Visit to Stanford University

Standing in front of Memorial church

Arches and Pillars everywhere

March 29th 2009 Sunday First Visit to Stanford University

Photo links are here

Sunday evening around 5 p.m Vivek said let us drive to Stanford university which is about 20 miles from our house. We were going to only spend an hour or two. This is my preliminary visit and I am surely going to spend a day there. There is so much to see.

We drove to the university quadrangle thro' a picturesque drive famously known as "Palm drive" as the road is lined with palm trees on either side and does remind u of IIT Mumbai entrance.

One only dreams of Stanford. I could never imagine my dream will come true but it did. I wish I had studied here but I am consoling myself that atleast I am visiting this great place.

The sprawling lawns, rows and rows of huge trees, pillars and arches carved of yellow stones

I have collected these facts about this great univ. from their website

On Oct. 1, 1891, Stanford University opened its doors

Jane and Leland Stanford established the university in memory of their only child, Leland Jr., who died of typhoid fever at 15. Within weeks of his 1884 death, the Stanfords determined that, because they no longer could do anything for their own child, they would use their wealth to do something for “other people’s” children.

They donated more than 8000 acres of their farm land

Approximately 16000 to 17000 students + faculty strength

Stanford Univ. is mainly responsible for the birth and sustenance of the Silicon Valley. Most of the entrepreneurs (google for e.g.) are Stanford alumni. The alumni list is world famous personalities.

Appr. 36000 $ per year fee

Original research on issues that are of fundamental concern to human welfare and progress is the main objective of the university. Many path-breaking inventions and discoveries are credited to the research here

Many Faculty are noble prize winners

There are more than 4,500 externally sponsored projects throughout the university, with the total budget for sponsored projects at $1.060 billion during 2008-09

The university is a self-sustaining community with:

• With more than 49 miles of roads
• 49-megawatt power plant
• Two separate water systems
• Three dams and lakes
• 88 miles of water mains
• A central heating and cooling plant
• A high-voltage distribution system
  
• A post office
• Stanford also provides or contracts for its own fire, police and other services.
  
• Designated a Gold-Level “Bicycle Friendly Community,” Stanford boasts more than 12,000 racks for bikes and 11.7 miles of bike lanes.
• The award-winning transportation program includes the free, 39-bus, 13-route Marguerite system running on biodiesel; the 7,000-member Commute Club; free passes on Caltrain, VTA, Dumbarton Express and AC Transit’s Line U; Zipcar; commute planning; charter services; and a bicycle program.

There are more than 670 major buildings at Stanford that incorporate 13.1 million square feet.

Ninety-five percent of undergraduates live on campus, as do about 52 percent of graduate students and 30 percent of faculty members.

There are 850 owner-occupied housing units for faculty on campus,

628 rental units for faculty and staff.

Stanford is one of the most energy efficient institutions among California research universities.

• There are about 43,000 trees on the Stanford campus
• The Coast Live Oak the most common.
  
• Many of Stanford’s picturesque redwoods, cedars, Canary Island palms and eucalyptus trees have survived a century or more of drought, flood and change.
  
• There are more than 800 different species of plants on campus.
  
• The inner campus includes :

1. More than 1.4 million square feet of shrubs
2. 190,000 linear feet of groundcovers
3. 1.2 million square feet of lawns
4. 2,300 automatic irrigation valves.
5. There are 23 fountains.

Stanford has a 70-acre shopping complex with five major department stores and 140 retail stores. It is one of the nation’s leading super-regional centers in revenue and sales per square foot.

Well I am awe-inspired by all these massive figures and am looking forward to my next detailed visit.

San Fransisco Visit to Zoo and Beach

I understood what is peacock blue color

Cooling Ducks and freezing me

Spring is in the air

March 28 2009

More Photos of this day can be viewed here


On a bright sunny saturday afternoon Vivek drove me to San Fransisco. This was my second visit. It was always a pleasure to go out with Vivek as he too enjoys the process of travelling like me. He never tires of driving.

We visited the zoo and spent some time at the Beach watching Sunset over the sea. It was a magical day though the sun was blazing, the sky was clear , it was ice cold at the beach with a icy wind blowing

Some part of our drive looked like a scenic hill station with a lake view

SF Looks like a hill station in parts

while a large part of our drive miles upon miles was along the awesome magnificent Pacific ocean looking absolutely blue with foaming white waves lashing at the shore .

The magnificent Pacific Ocean at SF on a bright sunny afternoon

The San Fransisco zoo that day had loads of visitors lots of children and even young parents with babes in arms and grandparents with kids, young teenage couples too. Everyone was out to enjoy the sun shine. The entrance was 15$ per person. We could not find a place to park, drove around a lot in search of parking space and ultimately parked the car along the edge of the ocean and walked over to the zoo.

Sleeping Beauty

The zoo initially seemed unimpressive but later on as we went around I rather began to love the place. Having seen the St Louis (Illinois) Zoo this seemed less magnificent in comparison.
The flora was stunning with very huge tall trees and rare floral blooms.

We met a cute American old lady who offered to click our photo together and said she had been to India 5 times and she loved India.

The cute American lady clicks us together

My experience of the American people has always been endearing and I simply love America. I told her the same and she was so happy. Ultimately only human warmth lasts and all differences of caste, creed, religion, nationality dissolves into nothingness if only we recognize that inter-human relationship is the only important and happy thing on earth..

Sun sets over the sea

The zoo closes at 5 p.m so we had to leave . We drove along the beach and vivek said he will take me to a strategic point for viewing sun set over the sea. We parked the car at a nice high view point and sat inside the car. vivek went to sleep. I sat enjoying the chill and staring at the ocean. The ocean instils a sense of absolute peace in me.

We were waiting for the sun set for more than an hour. It was worth the wait and as the sun went down, I felt like walking along the ocean. So we walked around.There were huge rocks in water and the waves lashed them with fury. The setting sun painted the sky in varying shades of red, yellow and orange.

The chill in the air was unbearable. As soon as we got inside the car to drive back home, vivek switched on the heater and the heat was so welcome.

It was another unforgettable day in my California visit

Click here to view more photos of this day

First Visit to Golden Gate Bridge

My First visit to the famous San Fransisco City

More photos are here

Drive to San Fransisco

Saturday 21st March I got up excited as we were driving to san Fransisco. One has heard so much about it The weather was chilly, cold, rain showers and some sun shine. The drive was scenic with distant hills and winding roads plenty of greenery pretty houses and great many cars.

Golden Gate bridge

We drove thro' downtown san fransisco and then to the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh it is a gigantic absolutely stunning massive structure - a suspension bridge over Pacific Ocean on one side and the San Fransisco bay on the other sopporting a six way traffic and two pedestrian walks on either side. allowing ships to pass underneath, Surrounded by hills....m.m... How do the Americans manage such gigantic perfect structures ( I am reminded of the St. Louis Arch, Down town Chicago's towering sky scrappers, Signature Lounge - the Hotel on the 96th Floor).

We parked and walked on the golden gate bridge for an hour or more. It was a very very chilly windy cold wet day and fog drifted in and out of distant bay. It was drizzling. People were walking, cycling and skating. Even toddlers were moving in their prams. I noticed aged American ( my assumption) couples looking cozy and enjoying a good time together. How nice !!

I could spend days and days roaming here and drinking in the scenic beauty of the ocean and the rolling hills . What was disturbing was the deafening sounds of cars upon cars wizzing by. I wish we had discovered silent movements for fast cars....

We then drove for 15 KM thro a hilly terrain ghats in rain and it was absolutely beautiful. Th ePacific ocean lay to my left but a thick fog covered it so no luck to see the blue ocean. Wereached the scenic town of Stinson Beach town.

The quaint Little Hotel in Stinson Beach

We ate in a small cute hotel with a girl serving us with as much energy as a flitting butterfly in a garden of colourful flowers and a tall man with flowing hair who resembled to me Jesul christ. and the hotel was full of Americans .

Sausalito Beach Community

We then drove back thro scenic hill way thro' the absolutely picture perfect beach cum Hill station town of Sausalito. vivek said we will come back here another day. So much to see and so much to do and so little time in this world.

We drove thro' down town san Fransisco called Union square which housed world famous Brand stores. I shall be back here for loads and loads of shopping later. ( window of course)

Steep roads and dipping roads

Back home .. such an unforgettable day of beauty and wonder..

Read more about Sausalito here

Some information on Stinson is here

/********************************************************************************?

Some facts from internet:

• The Golden Gate refers to the opening of the San Fransisco bay into the pacific Ocean or the other way round
• connects city of San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County
• Four years of construction
• Cost of $35 million
• Opened to vehicular traffic on May 28, 1937
• 4200 ft. long 1.7 miles
  
• 746 ft. tower height
• Always painted ORANGE
• The weight of the roadway is hung off of two cables that pass through the two main towers and are fixed in concrete at each end. Each cable is made of 27,572 strands of wire. There are 80,000 miles (129,000 km) of wire in each of the two main cables;[23] the total is sufficient to go around the world 5.79 times. The bridge has approximately 1,200,000 total rivets.
  
• The Golden Gate Bridge is the most popular place to commit suicide in the United States and is one of the most popular in the world

• More info here from Wikipedia ofcourse
• Official Website of Golden gate bridge
• Frequently asked question about GBS

My Family

Well I just wanted to give some interesting links here

My brother R V Eswaran has his web site called Unclesadvice.com - a must visit for us

My son Hari works for QED Baton who have recently opened a branch in Santa Clara

Krishna my dear nephew has founded a Software testing Co called Zen Test Labs

It is a small world anyway

From California

America - The vastness of it all

I have been in vivek's house in Fremont now for almost a week . Every time I come out what strikes me is the vastness of everything in America. The complex is sprawling with so much of greenery, lush grass slopes, winding pathways, nice swimming pool with lounging chairs, tables and chairs to relax, lots of car parking.

America is truly a land of cars - cars cars everywhere - of everyshape, size, color, make.

There are huge ( by my std . i believe actually these are smaller ones by US stds) shopping complexes with cars and more cars.

When I come out into the street ( actually it is highway running close to our house) there are hundreds of cars zipping by. Like the sound of the sea when we walk on a beach I hear the roaring of cars as I walk on the sidewalk.

The highways are vast broad and huge



The roses on the side walks and everywhere are huge too unbelievably healthy, slighly fragrant, rich in color.

The American lady at the mall was of a huge size too and towered over me .

The varieties of all types of items are huge too. Clothes upon clothes in the hangers at the malls, rows and rows of food items stacked in malls , shelves after shelves of drugs in the drug store, rows and rows and rows and rows of cosmetics, chesse, bread- the American canvas is truly a vast canvas

The fat cat strolling in the complex is huge too and looks like a baby tiger. The squirrel is bushy and when it runs looks like an Indian cat.

The TVs discuss economic downturn in USA and the losses are also huge like in billions of $. The guys at the loss making ING were paid bonuses for billions of $ which caused a huge national debate ..

Truly a vast country !!

Photos of our home, housing complex and street is here

I have landed in San Fransisco

Dear All

Here is sharing with u my second time USA visit experience

Photo Link to Mission Peak and Google Campus is here

14th March 2009
A red letter day in my life I have landed for the 2nd time in USA but this time it is San Fransisco California ( last time it was Chicago )

Korean airways
The flight by Korean airways was not commendable at all , crammed seats, crowded and jam packed look, waiting at the toilet ques, awaiting for something to be served. The only saving grace was the bevy of pretty air hostesses and their absolutely charming warm smiles and fine skin.

Seoul Incheon airport

Incheon AIRPORT

The sprawling Seoul airport was state-of-art stopover and was very impressive - huge duty free shops and more than 100 gates for landing and takeoff, spic and span look, pretty young charming girls in the shops, plants, sofas, free internet terminals, everything was of the highest std.

Incheon AIRPORT

I just checked out some items at the shops one neck piece was 300+ USD and I told the girl at the counter mine cost just 3 $ in India. She immediately called her colleague and shared that with awe. A bag was 500$ the same one in shopper's stop Pune I had seen for 10 to 20$

Pakistani Co-traveller
The gentleman sitting next to me was huge in size and filled the whole seat and half of mine too - like his hands and legs filled everywhere. In the end turned out to be a nice person offered me his window seat while landing and also his share of the free takeaway pair of socks and a tooth brush the KE so generously gave us ( I suppose that was instead of the food they did not serve - like wear a socks , brush ur teeth and be satisfied - ha ha ha ) He just strengthened my belief that all nice people across the world are same.

The sad story
The young looking lady sitting on the other side had a shocking story to tell - she had just lost her husband y'day !! and she was travelling alone and imagine no one even came to the airport to pick her up. He had lost his job , could not pay rent, borrowed a lot on credit card, and might have even committed suicide she is not sure .. his body was discovered after 15 days locked in the apartment. She had no children and so many problems !! I gave her a shoulder to cry that is all I could do and some comforting words. May she get the strength to live a happy life from now on. Suddenly I felt my life was so rich with such loving people around me - my 2 sons their wives, my sisters and their family, my parents, my brother and his family, so many friends and relatives to heal and console us in our time of need..

First look at San Fransisco



First picture of San Fransisco

The aircraft was flying low over sea ( called San Fransisco Bay) I thought it would touch the water and Lo and behold ! It hit the runway - that means the bay was touching runway !! I wonder how the water does not enter the roads when it is almost at the same level..

Touch down - The craft flies so low almost touching the bay

My entry into USA was indeed so pleasant as the immigration and custom clearance took hardly 10 minutes. The baggage was out as I came out and there was no waiting anywhere. No one asked any questions and I was out in 15 min. flat. This is the kind of system I want to see in place in my country back home in India

Vivek's home
My first look of vivek's home was indeed pleasant the house is very tastefully done up with so many artefacts and there was a certain warm Indianness about it.

Vivek & Vidya live in this house now

It is a rented 2 BHK apartment but so comfortable as there were so many closets everywhere - this is one thing I always miss at home. Vidya was preparing for a very tough certification exam on Mon 16th Mar. and was worried as the passing percentage was 85%.

Pretty walkways outside vivek's house

Weather
It was chilly for me at 10 degrees C and I was jet lagged too not having slept for the last 24 hours.

Visit to WalMart
Attended a first birthday party of Avneesh vivek's nieghbour at Udipi Palace Hotel with their Indian friends - The day ended so nicely with a visit to the Walmart . I am still dazed at the massive size of the store with so many deals and offers.

Sun 15th March - Mission Peak and Google campus
It was a bright sunny day with a chill in the air and we drove to Mission Peak and around. vivek says these are very expensive residential areas with houses overlooking the hill range. we climbed part of the way and promised ourselves we will be back to complete the climb. Lots of pretty photos taken here.

Mission Peak Hills

I read warning of "encounter with Mountain Lions face to face "- It said try to appear larger, talk in a loud voice, look straight into the eye, retreat slowly giving it time to escape and if attacked fight HARD.. I just prayed that we don't get a chance to try all this !!

google - Here I come
Vivek drove me to google campus. I was surprised by the number of buildings and the vast area across which the google campus was spread. Very well maintained greenery too. I had imagined one glassed building. Here it was like telco in Pune on a vast land area.

vivek@Google

It was so beautiful and vivek took me inside one of the buildings where he works. There were so many cafeteria - coffee bars, fruit outlets, lots and lots of sofa sets to lounge around, Massage chairs ( I sat in one it was fantastic and a tickling experience) , books.

Massage chairs and sofa sets

I was so proud of vivek - How it is to work in such a nice energizing atmosphere. There was an air of extremely intelligent management at work here. There was also beauty everywhere.

I just loved the place. I repeatedly asked him " Can I get a job here?? " He asked me " for what u want to work here? " I said "for food and massage and toilet" Ya the toilet was state of art with a control panel for rear wash, front wash, seat warming, temperature control, drying etc.. .The door had a paper pasted with some Coding hints !! This means as u r sitting in the toilet u can be reading some useful professional stuff - that much for efficiency.

Vivek printed out a Visitor's pass sticker for me and told me to paste it to my dress - what a way to do away with employing a security personnel group - Compare this with how we enter a big co. in India - we write in a register and we are issued a visitor pass. There is a group of security personnel employed for this purpose at least 3 persons at any given time

The availability of food was the best part of working in Google ( ofcourse that is purely my opinion ) I ate 2 seedless sweet oranges, one crunchy apple and drank a cup of coffee. I felt I deserved them as my son was working for nothing less than 16 hours a day for this great Co.

I saw for the first time in my little life "Chewing-gum Dispensor"

We drove a lot across Mountain View , shopped at indian stores and came home tired and hungry.

Love you all Take care.

Hari Gets Married

Hari wedded Gurpreet on 17th Jan 2009

Sangeet @ Hotel Coronet Deccan Apte Road on 16th Jan
was a happy affair. The invitees were just family, Gurpreet and Hari's close friends. There was loud foot tapping music and dancing and mehendi done on our hands. Food was simple with great starters. Everyone danced and it was a unforgettable evening. We missed Vidya a lot as she would have danced so beautifully. Thyagarajan ( vidya's dad) ofcourse made up for her absence. He danced with great spirit ( inside and out !! ) and joy sometimes holding Uma close. I had pretty Arabic mehendi done on my hand. We southIndians were all dressed in hesvy silk sarees with thick Jari border and Gurpreet's people who are all punjabi were dressed in punjabi suits with glitering jardosi type work. It made for a nice conglomeration of north and south dancing together. Gurpreet's family members were expert dancers while we danced like we were doing aerobic exercises. Fun !!

The irressitible foursome - Abhir, sarmishta, Gurpreet, Damini danced like professionals and beautifully too- very enjoyable

Hari gets dancing lessons from Kushagra, Giri, Shounak and Balaji

Wedding on 17th Jan 2009 at Poona Club
17th dawned a beautiful day for all of us at our house. There was magic and happiness in the air. Uma and Thyagarajan - Vidya's parents stayed with us and that really added to the feeling of joy of the occassion. We decked the house in marigold garlands and pretty mak-kolam. Bala jaya came over and we had a nice breakfast of idli, chatni, some dokla too. Lunch as usual my great sisters rose to the occasion and sent : Usili parupu curry, morkuzambu, rasam( ? ) karudam. We made some rice. Evening we all had to leave together for the venue at Poona Club.


Hari is glowing

We are waiting at the Entrance at Poona Club

Come 5:00 p.m. all of us were excited and ready dressed in our best clothes and jewellary in our respective cars. The plan was we should all drive together and enter the venue together. That was what Gurupreet wanted. We were going to get a surprise welcome ( typical Punjabi welcome I imagined with Dolak and music and all ) .

I was dressed in a very nice saree ( green and purple combination which I thought may not look good but all photos should me looking great in that saree) I also had matching jewellary ( a nice set in light purple and white stone - liked the set very much) .

Lalitha wore Green sari , Ganga wore the pink with blue border silk ( was gifted by me for Hari's wedding ) , Sachi a blue/green with big red border. Jaya as usual was dressed smartly . She always knows to drape her sari so well. How she managed with one hand in plaster - I wonder?

Hari looked radiant in a nice suit, so also Vivek as usual so smart . Both my sons are good lookers - really tall and handsome They need not take trouble to look good. The icing on the cake was my mother also coming along with us. Vivek's wedding Amma could not just make it so I was so happy she was able to take part in Hari's wedding. Bala and Jaya were the soul representatives of Raghu's family. I felt a bit saddened by that. I missed not having Raghu around - How happy and thrilled he would have been to see his two sons settling down in life.

We were at the venue at sharp 7. p.m. The Venue was "Poona Club Swimming Pool Side" The entrance was done up very beautifully as also the entire place. It was a nice spacious venue with excellent arrangements. Each and every aspect was looked into by both Hari and Gurpreet and the result was really wonderful.

The registrar of weddings was there , my dear friend Devaki and her husband Vivek, My neighbours Deshmukhs, Sanghvi Family, .. were all there. Gurpreet looked very beautiful in a rich looking outfit and she and Hari made a nice pair together.

Hari's registered Marriage:
First Hari signed the marriage register, then Gurpreet, then we three witnesses - myself, gurpreet's parents. Then the registrar made hari and gurpreet take a oath and then he declared them married. Then there was the tradinal exchange of garlands, Hari put a ring to gurpreet and the marriage ceremony was over. It was a magical moment in my life. This special son of mine whom I felt so responsible and so protective (having lost his father at the age of 11 months) - So many ups and downs in life with him - was happy for him for having found a life partner. I prayed to God that he should always be happy in life with his chosen life partner.
The one person we missed the most was Vidya- Vivek's wife. This was such a special moment for my family and she - an important part of our life was missing. Anyway her parents were with us and made up for her absence.

Food:
The menu was excellent - some starters were going around but I was too busy and excited to even try them. I was later told they were superb. There were nice tables and chairs with very pretty flower and candle arrangement. The food counter was to one corner and there was live DJ and music playing some soft music. There was hot jelebi being made and served with Rabadi and that was a hit with the guests. Every body loved the novel idea. The weather was pleasant ( a bit chilly really as the time went by) . Hot makki roti was made and served with hot sarso-ka-sag with white butter, gur and some chatni and was most welcome. There was also hot appam made and served with chettinad Chicken ( which ofcourse was not tasted by us vegetarians). Many of us thought the appam was dosa and had it with chatni and whatever else. There was also some rice ( jeera _ peas? ) item, Shahi Paneer, some dal preparation, salads etc.. On the whole The menu choice was simply superb and simple and elegant.

Guests:
People I had called from our area ( esp. Bhajan group ) stayed away as there was a autorickshaw strike that day and most of them did not have a vehicle. Daya Maya were there but Swetha was missing. Rashmi, Krishna Abhitha were there. A very welcome guest was Peggy Tumbe with her sister. She had taken the trouble of coming all the way from Bombay. Other then them, no one else turned up from Bombay( like Balraj, Kappu, Papu , Pyya... ) My dear friend Bhaviskar was there with his family as also my neighbours the khoths . As I had not invited more than these my guest list was limited to around 50. HAri's office colleagues had turned in large numbers and were having a good time. Lots of Gurpreet's parents' friends turned up. As it happens in any marriage it is difficult to meet everyone and remember their names.

Photos were clicked with Hari and Gurpreet and guests.

All good things must end. So also this magical day. For Gurpreet's family it was a tearful and touching "Good bye" .

Hari true to his adventurous nature, drive off with Gurpreet in his bullet all decked up with baloons and ribbons and a placard displaying "JUST MARRIED" We all drove away back home. We saw Hari and Gurpreet riding past in the motorbike on the highway and the scene looked straight out of some movie.

Lalitha and sacchi had come to our house early to get the house ready to welcome our new member Gurpreet as Hari's wife now. We gave her a traditional welcome. The house was lit so beautifully and looked like a place in heaven. It was an unforgettable joyous moment in my life. Leaving the newly weds to themselves in our home, we all went to Lalitha's house to sleep.

Barack Obama Wins - The New President of the United States of America

An open letter to the new President

Yes The American election is over. The results are out.

Barrack Obama is the President of America - declared on 5th Nov 2008.

Well the election campaign kicked off somewhere in April 2007 when I happened to be with Vivek at Champaign and watched on TV the debates between the various candidates. To begin with there were some 8 of them. I was sure Hilary would win as she was so charming. Obama appeared smart too.

As the months rolled by, so many things happened. Hilary bowed out. I personally thought MaCain did not look like a president till I watched a BBC profile on him and my opinion changed. My respect for him went up by several points. His speech after he lost the polls simply made me weep and I acknowledge his greatness as a true human being.

One always loved Obama's spirit. He always talked sense, looked young and charming and appeared energeticI dare not think Obama will surely win as there was always the lingering racial fear, having witnessed first hand the way Blacks are treated in America ( you generally fear them and avoid anything to do with them.. ) . Hari always said it is impossible that he win.

But today history was made. America has a black President. What a proud moment for all the downtrodden Americans who for years have felt like second class citizens. Today there is hope for all. "Dare to dream" is the inspiration I am feeling in my bones for all American youths. The message is there for the entire world for all the regions in dire political conflict - "Dare !! Dare !! Dare !!"

What tilted the whole US situation was the worst economic crisis there which was unimaginable some months back. The people of America are realizing they are no longer the rich country they were supposed to be.

What Obama should do to restore confidence of so many people ? The muslim jihadis who consider America as "Enemy No 1" ? The very white Americans who have lost confidence in their own system of governance? All those American parents , wives, childen who have lost someone to mindless war and terrorism?

Well My sugegstions are here Mr New President
1. Withdraw all American troops from non American soil and declare peace with them

2. Bring the muslim leaders to negotiation for peace. Let them once and for all feel equal and honoured

3. Cut down drastically on useless pompous spendings of state and tighten govt. belts

4. Whatever new policies are made take atleast a 20 year window of their effect for future

5. Absorb excess cash from the abnormally rich people of America into the American economy

6. Bring lot of employment opportunities for Blacks and put them on an equal footing with the white Americans . Let their lives be as hopeful and prosperous as their white counter parts. The criminal tag associated with the Blacks must go once and for all

7. Last but not the least let America countinue to be the great country it is in providing that free opportunities to all people across the globe. That is what makes America so attractive to the world

Books and Me

Power of Now
By Eckhard Tolle

I am presently studying this book- like I have read it once, acted upon the guidelines and want to rework the whole book again

Now every book I read, I am easily influenced. The books that really had tremendous influence on me are several.

Self Managing leadership By Prajipita Brahma Kumaris
This book I had picked up at Peace Garden in Mt. Abu where the centre for Brahma Kumaris is located. It is a fantastic book and I read and re-read it several times and carried it to read on the way to work and memorized a lot of TODO steps

All autobiographical books There is always some philosophy that influences one.

Made in Japan Akiyo Morita

Book by Jack Welsh GE Chairman,
Road Ahead By Bill Gates,
IT happened in INDIA by Big Bazar, Pantaloon, Future group chairman Kishore Biyani,
The Google story
Books written by Mata Amruthanandamai

Wisdom for the New Millenium By Sri Sri Ravishankar
Written by Art of Living Guruji, this book really guided me on several issues and I love reading it anytime any page.

Self Hypnosis is a book that tells you about your mind patternes and how you could get rid of negativity and plant positive thoughts in your subconsious mind. I followed the steps.

When Helping Harms the Ones you Love Book on Codependency by Angelyn Miller
which I think applies to my life . So I read it repeatedly and often and work on the steps. This is an ongoing process for me.

The habit of reading and enjoying that process is deeply embedded into my system since childhood and I am grateful for that. This one hobby and habit is a source of entertainment.
I recall in my growing up years my brother and I shared a passion for novels written by Charles Dickens and we often conversed in that English using Thee and Thou... and all sorts of dialogs and we were a laugh riot.

Past few months I was going thro' a very traumatic period in my life and caught in a trap of self reproach and self created misery. Every morning I got up with guilt, unhappiness, misery, blaming myself, bitter complaints.... I came upon this wonderful book "Power of Now" by Eckhard Tolle. Any amount of praise is less for this great author. I read and re read and I am reading the book at bed time. The philosophy of how to live life that Tolle guides us is easy to follow in life and all my unhappiness vanished.

I was absolutely shell shocked to learn that it is my very intelligence that I am so proud of is actually the root cause of all unhappiness. This analytical thinking constantly about past adn future actually creates the pain body. It is my EGO that is the root cause of misery

Some of what I learnt is here :

Today

Positive Affirmation for the day

Listen , Think, Talk

(Order is mandatory)

My Mother

I wrote this in my diary one day when I felt my mom was so ill and she may not live long. I have often been rude to her when she is sick like that. Then I repent and feel bad.

Diary : 25th March 2008

What is it to be a mother?

When a woman gets her baby, she is on top of the world. That tiny bundle born of her flesh and blood brings such thrill, such joy one cannot describe in words.

She makes all sorts of sacrifices - depriving herself of so many comforts.

I remember my mother in my childhood. She would eat only after serving all fours of us children and my father. She used to make such lovely curries and hot hot chappati that we would eat and eat till we could eat no more. But we rarely saw whether there was something left for her. But she never complained. Happily she always ate last whatever was left. Fortunately she was made up of strong basic health having been brought up in a village that she never fell ill. I do not recall a single day in my childhood when my mom was ill and we had to serve her.


When my sister Lalitha fell gravely ill once in Pune we went thro' abject poverty and hardships. All my dad's measly income went to Dr's bills. My sister had so many operations around her neck. We did not ( at that time in our ignorance) sense the grave situation. But I remember a night when there was not enough rice to cook, my mother made a thin gruel ( Kanji) and fed us all . Tough times. She would pawn all her jewellery ( so little of it ) repeatedly for my brother Vaithu's education, my sister's sickness.

I was the apple of her eye ( I like to believe that) One reason was I stayed with my aunt ( one mouth less to feed) . She knew I was taken good care of . When I went to college, I used to give her my scholarship money which she felt was God sent. Then I also taught in a near by class to fetch a small amount for the family ( Rs 25 to 50 I do not remember.. )

My grandmother ( mom's mother) often stayed with us - it means 7 mouths to feed with one small income. But my recall of my early years are quite happy. I do not recall tension filled life at all. The bonding we shared with our siblings were quite strong and happy.



The smart mother that she was - even with that terriblly measly income , sickness of my sister Lalitha - her focus was getting us all married off. She was very clear about it. And she did it. I cannot imagine today getting 3 daughters and 1 son married off as an easy or achievable task without much financial strength.

Then came our chilren one by one . My mother worked very very hard to take care of our delivery Vivek, Hari, Aparna, Balaji, Ganesh, Krishna .. All she served selflessly to all - cooking, cleaning, washing soiled clothes all with pride and joy.


Raghu's untimely sad demise ( my dear husband at the age of 36) brought my parents to stay with us. It is rather unfortunate that I failed to develop that deep mother-daughter bond with her. I always saw her as a dominating woman, pushing her views on me. Sorry Mom - I could have improved our relationship - But my own personal grief, self-pity, foolishness, ego, immaturity in facing life's challenges and winning over - All this often found me at loggerheads with my mother.

But one thing I can vouch for - I was the most caring person as far as my parents' needs and childrens' needs were concerned. We lead as good a life as possible, not depriving Vivek and Hari of anything for the lack of a father. My parents were well fed and clothed by me and looked after well. In fact I can confidently say this was the best period in their life.

Mother accompanied us in all our vacations to Chennai. She was also a very popular person. Truly she has a certain charm - charisma which attracts people to her. To this day , anyone who knows her always remember and enquire about her health where-ever I go.

Somewhere along the way as she slowly marched towards her old age ( she is now 84 - 85?? ) . struck as she was with that terrible debilitating disease "Parkinson's" she, we all changed. 15 years is a painfully long period to suffer and she did - till date.


We the children also grew old and more and more selfish and nasty to this helpless woman. She in turn took more and more medication Syndopa and became more and more demanding. She believes eating will relieve her of her illness so she demands food all the time. The truth is she never came to terms with her condition. With determination she could have won over it. Denial made her think of all sorts of solutions.

Mother, My dear Mother. I am going to miss you. I am sorry if ever I hurt you. You deserve my utmost love and kindness. You have been the most helpful person to me.

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As a sequeal to this I wrote the following too on the same day in my diary

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Managing elderly members in the house

• First and foremost is respect at all times. No one in the family should be llowed to say rude things. They get hurt easily and suffer in silence. Right from childhood children should be taught to love and respect elders
  

• Kindness, Kindness, Kindness
  

• Patience, patience, patience
  

• Acceptance, Acceptance, Acceptance
  

• Love and forgiveness
  

• Provide a separate room with all amenities, a servant , time to time food. Spend at least an hour talking and communicating. I feel Vidhya's grandmother was so beautifully looked after by her sons and their family. Thanks to having a Dr. couple in the family, they were all properly guided.
  

• Only a family where elders co-exist with all the members in the family can be called a happy and cultured family.

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I also wrote this

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A word for elders ( or people who are going to become )

This is for all of us who will definitely face these years of old age

• Take care of health, health, health.

• Eat healthy food. Exercise a lot, drink plenty of fluids, meditate a lot.

• Have a tremendously positive outlook on life all the time. Never, Never, Never think or talk negative things. That transforms you into a hateful old man/woman

• Be extremely money-wise. It is an absolute must that the moment you start earning put away at least 10-20% of your income soul-ly for your old age- just yours nobody's

• Cultivate good habits of calm reading. It is a healthy habit.

• Bring discipline in eating/sleeping habits.
  

• Be loving and kind to everyone all the time. Never say rude hurtful things. Control your speech. Better not speak than be confrontational and fight. Just be calm, cool, collected. Smile/ laugh away arguments.

Health + Wealth + Love = Happy Old Age

Of Life and Death

My Diary : August 2008 ( not dated)

What is life? What is living? To be ( like)

- Flitting carefree like a colorful butterfly

- Chirping "chew- chew-chew" noisily - "Dont-care-a-Damn" like those tiny birds that come in my garden

- Blossoming wildly like a huge flower with a crazy heady fragrance , dancing in the breeze, Shining brightly in bright sun, spreading that joy, beauty and cheer around by its mere being

- Fine gentle drizzle

- Cool chill breeze

- Warm sunshine

- Thirst-quenching cool-flowing girgling water

- Leaping frog ( ha ha hahhhh)

- Kunda flowers covering my entire kunda jasmine tree , day-after-day with that faint fragrance

- Smile that lights up the eyes of every person my life touches when he/she thinks of me

That then is Joy of living

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Joy of death

Happy end. A fleeting whiff of fragrance passed by . A fleeting thought lights up a face with a smile.

How I would like to spend the rest of my life??

This article was written in my diary on 4/9/2008. What triggered the thinking is a visit to my dear friend Ratna Patekar. She said "What will I do with the rest of my life? What do I want to do? How do I want to spend my time ? I want to start planning for it now"

Here is my take on this:

1. Live with people who love and care for my feelings, value my presence and cherish me. If I cannot get this kind of loving company, it is better to live alone - but definitely not with hatred. I love myself, respect myself to compensate on this issue.

2. Work and earn a living .
I do not want to depend on my sons Vivek or Hari for my living. I have to see that somehow I generate enough ( lots and lots is better !! ) finance and be self supporting.

3. Live with beauty Discover beauty in life

4. Live for a cause. Be passionate about something ( yet to get there ) that I should feel is worth living for. Spend all my energy for that cause

5. Health is most critical.
My recent illness taught me that if you feel unwell, you cannot be happy within. It is important to be in normal health.