Harish Talk

Season's Greetings

2007-12-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

Great ideas, it has been said,
come into the world as gently as doves....
Perhaps then, if we listen attentively,
we shall hear amid the uproar of empires and nations,
a faint flutter of wings,
the gentle stirring of life and hope.

-Albert Camus

Utah - Life elevated

2007-12-05T18:47:00.000-05:00

I had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend. We wanted to go for a long road trip. After considerable debate on the destination, we decided to visit the famous National parks in Utah. We rented a 12-seater and it was fun traveling in it. We started our road trip from Los Angeles and visited 3 National parks in 3 days. On our way back, we even managed to do some Thanksgiving shopping near Las Vegas. So, it was the perfect Thanksgiving break for me and my friends. The first stop on our road trip was Zion National park.

Zion National park is Utah's oldest national park and the most visited. We drove all night and entered Zion in the morning. The closer we got to Zion National Park, the more spectacular the scenery became. The prominent feature of this park is the the Zion canyon, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River. It's hard to imagine such a small river carving out this huge canyon. Zion is an ancient Hebrew word meaning a place of refuge or sanctuary and it is definitely a place where you can find solitude. This park is full of red and white sandstone cliffs ranging in from cream, to pink, to red. I think the best way to see Zion is take a trail. Whichever trail you pick at Zion, you're in for a treat. We did couple of medium trails in Zion. I liked the Riverside Walk trail, a nice paved trail which follows the Virgin River along the bottom of a narrow canyon. We stayed at the beautiful Zion Ponderosa Ranch and Resort which is nested away from civilization, overlooking the magnificence of deep red rock canyons and towering Ponderosa Pines. It was a different and nice experience staying in a cabin. We even had a taste of modern adventure by going on a guided ATV tour around the resort.

The next day, we started to Bryce Canyon National park which is a short drive from Zion. Bryce is at a much higher elevation than nearby parks and it was very cold when we went there. Hence, we ditched the idea of hiking in Bryce and just decided to go around the park by road and just stop at the numerous vista points. Bryce Canyon is not actually a canyon, but rather a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion. The first thing you notice in Bryce is the uniqueness of the rocks. The park is full of famous spires, called "hoodoos". Hoodoos are pillars of rock left by erosion. Hoodoo means to cast a spell. The fantastic shapes of these rocks at Bryce Canyon are accurately known to cast a spell on every visitor. the view of these Hoodoos from Bryce point and Inspiration point was awesome. No wonder, the early ranchers used to describe Bryce as "a helluva place to lose a cow". We spend few hours in Bryce and continued our road trip to our final destination, Arches National park.

Zion is good, Bryce is fantastic, but Arches is simply superb. Arches is my favourite national park in Utah because of its beauty and grandeur. The landscape there was surreal. It's full of amazing rock formations: massive boulders perched precariously on mere spindles of rock, arches of every shape, vast expanses of deep red, stone formations, and old petroglyphs. There are some jaw dropping views including natural sandstone arches galore. We did the popular hike there to see the Utah’s most famous icon, the Delicate Arch. It was a 3-mile round trip, moderate hike to the Delicate Arch. You see images of Delicate Arch everywhere in Utah: on magazine covers, computer screen savers and license plates. But photos do not adequately convey the stunning beauty that hits you as you come over the ridge and see the arch in person for the first time. It's just an amazing feeling to stand under it with the arch towering above your head, slick rock canyons falling away below you and the snow-covered La Sal Mountains in the distance. It is a spectacular sight and its worth the whole trip. Later, we drove around the park seeing the numerous arches in the windows section and did some small hike to see the second best arch there, the Landscape Arch.

The state of Utah is unique. Within this region are canyons, mesas, winding rivers, mountain ranges, prehistoric sites, vast expanses of open space and national parks. The land is so exceptional that you're sure to discover splashes of natural color and unique formations in every turn. Utah surprises you with variety and it is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts. On the whole, it was really a memorable experience for me and my gang.

Utah is Nature’s Munificent Masterpiece and it inspires even the non-photographer to pick a camera and capture the beauty. No wonder we took some 7GB of photos.

Three Great Essentials

2007-10-19T22:15:00.000-04:00

"The three great essentials to achieving anything worthwhile are: first, hard work, second, stick-to-it-iveness, and third, common sense."

- Thomas Edison

W "O" W

2007-10-09T14:27:00.000-04:00

"O" is Cirque du Soleil's first aquatic show and it plays at Bellagio, Las Vegas. "O" is inspired by the concept of infinity and the elegance of water’s pure form. The name of this production, "O" sounds like the French word "eau", meaning water, the show's theme. Like all other Cirque du Soleil's shows, performers are the heart of this show too. Basic elements of water, earth, fire, and air are mixed and mingled in a variety of spectacular performances of dancing, swimming, acrobatics, and clowning. It's hard to describe the seemingly indescribable wonder and artistry of Cirque du Soleil's shows. You have to see, to experience it. But, I will give it a try.

As soon as you walk into the theater, you know that you are in for a treat. The theater is designed in the style of a European opera house. The stage Cirque du Soleil created for "O" could almost be numbered among the show's stars. The whole show takes place in, on, around, and above a breath taking 1.5-million-gallon pool. The vast stage is first an empty lake, then a distant shore, and then a tiny pool. The set & the theater alone were worth the price of admission, let alone the talent, the costumes, the live music & the ingenuity/creativity. The amazing feature of "O" stage is that it turns dry or wet in a matter of seconds. You see someone jumping into water and the next moment, you find someone walk across the stage as if he were walking on the surface of water. "O" pays tribute to the magic of the theater - from the simplest street performance to the most lavish of operas - where anything is possible and where the drama of life plays itself out before our very eyes.

"O" is an amazing show with lots of Acts. An international cast of 81 artists(acrobats, swimmers, contortionists, dancers and iceberg-bound clowns) perform these acts. The various acts range from Fire, Synchronized swimming, Russian Swing to High Dive and Aerial Hoops. My favorite was the Russian Swing act where the performers swung back and forth till they jumped off into the pool below. The other Act which stands apart is the Contortion. In this, four Mongolian girls create various forms with their graceful body language and movements. There are couple of Trapeze acts where aerialists perform their dance in the air with the trapeze. Most of the acts are gymnastically challenging and they are spectacular.At the heart of the production, the swimmers provide the necessary link between the elements of fire, earth, air and water.

Cirque du Soleil is always awesome and "O" is no doubt a great show. But, you can always point out some minor points, again, based on your expectation and preference. There is no story in "O" unlike other shows. I do agree with other reviewers who state that there could have been a story line because it seemed to be just a series of "acts" to me, rather than a linked story. The clown Acts are occasionally funny and not that great. If you're looking for death defying stunts you won't find them in this show. For that you would need to see Ka or Mystere. But if you're looking for a beautiful tapestry of music, some acrobatics, and a truly surreal and artistic display, this is the show for you.

All in all, "O" is visually stunning and impressively athletic. On the one hand, it tests our concepts of what "theater" is supposed to be, and on the other hand, it does what theater is meant to do--inspire our imaginations and touch our hearts. The hard work and dedication that goes into preparing for these shows are unbelievable. I think most of the people are little apprehensive about paying so much for their seats. But after the show, I can guarantee that they will have no regrets.

Thoughts

2007-10-03T00:01:00.000-04:00

We are what our thoughts have made us;
so take care about what you think.
Words are secondary.
Thoughts live; they travel far.

- Swami Vivekananda

Chakde India

2007-09-26T16:28:00.000-04:00

Miracles do happen!

Young Indian team scored a sensational victory over the arch-rival Pakistan to win the inaugural Twenty-Twenty(TT) World Cup. I was one of the million fans who jumped with ecstasy when Dhoni lifted the World Cup, reminiscent of India's famous ODI World Cup victory in 1983. I have always been an ardent cricket fan. But, after India's dismal perfomances in last few finals, I too lost interest. After the early exit for the Worldcup few months back, it is nice to see Indian cricket redeeming itself by winning the TT world cup. No one gave them a chance and they proved everyone wrong, including me.

Twenty-Twenty is an interesting concept. No one took this format seriously, but after the stupendous success of this world cup, we can expect many more TT matches. India came to the TT worldcup tournament without experience, coach and expectations. It's like a fairy tale for Team India. In front of a frenzied crowd at the Wanderers on Monday, they played out perhaps the best final ever seen in a major tournament. Pakistan gave them a real fight and in the end, India was lucky to escape with the win. The final over was crazy and I have never been so tensed in my life. It could have gone wither way and I was really glad that it went India's way in spite of heroic effort from Misbah.

Indian always used to win matches on Individual brilliances and that too mostly from Batsmen. Its been a while since we won a match because of bowling. This young team is quite a relevation. They have no fear and they won the matches by team effort. The batting, bowling and fielding all dazzled, and there were few faults you could find in any department. Even more than the actual results perhaps, what was so refreshingly different was the manner in which they played the game. There was a fearlessness to their approach which can only come from self-belief; there were clear signs that they were enjoying the game and each other's successes. Most importantly, it was special because the team managed to hold its nerve in a crucial knockout games. What the Indians have shown, though, is that they have the skill and the hunger to mix it with the best. The challenge now is to maintain that hunger and drive season after season.

I was barely out of my nappies when India won the 1983 world cup. This time around, I got a chance to watch the matches live and enjoy the success. It's an unforgettable moment not only for the players but also for all the Indians like me. Indian cricket fans are starved of victories and this one is very special.

A dream final. A dream match up. A Dream Win!

Quote of the month

2007-09-24T22:31:00.000-04:00

All beings are born to delusion..overcome by the
dualities which arise from wish and hate...But
those men of virtuous deeds in whom sin has come
to an end, freed from the delusion of dualities,
worship Me steadfast in their vows.
- Bhagawad Gita

Chicago - The Windy City

2007-09-12T11:49:00.001-04:00

I spent the Labor Day weekend at Chicago. First things first, Chicago is a Beautiful city. I always wanted to go there, but never got a chance to visit Chicago till now. I took the flight from Manshester,NH to Chicago Midway Airport. It's a small airport compared to O'Hare. The cops at the airport use Segway to get around, which I though was pretty cool. We stayed in Schaumburg, which is a good one hour drive from Chicago downtown.

Day 1: We got up very late and it was almost noon by the time we reached downtown. Chicago's downtown is as big as Newyork's and it is the home to the tallest building in US for now, Sears Tower. Our first stop was Hancock Center, which is the 3rd tallest building there. We had nice lunch at the Signature Lounge which is located at the 95th floor and offers Contemporary American fare with sweeping views of the city. Then we walked couple of miles to the Navy Pier along the Magnificent Mile. Chicago's Magnificent Mile area is one mile strip in the middle of downtown with shopping centers, world-renowned boutiques and locally acclaimed designers. You get to see the Chicago's famous skyline from a birds-eye view. Later we rented bikes for half dayand biked the Lakefront bike path. It is an 18-mile bike ride along the lake and through many famous locations like Aquarium, Planetarium, Field Museum, Soldier Field and so on. It's a very well maintianed bike path with lots of bikers, walkers, inline skaters and joggers. On our way back, we stopped at the Buckingham Fountain, one of the largest in the world. This fountain was designed exquisitely with lots of sculptures. We returned our bikes and spent some time strolling around the Navy Pier till dusk. We took the Fire works cruise in the night. I have seen many fireworks before in Disney Land and Las Vegas, but the Navy Pier fireworks is the best. As we watched from our boat, the sky above the lakefront will fill with a spectacular fireworks display of color and sound.

Day 2: We had to cover lot of things on Day 2 and so we made it a point to start early unlike Day 1. Out first stop was Field Museum. It's a huge museum with lots of exhibits, but we were there just to see Sue, the largest, most complete, and best preserved T-rex fossil yet discovered. We took some time to cover other prized exhibits like Lions of Tsavo, Darwin's Journey and Grainger Hall of Gems. The city of Chicago features prominent buildings in a variety of styles by many important architects. Since most buildings within the downtown area were destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, Chicago buildings are noted for their originality rather than their antiquity. Born of the Great Fire, skyscrapers were invented here and the Architectural Cruise is the best way to know and see the architecture. It is an 90 minute guidedtour in the Chicago river and it was very informative and engaging. After that we went to Millennium Park, which is located in the heart of downtown. Millennium Park is fast replacing the Navy Pier as the Chicago's most popular attraction and it is very evident as soon you step in. It has a sophisticated outdoor concert venue, interactive Crown Fountain hugely popular Cloud Gate sculpture. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city's famous skyline and the clouds above. We ended our day by going to the Blue man group show which was pretty good.

Day 3: The last day was reserved for couple of holy places and a Museum. First, we went to Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. It is the largest traditional Hindu Mandir of stone and marble to be constructed in the United States. It is a very beautiful temple and I really liked the architecture. Next, we went to Baha'i House of Worship for the North American Continent. I visited the Baha'i Lotus temple before at New Delhi and got introduced to the Baha'i Faith: the oneness of God, the oneness of humanity and the oneness of religion. This Chicago Baha'i temple is one of only seven Baha'i temples in the world at present. Like all Baha'i Houses of Worship, this temple also has nine sides and a dome and is surrounded by exquisite gardens and fountains. Next and our last stop was the Museum of Science and Industry. This museum is home to U-505, the only German submarine in US. U-505 had terrorized the Atlantic Ocean as a part of massive U-boat campaign that almost altered the outcome of World war 2. We also saw the Imax film 'Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs' at the beautiful dome in the Omni theater. The film explores the history of ancient Egyptian society as told through the mummies of the past. By the time, we were done with the film, it was almost 6pm and it was time to head back to Airport. But, not before I grabbed another Hot Dog for dinner. I really enjoyed eating hot dogs in Chicago. In Chicago, there are more Hot Dog joints than there are McDonalds, Wendys, and Burger Kings combined and the Chicago-style hot dog is a 'Must-eat'.

Chicago is a large city with a very tall skyline. It definitely has the best architecuture of any American city. There are lots of things to see and do in Chicago. As they say, Chicago is infact 'Mile After Magnificent Mile'.

Song from Shire

2007-09-12T11:40:00.001-04:00

Home is behind, the world ahead...
and there are many paths to tread...
Through shadow...
To the edge of night...
Until the stars are all alight...
Mist and shadow, cloud and shade...
All shall fade...
All... shall... fade.

A Night in London

2007-08-20T14:55:00.001-04:00

Recently, by a stroke of luck, I got a chance to see London. My incoming flight to London from Colombo was delayed and I missed my connecting flight to Boston. I was the only passenger who was elated to miss flight and work. I was allowed to stay in London for 24 hours and they gave me accommodation in a nice hotel. I wanted to get out of Airport ASAP and go sight seeing in London. But, it took a long time to finish immigration and other formalities at the airport. London's Heathrow airport is very big, but I really hated travelling from one terminal to other. We have to take a bus for terminal connections and they have security check at every terminal. By the time I reached my hotel, it was almost 7pm. Even thought I was dead tired, I decided to go out and see London at night.

Usually, I prepare well before I go to any new place. But since this was unplanned, I was not sure of what to do and where to go. I just took a tube(London Subway) map from the hotel and started my trip with that. I took a train from Heathrow to the center of London. I got down at Piccadilly circus, which is a mini version of the Times square with all its lights and stuff. From there, I walked all the way till Big Ben. No wonder that it's called the most famous Clock Tower in the world. The clock tower is situated at the north-eastern end of the Houses of Parliament and it was just spectacular at night. I found out that it is often mistakenly called "Big Ben" — which is actually the main bell housed within the Clock Tower. Right across it is the London eye, which was closed at night and I missed the chance to get into the tallest observation wheel in the world. I really liked that area, especially crossing Thames river on the Millennium bridge. The London Millennium Footbridge is a pedestrian-only steel suspension bridge crossing the River Thames.

I spent most of the time that night asking people for directions, nearby attractions and their significance. I walked for couple of hours and bumped into famous places like Trafalgar square, Downing Street and Diana Memorial. By the time, I was done with my walking trip, it was 1pm and I was totally exhausted and I had a morning flight to catch. I found out that it will take one day to see Tower of London and so it was ruled out for me. I badly wanted to see London Bridge at least, but it was too far from where I was. I decided to see Buckingham Palace before heading back to my hotel.Tube stops running around midnight and so I took this rickshaw to the Buckingham Palace. I was surprised to find our Desi rickshaw kind of transportation there. Buckingham Palace was huge and very beautiful. I ended my trip by taking a black cab back to my hotel to get the much needed few hours of sleep.

On the whole, it was an exciting night at London. Apart from the Tower of London and changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, I have seen most of the sights. London is a very nice, grand and an expensive place. It has history, Royal majesty, traditional Black cabs and old-fashioned Red phone booths.

Kyle is the man

2007-08-10T11:19:00.000-04:00

I wanted to write about Kyle MacDonald and his blog since one year. He stays in Montreal, Canada. On July 12th 2005, he started with a blog and a red paper clip. His goal - to own a house or an island or an island with a house. His modus operandi - Trade the red clip with any thing bigger or better and keep trading until he gets his house. And for this purpose,he is willing to travel anywhere in the world - he will even come to your house if you make an offer he can't refuse.

Initially, I thought he was crazy. But, now after seeing the way he got his house, I am very impressed.

His story - he has traded the red clip with different people from different countries as below:

Red paper clip -> Fish-shaped pen
Fish-shaped pen -> doorknob with a funny face
doorknob -> stove
stove -> Red generator
Red generator -> Instant party (beer-keg)
Instant party -> Snowmobile
Snowmobile -> Paid trip to Yahk, British Columbia
Paid trip to Yahk -> 1995 Ford Diesel Van
Van -> Recording contract
Recording contract -> 1-year free rental apartment in Phoenix, Arizona.

After 14 trades and within 9 months, he has managed to get a 1-year rental apartment in Phoenix in exchange of just a small red insignificant paper clip.

Once in a while, someone or the other comes up with such a simple yet extraordinary idea that it leaves everyone thinking "Wow!

Life finds a way

2007-08-02T11:32:00.000-04:00

Atacama Desert in Chile is the driest place on earth. Parts of Atacama Desert haven't seen a drop of rain since record keeping began. All other desert life we know of, requires at least occasional rain or fog to supply water, but this region of the Atacama has neither. It's almost total lack of water seemed to be an insuperable barrier to life. Inspite of all this, it's a shock to learn some life forms do exist and more than a millioon people live there. Although rain rarely falls on the Atacama's coastline, a dense fog known as camanchaca is abundant. The fog nourishes plant communities called lomas, isolated islands of vegetation that can contain a wide variety of species, from cactuses to ferns. Human residents take advantage of the camanchaca and found a way to generate water from fog. The people there are aptly called as fog-catchers.

Recently, researchers found evidence of photosynthesis deep within the ocean. They found a bacterium that is the first photosynthetic organism that doesn't live off sunlight but from the dim light coming from hydrothermal vents nearly 2,400 meters deep in the ocean. The bacteria apparently live in the razor thin interface between the extremely hot water coming from a flange vent and the very cold water surrounding it. This is startling in the sense that you do not expect to find photosynthesis in a region of the world that is so completely dark.

The Most Powerful Volcanic Eruption of the 20th Century occured on 1912 in Novarota, Alaska. Enormous quantities of hot, glowing pumice and ash were ejected from Novarupta destroying all life in its path. Lushgreen forest was changed to a barren land filled with ash. The landscape is slowly recovering now. You can see life starting to grow in the form of small green sprouts.The soil there is full of ash and it has no nitrogen. Nitrogen is essential for plants to grow. The rocks there gathers nitrogen from atmosphere and deposits that in the soil, thereby enabling the plant growth.

These are the examples of life in extreme environments.This shows that there is this ability of humans/organisms to survive and live in areas that we wouldn't have imagined possible, and that life is much stronger than what we realized.

It's just amazing to see how life finds a way!!

The Eagle and the Wolf

2007-07-30T10:57:00.000-04:00

There is a great battle
that rages inside me.

One side is a soaring eagle
Everything the eagle stands for
is good and true and beautiful.

It soars above the clouds.
Even though it dips down into the valleys,
it lays its eggs on the mountain tops.

The other side of me is a howling wolf.
And that raging, howling wolf
represents the worst that is in me.

He eats upon my downfalls and
justifies himself by his presence
in the pack.

Who wins this great battle?...
The one I feed.

This is one of my favourite poems. Life is full of decisions, everyday we have to make decisions. We will make some good ones and some bad ones. The ability to choose is quite remarkable. Each of us must choose how to live and the quality of our lives depends greatly upon these individual decisions. When doubt and anxiety surround the choices, when you are wrestling with your decision, we can consider the above poem.

Welcome back Jon Lester!!

2007-07-24T23:50:00.001-04:00

Jon Lester is the starting pitcher for Boston Redsox. He was 7-2 with a 4.76 ERA last season. Being a Redsox fan, I was very excited to see him in his sparkling rookie season, last year. I thought that he will be a great prospect. But, things changed. Lester was diagonsed with cancer last August. He underwent six rounds of chemotherapy over the next three months. But it’s a five-year process before he can be declared cancer-free, including a scan every three months during this first year. I have seen him do the press conference last year to announce this shocking news. He maintained great poise through out and his courage wass undeniable. It was definitely very hard for him. Being a cancer survior, you don't look at your life the same ever again.

Jon Lester made his first start following his cancer treatment and remission last night. Pitched well, all things considered, but just the story alone is really rather touching. Curt Schilling summed it up perfectly: Lester's start simply "wasn't about baseball." It’s no small task to return from cancer to one of the biggest stages in the sports world, starting pitcher for a major league team.

Amidst a host of negative sports stories-- from Michael vick's alleged dogfighting involvement to ongoing steroid investigation that has tainted Barry Bonds' chase of Henry Aaron's home run record to gambling scandal in NBA to Vinokurov doping in Tour de France-Lester's return to the majors is truly inspirtaional and a remarkable story. Welcome back, Jon Lester. You reminded hardcore sports fans like me, what's great about sports even with all the negativity around.

I am just really glad to see him happy and playing baseball again. What a comeback and what a story.

No..It's not writer's block

2007-07-16T20:32:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that it's been 2 months since I blogged. It's not that I haven't had anything interesting to write at all. I took this forced break from blogging due to various reasons. Yeah, I was very busy .In these hectic 2 months, I finished one project at work, travelled to India, London, California, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Wow! When it rains, it pours. Well, things are normal now and on the upside, I have lot of interesting things to write after this break.

I managed to finish 2 books in the past 2 weeks: "Eat, Pray and Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert and "The Kite Runner"by Khaled Hosseini. As the book cover says, the first book is one Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. She is a very good writer and It's an interesting book. The book was basically divided into 3 parts. The Italy part was good, India part was boring and the Indonesia part was OK. "The Kite Runner" was an excellent read. It's an unforgettable story and I loved it. The beauty and violence of Afganistan comes into Life in this tale of Amir. I'd recommend this book to anyone.

I went to see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" yesterday. It is a well crafted movie and the makers did a nice job of translating the colossal book into a movie of resonable length. The visual effects and performances are superb. I thought the final quote in the movie before the ending credits was kind of nice and deep: " You will always get back what you lose..Maybe, in a way you don't expect".

Green Day

2007-05-11T11:25:00.000-04:00

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone

It's about time that I posted something about Music here. One day, I was listening to the track "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" from the album "American Idiot" and I just fell in love with the vocals and music. They quickly became my favourite band and I can simply say that they Rock. Most of their songs are fast based and under the average song length. Their songs are very catchy and full of energy. The vocals of the lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong are very unique and thats what sets them apart. I feel that whatever he sings sounds very nice, because of his unique vocals. Even though their music isn't particularly innovative, they brought the sound of late-'70s punk to a new, younger generation.

There are some interesting stories on how the band name "Green Day" originated. One story is that when they dropped out of school to be musicians, their principal said "It'll be a green day in hell before you make anything of yourselves". Some say that in drug slang - if you smoked pot and goofed off all day, it was a "Green Day." Anyways, irrespective of the name, they managed to get worldwide popularity and won lots of awards in that process. This punk band's major label debut "Dookie" was a breakout success. After that album, it took a while for them to get another hit. "American idiot" came in 2004 and it definitley reignited their popularity and it remains my favourite album. Their new album will be releasing in 2008 and I can't wait!!!

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

2007-05-02T21:02:00.000-04:00

The Monk who Sold His Ferrari, by Robin Sharma is a fable about fulfilling your dreams and reaching your destiny. It is definitely a very captivating and practical story which teaches you various practical lessons like developing joyful thoughts, valuing time and cultivating self-discipline. This book is filled with insights about follwing your passion and living your dream.

I really liked the "Opposition Thinking" technique .This is a particularly good technique for ridding the mind of worry and other negative, life-draining influences. Under the grand laws of nature, the mind can only hold one thought at any time. I did try this and it is true. Really, using this little known information, anyone can easily create a positive, creative mindset within a short period. This process is straight forward: when a undesirable thought occupies the focal point of your mind, replace it with an uplifting one.

Step one is to become aware that you are thinking these uninspiring thoughts. Self-knowledge is the stepping stone to self mastery. Step two is to appreciate once and for all that just as easily as you allowed those gloomy thoughts to enter, you can replace them with cheerful ones. So, you need to think of opposite and so this is called as Opposition Thinking.

I think 'Sattvic' or pure thoughts are very important. The quality of thinking determines the quality of life.

Blood Diamonds

2007-04-23T17:10:00.000-04:00

Honey, you’re better off wearing pearls.

Last weekend, I saw the much-talked about ‘Blood Diamond‘ movie, over which I have mulled before. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mined in war zones and sold to finance the conflicts. Even though there is a great deal of violence in this movie, it captures the reality of the country to a remarkable degree. It is a soul stirring film which tells you some facts about blood diamonds and Sierra Leone. Archer says at one point in the movie: " God has left Africa long back". This perhaps sums up the tragic situation there.

Blood diamonds, often called conflict diamonds, are mined in war torn African countries by rebels to fund their conflict. The rebels grossly abuse human rights, often murdering and enslaving the local populations to mine the diamonds. Sierra Leone's diamonds have been blamed for prolonging the brutal civil war that lasted 11 years. I was astonished to know that Wars have costed an estimated 3.7 million lives. The most worrying aspect of the war in Sierra Leone is the international community’s belated response.Although the United Nations first identified the conflict diamond issue in 1998 as a source of funding for war, it was the diamond industry that took steps to address the conflict diamond issue by convening a meeting to plan a process by which diamond origin could be certified. Finally, in 2003, an international certification scheme alled the Kimberley Process was launched, making it illegal to trade in conflict diamonds.

It is very important to develop ethical and fair diamond trade in countries like Sierra Leone as it will help miners and their communities benefit from their country's beautiful natural diamond resource. Botswana is a perfect example of this. Botswana used to be a poor farm country but today its government works hand in hand with the Diamond industry to give Botswana a living standard 7 times higherthan its neighbors. Recent figures show that the illicit diaomond trade has fallen to approximately 1%, which isa very good sign.

Kayne West’s song and video about “blood diamonds” makes us take an honest look at ourselves and ask: Is my fascination with diamonds contributing to the violence in Sierra Leone? But U.N. efforts alone won’t stop the senseless killing in Sierra Leone over illicit diamonds. People can stop this by purchasing legitimate and conflict free diamonds.

As the UN website says, war is the price of peace and the countries like Angola and Sierra Leone have already paid too much. We should let them live a better life. Diamonds are forever, but lives are not!

Tragedy at Virgina Tech 4-16-2007

2007-04-18T16:34:00.000-04:00

"No society that feeds its children on tales of succesful violence can expect them not to believe that violence in the end is rewarded" - Margaret Mead.

Cho Seung-hui, a 23-year-old South Korean and resident alien, pointlessly ended the lives of 32 innocent people at Virginia Tech. The death toll makes it the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. I recently watched the hideous footage of the Columbine High School massacre which occured on another April afternoon eight years ago. A coupleof teenage students carried out a similar shooting rampage ending the lives of 13 people. In both the incidents, the shooters committed suicide. The main motivation of the killers is very unclear. They are very disturbed people who developed hatred towards other students due to various personal reasons.

Of all the settings where a gunman might walk into a building and attack innocent people, you naively assume that a college campus would rank near the bottom of the list. It's just shocking that one insane person can causeso many senseless deaths and have an impact like this which lasts forever. As President Bush said, "Schools should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every Americanclassroom and every American community ". Whenever I used think of to Virginia Tech, their excellent Engineering program and the Football team comes to mind. Now, sadly, after this tragedy, Virgina Tech is remembered forever for these shootings.

As colleges and universities learned on Monday, it often takes a tragedy to expose just how many weaknesses there are in the system. A society that feels the need to arm itself with lethal weapons for protection from society, is no society at all. It's all about fear. The obvious comment is sadly true - that a country that refuses politically to accept gun control is bound to experience more of such awful and frightening events. The right to bear arms in America is seen as an important civil liberty, and the debate concerns how far to impose restrictions on that right. I feel that US should have tighter gun control laws.

The debate can wait for a while. I really liked the professor/poet Nikki Giovanni's stirring Convocation address at VirginiaTech yesterday. Here is an excerpt:

"We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through
all our sadness ... We are the Hokies ... "

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who was affected by this tragedy!!

Mount Washington

2007-04-07T21:30:00.000-04:00

Mount Washington is located in the white mountians in the state of New Hampshire and it is the highest peak in the northeastern U.S. What makes this mountain so interesting is the fact that it is the home of the world's worst weather. Notorious for its frequent bad weather conditions, Mount Washington's climate can rival that of Antarctica. Convergence of several storm tracks and location are the main reasons for it's erratic weather. The mountain summit is the site of a non-profit scientific observatory. I was amazed to know the weather records at the summit. Winds exceeding hurricane force occur on an average of 110 days per year and the summit also retains the world record for wind speed, 231 MPH.

The weather on the summit can go from sunny and calm to foggy and rainy in a matter of minutes. You can hike, bike, drive or take the cog train to the summit. Many people visit the summit every year to experience not only the weather there, but also the journey to the summit itself. I wanted to hike this mountain, but due to lack of time, I ended up taking the auto road. It was quite an adventure. The auto road opens for a short time every summer and the entry is dependent on weather conditions on the summit. Most of the days, the weather is horrible and so the road is always closed. I got lucky on my third attempt.It was 85 °F and I did't bother to carry my jacket. Wrong move!! The mostly-paved road ascends almost a mile in elevation to the 6288' summit at an average gradient of 12%. The drive on the Mount Washington Auto Road is a drive unlike any other and itself is worth the trip. The fog grows as you keep driving and soon beautiful vistas, blue mountains and un-obstructed views will greet you. The summit was cold with a temperature of 50 °F. I was shocked at the difference in temperature between the base and the summit. The summit is called 'City Among the Clouds'. You find the observatory, cog railway station and couple of other buildings there. In the observatory, they have these chilling photos and videos of the winter life at summit. I spent couple of hours at the observatory, listening to the 'The Story of the World Record Wind'. Then, the weather started to turn bad and it was time to head to the base.

A trip to Mount Washington is an unforgettable experience. I was one of the many who went there to experience the weather, grand views, and sheer thrill of ascending Mount Washington. You see a bumper sticker saying “This Car Climbed Mt. Washington” on most cars in New England. I never used to understand what's the big deal in driving to the top of a mountain. I guess now, after taking the auto road and driving myself, I know why people brag about driving up a hill. It is infact, quite an adventure!!

India the Superpower? Not so Fast!

2007-03-29T13:07:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the new India!! India has posted four straight years of 8 percent growth and everyone is taking about the rising India. In a short time, India emerged as the other major power in the Asia. There is mounting support for India to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. But, is it the time to give superpower status to India. I say - not so fast.

While there is no doubt about the potential of the India and it's economy, severe structural and institutional problems will hobble it for years to come. Lets take a reality check. For all its Billionaires, Nobel Prizes and brilliant scholars and professionals, India is still a very poor country and it is the largest single-country contributor to the pool of illiterate people in the world. Also, India has to be a major player in world trade. As of today, India is just contributing less than one percent of world exports. As people are pointing out, India's growth is messy, chaotic and largely unplanned. Indian growth story is widening the gap between the rich and poor. I call it "The Great Divide". The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The middle class is disappearing fast. India needs to find a way to bridge this gap. You find this great divide as soon as you enter India. On one side, you notice the dilapidated airports, vast slums and impoverished villages and on the other side, there are the vibrant modern cities, magnificent IT parks and so on.

There are three legs in the development triangle - free trade, education and infrastructure. India embraced free trade and it is the one of the main reasons for the development of India. But, the other two legs are still badly broken. First and foremost, India should improve its infrastructure. Even today, many poor people/villages are lacking water, electricity, proper roads and hospitals. For all its IT might, India is still a Farmers country and the agriculture sector is facing many problems. Then comes the education, which is still a problem in just the same way as it used to be. There's excellent education for the elite and some poor, but no education at all for some people at the base of the pyramid, particularly women.

On the brighter side, India is now poised to reach a higher position on the world scene than at any previous time. India's nuclear power and space program has given it an elite status. India is the world's fastest growing free market democracy. Inspite of its population and the poverty issues, India is still delivering real progress. India has a much younger population and it is into the right things, the modern, skill-intensive service sectors like IT. The overall outlook is fairly good and optimistic for India. "Our Time is Now," asserts The Times of India. It is definitely India's moment. It can grasp it and forge a new path for itself.

All in all, India has many reasons to be proud of, but there is a still a long way to go before we can call ourselves a 'Superpower'.

Seinfeld

2007-03-22T11:04:00.000-04:00

My apologies to 'Friends', but i think Seinfeld is the best sitcom. I like 'Friends' and I really think that it's one of the finest sitcoms ever. But, somehow I really like Seinfeld. Seinfeld, "the show about nothing" is my favorite because of its inimitable take on life's most mundane moments. Seinfeld is one of the first famous sitcoms and it premiered in 1990. It is a very innnovative sitcom and it became popular with its clever plots, dialogues and crafty characters. It started the trend of capturing the humor about modern single life and its emptiness in big city. Another aspect of the show that was different from most sitcoms was that it was purely a comedy, having no serious or dramatic moments.

All the four main characters in Seinfeld are lovable. Jerry and George are great. I like Elaine and Krammer. Elaine's bad dates and work place sagas are pretty intersting. For me, Krammer, 'hipster doofus' is the star of the show. He is one over-the-top imaginative and mysterious character. His energetic sliding bursts through Jerry's apartment door and his assortment of comic pratfalls are humorous. Apart from the main stars, there are many more colorful characters like Newman.

Even though Seinfeld season is officially over, it still airs on many television stations. The show's popularity seems to have an endless reign. After a hard day at work, resting and catching an episode of Seinfled is the best thing to do.

0° F

2007-03-14T20:51:00.000-04:00

Yeah, that's the current temperature in Boston. With windchill, it feels like -12°F. This is probably the worst winter month in more than 3 years. We had single digit temperatures for many days in February. Boston is more like Chicago with lots of wind these days. This winter
was not so bad till February. December was ok and January was balmy. There was no snow till Mid-January. Everyone including me jumped into the Global Warming bandwagon.

December and January was nice, So February should be great, right? I wish it was.

How is life at 0 °F/-17 °C ? Not so good. On days like these, the best thing to do is to work from home. In case, you have to go for work, it will be an interesting day. Your first mission is to locate your car in the snow filled parking lot. Then in the beautiful weather, you have to scrap the snow and ice from the car. If it's a major snow storm, then you will end up shoveling a lot of snow. Sometimes, you have to help your neighbors dig out their cars. Eventually, you will get into your car feeling cold and exhausted. With some difficulty you will reach the work place. The 50 yards from the a parking lot to the office door are the worst.

Well, on the other side, most of the winter days are not like today. Unless I'm on a beach with a nice drink in my hand, I hate hot weather. I love winter. Somehow I prefer cold places to really hot places. The beauty of staying in cold places is that you get to experience the four seasons. I feel that you will really appreciate and enjoy the other seasons after going through this harsh winter. Of course, nothing beats the first snow of the season. Coming from California, I really enjoy it.

"Go ahead, snow, we can take it!". That's the attitude of Bostonians. I used to think that people here will just sit at home and do nothing in winter. I was so wrong. Infact, most of my friends here wait for winter so that they can do one of the many winter activities like Skating, Skiing and Ice Fishing.

But, on days like today, I don't love winter so much.

Ramblings on Oscars and Top Movie Quotes

2007-02-26T15:03:00.000-05:00

Being such a movie buff, I think it's high time I write something about movies. I watched Oscars last night and now a few random impressions:

Ellen DeGeneres was awesome as the Oscar host. I always liked her. Her style and humor was very refreshing right from the monologue till the end.
I jumped with joy when the Best Director Award went to Martin Scorsese. I loved his movies, especially "TheDeparted" and I am very glad that he finally got the Oscar after three decades and 6 nominations.
It's sad to see Peter O'Toole not wining the Oscar again after being nominated for the 8th time.
I wonder when a Indian film will get an Oscar.
"An Inconvenient Truth" and "Little Miss Sunshine" got the recognition they deserved.
It's funny that the king (Then Last King of Scotland) and the Queen won the Oscars for the best Actor and Actress.

I was having this discussion with my friend about the Top Movie Quotes of all time and these will be my picks: (not in that order)

1. The Departed
Frank Costello: When I was your age they used to say you could become cops or criminals. What I'm saying to you is this...When you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?
2. The Godfather
Don Corleone: I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.
3. As Good As It Gets
Carol Connelly: When I first saw you, I thought you were handsome. Then, of course, you spoke.
4. Serendipity
Dean: You know the Greeks didn't write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died: "Did he have passion?".
Dean: ...if we are to live life in harmony with the universe, we must all possess a powerful faith in what the ancients used to call "fatum", what we currently refer to as destiny.
5. Rudy
Father Cavanaugh: Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have only come up with two hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I'm not Him.
6. Notting Hill
Anna Scott: After all... I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.
7. Jerry Maquire
Dorothy Boyd: I love him! I love him for the man he wants to be. And I love him for the man he almost is.
Jerry Maquire: I love you. You... complete me.
8. The Shawshank Redemption
Red: ..I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.
9. The American President
President Andrew Shepherd:..I've loved two women in my life. I lost one to cancer, and I lost the other 'cause I was so busy keeping my job I forgot to do my job. Well, that ends right now....If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I'll show up. This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up. My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I am the President.
10. Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump: My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
Forrest Gump: (referring to Apple Computers) He got me invested in some kinda fruit company.

There are many more memorable movie quotes, but only these came to my mind first.

Why do I blog?

2007-02-16T11:16:00.000-05:00

Many people including my friends ask me this question. If I think about this, one more question comes to my mind. Why Do People Blog? I guess there are many motivations/reasons for blogging like: documenting one's life, providing commentary and opinions, expressing deeply felt emotions, working out ideas through writing, and forming and maintaining communities or forums. For some, writing is just a passion. Some are writing for others to read. And some are writing for one of the various above mentioned reasons.

I started blogging just for the heck of it. Little did I know that it will grow into one of my favourite hobbies. I blog because I like it. I am definitely not blogging "to be heard". I blog because I have something to say. It gives me an outlet to express my enthusiasm. I can rave and rant all I want and it feels good. A technology consultant, called blogs "be-logs" because he believed that blogging was used to "log your being". I guess that holds true in my case too. My blog serves like a not-so-personal diary for me. Its like a personal reference..to not forget certain events/thoughts/travels in my life.

They say that bloggers are people with attitude. I am ok with that. I feel that attitude is always good as long it's positive. Also, blogging for me is a great excercise which is food for thought.
Thinking and writing are somewhat synonynmous. Blogging can be "thinking by writing" or "writing by thinking".

All in all, I am very glad that I started blogging!

Goa Trance

2007-02-07T21:25:00.000-05:00

I saw 'Dil Chahta Hai' long back and since then I always wanted to visit Goa. Finally, last december when I was in India, I managed to squeeze the Goa trip with bunch of friends in my schedule. I wanted to rent a convertible and drive to goa, movie style. But, due to lack of time, we ended up taking a flight from Hyderabad to Goa. Usually, before visiting any new place, I will do lot of research. But, this time I had no clue as to what to expect in Goa. A friend of mine was taking care of logistics there and so without much preparation, we just hopped into a flight and went there. I heard a lot about Goa and I was very excited.

On our first day, we stayed in a hotel near Baga beach. Since, it was impossible to cover whole Goa in 3 days, we decidedto just see the best places in North Goa. Baga beach is one of the most popular beaches in Goa and it lived up to its name. It is a long beack with lots of shacks serving great food and drinks. I really liked the tables on the sand, very closeto water. We just spent the whole day walking on the beach and just watching the crowd there. It was an awesome place to see the sunset. From the beach, we went to our hotel for a quick shower and then we were on our way to Flea Market. Saturday night's Flea market in Goa is really famous. It starts after 10pm and it is a heaven for hardcore shoppers and good bargainers, to bid on wonderful trinkets and handicrafts. I realized that after coming to US, my bargaining skills have diminished drastically.

My friend asked me not miss the Taj Village in Goa. He wanted me to atleast go and have a cup of tea there to experience the place. So, next day, we went to Taj Village. It was love at first sight. All of us liked that place so much that we decided to stay there for the next 2 days. Situated in close proximity to Fort Aquada, Taj Village is a charming place with pretty cottages, pathways, fragrant gardens and a great spa. We just pampered ourselves there for coupls of days and I spent quite some timelazing around in one of the many hammocks there. Somehow I really like visiting churches and I make it a point to visit one if it is famous. So, later that day, we went to see the Basilica of Bom Jesus. It is a very old and beautiful church with great architecture.

We wanted to visit the Fort shown in 'Dil Chahta Hai' movie. But, the problem was that the Goa has some ten forts and no one there knew which one of them was shown in Movie. So, the next day, we rented a car and went in search of that elusive fort. We travelled till Maharastra border in narrow Goan roads and ended up in Tirakol Fort. It was a nice fort with great views, but it was not the one. But, in our long drive we discovered many villages, secluded beaches and great vista points. Our quest for the fort ended on the final day. We found out that the fort we were looking for is right beside our Taj. So, we decided to see that place before leaving for airport. But, that fort was closed when we went there. What an irony!! Anyways, I was glad that we found out what we were looking for and we managed to take some snaps there. And then, it was time to say adios to Goa.

Goa has it all - history, culture and cuisine. Goa exhibits a strikingly different culture from the rest of India. There's no place better to fall off the wagon than Goa, a sandy string of laid-back, choose-your-own-adventure beach villages, each with its own personality and a cure for whatever you're craving. Goa is a mix of Andaman's beaches and Kerala's palm trees &backwaters. It is a great place to relax beneath swaying palm trees on idyllic beaches, head up back roads and discover tiny villagesand to expend your energy dancing till dawn. My holiday was over, but I knew my memories would definitely linger for a while. There’s still lots of places, crazy Goan food and culture to be explored in future trips to Goa.

Do Fish Drink Water??

2007-01-17T14:06:00.000-05:00

I recently attended a meeting and the speaker asked," Who considers themself really smart in this room? ". It was an interesting situation. I kept my modesty aside and raised my hand. She asked me four questions and I was able to answer the first three. This was the fourth question.

I was surpised/puzzled/shocked at this question. How can I not know an answer to such a simple question?? Well, the question looks simple, but the answer is not.

The answer to the question is Yes and No. It's a No for Freshwater Fish and an Yes for Seawater fish.

Saltwater fish have to drink water because the water in their environment is saltier than the liquids in their bodies. Osmosis causes water from their body tissues to be released into their environment. Saltwater fish have to constantly drink large quantities of water to replace what they lose through Osmosis . Diffusion then releases the excess salts and minerals taken in and not needed.

Fresh water fish never drink water because their bodies are saltier than the surrounding water. Osmosis draws water into the fish’s body through its skin and gills, unlike saltwater fish, where the water is drawn out of the body.

Some fish like Salmon have adapted to living in both salt and freshwater. Salmon eggs are laid in freshwater. After they hatch, the baby Salmon move to the ocean.

Interesting..hah!!!

An Inconvenient Truth

2007-01-11T15:51:00.000-05:00

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." - Mark Twain

I finally got around to watching the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore and I was thoroughly impressed. This documentary is basically about global warming. Global warming is a scientific reality and the science tells us that human activity has made enormous impacts to our dear planet which affects our well-being and even our survival as a species.

This is the warmest winter I ever experienced in Boston. I feel that I am the only one who is unhappy about the weather here. It's mid January and there is no snow in Boston till now.I heard that its been 200 years since this happened. There is obviously something wrong!!

How many times do we ignore what we know is right and the truth simply because it’s not convenient right then? I guess everyone should accept this inconvenient truth and try to make a difference.

Atleast one good thing is that the global warming problem can be solved. Infact, I feel that everyone has a moral obligation to do so. Small changes to your daily routine can add up to big differences in helping to stop global warming.

"An Inconvenient Truth" is not the most entertaining film of the year. But, it might be the most important. It's high time that people and politicians do something about this problem!!

Join StopGlobalWarming.org.
Here are some interesting facts:
-All ten of the hottest years on record, globally, have occurred in the last fifteen years.
-An average car in the US driven 10,000 miles in one year releases 5.5 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Books I read recently

2006-12-05T10:52:00.000-05:00

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

My friend Sangeetha recommended this book to me. This is a fantastic book and I already
read it twice. Its fun to read the exploits of one of this century's greatest scientific minds.
I always loved books about scientists, but what sets this book apart is the way Mr. Feynman
recounts his adventures from sharing atomic physics ideas with Einstein and Bohr to cracking a safe. There's no arguing over Feynman's intelligence but what strikes me most about his
character was his unfailing curiosity. This book makes you feel and inspire that you can
learn and do anything you want to.

This is simply one of the best books I've read.

Animal Farm

Animal Farm by George Orwell is a compelling and interesting book describing the evolution of a farm run by animals. This is a very cleverly written book and is to this day one of the best attempts to criticize a totalitarian regime through the means that literature provides: the power of words.

The last paragraph of this book is riveting:

"Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."

This book is greatly inspired by real events that went down during the era of communism in
Russia. While it helps to know about that time period, the book is written so well that it is easily understood even if you only know a little about what happened during that time. I think the use of animals was a very creative and smart way to tell this story.

A great book that lives up to its reputation.

Lord of the Flies

This is a literary classic written by William Golding. This is a tale tale about a group of English schoolboys who are plane-wrecked on a deserted island. The kids in the book represent how mankind would be without any rules or restictions. A compelling adventure tale, "Lord of the Rings" succeeds in telling a story of the dark instincts inherent in the human condition. Although we are conditioned for a civilized society, Golding makes the compelling argument that if left to our own devices, we will revert back to our primitive roots, one where survival and savagery triumph over order and rules.

Just as 'Animal Farm' is a parody of the Russian Revolution, 'Lord of the Flies' is more
of a parable for mankind. This is a very well written book and I highly recommend this book.

Vermont

2006-10-24T22:32:00.000-04:00

Very often, when people are discussing Vermont, you’ll hear someone say: “Well, there’s certainly something about it.” I know there is something about it, and for me, this is it. Vermont is my favourite state in US. I know that Montana is also really beautiful, but since I have never been there, I will stick with Vermont for now. Each and every state is different from one another, but none of them is as unique and as beautiful as Vermont. Vermont is known for its mud season in spring followed by a generally mild summer and a colorful fall, and particularly for its cold winters. In the early fall, Vermont's hills experience an explosion of red, orange and gold foliage displayed on the sugar maple as cold weather approaches. Vermont's foliage is always among the best because of a variety of other natural factors, including soil types, amount of forested land, topography and a broad range of tree species, with a large amount of maples.

If you are nature lover or outdoor enthusiast, New England is THE place for you. I am one of those million "leaf peepers" who pile onto tour buses or cars and head north each fall to New Hampshire or Vermont for a glimpse of seasonal color. I love the burst of brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges that fall brings to the trees. New England is a great place to see fall colors. It's been said that in New England, you don't really have to travel to view brilliant fall foliage - just stand on a street corner, and fall color will cometo you. Fall is gorgeous just about anyplace in New England with mountains and trees, but Vermont is particularly beautiful, thanks to the profusion of both.

Vermont is full of quiet country roads, quaint towns, covered bridges, lakes and trees. I explored most of the byways, off roads and scenic routes and realized that you you don't need a vista point to see the splendor of Vermont. I took the Route 100 which runs along the spine of the Green Mountains from Canada border to the Massachusetts and discovered the unique mix of villages, farms and forests that characterizes Vermont's landscape and makes it different from most other places. I always make it a point to visit the Ben and Jerry's factory and take the tour. The 'Chunky Monkey' icecream itself is worth the trip.

Vermont's quintessential charm and its unparalleled vitality is unmatched and thats why people like me will keep visting again and again. Vermont: there is definitely “something about it.”

New England Fall Colors

2006-10-18T22:33:00.000-04:00

Ramblings on Sports and Superdome Re-opening

2006-09-26T21:23:00.000-04:00

The New Orleans Superdome, which just over a year ago became a symbol of the chaos and suffering, re-opened yesterday for the Monday Night Football. Katrina destroyed much of the New Orleans last year, including the Superdome. Till Katrina happened, Superdome was the site for big time events - site of six Super Bowls, a mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II and the convention that propelled Bush to the presidency. Katrina changed all that. Superdome became a symbol of misery. After one year of repairs and 185 million dollars the Superdome is once again fully functional. I am very glad thats its re-opened and Saints are back in Superdome playing football. If Superdome can be rebuilt in one year after that tremendous destruction, people believe that their houses and neighbourhoods can be rebuilt too. It is a symbol of recovery now.

The fans and people of New Orleans can look to their team for hope and happiness. Like almost everything else about life in the United States, the way we approached sporting events changed in past few years. In the wake of Sep 11 events, many New yorkers turned to their favourite teams for some joy and hope. Sports remain a joyous escape not just for the people in suffering, but for everyone. I think we need sports to fill some sort of genetic void in our modern lives.

My love affair with sports started at the age of 10. It all began with Cricket and as the time progressed, I started liking other sports too. Now, I follow most of sports known to Mankind. I guess I'll always be one of those guys that sifts the sports page out of the newspaper. But, what I love most about sports is the worlds into which it can take you. As a fan, brazen emotions spill forth, and you maintain little control over yourself. I have spent many sleepless nights because of too much joy or too much sadness, whenever my favourite team wins or loses a final. It's all part and parcel of being obsessed with sports and I love each and every bit of it.

ESPN commercial says it right, "Without sports what would we(I) hold on to??"

Beach Hopping in Florida

2006-09-12T19:24:00.000-04:00

Whenever you think of sunny Florida, the first thing that comes to mind is: Beaches. We made a last minute plan to go to Florida for the Labor day weekend to visit some of the best beaches there. Our trip was in doubt because of theTropical Storm Ernesto. But, the storm was a non-event that turned into a tropical depression, was little more than a wet inconvenience for the whole weekend.

We took a flight from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale on friday evening. Saturday morning, we started for the Tampa Bay area located in the west coast of Florida. The Gulf beaches in the west coast are famous for the white sand and warm water. Our first stop was the Clearwater Beach. Inspite of being a very popular beach with lots of visitors, the beach is very clean. It is one of the best beaches to see the sunset. We reached the place at sunset and spent some time there enjoying the spectacular sunset and the warm water.

Next day morning, we went to Honeymoon island and took the ferry to Caladesi Island state park. The isolation and lack of crowds are what help Caladesi Island Beach make the top 10 beach list year after year. Caladesi is a barrier island. Pine and palm forests lead to rolling dunes covered with tenacious grasses, which in turn lead to a long strip of white sandy beach. We stayed here for couple of hours swimming, playing volleyball and soaking in the sun and little rain. After this, on our way back to Ft.Lauderdale, we went to the Siesta key Beach. This is the best beach I have seen till date. Period.

Siesta key Beach is known as one of the most beautiful beaches anywhere in the world and it is very evident as soon as we stepped into this beach. One thing that stands out here is its sand. It has the whitest and finest sand. The beach sand is soft, floury and cool to the touch. After spending some time here, we returned to Ft.Lauderdale. It was a very short trip to the Florida west coast, but we managed to see some of the best beaches there. The west coast of florida is very different from other coast lines. It has miles after miles of white, sandy beaches and magnificently, beautiful natural resources.

On our last day, we went to the most popular beach in Florida, South Beach(SoBe). SoBe in Miami is a short drive from the Ft.Lauderdale. The south beach is famous not only for its beach but also for the restaurants, shops and the crowd. Everything is beautiful here; the people, the buildings, the scenery and the weather. The party never stops in the SoBe. It's a great place to just relax and watch people and thats what we did.

On the whole, we relaxed, soaked in the sun and had lots of fun visiting these best beaches..

White water rafting - Kennebec river

2006-08-30T12:02:00.000-04:00

Summer is almost coming to an end. Temperatures already started droping down in Boston. I guess there are only few weeks left for outdoor enthusiasts like me. This is one of the shortest summers I have ever experienced. It rained almost 75% of the summer, including this weekend and I started to wonder If I am in Boston or Seatle.

We recently went for white water rafting in the Kennebec river, located in Maine. I wanted to go for technically more challenging Penobscot river, but it was fully booked. Maine has three rivers for whitewater rafting and these rafting trips offer challenging rapids amidst the beautiful scenery of the Northeast. They offer all classes of rafting from class I (the easiest and safest) to class VI (the most difficult and most dangerous). Kennebec is a class II-IV river. The Upper Gorge has Class II-IV rapids, while the Lower Gorge is much calmer with rapids only reaching Class II.

We got up very early last sunday and took the 4 hr drive to our rafting company base near the river. It was raining and so we were asked to wear the wet suits. Each person was given a life jacket, a paddle and a helmet. We boarded the bus for the Harris station dam from where the excitment begins. A guide is assigned for a group of eight. We carried our boat to the river and our guide gave a brief class about paddling and safety rules. Good paddling is paramount to running any river successfully. Rafting boats go in a group and we waited on our boat for our turn.

After a quick warm-up through Class II Taster Rapids, the action begins almost immediately with a set of Class III waves known as "Rock Garden". Next up is "Big Momma", the biggest wave in the Upper Gorge. As your raft approaches "Big Momma", it’s hard to do anything but stare at the awesome amount of water that is about to consume your raft. "Magic Falls" comes after sometime and it is one of biggest set of rapids on the river and the last big rapid in the Upper Gorge. As you wait in line, boat after boat heads down the river one at a time and then disappears! Well, they don’t actually disappear. The boats are dropping into "Magic Falls". The upper gorge is full of exciting rapids like these and you barely get a chance to catch your breath.

After rafting the upper gorge, we pulled the boat to the river side for a wonderful BBQ lunch in the woods. Later, we started rafting the lower gorge. The lower gorge is relatively very mild with just class II rapids. But, it provides an opportunity to swim for sometime or to just sit back, relax and enjoy the wonderful scenary. This is a great chance to soak in the sun(rain, in our case) and beauty, talk with your guide and fellow paddlers, or engage in a water fight. Finally we reached "The Forks" where the Dead river meets the Kennebec and it is our take out point.

From mild to wild, Kennebec River has exciting rapids and it offers something for beginners and experienced paddlers alike. It's the thrill of wild rapids, the smell of fresh Maine pine and the spray of the cool river waters that makes Whitewater Rafting such a popular sport in Maine. I guess I am ready for the Penobscot river now.

On the whole, we all had a thrilling time rafting the Kennebec. It's an experience like no other. Whitewater rafting is a sheer adrenaline rush!!!

Malgudi Days and My Nostalgia

2006-08-17T15:42:00.000-04:00

I recently started watching Malgudi days on DVD and it brought back many fond memories of my childhood. I just realized how much I love 'Malgudi Days'. I read this book when I was in school. I used to love watching the series on tv too. How can I ever forget the title track..

There are many great Indian writers like Vikram Seth, Salman Rushdie, Arundati Roy and Jumpa Lahri. Each one has their unique style and they have written some excellent books. That said, R.K.Narayan remains my favourite Indian author. Malgudi Days is R.K.Narayan's literary masterpiece. What makes this book unique is the simple, yet artistic narrative style, used by the author. The tales in the book come with sprinkling of gentle irony along with a humour. The endings are rather abrupt, which leave an indelible impression on the mind. R.K.Narayan paints the picture for you. The book just transports you into the world of Malgudi.

I am not a big fan of watching movies or tv series based on good books, as they mostly disappoint me. But, Malgudi days is an exception. It is one of the best serials to grace Indian television. Everything about Malgudi Days was exemplary -- the amazing stories, the sketches, direction, performances and mind-blowing music. I bet, even today, those who have read the books and seen the serial remember every nuance fondly. So deep is the description of locale of 'Malgudi' , the characters and the writing of R.K. Narayan; Malgudi days is universally acceptable even though the theme is very Indian.

Now a days, it's hard to come across TV series like 'Malgudi Days'. But, thanks to DVD, revisit the classics and enjoy!!

Acadia National Park

2006-07-26T22:58:00.000-04:00

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever"

John Keat's words come true in Acadia. Last weekend, I visited the Acadia National park located on the rugged coast of Maine. This is one of the most beautiful parks I ever visited. Compared to Western national park standards, Acadia is a small park. What it lacks in size, it makes up with amazing beauty. This is one of the most visited National parks in US and it is very evident as soon as we stepped into the park.

We started for Acadia on Saturday morning. It took some 5 hours to reach the park. The weather in Maine is unpredictable. They say: If you don't like the weather, justwait a minute. The whole place was covered in fog when we entered. We felt that this weather only added to the beauty. We started exploring Acadia by taking the park loop road . This spectacular 27-mile scenic drive explores Acadia National Park and covers most of thebest places there. Our first stop was the Cadillac Mountian. This is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and is the first place to view sunrise in the United States. The park is full of breathtaking vista points and we covered most of them. By evening, we all were dead tired and decided to check into the hotel and relax for a while. Our hotel had a swimming pool facing the Atlantic ocean. We had an option of either swimming in the pool or in the Atlantic ocean itself . The whole experience of getting into Atlantic ocean and swimming in this pool overlooking the ocean was awesome.

Maine is a gorgeous state. It is very different from most of the other states in US. Our hotel was located in the city, Bar Harbor. It is a quintessential Maine town with a harbor, great restaurants and special mystique. Maine is also very famous for Blueberries. You get everything in Blueberry flavor from Icecream, pies, jam to soda and wine. I think the Blueberry pie and the ice cream are the best.

We started our next day by taking the horse drawn carriage ride. One of the most unique and interesting features of Acadia National Park is the network of 57 miles of gravel and crushed rock carriage roads built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. I was just amazed to know that the world's richest man spent 30 yrs building these roads at that time. But, it's a totally different and wonderful experience taking the carriage tour into the woods and escaping the automobile. The carriage was pulled by 2 horses and each weigh 1 ton. The power they generate is much more than 2hp. After that, we wanted to do some hiking. I found out that the hike to the Beehive mountain is the best. But, somehow we missed the trial and ended up hiking the Gorham mountain. The 360' view from the mountian summit is worth the trouble we took to hike it. This is one of the most scenic and toughest hikes I ever did. You will definitely find solitude by exploring quieter, more secluded mountain paths like these and thats exactly what we found. We were totally exhausted after the hike and we headed to Bar Harbor again for some nice lunch and Blueberry icecream for the final time.

All the beauty of Maine comes together in Acadia National Park. Even though it was mostly rainy and cloudy, we had wonderful time in Maine. I 've never been in such a peaceful place. I am definitely going to Acadia again and next time I will hike the Beehive mountain and visit the schoodic peninsula.

All in all, Acadia is gorgeous and it should be at the top of everyone's “must-see” list.

Lake Tahoe: Diving Into the Blue World

2006-07-07T19:57:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful July 4th weekend. Thanks to the floating holiday on July 3rd, I made a mini-vacation out of it.

This is my second time to California in less than a month. I guess even I suffer from a syndrome called: California-philia. I just keep coming back to California. When Gopi and GK planned this trip just one week back, I was very doubtful if I can make it. But, a great Jet Blue deal made it possible. I heard a lot about Lake Tahoe and I was very excited to finally see the highest alpine lake in the United States.

The weekend started on Saturday morning. I took a flight from Boston to Long Beach in California. Oh yeah..the drive to Lake Tahoe. It took some 12 hours for us to reach Lake Tahoe from Los Angeles with a stop at San Jose. On the whole I spent some 20 hours travelling on the first day. But, it was not very tiresome. We reached Lake Tahoe around midnight. I booked a big house for all of us. The house was awesome and the stay there turned out to be much better than what I expected. The house itself was worth the trip. Someone framed this nice Frederick S. Perls quotation there in the house :

"I do my thing, and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations. And you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you, and I am I, And if by chance we find each other, It's beautiful."

Next day we took the Gondola ride to the mountan top. I had my fist view of Lake Tahoe then.
Lake Tahoe's beauty is absolutely stunning. There are tall mountain peaks, still snowy even in midsummer, vast swaths of pine-covered forest, and of course, the wide, sparkling blue expanse that is the lake itself. This is the place Mark Twain once described as "a noble sheet of blue water . . . as it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface." I took some 12 minutes to reach the montain top and the ride was very scenic. Just when it seemed that the ride can't get any better, we arrived at a observation deckwhich treated to excellent shore-to-shore views of Lake Tahoe. After soaking in the views on The Deck, we hadsome fun rock climbing the 25-foot wall. We then went to the most scenic vista point in Lake Tahoe, the Emerald Bay. You can see from the photo above, why it is the one of the most photographed spots in US. Later in the evening, we rented some bikes and did some biking along the rim of the Lake Tahoe. It was very pretty watching the sunset at the lake.

The final day was dedicated to water sports. We planned to take a 10 seater boat and go for the lake cruise, but since it was busy weekend, we had a tough time finding the boat. Somehow, we managed to find one boat in the end. The Boat ride is the highlight of the trip. We took turns riding the speed boat for 2 hours in the lake and it was just awesome. I feel that no trip to Tahoe is complete without at least one boat ride and I am very glad we managed to do it. We ended our Tahoe trip at a nice Thai restaurant.

On the whole, Lake Tahoe is quite a scenic place with the huge lake and its sparkling blue water and snow-capped peaks rising high in the background. Although it is primarily a winter destination, it still has something for the nature lover during summer also. There is so much to do there! We can easily spend some 10 days. It was definitely a vacation to remember. I can't wait to go back there ..

Why I love Football

2006-06-19T13:20:00.000-04:00

The world of the Football Worldcup is the one I want to live in.

No, I am not talking about our inappropriately named American "football" (where only kickers dare to touch the ball with their feet) but the real football, the "beautiful game".

I follow many sports, but Football is the one I love the most. I am one of the billions of fans who are gripped with world cup fever. I waited 4 long years for this. For me, the World Cup is the only sporting event which seems to transcend sport itself. It's so big, with so many people eating and breathing football everyday for over a month, that it somehow becomes a historical event/celebration all wrapped up in one. That it happens once only every four years makes it even more special; the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, etc., all come once a year, but four years is long enough to allow you to invest some time and emotion in the current World Cup tournament. After all, who knows where you-or any of us-will be in four more years?

I love football. I love it because it is a beautiful game, a game that at it's best can be of such stunning elegance and beauty that it's as if you're no longer watching a rough and tumble sport, but dance. I love it because it makes me happy.

Brazil is my favorite team. I love Brazil not just for being the most successful national football team in the world. More than any other team, I think, Brazil show the world how beautiful the game can really be. Brazil plays with an artful rhythm and phenomenal skill, taking what can be a brutally physical game and turning it into something beautiful and surprising. When Brazil plays football, its as if players are doing Samba with the ball. A common quip about football is: "The English invented it, the Brazilians perfected it".

I am a passionate fan and I am enjoying each and every moment of the world cup. The worldcup will be gone before I know it, and yet it can't get here soon enough!!

Joga Bonito!!

Fun and Sun @ NY City

2006-06-04T20:51:00.000-04:00

Well, Its been 3 weeks since I created a post. Its raining again in Boston and I finally got a chance to write something. What is with rainy days and cravings to sit at home and write something. In my case, its just the norm. I've had a week to digest and ponder my Long Weekend trip to NY and Atlantic City with the GANG.

I love long weekends and I was looking forward to this break after 2 months of hectic work. There was rain in the forecast. But, rain or shine, I wanted to have fun.

Friday: Memorial Day Weekend started with heavy rain in Boston. All my colleagues warned me that driving to NY in that rain and weekend traffic is like contemplating suicide. I had not other choice and luckily the drive was not that bad. I was able to reach NY on time. Our hotel is near JFK in a place called Jamaica. Fittingly, the area is full of Jamaicans and Afro-Americans. Anu, Karthic, Vijay and Madalasa arrived that night.

Saturday: NY might be the city that never sleeps, but we all slept very well and got up at 10am. We went to Airport in the morning to pickup GK. He missed his flight and had to spend the whole night in Atlanta. It took a while for me to recognize GK without Moustache. Gang wanted Breakfast from Dunkin Donuts and thankfully I was able to find one closeby. We started our day by taking the subway from Queens to Manhattan. Empire State building was the first thing on our list and luckily the crowd was less there. The view of NY city from the Empire State building was breathtaking as always. Gang wanted to eat rice and so we went to some Indian place for lunch. our next stop was Downtown. We saw the Ground Zero and the Wall Street there. This is my second time to the WTC site and its always sad for me to see the WTC site without the Twin towers. May be, I feel more sad because I visited WTC towers when they were there. Later we went to Central Park and met Sid and Archana. We ended our long day at the Times Square. All in all, NY city is an amazing place to see. It's definitely not a place I would actually live, but I would most certainly visit again.

Sunday: Sunday was a mixed bag for us. After a tiring Saturday, we all got up late on Sunday. We started our day by driving to Libery State Park. We wanted to take a ferry to Liberty Statue from there. GK's friends joined us there and our Gang bloated to 10 ppl. There was this sign "welcome to the Ferry" posted at the entrance. Someone changed the Ferry to Fry and the sign read "welcome to the Fry". This encapsulates our experience there. All of us got roasted and sunburned waiting for the ferry. In Anu's words the wait was ayyo abba for us. By the time we got into the ferry, we were totally exhausted and so decided no to get down at the Libery statue. We just took the ferry ride and came back. Then, we went to Jersey City for lunch. The lunch was so delicious that it became one of the highlights of the trip. How can I ever forget the mouthwatering Kulfi I had there. Then, we started our drive to Altantic City. I had some expectations about that place, but it fell way short of my/our expectations. We saw couple of casinos there. Gang wanted to go for a nightclub and so went to this place called 'Club Tru'. It was supposed to be the best club there, but the whole experience was disaster because of the Gay crowd. Well!!we were at the wrong place at the wrong time. I just found out yesterday from my boss that Sundays are Gay nights in all Hep nightclubs. So, no night clubs on sundays from now onwards :) On the whole, Atlantic City was nothing great. Especially, after seeing Las Vegas. Maybe we should have just spent one more day exploring NY city instead of visting Atlantic City.

Monday: We again started our day late and the 8 hours drive to Boston was looming in my mind. Madalasa's flight was at 3pm from JFK and she was very tensed whether we can make it to the airport on time. Some how, we made it to the airport on time and the bye bye time started. It's not that bad this time because we all knew that we were going to meet againg at Indu's place in 2 weeks. Night had fallen by the time I arrived in Boston. I was totally exhausted after a whole day of driving.

In a nutshell, It was a memorable weekend with lots of fun and sun. Not that I needed the tan :)

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1. After listening to numerous demands, esp from girls, for particular food and shopping in NY , I wanted to change our GANG name from 'Access the Gang' to 'Demandz Unlimited'. But, being with the Gang is lots of fun though. In maddy's words: "Be it ACCESSTHEGANG or DEMANDS UNLIMITED; our gang rocks.."
2. On my way back to Boston, I stopped for gas. A Jamaican came to fill gas. He just saw my face and asked me " How is Chandrababu Naidu doing? ". I got a shock of my life. Later I found out that this guy stayed in Hyderabad for couple of years and he keeps asking all Indians this question.
3. We all decided that our next destination will be "Yellowstone National Park" and I really hope that most of the GANG members can make it.

So long..

Winter is over, but Summer is so far away..

2006-05-14T19:31:00.000-04:00

Spring is finally here to greet us. Well! Not exactly..I have been waiting from past three weeks to do the first thing in my 'To do list for summer', which is to hike Mount Monandock. Its been raining incessantly and I am left with no choice than to just sit at home or do some indoor activities during the weekends. It reminds me of Indian monsoon season.

Oh man!! The weather in New England is just unpredictable. When I got up in the morning, it was sunny and I was glad that the wait is finally over. But, by noon the clouds came back and it started raining. I have nothing else to do and so I thought I will vent out my frustration in my blog.

I am stuck at home with the TV and I have already seen my favorite Shakira & Wyclef's 'Hips Don't Lie' video thrice.
"I never really knew that she could dance like this. She makes a man want to speak Spanish. Como se llama, bonita, mi casa, su casa"
Not just Wyclef, even I am amazed by her dance.

I saw Mission Impossible:3 this weekend. The movie fell short of my expectations. I have been seeing a new English movie every weekend from past 7 weeks. I feel that I am on my way to setting a record.

So, while it drizzle, rain and pour all day, I will try to finish the book 'A Million Little Pieces'.

Winter is over, but Summer is so far away.....

Mumbai Dabbawallas - An amazing story

2006-05-02T16:09:00.000-04:00

I recently attended the "Mumbai dabbawallas" discussion at EMC. I was just amazed to learn that Forbes magazine gave the Mumbai dabbawallas a Six Sigma performance rating, or a 99.999999 percentage of correctness — which means one error in six million transactions.
How can some 4,000 dabbawallas who pick up more than 100,000 lunches at homes in Mumbai achieve six sigma?? Its just incredible, but true. The whole process of picks up lunches, transporting and delivering them is a very complicated system of working, which is made possible(very successful, infact) by human ingenuity and supportive social arrangements. They just prove that you don't need computers, information technology and other forms of technology to make a complicated system work.

Making the dabbawallas’ success even more impressive is the fact that Mumbai is continually growing and becoming more congested. Yet, the dabbawallas deliver lunches to the right person at the right time.

Now a days, in the midst of implementing technology and IT, basic principles in people management, sustainable relationship development and customer satisfaction have lost their meaning. Being a Oracle CRM guy, the most enduring lesson I learnt was to put the customer ahead of everything else and technology is not the only way to solve complex problems.

At the end of the discussion, i could't stop smiling at the fact that billion dollar US companies like EMC are learning from Mumbai dabbawallas. NICE!!!
Proud of you, dabbawallas!

10 Things I want to do this summer

2006-04-23T11:19:00.000-04:00

1. Hike Mount Monadnock.
2. visit Acadia National Park.
3. Improve my golf swing and the game.
4. Get my body into optimum shape.
5. Learn some skills related to work.
6. Get to know my neighbours.
7. Go White water rafting.
8. Go for a Redsox game at Fenway Park.
9. Finish reading all the books I have.
10.Drive a convertible along the Maine coast.

Pittsburgh - The Steel City!!

2006-04-19T16:35:00.000-04:00

Pittsburgh is the most underrated city in US. When most people(including me) think of Pittsburgh, they imagine it as a dull industrial city. The reality is quite different. Pittsburgh is actually a very attractive city with lots of things to do.

The first thing you notice when you enter this city: bridges. It has some 1700 bridges and thats why it is called "City of Bridges" and "Steel City". Even their football team is aptly named "Steelers".

The drive from Boston to Pittsburgh was 11 hours(crazy!!). We just planned to visit Sri Venkateswara temple, but ended up doing and seeing lots of places there. We started our first day by taking a cruise on the city rivers. Three rivers meet in the city center. The cruise is a very efficient way to see most of the city and its bridges.After the cruise, we took the Duquesne Incline to reach the top of the Mount Washington. The view of the downtown and the rivers during sunset from the top of Mount Washington is awesome. No wonder, it was rated as one of the 10 most beautiful sights in USA by 'USA Today'. I just sat there for a long time enjoying the view. Later, we went to see the University of Pittsburgh. It's a really nice university and it is located in a prime location.

Next day, we went to the Sri Venkateswara temple located in penn hills. The temple is so famous in Pittsburgh, it is even listed in all the maps and you will find road signs everywhere.Two things stand out when you visit this temple: It is the only temple with just one god and the Indian food you get there is the Best. After a long archana service, we left for Hersheys on our way back. We ended our trip at the Hersheys Chocolate Factory, by taking a guided tour of the facility and eating ice-creams & chocolates.

On the whole, Pittsburgh trip was memorable. I guess, I will always remember the crazy drive, 'the view', bridges and the wonderful temple!!!

My Blog!!

2006-04-19T16:30:00.002-04:00

Hi!! Welcome to my blog. This is a collection of my thoughts, mostly first time impressions of things . This also contains my travel experiences. please note that all the comments in this blog are moderated.

Hope u enjoy reading my blog. Comments are welcome!!