Rhythm of Life

  Unable to fully comprehend the headline on today's WSJ main page, my kindergartner at the breakfast table this morning asked, "who killed the children and the teacher?" And then the rest of the questions were bombarded. "Why did he kill them"? "How did he get the gun"? "Who gave it to him"? She quickly realized that I did not have any convincing answers for her, so she concluded, "how peaceful and happy life would have been if that person didn't kill the children and the teachers".  My heart goes out to those mothers and fathers, who so lovingly would have gotten their children ready for school, packed their lunch boxes, and dropped them at school yesterday morning. If only they knew, they may not be able to see the little pieces of their hearts smile again, they would have done something differently!! Can we please stop this madness once and forever?? I do not understand what is wrong with this country!! Why can we not stop t...

Oh, what a year it was!! Full of surprises and uncertainties. Many plans that didn't fall into place, and many things that life planned for us. But I am grateful to God for He enabled us to see the blessings in disguise everywhere.  The year began unusual, as there was no New Year/birthday party at home since most friends were out of town and I wasn't well. But thanks to Vanshi-Chandana who came over and clicked some lovely pictures of cake cutting for my first birthday with Pari!! Then our long-awaited vacations trip to Florida canceled unexpectedly due to flight delays and missed connections, but felt thankful that God kept us safe and snuggled in our home with a snow resort kind of vacation.  My firm belief in life being smarter than us gets reinforced, when I think in retrospect, how we decided to spend our sabbatical and bonding leaves at India leaving all our previous plans of the world tour, Europe, and Australia vacations aside. We didn't know then th...

I and my husband just ran in the Turkey Trot 2017 5K/10K run. The registration fees were $48 per person. Spending about a $100 for a couple just for a run didn't make complete sense at first. But a close friend got us a 50% discount and we registered. Back in my mind though, I was curious what motivates people to attend such events, where you pay a decent amount to participate, then you go early, struggle with the parking etc, just to run 3 miles. Wouldn't you be better off running in your neighborhood, for free and at the time of the day that you like? Well, if that time comes ever is the first question for many people. That discipline can be brought in if desired or if you pay for the running. Health is the highest reward in life!! Thousands of people decide to pay for the registration and wake up early in the morning of a long weekend to come to the 5K/10K run not just for charity but for their health. They can make donations to their favorite charity anytime anywhere...

Today was not an ordinary school day, it was a field trip day!! We were going to see the Monarch Butterflies!!! I was very excited that my mom was coming to the field trip with me. It took 1.5 hours to get to the Santa Cruz beach by bus. The ride was boring because the bus rules said: "no playing". After we got there we came to know it was really fun!! There was a nice beach with lots of sand to play in.  My friends Ivy and David were in my group that was led by Vinita, my mom. First, we attended an interesting presentation on the Monarch Butterflies, that was full of a lot of 'M' words. The metamorphosis of the Monarch butterflies starts with their migration from south to north for mating after which they lay eggs on a milkweed leaf. The egg hatches into the caterpillar that feeds on its eggshell and the milkweed leaf, after which it outgrows its skin and molts about 4 times before hanging into a letter 'J' shape and turns into Chrysalis out of which eme...

It has been over a month now in the Bay. The life is going crazy. We are trying to get settled amidst too many unknowns and uncertainties, and at least for me, dealing with too many emotions at the same time. We moved to the temp housing - Xander's and Tanya's Home. I met them to get the keys, the night before our move it. I could sense how they felt, as life was taking them away from their home sweet home just like it took us away from ours. I assured them that we will try to take good care of their home while we are there. The house is very beautifully furnished and is very conveniently located in the Rivermark community, where it takes 3 minutes to walk to Avi's school, park, library or swimming pool. My office is less than 10 minutes drive and Gaurav's shuttle to google comes right outside the doors. Although he has to spend anywhere between 1-1.5 hours to come back home in the evening from Mountain View to Santa Clara. We managed to keep up with the festive tr...

It has been a week since we moved to the Silicon Valley. We are living in the Residence Inn Marriott in Sunnyvale. It felt weird at first when we arrived, as the penthouse two-bedroom suite was nothing like what we had pictured in our minds while reserving it from our "mansion" in Hillsboro. It lacked the sheer space our kids are used to of playing in and roaming around while at the house. I kept missing the tall windows around the home and the greenery of the park and the backyard that my eyes were so used to seeing at every moment while being at home. Where have we come?? and why?? have been the constant questions in my brain. Avi's first day in 2nd grade!! Well, take it easy, it is still the settling up phase. You are in a hotel, so consider it your vacation. Enjoy good food that Bay Area has to offer. Amazing Indian restaurants, our first week, we ate at Chaat Bhavan (good food but fingers turned yellow and remained so even after washing with soap), Mirch Masala...

It feels like just yesterday, when two freshly minted graduates from UT Austin, landed in this exquisite place in the gorgeous summers of 2009. I instantly fell in love with this beautiful small city of Hillsboro, and my heart used to sing the Bollywood song, "Ye hansi vaadiyan ye khula aasma,  aa gaye hum kaha aye mere saajna...".  We took just a couple of days to set up our elegant newly built Nexus apartment before joining Intel and becoming one of the many Intel couples who we later met in and around the area. Then the life began with many firsts coming our way one after the other. Buying our first car, the Honda Accord coupe , literally 10 days before we came to know that we have started on the journey of becoming parents to our first child. Striving to find a house to buy before the child arrives. Finding our perfect home sweet home, raising our budget by a $100K to get this corner house in the Village at Orenco community, right next to the ...

It has been 7 years since I have been living in United States. I love this country, for what it has achieved. I love the quality of life that every resident can enjoy here.It makes me proud to be a part of its workforce, so creative and so smart. My day is full of constructive efforts being made to make beautiful things for my own as well as for the lives of those around me. It definitely feels fulfilling to end everyday with the peace of consciousness that something fruitful was done today. It is truly a land of my work, if I call it in Hindi, my "karama-bhumi". But then, when I am in my bed, in deep silence, floating around in my thoughts, letting my brain notice my heart...I find an emptiness, there surely is a hole in there....a spot that is vacant, where is my home? Have I indeed returned home after my day of work? Or am I just on a long work tour, yet to get back home after I am done. But when? I don't know...... What am I truly seeking to achieve? Can't say!...

I have to yet research and read about what great people, and great religions say about this topic. But still I would like to note down my own thoughts as they come to me based on my day to day, very normal and usual experiences. Here I will write about the ideal state in a personal relationship. What nurtures a relationship is love, an unconditional love. And what causes frustration in a relationship, is dependence, or expectations. As when we love some one, we start to have some expectations from our loved ones, may be just to reciprocate what we do unto them. But may be they do reciprocate, but may be their way is different from ours. But since we are expecting a certain pattern of behavior from them, we become frustrated, and that propagates the frustrations in the relationship. So if I were to define an ideal state of relationship with my loved ones, I would say " If I am able to shower my unconditional love, do as much care as I can, without having my loved ones lose thei...

Arvin just celebrated his first B'day. I, perhaps like most mom, am beginning to realize how fast my baby is growing. Everyday he does new fun activities which are all so much a pleasure to our eyes. I want to capture them all. Although for all these months, I had been writing about him in his memory book, I will try to write them more regularly in this blog now. That way all the family and friends can also enjoy reading it, and will be easier for me to log as well. Aug 11th 2011 : Arvin is enjoying his nana-nani's visit to US and playing a lot with them these days. He has recently learned to walk (about 20 days back). He likes to take morning walks to the garden with nanu these days. When nanu puts on his shoes, he walks upto the door and is not ready to turn back towards home, just wants nanu to take him to the Garden. August 15th 2011 : This morning, when we were on the breakfast table, Avi showed an altogether different yet very cute expression. First he picked up ...

/* * Declares and defines Arvin / Avi as of Aug 8 2010. DOB: 08/04/2010. * Sorry for the delay. * You can visit him at 6344 NE Meadowgate CT, Hillsboro Or 97124. GauraVinita would love it. * * Some rights reserved J */ using system; #include namespace Nolkha { class Arvin : public GauraVinita { string name; string nickname; date dob; inches dob_height; pound dob_weight; public: Arvin() : nickname(“Avi”), name(“Arvin”), dob(“08/04/2010”), dob_height(19), dob_weight(6.75) { cout } void sleep() { cout } void wakeup() { cout } void cry() { cout } void smile() { cout } void eat() { cout ...

This is a considerably short ;) comment on Saurabh's blog . I did not want to pollute his comments section by writing a comment as long as an article. Let me for the sake of fun and argument take the other side. Why does an artist have to be a ‘wonderful enough entertainer’? We don’t go to our offices to entertain people. We sometimes work out of necessity, sometimes for satisfaction and pleasure. Why can’t an artist do something which he or she likes? Does he wish that everyone in the world would understand and appreciate his contributions? Did Einstein think that his theory should be appreciated by Taliban? And why do we, as consumers, have to be able to pick the best? Are we rational? If we were, rather than talking about IPL, we would perhaps be talking about much more pertinent issues, or masses’ issues. Issues of a billion people, rather than a few million. Coming specifically to IPL: Why is cricket not included in Olympics? What has IPL really done? Why is as popular as...

Birthday Party 2009 It was 00 hrs on 3rd Oct, I was reading the novel, Life of Pi, when Vinita came in the room and wished me Happy Birthday. I was pleasantly surprised to find a decorated yummy vegan chocolate double fudge ganache cake surrounded by candles. I was not yet out of the surprise when Vinita asked me to dress up properly because Aparna and her parents were about to come for the celebration. This refreshed the memories from last year when she surprised me similarly by getting a tasty vegan cake in Austin. I clapped on my birthday song and carried out the rituals. You can find the happy surprise on my unshaved face in the pics as well. While we were talking, Aparna asked me a question about the party next day. Yet another surprise, but this time I realized it. Vinita had called about a 15 people for the birthday party at our home today evening. Happily we slept and woke up pretty late the next morning, amid the online freshly baked wishes from people on skype, gmail an...

Today I got a thought while returning from school and I feel that it is worth noting down for the benefit of all. So the thought is as under.. What is 'my' life? What is 'mine' in this life? Is this life really 'mine'? It is given to me by God and it can be taken from me anytime. So is 'my' important in 'my life'? I think no. But yes 'life' is important. Because after all that is it why I am here. Now, that means, I am like an element, whom God has filled in with life, for a certain period on this earth as a human being. So, what is so much important in this life to be concerned about? Should it be my work, my career, my every like and dislike, my dress, my food, my time, what? Does any of these matter after my life? I think then, all this won't matter a bit to me once this life is taken from me. That means nothing in this world can be more true than the fact that you have to live..till God wants you to. Next question is, what sho...

Ever wondered where all the stuff in your house comes from, and where it all goes after you are done with it? I just saw this amazing " Story of Stuff " . In words of my ex-teacher, Mrs. Lalita Aseri, "Its really impressive....it may sound funny but yeah..its very motivating for me." Watch the story yourself and find out! Now if you too find yourself motivated, Here is the link for 10 recommendations on what we can do to address the problems identified in the film on storyofstuff : http://www.storyofstuff.com/ anotherway.html Specifically, http://www.cosmeticsdatabase. com tells about the toxic contents in various cosmetic products that we inadvertently buy. Similarly, there are lots of carcinogenic products in most ready to eat foods and snacks that we do not even know about and buy. Like now I never buy a product that lists "Monosodium Glutamate" because I know its carcinogenic. And after remembering its name, I came across the products containing it ...

I am following the Time's Lead India '09 initiative where they regularly publish a column called Vignettes of Leadership , that brings out the views on leadership directly by leaders in various fields. Here I will be summarizing some of those articles specially noting down the interesting things to take from each leader. Lee Iacocca , the former CEO of Chrysler, has Nine C's that make a leader stand out from the crowd: 1. Curiosity : Listen to people outside the ‘Yes, sir’ crowd and read voraciously, because the world is a complicated place. 2. Creative : Go out on a limb, be willing to try something different. 3. Change : Manage change effectively, whether you’re leading a company or leading a country. Things change, and you get to adapt. 4. Communicate : Facing reality and telling the truth. Communication has to start with telling the truth, even when it may be painful. 5. Character : knowing the difference between right and wrong and having the guts to do the rig...

We, the citizens of India, want certain actions (not just promises but actions) from our leaders, once they reach up to form the government. The Times of India's Lead India '09 is asking the people of India to create a manifesto of what we need from whichever government comes next top power. You can choose 3 issues most important to you, to help evolve such a manifesto. Times will present this Peoples’ Manifesto to the new parliament. These are my 3 most important manifestos for the elected leaders: 1.) Safe drinking water for all, clean rivers, and environment and make it livable. 2.) Zero tolerance to religious extremism, and terrorism. 3.) No corruption at any level in government offices, and full transparency and accountability of government officers. Please feel free to comment and put forward your 3 issues at http://www.lead.timesofindia.com/Wada_naa_todo.aspx Lets create a safe and just India that we all want.

Everybody is trying to curb terrorism, or atleast showing and talking like that. The root cause of terrorism is poverty, illiteracy and social injustice. In India, rigid and cruel caste system, and corrupt government have made the situations worse. We have almost forgotten the rural face and now that keeps coming in front of us in forms of Naxalites in Bihar, Maoists in North Eastern states, separatists in J&K and other insurgents. Over this, the selfish political leaders of different parties keep capitalizing on the emotions of each community. The governments keep coming and going with citizens watching them with wistful eyes. Its enough now, and we citizens will have to do something for the betterment of society. When everyone in society would sleep peacefully after the nights meal, no body would come out to commit the sins of killing.

Out of the popular demand, here is a list of the good movies that I watched. Will keep updating the list as I watch more of the good movies. Enjoy! 1.Fifty First Dates 2.Cast Away (2000) 3.Life Is Beautiful (2000) 4.The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) 5.Last Holiday (2006) 6.Little Manhattan (2005) 7.Amelie (2001) -French (English Title) 8.The Shawshank Redemption (1994) 9.The Godfather (1972) 10.The Godfather: Part II (1974) 11.Buono, il brutto, il cattivo., Il (1966) 12.Pulp Fiction (1994) 13.Schindler's List (1993) 14.Casablanca (1942) 15.The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) 16.Goodfellas (1990) 17.The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 18.The Usual Suspects (1994) 19.Fight Club (1999) 20.Memento (2000) 21.The Matrix (1999) 22.The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) 23.Slumdog Millionaire (2008) 24.American Beauty (1999) 25.Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 26.American History X (1998) 27.Forrest Gump (1994) 28.The Departed (2006) 29.The Pianist (2002)...

Here are some of the books recommended by one of my friend Kalyan, who recently took exam for IAS. Some others are those which I / Vinita have read and liked. Finally, some are recommended by a couple of other friends. If possible read their reviews on the web and then figure out if the subject matter stimulate your interest. And yes, send me your recommendations. By the way, these are not in any particular order. It seems though, that I should try to get them in some order, so that the reading makes more sense. But as of now, I don't know when I'll do that. So till then, enjoy! The Magic of Thinking Big - David Schwartz How to Click with Everyone Every time What I Talk About when I Talk About Running India's Struggle for Freedom - Bipin Chandra India After Independence The Argumentative Indian Holiday in Hell My Experiments with Truth - mahatma Gandhi Administrative Thinkers - Prasad and Prasad Caste System in India - MN Srinivasan Introduction to Consitution of India - DD...