Firefly takes off to the Statue of Liberty

I always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty for a very long time - since I landed in this land of dreams - but couldn't do so. Anand told me that the statue was closed because of 9/11 and I, being a credulous wife, beleived him :-) But this canard of his did not last long. I found out from one of my friends, Radhika, that the statue was open to visitors and that we could go up to the top of the statue. All I had to do was to purchase the tickets online 4 days ahead of time. I got really excited and since my parents were here, I wanted to share my experience with them.

We started planning from the month of August since Varalakshmi pooja (this was when Radhika told me). With lots of hurdles in between, we finally planned to go on Saturday, Sept 24. I booked the tickets a week before for 8 of us(Mamayyagaru + Attayyagaru + Amma + Daddy + Anand + Myself + Praveen + Sirisha). Apparently there were two kinds of tours available - The Promenade Tour, and the Observatory Tour. The latter includes the Promenade tour, and a trip up to the pedestal of the statue. I found that, much to my dismay, that the highest point open to public since 9/11. But, I decided to go for the Observatory tour. Later Vasudha said her family would join us for the trip. I bought four more tickets for them (Giri + Vasudha + Varija Aunty + Sai). I couldn't wait for the trip, and felt that the week passed slowly.

The Day of Trip 9/24/05:

Finally! This was the day we were going to Statue of Liberty! But for all the earlier excitement, I felt too drowsy to wake up in the morning after having a late night the day before. We had a ladies day out (to be precise "Ladies Evening out") the evening before. The four of us ( My Mom, Attayyagaru, Sirisha and Myself) went for a movie - Salam Namaste. Somehow I dragged myself out of the bed and got ready. One by one everyone else got ready too. The younger lot decided that we would wear salwars. We had light breakfast and started our journey to see the lovely gift given by France to USA. Giri & Family arrived at 7.15am, and we all started off in three cars around 7:45am :).

The drive was very smooth, without any traffic. We took exit 14B and then went to Liberty State Park around 8.30am. As usual Anand followed Praveen. If Praveen drives, Anand blindly follows him as Praveen is very good with directions. We took the parking tickets and parked the cars near the entrance. Then, we walked towards the Ferry. It was cold and breezy, and I put on the spring jacket quickly :) I went to the Ticket counter and collected all the twelve tickets. The next Ferry was at 9.00am. So, we had to wait in a line for the Ferry. My mom, my mother-in-law and Varija Aunty sat down relaxing on a bench - we called them the Three Musketeers.



At 9am we went out of the ticket office and stood in another line for Security Check. The line moved slowly and after we finished the preliminary security check, we had to assemble in yet another waiting area. This one was a makeshift tarpalin tent with fans, and heaters. We thought that we had to stand in a line, but soon we had to gather in a huddle to accommodate more people. We met a mother and child from Ohio. The mother seemed as happy and excited to visit the statue of liberty as I was! After waiting for what seemed like hours, we boarded the ferry around 9:45am.


Ferry to Liberty Island via Ellis Island

All of us sat on the top-tier of the Ferry. I enjoyed the views - the Manhattan skyline was awesome; the statue was visible in the distance, and I felt as though it was staring at me; and the waters were serene and filled with a number of sailboats and barges. We actually saw a barge which carried some plants and tree on it, and looked like an island on the move.

Ellis Island

The ferry stopped at the Ellis Island for about 15-20min. We didn't get down at this place but stayed on board moved on to the Liberty Island. The sight of the statue from the Ferry was awesome. I felt very happy that I could finally see the statue of liberty up close. As I said earlier, we bought passes for the Observatory Tour which consisted of viewing the statue from the highest point open for public - the top of the pedestal.




Liberty Island

As soon as we got off at the Liberty Island, we looked for a ranger who could explain us about the statue. Anand found at the information centre that we had to go the entrance at the base of the statue. There we had go in for yet another round of security check. Here we were not even allowed to take water with us! We somehow managed to take two bottles of water with us into the tent. But in the tent (where we had to stand in a line for our turn for the security check), an officer told us we could keep those bottles in a locker. Anand went with the bottles to put them in a locker and we went in for the security check. The officer was good enough to let Anand join us immediately without having to stand in the line once again.

Here we had a thorough security check. We were asked to stand at a metal detector gate and compressed air was pumped at us from many directions. This was to increase the chance of detecting any explosive material that one could be carrying. We had to wait for green signal to go forward. Later we collected our belongings and stood outside the security check area. One by one everyone joined us.

The Museum

The statue is placed on a concrete pedestal (which used to be a fort at one time) which is about 100ft high and we were supposed to go to the top of it. After everyone assembled, the guide led us through the door of the fort. Once inside, we saw the original Liberty Torch preserved it in that museum. A ranger with a thick Eastern European accent started telling us a brief history of the torch. We left while he was still going through his tired speech to the museum where the artifacts of the statue were kept. There was a mould of statue's face, foot, and the ear. The museum has a section that showed how the statue was created using pictures, moulds, and textual descriptions. The museum also showed how the image of the statue of liberty was used for commercial and myriad other purposes since its inception. This includes different post cards, posters, miniature replicas, advertisements, etc.

We then had to take the elevator up to the 5th floor, from where we had to climb 24 steps in order to go to the obeservatory. We took the lift and went to the 5th floor, from where we could see the interior structure around which the copper surface of the statue is wrapped. I found the architecture quite amazing. Then slowly all the 12 of us took the stairs up to the observatory.

The Observatory - and the views from there

This is the place where the statue actully starts. The height from ground to the tip of the torch is 305 feet. This includes the foundation and the pedestal. The height of the statue itself, from the top of the base to the torch, is 151 feet. I was thrilled at its sight. There was a narrow passage round the pedastal. The view of the New York skyline from here was amazing and as expected all of took pictures.

The Promenade

I am really tired of typing this article now, so I will try to cut it short :)

We decended down the 24 steps + 5 floors (we decided not to take the elevator down, as the rangers there seem to discourage it since it would take us (them?) a lot of time) and went to the Promenade. This is the view from the base of the statue. I felt that the place resembled Birla Mandir. It looked the same for me, the way you decend the stairs, then you go sit in the sitting area. The feel was the same, but the place was not the same. We all sat there for sometime enjoying the beauty of the statue, and taking quite a few snaps :)

Later around 12.30pm we all started our way back to the Ferry. On our way back, we went, as most tourits do, to the sovenier shop and bought few things and then went to take the ferry back to NJ. Over the years, I made a habit of collecting pennies imprinted with the visiting place's populars images from those hand-operated minting machines. Here, I had to spend two dollars to get a dollar-coin sized trinket which is of the same thickness as the Statue of Liberty's copper plate with the statue's image on it.


The ferry to New Jersey was just about to leave as we approached it, and we made in quick time to the shore. We ended our journey at the particular lot with an appetizing note by eating the yummy vegetable pakoras and bajjis made by Attayyagaru, mummy, and Sirisha the evening before!

Pycsohlogy

My cousin, Maruthi sent us a mail few months ago, which is very interesting. I recently came across the same stuff on television.

Following is the original mail from my cousin.

Subject: Pycsohlogy

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny primoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat
ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but
the wrod as a wlohe.

How is it???
enjoy,
Maruthi.

*********************************

p.s. Click on the title to navigate a site that talks about the facts and the myth about this phenomenon.

Sri Krishna Bhakti Gitam

You will find the first 12 chapters of Prasad's Geetha Gaanam here.

Comedy Drought On Television

It isn't just you and me, I am sure, entire US is bored of watching Seinfeld re-runs. Situation is so pathetic that this year's one of the nominee for Emmy - best comedy series is "Desperate Housewives" ABC. Now, how is that show a comedy series? 'Everybody Loves Raymond' won the Emmy if anyone cared.

Don't worry folks, NewsWeek thinks there is a light on the horizon. There 3 shows to watch for, as the new season starts very this week. You know me, the minute I heard it (hours later) tuned my tivo to record all the shows. I will update this post with my reviews, so stay tuned.

3 shows are following:

'How I Met Your Mother' - looks promising (watched it yesterday)
'Everybody Hates Chris' - based on comedian Chris Rock's childhood experiences.
'My Name Is Earl' - (is being recorded on Tivo as I type this) I have my doubts about this, this seems certianly not like a family show.

Not listing timings and stuff because many of you can look it up. To read more about the shows click on the title to navigate to the NewsWeek article.

Telugu bloggers

hello bloggers,
Here is a site containing all telugu blogs on different subjects.
http://telugubloggers.blogspot.com
I liked the one regarding old text book.
enjoy
vani

My First US Open

Hello my fellow Manamantha bloggers,

With everyone contributing so nicely to the blog, I thought I would put my own two pennies as well :) So, here's a brief story of my recent trip to the US Open.

When Anand told me that we would be going to the US Open, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I wanted the experience of going to a major sports event in New York. But, I wasn't sure if I would be able to watch hour after hour of tennis either ;) Anyhow, I decided to give it a try.

As planned, I worked until 3pm, and came home by 3:50pm. We (Sai, Sasidhar, Harika, and I) were supposed to take the 4:24pm train from New Brunswick to New York Penn station. Due to some horrible miscommunication, we ended up missing this train, and took the 5pm train to New York instead. Anyhow, we reached Penn station half-hour late, and started our walk towards Grand Central. We met my husband and Giri on Park Avenue and 32nd Street, and proceeded for our supper at the Grand Central food courts. Food was expensive there, but there was lots of choice. Some of us ate North Indian food ($9.95/plate which includes a choice of three curries, and a helping of fried rice), and some had falafel.

Anyhow, we were supposed to take the 7 train from Grand Central at 6pm, but because of the delays ended up catching one at 6:50pm instead. The train we got on was local, but were at the Stadium by 7:40pm. Giri got the pre-purchased tickets from the counter, and there was a few more minute delay at the entrance, as we had to go back to check-in the schoolbag for security reasons - a sign of the age we live in. So, by the time we got in, it was 7:55pm - nearly an hour late.

We couldn't have picked a worse day to watch tennis at the US Open even if we wanted to :) None of the stars - Agassi, Federer, Williams sisters, etc. - were playing that evening. Check on the draw, if you don't trust me.



The first match we saw was in a side court - Richard Gasquet vs. Giorgio Galimberti. This was actually a day match (our tickets were for the night matches), but they will let you in anyway. This was a small stadium, and our seats were just 5 or 6 rows from the court. Alas, the match was over within 10 minutes (just 4 games) after we went there as Giorgio retired due to some injury.




Back at the Arthur Ashe, Amelie just completed road-rolling her opponent 6-0 and 6-1, and by the time we got there, the stage was set for James Blake vs. Igor Andreev. We made our way on to the third level, row Q. While you can still see the ball being hit around there, it was not very clear what's going on. I felt a bit of vertigo because to the steepness visible from my level. The weather, however, was very pleasant - cool with low humidity. More than the tennis match, I enjoyed the ambience. There were two huge screens on both sides of the stadium, where you can watch the players close-in, and some replays as well.



The match was a totally one-sided affair, and at the end of the second set we were joined by Anand's colleague (Asif) and his son (Aahil). As it was becoming clear (against most of the spectator's wishes) that this match was going to be over soon, people started leaving from all levels. We took advantage of the opportunity, and kept gradually moving down until we got to a place where we were very close to the action. You can even begin to recognize the players' expressions from this level.

Anyhow, the match over too quickly, and we minute t waited until the lasto see if we would get those prize balls hit by Blake at the end of the match. But, we weren't so lucky :) On our way back, we saw some side courts, and took some snaps. It felt quite different to be walking on the same courts where you see players play on the television.

We collected our bag, and made our way back to the subway as part of a huge crowd. The crowd wasn't bad at all once we reached the subway. The 7 train arrived within 5 minutes after got on to the platform, and all of us found seats. This time, we went beyond Grand Central, and got off at 42nd Street (Times Square). It was nearly 11:45pm, but the Times Square and the city was as lively as if it were daytime - all the shops were still open, and people were actually shopping. We walked back to Penn Station, but missed the 11:45pm train, and had to wait until the 12:37am train. In the meantime, Harika and Sasidhar had Caramel Milk Shakes, Anand got a Green Tea Frappuccino, Giri had Nesquik Strawberry Milkshake, and Sai had some hot coffee.

Anand bought a crossword book before boarding train, and tried solving it with our help in the trian. We met Anand's friends Vivek and Minhas in the train. We got off at Jersey Ave by 1:40am. We dropped Sasidhar and Harika at their place, Asif and Aahil at their home, and reached home by 2:10am.

In conclusion, it was a nice trip but the travel was tedious and boring. But, the experience as a whole was very good.

That's all I can say about my trip to US Open,
Ajitha.

Adi Sankaracharya

Adi Sankaracharya was the first movie in Sanskrit (English subtitles) released by the NFDC. It was directed by G.V.Iyer. Bharath Bhushan played the role of Sankaracharya’s father Shiva guru, and Sarvadaman Banerjee (Sirivennela fame) played Sankaracharya’s role.

The movie begins by highlighting how Buddhism, Jainism and other religions were influencing or in some places replacing Hinduism in India. Adi Sankara revived Hinduism in India by becoming an authoritative and influential interpreter with his extensive study of Vedas and Upanishads.

Sankaracharya at a very early age realized that as long as wisdom (jnanam) and death (mrutyuvu) are one’s friends, and if one can welcome death as a friend then there is nothing to fear. This is symbolically depicted in this movie. Sankara befriended two boys named Vignana and Mrutyuvu after his father’s death.

Sankara began his journey as a brahmachary to find his guru Swami Govindapada who then lived in Badarinath. The movie then depicts how he debated and won over other religious authorities of the time with his immense knowledge, faultless logic and profound philosophy.

The last part of the movie analyzes how Sankara became the founder of the Advaita Philosophy and established a highly efficient, decentralized religious institution - the mutts across the country to take forward the task of preserving the Vedic culture.

The movie included the famous and the most popular writings of Sankarachrya like the Bhajagovindam and Kanakadhara Stotram.

Though the movie did not cover all the accomplishments of Sankaracharya, it does give a brief history of the great philosopher, who not only preserved Hinduism by interpreting the Upanishads but also took it to its peak.

Veturi Sundararama Murthy

That Veturi Sundararama Murthy was a disciple of the legendary Tirupati Venkata Kavulu (Divakarla Tirupati Sastry (1872-1919) and Chellapilla Venkata Sastry (1870-1950)) is news to me. I did however know that Veturi was given his first break in movies under Dr.K.Viswanath and later NT Rama Rao encouraged him a lot.

Here is an interesting clipping:

Vegetable Picking in NJ

Harika desperately wanted to go for fruit picking and has been asking us to take her since last year. She did some research and thanks to the internet she found one site that suited our interests - www.pickyourown.org.

The farm that we went to, called Lee Turkey Farm, is close to our place. Our group of fifteen members arrived as planned at about 10.30am at the farm. It was a nice sunny day with a cool, mild breeze perfect for a picnic.

We parked our cars in front of the farm and were greeted by a small boy, one of the family members who owned the farm. We got directions about how to go about the farm and bought a season pass for two dollars for each family. There was a board detailing the prices of various fruits and vegetables to be picked. He also asked us to take a draw cart and plastic cans of different sizes to put the produce we picked. The entrance fee was only nominal but the confidence he showed that the customers wouldn't abuse the farm was priceless.
The farm was very neat and well maintained.



The plants were planted in rows and there was enough room between the rows of crops for us to drive the cart. There were no weeds at all and the plants were healthy with lush green produce ready for harvest.
It was extremely pleasant and refreshing to be in the fields. We took pictures with the beautiful landscape of the motley plants and trees in the background.
We picked tender cucumbers, zucchini, and string beans. As though through divine intervention, we found knives handy on top of the display board for cutting cabbage and broccoli. It is so wonderful to touch the plants even though we did not actually plant them. It gives a great satisfaction to pick vegetables on your own. It reminds me of the disappointment we face with the vegetable vendors back in India when we were not allowed to pick the vegetables that we want. We had to either sneak some choice vegetables or fight the vendors to get the ones we want. The luxury of picking what one wants with nobody watching over is simply great. Indeed, one has to actually do it to feel it.

The farm with fruit trees speckled with fresh, ripe, tempting peaches, pears, and apples.

Some of us started eating them right away and broke the trust the little by at the entrance placed in us. WE took pictures and had lot of fun.

After picking fruits some of us went into the cornfields and some of us into the vegetable garden where we had tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and melons. Every one was so engrossed in picking that we totally forgot that we have to buy what ever we picked.



The result is we had a bagara baingan party one day and a barbecue party another day to consume all the vegetables and corn we picked. And finally I had to make mixed fruit jam with the fruits we picked.




Back in India especially in and around Delhi/Himachal Pradesh there are many well maintained farms some of which I visited during our stay in Delhi.
I remember Ansal Farms in Sohna, Bhatti Farms which are also privately owned like the Lee Turkey farm here. But there is a difference they are not available to common man who cannot own it and yet want to go visit once in a while.




In Kullu Manali the beautiful apple orchards, orange orchards, and vegetable farms are not available for common man or any tourist.
The farms now that are cropping around Hyderabad and Shamshabad, I believe may not have the facility for any outsider to visit.
Why not we have the same facility? I bet every family could have a healthy outing into the nature and enjoy the greenery at least for some time.
Now with the growing of apartments and multistoried buildings in Hyderabad many of them are missing the goodness of nature and greenery.
Back in our childhood we visited our grandparents in the villages and enjoyed the comfort of village environment.
Unfortunately in this 21st century the migration of all the family members in villages into cities/countries for whatever reasons has left the children of this generation with very little choice.

US State Nicknames

Ever since I moved to Maryland, I was wondering about Maryland's nickname. For past few months I have been driving in the state, but I haven't come across any car license plates with the nicknames on them. My own license (Maryland’s) plate doesn't have the nickname written on it. I finally googled about the very same matter and found out that Maryland's nickname is 'Chesapeake State'

It turned out that many states have more than one nickname and also many of the states don't have an official nickname. Following are some states nicknames are used on automobile license plates.

Maryaland - 'Chesapeake State'
New Jersey - 'Garden State'
Georgia - 'The Peach State'
Illinois - 'Land of Lincoln', and also known as 'The Prairie State'
New Hampshire - 'Live Free or Die'
Massachusetts - 'The Spirit of America or The Codfish State'

Click on the title to navigate to a site where all 50 states are listed with interesting facts about the each one!

Happy Vinayaka Chavithi

Wish you all a happy Vinayaka Chavithi

From,
Komarraju family and members of Manamantha

A telugu poem by Prasad Komarraju on the occassion of Praveen and Sirisha's wedding anniversary