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.

I love Google

Google has made my life so interesting. I love their mail service, Picasa photo services , googleing , blogging . Internet was never this enjoyable in PRE_GOOGLE ( read PRE_HISTORIC) times

My love and best wishes to all the people of google who work ceaselessly to make it all happen.

Yoga and Exercise

Working for Health

I have developed a set of exercises which is a combination of yoga, exercises, Pranayam ( breathing techniques) , OM chanting, meditation ... Takes around 1 to 1.5 hours but leaves me feeling absolutely at peace with myself and the world. The yoga nidra ( sleep) I get at the finish of all my routines the bliss cannot be described in words only can be felt - deep deep peaceful sleep. The entire day I feel light hearted and fresh.

I follow this order

Sitting position :
1. Kapalbati pranayam and Anulom-vilom :
Kapalbati : breathing exercise. Pull in stomach muscles and forcefully exhale giving a short quick push.
AnulomVilom : Close right nostril with left hand ring finger ( next to little finger) and deeply breath-in thro left nostril. Now close left nostril with right hand thumb and breathe out completely. Repeat this alternately breathing in thro each nostril. Well Sound s complicated but it isn't so.

Both these breathing exercises are excellent for body repair, maintenance and do loads of good work for you.

I do 20 times each exercise alternated 3 times - total of 60 kapalbati and 60 anulom-vilom. the latter is tough so sometimes i do less

All following exercises can be combined with inhale-exhale rhythm. If there is any pain, do not do that exercise.

Sitting position:
2. Swing body like a pendulum - 10 to 20 times. Rotate body ( like mad !! ) 5 to 10 times in each direction.
3. Butterfly : Fold legs, draw your feet close to your body together , hold feet with both hands and move legs like a butterfly 20 times twice
4. Grinding stone : pretend you are grinding manually in a grinding stone 10 times in each direction
5. Stretch legs- rotate feet 10 times each direction
6. Stretch hands. Clinch fist. Rotate fist in each direction 20 times.
7. Cat asana : Rest on knees, with hands supporting body. you look like an animal. Now pull in and stretch body like a cat 5 times

Standing position
For mobility of knees:
8. Place palm on each knee. Rotate knees 5 to 10 times in each direction

Energizing warming up:
9. spot walking - normal
10. spot walking : raise thigh as high as possible - 20 to 50 times
11. spot running and hands oscillating up and down (flying like a bird) - go round and round - 5 times each direction
12. Bird swooning in each direction - 5 times

Slim waist:
13. swing arms at body level and swing body upto waist . Feet firm on ground 10 times each direction
14. swing arms and body up to waist . Feet firm on ground 10 times each direction
15. Hands on waist. Swing body in each direction. Feet firmly on ground. 10 times in each direction

Shapely arms and shoulder:
16. Freely rotate hand from shoulder 10 times in each direction
17. Fold hands thumb touching each shoulder . Rotate folded arms 10 times in each direction

Upperbody toning:
18. Stretch legs as wide as possible. Bend and touch toes with hand. Now swing arms and head up alternately touching toes with hands - left toe with right hand and vice versa 20 to 50 times. Knees must not bend.
19. Slowly raise legs toe touching the floor, hands above the head, each palm touching the other like Namaste pose - Stretch as much as possible standing on toes. Repeat 3 to 5 times
20. Stand with feet close together. Slowly raise arms above head, swing as much backwards as possible, body like an arch. Palms and face facing cieling. Slowly bring arms and face down, touch feet, face bent inward as much as possible. Repeat 10 to 20 times

I do the following exercises lying flat on ground:
Relaxing:
21. Shavasana : stretch arms and legs in as relaxed position as wide as you want and loosen body- relax . lie like a dead person ( ????? ha ha ha)
22. Lie normally. Take a deep breadth and chant OM 3 to 5 times with mouth closed. OM chanting improves breathing and blood circulation by causing vibrations in blood flow.

To shape up thigh area and get shapely legs:
23. Slowly raise one leg and bring it perpendicular to your body. Bring it sown to normal position . Repeat 5 to 10 times. Repeat with the other leg.
24. Freely rotate each leg drawing a big circle in air. Repeat 5 times in each direction and with each leg - total 20 circles
Move both the knees to one side. arms stretched. face turned in the opposite direction. Try to look at the hands ( try ... ) . Gives a nice stretched out feel

Flat stomach:
25. Lie flat. Raise only the stomach region . Hold it in air as long as possible ( ha ha ha) Repeat 3 to 5 times.
26. Raise feet slowly and admire them by looking at them, lying down
27. With legs folded as close to body as possible and clutching them with hands roll on your sides Repeat 10 to 20 times . Good for shaping bottoms
28. Stretch body , legs , hands as much as possible with hands above head clasped together like Namaste pose.
29. Stretch body. Hands above clasped together. Roll on your stomach ( This is called angapradikshinam - it is done by devotees in temples on hard rough stone flooring as a mark of total surrender to almighty) . Sure to cure any ailment. Since I am doing it in my room, I roll in one direction then the other 5 to 10 times.
30. Raise upper body hands and legs together. Stretch hands parallel to body Look at your feet.
31. sarvangasan: Slowly raise both legs perpendicular to your body . Hold them with your hands. Raise your head and upper body as much as possible. Only back is touching the floor. 5 to 10 times.
32. Cycle in air with legs and hands. Move your head left and right and laugh ( look like a tossing mad woman)

Ah that feels good

Following exercise to be done by turning body to your right side (lie straight) , raise body with right hand supporting head:
33. Relax. Look at your feet. Do not make any movement.
34. Raise left leg as much as possible and bring it down Repeat 3 to 5 times.
35. Free rotate left leg 3 to 5 times.
36. Raise both feet . Admire them.
37. Fold left leg at knee. Raise right leg. Look at the feet on right leg. ( sound a bit tricky? )
38. Lie flat on stomach. fold left leg and touch left knee. place right ear to ground ( try otherwise rest ear on with folded hands) . Deep breathe Chant "OM" 3 to 5 times with mouth closed.

Now lie flat on your stomach for the following exercises:
39. Chin touching ground ( may rest chin on folded hands) Deep breadth Chant "OM" 3 to 5 times. Mouth Closed
40. Fold both legs at knee and bring them to touch your body , then bring down to touch ground Repeat 5 to 10 times
41. Repeat the above exercise but one leg at a time . swing alternate legs at the knee
42. Free rotate legs ( try... )
43. Slowly raise your head and support face in the cup of your palms. Feet folded at the knee. Legs in air. Pop eyes, tongue out. Roar like a lion
44. Repeat 40, 41 Feels great , Stomach stretched
45. Swim on your stomach 20 to 50 times. Body should only rest on your stomach.
46. Lie flat. Slowly raise body, legs. hands stretched out. Body supported by the stomach only. With palm supporting the body at the side, raise the body off the ground and look up as much as possible. Body supported only by knee to feet touching the ground and palm . Bring down body slowly again on your stomach arms stretched out. Tough exercise but feel great. Repeat 5 to 10 times
47. Right leg folded at the knee, feet touching the other knee. Left ear touching the floor ( or folded hands) Deep breadth. Chant OM 3 to 5 times mouth closed.

Following exercise to be done by turning body to your left side (lie straight, feet stretched out) , raise body left hand supporting head:

48 to 53: Repeat 33 to 38 lying on your left side


Now I slowly get up and sit straight with folded legs. Takes around 45 min. to 1 hour. I feel absolutely in control of my body and do more pranayam (breathing exercises) and 7 Chakra meditation . All that in my next blog.

Putting this down in my blog made me realize how many different exercises I have developed for my body. I have missed putting down few more here...

Also I realized it is difficult to describe in words. Hope one day I can upload photos or a nice video.

Love colors life

I wrote this on 29th Feb 2008 in my diary

I have been thinking how when there is love, any happening small or big seems to take a warm glow of color.

Love need not be only that between a man and a woman - Of course that is the most fulfilling intimate relationship of all human relations - if the two could see to eye and be generous towards each other . Otherwise life takes various hues of Grey and black.

There are so many forms of love Mother-Son, mother-daughter, brother-sister, between brothers, between sisters, b/w friends. Whenever love comes across, that event, moment seems to be etched, captured brilliantly in our memory banks.

Many times we attend weddings. But when it is the wedding of someone we love, how the whole affair is like being in heaven.

Same goes for parties. I have attended several parties, some of which have left a lasting impact. But the parties of Vivek, Hari's birthdays in childhood, the new year parties at home, so many tiny happenings, they seem to be bathed in golden hue - that is the color love added.

Whenever Hari's friend Guri comes home, she brings a warm glow all around. - the color of love. Another person is our dearest Abita Krishna's little daughter- always evokes loving feelings towards her. Myriad colors painted all around by her unconditional pure love for herself and others.

My outings with Shilpa in Champaign in USA are always clearly etched in memory for the colors of love. Every scene is so sharp and colorful in memory.

A mothers love for her children and vice versa cannot be measured. But the color they add to each others lives when they feel that warmth and express them - Oh life takes the colors of rainbow.

A little child in the family - a bundle of sheer joy - the whole house held in a glow with love towards that tiny tot.

My visit to USA - all colors captures brilliantly in the camera of my mind. It is the mutual love between Vivek my son and myself that made each and every second of my stay so colorful.

Furnitures and fixtures don't make a home. It is the love which the members have for each other that brings that extra warm glow to a home.

Whenever Hari's friends come home, or all our relatives , we extend that warmth of love. It is my innate nature to express happiness and love to others. Love truly paints life's moments with brilliant colors.

In shark contrast to this glow, visit homes where there is lack of trust between members, lack of respect, care, warmth. You are enveloped in dull Grey, colors that put you off. Your mind simply erases this picture as soon as possible.

People have an aura around them- those who extend and actually feel that love and warmth towards all human/living beings. Here I am reminded of Mother Theresa, Sri Sri Ravishankar, Amma Amruthanandamayi, Guruma , Ramdev Baba , my dad , my brother-in-law Ramurthy - all them had/have this aura.

"Oh the Power of Love!!
The Colors of Love"

Beauty within

I am a great admirer of beauty. I appreciate beauty in anything and everything. But suddenly it struck me that beauty is not only external but also internal. Like what I thought was "My thought processes should also be beautiful". Ugly thoughts , negative thoughts -- thoughts that did not make me happy , peaceful, contented - those should be guarded against and filtered out. Only happy, kind, loving thoughts emanate beauty within.

March 17 2008 - A Magical Day

Morning : I got up early ( which is not all that easy !! ) . Had planned to go to temple. But went to Durga Tekdi Hills for a long morning walk.

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From Internet:
Durgadevi park is a prestigious aspects of Pimpri Chinchwad Area . over 1,60000 trees have been planted on an area of 75 acres. plants such as rain tree. Pelthohorum, Pimple, Neem Glyricidia, Suru, Sisoo, Kasid, Subabul etc. have been planted.Lawn on over 3 acres of land. has been maintained for recreation purposes.Recently 59,805 trees have been planted on 92 acres of land nearly This park Waterfall and floating fountain add to the natural beauty of this hill station.

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The place is quite a long walk from our house. Takes about 45 minutes of brisk walk to reach the hill. It is a vast hilly land which the PCMC has developed into a delightful walking/jogging track, winding path ways, flower and flower and fragrant flower beds, vast expanses of green grass, trees and trees, carefully cultivated and cared for flowering plants, a nice temple of Goddess Durga devi, Yoga/Medidation halls, gurgling water, lake, swans, water falls beautiful, beautiful. I was so soaked in beauty and nature that it was absolute bliss. What one would call soul curry - no that sounds spicy. This was such a soul fulfilling experience. I walked, strolled, sat, lingered in absolute bliss. and communicated with this world so full of beauty, so giving, so generous.

Evening I and Navi (My neighbour young pretty lively wife) went to Guruvayurrappan temple ( Sri Krishna Temple) a short walking distance: Lo Heaven opened in front of us. We were stunned, happy, escatic all in one. One lakh lamps ( diya's) were lit and placed in a wonderful geometric pattern . Tiny glowing lamps What a sight !! The place was so beautifully lit that the beauty brought me close to my fellow human beings. I loved them all. The scenery also reminded me of the night at Signature lounge on 96th floor of Hancock Towers Chicago where gazing thro the glass windows we had beheld the same scene but it was the city of Chicago lit to glory. Both Navi and myself felt so much at peace with ourselves. We happily walked back home chatting away.

Oh What a day. What Magical Moments to treasure and hold close to our hearts.

Mental Space

Mental space

Yes My Dear Friends, on earth – You don’t have to pay a bomb to enjoy infinite space – This is your mental space. It is UNLIMITTED.

You can walk, run, sit, laze, and lie down quietly.

There is an infinite spread of lovely lovely velvety green grass

Beds and beds of pretty fragrant fresh colorful flowers

There is gentle cool breeze

There is bright sunshine, gurgling streams, and steep

waterfall falling frothily down great heights with that delightful sound of water.

Snow laden mountain peaks

Serene lakes

Woods if you love that

Squirrels rabbits flashing by

Fluffy fat cats

Loving dogs

Flitting butterflies

Glistening water drops on fresh grass

Plentiful ness, abundance

Peace, Acceptance

This dear friend is each one’s mental space.

Feel free to own one. Understand that each of us needs our mental space - the beauty only limited by our imagination. Spend time meditating here as often as you want. Feels good to roam freely for a while in the lap of Mother Nature.

Sanctity of one’s mental space

You need to guard your mental space very very carefully. One bad venomous thought crosses your mind – you have littered this place. You need to clean it up immediately

At the same time someone forces their thinking on you, tries to dominate your being – they have littered your place. You need to clean it up as fast.

If I feel someone is telling something which is not for my good I say “don’t fill garbage in me”

Also you need to respect the sanctity of the space of others. How often we come across people trying to fill their thought process into you- how irritating one finds them. They just do not allow you to think for yourself. They assume you don’t know anything and they have an opinion on everything. You have one programmer pouring over the shoulder of another constantly giving suggestions, mothers telling the child ( could be a grown up man/woman too !) what to do and what not, husband/wife constantly have suggestions for each other, boss to workforce, colleagues at work to each other, some do not even leave their dogs in peace. They constantly talk and guide the poor animal who may get habituated to that constant chatter from the master.

All of us need to guard and respect each one’s mental space and live and let live in peace.

On Temple and God

There is a lovely temple, all in white marble, with intricately carved pillars, besides a serene flowing river. There are fine inlaid delicate woven works in gold on the floor. The place is sparklingly clean . Peaceful and calm. Just you and God - The deity all encompassing kindness and beauty

This temple so beautiful is your body, the deity your soul

Love all. Life is good. And short and sweet. Take care. Love yourself.

PS: English teachers and others please forgive me my grammar. This is just my thoughts penned down. My brain does not think too grammatically.

Growth

The author writes about what she feels about life. Does not wish to preach to anybody- just sharing her thoughts and feelings with fellow humans.

• You have grown when with every experience you undergo, you have learnt something valuable.
• Growth is not all about years rolling by. It is not about getting old.
• It is all about coming to terms with yourself and the world and people around you.
• It is all about ‘ACCEPTANCE’ of yourself and the others who cross your path.
• Growth is internal - within you.
• It is not about how wealthy you have become – it has nothing to do with that.
• It is when you start looking forward to each and every second eagerly like a child of your life ahead, life happening, with love and acceptance – you are growing up.

“Often I see faces around me – not happy, not contended, stressed with day-to-day life, miserable within, complex faces hiding scheming thoughts for others to gain more power, money. I see life always doling out justice in the end- What use is such a life? Leaving so much property for others but leading a horror filled worry filled gilt ridden life? “

You are free when you realize how small you are in comparison to the universe- you are a nothing , a nobody in this ongoing evolution of planet EARTH – Then you realize your true self in the larger scheme of nature.

• You have never grown up. You are constantly growing up.
• True growth requires that attribute of openness. Openness to constant learning in life from every experience – sad, happy.
  

Keep growing. Smile. Life is here and now.

My son Vivek's Wedding

My Son Vivek's Wedding

I am into the wedding preparations for the last one month and still it seems I could be more organised. What I could not manage was doing up the house - a bit of painting touch up. This is mainly due to the incessant rain lashing Pune for more than a week ..

Wedding plan:

Venue :
Vivek was getting married in Chennai on Sept 16th

The program is as follows:

10th Sept : Vivek arrives from Chennai at Mumbai. his VISA interview at 1 pm..
12th Sept : Poonal function and pre wedding lunch for family
13th Sept : The group leaves for Chennai
14th Sept : Mehendi ceremony at Vidya's house



So here it is :

Deciding The venue for reception in Pune :
First I had to decide whether we are going to host one or not. Vivek was not keen. Hari supportd me in wanting to hold one. I convinced myself "yes" I wanted one for our friends and relatives in pune who could not make it to the wedding. An opportunity to celebrate together..

Initially I chose "Hotel Vrindhavan" - It is close to our house , food is good , rates are reasonable .. but somewhere deep down my aesthetic sense was not satisfied - I checked out Kalasagar The ambience is excellent and a nice cosy hall - So I went and booked it first so we could print it in the card

Invitation:
This is the first glimpse one gets of the family's attitude to the wedding. All these days I thought a card is just an information. But when I set about looking for one , I realised many issues.. I wanted an elegant looking one, reflective of me, my family. The wordings were important. The cost factor became secondary. The one I chose appealed to my aesthetic sense. Handmade cream colour shining thick best quality paper with 2 inserts

List of invitees :
This one was tough - I just did not feel like leaving out any one but the reception in Pune cost per head. So I had to have careful head count so we could order proper amount of food - too less crowd and too many people would be disastrous. too much food and too few people would be financial foolishness.

I have zeroed in on 250 guest list .. ( + - 30)


What I want :
The wedding in Chennai - is being organized by Vidya's parents. I am determined we must enjoy the whole affair and come out as a dignified elegant group. No politics please we are Raghunathans !! "Yes" . No cheap talk, no expectation to be served on hand and foot. Just go get it Vats!!

The reception in Pune should be an achievement for our family. "Yes We can do it"


The reception in pune should bring pleasant memories for all who attend. Should be diferent in decor, food arrangements , music , video shoots .. The video must capture happiness and joy of the moment.. The decor flower arrangements should be subtle, elegant, indian, fragrant
Music should be soft Shehanayi initially.. I am looking forward to this day as it is the first time we Raghunathans go public. We have remained an extremely private family so far.

What surprised me when I set out inviting prople was the amount of good will I have generated in life. Like who ever I have called are certain to come. Some old ties were renewed too . Some lost contacts re-established. Shetty , Baby , Mukherjee, Radhu ...

I chose hotel Kalasagar an absolutely enchanting venue ; very elegant - Impressive entrance with water curtain, very artistically done up lobby, 2 spacious halls called Shehanai beautifully done up, one for the reception and one for food counters and a huge open terrace . Welcome drink of fruit punch, nimbu pani ( fresh lime juice) , 2 good starters, Good food , gajar halva + ice cream for desert and all this very reasonably priced.

Pillars with Flowers

Floral Rangoli

I arranged a florist to do fresh flower decorations and a beautiful floral rangoli . 2 pillars on the stage with huge flower bouque and hanging creepers, 2 pillars at the entrance with huge fresh bouque. we had kunnakudi classical carnatic violin as music and a sweet photographer/ video recorder Mallya . Return gifts (pretty jewellary box) were wrapped by sai perippa, list of who should be given what - gift, batchanam, blouse piece, sarees - Lalitha, Sai, Maya, Jaya, Sachi, Vijayalakshmi from Dombivilli - all were so helpful . The invities were just 200 +

The icing on the cake was of course the surprise visit of Lakshmi, Sujoy, and Dinesh from Champaign. Seeing them at the hall simply made vivek and vidya glow with happiness. Vidya looked ravishing in a pretty blue jardosi saree , her diamond necklace glittering and vivek as usual was his handsome self. They made a very dashing pair. All those who came to wish them were struck by Vidya's vivaciousness and vivek's pleasant smile and talk.

For me Balraj and His wife Chitra coming charging to meet me was an unforgettable moment. Each and every guest who came were my personal friends and so much of love, joy and warmth flowed all over.

Both Bala and Jaya were absolutely thrilled with all the arrangements and were full of appreciation for me. They were proud that dear Raghu's family was celebrating a happy occasion.

All in all it was a memorable and happy occassion for the family. I realized the value of team work and family spirit. My 2 sisters, brother, Ganga, Sai, Bala, Jaya, Maya family all stood like rocks beside me to make the Pune reception as well as the Chennai wedding happy affairs.

Pune Reception photos are here


Thursday Sept 20 2007
Well I have come back to the blog after so many days.. Much has happened . The wedding is over.

Chicago re-re-re-Visited

Check Chicago River cruise and other photos here

Sears Tower Skydeck photos are here

Sunday May 6th Chicago Once again

One fine Sunday morning vivek said "Lets us do Chicago again" . I eagerly jumped into the car. A visit to Chicago was always a pleasure.

The weather was pleasant and we touched Chicago by 10 am or so. Chicago downtown area amazes me each time we enter it. I don't know why my spirits feel uplifted. Is it the tall tall skyscrapers ? the chill in the air? the neat architectural wonders ? But this time I squealed in delight. Chicago was totally decked in bright tulips - a feast for the eyes. "vivek Vivek " I cried "It is so so beautiful" . I was so excited seeing that vast sea of flowers everywhere. "Ah this is the famous US spring" . The tulips in bright yellow and red danced in the famous chill wind of Chicago everywhere . Huge flowerpots lined the roads all covered in flowers of different colours some heady fragrant ones too. Ya I did smell them!

We had eaten the packed sandwiches in the car. we drove in circles trying to locate a free parking space on the road but could not . At last Vivek was tired and put the car in the parking lot (24 $ for 8 hours) and set out to explore on foot.

We saw the famous drawbridge open and close What a sight. The traffic comes to a standstill, the huge road opens in the middle to allow ships sailing in Chicago river to pass thro'. I was waiting for this to happen. The bridge closes to allow normal traffic to resume. What perfect bridge mechanism. It is definitely marvel of mankind's ingenuity in constructions.

Chicago river is a lovely sight to see with all those famous buildings lining its banks.

We first went and booked for a Architectural river cruise ( $20 per head) . We roamed a bit to kill time and sat in the famous cruise at 12:30 pm. The guide was full of jokes and explained about each and every building. It was a dream time for me. I clicked so many photos.








Bridge Opens We are in cruise






Sears in the background - Me in Cruise

We passed Sears Tower the TALLEST building in the world . Chicago is world famous for its architecture. Each building is an unique architectural wonder. One must not miss this cruise.

After an hour of absolute delightful time we got off and walked across to the famous Chicago School of Architecture's Museum which is a must see. It houses world famous paintings. One can spend hours and hours staring at those marvelous paintings "How did the painter visualise such minute details as to near perfection or how did the artist bring so much of life in colour? Of course there were some not so good ones too like a painting with just 4 little arcs on a huge white paper - or some black and white rectangles - lucky guy the painter I told vivek.

The section on Miniatures are too good . Dont miss it. The attention to detail is mind blowing . There were miniature houses with staircase and doors with views to other rooms and view to garden paths ., miniature church .. I cannot describe the beauty of these. One must experience only. The photos did not come out well here as the glass reflected light.

Painting of Mother and Child

A painting of a pretty woman

It was 3:30 and we were hungry. We ate a subway sandwich which was filling and healthy. I just loved that.

Then we went by bus to Navy Pier a amusement park developed along Lake Michigan I simply enjoyed myself with Vivek here. It is so beautiful and teaming with life. We saw Crystal garden a beautiful garden with fountains like tap water , crazy mirrors, stain glass exhibition .... The lights were coming up and the skyscrappers of Chicago looked dazzling like jewellary. We lingered here till 9:30 pm and drove back home. Another lovely unforgettable day ended in USA

Navy Pier Amusement Park

St. Louis Visit

Thursday May 3 2007

Photos are here

St Louis Visit Set I
St Louis Visit Set II
Kickpoo, Tascola and some more Champaign

St Louis Visit on Apr 22 2007

The ARCH comes into our view

St Louis is 2 hours drive from Champaign. It is a historic city with French and German history. Situated on the banks of river Missisippi, it is a place worth visiting to get a feel of US History.

So off we three Vivek, Shilpa and myself set off early morning 6:30 a.m in Vivek's Camry. I was quite excited. The day seemed promising. It was bright and sunny. We reached St Louis around 9:30. We drive thro' a giant arch and vivek says we will be here to see the arch again. THE ARCH is a unique architectural wonder.

We went to the famous St. Louis zoo. Man this is huge like everything in USA. It is so well organized, beautiful . 5000 animals set in 90 acres of greenery. Entrance is free. Being a bright sunny Sunday lots of people were out with kids, prams and families. The parking lot was a sight to see. Weekends are for enjoyment and family outings.

yes that is USA.. All the animals ( looking very healthy ) were kept in natural ( trees , plants, water, rich foliage, rocky, lakes) spacious ( as open as safely possible) surroundings. The Penguins were the most attractive lot for me. I was fascinated by them. They could not fly though they are birds but swim and walk. The noise they make was deafening. They were so colourful too. I could never photograph them swimming. They were so fast.. and cute. They were housed in cave like rocky tunnel painted white to indicate ice ( I suppose) and cold temp. and marine water. They amused us and were amused by us ( Who are these creatures? they may wonder? )

Happy Emperor Penguins

There were lots of walkways Snakes , birds, insects etc had their own buildings. The snakes attracted kids the most ( Why? ) They were squealing in delight "Pa see" or "Ma Ma see here " . The huge flamingoes in white and flaming orange colour had their own lake. The orange ones stand still, their heads buried deep into their body, unmoving ( meditating?? )

The see lions were huge and swam fast under the water and wouldn't entertain us humans for a click. There was a SeaLions Zoo show which vivek said would be most amusing but we could not witness that. We saw huge polar bear, huge grissly bear, huge Apes, many many varieties of monkeys, giraffes, zebras, huge tiger. The tiger was initially asleep much to our disappointment but when he/she awoke and took a majestic walk in the open we were not brave at all. I clicked a hurried shot and we moved away. Ya who wants to be eaten for lunch?

Tiger is out and strolling - Not a close shot!

We walked thro many many animals. Literature about each and every animal is kept for us to read. Soon we were saturated with animal knowledge. The bird house was huge with so many large enclosures for different birds.

Bird house

We visited the famous St Louis Museum which is situated right opposite the zoo. There is a pretty picturesque lake and fountains at a distance in front of the zoo. There is a gigantic bronze statue of St. Louis on a horse back in front of the museum. The museum houses some fabulous paintiings ( How do they paint so well? ) some famous ones like Van Gogh, lots of artefacts from different part of the world.

One of the many beautiful paintings

I was fascinated by the Egyptian coffins for mummies ( Queen, her maids ) - so decorative and shaped like a woman on top..including face. We were quite tired as we had walked a lot on the zoo itself and we could not do much justice to this lovely treasurehouse.

So off we went to eat in some place where the rich and the famous dine. I saw some swanky expensive cars. We feasted on some mediterranian fare. The guy serving was a bit funny. He seemed to be the sole workforce and he took orders, talked a lot, made the stuffs , put lot of iceburg lettuce and charged us a bomb!! The three different dishes we had ordered all tasted the same to me.

It was 4 pm. We drove to the arch, parked our car and walked to the ARCH. The Missisippi river flows along the sides. High speed wind was blowing and throwing us off balance.

The Arch is a 655 ft. tall structure and looks like a strip of shining metal bent like an Arch. The only surprise is you can goto the top in a elevator cum tram car. Everything is fully enclosed. The wind speed that particulat day and time was pretty high. The ride costs 10$ per person and worth experiencing. The tram compartment is a small mini cubical that can tightly seat 5 people. As we travelled we felt wierd. We were going up and in a curve . It takes 4 minutes to reach the top. Then we step into an enclosed space and we can look down thro glass windows. The magnificent huge Missisippi river, its bridges, St Louis skyline and all the important buildings and landmarks were seen thro glass windows. The funny part was the entire place was rocking like a train or a swing due to the wind and we were not amused at all. If the arch crashes?? Will the wind knock it down? The gigantic Missisippi river was there down. This moment is going to stay forever with me. Such fleeting thoughts scared me (us? all ? ) . We were all quite relieved to make it to the base of the arch and out.

Along the Missisippi river there is well developed garden ( 100 acres?? ) with lawns and trees and benches. There were horse carriage rides ( remember historic city?? ) along the water front. Vivek was too tired as he had had no sleep and we had woken up early too. So he went out flat on the cool green grass. I sat and enjoyed the river view. The river is used for Cargo movements. Infact the Missisippi river was the centre of trade and a source of wealth and prosperity once upon a time all along its banks including St Louis.

Missisippi river from ARCH top

It was 6 pm. We walked along the river bank , it was chilly. drinking in the beauty of the flowing vast river. and went to the parking lot and drove around the city a bit. Vivek kept warning us of notorious crimes for which St Louis seemed famous.
Car windows had to be down and one has to be watchful. Who wants to be mugged, robbed, beaten or shot?

The day was up. Due to lack of time we could not go to botanical garden. We drove back home and reached by 11:30pm

It was another memorable day in USA for me.



Kickapoo State Park, April 28th 2007

We drove to Kickopoo at 1 pm an hours drive. This is a large ( 2842 acres) natural preserved area with 22 lakes and river kickopoo running thro it. It is lush green and beautiful drive.

Here and there as the road winds we come upon lakes. These are well developed tourist spots. The park has facilities for differnt fun activities like fishing, boating, canoeing, kayaking, byking, camping, hunting, hiking, picnicing .

We sat near a lake and enjoyed some moments of peace and serenity. We went to another lake side and had yummy lunch of veg berger and potato fries in a scenic restraunt.

Then vivek said " let us do Canoeing" . A canoe is a small narrow boat and can accomodate 2 people. We get 2 oars to canoe. This lake was huuuge and I was very scared. We had life jackets on but the fear of falling in water made me uncomfortable. vivek was irritated with me for my lack of adventurous spirit. I was quite relieved when i got back safely to the land.

There was so much more to explore but vivek had some work. With a promise to come again to Kickopoo, we drove back.

Washington Visit

Photo links to my DC Visits are here:

Snow dust, Tidal Basin, Smithsonian Here
DC Neighbourhood, Lake, Mall, sabita's house
Potomac river rapids
Luray Caverns, Shenandoah woods, Skyline Drive







Thursday Apr12 2007
Washgington DC Visit:

Sunday 1st Apr I am dropped at Chicago OHare Int. airport to board at gate C15 to DC in
United Airlines. I am all excited travelling on my own, meeting my friend sabitha after 20
years. I feel stressed finding my way out to gate C15 so many pathways and so many escalators up and down which I am afraid to ride, my throat parched dry and tense and stressed in finding my way to the right craft. "Is this the flight to Dulles DC ?? " I confirm. The attendant says "Yes My Love" .

Travel to DC
The flight duration was 1 hour 15 min. I enjoy a stunning view from my window facing wing
seat which I always love. The craft seems Floating amongst white cottony clouds.

I also see the turbulence happening when ever the craft is engulfed in a cloud which was quite often. I was afraid "Can the pilot see his way?? " My first view of DC from the craft as we were landing was cars cars and more cars Surprisingly washington time is 1 hour ahead of champaign so i had to advance my watch by one hour. So I landed at 6:30 washington time at Dulles airport. But man, it was not easy locating exit from the airport. Not having a cell phone was my undoing ( right thro' this trip) . The airports are huge huge huge. So many exits, so many gates. My fear of escalators added to my woe. First of all I sat in a bus that took me from the aircraft exit to some other point. There I tried to locate an exit for about an hour. How do I go out?? "EXIT" was written everywhere. The airport staff are very polite , helpful and friendly lot ( always any airport in USA I had this pleasant experience) Anyway at last I was lucky to get out and spot my dear friend sabita with her son vivek and husband.

Soon we were driving down washington DC to their place in a suberb in a swanky brand new ACURA SUV. i was fascinated by the speeding large luxury (by my Indian std.) cars.

Sabita's house:
This was the first time I was experiencing a proper American (Indian) home. Sabita's house is huge by my Indian std. a 3 floor X 1000 Sq. ft structure a basement area, a living area and the bedrooms upstairs. They have a open space infront and behind ( backyard). The basement has a large living room with a large TV, some exercising equipments, a Office room for her husband Raman. She said the Office room was a gift to raman on his 50th birthday from the three of them ( she, her son and her daughter). They had painted it themselves!!

The family's living area consists of one drawing room for visitors, a living room facing a kitchen, a dining room , a gods room, a wash area. The flooring is elegant polished wood (strips). The living cum kitchen opens to the backyard open space into a wooden deck. The deck had a closed sitting area like a room, covered by glass on all sides, and a open railing all around. looked to be a very cosy area to be inside in summer. The top floor had 4 bed rooms a large master bedroom and three others.


The entire house is very tastefully and comfortably furnished. There were so many large closets built into the walls for storage including in the bathrooms. I really admire this feature in all American homes - the Storage space in the walls concept. Sabita is very artistically gifted and her house has all sorts of artefacts from India and some from Africa very beautifully arranged all over the house. She is also fond of gardening and plants and had a lot of plants cleverly displayed all over the house - even the bathrooms had them. I was proud of my friend's excellent taste in all things small and big.

I went all over the house admiring every corner. It is in my nature to appreciate beauty in all things living and non living. I clicked lot of photos in and around the house. The best view of her pictureque backyard is from the bathroom and I did click from here too. sabitha said " you are obsessed with your camera' . Rightly said my friend !!

A Maryland Residential suburb
The locality where the Ramans live has lush greenery, clean roads, large neat patches of green grass ( what we would be calling as lawn) lining the roads, lines and lines of trees. The Pear shaped trees were in full bloom covered with white flowers. In the evening hours of sunset the branches opened up in the evening breeze, the tree looked larger and more beautiful. The cherry blossom trees were covered with white or pink flowers and looked absolutely magnificent. Washington is famous for its Cherry Blossom festival from Apr. 1 to 7th and I was indeed lucky to witness this floral gift of nature all over the place. The place was full of natural beauty and I simply loved that feel. This is true of every place we visited in USA so far- abundant natural beauty preserved as well as created.

Pear Trees in Full Bloom

Raman had come to USA as a doctorate student and since then settled here for the last 26 years. They have a pretty 18 year old daughter Swati who is studying medicine to become a doctor and is an accomplished musician too. and a smart 12 year old son vivek studing in 7th grade and is an excellent singer as well. Raman is a satellite specialist and works for IntelSat. Sabita has specialized in Special Education and works in a big school in the neighbourhood. She is herself a talented singer and an accomplished person. At Maryland they have a group of Indian families as close friends and neighbours and lead a very interesting life socially ( I think).

Sabita gave me her daughter Swati's room to sleep. The next 6 days this room was my haven.
The windows everywhere in the house open to scenic beauty. The bathroom has the best view .
Every morning when i woke up I saw such a lovely landscape in front of me the sun rising
lining the landscape to a red hue, the neat looking houses, the green grass, the Pear tree
in full bloom.
Another thing that struck me was the house was provided with good ventilation something I missed in the few apartments I had seen in USA. There was so much to talk catching up on the twenty years of time and the past before that.

Sabita was our neighbour when we had just got married and moved to Uttam Society in Chembur and her father was a dear friend of both my husband and myself. They were a very warm and loving family and always laughing and joking. Vivek was a baby and darling of all. She was in her teens and twenties and a very attractive beauty in Uttam in the eighties. Uttam
Society in those days had so many activities and very warm interactions between its inhabitants. I believe this comediarie no longer exists.

Well Monday and Tue. we drove to many interesting Malls the kMart, some garden malls to buy
some flowering plants. USA can never tire you out with its husge Malls. There are always bargains to be had and window shopping can be endless fun at least for me. I keep wondering at the logistics of it all how they are able to stock and invest so much, what kind of returns would they be realising etc.. Many shops shut down too due to loss.

The drives in this part of DC were also always lovely. The manicured landscape, the spring
blooms, the super super cars wizzing by everytime , the 12 lane heavy traffic at times in some places, criss cross roads and flyovers like a maze of a game . I must be one of those rare cases enjoying heavy traffic!!

Beautiful Walks
I wanted to go for walks in this beautiful neighbourhood. I got a direction advice from sabita and Vivek. This residential locality was not like Champaign at all. There were no public transaport, no hotels, not many people on the road. Only whirring cars or empty roads. Since the weather was good some kids and family were outside their homes.

I love walking on unexplored roads especially when they are as scenic as these. The normal
roads in USA are very very broad (like our highways back home) . I chanced to come upon a
big lake with some huge geese floating and the swaying weeping willow trees and pink and white cherry blossom trees.
In some walks I chanced upon roads lined with pear trees in full bloom, and small trees / shrubs covered with yellow flowers. The spring in USA is the best time to be out in the streets.




Potomac river Rapids
We went to Potamac rapid a breathtaking view of the force of the water, Unfortunately the jungle around this area had trees which were barren without any greenery so it was very hot.. I believe the trees turn green in summer months ( may june onwards) and then this scene would be most enchanting.







Metro Travel
We travelled by metro to Smithsonian The MALL in DC. This was my first experience of travelling in a Metro and I just loved every minute of it. My fear of escalators was cured here as in some places there simply was no other way but escalator. The metro is an example of organized quick comfortable cheap public transport. There was no way one could travel ticketless , I just loved that. We Indians defintely deserved all this in our country to make our day to day life more enriching.

THE NATIONAL MALL
The MALL at Smithsonian is the most interesting place in DC housing all the historical museums ( I am told there are 19 of them and entrance is free to all ) , the White house, The Congress building, the Jefferson Memorial, a number of govt. offices. So much to see and so little time!! We went to Air and Space museum as Vivek wanted to experience Space Travel Simulation. I just looked around and clicked some photos. When we came out sabita was tired and told me to go and check out the Tidal bassin. I tried to walk but after a sincere attempt gave up as the place was quite far and i was tired. So we headed back home by metro.

Shiva Vishnu Temple Maryland
Thursday sabita drove me to see her daughter Swati in her dormitory in University of Maryland at College Park Campus. Was I not lucky? to see a college dorm? Sabita told me this univ. was one of the best schools in USA.

Then we drove to the Shiva vishnu Temple in Maryland a very beautiful and peaceful place. The temple is huge, very beautiful inside and outside and has many gods and godesses very tasteful. Any temple visit always leaves me peaceful within especially here there was no one except us three . It was like a private temple visit. Ihis visit and time i would always cherish.





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From net: Tourism Washington is home to numerous national landmarks and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States. The National Mall is a large, open area in the center of the city featuring many monuments to American leaders; it also serves to connect the White House and the United States Capitol buildings. Located prominently in the center of the Mall is the Washington Monument. Other notable points of interest near the Mall include the Jefferson Memorial (see right), Lincoln Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, National World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the District of Columbia War Memorial and the Albert Einstein Memorial. The world famous Smithsonian Institution is located in the District. The Smithsonian today is a collection of museums that includes the Anacostia Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Hirshhorn Museum, National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of American History, National Museum of the American Indian, National Museum of Natural History, National Portrait Gallery, National Postal Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, and the National Zoo. There are many art museums in D.C., in addition to those that are part of the Smithsonian, including the National Gallery of Art, National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Phillips Collection. The Library of Congress and the National Archives house thousands of documents covering every period in American history. Some of the more notable documents in the National Archives include the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. The District of Columbia operates its own public library system with 27 branches throughout the city. The main branch — which occupies a multi-story glass and steel-framed building at the intersection of 9th and G Streets, N.W., designed by modernist architect Ludwig Mies vander Rohe — is known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.[9] It has a large mural in its main hall depicting the civil rights leader. Other points of interest in the District include Arena Stage, Chinatown, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Blair House, Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Folger Shakespeare Library, Ford's Theatre, Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, International Spy Museum, National Building Museum, National Geographic Society, the Awakening at Hains Point, Old Post Office Building, Theodore Roosevelt Island, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Washington National Cathedral.

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Luray Caverns Virginia

Friday I was excited. Raman was going to take me to a place normaly visitors to DC may not
get a chance to see. yes we went to the Luray Caverns in Virginia.The weather had become quite chilly since thursday it was cold, snow flurries in the air, and a overcast sky. Temperature was definitely dropping. This was a solid drive of about 2 hours. It is a scenic route from potomac to Luray with Appalachians mountain ranges and lot of greenery. Luray was located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. After a pleasant drive and fortifying ourselves with some hot food ( Raman said we would need that to energise us ) we went to see the caverns. the entrance ticket was stiff ( appr. 20$ per adult ) . Raman would not hear me when I wanted to pay. " Nothing doing " he said.

The walk thro' the cavern is 1.25 miles long and it is an experience of a lifetime. Unimaginable if you have not been into it. The magnificent huge giant sized rocks jetting out in such rich hues of colour golden, red rust brown, reddish white, grey ... Oh it is another world. How much nature has gifted to mankind to enjoy!! and the cave is lit so strategically. U never see the lights in your face only the glow on the rocks. The entire cave was wet and water was dripping in some places. Some rocks were rounded like pebbles or marble so smooth and shiny grey like threaded pearls. Some rockes were such thin sheets like wafers or our southindian towels we use the pink checked variety ( called thundu in tamil) What i admired about so many Americans is they bring chilren and even babies in prams into these places. We had a very nice guide who was full of humour. Some places had water accumulated on the floor which made a perfect reflection of the rocks above giving a virtual depth to the water where none existed. It was like a still picture as the water is so still it is like a mirror. We walked slowly and carefully along and it reminded me of some Hindi movie. The water dripping from the top mountains had formed these various rock types shapes and colours over millions of years . Today we admire these but after millions
of years the people then will see something different. The process of evolution will go on.There is a Wish well where we thro' coins so our wishes may come true. How charming!!

We spent 2 hours in the caverns. When we came out my heart was full and i was contended. I
had seen enough of USA. We drove thro' the 105 Miles Skyline Drive thro' Shenandoah National
Park ( toll 15$) . This drive reminded me of Kandala Ghats in these days when express highway was not yet built between Mumbai and Pune. The only difference was there was no traffic jam, no potholes ( for which the roads back home are so famous for) and ofcourse no water falls either. The winding road runs thro the skyline and is fascinating. The sky is USA always fascinates me wnereever we go as it is so close by as if we are enclosed by the sky all around us.


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From the net:
http://www.luraycaverns.com/index.htm
Discovery of Luray Caverns:
Luray, VA - Cold air rushing out of a limestone sinkhole atop a big hill west of Luray, Virginia, blew out a candle held by Andrew Campbell, the town tinsmith. It was on the morning of August 13, 1878, when Campbell, three other men, and his 13-year old nephew Quint, were exploring for a cave. With the help of his photographer companion, Benton Stebbins, they for four hours dug away loose rock, and candle in hand, Campbell followed by Quint slid down the rope. Man and boy could scarcely believe what they saw around them, for they found themselves in the largest caverns in the East, an eerie world of stalactites and stalagmites sparkling in the light of the candle.

Alexander J. Brand, Jr., a correspondent for the New York Times, was the first travel writer to visit Luray Caverns. "It's a magnificent cave, " he told townspeople. "The most beautiful I've ever seen. Trying to compare your cave to others would be like comparing New York City to the Town of Luray. " Professor Jerome J. Collins, the explorer, postponed his departure on a North Pole expedition to visit the caverns. The Smithsonian Institution sent a delegation of nine scientists to examine the caverns and praised them for their stalactite and stalagmite ornamentation. The Encyclopedia Britannica devoted an unprecedented page and a half to the cave's wonders. Others considered it to be the find of the century.

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Back home tired and happy. Sabita says "lets go out to dinner" wonderful Indian food at an Indian restruant in Maryland. I feel a little guilty for not offering to pay . I always hesitate to pay when a gentleman is around for fear of offending that person. An old fashioned Indian thinking ???

Smithsonian, Tidal Park and IMAX
Next day the last day of my stay at DC Vivek, raman and myself are off to DC to visit the Tidal Basin and Smithsonian. The weather is not at all good . There was a dust of snow in the morning ( ofcourse I was thrilled to see the pure white snow cover everything around and had clicked madly) and snow flurries flying around ( i was happy ) but the cold was biting - not very comfortable at all . 45 Min. of driving and we (Vivek and self) were dropped at Tiday Basin. This is where the lovely lovely Potomac river flows thro DC . The river was full almost touching the road level. The Japanese had planted more than 1000 cherry blossom trees along the tidal basin as a mark of extending a hand of friendship and the trees are in full bloom the first week of
April every year. Travellers from all over USA and the world come to see this beautiful sight.
The place had all sorts of people young, old, toddlers, indians, japanese, chinese, all types. Police were controlling the traffic. Unfortunately we were not able to enjoy this as we both were freezing. My winter clothes betrayed me and I felt like I was in need of more warm clothes. This is the typical chill of USA in winter. U should have proper winter wear to enjoy outdoor. Otherwise it is pure misery. All we did was try to get back into the car. If i was clothed proprly or the day sunny I would not have ever felt like leaving this awesome natural scenery. I promised to myself to come back again to DC in better weather and with more time to spare too.

But one sight I saw shook me up - Some guy lying on the road curled up in a corner - dead? .
Raman said they were the "homeless" . What pardon me " Homeless in such a rich country like
USA? " That made me think. What kind of human beings are we that we have some of our own
kind sufferring a cold like that in the open? For a fleeting moment my mind thought of Mother Theresa.

Well off to Smithsonian we went. Raman was very keen I see an IMAX movie. Smithsonian museum is a gift of a britisher Smithsonian to The USA and it is so huge that Sabita said it requires 8 days to see everything there. I was happy to see whatever we could and not having that dying desire to see everything. So we saw natural history museum. we saw some skeletons od Dynousars ( MY God so so huge?? ) some fantastic fossils . The collection of gems and rocks was simply mindblowing and I would like to spend at least a day in there . We saw the Hope Diamond 127 carats ( I/everyone hope to get it someday ) . The collection of crystals so beautifully displayed reminded me of vaithu and Ganga - They would have loved that.

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From the net: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian_Institution The Smithsonian Institution was founded for the "increase and diffusion" of knowledge by a bequest to the United States by the British scientist James Smithson (1765–1829), who had never visited the United States himself. In Smithson's will, he stated that should his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, die without heirs, the Smithson estate would go to the United States of America for creating an "Establishment for the increase & diffusion of Knowledge among men". After the nephew died without heirs in 1835, President Andrew Jackson informed Congress of the bequest, which amounted to 104,960 gold sovereigns, or $500,000 U.S. dollars ($9,235,277 in 2005 U.S. dollars after inflation). Act of Congress: Eight years later, Congress passed an act establishing the Smithsonian Institution, a hybrid public/private partnership, and the act was signed into law on August 10, 1846 by James Polk. (See 20 U.S.C. § 41 (Ch. 178, Sec. 1, 9 Stat. 102).) The bill was drafted by Indiana Democratic Congressman Robert Dale Owen, a Socialist and son of Robert Owen, the father of the cooperative movement. Ladies Playing Double-Sixes, original by Zhou Fang (c. 730 - 800 AD), 10th century - 11th century remake of the Chinese Song Dynasty, housed in the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. The crenellated architecture of the Smithsonian Institution Building on the National Mall has made it known informally as "The Castle". It was built by architect James Renwick, Jr. and completed in 1855. Many of the other buildings are historical and architectural landmarks. Detroit philanthropist Charles Lang Freer's donation of his private collection for Freer Gallery, and funds to build the museum, was among the Smithsonian's first major donations from a private individual. Though the Smithsonian's first secretary, Joseph Henry, wanted the Institution to be a center for scientific research, before long it became the depository for various Washington and U.S. government collections.
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Out of Smithsonian and off to Air and Space Museum. Raman seemed very much at home here as this was a subject close to his heart. He explained many thigs to us ( like US and Russian spacecrafts had joined mid space) and we took a walk in a space ship. We ate at Mcdonalds
and were soon seated at IMAX theatre. We were going to watch a half hour movie on Combat
training for fighter pilots in US airforce on real live conditions. Oh My God I was soon zipping off to the left, right, taking off landing a flighter plane dropping bombs jumping off parachutes ducking enemy planes looking down at drop dead valleys taxing on at great speeds - all this without moving an inch . My head was spinning left right and centre . An IMAX experience is a must a heart stopper before you die. I often checked with the chairs ahead of me "was I really sitting". IT is such an optical illusion. I simply loved it. Raman was so right when he said "if u have not experienced it u have seen nothing " .

ON the way back home Raman stopped briefly for me to go and see the White house. "Hello President Bush here I come"


So bye bye Washington Here I go Sunday back to Chicago. The Dulles airport experience this time was not bad at all infact quite manageable unlike the time I had landed a week back. I had gotten a bit wiser to the giant sized USA airports with hundreds of gates and escalators and levels and learnt how to find my way out and in. With a promise to myself to come back to Washington to see the great capital city in more detail, i was back home in Champaign.

My Photo links:

Snow dust, Tidal Basin, Smithsonian Here
DC Neighbourhood, Lake, Mall, sabita's house
Potomac river rapids
Luray Caverns, Shenandoah woods, Skyline Drive