When Life Intervenes..................

I have been on a hiatus from the blog for a few days because, well, life intervened.

Oh, who am I kidding!!!! I was so burned out, I took a couple of weeks off to space out. I did not realize I could sleep for so many hours in a day.

After I got back from China, the first week I slept because of jet lag, went camping the weekend and zoned out from everything for the past week, work, home, basically all stuff and JUST EXISTED for a week. It felt so good, I was amazed to find that there is so much time in any given day.

Anyways, vacation over and back to LIFE. Seems like many interesting happenings on the blog. Anna, sorry I missed your anniversary. Belated wishes to you and Poonam. Poonam, in crude american parlance, gadhe ko laath maaro ( kick ass!!!!!!!)

Congrats Lavi on the marks, quite the "dark" horse in the family.

As for all the budding, flowering, fruity and ripe poets, dare I join the ranks????? Perhaps I should follow Amma and Tatagaru's advice and stick to my reading. I recently read "one billion customers", an interesting book about the rise of the chinese consumer culture.

Sasanna came out with all the nostalgia, but I won't let him ever forget the time he broke my "bangaru gajulu" in a fight.

A few updates from my side:
IS's dad had some chest pain and when he was taken to a hospital, they found a 90% block, so he had angioplasty done last week. He has been discharged and is doing good.

Aditya "graduated" preschool this Friday, convocation and all. Wait for pics and video. He will start Kindergarten on August 24th ( nice date choice. For the uninitiated, that is my birthday as well as the day of nanna's accident ). He also started swimming classes. More on swimming in a later post.

I am currently working part time at my present job while getting a taste of the venture capital industry / the world of entrepreneurship. If you remember my earlier posts about the VC guy who attended our class, he offered me a chance to join his consulting practice on a part time basis to explore my interest in that area. So far I have been involved in two cool startups, one for location based mobile services and another for a sea lover social network. My currenct company offered to take me back full time but I pushed it till October. Will see how it goes. I got an offer for an internship with Wells Fargo, but figured the bird in hand is better than paneled walls.

Will be back with the rest of China trip details and more pictures in the coming days.

Toodle-OO ( Did you know this comes from the french idiom tout à l'heure, which literally means "to the hour" but idiomatically means "see you soon".)

SPL SPL SPL

Tied at 3-3!!!
Way to go, Poonam way to go!Show him that you are no pushover.
Hey Krups! pull up your socks and rack your brains. This contest is getting too close.

Re Welcome Pinni

this blog is aging. Slowly the elders are coming out and talking and the young brigade is active only on Social Networks!
Come on Vidya, Kanthi, Mrudula, Lavi, Manasa and Sumana-stand up and be counted or rather heard.
All the excuses(sakulu) you have offered and will offer are known to be congenitally legless ( puttukathone kuntivi)
So, waiting waiting waiting!!!
Don't make it an endless wait.

Nostalgia

Well folks! you seem to be getting OLD!!!!!!

Nostalgia is the prerogative of the old.

So, I DO LIKE IT. So many memories down the lane--particularly of two young rascals called Krupa and Sasi whose mischief was unrivaled in the annals of the family. ( till SSV came on line I think)

A Commentary on Gouri's Poem

Well for the people who had difficulty in understanding the poem--here goes:-

Cryptic,hidden and "hidden in the heart" like the burning Sun surrounded by clouds, are our Emotional Surges. They are brought out when we have an "experience".
Like the "wail of the Dove" (kapotha vilapam) moved Valmiki to write Ramayanam.
Peddana said that for writing beautiful peotry, one needs privacy (నిరుపహతి స్థలంబు)and a beautiful woman(రమణీ ప్రియదూతిక) offering a pan(విడెంబు) with karpuram (కప్పురపు), but it IS NOT necessary is what we feel(అక్కర్లేదు).
ఒక మెరుపు ,ఒక పిలుపు ,ఒక వలపు ,ఒక తలపు చాలు. (enough if you have---)
అంతరంగ భావ జలధి తరంగాలు= the thought (భావ)waves(తరంగాలు) of the sea(జలధి) called our inner voice (అంతరంగo) will cross (దాటేస్తాయి) the barrier(చెలియలికట్ట) and come on and invade this outer world.
"అగ్గిపుల్ల సబ్బుబిళ్ళ కుక్కపిల్ల కాదేది కవితకనర్హం"--Sri Sri said that.
so కూసింత ie a little bit of కళాహృదయం ఉంటేచాలు.
And రోంత (ravvantha = Nellore district grameen slang for a little bit of) కలారుధిరం (blood called kala --like ink for the pen)is needed.
అంతే!
ముక్తావళి కాంచన కావ్యహారం (a literary pearl string with gold) which is మధ్య మణి స్థగిత (with a diamond studded in the middle) ఆవిష్కృతం (is unveiled).

Welcome Pinni!

If folks haven't noticed, Durga pinni made her first contribution to SH today. Welcome aboard Pinni, and expect to see more from you...:)

Reply to sasi Re: his comment on Bhargavi's peotic capability

నిగూఢం నిక్షిప్తం హృదయాన్తర స్థితం
మేఘావృత జ్వలిత సూర్యం మన భావావేశం
కదిలించిన కపోత విలాపం
అందించింది రమణీయ రామాయణం
అక్కర్లేదు నిరుపహతి స్థలంబు రమణీ ప్రియదూతిక ఇచ్చు కప్పురపు విడెంబు
చాలు ఒక మెరుపు ,ఒక పిలుపు ,ఒక వలపు ,ఒక తలపు
దాటేస్తాయి అంతరంగ భావ జలధి తరంగాలు చెలియలికట్ట
అగ్గిపుల్ల సబ్బుబిళ్ళ కుక్కపిల్ల కాదేది కవితకనర్హం
ఉంటేచాలు కూసింత కళాహృదయం
రోంత కలారుధిరం
అంతే! ఆవిష్కృతం మధ్య మణి స్థగిత ముక్తావళి కాంచన కావ్యహారం

nostalgia

Sometimes people whom you adore and respect very much make some off the cuff remarks nonchalantly.But they make profound impact on you.Two such persons in my life are my father and my second sis-in -law ,Gowri vadina.I tried my hand at amateurish poetry in my youth.We used to have literary discussions.
Vadina said "it is always better to read 1000 books than writing one sentence.
my father said".better seek pleasure in reading rather than pressure yourself by writing"
I don't say I have read a lot. but I did a bit.Must be it is showing now.
People in whose literary sense I have great belief like sln,sgr,srn,ssk,krups and sasi,krupa are praising my poetry.Thanks to loving father and living sis in law.

Jagannath

Krupakar poonam's marriage day and ratha yatra happen to fall on the same day this year. Remembering Lord Krishna I wrote this poem as a small gift to the couple.I hope Devotee sasi will be pleased.

నిశకు మధుర
ఉషకు గోకులం
సంధ్యకు బృందావనం
నడయాడిన చోటల్లా
నవ నవ నందనవనం
వందే నంద నందనం .

చిటికెన వేలిపై గోవర్ధనం
చితికిన పడగల పై కాళీయ మర్దనం
భక్త జన ఆనంద వర్ధనం
కృష్ణం వందే జనార్దనం .

నవనీతం , గోపికా వస్త్రం , పారిజాతం చౌర్యం
కుబ్జకు సౌందర్యమొసగే ఔదార్యం
చాణూరాది మల్లులతో తలపడే శౌర్యం
మేనమామను , మేనబావను చంపగల క్రౌర్యం
తులసిదళానికే తూగే సౌకుమార్యం
వందే రాధా మనోహరం.

పూతనకు మరణ శిక్ష
పోతనకు భాగవత దీక్ష
ద్రౌపదికి మాన రక్ష
కిరీటికి గీతా జ్ఞాన భిక్ష
అశ్వహృదయం తెలిసిన పార్థసారథి
విశ్వోదయం - ప్రళయం మధ్య వారధి
కృష్ణం వందే జగద్గురుం .

Happy Anniversary Poonam and Krups

Have a happy and nice wedding anniversary
SLN SGR

A very happy wedding anniversary-poonam and krupakar

Wishing you both to have a very happy marriage day.

The Scarlet Garden

Dear Singampallis, Here are some reflections from my pen.

Lal Bagh!!

It is in the heart of the city, mingled

A green house amidst the concrete jungle

Tall and shady tree tops many a variety

Not nameless, but of specific identity

Big bamboo bushes, green and yellow

Tall silvery stems saying hello!

Entwined around the trunks, creeping

Are the Nagalinga flowers blooming

Singing birds touching the heart,

Running squirrels amusing a lot

A lake seen as a green carpet

with lovely lotuses on stalks erect

Black ducks swimming in a pond

To look at is a sight so fond

Here diving into the water and there coming up splashing

Playing with beaks, racing with speed

You can trek a rocky mound

to glance at the beauty around

Ah! It's a garden of botanical interest

To help one's taxonomical conquest!

-Bhargavi Singampalli

Duathlon

This Sunday, I participated in a Duathlon in Bangalore, apparently the 1st ever Duathlon in the country. The aim was to complete 10 KM running and 20 KM cycling (5km run-20km cycle-5km run). About 150 folks participated in this. It was really tough as I had done zero preparation, but very enjoyable.

Poonam and Amma had also come along and had a good time. It wsa outside the city, early morning....the weather and ambience was perfect for the race. I took 2 hrs and 9 minutes to complete. Some photos below.

The best part is watching the number of 'hep' people who turn up for such 'glamor' sports. The expensive equipment and the attitude are usually a total overkill for a small race like this: if you go by the dresses and cycles, it is almost as if the star atheletes of the Tour De France have descended on this event! Overall, it is hilarious to watch these 'dudes'. To take a leaf out of the Mastercard ads:

Bianchi road bike: 35,000 Rs

Premium helmet: 1500 Rs

Premium cycling gloves: 1000 Rs

Bianchi cycling vest: 3000 Rs

Premium Nike running shoes: 6000 Rs

Padded cycling shorts: 3000 Rs

The hilarity of watching people with all this gear finishing at the back of the race: Priceless!

Joking apart, there were a lot of people with very good stamina. There was a 70 year old man and a 8 year boy who completed the race...amazing!

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.co.in/poonamt/Duathlon2009

Video:

SPL

You might have noted the Scrabble Premier League (like IPL) widget on the LHS. I created this to  show the world once and for all how I will crush Poonam at this game comprehensively (surprisingly, she seems to think along similar lines and readily joined battle).  No more kid gloves, no quarters given, no prisoners taken. Let the games begin!

ON PUBLIC DEMAND !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

మౌనమేలనండి?

విద్యా మాధవ్ !!
కలసెను మనసులు
కలిగెను వలపులు
తీసేసాయి దూరాన్ని మూడుముళ్ళు

గుసగుసలు ఖుష్ ఖుష్ లు
విసవిసలు రుసరుసలు
కరగని తరగని మధురిమలు
విరిసే పున్నమి వెన్నెలలు

మూసిన రెప్పల చాటు తలపులు
మనసుల మధ్య మూసుకోని తలుపులు

ఏమ్మా ! అన్నీ మీకు మాత్రమేనా ?
మాక్కూడా కాసిని.
a couple of photos of Vidya and Madhav in Englewood and Las Vegas please!

Days 3,4 and 5

On day 3, after much the same breakfast, our first stop was the china beijing equity exchange. One fun fact: apparently, most elevators in the financial building have carpets that have the name of the week and are changed everyday, so people can remeber what day of the week it is. Sometimes they are so busy that they forget which day it is. Our tour guide said he came in one day and saw the carpet that said Saturday and went back home.

After CBEX, we went to visit Google China and its biggest local competitor Chinese search engine Baidu. Google China looked exactly like Google US, with the lot of free drinks ( I had nescafe coffee, coconut milk and almond milk all in tins. Almond milk did not taste good ). Listening to their presentations it was very obvious Google is still an innovator, especially contrasted with the presentation from Baidu's CFO, which included a lot of posturing about how they are number 1. There were two major scandals about Baidu , 1) They did lot of click fraud to get more advertising money. 2) They demoted negative comments about the recent tainted milk scandal as the milk company was their client. Google milked it for all its' worth ( pun intended) about their transaparent search results.
For lunch, we stopped at a small street side cafe, where I had vegetable dumplings and chapati omelet. The whole lunch cost about $2.50. In spite of all the weird food stuff, there is pretty good vegetarian stuff, like sauteed vegetables, chapatis, noodles and rice dishes. I am having no problem getting vegetarian food.


After getting back, we went to Noodle Loft for dinner, where the cooks were making noodles in lots of different ways ( cutting the dough with scissors, shaving it, rolling a long single noodle, stretching by hand etc ) I took a video but because YouTube is blocked in China, nanna will have to upload it and post it.

And after all, what is dinner without some exotic meat, so while I ate sauteed vegetables and noodles, my classmates ordered, donkey or, as listed in the menu "ass meat".

After dinner, most of the folks headed for a bar but me and my roommate hit the "night market", a street side market much like Burma bazzar. The cool stuff sold in this market are cockroaches, beetles, lizards, caterpillars, sea horses and live scorpians on a stick. You pick the stick you want and the shopkeeper will deep fry them in oil and give them to you to eat. They also had yogurt in "muntalu". I skipped this more exotic treat in favor of the caramel dipped fruit. These are fruit dipped in sugar syrup and were very yummy.

After that, I bought a few stuff at the market, 2 kalidoscopes for aditya and 3 small china dolls. The haggling goes something like this.

Me: Doll. How much?
she: 65, very cheap for you
Me: No
She: how much?
me:5
She: no too low...
me: Ok ( I start to walk away)
She: wait, wait, how about 30
me:5
She: 25
me:8
She:20, final offer
me:10, final offer
she: 20, 20
me: No, 10
She: ok, 15, just for you
me: no , 10
She:13
me: 12
she:ok, 12
And I buy it for 12 yuan, about $2.

After night market, back to the room for a good night's sleep.

4TH DAY
Day 4 started with a minor scare. I had some inflammation behind my ear. I called amma and nanna asked them about it. They said it might be ear infection and so I better get it checked out. That unleashed a frenzy of activity. One concern about going to the doctor was the fact that if is an upper respiratory infection, I might get quarantined till they test whether I have the swine flu or not. But given a choice between going deaf or being quarentined, I prefer the later.
So:
1) I went and got my passport out of the hotel safe
2) Exchanged around $100 into Yuan
3) Bought a sim card for my phone & got our classmates' numbers
4) Called US and gave the number and told the plan to IS and SSV. Freaked them out.
5) Took actifed, ibuprofen
6) Called our university medical assistance program
7) Found a local hospital from US embassy website close to the hotel
8) Hotel sent a bellboy with me to the clinic ( probably to confirm that it is not swine flu !!! )
9) Went to clinic.
10) Doctor checked and said nothing wrong.
11) Medical assistance program paid the bill
12) Came back to room and slept for 5 hours because of actifed.

Woke up and got a red bean bun for lunch at 4PM. Went window shopping in the posh mall next door that was selling Jimmy Choos and Bacarat crystals. As an FYI, Jimmy Choo shoes start at around $500+ per pair.

Came back and went to shop at the Ya Chow market, another market that sells shoes, clothes, bags etc. Bought 15 Polo Ralph Lauren shirts each about 30 Yuan ( $4.50) . These are fake Polos. The "real" ones sell for about $50 in the US. However, my classmate who is from Beijing said most of the times there shirts are made by the same manufacturer and sold separate from what they send to US, so they are "authentic fakes". Anyways, it is basically a good shirt for $4.50, that's all.

From there went to "Ghost street" for dinner. Here all stops came off. In addition to the usual beef, pork and chicken my classmates ordered rabbit, turtle, pigeon and frogs. All in all a dinner yucky even for some of my chinese classmates. After dinner, came back to the room and slept.

DAY 5
hope you all read my short post about Tiananmen Square. We did not want to miss the chance of being there on the 20th anniversary. We got up at 5AM, got ready and caught the metro at 6AM to get to the square at around 7AM. We walked by the Forbidden City, crossed the road into the Square. Security was very heavy. Lots of military trucks with plainclothes soldiers. They kept a very close eye on the two indians, two americans and two chinese walking together. We were stopped at a checkpoint and asked to show our passports. We did not bring them with us, just had photo copies. Our classmate was able to explain how we are students just on a trip and want to see the square. After a few minutes, he let us in and we walked around the square. Apparently, they tightened it even more later in the day.

Anyways, caught the subway back to the hotel, had breakfast and left on our company visits to Lenovo and Symbio. At Lenovo they made us wear face masks all the way because of the Swine flu. We also got a chance to hold the Olympic torch that was used in some relays. As Lenovo was a top sponsor, they got to keep the torch in their museum. This is not the final torch that lit the flame, but was carried during a part of the around the world relay.

Got back and went to Silk market to shop. This is similar to Ya Chow market, although I did not buy anything today as we have to take a train from Beijing to Shangai and did not want to lug all this stuff. Got back to the room. Got bored with the chinese food. Found an Indian restuarant one block down. Got some aloo paratha and curd rice. All my classmates went to Karaoke but was feeling too tired to go, so decided to stay back and write about my experiences.

So now you are all caught up. Tomorrow is a big sightseeing day, where we will be going to the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Bird's nest and water cube. Will post more about it later.

Xie Xie.

At least something's growing in the recession

By some strange irony, I seem to have good growth below the chin to compensate for the lack of growth on top. Of course, mother still wishes dearly that it is the other way round.

from Beijing --2nd Day

Woke up early morning. Got some breakfast at the buffet downstairs. Dim Sum which is steamed rice buns, Congee which is "Ganji" with some rice, egg white omelets, Jam Buns( mmmmmm...............) , fresh poories, fried noodles and some fruits. ( More or less the same everyday)

Went to Orrick, a US based law firm. Excellent views of Beijing skyline. My classmates told me that 3 years ago, you could not see anything but a gray haze of smog. Orrick shared some interesting information about China, such as the number of internet users ( 380 Mil, more than the US population ), middle class (81M now, expected to be 700M by 2020 ) etc.

One of the lawyers had an interesting perspective on why Chinese govt doesn't publish a lot of rules. I quote, "if you know the rules you can find ways around them. By not letting you know govt can keep creative scamming in check". Any thoughts?

We had a couple of boring presentations after that at a company called VanceInfo. For dinner we went to a pretty post restaurant called Jade Palace. I had some fried tofu and singapore noodles, but one of our classmates ordered pigeon. It was served shredded meat, along with the beak and wings deep fried and served. He happiely enjoyed chewing the head, which totally grossed me out.

After dinner, a bunch of the guys hit the bars and clubs while the rest headed back to the hotel for a night of rest.

From Beijing--2

Even though I have not yet posted days 2-4, I want to do a quick one about Thursday morning. 20 years ago this day, tanks marched into the pro-democracy student protesters at the "Heaven's Door" or more popularly known as Tian'anmen Square. This morning, as we visited the square on its 20th anniversary, I couldn't but feel blessed to be there. But what surprised me what the fact that no one in China seemed to care as much about it anymore and in fact much of the younger generation did not even know about this. Did it even make a difference? I think so. The protests may have been the catalyst that provoked a lot of the open trade policies that led to people prosperity. The debate goes on.....

Here are a few chosen pics. More later.

Street Scenes from

Mumbai/Chennai/Hyderabad/Bangalore/Delhi/Kavali?
NO! From Beijing. An american store, a street and pavement shopping with the vendors and buyers posing for you.
Look at all those cycles, the cart on the pavement and the festoon of wires around the pole.
And note the obstacle to prevent heavy lorries etc from plying along that road.
See the wares and the smiles on the faces.
Just like in India. Feel at home.

Yummy??? Yech!

The food -- ready to be cooked and served. Not our plate of curry for sure.

BANDWAGON

Child birth - A happy occasion
Baptism - A snappy function
Tottering small steps
Playing with all pets
First words become a flurry...
Family in a frenzied hurry.

Have only noodle lunch,
Go even for a google search.
Find a good school...its half a solution,
The "better half" ...extra tuition.
Thought of a corporate techno-concept school,
Lot of corporal punishment - "drool".
Got a seat,dream comes true, there -
Start of an unending nightmare.

English,hindi,mathematics,physi,chem,his,civ.....falls asleep
Wake her up she is family's blacksheep.
Homework not done..admonish the parents.
Oh dear! - 'late to bed,early to rise',
Dont fear, fate will let you surely to be wise!
Parent-teacher interaction
Patent-tense-numb reaction
PRINCIPAL-"Dear parents the competetion out there is fierce. BEWARE!!"

Impress with good grades....Supress the unseen tears.
Where are the results?...Bear with the insults.
Use everything we offer...Silently suffer.
She is very very immature...Grow passive by nature.
Tucking her in bed,see on the cheek,tear stain..
Toughen the heart for greater good again.
Marks!Marks!Marks!
Barks!Barks!Barks!

Results are out...
Oh my precious! they shout.
All the holidays spent in search for a good college.
She only wants to play with cousins,going to grandpa's village.

I want to sail the sea dhow..
I want to paint the rainbow..
Waste of time enough of enjoyment..
Choice is yours..medic,engg or management.

Inaugural ceremony
Students bonhomie.
Too good to last long..
Too good to be true.
DEAN - "Dear students the competetion out there is fierce..BEWARE!!"

Supposed to be insane..her chosen profession
Forced to enjoin..the mad rush procession.
First intend to get filthy,wealthy rich
Then attend charity,artistry,society itch.
BOSS - "Dear collegues the competetion out there is fierce..BEWARE!!"

The boy is a champ and great..She has a lump in her throat.
He is a treat..Her heart skips a beat.
They say wow! he is very good at academics..
She fears oho! he may be better at economics.

"You will become pappy" - she says pleasantly - "I'm carrying!"
"I'm very happy" - he says - "Presently cost of schooling is worrying"........

Photos from China

Photos from China

SLN Relaying Krupa from Beijing--Day 1

From SFO-HKG : Very uneventful except that close to 50% of people on the plane were wearing masks because of Swine Flu.. A 12 hour plane journey. Slept through most of it and watched "Yes Man", "Twilight" and "Dostana". Cathay has quite good food on-board, especially if you ask for Indian vegetarian. Had Starbuck's Scone and coffee for breakfast in HKG airport, tasted exactly like in US.
Interesting side facts about HGK, the toilets and sinks are much lower than in US and they even have "sqaut" toilets in the airport.


HKG-PEK: Another uneventful journey aboard Dragon Air for the first 2 hours. After that, a lady on the plane started coughing, sneezing and blowing her nose, prompting whispers and scared looks among the cabin crew. I was 90% convinced we were going to be quarantined and starting planning out how to send the communications out to my professor who can get it touch with people back home and when I will see Aditya again :-) When the plane landed in Beijing, we were not allowed to get off the plane and health workers in masks and goggles and bio hazard suites came and checked everyone's temperatures. Fortunately, no one had a fever and we were allowed to get off. The had temperature sensors in 3 places before we came out of the airport. Picked up my luggage, exchanged some money ( You can buy and sell Yuan only in China ) and took a cab to the hotel. The roads were wery clean, much like the US highways but what impressed me were the rows and rows of newly planted big trees. China spend a Billion US $ planting trees all over beijing before the Olympics and most of my classmates who are from Beijing commented on how different the air quality seemed now compared to 4 years ago.

Came to the hotel, checked in. Found that I locked my suitcase but lost the key, so had to get it cut open. Took a shower and went in search of Vegetarian lunch food. Right next door is a mega mall with shops like Jimmy Choo, Bacarrat, Burberry and Tiffany's. Found a Thai restaurat in there and ordered Red Curry vegetable. Very spicy but very yummy. Drank Mangosteen juice. Tasted quite ok.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangosteen
Found a grocery store and bought some mangoes and bottled water. Found some strange fruits. Took pictures of them but don't know what they are. Found strange desserts like Frog Oviduct and Bean paste sweet. Did not buy them.

Came back to the hotel at around 4PM. Got to know my roommate by talking nonstop about me till 6PM. Slept at 6PM and woke up at 1AM. Called US and India and went back to bed. Woke up at 6AM the next day.

More details about Day 2 in a separate post.

I can't post from family blog because blogger is blocked in China. Pictures will be uploaded tomorrow.

Blogger In China

It is not accessible I believe.