Shveta zipping on Interstate 77N from Exit 12 to Exit 17

Got into a writer's block lately!

Seems like I have hit a roadblock on my blogging journey - keep watching this space for new blogs. Lets see where Pallav and Shveta head to this weekend! Hope its Atlanta or Myrtle Beach! Or Savannah!

Michel Gondry

I saw a couple of Michel Gondry videos on youtube.com and they are simply mindblowing. Is there anyone more creative than this guy out there? I mean Beck's "Cellphone's dead", Chemical Brothers' "Let Forever Be", the Levi's Commercials, the Paul McCartney video, not to speak of the HP ad...I would absolutely recommend the Beck number to anyone. Features quite close to another video (not Michel Gondry) - Free As a Bird (The Beatles) - that is mindblowingly cool (especially when you adore The Beatles)....

Sunday outings this week

We went out yesterday to the Saluda Shoals Park on Bush River Road for a picnic and man, what a picnic it was - cricket, rumaal jhapatta, dodge ball, what have you! The place was teeming with most of the desis - barring a few of us who went to Gatlinburg on Saturday and were dead tired. We played a lot of games, ate Krispy Kreme donuts, Doritos nachos, Cheetos puffs and just enjoyed the place from 11.30AM through 3PM before we decided we had to go out. There were a lot of parents with kids and it was kind of growing on us - and then we decided to go to Charlotte to watch "Om Shanti Om". While returning from Saluda Shoals, we stopped by at Subway and I grabbed a Chicken Teriyaki sub with lots of sauces and pickles in it(yummy - just added this note so that it reminds me what is good at Subway that I could try again! If you happen to be in the US and reading this - try it out if you haven't already!). Then we went to Windsors, picked up some jackets and then went off to Charlotte. Reached Ayrsley at about 5.15PM and then got the tickets to Om Shanti Om. The movie is good - an out and out SRK movie and very entertaining. The most charming part of the movie was Deepika Padukone - she rocks! She is so cool looking in the movie. Hope she continues to get some more screen time in her movies. Her eyes and smile were very expressive indeed....Anyways, we then left the theater after taking some pictures next to a "Hitman" cutout. Our plan was to stop by Udipi - which is supposed to be one of the best Indian joints around (frankly, I have been really put off by the quality of stuff they dish out at other places here including Bombay Bistro - they ought to be taught how to make good Indian food!!) - sadly we were already quite late by the time we figured out how to reach Udipi - it was 9.30PM already and time for the place to close - so we caught the next exit and drove back home...

Gatlinburg, Tennessee - During peak of Fall in the Smokies

A very unique car plate, at Bombay Bistro, Columbia

Our desi colleagues (Hemant and Sonia and others), celebrating Karva Chauth in the chill of the night, at Windsors

Our Nissan Sentra, parked near our apartment

Windsor Shores Drive- Thats where we live!

Interstate 77N in and around Charlotte, while going to Concord Mills - Fall colors

Some of our Universal Studios Pics

Rise of Nations series

Have been playing Rise of Nations (RoN as its called everywhere) series for a few days now, ever since I got my new lappie - while I have been playing RoN for a while now, I had not played the Expansion version and the new Rise of Legends earlier. The Expansion version, Thrones and Patriots, adds some new campaigns and civilizations (including Indians). I have always loved real-time strategy games and still love Age of Empires I and II (simply hated III though - seems like the good guys moved to the RoN production studios, and never could relish the Civilization games (i.e. turn-based RTS games) a lot. But I think RON takes the cake when it comes to real uncomplicated RTS. I tried my luck with Medieval II - Total War. Hell, why do they make gameplay so complicated? Almost like the Hitman equivalent of an RTS game...The Legends gameplay in my new laptop revealed some of the most awesome video playing capabilities of the NVIDIA 8600M GT card - now I know what a good GPU is all about! Though I don't (and shouldn't) play much these days - leaving Shveta brooding alone, its Rise of Nations series that would remain the flavor of the season in our home for sometime...

Winter's set in now!

The weather here has suddenly become so cold now - the temperature today is 12 deg.C as I write this mail and its only the first week of November. Lowest today is going to be 1 deg.C!!!! I really am scared thinking about going out of office at 6PM and suddenly a draft of icy cold wind as I walk up to my car....

News, News, News

Got to know that Buli mamu has become the first commissioner of police of the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, a major achievement. Bapa's becoming Secretary,DOPT was the best news for us from achievements point of view - one of the most powerful executive positions in the country that is - and then this news. Kudos to you, Buli mamu. Hope all of us continue breaking new ground ...May guruji and Amma continue to bless all of us...

Mundraguda Gatherations

Got to know from Putun last night about the Yahoo group Budu mamu had created - Mundraguda Gatherations. The gathering has come of age - is on the internet now as a community. Saw the pics and felt kind of jealous - it looked absolute fun. The nostalgic feeling about the village - the memories of our childhood came rushing in. And everyone looks so grown up now - Bonnie and Buli mamu I keep meeting so often, so they don't seem a lot changed. K'mamu looks more like a member of the Mishra family now than ever (hey, I am hoping no one from the gatheration reads this blog!) , Pupul and Reeti look plump and older - it took me a hard observation to actually realize it was Pupul there in those pics with the specs, Romu looks like a man already - couldn't seem to recognize them at all! But one thing that looked constant was the smile in all faces. The glee doesn't seem to have changed at all. Somehow one really wishes we the next gen people were as close as they. But its been about 10 years now that I attended one such gathering - and the memories of those leisurely, lazy pleasant days seems replaced by very busy, career oriented faces. Still, finding time to be close to the roots is what living is all about. A real destressing therapy. Ma looks worried in the pics, as usual, with the thoughts of wedding arrangements, etc I am sure...
This weekend it would hopefully be a trip outside Columbia - Myrtle Beach? Charlotte? Atlanta? This small little couple from India would continue marching forward to explore newer territories!!

My new Dell Inspiron 1520 notebook

Today I got my new notebook. I think its a good config though would like to paste it and try to gauge world opinion on how good it is -

Inspiron 1520, Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, 2.0GHz, 800Mhz 2M L2 Cache
Ruby Red Color with MicrosatinFinish
2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA LCDTrueLife
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
160G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, English
Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem, for Inspiron
8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy
Intel 3945 WLAN (802.11a/g) Mini Card
Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Prim
Dell Wirless 355 Bluetooth Mod
Dell Bluetooth Travel mouse

Orlando, Florida

I left for Winter Park last week Friday night - catching the same south-bound Amtrak (the 91 Silver Star) that Shveta had caught two weeks earlier, and under similar circumstances - the train is scheduled at 1.44AM, but never quite makes it - not even an hour long delay. In fact, I left home, some 20 miles away from the Pulaski Street, Downtown Columbia located station at 2.00AM!! All through that evening, I was calling up Anup Bhaisaab and Shveta to know the status of the train, and finally, called the cab to go to the station. The train finally made it at about 3.30AM and I got to get my first experience of traveling long distance on train in the US. It was a comfortable journey, and in anycase I was traveling light so the journey as such was quite pleasant. The train coursed through South Carolina, Georgia and finally into Florida - I had slept a few hours during this 8 hour long journey but couldn't sleep through the whole of it, partly because I was not aware that we could ask for a blanket and it was quite chilly in there. However, in retrospect, it was a good thing for me to do...as we entered Florida, I could distinctly make out the changing landscape, the flora - which now seemed quite mediterranean and reminded me of my trip up the French Riviera. I reached Winter Park at about 11.30AM. Anup Bhaisaab and Shveta were there to pick me on bhaisaab's Merc. And as we left the station, I could quite put in place the merc in that setting. Winter Park is a very plush, rich town - with the entire road from the station up to a considerable distance lined up with some of the top-notch fashion labels one finds in good malls here. I was enjoying the scenery as well as narrating my tales of the journey - the shopping district made way to residential complexes - very very mediterranean in look (and aptly named "Casa" in many places). And as we were driving towards the Jessica Court area, I could also see how indistinguishable the city limits are between Winter Park and Orlando - just a road divides the two cities..Anyhow, we reached home, where Bhabhi had made some snacks - poha and fruits, etc. For a minute, I thought I was not in America but at home - with the home glowing with warmth and affection. The next two days were an extension of that, with an introduction of many other people whom I knew earlier and whom I'd known through Shveta but needed to put faces to names. But the most important of the people I had known and just had to meet were, besides Bhaisaab and his immediate family, Beeji (bhaisaab's mom), Gopal bhaisaab and Saroj Bhabhi. I also got to meet some amazing people in those two day's stay (I simply don't understand how we could have so much of stuff packed into 2 days) - Rajeev bhaisaab and Minna mausi, Prakash bhaisaab and his family. Rahul came down from Tampa over on Saturday evening. A great kid born and living here, but with very strong values. The weekend was jam-packed with very enjoyable get-togethers - meeting Beeji and talking to her (got a few snaps of her too - wish I had bought a handycam - will surely do that before my next trip in November, though), and of course, the Universal Studios visit. Can't thank Anup Bhaisaab and Rekha bhabhi enough. I would dare say they are as affectionate to us as they are to their own children. They also got us a car, a Nissan Sentra (another loong and very very eventful story my return trip would make. My debut road hike - a 440 mile journey to Columbia!!)...Guess when my new Dell laptop comes next week, I would do some real-time blogging and capture some interesting titbits of my visit to Orlando...

Concord Mills

Got to know from Wikipedia that the Concord Mills at Concord, NC where we went last weekend is the largest tourist center of attraction in the whole of North Carolina, attracting close to 15 million people a year! Wow! And to think its just 75 miles away from here...

Funny morning show on the radio..

Today I woke up early morning and lazily switched on the radio in my alarm radio as I was going for my morning rituals. And there was this show kind of a thing running where people could phone in and someone had called in to ask if the "Dally Lama" is some kind of an act like the "Pussycat Dolls", coz they sound so similar..and this show host says "Oh no, Dally Lama is a peace guy and a great man and he gives buddhist blessings with the tigers"..whatever that meant! This guy then replies, "Oh yeah, he gave me one of the those" and this guy says" the Dally Lama gave you a buddhist blessing with the tigers? What did he bless you with?"..this guy says "Oh he blessed me to become a sex machine"..and then our show host says "Wait a minute, Jeez..the Dally Lama gave you a buddhist blessing with the tigers to become a sex machine..what were the tigers doing?" and this went on and on...insanely surreal..though it sounds racist (and is racist), it sounded very funny...and to think such a show started off so early in the morning, some people have a lot of time for all kinds of things out here!! And then, soon after, the channel played Nickelback's Rockstar..

Visit to Charlotte, NC

Yesterday we went to see a movie, "Bhool Bhulaiya" to Charlotte, some 75 miles from Columbia. We started from Windsors at around 10.30AM and first went to Kangaroos for gas. We were a group of 3 SUVs, with about 6 guys in each vehicle. It was a pleasant, sunny morning which had gotten quite warm very soon after a nippy early morning. I had infact not been able to sleep much in our large two-bedroom apartment for the second straight day - perhaps spending the weekend without Shveta, and with no TV, phone, laptop becomes such a dull time unless one spends time with friends, that getting to sleep becomes an ordeal. Anyhow, seems like I was among the earliest to wake up in the neighborhood and then went to Jithesh's at around 9AM. Found him and his roomies still snoring happily, as did all others across Windsors. Weekends are surprisingly lazy days in the US. And yet, could be the most hectic too, if you are planning to go to cities afar. The Americans take things easy - they go hunting, boating, fishing, hiking, dirt-biking and what not during the weekends...while we plan (and accomplish) some impossible jaunts - such as driving down to the Niagaras, Orlando, NY, New Orleans, etc on a weekend - the only show of collective determination by us lot. Actually, to think of it, we are all business tourists and it makes sense to travel a lot...anyways, this was a usual lazy type of a weekend, and the Sunday morning was ideal for people who love to get snugged up in cozy comforters or quilts and wake up at noon..we finally left Kangaroo for Charlotte at around 10.45AM-11AM. The road looked really great, with the lane divider spruced up with autumn flowers. One cannot see the effect of fall yet on the roadside trees, but the flowers were distinctly the ones you get this time of the year. After crossing Exit 24 (our office way), we continued further and then decided to stop by a Rest Area. I was sitting in Jithesh's car and we had Jithesh, Devesh, Pratul, Harish, Kanthi and one more guy in this vehicle, besides me. A few hindi CDs were available, and even then people sitting at the back were snoring away to glory!..We finally reached a Rest Area, an open enclosure with a few shed like constructions, along with Rest Rooms..and after stretching our legs a bit (and relieving ourselves, of course) we left for Charlotte.
We reached Charlotte city limits by about 12 (noon). Our itinerary was to spend about 2-3 hours at the Concord Mills mall, a hell of a mall and my first big mall experience in the US, then to go the Grand Cinemas at Ayreton Road on Exit 3, have dinner and return.
Charlotte for sure is a big city - we could only see the downtown skyline from I77 - the Wachovia and BankAm buildings are like any skyscraper in any large city in the US. Suddenly, unlike in Columbia, the roads seemed much more widened with a few more lanes added. And as we approached Concord Mills, we realized that it is one of the focal points of the city, where the city and its nearby towns seem to converge into a huge fair like thing. And more so, it was a Sunday. After racking our brains and scanning the parking lot, we finally got a space and then went in. We decided to meet at Gate 2 (Book A Million store) and then dispersed. I was with Hardik, Hemant and Sonali. We first went to Sketchers to buy the oh so famous shoes that everyone in our company raves about. I found a cool pair for myself (priced at $59.95, got it for $45 after discount). Slowly we found the entire gang there in sketchers, and the noise levels had gone up, matching the desi effect that one finds in any mall in India. We obviously became the cynosure, rather nasty glare of some of the people, but who cared less? We bought our stuff and quickly got out - this time Hemant and Sonali headed for Burlington Coats, while I and Hardik went to Aeropostale, Ecko, Nascar (with all the possible Nascar memorabilia available)...I didn't find anything interesting here, and I guess Hardik didn't either, since most of the clothes we say and liked were "Made in India" or "Made in Bangladesh" and we didn't want to buy a $9.99 tee which no one could have believed was bought from US...we didn't realize it was already about 2.30PM. We were quite famished and rushed to the massive food court. Hardik told me about California Pizza Kitchen, a good pizza joint that serves authentic American (and not Italian) pizzas. Really good BBQ Chicken Pizza with Coke. Then we rushed to the other side of the food court for the Fashion area. Name the brand and it is there. From GAP to Liza Claiborne, Oakley to Fendi, Saks 5th to Ralph Lauren...I went to GAP and grabbed a wool cap and a pair of large bermudas. We checked out some shades at a store displaying everything from Armani, Rayban, Tommy, etc and found them way beyond our reach, so finally decided to go to a Perfume shop. I wanted to buy a good perfume for Shveta but its so hard to know!! and the best known brands one cannot just shop like that..they cost a good amount. The Poisons and Chanel No.5s would always be $75+. I was looking for Malachite by Banana Republic - really liked that smell. But they didn't keep BR there and it was already 3.30. So we rushed back to Gate 2. After sometime, we left for the movie hall. We reached at 4.45, about 15 minutes late. But after watching the movie, which except for the fact that we watched a hindi movie in a theater in US, realized we didn't miss anything when we missed the 15 minutes. Priyadarshan has lost his touch and has been dishing out really lame movie. We then came out by 7.30 and then went to an Indian restaurant, Jaipur, for a meal. After a few rounds of pani-puri and Mango Lassi, and then oodles of Tandoori chicken, chicken tikka (Pallav, watch your weight, man!), we came out and came to know we had to wait a few minutes for some guy to pick something from one of us. And that guy came some 20-25 minutes late. There was a police patrol doing its rounds and perhaps checking on us - such a huge crowd of desis sitting on the sidewalk infront of Jaipur...the guy, a techie working on H1 in Charlotte, came in good time, took his stuff and left. Our motorcade then sped off homeward bound...

Driving in Columbia

Today was my first experience of driving on American roads. After some driving on Indian roads, one gets so daunted and shaken that to think of driving across to a nearby city, forget across a state, gets your nerves. But here, one is so tempted to just hit the gas and keep on drivin'. That temptation though one has to curb. I also saw a couple of car wrecks down on the Inter-state. Keeps happening on certain exit and entry junctions. I drove past a point called the Malfunction Junction. A unique point in Columbia - where 4 Inter-states meet. One would get bonkers if you just think of 18 wheelers whizzing past you at 70-75 mph across all sides. Today I also tested myself through a McDonald's Drive-Thru. Once I become a "primary" driver here in my car-pool, I would next plan to take long jaunts on the inter-state, going to Atlanta, Augusta, Charleston, Myrtle, Smokey..then to wee-bit farther places - Orlando, Tampa, Miami...perhaps Norfolk, VA and Washington...then it would be an ambitious NY, Niagara..who knows?..Once Vishal comes here, I guess it would be possible to take that long haul to even the north....Yeee Haw! Can't wait hittin' the road!

India Day at Columbia

This Saturday (29th Sep) was an eventful day - my and Shveta's first hand experience with the Indian diaspora here in South Carolina's capital. The India Day event - an event spanning some 3-4 hours starting 6PM Eastern Time - though seemingly overhyped (all the drumming about Indian culture) and overpriced (at $5 per head) for an Indian visiting the US - is an important event for all Indians here. Its an attempt by the local community - to our surprise quite a large one considering about 200 people were there at the Moore Auditorium , the venue of the event - to connect with the Indian culture. Largely, the Indian diaspora constitutes of people of South Indian and Gujarati origin. Therefore, what is largely understood as Indian culture is basically South Indian (and Gujarati) culture. Bhangra, though so ubiquitous there in India, is conspicuous by its absence in such events, atleast in states such as South Carolina.

The venue: Moore School Auditorium, located somewhere near the Airport.

We all left Windsor Shores at about 6PM after a whirlwind shopping spree at the Indian Stores on Two-Notch Road. We all meaning most of the "interested" onshore janta at Columbia - took off in 3 SUVs and 2 Yahoo! Maps on I-77, to the Airport Boulevard and then scouring the place for landmarks and asking people, to the Moore Auditorium. At first, we overlooked the teaming parkway for that of some local sports event and then finally realized that it was actually the desi people flocking in there...Ah well! We were there at last.

On entering, a gentleman in Dhoti started rubber-stamping our hands, as if we were entering a bar and were entitled to some free drinks (sadly, we were not entitled to any eatable and everything was up for sale - like a typical mela in India). The place was teeming with second and third generation Indian americans, some local american Indophiles and curious onlookers - besides us. What I really miss here is pictures of some of the second/third generation PIOs (people of Indian Origin) - wouldn't call them ABCDs since - though they seem confused - are certainly quite proud of their roots..the attire bowled me and Shveta completely. Woow...in the name of ethnicity, I guess people just wear anything. Hello! We are in the 21st century. We have access to the Internet. Why can't we check out how a traditional tamil/telugu/gujarati person should look over the net?

The good part was the enthusiasm. The scale. The knowledge that there are schools in Columbia teaching Bharatnatyam, Garba, Bhangra (rather "two-step" bhangra on the beats of reggae beats and Punjabi MC dhols). The sad part - everyone wanted to be on the stage. No one missed out. The list of programs ran to 32 items. We guys had one of us, Devesh Padmey, participate in the event (turned out it was the best item of all!!! - it was an enactment of Amir and Gracy's role in the Lagaan song - Radha kaise na jale)...the rest were ill-choreographed skits and dance recitals in rather too garish attires for classical dance programs. Some, especially the ones choreographed and staged by one Ms Payal(?) Puri, were very good, but the rest were very mediocre indeed.

Anyways, came to know that a bulk of the diaspora works in places such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, some on H1B, some doctors, etc...in short, true to our image, a very knowledge centric crowd. Great! Really, to think how well we are doing for ourselves across the globe...Just that we have to be serious about organizing very professional events. I heard that some organizations are doing good work in propagating the India image here. Guess smaller states such as South Carolina are largely untouched..

We returned by about 9 PM - some 13-15 miles away to Windsor Shores and then to Forest Drive...crashed on our beds...Viva L'Inde! Jai Hind!!

Ahoy Columbia!

This is my first week at work in the US. I am thoroughly enjoying Columbia, SC. Currently put up at a small acco near Fort Jackson, my workplace is some 15 miles from there, on the I-77. And truly, now I know what I had been missing all this while - working at the headquarters of my company, working with the bunch who get the bacon home.

Ah well, South Carolina is a pretty state It has its share of history and has contributed to the world of music - James Brown, Dizzy Gillespie come from South Carolina. Living is expensive though - from living and commuting standpoint. An apartment in the Irving/Austin area costs $500-$600 pm while here, its $600 plus. Also, like in most of America's smaller towns, there is no public transport...but that is fine..after all, its an experience working here and a rather good one.

I would now start writing about specific experiences of my life at Columbia, and hopefully add pics too....

kreative -ity

If there ever was a contest in our clan on who is the most creative of the lot, it will be Pallav. Please draw, scan and upload your "Coconut Man" cartoons.

Coconut man with his distinct head has major scope, brilliant work sir!

How to survive 4 years in a comfort zone...

Whew...hard to believe that I have completed four years with my current company, having had worked in 4 organizations in my first 4 years as a professional. To think that I started off my innings here with no focus whatsoever, today I am blissfully wedded for more than 4 years, leading a fairly comfortable life in a small provincial town, working in a global organization that is growing exponentially across India as a manager with responsibilities and lots of expectations..one doesn't quite realize how difficult it gets to get out of such complacence until one is made to leave the city or the way of life..for now, such an unsettling moment seems to be dawning on our lives as we prepare to leave for US for sometime. Suddenly, one is filled with anxiety and excitement - of life without the comfort of a spacious house, servants, short distances to office, "desi" lifestyle - to a more organized and faster life, of living almost 12 hours behind your usual timezone..more so when you are taking your loved one along and have to think of her life too in a strange land..reminds me of The Namesake (the movie more than the book)..I think its gotta be a good experience. I guess I would like to consider this as an auspicious moment to resume blogging...

Birthday party at Ajaybhai's place

Met the Bhatnagar couple last night at Ajay Bhai's place (occasion - little Sania's 7th birthday) and we discussed how well the musical night went on 25th November. He's promised me a cassette of the recording (I plan to take their CD and convert it into mp3)...seems it went off well..well, I sang the same number last night too and my inhibitions have (surprises me too!) gone down to a large extent..but it was a great event and I thanked Dr Bhatnagar for making that event happen..well, thankfully for the presence of Vicky and Betu, the party was fun - we even had some dances thrown in in good measure(Gudiya, Betu and Vicky danced over Beedi Jalai le - then there was this crazy chaotic dance where all the fat ladies and the not-so-fat men jumped in)...some event..wish I could start adding pics too and make this a better blog!..

Painkiller

Just installed Painkiller and played it for the first time - whew! reminded me of Doom, Sanitarium and Diablo2 - with the same dark, gothic look. What really hooked me on was the simplicity and ease of play and the pace - it could scare the living daylights out of anyone and I was playing it in total darkness...a good thing (perhaps a bad thing too) is the gothic industrial metal rock that starts playing everytime a horde of zombies or those skeleton men emerge from tombs in the Cemetary.It, fortunately, doesn't make it that scary..Perhaps what could actually be scary would be a scratchy recording of a turn of the 19th Century recording...I don't know why they don't use that kind of music in horror games, but it can actually scare anyone (remember Mars Attacks!!..:-))...poor Mr Garner (protagonist in the game)...actually, I think hell is closer than we all think - we do not need to subject ourselves to this imagination...keep reading in the newspapers how badly many hostages get tortured before they are killed in Baghdad of today...and then when one sees pictures of holocaust victims...heaven and hell are all around us - its just our karma that decides when we assume the place of the victim and when that of a predator, or an onlooker...whatever...jeez...I am sleepy I think....Painkiller..woow..!!!....too much of gaming today C&C Renegade..then this..

Amma, Ramana Maharishi, Paramhansa Yogananda

This seems like the best time to start blogging again - and I have resolved for the umpteenth time to continue blogging. Today, Swami Tapasyamrita Chaitanya arrived at our place - we went to pick him up from the station at around 5 - 5.30AM... a lot has happened between today and the last time I blogged - Amma came to Indore and went; Shveta, Swami Tapasyamrita, Br. Krishna and a lot many devotees and wellwishers helped make Amma's visit a possibility,Shveta's mom had a minor heart-attack and recovered, ma came to Indore and went, a lot of change happened at the workplace...I and Shveta decided to buy some property too (wow, we sure are going places!)... And now Tapasyamrita swamiji is back to help set up a school here. Swamiji got us a few interesting CDs and literature... The most interesting one was a film on Ramana Maharishi - a compilation of all the movie files shot of the great saint and soul. The movie starts with a 1935 clipping of Ramana Maharishi sitting in a chair, with a disciple standing next to him and Paramhansa Yogananda to his right, along with a westerner - Yoganandaji shaking hands with the westerner while Ramana Maharishi looking at the camera, leg folded, wearing nothing but a tiny loin-cloth. I never thought I would get to see the moving pictures of these realised souls - the movie then goes on to show a somewhat similar ritual - of swamiji (Ramana Maharishi) leaving his ashram for (possibly) a parikrama of the Mt Arunachala and returning back..repeated again and again - through short clips taken by various movie makers in the span of some 15 years. The movie ends with the Government of India newsreel of 1950 showing the Mahasamadhi of Ramana Maharishi. what struck me was the austere and yet so powerful figure of the Maharishi - always wearing nothing more than a loin-cloth, walking down the lanes of the ashram with devotees prostrating on the way...the movie doesn't capture anything of the guru except for his walks, an occassional close-up, affectionately patting a baby, or a cow...
We got to talk a lot today on various things - on the movie, on Lalithasahasranama, Sri Vidya, Amma's visit to the Yogoda Satsanga Society Ashram at Ranchi. It was very interesting. We also got to listen to a rendition of Aum Amriteshwariyae Namah by one Kathy, which was quite quite good - swamji has got a few CDs this time the way he got a few last time...we are truly blessed...I guess I would now start reading Ramana Maharishi's works and Autobiography of a Yogi...I am truly illiterate on this front.:-((

Trip to Delhi - Part 1

This is the sequel to Bapa's cataract operation. I reached Delhi on Monday night - was a little pissed off with Putun. But found Putun quite sorry and that kindda brought me back to the kid-brother role that I and Nilu continue to essay. Shveta had visited the fairground earlier that day and was not very happy with the way things were managed by the MP Pavilion staff. The most interesting part of the trip was my alighting out of Shatabdi train at 10PM, carrying a suitcase and a very heavy duffelbag. I managed to drag myself up the overbridge to the Paharganj side of New Delhi station and with a couple of breaks and huffs and puffs reached the far end of the bridge when I was accosted by a couple of Taxi and AutoRickshaw drivers (not to mention the coolies who thought I was doing a grave sin carrying my own goods). While getting down the bridge and shooing away the drivers (not a good idea!) I fell down a couple of steps with the bags on top of me!...Couldn't help mutter a few of the choicest Hindi swear words at the Taxi driver who continued nonchalantly - "Sirji aap gaali de rahe hain?" ("Sirji, you're swearing at me?"). I was furious - about to blow my top - and then gave up and agreed to go with him for 80 bucks! (What a rip off!!).
Delhi looks pretty cool now - especially during cold, not-foggy November nights. Very soon, it would be cut off from the rest of the country and perhaps the world as it would be covered with thick smog through the rest of winter. But the best part is the cutting down of pollution - better traffic rules and hopefully better civic sense.
That bit of an episode at the New Delhi Railway station became a nice ice-breaker when I entered our home. The dogs Chaman and Godot had their coats trimmed and Putun continued playing them while talking (what is new? - Putun, hope you get to read this!) and laughing. Saw some TV (news mostly - Abu Salem, the dancing IG and his distraught wife, what else?)
Bapa came slightly later - he had collected his new specs (wth the right glass changed to a plain one) and I put the 5 eye-drops (still remember the names - Pedrone, Moxicip, Tobrine, Refresh Liquigel and Optilac) before going off to sleep. The two femme fatales of the house kept asking questions about our visit to Bhopal, etc. Don't remember much - guess was feeling groggy...

More later...watch this space!

Bapa's Cataract Operation

The last week saw me and Shveta in Delhi. Bapa had his cataract operation on the 12th - at Dr Ajwani's Hospital on Berasia Road. Dr Ajay Goenka and Shukla Uncle were there, besides me and Shveta. Bapa kept talking about death - how uncertain life is, etc (I really thank God Ma was not around), his classic quote of the day was "Just when I was wishing to see less and less, I would be made to see things more 'clearly', with a new lens!". Bah! Bapa is just 56. A lot of people start a new innings in their lives at that age. Col Nambiar started off the Leela Hotel chain at that age, my father-in-law came down to Bhopal at that age, etc. Anyways, we travelled by Indica that morning and reached the Indore Travels office on Hamidia Road. Bapa came in about 10-15 mins there, picking us up as we all went to Berasia Road. When we reached Berasia Road, we found Dr Goenka and Shukla Uncle there (the room was no. 6)...there, as we talked Bapa started off with how delicate our body organs are - and were joined by Shukla uncle and Dr Goenka who went into the technical details (Aquasumer, cornea, etc were the most important keywords here)...then the talk about death (that I mentioned earlier in this blog). Dr Ajwani also joined the team, with his wife (a jovial, plump sindhi lady who works as his assistant)
The operation lasted about an hour - the real thing took only 20 mins while the rest was preparation - cleaning up and readying the instruments and giving the anaesthesia. Bapa came out of the OT with a bandage on one eye - (I forgot to add one thing - during the operation, Ma and Putun called just to say how pissed off they were for having been informed just a day before that Bapa would be going for his operation to Bhopal. We also came down on Bapa - telling him never to do such a thing since a surgical operation is a surgical operation). Dr Shukla, I suppose is a chain smoker these days - during the operation, he went out twice to smoke. During the operation, I generally inquired about Meetu and Vaibhav - Meetu is working with Airtel these days, stationed at Indore. Dr Shukla said he is contemplating about moving to Indore, as a director/faculty of Aurobindo Medical Institute there. The only thing that is stopping him is his aversion to relocation. But then, his son is there and he doesn't have much to do at Bhopal in any case.
We then moved back to the IAS Officer's guest house at Char Imli where Bapa was to take rest. He kept telling everyone, with his typical child like enthusiasm and innocence, that he looks like Gen Moshe Dayan of Israeli army:). However, the sedatives did the trick and he dosed off. Shveta went to her parents place while I stayed on. In the evening, Prof Biswas, Madhuree nani and Bonnie came with some food for them. Shveta also joined with her parents. In the evening, we had also gone to Dr Ajwani's place - what a palatial place they've got at Arera Colony. A great Labrador and 2 hijas the size of trunk a piece!! By 8-8.30, I dropped Shveta at the Bhopal station as she had to go to Delhi and then we moved, at Qayyum miyan's request, to Noor-Us-Sabah. What had to ensue thereafter, was obvious. Bapa had his santula and bland dishes prepared by the Biswases while I hogged on mughlai cuisines, all through till Monday.
Sunday morning saw both of us go to Dr Ajwani's place for cleaning up the bandage etc. He was already under medication the night before and the morning had him take a painkiller (which he had with a bowlful of corn-flakes). All through the journey, he was feeling quite restless and thirsty. The moment the bandage was removed, he was sweating profusely and shaking. We immediately had a BP taken and the BP was an astonishing 150/105!! Oh I forgot to add- we had the usual lackeys Neeraj Pandey, Saraswat and Verma babu waiting for us at Ajwanis' place. Dr Ajwani himself was off to Katni that day. All the more reason for all of us to be terrified. Bapa was made to lie down there and we all (Ms Ajwani, Neeraj, Saraswat and Verma) rushed to Mukesh Bhargav's place which is a stone's throw away. Mukesh Bhargav came and checked to find the BP come down to 138/84 and maintained that this was because of vasovegic (or some similar sounding word) shock, which is a routine thing. We then went to MB's clinic to get an ECG and it came normal. We then went to Mr Sancheti's place, and then to Surana's place (trust Bapa to do that - in 99.99% cases, the patient would take rest after an operation - not Bapa). I left Bapa at Surana's place and came back to the hotel where I had some good food. The evening saw Shveta's parents and Prof Biswas and co. come again. That day, after Bapa's returning from Surana's, we removed the bandage and put the 5 eye-drops, as per the medical prescription. Bapa has been since wearing Neeraj Pandey's hand-me-down shades.
Monday morning saw us at Dr Ajwanis' place for breakfast.From there he went to Dr Goenka's place, from where he went to OP Rawat's place for lunch!!! Thank God Ma was not around - he could manage to roam around so freely only because I was around and I cannot boss over him! I went back to the hotel where I was to have my lunch and then leave by Shatabdi for Delhi. Bapa must have met all his lackeys that day since he left by 7PM....But hats off to Bonnie - she came to Noor Us Sabah on Monday after I left to take care of Bapa.

Diwali @ Ajay Bhai's place

Well, well...our first Diwali celebrations at Indore did not turn out to be what it should have been - Shveta down with cold fever (and with me catching up with her on that front)..the morning of 1st saw both of us waking up with headaches. After downing a few tablets of Citzen and Nimulid, both of us got into decorating the house. Shveta beautifully adorned the floor with tiny foot-step designs symbolizing the walking in of Goddess Lakshmi into the house...then we filled in the tiny Diyas and other earthen lamps with oil and wicks and lit them, placing them at our door-steps and puja-room. Shveta then did pooja and I joined her - we used a large Cadbury chocolate bar as the "prashad"!!!!..:)

After the pooja, we lazed around for some more time - I was at the computer listening to some music - the blasted thing keeps hanging every 10 minutes and makes me resolve all the more to get a new machine.

By evening 7-ish, we went to Ajay Bhai's place - attended their pooja, ate some gujiyas, halwa, ladoos and anaarsaas. All the menfolk, except Ajay Bhai's father, were in Kurta-salwars while the ladies were decked up in her best saris and jewellery (for some mysterious inexplicable reason, I did not take any picture!!!....:-((...why am I such a duh!!??!!)...we then had a meal of puri-aloo and jimmykand and then left for the bank to get some moolah and some pans etc. After buying the pans, we took a detour and went to our old pad - Royal Palace - and met the Saihgals, and the Khatwanis. The lady-surd had her sister visiting her from Delhi and both had an uncannily similar voice (I really pity the rest of the bunch there)....they were all missing Shveta this Diwali, apparently..wish they showed all that love a tad more when we stayed in that condo.

We then returned back to Ajay Bhai's place for the crackers party and boy o boy, what an evening it was - must have continued way beyond 11.30PM when we bid them goodbye - some Rs 100000 must have been put into bangs, sparks and smoke last night - a huge duffel bag was fished out, jam-packed with all kinds of crackers - sparklers, rockets, whistles, all kinds of bombs. And Mr Qazi, the "bomber man" was blowing them as if he were a veteran - tying up those big bombs into big bundles and putting them under tin cans or pots and lighting them - rocking the entire block! Then you had those 5000 stick chain bombs that would be more of nuisance to all the residents of the block - incessantly rocking the place with chitty-chitty - bang-bang sounds...siren-bombs that would make whistling sounds and shoot away everywhere in all directions....there was hardly anything for the kids - all of them were holding those harmless sparklers....

The guests of honor were the Bhatnagars with the daughter Nikita, the Mishras (the neighbors) with some of their guests, and the surprise man was Ajay Bagadiya...

Soon after all that, we left for home. I got back to work and Shveta went to sleep....the girl would be off to Delhi from 3rd through 6th. Already missing her...

Enough for the day...back to my reports....god!!..