2008 - Recap

Where do I start? If there is one year that I really wish that would start over again, it would be 2008. It is by far the worst year of my life so far. Reasons...too many to even possibly list here. Another 10 hrs for the new year 2009

Hoping that 2009 will certainly be a better one for one & all!!

P.S: I actually wanted to write a long post, but decided to cut it short.....

Merry Christmas

Wishing one and all a Merry Christmas. The kids got a Keyboard (Vidu) and Doodle-pro (Vish) from Santa. They made cookies for Santa and also kept some gifts for him. Went to a birthday party for lunch and then took the kids out to watch "Bedtime Stories". This was the first ever movie on a big-screen for the kids and for us with the kids. Vidu had a lot of fun, while Vish was completely bored and was hooting the whole time. Anyways, a fun day

Hoping that this holiday season will really be one of happiness and forgiveness.....

Bu(sh)oe...

Finally, someone had the guts to do this

Happy Birthday Vidyuth

Vidyuth is turning 5 today. Here's wishing him a very happy birthday and our blessings to him for a fun-filled day, a healthy and happy long life - Thatha/Patti, Appa/Amma, Vishruth

Finally, a Welcome Change

Yes, I am talking about the US Presidential Elections:)

Hopefully, we will see our troops back from Iraq.

Congrats Obama
~Laks

Deepavali 2008

Happy Deepavali 2008

Happy Birthday Guru

For a guy who doesn't wish for anything, here's to peace and quiet and a year where all your wishes come true.

Happy Birthday Guru

love
laks

Happy Birthday Appa

Today is my dad's birthday. He is the best dad anyone could ever ask for, supportive, encouraging, a bit stern at times and always loving. Here's wishing him a very happy birthday, and best wishes for his good health and continued happiness on this day and in the future.

love you appa.
~laks

Govinda Krishna Jai

This is a rare video of Satya Sai Baba singing 'Govinda Krishna Jai

Happy Birthday Bro(-in-law)

Today is Ram's (my BIL) birthday. Here's wishing him a very happy birthday, and best wishes for his good health and continued happiness on this day and in the future.

Real Estate Joke

Landlord (to his friend): I have a very good property in a prime area. Lots of people come and check it out and even like it, but no one ever actually rents it

Friend: How will they rent from you? You name is Sue Tenant :-)

Signs

Are these Signs of things to come?

Happy Birthday Mom(-in-law)

Today is my MIL's birthday. She is a very enterprising woman, not surprising considering that she had/has a brilliant career in Sales.

Extremely outspoken, friendly and hospitable are her shining qualities. Here's wishing her a very happy birthday on this special day

e-Humor

Very funny

Endhiran - Sneak Peek

Rajni looks dashing in this unofficial photo taken during Endhiran song picturization

Only in USA

We went with the kids to Denny's restaurant last night for dinner. We were trying to customize a kid meal for my son and here is how it all boiled down :-)

Us: We want a kid's meal with eggs, pancakes, grapes (instead of bacon)
Waitress: How do you like your eggs?
Us: As an Omelette, please
Watiress: No, you can only get it scrambled
Us: #!@#&!()#)

Houston - Ike(s) - We have a problem

The fury of hurricane Ike has clobbered Houston and various parts of Texas big time. Mother nature is almost always unforgiving

Capital bombings

Read this shocking news here. These islamic militants are like pests. What do we do to pests? We eliminate them. We should do the same to these radical, fanatic losers who commit crimes in the name of a really good religion.

Certainty of change

Everything changes in life - weather, time, season. People change too. Some times change is natural as in time, season etc. With humans too, physical change is natural as one gets older. However change in attitude, behavior, outlook etc in humans often are due to experiences (good/bad) in day to day life. So one thing that is certain is everything/everyone in this life keeps changing.

Sometimes change is for good and sometimes it is for bad/worse, but we should certainly be aware that change is constantly happening in everyone. I'm aware of this now....

Accepting people as they are

How often have we heard through various discourses, practices, books, people that we should "Accept People As They Are and Love Them For What They Are."

Let's pause for a moment and think what this really is..........Does it mean we should accept actions without a reaction? Does it mean that we should just move on without asking questions? Does it mean that we just accept certain situations with the person(s) in questions and not accept the ones that are deemed unacceptable (either because of society or our own value/belief/thought system or boundaries)?

The reason I ask these questions is because I have been asking the same questions to myself without any answers. What happens if someone tells you that they have accepted you for who you are and will love you for who you are but some of your action(s) or word(s) irk them? Does that mean they do not accept you for who you are or does it mean that that action/word of yours is unacceptable?

What happens if in a course of a day, you just feel like narrating the sequence of events to somebody and that person thinks that you are justifying yourself/your actions and that you do not have to? What happens if you are cold or in pain or just engrossed in thought and your body automatically goes into a hands-folded pose and that is being perceived as a hostile/ shielding-myself-from-the world-from-whatever-the hell-it might-be? Does it mean you are not being accepted or do you have to explain what you were doing/thinking?

All of us have a belief system or have been wired to interpreting some actions/words in some way because we are used to that system (and we are creatures that get comfortable with routine/ritual/familiar actions or words).Does that mean there is no other interpretation? Does it mean that another approach is wrong or there needs to be some kind of explanation offered?

So where is the concept of "Accepting people as they are and loving them for what they are"? This might come off as going off track but don't the differences in our actions/words/thoughts make us different or distinct? Don't they make us the individuals that we are supposed to be? If everybody has the same way of talking/writing/singing/doing whatever-else-that-might-come-into-your mind, won't we all be manufactured robots or dolls?

I understand that following/trying to follow the teachings of a leader might open up our mind and make our thought process clear but they don't necessarily make us any different than the person who has not undergone that experience. Maybe we apply the things that we have learned to some situations but sometimes we don't because we are too emotionally attached or maybe our perception or perspective is different.

I think that is what we should accept. Instead of accepting people as they are, we should accept that perceptions & perspectives to life and situations will be different and we should accept those differences & try to love & serve past those differences~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
divergent ponderings
laks

Appa, Amma trip to Gandhidham

My parents are visiting my dad's youngest sister (aka athai) in Gandhidham, Gujarat for a couple of weeks. Here is a very recent picture of my dear parents with my athai

For now,until my next visit to India, I have to be content with just seeing their pics....

L to R: Athai, Amma, Appa

Happy Birthday Sister-in-law

Today is Rathi's (my BIL Ram's wife => my SIL for lack of a better term) birthday. Here's wishing her a very happy birthday, and best wishes for her good health and continued happiness on this day and in the future.

Man alive, Man dead

Deadly goof-up

Anbe Sivam

Stumbled upon this on the net. Thought I'll post it here

Person: Where is God when a child is dying in the gutters of Calcutta ?
Mother Teresa: God is there, where are you ?

Happy Birthday Chithi

Today is my Meera chithi's (my dad's younger brother's wife) birthday. She turns 45 today. I have known her for the past 17 years, since the time she got married to my uncle. She is one of the few women that have a great deal of inner strength. Never will she crib about anything, inspite of all that she has gone through and will always have a warm positive smile for you. She is also extremely humble and will always treat guests, expected or unexpected, at their not-so-spacious home in a warm friendly manner with utmost hospitality. If there is one place that I'm truly at home, away from my own home, it is their place

She, with some basic support from my uncle, is struggling day in and day out to make ends meet for their family. They have pillared all their hopes on their 12 year old son, who is shining really well in his school and other extra-curricular activities

I really pray to God for giving her good health and continued happiness on this day and in the future. A very happy birthday to her

P.S: I'm trying to explain to Vidyuth the names of relationships in Tamil as opposed to the generic Uncle/Aunt in English. Here is how a recent conversation was

Me: Vidyuth, we call appa's elder brother as "Periappa"
Vidyuth: Ok, appa
Me: Vidyuth, we call appa's elder brother's wife as "Periamma"
Vidyuth: Ok, appa
Me: Vidyuth, we call appa's younger brother as "Chittapa"
Vidyuth: Ok, appa
Vidyuth: Appa, do we then call appa's younger brother's wife as "Chittamma"
Me: @#$@&$@)

Actually it is logical for him to ask that, however they are, for reasons completely oblivious to me, are called "Chithi"

First to come, probably first to leave too...

Never shake your baby!! No matter what the situation is

Mera Bhaarat Mahaan

Let's celebrate as an Independent India turns 61 today!!! Jai Hind!!

Heard this or seen this?

Heard but not seen during the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing

Seen but not heard during the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing


Never seen or heard about this. Read on

17 going on 18....

I have been in the US for the last 12 years. I landed in Chicago in Aug 96. Got my masters, moved to Pittsburgh, PA in March 99 and then moved to the bay area in Oct 2000. I left home (Chennai) to pursue my bachelor's degree in BITS Pilani in 1991. In essence, I have been away from my parents for the past 17 years and me being the only child doesn't make it any better for either them or me, especially given their old age now.....the pangs of separation really hurts...

BTW, this is the 100th post for this blog. one good thing at least :-)

8/8/8

Today is 8/8/8. The Olympics has started in China at the auspicious moment of eight o'clock on the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008. Waiting until 9/9/9 now :-)

White belt

Vidu (front row, third kid from right) who has been learning Kung Fu for the last 3 months, got his white belt (first stage) on July 19th and made us all very proud. He is really excited now about this whole kicking and punching routing, and is now firmly set his eyes on the next color (yellow)

Lion's share

My little one Vishruth is a perfect Leo (born in end July). Not to mention that he turned 2 recently and can't speak fully coherent sentences, he now literally roars to get his way. The kids usually eat their breakfast(bread) on our way to work/school/day care. Recently one morning when we were driving to his day care, he was eating his bread (pre-cut into bite size pieces by L) as usual. Since I was very hungry and couldn't reach my lunch bag, I asked him for a small piece and here is how it all went

Me: Paapukku (that's how he calls me) oru kutti slice thaaa
Vish: nooo....(expected first reaction)
Me: Please kutti...paappukku romba pasikudhu da please
Vish: nooooooooooooooo.....(high pitched shriek)

Sensing that talking to him was not going to work, I tried to reach for his bread box at which point his leo-like instincts kicked in. There were at least 4-5 slices remaining and when he sensed that I was going to help myself to a slice, he quickly stuffed all of the slices into small mouth and gave me a look that can't be described in words......He was able to munch in the bread without actually spitting out any

P.S: However today he offered me slice after slice even though I wasn't interested. I guess you can never understand kids and their moods......

Happy Birthday Vishruth

Our son Vishruth is turning 2 today. Here's wishing him a very happy birthday and our blessings to him for a fun-filled day - Thatha/Patti, Appa/Amma, Vidyuth

Ban(g)alore!!

Terrorists are at it again - bang galore in Bangalore

Crude reality

Only silver lining amidst rising oil prices

UPA wins no confidence motion

Barely a scrape through, but the deal will hopefully help India in the long run

Happy Birthday Appa

Today is my dad's 69th birthday. Here's wishing him a very happy birthday and a very healthy/prosperous life

Pine Mountain Lake Trip

We finally took a really relaxing vacation (read doing nothing) by making a trip to a gorgeous place called Pine Mountain Lake nested in the high sierras. The kids had a blast and L and I finally found some time to relax. This place is definitely a winner

Learning to make a Pizza - With a nose cut

L had some late night meetings and I was in not in a mood to really cook anything and so we decided to order Pizza from Domino's for dinner. I went with Vidu and Vish and ordered our Pizza. While we were waiting for our order to be cooked, Vish managed to not notice a huge glass door and walked right into it and cut his nose. Obviously shocked and hurt too, he started crying uncontrollably.

The pizza shop owner was kind enough to let us inside the kitchen so that we could actually watch our pizza being made - right from kneading the dough, to streching it to a circular shape and adding all our cheeses, toppings and sauce

The kids had fun watching the process and Vish promptly forgot about his nose cut.

Pre-K graduation

Vidu graduated from the Pre-K class from KinderCare with flying colors. A very proud moment for all of us (amma, appa, vish, thatha's, paatti's). The person in the purple shirt is his teacher Miss Priya. No points for guessing who Vidu is in this picture :-)

Sushi - Not for vegetarians

I'm usually pretty flexible and adventurous when we eat out. I'm open to trying any cuisine as long as there are veggie options or things that can be vegetarianized like tofu instead of meat....well you get the drift.....I have tried a wide variety of cuisines ranging from Chinese, Thai, Italian, Mexican, Vietnamese and even Ethiopian

However I was always nervous about trying Japanese cuisine aka Sushi. However one of our lunch meetings at work got scheduled at a Sushi bar. Though I could have easily opted out of this meeting, I didn't want to wimp out and decided to finally give it a try. I ordered some tempura (aka bajji in Chennai), salad and cucumber/sticky rice Sushi. The tempura was good, the salad (read lettuce) was just about what you would expect from it. The cucumber/sticky rice sushi was yucky and tasted really weird. I'm not sure if it was the preparation itself or if it was due to the sauce that came with it. I just couldn't eat at all. period...after we finished lunch, I grabbed a quick bite from a Subway to actually eat my lunch :-)

Sushi...bye bye forever

Art Faire 2008

We took the kids to participate in the Art Faire 2008 organized by Care For Children. We wanted to primarily support the cause and also thought it will be a fun activity for the kids on a bright summer afternoon. The bonus was that we won a Target gift card for $40 in a raffle draw. L and I are not known for our luck among all other things and this was definitely a huge surprise for us. We promptly headed to Target the same afternoon and spent this money on a toaster oven for our home.

P.S: This toaster oven is being put to good use every morning by L for making our breakfast (6 bread slices) in a batch

Happy Wedding Anniversary to my parents

Today is my parents 42nd wedding anniversary. Here's wishing them a very happy anniversary. I really wish I was with them on this special day.

Inspiration

If this can't inspire people to not stop trying after failures, I don't know what else will. Hats off to Mr. Jayaganesh

Hats off to a True Hero

Truly inspiring deed

Happy Mother's Day

A very happy mother's day to all moms. Now for the soap box, I don't believe that there should be a special day earmarked to remember one's mother or to thank them. Since my opinion is not going to change anything, I'll get off my soap box now :-)

Happy Wedding Anniversary Parents(-in-law)

Today is L's parents 31st wedding anniversary. Here's wishing them a very happy anniversary. Indian marriages rock (even if they sometimes are on the rocks :-))

ILP 10K Run - Race for Literacy

Participated in this 10K run to support a worthy cause and to get back in good shape that I was in late 2006 after completing my first marathon

Since I hadn't run at all after the marathon (26.2 miles), this 10K (6.25 miles) run proved to be quite challenging. The first 4 miles was ok. But the last 2.25 miles was a bit tough and decided to a combination of walk/run. I completed the run in about 81 minutes and then ran straight to the "Dosa Hut" booth serving hot brunch of upma, pongal, idli etc and relished it

L also had made some omelette for me to eat after I got back home, which I ended up eating only for dinner

I was extremely sore in my legs for 2 days after this run. The pain was really bad. After this run, I have decided to do some running regularly so that I can be in shape and participate in events like this at short notice

I'm also thinking about participating in a half-marathon (13.1 miles) sometime later this year...

Pick of the lot and gets picked on a lot

Ulaganaayagan, Padmashree Dr. Kamalahaasan is the pick of the lot in the acting arena. I guess there is no dispute to the above fact

He also seems to be the one to picked on by these random outfits for some cheap publicity. Seriously, don't they have anything better to do? Read on

LA Trip

We took a road trip to LA with L's parents. The itinerary included the standard desi spots such as Disney Land (day 1), Sea World (day 2), Beverly Hills/Santa Barbara (day 3) and Solvang (day 4).

The kids had a blast in Disney Land.



All of us were completely dehydrated in Sea World, thanks to an extremely hot day. Vish was particularly tired and really gave us a tough time :-)



Things heated up further the next day in Santa Barbara downtown with daddy picking a wrong spot to eat lunch and Vish deciding to calm down after getting to the beach finally at 3.30pm.



All of us enjoyed our time in Solvang, even though it wasn't long enough

Can't drive-in anymore in Chennai

Read here

Rice to the occassion

Looks like we need to "rice" to the occassion

Bhakshanam

L, obviously relaxed after her recently acquired LEED AP certification, spent the day making some delicious goodies (aka Bhakshanam) for us over the weekend. The plan was to have these for our upcoming LA trip. But all of them - thenkuzhal, chakli, omapudi, were all so nice and tasty, that we finished most of them by late afternoon.

So L has to make some more for the trip and we hope that she stashes them away some place safe so that we can actually have it during the trip :-)

LEED AP Certified

L, having worked really hard for the 2 months, has successfully completed her LEED AP certification. Congrats L!!

Whose problem is it anyway?

The main problem with me is that I treat everyone's problem like my own problem. If I don't treat it like my own, I blame myself for being insensitive to the other person's problem. So I usually try to treat it like my own problem.

If I treat it like my own problem, I try to solve the problem in my way and this might not be liked by the other person and hence causing more problems :-)

I still don't have a clue as to how to draw a fine line to solve the above problem. Any ideas?? No problem if you don't have any ideas :-)

Vegetarian Lasagna, Parmigiano/Romano rolls and Brownies

The culinary experiment for this week comprised the above menu based on the recipes that I saw here, here and here.

Since I started pretty late in the evening and almost all of these recipes involved some serious baking, I could only do the lasagna and the rolls for dinner. I made brownies the following day. I followed these recipes very religiously and it took me almost 3.5 hours to get these 2 items done. The only subsitution that I made was that I used Parmigiano-Romano for the rolls as my local grocer didn't carry Parmigiano-Reggiano.

This was a new experience for all of us. The lasagna came out really well and all of us enjoyed it a lot. L and her mom liked the rolls a lot as well, whereas L's dad didn't enjoy them very much. He felt that the cheese taste was not up to his liking.

The brownies were chocaliciously good and infectious and saw both my darling sons eating it with and without my knowledge :-) This recipe will be a regular in our kitchen from now on

I really wish I had taken some pics of the lasagna/rolls/brownies to post them here. However it was comforting to note that they turned out quite similar to the ones that I saw here, here and here.

Puthandu Nal Vazhthukkal 2008

Our best wishes for a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year for one & all

Only in India

What the #$%^

Temper tantrums....or WWE

Vishruth, our little one, is really hot-headed for his young age of 21 months. Most notable incident among his recent outbursts was the one that happened yesterday after we came, running, from the park. Since the weather was very good yesterday (ah..finally), L and I took the kids to the park. Vidyuth and Vishruth had all the fun that they could playing in the slide, swing, mud etc. When it was time to leave, Vishruth, started crying and I just grabbed him and sprinted towards home which, thankfully, is right opposite the park. Running 500m with a crying 31lb toddler was not what I had planned as a relaxation last evening.

Once we reached home, to my utter shock and disbelief, Vishruth jumped up and landed on his rear, much like what we are used to seeing (or avoiding) in WWE-type fights. He did this at least 4-5 times to vent out his anger/frustration that we didn't let him stay in the park for as long as he wanted to. I have not watched WWE all my life and I'm quite certain that I have ensured that my kids haven't either, at least so far. I'm really clueless as to where he picked up this action/anger from. After a few mins of ignoring him (and I'm sure his rear hurt by now), he finally stopped and transformed into an angel that he usually is

Happy 6th Wedding Anniversary

It was this day, 6 years ago, that L & I entered into wedlock. Over the past 6 years, based on the all the experiences, both good and bad, that we have had together, has helped us both realize the love that we have for each other. The strength of our bonds of matrimony, which has matured slowly but steadily, has helped us understand each other and accepting each other for who we are.

I want to mention a beautiful quote that I read somewhere a while back. Since I don't remember where I read it, I'm unable to credit the source.

"The ultimate test of relationship is to hold hands even during a disagreement!!"

6 years and going strong

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary to US:)

Tearful farewell to my friend Balaji

One of my close friends from college, CD Balaji Sankar - fondly called "CaDaBS" passed into the ages today at 12:55pm (IST). He had been battling, very bravely, the second attack of brain tumor for the past 6 months. The doctors who were attending to him gave up all possible hope and all of us were only praying for a miracle. He successfully fought the same battle for the first time 4.5 years ago. He is survived by his elderly parents, his wife and his 2 young girls. I really hope and pray that God gives his family all the strength and courage during this tough time

He was one of my closest friends in college. He was a quiet, kind-hearted, simpleton from Dindigul (a city in southern Tamil Nadu). Though he had no previous exposure to computers before coming to Pilani, he never gave up during all those challenging programming assignments. He worked really hard and came out with flying colors and got a job thru campus interview with TCS with whom he worked until he breathed his last

CaDaBS...you will be missed!!

Cash....ew!!! Pakoda

Based on the recipe that I saw here, I tried to make them at home last weekend for our Saturday night wine-beer session. The recipe yielded about 16 medium sized pakodas. The recipe is actually very simple and healthy and the pakodas came out reasonably well for a maiden attempt. L's parents, for whom I actually made these, enjoyed it a lot. This actually was a very good side dish for our Chianti and Heineken

I personally felt that the pakodas lacked crispiness and so if I were to make this again, I would probably increase the oil by another teaspoon or so to get them to be crispy.

PS: The pakodas didn't stay on the plate long enough for me to take pics :-)

What a shame!!

Is studying everything in life? Read on

Enge sellum indha paadhai...

The title for this post is taken from the starting lines of a very touching song from an excellent movie Sethu. No other tune/lyrics could have conveyed the emotions of the protagonist of the movie in such a perfect manner.

The more I listen to this song these days, the more I begin to wonder about life, it's purpose, what's in store in the future....

Unforgettable dates

Following are a few dates in which some really significant events have happened in my life. Since most of the events are of a personal nature, I'm not going to list the events that occurred on these dates in this blog. This post is primarily for me to look up in case I ever forget the following dates in my life

01/22/1986
08/05/1991
07/29/1996
01/24/1997
05/07/1999
12/25/2001
04/07/2002
11/12/2003
07/28/2006
01/19/2008
03/13/2008
03/23/2008
04/02/2008
05/07/2008

I will try to update this post as long as either me or the blog is alive

First cut - It's over

Since

1) we missed the window of opportunity to cut Vishruth's hair at our kuladeivam during our last trip to India
2) we are not going to India this summer
3) Vishruth's hair (who is 20 months old) has grown so much
4) hot summer season in california is fast approaching

we decided to cut his hair here at our local vietnamese saloon. prior to that, i did cut a thin strip of hair (and ensured that i didn't even miss a single strand) and saved it in a ziploc bag to offer to our kuladeivam during our next India trip

since it was his first tryst with someone wielding a pair of scissors near his head, he didn't take it well and of course cried out loud. he calmed down after the first few mins as soon as he realized that it acutally didn't hurt

Anyways, after 15 minutes at the saloon, we got to see our "son" who has been looking like a "daughter" up until now....the long due haircut is finally over

Baking - Attempt number 2!!

After trying my hands at baking once here, I tried it again with a lot of zeal and enthusisam after getting a time tested recipe from my colleague at work.

This attempt was to bake a banana-walnut cake. The recipe was very straightforward and I followed it to a T.....well not exactly, I reduced the sugar so that L's dad could indulge without guilt. The cake actually came out pretty good and all of us enjoyed it

I hope to bake regularly in the future and do it in a way that will entice Vidyuth to ask for a piece, without us having to bribe him to eat the cake

"I Know" Raghuvaran passes on....RIP

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/mar/19rag.htm

This day, that age!!

This was the day in 2003 when L and I first found out that we were going to have our 1st child, whom we had already named Vidyuth. I still remember those joyous moments we had and the transformation of L from a daughter, wife to an expectant mother

Happy Birthday Ammi Jaan

Today is my mother's (I call her Ammi Jaan sometimes) 62nd birthday. Here's wishing her a very happy birthday. I really miss her very much and I wish I was with her on this special occassion.

Wine country day trip

We visited the world famous Napa valley this weekend. Equipped with snacks bought from the Indian grocery store and with the Puliyodharai, thayir saadham prepared by L's mom, we left in the morning around 9.00AM

Our first stop was the Sterling Vineyards. They have a short/scenic tram/cablecar ride from their parking lot to their winery, which is actually up in the hills. Vidyuth and Vishruth enjoyed this a lot. Once we got off, we took the self paced/guided tour of their winery. We also got to taste 6 different wines and each one of them was excellenet

After we got done here, we headed to Casa Neustra, which is along the scenic Silverado trail. We grabbed one of their picnic benches and had our home cooked lunch. They also had a petting zoo with their Llamas and the kids had fun watching/feeding them

We make a quick stop at a local grocery store to pick up some cheese for L who missed out on all the wine tasting part since she doesn't drink alcohol

From there we headed to Rutherford Grove to taste their wine. I had some free tasting discount coupons printed ahead of time and so we enjoyed some really good post-lunch wine for free. May be there is no free lunch, but there certainly is free wine after lunch..hehe

At this point it started raining, as per the forecast for that day. Thankfully the rain waited until we completed all our planned activities. We then drove back to Fremont (via Sonoma, Golden Gate Bridge). The detour was to mainly cater to L's dad desire to see Golden Gate Bridge. Overall we had a great time on this fun packed day trip

Happy Birthday Kannamma

Today is L's (fondly called by me as Kannamma) birthday. Here's wishing a very special person a very happy birthday

Lake Tahoe/Reno - Half century

We went to Lake Tahoe/Reno for the weekend. We, along with L's parents, left on Friday evening and halted overnite in Sacramento. We spent the nite there eating some really awesome idlies (with and w/o milakaipodi) and curd rice with tomato thokku, which L's mom had prepared for the trip. We got up early on Saturday morning and headed out to the Soda Springs resort.

The weather was awesome and wasn't very cold at all. We picked up some breakfast (read hashbrowns) from McD's. The drive was very scenic and nice. Before reaching Soda Springs, we made a small detour to visit an unsupervised snow play area (Cisco Grove exit off I-80E) and we all had fun sliding down the slopes in our own saucer. This was the first snow experience for Vidyuth, Vishruth and L's parents and we could see the excitement in all of them. We played here for 30 minutes or so before leaving for Soda Springs.

Vidyuth and Vishruth had all the fun at Planet Kids at Soda Springs. There was a really cool snow carousel for kids. They had lot of fun on the kid-sleds as well. L and Vidyuth also made snowman. After playing there for a couple of hours, we headed out to Reno and had lunch at IHOP before checking in to our hotel room. After relaxing for a few hours, we decided to check out the night life in Reno. We ordered in pizza for dinner and then visited Circus Circus first. We enjoyed the brilliant gymnastics show that was performed. I took L's parents around the casino and we played for sometime in the slot machines. L was watching the kids since they weren't allowed in the casino area. Since the kids couldn't hang out for long, we headed back to our hotel and dropped of L, her mom and the kids.

L's dad and I went back again, this time to Peppermill Casino and had a lot of fun there until midnight before returing back to our hotel. On Sunday morning, we headed to South Lake Tahoe driving via Carson City. We wanted to take the gondola ride at Heavenly. Unfortunately since there were very high winds, the gondola rides was cancelled for visitors and Vidyuth was very disappointed.

We then had lunch at an Indian place - Nikki's chaat place. The food/service was extremely good commensurate with the high price that they charged. I would say it was still worth it. We then headed back to Fremont and reached home around 5.30pm

Overall it was a fun filled trip for all of us. We did take some pics and I'll be posting a sample here when L uploads them from our camera to the PC :-) BTW, this is the 50th post in this blog and hence the title

Words of Wisdom

I came across the following words of wisdom in my admin's office. Here it goes

Happiness keeps you Sweet
Trials keep you Strong
Sorrows keep you Human
Failures keep you Humble
Success keeps you Glowing
but only Faith & Attitude keeps you Going....

Leap Day

Today, 02/29, is a leap day. Some fun facts about this day can be seen at

http://www.timeanddate.com/date/leap-day-february-29.html

Life's like that!!

Some people will always have to go thru a struggle to get what they want in life. Seldom will things fall into place. Tension will precede any event that it will almost be predictable that even the simplest of things will not happen in a easy straightforward way. This is very true in my life too, in almost all of the major events. I have, over the years, learnt to reconcile with it by telling myself, heck, life's like that!!

However things have now come to a point where even simple things are beginning to be complicated. I don't know if what I'm feeling is really true or if it is just me over-reacting.

I begin to wonder why my "life's like that"?

Happy 70th Birthday Periamma

Today my periamma (my mom's elder sister) turns 70. I can't write enough to say how much of an influence she has had in my life and how much I owe her for everything I am today.

I really would have liked to be with her on this special day. I did call her promptly and wished her over the phone. Here's wishing her a very happy birthday once again and I pray for her success in her brave battle against cancer

What-IF

Nearly everyday we all go through thoughts that circle around 'What-IF.'

What-IF this happens or that happens, how things would have changed if I had done some things differently, how I would have been if I took another route instead of the one that I am taking. Sometimes we go to the extent of thinking and talking about 'What-IF's' in a way that we start living them instead of perceiving them as mere thoughts.

One such major 'What-IF' is about life and death. In January 2008 (not a week ago), I had a near-death experience, where I was in the ICU and the doctor's could not predict the outcome to my husband. Those 3 days were sheer hell for him while I was lying unconscious, unaware of what was happening around me. The first thought that came to my mind when I woke up was why am I in this place and not with my family. The nurse told me that they almost lost me and they could be certain that I was out of danger only after I had woken up. As you can imagine, I was shaken by this experience and the only 'What-IF' that came to my mind was, "What IF I had died? Would I have tried/ fought to come back or as we see in a lot of movies, hover over my husband and kids and feel bad for not being able to spend more time with them?" After I came home, I realized how many people (including my family, friends and even co-workers) were scared for me and were praying and hoping for my safe return and even more glad that I am back safe and sound, better than ever. Boy, Am I glad to be ALIVE and KICKING:)

This near-death experience had made me think about my priorities and 'What-IFs." No matter what you think you could have become, it is only a thought that makes you lose your perspective and hides your present from you. It has made me realize that by taking each day as a fresh new start, you can try and correct your mistakes, each new day is a chance for you to be a better person than you already are, each day is a chance for you to make people around you special and loved.

Ultimately it does not matter if you had a lot of money or a Phd or whatever it is that you don't have right now, if you don't have people who love you and hug you and tell you that 'Everything will be alright, no matter what,' you don't have anything (even if you are the most __________(whatever, fill in the blanks yourself) person.

Revaluate your priorities and be thankful to a power higher than us, to that power that has granted me a second chance to be with the people I love and the people who love me.

All the best for those who have been given a second chance and for others who are lucky enough to live their first chances. Not everybody will get a second chance so do make best use of this one life that we get and be thankful.

~Laks

The expected is just the beginning. The unexpected is what changes our lives." - Meredith Grey (Grey's Anatomy)

MIA

Not that I'm an avid blogger, but I have to admit that I have been MIA for the past couple of weeks. Something really terrible happened and L was admitted in the ICU for 2.5 days, hence the lull. All is fine now and she is back in action. Not that I plan to post every single day after today, but I will at least try to be regular in my posts

Pongalo Pongal

We celebrated Pongal on Monday 1/14 in spite of being a week day. L made the traditional ven pongal and chakkarai pongal which was very delicious. We (read "me") couldn't wait for the neivedhiyam to be over and wanted to eat it right away. However He had other plans since we didn't offer it to Him, as for some reason we couldn't open the cooker. Apparently the safety valve wouldn't release. It took a lot of iterations from both L and me to finally pry it open before we could eat.

Anyways Happy Pongal to one and all

Resolutions for 2008

I'm not the kind of person who actually makes resolutions around New year, much less publish it on a blog. If there is something that needs to be done, I try to do it as & when needed and not actually wait for the New Year. This year I wanted to be different and hence I have decided to make a manageable number (say 3 to 4) of resolutions for this year and see how I'm doing at regular intervals throughout the year. Here is the list (in no particular order)

1) Call my parents and L's parents regularly every week on Fri/Sat night for us. This resolution tops the list for this year as our calling for the last year was absolutely erratic and unpredictable. This seems like an easy resolution, but I put it on the top of the list as I feel that it might be difficult for us to keep it up :-)

2) Make a to-do list of things that I would like to do with L

3) Make a conscious effort to spend some defined quality time with L (even if the kids are yelling in the background :-))

4) Make a clear decision about certain muggy things - do we buy a home in USA?, when do we return to India for good etc

Pirandha Naal Vaazhthukkal to Isaipuyal

For 15 years from 1977 to 1992 it seemed as though there was only one music director for South Indian films - Maestro Ilayaraaja. When Mani decided to make Roja, he was looking for a new music director, for the first time, after a fallout with Ilayaraja who had been part of all of Mani's films previously. Roja released on Aug 15th 1992. The previously unknown music director, A.R.Rahman became an overnite sensation after that and there has been no looking back ever since. Today is Rahman's birthday and I wanted to wish him for his immense contribution to music - introducing new vocal talent, innovations in sound, taking Indian film music to newer heights and above all being extremely humble after having achieved so much....Hats off to you A.R.Rahman (yes, it is coming from a hard-core Ilayaraja fan) and wish you a very happy birthday!!

Happy New Year 2008

Wishing one and all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!!