House to Home

Finally my house has become home.
I should thank my parents for coming and staying with me.
I am now eating all good Indian dishes and I am sure that I have already put on 3 pounds!!!

So far my parents are enjoying their stay and I am waiting to take them out...
Just 12 more days and my school gets over.. Can’t believe that the Fall semester has come to an end so quickly... But no complaints that it is getting over ;)

A new way of sending e-mails

NowPos, a company based in Hyderabad, India has come up with the idea of sending voice e-mails. They are going to launch this product in the market in 3 weeks.

Using voice e-mail, people can record the message and send it to others along with textual messages. Only the sender will need to register with NowPos and not the recipient.

Voice messages up to 3 minutes can be recorded and sent. They are using AJAX technology so that users can customize their pages and inbox.

India is definetly keeping pace with the growing competition in the field of Information Technology!!

Lemon Rice - Indian Delicacy

I made Lemon Rice for the first time.. Thanks to my friend's mom who gave me a easy and wonderful recipe, it came out really well..

I am sharing this recipe: Sob Sob!! Not a secret anymore

In pan put oil, mustard, kadalai parupu (channa dhal), curry leaves, red chilly (1) and green chilly (1). Wait till the kadala parupu turns golden brown, and then remove from the fire.

In the mean time squeeze lime, take the juice.. (For one cup of uncooked rice, use 1/2 lemon). Add salt and turmeric powder to the juice.

Add this juice to the fried mixture. Then add boiled rice to it and mix well.

Garnish with coriander and serve hot!!

This is simple to make and tastes real good.

Happy cooking!

I guess we over prayed for rains!!

Flood scene in B'lore

Bangalore is flooded.. People are stuck in their offices and homes.

Heard that it has been raining like crazy in Chennai..

What is happening???

Trichy, Srirangam and other southern parts of Tamil Nadu are flooded. Heard that there is upto 4 feet of water at certain places!!

Last year people were cursing the Rain God for there was scarcity of water in Chennai.. I am sure they are now cursing Him again.

Curry and Rice Girl

Check this out : http://www.viknluda.com/foe/video/

It is all about how guys and their parents look out for gals in the matrimonial web sites..

It is funny!!

Men change and Women don't

I guess the problem in most of the relationships is that men tend to change and expect the women folks to understand that whereas women expect things to remain the same..

Who is wrong??

Women who are generally emotional take things to heart and men who are mostly non-senti keep wondering why the hell do females keep complaining that men aren’t empathetic.

What men don't understand is that every woman wants a shoulder to lean on and a hand to pat on their back. They want someone to tell them that things are going to be fine and that they are not alone.. Women tend to feel insecure most of the times and they expect their men to keep reassuring them that they are never going to be alone.

If only men understand this and women try to be not so emotionally attached, most of the relationships would work out!!!

By the way, this is just my view based on my limited understanding of men and women ;)

55 words story

Could all this be true? he asked himself. It wasn’t long since he fell in love with this girl who was his direct opposite. She also liked him. She told him that both of them will have to make compromises. He agreed. Then came the day when they got married and soon realized that she was a dictator :)

I wrote this story coz I was tagged by my wonderful friend!

Hey Sid, here is my 55 rather 58 words story and guess what, I am tagging you back!!
I am sure u just love it ;)

How NOT to work on the Server!!

Yesterday was an amazing day.

I had to fix up some stuff related to the Retrospect Software (Used for backup) at Work.
I remotely logged on to one of the servers and I was trying to fix things up.
I then enabled the firewall and forgot to set the exceptions. This disabled remote connections to that server!!

I thought that it would be easy to set it right.

But I found out that the server doesn't have a monitor or a keyboard connected to it.

It is not too much of a task to connect the monitor/keyboard. But it is very adventurous and thrilling if you have to climb up a book shelf, get on to the loft to connect the monitor and keyboard to the processor, sit on the edge of the rack and disable the firewall!! That's exactly what I did yesterday..

That is me on top of the rack, my friend Michelle holding the Monitor and to my left on the Loft is the Server!!!

Hurricane Rita: A nightmare which turned out to be a breeze!!

Source: wikipedia

There was panic everywhere in the southern region of Texas. It was predicted that Rita was going to hit Houston on Friday (Sep 23rd) night.

The whole city of Houston which is the third populoust city in the US, was asked to evacuate.

There was traffic everywhere and a lot of cars ran out of gas.
The airport was flooded with people and everyone wanted to get the hell out of Houston.

Normally it takes about 2 and half hours to get to Austin from Houston. People drove for 11 hours and still they dint get to Austin!!

Due to the mad rush of vehicles getting out of Houston, cars were moving at less than a mile an hour. It took 12 hours to travel some 40 miles.

My school which is College Station, 90 miles from Houston was closed on Friday!!! I enjoyed coz i had one extra day off. But finally what happened, there wasn't even a storm. In College Station we din't even have any strong winds. People here were so panicked and started buying stuff that Sam's Club and Wal-Mart ran out of water!!

Probably there was so much tension because it hasn't been too long since Katrina destroyed the entire city of New Orleans.

What is happening to this world? Natural disasters evrywhere!!

Interesting Facts (A little silly though!!)

• The first kind of pencil was a bunch of graphite sticks held together by string. Then someone decided it would be better to push the graphite into the inside of a hollow wooden stick. Joseph Rechendorfer was the first person to think of putting a piece of rubber onto the top of a pencil which makes it real easy to rub out mistakes.

• The average lead pencil can draw a line that is almost 35 miles long or you can write almost 50,000 words in English with just one pencil

• The alarm clock was not invented by the Marquis de Sade, as some suspect, but rather by a man named Levi Hutchins of Concord, New Hampshire, in 1787. Perversity, though, characterized his invention from the beginning. The alarm on his clock could ring only at 4 am. Rumor has it that Hutchins was murdered by his wife at 4:05 am

• “Fan” is an abbreviation for the word “fanatic”. Toward the turn of the 19th century, various media referred to football enthusiasts first as “football fanatics”, and later as a “football fan”

• There are only four words in the English language which end in “-dous”: tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous

• Los Angeles’ full name is “El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reinade los Angeles de Porciuncula”

Rise and rise.. Will it ever come down??

Gas prices are shooting up like crazy.
Everyday as I pass the Shell Gas Station, I make it a point to look at the gas price.
For the past 10 days or so, it hasn’t gone below $2.89/gallon for regular gasoline.

In Boston, the gas price some 2 days back was around $3.25. At this rate, people will start using their bikes (cycles) or resort to the cheapest & oldest means of transportation (by foot)

Due to the price hike in gas, even the airlines and other means of transportation have increased their rates. This is becoming a major problem bcoz not many people can afford these prices.

I hope the gas prices will come down soon. I guess the rise in prices is mainly due to the damage caused by Katrina.

Hopefully everything will get back to normal in due course of time.

Feeling Just Great!!

Things cannot get better than this... I finally got an assistantship!! Hurray :)
It feels soooo good. I have started working already. Classes have begun and my schedule is pretty hectic. I sometimes feel like I have been hit by a truck!
But I am sure that I am going to get used to all this work and bustling around.

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Indian Restaurants

There are so many of Indian eat outs at Houston and at Austin. Unfortunately there is only one at College Station and it is very bad. So none of us venture going to that place.

I guess the US is now so populated with Indians that there aren’t many states which don’t have Indian Khana places.

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Friday Nights

College Station is a university town. So Friday nights are generally chill out times. There is this place called Northgate where you have lots of pubs and clubs. This place doesn’t have discs but it is a very nice place to hang out with friends.

There is this place called Martini where on Fridays you have Salsa dancing. There are a lot of country clubs and live music. It is very different from the usual. It is pretty good.


SO FAR SO GOOD!!!

California, a must see

One week at this bright and beautiful state of California was extremely refreshing. I had home made food, got pampered and bought a lot of stuff with my sister's credit card!! Life cannot get better ;) I am sure that my sister wouldn't be saying the same thing after seeing her credit card bill for the month..

We went to San Francisco and it was awesome. It was a little chilly but very nice. We had lunch at this Indian restaurant called Shalimmar. It was really tasty and spicy... Thinking about it makes me want to get back. Then we went to Pier 39 and had lots of fun. It was the Indonesian Day, so we could see a lot of their traditional dance and other stuff. I took loads and loads of pics, unfortunately all using my cell phone camera. My Brother-in-law was smart enough to get the digi cam but forgot to charge the batteries!!

Golden Gate was amazing. This bridge was constructed in just 4 years (1934-1938) and after reading the figures I was all praises for the engineers who built it.

Pizzas at Californai Pizza Kitchen (CPK) were superb. Although we were kind of oddly dressed for this place after some 5 hours of rigorous shopping, it was a lot of fun.

I haven’t seen much of CA. I guess I will go there sometime again to get satisfied and enthralled by all the things that this wonderful state has to showcase!!

Texas A&M, College Station

Having stayed in College Station for 3 weeks, I have learnt a lot. I was always under the impression that I could never manage things on my own. Surprisingly, I have done pretty well.

TAMU has the largest campus in the whole of US. It is really big. The buildings here are mostly 9-10 floors. The place is awesome. I actually thought that Texas was going to be one dry place. I was totally wrong. There are a lot of trees and greenery here. This place is beautiful.

I am on a hectic aid search. Hopefully I will find some sort of assistantship before the start of the Fall semester. Let’s see what happens!!

Four years of BE, waste of time??

At the end of four years of under graduation in the field of computer science, I have my doubts of how much I have learnt.

What we learn at colleges in India is simply theoretical. Though we have practical sessions, lab work etc we don’t learn much. Most of us used to copy and paste the codes and get the records signed.

The Profs want to finish the syllabus and get their work done. They don’t care about the student's learning process.
The students are also to be equally blamed. When given assignments, what we usually do is copy paragraphs from the books, fill up pages and submit them. We do this coz we know that the professors don’t care a damn about what we write.

I know I am cribbing about something I enjoyed for 4 years, but it is just that I now feel that I should have worked harder and taken things more seriously.

Hopefully in the years to come the Indian education system will change and concentrate more on practical training and actual learning.

My new home!!

July 17 2005, one of the most memorable days of my life, the day I landed at this wonderful place called the United States of America.

It was so amazing and exciting to be at a completely new place and to be surrounded by people whom you don’t know. In the beginning I was a little apprehensive, but I had a friend who kept reassuring me and helped me to drive out every bit of fear I had. I owe it to him. Thank you Sidharth!

The flight from Madras to Houston was 24 hours, it was the most tiring day of my entire life. I had food at odd times, slept when I should actually be eating and had to stay sitting for a real long time. But all this trouble was worth getting to the destination. That’s what really matters.

I am kind of getting settled at Texas A&M now. Probably in a week or two, I should be completely fine with this new home. Although I miss mom's cooking, home, noise et all, I guess one has to make compromises to gain something.

Men and sports:

Every guy is a sports freak. Be it cricket, baseball, basketball, football, tennis, soccer or any other game, there are more male fans than females.

Most of the guys watch only sports on TV. According to them, being a sports lover is all about manliness.

A friend of mine one day called his girlfriend and told her that he dreamt about her. The girl was soo excited and asked him about the dream. He then told her that he dreamt about her in a baseball costume and that she was the pitcher and he was in the center field!! She was taken aback for a min. I think that the girl should have expected the dream to be some romantic walk on the beach or a candle light dinner..

I think that for majority of the guys, their entire world revolves around sports.

I have a friend who is a major sports fan. He was telling his girlfriend a list of 10 romantic things to do. In that list, watching a Boston Redsox game was numbered 5. Can u believe it??? But luckily his girlfriend is crazy about him and so she also found it romantic as long as it was with him.. ;)

I guess sports and guys go hand in hand!! Actually it is a lot of fun to watch a game with a lot of people. Guys have a lot of energy and enthusiasm. I am sure that as long as you are with the right person/gang, anything can be fun :)

US State Laws:

California:

Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship.

No vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 miles per hour.

Florida:

It is illegal to skateboard without a license.

It is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit.

Michigan:

A woman isn't allowed to cut her own hair without her husband's permission.

It is legal for a robber to file a lawsuit, if he or she got hurt in your house.

Texas:

It is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing.

A recently passed anticrime law requires criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed.


There are soo many dumb state laws that I don’t have space and patience to write them all!!

Three things ;)

3 things that women can't live without:

- jewelry/clothes (expensive)/shoes
- praises from the loved one, no matter whether they are true or not
- gossip, we have to know what is happening

3 things that men can't live without:

it is very simple, they don't have too many demands!!

- food
- sports
- sex

Present day politics

When you don’t know what you're talking about, it's hard to know when you're finished
-Tommy Smothers

I looked up the word politics into he dictionary. It’s actually a combination of two words: poli, which means many, and tics, which means bloodsuckers
-Jay Leno

We will always have death and taxes, but death doesn’t get worse every year
-Tim Borten

I guess today's politics has many bloodsuckers who don’t know what they are talking about most of the times. It has become the last resort to criminals.

In India, the basic qualification to become a politician:

Should have a maximum education of 6th grade
Should have been to prison at least thrice
Capability to talk a lot of nonsense
Point fingers at others to gain supremacy
The most important being the ability to swindle money and still escape jury

If ruling a country requires people with such qualifications, imagine the state of the nation. Is it that our country lacks able ministers and politicians?? I guess most of the wise people think that politics is a ditch filled with garbage and so never come near it!!

I personally, will not want to vote. I don’t see any point in electing someone from a group of scoundrels whose ultimate aim is to make MONEY.

Fav moments

Some of the small things we would cherish in life..

To laugh until our stomach hurts

To wake up and realize that it is possible to sleep for some more time

The last 5 min of the final exam

Unexpected calls at night that last for hours

To see an old friend after years and feel that things haven't changed

To hear a song that makes u remember a special person

To have somebody who tells you that he/she misses u like crazy

To walk into an empty house and be surprised to see it packed with your friends on your b'day

The long awaited proposal at the banks of the Charles River

When that special person calls in spite of their busy schedule and he/she tells u that we can talk for 5 more mins

A million $ question

I am writing about marriages after reading a fellow blogger's post and after realizing that my sister just completed her first month of married life!!

I have always wondered if it is possible to choose a person with whom u are going to spend the rest of your life, in a matter of few days or weeks.. May be for some this seems very plausible but I still wonder..

A few phone conversations and meetings cannot be the grounds on which one decides to get married to the other.

Love vs. Arranged marriages:

Each has its own advantages and disadvantages..

Love marriages are becoming very common these days.Everyone seems to be in a steady relationship but do they all end up in Holy Matrimony??? I doubt that.. One thing which most of us forget is, when our parents have brought us up for say 23-25 years, wouldn’t they know what is best for us?? It is not like they would want us to marry someone blind folded or force anything on us.

My sister had an arranged marriage, but they decided on getting married only after some 10 months of getting to know each other.But the initial introduction and exchange of horoscopes was done by my parents.. Do u call this an arranged marriage or a love marriage?? Both my parents and my b-in-law’s parents are very happy and proud of them..

Love is not something very difficult to explain. It is trust with understanding and care for each other. I do know a lot of successful love marriages and quite a many arranged marriages that have failed.

Personally I don’t know what kind of marriage I will have.Will I meet the right guy, even if I do will I realize that?? I guess I will find answers to these questions in the near future!!!

Easy to loose ;)

It is not very difficult to loose someone u love.. but it is very difficult to get someone who truly loves u ..

In case u want to get rid of someone who is determined to get u, here are some sweet things to tell him/her ;)

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's empty and so is your head.

Of loving beauty you float with grace
If only you could hide your face

Kind, intelligent, loving and hot
This describes everything you're not

I love your smile, your face, and your eyes
Damn, I'm good at telling lies!

What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts vodka with one part lime

I see your face when I am dreaming
That's why I always wake up screaming

My feelings for you no words can tell
Except for maybe "go to hell"..

Good luck with loosing that someone!! (hope i dont get killed by the victim)

The man who deserves admiration

Boris Becker was born on Nov 22, 1967. He was 17 years old when he won the most sought after title, " The Wimbledon championship"..

It was in the year 1985 (I was about 3 years old, man too young to notice how cute he was!!) when this unseeded player won the title.. This was the first time in history when a lad so young, without much experience from the rural town of Leimen, Germany managed to bag the Wimbledon cup!!

Not only was he the youngest male to win Wimbledon but also the first German to win this prestigious cup..
He beat Kevin Curren (6-3,6-7,7-6,6-4) to become the most talked about personality in the history of Tennis.

He won the Wimbledon 3 times (1985,1986 and 1989). He has won six grand slam titles.
I still remember one match during the U.S Open when he got a pair of glasses from the spectators and gave it to the umpire, coz he thought that "the out call" was not right!!

Becker was known for his short temper.. He truly is a guy who deserves all our admiration (if not for his game at least for his good looks ;) ). By the way I always thought that Steffi and Becker made a cute pair.. Sad that it dint happen that way!! ;)

Too much??

When we have an over dosage of things, we get bugged of them irrespective of how interesting they were initially.. This is human nature.. But sometimes there are exceptions too..

Here is an example.. Mariah Carey's new release "We belong together" is being played at each and every radio station.. My friend keeps humming this song every 5 min.. He talks for 5 min and then begins to hum this song.. I went through this torture for 3 hours.. Now I kind of hate this song.. U might think I hate the song because of my friend's voice, which is partly true ;) but also because of listening to it over and over again!!.

Exceptions.. Two songs which I never get bugged off even if I hear it for the billionth time, Californication (RHCP) and Frozen (Madonna).. I don’t know why, but I guess I am in love with these two songs for eternity...

Choices in life

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;
though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same, .............

-Robert Frost

Every day each of us has choices to choose from.. The fact we sometimes fail to realize is that our tomorrow depends on the decision we make today!!

This poem "The road not taken" by Robert Frost is my all time favorite. I think it makes a lot of sense. Most of us at one point of time or the other, feel that we should have taken the other choice when we had to make a decision..
We tend to forget that we are what we are today not only because of the choice we made earlier but also because of the way we carried out the tasks in the chosen path.
It is not possible to know the future but at least we can predict it to a certain extent.

Today I am starting my own blog space. Thanks to Sid, I have started blogging!!!