Penning Praveen's Thoughts....

Janapriyan - Jayasurya rocks

2011-06-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

Awesome movie after a long time. Good storyline and a positive attitude movie. The storyline is about a man who is able to adjust and do any kind of work to win in life. He just made me realize the truth once more time, anybody can do what i am doing and i can do any kind of work. Accepting the fact and moving on is what we need to learn and the movie depicts that a lot. The love story inside the movie adds a bit of movieism to it, but overall, its worth a watch.

Jayasurya, is Priyadarshan @ Prian. Being a graduate without any full time job, he does all sorts of work, to keep his mom & sis happy. Manoj.K.Jayan as a govt employee, takes a long leave to chase his dream of making a movie and the temporary position is filled in by Prian. He comes in to the office, cleans up the old files and works efficiently as usual. Manoj, after failing in his attempt, tries to join back. Jayasurya tries to ensure that Manoj succeeds in his movie making attempt, so that he can keep his govt job alive.

The movie is filled with positiveness and freshness.

And thus ends the Sunday Matinee.....

Seven Falls Hike - Santa Barbara

2011-05-22T16:59:00.000-07:00

Well, i did hike after a long gap and so thought i will also blog which i haven't done for quite a while now.

The hike is called Seven Falls hike, which is on the mission canyon, santa barbara, ca. More details can be found on the link given - http://www.santabarbarahikes.com/hikes/frontcountry/7falls.shtml

The link given in the blog says "Most people in some kind of decent shape can handle these hikes, but because of the rock hopping most people end up a little sore the next day". I am blogging with soreness all over my body and that "little" is a lil untrue. Its really hard if you have not done rock climbing.

Good part is that, once you reach the peak, its an amazing pool and you can enjoy the beauty and it definitely gives you a sense of accomplishment. The hike starts with a short pathway that leads to the falls. Once you reach the falls, its just small rocks. Now there are three ways to reach the top, walk/swim on the water and climb the small falls up. The other way is to climb up the rocks and take the steep route, a lil bit scary but fun. The other way is to climb on the side rocks of the pools. This will be fun if the water is flowing as, there is a high risk of falling on the water :-)

We started around 8:30 in the morning, walked our way through the pool and somehow reached the steep route. The first half was easy but it just started to climb up. We decided to come down which was a big task of its own. Once we finished that steep climb, it was a some simple rock climbing and we went across pass through the two pools and reach the third one on the top. The water is so clear & flowing and on a sunny day(like we had in our hike) it will be so good to get drenched and spend good time on the pool. We spent around good half hour and started back.

On the way back, we took the side route to climb on the rocks beside water. We literally had to search for those finger hole sized crevices to grip our hands and walk our way back on the rocks. Some took the easier water route and we did try to climb on the rocks and reach down.

The whole hike was around 4.5 hours and since we walk through the greens through out the way and that keeps us from getting tired.

Good hike after a really long time and it was worth it. I would recommend this for all my friend readers.

Ending the neyyabhishekam offering at Sabarimala.......

2011-05-16T10:16:00.001-07:00

From the latest news it seems that the TDB is planning to setup booth for ghee offering. You just give your ghee to the booth and collect the prasadam at another counter. There will be no crowd to take your vessels in the sannisanam. This is going to reduce the delay for all the nei abhishekam queue at the sannidanam.

http://expressbuzz.com/states/kerala/sabarimala-tdb-to-end-neyyabhishekam-offering/274817.html

But the question is, how hard this is going to affect the sentiments of the devotees. They bring the ghee to offer the abhishekam, just to assume that it might be used for the same!! How is TDB going to prevent any kind of misappropriation in this process. Will the ghee i take to the lord be poured ?

Some things are better left unchanged....

Where & When does this End?

2009-08-26T13:00:00.001-07:00

So recently, i came across this new article - "The Supreme Court has held that Scheduled Caste/Tribe students could not be expelled from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) on the ground of poor performance."

I will leave the interpretation of this to the readers.. But just out of curiosity, what will be the quality of those students when they come out with a degree? Will that not affect the reputation of the institutes.

The Hindu : Front Page : Court: IITs can’t throw out SC/ST students for poor performance

Sweet New Year for all those sweet tooth.....

2009-02-14T17:59:00.000-08:00

I know its way too late for the new year wishes. Well, Just wanted to start my new year posting to be a sweet one. And here it goes, Recipe for making Badam Halwa

Ingredients:

> 1 cup whole almonds
> 1.5 cups of sugar.
> Some milk (probably couple of tbl spns)
> Ghee
> .5 - 1 cup of water

Method:

1. Boil 2 cups of water and soak the almonds for 1 hour. Alternatively, you can heat the almonds and water till the water comes to a boil and then let it cool.
2. Peel the skin off the almonds. They should just slip right out the skins when you press on them with your fingers.
3. Finely grind the almonds added very little milk . You can add a little bit more, if the blender blades absolutely refuse to move.
4. Met the sugar with the 1/2 cup of water in a bowl, till it comes to a rolling boil.
5. Add the ground almond paste and stir well to avoid any lumps.
6. Keep stirring this mixture so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
7. Add a few tsps of the ghee at regular intervals. The ghee will immediately get incorporated in the mixture.
8. Keep stirring and cooking till the mixture gets slightly thick.
9. Switch of the heat and let the halva cool. The halva will solidify by itself

Simple to make for all those bachelor people :-)

Well, forgot all abt valentine! Happy Valentine to All....

You are the lucky one.....

2008-11-26T10:16:00.001-08:00

Just came across this article on Wikihow. Its pretty interesting read.

   1. Use Your Mind. Luck is tied to the power of your imagination. Someone said, "Luck is just probability taken personally". Improved luck will require a lot of personal dedication and hard work.
   2. Prepare. "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity", said Seneca, Roman dramatist, philosopher and politician, 5 BC - 65 AD.[1] If you have the groundwork in place you can take advantage of the opportunities that come your way.
   3. Network. Lucky people know people, lots of people. They don't have to be everyone's bosom buddy but it is the art of being open to many new people that counts. Practice feeling comfortable talking to strangers at events that you attend. And actively listen to them when you strike up a conversation because you will have a lot to learn and they will remember that you appreciated what they had to say. This can translate into opportunities; the more people you meet and the more people you display genuine interest in, the more likelihood of you meeting the right person at the right time who has an opportunity at hand that you want to be a part of.
   4. Trust your instincts. That little inner voice is often right and lucky people know this. You will also know when your "common sense" or "reason" are trying to override the lucky hunch. When this happens, take a moment aside to sit and think things through clearly and uninterrupted. Consider whose voices are speaking to you when you are faced with overriding intuition - is it your own trustworthy voice or is it the voices of others' expectations - a spouse, a boss, a friend?
   5. Take it easy. Anxiety and worry are enemies of luck. They introduce a factor that says "Be very risk averse" and "Whoa there! Hold back now!" You won't be stumbling across luck while you are too busy hiding out. When opportunities come, you need to notice them and you need to seize them. A lucky person believes in now as being as important as tomorrow and much more so than yesterday. Don't be held back by ghosts of failure - they were just learning experiences. And tomorrow will always come whatever happens, so do your best to enjoy today so that tomorrow has a standard to match!
   6. Be ready for new opportunities. The more open you are to novel ideas and new ways of doing things, the more likely it is that you will strike it lucky. Lucky people don't plod along methodically; while that guarantees a safe and secure path, lucky people take the path less known and meet all sorts of amazing opportunities along the way. Put your foot on that path now... try something you have never done before, try something you have convinced yourself you would hate, try something that someone else has suggested you try. Be bold.
   7. Be an eternal optimist. Expect the best. Yes, anyone can do this and why not? It isn't about living with the fairies. It is about being positive and creating the outcomes that you want most. Lucky people are optimistic and they expect that good things will happen to them. Heard the mantra "only good things happen to me"? Well, probably not, as most of us tend to whine "why do all the bad things happen to me?!" Stop it right now and start expecting the best.
   8. Turn sour milk into a smoothie. So the milk went off? Big deal. There are still a lot things you can do with it, so do it. Instead of choosing to wallow and feel rotten about things that go wrong, look for life's lessons in the experience and look for new solutions that grow out of the bad experience. Dwelling on horrible events in your life gives them great power over you, stifling your growth and stomping on your luck. And when you view the world in this manner, even if Lady Luck does call, you're likely to sabotage it because that suits your negative mindset. Avoid the wallowing and kick yourself back into action. Sure, there are times in life when some events really set us back, such as the loss of a loved one, but far better to honor that person's memory by doing things in remembrance of them than using that loss as an eternal unhappiness trigger. It is really important to learn and grow from sadness and hardship rather than to let it harden us and turn us bitter.
   9. Reframe your life. If you perceive yourself as a victim or a hapless flotsam of fate, it is time to reframe. You are a shaper of your destiny and one lucky person. You're lucky to be alive; that's the biggest blessing every single one of us gets. Honour that lucky chance and live your life to its fullest. You'll only be glad that you did.
10. Never stop learning. This is related to staying open to new opportunities. Unlucky people think their learning stopped at school or university. Lucky people realize that that was just the beginning and that life is one huge university. Soak it all up; even the stuff you find hard, boring, or uncomfortable. It really makes your life a whole lot more exciting and helps you to understand where others are coming from. Aiming to understand a wide range of perspectives makes it easier for you to forgive people and to see their points of view. Knowing this enables you to weave others' motivations into how you approach life and treat them with respect. Which leads to the next point...
11. Treat people with respect. Lucky people know that other people matter. Respect for others makes you automatically lucky because it stops you from expecting other people's behavior to conform to your own or to ease your way. Instead, you know to respect people for who they are rather than what you wish they would be. And you avoid the arrogance of placing your personality style and lifestyle beliefs above theirs.
12. Treat the Earth with respect. The Earth gives us food, water, shelter, oxygen and for some people, spiritual fulfillment. Lucky people acknowledge this and care for the world around them as a mark of this respect. Involving yourself with nature by getting outdoors and enjoying it improves your sense of self-assurance as you don't fear its elements but embrace them. In so doing, you increase your luck as you broaden your knowledge and opportunities.
13. Treat your body with respect As you hone your instincts by listening to your "inner voice", you can also become more in touch with your body awareness. Listen to it. Holistic health practitioners believe your physical, emotional, and spiritual health directly affects how you relate to the world around you.[2]
14. Do no harm. Lucky people don't use or harm others to forward their own goals. Instead they invite others to accompany them on the journey. While networking, respecting self and others, and caring for the earth around them, lucky people nurture themselves as well as those with whom they come in contact.

http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Your-Luck

Squeezing the Blood.

2008-10-21T13:11:00.001-07:00

The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Tomato price up, buyer feels squeezed

The above link is to an article in Hindu. The cost of tomato in chennai as of today is around Rs60 per KG. Last weekend, when i purchased tomato in my neighborhood, it was $.59 per Lb. Upon conversion it comes to Rs62 per KG. Wow, that seems to be pretty cool. Next time when i travel to india, i have add vegetables in my list of things to buy. You never know, it might get cheaper here over a period of time !

Photo Identifier

2008-09-03T14:01:00.001-07:00

Recently, while logging in and managing my picasa web albums, found a new feature calling tagging.

Its an interesting feature which identifies the human faces. It groups all the Photos based on the tags we give.It just took me 20 minutes to tag around 1000 photos.
The face recognition technology used, seems to cater the basic needs, but do not expect too much out of it.

Try it out....

Revamped Google Picasa site identifies photo faces | Business Tech - CNET News

Thread Exchange Mela

2008-08-15T19:11:00.001-07:00

Once again, we are back this year to perform our traditional Thread Exchange Ceremony. To sound as a proper TamBram - "Avani Avittam". The Function is named so due to the fact that it fall on the tamil month Avani and the start being avittam. Kudos to the Naming conventions that our ancestors had. It falls on August 16th. Every year, this day all the brahmin junta renew their thread(Poonal).

For some, it is the day, when they devotionally do all the upaakarma and exchange the holy thread. These prime people, get ready for the d-day and boast about how they have upkept their holy traditions till date.
For some it is the time of the year which reminds them that there is some thread hanging around across their shoulders, which is dirty to the core and needs a new one to scrub their back.
And then there are some, who search for the thread that they misplaced the very next day last year!.

Okay, for me, i do not fall into the latter two, nor the first one. I pretty much try to do the nithyakarmas, but that does have some exceptions based on my mood and the project deadlines :-) Now i know that there are lots of such software nerds who want to join my group, in order to give the same excuse! My father being in the first category, promptly conducted my first upakarma function when i was 10. And ofcourse, he expected me to do all the nithyakarma's and follow his footsteps. Dad, Java & .Net was not ur way of life :-(

Now more to the ceremony. Its conducted in two parts
1. Avani Avittam
2. Gayathri Japam.

Day 1.
All the Pattars get up early in the mornig take bath and do their Pratha-Sandyavandanam. Followed by Kamokarisheeth Japam. Its a small verse that you should be reciting for 1008/108 time as per your convenience. Cmon people, no marks for guessing which option most of them would take.

Before going further, let me explain one more aspect of it. There are two types of people, one who invite their family vadhyar (who told that there are only family doctors!) to their house and get the upakarma done at home.

There is another set of people, who go to the temple and get it done. I advice people to come over to West-Mambalam. On all the street, you will the pattars with dhoti and anga vasthram (Yup, its all free show ladies) walking with a cup (Panchapathram) towards the nearest temple.

As someone nicely pointed in their blogs, its a celebration day for the vadhyars. They get their bounty on this day. Most of the vadhyars, have deals with the temples or some kalyana mandapam to conduct the yajur-upakarma in the temple.

We have gone both ways. The advantage of going to temple mean, you get to eat early berakfast at home (after the kamokarishit japam).

For the past 3 years its been kinda different experience. I am here all alone by myself and had to figure out ways of doing it. Did it twice at home (as it was on working days) and once i went to the temple in camarillo. This time, since its falling on a saturday, am planning to go to the temple. Hope it works out fine.

After the upaakarma, we used to have hefty lunch.

Day 2. - Gayathri Japam

The very next day, we have to get up early and start reciting gayathri manthra for 1008 times. No excuses on this. I do it 1008 as a compensation for those days of the year when i skip doing sandyavandanam.

Thalaivar in Kuselan....

2008-07-30T13:44:00.001-07:00

August 1st, 2008 - Kuselan is releasing worldwide.

'Last Lecture' professor dies at 47

2008-07-25T09:32:00.001-07:00

By this time, many of you would have already watched the famous video by Randy - "The Last Lecture"
Just sharing the sad news.

'Last Lecture' professor dies at 47 - CNN.com

The video is too inspiring and drives us to chase our dreams. How positive, can a human be? This guy was really exceeding the expectation.

Some of the famous statements from Randy

-"If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you!"

-His mother introduced him to people to keep him humble: "This is my son, he's a doctor, but not the kind that helps people."

-Never underestimate the importance of having fun. I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day because there's no other way to play it.

-Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

-No one is pure evil. Find the best in everybody. Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you.

-Brick walls are there for a reason. They are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop people who don't want it badly enough.

-It is not about achieving your dreams but living your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.

-We can't change the cards we're dealt, just how we play the hand. If I'm not as depressed as you think I should be, I'm sorry to disappoint you.

My mourning, for a wonderful human being.

Dasavatharam

2008-07-11T09:52:00.003-07:00

Before starting this BLOG, i should confess that as far as acting is
concerned, i am a fan of Kamal and he has really taken pains to bring his skills
into the movie. As far as the blog is concerned, i am just trying to put my
understanding of the movie and my views. To get the entire synopsis of the film,
please visit - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasavathaaram

Chaos theory - It describes the behavior of certain dynamical
systems – that is, systems whose state evolves with time – that may exhibit
dynamics that are highly sensitive to initial conditions (popularly referred to
as the butterfly
effect). For more on the theory please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory.

Probably the statement on the chaos theory would have given an insight on
why the butterfly was flying around in the beginning and end of the movie! I am
still trying to relate the theory with the storyline. I will get there soon, And
once i get to know the relationship, i will post it online for sure.

The film begins in the 12th century, the King from chola dynasty tries to
remove the vaishnava gang and convert them back to shaivism. If you listen to
the narration, One of the statement goes like this, "Since there was no Jesus
and Allah at that time, shiva and vishnu started to fight between themselves,
through their devotees". WoW, You should be an atheist in blood, thought &
deed, to put such a statement.

Ok, back to the story, king tries to throw the vishnu idol from the temple,
into sea, enters the first avathar in the name of "Rangarajan Nambi", and ends
up drowning with the idol.

The story rolls forward to 2004. From now on, its going to be the line of
events that happen from Dec 20 - Dec 26th 2004.

Govind(2nd avathar), a bio-scientist, with his team, creates a bio weapon
in his lab (in USA). The US president (3rd avathar) simultaneously grants 6
billion for bio-technology. In the mean time, govind's pet Ape dies after
consuming a small sample of the bio-weapon. Govind wants to destroy the
substance, before it kills more people. This is weird! Even in my high school,
when starting an experiment, i try to write the Aim, Apparatus required etc;
before starting the experiment. So the aim should be clearly telling you that
you are developing a bio weapon and it will destroy animals/people. The why do
you create it? (This statement will make sense in climax).

Yes you have guessed it right, his boss tries to sell it to one terrorist
gang. Our hero Govind steals the bio-capsule and tries to reach it to the FBI.
The boss engages Fletcher, an ex CIA (4th Avathar) who tries to get the
bio-weapon from govind. In this fight, fletcher ends up killing Yuka - Shingen
Narahashi's sister (5th avathar, a Japanese kungfu fighter). While trying to
escape, Govind drops the package with one of his friends, who couriers it to
India. Somehow, govind also lands up in the same cargo plane to India.

As soon as the flight lands in India, Govind is taken into custody by Mr
Balram Naidu(6th, before i lose count). I should appreciate Kamal for this role.
Balram naidu is a typical telugu guy, settled in chennai. The accent, his way of
talking, his english and to top it all, the way he reacts when he sees another
telugu person. WoW. Fletcher also lands up in India, in search of the capsule.
He meets up with Govind in the Chennai Airport. In the airport, we meet Avtaar
Singh, a famous Pop singer (7th Avathar), with his wife Jayapradha. The pop
singer lands in the airport and while giving a press meeting, falls on the floor
and vomits blood. People rush to take him to the hospital, in this melee,
fletcher grabs govind at gunpoint and flees the place. On the way, govind
somehow escapes and goes towards Chidambaram (the parcel with the capsule, is
addressed to reach Chidambaram). Fletcher goes behind. In the mean time, Naidu
realizes that the capsule might have been in another package, checks the
dispatch list and he also goes towards Chidambaram.

The second Asin's introduction starts with the bajan song, guess who is
playing the mrudangam, its the Krishnaveni patti (grand old woman - 8th
Avathar). The makeup is so similar for all the kamal's near the face. most of
them have this rubber stuffed on their face and its so sulky. Indian Thatha is
the top makeup i would say!

The capsule gets delivered as a parcel to Krishnaveni. Govind tries to get
the capsule from krishna patti, but she ends up putting it in the Govindaraja
perumal idol. Fletcher and Naidu land at Chidambaram and try to catch Govind. He
escapes with the idon. Asin - Aandal goes behind govind to get back to idol.
They whole gang now flee. Govind & aandal end up in a place near
Pondicherry, where they try to keep the idon under sand (so that the capsule is
cooled). There is a Big Sand Mafia gang trying to dig up all the sand in the
same place. They try to molest Asin and in comes Vincent Poovaragan, a Dalit who
struggles to stop Sand Mafia (9th Avathar). The second best character would be
this guy, with his accent and the makeup. He captures everyone's attention with
his screen presence. He fights with the mafia gang and its leader to prevent
stealing sand. Govind, uses the opportunity and escapes with Asin, in a lorry.
They meet with an accident and end up hitting a mini van. The muslim family in
the van try to escape, out comes Kalifullah, son of Nagesh (10th Avathar).
Govind helps his mom by donating blood and tries to reach Naidu. Fletcher blocks
govind, govind takes the capsule from the idol and gives the idol to Fletcher.
He then runs towards the beach to dissolve & destroy the capsule in the sea
(Probably, he should have told that NaCl means salt, it would have reached lots
of users!).

Fletcher realizes that he was fooled and again goes behind Govind, gets the
capsule and starts beating up Govind. In comes Shingen Narahashi, who wants to
take revenge on Fletcher, for Yuka. After a big fight(fight was good), fletcher
is almost killed. He breaks the capsule and consumes the same. Just before the
worm spreads, TSUNAMI comes to the rescue. The given hype for TSUNAMI was not
visible on the screen. They could have done it better. How can tsunami destroy
the bio-weapon - Well its sea water and the salt (NaCl) in the sea water
destroys the worms. The Dalit guy gets killed in tsunami, trying to rescue a
child. After all the destruction, Andal feels that it was gods power that
rescued the people, for which Govind says that god could have stopped scientist
like him to make such bio weapons! Well how about writing The AIM of an
experiment, before starting the task?

In the end, Kamal finishes with his famous atheist dialogues - "I am not
telling that there is no God, i am just telling that it will be good if we have
a god" - Dumb Aandal feels happy with this statement? As someone told in their
internet review, The usual mind boggling chemistry between Kamal and his
heroine, does not exist in this movie.

The movie as such cannot be called as bad, but it did not meet the hype it
created. People, watch this movie for Kamal and his effort in graphics &
technology. Don't expect the Kamal, an expert in Love scenes & his unusually
great acting skills, in this movie.

Temple Priests in Tamilnadu.

2008-06-10T13:53:00.001-07:00

Just read an article which grabbed my attention.

The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Course to qualify temple priests

The article is about becoming a certified priest (yes you are right, just like a certified Java Programmer! Wow, Future india is really looking gr8). Guess, you all might already know that there is a Sanskrit college in Mylapore which specializes in producing vedha pundits. So you might ask, what is the difference between the sanskrit college course and the one given by Barathiar Univ. If you read the article, you might come to know of the fact "Anyone can become vaadhyar".Is this something like Ratatouille revolution? One more information from the article that amuse me was..

"According to the new law of the State Government, people belonging to all castes can become temple priests (Archagar). The Government has selected 360 male students from the Backward and Most Backward communities to get training, which will make them qualified priests."

I just imagined that i am in a temple where i hear shlokas with all sorts of pronounciation! Its not that i am against caste or something, I truly believe in a castless society. My concern is just about how archanai will be done in temples. I quite agree that there are some brahmin priests, who struggle to pronounce the mantras correctly, but atleast the ones in temple do it right.

During my child hood days, i just play with my friends and ask them to repeat what i say.

வாழை பழம் அழுகி கொழுகொழுது நழுவி கீழே விழுந்தது
Oh yeah, you guess it right, most of them end up saying it as

வாலை பலம் அலுகி கொலுகொலுது நலுவி கீலே விலுந்தது

I pray to god that when i visit temple next time, i can still hear "Shuklam bharadharam vishnum Shashi varrnam Chathurbujam...." instead of "suklaam paradaram visnum sasi varnam sathurbusam...." !!!!!

Engeyo Keta Kathai

2008-06-03T21:55:00.000-07:00

Just read the story of an old Movie - "Rambayin Kadhal".

The movie 'Rambain Kadhal' deals with three worlds - heaven, hell and earth. An innocent sugar cane crusher- Azhagu, is playfully wedded to a stone statue by his friends and brothers. Little do they know that the statue is that of Rambha, the beautiful dancer of Indralok She had invited the wrath of Lord Indra, turned into a stone, and is sent to earth. But she is given a little respite, thanks to Narada, that she can come back to heaven in her form, after sunset. Now bound by her wifely duty, she is forced to bring Azhagu, to her place in the nights. Azhagu tours both heaven and hell, and learns how a human being must conduct their lives. Both Lord Yama and Lord Indra find this out through Narada. Angry at having brought a mortal to their place, Indra again curses Rambha to become a ghost. Azhagu is cursed to loose his sanity. What is the fate of Rambha and Azhagu. Are they condemned to live like this forever or does Indra change the curse?

So, have you all watched this already ? Me too. Our Mr Vadivelu the Great has copied this story into "Indralogathil Naa Azhagappan". If someone blames Deva for copying Hindi/English tunes into tamil song, Pleaze grow up people. Atleast he had the creativity to match the tunes to tamil lyrics!

This is indeed too much to digest for this week.....Lord please save Kollywood from such insane CTRL+C & CTRL+V.

When will we see the avatars?

2008-05-21T12:52:00.001-07:00

Another piece of news for the die hard fans of acting (felt that it would be synonymous to Kamal).

Dasavathaaram to release on June 6

Solid-->Liquid--->Gas

2008-05-09T17:08:00.001-07:00

During the initial stages, all the dead were buried/burned into ash. Alkaline Hydrolysis has changed the way of life, or should i say Dead!

The whole process ensures that the whole human body is dissolved and the residue is mere liquid.

The Hindu : Front Page : New idea in mortuary science: dissolving bodies

In this pace, all the dead bodies, one day might be be dissolved into thin air !!!

Kamaleon...

2008-04-30T10:00:00.001-07:00

The article heading itself speaks 1000 word. If you ask me if i am a fan or Kamal or Rajni, it is going to be a difficult question to answer.

When if comes to style and attraction, its always been our thalaivar Rajni.

When you speak of real acting, my vote goes to Kamal. Give him any role, he gives soul and life to the role on screen.

Only these two have been able to carry the name of "Next generation" heirs for MGR & Sivaji Ganesan.

Kamaleon! - South Cinema - Entertainment - MSN India

Eagerly waiting for Dasavatharam......

Laughter Therapy

2008-03-14T10:35:00.001-07:00

Two bats are going for their midnight feed.

After an hour or so, one bat gets tired of looking and goes home with no blood.

The other bat comes home with blood dripping from its mouth. The first
bat says enviously, "Where did you get all that blood from?"

The second bat replies, "Follow me. I'll show you."

After awhile the second bat leads them to a cave. He says, "You see that wall over there?"

The hungry bat excitedly says, "Yes!"

Other bat says, "I didn't."

Some sanskrit verses

2008-02-22T10:03:00.001-08:00

The whole thing is called Subhashita slokam (Subhashitam means Qualities).

Let us start with the known one. The first phrase will be told by Yuki Sethu in Anbe shivam, if you try to remember.

PUSTHAKAM VANITHA VITTHAM PARA-HASTHA-GATHAM, GATHAM!

ADHAVAA PUNAR-AGACCHETJEERNAM BHRASHTAA CHA KHANDASAH !!

(A book, wife and money, if gone to another's hands, are gone! If at

all they come back, the book will be rotten and useless. the wife, fit

to be out-cast and money in bits and pieces.)

KARYESHU DASEE KARANESHU MANTHREE,

ROOPESHU LAKSHMEE KSHAMAYA DHARITHREE!

SNEHE CHA MAATHA SAYANE THU VESYAA

SHAT-KARMA-YUKTHA KULA-DHARMA-PATHNEE!!

(Like a maid-servant in domestic duties, like a minister in discussing

home matters, in form like Mahalakshmi, in love like a mother, in bed

like a Vesya, these six role-plays are enjoined for a Kula-sthree (a

respectable house-wife.)

VIVAADA-SEELAAM SWAYAM-ARTTHA-CHORINEEM

PARA-ANUKOOLAM PARIHAASA-BHAASHINEEM

AGRAASINEEM ANYA-GRIHA-PRAVESINEEM

THYAJANTHI BHAARYAM DASA-PUTHRA-MAATHARAM!!

(Habituated to quarrel with the husband all the time, rob house-hold

wealth, easily accessible to others, making fun of the husband all the

time, always eating before the husband, frequenting other peoples'

houses, a wife, even if a mother of ten children, is fit to be discarded!)

-- Ends the Subhashita for a wife.

AamanthraNotsava vipra gavo navathrunotsavah;

Bharthagamotsava naaryah, soham Krishna ranotsavah.

Arjuna tells Krishna---"For an average brahmana, invitation for a feast

is pleasing; for cows, new lush grass, for the housewife, the arrival of

the husband; and to me, the most pleasing thing is war.

Vipra-hasthe dhanam dadyat, swa-bharyasu cha youvanam;

Swami-karyeshu cha praanam, nischayo mama Madhava!"

This is told by Karna to Krishna: "Whatever riches i have earned,

should be distributed to brahmanas, my youthfulness to my wives and my

praana in the service of God." This is my decision, O Madhava!

Mera Bharath Mahan

2008-02-19T16:18:00.001-08:00

Couple of interesting news clips.

The first one is one of those mythical things. Once upon a time in India, when all the politicians were working for their country, they were so dedicated that they did not even think about their family. One such heir, is now selling newspapers for livelihood.

Former minister's son sells newspapers for livelihood - National News – News – MSN India - News

Oh my dear politicians, do you eat food with salt or not!

We Indians don't know our power. We are the core of all the knowledge and the whole thinking process started here in our homeland. We discovered medicines, food, mathematics and what not? Check out this article.

The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : “Vedas contain references to infinity”

Have some interesting reviews to post, will update ASAP.

Veda Manthram to Pythagorean Theorem - You get everything here.....

2008-01-17T18:23:00.001-08:00

Proud to be part of this School.

Usually, the students make the school proud, this one, likes it the other way. The teachers ensure that the students and alumni be proud of where they did their schooling. Yes, i am talking about the one and only unique school in India - Sri Ahobila Math Oriental Higher secondary school.

Tradition should be a part of the learning and this fact is made to come true in this school. Be it, Learning sanskrit, veda parayanam, prabhandam classes, Veshti as the uniform... There is a touch of tradition & values in every thing that been done in the school.

Yes, you did read the uniform as Veshti[alias - Dhoti] in previous paragraph. For boys, the uniform is White dhoti and white shirt and for girls its half saree. Many a times, i have seen all my friends struggling to tie dhoti and without a belt, it will not be complete for them. I have laughed at them umpteen times due to the fact and behind every laughter, i remember how i struggled to tie dhoti when i first joined Ahobila math and today its a piece of cake, of course without a belt :-)

All students, who have worn the sacred thread [culture for hindu brahmin boys] should learn veda and there is no excuse to it. The XII students do have an exemption and they end up writing hell a lot of tests. Other students, end up learning prabandam [Naalayira Divya prabandham, is a holy script in praise of lord vishnu]. But this should never give a racist view about the school. Mind you, there are students from various cast & creed in the school.

The second language in the school is Sanskrit. So students end up learning the ancient language.

All these are add ons to the excellent results produced by the school every year. As one of the products, i can assure that the teachers are so dedicated that they strain really hard to ensure that every student shines with good scores in the exams. Almost, many in chennai know that a student of TMS sir, will surely be getting a 100% in mathematics and Sheshadri sir is the king of commerce & accounts. No kidding, try asking any student from state board in chennai.

All being said, this is a government aided school, which means you get all the above said features for almost free of cost!

Its not that i am advertising about my school. Just wanted to give an overview about the school, when i came across this article in rediff. Pretty interesting one.

For the love of sanskrit

Happy Pongal

2008-01-14T16:23:00.001-08:00

Happy Pongal & Makara Sankaranthi.

With the birth of "Thai" month , i pray that every one get what they need and long for.

Watch the Bright jyothi and start your day refreshingly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44an594asE8

Makara Jothi - This is More than the wonders of the world. Every year, on the day of makara sankaranthi, Lord Ayyappa gives us his darshan in the form of Jothi [Jothi is a bright form of light]. Year after year, the crowd is increasing at the holy sabarimala temple, to watch this miracle. It is believed that the lord came to be born as manikanda, in order to kill mahishi. The child was brought up by king rajasekara. At the early teen age, the lord killed the mahishi and advised the king to build a temple at the hills of sabari. The lord also gave the boon to the king that every year, he will appear in the form of bright light [Jothi] on the Kaantha malai. And so, every year, on this particular day, the jyothi appears on the kaantha malai.

On this day, the jewels of the lord [Thiruvaabharanam] are taken from the palace of king rajasekara, to the holy temple. through out the whole jorney, you can witness an eagle flying on top of the procession. It is believed that the lord Garuda [Vehicle of Lord vishnu], comes and ensures that the jewels are taken to the temple without any problems.

Just a few minutes before the makara jyothi, a twinkling star appears near the kaantha malai, which is kinda signal that the jyothi is going to appear in a few minutes.

The makara jyothi, appears on the kaantha malai, like a flicker, shows itself for a couple of seconds and then its gone. It happens for 3 times. The whole thing gets over within couple of minutes. It is a wonder to watch the holy makara jyothi.

By gods grace, i have seen the makara jothi a couple of times. I pray to get more opportunities to go to the holy hills and get the blessings of the lord.

Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa. Visit this informative site http://www.ayyappan-ldc.com/

Wish you all A very happy & Prosperous New Year

2008-01-02T12:30:00.001-08:00

Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa

Wish you & your family, a very happy & prosperous New year 2008. Hope your dreams come true this year and bring more colors to your life.

Life is short, so live it Big.

So, the events of the day goes like this. I got up too early today, it should be 5:15 AM i guess. The main reason was the ayyappa bajan in india. I wanted to join with other friends on mine and hear it. We all were conferencing to india and hearing the bajan for around 2 & 1/2 hours. It was kinda refreshing after that. Since my trip to temple was preplanned, i didn't want to miss it either. Started at around 8:45, reached temple at 10:00, came back home by 12:15.

Started to prepare Aravana payasam. This time i wanted to be really very careful. In 2006 when i tried my hand, the whole thing god solidified to an extent that i had to break it, in order to eat it.

Aravan Payasam - Recipe & method

1 cup rice - cooked it with less amount of water [usually for rice to cook, we do a 1:2 ratio of water, i.e 2 cups of water per cup of rice, in case of this i used 1.5 cups of water]
take 3 cups of jaggery, add a cup of water to jaggery and heat it till the jaggery melts. Keep stirring. Once the jaggery is completely liquified, add the cooked rice to it. and immediately ad a spoon full of ghee.

Keep stirring till the mix till the jaggery & rice get gelled together.

Roast cachews & coconut[if available] in a spoon ghee and pour it over the mix. Add some elachi powder, chukku [if available] & diamond kalkandu. Let it cool.

Guessing why i am giving the recipe? Yeah right, this time, it came out really well. Kudos to me!

The rest of the day went on with watching some movies & reading a novel. Of course, i miss my home during such occasions !

Once again, a happy new year to all you people.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Merry xMas

2007-12-28T15:27:00.001-08:00
Merry Christmas !!!

Ok, now i am trying my level best not to be too emotional. How do you feel, when you are in a country where you get a lot of festival holidays, especially when you don't celebrate those. Well, actually this year, its was kind of fun, on diwali, i got up in the morning, had my ganga snanam [For whatever reasons, taking bath on the diwali day, is like taking bath on pure ganga water & its a belief that the ganges will flow in the water tank at people's house. I wonder how this will work out in places like chennai where water is scarce most of the times & ofcourse, if you are in another country like me, how will the ganges link through the ocean to come through the tap of my house at California!]
I kinda drifted from the topic uh, it happens too often to me. Ok, on the day of diwali, i just had my bath and went to the office as it it was another day, while, Back home, people were celebrating with hearts.
Now comes the Christmas, a festival celebrated in a grand manner, by my fellow Paradesi's [When Indians = Desis, others = Paradesis], they have four days of holidays. What am i going to do? You Guessed it right, Eat, sleep & watch movies. Atleast thats what i did, but planned a lot of other things.

This week, at the local tamil community, they screened Thalai's Billa. Due to some reasons, i was not able to join the other people & watch it on theater. That was a sheer luck. I watched it on the net and was really tired. I was thinking on when this is going to get over. The only icy satisfaction was Nayan.
The hindi remake of Don, even though was the same story, had a twist at the tail, but Billa was too much a xerox with replaced icons.

There were some things to enjoy though

Antha Muruganukku Aaaru thalai, aana naan ore thalai.

The Billa taatoo [If you are in my frequency, you will know where to find this!!]

Nayan

Billa...."Old was Gold"

I should say, this is really my opinion. Most of the sites have rave reviews about this movie. Opinion differs....

Oram Po.

I can't resist to mention about this one. The opening scene was really wonderful. You should watch the opeing scene and you are sure to enjoy it. One of the different movies where you will not see hero or heroine in the starting reel. A nice entertainer. The store is outlined on the life of Auto Drivers at chennai. Pooja is wonderful. Arya suites well into the role. Its a piece of cake for Lal and he has done justice. I usually forward the songs, so no comments on the music arena.On the whole, a complete masala entertainer for a tired software engineer to watch & enjoy.

Oram po..podu oru "O"

Myth, i Thought!!!

2007-12-14T10:21:00.001-08:00
Myth, i Thought!!! Before reading this article on the web, ofcourse.

Man, marriage and money
http://lifestyle.in.msn.com/fashion/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1145216

He’s got the look. And the personality. But how heavy is his purse? Yah, time maybe changing, but it’s still a man's wealth, not looks, which remains the 'key for marriage'

London: Planning to settle down? Pester your boss for a pay hike because it is your income and wealth which your prospective better half would be looking at before tying the knot.

A team of international researchers has carried out a study and found that a man's riches, and not his looks, are the most important if he wants to get married, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported today.

Although there have been many lab based studies that have suggested that women are drawn to men of high status, power and wealth, rather than just looks, this new study has provided hard evidence of the marriage market in action.

The researchers came to the conclusion after analysing a survey of more than 20,000 American men, based on historical data collected in 1910 -- which suggested how when males were in short supply, for instance in the wake of the World War I, women're happy to put up with poorer partners.

And when men were commonplace, women're in the driving seat and became correspondingly more choosy, driving a bargain for the richest and most powerful men, with the marriage prospects of a male pauper being "drastically reduced".

"Little research within evolutionary psychology, so far, has considered how the market influences individual decisions. Here we show that if men are abundant, this will influence the market value of their desired traits, that is, women can demand more.

"This aspect, namely individual decision making as a function of the mating market (local abundance or scarcity), has been relatively neglected within the literature on human mate choice," lead researcher Thomas Pollet of the Newcastle University was quoted as saying.

சிரிக்க மறந்த மனிதருக்கு,மிருகம் என்று பெயர்

2007-12-12T18:03:00.000-08:00
What is it when a man talks dirty to a woman?
Sexual harassment.
What is it when a woman talks dirty to a man?
$3.99 a minute.

Nope, this is not meant to harass anyone, just sharing the Laughter of the day......

There goes another one

There's a senior citizen driving on the highway. His wife calls him on his cell phone and in a worried voice says, ''Herman, be careful! I just heard on the radio that there was a madman driving the wrong way on Route 280!''
Herman says, ''I know, but there isn't just one, there are hundreds!''

Nice way to Quit drinking ....
A man walks into a pub and says, "Give me three pints of Guinness, please."
So the bartender brings him three pints and the man proceeds to alternately sip one, then the other, then the third until they're gone.
He then orders three more and the bartender says, "Sir, I know you like them cold, so you can start with one and I'll bring you a fresh one as soon as you're low."
The man says, "You don't understand. I have two brothers, one in Australia and one in the States. We made a vow to each other that every Saturday night we'd still drink together. So right now, my brothers have three Guinness Stouts too and we're drinking together."
The bartender thinks it's a wonderful tradition and every week he sets up the guy's three beers as soon as he enters in the bar. Then one week, the man comes in and orders only two. He drinks them, then orders two more. The bartender sadly says, "Knowing your tradition, I'd just like to just say that I'm sorry that one of your brothers died."
The man replies, "Oh, my brothers are fine - I just quit drinking."

தவமாய் தவமிருந்து

2007-12-06T10:38:00.000-08:00
Your parents have been, feeding, protecting and giving you the studies & knowledge through out their life. Isn't it your duty to protect & give them a happy life during their old age?

Unlike other places, where people love their pets more than their blood, we indians respect the relationships. Thats our specialty.

The Indian government, for some good reason, thought through in the same lines. Do you believe that?

Thinking of abandoning your parents? Don't!
Becoz, there is a chance that you will end up behind the bars for atleast a couple of months and that too with an unbailable offense! oooooh. Mera bharath mahaan.

Way to go......

Just in case, if the news goes offline [Such news are prone to go in bins soon.....]
Thinking of abandoning your parents? Don't!
New Delhi: Children who abandon parents in their twilight years may face three months' imprisonment and cannot even appeal against the punishment.

A bill passed by Parliament today will ensure that elderly people are taken care of by their children failing which they would face penal action.

"The bill provides for a jail term of three months if children do not look after old parents. The penal provision is meant to act as a deterrent," Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Meira Kumar told Rajya Sabha.

Kumar said children cannot go in for an appeal. "This has been done deliberately as they have a lot of resources which the old people do not have," she said.

Later, the Rajya Sabha passed the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Bill, 2007 by a voice vote.

The statement of objects and reasons of the bill says though the parents can claim maintenance under the CrPC, the procedure is both "time-consuming as well as expensive", and there was need to have simple, inexpensive and speedy provisions for care of parents.

The bill has a clause for punishment to those who abandon their parents or relatives whose property they have inherited or would get as their legal heirs.

The bill, already passed by Lok Sabha, provides for setting up of a tribunal in each district for helping the old in distress.

It also has a provision for establishment of old age homes which, the Minister said, should be the last resort for the poor and the childless.

Happy Thanks Giving

2007-11-26T11:33:00.000-08:00
Hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving. I was just idling my time at home doing nothing useful in particular. Oh yeah, spend few dollars on buying some things on the BLACK friday deals. Am just wondering how the spendthrift praveen became so extravagant in spending. During the idle hours of the long weekend, i was just browsing through the net and found few things, which i thought i could share.

Google Merger with eBAY -- Does anybody know the results ????

------ Where the Beggar Meets a Software Engineer ------

A beggar meets another beggar. A software engineer meets another software engineer. The common factor is that in both cases the conversation starts with the same question:
“Which platform do you work on?”

visit bhavane site - This is a nice blog with lotsa funny things. Do visit it when you find time.

Now for some real thought provoking article and my interpretations. There was an article which aroused my interest, it was in "The Hindu" edition Tuesday 27th, 2007. Find below, the details

Finding a “parallel world” Ian Sample
Physicist’s tapes predict existence through quantum theory

Theory led to concept of multitude of universes
Tapes found in rock star son’s basement

London: The only known recordings of a brilliant physicist who predicted the existence of parallel universes have been found in the basement of his rock star son’s flat.

The tapes document how Hugh Everett, a quantum physicist, developed his idea at the age of 24, while he was a graduate student at Princeton University in 1957. Everett’s theory gave rise to the concept of a multitude of universes, or a “multiverse,” where all life’s possibilities play out. It means that somewhere Elvis is still rocking and the Nazis won the Second World War.
Click here to read the entire article....
Okay, so now, when i was reading through the article, a tamil proverb stuck me
கடவுள் ஒரே உருவத்துல ஆறு பெற படைப்பார்
OR
உலகத்தில் ஒரே மாதிரி ஆறு பேர் இருப்பார்கள்
The literal meaning of this phrase is, In this world, there will be 6 lookalike persons. But if you just dig through and try to map it to this article, the hindu myth(ology) seems to explain the MULTIVERSE and our people have identified it long before, Hail the Hindu quantum physics......

Idle mind is DEVIL'S Photoshop

2007-11-18T15:01:00.001-08:00
Is the blog title explaining it all? Lazy people think a lot on how to minimize doing any useful things in life and am becoming one among them!! And there goes another weekend doing vetti things in life.......

Happy Diwali.

2007-11-07T07:40:00.000-08:00
Wish you all a happy diwali. Hope you have a safe and wonderful diwali. Had a wonderful diwali this year. Thought of starting with Kadavul Vaazhthu...

Original version of Harivaraasanam

Time to eat - This time, i tried my hand on making Gulab Jamun. For the first timer, it came out pretty well. It was sweet and so the criteria is complete :-)

Movie Time

This diwali's celebration came to a completion after watching the Surya-Asin masala Vel A typical hari movie, this one had all the masala in it. The opening scenes for Surya was really comical, where you can get to learn all sorts of oil and how they burn. You will also get a free tutorial on how to catch an ARUVAL.
Asin has done the role assigned to her with ease [Nothing important, just the glamorous chella heroine]. Her body chemistry with Surya is good.
Don't ask about the songs, they are just the timeouts for a dhum. Vadivel, is improvising on every film, but there is this typical dialogues and actions which he repeats in all his movies. This might cost him negatively in a long run, Just a heads up!

Overall, 100% satisfaction to those who want to spend their 2:30 hours without thinking about anything and just have some good laughter.

Vel - Sooper Sale

At this moment i should definitely tell about my experience in the theater hall. We all were standing in a big [really big] queue to get in, when a big gang came out from other show. The theater is very famous for screening all the Indian movies during the weekend, here in Calif. The people barging out were from "Saawariya". One lady, from the group barging out, came near our queue and she asked aloud "Are any one going to Saawariya" and she did not wait for an answer from us, and shouted [literally a begging shout] . Please do not go to the movie Saawariya. We all were laughing out loud.
Today morning i just wanted to read the movie review for saawariya, just to check if she really had a bad time and the reviews were even more gross. Guess its getting a really very bad name on Sanjay's List.

Saawariya -- Saaga Variya

The next week screening is for ATM, hope it gives some entertainment and ilaya thalapathi gets back his hold in Kollywood. Will hit back to you all with its reviews, if i get to see the same.

The only bad thing was, i was all alone and relief came in through talking to relatives & friends. Heard that there is some indian community get together at SB next week, and am hoping to catch up some new friends.

Once again a very happy & prosperous Diwali......

Journey into the world of Upanishads

2007-09-14T10:13:00.000-07:00
Thought of sharing some useful information [Don't mind if its too philosophical !] . Today was one of those days when you do not have anything important to worry or think about and ur not sure as to how you are going to spend your time. [No interesting Movies to watch !] And the result is this blog. I tried reading through these a couple of times. Some of them makes sense and the rest i am still trying to figure out what they are preaching. In the mean time, if any of you get the crux of it, please do preach this humble disciple.

"Prajnanam Brahma" - Consciousness is Brahman
(Aitareya Upanishad 3.3, of Rg Veda)

Other Translations: Brahman is pure consciousness; Brahman is knowing; Brahman is intelligence

In the sentence, ‘Prajnanam Brahma’ or Consciousness is Brahman, a definition of Reality is given. The best definition of Brahman would be to give expression to its supra-essential essence, and not to describe it with reference to accidental attributes, such as creatorship etc. That which is ultimately responsible for all our sensory activities, as seeing, hearing, etc., is Consciousness. Though Consciousness does not directly see or hear, it is impossible to have these sensory operations without it. Hence it should be considered as the final meaning of our mental and physical activities. Brahman is that which is Absolute, fills all space, is complete in itself, to which there is no second, and which is continuously present in everything, from the creator down to the lowest of matter. It, being everywhere, is also in each and every individual. This is the meaning of Prajnanam Brahma occurring in the Aitareya Upanishad.**

"Ayam Atma Brahma" - This Self is Brahman
(Mandukya Upanishad 1.2, of Atharva Veda)

Other Translations: Brahman is this Self; This Self is Brahma

The Mahavakya, ‘Ayam Atma Brahma’ or ‘This Self is Brahman,’ occurs in the Mandukya Upanishad. ‘Ayam’ means ‘this,’ and here ‘thisness’ refers to the self-luminous and non-mediate nature of the Self, which is internal to everything, from the Ahamkara or ego down to the physical body. This Self is Brahman, which is the substance out of which all things are really made. That which is everywhere, is also within us, and what is within us is everywhere. This is called ‘Brahman,’ because it is plenum, fills all space, expands into all existence, and is vast beyond all measure of perception or knowledge. On account of self-luminosity, non-relativity and universality, Atman and Brahman are the same. This identification of the Self with Absolute is not any act of bringing together two differing natures, but is an affirmation that absoluteness or universality includes everything, and there is nothing outside it.**

"Tat Tvam Asi" - Thou art that
(Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7, of Sama Veda, Kaivalya Upanishad)

Other Translations: That is how you are; That art thou

In the Chandogya Upanishad occurs the Mahavakya, ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ or ‘That thou art.’ Sage Uddalaka mentions this nine times, while instructing his disciple Svetaketu in the nature of Reality. That which is one alone without a second, without name and form, and which existed before creation, as well as after creation, as pure Existence alone, is what is referred to as Tat or That, in this sentence. The term Tvam stands for that which is in the innermost recesses of the student or the aspirant, but which is transcendent to the intellect, mind, senses, etc., and is the real 'I' of the student addressed in the teaching. The union of Tat and Tvam is by the term Asi or are. That Reality is remote is a misconception, which is removed by the instruction that it is within one’s own self. The erroneous notion that the Self is limited is dispelled by the instruction that it is the same as Reality.**
More Info

"Aham Brahmasmi" - I am Brahman.
(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10, of Yajur Veda, Mahanarayana Upanishad)

In the sentence, ‘Aham Brahmasmi,’ or I am Brahman, the ‘I’ is that which is the One Witnessing Consciousness, standing apart form even the intellect, different from the ego-principle, and shining through every act of thinking, feeling, etc. This Witness-Consciousness, being the same in all, is universal, and cannot be distinguished from Brahman, which is the Absolute. Hence the essential ‘I’ which is full, super-rational and resplendent, should be the same as Brahman. This is not the identification of the limited individual ‘I’ with Brahman, but it is the Universal Substratum of individuality that is asserted to be what it is. The copula ‘am’ does not signify any empirical relation between two entities, but affirms the non-duality of essence. This dictum is from the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad.**

Another look into the same verse - "I am God." Famous phrase often repeated in the Upanishads. In this ecstatic statement of enlightenment, "I" does not refer to the individuality or outer nature, but to the essence of the soul which is ever identical to God Siva (or Brahman, the Supreme Being) as Satchidananda and Parasiva. One of four Upanishadic "great sayings," mahavakya.

There is more to cover............

San Francisco

2007-09-11T17:29:00.001-07:00
The long weekend of september, the labor day was made quite interesting by planning a trip to SFO. Its around 250mi north of Santa Barbara. We were a group of 7. Booked a mini van. Six of them are from my old company and they started from Burbank on saturday morning at 8. They reached Santa Barbara by 10:30 and we started from there by 10:45 AM.
Onroute to SFO, we visited the pismo beach. Pismo beach is famous for ATVs.

We rented out 4 ATVs and were enjoying the ride for around 2 hours. From Pismo beach, we drove to SFO. It was around 10:30 PM in the night when we reached SFO. We went to an indian cusine "Curry house", and had our dinner. Actually, we lost the route and ended up riding through the Crooked street. That was a deep and twisty ride !

After dinner, we reached "Days Inn" for the nights stay.
Next day, we started early to reach SFO Downtown. Since we did not reserve the ride to Alcatraz prison, we had to take the city & ocean tour. The city tour was around 2.5 hours and took us around all the famous places in the downtown. Then we proceeded with the ocean tour to experience a closer look onto the Golden Gate bridge.

Next day, we visited the Muir woods, a deep red wood forest. Had our lunch at the Udupi Restaurant at SunneyValle and Started back to Santa Barbara in the afternoon. Reached SB at 1:00 AM in the night. Trip was really tiresome, but the trip was exciting.

The Wine county - Santa Barbara

2007-08-28T16:52:00.000-07:00
Where did i go all these days? Just another move, Moved from LA to Santa Barbara, the wine county of California. Life is becoming pretty good with the new place and my work. Working in product based company, is a dream come true for me at least. Actually, i was really tired of those offshore calls that i have been taking for the past 3 years !!! Compared to the service based industry, the product based is interesting [My Opinion] and there is a lot of scope for thinking.
Oh, i did forget one important thing. I get a lot of time to think and do it the right way.

On the lighter side, i would share one kadi joke from my dearest friends, when i announced the move to Santa BARBARA, our kadi mannan's immediate reply was that atleast i don't have to worry about my haircut from now on. [If anyone did not get the joke, mail me, of course it took me a minute to read and understand the kadi myself.]

The last weekend was a labor day weekend and i had an extra day off, so we sped off to San Francisco... The experience and how i missed my Saravana Bhavan meals is all coming up in my next blog.

>>>>>> 2007 Above & Beyond <<<<<<

2007-02-06T19:45:00.000-08:00
Hi All,

Thinks its a way too long break for me from the blogs, sorry about that. Just wanted to get back to you all with an interesting piece and start the 2007 afresh.
To start with let me share some attributes of mine [Not a self evaluation though!!! So don't believe it entirely]

The Keys to MY DUDE! - My Heart

You are attracted to good manners and elegance.

In love, you feel the most alive when things are straight-forward, and you're told that you're loved.

You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is low. Even if you're tempted, you'd try hard not to do it.

You think of marriage something you've always wanted... though you haven't really thought about it.

In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.
What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

here is my rating on how selfish i am.

I Am 44% Selfish - Am i?

You are quite balanced. You are able to compromise when it's in the best interests of those involved.
But you're no pushover. If something is important to you, you'll get it!
How Selfish Are You?

So now for the real matters in life. The 2007 has been really wonderful with lotsa happenings. I would first mention about my dad's 60th bday function. You should be really lucky to see your parents getting married :-) wow, that was a wonderful experience. With all the relatives around, had a real nice time.

Obviously, did not miss the opportunity to hog all the food items. Opportunity knocks not often right?
The vacation was complete with a trip to sabarimala & pongal celebrations.

But alas, now i am back to LA, doing the same old design, coding and development ... By the way, just got myself a 2007 Honda Accord VP.

Well that's it for now, catch u all soon, but i don't want to mention when/where/how details - Following the mantra of a Pure Software Engineer,
>>>>>>>>>>"Don't commit on any deadlines, Just say, Will get back soon" !<<<<<<<<<<

Las Vegas - The Entertainment Capital of the World

2006-07-05T18:35:00.000-07:00
Everything happened in a last minute and we decided to go to the Las Vegas & Grand Canyon for the extra large weekend.... sorry long weekend. We searched in the net for deals and ended up in a rather cool deal. 3 days 2 nights tour to London Bridge, Grand Canyon and Vegas only at the cost of $128. This included the 2 nights stay, the bus fare and entrance fee for the canyon.
The Bus started from Los Angeles at 7:20 AM on Saturday. We reached right on time but to the wrong address! We walked all the way for 15 minutes to reach the correct address. We boarded the bus and it took us to one of the branch offices of the tourism from where we had to catch another bus to the main office. Was wondering whether they will take us to vegas or just show it on poster [Everybody will think the same when such a trip comes for so cheap deal :-) ]
Atlast we boarded the main bus and the journey started at around 9:30 AM. As we were going, the temp slowly started rising. We reached the London bridge around 12:00 Noon. The temperature outside was just 110 degrees. Arizona was literally getting baked in the sun. It did not bother me too much, i was just remembering the good old days in the college during the month of May when the whole campus heats up.
The London bridge, as per the guide was the oldest antique in the US. It was having the typical British looks.

London bridge was the only item on the menu for the day. From there, we went to a place called kinsman. The night stay was scheduled at this city.
Next day morning, the tour was scheduled to start at 5:15 in the morning, we boarded the bus as usually at 5:15 Indian Stretchable Time!
We reached canyon at 9:00 in the morning. The place was too good. I was just recollecting the scenes from Jeans, Everything was the same except that i was there with my friends, not Aishwarya rai Hmmmmm:-)

We spent around an hour and half at the canyon view point. We then left to the iMAX complex to watch a 30 minute IMAX movie on canyon, finished our lunch and headed towards the vegas.

We boarded the Reviera hotel at vegas by 6:00 PM, dropped the luggage and started for the night tour at 6:30PM. The night tour began with the Ceasar's Palace. We saw the Light&Water show with robots playing roles and headed towards the Rio casino where we saw a live dance show.
From there, we headed towards the Volcano eruption show at the Treasure Island.

After the volcano show, we headed towards the Fremont street show. The speciality of the show is the speakers. The set is designed to give an output of 140000 watts. We have to just stand below the roof where the speaker is set and it will be pretty much audible. It went on for 5 minutes and once it got over, we went to the final show of the day, "The water dancing" show at Bellagio.

All the shows that we were taken to were free shows. We were left at our hotel by 10:00 at night. We went out to the strip street and roamed around for some time and then went to the Casino at treasure Island.
I lost around $20 and stopped at that point. We came back to the hotel, had a sub for dinner and had a nice sleep.

Next day, we started at around 8:30 AM, went to the strip street and roamed around few popular casinos like MGM & NY-NY.

We left the vegas at around 10:30, came to Barstow at around 12:30, had our lunch and went to a factory outlet. I purchased few t-shirts over there.
We reached LA by 6:30 PM and the trip ended pretty smooth. But it was real tiring. Thus went the long weekend and am now back to work.

BBC News Hour

2006-06-10T00:19:00.000-07:00

BurBankCalifornia - News Hour
Headlines
Blogging at 12:20 AM midnight on a friday. My goodness, weekend at last. Hope i get some sleep.

Local News

The work has been real hectic. Just setting myself back on track of software development project.
Gone are the days when i used to be at home by 5:30PM sharp and go to tennis court stress out for a couple of hours, be back and have a nice good sleep. For a peaceful life, always go for a maintenance project.
But, one good thing is, i like this way of hectic life. Challenges are the real way of life after all !
For the past few weeks its been just so mechanical that i have become a robot, not having much time for any personal work.

"The Burbank town gave a real hot welcome to Mr. Praveen, by fining for parking at red spot on two consecutive days, The next day after the incident, he promptly returned the rental car not able to manage the fines!"

Praveen's comment - "Thank god, i did not get any tickets! I thought rule are there to be broken uuuuuhhhhh US sucks in this aspect and people here are real RULES RAMANUJAMs. "

Kollywood affairs at LA

This weeks reviews Jerry & Pudhupettai.

I would probably watch kadala kadala instead of jerry. Crazy's have picked all the jokes from their dramas and have made a film out of it. The pity thing is that i have heard all their drama series and i was guessing the jokes at each point in the film.
CRAZY --> LAZY
JERRY --> SORRY

Pudupettai, its real local chennai movie, specially made for the B & C centers. Sneha has taken a bold step and her performance is real good. Danush is transforming into a real porikki. Sonia agarwal was given a role only due to the fact that selvaraghavan is the diro of the movie.Too much of violence and bloodshed
PUDUPETTAI --> RATHA VETTAI

Catch u with another set of movies next week.

Oh my god, when did i become a critic of movies. Nothing much i have to discuss other that telling about these things and the PL/SQLs i am learning and working on at my work place! Discussing about the latter? its not my purpose on this blog anyways :-)

sports section

Did i tell that i got a new Tennis bat for myself and sucessfully not inaugurated it yet!. I was playing tennis a lot before i had a bat of my own and once i got a bat now, i have not yet played a single game. Its all Murphy's law working around you, just have to learn to realize it!!!!

Hopefully, the summer cricket season starts tomorrow at LA county and Mr.Praveen might be joining iGators club. Will soon be back in the blogspot with my cricket experiences.

Alright guys, need to take a good nap. More news soon....

Bye for now.

Welcome to the West Coast

2006-05-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

Just when our contract was coming to an end with GE Aviation, got a call from the GE-NBC for a development project. It all happened in a day or two and by the weekend i was all set to fly to LA. Saturday morning i bid adieu to Sin(Cinatti) ! I will surely miss the tennis, saturday night parties and the kerala food at my uncle's place :-( But changes are a part of life, with that in mind i flew to LA.

Landed on 6th May, i knew no one around and was wondering what i am going to do ! within 2 days, i got a friend request in orkut, it was my school friend living in LA. I really thought how true the sanskrit proverb is ["Deivam Manushya Rupena"]. He took me around to the indian stores, the Malibu temple. We went to the temple in our traditional dhoti and chanted vedam. A real relaxation after a long time! Check out the photo. The temple is real good and it was as if going to a real south indian temple.

We have lot more to cover in the west coast. Oh By the way, HAIL ORKUT.

The work environment - Wow, working in Universal studios is real good experience. I thought i could roam around the universal city when i find free time. Thats right "WHEN I FIND FREE TIME ". Its a development project and i am back on track slogging late hours in the office. Now its only the analysis phase and i am starting early from the office at 7:30 PM itself.

I spent the last few weekend searching for accomodations around the place. Its real costly life in LA. Atlast i found one apartment, where the rent is just double the amount i payed in Green Bay and that too for a single BR apt.[In Green Bay it was a double BR !].
I am still living in the hotel, planning to move into one apartment by the weekend. If everything goes well, by next week, my accomodation will be all set.

The weather is too cool, as far as i heard, there is not concept of winter or summer, its always cool and warm around here. Donno how true it is.

Will reach you all with more experiences soon.

Happy Memorial Day.

Happy Vishu & Tamil New Year

2006-04-24T04:18:00.000-07:00

This year again, the d day came and went. I am again far off from my home sweet home, missing all the good celebrations and good food. But this year, i made sure, i enjoy it. Thursday evening, after the usual tennis session [Now don't ask when this tennis session became "usual", i have just started learning and try to make sure that the ball is out there in the opponent's court!], i went to the supermarket, got all fresh fruits and a mirror. That's the saasthram [tradition] you see.
Thursdar night, after calling all the relatives in india and wishing them happy vishu, i arranged up the fruits etc before the god. You can see the arrangement on the photo.
Next day early morning, my mom woke me up, by calling to my mobile, got up, saw the vishu kani and started the day. Morning session at the office was pretty cool, no one was at work, it was good friday and most of our clients had taken off.
The day was pretty cool with no stressful work. In the evening, had a nice ride till the airport for dropping my roommate and then from there went straight to my uncle's house.

"Kadhal" movie had already started in sun tv, we all were glued to it for some time and then we all saw vishu kani at my uncle's house. Got the vishu kani nettam in Dollars for the first time !
After sometime, we all went to the war field [I meant the dinner table], vishu sadhi was all set, started with pal payasam and had all the kerala items to full.
Came back home at 10:30 in the night, saw a movie and thus ended my this year's vishu. Sorry people, its already 15 days now after the event and am publishing this very late.

Vengaya sambarum Chepankazhangu fryum...

2006-03-12T15:23:00.000-08:00
Does the title look yummy. Decided to go for it today morning. Woke up and was chatting back home when i thought of this menu. The kerala style sambar & curry are pretty special and once you taste it, you would love it for sure.
My school days were the days of fun with variety of dishes prepared by my mom. Nevertheless, i should accept that my mom and dad are equal competitors and both of them try to do items more delicious than the other. My self and my sis are the judges for tasting the items and voting the winner. Nice work for the judges! Isn't it. I know.
Come festival, the menu would be palada pradaman, olan, kalan, mathan sambar, urla kazhangu kara curry, aviyal, thakkali rasam, mangai pachadi, chow chow kootu.... the list goes on. But for me, i was too picky on the vegetable those days and will not eat most of the items.
Thanks to my college hostel food, it was so worst that i started eating all items which are vegetarian. After my college days, i have not stayed with my parents due to my profession, but i will make sure that i don't miss festivals[ob, for gobbling the big list of items] I make sure i eat all the items and taste them.

Now to today's menu. Started with the rice and dal. Started at 10:30 AM and finished the whole cooking process by 11:30 [Bachelor cooking takes more time buddy, believe me!] But when i tasted the sambar, i could sense some taste [It was not as perfect as my mom's] and had a nice lunch.
Sunday afternoon that too after a heavy lunch will be 100 % complete with a nap...hmmmm just got up and blogging in with a coffee in my hand..

There comes Monotonous Monday, waiting for me ahead! Oh my god, the weekend is over. See you all soon. Byeeeeeeee

Cincinnati Cincinnati....

2006-03-09T13:36:00.000-08:00
One of the best places to live in and also featured in "Top 10 cities to Live in", this place is serene and wonderful. I have not been to the downtown of cinci, but wherever i live, it gives me somewhat a holistic picture about the place. The community around cuddles you and makes you feel at home. I landed here during the month of November. Its already spring now and the rains are kissing the roads quite often. The weather is one critical deciding factor for a city, i would say. Hey, have not experienced the summer at this place, but i am sure that it would be very pleasant compared to the Hyderabadi summer where my body was pinched by the hot sun.
There are plenty of indian restaurants around and more than half of the restaurants are mexicans. One good discovery after Subway was Chipotle, a mexican restaurant. I believe and follow one thing - "Veggie food very good" and for people like me, cooking is the first best option for survival over here, and next in the line are restaurants like subway & chipotle. The veggie burito bowl from chipotle makes my mouth water as soon as i think of it. Go to subway and you have veggie delight for your part.
Weekends are full of activities in the malls around. You go in and for sure you can spend 3-4 hours just looking at the various shops around.
The cincinnati bengals are the leaders here with respect to the football game. And summer season is full of tennis tournaments.
Welcome to cincinnati........

Back with a bang in 2006

2006-03-09T06:28:00.000-08:00
Sorry, Long time since i blogged! Happy new year. The new year this time was pretty different for me as i was all alone without a single human being around. The only entertainment was the numtv channels. Long live numtv. That day i decided that i should get a driving license soon. Without a car you are an orphan in US of A. Its not like my home country where, if i want to go somewhere, i just rush to the bus stop. Within 10-15 minutes i will be heading towards the destination in the big Pallavan transport service. Hail PTC.
So where did i leave?, yes the license. I joined the driving class and successfully got my license in feb. Too busy these days even to blog.

Will soon be releasing a new version with lotsa info.

Bye for now.

2005-12-30T19:59:00.000-08:00
Hi buddies,

Wish you a happy new year 2006. Life has always been a challenging and this aspect makes it a very interesting one. This is my perspective of life. After my 12th std schooling, i left to college. From college, i landed directly in Hyderabad and started my career over there. After around 1.5 years, i shifted to chennai. Stayed with my parents for around a year and then again the travel started. Though i thought it would be a short travel after which i would join my parents at chennai. But the whole world turned 180 degrees. I changed my job and now i am wondering when i would be able to meet them. Hmmm Change change change, life is full of changes.
Change has brought lot of new things in my life. During my schooling days especially when i was doing my 10th, i did not imagine that i would get admit in a good college etc etc. Its becoz, i was like that till my 10th. I enjoyed my life to the full extent of it during my school days. I don't know what happened, suddenly everything changed. I joined a state board school [A very special school, to tell about it, i will surely have a separate blog] and started to be very dedicated and studious! wow, praveen i did not think i could ever be dedicated like this. The exam scores were really good and my hard work paid. ["Hard work!" - i seriously din't know its meaning till i joined this school].
Now i am waiting to sail on the change that has happened, getting used to the new work, new environment, new people, everything here is new. Hope i will come through this in good colors with god's grace.
Happy New Year.....

2005-10-22T17:30:00.000-07:00
To encourage myself, i have started the posting of my next blog the very same day when i completed and published my first blog. Life runs like that right? [You need to make your surrounding interesting, whether it is work or personal life, only then you can live your life.]

Swamiye saranam Ayyappa. From the day i was born, i have been hearing this holy words. It has now become a part of me. A staunch devotee of lord ayyappa, my father has been traveling to Sabarimala for the past x years [I don't want to give a rough number, as far as i know, its more than 38 years now.]

I went to sabarimala for the first time during my 5th standard. That was with my grand mother and my cousin. During those days, the trip to sabarimala was during the month of april. Vishu, a kerala festival comes during the month of April and it is very auspicious to visit the temple during that time period.
The trip was a memorable one. I was literally enjoying it. It was through the short route. There are two type f routes to reach sabarimala. One is a short route where you have to climb only 1 mala [Neeli malai] to reach sannidanam. The other one is a long route wherein you have to climb up and down of three hills [Azhutha, Kari & Neeli hills]. The long route is very arduous and will take around 2~3 days.
We started to climb the Neeli hill at around 4:30pm. It is considered as one of the steepest hills. But i did not realize that during my first trip. It was very simple for me. On the way i visited the Saram Kuthi, where i pierced the saram. All first timers to sabarimala has to pierce a saram at this place. [It is believed that the Maligapurathamman(Mahishi when killed and relieved of the curese became maligapurathamman and wanted to marry the lord) will come every year to saram kuthi and check if there are any sarams. Lord has promised her that he will marry her when there is no saram during a year. Till date every year, maligapurathamman has returned back with grief.]

People say that, Lord Ayyappa, also known as Manikandan was a very small boy and he likes children a lot. And children will not feel the pain of climbing the hills to see the lord. In other words, the lord will make the trip smooth for the children so that they don't get tired.
May be, the above told reason made my trip very simple. We reached the sannidanam at around 6:30Pm, had a good dharshan of the lord and returned back. It was a 3 day trip.

That was my first trip to sabarimala. After that i traveled through short routes and long routes every year. [I missed it during my 8th standard as my grandpa passed away and during my 12th, i had to study!].
The trips have been of great experience to me. Every trip was a memorable one. To see him was the only motto.
Long route trips usually take 10 days. During those days, our group visits many other temples en route and returning from sabarimala. But during recent years, it has been reduced to a 1 week trip. One of those memorable trips were when i went with my chithappa. This was a long route trip.
The irumudi was on a sunday evening. There were around 45 ayyappas. The irumudi got over on sunday night, we stayed at the chathram and started early morning by a bus. The bus went through palani [The abode of Lord muruga] to reach erumeli. At every rest area, we cooked our food. We were taking all the necessary vessels and food items for cooking.

At Erumeli, we visited the vavar nada and Erumeli dharmasastha and started our walk. On the first day evening, we walked to around 3 hours to reach kalakatti vanam. We stayed in a viri. Viri is a rest area, don't expect big facilities, its just a place, covered on top with plastic sheets to protect from rain. for that night.
The next day we started to walk early in the morning at around 5:00AM. We reached Azhutha river, had bath, i had to take a stone from the river which is a ritual for first timers [That was my first time in long route and so i also took it] and started climbing the Azhutha hill. We reached Kallidam kundru, where i had to throw the stone. The belief is to throw the stone here and suppress the Mahishi's [asura killed by ayyappan] body.
And then, we again continued the climb to reach azhutha hill top. Wow, hill top is the best place to get fresh air and breeze. That too after a strenuous climb, it was very refreshing. We rested for a while and continued to climb down the hill . Down hill is simpler but risky. If you slip, you are gone.
Climbing down the hill we reached Mukkuzhi. We halted there for some time. Then we started our walk againa. This time it was on plains. From Azhutha hill to Kari hill. It was complete plains. We reached the bottom on Kari hill in the evening. We halted in viri, there was a bhajan and we had dinner. The next day we got up at 4:30 AM and started climbing the kari hill.
There is a popular rhyme "Kari malai etram kadinam kadinam" [The meaning is, "Climbing Kari hill is difficult, very difficult"]. I experienced it live for the first time. But while climbing, we were telling Ayyappa's name and the journey was not that stressful. We reached the kari malai top, took some rest and started to climb down the hill. Climbing down the steepest of hills is a very difficult and challenging one. Each step you take, you need to make sure you got a strong grip and then move forward. The time taken for climbing down the kari malai was the longest of all.
Climbing down the hill, we reached Valiyaanai vattam. A place near the holy pamba river.

We rested in viri, kept all our irumudis, went to the river pamba, took bath. Had our lunch and at arounf 4:00 in the evening, started towards Neeli mala.

Climbing neeli mala this time was very difficult for me. ooooh it was tiresome. How did i make it so easily during my first visit? This question is still awaiting an answer!!!!!

On the way to the hill top, we visited the Appachi medu. From the hill top, we walked and reached Sabari peetam. There was a long queue from here to sannidanam. Thats when i saw he real huge rush. Sabari peetam is around 3 kms from the sannidanam. We waited in the queue which moved very slowly. On the way we visited saram kuthi and reached sannidanam in the evening at around 6:30 PM. We climbed the holy 18 steps and had our darshan.

The next day morning, we did Ghee Abhishekam. On that day was Makara sankaraanthi. On makara sankaranthi, every year, the lord will show his presence to the world in the form on Makara Jyothi [A bright glowing light]. I was very lucky that time. K.J.Yesudas, a popular singer had visited the sabarimala at the same time. We had a chance to see him. We had a small chat with him and i went with him to see the makara jyothi.
That was the first time for me to experience the makara jyothi. The Jyothi appears on Kaandha malai. It appears for three times. No one knows how this happens. This very event has made me a staunch believer of the lord. And from that day, till date, i firmly believe that he is always with me. He has proved it at various parts in my life.

It is not your wish that will take you to Sabarimala and get his darshan. If he thinks, you should be visiting him and getting his darshan, he will make you come to him. Hope i get his calls throughout my life !

My only prayer would be to always have his thinking in my mind.

More to come........

Swamiye saranam Ayyappa.

Let me (try to) start my first blog writing.

2005-10-10T17:07:00.000-07:00
Hi All,

This is my first try, but let me see how it comes out to be. This is one of my braveheart experience i had after i came out of my college. After the 4 years of college and hostel life, i had realized that i have developed the habit to be independent and i had a confidence that in the race for the survival of the fittest, i would "survive".

But, when i boarded the train to hyderabad to join my first assignment, i thought for a while. I did not know anyone in hyd and i have only the company address and the address where i can stay for a week. So i need to find out where to stay, etc.. and get settled within a week! Now thats what i call a challenge. More than me, my father was so confident that i have learnt all that is needed to survive and that might be the reason for him to accompany me till the railway station. He was going on his religious trip to meet his friend "Lord Ayyappa", the same day.

I boarded the train with lotsa challenges. Thank god and my aunt for making me learn hindi. The first thing in the station was to escape from all the regular autowalas.

Although the city was new to me, i had the guts to and ask one autowala the route for the bus stand to catch bus to my destination, and to my surprise, he told me the correct route [Please do not expect such courteous replies from chennai autokarans]. Am i boasting yes i am.

Thats how my hyderabad life started, it was great fun which i will explain in the forthcoming blogs.

Thanks for patiently reading thru my first blog! do give me ur expert suggestions for areas of improvement....... Will continue to blog.