the story is told, the correct answer was shown to be "It was written" - and then I realized that this interpretation of "written" here is not "scripted" but "destiny". Creative play of words indeed!

The other thing that really struck a chord was the fact that he plays the last question. He does not know the answer, he has won a crore, and he still plays it - without caring for the huge(!) amount of money he might lose. He is happy to hear the voice his lost love and that is all that matters - what's the money at this point ? I thought this was the most beautiful moment of the film.

Trying to learn a new language

2009-01-28T22:57:00.000-08:00

I've joined Italian classes at the Sunnyvale Adult Education center. No, I cannot write this post in Italian yet. I've attended two classes so far and I know some numbers, some verb conjugations, a few words and things like "Como si chiama, lei? " "Mi chiamo Vrishali", ciao, grazi. I had learned French in school - from class 8 to 10. Italian is very similar to French. Most of the words seem to have a common root. Parler/Parlare, Manger/Mangiare, Fenetre/Finestra, Vingt/Venti, tout/tutti etc etc. Should be fun - let's see how it goes :)

Trip to Oahu

2009-01-18T21:44:00.000-08:00

Over last December, I went to Oahu. This is a short list of things I did and hopefully it would be useful to some :)

One thing is that is an absolute must before you go to Oahu is the book "Oahu Revealed". This book has covered everything that is there in Oahu. Most hotels in Oahu are at Waikiki. Waikiki is like one square mile, and full of hotels. The closer to the beach and the higher up in the air, the more expensive it gets. Hotels charge like $20 for parking. It is easy to go without a car in Oahu, but we rented one anyways as we liked the flexibility.

Day 1 was at Pearl Harbor. We visited USS Arizona memorial, USS Missouri, Pacific Aviation Museum and USS Bowfin Submarine, in that order. To avoitd long lines, we went there at 8:00 am and promptly got in for the 8:15 show. USS Arizona is pretty solemn. We took the guided tour at USS Missouri and it was pretty interesting. Standing at the spot where Japan surrendered bringing an end to World War 2 prickled a nerve. And the submarine (USS Bowfin) felt claustrophobic - Imagine having to spend days together in that space! And fire torpedos.

Day 2 was at Polynesian Cultural Center. It was superbe! Learnt to dance some hula. Visited all the Polynesian villages, just felt like I should have been born as a Polynesian (before 16th century AD that is :)) Since I'm a vegetarian, could not relish the luau much, but the fire show after the luau was marvellous and I highly recommend it!

Day 3, we took a submarine ride :). The highlight was disappearence of red color from my shirt. This photo will tell you all! In the afternoon, hiked to the top of Diamond head. Great sights of Waikiki and Honolulu from the top.

Day 4 was the most interesting. In the morning, we flew a powered hang glider. They allow you to control the plane in air. You also get a certificate of instruction that you can use toward your flight lesson time accrual. From the air, I saw this herd of whales in the sea! Beautiful! In the afternoon, we went horseriding along Turtle Beach. The first horse that I got acted weird on me, so I had to switch horses with the guide. The new horse, Pohina, was very gentle. Listened to every instruction till we almost got back from the ride. Close to the end of the ride, she started grazing and ignored me.

Day 5 was a hike to Manoa falls, huge 160 ft waterfall in the middle of the rainforest. The afternoon was spent driving around the island wathcing Laie Point, Pali Lookout, sitting on beaches and later in the evening, shopping :)

Day 6 was a two hour visit to Foster Botanical Garden. It was pretty, some of the trees and flowers are interesting. Like do you know there is a tree called cannonball tree whose fruit is this super big ball that is hard and can knock you down ;) ? I was also impressed with the Caribbean Palm, that you can think of a doubly tall coconut tree. And there is another tree called the double coconut that takes ten years for the fruit to germinate! That afternoon, we flew back!

I think one week is just enough time to spend in Oahu. Obama was there when we were there, but did not get to see him this time around :)

A good time to be alive ?

2009-01-17T10:48:00.000-08:00

For a long time, I thought, this, this present 21st century, is the perfect time to be alive. We are in the modern technology and information age, an age better than our ancestors have lived in.

Then some time back, I attended Salman Rushdie's talk at Google. In talking about his book, "The Enchantress of Florence", he mentioned that the 16th century A.D was a great time to be alive. The new world was just discovered, a very much grounded belief that the earth was flat was challenged and proved wrong. People realized how little they actually knew about the earth, setting the precedent for exploration that in four centuries brought the world closer like it had never been. Seems it certainly was a better time to experience.

Recently I have developed a deep interest in genetics. I am waiting for a day when we will have fully understood all genes and their effect on our life. I'll probably not be alive to see that day. The movie Gattaca was a sneak preview. But it had its anachronisms - do you really think people will have to go to an office to work ;) ?

How great will it be when your genome is put to better use than just to satisfy your curiosity ! A full understanding of yourself, know exactly where you come from. Make informed decisions about everything. Utilize your potential to the fullest. Smile upon your ancestors who left everything to chance - and then realize you are a result of that "chance". Oh, what a good time to be alive!

Removing yourself from junk mail lists

2008-12-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

To cut down the amount of paper mail I get, I have removed myself from these lists. Lets see how effective these are:

Credit card preapprovals - www.optoutscreen.com
Catalogs - DMA Choice - These guys let you control what catalogs you want to receive and what you don't. But they are just the national registry, they do not have local ones.
Yellow pages/ White pages - Yellow pages go green!
Local Redplum stupid paper ads - Filled out this form
Valpak - Filled out this form
PennySaver - Filled out this form

Wish me luck! Will update this post in a couple of months to tell you how effective these have been!

Update: The credit card preapprovals are gone as are the catalogs and redplum ads. But not pennysaver and valpak. Maybe I'll try to call them again.

Mumbai Meri Jaan

2008-11-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

My heart cries out for my hometown today. Mumbai has been targeted too many times - and every single one of those times, the city has been extremely resilient. But this cannot go on.

I am sad for the families of all the people who lost their lives today. I salute the people willing to risk their lives and take up jobs in the police force and defence. And I boo the terrorists.

The budget fashionista

2008-10-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

I was shopping at Macys and this woman came up to me and complimented me on my stylish purse. Yaay! I carry stylist accessories around. So stylish that strangers notice and laud them.

Then she asked me where I bought it from. My face went red. "Uh .... Fashion Street, Mumbai. For like a ..." Gulp. "hundred and fifty ..." Gulp. "... rupees".

Comparing two more Bollywood movies

2008-10-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

I had seen "Just Married" sometime last year. And saw "Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd" recently. So two Bollywood movies, released within months of each other with similar themes. Sounds like a decent topic to blog about.

I preferred "Just Married". I thought it was the more realistic film of the two. Yeah, I agree that the ending was a bit far-fetched. On the other hand, HTPL stretched most stories a bit too far. Superman and superwoman ? Eloping with someone else one day after you get married ? Really ?

Maybe HTPL had a subtle message with the Superman/Superwoman story. Both movies have a "perfect couple" - the couple who just seems so good for each other that makes you wonder if all those fairy tales are for real. Apparenlty not. For in JM, this "perfect couple" turns out to be an extra marital affair rather than a marriage. And in HTPL, they turn out to be Superman and Superwoman. With costumes and all that.

Sorry. No fairy tales for you. Go figure.

Bollywood movies

2008-09-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

So in the past few weeks I've seen a number of Hindi movies and here is what I think of each of them

* Welcome - Funny movie, Akshay Kumar & Paresh Rawal are great. Nonsensical comedy - exactly what you need when you are in a 22 hour flight.

* Tashan - Movie was strictly okay, songs were pretty good. Ought to acknowledge Anil Kapoor for his half-angrezi - he carried it off so well !

* Om Shanti Om - Reincarnation aside, this movie is awesome. Deewanagi Deewanagi and Dhoom Tana songs are visual delights. Great direction and great choreography.

* Vivaah - I had heard that this film was "regressive" but actually I quite liked it. While watching movies like this, I have a tendency to imagine myself in place of the lead character. Now, who wouldn't when you are opposite Shahid Kapoor ? The bonus was the extremely loving and caring (and rich ;)) family he came from. What a superb package deal, me want a deal like this in real life !!!!

Impressive advertisement

2008-08-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

This ad is awesome, you won't know till the end what the ad is for. Kudos to the folks who created the concept. Very very creative.

Y! into clothing now ?

2008-08-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

I found this sign at Fashion Street, Mumbai :)

(Photo courtesy Anita S)

Baggage allowance

2008-07-15T22:47:00.001-07:00

When I came to the USA for the first time as a student, I was allowed 2 bags of 32 kgs each, and since I was traveling with my aunt, I stole some of her baggage allowance too. I carried books (lots of them - low price editions!), pressure cooker, utensils, spices, medicines and what not! All of this because I converted INR into USD at the rate of 1USD = 50 INR (in 2002) and things in the USA seemed just too expensive.

Six years, and lots of experience later, it all seems like a waste. I did not fall that sick, and my medicines expired. Most of the books are still unread lying in my closet. I have either lost (stuff happens when you move you know) or worn out most of my original utensils. The dollar has dropped in value. I am no more stingy.

In spite of this, I started cribbing when I heard that they reduced the baggage allowance to 2 bags of 23 kgs each. I wanted to shop for random things like drapes, pillow covers, and kurtis. Lets see how much I manage to fit into those 46 kgs on my next trip, else, oh well.

Attic Insulation

2008-07-12T03:42:00.000-07:00

The upstairs of my home was getting hot this summer, and I was miserable. I knew that I was low on insulation in the attic, the property inspector had estimated mine to be R-11 or less, which is pretty much the minimum required. The R-value quantifies how easy it is for heat to pass through. Higher the R-value, the more difficult it is for heat to get conducted, and hence it is more energy efficient.

So I decided to get it raised to R-30. It took two hours for those people to come over and do the job. And the effect was almost immediate! My upstairs is much cooler than what it was day before yesterday. It is really amazing how little things make such a big difference.

And since this is going to help me save my energy, PG & E is giving me a rebate. I'm hoping that I don't have to install an AC or use it much even if I happen to install one.

Omkara and its unsung hero(ine)

2008-06-29T00:31:00.000-07:00

I finally saw Omkara, a movie that I had wanted to see for a while. I had to turn on the subtitles for this one (and before you start doubting my Hindi skills - hey, I'm a nice girl, I don't understand foul language!)

The movie was great and I liked the character of Indu the best - caring and loving and strong. Some highlights of her character :

* She gave everyone a warm welcome, befriended Dolly and made her comfortable.
* Reached out to Dolly when she was sad
* Did not hesitate to tell Omi to f*** off and not marry Dolly if he doubted her character. Also remarked that in such a case, she will take care of Dolly.
* Admitted that she had stolen kamarbandh
* Killed her husband when she found out he was behind the evil plot.

Kudos to her for the courage. And kudos to the numerous other women, the unsung heroines, who match her strength in real life.

Personality quizzes

2008-05-31T16:58:00.000-07:00

I have always liked taking personality tests. I think they are fun. Recently I added the "Brainfall" application on Facebook. It has lots of interesting quizzes and here is what brainfall.com has to say about me:

* Which Friends Character Are You ?
Turns out I am Monica. I am a huge fan of Friends, having recently bought the entire collection. Monica for me sounds about right. Not so much about cleanliness, but I like order, structure and harmony in my life.

* Which Sex and the City Character Are You ?
Turns out I am Charlotte. This sounds right too! This is what they had to say "Fairytales were made for you. You've had your share of heartbreak, but that doesn't stop you from opening your heart to others and searching for your happily-ever-after. To some, you may appear naive and your romantic ideals far-fetched, but you know that someday, your Prince will come."
Well, what can I say, well said!

* Which Hogwarts House Would You Be In ?
I would have been in Gryffindor! Glad to be in the same house as the hero, Harry!

* Which Disney hero are you ?
I am Tarzan! Sounds pretty exciting to do all sorts of climbing, clinging and leaping. "Your whole life you've been trying to fit in with the styles and trends, ..... Someone your complete opposite is about to enter your life." That's even more exciting!

* What City Should You Live In ?
I should live in Paris! Je vais à Paris, mon ami ! Saviez-vous que je parle français?

Pigeon

2008-05-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

This week I noticed out that a pair of pigeons had started frequenting my patio. Then I realized that they were trying to build a nest on one of the shelves on the patio wall. I like watching birds from a distance, but I did not want them hovering over me. I started singing "Kabootar Ja, Ja, Ja", but I doubt the messenger birds got that message.

I cleared the nest, thinking that the birds will go away once they realize that I don't want them there. I also looked up online and found that you get "pigeon strips" at OSH that pigeons don't like and thought I will put them up on that shelf over the weekend. This was on Thursday.

On Friday, when I came home, I saw that they had rebuilt the nest on the shelf! This shelf is above my eye level. I was annoyed and began to clear the nest. I managed to push the nest toward the edge of the shelf (mind you it was above my eye level), when I realized that it had already laid its egg!!!

Now I did not know what to do! So I just ran inside the house and did not go to the patio for the rest of the evening. Today morning I woke up to find that the egg was lying in the rocks below the shelf, broken. Sigh.

Don't know if the egg fell on its own because of the wind, (seemed unlikely) or the pigeon destroyed it - I read that pigeons destroy their eggs once they have been touched by something else.

Though I am somewhat relieved that there will not be any nesting birds in my patio, I am sad for the broken egg. I just wanted them to relocate their nest, I did not want the little birdie to die!

Lessons learned:
* Once pigeons start building a nest, they only have two days to lay the egg.
* Pigeons do not understand that you don't want them, if you clear the nest.
* The most important lesson - Do not wait till the weekend to do what you have to do.

Sons of Shiva

2008-05-11T01:53:00.000-07:00

One of my pet peeves about Livermore Hindu temple has been that they have the naming "wrong" - they say Ganesha is the "first son of Shiva" and Kartikeya is the "second son of Shiva". Growing up, I had learned from my parents that Kartikeya was the elder one, while, Ganesha was the younger one. There is also a story I was told where the two boys are asked to circle the earth, and Kartikeya goes on his peacock whereas Ganesha simply circles their mother, Parvati after having had his share of laddoos :)

Today I was with a few South Indian friends who had gone to Livermore temple in the morning and I started ranting about how they had the information wrong. My friends were surprised that I believe Kartikeya was the elder for of course, Ganesha was the elder one, they said.

A quick check on Wikipedia followed. Turns out, in the South, they believe that Ganesha was the first born, whereas in the North, they believe Kartikeya was the elder one.

Ganesha has been my all-time favorite God, but despite his sibling rivalry with Kartikeya, I always had a soft corner for Kartikeya, the elder sibling, me being the elder sibling as well. My soft corner for Kartikeya remains. I guess some things you learn as a child are just hard to give up.

Brain Rules

2008-04-08T22:33:00.001-07:00

I attended a very interesting talk today by John Medina, author of the book "Brain Rules". Since this was only a hour long talk, he had time to only cover two rules:

* Exercise boosts productivity - I remember the dialog from Legally Blonde: "Exercise releases endorphins, endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands ..... they just don't" :)

* Stress affects learning abilities - Well we all know this. But the real trick is learning what kinds of stress affect what function. Only then we will be able to address stress and its cause.

The third rule he mentioned in passing "You cannot do multitasking". The book has more. Definitely aroused my interest in functioning of the brain - I hope to read this book sometime soon.

Painting experience

2008-04-07T21:13:00.000-07:00

A while back I tried my hands at painting a wall. One wall in a room of my house was dark blue (don't know what went on in the person's mind when he painted the wall dark blue).

So I set upon the task of painting the wall white. Things I needed

1. Paint brushes (I got a pack of 3)
2. Paint Roller
3. Tray for paint roller
4. Primer
5. The paint!
6. sandblock
7. Masking tape
8. Old newspapers/blankets to lay on floor while painting.

First thing to do was sand the wall using the sandblock. This is very important as paint does not stick very well to unsanded walls.

After sanding, vacuum the place !!! Especially for me there was dark blue powder all over and the sooner this is cleaned the better.

Then put masking tape over the edges. Again, I learned the hard way that this should be done very carefully. Make sure the edge of the masking tape is in perfect alignment with the edge of the wall/door frame/electrical outlet etc.

Then take the small brush and put primer along the edges of the masking tape. You don't want to use the roller near the edges.

Then put the primer in the roller tray, and dip your roller into the tray. Let it absorb the paint but not too much - you don't want color dripping down from your roller. Now, put the primer in a zig-zag fashion on the wall, neither horizontal, nor vertical. The zig-zag fashion is essential to make the coat uniform. Once zig-zag in one direction is done, do it in the other direction to fill in the gaps left from the first movement.

After primer is applied, go to Subway for a sandwich and a drink (this is what I did :) The primer coat needs two hours to dry and you need to replenish your energy. After the primer has dried up completely, paint the wall in your favorite color !!

Applying paint is the same as applying primer - first do the edges with a small brush, then do the zig-zag movements with the roller. Try to blend the paint into each other at edges. Painting is a good workout, I discovered.

Paint takes several(5-7) hours to dry. Thankfully I had used only white paint, so I did not have to apply a second coat. But if your color is darker, you might want to apply another coat. It took me from 8am to 4pm to do this wall single handedly (including the lunch hour). I think two people could paint a medium sized room in a day.

Then, DO NOT FORGET: clean the brushes. I forgot to clean mine and had to spend $$ on the brush cleaner that dissolves the paint. When the paint is still wet, you can merely clean the brush with water.

Divorce Statistics in Mumbai

2008-02-10T07:59:00.000-08:00

Here is some food for thought

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2729861.cms

For every 5 marriages registered in Mumbai, there are two registered divorces! Of course, this does not mean a 40% divorce rate because the divorces might not have been from the pool of those marriages.

One thing is for sure - the social stigma attached to divorces is decreasing. And this decreasing social stigma is the reason I think the divorce rate has gone up. Anyways, I hope and pray that the people who have gotten divorced ultimately find happiness in their lives!

A tribute to Balbharati

2008-02-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd start writing a blog regarding this, but soon found out that I'll need to edit this very often as I remember more stuff. So for now, I'm just linking to this page http://vrishali.googlepages.com/atributetobalbharati

Enjoy!

New expensive dangerous hobby

2008-01-31T22:48:00.000-08:00

Some of you already know this, that I've been attending a course in stained glass design. The project is to make a stained glass window. First class was basically an introduction. The actual cutting started last week. I'm still far from being proficient. Last week along with the glass I happened to I cut my wrist as well, so I got gloves for today - that I ended up not using. I am wearing my five year old glasses, to protect myself from the glass pieces while grinding the glass. I bet you haven't seen me wearing glasses, but I do have them :).

Stained glass is not about coloring glass. You really start with glasses of different colors. You cut each piece of glass in the desired shape, tape it with copper and solder along the edges. That is pretty much it. The devil is in the details - which side to cut, how to cut, what angle to cut, how to polish etc etc.

I have chosen a duck for my window design. It had some plants in it. I used brown glass for the plants and the instructor was like, don't you know this plant - it should be green! When I made my usual puppy face, he asked where I grew up. And when I replied India, he was like, what aren't there any swamps in India. More puppy face.

All of this is turning out to be expensive! Glass pieces cost from 8-15 dollars a square foot depending on the color and texture. And I always break it the first time I try to cut it. Then I had to buy the cutters and pliers. Thankfully for me a friend is also taking the same class and I share the soldering iron, copper foil and flux with him.

I'll keep this blog updated with my progress on my window. Actual piece will be a surprise, so remain with me till the end!!

A weekend of skiing, games and fun

2008-01-30T21:39:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I had gone on this ski trip with my friends. I had tried skiing before, but this time I was able to do much better than previous times. And I hoping to go again this season. Due to a snowfall, the cars were buried in snow the next day. We had to shovel and I had fun with the shovel and playing with snowballs :).

Also played this game called Cranium. It is a good game, but requires some general knowledge related to US media and entertainment, that I have zilch of.

The trip back was eventful. It took almost 11 hours to get back, door to door from Tahoe. I got to see how chains are used on your tires. And managed to learn some more Tamil as well :)

Where I went vacationing

2008-01-29T20:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been so long since I updated my blog, you imaginary reader!
My holidays were a lot of fun. I went to Joshua Tree National Park and Channel Islands near Santa Barbara.

The Joshua trees were so different from the Giant Sequoias I saw for Thanksgiving and this is hardly 300 miles away. Nature never ceases to perplex you. We entered the park from the Southern end - that was probably a bad decision for there are no Joshua trees at the Southern end. We had to drive till a Cactus garden to see anything interesting. But the cactus garden was nice. Further along the road we saw the Skull Rock. It was cooooold! We returned the next day for a hike at Barker Dam.

Next, I went to Santa Cruz island in the Santa Barbara channel. The islands are pristine, makes you feel you are in some sort of a dreamland. The ride to the islands was however more memorable. On the way to the islands, we saw hundreds (yes, I mean hundreds) of dolphins in the Channel. Have you ever seen a dolphin in the wild ? You see them in Santa Barbara! Here is a video for your viewing pleasure.

But this is not all! More fun awaited us on the way back. There was this family of orcas (killer whales aka Shamu) - two adults and a baby that were trying to hunt down a sea lion. Presumably the adults were teaching the baby orca to hunt, as it was taking an unusual time for them to hunt it. This sea lion was trying to hide under a boat (Man, I just wished I was on that boat!) and the orcas were encircling that boat. Our boat was watching this fun in the distance. Unfortunately for you, I don't have pictures to share, camera ran out of batteries. The pictures now happily reside in my carbon-based memory.

The whale migration season is till April, I'd recommend visiting if you can make it!

The pepsi-cola of my childhood

2008-01-06T21:04:00.001-08:00

I fondly remember eating "pepsi-cola" during my childhood in India, long before Pepsi had entered the Indian market. Chew apart the plastic from one end and slurp it up. The smaller sized pepsi-cola used to cost 25 paise and the bigger one 50 paise. Sometimes I got the 50 paisa one.

Only today, my cousin mentioned (and then I felt stupid for not realizing that earlier) that "pepsi-cola" is actually an Indianization of the word "popsicle" :)

Anglicizing our city names did you say ? Hey, we got to do some "Indianizing" too!

Tall and big

2007-11-25T21:04:00.000-08:00

This is the picture of the "Boole tree". This tree is one of the largest living trees in the world. It is over 2000 years old. It is huge - the diameter is about 35 feet and it is 275 feet high! It has been struck by lightning on two sides (you can see the damage caused by lightning in the picture).

It continues to live and is still standing high despite the lightning strikes, despite the damage it bears. Just goes to show that if you are "tall and big", you will survive most things that come your way.

All the best being tall and big!

Stump Meadow

2007-11-25T20:47:00.000-08:00

The picture here is of a place there called "Stump Meadow" in Kings Canyon National Park. It was pretty sad to know that these magnificent trees were cut down so mercilessly. The giant sequoias are huge - they are too huge to fit in one camera frame. How could they cut them like that, I thought.

They say, you have to go through war to achieve peace. You have to be independent to enjoy interdependence.

I guess, you have to go through a period of deforestation for afforestation.

Jab We Met

2007-11-18T14:04:00.000-08:00

I saw the movie "Jab We Met". It was surely one of the better movies I've seen recently. Kareena's dialogs were very funny, some were very feel-good. And Shahid Kapoor's character is cute, as is Shahid Kapoor himself - What is there to not like!

Shaking hands with Barack Obama

2007-11-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama visited Google today to give a talk and it was way too crowded. So I thought I'll just stand there and probably catch a glimpse just so that I can claim to have "seen him live". And guess what, I see him and he & the other big shots, opt for a longer route and pass by where I was standing with a few others. And then, he stops to shake hands with us!

If he really gets to be the President, I can claim to have shaken hands with the President of the Untied States! Now that's something.

Snorkeling

2007-11-10T09:36:00.001-08:00

You don't jump into the Pacific Ocean when you have never been in water. But that's exactly what I did because -

* I really wanted to see the fish and corals
* I did not want to miss out on snorkeling after going all the way to Hawaii
* I had a floatation aid
* There were fifty other colleagues of mine, most of them good swimmers, less that fifty feet from me, who would have come to my rescue had something gone wrong.

And guess what - I was able to navigate in water! Saw the corals and some beautiful fish. Next goal is to get rid of the floatation device!

How to keep winning friends and influencing people

2007-09-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

Dale Carnegie's "How to win friends and influence people" is an amazing book. I had read that book a long time back and had disregarded the first thing the book had to say - "Review this book each month". Yes, it is important to review that book every month. Coming to think of it the book contains nothing that is a spectacular discovery. It contains all the basic rules you and me should be using in their interpersonal relationships. It stresses the importance of thinking about "you" rather than "me". But self-centered as we are, we easily forget this and probably need to be reminded again and again. And that's why we need to review the book each month - or every time we are having a conflict in dealing with other people.

When I read the book again today, I could see many violations of the principles enshrined in the book by me and also by others I know. I'm now going to recommend this book (and re-reading it) to everyone I know. This is one of those books that ought to be chewed and digested. This should have been a textbook!

What should a product label have ?

2007-09-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

My parents are in town and this is their first visit to the USA. Like many others, they are discomposed that no product has the MRP (Maximum Retail Price) label on it. Different stores sell the same thing at different prices. And there are these "coupons" that make you feel you've got a deal on buying something that was originally overpriced. Some items don't even have an expiry date. "Instead of having a MRP", my mom says, "they have this useless Nutritional Information on the products." I told her I'd quote her on this one. And so I did.

Geek jokes

2007-09-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

Came across this joke yesterday -

e^x and a constant were walking down the street. Suddenly, the
constant notices a differential operator walking along the other side
of the street. "Oh, no!" exclaims the constant. "I've got to run away!
You've got to hide me! There's a differential operator... he could
reduce me to nothing!" "Hmmmph," came the haughty reply. "I'm e^x. He
can't do anything to me." So e^x walked across the street and
introduced himself. "Hi. How are you doing? I am e^x," he bragged.
"Pleased to meet you," replied the differential operator. "I'm d/dy."

A google search on one of the sentences in the above joke led me to more math and computer science jokes.

http://edp.org/mathjoke.htm
http://www.tufts.edu/~equinto/students/jokes.html
http://www.ugrad.physics.mcgill.ca/wiki/index.php/Comedy
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~eugene/quotes/prog.html

Enjoy!

Today is Ganesh Chaturthi

2007-09-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

Ganesh Chaturthi brings back memories of the sarvajanik loudspeaker next to my home in Mumbai. Devotional songs at heavy metal volumes. But it was a kind of fun that I miss nowadays. Thankfully geetsargam.net is here, and I can listen to all of those songs, and at tolerable volumes! These devotional songs are pretty relaxing. My favorite Ganesh song (other than the aarati of course) is प्रथम तुला वन्दितो. I simply loved the voice of Pt Vasantrao Deshpande. Random trivia: This song is based on Raaga Yaman - I really need to get back to that musical interest of mine.

Cutting down

2007-09-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time a cricket match lasted five days, then we had one-day matches and now this twenty-twenty. We seem to be cutting down all the time. Is the world becoming lazier ? Or simply busier ? Or busy because they are lazy ?

Naa re naa naa - fifty fifty. Very very tasty tasty.

Excuse me, said Eddie

2007-09-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

Those of you who were schooled in Maharashtra state and are roughly my age might remember a lesson in the fourth standard English textbook titled "Excuse me, said Eddie". It was the story of a young boy Eddie at a party who saw a sea-lion under the table. He tries telling adults about it but is ignored, in the usual manner adults ignore kids.

By the way somebody recently mentioned that I always talk about stories from my textbook - probably because I haven't read enough of other books - which might not be entirely false. That reminds me of a quote, apparently by Francis Bacon - "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested". I've chewed and digested my textbooks for sure and God knows what I've done with other books.

The camel's hump

2007-09-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

I saw a two-humped camel for the first time today in a zoo. That reminded me of a little poem I had learned as a fourth-grader. I barely remembered the first line and when I googled it, it turned out to be a poem by Rudyard Kipling. Now that I read it again, the poem made much sense rather than being just some other thing to memorize and present to the school inspector. (Yeah, our class was trained to sing this poem for the school inspector's visit.) Anyways the first few lines of the poem are

THE Camel's hump is an ugly lump
Which well you may see at the Zoo;
But uglier yet is the hump we get
From having too little to do.

Kiddies and grown-ups too-oo-oo,
If we haven't enough to do-oo-oo,
We get the hump--
Cameelious hump--
The hump that is black and blue!

........

The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or frowst with a book by the fire;
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And dig till you gently perspire;

What does this mean for me today ? Work hard, try new things in life, keep myself busy and not sweat the small stuff.

The Loom of Time

2007-08-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

I had this poem in my class 11 textbook. Beautiful poem by some unknown author.

Man's life is laid in the loom of time
To a pattern he does not see,
While the weavers work and the shuttles fly
Till the dawn of eternity.

Some shuttles are filled with silver threads
And some with threads of gold,
While often but the darker hues
Are all that they may hold.

But the weaver watches with skillful eye
Each shuttle fly to and fro,
And sees the pattern so deftly wrought
As the loom moves sure and slow.

God surely planned the pattern:
Each thread, the dark and fair,
Is chosen by His master skill
And placed in the web with care.

He only knows its beauty,
And guides the shuttles which hold
The threads so unattractive,
As well as the threads of gold.

Not till each loom is silent,
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God reveal the pattern
And explain the reason why

The dark threads were as needful
In the weaver's skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
For the pattern which He planned.

अशी ही बनवा बनवी

2007-07-16T21:34:00.001-07:00

The magic of Google Video! I came across the movie अशी ही बनवा बनवी that somebody had uploaded. I was delighted to see this movie a second time.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-847439656888833838
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2879112188734623100

This movie is simply awesome. The last time I saw it - I must have been eight years old and I enjoyed watching it today as much as I had enjoyed watching the fun as an eight year old. I really loved the slapstick Sachin/Ashok Saraf/Lakshya movies of that period - wholesome entertainment.

Waiting to see more movies like this :)

ब्लॉगर मध्ये आता एक नवीन feature आहे - transliteration! एकदम सुपेर्ब आहे - मे इंग्लिश मधून मराठी टाईप करु शकते - कीबोर्ड ची गरज नहीं! मराठी मूवी बद्दल लिहिताना मराठी मध्ये लिहिलेल किती छान!

My review on "All creatures great and small"

2007-07-07T10:37:00.001-07:00

Since last time, I have read the book "All creatures great and small" by James Herriot. It is a book about a vet and the adventures in his practice in a village. The book became a drab toward the end. Four hundred and fifty pages of "Hey I was called in the middle of the night, the farmer did not trust me, I diagnosed the problem immediately, I either fixed the animal, and now the animal is good or I immediately realized this could not be helped and I asked the farmer to butcher the animal. But you see I was always right".

Don't really think any real life practice is going to be so easy to diagnose! Dude, did you never go wrong ? I don't think so. I'm sure you have censored all the incidents where you went wrong. Why ? If you had included them and the lessons you learned from each of them, and relate those lessons learned to to larger things in life, it would have been a much better read.

And if you really never went wrong, no matter how happy I am for your animal patients and farmers, I somehow pity your experience in life.

Indian - Chinese cuisine

2007-03-04T08:41:00.000-08:00

I went to this desi-chinese restaurant in downtown Mt View (Temptations) with three friends. I did not like the food quality. It has just opened in the past couple of weeks and has been drawing crowds because of its unique menu, but I doubt it will last unless they change their cook! The Gobi Manchurian smelt of cashew or some such thing and was a bit too sweet. Schezwan noodles were too spicy. And the American chopsuey was very bland. Spring rolls were nice. They have another appetizer "Chinese bhel" that we did not order, but I've never heard of it, so it can be interesting to eat.

Actually the restaurant had problems other than food - when we had gone there last weekend we were told that we'd have to wait an hour. Seemed unreasonable, because there was just one group of people standing outside. But we gave them the benefit of doubt, said people must have booked tables and then gone off to wander somewhere else and we left.

Yesterday we met another colleague at the restaurant who told us when he had come there last week with a group of six, they were told "No". "No, it is not possible to accommodate you today" or some such thing.

Silly song that says a lot

2007-02-27T21:11:00.000-08:00

Came across this song here - http://www.geocities.com/lilandr/kantoj/diversaj/ditties/crownhen.htm

It goes,

The fish, she never cackles 'bout
Her million eggs or so.
The hen is quite a different bird,
One egg and hear her crow!

The fish we spurn, yet crown the hen,
Which leads me to surmise:
"Don't hide your light, but blow your horn!
It pays to advertise!"

This silly song has a big message. Doing great things is not enough. You have got to show them to the world. You need sales skills. I remember having read about the same idea in "Rich dad, Poor dad" where the author tells an author who comes to him for advice - "I'm the best-selling author, not the best-writing author". The woman was apparently shocked to hear that she needs to sell her books - merely writing good stuff is not enough.

An Inconvenient Truth

2007-02-26T21:35:00.000-08:00

I had seen this movie six months back. It won two Oscars. The movie is very good as a documentary and does make you think. Definitely worth a watch for your own enlightenment. But I did not like the fact that Al Gore used some of the time in the movie for his own purposes. Like what does the presidential election of 2000 have to do with global warming ? I agree it was bad luck for Gore, but why try to gain footage from it ?

Painting

2007-02-26T21:18:00.000-08:00

Tried my not-so-artistic skills at painting on a t-shirt with fabric paint. Started out big - grass and clouds to create a landscape. Soon realized that it is not going to work out, so went on to myriad of tiny things including a maple leaf, a cocktail glass and a fruit bowl. Last but not the least, I drew my name in big bold letters. I don't think I will wear it! This fling with painting also made me glad that I don't do it on an everyday basis! I have always wondered what profession I would have chosen if I were brought up in a culture that doesn't give so much importance to math science education. Would I have been in artistic position ? Probably not.

Custom t-shirts

2007-02-18T15:22:00.000-08:00

Found these cool sites that allow you to create your own designs for t-shirts, mugs, bags etc. If you contribute your design, you get some money too! Check out

www.zazzle.com
www.cafepress.com
www.goodstorm.com

But there is so much to browse, they really need a Custom Search Engine.

Ekalavya

2007-02-18T13:18:00.000-08:00

I saw the movie "Eklavya" yesterday. The movie is definitely worth a watch. I liked the concept a lot - the conflict between duty and reason. We (especially Indians) are programmed to "do our duty" - they say that is our dharma and things like that. But what to do when your duty isn't practical and is going to cause you a hell lot of suffering ? Do you still perform your duty and submit yourself to the outcome ? I say this from practical experience - irrational decisions have been made in my family and my extended family simply out of a sense of "duty".

I don't think this is the right thing to do. But we see people doing this - everyday - but why ? Quoting Howard Cutler who has co-authored the book "The Art of Happiness" with The Dalai Lama - "As miserable some people might be, for many there is a kind of perverse pleasure in the self-righteous indignation one feels when one is treated unfairly. We hold on to our pain, wear it like a badge .....". He calls it "a vexing and a baffling feature of human behavior". We have to understand that this "call for duty from inner self" is nothing but a sort of sympathy generating tool, that probably arises from our need to be heard and our inability to challenge things or simply the inflexibility to have things changed.

So think about your actions. Don't just do them because you are expected to do them. Take care of yourself.

Identity or cliched ?

2007-02-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

For those of you who know me, I'm interested in interior design. And when a friend came after a year and remarked that nothing has changed in my house - got me thinking. We spend so much effort on nicely doing the decor of the house - and sometimes it becomes a part of our identity.
Is it time for me yet to go to the flea market, sell some things and get something new ?

Spring is coming!

2007-02-17T12:45:00.000-08:00

So sunny that I can't look up, flowers on the ground, spring is here!

Thai food

2007-02-03T08:54:00.000-08:00

Had dinner at a Thai restaurant yesterday. Boy, I just love thai food. The coconut soup was excellent especially since I had a cold and wanted some hot soup. I was with friends and we were talking about how Thai food is probably more nutritious than desi. Desi food is carb-heavy whereas Thai was full of vegetables - and tasty at that! And the dessert was mango rather than some sugar-full gulab-jamun or rasgulla. Now I got to get some curry pastes and start cooking Thai!

Two types of jobs

2007-01-10T02:51:00.000-08:00

I think all jobs can be divided into two broad categories - routine jobs and for lack of a better word, non-routine jobs.

People in routine jobs always do the same kind of work. E.g. a bank clerk always accepts deposits and makes payments, a shopkeeper always sells goods and keeps track of the inventory, janitors always clean places etc. Sometimes I wonder why people who are in routine jobs don't get bored. Perhaps they do but they can't help it.

People in non-routine jobs have a concept of being involved in a "project". They work on something, might finish it off, then work on something else. There is always something "new" they are dealing with. Consider a lawyer with so many different cases. An architect, an interior designer, actors and even a software engineer like yours truly. There is always something that "gets over" and something new that starts. And that provides a big sense of relief.

What can people in non-routine jobs do to help people who are in routine jobs ? I think the best thing is to leave them to themselves :)

Feminism and Bollywood

2007-01-02T08:52:00.000-08:00

Bollywood has indeed come a long way in the last two decades.

"Bhala hain, bura hain jaisa bhi hain.
Mera pati mera devataa hain"

so sayeth the "ugly" Chanda in Naseeb Apna Apna (1986) whose husband has left her and married another woman. Luckily for Chanda, his new wife dies. People so conveniently die at the appropriate time in Bollywood.

Now back to 2006. Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. 3 hours 40 minutes of torture, except for two scenes that indicate that the "Bharatiya nari" is not to be taken for granted anymore.

Scene 1: The successful wife screams at her good-for-nothing husband "I am the man in this house". Wow! I was so happy to hear that!

Scene 2: When the good-for-nothing husband admits that he was involved in an affair outside of the marriage which he has decided to end, she slaps him in the face and throws him out of the house. Poor Shahrukh! Socha tha bhartiya nari usse maaf kar degi, par uski to kat gayi. :)

Thanks to whoever scripted these two scenes!

Malls to aa gaye, par maal bekaar hain

2007-01-02T08:43:00.000-08:00

I am in Mumbai now and have been visiting these new shopping places.

But I am extremely disappointed over the quality of the clothes that I have bought. One salwaar kameez cost me Rs 1575/- and when I washed it today, not only did the color bleed, the color from the fabric got stuck to other parts of the same dress and the single-colored salwar is now has different shades of the same color in a random pattern. Utterly disgusting.

Sleepy Sunday afternoon

2006-10-01T15:02:00.000-07:00

Fall is here. No more sunny afternoons. The weather is making me feel sleepy. I've always found the clouds to be gloomy. I hope I don't suffer from this. Ha Ha.

By the way, have you observed that when you read about a disease, you get the strange feeling that you might have it ? Happened to me in the tenth grade when I was learning about all the diseases in Biology.

Coming back to gloomy cloudy afternoons, it would have been very nice if I had a winter home in the Southern hemisphere - it would be sunny there! I've never been to the Southern hemisphere, have you ?

Long hiatus, but I am back.

2006-10-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

I am apalled that three fourths of the year is gone. No time to blog either means
1. I've lost interest
2. I've been busy.

Let me assure you that it is rather (0.2 * (1) + 0.8 * (2)) rather than just (1).

Then some time back I realized

What is this life, if full of work
That puts personal development into murk ?

Last night I went for dandia and had fun! I had played dandia only once before at UCSB and Indian population at Santa Barbara is limited and that means you feel less embarassed. Here in the Bay Area, there are so many dhinchak people - but I am glad I managed to learn after a silly start.

Last month was the fifth anniversary of my GRE - which means my score isn't valid anymore and I've forgotten the words anyways. That motivated me to get a few books on vocabulary from the library and I am trying to learn them again.

I love the concept of public libraries in the USA. Sadly there was no such thing in India. And if there was, people would steal the books. The same people who behave in such a civilized manner in the USA, are so savage in India.

That's it for now. Will be back soon. Promise.

Tomorrow is just another day

2006-01-04T22:18:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking over these immortal words of Margaret Mitchell albeit in a different context. One particular day might be very important in your life. But for the other six billion people it is just like any other normal day. There is someone who is sad when you are happy, there is someone who is happy when you are sad. You don't care, nor do they. It is just very weird.

Legally Blonde

2006-01-03T19:05:00.000-08:00

After I got my netflix account, I saw Legally Blonde. And I saw it three times before I returned the DVD today. And now I am planning to buy one from Amazon. Why did I like the movie so much? It was because I could relate to the "You won't be able to do it" kind of a challenge. Someone's lack of faith in us is not a discouragement, rather it is dangerously encouraging. More so when that someone is one we love. Thank you, jerks. Life simply couldn't be enjoyable without you.

Welcome 2006

2005-12-31T16:26:00.000-08:00

So here I am sitting on my couch on the 31st of Dec 2005, waiting for friends to call. And I am thinking of my new year resolutions. 2005 was full of surprises for me. Lots of things happened pretty fast. And it was a turning point for me. This day last year, I couldn't have imagined me like this. I've changed so much I find it hard to recognize myself. And I don't know whether the change is for the better or worse. Only time will tell and I'll wait for that. But I sure seem to be enjoying myself. And I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Because I won't be 25 again.

Ouch! That pricks! I will turn 26 this year. That does sound old. It will also be my fourth anniversary in the USA! Wow - that seems like a lot. How the hell did time pass ?

But as I said, I have to enjoy it while it lasts. So I'm going to do the following things in the new year

Make better decisions regarding investments and read up for that. Have done some stupid things this year.
Throw away that plain Jane look.
Be a more interesting person - take a course in photography, painting etc
Blog more often
Be more athleatic. Get a pedometer. Average 10000 steps a day.
Read the following books

The World is Flat
A Random Walk Down Wall Street
Running from Safety
India Unbound

This is in no way complete. I'll keep adding to it during the course of the year. I promise I won't delete anything.

Atlas Shrugged

2005-09-17T00:18:00.000-07:00

I finally finished reading the book. I did skip large parts of John Galt's speech. Some random thoughts about the book -

Ayn Rand has conveniently divided the world into black and white. Unfortunately that is never the case. The world is only different shades of gray.
I believe that in the real world men of mind do control the looters. Isn't that what is called lobbying? And isn't that (lobbying & manipulating) more materialistc than simply going on a strike and want things straight ?
Is the brain drain from India to the USA strike of the men of mind from India ? Honestly, I came to the USA because I was totally discontended with the Indian system of education. And today I read in the news about some neta talking about "restoring the sanctity of the education system". I turned mad - real mad. These unqualified paan-chewing netas couldn't do anything else in their life and now they was messing with the lives of people who can potentially do much more. Induatrialists have lobbyists, while intelligent, qualified teenaged students who have great potential don't. The unqualified students have their own ways of lobbying like violent protests & stuff like that - and these are the netas of the next generation.
Poor Eddie Willers. He deserved more than that.

2005-07-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

I would say that this is one rare picture - the seagull was flying really close.

2005-07-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

At San Francisco on Jul 3 2005

Quote

2005-06-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

Came across this quote that I liked instantly - "I quote others only in order the better to express myself." Michel de Montaigne.

My search for a banana leaf placemat

2005-06-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

I have a oak-colored country-style dining table. And I want placemats for that. Placemat in the shape of a banana leaf. Eating on a banana leaf during important functions and festivals is pretty common in India. Most temples in India serve food on a banana leaf. Dark green banana leaf placemat on an oak-colored dining table - it should look lovely!

A couple of months ago, I had seen these banana-leaf placemats at Bed Bath & Beyond in Northridge. But now, when I need them, they are nowhere to be found. Looks like BB&B have discontinued that - it is no on their website either.

Now what to do? I have two options
- forget banana leaf and get some other nice-looking placemat, that looks well on oak.
- get a clear placemat, some paint, a brush and do the rest

I am going for option 2. I wouldn't be me if I settled with option 1, would I?

whatever happened after 15 Aug 1947?

2005-06-15T22:04:00.000-07:00

As per my school education, India's history ended on 15th August 1947! None of the history textbooks when I studied, taught about post-independence India - So I am trying to read this book now - "India Unbound" by Gurcharan Das.

Mind you, no photoshop etc. tricks here

2005-03-31T23:19:00.000-08:00

A picture taken during the dog-sled ride at Squaw Valley Jan 2005

The Great Indian Novel

2005-02-21T20:29:00.000-08:00

I am reading "The Great Indian Novel" by Shashi Tharoor. The novel is the Indian political story fit into the Mahabharata. Parallels are drawn between characters like Bhishma = Gandhiji, Dritharashtra = Nehru, Duryodhan = Indira Gandhi etc. I will jot down all sentences in the novel that have made some impact on my mind.

"India is not an underdeveloped country but a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay"

"I have often wondered what might have happened had he [blind Dhritharashtra i.e. Nehru] been able to see the world around him as the rest of us can. Might India's history have been different today?"

"[Bhishma i.e. Gandhiji] was the kind of person it is more convenient to forget ......... While he was alive, he was impossible to ignore; once he had gone, he was impossible to imitate."

now this one is really funny .......

"....the conservatism of our Indian women, ...., they are for ever clinging to the traditions of the last century and ignoring those of the last millenium ....."

"As a weapon fasts are effective only when the target of your action values your life more than his convictions - or at least feels that scoiety as a whole does. So they were ideally suited to a non-violent, upright national leader like [Gandhiji]. But when used by lesser mortals with considerably less claim to the moral high ground and no great record of devotion to principle, fasts are just another insidious form of blackmail, abused and over-used in our agitation-ridden land."

referring to Gandhiji " .. we were not led by a saint with his head in the clouds, but by a master tactician with his feet on the ground."

"If you want to know why democracy is held in such scant respect by our present elite, .., you need only look at the way it was dispensed to us by those who claimed to be its guardians." while referring to the divide and rule policy of the British government.

"That is how things often work in our country, .... If a man cannot be overcome on merit, you can always expose him by uprooting his family tree. "

".. you learn something about a man from the kind of stories people make up about him."

"It was not Islam that separated [Jinnah] from [Gandhiji]; but Hinduism...... [Jinnah] was not much of a Muslim but he found [Gandhiji] too much of a Hindu. The [Mahatma's] traditional attire, his spiritualism, his spouting of ancient texts, his ashram, his constant harking back to an idealized pre-British past that [Jinnah] did not believe in (and was impatient with) .... In other words, [Jinnah] found the [Congress] under [Gandhiji] insufficiently secular, and this made him, paradoxically more consciously Muslim. "

China is called as "Chakra". And the next one is hilarious !

".., a new slogan was, with official encouragement, given wide currency in India: 'Hindi-Chakar bhai bhai'. That meant that, faith and physiognomy notwithstanding, Indians and Chakars were brothers and since 'chakar', carefully pronounced also meant 'sugar' in Hindi, the slogan implied that sweetness infused the relationship."
Over the issue of nationalization of banks ......

"Beset by conflict and controversy, heated by the fierceness of his interlocutors' convictions and sizzled in tehe unaccustomed glare of publicity, poor Dr. [Zakir Hussein] did - as usual - the only decent and dignified thing possible. He died"

More to come as I read more of the book .......

I can't believe

2005-02-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

I am here in the middle of the week!

Another friday evening

2005-01-28T22:57:00.000-08:00

Another Friday evening and I find myself here. There is something about this blog and Friday evenings. I just find myself here.

2004-10-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

The door and the step stool - why am i so short :-(

2004-10-10T20:22:00.001-07:00

My latest passion.

2004-10-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

The graduate of the class of 2004

2004-10-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

The comfy bed where I spend a third of my life :-)

2004-10-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Sukhi, I too got a papasan for my home

2004-10-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

The holy corner of my house - this is the southwest corner - don't know if this is in accordance with the principles of Vaastu Shastra. but anyways

2004-10-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

This is what my apartment looks like.

2004-10-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

This is my kitchen

2004-09-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

Why do I seem to come here only on Friday evenings ? Anyways Hello Blog! Long time no see. I read the fifth book of Harry Potter this week - and I was so disappointed. That book could have been made better in so many different ways! And what's so new about the prophecy ? As if readers never knew that one was going to kill the other!

Everyone seems to have a blog nowadays,

2004-07-23T23:21:00.000-07:00

have to do something about the boring posts here. So what should I write on a Friday night? About the past week? Well, my past week was okay. On Monday there was a power outage for about one hour. I think a good number of people were affected, I am sure there was outage for the whole block. Apparently there were no traffic lights on ____. I cooked sambar on Monday, with eggplant -it is a long time since i had sambar with eggplant. There is a lot of kadipatta in my refrigerator right now, so yesterday I cooked dalitoi. Did not turn out so well though - actually I do not have the red dry chillies - should get them the next time I go for groceries.

I did not think I will return here,

2004-07-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

but I did ;).

I don't know what this blog thing is supposed to mean .....

2004-06-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

... but will try writing something anyways.