Tamilzh Pasanga (Tamil Boys)

Thanks to my friend who shared this video with moi!

No longer a Virgin

I lost my Snow Virginity last Wednesday! We had 1-3" snow around the Cincy area. When I woke up in the morning, it was all white and beautiful. I sat down near my French window sipping a cup of hot coffee and admiring the beauty of whiteness!

(Apologies for the picture - too cold to go outside to take the pic)

Then came the time when I had to drive to work.. I walked outside and my car was covered in 2" of snow. I started the tedious job of clearing snow, surprisingly it was not half as bad as I thought it would be! The only stupid thing I did was initially when I was pushing snow off my car roof, I stood too close to the car and had a nice snow shower :)

Am I Cynophobic?

For some reason I had an affinity towards animals when I was a kid. Usually kids my age used to be scared of going near them but I used to look forward to meeting my animal friends!

I should have been about 5-6 years and I used to love watching an elephant making its evening rounds on my street. If I remember right, the elephant and its mahout used to come by on weekends for close to a year. They used to stand in front of my house and I used to run to the gate to give the elephant a banana. My sister, being the timid one, used to stand near the door and watch me feed the elephant.

My other friend was the cow which used to come to our house every morning (5 am) with its master to milk. We used to get fresh milk and most of the days I used to get up and used to feed the cow.

Picture source: msnbc.com

Now I go no where near animals. For some reason I have grown to be really scared of dogs (cynophobia). Although as a kid I always wanted to get a dog, now I stay 10 feet away from them! I am not sure if it was a dog chasing incident when I was in 6^th grade which made me fear the species or something else.

Can you udnertsnad?

I funod smoehtnig vrey itnesreitng and shcoknigly ture!

Wnat to konw waht I am tlkanig auobt? Ciclk hree

Through My Eyes

This past couple of weeks, I turned into a complete movie buff! I watched so many new and old movies that it kind of got difficult to keep track!! So here are few of my reviews..

Bourne Ultimatum:

Cast - Matt Damon as Bourne, Julia Stiles as Nicky and others.

An amazing movie with great stunts and cinematography. The movie starts of with Jason Bourne being chased in Russia and someone in Spain trying to get information on the true identity of Bourne. A journalist in London has the information and publishes in the newspaper that he has details on Bourne’s identity. As expected, the journalist is murdered even though Bourne tries to save him. The scene at the Waterloo train station is very engaging! I loved the chase sequence at Morocco. It was very well taken. On the whole this movie is definitely worth the watch!

No Reservations:

Cast - Catherine Zeta-Jones as Kate, Aaron Eckhart as Nick and Abigail Breslin as Zoe

If you have watched Chini Kum starring Amitabh Bachan and Tabu, the role of Catherine (Kate) is almost the same as Big B, the arrogant but excellent chef. Kate is an excellent chef with a bad temper. She has a sister and no friends. One day, her sister and her niece meet with an accident and her sister dies. Kate brings home her niece, Zoe. In the meanwhile, to keep the restaurant running, the owner hires the new chef Nick. The rest of the movie is about how Kate deals with the situation and what happens between Kate and Nick. Not exactly a chick flick but don’t watch it with great expectations.

Sathampodathey:

Cast - Prithviraj as Ravichadran, Padmapriya as Bhanu and Nithin Sathya as Rathnavel

The movie starts of with Bhanu getting married to Rathnavel who works for the Railways in Chennai. Soon the couple discovers that Rathnavel is impotent. Bhanu believes Rathnavel did not know about his disability and decides to give her marriage a second chance by adopting a child in spite of her family asking her to divorce Rathnavel.

One day Bhanu discovers that Rathnavel is a recovering alcoholic and that he was very much aware of his impotency before their marriage. Shocked by the truth, she decides to get divorced and returns home. Bhanu then meets Ravichandran and gets married to him. What happens between Bhanu, Ravichandran and Rathnavel forms the second half of the movie. Worth the watch if you have time to kill!

Small things

I remember the times when I was a kid, my parents, sis and I used to sit and watch Just for Laughs on TV.. Those simple times are memories to cherish!




Never get bored of them - even now :)

Don't forget your muscles at work!

Picture source: fitness.com

How many times have you felt really tired and worn out at work? An easy solution to that is to do some simple stretches.. Don’t worry these stretches are not going to look odd to your co-workers!

If your work involves sitting in front of a computer screen, the first thing which you should do every 2-3 hours is eye relaxation exercise. Close your eyes and move your eye balls up and down (3 times) then side to side (3 times). Once you do that, rotate the eye balls in clockwise direction (5 times) and then in anti-clockwise direction (5 times).

To relax your shoulder, hold one arm straight in front of you. Then use your other hand to bring the stretched arm to the opposite shoulder.

To loosen your chest, top of shoulder and lower arms, try this:

Make circles (clockwise and anti-clockwise) with your ankles and wrists.

Stand up, bend forward and try to touch your toes without bending your knees. If that is difficult for you, give a slight bend at your knees.

You can also do the same stretch seated.

To relax your neck muscles, move your neck very slowly up and down (3 times) and side to side (3 times). Then very carefully rotate your neck clockwise and then anticlockwise 3 times each.

This 10 minutes that you spend on relaxing your muscles will help you loosen up and feel better!

How many times a month?

Off late I have been super lazy to do anything.. When I come back from work, I watch TV, speak on the phone, eat and then sleep. This has been my weekday schedule for more than a month.. Probably the fact that I cannot access Gmail or blogger from work is one of the reasons for my sabbatical!!

Picture source: cartoonstock.com

Anyways, I got to thinking as to how many times in a month do we buy something online? I buy a minimum of 5 items online each month from electronics to chocolates! So on an average I spend about $150 on online purchases. There are a lot of websites which offer deals and discount coupons. But couponsChief is one which I use the most. You can find most of the coupons from fatwallet.com and slickdeals.com here. The main reason I like to use CouponChief is because unlike the other deals website, the coupons here are classified and categorized. So it is easy to find coupons without getting frustrated!

Some of the good deals going on now:

29% off on Adidas products
Savings on digital cameras from Circuit City
2 DVDs for $15 at BestBuy
The Body shop discount

Something which I have learnt after coming to the US.. Never buy something without googling for discount coupons.. whether it is car rental or some purchase. You can always find something!

Men, Women and Marriage!

I got this forward from my friend and just couldn't resist the temptation of blogging about it.. Here is fodder for 5 mins of laughter!!

• "When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her" - Sacha Guitry

• "Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them." - Dumas

• "I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me." - Anonymous

• "Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays." - Henry Youngman

• "There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage." - James Holt McGavran"

• "The most effective way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once..." - Anonymous

• "My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met." - Rodney Dangerfield

• "Marriage is the only war where one sleeps with the enemy. " - Anonymous

• First Guy (proudly): "My wife's an angel!" Second Guy "You're lucky, mine's still alive."
  

All that said and done, you cannot force yourself to love someone but it just happens! When that happens, marriage happens and the way your life is shaped after that is completely in your hands!

Amazing Amazon

Picture source: amazon.com

For me, Amazon has always been a great place to find books, electronics and DVDs at a very competitive/low price. One month back I got a memory stick for my then brand new Digital Camera! Since I had just moved to OH, I gave the hotel address where I was staying temporarily as the shipping address. I waited for about 3 weeks and then contacted the seller stating that I hadn't received the shipment. The seller sent me an email with the shipping details and told me that the item was delivered to my Florida address. When I looked at the address, I found out that it was not delivered to my previous home address but to the address where I was staying 1.5 years back! When I told the seller about the mistake in the shipping address, he simply told me that he cannot do anything about it..

As a last resort, I decided to try my luck with Amazon and wrote to them about the situation. Yesterday I got an email from Amazon.com telling me that they have credited the entire $$ I spent on my purchase to my account. I was amazed at their customer service. Amazon for sure knows what customer service is all about :)

Whom to blame this time?

Phew.. It has been exactly one month since I blogged! The past 40 days has been so crazy that I even forgot the feeling (contentment) of sleeping for 12 hours a day ;) Slowly I have begun to realize what 40 hours/week means.. It actually means that even though they pay you only for 40 hours per week, you must work a minimum of 50-60 hours/week just to make sure that you get your next pay check!! If your team or group has fellow desies, you will not only have to be careful about your work hours but also watch your back!! Competition in every aspect gets tougher with them around!! On the whole work has been a jumbo roller coaster ride, but only with twists and turns and no fall-outs so far.

Now that I have pretty much settled down at work and in my new home, I will definitely try to blog regularly and try not to blame time and/or work!

No time!!!

This past week has been so hectic. We have been having Project Management and financial classes. And the highlight of the week was a Quiz on Friday! We had a chance to visit a call center and we had a good time learning about the things they do there.

A few of my friends and I watched Ocean's 13 on friday. I liked the movie.. Although a few scenes were similar to Ocean's 11, it was way better than O-12.. I thought George Clooney did an awesome job as usual. There were a few scenes which seemed too far-fetched. I would give it a 2.5/5...

Oh, btw there are so many Indian restaurants in Cincinnati...I went to another restaurant last night and the food was ok but the service was good..I am slowly discovering desi stuff in Cincy..

At last !

It has been more than a week since I blogged. Work has kept me really busy.. Have to get up at 6.00 a.m. everyday and get back home by 6 - 6.30 p.m. Once I get back to my room, I am completely drained out of energy! I think it is because after one month of solid vacationing, my body thinks that I am still on vacation! I am guessing everything should be fine by this coming week!

I finally got hold of my dance video on Google! Eight of us performed for an Indian event in 2005.. It was a lot of fun! We choreographed the dance and had practice sessions late in the night..

Went with my friends to the Cincinnati reds baseball game last night! We had loads of fun.. This was my first ball game and I simply loved it.. There was this guy sitting in the row in front of us, he was so totally drunk and was very entertaining.. He actually made the game more lively and enjoyable..

Marriage = hell?

Picture source: cartoonstock.com

Most of the guys always talk like after marriage they were literally tortured by their wives.. Is it true that we women actually change? Do we start expecting more out of the relationship? Do we blow the smallest of misunderstandings out of proportion? I personally believe that it takes two to fight! So guys, stop blaming the wife for every fight... May be she has a point about your clumsiness, forgetfulness or laziness!

Here is a conversation between a husband and wife.. Have a good laugh!

Before the marriage:

He: Yes. At last. It was so hard to wait.
She: Do you want me to leave?
He: NO! Don't even think about it.
She: Do you love me?
He: Of course!
She: Have you ever cheated on me?
He: NO! Why you even asking?
She: Will you kiss me?
He: Yes!
She: Will you hit me?
He: No way! I'm not such kind of person!
She: Can I trust you?
He: Yes.

Now after marriage you can read it bottom-up !!!!

May be next time

When we made a trip to Key West, I tried to book one of the inns near Duval Street but then all of those beautiful inns were completely booked. When we went to Key West and saw those inns, we decided that we should stay there next time.. These are old houses transformed into inns and have beautiful gardens, swings and close proximity to Duval street and the beach!

Picture source: hawaii.com

I remember the time when me made a trip to Munnar in Kerala, we booked a house rather a mansion and had lots of fun. There was a river flowing behind the house and there was a huge waterfalls 5 minutes from where we were staying.. It was an awesome vacation. It is always nice to stay in rental houses instead of hotels. You get the feeling of relaxing at home and still feel like you are on vacation! The same feeling can be got now if you are planning on a Hawaii vacation.. You can rent villas and have an amazing vacation! These villas are very well described, you can have a look at the photo gallery and choose the one which is spacious/suitable for your vacation..One cool thing about all these rental houses is that they are all located near the beach.. it is not like you choose a cheaper one and you end up in a house in the middle of the town! Now I am tempted to go on a vacation to Hawaii.. the only thing is that a vacation in Hawaii can cost you a fortune. So if you are planning to go on a super - dooper vacation to Hawaii make sure you book everything in advance, have your wallet full and be prepared to come back with an empty wallet!

Where next?

I am planning to take my parents to Orlando, the land of theme parks! There are a few parks that my parents haven't seen yet, so most probably this is going to be the next stop!

Picture source: wikipedia.org

One thing about Orlando is that not even one weekend goes by where you don't do anything but sit at home.. The three months I spent in this wonderful city during my Internship was awesome. Slowly I found out that water rides and roller coaters are not the only things this city showcases. Be it the Tragics - Orlando Magic games or the wonderful downtown with lots of restaurants or the vibrant Winter Park walks, I for sure had lots of fun! My friend and I discovered a German cafe and pub in Sanford downtown. We had a German friend and we went with him.. It was lovely, the live music and dancing was so much fun. Those good old days, I am going to miss all of that for sure once I leave the sunshine state!

Coming back to the theme park tickets, I found this website called Orlandofuntickets.com where you can purchase tickets at a discounted price. I am planning to take my parents to Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Last time we went to Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Sea World. I have been to all of them except Magic Kingdom. I have already purchased the Universal Studio Tickets. Hopefully there won't be too much crowd.. I know I am just hoping against hope! This time of the year is the peak season for theme parks and each ride might have a waiting time of upto 3 hours! But in sipte of that, you can definitely manage to have fun and thatz exactly what we are going to do!

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Have to write about it after all the frenzy the media created about their wedding. One thing which I don't understand is that there are thousands of Indians getting married each year, but why did this couple get soo much of attention? Is it because Ash kept denying the fact that she was dating Abhishek Bachchan while Abhi actually talked about it very openly with Simi on her show?

Anyways here is fodder for those who want to know about Ash after marriage..

Ash's interview with Rajeev Masand on CNN-IBN

Women - the unsolvable mystery?

God created men and women to strike a balance just like his all other creations. Whom did he create first - man or woman, which of the two was the blunder, which was the solution and why? Nobody knows the answer to these questions but a woman can definitely write about her gender and help in solving the mystery about women to a tiny weeny extent!

What women think of men

Picture source:beconfused.com

So here is my contribution : 5 things about woman married/in a relationship

1. When she cooks and serves the food, tell her it is good. Don't exaggerate and please don't say "I think the dish needs a little more salt". She takes this as an insult and especially if you are married she will definitely think/say that you never complain about your mother's cooking!

2. All of us have heard of "no means yes".. here are a few other truths : 'I don't know means don't you dare do it', 'I am not sure means definitely NO' & after a fight if she is acting like she is not going to talk to you, most of the times she wants you to keep trying to make her talk/smile!

3. Women are by nature forgiving especially of their dear ones. So if you fight and then she brings it up in another fight, she is just trying to make you fight back.. not that she wants to bury you alive.

4. Don't ever ever tell your wife that your mother said something and you are going to do it when your wife is not ok with it. This will be the beginning of the "I have a MONSTER-IN-LAW" feeling! All a woman wants is you to discuss things with her rather than just tell her your decision. Convincing your wife is generally not as difficult as it seems ;)

5. Women are not big givers, but are definitely takers. They will never forget the things you forgot like anniversaries etc. but will very easily forget all the dates you remembered and the gifts you got. Get her gifts, never forget anniversaries, dates and make sure that you plan out things and surprise her even if she knows your plan!

A memorable holiday

Seven mile bridge - Key West

Last week was awesome. I took my parents to Miami and Key West. The three of us had a wonderful time. We went to the beaches and my parents loved the ride to Key West especially the 7 mile bridge. I have been to Miami before but this was my first trip to Key West and it was great. I was thinking that the whole place was going to be very crowded since all the hotels were booked, but surprisingly I could not find too many people.

Miami

In Miami we stayed in a hotel next to the Miami river on the 15th floor and the view we had from there was breathtaking. My dad utilized his camcorder to the fullest. He took video of every small thing that caught his eye. I could remember the times when my parents used to plan out trips and take my sister and I to various places. This time it felt very different. I did the planning..

My dad driving

My dad drove my car on the way back from Key West and he did an awesome job. Initially I was very scared to let him drive because in India we are not aware of 'lane discipline', 'speed limit' and 'honking'. But my dad has been driving for more than 35 years and so I allowed him to drive for about 50 miles and he drove very confidently and was able follow lanes and speed limit.. of course he didn't have the need to honk as everybody else on the road was also driving carefully!

Graduated! Wuuhu

Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I graduated yesterday.. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life! Although the moment lasted only 10 seconds (on the stage) it was well worth the hard work of 2 years. The announcer pronounced my first name correctly but KILLED my last name.. Poor thing, my dad was listening to the announcer totally mispronouncing his name!

The whole of yesterday was very hectic, had a lot of last minute things to complete. Somehow I managed to get all of that done, came home got dressed and went to the ceremony. My friends were able to make it for the ceremony. It was a great feeling to have all your well wishers next to you.

The ceremony took place at the Basketball stadium and the place was very crowded. It somehow felt like there were a lot of PhD students graduating this time. I saw a couple of my TAs graduating. We took a lot of pictures and my parents were so proud. I am very glad that I was able to share this important day of my life with my parents! It is only because of their hard work and encouragement that both my sister and I are who we are today. Kudos to them!

Signing off - Swetha Vaidyanathan MS ;)

Strange things

A very strange building in North Korea. It is called the Ryugyong Hotel. They stopped the construction of the hotel in 1992. If they complete it, this will be the tallest hotel in the world.. Any idea about the offices/hotels in Burj Dubai? May be there will be some hotel in the top most floor.. Imagine looking down from there ;)

I am planning to take my parents around Florida. One month of total free time and I am going to make the most use of it. Planning a vacation is pretty tedious and time consuming. Although I have decided the places I need to cover I am yet to make the Hotel Reservations. Places like Key West and Miami seem to be so expensive at this time of the year. But these are places which every person visiting Gatorland should see. I found out about this website Hotel Reservations.com where you can find hotels at discounted price. I first thought of booking hotel room through Priceline.com but then later thought about the kind of rooms people get especially at places like Miami. They also have offers on car rental and vacation packages. I like the way you can choose hotels and the diverse options you have to make your reservations.

Speaking of priceline, I need to write about the pathetic experience I had once when I went Tampa. I stayed at the Wyndham and paid $70 per night. I got the worst room which was so dirty and they refused to change my room. The bed cover had some stains and when I told them that I need a different room, they told me that since I had booked through priceline they cannot change my room. I had at argue with the receptionist for more than 15 minutes to have them change my room. Finally that guy budged. After that I decided not to book hotels through Priceline. Now that I am taking my parents along, I am surely going to book a hotel through a proper website!

Last exam for my Master's

It was a great feeling to write the very last exam for my Master's... I am unofficially done with my MS..Hurray! The whole of last week I just could not concentrate and study. I kept thinking about graduation and trips.. Finally I somehow managed to finish studying the night before the exam. To top it all there was a power outage in Gainesville on Thursday night for about 3 hours! Somehow I managed to study and finished my LAST exam.

Yesterday my parents came from India to attend my graduation ceremony. It is always a great feeling to see your parents especially when they are your best of best friends! I am sure the three of us are going to have lots of fun together. The only thing is that they did not get their baggage! I hope they deliver the bags home today.. At least we were saved the trouble of lifting the bags.

A Surprising Find

Picture source: movietune.com

I am sure that most of us (esp. people from Tamil Nadu) are excited about the release of the movie Sivaji starring Rajinikath and Shriya Saran. After the release of the music, people are looking forward to the movie all the more. A.R. Rahman has proved his worth once again!

Speaking of songs, I personally like Sahana and Balleilekka. Want to know more about the voice behind Sahana? The male singer is Udit Narayan and the female singer is Chinmayi. Most of us know her as the Kanathil Muthamittal voice! When I was blog hopping, I came across this blog "WhatToNameIt".. It was Chinmayi's blog. Initially I thought that someone was making a fool out of people because where is someone like her going to find the time to blog? But I was surprised to learn that it was indeed her blog. I should say that she writes very well and posts pretty regularly! She has written about her experiences and has a photo blog too!

I am sure that you must be thinking, why on earth is this post about 'chinmayi'? I just thought that I should write about her blog and tell myself that I should blog more often and always make time to post here instead of giving excuses like I am busy.. too much work!

Why make moving so painful?

Picture Source: allseasonsmoving.net

A lot of my friends are moving to different places for job. It is surprising that they actually want to carry most of their stuff along. They are thinking about transporting their couch, dining table, chairs, study table, bed and even Comforters.. How ridiculous is that? As graduate students more importantly desi graduate students, none of us buy NEW furniture. It is either got from the dumpster or thrift shop or hand down from graduating folks! I got my bed and couch from a friend who was graduating.

I have decided that I am not going to carry any of my stuff when I have to leave Gnv. There is no point in carrying stuffs which have been used for 2+2+2=6 years. When you get a good job you would want to buy new stuff and settle down.. You know for a fact you are going to be in that place for at least 2 years. From the time you came to the US, you have been using "used/pre-owned" things. Why not go in for new things now. I understand the reluctance in buying a new car but not a new bed or a new comforter! I have always wanted to buy one of the bed sets displayed in Macy's. They look so good and obviously expensive. So I was searching for cheap new bed sets online and found out about this site DownDeals.com. They are actually suppliers to shops like Macy's, Dillards etc. and are selling things at a much lower price! They have comforters, blankets and other bedding stuff. I found out that they have featherbeds. When I read about these beds I came to know that they are actually stuffed with bird's feathers. Has anyone actually used this bed?

I am going to make my moving very simple.. Just my clothes, some utensils and left over groceries! I don't want to make my "moving" so painful!

Deadliest college shooting at Virginia Tech

Picture source: cnn.com

Today was a horrifying day for the students and staff at Virgina Tech. There were two shooting incidents at around 7.00 am, one at the dormitory and the other at the Engineering building.

22 people were killed and 29 wounded. It is reported that the gunman was also found dead.

More Information

The Namesake

Picture source: impawards.com

I watched the movie 'The Namesake' last night. It was a last minute plan to go for the movie. My roommate and I have been asking for the DVD of the movie at the Indian store for over 2 weeks and finally we saw that the movie was screened at a theater here. So we decided to go and watch it. I should say that the movie was worth the $$$.

When we entered the movie hall there were exactly 2 people. Then a few more desies came and totally there were 10 of us watching the movie.. What else can you expect for a 10.00 pm show on a Sunday night?

The movie was very good. I have not read the book by Jhumpa Lahiri but my roommate has and she told me that the movie has done justice to the book.

So here are my views:

Pros:

• The story was told very well.
• The movie was not fast paced at the same time was not dragging.
• Tabu's make up suited the role very well.
• Irfan Khan and Tabu did an amazing job. They seemed very natural and I thought that they acted very well.
• The costumes for all the actors was very nice and appropriate for the role they played.

Cons:

• Choosing Kal Pen to do the pivotal role might have not been the right thing. Although he did a good job, I thought that he is better suited for movies like the American Pie! In the first half although there was a lot of scope to be Kal Pen, he did not fully utilize it. In the second half, when his father dies, I could barely see any acting from Kal Pen. He was good towards the end.

Overall: Good meaningful movie.

Gruesome week

Last week was really busy. I had so much to do in so little time..a lot of time became less time due to procrastination. I have tried real hard, but this is always the case.. It all starts with thinking that I can complete one task a little later since I have 2 more days before the due date.. then the postponement has an avalanche effect! But somehow I managed to get all the work done.

Weekend was fun.. I went to the "VISA Talent show" which is a multicultural talent competition. There were clubs like the Japanese club, Brazilian club etc, participating. Last year the Indian club, 'Indian Inc' won the talent competition. This year they won it again! I personally thought the performance by the Brazilian people was very good, but they lacked variety! The Indians performed Garbha and Rass followed by Bharatnatyam.

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Just two more weeks to go before I get done with the Spring Semester, the last semester in my grad school life! I am kind of excited about it but also sad that I am going to be leaving Gnv, which has been my home for the last 1.5 years..

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Today I went to Wal-mart to get some empty CDs. But as usual you never buy one thing when you are in Wal-mart. I went there to do a purchase for $10 and ended up spending $30 and guess what, I did not buy the CDs. Instead I got a (Florida) Gator T-shirt for $22 and a cap for $8. Now that the Gators have won the Basketball and the Football National championships, the price of all the Gator stuff has increased like crazy. I am sure that I could have got the same T-shirt for $15-$16 some 1 month back.. I guess this is the price you pay for being a part of the Gator Nation!

Indian Cricket players - a new leaf

Imagine what would the Indian Cricket players do if they loose all the advertisement contracts they have.. Switch to some other profession!

Here are some of the players doing what they are passionate about rather doing what they are good for!

Virendar Sehwag

Robin Uthappa




Sourav Ganguly



Dhoni



Ajith Agarkar



Zaheer Khan

Building our house

For Indians building their own house is one of their biggest life time goals. They take this job very seriously and once done all the relatives say "Ohh, they have built their own house now. No more worries for them." I understand the feeling of accomplishment when we build our first house. But people buy/build 4 houses and for the 5th house the feel the same way. How many houses do u need to live in? I guess the idea is one house for the kitchen, one house for the living room, one house for the bedroom etc. One thing I have noticed is that people believe that real estate is a great investment which I completely agree with the roaring price of land in Chennai!

I remember when we built our house in Chennai, my parents took the role of an architect, supervisor, contractor, manager, name it and they did it. I don't think many people in the city would have done as much as my parents did while building the house. Usually what they do is go to an architect and ask him to make the plan and they just approve it. But my parents went and sat down with the architect and designed each wall. The energy and involvement they had was awesome. I was in undergrad then and was too busy with friends and din't bother much about the house. Now I feel guilty for not helping them around. I remember once we went to 'Thousand Lights' to purchase a chandelier for the living room and to buy some special lights for the bedrooms. My parents took me to some 6 or 7 shops before they decided what to buy. Then came the task of buying fans. In the US, you can buy ceiling fans and lights online. When I was a kid we got a fan with a light in the center and my friends thought that I had a very cool fan. Nowadays you have various kinds of fans, fanimation (animated ceiling fans), hunter fans, designer fans (monte carlo fans) etc. Things have changed so much that the pleasure of building a house is kind of lost. Everything is delegated to agencies/contractors. The owners come and see the progress of the house once in 2-3 weeks. Nobody has the time to get themselves involved anymore.

My parents are living in the house they built and are constantly making improvement and changes to the house. The day we had the 'Grahapravesam' (house warming ceremony), my parents were so thrilled and at the same time felt relieved because they built the house in less than a year. They faced lots of problems while building the house with the masons, painters and carpenters but somehow they managed to swim across and reach the shore. I wish I will have the same the energy and enthusiasm when I build my house!

India vs. the US

There are a lot of things which are different between India and the US. When Indians come to the US, they change themselves a little in certain ways to suit the land of the free!

Some of the most common things are when people in the US have coffee they have dikashun/black coffee but in India by default coffee comes with lots of milk and sugar! First floor means ground floor and ground floor means basement. The way they pronounce words that have the letter "j" for example, jalapeño is pronounced as halapeno and not Jalapeno.. Fuel for vehicles is called 'gas' and not 'petrol'. People are honest in this country even our own folks learn to be honest..

Indians never change when it comes to a few things like bargaining.. I saw an Indian aunty who was trying to bargain at JcPenny because the shirt that she took had a button which was not stitched properly!

Picture source: desithreads.com

Indians always go in for the cheap stuff, be it vegetables, groceries, clothes or insurance. Speaking of insurance when we come to the US as students all of us are told to purchase the cheapest medical insurance possible. The policy hardly covers anything but still all of us do it. Even for car insurance, Indians go in for the cheapest. They buy insurance from some unheard of company thinking that they are saving a lot of $$$.

One thing that all Indians in the US do is complain about the Indian food at the Indian Restaurants. There is always something bad to talk about.. Most of the people who give such raging reviews about restaurants are men, I bet they know for a fact that the food at the restaurant was 100 times better than their wives' cooking! Also most of the Indians here always discuss about the economy of India and how corrupt the politicians are. The men here always tell their mothers that they are planning to come back to India the next year and that next year never comes! The guy's mother topic is a separate issue and will definitely write about it soon!

Buckeyes, whatz the deal?

Picture source: espn.com

Yesterday's game was awesome. Gators proved it once again.. Remember the Monday, Jan 8th when the Gators played against the Buckeyes for the National Football championship? The outcome was unexpected! Gators won.. This Monday the Gators faced the Buckeyes and the outcome was as expected, the gators won again! This is the second time the gators are winning the NCAA Basketball championship!

I watched the game at home and few of my friends went to the Basketball stadium to watch the game and they told me that the entire University Avenue was crowded.. When the game got over, I could hear people bursting crackers near my place. On the whole, it was an awesome game and hats off to Corey Brewer and Taurean Green!

Go Gators!

Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting game.. Florida vs. Ohio State Men's Basketball Championship. The Buckeyes are meeting the Gators for the second time this year, the first time was for the National Football Championship on Jan 8th at which the gators had a meritorious win!

Picture source: gatorshop.com

I am sure the gators who were the 2006 champions will re-prove their worth in tomorrow's game. Poor thing the Buckeyes are going to face loss against the same team for the second time! May be the Michigan Wolverines need to take some tips from the gators on facing/beating the Buckeyes ;)


Here is the video of the Gator's White-House Visit. Enjoy

Some of the best ads

Jamaica, it is!

I have started counting the days before graduation! I am all excited about this new chapter of my life. I hope it is at least as adventurous and interesting as the past 3 years of my life. The age between 21 and 35 is the fun-filled and most challenging period of person's life and we should try to make the most use of it and accomplish our dreams.. Speaking of dreams, I have already started dreaming about the places I am going to visit in the month of May. I want it to be a true vacation.

Picture source: nationalgeographic.com

I am actually planning to go on a week's trip to Jamaica. We are going to be a group of 3 and we have decided to spend money like water..whatever little we have! I actually have a friend from Jamaica and have asked him about the place, things to do etc.. I found the website vacations.net to be very helpful in finalizing where I want to go for the summer. I really liked they way the had categorized resorts. They have listings for Family Vacation Resort, resorts for couples, resorts for honeymooners etc. You can save money as they are offering upto 50% discount on regular price. This is amazing especially if you want a low budget nice vacation.. We have already shortlisted our resorts.. It is only a matter of time before we swipe our credit cards! Can't wait for this fun-filled, relaxing get away..

The art of bidding

Picture source: cartoonstock.com

On eBay, when you bid on certain products, even though you are the highest bidder you keep getting a message saying you need to bid higher as someone has already made your offer. And when you go and see who the bidders are, it is you who has been bidding your own price. Has this ever happened to you? Basically this is a way to keep increasing the price and make one bid for a higher price. Next time you are on eBay and you keep getting that message, you know what to do.. "Quit Bidding on that product"

Speaking of bidding, I came across a website "bid4prizes.com" where you win free gifts by bidding, not to increase the price but to decrease it. So the lowest unique bidder wins. Isn't that very innovative? This is a game where there are lots of sweepstakes. You can bid using your cell phone or online to win cash prizes. You need to register for playing this game. Once you do that, you need to select a prize and place a bid on it. Then you will be informed if the bid you placed was high, low, unique or duplicate. So once you win the prize, you do not pay any money to get the product other than the shipping and handling costs and applicable IRS taxes. So in case you want a different experience in bidding, try playing this game.

A world so beautiful

I am guessing most of you know about Matt Harding and his famous website "wherethehellismatt.com". I just thought I should post the video on my blog. All the places that you see in this video are real and the way Matt dances is the best he can do!

I like the music of the video too. When you see the video you feel like there is so much to see in this world, hopefully people will realize the need to preserve whats left.

Traveling is something which I love. Some countries I want to visit by 2020: Egypt, Italy, Japan, Iceland, Dubai, China, Spain, New Zealand, Bolivia and Brazil.

Websites playing cupid

Picture source: speedysigns.com

When I was in undergrad, orkut was the in-thing to find friends or boyfriends/girlfriends. I remember how all of us used to be on orkut everyday. Now it has become a site where you can catch up with long last friends and scrap each other.

These days adds for online dating has become very popular. There are quite a few sites which offer this service. To join this growing cupid list is "JustSayHi.com". Unlike their brothers, this site offers free dating service. All you need to do is register for their service and then hopefully you will find someone interesting! There is no "if you are not satisfied, you get 6 months free" thingie. I personally don't think I can choose my life-partner over a dating site. But hey it is the web2.0 generation, soon websites might be built to choose your kid!

Somehow a lot of people seem to believe in finding a spouse online. Even if you look at Indians, shadi.com and tamilmatrimony seem to be very popular to advertise for prospective brides and grooms. At least till now my parents haven't brought up the topic of placing ads on websites or The Hindu Classifieds. I think they know that I am going to tell them "Not now!".

Time to make a Change

I prefer to change my cell phone carrier every year, the reason being that you can get better phones as well as better deals. I used have a T-Mobile account but then I changed to Verizon. The problem with Verizon is that you get less minutes for a higher price than T-Mobile.

So, I am planning to change my phone since my contract with Verizon is ending soon. I am ok with T-Mobile or Verizon. Anything other than Cingular works fine for me. I was browsing for free phones that are available with the purchase of a plan and I checked out the free phones available at Alltell and Wirefly. Both have some good phones. But the free cell phones at Wirefly are simply amazing. You can get a BlackBerry Pearl with a new T-mobile account for FREE, thats right for free!

They also have some cool deals going on now. Sony W300i is also available for free "without any mail-in rebates". But this is on Cingular account, not going to work for me. With a new Verizon account you can get a Razr for free. When I got my Razr, I paid $70 for the phone for a one-year contract. I should have just got a free phone. So I have decided that I will not make the mistake of paying for a phone when you can get it for free for the second time!

I really like the offers at Wirefly which don't have any mail-in rebates. All these rebates take like 100 days or so and you mostly don't get the full amount back. The best thing to do would be to go in for free phones without any mail-in rebates on them. I think I am going to go in for the Nokia 6030 which comes with T-Mobile. On this I can get a $50 cash back after mail in rebate. Even if I don't get this amount, it is ok. I am happy that for once I was able to find some good deals on phones.

Gold <-> Indians

Picture source: gc.maricopa.edu

Most of the Indians tend to invest in real estate, gold and stocks or mutual funds. If a family has a girl then they start buying gold ornaments for her right from the age of 7 months. For some reason weddings in India seem to be a display of jewels and silk sari. I feel that weddings are more like festivals in India. It is a time for celebration, feasts, happiness and bliss.

I have noticed one thing that people do, they buy gold and silver coins or biscuits. I feel that this is a better thing to do than buying jewels when the girl is 10 years old. This way when the girl grows up she can choose the type of ornament and the design she wants. Designs keep changing each day and what you bought last year has become "Old-fashion"! I found this website where you can buy gold coins in the US. Now we don't have to leave our practices behind in India. The only thing is that you might not get "Mahalakshmi" or "Shiva" or "Ganesha" in the coin. Instead you can get the "American Eagles" or the "American buffalos" ;)

Remember Tata's Rs.1 lakh car?

Tata came up with the idea of making cars to suit the lower-income class. The car was designed to be affordable as well as to serve the purpose. This proposal was made sometime in the year 2003.

Click on the image to see the animation

One of my Dad's usual forwards had the animation of how this car would look. It also takes you for a test drive.. Have a nice laugh!

Any idea as to what has happened to Tata's plan to make this car after all the commotion and "fasting" sessions of Mamata Banerjee?

Credit score, the Magical Number

I realized that if you want to get a credit card or a loan in this country, you OUGHT to have a good credit history. Everything revolves around your credit score and your credit history. I have been looking at forums and websites to learn about ways to improve my credit score and was not able to find a one stop to learn about things related to credits and loans.

Recently I came across this site creditloan.com where you can actually learn about loans, credit cards, credit history and anything related to finance. It is pretty useful if you are a novice in the field of finance and would like some guidance and tutoring. I especially like their Simple loan calculator. You can calculate the monthly payments or the loan amounts. if you have been in this country for less than 2 years the Credit Report Score section talks about ways to enhance your credit score.

Before you get a loan it is very important to get quotes from two or more finance companies or lenders. You should also remember that everytime someone runs a credit check or you apply for a credit card, your credit score is affected. So don't just randomly apply for credit cards because too many credit checks will affect your score. These are somethings which I didn't know until now. I should say better late than never! If you don't have a great credit score, start working to build one now. All it takes is some effort and caution.

Something Useful

If you are looking for hot deals, coupons or codes to get discounts Coupon Chief is a great place to find coupons based on what you are shopping for. I buy electronic stuff and books from Amazon.com. It is a great place to shop at. Getting discount coupons to shop at amazon makes shopping on the Internet even more useful. You not only have to leave your home but you even save for being lazy! The best part of this website is that you choose the shop and you get the listing of all the coupons available like coupons for dell, travelocity, ebay, target etc..

Hmm.. Interesting!

Picture source: d-winner.com

Do you know who are the top four contenders for the "Worst Company in America 2007"? - RIAA, Exon, Walmart and Halliburton।

And the Winner is RIAA getting 53.8% of the votes, followed by Halliburton.

15 companies were chosen for this 'prestigious award' . Best Buy, U-Haul, Sony, Exon, Verizon, Bank of America and United Airlines were among the fortunate contenders! I am sure that disappointed losers would have had an "urgent" board meeting and decided to try harder next year to bag this award ;)

Hearty congratulations to the winners and keep up the good work!

source: consumerist.com

Indian Cricket team - Time to face the Bitter truth!

source: http://content-www.cricinfo.com

I watched the India vs. Bangladesh cricket match today and was very disappointed by India's performance. Looks like the much trash talked person, Ganguly came to rescue India's miserable batting. He was the only one who scored more than 50 runs.

Tendulkar must retire as soon as possible. It is better to leave the team with dignity rather than retire with disgrace. All of us have a lot of respect for our Little Master but it is time he hangs his gloves and goes home.

Bangladesh, supposed to be formed of players from 'the streets' proved their team spirit and confidence today. They were definitely underestimated by the Indians.

India vs. Srilanka is going to decide India's fate at the 2007 World Cup! Initially we were talking about India's strategy at the semi-finals and the finals, now it has come down to Qualification for the super 8 stage!

Checklist to buy a Used car

I have been on the look out for a used car for over 3 months. I have done a lot of research and thought that I can share my knowledge with my blog readers on this subject!

1. It is better to buy a Pre-Owned "Certified" car than buying a Used car. The reason is, with a certified car you get about 7 years warranty. This way you will not be risking your savings.

2. Decide the make which you want to buy. Most of the Indians buy a Toyota, Honda or BMW. Once you decide on the make, decide on the model, the year range and the maximum mileage of the car.

3. Always, I repeat ALWAYS check out the cars on the dealership website and contact the "Internet Sales Manager". This way you will get the Internet pricing (mostly you save about $500 - $1300)

4. Go to edmunds and 'appraise your used car'. Here you can select the make, model, year of manufacture, zip code, color and mileage run. Edmunds gives you the Private Part price(if you buy from an individual), Dealer price, Trade-In price and Certified price.

5. During this appraisal you can add additional equipment like CD, ABS, air bags etc. which come with the car. You should be able to find all the specifications on the dealer's advertisement.

6. Note down the edmunds value and go to the dealership. Tell them you saw this car "ONLINE" and that you would like to test drive the car.

7. Drive the car on the freeway or at 60 mph and see if there is any noise from the engine by switching off the AC/Heater. Then make a thorough inspection of the car (outside, inside, seats, storage, trunk, lights, wipers, engine, oil, brake fluid etc.)

8. Ask for a carfax report of the car. This is very important. You will be able to see how many owners the car has had, was it bought in an auction or was it a trade-in, any major part change or any accident etc.

9. Then ask the car Out-of-the-Door for the price quoted in edmunds. Remember that edmunds does not include the dealer fee, tax, tag etc. Try to get it for about a maximum of $1500 more than the price quoted in edmunds depending on the condition of the car. If you are able to do that, you have got yourself a good deal.

10. You can ask them to run a credit check after you finalize the "Numbers". This way you will not have too many credit checks which will hurt your credit score. Remember to ask the dealer to do a detailing of the car before you take it. This is your last chance to get something from them.

Buying a car whether used/new is a tiring task because you never get satisfied. Sometimes paying $100 more than what you wanted to pay will be worth it.

Those British comedies

Do you remember the British comedies which used to come on Doordarshan? I used to watch "Are you being served?" and "Mind your language". My sister and I used to love them. We used to make sure that we watch them every week. If I remember right, 'Are you being Served' used to come on Mondays and 'Mind your language' on Tuesdays.

Those were good old times. No worries, no tensions and very happy times. Wish I could go back 10 years and relive my childhood!

I started watching both the comedy shows on YouTube. It felt amazing. Only thing which was missing was the company of my sister! May be when I visit her next time I will watch them with her.

Pyar ke side effects - very true!

source: http://www.indiafm.com

I saw the movie Pyar ke side effects starring Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat. I liked it a lot. I thought the movie was very realistic and had captured the true attitude of women. Until they get into a relationship, women tend to be carefree and easy-g0-lucky. But once they are in a relationship their whole character changes. They become very demanding and keep expecting their boyfriends to do and say the RIGHT things (which only women know). Being a woman myself, I feel that we change a lot everytime we take up different roles. Our expectations seem to increase each day when in a relationship.

Coming back to the movie, I thought Mallika Sherawat had done a good job. Rahul Bose was amazing as always! Time pass yet paisa vasool!