Patchy Foliage In Maryland

In Maryland, the tree colors just started to change here and there. This week, we went out in search of fall colors. We didn't know where to go. However, I remembered, few months ago we saw few people fish at a lake, near Patuxent Wildlife Refuse. May be I thought, I could get few good pictures there. We were disappointed to see the entrance to lake closed. To our astonishment, the entrance to Wildlife Refuse was still open. It said at the gate that, closing time is 5:30pm and we approached the entrance at 4:50pm; that gave us few good minutes to roam around. Later, a visitor informed us that an automatic gate would let us out even after 5:30pm.

We were very happy about what we saw. There were lots of birds. I didn't take my binoculars with me, but next time I will. There is a bird viewing shelter in the refuse and found it to be inviting. There are few short length trails open for visitors.

Left: Bird Viewing Shelter
Right: View from one of the shelters whole





Since, this place is minutes away from where we live. I want to post pictures of the seasonal changes at Patuxent on ‘manamantha’. So, stay tuned, I intend capture photos again at the peak of Foliage.

Festival of Lights

Now that Deepavali (Diwali) is just a week away, I thought sharing my memories of the festival with all of you... As far as I know there isn't a soul who does not enjoy this wonderful festival of diyas. It is one of my favorite festivals.

As a kid, I used to wait for this festival mainly for three things. The first is that I would get a chance to eat a wide variety of sweets and yummy snacks(ummmmmm.... my mouth already waters ). All our neighbours used to exchange savories. This was particularly special because most of my neighbours were from different parts of India. That's how I came to know of Gujarati dhokla and thepla, Tamilian carrot
payasam, Bengali sandesh, etc.

The second thing I used to look forward to was to light fire crackers. As a kid I was very scared of bombs - Laxmi bomb, Atom bomb, Rocket, Sema tapas etc. I used to just light Kakarabottulu (sparklers), Bhoo-Chakralu, Chichubudlu (flower pots), Onion bombs and other small things and I haven't changed till today.

Finally, every girl's dream: shopping, shopping, shopping!!! My mom and I would shop for new clothes for all of us. Nowadays, even if I wear new clothes on a festive occassion, I don't get into the same festive mood as there isn't any hullabulla or the
noise of festival around me. I miss those sorroundings where everyone around me was enjoying the festival busily and noisily.

There was always a lot of hungama in the weeks preceding Diwali. My mom used to plan ahead as to what special items to make for that year. She used to start preparing sweets and khara a week before. Because, my brother Babloo was never used to be fussy, she made items that I liked the most - tokkudu laddu, murukulu, mixture, aavada, garelu, panchadara poori etc. She was very good at making Bobbattlu, so it was not just I who used to demand her, but all my mamayyas, attayyas, pinnis and my paternal babayyas used to relish them too.

As you can see my mom used to most of the work (with a little bit of help from my brother), and my main help was in eating the great foods! I now realize how much she used to toil for us without any complaints, and it makes me love her and miss her even more!

On the day of Diwali we used to get up early as my dad was very particular that we got up early and had a bath. Or may be we used to get up early because our neighbors would start the noisy fireworks by 5am. Once again my mom used to make all kinds of specials that day, as all four of us would be home.

In the evening, my mother did Laxmi Pooja and would light diyas all around the house. All four of us used to wear new clothes and participated in the pooja. This used to be the best part: your house covered with shining diyas, their lights shimmering in a gentle breeze... In between all these we used have icchu kuntinamma vaayanam, pucchu kuntinamma vaayanam- meaning we used to exchange the savories with our neighbours. Finally, as the Sun finally set, the sizzling dhamakas would begin.

Wow! Those enchanting memories keep their magical hold on my heart.


Finally, some tidbits of information extracted from Wikipedia:

Did you know that Diwali is celebrated in countries other than India? In England, the days are Dhanteras, Narak Chatrudashi, Lakshmi-Puja, the most important day, Padwa or Varshapratipanda and Bhaiya Dooj or the Teeka Ceremony. In Trinidad and Tobago, the day of Divali is a public holiday and celebrations precede the Lakshmi-Puja day for almost two weeks. This event is one of the foremost religious observances for the country. You can find more on this here.

Prasad's Gita Ganam - New and Revised

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

H1BEES - Entrepreneurs

A month ago I came across an article in Washington Post on H1bees. Then I happen to come across it again yesterday, this time I heard little bit of their music, theWorld.org on H1bees, and it is not only good, but also very professional. We all know that Chennai is the capital for exceptional music talent. Now, a few 'Chennaites' have shown that even the daily humdrum of jobs cannot keep them away from being in touch with their roots and talents, my hats-off to them.

Most of us who have been living in US often dream of doing such things, but few of us ever turn those dreams into reality.

H1BEES album and others

Halloween and Dussehra: Witches and Gods

Halloween and Dussehra: Witches and Gods

Though in different ways, yet Halloween is celebrated in most parts of the world. Homes are decorated with pumpkins, mums, candles and fall colors. Children dressed in different costumes go for trick-or-treat to collect candy. It is considered as the festival of witches or New Year for witches in Salem USA. It is the day when the dead are remembered. People in some parts of the world believe that during the night of the Halloween, the world of spirits and the world of mortals exchange energies.

To get disguised, and to protect themselves from the real spirits roaming during the night of Halloween, children and adults color their faces black, and dress like ghosts. Also, Halloween is the festival of harvest. Produce is kept inside for winter; the leaves change their color and start falling.

As well as during fall, different parts of the world have their own kind of festivals and celebrations according to the local lore and traditions. In India during the fall, between October and November, ‘Dussehra’ is celebrated by all classes through out the country as a festival of victory of good over evil. It is celebrated nine days and the grand finale is the tenth day and is also called as ‘Vijaya Dasami’. This festival is also considered as the festival of harvest as most of the summer crops are harvested. The Hindu mythological connection to this festival is the epic hero Lord Rama, of Ramayana, killed the demon Ravana, and also Prince Arjuna third brother of the Pandavas of Mahabharata fought his cousin Duryodhana and saved the kingdom of King Viratha on this day. On this day all the houses are decorated with marigold flowers, mango leaves, turmeric, and Rangoli. In villages the school master leads his pupils in a procession to every house where the children are offered sweets by the residents. The children are dressed in different mythological characters and carry toy weapons like the bow and arrow and maces. The school master is also rewarded by the people of the village appropriately often by presenting him rice or money. Vehicles, tools of trade and occupation are cleaned and decorated by the men of the village. Lots of sweets are made in every house and exchanged on this day. The young girls of the village dressed in their best clothes, visit the temple in evening and pry goddess Parvathi seeking good marriage.

And at night, the effigies of the demons, Ravana, and his accomplices are burnt as a symbol of victory of good over evil. Dances, songs, and plays are held in public places all these ten days. The class and the economy barriers are often ignored and every one comes together during this festive season.

My Experience with iPod

I was never inclined to listen books on tape / CD as I felt that it could not convey the essence of the story. But I was wrong. Anand has this habit of listening to books and he would always encourage me to listen to them. I had tried them before, but it proved futile. But things have changed now. My commute time to work these days varies from 1hr - 2hrs depending on the traffic. For the first few days I was listening to the radio( 1680 AM) or some CDs, but soon I was tired of them. The radio has the same hosts blabbering and CDs had become repetitive. I had to somehow pass time during my long drive.

Then, Anand had suggested that I try these books on CD once again, but this time try to choose the topics that interest me. At first I felt different as I wasn't reading a physical book but soon I got used to it. Once the book started playing, I didn't feel like switching it off. I started with John Grisham's King of Torts. It was a good book and well written. Then I read books of John Grisham, Stephen King, Paulo Coelho and other authors. This way I could listen to at least 1 book a week and sometimes more. Then as usual, I got lazy to go the library, and I didn't have any books to listen to, so Anand had suggested me to try iPod.

At first I didn't know how to operate iPod, but I learnt it slowly. My first book on Ipod was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Its the first book in the The Chronicles of Narnia series. Then I listened to The Golden Compass, The Fugitive Pigeon and The War of the Worlds. Listening to an iPod has more advantages. One can listen to iPod whereever one goes . You can listen to it while driving, while walking to the office, in the office :) etc. I really liked the experience and will continue to enjoy it.    

Earthquakes at Himalayas - Most Predictable

It is tough to predict where exactly and when exactly earthquakes occur at Himalayas. But, everyone knows that they most definitely occur. It is very well known fact that Himalayas is one of most active places for the plate movements on the earth (called Plate tectonics).

Himalayas formed (and continue to form) millions of years ago when two gigantic plates called Eurasia, and India collided with each other. Indian plate got pushed under the Eurasian plate resulting in the raise of massive mountains, the Himalayas. In fact the pushing of this Indian plate into Eurasia happens even now, when this happens earth around it naturally moves with it. According to NASA, Himalayas grow at the rate of 1 cm per year.

usgs.gov on The Himalays: Two continents collide
pbs.org has a site devoted for the earthquakes, Savage Earth
Cornell University digs little more deep, Discover our Earth
A look into the future, NASA's Global Earthquake Satellite System (GESS)

Hope, last week's earthquake works like a wakeup call (pardon the cliché) to governments involved. They should look into ways of not doing same mistakes again in terms of building constructions.

Weekly Roundup

Goodbye to summer of 2005
This has been a remarkable summer, at least for me. All of us tried to enjoy as much summer as we can. We managed to make at least one long distance trip (Rocky Mountain National Park). Can’t wait for the next summer!

Fall Blues
This is that time of year again (in US), falling leaves on side of the roads, pumpkins and skeletons by the home windows, and scary movies on the Television. Even after living in US for 12 years, I am still amazed by the season changes. Winter comes early to the northern states of the US and gradually moves south. In Maryland where I currently stay tree colors are just beginning to change. Have you ever wondered why leaves change colors in fall season? Here is a good a site that describes it all.

Political Roundup
US President, George Bush nominated ‘Harriet Miers’ as next Supreme Court justice. Many people, even in his own party (Republican) were surprised by this nomination, since there are many candidates with much better qualification than that of Harrier Miers. It will be interesting to see how ‘Harriet Miers’ will handle the hearings that will be held to confirm her nomination by Congress. Even right wing zealots like Ann Coulter are against this nomination. I sincerely hope Harriet Miers voluntarily refuses to accept this position (however, this is highly unlikely)

Ann Coulter with Bill Maher (on Harriet Miers and more) a clip from onegoodmove.org
Fox News Sunday on Harriet Miers from crooksandliars.com
I like this one very much. Brit Hume is a horrible person in my opinion and look at the way he deffends Harriet Miers. Brit Hume is the guy who said on the air (Fox) the day recent 'London subway bombings' occurred, I paraphrase, '... the first thing that came to my mind was that boy the stocks are going to go down, I can make some quick money here'.

Just In...
Earthquake in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan seemed to be devastating. After what happened in Louisiana, every one will look at the rescue efforts in a different perspective. I listened to PM of Pakistan on CNN, and he was quick to say no to any of the outside help (from America) as he mentioned that Pakistan's PM's office and military is capable of taking care of this catastrophe. This reaction seemed to have influenced by the position India took in the wake of last years Tsunami that killed thousands of people. World politics aside, I hope everyone works together to take care of the victims of this latest natural disaster.

A couple of things from Raahy

Howdy folks,

I posted a couple of items on my blog that might interest you:

Vennela Veta - Unedited Part I

Do you believe in conspiracies?

Please pay a visit if you are interested :)

Thanks!