First Winter

Anda ka kasam, Abu ka hukum.. vaapas aagaye hum!! It has been a looonnnggg break.. And this is the First Winter here for me. The time is just 4.50pm but i have to switch on the lights to type!! Wonder if i'm living in Norway!! In southern parts of Norway there is sun until about 20 hours a day in summer, and dark 17 hours a day in winter. Or somewhere near the south pole where sun doesn't appear for 6 months in a year??!! Did you know the period of darkness there this year?? The sun had set on March 23, 2009, at 02:16 am, and did not rise again until September 21, 2009. Woww.. wud luv to see how it all luks like there.. 

So so.. winter's born again,

ohh but its not the same as last winter for me :-(

For Last i was single in brain,

And this one is running one step ahead of me ;-)

I came across Einstein's law somewhere on the web now and was wondering how much energy i wud need to run along with the speed life is taking me thru.. Energy is mass multiplied by square of velocity of light. Gosh, mathematics can't be so crazy!! I better enjoy my winter with hot fatty food here ;-)

Thanks to ssnsfamily

These are some numbers that i have learnt from my Guitar instructor here so far in the last 5 months..

1. Pipeline by Ventures

2. Bad Moon Risin' by Creedence Clearwater Revival

3. Walk don't run by Ventures

4. Buckaroos Instrumental

5. Norwegian Wood by Beatles

6. Yesterday by Beatles (I love playing this one..)

7. Buck's polka

8. Yakety Sax or Wacky Sax by Boots Randolph

9. Sugar foot Rag by Junior Brown

I have been learning these old country and rock n roll numbers so far.. Ofcourse apart from some more chord theory to enhance my very lil knowledge about chords, and some good amount of exercises to handle chords. But i had always somehow wanted to play more desi songs, that i started learning when i just left India. Think about having a nice hot tea in the evening rain when i can sit on my patio and play a nice ilayaraja or ARR tune on my Guitar!! Yes i will start doing it from today happily!! Yeahh.. i found a channel on the Youtube uploaded by a 44 yr old person called Suresh.. Thanks to him for the easy tutoring on the chords and strumming patterns that he offers for each song that he uploads. It's simply awesome! And i'm able to learn the songs better, play it and sing along with it too..

This is his Youtube channel where we can subscribe.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ssnsfamily#play/uploads

You can find all his other videos also on the below link.

http://www.2sol.com/

The Mood Ring!!

We had been to the Moody Gardens at Galveston Island last weekend and there i found this new ring from a shop where they said it will change colors according to your mood.. I wanted to pick one for myself immediately. These kinda stuffs are so tempting that you don't wanna walk away w'out buying them. Its ok even if your guy gives a stupid look at you asking "u believe in all this, huh?"

For the first two days nothing happened. It was showing the same dark blue which means "I'm Happy".. and i was telling him i'm so glad I'm Happy all the time!! When i went to my spanish class on Tuesday, then it started reacting.. It was as if "Hey.. so many languages at this age is no good for u!" They say we are capable of learning at least 7 languages with ease when we are just 4 or 5 yrs old. But after 20s.. phew.. It takes so much of stress into your brain right.. so i came down running and all excited to him, as he was waiting to pick me up after my class hours, to show him how many colors the ring was showing!! Yeahhhh it worked.. It showed a mix of green and orange.. Green meaning mixed emotions and orange meaning fear!! Yes in a way i fear learning another language.. i fear if my brain would be shattered into pieces one day!! i fear i would end up practicing a whole lot new language created by myself.. God save all multi-linguists on earth!! And the same colors came up again when i was watching the movie Final Destination 2. No wonder, it was such a scary movie for me!! I could even watch Evil Dead for this one..

It is obvious the stone on the ring picks up sensors through my body temperature to interpret my mood and change colors accordingly.. So here goes the chart what it means for each color.

 So the next time i see any indifferent colors i can at least tell myself to chill or take it easy ;-)

Globalization of Languages??

Pronunciation is the most herculent task when it comes to learning any language. Very few have the skill of picking it up along with the accent and stress easily. We learn English right from the childhood and still can't say some of the words right. Yet we can make some sincere attempts to learn how at least the common names, countries, capitals, places, malls or brands have to be pronounced. These are really necessary! Think of going into a store to purchase some product of L'Oreal (Loreaal) or Kiehl's (Keelz) and you don't find it. So you go to the storekeeper with a weird pronunciation asking to look for it!! More than the embarassment we simply earn his frustration in identifying it for you. Heated up moments!! Let's try to know products by pronunciations also, apart from the rates and whereabouts..

For that matter even some European Car brands are tricky to say. I hear many of my friends say "Porsh" whereas it is actually a "Porsche".. The last letter has to be said!! It is like saying Por-shey.. and whenever my husband used to say "Volkswagen" i hear something like a Volcano!! He says it's the way Americans say it.. Never mind, cos it's not an American brand!! America by itself has a lot of faces to it.. It should be Fokswaagen.. The l is silent when there's a consonant next to it and V always sounds like F in German. The French make Peugeot is not any Pue-gue-ot or Poo-jet but "Poo-Zhoh" and the cosmetic brand Bourjois is said Bor-jhua. The j in French is pronounced very differently, which is the specialty and beauty of the language. When i learnt a 6 months short spoken French course, my teacher taught this letter as some combination of gsh or gzh.. It is hard to get it, yes.. but we can try and sound at least lil closer to it! In fact i didn't continue learning French after that  bcos it is not a phonetic language.. What we write is NOT what we read!! But i try to read it their way when i come across some French word.. We don't have to roll any Rs or Js and sound like a German or French to say it right. Simply "attempting" to say it their way will make the native speakers feel at ease.

If we visit a foreign nation and have to travel in and around there, then we have to know their language right. Why can we not learn simple words that we see or use in everyday life and at least be satisfied that we are saying it the right way and may be it will help us sometime in the near future, if we get an opportunity to travel.. Lets learn it when we have time. Imagine you get to travel to Spain and all you hear there is Español.. You will hardly find English in the European countries to guide to you anywhere!!

There's always an opposite team who will argue saying, i'm buying things in my land and this is how i will say it. But people like me who learns, understands and appreciates the beauty and nuances of a language and how much each language puts up with the corruption happening today in the name of Globalization or Cross-cultural Solutions, will agree with me on that.

Titbits..

Hot news first ;-) 

Did you hear about this?? The latest Tamil movie "Ravan" ventured by Maniratnam presents the sizzling Bollywood babe Bipasha in the Mandothari character!!! Vikram is the Ravan!! Other casts include Abishek, Ash, Priya mani etc.. Actually Nayantara was supposed to take up that role, but since it has only few scenes and only one song, she has rejected it. I was just wondering if it is some "item" number.. That's why Bips would have accepted it! Mambo Mandothari-a??


South-Indian actor Surya seems to very passionate about long drives on his car(s). The day he purchased Audi Q7 on the preview of Varanam Aayiram, he had taken it for a drive the whole day around Chennai city and came back home only at 1am at night. And it looks like he has registered all the cars that he owns (Audi Q7, Honda CRV, Lancer and Hyundai Elantra) under the number 5005. Some James Bond kind of no. huh? Well these are apart from the Benz e class that he gifted for Jo and Maruti Swift for his lil daughter Diya!! Guess he has no plans of under-utilizing the models available in the market..


One more horror film in the series of "Yavarum Nalam" or "13B" is "Eeram".. meaning "wet" in English.. The ghost is shown only in the form of waters and as such no apparitions or ghost forms has been used to scare the audience! The director must have thought the actors themselves are just enough to justify that role.. uh uuhh..


The Unites States, France and Britain are among nine countries that pledged today to make 10 % of their swine flu vaccine supply available to other nations that may need it. The A(H1N1) vaccine will be made available thru the WHO. In Paris, President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said that France will donate nine million vaccines of its entire stock of 94 million doses of vaccines. Britain and US announced a similar donation. Swine flu cases are expected to increase as the northern hemisphere enters the fall season. Lets hope the vaccines spread across the countries faster than the flu does!!

As situations get worse with more racial attack recently on four Singh students from India, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd assures, "it is our earnest hope that the concerned authorities will take all necessary steps for the safety and security of Indians" - As always, the police and govt appears only after the crime scene is all over! Parents of Indian students in Australia are still crossing their fingers as to what the Aussie govt plans to do to prevent the attacks from happening!

Chennai vs Austin

When i was flying into America, i was singing "My first Day in USA..."

Austin, Tx the land of greenery (actually part of a desert region).. That was what it was when i landed here in March. It was spring, a beautiful season here to enjoy. Then i slowly started realizing that this is as good a place as chennai.. hot, hotter, hottest!! Oh but i'm definitely enjoying every bit of it.. After all i wouldn't enjoy a colder region with snowfall every winter night. I didnt have to adjust a lot bcos of the weather. Yet he tells me winter is not like chennai, it will be biting cold.. i'm yet to see it ;-) But atleast there certainly wouldn't be any snowfall.. Texas isn't much like other states in US as it is down-south, sharing borders with Mexico.. The weather conditions are totally different from rest of the parts.

There are Walmarts here in place of Saravana Stores in Chennai. It is like a small India within US. However there are so many things here that makes me feel that the place is so American.. or rather Hispanic?? Not sure as more than half of the population here is Hispanic (as they would call themselves) or Mexicans. Next to spanish, i hear only Telugu widely spoken here!! Atleast in Austin, they rock! And then of course some English too.. After all, it is part of the States right!! Cost-wise too i find most of the products same as in Chennai. Either Chennai has become costlier or Austin inexpensive.. We should not say "cheap" here ok. Its a bad word! Some really Indian products are may be a lil costlier. Like a traditional or auspicious Indian showpiece or Indian Gods' photos etc., which we would probably not think of buying!! Even in India people hardly buy them! One good thing about India is that we still have the small bania stores or "pottikadai" or mobile vegetable vendors, with whom we can always bargain. And we also have the comfort of buying the veggies right at our doorstep. So we don't have to plan in advance what we have to cook for a guest whom we have invited home five days after!! In a way, it is being more organized here with your lifestyle. I'm still not so happy with missing the daily vendors.. I can't jump or run around inside my own home, cos that wud disturb the folks living right below on the Ground-floor (First floor, as they call it here). I have to yield to the pedestrians at the crossings and the malls here. Pedestrians will not run and cross just bcos there's a bigger vehicle trying to go past the road. We have to wait for them to safely cross the road! Isn't that a nice thing to do? 

We can't dash against each other in any queue anywhere. At any given circumstance, even if the queue is long, the distance between two people is atleast 2 feet. Buses will patiently stop and pick up every last person who gets in. Nobody boards onto a running bus. There are no conductors in a bus. The driver helps you to get your ticket from the machine installed in every bus. He also giving verbal directions for handicapped or blind passengers, as to where they can find a seat. Nowhere can you find two people dashing at each other unnecessarily.. Everyone has their right of way!! The fact remains, that the area of this city is around 761sq.km with a population of just 757,000 whereas Chennai has an area of just 181 sq.km with a population of 4.59 million, if Wikipedia gave the right figures from 2009 statistics! I was hearing in a radio few days back here, an announcement which i heard every now and then during summer, that there is some "serious" drought here and there's going be water scarcity if plants are watered twice a day!!! So they were announcing to water the plants only once in two days! And at Chennai people don't have water to drink or bathe for God knows how many days.. That is called as drought in Chennai!! It is already September there with barely any rainfall.. Look at how organized the govt is here. It is all about planning and most importantly coordinating well to make life better. Well now i'm just 6 six months old for this place and everyone may think, she just left chennai and look at what she's talking. That's not what i mean. I have no intentions of giving up my motherland. It is not that all the cities here are so well developed. There are  also cities here which are not so organized in terms of traffic or crowd. However there are so many things to learn from a developed country, no doubts about it. And the only thing i really wish that the Indian govt concentrates on is the value for human life. The rest will by itself fall in place.

The whole world is against us!!

This is what we feel most of the time right.. Last few days the weather was simply awesome! Breezy, drizzling, chill.. i can think all pleasant adjectives. But when i stepped out for my class yesterday, all of a sudden it became really hot! Gosh, i felt that the rain gods were against me! Happens many a time.. One of the doors had some trouble  and had to be fixed. I had complained about it to the Apartment Admin. And they didn't send anyone until just an hour before i had to step out.. With all possible noises, when i'm getting ready, there was this guy who was fixing it, giving me a headache. Couple of days back, i had prepared the lunch in time (surprisingly!) and was of the assumption that hez gonna come home at his usual time for lunch, when he called up and turned it down. He was delayed bcos of a meeting. So i was waiting for him an hour and half more. He finally came and following him came my Guitar instructor too!! I was only stunned to see how things happen when you don't expect it at all.. I had preponed my Guitar class timings only for one day in a week but he misinterpreted it for both the days! Luckily i had cooked more than enough for 3 people, which i normally don't do, as i don't like wasting food.. So i was able to host him as well. And last sunday the weather was so amazing in the morning, he put on all his sportswear, tied his shoe laces and called me also to accompany his running.. I guess the sun God heard it this time too!! From nowhere came the scorching bright sun and i had to cheer him up to go out somewhere else, just bcos he was ready to head out! So many things, big and small keep happening right at the moment when we really don't want it to, or expect it to happen.. and just give us the feeling that the whole world is against us!! And we have to finally take it as "Everything's for good!" and get going..

Janmashtami

Yepper.. its time for change in template!! Variety is the spice of life ;-) More color to my gadgets and to my photos and contents!! Way to go..

Well Saturday happened to be Janmashtami for us at home. Most of the folks celebrated it last month, but for some it fell a lil late in their calendars that they follow.. Whenever it is, the point is, cook well, call your near and dear ones and eat well.. Our festivals are mostly about eating and getting together right! Just kidding.. Anyways, what i wanted to write was that for the first time after wedding and for the first time in my life, i had cooked so many items!! In fact, i was in kitchen the whole day 8am to 8pm, ofcourse with breaks in-between ;-) But it felt so nice when everything came out well.. Appam, Payasam, Vada, Seeyam, Pongal.. the menu was awesome. And everything in lots!! Every time i talk to my mom, she keeps repeating it: "When you were here, i never had any opportunity to eat anything made by you".. I never ever used to cook when i was with my parents.. She never used to insist too. All that i did before marriage was make coffee, tea, Maggi (2 minutes)!! That was all i knew. But of course when i was working in Bangalore, i had a Mumbai roomie and kind of learnt some North Indian items from her. Even then whenever i used to go home to Chennai, i still never cooked.. Mom wud be like, "oh my dear kid, u must be starving.. u must hav lost taste of home-made food.. i'll cook your fav things when u come.. blah blah" and she'll feed me all the more affectionately. How much i miss her now :-( Talking to her every alternative day sometimes is just not enough!! Even when i was drawing the tiny footprints of Lord Chinnikrishna with the rice flour paste, i was reminded of my good times at home.. I used to draw them from the gate entrance of my home till the kitchen inside where the pooja was done.. Here i had to do it just inside the kitchen, we can't draw anything on the carpets ;-) So Krishna straight away jumps into our kitchen!! However this Janmashtami brought a lot of fond memories to me.. And ofcourse not to miss the fun part.. eating a complete south Indian menu with all the sweets and savories i prepared along with some of our friends here.. It was fun!

Feeling younger now ;-)

 Mccomb's School of Business

My first experience with taking a public transit here.. Day before yesterday i joined a Spanish course for one month at the University of Texas here. Being the first day he accompanied me, came early from the office by 5pm and dropped me at the Uni (Thats how we call a University in German.. It is pronounced "ooni").. Well but i'm learning spanish now!! Trying to get multilingual so that i can work on any online Translation projects that i'm expecting to push through.. If Spanish is not gonna add any advantage, then i'm simply enjoying going out by myself, studying something in UT for a while learning a new language, feeling a bit young ;-) when i see the colorful atmosphere of UT.. Since i have to go to the class all by myself tdy, i wanted to check out the bus routes yesterday and be comfortable with the travel. So after an hour long description that he gave me about the route on the Google Map and about the buses here, i headed out with a cap on my head and a water bottle to beat the scorching sun here.. It was a good experience to see another class of people here totally. On one hand i was reminded of my comfortable travel in the local Volvo buses at Bangalore.. And on the other hand, i was surprised to see that there are still so many people in US, who don't own a car, people who are sick, people who are poor, people who are hearing impaired, blind or handicapped and still managing to live on buses. 

But when i reached my destination, i had to take a 10 mins walk and i had to see the other side of life as well.. The UT streets were by themselves just so colorful with young students, most of them walking hurriedly to reach their next class or tuition or other appointments in time, some chatting in groups, some waiting alone with their ear phones on, one guy even skating on the road right in the middle of the chaotic 21st and Speedway.. Most of the parking are restricted and meant only UT students/staffs/members there.. There is even an Arts center for the students where there was a loud music being played.. The building where my class is held is the Mccomb's Business School (on the photo here).. When i visited my first class, i was wondering if anyone wud help me locate the room.. One Janitor there volunteered to help me and i was relived i made it in time for the class, although the instructor was a bit late!! She is a Spanish lady, who has been living here for the past 25 yrs. The class was a good mix of different cultures.. Two Indians apart from me, both of them are students at UT, the rest were working class, one Italian, one African and the rest were localites. Everyone seemed to be interested in learning the language and each of them gave a different reason why they want to learn it.. One wanted to be able teach her Spanish student better, as she doesn't unerstand gud English. One wanted to impress his neighbor and make friends with him!! One wanted to develop more cordial relationships with his Spanish clients in his business. One wanted to be able to enjoy a complete beer experience with Spanish clients!! And i wanted to be Multilingual.. The class went on very interesting.. More than that the joy of invading the city all alone taking a bus near my Apartment, getting down at an intermediate point and switching over to another bus which goes to the UT.. I was glad i could explore the city more. Today i can go to the class independently with a lot more of confidence.. I'd love to keep studying some course or the other at UT for a while now ;-) Back to my school and college days, why not..

Along the shore..

Its been few days now that i wrote a new post.. Life had somehow turned out to be a monotonous routine!! I wanted to forget cooking and cleaning for a while!! In particular i didn't want to check "what time is it now?" - The question word "when" is something that i hate.. In fact I'm not a great example for punctuality.. Uhh.. am i revealing any truth here?? Its ok, but in general i'm a laid back person!! Unless and otherwise it is an interview, a class or an appointment or something really important, i don't bother to check the time on my clock.. Sometimes my poor husband has to wait for me to get ready with my hair-do or make-up.. which of course every husband does ;-) ha ha.. how good it feels when i'm writing it that I'm not the only wife who delays in dressing up!! Wives! Pls leave positive comments to back me up here.. 

So this weekend we went to Corpus Christi, four hours' drive from here (with proper breaks in-between). We left on Saturday forenoon and came back Monday night. Ya, Monday was Labor Day (holiday) and hence a long weekend here in the US.. It had been a longgg time and we did deserve a good break with some fun.. Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the southern Texas region. It has a marine climate, not too salty a wind as in Chennai coasts, but salty, yes, bcos of the beaches there. We had a wonderful drive along the shoreline. The best part was that i could also drive, now that i have a temporary license. So we shared the drive.. he did the first half and i did the second half towards Corpus. It was a scenic drive all the way through.. Weather was pleasant too.. And driving on a freeway in places around Austin is a must-to-enjoy experience!! This was my first expedition.. hee hee.. and i did it without any damage to Texas citizens and properties on the roads ;-) Mohan had been very patient in teaching me the rules and regulations here.. In fact he had a tough time with me!! I had a license from India which i thought wud help me learn easier.. But i was wrong, it was all the more difficult to just accept and digest the "Keep Right" factor on road and also a not-too-good feeling of simply being instructed by your husband..  No wife wants to be told to do something!! I'm no exception ;-) When he used to teach me, he wud ask me to take a left.. and i wud sincerely take a left as told by my instructor husband and go onto the left side of the road!! And then also accuse him of not instructing me properly and remind me to keep right.. Lol.. you should see how he used to get scared and irritated, both at the same time!! Well well.. thats how i learned it.. The hard way!! But i kinda managed this far that i drove outside the city.. Hip hip.. hurray!!! So there were four things that i thoroughly enjoyed in the trip!!

1. I didnt wear a watch.. Yeaahhh!! Pretty much managed to forget "what time is it now??"

2. I drove on the freeway connecting two cities!!

3. We tried an adventure sport.. 
Jet skiing - zooooooom into the Atlantic ocean for half hour.. 
saw Hrithik Roshan doing it in DHOOM??

4. A pleasant calm ride for two hours on a Flagship (small cruise) into the ocean, from where the skyline was breathtaking..

Along the shore the cloud waves break.. And then there is complete silence after that!! This was one such pleasant trip to remember for ever!!

Masala Popcorns prohibited!!

We watched the latest Tamil movie Kandasamy last Sunday.. One more to the list of same old movies in the Action series.. Gentleman, Indian, Anniyan, Shivaji.. now it is Kandasamy.. Kandy, as Shreya calls Vikram in this movie, luks strikingly handsome as usual, but this time, he is a big man in the movie, a CBI Officer and as usual he has another face, hold ur breath, he is GOD.. Well he does good to the poor in the disguise of Lord Kandasamy (Appane Muruga.. mudiyala!!).. Aanaa somma sollakudaadhu.. aapicer sir soper-a Tata Safari ottaraaru ba!! And since i don't like Shreya much, i have no comments to share. CBI raids villain's bungalow and our superhero discovers where he has hidden all his black money.. Grrrr.. Now u know the rest of the story right!! But let me complete.. Shreya (by now u know shez the villain's daughter) tries to conquer the superhero officer with her false love emoticons, as she promises her dad she would capture and bring the ruthless officer under her dad's custody. Then there is all the drama and masala required for a Tamil movie to hit the Box Office as No#1. I think we should call this movie..

Anniyan - Part 2 (Anniyan tranforms himself to GOD!!)

In short Kandasamy may be a roller coaster ride for people who are ready to watch one more Masala movie with the hero chasing villain's Black money and heroine chasing the hero just to end up falling in love with him. But for my hubby Kandasamy was Nondhasamy!! And for me.. Kandasamy oru Kelvikkuri (?) How long are we going to watch these stereotype ones now??? We need some variety with the scripts and the screenplays. I liked Achamundu Achamundu better than this although vividly it was too simple and shortly narrated with a weak story line. When the hero Prasanna kills the villain and the movie was over, we were like.. "Ok the trailer is over.. show us the movie now!" 

In fact i'm waiting to watch Quick Gun Murugun in which Rajendra Prasad is an Unlikely Superhero, a South Indian cowboy who feels his duty is to protect the world against arch villain restaurant owner, Rice Plate Reddy, who wants to create the ultimate non-veg dosa! Sounds like a freaking whole new approach to tell the silliest possible story with more colors and entertainment, mocking different film personalities, but it is definitely making us stop doing our work and ask "Sorry, what's the story again??" Its gonna be a treat specially for the south Indians. Directors better start telling us such stories, be it any genre, where we wouldn't have an idea what's gonna happen in the next scene!!

Srikanth Airtel Super Singer Junior 2

Woww.. finally one of my fav contestants is on Youtube now.. Hav a luk at the video link !!


What i like most about this kid is his facial expressions when he sings high notes.. Real fun to watch it.. Enjoy!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beAuz88HBnc

Guitar sprites!!

Two weeks of no Guitar practice!! I was waiting for my Guitar instructor today to tense me up with his usual questions.. "so how ve ya been gettin' along with the Beatles?.. so show me what ya ve been tryin' of late!" Huhhh.. his accent itself wud make me feel nervous in the first few classes!! And his tattoos all over his arms.. Typical Guitarist!! Just that he doesn't have a long hair plaited at the corners or let lose hanging all over the eyes hiding almost the whole of your face.. however he used to hav a french beard.. And actually hez bald-headed!! Not the kewl-headed-yet-snobbish-Guitarist type.. We went to see his performance once in a small old restaurant/bar near the downtown area.. Man he was simply rocking on his honky tonk electric Guitar.. Too good to believe that i'm his student ;-)

Initially i was worried how he would get along with me, what methods he wud use to teach me and so on.. And it was i who looked him up from the Craigslist advertisements, the best one for lowest coaching charges who wud come home to teach.. He came with the idea that i'm just a lil average above beginner or just a beginner, but he liked the way i picked up and followed his notes and Rhythms and almost instantaneously.. So we kinda got comfortable later on!! Now a couple of weeks back, he came home for a dinner with us and told Mohan, that i'm his "Star" Student.. ***Star*** yeaahhh ;-)

Now-a-days too many guitar players are wanting to play and learn metal guitar that it may seem that most metal music does not follow any music theory rules and that most metal guitar players just play fast. But if you look a little beyond the tattoos and long hair you will find that some or many of these guitar players have actually taken the time to learn to play the instrument, develop monster technique and speed and know the music theory “rules”. My instructor, for instance, has been playing since 30 yrs now.. And he has been playing for a lot of bands since 20yrs. So lets say, it takes at least 10yrs to master an instrument!! 

Last two weeks he was out of town to see his mom.. And here comes the big man today for the first time ever.. without his Guitar for the class!! He is definitely very confident about me, no doubt.. But not to this extent that he forgets to bring his instrument along.. Long way to go for me! I'm just half way up the ladder!!

Go for a ride.. helter-skelter!!

I'm glad to see many of my very old friends managing to push themselves into the traffic created by my blog along with my other good friends around me. One of them even asked me if i'm planning to write poems!! I used to write them during my college days and let them drift in the air.. Nice to see people getting back to me with different feedbacks. It has all been reminding me of the past days. How i miss a lot of them!! It is not just marriage or jobs which bring a lot of change in life or pull us apart from our near and dear ones. There's more to it.. mmm.. mebbe Time, the amazing factor which by itself probably doesn't know what it is doing to everyone of us in our lives. Oh no time to do this, no time to eat, no time to sleep, no time to write emails or keep in touch with old friends that are gone out of our lives, no time to call up my own sibblings who're placed far away, no time to excercise, no time to breathe!! Oh i forgot my pills today, i forgot my Doctor's appointment, i forgot to wish for a friend's bday, i forgot i've invited someone over a coffee, i forgot to take my mobile along, i forgot to pick up some stuffs  on the way, oh i truly forgot i'm on fasting today (we don't forget to eat though)!! Time is precious, they say.. Time is money!! No wonder, we are trying to beat it..

Today i'm here, writing a blog, trying to prove something. Tomorrow i have an agenda as part of my weekend plans. And in a week's time i'd try to prepare myself for attempting a driver's license test. And in a fortnight's time i'm going to do a short Spanish course. And in a month and a half's time i'm looking forward to celebrate my first diwali after wedding.. The list is long, i can go on and fill it in with what i intend to do until i die. Some have still longer lists.. The material Agenda!! which beats the immaterial Time!!

Ok it has been a couple of weeks that i played my Guitar lessons as my instructor went on a vacation.. I need to catch up with it.. No time :-(

Oh immortal one!!

You walk, we run

You run, we chase

You hide, we find

You hold, we squeeze

You escape, we entangle

You bet, we dare

All the while ahead of you, we ramble

W'out you even being aware..

Bcoz we want the best??

We always crave for the best things in our life.. We often feel bad that we don't have the best car, the best mobile, the best home, the best friends, the best job, the best pay (this i guess even Bill Gates would be complaining!). Interestingly we keep trying to achieve these in life. Can we also say that these are the motivating factors which keep us boosted to try more and more. In a way it makes total sense. Yes we deserve to get the best for the efforts we put in..  And it is amazing to see that we don't want to lose, cos we want the best!! And for whom?? For ourselves, for our kith and kin, for our kids.. We are able to achieve anything in our "wishlist" that is materialistic. What about "life" by itself? Is it there in our wishlist? Are we knowingly ignoring the fact that life can't continue to exist on this planet this way? Are we doing this to our own kids bcos we want the best?? We can give them everything they want, but can we give them what they actually need?? The list is originally very small.. Space to live, Air to breathe, Water to drink, Food to eat, Clothes to wear.. And whatever we are doing to the earth right now is enough to detain them from the above listed.

Governments all over the world are planning to stop the usage and thereby the production of plastic bags. It is marching its way out and we are moving in towards B.Y.O.B (Bring Your Own Bag, not Bottle). Plastic bags are typically thrown away after one use, do not break down easily in the environment, fill landfills, and float into trees, rooftops, roadways and oceans. Americans throw away almost 100 billion plastic bags every year, and only 1 percent to 3 percent are recycled, leaving the rest to clog streams, foul landscapes, and kill birds and marine mammals. Did we even know what we were doing to our fellow creatures?? Over 100,000 marine animals DIE every year from plastic entanglement..

Paper or Plastic? Paper bags, which many people consider a better alternative to plastic bags, carry their own set of environmental problems. For example, according to the American Forest and Paper Association, in 1999 the U.S. alone used 10 billion paper grocery bags, which adds up to a lot of trees. And some industry reps say it takes more energy to recycle a paper bag vs. plastic.

Reusable cloth bags are much more eco-friendly and you can help by using them as alternatives to paper or plastic. We can help by doing some very simple things:

1.         Switch to reusable shopping bags and replace paper and plastic bags. Reusable bags are convenient and come in a variety of sizes, styles and materials. 

2.         Recycle your plastic bags. If you do end up using plastic bags now and then, be sure to recycle them. If you already have a collection of plastic bags from past shopping trips, make sure you reuse them. Take them out with you when you go shopping, or use them to store items.

3.         Take a look at what you already have in your house. Beach bags, canvas bags, shopping bags, backpacks, etc. can all be used to carry items home from a shopping excursion.

4.         Very importantly, stop using plastic/paper plates in partys. The next time you buy plates for partys make sure you look for "biodegradable" paper cups/plates.

I have seen many people doing this today sincerely. If they can, everyone of us should.

"God makes three requests of his children. Do the best you can, where you are, with what you have, now" 

New laws.. Drive crazy!!

Its a known fact that driving rules and regulations are more stringent in most of the developed nations. There's no compromise for driving under influence or crossing the roads against signal. In other words, whatever is mentioned by the DPS (Department of Public Safety, like the RTO in India) as a rule/regulation in the Traffic laws laid, has to be adhered to. In the event of over-riding any of the rules, we end up getting a warning or a ticket which is recorded under the Social Security Number (SSN). This SSN is issued to every individual and administered by the Social Security Administration, an independent agency of the US govt. Anything good or bad throughout the life is recorded under this SSN and monitored at places like hospitals, govt. agencies, Apartment Offices, Job providers as and when required. 

I just read in a magazine recently that the AAA has helped pass several new Traffic safety laws. AAA is a motor club association in the US through which we have access to services such as 24-hr Roadside Assistance, special member discounts, professional travel services and also the access to vehicle insurance. These laws take effect from Sep 1st, 2009 unless otherwise noted. Some of them follow:

Teen Drivers are not allowed (in the first 12 months of licensure) to drive between midnight and 5AM travelling with more than one passenger under 21 and using wireless communication devices while driving. Previously the restriction period was only six months of licensure.

Driver Education course certificate is required now for applicants under 25 to apply for a license. Previously a course was not mandatory for applicants who were 18 and above. The law requires successful completion of a six-hour state-approved driver education course that covers the dangers of distracted driving (including cell phones).

Booster Seats (child passenger safety-seat system) are required for kids under age 8, unless they are atlease 4 ft 9" tall. Previously it was for children under age 5 and less than 36" tall. For the first 9 months law enforcement will issue warnings for violations. Ticketing for an offense starts June 1st, 2010.

Cell Phones may not used while driving, regardless of any location. AAA Texas urges drivers to refrain from using any WCD, whether handsfree or handheld.

Drinking and Driving has invited tougher laws to be enforced! Whether on land or on water.. Minors convicted of operating a boat with any detectible amount of alcohol in their system will face prosecution. Other provisions including a mandatory one-year license suspension for an alcohol-related conviction of boating or driving when a child is present.

I better clear the written test by the end of this week before my mind gets confused with more changes in the 40-paged book filled with all numbers, figures and signs :-( I have been giving excuses for a long time now.. I would try and give it a shot soon. So one more security risk is on the way for drivers on the road now.. Y'all better watch it!

 

The best car safety device is a rear view mirror with a cop in it..
 

My Favorite Hang-outs

Ohhh.... Its Monday again!!!     
  

       

The part 1 AOL course got over yesterday and we had fun dancing, singing and exchanging gifts like it was a graduation day for us!! But it was weekend too.. And what is it a weekend without visitng atleast one of my fav outlets in Austin.. There are a lot of Indian, Mexican, Thai, Italian and American diners here.. I have tried many of them, not all. I like a couple of Mexican outlets like Trudys and Chewys. But mostly i have found that the quality of food in indian restaurants are not so good all the time. So if i have to rate my most favourite ones, then it will look like this: 

 

Thats my most fav hang-out which grabs all my votes!! I juzzzzz luvvvvv it!! Its YUMMY!! I used to not  eat a whole lot of icecreams back home cos i would fall sick immediately with cold and cough, but now  i wonder how i'm able to manage eating so much of the same!! We usually buy the Dreyers once every two weeks and eat them at home. But we never miss out on visiting this one  specially located on the Canyon Ridge at Palmer and i35. There's a beautiful small lotus pond/fountain set-up artificially with some fishes in entrance of the shop. They have a loottt of flavours, simply creamy. We usually pick one waffle bowl and share but this time we had one biggggg cone for each of us on Saturday, ate it as if it was our lunch, came home and slept! Hee hee.. Just like kids!

The next most fav one is The Masala Wok.. If you want to eat something quick in this neck of the woods options come courtesy of fast-food chains. However more people have found their way to this bright Indo-chinese diner where healthful choices are plentiful and the masala levels are incorporated to our individual likings. Their menu is also almost overwhelming with specialties like Tandoori/Masala Wraps, Veg/Pepper Stir fries with Rice/Noodles, Manchurians with Steamed Rice etc.. We can give our preference of Rice (Brown/Basmati) or Noodles in any item and the Spice  levels (Hot/Medium) while placing our orders. And since we are veggies we replace the non-vegetarian ingredients on all items with Tofu. Turns out it's a chain as well -- based in Texas, with a handful of locations one in Austin, four in Dallas, one in Houston, started first in Washington with other franchises across US. The food is so delicious and we visit the place once every month or two only. We avoid eating there too often so that it doesn't become a routine.

Happy week ahead!!

However Saturday will definitely swing by soon again..

And don't forget to hav a look at my new jukebox at the sidebar.. More popular songs are yet to come!! Enjoy..

Weekend Fiesta ;-)

Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it. 


Yeah.. I love weekends!!!

Traditionally the two non-working days in a seven day week.. But for me the two most tied up days, like the rest of the days in the week!! Remember i told you i have soooo much to do during the week everyday!!! Saturday mornings usually some devil inside him will wake him up early for his 3 hour long practice session for the half marathon at the Austin town lake, where he runs around 8 miles with a desi group. By the time he gets back i would have silently finished my casual calls to India with everyone.. And then when he is back his mobile will start screaming with calls and missed calls for the next 2 or 3 hours!! Phew.. thats when he finds time to talk to India leisurely.. Then it will be time for refilling our grocery cart!! We visit the Indian groceries here only once or twice a week as they are pretty costly. So whenever we need rice or anything really "indian indian", then we go there. Otherwise we normally visit our favourite FIESTA where we can get fresh vegetable stocks on Saturday forenoons. Eventhough it is a Mexican grocers, we find pretty much all Indian items, especially the veggies.. In fact their eatable products are imported from all over the world ranging from American States to the East Asian Countries.. Interesting is that the staffs there at the counter sometimes struggle to understand and identify some veggies which the localites here don't buy. Once i remember buying some pudina and they finally found it listed under a strange name Yerba buena. We thought it was Hispanic but when i looked up online it attributed to Bogota (Capital of Colombia in South America).. It is definitely an interesting place to buy food items and we prefer going there for other outlets, at least for those desi keralite style plaintain chips that he loves to eat, which we don't get even at many Indian stores here. So Fiesta makes our weekends kinda special ;-) 


Then there is some party or the other to visit.. Some celebrate a b'day, some name a newborn, some simply call us over a dinner or we call some family over a dinner.. Or if at all there's nothing or nobody to see, there is a Hindu temple which we regularly visit every Friday evening or Sunday whichever is convenient. So weekends here are mostly about inviting, visiting and either ways most importantly eating food and saying "Food was lovely!" - Well food will definitely be lovely.. I'm happy there is a pool side party coming up tomorrow again after a long time!! This one is hosted by my neighbor in event of their newborn baby (boy). And the sunday is certainly going to be special at the Austin Hindu Temple (AHT) on the account of Vinayaka Chathurthi.. 

The only reason why we ask other people how their weekend was is so we can tell them about our own weekend ;-)

Timepass

The clock talked loud. I threw it away, it scared me what it talked.

On Aug 15th, 2009 it had been six months since i got married.. A good date to remember and assure myself how independent i am in life.. I have all the freedom in this world to do all those things that i was complaining i couldn't do due to "lack of time".. or rather due to poor time-management.. And whenever i talk to anyone, be it from India or from here in Austin, they are interested in asking only one question everytime.. never mind if they're not talking to me for the first time.. they still keep asking the same.. "How do you pass time ya?" And my blood pressure will shoot up!! Why should i pass time?? Time doesn't wait for anyone.. It is already passing!! Somehow people all around the world have developed this attitude towards non-working women.. A homemaker has to do something to "pass" time.. Ok get me a job! I wanted one too.. I'm not an IT person, not interested in becoming one too.. I have last been a Team Lead in HP and a German language specialist for 5 Yrs and i can play good music on the Guitar.. This is my profile!! The consultants may ask, "A German.... what??.. u must be joking!" and thats it!! But it is a tradition here to ask, "Oh is your wife working?? Oh if not, then how does she "pass" time ya?" - Goodness gracious, someone explain to them what it takes to be a homemaker and to "pass" that time.. Patience, patience and a lot more of patience!!

Well i get up in the morning everyday.. sometimes early for a morning walk, or sometimes on time just to brush my teeth and prepare breakfast for him.. But the point here is, I get up in the morning.. everyday!! Atleast before 8, i'd have got up and be ready to watch the Airtel Super Singer Junior Season 2 on the Star Vijay TV. Hail to the Vijay TV!! Breakfast is usually dosa if i made the flour ready for the week, or a sandwich.. And if i miss my morning walk, i'll compensate it with a half hour work-out at the apartment gym. And then i cook lunch for him.. no hard and fast rules unless it is some festive occasion. A simple 45 mins to one hour cooking.. If there's food carried over from yesterday, then it is only half hour's job. All that he likes about food is, it has to be served hot!! Microwave ki Jai Ho!! By the way, after gym and before cooking lunch is when i make my morning dutiful calls to India.. to my folks and his folks on alternative days. If i miss it one day, i'll immediately get a call from my mom and she will curse me for having set up the stupid voicemail cos they end up paying for talking to a voicemail.. Thanks to Tata Docomo for their new plan with rates based on seconds instead of minutes.. Yet they don't know how important setting up a voicemail is here.. People here rely more on machines than on human specimens!! They are pretty old now to do a voicechat with us and even if they come online their internet lines will keep breaking our calls every 5 or 10 mins. And after that lunchtime will approach.. he comes home everyday mostly by 12.30 to have proper home-cooked healthy south indian food. And he leaves in max one hour. We are growing some beautiful small plants in our patio like Tulasi, Vrutchi, Curry-leaf, Vinca, Jasmine.. Once he leaves i water them so that they can withstand the sun which starts scorching by 3pm here.. God it is too hot outside to open the patio doors between 3pm and 7pm. Sun sets pretty late by 8.30pm here!

Well it isn't so tough to do something for a timepass during the afternoon.. Especially when there is a laptop, some divine household chores like washing clothes weekly twice, folding the clothes neatly and arrange it in his untidy closet !! and washing vessels twice a day, watching a movie on KTv or UTv Hindi movies once or twice a week, reading a novel online, learning to play one good Tamil or Hindi song on Guitar a week, one or two new Tamil/Hindi classical/devotional/Bhajan songs per week, learning some western country and rock-n-roll from a Guitar instructor every Monday and Thursday for an hour and half, practicing them atleast twice a week.. hold on, i need to breathe inbetween!! Ok.. and there are also these neighbours who keep complaining that i don't visit them "at all" if they dont see me for a week!!! Oh God, i sometimes wonder how there are so many indian families living in my Apartment community.. There are nearly 13 + families that i know here within the complex.. But it is still nice to have so many of them who have formed a Mandali of housewives here.. Most of them are Andhraites.. One Kannadiga is there and one Tamilian. The one Tamilian has gone to India now to celebrate the birth of her baby boy. Anyways i've started understanding Telugu in bits and pieces. This Mandali keeps meeting at somebody's place once a week or two over an evening snack with a new recipe.. So i am part of this Mandali too ;-) Long live the housewives club!! By the time i find that i have nothing to do, it would be already time for him to be back from office!! And did i forget to mention that i don't have the good or bad habit of sleeping in the afternoon?? I hardly find time ya.. who is it here now asking me how i "pass" time??

But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day.