Good Luck Federer.........

As the US Open 2009 starts,here's wishing these two brilliant players Good Luck.

Miss Universe 2009.

The crown goes to Venezuela's beauty at the pageant in the Bahamas.
Miss Venezuela has been named winner of the 2009 Miss Universe pageant in the Bahamas. Stefania Fernandez was crowned on Sunday night. Miss Dominican Republic, Ada Aimee de la Cruz, was the runner up.

Ganesha Chaturthi.--go green.

Vinayaka Chaturthi, or Ganesh Chaturti, is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the God of wisdom, prosperity and auspiciousness in Hinduism. Lord Ganesha is today worshipped around the world and the elephant-faced Hindu god is one of the most popular deities in Hindu religion. The 12-day Ganesh Chaturthi ends with the immersion (Visarjan) of the idol on Ananta Chaturdasi day. Ganesh Chaturthi 2009 date is August 23.
Ganesh Chaturthi is observed on the fourth day after Amavasi (no moon) in the month of Bhadrapada (August - September) as per traditional Hindu calendar.
In Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, Ganesh Chaturthi community festival is celebrated for 10 days. In other parts of India, it is celebrated for one day on the Ganesh Chaturthi day.
Hindu homes observe Ganesh Chaturthi festival for one or three days. Special prayers are performed in all Hindu homes and hymns and songs are sung in praise of Lord Ganesha.
In Maharashtra, Ganesh and Gauri Puja is observed during the same period.
In Karnataka, Gowri Habba or Swarna Gouri Vrata is observed a day before Ganesh Chaturthi.

It's wise to use eco-friendly Idols and not pollute our lakes and surroundings.Let's again Go Green this Ganesh Chaturti.

Why not??

Michelle Obama's trip to the Grand Canyon made much ado about nothing,why does'nt the first lady deserve to be comfy in her shorts??The decisions women make about their clothing and bodies isn't something for which we need "approval" and support"—and yet we're conducting polls to reassure.Surely,she does'nt need anyone's permission to be comfy!!!

My brother's wedding.

My brother Gurukiran's wedding was fixed by elders to be held on Aug 7th,2009,Friday.I flew in especially for this and finished the card ordering,shopping,etc along with Mom.The Saree for the bride was shopped at Angadi Silks in Jayanagar and the jewellery in Bhima Jewellers store.Preparations for the celebrations went on smoothly due to God's grace.His destiny,Anushree Banerjee,a Bengali girl from Lucknow was already chosen by God and the wedding was held in the Srinivasa Temple in JP nagar,Bangalore amidst close friends and family.The wedding in the morning was a traditional south Indian one with the bride adorned in a Kanjeevaram Saree with Moggin Jade(flowery braid) and had a typical south Indian look while my brother was in a Long Kurta and a nice Dhoti and Mysore peta.The garlands were made of 3-4 colors,yellow,pink,green and white.The priest conducted the wedding in a nice way and the food after that was Iyengar cuisine,a delicious one with Salt,pickle,2 kosambaris,Beans palya,Papad,Sandige,Pakoda,Puliyogre,Veg.Baath,Raitha,Rice,Kootu,Rasam and curd.A true gastronomic delight.

The reception in the evening was the North Indian way where my brother was wearing a heavy work Lucknowi Sherwani,a grand one to make him look a Maharaja.The bride was looking good in a Lucknow Ghagra,again sequined and heavy worked on.The food was North Indian but served on the Banana Leaf and the cuisine had Malai Sandwich,Badusha,Kosambaris,Butter Naans,Paneer butter masala,Channa masala,Veg.Pulao,Raitha,Rice,Rasam,curd,Icecream,Beeda,

etc and the grand feast was at Samskruthi Hall in Jayanagar 5th Block.The hall had a nice ambience and soft,light instrumental music was on throughout.The chandeliers and the lighting at the hall were a highlight indeed.

Finally,after the wedding the couple set of to the Nilgiris at Ooty and we are resting at home after the hustle-bustle and running around.

We wish that the new couple live happily with love,understanding,trust and go ahead with responsibilities.Good Luck bro!!!

Little Krishna.

The 13 episodes of “Little Krishna” is a result of seven years of painstaking research work, handpicked from the chronicles of Krishna, the most remarkable stories of the greatest super hero in the Indian heritage. The episodes are narrated in a manner, which is engrossing enough to mesmerize the audience world over, and leave them spell-bound.
Little Krishna is the darling of Vrindavan, the land of peace and tranquility, which is constantly threatened by the malice of evil king Kamsa. While Krishna is busy with his endless pranks and mischief’s accompanied by his friends, Kamsa remains restless for he is aware that Krishna is his nemesis. As in the past, a prophecy has once threatened Kamsa that his evil reign is over, and a superhero will descend on earth to make Kamsa meet his worst adversity in life, which is, his death. The only objective of Kamsa’s life therefore, was to find his angel of death.
Sworn to see the end of Krishna, Kamsa relentlessly sends his trusted aids, the ferocious demons to Vrindavan to kill Krishna. But Krishna is born to be a savior as he crushes the deadly demons one after another with heroic poise. Shaken with the magnitude of Krishna’s accomplishments, even the Gods get edgy as they too try their hands in testing our little hero’s gallantry. Krishna reigns supreme and the heavenly powers too face humiliation and get stripped of their falsified pride.
While the episodes of “Little Krishna” capture an epic canvas on screen with the colossal battles of good against evil, it never misses to touch the emotional chord of the narrative. While lapping up the affection of his parents and the admiration of the common mass of Vrindavan, Krishna manifests his mesmerizing charms with his soulful flute that compels every living creature to dance to his tunes.
Action, adventure, heroic valor, selfless deeds, emotional trysts, mischief’s … all packaged in a compelling story telling underlines the hallmark of the “Little Krishna” series.





© 2008. BIG Animation (I) Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Banana leaf Lunches

I got to experience the gastronomic delights almost every week during my stay in Bangalore,starting with my brother's wedding celebrations.The lunch and dinner served on a banana leaf has it's own special taste,simply superb,the salt,pickle,kosambaris,kosu and beans palyas,papad,pakodas,sandiges,payasam,puri,curries,veg.bath,raitha,puliyogre,rice-kootu-rasam-curd and dessert/sweets are real healthy and served hot and enjoyed by all.I got to attend 3 more celebrations of family friends and enjoyed the food thoroughly.I had a chance of feasting on all the delicacies and ate sumptuously and cleared the banana leaf not wanting to waste such good food everywhere.India sure has the best tasty food in the world!!Anna dhaata sukhi bhava of course!!!!A good sleep after coming home and heaven is experienced on earth!!

Love aaj Kal

Caught the movie Love aaj Kal with my cousin and her kids on the PVR screens in Bangalore's Forum Mall.

It was okay till the second half portraying the confusion,indecisive youth of today,maybe that's the norm among them,but wondered whether it gave a wrong message to them.Deepika is gorgeous as ever and entertains throughout.Black coffee and Brand Mango publicity is good,got to try it once,with sugar of course.Worth watching once because of her and some slow numbers than the noisy ones......music is okay and shot at good locales throughout.Cannot get to identify with any character,but can remember the old days of romancing around,etc.Seems unreal and without a message.Okay to watch once.

Ice Age 3 and Night at the Museum--good ones for the kids

In the first week of my stay in India,we got a chance to see Ice Age3 and also Night at the Museum 2 with my daughter and both were good.

Ice Age3 was a good 3D animated movie with the Dinos and Night at the Museum 2 seemed repetitive.But my 6 year old daughty liked both of them.The multiplexes in PVR are good,the Gold class ones even more comfy.

Half way thro' 2009 India's trip--initial feelings and observations about metropolitan lives

With the first half of the flight journey being good,the wait at the London airport was when we were ready to sleep anywhere but had to remain awake to see the display infos of our next flight.The dragging second half of the flight journey was when both Manju and me kept on seeing the map whether we were landing soon,the second half was a bit too much.

On landing,we were so happy to see our parents and family members,on reaching home,the place where we grew up seemed good on the first two days,we realized that things had changed a lot,each year when we came there were tremendous changes,fast,faster lives,congestion due to population.People were busy with their daily hassles,their routines and nobody had time for you and their thoughts were very different from yours.Initial feelings were frustrating,on the positive side,there was a feast of good food everywhere,the best in the world I can say,that too for us coming from the US,we delighted at the sight of Indian Idlis,Masala Dosas,Akki rottis,Upmas,Puris,Chapatis,Pongal and other breakfast luxury we got at home mostly made by Mom,her love and hardwork we appreciated so much and even when eating outside,it felt like heaven.The lunch and dinner were also simply superb,Mom's indeed the best cook for me,her handmade food was so tasty.On the other hand,we had trouble with the wet restrooms,scary geckos(1 0r 2) but we did'nt hurt anybody's feelings and tried to adjust slowly day by day coz' the purpose of our trip was to make everyone happy,get happy and go back after one and a half months of vacation.Not able to concentrate on my daughter much,I helped Mom at the kitchen in whatever small way I could,chopped veggies,cleaned and arranged the house sometimes and supported her morally and also to prepare for my only brother's wedding.We wrote to-do lists,organized every outing and finished most of the schedules on-time.The wedding was a success due to team works and everything went smoothly.

There were a lot of observations while in India,seeing the daily hassles of the servant,milkman,etc,tensed people,hyper people,women venting on their husbands hoping they would understand,could never make anyone understand or change anyone,we would just observe and adjust and remain calm and keep cool since it was a short stay.There were modern and orthodox clashes,selfish people,money crunches,everyone being right from their own angles,most of the youth having no values,divorce being a high norm,no caring for aged parents,money ruling everywhere,fast drop or decline in our Indian culture leading to chaos and confusion among the extravagant youth.The present youth surely need guidance and counselling(a business again),just going by the outer beauty and not the inner values.Fashion consciousness,figure consciousness and health consciousness all there(business,business everywhere),people cash on it along with Religion,astrology,gemology,etc.Strenuous and stressful lives,exorbitant prices more than the dollar prices,bad customer services,unorganized lifestyles,sub-standardness and low quality of life for the common middle class,corruption reigning,inequality among people,lack of education,evergrowing population,all added to the chaos,the neverending confusion and high stress levels.Again having both positives and negatives like any other place on this world,tradeoffs in life being common,we move on....

India's trip this time made me realize and see many things,life's complications,life's uncertainties,life's difficulties,life's intricacies,pain,etc making me more wise,tolerant,knowledgeable,experiencing God's play,making me realize people's worth and value,knowing the very purpose of this everlearning lives--a true eyeopener indeed.!!

Nobody's perfect,life and time heal and teach great lessons to everyone with great big blows,big happiness,big experiences.Relationships very fragile,feelings easily hurt all making you strong,making you realize priorities and importances in life.Hypocratic ,masked,unreal faces around,you yearn to be different,the real you unable to cope with many things,left behind(as you left the counrty 10 years back) ,and you follow the motto to be yourself.This trip truly has led to a more wise me,a more courageous me,a more balanced me,ego buried,pride fallen and lessons learnt---time healed and taught!!

Materialistic temporary lives given importance than the intellectual inner beauty and values,marketing and loans are a way,exorbitant prices soared every minute,unhygienic,ignorant people lacking education were victims of pandemics like dengue,chickungunya and swine flus---again due to inequality among people,no equal education for all,the very basics lacking!!!!!But the metropolitan city grew, cutting down trees,leading to global warming,worse weathers,buildings built with substandardness,unaffordability and natural things destroyed,only to to be set up in the outskirts or villages and again cashing on that business,to pay for clean water,air and light!!.There is a link between every problem like a neverending chain----population,congestion,inequality,peak corruption,substandardness,power cuts,money crunches,worse systems,blame games,non-coperation,etc and so on and on.When do we find a solution,will we ever find it??

To see the real India,it's in the villages with the green fields,pure air,light and water.It pains to write this on the Indian Independence Day that India has lost most of it's values,most of it's culture,it's old world charm,nature and beauty.India can be a super power only if it's handles the basics,the very foundations and not build on an improper one,if this continues,it will crumble and add to the sufferings and chaos.I hope all this end soon or will there never be an end??The question troubles many who see the truth,the facts,to be branded unpatriotic,returning NRIs flee back to the rest of the world only to be more patriotic in a distant country,united with fellow country men in a different country!!Planning to make the move in another 2 years,got to see only the positive things like good food,good culture and ignoring the negatives not expecting any changes will be a way,a positive way and a new phase of life.

With Hope we move on towards Light and pray that God holds our hands throughout the roads in life.