Fragrance of Life

Ex-pense / Ex-treme..

2006-08-30T11:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone ....Life's been pretty boring so far! Lots to work or nothing to work ...all the time it is extremes .... never moderate ...!! :) I think people just don't like moderate ...you know ...whenever I say .."I am OK ..." for a "how are you ?" question, people ask me what's wrong .....but maybe I am just OK ...!! Well ... good thing is the weekend is nearing ...can't wait for that friday ...! I know I am not going to do anything fun ..but I guess I am just waiting to sit and think abt something relaxing!

You know a few of my friends are getting married this year ...and all we talk about is wedding sarees ...and other wedding plans! It is existing to talk abt this in life ...as this happens just once (hopefully ;)) ! Anyways ...as its been a while since I went back home...I hardly know the trend back home ...on the type of materials and dresses. And I find the prices pretty expensive in India. I think for the past 4 - 5 yrs ... our country has changed soo much ..that I sometimes hardly relate to it .....as to me India in my mind is the same as when I left. {will continue..}

Hershey Chocolate Tour

2006-06-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

Sweetest Place on Earth

2006-06-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hellooooooooooooooo ...a long 'hello' as its been ages since I wrote anything here!! I was really not into anything for the past month. I guess I don't have too much good "wealth" ...'cause people say 'HEALTH is WEALTH'! Yes ... wasn't feeling good ... and taken a new responsibility in my job! Exciting stuff to do but I guess the result is tiring!I always think what have I done in my life .....that god is punishing me with different problems! Yes ..I know everybody has problems...but come on ...give me a break ... I am suffering with bad health on and off ..really quite often. Anyways ..let me not crib about the same thing over and over again! I am sure everybody around me have already heard enough about this! pheww!!!
I had a great trip ... went to hershey, PA ..met with a couple of friends! Have you guys been there ...if u haven't ..you should go! It's just fun ..and especially for chocolate lovers!! There are loads of chocolates!! And the theme park was amazing ...! Before going to the theme park..I was really skeptical ..thinking ..'Nah ...its not going to be as great as Six flags or Cedar Point' ..because when we tried to look up for corporate discounts (ofcourse in the companies we work for =)) we didn't find any listed forHershey! So ...we thought it might not be as big as the other ones and wasn't really prepared for the fun we had!! Only when my friend pointed out the rides in the internet...I got terrified! They were really huge, thrilling ones!! I guess I thought they will have justkiddy rides .... man what a fool was I to think like that! After seeing the pictures and explanations for the rides ...my tummy started to scare me ...I was like ..' I am not gonna go in any of the rides ... please I will just go to the factory and anything else'!
Well .... back in my head I wanted to do something exciting as it had been a while since I did...!! So...yea we did go to the park ..it was a neat drive to PA from my place! Beautiful small towns ...landscapes....farms...etc. It was really nice to see something different out of this busy state I am living in!

Anyways we arrived in the park...me all smeared-up with sunscreen all over my body ...all ready to burn!! =)) Went to a number of rides ...screemed our lungs out ....and enjoyed a lot!!
After a while it was too hot and wanted a to be drenched!! So ... really got drenched... I mean really completely .... it was the splash of the season!! giggle

Well .. I guess I have to go now ..so will catch up later on the mysteries of chocolate making...

Life in Business Class

2006-05-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone ... drove my lovely vehicle to work! Its been a week since I started taking it to work ... and it has been nothing but pleasure... feels like you are traveling the first class...I should just remember not to sink in my seat that i forget to concentrate in the road. I am even more excited to show my dad my new asset ....as he is a machine lover just like me ...but not in the spending cycle ... I am sure he is gonna think of me as having expensive taste..a spendthrift! I had to really think hard before seeing the car .. but as soon as I saw that one ... I just gave in! Maybe it is love at first site! giggle =)

Ok ... certain things in my mind always haunt me ... on whether I will be able to fulfill all my dreams before I leave this world .... The first one in my mind is a song my father used to sing ..when I was a kid .. my father is not a kind who mingles very freely with us ..he is a man of ambitions/dreams... but somehow he used sing a few lines of some songs to us! This song describes building a beautiful house near a lake, growing a wonderful garden and live happily together ! I almost forgot this song ...as we didn't hear this for a longtime from him...but somehow in a television show...this same song came up and bammm came my memory back. It striked me on how much I want to make it true ... because since my childhood I built this imagination of this beautiful family together ... which seems soo far away now! Wouldn't it be great to live how you want / dream ..not live because for the sake of making a living! Time with family never comes back ... one thing most people, including me, don't realize until you are not with them!

More interests are to learn all about cars...everything .... make, model, performance, engine, brakes, transmission, etc, etc ... I think I have a lot to say ..so I will continue later!

Life with materialistic and family interests .... possible??

Commitment

2006-05-05T17:34:00.000-07:00

I know this has been awhile since I penned something ..!!
Well ... here comes my usual *excuse* ...been busy!!! ;>
My mind and body needs a break ... I can feel it being
very tired!!! Nowadays .. when I feel bored & tired of
the routine ...I keep thinking of a nice vacation break ...
just can't wait to have one!!

Last weekend ... something important happened... I
got engaged ..a step towards commitment! Engagment
took place in my house in India without the to-be-bride
& to-be-groom! It was fun in a way not knowing what
is happening but hear all my relatives explain it to me over
the telephone!! There were soo many people in  my house
... mostly my cousins and relatives! Here, the whole day,
we both sat and kept imagining the events back home.
All I very much wished was to  be back home and
help my mom & my sister, who has been doing a lot
of work in-preparation  towards this! Of course it is also
great to be the center of attention!! =)  But we still
haven't decided on the  wedding date ... due to some
constraints at work!

Anyways people ... I guess I am not available anymore! ;>

Angels to the rescue* * * *

2006-04-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

Ok ...Monday again ... its one day I don't like in the week .... ! I understand that there should be a beginning to anything ... and yes .. as we all know monday is the start of 'real' week ... even though sunday is technically the one!! I never will or never would have waited for a monday to happen ...except for one in my life ...the day my little sister was born! Till date I remember the beautiful smile on that tiny face ...! She was the most precious little one I have ever seen in my life! It was a monday ... got ready for school ...all alone ...'cause of course my mom was in the hospital. I just don't like to be in a house without my mom around ... yes ...my dad was there in the house ... but he doesn't do anything other than getting ready (just like me! ;-)) .. I mean no kitchen work .. or anything of that sort! Well ... he said that we are going to the hospital to see my new sister! Man ... I was excited ... I have someone to play with, share with and finally mom can come home. Even the day before, I had to go to the hospital to learn a lesson on road safety..from my mom...but wasn't allowed to be with her for long time! The only other person who could have made me feel home was my grandmother , but she was there with my mom in the hospital...and she was ill and weak too.

Anyways, as soon as I reached the hospital ... my mother's sister (who is a pediatrician) brought my sister to the waiting room .. to show to us! She was this tiny baby ... really cute ... waiting to sleep again! :) They gestured me to touch her but I was too scared thinking that my hands might not be a 100% clean ... and since she has been very clean inside my mom ... I thought germs might cause some infection!! Well ... I was very excited and couldn't show it out much ... as I don't express well to anyone except my mom! That day at school, I was running around telling everybody about a new member in our family!! Well....that was the monday which
I liked a lot!! Hope there will be more memories for every single day of the week!!

My sister is now doing her Engineering and is all very mature (she is still the same in her looks!! :P)... and even sometimes guides me in difficult times!! I believe in angels only after I met my mom, dad and my sister! They showed me the meaning of love ..sacrifice ..and the importance of life!!

Yes ...there are other very important people in my life (I will mention as we go along)... who I really consider to have been my angels in times of need ..!!
Angels come in different forms ... and we should just be ready to embrace them in our lives!!

2006-04-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

Friend O' Foe

2006-04-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone ... the day is usual ... yesterday spoke to an old friend (actually was roommate) of mine. She is a nice girl but very confused most of the time. Nothing to blame on her .... I had a very wrong opinion about her before we were roommates ...I heard people say she was weird ... and yes ... I kinda did after all this in my brain ... you know ...as she seemed lost most of the time! But only after knowing her I came to know ... that deep down she was a nice girl and she seemed like that due to some family / health problems. On the other hand a girl who I thought was really nice ... turned out to be exactly opposite ... very dirty ... unhygienic habits ... back stabbing and loads to add! I am not saying that I am perfect ... but I am a very frank person ... and don't have different faces with different people! "Appearances are deceptive" ....I believe it is very true ..!! You never know who is gonna turn to be your friends and who your enemies!

When people say that a person should be happy if s/he has at least 5 good friends in their lifetime ... I never believed it! But yes ... looking at my life ... I can hardly name 5 people I can fully trust .. other than family ... well maybe a little more now ..but lets see ... you never know what could turn up!!!

Well ... now I feel I am making new friends in this blog world ... no age/caste/creed barriers ... just as we say!! I sometimes think ... I am being more defensive when it comes to accepting people in my life and trusting them ... maybe because I have just met too many wrong people and trusted them!! But yes .. I am trying to let go of the past and sculpt a better future with the right tools as my friends/family!!

Well ... many thanks to anyone who considers me as a blog-friend!!

My first Meme!!

2006-04-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by BDSN from Taste Corner for this meme! I am glad my existence in this blog world has been recognized .. to a great extent by my fellow bloggers Sadhana , BDSN and a lot of other bloggers who visit my blog regularly! Anyways thanks BDSN!

Please list three recipes you have recently bookmarked from foodblogs to try:

Mahanandi's Mango Rice
Saffron Hut's Shamosas
Pushpa's Plum Cheese Cake

A food blog in your vicinity (Maybe less then a 100 miles .... considered?):

Indira's Mahanadi
Nupur's One Hot Stove

A food blog (or more) located far from you:

Sailu's IndiaCuisine
Ashwini's Food For Thought
Sadhana Tough Life (Not a food blog ... but definitely a sweet blog :) of a young kid )

A foodblog (or several) you have discovered recently (where did you find it?):

Ashwini's Food For Thought
Vaishali's Happyburp

I discover new and interesting blogs through comments or links in other blogs. Way tooo many that I start in one topic and end up in a totally unrelated topic.

Any people or bloggers you want to tag with this meme:

Sadhana
And anyone else who come across my blog and haven't yet been tagged!!

Subconsciously

2006-04-04T06:04:00.000-07:00

Today ... I am really tired and frustrated with my life! I don't like the way my life is going on ... I want to be with the people I love not waste my life alone! I want to do more than work in my lifetime ... maybe fight a war, catch criminals, work in an orphanage, teach a class, be the most powerful entrepreneur ... never-ending dreams!!! Maybe it will really come true!! Do you guys believe in dreams ... don't you wake up to be glad that it was just a dream ...and those days when you have the most wonderful dreams which you wish will one day happen to you??!!! I dream everyday ...i.e. everynight ...I am not sure for good or bad ... I am just glad that it is over with! People say you should think nice thoughts before you go to sleep ... but come on ... how many days you can remember to think those 'pleasant thoughts' ? I once read in a psychology class that your dreams are interpretations of what is going on in your subconscious mind! At times when I have some really - crappy dream ... I think to myself ... 'is this what is going on in my subconscious mind??" unbelieveable !! giggle

Zoooommm Zoooom Zoom With Bimmer

2006-04-03T14:36:00.000-07:00

Hello there ... rise and shine early because of the start of day-light savings time!! It was really hard to get up an hour early and go to work!! But made it .... was a nice weekend ... did lot of cooking ... and shopping! I made chappati and tried chana masala (used a little of Garam Masala's and Meenakshi's ideas) ! It was yum ... and the thought of which makes me hungry even now!! And news to you all ... we bought a Bimmer home ... it is one of the best! It has been my dream for a long time ...since we made a trip to the States when I was in school !! This car is rated among the best in its performance ..and I should say so... as well in comfort! 184 horsepower, 6 cyclinder engine, Harman Kardon music system, leather upholestry,adaptive Xenon lights, Steptronic gear system, and many more to say! I believe every single thing inside the machine is made with such extreme thought and care ! There are individual reading lights for each passenger in the vehicle, memorized adjustments for each driver and even a SOS call system incase of emergency which directly connects to the authorities along with the location of the vehicle. Well ... I think I can go on and on about this ..but hey ..it is something one should experience to really see what I am saying!

2006-04-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

Food Experiments!

2006-04-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

Hi ... this is Spaghetti in Spicy Tomato Sauce. This is a recipe posted by Indira. I just had to try it ... it was really tempting .. so eventhough I didn't have cherry tomatoes ... I gave it a try with normal tomatoes. It was delicious ... spicy and saucy ...yum! I picture itself makes me want it again. Thanks to Indira!

Shopping with Atitude

2006-03-27T13:34:00.000-08:00

Hi ... in an effort to keep up with my posting , I have been making a lot of typos ...sooo pleasee forgive my presentation! I will try to be better in the future! I think my mind and my fingers are not in the right pace...!! Anyways I said before, I went car shopping last weekend... man what an experience ... I was soo pissed ..with the experience! Dealers are the worst people to deal with .... why do they call them 'D-E-A-L-E-R-S' .... they have an attitude of their own!!

To begin, we were very confused on what to buy ... and intermediate car (both size and price) or a intermediate in size and a bit higher in luxury....!! Too much research and we were all set ... to go ahead and start the real bargain. Of course ... I am not going to buy a new car ... it is just not worth losing the money you put down the minute the car leaves the lot!You know as a matter of fact ... a car depreciates almost 25 -30 % in the first year! The subsequents years will be a lot lesser! So ... it is never a smart move to buy a new car ... unless you don't care losing that much on ur first year! All this I learnt in a wonderful class called 'Engineering Economics' ... yea ..what does an engineer have to do with economics ... well .. that was my first question when I stepped into the class. But ...hey ... I was wrong ...there is a lot one should know ... the 'Time Value Of Money' , Depreciations, Inflation rates, etc .... a very interesting class ...with a very interesting professor ... but he was very precise in his teachings and in grades ... his problems very soo simple yet soo talently twisted ...and yes ... I suffered a lot to score in that class!!

Well ... getting back to the subject of buying cars ... the first dealership ...it was a Nissan. When we stepped out in the lot and started looking at few of the '05 models. We looked at the deep blue one ... and when we were asessing the car from the outside ... a rep came towards us and started their usual question ... which surprising was exactly the ones mentioned in the internet .. in a website ...which warned buyers about the dealerships. First of all I couldn't stop laughing .. and finally we said we want a test drive. So ... the guy took the driving license and came back with the keys. First he asked us to get on the road from another the left most exit ... about 100 feet away and asked us to come through the right most entrance so he could place the number plate on the car. So ...deligently we drove to the front entrance ... and there he was ..."So do you like the car??" .. we were like ..." thats our test drive "... "Oh this is a Nissan ... what more do you want" ...is this enough to decide to buy a car ...for 17K + ....what an atitude ... does he sell cars to customers like this??? You know ... for a person who is business/sales ...customers comes first...and everything else comes next ...this is an atitude which will improve a business ... if not... I am not REALLY sure!!! Yea ...I think people forget where they come from and what their status stands in the money making frontier!! Anyways ... this made me think of the time ... I used to work in the university library as a part time employee ... I loved my job ... friendly people to work with ... and I learnt quickly ... also became trusted by my supervisors .!! I was most importantly doing my duty ... to serve the patrons ... not that I would take crap ... but I do my BEST .... well I guess thats want I probably expect of other people ... basic ...duty conscience!! ...Well will keep it rollin' ....(i meant the blog ;))

Training with OR without Teachers!

2006-03-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

Hello ... Today has been a dull day to start with ...but gues wat ...I woke up early ...I think I am used to waking up early for work!! This whole week has been dragging ... a lot ...but u know what ... I think to be in a fast moving world ... but then and there my laziness kicks in!!! Well ... I had been teaching my little sister on programming concepts .... over the phone ... you can imagine ...how desperate that is ...'cause I feel that she is not provided the right understanding of those concepts! Teachers have a unique role in this world ...and I believe that if they can't do it right ... they should not do that at all ...'cause it is the future which suffers!! Don't you agree?? I had this one teacher for math when I was in school ... and literally couldn't learn a thing from her ... but thanks god for my tution teacher Ms.Latha ... she was the best ... she would motivate me all the time ... and I was her best student ...!! This school teacher of mine ...wasn't even capable of talking right!!! ... Anyways ... I think thats what my sister is going through... ! I always felt that if I had an older sister...I could learn from her ...but now I know what my sister should be feeling "what is the use of having a sister ..soo far away??"" Well we both are in the same field ... and I am sure thats for a reason ... we will do something really big ...and I am sure !! :))

And you know what ... I have been cooking different dishes from different food blogs ... ! I will definitely share the experience with you all!

Long Time No C

2006-03-21T06:12:00.000-08:00

Hi ... I know its been ages since I wrote anything ...well it started with sickness ...went to stress related with too much work and finally ended up in laziness...!! Finally I am here ...overcoming everything ..again writing my way !! My life hasn't changed much but maybe in a minor aspect...health is wealth ...has probably come to me with more seriousness!! My car is finally fixed... it looks really cute though ... especially after driving around a 2006 Chevy Impala which the insurance people had given to replace my car forthe time being! Now I drive more defensively just to prevent all this again! :>) Now due to some work related issues ..we are looking for buying a new car .. not really sure what to settle for!! Well will let you know when and what I have decided to buy!

Today ... being a monday ...nothing really special...did something new at work ...something related to my application. Can't really wait to go home ... kinda depressing! No real fun people around ... you know I feel like I am among grown-ups ... I don't really know what I call myself?? but definitely not the same as I see people who are married and have kids! Of course ... they have different stuff to worry about ... their husbands ... kids ...education and in-laws ..and much much more! But I know that I will be there soon..but at least when I don't have to think about those, I really want to think about fun stuff!! Meeting friends ... going out ...playing some fun games ... run around ... go on wild trips ... no real plan required!

Well ... there was this one particular shopping event I really enjoyed ...! Back when I was in Michigan ... during late november ... my friend, her boyfriend and myself planned togo out to the mall ... just not knowing what to do ... after cooking some yummy aloo parathas at home! We were pretty sure .. thatits going to be some usual mall-browsing time ... but to our surprise ... we bought something from almost every store we stepped into!We tried on some weird clothes ... prom dresses ... party wears ...which for the most part we won't have the occasions to wear to!!Yes, we bought good stuff ... all good value ones ...our favourite ones ...which we had waited to get for a long time! Her boyfriend couldn't keep up with us, so he gave up and retired to a comfortable seat! Whenever I go shopping ... I always think of that day and cherish the fun I had with my friend!

Anyways I will be back tomorrow ...

Purity Of Snow .... Outside my Patio!

2006-03-02T15:43:00.000-08:00

They are actually flowering plants which blooms only once in a year!

2006-03-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

Wintery Mind

2006-03-02T15:13:00.000-08:00

Hi ... I stayed in today at home for work! Yep ...snow again... but really less...but some wintery mix (as weather.com puts it) as there was ice rain too! The day was really hectic ... I am soo forced to work in a computer with just one monitor as opposed to dual monitor computer at work! And way too many problems to handle ... phew ...I was really glad to get done with work! I can't wait to go to my work place tomorrow and start feeling better about my cursor movements!!

The tree in the picture looks really bare... this is how evey tree in the state looks like ..except those christmas trees! I am really tired to do any cooking today ... but hopefully after visiting one of those yummy food blogs ... I get the drive to cook something! You know I have immense will power ... no this is no show off ... a good thing to say ...but if overdone ...bad for oneself! Like the other day ... I did methi paratha ... and after which I started cleaning the whole kitchen ... as it was unbearable!!! I can't stand shabby looks to any of my surrounding areas! I went into the kitchen at 7:30pm ..1/2 an hour after I came from work ... and stayed till 10:30pm ... Oh god ...that was a long time ... my hands were almost breaking ... mopping the floor killed me !! Only after that I had my dinner ... too tired to feel any pain/hunger ... and then ..started my knitting work....and went on till midnight...after which the body started giving up..! Today to think about it ... it feels very weird ...and come on ...did I have to do all this during a weekday??? oo come on ...is knitting important?? I don't know ... but this is why I feel ...that 'never give up' policy is hard on me at times!!

One other adventure I had in life ...was driving almost 2000 miles alone ..almost from south to north of the country! I loved that trip ... me alone all the way ...but something I would never have the opportunity again! You should try doing stuff like that ... not necessarily dangerous ...but to give to confidence and determination!! I had weather ranging from warm sun to snow!! Sleeve-less to Full-wool-sleeve based shirt! ;) Anyways I write more about it later!!

Got to start on my routine....

2006-03-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day NYC

NEVER in NEVERLAND

2006-02-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

"Learn from your mistakes" ... is a very common saying we hear quite often. But how long are we allowed to make mistakes .... how many are we allowed....I think it would take at least a lifetime ... to try and commit all mistakes ...and later rectify from them!! Do we have to do that ... why can't we learn from other's mistakes too?? Yes...I am sure we can ... just have to really remember it ...! All my life ... of course ...not a very long time ...but long enough ...I hate 'silly mistakes' ... starting from school days ... till current date ...! Mathematics had always been my favourite subject .... I liked to solve problems ... and yes, with the help of a good encouraging tution teacher I had ...I have always performed well! But maths was the only subject where I would worry about silly mistakes....like copying wrong figures from the question paper to the answer sheet, would get confused ...or may overlook (3+3) or (3*3) ...yes...this was the most common mistakes I used to make. Man I would hate myself so much ... that I would even cry for these mistakes which would just end taking a few points only ... but still ...all I thought was ...'hey this is mathematics ...you can't affford to make mistakes!!!!!' Even today at work ... I make soo many silly mistakes ....while coding...overlooking stuff ...and suffer hours together ...finally to figure out in a 1 minute the next day!!! Can't we avoid all mistakes before we do it ... and not regret the time/money wasted?? Not all mistakes are avoidable right?? Hey ... this thing is like the chicken and the egg story ... don't have a straight forward answer!!!

Yes, I am trying NEVER to make anymore mistakes in life and be the best person I can both to me and to others!! Frankly ... I don't know how long thats going to work out... !! ;) At least shoudl encourage and appreciate the effort right?

Ok well ... coming back to the reality ... things are going busy again ... I am busy ... no improvement even after my manager is back. More work load and an added portion of stress to it! I am waiting for a break ... I am kinda tired ... want to have a vacation ... very far away from work!! Maybe in NEVERLAND ....is there really one as in the fairy tales???

Safety First Speed Next

2006-02-22T14:36:00.000-08:00

Nothing much to say in particular eventhough much has been happening here ... nothing new really ...just loads of work all the time! Have been waking up early to do some stuff ... and this support business at work is fun but lot of nerve wrecking tension ... don't know what is wrong but have to fix ASAP!! Anyways ..today when I was driving to work ... there was this truck which was approaching me from behind in a very good speed ..to be frank truck drivers don't drive like that ... at least they are slower than most other vehicles. The surprising thing was that the road was very steep and still that didn't seem to bother the truck at all! I tried to hold on to the lane because there were cars parallel to me stopping me from switching lanes....but man ... the truck came soo close ...that i was forced to accelerate and move to another lane! That truck was literally chasing all vehicles away from its path ... I mean it ...I kept noticing it when it overtook me ...and I saw him going soo close to other cars and other cars desperately indicating to move to either side!!! Anyways that reminded me of movies like Joy Ride and Jeepers Creepers. You know those had similarities ...chasing cars in the highway!... Well if you like such thrillers ... you should watch them ...my mom, sis and myself love such movies ... eventhough we are all dead scared ... but still we stick to each other and watch it!!! Hope that day comes soon ... to cherish once more!!

Nature Is Yet To Be Defined

2006-02-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

I am tired most of these days .. during the weekend we had lots of snow ...just one day...but about 15 inches of snow! I really couldn't make out the difference between buried cars and piles of snow! But I like having snow ...you know to me ..that defineswinter ..that too after leaving in Michigan, where it used to snow every single day reminding you of the cold winter!! I soo wanted to jump around and play with the snow ... but I needed company to do that ...like my sister or mom ...who would have definitely jumped outside with me!! Snow is very beautiful ....very pure ...in the color of peace ...and it is very silent whenyou observe! Those are like tiny stars which fall on you and melt before you realize it! It has such nice texture ...patterns ...and you know what no two snow patterns are the same!! I like to look up in the sky when it is dark and the snow is falling ...it isone sight you should have in your lifetime!!! I think I got this liking for nature from my mother ... she admires a lot of thingswhich regularly people don't pay attention. She loves looking at stars in the night ... studying the patterns and telling us the namesof those patterns. She loves to get wet in the rain ... she never believes in tomorrow ...only in today !! She is one of a kind...and I miss her so very much!! Mom you are the greatest!!

HUMMER

2006-02-11T16:14:00.000-08:00

Yup...this is my new Hummer .... my new power machine ...a four door open road wagon ... with Vortec 6000 6.0L V8 engine ... 4 speed automatic ..traction control ... flat-tire run capability...dynamic breaking...front/rear suspension...grille guard....and a lot more features to this high stability vehicle!! I am soo excited with my new asset!!!!

'PRESENT' is a true Present

2006-02-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

Work is something that should have a balance ... it is very hard to be without any work and it is very to be with lot of work. Yes...I am sure everybody has experienced that! At every stage of our lives we think about having less work in the next stage! When I was a kid ... I always wanted to grow up so I can have other people do my work ... like for example, my dad would always ask me to fetch something for him in the house ...which I thought if I grow up ... I can have the younger people do that for me!! When I went to school and got loads of homework ..I thought maybe when I go to college I might have less homework ... Also whenever I had to wear a uniform to school ... I used to think it was fun wearing color dress (I don't know why we used to call our regular clothes as 'color dresses' ..as if the uniform didn't have any color to it??) ..so I used to wait to start college and have fun!! But things don't seem the way you want it to seem!! In college ... I had loads of studying and working to do ... since I didn't study in India, the studying pattern needed changing ...big time .... syllabus changed ... I had to be more outward and interact to learn more ... which I had never done in school! Well...during college I thought ...it will be fun to finish all the immense learning and start to implement it at work!! But now ... I feel the pressure still ... but no more excuses like in college!! It is soo true that we never know the value of anything when we have it ...but really cherish it when its gone! Knowing this ...I always feel ... that the most valuable time is the present time in life ...where you should only think of living in it to the fullest and not to worry about the past or future! Of course dreams/goals are very important but shouldn't let that disturb the present life!!!

>>>>> Fun and Frolic as a Family <<<<<<<

2006-02-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

Sorry ... its been a long time since I had written anything in my blog ... I have been terribly busy as I had predicted in the lastpost. I feel like I have all these huge responsibilities at work... some java cache stuff ... which I had no idea on how to fix yesterday. God ... this news was waiting for me to get when I got to work on monday morning! What more can go wrong ... on a monday?Anyways with some help from my friend at work ... and after hours of going through the code ... figured out the problem and fixed it!!So I am just hoping and praying that this is the ONLY fix I have to do to the code. The thing is I have my own projects which require loads of work ... as we building a new system. I can keep listing ... the different projects I have just got recently...! Also I have been a bad sister for my cousin brother who just had his birthday! Yes ...I forgot to wish him ... totally forgot to call him..spoke about it to my sister ...but anyways ...Belated Happy Birthday my dear brother!! It has been ages since we all met ...afterI left for higher education here ... I haven't got a chance to be visit them! The most enjoyable time in memory is the time ..whenthey actually moved to Madras from Singapore...I am sure the kids weren't very excited abt leaving their school and friends there! They moved to Anna Nagar ..to a nice apartment which was really nice ...and we used to go and visit them at least fortnightly ...mostlyafter 8pm ...in our white amabassador!! My sis and me would get soo excited as we weren't close to many of our cousins ...so wecherished every moment we got to spend with their family ...aunty and uncle are also very nice and interesting ...uncle always goes about explaining all the whats and whys ...which comes from him in the first place. We used to go cycling there ...in those calm roads ..i mean when compared to t.nagar roads! As it got harder for uncle to commute to work, they moved closer to our home...like 10 minswalk! That was even cooler because we could go there whenever we liked...and didn't need dad to drive us soo far! We would be togetherduring weekends ...sometimes would even pick them up from school myself ....got together on festivals, birthdays and holidays!! Aunty used to make very tasty cakes ...and she always made cakes for everyone's birthdays! Sometimes ...would even pick up uncle from work for lunch when I get back from school ...because my school was closer to his work place. While we had all the fun in theworld ...our cousins really suffered a lot in school ... the culture change ...along with syllabus...course work ...quizzing techniques..everything was different and they couldn't survive for a long time!! Also ...sometime during that year ...my uncle and dad startedC and C++ class in our house with a tutor! Dad really tried and then realized what good it could do him...and so he dropped after a 1 month or so ! But uncle really worked hard (he already knowing a lot in the computer programming) and finally wrote the certification exams ! You know ...our uncle was the one who actually taught us how to use the internet! We used to go play computer games at his place orin the cyber center nearby! Autually I have a lot to say about my cousin brothers ...as they are very funny and nice to be with!! We even went on trips together ...once to Bangalore ...and we had a big 'gala' time ...as my computer teacher would put it :=)!! Well willcontinue this later....think its growing in a higher rate!!!

A Regular Spill With An Irregular Stain

2006-02-02T19:33:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't been writing for sometime ... I have been really busy at work for the past few days ...lots to do at once!! For a fact I know that this whole month is going to be busy! Well ... today everything was fine ... learnt new stuff at work ... ate out as I was really sick & tired to cook the day before! Had chinese food .. ordered too much (my friend and me) as we were very hungry at the time of ordering ... and ended up eating only one dish while we had ordered 2. ...so thats was my dinner just an hour ago .... at least something worked out ! Today ... I got an offer at work ...which I had been waiting for sometime ...a promotion to say ...and the kind I like!! So a good thing today ...but when I got home ... I accidently stained my bedspread ...by spelling my drink on it ...and while trying to clean ...guess what ...I used the fabric stain remover ...which eventually ended up removing the colors ....BAD!! That made me soo unhappy...it was one of my favourite ones!! So ... pondering about the day ... one good thing Versus one bad thing ... makes the day balanced!! hmmm ... I guess thats how the world works!! Good Nite!

Wat-e-v-e-r

2006-01-30T09:39:00.000-08:00

Already a month has flown by this year...wonder how time flies ... I am getting nervous as my team mate at work is going to goon a long vacation at the end of this week. The problem is ... we work on separate individual projects and I have no idea in his end. So... I am cramming everything into my head! God only knows what I will do if something goes wrong ... it better not be the case!On top of all this ... I have to concentrate on my projects too ..and some other work related issues...hmmmm!! I had fun in the weekend ...talking to my parents and sister....and my cousin brother...man my sister and myself could pull his leg at every possible event. We miss hanging out together and having loads of fun ...!! I had some innovative cooking weekend ...trying out new recipes ..and watched 3 movies ... that's like a lot ... too much of the tube ... went to the mall ...just hung out ...not really bought anything. One weird thing happened on friday ... this person at the counter when I was checking out a tamil movie ... pointed to one of the movies I rented and asked me whether it was nice ... not really knowing what to say ..as come on ... I am just checking it out...I said ..'yea , I guess ...so I have heard' ... and looking at him puzzled ...as he didn't seem to be a tamil - knowing person ...(just my intuition) I asked him 'Do you even know tamil?'. 'Basically I am a telugu but I do watch some tamil movies' said the guy at the counter.As I said..'Ohh ...' ...he started 'Yea ... I think this cast (the movie cast) is popular ... I mean I know these people are telugu people and all tamil movies are remake from telugu ...'! I looked at the cassette and saw 'Vijay, Trisha & Vivek' ..not really sure wherehe found telugu people here ... I didn't say anything ...just nodded and smiled and left .... or probably he would have told mehow tamil movie evolved from telugu movie world ... yeah whatever ... I just don't know why people say something before they can think..and how they want to feel superior by just saying something! This is not much of a big deal ... but I guess ...I found that weird!

Impacted *****

2006-01-23T08:29:00.000-08:00

Its been a tiring weekend ...due to the crazy impact on friday! Yeah ... I mean my car's impact ...one crazy lady hit my car (my car - a stationary one) when she was trying to turn into the parking lot .... man she was crazy to do that ...I am sure she was blind ... what kind of excuse could somebody give in hitting car which had been completely halted and that too not in a road! ...Yea ...whatever ...my car is totally scratched and my bumber torn apart ...my headlights hanging out! I am soo mad till this point ... on seeing how people can be soo careless ....!! Anyways thats the main reason ...that I restrained myself from writing ... I would have used bad language and let myemotion to takeover...but as time has gone by (not much though) .. I can hold myself! My car is still in a bad shape ... and want to soo badly repair it by the coming week! I don't even like my car dirty ... how on earth can I tolerate this mishap to mycar!!! OK ... I see myself dragging this conversation back to the origin ... so will make a turn now and try to focus in another path. I had fighting with the mice problem that I have been having recently ...so far I have spotted and thrown out 2 mice, but I guess they (different ones hopefully as I threw them quite far away) keep coming back through some hole in the kitchen.. god .. I wish I can stop them ...well ...I still haven't given up ...so I am gonna ...do it sooner ...and come up with some good news!There is not much to happen in my life ... I think I have had enough for this past week! phew!! Amidst all this tension ...and many more that I haven't mentioned ...I feel like going back in my life to being a kid ... and just hang around my parents and my little baby sister! That sure was a fun life ... thats the time in my life ... I would always cherish the most!!

C or Si ?? [C -> C language; Si -> Yes in Spanish]

2006-01-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

I want to learn a lot of languages to speak and atleast to write a few! Yep ... I mean both national languages and computer languages .... of course the computer languages I can definitely write when I learn in them!! ha ha Every now and then ... I end up going to various websites and learning a few lines ... but all the effort stops after ...how are you? ...comment ca va? .... como esta ..? chenna gidhira ? ... bagunnavaa? ... aap kyasa hai ? ... !! I really wish to go forward than that ...I am gonna try to move forward! Also I want to try and make an effort to go to barnes & Noble in the weekend to atleast be amongst books! I really love books ... of course to read them ... also to just be among them .. but what can I say ... I am not too fast a reader and so ...every book takes a long time to finish! So ...the number of 'completed books' are less compared to how many I have started reading ! Anyways recently I went to the library and pulled up an audio book...and tried listening to it yesterday while cooking .. (did I say I like to multi-task ?? ...sss very much) and it was really interesting ...to hear somebody read out to you!! Anyways thats my new thing recently! You should think/tell me what new thing you have done or you are going to do ...something you have never tried before ... its kinda exciting to think of weird things ..isn't it??

Clearance in my head or in the road

2006-01-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

Today ...the day dawned on me pretty early as I had to do some work from home ...and it still seems like the time hasn't changed the climatic conditions outside the window...! It was a bad drive ...as I couldn't see anything except the brake lights beaming atme on and off ...rain and wind together can make it hard to have a good clearance on the road!! I could almost feel like the car was drifting away from its lane ... I am just glad that I reached my destination safely. I read somewhere that people tend to worry about small things in life and forget to really think about the big things happenings in life! I somehow think thats true ..because ...all I think about is ...finishing my projects ...doing my job well and making my team happy; hoping to finish the week successfully and having a relaxing weekend; hoping to go to India and visiting my family ... ; think about my sister's exams ..and stuff that are going to happen in the near future ...not the long term goals ....like what do I want to do in my life ...am I ready to always work under somebody or start up something on my own like my dad does! Maybe I should think ...about my sister's future and whether I will be able to live far away from home for the rest of my life or would I move or whatever ! My mind refuses to think of these things ... it may be thinking ...why should I stress myself right now .. lets move one small thing at a time! Anyways ... my current worry is me loosing my hair ... what can I say ... its been a year and a half since my hair started falling ...I believe I should have had a lot of hair to still have hair left in my head!! I just wish and hope that this would stop and be back to normal...!! (See I just said ... a day to day worry running constantly in my head).

Full IIIII || IIIII Empty

2006-01-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

The official week has started ... I don't like to go to school or work after a long weekend as my mind and body gets used to enjoying and sleeping a lot during the holidays ...hence the mental and physical hesitation to start the work day!! Anyways I made it work and things are going fine!! As usual I didn't fill up my car's gas-tank and my indicator started blinking less than half-way through to my work. I don't know why I don't really do that well before and not wait for some sensor to tell me to do my work!! It is not bad to fill gas in NJ for one reason and that is ...not having to do it by yourself...yes ...the people at the gas station provide you with full service ...! It was really weird for me to see this ... as I have not seen this after I left India.Back in Michigan ...where I used live before ... I was used to servicing my car on my own and it was very hard in the cold windy/snowy days where it was too hard to even get out of the car!! Worst some days ... the gas-cap wouldn't come quickly and where I would have no energy to try harder because of the weather. Checking the air-pressure in the car's wheels was even harder ... as you have to stand there and keep checking pressure at intervals to avoid inflating the tire too much! My nose and my ears would always turn soo pink that they would start to look like santa's reindeers with those glowing lights on them. :-)

Anyways ... now that I am in a state where people service you (at least in gas stations).. I should really remember to fill my gas-tank in time and prevent any last-minute panic attacks! Other than that ...the weather here has been bad for the past few days ... its freeeezing..not too much snow though but need extra protection for your body!!!

Kannum Pongal Day ALIAS MLK day...

2006-01-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

Adventure was the word for yesterday ... things worked normal ... or what I consider normal till around 4 pm yesterday until the plan to visit the temple came into action! This plan has been postponed from the 24th of december when a couple of our friends from college visited our place! It was pushed to the next weekend ... it was not laziness ..but something would always come up ..like the first time ...we didn't make the effort to check on the temple timings ...next time it was raining very hard and poor visibility ... and yesterday ...too much ice on the road ... very dangerous to go to a place where we actually haven't been a number of times! Anyways ...as we got ready and left home ...literally ..2 steps away from our door ...we realised that we were standing in the middle of a big patch of ice (1 inch thick) and started heading thinking that we will find cleaner spots to step into ...but oh my god ...no way ...I literally had to hold on to the cars parked in the lot to get to our car. Now to open the car...oops ...the key is not moving in the driver seat's keyhole...so tried the other end and luckily it opened ....!! Then I made up my mind and decided not to go to the temple during this bad icy time of the evening ...(not sure what to call it ...cause it was pitch dark like the night) !! So ...to make use of the effort put in to get to the car, we decided to go buy some fruits from a local store. After buying everything that came in our mind as we were walking down the numerous aisles in the hypermarket ...we came back to our apartment ...struggled our ways back from the areas where the car had been parked to the apartment's entrance (a private entrance for each individual apartment) ! Now all to find that my friend couldn't open the door ...thinking that the effort wasn't enough...I took the keys and tried real hard ...all to find my bare fingers ached like hell without any protection from the severe cold ...Oh God ..Give me the strength to open it ...thats all I thought ... I rang my neighbour's door bell ...(out of 2 ...1 door opened) and asked for a de-icer to melt the damn ice so I can get into warmth!! No luck ...they didn't have it ...so finally with great frustation carried the bags back into the car and hoped to find a de-icer in a nearby store! We stopped in every gas station that came on the way to ask for one ...but no-one had the one we were looking for ...a key-hole de-icer ...so finally going back to the hypermarket ..we bought a windsheild de-icer as we ran out of options other than staying in the car !! Buying our dinner at McDonalds ...so much for our home-cooked dinner ...what we planned initially, we arrived in our apartment complex. Now I stepped out of the car with great determination and will power, ... as nothing in this world could stop me from doing anything I wanted ..., I took the de-icer and sprayed hard at the key hole like I was shooting at my worst enemy....and voila....the door opened...alas ...we were back to safety ....phew ....what a relief!! WHAT A DAY FOR ADVENTURE!!

Festive Time N a long weekend..... hurray!!

2006-01-14T09:46:00.000-08:00

I am just happy that it is weekend and on top of it ...it is also pongal ...!!
So Happy Pongal to all!!

As the day goes by...

2006-01-13T12:35:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how the day is dragging here ....I generally have a lot to do but today ..today is the day before a long weekend and so I am itching to get away !. my manager is on vacation, my other teammate has gone for his break and I have completed my work ....!! Good that I am done with my work but sometimes I wish I had some to keep me preoccupied otherwise I am always lost in the world of internet ...it is like desultory ...within one's own head!! Did I ever mention that I started into this blogging world by reading the cooking blogs....it is very interesting
to find various versions of cooking the same vegetable. I love cooking ...it is one of my passions ... but I am not brave enough to try out my own creations like many of these excellent cooks online do! I feel like there are too many recipes to try before even I think about my own! Most of everything ...of course I like my mom's cooking ...I think I can never even think of something
paralleling it! My mom creates her own ... and believe me they turn out to be 'out of the world' dishes!! She doesn't keep a measure of the ingredients in her head ...so its pretty hard for me to learn unless I cook along with her. Ohhh....I miss home so much ... I am waiting to see my family!

To Start With

2006-01-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

Hi ... I have always wanted to write down my thoughts somewhere and look at it later sometime in my life to recollect on my past life.Well, I never thought I would do it online ...but seeing all these wonderful thought-filled blogs I feel like having one of my own.Anyways ...to get to the point ...I am originally from India , studied in United States and now working here. I am, as most of us here,an IT person. I have always wanted to be around computers and so I am here doing what I intended to! I like to live my life very differently but not really sure what I should do to fulfill that!! I work hard in everything ...I don't give up quite easily and trynot to procrastinate. Well ...I think I should stop here about me and continue with something fun as we go!