DilliBillies

Asatoma Sadgamaya; Tamasoma Jyothirgamaya

2008-03-29T09:15:00.005-05:00

Her name is Riya and she's finally here

2007-09-22T11:42:00.000-05:00

She knows she's special
she knows she's sweet,
How much I wish
to see her tiny feet!

It's been a long wait
nine months have gone by,
Now that she's finally here
it's time to say Hi!

The first dilli-kitten
to be officially crowned,
she's truly a darling
of the dillibillies around.

Her eyes are closed
and her fists clenched,
Pretty sure she plans to
get somebody drenched.

Not a worry or care
nor a thing to do
she is the little kiddo
of Meeta and Himanshu.

She brings joy
and she brings pride,
She is going to have
so many horsebacks to ride.

Congratulations to the proud parents
and the dillibillies too,
such special moments
are so real and few.

She knows she's special
she knows she's sweet,
How much I wish
to see her tiny feet!

Street Sense

2007-05-20T21:19:00.000-05:00

A week after Street Sense made sensation at The Derby, on one of the crispest , Cleveland Saturday mornings, of the spring of 2007, we on behalf of ASHA Cleveland tried to make some sense out of the street, anchored in at the Shakers square farmers market, under our beige 10X10 gazebo, with ASHA banner in the back drop. ..and the response was exceptional!

Ripe saffron tomatoes, off white potatoes, green cilantro and red onions all thinly diced into irregularly regular cubes; Dark brown, dates and tamarind chutney and the glowing green mint chutney and lightly spiced and roasted puffed rice( mamra) along with lot of enthusiasm and good amount of work slicing, dicing and planning, all went into the making of the very palatable and widely popular "Bhel Puri" served for $4 a bowl and "pineapple souffle" made of cream and crushed pineapple. For $3, We offered magic in mehndi, tattoos, which pulled enthusiastic crowd.

All the proceeds goes towards a cause bigger and nobler than me, you and us combined, Education! If YOU would like to make a difference, by volunteering, you could find more details at http://www.ashanet.org/cleveland. "

Asha For Education

2007-04-29T12:12:00.000-05:00

Having one fourth the population of the World is not a curse; in fact i believe it is an asset and best of the resources any country could dream of; but having 400 million illiterates and many millions who are literates but are clueless and unware of their basic civic and constitutional rights, is definitely is a curse.

If any of it makes sense to you, standup for education. Join a ASHA Chapter near you; Donate, Volunteer, Let your voice be heard and make a difference! http://www.ashanet.org/

Get Up Standup; Standup for the Right!

Get Up, Stand Up, Stand Up for your Right..

2007-03-31T07:41:00.000-05:00

..
We're sick and tired of your ism and schism game
Die and go to heaven in Jesus' name, Lord
We know when we understand
Almighty God is a living man
You can fool some people sometimes
But you can't fool all the people all the time
So now we see the light
We gonna stand up for our right
.. ( Bob Marley )

In unwavering, whole hearted support of Parivartan and RTI ( Right To Information)

Baby Elephant having a BALL!

2007-03-07T06:50:00.000-05:00

Let freedom never perish in your hands..

2007-02-14T22:57:00.000-05:00

On a day in which heat waves hit Cleveland , raising the temperature up to 18 below freezing, from 36 below freezing; my car glided and slided, in and towards the general direction of Hillcrest Hospital, with me inside shivering and making the most un-human-like-cold-induced noises and with a reflective unintelligent(!?) smile to Lily Allen's smile.

The first thought that came to my mind was "O My Gawd i am a CHICKEN" and the second thought that came to mind was that of Chickens who are not free to roam and their lack of freedom and the eggs they lay which roam around freely in groups of six, twelve or twenty four, neatly stacked in paper or Styrofoam cases, to come near a supermarket store near you. I pitied the lack of freedom of the chickens and admired the freedom of eggs and on that note pressed the buzzer to pull me out of the scanner and on my way out i gave a finger to the discrete Fourier transforms waiting in the wings of the scanner to have yours truly for its breakfast scan. Yes, I buzzed myself out of the MRI scanner faster than i was moved into it by the radiologist. It was only a minute back i had smirked, in my mind, when she said "if you feel uncomfortable press this buzzer and let me know". But then i had no clue i will be pressing the buzzer this quick. It simply was unbearable, suffocating, felt as if i was trapped like inside a casket, it felt like vinnie in a bottle and vinnie wanted to get out of the bottle and vinnie pressed the buzzer. It was rather awkward once i was out. I took a deep breath and summoned up some courage, but did not say " I am ready". Miss Radiologist suggested she could cover my eyes with a towel and try it again, if it helps. I nodded in disagreement, but i guess she took it as a nod in agreement and i was on my way in to the scanner for the second time only this time with a cloth over my eyes. Not wanting to look any "un"cooler, praying to all the 33 million Hindu Gods and a generic prayer to all the other non-Hindu Gods and holding on to the buzzer tightly and with my eyes shut even tighter i began the gradual inward journey into the scanner, slowly, in my green Hillcrest gown.

A few minutes later when i realized i wasn't breathing i slowly and deliberately started to breathe and slowly and slightly when senses came back to me, i thanked miss radiologist for the towel over my eyes for it really did help.

Every second inside the scanner, felt like an eternity. Time seemed to move at snail's pace; Not the regular pace, but that of one in slow motion. To keep track of the time remaining, i started counting but lost count at some number after 42. To stave off panic attacks and keep my wondering wandering mind, engaged; i tried to think about several positive pleasant things in life but eventually the unpleasant thoughts took over. I thought about that Italian kid who fell through and was stuck in a manhole several tens of feet deep. he was eventually rescued after several hour of ordeal. I wondered what would have gone through his mind in those dire moments and the realistic magnitude of angst that he would have gone through hit me. ..prisoners in solitary confinement in small dark room, caged animals, caged birds, the images and thoughts flashed through my mind it all had a dark shade to it. I had never in my whole freakin life thought about animals in confinement and if or not they would yearn to be free. While inside the MRI scanner, I indeed developed some respect for PETA which is not to be confused with PITA.

I am not sure what my MRI would tell, but i can tell you for sure that i have a new found respect for life and everything it has to offer. My perspective on freedom has a whole new angle to it with respect for freedom and value of it increasing ad infinitum!

Winter of 69...

2007-02-06T18:25:00.000-05:00

Its winter in many places, but in Dallas, TX its a little different...its the winter of 69 (degrees F).
The sun is out and its absolutely nice-warm-pleasant-and-fun! Definitely...the perfect day to go outside and roam around in the sun.
Alas....when I looked up weather.com to see how my dear friends doing....I found that they are all reeling under heavy snow with temperatures around 9 (degrees F) in Cleveland, OH. Looks like this distance of 1000+ miles has also brought in a difference of 60 degrees. Wish I could fed-ex some heat-n-sunshine from here...but this is a bad-mean world.
But, my dear friends....I'll try and soak in all the sunshine (the share for you all too)....dont worry!

Six Word Memoir

2006-12-26T17:56:00.000-05:00

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in six words. The result was "For sale: baby shoes, never used."

My six word memoir is "Blinked! Winked! ..I am halfway through!" What is yours?

Click and Clack

2006-12-24T10:04:00.000-05:00

It was the spring of 98 and I was into my third or fourth week in US. Had tasted the sound bytes from NPR to become an instant fan of Kojo Nandi show. A few days back, in that spring of 98, i had also bought a Sony Dream Machine; an alarm clock/radio.

I was tired of waking up to the annoying monotonous buzz of my old alarm clock, and was on the look out for an alarm clock which could wake me up with a random pick from amoung my favourite music. I was hoping i would be able to find a cd player/alarm clock, put a cd in it, set the alarm and wake up to one of my favourite songs. But in the country where i found to the dismay of my small town indian eyes; the front glass doors of the stores which automagically flung open as you approached them, in anticipation possibly of you flinging open your fat vallet; and McDonalds drive throughs which served you big fat super sized Mac with double cheese, and coffee without sugar and milk in under a minute; and the freeways where you had to pay to drive and the criss crossing even and odd numbered interstate highways full of free thinking people with pink hair and piercings and street sweeper trucks; and airports with escalators and restrooms with faucets which opened, if and only if, you did break dance on your left foot; for the life of me, i could not find a cd player which had an alarm clock. The fact that i had to rely on public transportation, didn't really help my cause either. So i settled down for the next best thing, Sony Dream Machine, which was not exactly my dream machine.

I set my alarm, tuned the radio to 87.3, which was the only station that i was familiar with at that time. Alarm was set for 10:00 ( which was really early morning for me by Saturday standards ) so that i could get up at 10, snooze the alarm, sleep a bit more snooze it again, sleep a bitter more and snooze it again and sleep a bittest more and finally get off my twin bed by, say around noon.

A minute or so after 10 that saturday morning, this abnoxious, loud, dragging laughter came screaming out of Sony dream breaker machine, which woke me up. Disgusting I must say, the laugter was, but what followed the laughter wasn't. That was about 8 years back and have tried not to miss cartalk on saturday mornings since. ..and So i was listening to it this saturday and was driving and decided to blog to my uncontrollable blogging itch's content on how i accidently became a fan of car talk, sort of a tribute to the great work by Tom and Ray.

At the end of every show, the Click and Clack brothers, give credits to their actual staff and then to some of their ficticious staff. Here are some of my favorites. (..Complete Listing)

..Our
Musical Theater Critic from the Bombay Office - Jaswant Singh ( Just Won't Sing ?)
Russian Chauffeur - Picov Andropov ( Pick up and Drop off? )
Self Esteem Coach - Mia Culpa ( really !? )
Statistician - Marge Innovera ( Margin of error ?)
Swedish Attorney - Bjorn Liar ( Born Liar ? )
Staff Butler, from the Car Talk Bombay Division - Mahatma Coat ( ..hmm )

I leave you off with the cartalk puzzler from last week..

What is the longest English word, that remains a valid English word, as you remove its letters one at a time?

You..Hoo..!

2006-12-17T00:23:00.000-05:00

Time, saluting You, Youtube, Yourspace and "Sabhi"-kipedia and the whole darn World Wide Wonder.

"..But look at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.." ( Read more )

Wanna find out what was the Time cover page on your Birthday?

The Da Vinci Code

2006-11-13T13:54:00.000-05:00

If I remember it right, 'The Da Vinci Code' I finished reading last week would have to be the 2nd fiction I've ever read. The first one I read was 'The Famous Five' as a 13 year old (yeah, looong time back). And I'm dazed and confused.

On seeing the movie 'The Da Vinci Code' the week it was released and not quite getting it, I decided to read the book. I was hooked for a week and hardly put it down until I finished it. It turned out to be a good read during the 5 hour flight between Columbus and Ontario CA. I thought the way Dan Brown managed to intertwine fiction over facts and put together what's allegedly one of the biggest cover up in the history of mankind was thrilling and remarkable.

In doing some research about what others think of the factual claims made by this novel regarding the Priory of Sion, my excitement withered when it seemed that this secret society might be the massive hoax created by a few Frenchmen in 1956. First, I wish I hadn’t done that research ;) thinking ignorance is bliss. And I’m left pondering which side of the story to believe into.

Well, at least I’m now starting to understand (and share) the disappointment of some of my friends in watching a movie based on their favorite book. It’s a difficult job translating the thrill of a novel into a movie a couple hours long.

I’m sure it’ll be a while before I dare pick up another fiction.

Many people are Klueless these days

2006-11-06T02:01:00.000-05:00

There was this bunch of enthusiastic kids at IIM-Indore who made a neat puzzle last year called Klueless as a build-up to their school fest. It was an instant hit and people (mostly indians) all over the world jumped on to it. From what I read later, they had huge number of hits on their website.

This year, they have done it again....with Klueless2. Its on similar lines but a little more dramatized and organized. If you like puzzles and if you like to rake your brains for endless hours...check out this link....you'll go Klueless 2! ~ http://www.iimi-iris.com/iris-2006/irising/klueless/index.asp

yenjoy!!

Bye...Bye...Miss American Pie

2006-10-30T16:26:00.000-05:00

Its very unlikely that anybody hasn't heard this song by Don McLean. In fact it was voted as the number 5 song (american) of the twentieth century. I have heard it ever since I started listening to songs and music. But, never before did I really try to comprehend the meaning hidden in it. It was more like the usual and light country-rock for me. It was just another 'oldies' until today.

I dont know what came over me and I set out to discover what Don McLean wanted to convey. Especially considering the fact that he never ever gave his own version/explanation for the lyrics. This added fuel to the speculations from different peopel in different parts of the world. This link from Wikipedia was useful (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pie_(song) ... but is it the actual interpretation? Is it really what McLean was trying to say?

Listen to the song one more time and let me know what you think?

Annakut

2006-10-22T23:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Diwali and Happy New Year!

Annakut - 'Anna' means 'food' and 'Kut' means 'mountain'.
New Year is celebrated by offering hundreds of dishes to God. At this time in India after monsoon crops are ready to harvest and the first offering is made to God and food is then distributed as Prasaad.
These are pictures of Annakut darshan at Swaminarayan temple in Whittier, California. It was spectacular. The food was delicious!

In the north-eastern Himalayas..

2006-10-11T06:26:00.000-05:00

In the north-eastern Himalayas, at the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga, in an isolated and crumbling house, there lives an embittered old judge, who wants nothing more than to retire in peace. But with the arrival of his orphaned granddaughter, Sai, and the son of his chatty cook trying to stay a step ahead of US immigration services, this is far from easy.

When a Nepalese insurgency threatens the blossoming romance between Sai and her handsome tutor, they, too, are forced to consider their colliding interests. The judge must revisit his past, his own journey and his role in this grasping world of conflicting desires - every moment holding out the possibility for hope or betrayal.

-Man Booker Prize : The Inheritance of Loss

Ladies and Gentlemen..

2006-10-10T18:12:00.000-05:00

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

-Mary Schmich

London - On second's thought

2006-10-03T15:03:00.000-05:00

I went to London central city today - if we were to use the U.S term, then downtown. Here they call it central city.

On my way while travelling via London tube, I thought that in my last blog, I spoke enough ill of London and U.K. Now that I travelled to central London, I revived my earlier memories of London.

Today, I shall say all cool stuff about London.

London - believe it or not, its the best place for fashion on world - even above N.Y.C. I noticed people's dressing and its way too cool. People have a different sense of fashion here. Also, the transportation here is amazingly amazing. Its very simply to understand, very well maintained (nice and clean), well functioning with very high frequency of tubes.

And babes..... oh my GOD, its like heaven on earth. Since London is more like N.Y.C as far as diversity goes, you see all kinds of people. But here, you see something else that you don't in U.S metro cities. Thats the BBCD's here are pretty cool and fashionable, and guess what, you also have these eastern european babes, who are simply too beautiful.

Other than that, its like any metro city... time is money and people are always rushing. There are like zillions of desi food joints and there is absolutely nothing desi that you won't get in London. What should I say about accent, its quite different. I am trying to speak their accent and I am able to do so if I only have to speak like one small sentence. If its anything beyond that, then I guess I start using my Indian accent. :)

Well, enough said for now. Will write more later.

London - Yesterday, Today and probably Tomorrow

2006-10-02T05:03:00.000-05:00

All,

Its my third day in London and here is one thing that I realized: London hasn't changed a bit. It was this way 10 years back, 5 years back, 2 years back and today. And for all you know, I think it will remain so the way it is for years to come.

I don't think that its easy for any of us to drive in London. In States, we are used to so much space on the roads, in parking lots etc and space is London is a privilege.

Getting a job in U.K is not an easy task either. Its very very difficult.

In short, once you get used to living in U.S, its not easy to fit into the U.K lifestyle. However, work routine is more like N.Y. People are busy and may be part of it is because its not easy life here (unlike in U.S).

However, the bright side is that the social life is very nice here. There are couple of million Indians in London. Every 3 in 5 cars - you see Indians.

I went to garba yesterday and man.......there were so many gujjus playing garba and raas. Even I played dandya for a while. Well... in a nutshell, life in U.K is very different than life in U.S.

Enough said for now. Will post more later.

Introspection

2006-09-30T11:25:00.000-05:00

Following snippet came to me as a forwarded email and i was about to delete it as i was reading along the first few lines but decided to post it, because i ended up reading all of it.. Do i really take the ones i love for granted and give them the short end of the stick? Do I? Wondering thought.. Wandering in my mind.. I will let it wander for a bit. Here is what the forwarded email had.. Read at ease : )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
F A M I L Y
I ran into a stranger as he passed by,"Oh excuse me please" was my reply.
He said, "Please excuse me too;I wasn't watching for you."
We were very polite, this stranger and I.We went on our way
But at home a different story is told,How we treat our loved ones, young and old.
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,My son stood beside me very still.
When I turned, I nearly knocked him down."Move out of the way," I said with a frown.
He walked away, his little heart broken.I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.
While I lay awake in bed,God's still small voice came to me an d said,
"While dealing with a stranger,common courtesy you use,but the family you love, you seem to abuse.Go and look on the kitchen floor, You'll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers he brought for you. He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.
He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."
By this time, I felt very small,And now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by his bed;"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.
"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.
I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."
I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today; I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."
He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay. I love you anyway."
I said, "Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue." FAMILY Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the companythat we are working for could easily replace us ina matter of days.But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family,an unwise investment indeed,don't you think?So what is behind the story? the word FAMILY means? FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

..I am not quite sure what happened to Grandma and Grandpa! My Grandma and Your Grandma sittin by the fire.. My Grandma told your Grandma..

Modern Man

2006-09-27T13:05:00.000-05:00

I’m a modern man, a man for the millennium. Digital and smoke free. A diversified multi-cultural, post-modern deconstruction that is anatomically and ecologically incorrect. I’ve been up linked anddownloaded, I’ve been inputted and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I know the downside of upgrading. I’m a high-tech low-life. A cutting edge, state-of-the-art bi-coastal multi-tasker and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond!

I’m new wave, but I’m old school and my inner child is outward bound. I’m a hot-wired, heat seeking, warm-hearted cool customer, voice activated and bio-degradable. I interface with my database, my database is in cyberspace, so I’m interactive, I’m hyperactive and from time to time I’m radioactive.

Behind the eight ball, ahead of the curve, ridin the wave, dodgin the bullet and pushin the envelope. I’m on-point, on-task, on-message and off drugs. I’ve got no need for coke and speed. I've got no urge to binge and purge. I’m in-the-moment, on-the-edge, over-the-top and under-the-radar. A high-concept, low-profile, medium-range ballistic missionary. A street-wise smart bomb. A top-gun bottom feeder. I wear power ties, I tell power lies, I take power naps and run victory laps. I’m a totally ongoing big-foot, slam-dunk, rainmaker with a pro-active outreach. A raging workaholic. A working rageaholic. Out of rehab and in denial!

I’ve got a personal trainer, a personal shopper, a personal assistant and a personal agenda. You can’t shut me up. You can’t dumb me down because I’m tireless and I’m wireless, I’m an alpha male on beta-blockers.
I’m a non-believer and an over-achiever, laid-back but fashion-forward. Up-front, down-home, low-rent, high-maintenance. Super-sized, long-lasting, high-definition, fast-acting, oven-ready and built-to-last! I’m a hands-on, foot-loose, knee-jerk head case pretty maturely post-traumatic and I’ve got a love-child that sends me hate mail.

But, I’m feeling, I’m caring, I’m healing, I’m sharing-- a supportive, bonding, nurturing primary care-giver. My output is down, but my income is up. I took a short position on the long bond and my revenue stream has its own cash-flow. I read junk mail, I eat junk food, I buy junk bonds and I watch trash sports! I’m gender specific, capital intensive, user-friendly and lactose intolerant.

I bought a microwave at a mini-mall; I bought a mini-van at a mega-store. I eat fast-food in the slow lane. I’m toll-free, bite-sized, ready-to-wear and I come in all sizes. A fully-equipped, factory-authorized, hospital-tested, clinically-proven, scientifically- formulated medical miracle. I’ve been pre-wash, pre-cooked, pre-heated, pre-screened, pre-approved, pre-packaged, post-dated, freeze-dried, double-wrapped, vacuum-packed and, I have an unlimited broadband capacity.

I’m a rude dude, but I’m the real deal. Lean and mean! Cocked, locked and ready-to-rock. Rough, tough and hard to bluff. I take it slow, I go with the flow, I ride with the tide. I’ve got glide in my stride. Drivin and movin, sailin and spinin, jiving and groovin, wailin and winnin. I don’t snooze, so I don’t lose. I keep the pedal to the metal and the rubber on the road. I party hearty and lunch time is crunch time. I’m hangin in, there ain’t no doubt and I’m hangin tough, over and out!"

George Carlin

Ek Chota Sa Parivar

2006-09-25T21:52:00.000-05:00

Cleveland ek chota sa shaher, jisme mera chota sa ek parivar. parivar ka naam - dillibillies

parivar mai log 11, ek cricket team ki tarah, naam hai jinke:

Bhaskar, Kuldeep, Vinod, Sanjay, Himanshu, Parimal, mai (Tulan),

Khyati T, Suchi,Meeta aur Khyati P.

Toh yeh huwa iss parivar ka parichai, aab suniye inki ek choti si dastan...

Toh janab..iss parivar ka saab se bada bhai, Sanjay. Inke baremai kya kahe hum. Ek nariyar ki tarah bahar se kadak aur under se naram, ekdham malai ki tarah. Lekin agar zidd pakad le, toh bhaiya baas, kissi ki nahi mante. par joh bhi ho..dil ka saacha sona hai yeh bhai.

Dusare number pe hai bhai Vinod. Vinod unme se hai ki bahar se bhi malai aur under se bhi malai, matlab aacha aur sulja huwa insaan. dik ka saacha, dimag ka pukka. vinod bhai ke shaukh hai bade bade..golf, tennis,ping pong, alag alag kissam ka khana vagera vagera. Jitni tarif ki jaye utni kaam hai.

Toh bhai tisare number pe hai Himanshu bhai, ke jo alag alag naam se jane jaate hai. jaise ki... hemant bhai, ganeshji, ganpat seth,harshad bhai, vagera. Agar kabhi kuch kharidne ki iccha ho aur agar mahengha lage, toh bhai himanshu bhai ko phone lagana chaiye. saab masale ka haal hai en ke paas.

Phir baari jamab hamari, yani ki Tulan. aab hum aapne baare mai kya kahe. yeh kaam hum baki logo pe rakhte hai.

Panchme number pe hai parimal bhai, yane ke tripathi sahab. yeh saheb bus ek iceberg ki tarah hai. dimag 100 manzil ka par dikhate hai kewal 10 manzile.Toh bhai yeh hai hamare finance guru, kaunsa stock kharidna chahiye aur kaunsa bechna, janab en huzur se pucheye.

Aab bari hai bhai kuldeep saheb hi. Yeh saheb lagta hai bhatak gaye hai. Dimag itna ki bus kya kahe hum, ekhdam Albert ki tarah, matlab Albert Einstein ki tarah. galati se yeh cleveland pahoch gaye. en ka future toh silicon valley mai hona chahiye.

Saatme number pe hai hamare chahite Bhaskar bhai. 100% saacha hira aur ekdham down to earth. Bus hume agar upsos hai toh iss baat ka ki bhaskar ko jab tak humne aache se jaana, tab tak woh hume chhod kar Seattle ja chuke aur billu bhai ke stocks ke daam bada rahe hai. Lekin yeh waada raha ke hum Seattle zaroor aayenge aur tumse phir milenge.

Aab baari hai hamare group ke char kaune, yaani ke mazboot foundation pillars ki.

Toh en mai pahele hai meeta - yeh toh bus jaise ho sita aur unke raam yaneke himanshu ki seva mai vyast raheti hai. chup chup si raheti hai par kabhi kabhi badiya pj bolti hai.

Phir baari hai suchi ki, yeh hai hamari raveena ji ke jiska vaakt doctor saheb ko oranges khilane mai hi chala jaata hai. suchi joh hai, ekdham josh mai raheti hai aur hamesha fun ke liye ready hoti hai.

Khyati T aur Khyati P ka toh kya kahena. Bhai maine aur parimal ne paake bahot sare aache kaam kiye the pichale janam mai joh hame aaisi biwi mili. Par yeh dono ladkiya itni similar hai ke airlines mai bhi ek hi seat designate ki jaati hai. Dono sushil, sanskari aur pati vrata stri hai.

Iss chote se parivar mai pyar hai, zagada hai, mar peet hai, khel kud hai, khana pina hai, gumna phirna hai, business ideas hai, josh hai, hosale hai, dukh baat kar kaam aur sukh baat kar ziyada karni ke saare characteristics hai.

Meri toh bhagwan se ek hi prathna hai..kitna bhi dukh ho, koi bhi jagah ho, kitna bhi kaam ho, koi bhi problem ho, bus meri ek iccha zaroor puri karna..har janam mai muje yehi log dosto ke rup mai nasib ho, kuch aisa chamatkar karna.

Toh bhaiyo yeh hai hamare chote se parivar ki ek choti si kahani.

Kya Bataaun Cirkit Arey Kitna Mazaaa Aaya..

2006-09-17T23:12:00.000-05:00

With dollar eight in my hand, I walked into the movie hall hearing positive reviews of encouragement about the movie from my friends and bad memory and bad after taste of horrible mind/brain numbing movie i had watched a couple months back in Parma theater. I have to admit i had thoughts of becoming a "run away movie watcher!?" in minutes immediately preceding the start of the movie. A "run away movie watcher" is one who runs away from movie hall even before the start of the movie, after having bought ticket, in the fear that the movie might turn out to be a Motto (MOvie Torture TOol) . But this one was different!

Lie and live upto the lie, making it truer than truth, for the love of his life, and in that process deliver a message wrapped in humor that sticks. That is a "Munna Bhai" movie.

Comedy with substance, "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" movie tickles ones funny bone, heart and soul and mind. Impressive, ..Bolay Toh.. Hats off!!! for effortless sublime laughter, for being possibly the biggest promotion of Gandhian views, for sticking up against fraud astrologers and frauder horrorscopes, for being original, for good editing and not stating the obvious, for not being cliched, for recognising that audience indeed have some grey matter by making a sensible movie ..for keeping it engaging.

Our Old man Gandhi and his Gandhigiri - Conscience rejuvenator! ( much needed)

Vidya Balan - Intoxicating !

Arshad Warsi - A riot !

Rajkumar Hirani - stu-PEN-dous !

So what ya gonna do for this dry day?

You are Invited..

2006-09-05T22:38:00.000-05:00

Happy Onam!

Jet Skiing

2006-09-01T00:27:00.000-05:00

Our team had a morale event and brought 6 Jet Skis and we had a blast. I was scared in the first round but got used to it and was going at 65mph in the 3rd round. It was an awesome experience.

Working for Microsoft has more perks than I expected :)... Only if it was in Cleveland...

Check out more pics @ http://picasaweb.google.com/msbhaskar

orkut buyukkokten - the maker of orkut

2006-08-27T17:47:00.000-05:00

sing as if no one is listening
dance as if no one is watching
love as if you've never loved before
live as if heaven is here on earth.
~ Orkut Buyukkokten

Sare Jahan Se Atcha..

2006-08-14T21:34:00.000-05:00

Many Many Glorious Returns of the Day!

KANK...Disgusting!!!

2006-08-13T00:09:00.000-05:00

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.... Kabhi mere saamne yeh lafs nahi kehna..

Disgusting!! Pathetic!! Horrible!! Unbearable!!

I cannot think of any other adjectives to describe this Awful movie... I have seen some really bad movies but if one was to give disgusting movie awards this one takes the cake way above any other movie ever made in India!! if you thought Fanaa was bad, I would not mind watching that movie 10 times insead of watching this shit once..

I read somewhere just recently that if you feel your bum while watching a movie then it is not a good movie.. but this movie I could feel every part of my body including the itching to kill the people behind the movie..

The characters are so awful!! Sharukh is such a pathetic loser from the beginning.. filled with inferiority complex and jealousy.. Instead of feeling for that character I wanted to kill the bastard... He is graduating in bollywood where he started following engaged girls in then replaced the Groom in the shaadi ka mandap.. and now have an affair with a married woman.. way to go bollywood!!

Rani Mukharjee !! I used to think she was one of the decent actresses in bollywood... But I would think again if I had to watch any another movie she stars.. and Amitabh, I am not sure if he knew what he was doing.. if I did not like him from before, this blog would have had some really bad adjectives for his character as well..

There is so much sleaze in this movie, a scene has Rani and Shahrukh enacting a Porn Scene (literally) in a bed store.. this scene reminded me of a dialogue in American Desi, "Porn movies have better storyline than this shit"... So much for the family audience..

Bastards!! Right now I have some really really bad words that I cannot put in a blog which girls read... whoever thought of making this crappy movie should be tied to the chair and made to watch it 3 times continously (even 2 times should do it) and that person will go into depression or get insane and never ever think of making such dumbass movies again..

What is even pathetic about this movie is that it is set in US which makes people in India think that NRI lifestyle is similar to this movie... otherwise I probably would not have given a damn about this crap...

This will be the first movie for Vinod's MOTTO (Movie Torture Tool)... If Sanjay had watched this movie I am sure he would never say "Mein Amitabh ki tarah hoon na..."

Window Blinds

2006-08-02T14:30:00.000-05:00

They regulate the sunshine
coming into my room,
Making different patterns
and wash out the gloom.
Light and dark bands
slanting on the wall,
Such difficult positions
but they dont ever fall.
They flood my room with
the brilliance of the sun,
I can see the dust particles
having so much fun.
They can tilt up and down
without exhaling a single frown.
Always on my side
come rain or shine,
With me always
even when I whine.
Friends are many
and of different kinds,
But they are special,
they are my window blinds.

Night-fall --> Day-break

2006-08-02T13:55:00.000-05:00

I've had a question for a very long time now; thought someone might shed some light on it.
'Night' falls and eventually 'Day' breaks? Why this irony?
Lets hear some answers....wake up dillibillies....put on your thinking caps!

Thinking Green with Scuderi

2006-08-01T19:49:00.000-05:00

Scuderi Split Cycle Engine is enhanced Otto Cycle IC Engine, with significantly reduced nitrous oxide emissions and 30-40% better efficiency compared to conventional engine. Succesful creation of a prototype and once the technical snags are addressed, this could revolutionalize the world of green IC engines.

Asato Ma Sadh Gamaya..

2006-07-27T18:05:00.000-05:00

Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya
Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
Rainor Ma, Sunshine Gamaya..

O Lord, Lead Us From Untruth To Truth, Lead Us From Darkness To Light, Lead Us From Death To Immortality, Om! Let There Be Peace Peace Peace. May cleveland be blessed with eternal Sunshine!

Ladies and Gentlemen..

2006-07-26T21:15:00.000-05:00

..we have a Tullu sighting, I repeat, we have a Tullu sighting!!!

Have you ever wondered why?

2006-07-22T14:34:00.000-05:00

Why the sun goes out of sight to mark the beginning of the night?
Why it comes back at dawn with the bustle of nature's song?
Why the wind and the gale gush out to meet the morning sail?
Why the river meets the sea if it wants to become free?
Why the birds fly up so high as if to greet the morning sky?
Why the ants pile up its stock beneath some unknown hidden rock?
Why the fish and the school swim carefree in every pool?
Why the trees and the plants shed all their leaves in fall?
Why do we not care for a soul as if our heart has got a hole?
Why do we want to live in fear of that brine called tear?
Why have we come on this land, yet all alone do we stand?
Why do we want to goto paradise as if its the only choice?
Have you ever wondered why?

I'm Nobody! Who are you?

2006-07-17T22:05:00.000-05:00

I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there's a pair of us?
Don't tell! they'd advertise – you know!
How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one's name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!

-Emily Dickinson

2 smiles for 5 cents

2006-07-17T21:53:00.000-05:00

I started from work at my usual time but the drive back home seemed longer. Probably it was the heat causing all the discomfort. Once I reached the apartment, I marched straight to the mailbox room; a new movie was due from Blockbuster!

The soothing serenity of the mailbox room is very inviting especially after a long day. I went in there, pulled out my keys, and opened the box. There was the usual bunch of 'spam' and 'junk' and hidden beneath all the crap was a humble yellow envelope from Blockbuster with yet another dvd. And before I knew it, I was planning out the events for tonight....dinner, movie, etc.

At that very moment, I heard two small kids standing in the mailbox room and talking to each other. It didnt take me long to figure out that they were short of some amount of money to but a soda from the vending machine. I stood there fiddling with my mails, pretending not to notice them, and yet listening to their kiddish conversation. That was the time when they noticed me and looked like they wanted to ask me for it. However, there was some sort of hesitation holding them back. I wanted to pull out 5 cents and hand it to them, but I wasnt sure if that was a good idea. After several seconds of speculations, one of them spoke out "Sir, would you have 5 cents that you could give me? We can share the Coke with you!" I almost laughed at their innocence.
Even though I wasnt sure if it was a good idea or not, I smiled, pulled out my wallet and handed them those valuable 5 cents. Both of them thanked me profusely and I could see the gratitude in those tiny eyes and the sweet smile on their faces. That just made my day....afterall, what a deal...2 smiles for 5 cents!

Brownie for Brownies

2006-07-12T14:30:00.000-05:00

Brownies by a brownie for the Brownies...sounds cliche' doesnt it?

Well, the Dillibillies ventured on out on a picnic to the Kenneday-Nelson Ledges in Cleveland.
Its one of the famed locations of the last of the ice-age rocks/stones (call it what you like); after all they're hard and petrified. Though, its also known to be notorious for sinister activities and hippie hang-out.
Nevertheless, there was nothing to dampen our resolve and we all decided to 'just do it'.

Preparations all around, everyone chipping in with some kind of eatables. This was an opportunity to treat the brownies (read that desis) with some brownies (non-desi ofcourse). The baking effort wasnt that tedious but no harm in bragging and boasting. Follow the simple instructions on the back of a Pillsbury (or any other) brownie mix....do the needful....and what do you know!....great brownies ready to eat! That was my contribution....or should I say that was a huge effort that I put in to state the very first line on this blog ;-)

Drink Coffee..

2006-06-16T10:08:00.000-05:00

Kuttur and Koo

2006-06-13T18:03:00.000-05:00

As spring cleaning fever hit me late in spring, i decided to clean amoung other things, the trash can, drenching it in 409. For reasons unknown to me, i decided to dry the black plastic inner bucket!?, of the stainless steel trashcan, in my balcony. Weighing under two pounds, the black inner is about 3 feet high and about a feet wide. After wiping it clean, again for reasons unknown to me, i decided to sun bath it in my balcony where it restlessly rested and then restfully raced, till it caught my eyes, a few moon phases and suns later, on a late sunday morning, when i heard the newly married pigeon couple, Kuttur and Koo, flutter around the new house that they had moved into, the clean, disinfected, sun bathed black plastic inner! Again, for reasons unknown to me, Kuttur and Koo liked the plastic inner, which at this point had fallen sideways, and was rolling on the floor aimlessly , but not restlessly, along with the wind, within the confines of my balcony.

Kuttur and Koo, i thought was an interesting couple. But their idea of moving into my forty two dollar trash can, that too in my forty two sq ft balcony, didn't interest me that much. I cited 42 reasons to justify my discontent. Primary one being the potential and inevitable use of trashcan as crapper by Kutter and Koo. I had this uncontrollable itch to drive them out. To my itches content , i stormed into the balcony only to storm back out of it, when i found out that Koo was in the trashcan. After 20 minutes, shouldering an itch which seemed like a six year long itch, i tip toed towards the trash can, a one man demolition squad, euipped with sophisticated modern weapons like trash bag and short brush, manouvering through the rough windy terrains of the balcony. Koo, NOT IN and neither was Kuttur. In a wink and a half of an eye, i emptied the quarter built nest, the twigs and twiglets into the trash bag and brushed the trash can clean and yanked the trash bag, brush, trash can and myself back into my living room as quickly as i could and returned my weapons and trashcan to were it belonged. With a grin of a soldier who is about to receive purple heart for war heriocs, i slouched back into the sofa reading Kinky Friedman. After a few minutes this wondering wandering thought wandered into my mind and became an uncontrollable itch and again to my itches content i went and opened the trash bag to check out the contents of the demolished nest now resting in pieces in the trash bag. There were several twigs, wood chips and dirt and an ear ring and cap of a pen and plastic scrap. Several hundred small pieces, painstaking flown in by Kuttur or Koo, one at a time, from far and near land and for all you know some pieces even would have been imported say for example the italian mahagony wood chip, which was in Kuttur and Koo's living room! I felt guilty and i felt small and i felt small again and felt guilty again and started feeling small and guilty at the same time. Determined to redeem myself from nestocaust, i decided without winking to return the nest back to the way it was in my balcony. To get extra credits i gave the trascan a firm base preventing it from rolling and arranged the the ex-nest back as good as i could. This did not move Kuttur or Koo. Sitting on my neighbours railings Kuttur gave me a feather and so did Koo and refused to move back in. After 6 long days of non-cooperative movement Kuttur and Koo finally moved back in, to my hearts content!

One Eight Seven Seven Four A DRIVE

2006-06-12T12:44:00.000-05:00

A great drive. An even greater cause.

You had a bad day

2006-06-09T08:01:00.000-05:00

Where is the moment when we need it the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue sky's faded to grey
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carrying on
You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces every time
And I don't need no carrying on
Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
Well you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don't need no carrying on
You had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
Sometimes the system goes on the blink and the whole thing it turns out
Wrong
You might not make it back and you know that you could be well oh that
Strong
Well I'm not wrong
So where is the passion when you need it the most
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You see what you like
And how does it feel, one more time
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

-Daniel Powter-

Fanaa... F<@{ Naah!

2006-06-04T13:32:00.000-05:00

What could you say about the movie, if it makes you want to never watch a hindi movie again, ever in your life. ..and Lord, what is with this thing about a song each before and after every act of sneeze, fart and defecation, in the movie? Even more disgusting is all the great reviews for the movie by the emotional fuck wits, pardon my "english".

For the assault on an average humanbeing's senses with trash of the kind of "Fanaa" the Producers and Directors of the movie should be treated as terrorists of the entertainment world, "aathank vaadies" or atleast called "tha'ng vaadies of bollywood" and should be banned for life from making such movies. Alternately, what would be even better is to have them watch their own movies three times a day for seven days.

On the bright side, such movies could be used by intelligence agencies to crack the criminals in captivity and this method could be as effective if not better than chinese water torture, with the added benefit that the agencies using them won't be cited for human rights violation. That said, may be, MAY BE, the producers and directors of the kind should infact be encouraged to make such movies, with liberal funding provided by Indian defense ministry and those movies could be used by RAW as an effective tool in the interrogation process of hard to crack criminals, in captivity. Small snippet( no longer than 10 milli second) of these kind of movies could also be used in TV ads as a crime detterant, with a warning which says "Watching a full dose of these movies could be injurious to brain for people who have an IQ greater than or equal to their age, and should only be done under the supervision of a certified criminal investigator. If this Movie Torture Tool, hereby referenced as MOTTO' ( no offense to fat people) infact works out well (theoritically onetime/repeated watching of MOTTO movies raise the frustration to such a level that criminals under investigation would break down and choose to let the secret out rather than watching MOTTO), Defense department could export MOTTO and and President McDumbass's regime would be delighted to buy it in boat loads in hopes of cracking the secrets out of prisoners in Guantanamo bay and the money earned by the sale should be used to buy functional MIGs which doesn't kill our pilots there by caring for the lives of the men/women who fight for us in need. The non-functional MIGs should be gifted to the directors and producers of the MOTTO movies and should be send off on scenic tour on those MIGS to uninhabited areas of Siachen and after the MIG crashes, should be awarded Param Veera Chakra.

Smile please, It improves your face value.

Detox : Day 6

2006-05-06T08:31:00.000-05:00

I am on Day 6 of detox today and feeling very good. More active and energetic as compared to previous days. Tomorrow will be the last day and I am happy that I will be able to achieve my target days.

Happy Detox

Meeta

Movie Mishap....

2006-05-04T10:37:00.000-05:00

Last night I was talking to a friend in San Jose (please read that ~JOSE~).
He was telling me about an interesting incident that happened last weekend.

All of his friends had heard a lot about 'Rang De Basanti' but none of them really got a chance to see the flick.
Come Saturday and they decided to go to some local cinema that screens hindi 'filums'
All of them got into the 'right' room/hall and were glad to have made it just in time for the show to start.
They could tell because quite a few people were still bringing in their stocks of pop-corn, soda, etc. and the usual advertisements were on. Finally everyone settles down and the show starts.

The movie starts and these guys (my friend and his friends) had no clue to what was going on. The movie just seemed to make no sense and the events were bewildering (with no prologues or anything). And, before they knew it, there were murders, hostile activities, etc. and the movie was over....ofcourse many people clapping and cheering!

Now, these guys walk out....their brains numb and totally clueless. They even started talking that maybe because of this kind of 'weird' sequence of events in the movie, it was being tauted as one of the best and yet unconventional 'Bollywood' flick. Trying to pacify their grey-cells, they walk out of the cinema-hall.
Just as they come out, what do they see? Another show of the same movie was playing in the adjacant hall (the 5pm show). They had actually got in during the 'intermission' of the 3:15pm show. The rest is history!

Now, is that funny or what?

Read At Ease

2006-05-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer : side effects may include laughing while reading, reading while laughing and sleep laughing. In certain specific cases, it could cause irritable laugh syndrome or restless laugh syndrome. If your laughter lasts more than four hours, please consult a doctor. Pregnant women, and men who look like they are pregnant, should not read Operation Best Buy!

Operation Best Buy!

Saving one Cry at a time

2006-04-29T23:42:00.000-05:00

Lake County Health center, is were i got my appointment for vaccination shots and medical as a part of immigration process. Located in the town of Painesville, aptly named so i thought, especially after the painful vaccination moments. Painesville is a sleepy little town about 30 miles east of Cleveland with Sidewalk Cafe and Robertos Italian restaurent and the Casment club public golf course which is a picturesque, fun little course and Lake County Health center amoung other small and big and not so small and not so big things.

I was asked to scoot my chair over to the front, with two fine young ladies by my side, one on the left and one on the right, with syringes, i might add, in their right hands. Syringes looked far less threatening when they were capped but looked blood thirsty when they were uncapped. The sweet voice from the right said we are going to do this together, Tetanus on right and MMR on left. With that kind of a package, i bet WalMatrons would have asked "Would you like to have an apple pie with that?" with smile on their face and smile on their chest, had i been at you know where. But since i wasn't, i wasn't. The sweet voice however put me in a predicament(s), to greencard or not to greencard, to be painful in painesville or painless in painesville. I wasn't sure if it was even an option for one to be painless in Painesville. Anyway i summoned up some hard found courage and asked, why together? Why? Why? WHY? Why do you have to take the two injections together, at the same time, one on the right arm and one on the left. A wondering thought as always started wandering wondering in my mind. Will the people applying for citizenship be given four simultaneous shots, citizenship being steps above greencard? Two in the arms, left and right and two in the cheeks, that is ass just to be clear, left and right. If greencard shots is PITA ( Pain In The ARM) then citizenship shots would as well be PITA ( Pain In The Ass) or it could be, no offense to Indian chicks with the same name, ARPITA. A Royal Pain In The Ass. What would Arpita's husband call her, if she becomes ARPITA? My wondering thoughts landed, when i heard sweet voice's answer, "We do this to trick the babies who get vaccinated, they will have one" united state of "pain and hence one cry, if two shots are given together, one from the left and one from the right!". I was envious of the american babies who cry only ones for every two vaccination shots and felt sorry for the indian babies who are let to cry ones for every shot.

May your eyes never drip with vaccination tears!

Detox Day 3

2006-04-20T06:24:00.000-05:00

Just woke up.. I am feeling wonderful. I am hoping I can get thru this day and meet my initial target of 3 days..

..to be on the sunny side

2006-04-16T09:45:00.000-05:00

Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.

[Bertrand Russell]

Vish U

2006-04-13T22:35:00.000-05:00

Vishu! Golden!

The critical opening phrase of this poem ..

2006-04-13T04:52:00.000-05:00

At the club house the ranger ejaculated, "this is one of the loonies who played in snow last tuesday"! ..from crazies to loonies was quite an easy transition and later at the 10th tee the three loonies from last tuesday were evenly split between three foursomes to balance out the lunacy. While at the tee, waiting for non-loonies to tee off, the eloquant narration of golf swing, from Tin Cup swung into mind..

"The critical opening phrase of this poem will always be the grip. Which the hands unite to form a single unit by the simple overlap of the little finger. Lowly and slowly the clubhead is led back. Pulled into position not by the hands, but by the body which turns away from the target shifting weight to the right side without shifting balance. Tempo is everything; perfection unobtainable as the body coils down at the top of the swing. Theres a slight hesitation. A little nod to the gods. That he is fallible. That perfection is unobtainable. And now the weight begins shifting back to the left pulled by the powers inside the earth. It's alive, this swing! A living sculpture and down through contact, always down, striking the ball crisply, with character. A tuning fork goes off in your heart and your balls. Such a pure feeling is the well-struck golf shot. Now the follow through to finish. Always on line. The reverse C of the Golden Bear! The steel workers' power and brawn of Carl Sandburg's. Arnold Palmer! the unfinished symphony of.. [ Tin Cup]"

It felt good, it felt good just to be on the course, the grace, the smell of fresh cut grass, contours on the fairway and undulations on the green, the grim gloomy sound of ball taking a drink and the sweet sensuous sound of sinking the ball , the fore cries, the vast pictureque expanse, bell at the 7th, the solitude, the thud of a chunky shot and the melody of a crisp one, the sound of birds and the sound of birdies, the bogey woes and the par saves, the exhilarations, the silently vocal frustrations, the words of wisdom, higher aspirations all of it makes it simply great. Great enough to make one come back, time after time, to swing at a roughly 42 mm ball with about 400 dimples, repeatedly from tee to green, with persistance, character, pleasure and pain. Are lessons of golf, lessons for life?

The symphony began, bogey -doublebogey -bogey -par -bogey -triple-bogey -double-bogey -bogey -double-bogey was more of a cacophony and the only thing on the other side of the rainbow was pizza and beer and all the fun of trash talking at Time Out. and so we headed to the nineteenth hole in dim light and bright spirits. Keeping alive the annual tradition of beer betting this year, was the ping pong bets and it led to a title matches being scheduled at the "ping pong resort" in mentor ohio. A whopping wager of $1 each was collected, from the better lou and the betty lou, to seal the deal and washingtons, two of them, now rest in my wallet. Yesteryears bets of fame included basketball bets, racquet ball bets and last but not the least a bet to bowl cricket ball at 85 mph. The dreams of these bets never came true but they live, thrive and die in the noisy, non-smoking, often packed Time Out grill, while the scores are tallied and skins are won, tuesday after tuesday!

Three Crazies

2006-04-03T23:13:00.000-05:00

Prognosticator of prognosticators Punxsutawney Phil, on Feb 2nd, predicted six more weeks of mild winter weather and was right on target, but what wondered me was that it snowed in April! Isn't it way past the six weeks? ..I shouldn't be wondering about it at all after living in Cleveland for more than 3 years: but because of my fondness for wandering wondering thoughts, i still wondered. I have wondered and wished if i would had the opportunity to relive some of the days that i had lived and i do some course correction.. Course! ofcourse! Course, Golf Course. It rained on the first tee, it drizzled on the first green, it snowed on the second fairway but we marched from tee to green, driving, ironing!?, pitching, chipping and putting. Two crazies plus another crazy, making it all together three crazies, for the opening day of our 2006 golf outing, which, i fondly call Bob Ritchey Open, a weekly event which happens every tuesday till fall, a gathering of friends and co-workers which starts with 9 holes of golf at St.Denis Golf course and culminates with pop-corn, pizza, wings and beer at Time out Grill a small suburban sports bar, with "all the cleveland chicks with crimson lips" that Drew Carey talks about.

In the beginning there were two crazies, and then came the third crazy. Three, in the whole damn course. When there were only two crazies, on first tee, and me being one of them, i fondly wondered if being crazy enough to golf when snow is in the forecast, means my professional future is doomed? But the third crazy who joined us, a senior vice president at the company that i work for, changed my doomsday predictions for my professional future but instead i also started believing that may be being a little crazy, a little whacky and may be a bit kinky indeed could be what it takes to scale professional summits. I made a mental note to myself to find out if stephen covey has written any book called "Seven Crazy habits of highly effective people" and also find out if reading books by Kinky Friedman helps paving way to professional apex.

Weather tested us in the first 3 holes but after that it was with us. With rain, snow and windchills in mid 30s we still managed to have a good cold time. After surviving the initial weather onslaught and lasted till we finished off at the ninth, quarter past eight, with a three way tie for skins going into the ninth. The ranger, back at the club house, if it was in his power would have give us a medal of honor for braving the weather. The parking lot was also a different site with just ranger's car and then three other cars which possibly might have been driven by the three crazies.
..

Random Article

2006-03-29T20:58:00.000-05:00

..apart from the concept, presentation and the wealth of knowledge, the random article link on wikipedia really fascinates me into clicking it and sifting through random articles, at times mindlessly and often times mindfully. One of the random articles that i stumbled on to was about "The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy" and in the alumini section the name Sashi Tharoor caught my eyes for its obvious Indian connection and potential Mallu connection. What really made me write this snippet is one of his quotes, which resonated with my opinion about India and i am sure with several of yours opinion, yet at the same time some thing that i had never been able express so succintly and the quote presented me with another humilty clad mastercard moment.

The quote read "India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather, in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay".

I believe that is a pretty nifty way to talk about India and her 2500+ years of culture and history. And talking about history here is a picture of something with reference from epic period, palk straits.

Salaam Namaste!

2006-03-29T12:26:00.000-05:00

Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes..

2006-03-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

..early morning : Sunday, i made a dash to organic aisles of the near by grocery store, Giant Eagle. Half awake, my mind still sleeping and eyes openly closed or closely opened. I still managed to pick up the products i wanted, mostly because they were placed on familiar aisles, on familiar location and i went around picking milk and egg and OJ, bananas and bread and then a short a detour to a non-organic aisle to pick cereals ( I am yet to find an oraganic cereal which i consider eatable or food, and the primary aspects of food for me being the looks, the way it smells and most importantly how it tastes and hence the detour. For what ever it is worth, It had been my food affairs policy to never compromise on these aspects of food), all while sleep walking, mind still sleeping and eyes openly closed or closely opened. Finishing up the dash in 42 seconds, i was at the self service checkin counter scanning the organics and the non-organic, first there was scan and then there was the scanner beep and then the low revving up sound of the short conveyer belt, upon which the organics and the non-organic took the short ride to the bagging area. I am not sure if i really fell asleep scanning. But what woke me up was the scanning machine's scornful chick voice, which commanded " MOVE YOUR BANANAS TO.. THE BELT". Now awake, unpleasantly, my reaction to the song, in nasal tenor voice, streaming out of the Giant Eagle music system was disdainful at best and i was willing to run out of the store to avoid the "Giant Eagle music torture", it made me wonder if the song was specifically composed to make the slow or sleeping scanners, like yours truly, scan quicker and run out as fast as they could, increasing the scanning efficiency. The song went like "Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes..". My scanning efficiency theory met with a premature death when i found my self by the bagging area packing the organics and the non-organic, while frantically jamming to the same song, which a few seconds earlier i thought was a torture.

Back home, i decided to take a drive down information highway in my favourite vehicle of choice, Google! "Betty Lou got a new pair of shoes.." is a song by hall of famer Neil Young. one thing led to other, ..to the song called ohio, written by Young, about Kent State Massacre , ..to one of the lead up events to it, My Lai Massacre. ..to John paul Filo, a photo journalism student at that time in Kent state, and his pulitzer winning picture. Pretty heavy stuff for a lazy sunday morning!

Was Kent State Massacre amoung the defining/strengthening moment for American democracy, triggering debates, refining ideas and moulding thoughts. Ideas abouts freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of movement, freedom of press, ideas about rights, ideas about wrongs, ideas about do's and ideas about don'ts and the very value of human life itself? What did "Tiananmen square shooting" do to chinese system? If it did something, Is there a pattern in emerging economic powers? If yes, India, as they say being 40 years behind US and 15-20 years behind China, going to witness something similar? Without sounding too dilusional i would like to mention Rang De Basanti, a movie on similar lines.

..Betty Lou ah-whoo, ah-whoo, ah-whoo..

Can asking questions change the world?

2006-03-21T21:04:00.000-05:00

dropping knowledge is an international effort to promote the practice of asking questions. Why questions? Because of their power to challenge fundamentalism and hopelessness and accelerate action-driven solutions. An independent, web-based platform for multiple viewpoints, dropping knowledge produces daily question ads, films, a magazine called Questions and the Table of Free Voices event, all of which invite your participation. So, what’s your question?

Brain Static

2006-03-20T21:16:00.000-05:00

Can you spell A Pretty Girl?

..and Rest O' the day to you

2006-03-17T13:04:00.000-05:00

with green beer and greenday, greenspan and thoughts about rational exuberance, Thinking Green on St. Pattys.

..Rang' Barase'..

2006-03-15T22:08:00.000-05:00

The united colours of Holi

One flu over Pillai's den

2006-03-14T19:16:00.000-05:00

The stream will cease to flow

The wind will cease to blow

The clouds will cease to fleet

The heart will cease to beat

For all things must die.

That thought ran a chill down my spine on a not so chilly winter pre-dawn, and the first thing i did was to crawl out of my bed and unlock my apartment door making access easy incase if i had to call 9ii. I didn't want to die and especially didn't want to die of flu. Hell no. If i am to die of some diesease then might as well die of some exotic ones. ..Thermometer didn't really show the reading first time around. It helped when i turned it on and the 104F+ reading i saw, ran the second chill down my spine and it felt even colder despite 4 layers of clothes that i had on. 104 had stuck, wrongly, in my mind as the highest body temparature human could survive. i couldn't sleep, just couldn't sleep,i tried lying east facing and then west facing and then every direction there in between and beyond. Tried sleeping with my head on the floor and legs up the head rest. Cingular posture didn't help and neither did foetal position. The micromoments of only comforts were brought by google and long warm showershockless shower somewhere between 2:30 and 3:45 in the morning. It was comforting when i googled out 107 as the highest temparature human body could wither. That was extremely comforting, almost like extended warranty kicking in. 104F was no more the point were one shakes hands with death, Still true that all things must die, but not at 104F. some flu facts . See y'all at, head of the line for flu shots, come fall.

Cricket or What!

2006-03-12T11:19:00.000-05:00

WHAT A MATCH!!

Try and read this and see if you can believe it!!

Team batting first - 434/4 in 50 overs
Team chasing - 438/9 in 49.5 ovrs

especially if the first team is the world champions.

If you are a cricket fan you would not want to miss it!

This is the match between Australia and SA today.

I did not watch Aus batting but South Africa batting was so extraordinary!

Everyone who watched it are calling Greatest game of cricket ever!

How come Australia is playing is all time great matches(and is always on the loosing side) first Ashes and now this!!

2006 : A Croissant Story

2006-03-07T00:03:00.000-05:00

I was chilling in!?, literally i was freezing my ass off, in the back seat, when the voice said, Vinod, empty the brown paper bag and give it to me after transferring the chipotle fajita wraps into the polythene bag. I am going to give you a few croissants. You could have it for breakfast. "..emmh, croissants, i could wip couple eggs up and make a croissant sandwich and some OJ" that sounds like an exciting proposition.. (unlike masculine JlO in green). Sure! but just give me one, just one, i said in my indoor, post oscar voice. I heard the croissant case crack open, not exactly a hard crackling sound but kind of soft one, the kind that you hear when thin sheet of plastic is sheered off. Car picked up speed and so did the noise level, sinking with it, operation croissant transfer's noise. The brown bag from chipotle started moving towards me, at a speed, which i realized later, slower than that of sound. This could conclusively be proven from the fact that after the bag started its journey and before it could reach me, a Voice over took it and hit me first (The same voice which wanted me to empty the brown paper bag). "Voice" said, "here ya go, there is ONE croissant in the bag for you". I took the bag with one croissant in it and held it in my right hand and later got out of the car and waved "Voice" and Voice's husband goodbye,while holding 'the bag with one croissant' in my right hand. 'The bag with one croissant' started moving again, this time with me, at a speed slower than that of sound, proof of which i am choosing not to write to save the bored minds from further boredom. But the curious minds could obtain a copy of the proof by sending an email to me with subject "Subsonic Croissant".

In the morning i opened 'the bag with one croissant' only to find three in it. Three Croissants? Croissants have tripled overnight? Darn! Was it the bag that tripled the croissants or did the croissant triple itself? i know, i know this may not be as prodigious as the vessel that panchaali had, which could churn out any amount of food, variety of food, that too Indian! ..but i thought this was still quite something and started making quick mental calculations. .. If there was one croissant last night and if there are 3 this morning, How many will be there tomorrow? Will the number of croissant's increase in arithmetic progression or will it increase in geometric progression. If indeed it increases in geometric progression, which i hope it would, how much time before i could open a whole sale croissant shop and make Costco my retail seller? In time as the number of croissants increase and as demand picks up at what point should i consider getting listed in NasDaq? ..and at what point further in time should i flex muscles with DOW, dough might sound more appropriate in conjunction with croissants, but i really meant DOW. And as time passes and the numbers increase, to keep the demand up, should inter-galactic markets be pursued and if so, should a spin off be planned investing heavily in cleaner and efficient nuclear and alternative fuel making such missions cost effective?

One Croissant from a friend's place : 0.00
One Croissant from Panera : $
One dozen Croissant from Costco : $$
The joy of trash talking, Priceless!!!

Joy, trash talking and mastercard apart, Should the tripling of croissant be dismissed as a freakish coincidence? Or should i be saying

"Many Many Happy Returns of the Day"

V. I. C. T. O. R. Y

2006-03-04T23:42:00.000-05:00

Victory, Victory, That's our cry!

367 runs, 90 overs, 10 wickets in hand. That looks to me like very attainable one day game score. Play with a one day mindset. Show hospitality. literally. Whack the hell out.

Athithi Devo Bhava!

2006-03-04T13:37:00.000-05:00

Alright, this is nothing to do with Bush but with us Indians in general and Cricket in particular.

I was up all night watching Cricket (4th day of the ongoing India Vs England 1st test match). Dravid, Laxman, Sreesanth were all not out in 1st Inns. Collingwood was out the first ball he faced in 2nd Inns.

And the best of all came from our (Indian) Third Umpire giving Kevin Peterson not out of a straight forward catch off Kumble after watching 50 replays.

Talk about Indian hospitality.

But Dillibillies... when talking about hospitality, our very own Himanshu should be first in the line. Our welcome "Guests" from NC must have landed even while I am writing this.

"Athithi Devo Bhava" Indeed!!!

Still Looking for 'the Whole Nine Yards'

2006-03-04T11:38:00.000-05:00

Archives from the morning edition segments of late John Ciardi, now being rebroadcast weekly on npr as "On Words with John Ciardi". John Ciardi was a poet, teacher and translator. Segments are available also for download as podcast. The current segment explores the origin of the idiom "The Whole Nine Yards" and its possible links to the concrete mixer trucks shown in the picture ( courtesy npr).

Exploration of "Kangaroo Court" and "Jimmies" in earlier episodes of "On words" were treats for ones literary/etymological appetite.

Few interesting quotes from John Ciardi..
1. Every game ever invented by mankind, is a way of making things hard for the fun of it!
2. A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in the students.
3. Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation of the
middle-aged, and the mutual dependence of the old.

As John Ciardi says, Good words to you!

Well, Well, Mr. Black Will

2006-03-03T19:34:00.000-05:00

Meet Robert D Blackwill, the will and wits behind the Indo-US Nuke deal ..towards a cleaner and efficient energy source.

Fossils of cold war could be seen by looking at the data from 60s and 70s
Little Boy and Fat Man from wiki.

"Athithi Devo Bhava" !?

2006-03-02T23:18:00.000-05:00

Quite heartening to read about Bush's visit to India, the Nuke Deal signed, his remarks about Indian hospitality and most importantly the strategic advantage, India has gained in the past decade to reach the point were we are at now. One of washington post's article titled "India : We have Arrived" is quite reflective of this, for a nation taking strong baby steps into progess and development at roughly 9% annual GDP growth, this visit and the nuclear pact was an ackowledgement from world's largest economy. I could only hope that the left parties, instead of moaning and groaning about unrealistic and unfounded issues, obsess about things that matters for the nation and the people, in long run.

Apart from my pro Democratic inclinations and jadedly negative views of Bush, i have to admit that he showed great leadership in unilateraly initiating the efforts for the Nuke deal sometime last year when Dr.Manmohan Singh visited US.

How can mention of Bush be complete without mention of Bushisms? :}. But a word of caution, Laughing out loud uncontrollably could be injurious to your job and hence health because of lack of insurance caused by job loss, especially if done at work place with a boss who would make Soup Nazi look like a liberal democrat. Advocating cautious laughing, here are the top 25 Bushisms.

Fractional Dimensional

2006-02-28T18:43:00.000-05:00

My summer, of 1994, was spend mostly in the underground Mechanical engineering, computer lab of our college. Me and my buddy Sunil have spend several hours typing the printed Mandelbrot code religiously from the Advanced Graphics text book (It was not quite the norm , in those days, for the book publishers to include a floppy or cd of source code examples included in the text book) and several hours fixing the typos we had induced. We had fallen in love with fractals and badly wanted to see it on our brand new vga moniters powered by 386, which in those days we thought used to blitz. Between day and night and several teas, couple of omlets and steaming puttu not to be mistaken with Kuttu, and the faint squeaks from the near by mechanical workshop and stares from the metalurgy lab we managed to compile the C code after a day or two of rigorous amateur typing. Hoping to see the mandelbrot set flash on the screen in minutes, we ran the compiled program and realized that the code was doing a slomo walk when it took several minutes to plot just a bright orange pixel on the left center screen of the brand new color monitor. Several dosas and yummy gadbad icecream and a brilliant dose of Thermodynamics from R P Reddy and a good 26 hours, and not to mention countless cpu cycles, later the program finished plotting the complete fractal.

It was amazing to zip through variations of julia sets in 26 milli seconds in one of the web sites i visited recently ..brought back good old fractal memories! Should memories worth blogging called blogeries? may be not, ..Just a blooming blogging thought!

she is a snowball;he is an ice cube

2006-02-26T11:12:00.000-05:00

Neve: she is a gentle, kind and elegant snowball;
Gliz: he is a lively, playful ice cube. They are the two symbolic characters of the XX Olympic Winter Games.

Two in a Million: Danny and Annie : Romance and Authenticity

2006-02-25T00:26:00.000-05:00

A moving snippet about a golden couple, heard on NPR, another "npr driveway moment"!!!

Try checking out the hearty audio.

Save Earth!

2006-02-23T21:58:00.000-05:00

It is the only planet with Chipotle!

There are certain things money can't buy..

2006-02-22T13:19:00.000-05:00

..often times in life, i have come across moments where i have lacked in expressing succinctly what i exactly felt. And at a later time i have stumbled across quotes and remarks from the "Born Tendulkars" which i could have used, perfectly during the moments i had felt lacking had i known better and i file them away in mind in sheer bliss of realization, a mastercard priceless moment.Here is a quote that i stumbled across today, by JRR Tolkien..

"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like;

and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

Post your mastercard moments please.

Check this mathemagic out..
111,111,111 X 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

2006-01-27T17:14:00.000-05:00

Hello Guys,
This is Sanjay -The Maximus-. Just joined the group.

Odds 'n Ends

2006-01-26T21:29:00.000-05:00

An anagram which has reverse spelling of a word and itself spells a proper word is called a semordnilap

semordnilap - palindromes, Get it? "If you Get it, you Get it...dhum! Washington post!", sorry that was a random detour on a totally different tangent. ..anyway my mother tongue, the language of Mallu Land, MALAYALAM, is a palindrome

Check this code out from International obfuscated C Code Contest, which is a line-by-line palindrome.

..this quote from the fortune cookie, cast new light and new shadow!
"Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition"

Moments of freedom in Shades of Joy

2006-01-26T08:54:00.000-05:00

Happy Republic Day! Celebrations!!!

: Courtesy Meeta.

Detox Diary - Day Seven - Love for food, most sublime of all loves ?

2006-01-25T06:35:00.000-05:00

o5:00 EST, Seven days after Friday, Jan 13th
169.5 pounds, down six and a half pounds from D-day, 5' 11"

Eatables/Drinkables
1 quart of water with 2 spoons of salt in it
8 glasses of lemonade
2 glasses of water
1 laxative tea

My best friend's birthday around the weekend and really really want to participate and help with my munching services. So after seven days of wonderful drive, I am taking a detour from Lemonade Highway to Saag Paneer Highway. If you are not already familiar, Saag Paneer Highway, runs by the best kitchens in the world, by design and is probably the only highway which passes exclusively, by cities named after food and beverages. In the lines of Interstate highway and Information Highway, Saag Paneer Highway is a Food highway. A higway that takes you places where Culinary masterpieces are served. Our normal vehicles will be able, as a matter of fact it is guaranteed, to take us to and through the highway as long as we are wearing this special hat, which by the way is not that easy to get. You will have to prove your love for food, and prove that love is sublime before you could get hold of one such hat. If the hat is not worn, "highway" plays tricks on you. Tricks could vary depending on "highways" mood. If it is in a great mood you are in great shape, served with great food. If it is in a good mood you are in good but not great shape, served with good food. So it is not an issue if the hat is not worn, as long as highway is in a great or good mood. Restorturent trips are in the cards, if highway is in any other mood, other than great or good AND if one is not wearing the hat! So Wear the hat!!! save yourself horrible trips to restorturents with food under par.

My seven day stint on Detox-Lemonade-Diet was unbelievable. My prime aim was to find out what it does to one. When i started I had doubts if i will be able to survive and sustain, but i did.
I had doubts if i will be able to do my job at my office when all i am feeding on is lemonade. I was able to do my job, in fact better than before. I was and am several times more energetic and
focused. The first two days were bad, but since i started on the lemonade diet on a weekend work wasn't affected at all.

It introduced me to the booming, growing, natural and great tasting world of organic food. It also made me realize how much i love food!

I had a spectacular ride! Would like to thank Khyati and Suchi, who introduced me to Detox-Lemonade-Diet.

Peace

2006-01-24T13:41:00.000-05:00

It does not mean to be in a place
where there is no noise, trouble or hardwork.
It means to be in the midst of those things and still
be calm in your heart

Detox Diary - Day Six - Rhythmic Expansion

2006-01-21T09:44:00.000-05:00

o5:00 EST, Six days after Friday, Jan 13th
170.5 pounds, Gained! a pound from yesterday, down five and a half pounds from D-day, 5' 11"

Eatables/Drinkables
1 quart of water with 2 spoons of salt in it
8 glasses of lemonade
2 mint tea
1 laxative tea

Started of the day with "Shower Shock"! "Shower Shock" on a regular day really wakes me up in the morning, but when I am on a Detox-Lemonade-Diet and am already charged up and energetic, right from the second i opened my eyes this morning, i had concerns that "Shower Shock" would make me hyper.

..i am hyper if instead of walking down one/two steps down the stairs at a time, I fly down one flight at a time. I am hyper if i talk to my parents back in Mallu Land, in Malayalam, while I am on the second phone talking in English with Indian accent to my Boss at work while negotaiting thin patches of ice on the road and looking for Cops, who love giving me tickets.

..i am HYPER, if I am posting to two blogs simultaneously (while restlessly moving my legs, there my mildy shaking my hands and eyes and nose and head and the chair and the table and at times wondering if this mild commosion is caused by a milder earthquake) AND, all, while watching "Inside NFL" on HBO with captions turned on AND listening to NPR podcast of "As it Happens" with my right ear AND listening and jamming to Haddaway with my left. I some how feel and believe, this state of hyper activity is not desirable and it worried me that was what exactly, shower shock was going to do to me.

What is Shower Shock? Yeah, what the hell is it? Undefined in urbandictionary.com yet, but i have made a promise to myself to get this added soon to enrich the already the rich and the already not so rich! "Shower Shock" normally happens on chilly winter mornings. "Shower Shock" is when my shower, showers extreme hot and extreme cold water, intermittently, there by making me cry out 'UuUhh..' when hot water burns me and then cry out 'AHhhh' when cold water slices through me. If this showering sequence, happens 4 times or more in 42 seconds, then one is under "Shower Shock". Essentially it is a protest tactics deployed by intelligent under/over used showers on the showeree and it could potentially lead to hyper activity especially when he or she is on Detox-Lemonade-Diet ( which by in itself increases your level of activity)!!!

..so i kept my fingers crossed with a hyper control attitude in my mind. I had a glorious day. More re-enforcements to Detox-Lemonade Diet.

Detox Diary - Day Five - Going Steady

2006-01-18T20:56:00.000-05:00

o5:00 EST, Five days after Friday, Jan 13th
169.5 pounds, down six and a half pounds from D-day, 5' 11"

Eatables/Drinkables
1 quart of water with 2 spoons of salt in it
6 glasses of lemonade
2 mint tea
1 laxative tea

View Only Eatables/Drinkables
John's torture tantrums continues. Pulav, Daal, Chicken Tikka and Tandoori Chicken!

Streak Continued. Out of the world experience. I am getting used to this. A detoxified, decongested, leaner but not meaner me is much much better me than the me which existed before Jan 13th. Just in Peace with myself. an extra dimension to the world. Tranquility. I am amazed by the results so far.

Detox Diary - Day Four - Oh What fun, it is to be, on a Detox-Lemonade-Diet

2006-01-17T21:52:00.000-05:00

o5:00 EST, Four days after Friday, Jan 13th
170.5 pounds, down five and a half pounds from D-day, 5' 11"

Eatables/Drinkables
1 quart of water with 2 spoons of salt in it
8 glasses of lemonade
2 mint tea
2 glasses of water
1 laxative tea
fed heavily on Oracle Portal

View Only Eatables/Drinkables
As much as i could, Stayed away from seeing food that i couldn't eat. This part was not really that fun. It was goddamn torture. To avoid it..

I meticulously planned my routes at work, taking detours away from cafeteria, especially during lunch hours.
Immediately flipped channels if any food related ads were playing on TV
Password protected food channel and enabled parental control.
Took "Simply Recipies" off my google home page

..I fully understand now what Tantalos went through.. I love food.

Apart from that, i had a glorious day. You know, often times I am forced to lie, when asked "How are you doing?". The lie being "good" or "great" or "excellent". But today, every time i said i felt great, i meant it. It just felt great. No exagerration. No G factor! ..my energy levels never had been as high as this. Even late at night, i still have energy may be to last the rest of the week. Simply fan-bloody-tastic!

Master Cleanser/Lemonade Diet, Rocks and Rolls and then Rocks again!

Anablog

2006-01-17T20:11:00.000-05:00

Check out the definition, urban dictionary has for anablog

Detox Diary - Day Three - No Pain, No Gain

2006-01-16T21:16:00.000-05:00

o5:00 EST, Three days after Friday, Jan 13th
172.5 pounds, down three and a half pounds from D-day, 5' 11", Nope still haven't shrunk.

Eatables/Drinkables
1 quart of water with 2 spoons of salt in it
7 glasses of lemonade
1 mint tea
3 glasses of water
1 laxative tea
fed heavily on Oracle Portal

View Only Eatables/Drinkables
Blueberry Jam
Choclates from Leonidas
Cake that Rhonda baked
Cookies at John's Cafeteria
Redskins
mashed potatoes
Salad bar - I can't imagine i drooled over the salad bar
Pictures of Butter Pancakes at Danny's
Organic Eggs
Organic Portabello Mushroom Soup
Organic Crunchy Coconut Chips
Organic B.a.n.a.n.a.s
Dreams about the soup that folks are going to make as soon as i get off the diet
Dreams filled with all the food that i am going to miss for the next week.

..amoung the crispiest of the days i had in the past 10 years. Head ache was long gone when i opened my eyes and for the first time in several several years it for once felt like i had a good sleep. The sunny morning made it even better. I felt leaner, crispier and sharper. Felt like i could slice through anything, even through the hardened roties, at times served in our mess, during my undergrad days. Felt like the that guy on TV ad for some aphrodisiac. It really felt good and you could have bet your money on me, against energizer bunny.

Detox Diary - Day Two - Where there is Will There really is a way

2006-01-16T19:58:00.000-05:00

o6:45 EST, Two days after Friday, Jan 13th
173 pounds, down three pounds, 5' 11" still, Nope, i didn't shrunk.

Eatables/Drinkables
1 quart of water with 2 spoons of salt in it
9 glasses of lemonade
1 mint tea
1 laxative tea
fed heavily on Haddayway,Howie Day and Eagles.

View Only Eatables/Drinkables
Blueberry Jam
Choclates from Leonidas
Burger King ad on TV looked tempting than ever before
Mixture
Boiled Egg
Daal and Rice

i woke up into a day of head ache. Nagging one. Persistant one. Not severe enough that it prevented me from doing anything, but not mild enough to ignore it. It was there when i opened my eyes, first thing in the morning and it was there last thing at night when i shut my eyes. It was there when i made my lemonades, it was there when I made mint tea, it was there when i watched Steelers win, it was there when i was driving, it was there when i was playing table tennis, it was there when i was serving rice and daal to dillibillies, it was there when i said good bye, it was there when i was talking to PGP, it was there when i was thinking of Kuttu, it was there till the last second of the day i remember. Boy! I haven't had such a dedicated head ache in my whole damn life! Like Herman Melville says, A megalomaniacal incarnation of all the headaches in the world!

As if headache wasn't enough, i was blessed with a "going" problem, aided and abetted willfully by the salt water cleansing, a litre of water with two spoons of salt in it, which i drank first thing in the morning going by "Master Cleanser". A "Going" problem is when you go to the bathroom and spend so much time in there that you feel like going out and the moment you get out you feeling like going back in again. You always want to "go", from or to, the bathroom. Talking about bathroom, there is an excellent podcast @ http://thewordnerds.org under archives called "Euphemisms". ..anyway my "going" problem wasn't as dedicated or persistant as "headache", to my great relief.

..I am concerned, if my head ache continues will i be able to work for the rest of the week? Will i be even able to drive? Will it get worse? Will I die? I am not giving up. Never, Never, Never, Never Give up.

One bites the dust..

2006-01-16T14:39:00.000-05:00

As you all know I gave up Detox on third day. Hey I was determined but Tulan, well known as a Detox Buster forced me to do so. But actually this time Mr. Buster was right and I think he did busting for good (BTW, the name 'Detox Buster' is courtesy of Vinod Pillai). Someday when I will become fat like Garfield - The fat cat I will try again. But you know today I am missing lemonade so much!! Everytime I feel thirsty I feel like drinking lemonade. It was tasty :)

So whats up Vinod and Suchi? How are things going with you guys? Good luck and keep drinking lemonade.

Welcome Everyone!!

2006-01-14T14:07:00.000-05:00

Alright..so seems like I'm blogging now.

I haven't done any reading on detox diet but this sounds interesting. I might get started in a day or two.

Vinod, hope you're holding up well so far on liquid diet.

Detox Diary - Day One - Being On Lemonade Diet

2006-01-14T08:42:00.000-05:00

The day after Friday, 13th Jan 2006, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. ..We friends getting started on lemonade diet, inspired by "Master Cleanser" and numerous positive posts on blogs and forums.

Motivation : Curiosity about detoxification, camaraderie

This is day one for me..
06:45 EST
176 pounds, 5' 11"
..googled to figure out how many liters is a quart
1 quart luke warm water + 2 tea spoons of uniodized sea salt. Gulped one full quart down, didn't quite time it, but did down it pretty quick. This was a cleansing aid, as suggested by "Master cleanser" to cleanse the digestive tract and preferably had to be taken first thing in the morning, empty stomach. That 1 quart almost filled me up. I guess i will have to wait a while to have my lemonade.

..Lemonade
2 table spoon of fresh preferably oraganic lime juice ( approx half lemon)
2 table spoon of genuine maple syrup ( Dark Amber Grade)
1/10 tea spoon of cayenne pepper ( red pepper)
8 oz of medium hot or cold purified water

I had been making note of, and at times using, organic food at the local grocery store which has a small but growing section for organic foods. It tastes different and tastes good. I was surprised to find the amount of oraganic food related links that came up on google. Might be a good idea to invest in some upcoming organic IPOs. I am convinced. I decided to go oraganic for the lemonade diet and made my first trip to a total oraganic store.Danny's Organic. Loved it and it was just a bonus that there was a lovely young lady at the counter.

09:26 I am hungry. About time to get cranking on my lemonade..

Welcome Aboard!

2006-01-14T07:57:00.000-05:00

Hiya! Welcome folks. Blog your mind out. ..If you post it, it will be read