Fire

I am fascinated by the fire in the pit. Not any pit. But the yaga pit - or the yagna kundam. I had the great fortune of participating in a 9 day long Vasudeva Yagam conducted within the precincts of the 350+ year old Batchupeta Sivalayam. Since Usha and I are the 'young couple' amongst the participants - we were 'offered' to lead the yagas almost every day - except for a couple of days when other yaga kartas (one who offers the aajyam - ghee - into the yaga kundam with the Sruvam - the wooden ladle) performed at both the yagna kundas.

I've never heard of Vasudeva Yaga before. It was on November 15th - in a Kartika Masa function in the Sivalayam - that the Brahma (one who has powerful jaws so one can chant mantras clearly and loudly so everybody can hear - we were told in the thanksgiving function by a sanskrit scholar) proposed this Yaga for January right after Pongal. At that time, I thought he was just proposing and it may or may not happen - depending on how serious the organisers will be; and how much money they can get pledged from donors.

By the first week of January, the main organiser came to me and asked if I wanted to be one of the Yaga kartas. I was non committal at first. Am I ready to do such yagas? Can I commit myself for 9 days? Is my body ready to sit for long periods of time every day for 9 days? so on and on... Usha was cautious as well. But we decided to take the plunge - as this is not an opportunity that comes often. Yagas like these are not performed regularly. After many such Q and A sessions in the mind, we informed the organisers we will participate. Of course, it involved monetary support as well and we pledged accordingly.

It all started on the 19th - when we took the pledge to perform the yaga for 7 days starting from the 20th. That evening the brahmanas generated fire from the 'arani' wood. It was a spectacle in itself. Two brahmanas sit opposite to each other holding one long rectangular piece of wood which has concave shapes in it. Another brahmana holds a second piece of wood with one end resting in one of the concave shapes. They churn the second piece of wood with the help of a rope - and they do that while chanting 'agni prajwalana mantras'. A good amount of smoke starts emanating from the concave shape - and after much effort one of them said the fire is here. I was expecting to see a good amount of fire coming out of that. But that was not to be. They showed us all a spark of fire (almost like the red hot fire we see at the end of a lighted incense stick). They then put that spark into some dried sacred grass - and blew air into it. Fire came out with many tongues - and they then put it into the yaga kundas. There was no stopping the fire for the next 9 days... It was all an interesting episode for me.

From then on, I am fascinated at the fire in the yaga kundas - and the purity of that fire. After all, it's one of the five basic elements - and by far the most unadulterated element so far.

I will write more on the yagas shortly.
Swasti!!

Time to Return Home

'been thinking of returning home for a while now. 2009 was what I set my sights on, when I first came to this country. It was not to be, for various reasons - the most prominent being the state of the world economy. I say world economy because a couple of sponsors who were supposed to pen an agreement with us backed out in the last minute due to cash crunch.

Anyway, better late than never. After dilly dallying, without much happening but just stressful wait and the time ticking by - we finally settled on September 18th to be the D-day. So the process for the return started with the purchase of tickets - on none other than Air India. We will be landing in HYD on Sept. 20th. That will be a new beginning for me (and for us). It will be an all new Me 4.0.

Will try and keep you posted on what's happening between now and Sept 18th.
Swasti!!

How long is the year NEW?

When I talk to some of my friends or colleagues, for the first time this year - the conversation starts with the 'Happy New Year' wish. Even on Jan 19th. I don't mind..and wish the other person the same and even better :)

How long is the year new? When does it get old - or rather, not new any more?! Does it take a second conversation to get past that opening sentence/wish? Or does it really have to be February before people drop that wish from their conversations?! Or is it done by the last week of January (feeling that we are already at the end of the first month?!) Any ideas?! What's the cut off...if any?! What say you all?!

In this context, I remember one of my English teachers from my early school days saying - we should not talk any more after we say 'Good Night'! And I used to follow that scrupulously (as a kid - not now :) ) Has any of you heard that before?! What do you think of that?!

Anyway - to those I haven't talked to, this year, yet - Happy New Year!!
And to all of you - Good Night!!

Swasti!!

Disney - Where Dreams Come True

We have been to the Walt Disney World and been on the 4-night Disney Cruise earlier this month. The kids had a blast and are already asking to go on a 7-night cruise next week. Usha and I enjoyed the vacation thoroughly as well. This is our first cruise trip, but second visit to the Disney World. The cruise really is our dream come true. (yeah...why not?! no need to cook; no need to do dishes; no doing the beds nor washing clothes... ha ha)

One thing that really strikes me on our trips to Disney World is the cheerful faces of all those that work there, and their excellent customer service. Right from the bell boy to the store man to the security guard to the characters (of course). If there's any place on earth where someone bends over his/her back to satisfy the customer - then Disney is the place, we felt.

And yeah...we even celebrated Datta's 4th birthday (per Indian calendar) on the cruise and he really liked it.

More on the trips soon...
Swasti!!

The Sasquatch Experience

This weekend, we took the kids to 6 Flags - Great Adventure Park in Lake George, NY. We had return tickets and wanted to use them before it gets too cold. It was in the low-50's when we started at home in the morning. But once we reached the Park, the weather was very pleasant.

The kids enjoyed the rides, shows, pizza and characters walking around. We had a pic taken by the professional photographer outside the gate there - just in case. I was thinking, 'taking the pic is free - we can always say NO when the time comes to buy the pics'.

There are some adventure rides there, and Sasquatch was one such, introduced this year. I thought of trying that out - and I am glad I did. Usha tried to pull me back saying - you never tried these things, may not be good for the heart etc. etc. I thought - 'okkasaari fix ayyaananTE naa maaTa nEnE vinanu' :) and went ahead.

The ride up was abrupt, my head got pushed away from my body (which was secured by the restraints), I got lifted up into the air (whatever clearance was left between the seat and the top restraint. Before my thoughts reached a point of panic, the descent started - and a sense of relief started to occur when I realized I am still in the air, with my bottom still in the air, didn't know when I will sit down in the seat; how I will sit - will I be thrown down? will it hurt? should I keep the eyes open or close them? Did I secure the restraint latches well? Or will they open up with all this pressure? Oh my god. where am I now? when will this end?

Well - folks were already opening up their restraints before my thoughts subsided and at the end it didn't feel as bad!

All in all, an exhilarating experience indeed! I am glad I went for it!!

BTW, we ended up buying the photo package on our way out :))

Swasti!!

Milwaukee Art Museum

I like art. I like museums. But I don't like visiting Art Museums when I am travelling as I feel there are other better things to do than spend a half-day locked up in a museum. That being my mindset, I didn't allocate any time for anything other than taking my kids to the pre-planned Children's Museum in Milwaukee, WI on July 7th. We left Chicago around 11am and reached Milwaukee at 1pm. We parked in a lot and went into the Betty Brinn Children's Museum. The kids had a wonderful time there. After spending 3 hours there, and having lunch/snacks, we went out towards the lake shore and were surprised to see a wonderful building. Turns out, it's the Art Museum. The building itself is a work of art. The interiors are fantastic as well. We went in briefly, looked around, took a few snaps and came out for lack of time. We did stick around for the Museum's closing time (5pm) to see the wings close down for the night. Isn't it amazing? See that pic here.

Not sure if we ever go there again, but the next time we visit another city, we will make sure we check out the Art Museum. If it's as slick as this one, i.e.

Swasti!!

5 states and 2,717 miles

Back in 1998 I had been to Chicago but didn't have time to go up the Sears Tower. Usha wanted to go to Chicago for a long time and with our 10th Anniversary upon us, we decided to visit the Windy City. I checked the flight tickets and called some friends/relatives around there. One thing led to another, and we ended up with a long list of invites to visit. These invites were also from different places in that region - not just Chicago area. So, we both decided to go driving and took a week off from work.

Started in Albany on Thursday July 2nd morning. Here's our itinerary, in short - and the major places we visited:

1. Thu 07/02 - Albany, NY to Cleveland, OH - visited Tallamraju Madhury and Ravi family (Usha's cousin sister)
2. Fri 07/03 - Cleveland, OH to Darien, IL - visited Chaganti Mohan's family (Usha's cousin). Checked into Marriott in Elmhurst, IL for the night
3. Sat 07/04 - Attended the 17th TANA Conference in the Rosemont Convention Center - Chicago. Will write another piece about it. Returned to the hotel room at 1:45am in the morning, after the TANA programs.
4. Sun 07/05 - Chicago, IL to Rensselaer, IN - visited Dr. Chaganti Mallik and Lakshmi family (Usha's cousin).
5. Mon 07/06 - Rensselaer, IN to Chicago, IL - visited the Aurora Sri Balaji and the Lamont Sri Rama temples. Checked into the Marriott in Elmhurst, IL.
6. Tue 07/07 - Chicago, IL to Milwaukee, WI - visited the Betty Brinn Children's Museum and the Art Museum with its wonderful wing top (which closes every day in the evening). On the way back, stopped by Nori Vijay's place (a friend of ours), had dinner there and then returned to the hotel.
7. Wed 07/08 - Drove along the Lake Shore Drive, took pictures on the banks of Lake Michigan and visited the Navy Pier briefly. Watched a kids' Pirates show there, walked around and went to another friend's place in Elmhurst (Singaraju Trivikram and Smitha) for dinner before returning to the hotel room.
8. Thu 07/09 - Took the Double Decker Bus Tour around Chicago downtown; stopped at the Sears Tower; went up the building and ventured onto the glass chambers on the 103rd floor; returned to Navy Pier for some more fun times. Watched Cirque de Shanghai show there and went on a moonlight boat cruise overlooking the city's skyline at 10pm. Returned to the hotel room.
9. Fri 07/10 - Chicago, IL to Indianapolis, IN - visited Dr. Veena Nagappa (Usha's classmate in Boston Univ.) and her family; visited Prof. Kandukuri Lingamurthy of Andhra Univ Engg. College, who's visiting his children in Carmel, IN; and then went to Ayyagari Lakshmi and Raghava's house (Usha's cousin) for the night.
10. Sat 07/11 - Indianapolis, IN to Dayton, OH - visited Glen and Cindy Courtright (he's my previous boss in SAIC and a great friend).
11. Sat 07/11 - Dayton, OH to Columbus, OH - visited Vani and Srinivas (Usha's cousin) in Dublin, OH; visited Perala Umasankar and Sujatha (my friend from Andhra Univ) in New Albany
12. Sat 07/11 - Columbus, OH to Albany, NY - started there at 6:15pm and except for a few breaks in between for dinner, gas, pee-stops, came home at 5:15 am Sunday after unexpected, all-night driving covering 635 miles.

What a trip it has been - fulfilling, exciting, interesting, educating, fascinating, surprising and of course, tiring. We sure need another vacation to relax!! I will come back with details of these visits soon...

Swasti!!

Goal without a plan? Yes, sometimes...

My first significant goal after getting out of my home as an adolescent (for Bachelors education) was to get out of the country. During my M.S. education and initial years of employment in USA the strategic goal was to get back to my home country while still young. As the years passed by, the desire to get back not just to my country but to my hometown as well grew bigger and bigger.

We decided to return in October, after 15 years in USA. Do we have a plan? Yes and maybe. Do we need a well structured plan to get back to our homeland? The desire to get back to our roots and become a socially relevant entity there is strong enough in us and we believe that will get us to our current goal.

Do we need to plan and execute to it always? Sometimes the excitement is in doing things as they develop, while not losing sight of the goal. And we look forward to reaching there.

Swasti!!

The forgotten Martyrs

Wherever there's an attack by rowdy/terrorist elements on a celebrity (or plural), the whole world including the govts. and the media only focuses on the well being or predicament of the celebrity. Seldom are the lives of the security forces and the innocent passers-by given a second thought.

Consider the recent attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. 9-12 security forces have been killed in the shoot out. But all you hear about is how the cricketers escaped and how many got bruises in their legs, arms etc. (To give credit here, a couple of them with a bullet or two in non-critical parts of their body). Mind you, I am not trying to belittle the incident nor the suffering of the Stars. I am peeved at the raw deal meted out to the men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line to save these Stars. Dead or alive, the latter get all the attention and support. Dead or alive, the former never get a second look.

Blame it on .... WHO/WHAT? The corrupt politicians/governments? The celebrity crazy media? The public's insatiable 'paparazzi'sh' appetite, which is fed by the media? Or the degrading value for life (if it is not ours) ??

May the martyrs lives rest in peace! And their families stay strong, healthy and find better living.

Swasti !!

Jai Ho !!

Indeed!

Haven't watched the movie yet. It will have to wait, as we enjoy our own home productions every day, with the boys and the girl reeling out their creative sides extracting so many emotions from us that we didn't even realize existed.

Of course, I'd be lying if I said we didn't watch any video at all recently. The boys serve up a plethora of the colorful flicks and we are surrounded by so many of them that our viewing preferences have changed completely. The Wiggles, Playhouse Disney, Barney, Dora and Diego, Tom & Jerry, Bal Ganesh, Kittugadu, Ramayan, Krishna, Ghatotkacha etc. etc. have taken over our TV screen many many moons ago.

In all this, we are glad we caught the second half of the Oscars show last night, when the Slumdog bagged most of its awards. We resolved, at the end of it all, to watch the movie soon before it becomes a thing of the past. We shall see... :)

Swasti!!

Some wishes are better, not granted

When I joined the workforce in 1995, I used to envy some of my colleagues who used to come 'flying in' to work. This was at Bellcore. They used to nonchalantly describe their flight in the same breath as car travel - and complain about having to travel by planes. I didn't understand at that time what their problem was - and secretly wished I could travel by air to work, some day.

This wish was granted 7 years ago when I had to travel frequently to Ottawa to work with a partner company. Then after a couple of years, for another big client at a far off place, I had to start travelling by air every week. That went on with minor mods for about 4 years. The charm of air travel (to work) vanished after the first few months - and it was a real ordeal ever since. Several variables fell into place and I pulled myself out of that vicious cycle last year.

Another wish I had was to go on a short trans-continental trip. I have friends, relatives and colleagues who used to brag about their short t-c trips, and how much they would like to stay away from such trips. All this banter was most often delivered with an air of boasting. And my wishing horse must have registered this as a wish. It was granted a few times since early last year - when I had to make 2 or 3 day trips to Europe and a 5 day trip to India last week.

I must say, this is another ordeal I really don't look forward to, any more.

Some wishes are better left ungranted, as they say.

Swasti !!

Obamayana

The other night while putting the boys to bed, they requested for a Rama story. Having told them some Rama stories recently, and having listened to more at the Sunday Heritage classes in the temple, they got hooked on to the Ramayana characters.

Chandra is Rama and Sugriva while Datta is Bharata and Hanuman. Sometimes they take on a third character as well. And anything slender and long becomes a bow and an arrow. Anything with a protrusion at the end, naturally, becomes a mace (gada). We have innumerable battles at home these days, and luckily for us and for themselves, both are on the same side and fight with fictitious evil, up in the air.

So, last night I thought I would tell them about the genesis of Ramayana, i.e. the story about Shravan Kumar, his old parents, Dasaratha's archery skills and the curse he incurs because of that. Yeah, I know - too much high level stuff for the little kids. Righfully so, I was jolted from my own slumber when the words Obama, change, schedule etc. started getting mixed up with the story.

I don't remember when I started dozing off and what all I was telling them - but when I looked at them, they were wide awake and with confused looks for what I was blabbering. They know Obma is the new President, but couldn't understand what Obama has to do with Rama, Dasaratha and Hanuman. At that point, I decided to start another simpler story and retold the 'Bharata pleading Rama to return but leaving with his sandals' story. And I made sure Obama wasn't part of this story.

After that the kids slept easy - but I was interested and intrigued myself with what Obama was doing in Ramayana and it was a long night for me. I could never figure out :)

Swasti !!

Our 2008

It's been an eventful year for me personally. The year started off great as we are blessed with a baby girl (Mahalakshmi Gayatri) on Jan 2nd. I went to London in late Jan to coordinate the conference proceedings of SPUG - a telecom industry body. There was a change in my work life - with Sprint's economic troubles cutting short the account I am managing with them for SAIC. That put me on a contract with a California client - and made me fly across the continent frequently. My earlier weekly trips to Reston, VA seemed a breeze in comparison. However, after a couple of months of the cross-continental trips - I couldn't take it any more. And with 3 kids at home and Usha working full time - I opted out of the CA program and found another contract in July which allows me to work from home most of the time. As it turned out - I travelled only once to Reston, VA in the past 6 months. That's a great change for me - after being on the road for the most part of the past 7 years.

Usha is having a great year at the different hospitals she works - gaining very satisfied and loyal patients who want to be seen only by her.

Chandra has been practising his ukulele more and more and can now sing while playing it. Datta too started on his own ukulele. They both attended soccer training sessions this summer and enjoyed them very much. They are looking forward to another session starting in Jan.

We all vacationed for a few days in Belgium enroute to India in Sept. We enjoyed very much, beating our expectations, given that we travelled with 2 toddlers and an infant. Thank God we didn't take a short trip to Paris, as planned earlier. The kids loved India and want to go back again soon.

This is also the year we voted for the first time in our lives - in an election of significance. And to vote for a winning candidate is a great feeling. We look forward to Obama's inspirationsl Presidency.

On the flip side for this year, we saw our 401(K) savings doing a vanishing act - and we are glad we don't speculate in the stock market. The Mumbai events during the Thanksgiving holiday in November left a sickening feeling, which will be very hard to forget for a long time to come. It reinforced us to be more watchful of our own lives and how we lead them.

To cap off 2008 on a positive note, we had great pleasure organizing a great party of friends and family on Dec 28th in Piscataway, NJ. Everybody we invited, barring 3 or 4 families, attended the party. With 70 adults and 35 kids present - everybody had a great time. Santosh Khammamkar's music program was well received. Kids' impromptu dancing to the songs and the songs sung by friends turned a good event into a great one.

Quite an eventful year indeed. And we are ever so grateful for another memorable year.

Looking forward to another great year coming up where we try to realize our long term dream of returning to India...

Swasti !!

Be Nice - Don't judge

This morning, while dropping Chandra (my first son) at school, I gave him the usual 'Safety Briefing' and added 'Be Nice' at the end - fresh from the weekend experiences when he joined Datta and almost turned the house upside down. To that, he immediately shot back - 'I am always nice'. I found myself struck by it. Or may be he felt the unspoken undertones of how I said it - as if to suggest he was not nice and better pull your act together!

After all, he is just four-and-a-half years, and a good kid. Often times I wonder if we robbed him of his childhood by having his brother when he was still one-and-a-half. And then having his sister a couple of years there after. Because, he is already playing big brother when he himself is so little. It did give him a sense of authority and pride. But at the same time, I think, he also at times feels there are smaller kids than him at home, who look up to him.

Of course, that doesn't stop him from being as naughty as he can be sometimes. And coupled with Datta, that's what he had over the weekend. That was sure to raise my blood pressure and question if I should rethink of doing some things differently. For example -

1) I am always skeptical of having the kids sleep in their own beds when they are still too little. For one thing, I feel it makes them feel insecure - although the western culture argues the exact opposite.
2) The next point I ponder over is whether or not we made the right decision to put him in a public school for Pre-K, even though there's a Pre-K available in the Day-Care he has been going to for over 3 years now - and which helped nurture his developing abilities.
3) Are we doing enough as good parents - should I spend more time over the weekend and take them to Indian cultural classes conducted at the local temple where they teach the religious hymns, tell moral stories and talk about good manners etc?
4) May be I should get into the habit of reading/telling stories that I was told when I was a kid (and generations before me, in India) - to inculcate good manners in them
5) these and many more such thoughts flash through my mind whenever I see something 'not to my liking' in them.

And then the other part of me rationalizes with me saying he is a little kid - and he is just being a little kid. No point over analyzing things that kids naturally do. It's all part of their growing up process. I guess it's a situation all parents go and grow through, at times questioning their own parenting skills and reassuring that they are just being themselves and there's nothing to be concerned about, after all. Or is it just me, thinking wishfully that I am part of a bigger group of like parents?

So anyway - getting back to the plot of this post - when Chandra gave me that response 'I am nice' - I resolved (for n'th time) in my mind - not to be judgemental. That's one thing I keep working on - and this incident reinforced me to be more vigilant about what I say and how I say it. Because kids take it from their parents easily and as a gold standard. I did not mean he was not nice earlier, but probably the way I said it gave it up. And if his little mind was able to pick it up, I think I really messed it up. By being careful myself, I can help him grow into a person better than me. I have been trying myself for years to become a ' better me' - and I tell ya'... I am still working on it :)

Swasti!