cogito ergo sum

Growing Pains!

2009-09-03T18:19:00.001-07:00

This week my mind yearned to achieve the impossible. And all it took was phone call to a dear friend. I am not one for homesickness.. I don't spend my days thinking of Saravana Bhavan idlies and Sundal on the beach. Don't get me wrong.. I love Madras and enjoyed every aspect of it but I am not one for craving things that I know are beyond my reach. A few years ago I made a choice and I don't believe in regretting any choices I made. But last week all it took was one email and one phone call and I wished to be instantly transported to next to my friend. To stand with her and help her through her problems. For a few minutes my mind wanted to hug my friend and shield her from all the troubles of the world. We spent some time discussing college friends and the various escapades that we (read Me) orchestrated!!!

During a recent conversation with N we spoke mundane things and re-hashed all old gossip. She filled me in on all the families talk. Its at times like these that I am noticing that though my heart is felt with immense affection for these people I hardly am making an effort to express it.

I am noticing that almost all of my friends are getting married or are getting there. The boys have had kids!!! Its almost impossible for me to think that N was one of the guys that went with me to the A R Rahman concert and screamed and sang with me. He was one of the people responsible for introducing me to Illayaraja music and who can forget his rendition of Illamai Idho Idho during one of the college culturals. I am truly happy for him but at the same time realizing that we are all not teenagers safe in the portals of SVCE, Pennalur.

All this reminds me of a dialog from Rang De Basanti which for some reason stuck in my head.. "College gate ke is par zindagi ko hum nachate hain, College gate ke us par zindagi hum ko nachati hain" Roughly transalated it means " On this side of the college gates we govern our lives and on the other side of the college gates our lives govern us!"

Books Tag

2009-08-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

As usual, I do any tags on my blog.. This one is to mention 15 books I cannot live without..

1) A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth

2) Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand

3) Sister of My Heart, Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni

4) Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

5) Unaccustomed Earth - I won't say its a book I can't live without but I say it made a lot of sense to me., Jhumpa Lahiri

6) Not Without My Daughter - Betty Mahmoody

7) As the Crow Flies, Jeffery Archer

8) Kane and Abel, Jeffery Archer

9) Master of the Game, Sidney Sheldon

10)Adventures of Mr. Pink Whistle, Enid Blyton

11) Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri

12) The Toss of a Lemon, Padma Viswanathan

13) The GodFather, Mario Puzo

14)Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

15) Ok this is not a book per se.. But Calvin and Hobbes series..

I tag Swat Cat..

Rite of Passage Weekend or Plain Growing Older

2009-07-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

One knows one is growing old when the idea of a fun weekend is pottering around the house. This weekend was the first time in about 2 months that I put brakes on the other wise hectic life. It began with dropping D and the in-laws off at the station for their trip to NYC. I got home and cleaned my kitchen with a vengeance!! I took a walk around noon to the Subway on Route 9 and brought home some food. I polished it off watching some random stuff on TV and took a brief nap. Afternoon I was elated to discover that I had two 20% of Bed Bath and Beyond coupons so off I went to buy some stuff. I hit the mall later and did a brief bit of shopping.(You know you are really getting old when shopping is brief) and headed home with food from Gourmet India.I decided to do a detour to Toys R Us to buy some stuff for the extended family. You know the store intimidates me. My childhood toy stores were initially Five Star on Radhakrishnan Salai which had a entire floor dedicated to kids games and later the basement in Landmark. But never anything the scale of Toys R Us!! Headed home and cleaned out some more.

Sunday began with more cleaning and some office work. Come evening I began slacking off catching up with family members and checking out friends blogs. Which brings me to the answer Rite of Passage? Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that if I had a free weekend I would spend it cleaning!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Conversations

2009-07-14T17:56:00.000-07:00

Frnd to Me: Trains don't live in houses.
Me: Your right, trains live in stations.
Frnd to Me:(After a few seconds thought) No, trains live on tracks.

I am sooooooo amazed by this conversation that I thought I will share it with you.

25 Random Things About Me

2009-06-16T12:39:00.005-07:00

Mugs tagged me on FB. I decided to do it here instead to save a dying blog.. This is in random order and I don't know if I will hit 25.

1) I am shit scared of cutting vegetables. I will do anything to avoid cutting vegetables. Buy frozen, cook them whole or get someone else to cut them.

2) I sleep with my mouth wide open. And by wide I mean WIDE!!!!

3) I cannot sleep in Jeans. So I never travel on trains in Jeans. I will wear a salwar.

4) I am shit scared of flying. Earlier I used to throw up the entire duration of the flight. Now I force myself to go to sleep the moment my butt hits the seat and I wake up when the wheels hit the tarmac.

5) Babies scare me. I can deal with older kids. Ooohing and aaahing over babies isn't my thing.

6) I need to read to perform some bodily functions. Hence I know the back of shampoo bottles and lotions etc.

7) I can accost people and scare them. I can also not talk to people if I have nothing to say to them. And if its the first day of college then I will not make polite conversation with random people who end up becoming my best friends!!! he he he he

8) I surprised my husband by enjoying Fight Club and Thambi!

9) I say the randomest things some times. The recent one being - "Dasaratha had three wives - Kausalya, Supraja and Ramapurva!!" And one of my all time hits being " Oh! Shit Where Do I live?"

10)I worked my butt off to become the House Captain in school and the Secretary in College. I love to do such stuff.

11)I will read any book with an Indian author.

12)I claim not to be a fan of chick lit, but if I get my hands on one I will not put it down till I finish it.

13)I wanted to become a play back singer, a food critic, a cardiac surgeon, a Nobel Prize winner and a film director. I am an Information Technology professional.

14)I always amaze myself when I code. That could also be because I set very low expectations :p

15)I hate sweets made of coconut.

16)My ardent wish is to completely confuse any kids that I might have.

17)I wish to own a house with a swimming pool in the middle of it. I am not a great swimmer.

18)I love ACGs though I currently don't own any.

19)I make up lyrics if I don't know them. I don't understand 50% of the songs I enjoy.

20)I know the Nagila Nagila song from Alaipayuthey in all the three languages it came out in and I like all three versions.

21) I can watch DDLJ any number of times.

22)I am not one for small talk

23) OK I ran out of ideas

Dandilsa do if you want to

Idle Sunday Afternoon

2009-05-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

Alert***
I have spent the last two hours reading BigB's blog and hence this post is going to a rambling "what's happening in my life kinda entry"..

The last four months have been the craziest by far in my life.. I don't even know what exactly I was doing except that I have been multi - tasking at levels I have never done before. The year started off fine with D and me spending it at R and S's place. Then I went to visit my bro and sis - in - law down south.. To save on money I chose to fly from Manchester and hence spent around 8 hours using various modes of transportation from train to cab to walking to bus to plane.. Somewhere between the new years and eight days later when I flew to OKC I attended a job interview.. Wonders of Wonders they actually liked me.. So after I was back I started working and juggling school at the same time.. Travel to work entailed three different modes of transport and around 20 dollars a day!! Finally I got over my fear of driving through snow and started driving to work regularly.. Between scaling up at work and attempting to maintain my grades at school, the spouse and I decided to go on a domestic hunt.. So if I wasn't studying on weekends, we went hunting along with someone who was adept at doing it.. Compass in hand D and I set off looking at some as old 200 years old!! If I couldn't go because of work D would go by himself.. IF you thought this wasn't confusing in itself, I contracted the flu somewhere around the end of Feb - beginning of March time frame and promptly gave it to D as well.. From then on my husband and I have been continuously in and out of doctors' clinics till as late as yesterday!!

Fast forward about 1.5 months. Finals over, hunt successful. On the cusp of graduation and signing around 100 pages when both husband and I are down sick!!! I have been gone through around 3 boxes of Cleenex and mysteriously D is also down with some mysterious illness! So my first free weekend in 1.5 years and we are both in two different bedrooms trying to pass time which caused me to spend around 2 hours reading BigB..

Just moping and complaining.. Nothing much..

Pssst.. Did you know..

2009-04-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

haar haar haar.. My reaction on reading this

But Angelina Jolie as Dagny!!!!! Yuck!! Dagny in my head is strong and upright. Maybe Meryl Streep when she was younger. Actually I don't think its a good idea to make a movie out of this book because no one can do justice to the writing that is open to such different interpretations.

TV Musings (Spoiler Alert For Those Who Didn't watch 6th April episode of House)

2009-04-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

Pardon me for the long gap between posts.. What am I doing right now?? I am currently Jack of all trades.. I don't know if its a good thing to be doing multiple things at the same time all with different levels of concentration or if its better to concentrate on one task and move on the next.. Multi tasking is the name of the game!! And I also just segwayed into a post that I never intended to write..

Lets start again.. There are some crushes we are allowed to have. Matt Lauer, Dr. House, Anderson Cooper etc.. And hence I watch House!! Yesterday in a horrific turn of events Kutner dies!!!!!!!!!! He kills himself. For days before they went on about how its an episode like no other etc. I was a tad surprised and curious as to why they bumped Kal Penn off the show. Turns out that he is going to be working in the White House. Where did I pick up this random piece of information. I am only going to hint at it as I am not sure of copyright issues.. Its one of the three networks that has the above mentioned follks.. So I am happy for him and also discovered that there are others besides a certain Mr. Jindall to fly the Indian flag in American politics..

After several thousands of times of listening to people Blaming it on Alchohol I just switched radio stations on my car stereo and hit upon Imus in the Morning.. After some more days of listening to it figured out that its a right wing radio station. Not that I have anything against being Right Wing(in fact I am in the process of figuring out where I belong - Not that it will make any difference) but certain other shows that I listened to are bordering on being dumb. Its evident the extent of research that they have put into the show borders on negligable!! They criticize without substantiation, they criticize people's spouses and they criticize physical appearances!!!

Anyhoo.. I am a fan of Imus in the morning and it anydays beats Blame it on the Alcohol!!!!!!!!!

Also noticing that N hasn't blogged in a while.. Wondering what is up with her..

Unaccustomed Thoughts

2009-03-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

My vision faltered and my hand reached for the light switch. A concerned voice's concerns rang in my ears. "Switch on the light.. Don't read in the dark." At times like this my mind yearns for familiar people and familiar surroundings. My unborn child will never know the feeling of putting her head into a softened cotton sareed lap. I might never chat up with the istree or relish the taste of a foreign chocolate. Or even the anticipation of the foreign chocolate. It saddens me that my husband and I don't share any memories in India - of familiar roads and outings spent. Our wedding passed in a daze with a thousand people and to this day this is our significant together memory of the country we call home.

Moments pass in one's life when one recounts one's blessings. I pray for those who have to go through those who make the difficult decisions instead of us. I would like to think that they have the strength to make those decisions that mere mortals don't. I pray for them.

Sodapitan.

2009-02-22T16:04:00.000-08:00

Watched Delhi 6 this weekend with DD and her husband. Felt that the movie was a little confused.My title indicates my opinion. Many moons ago, I had reviewed RDB and I wasn't too impressed by it. But, honestly watching Delhi 6 made me feel that RDB was an outlier. Coz Aks and Delhi 6 sure aren't. Anyhooo.. I felt a sense of Deja vu while watching the movie. The Ram - Leela and riots scene reminded me a lot of the similar scene from A Suitable Boy (Yeah I know, I am obsessed with that book). Also, another scene gave me a book Deja - Vu (am not sure if that is even a word). The end where Roshan almost dies and goes to heaven to his Dadaji (haar haar - Do you think that they will play like brothers in a few years!!) It reminded me a lot of the final part of the Deathly Hallows book where Harry goes to heaven or Kings Cross station and meets Dumbledore who sorts out some priorities before he decides that he isn't dead. I mean both of these could just be co-incidental!

On a tangential sodapal I have a problem with people who fib on their profiles. I mean some of those "I want to make friendship" types are obvious enough for us. However, the ones who read "Rowling", "Paul Colo", "Perry Mason!!!" so on so forth..

2009-02-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

Sam tagged me. The thing about this tag is that I don't store any pictures on my system. All fotos are stored on D's computer. This is one picture that I took. I took this picture myself from a moving vehicle. It was taken on our way to NYC. It was one of the last outings before the winter set in!!!

There was a lot going on in my head coz I had a job interview as soon as I came back. It was a fairly big company and they had layed off about 4500 people the week before. D and I stopped at a BK for lunch and had yummo Onion Rings and dipping sauce. I was excited cause I was going to meet my cousins. D was excited coz he was going to meet his frnds N and S.

Ah well long enough story I think!!!

Unbelievable

2009-02-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

Many moons ago I had written a blog post about how in the course of my conversations with certain people I got a little irritated. Actually, I have written many posts about that but anyways, there was one where some people thought I was doing my Masters to pass my time!!!! Yeah know you remember!! Well recently I was in a conversation with someone who asked me what I was doing.I told her that I was working while going to school part time. Guess what she told me???????????

GOOD.. YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO PASS YOUR TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am going to use this forum to set the record straight. I wasn't doing my masters to pass my time. And now I am not working to pass my time. I studied to get a job and I am working to make money. Right now, I don't have time to pass.

On a tangential note, I do a weird combo of driving to work and taking the commuter rail to my work which is about 30 odd miles one way. I finally figured out a system where I need to drive to work two days a week. But each time I take my car to work it snows copious amounts!! Every single freaking time.. And the new driver in me freaks out every single time. When I have to stand in the cold and shovel snow of my car!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-26T18:01:00.000-08:00

It took two and a half years but Techie is back at work :-)

For the Rest there is BOA

2009-01-17T15:26:00.000-08:00

Old Navy
Interesting looking Blue and White Stripes TShirt - 2 dollars
Multicolored Turtleneck Sweater - 10 dollars

H and M
Floral Print Work Wear - 5 dollars
Clip - 1 dollar
Woolen Hat - Free
Second Clip - Free

Express Men
Sweater Vest for D - 18 dollars

Body Shop
Vitamin E day Cream - 16 dollars

Ann Taylor Loft
Peasant Blouse - 9 dollars

Three hours later - One Happy Cogito

Gift from D

Mid Rise Felt Boots from D PRICELESS!!!

Added Later: I don't wear leather.

What is in a Name?

2008-12-12T10:12:00.000-08:00

Most Indians who come to the States loose a name.To honour the memories of our grandfathers and their grandfathers or grandmothers and their grandmothers we are named after them. And as the Bengali folks say we all have "Bhalo" names. Telugu folks last names are family names. And boy oh boy do we have weird last names.. They are usually either the profession our ancestors followed, our places that they originated from or deities they worshiped etc. I am thankful for this custom because I wouldn't for the world want a father's name/husband's name attached to my name. Because I am defined by me - my name. I would not want to think I belong to my father or husband. I am not an object to belong to another human being. That way I like to have family names because I would like to think that I cannot not belong to a family. I just don't float around in ether!!!

Post marriage women are expected to change their last names to indicate that she has changed families. As is very evident in Indian marriage rituals a lot of things are changed along with the family name. Now what I fail to understand is how does the gothram change? (Gothram indicates the clan you are born into (originates to certain saintly being!!). The concept being you cannot marry into the same clan because you are in some way a sibling of everyone in the same clan.) So anyway how does the clan I am born into change after marriage? I would like to think that my children would belong to the new clan. I just wish that the Shastras had some way to accomodate this changing gotra thingy with a timestamp. Born into this gothra - married into this gothra sort of thing.

What also bothers me primarily is that by changing last names does it mean that I do not belong anymore in the family into which I was born. Am I going to shed them like an old sweater.(That we all cling to old frayed sweaters is a whole other story). In fact, if we look back to the good old days, families were inter- married. A girl is given in marriage to her mother's brother. Why would they do something like that unless the mother wants her daughter to live in the family which she grew up with and loves. Lets face it. We aren't going to love them any less. If anything, we love them even more now that we don't live there anymore. (Personally, I have got to respect my parents even more after getting married. )So why delude ourselves into thinking by just changing names our loyalties change in anyway!!!! Once again, I can drive home my point with the gazillion mega serials on our television channels, especially a certain one that my husband and I just watched a couple of months ago, with Banupriya jumping around during the credits!!!

Now coming back to Indian folks who loose names once they come to the States. My husband lost a part of his name, so did my brother. I think maybe they just picked one and said, I am done with this name. Now my case is a little different from these two... I gained a name... I inherited a middle name and a new last name. BOA couldn't fit my now wonderfully big name on my credit card so they chopped it in ways they deemed right... It bothers me with the brutality with which they hacked a name but hey..like I said, What is in a Name? Its always in the mind..

J'ai eu un délicieux repas

2008-12-07T06:31:00.000-08:00

Last night my husband threw me a surprise dinner party for just the two of us. We went to the L'Espalier located in the Back Bay area of Boston,MA. This was easily one of the most delicious meals of my life.

An avid foodie, I watch the Food Network channel and over the last 2 years learned quite a bit about the difficulties of gourmet cooking. So I appreciated the meal from all angles.

Us Indians have unique food tastes and almost each state in the country has their own unique cuisine just like our languages. But just we say in India there is "Unity in Diversity", there is a unity in our food. Our savories are deliciously savory and most of our sweets are jarringly sweet. Watching our mothers(and their mothers) cook we know that a dollop of ghee(clarified butter) will take a dish to new heights, a dash of milk will give any base a creamier texture and frying anything will make it taste better. So.. French food was a unique experience for me and I had an epiphany. Ah well it isn't exactly an epiphany if dozens of people already know about it but whatever they say about the French it is all true.

Our evening started out with small cheese puffs, which were little bite sized pieces of heaven. I think they were filled with a goat cheese and the pastry shell was just the right bit of flaky. Very quickly our waitress(I am not even sure if I should call her that) came to help us out with the menu( which was primarily in French - which neither my husband nor I know) She suggested we try the autumn degustation on the vegetarian version. Having lived in the States for a couple of years now I am aware of the limitations of knowledge people have about vegetarian food, deeming us to be eating grass most of the time.. So, I had steeled myself to significantly watered down fare.. To add to my fears our hostess said "Don't worry you won't go out of here hungry". It immediately got me thinking "Oh no!! We need to go hunt out some place to eat something on the way home.." But boy oh boy! was I wrong!!!! Shortly afterward we were served appetizers which were once again out of this world. Mine was a little mashed potato dipped in egg and rolled in bread crumbs and Deepak's was a variation on coleslaw.. Reading about it would make them seem like everyday dishes but the flavors were intense.. The chef was able to intensify the flavors of the creamy potato and the egg. I could taste the egg as well as the potato as well as each single bread crumb!!!!! I got a single one and I thought (ever the skeptic) with such small portions I am never going to feel full.. As soon as our plates were removed and our cutlery replaced the soup was brought out.. What I want to keep stressing is that the dishes sound everyday but the flavors were anything but.. Now coming back.. we had cauliflower soup (which based on my attempts at it - can be significantly bland) but quoting Deepak " tasted like amrutham". We were offered a choice of Sourdough, Foccacia,Walnut and a Kalamata Olive bread with little pats of butter. I had the Foccacia and the Olive ones while Deepak had the other two and although I have eaten the Foccacia before never ever ever had such airy bread before.. The Olive bread was also delicious and intense. Our salad course was a tad difficult for me because of the arugala being a tad too spicy for my liking. But again the salad was a combination of sweet and spicy and a bit of tangy thrown in for good measure. Hence the one dish hit different portions of my pallete which never before have had to work all at once. Our main course was slightly Thai based. Dumplings stuffed with ginger and other seasonal vegetables but primarily the ginger taste coming through. They were flanking a blanched Sweet Potato(which I thought was initially mango or papayya - purely based on the visual) which was on a bed of arugala. It came with a bright red bell pepper sauce and was an appealing visual as much as it was to eat. There was also a bite of slightly grilled pineapple. By the end of this Deepak and I were in 7th heaven and mentally blowing kisses to the chef. Our waiter had mentioned that the chef is known for his Risotto and hence I was eagerly awaiting it. Knowing the effort that goes into making the Risotto I wanted to taste this labour of love. And did it live upto its name or what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Creamy Risotto with some kind of cheese it melted upon hitting the tongue. I am a fan and am now tempted to make it at home though I know that I could never ever re-create the magic.. Post the Risotto yours truly was full beyond measure. I have never been this full in the last 15 years of my life. I can say that confidently because as a kid when we used to go out I have gotten this full. And like a miracle they knew we would be full and waited a bit before they brought on the next course. The next course was a tropical fruit gellato with air bubbles on the side..I mean seriously, it wont do justice to call it foam but if you guys have watched any gourmet cooking show on tv you know what I am talking about!! Now, I am averse to any tropical fruits besides banana but the passion fruit with a hint of peach(thanks to Deepak for discovering this taste) and the tang of the grapefruit. For the first time in my 24 year exsistance I discovered the meaning of the expression melt in your mouth. It just literally melted in my mouth (especially the foam item). We then had our desert course which was again(how does he do it?????????) hitting different palletes (and all were sweet mind you).. One was a Banana flavored Chocolate cream, there was also a marshmellow, a chocolate mousse, yummmo Vanilla Ice cream, and more foam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And of course little candles, as we were celebrating a special occasion in our lives.. Now yours truly was offered and accepted a cappuchino during my desert course, and I had prepared myself as most would that it would taste bitter because of the desert. I was speechless..It stood its ground in spite of the desert. I saved myself some ice -cream to keep an after taste in my mouth (thanks to Dhanalakshmi whom I have been frnds with for too long)

Oh and I almost forgot, we had a cheese course before our desert..... Deepak who is not normally a fan of the cheese loved this experience as much as yours truly who will eat cheese in any which form, shape or size.. I cannot say the names of most of the cheeses I ate, though I did save the menu but every single bite was different from the rest.. We had a variety of cow's milk, goat's milk and sheep's milk cheeses.

Well ladies and gentlemen.. After a three and a half hour, seven course meal with several cutlery changes during the meal, MD and DK were the two most happiest folks on this side of phase earth, although DK bore a slightly significant dent to his wallet!!!

Huge shout out and thank you to Frank McClelland and the numerous gentlemen and the single lady who served us.. I have never eaten such an intensely flavorful meal in my entire life ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And last but not the least a thank you to my husband Deepaku who picked this place, made the reservation and gave me a beautiful meal and memory..

Asked to be tagged

2008-12-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

Normally I dont force people to tag me... LOL!!! he he.. But this time I requested I be tagged by Sam I have a final in about 3 days and as usual I am sitting here writing blog post. Here goes..

Your oldest memories

1) Watching Dalapathi with my dad in Devi theatre (I think)

2) Getting ready to go to Hyd after final exam(same day) to catch the Hyderabad Express.

3) Spending hours at R's house playing with her Baby Alive

What were you doing 10 years ago?

10 years ago I was 14. So I was in 10th. And you know all the good stuff that happens with board exams etc.. But I also remember Phanindra's tution and the irritating folks who went there..(Not you Archu) I meant the others!!! It was also the time when I was finding out about myself and I made frnds with K who I am frnds with till date.. I also discovered the value of my math teacher Mrs.Grace whom I hated with a vengeance before that. It was also the year I read "Not Without My Daughter" for the first time. I was also living in the Lloyds Road house where everyone around me went to DAV... Ah I can go on and on.. I think I also read Sidney Sheldon's Tell me Your Dreams coz V made me go to Eashwari and borrow it. I also think I read the un-abridged Pygmalion that year..

Your first thought in the morning
This morning it was Thank God it is Monday..ha ha..(I dont work on Mondays you see). I usually think about what I need to get done that day. Earlier it used to be what should I wear..

If you built a time capsule it would have
Two of everything.. ha ha ha..

This year..

I started my masters which was sort of my dream. I also think I improved as a cook, fell all over in love again with my husband, missed my frnds, have two licenses in two countries where people drive on opposite sides of the road, grew up in ways I could never imagine!!!

What do you see yourself doing 14 years from now

Who knows?? I don't think that much in advance.. I am a live in the moment kind of grl..No not really!! ha ha.. I probably plan a few months in advance.. More than a decade no way..

Family Values

2008-11-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

I would like to think I am a social person. I have been known to accost people and make frnds with them. I have made frnds in the strangest of circumstances. Like A who I met at Amethyst because she was a frnd of a frnd, or V who was my frnd's grl frnd. At Church Park, I was one who flitted between two rival gangs coz I had frnds in both. I remember L writing me a letter where she wrote and I quote" When I was forced to choose sides you taught me to choose none". So I went to and hosted cool co-ed dance parties while simultaneously going to watch movies in all girl groups. It took me probably all of about 1 week to make frnds with N at SVCE. And there were my families. Wow!! Anyone who went to SVCE between the years 2001 - 2005 had definitely heard about us. We were all strong, different minded individuals who became frnds with Family Values. Again, I hung with the wild crowd(N is going to kill me for this) while simultaneously being a member of ELEMENTS where the gang was relatively chammatu. Wipro brought on the POTS out of which two of us were thrown out because we got married. (Trust me, you don't want to know!!)
Now, getting to the point that I want to make, whenever we attend parties, I am hunting for frnds, every party that we attend, I am hunting out similar age couples to hang out with and do -couply things!!! Before attending the last party that we did, I made a list of all the young, married couples going to be there and told my husband to cover the husbands while I attack the wives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So much so, that now its reached comical proportions. So if there are any couples living in Boston area give me a shout out.. ha ha ha... What else is a blog for..

Abhishtu Abhishtu

2008-11-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

The cattle industry in the United States comprised a relatively setable 33 million head that were replaced by roughly 5.7 million beef calves - both male and female - each year.

There were nearly 9 million dairy cows in the United States requiring 4.1 million replacement heifers each year.

In the United States the $11 billion pork industry was vertically integrated and highly concentrated.

Management of Technology - Fall 2008 ($3150)

I was a tad amazed and quite grossed and wondering what a Masters candidate of Information Technology doing learning this. Thankfully, the $3150 is not coming out of my pocket.

Added about 10 minutes later
After a certain company conducted research and here is the quote "We conducted focus groups and when we looked at the data it was clear that the public had a very 'comic book' perception of what cloning was. In their mind they saw adult animals leaping fully grown from giant petrie dishes, which they certainly didn't want in their food."

To date clones had only been produced in small numbers under a "one off" approach. Going forward, clones would need to be produced by the thousands to fulfill commercial demand.

So I did get some useful information and some portion of the $3150 is worth it. I am still glad its not coming out of my pocket though

A dedication to NH4 and 35

2008-11-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

To those who don't know NH4 is a highway connecting Chennai and Mumbai passing through Pune, Hubli and Bangalore. What Wikipedia failed to mention was it also passes through a significant monument we folks call SVCE, Pennalur. A significant part of my life in SVCE was bus no 35. N and I had long conversations and did a lot of soul searching on the gazillions of trips we made on that road in that bus. What we let off a few years ago, she resumed.. So here goes..

1) Ye Rozu Aithe Choosane Ninnu

This song is from a movie called Gulabi. This song has relieved many a headache that I have had and I absolutely love.

2)Yennai Kanavilaye Netrodu

Well this technically isn't a duet but many men sang it, so I am going to call it a duet. More than anything I really like the lyrics of this song. With my limited understanding of poetic tamil this song is as easy hear.

3)Hey GoodBye Nanba

This song is like an absolute fun song and I really really like the picturization. Once again, lyrically an easy song and beautiful picturization. The dynamics between them is cute.

4)Suraj Hua Madham

Need I say more. SRK and Kajol!!! Enough Said

5)Halla Gulla

This is the Bombay Halla Gulla (in case you dint hit the link). To be honest I don't know why I like this song. But I just do. I like the national integration lyrics that come somewhere halfway through the song.

6)Katre Yen Vasal Vandhal

This is a very relaxing song. I like the melody and to sound like a CTG (Crazy Teenage Girl) this was my caller back tune when Deepak and I spoke to each other. So this was the first piece of info he had about me :P

7)Thotu Thotu Yennai

I like the beats and the tune. I like the yenge naan ponalum part of the song. Once again, very cute naive picturization that I like.

8)Vennilave Vennilave

This is the one from Minsara Kanavu. Beautiful song. Beautiful lyrics. Beautiful chemistry between Kajol and Prabhu Deva. And pavam Aravind Swamy at the end of the song.

9) Irava Pagala
To be honest, I don't know who sang this song. But I really really really like it. Very calming and relaxing and cute.

10)Dekho Na

This is the Baba rip off in Swades. But I like this subtler version and also the romance between them.

To me there are a lot of factors that go into a song than just the music. When I listened to the song, does it hold any significance to me. Also, I don't listen to too much Tamil Music. I was initiated into Tamil songs by N. Also, these are restricted to two people in the song.

Vroom Theory

2008-10-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

I am really stumped with this piece of information

The probability of reaching goal called Expectancy

The probability that the goal will actually produce the desired results called Instrumenality

The probability that the results are indeed desirable and satisfying called Valence

Motivation = Expectancy * Instrumentality * Valence

Who would have thunk that motivation can be reduced to a simple mathematical expression. And for those of you who want to look it up.. It IS called VROOM Theory

Untag - Tag

2008-10-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

What time did you get up this morning?
With a certain reluctance at 6:30 am

Diamonds or pearls?
Diamonds

What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Burn after Reading and Saroja

What is your favorite TV show?
I data stream. I love Gilmore Girls. Because most folks around me watch some soap or the other I am trying to catch Desperate Housewives and Starter Wife when I can.

What do you usually have for breakfast?
Cereal in the summer. Oatmeal in the winter. Orange Juice and an occasional cup of Coffee

What is your middle name?
Legally its Desirazu (A former last name). Otherwise its nothing.

What food do you dislike?

None in particular. After some thought Sushi maybe

What kind of car do you drive?
The kind with four wheels and a steering wheel.

Favorite sandwich?
Grilled Cheese. It can also be the Subway Veggie Patty on Italians Herbs and Cheese

What characteristic do you despise?
Stupidity

Favorite item of clothing?
Coats/ Blazers.

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?

Europe

What color is your bathroom?

Well one is white with Black stuff in it and the other is a blend of brunt orange and olive green. (Very Fall-y)

Favorite brand name of clothing?
FabIndia any day

Where would you retire to?
At the expense of sounding mokke - To my bed. Don't think that far ahead

What was your most memorable birthday?
21st. On the train back from Ooty with frnds.

Favorite sport to watch?
Being from Boston, I can't say none. So well ummm Golf!!!

Farthest place you are sending this?
Well I am going to tag N in Ohio and N in Wisconsin..

Favorite saying?

If all the world is a stage where is the audience. Live and Let Live

When is your birthday?
A long time away

Are you a morning person or a night person?
I used to be a night person but of late I am turning into an afternoon person.

What is your shoe size?

9 1/2

Pets?

No. Don't care too much for them.

Any new and exciting news you’d like to share with us?

I got a new plum sateen coat that looks super cool

What did you want to be when you were little?
I wanted to be a bunch of things. I think I went from Cardiac Surgeon to Computer Scientist to Food Critic to Playback Singer to Film Director.

I am an information technology engineer though.

What are you wearing today?
Black pants and a semi - formal orange top(courtesy mom)and a jeans jacket

What is your favorite candy?
Not much of a candy person. Like Chocolate though.

What is your favorite flower?
Not a big fan of flowers. Like looking at tulips though.

What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
Day as such I am not too sure. But if I had to pick a date it would be Dec 6th.

What church do you attend?
I used to go to the church in my school when I was little.

What are you listening to right now?
Nothing. Silence

What was the last thing you ate?
Kellogs Raisin Bran Crunch

Do you wish on stars?
Nope

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Purple

How is the weather right now?
Freezing. It was 27 degrees this morning.

Last person you spoke to on the phone?
D

Do you like the person who sent this to you?

Yeah I guess :D Considering that she dint send it but I stole it from her.

Favorite soft drink?
Pepsi with Lime in it.

Favorite restaurant?
Kebab Factory in India, Cedars in Seattle, Red Sea Restaurant in South Boston.

Hair color?
Black

Favorite day of the year?
As a kid I used to love my birthday. Now I jus don't care

What was your favorite toy as a child?
My Doctor Barbie

Summer or winter?
Winters anyday

Hugs or Kisses?
Hugs

Chocolate or Vanilla?
Depends on my mood

When was the last time you cried?
I don't remember. Maybe when my parents went back to India.

What is under your bed?
Carpet

What did you do last night?
I wrote a mid-term.

Favorite smell?
Coffee. Chanel no 5

What are you afraid of?
Drowning

Plain, buttered, or salted Popcorn?
Masala Popcorn

How many keys on your key ring?
3

How many years at your current job?
Half a semester

Favorite day of the week?
Of late Friday nights

How many cities have you lived in?
5. Madras, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Edmonds, Boston

Do you make friends easily?
Totally

How many people will you be sending this to?
2

Desultory Deliberation

2008-10-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Can you know more about a person based on the books he/she reads? Would it make a difference if he/she doesn't read at all?

Do you think that engineers create products without understanding markets? Which leads me to the eternal question - Which came first the product or the need for it? haar haar haar

While hunting for that image I came up across this interesting piece of information. I assure you that I cant vouch for the autenticity of the information

"Put simply, the reason is down to the fact that genetic material does not change during an animalal's life. Therefore, the first bird that evolved into what we would call a chicken, probably in prehistoric times, must have first existed as an embryo inside an egg." Professor John Brookfield, a specialist in evolutionary genetics at the University of Nottingham, told the UK Press Association "the pecking order was clear."

Might be as old as the hills but as I am typing to the Ace of Base song "All that She wants". Does it remind you of the beat in the "Telephone Manipol" song from Indian

Tan colored capri pants

2008-09-28T18:19:00.001-07:00

I must take this oppurtunity to say that I have had it with people. People in general and nosy invasive people in particular. Folks who want to know what career choices I am making, when my husband and I plan to visit India, when we plan to have children or better yet telling me when to have children, where to look for houses, the easiest way to host 15 ppl (when I am going to host people is beyond me).I mean I have had it with people in general. Attended a desi birthday party last week and came home with a dull headach and a bunch of laughes. Loud music, parents trying to show off their kids apparent talents, pre-teen girls acting wiser than their age with make up, tons of jarring sweets. Its a 10 year olds birthday. Dont play bingo at it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buy some pizza, cake and juice, have a bunch of kids over and let them play with the Wii.. D and I decided that our kids are not going to have any birthday parties with adults in them (till they become adults themselves). I used to go for dozens of these things as a kid myself and have had oh about 15 of them before I stopped but there were no adults at most of them. Atleast besides the kid's parents.

When one gets on the plane I think some sense of warped desi-ness props up. A holier- than-thou attitude. I was at the gym a few weeks ago when a nice young lady told me and I quote "I used to be like you. But now I have improved. My MIL has taught me how to be a good wife." I take freaking umbrage lady. I am a great wife. Excuse me if I don't get up at 5 am like an idiot to cook lunch for my husband when I can do it the night before. I also don't like the kind who proclaim that all things desi are soo archaic and try really hard to adapt with the life here and fail miserably. I know someone who is learning "Lawn Tennis"!!!!!
And what is with the dressing like "items". They are soooo awkward in clothes they evidently havent worn before. I mean there isn't a soul here who hasn't heard of India, why not wear clothes you are comfortable with instead of looking weird and extremely out of place.

On a tangential note, I spoke to a couple of my friends last week.. I must be honest it was soooo nice to hear familiar voices and familiar terms.. Took a while to get to common ground which saddened me a little bit.These are folks that I spent everyday of 4 years of my bachelors with. Spent hours talking with.. But I have to say I am super happy to be back on track.

And first prize to guess what the whole thing has to do with tan colored capri pants..

Random Musings

2008-09-10T10:16:00.000-07:00

I just discovered that I am not a big fan of Greek Yogurt. Now that could also be bcoz I ate non - fat plain. It was a tad too thick for my taste. I topped it up with some granola and a dash of honey. Maybe I should buy some flavored.

D and I have been trying to eat healthier of late. Which means that there are more trips to Whole Foods. But both of us are discovering interesting flavors. From the awesomely sweet Maple Syrups to the different types of cheeses including the soy - cheeses( which isnt as bad as it sounds!!!). I am going through a phase of experimenting with different types of granolas. D is attempting buckwheat. You need to boil it till the water evaporates and then add milk. I must warn you that it needs to be flavored quite a bit coz its pretty bland (well that is an understatement) I put in maple syrup/honey, bananas (or watever fruit you have at hand). I pretty much follow the recipe but I dont have patience waiting for the water to evaporate so I cook it in the pressure cooker.

We also switched oils. From Canola to Vegetable Oil. I usually have EVOO lying around the house as well. But sometimes you cant cook Indian with EVOO and of course we cant fry with it. I am really proud of myself coz I can actually differentiate between the canola and the vegetable. Something I couldn't do till atleast 6 months ago.

Oh! Oh! I also tried brown rice. Now tell me.. Has anyone eaten anything more buttery.. more nuttier than brown rice. And no.. Its no fancy pants brown rice from any organic store - Its the stuff one gets at the regular super market. I think that I am officially a convert. A while ago I had also bought Quinoa. I am not sure if I cooked it right but I wasnt a big fan. So the box is sitting on my kitchen shelf hidden behind boxes of my spices. I also gave whole wheat couscous a shot.. Yummo!! But again I load it up with veggies. Anything on hand.

Last weekend I made hummus. It was nice.. Maybe something was lacking.. It dint taste exactly like the store bought one so maybe I did something wrong!!

I donno if its possible. But I think I am getting a lil sick of cereal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyone who knows me even remotely knows that I can survive on cereal. I can eat three courses of it. But for the last few days it aint appealing to me much. a ten year run is coming to a slow down. I dont want it to stop.

I can strongly say that N is an inspiration for urs truly spending more time in the kitchen.

On a tangential note (its not even tangential its probably in a totally other quadrant). As folks get older I think they get a lil cranky and nutty. I just discovered first hand from an aunt of mine. I mean I have learnt manners from this aunt but I jus discovered that maybe as they grow older they kinda jus un learn all the stuff.. Reminds me of the stuff I read in the poem from All The World Is a Stage.
Well that is jus me cribbing but where better to do it tell me???