Off to the North East

Leaving tomorrow for a week long trip to the North East with a couple of pals, cell reception will be iffy. Itinerary:

Bangalore->Guwahati->Kaziranga national park->Bomdila->Tawang_>Tezpur->Guwahati->Bangalore

Should be fun!

hope Aditya likes this

వంకర టింకర వో
వాని తమ్ముడు సో
మూడు గుడ్ల మీ
నాలుగు కాళ్ళ బే

Impressions?

It has been a couple of weeks now- any impressions about the US from SLN?

Self-scribed by Aditya

Complete Lunar Eclipse

Long time since I saw one. Clear skies, no clouds and the beautiful red hazy moon.

Pop-Art: Marilyn Monroe Lamp

Poonam made this lamp for one of the cousins here (Nirupama) as a birthday gift. This and other art/craft stuff of Poonam at http://psimagine.blogspot.com

CATCH 22

Mrudula went to California from Tallahassi and reached safe and SOUND.
She did not inform me after she reached there.

I felt she behaved in irresponsible and immature manner and so could not take care of herself.
So she needs to tell me everything and I have to look after her.

If atall she had informed me I would have felt she is responsible and mature.
God! she can take care of herself.
So she need not tell me everything.

The Hooked

Logged onto facebook from HK airport and commented on my status.

BON VOYAGE

Happy Journey
SLN,SGR
Come Back As Scheduled
We all miss you

2 Books

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut (considered a classic)
Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel (the most recent work of the author who wrote 'Life of Pi', which is a real good read)

Finished these books one right after the other and was stuck by how symmetric they were. Here is a comparison:

1. S-5 is about the Dresden bombing during the WW-2. In a couple of nights, the US Air Force and RAF destroyed the city of Dresden and killed about 25k people. This book is written from the perspective of a US POW who happened to be at that time
1. B&V is about the holocaust in WW-2, again about civilian causalities in war time, only this time, by Germany

2. Both use juxtaposition of the past and the present as a story telling tool.

3. In S-5, the writing style is gritty, like Hemingway. Except that Hemingway glorified war, and this book paints a more stark picture of war
3. In   B&V, the writing style is lyrical and more contemplative

4. Both use allegories and fantasy to drive points. In S-5, aliens gift the protagonist the gift of time travel and also give a contrast to human society.
4. In B&V, Beatrice and Virgil represent a donkey and a monkey respectively, who are gentle and sensitive beings that have suffered cruelty and are trying to come to terms with that experience

5. Both are Ok to read, but also something is missing

You may not want to buy them,but certainly worth adding to the library list.

MYTHOLOGICAL CONFUSIONS

Krupa posted a message on fb about some confusion she had. Bakasura killed by krishna! What do you folks feel?


Again, can you resolve these 2?
Krishna is who? (poetic license)
who was the champion who hit the Matsya Yantra?

Come on guys! I expect the juniors to come forth --not SRN or SGK and Sasi maybe.

Adi and Singampalli Habits

A list of habits I observed Adi exhibiting: He is an incredibly fast reader, is always excited when the latest issue of Tinkle arrives in the mailbox, finishes any new book reading non-stop till it is completed, is a fan of the Sunday cartoon pages, endlessly discusses the books he reads to the minute trivia, is very argumentative, is very preachy on virtues, wiggles his foot when idle and can't keep him mouth shut.

Up to you folks to figure out who he got those traits from :-)

Finally Online

My favorite quarterly magazine Bhoomi is available online now. Their topics range from food & health, agriculture, crafts & sustainable living, climate change. Apart from the hard hitting content, their quality of English is also very good, which makes for entertaining reading.

The site:

http://www.bhoomimagazine.org/

Some samples:

http://www.bhoomimagazine.org/food-health/item/8-annadana-the-gift-of-food/8-annadana-the-gift-of-food

http://www.bhoomimagazine.org/food-health/item/35-what-every-indian-should-know-about-agriculture/35-what-every-indian-should-know-about-agriculture

http://www.bhoomimagazine.org/magazine/current-issue/item/46-zero-waste/46-zero-waste

Actually, all the articles are worth reading and debating.

Locked Out

I was mowing the lawn in the backyard and Adi and IS went out to get some food. So, they locked the backyard door, front door and garage door.

Fortunately, there is a way out from the backyard, but no way into the house. So went to the neightbor's and used their phone to call IS back.

Upshot of mowing the lawn in the cold, sinusitis.

wanted telugu teacher

wanted some one urgently to teach CONTEMPORARY telugu.Iam unable to understand telugu cinema songs and names of telugu children.

HP Quiz

Like the horcruxes, my HP posts keep on coming. Came across this fairly gettable quiz on Kweezzz (a Twitter based Indian quiz group). Riddikulus to all you boggarts who don't attempt this quiz!

Q1- Harry Potter, Hugo Weasley, Alfred Cattermole and Ariana Dumbledore all had_______

Q2: I was the reason for Harry Potter's 1st brush with the Ministry & I nearly got him expelled too. But I'm not as bad as I claim to be.

Q3: Groaning & clanking in the astronomy tower is my favourite pastime, or so, Sir Nick thinks. Harry once impersonated me to scare Peeves.

Q4: I once helped Harry Potter in a quest. Brave though I'm, was foolish to let in a wrong person & was promptly fired. I love fighting.

Q5 There is nothing you can hide from me. Face me and I'll know the thing which you crave for. Desire for or rim

Q6: My name anagrams to "Help the dirty PoA" but I did not help him escape from the Azkaban, at least willingly. 

Q7: I'm not a vitch. I'm not that famous quidditch player which Ron mentioned to Harry, though I have some connection with another player.

Q8: My mother thinks that I'm like my uncle. The uncle in question once helped my father escape from his uncle. Who am I?

Q9: He realised this special power when he met me. I will always be thankful to him for setting me free & letting me visit Brazil. Who am I?

Q10:The more you try to escape, the more difficult it will be. You don't need wood to ward me off, remembering that you are a witch will do!

Q10:The more you try to escape, the more difficult it will be. You don't need wood to ward me off, remembering that you are a witch will do!

Q11: Not all can see me. Those who can, do not consider it as a gift & those who can't do not wish to. Very useful to people like Hermoine

Q12: I’m not a cloth shop you might very well mistake me for. You can find me next to that gadgets shop which muggles swarm all the time.

Q13: If Cedric: Cho, Krum: Hermoinee, Harry: Parvati, Fleur:?

Q14: If Harry: Cho, Neville: Hermoinee, then Ron: ?

Q15 I helped Voldemort in his resurrection. I should have not trusted his most coward servant. Clue: I was Sirius's senior at Hogwarts

HP-7: What is missing?

My 2 cents: Even though the movie more or less followed the book, it never engaged as the book did. One reason is Daniel Radcliffe- who seems to be doing worse as an actor as every movie passes. For someone on the run and in a lot of trouble, he looks too much like a well fed squat elf. There is an almost ascetic quality to the search for the deathly hallows, and Harry looks too sleek to reap the rewards of the search.

Another reason  is the boring predictability of the movie. Since everyone has read the book, the director should have  realized the book in a way that catches the imagination- panaromic shots of mountains, seas etc is not a substitute.

But the action is good.

By now, I am sure several Singampallis have seen the movie. So what is the consensus?

Singampalli Sarcasm

Me and ma generally have a long tete-a-tete post lunch/dinner. Typically the topics will be around fun happenings of past and present of family and of course "Jagartalus" :). Today we happened to talk about how sarcastic Singampallis are, which I find very funny.

The conversation started with how mama garu used to pass sarcastic comments for some misses from ma's side. Like - he always wanted to have a glass of water next to him while having meals. And knowing ma, she would have hardly missed it. But if she will miss it, the comment from mama garu will "Kaapraniki vachina appatti nunchi chustunnaanu ..you dont put water when food is served!!". :)

It will be very easy to know that taata-gaaru is watching news on tv even if you are in other room, because he will be grinding his teeth and banging the table with his fist and grumbling over the subject. :-) Ma says that what is the point in breaking ones hand over such matters when no one is around to hear :) .

She mentioned that how all the babais were good at making funny comments and keeping interesting names for people. This one really made me laugh so hard that I got tears in my eyes :). It seems there used to be a fat lady around our house in Kavali, she was stout. She was so bulky that one couldn't even see her neck, and obviously thats how babais came up with a name "Neck-less". Poor lady wouldn't have ever come to know what they really meant :)

Gopal babai is handsome-"est" man of the family, other babais had given him names like "Andhagaadu" & "Shoku-purshu". I need not explain why those names! It seems he used to take good amount of time for his beauty baths & some times will make taata garu also to wait in the queue, obviously this wont stop him from saying "Jalakalaata..chaalu...come out!!"

I would say the baton has been passed from one generation to other successfully, but the I guess it is getting mellowed down as it goes to the next generation. Krups gets irritated at people who drive recklessly on the roads and he calls all of them as "Peanut brains" :) But it still doesn't beat tata-garu!! :)

Stem Cell Storage

Question to the doctors and parents in the family: Nowadays one hears about the advisability of stem cell  storage of one's children. Apparently this will come in useful in recovering from degenerative diseases. And apparently, the tooth is also a source of stem cells- so there are agencies offering to store the kid's teeth, when they fall as the kid grows up.

Is this just a fad or is it really advisable?

Laptop mania!!

Hello everybody,
It's thanksgiving time...its deal(s) time.
I want to get myself a nice laptop, with
1. i7 or i5 processor
2. 300-500 gb memory
3. 4gb ram (extendible upto 8gb)
4. i grade microsoft word papers, so i should be able to run windows on it..
5. good wireless LAN
I am not crazy about apple(just because it costs a 1000$).

I could think of only these specifications...are there others to consider?
Please suggest good laptops with the specifications...

Why dont we hear from Krupa & Sunny now a days?

A few recollections!

Do you know, Singampalli manavaallu (Krupa's childhood slang)! That bird watching is very interesting- if you don't, must have this experience once. Krupa,  the senior, is verily interested in this nice time-pass and he can identify many species now.

Once, I also accompanied him to share that thrill. It was early morning-the right time to behold varied species- busily engaged in their own way. Despite the chilliness of the weather, I enjoyed it. Three others also joined us- regulars in the bird watching team.

We observed a lion safari area over a hill from a watch tower, with binocs. Of course it is far away from the tower, yet my usual fear is that the lions may jump over the fence and attack the passers by. It is a reserved forest area. When we were watching over the birds, standing beside the road, the guards warned us not to venture there walking.

"my usual fear is that they may jump over the fence and attack the passers by"

There is also a big rocky area with rain water logged in small pits here and there on it. We saw some birds there, perching  and splashing the water. Thickly grown trees are there a few yards ahead giving shelter to a number of noisy aves.

A little bird it is- but nicely drawing the honey from the flowers with its long thin beak. It is a Sun bird. Really sometimes, I feel how wonderful God's creation is, when I capture these beauties in Nature. What computer brain he should have to provide us with all these countless wonders in this world, humanly impossible. Even though the birds dont have thinking capacity, they also have got family ties in their own way. How much pain they have to take to feed their off-springs, holding food with their little beaks. How restless they should feel when an enemy comes to attack them.

Have you ever seen how skilfully a Weaver bird builds its nest? What about a Tailor bird- despite its bird brain, can cut the leaves and build its nest. We saw Drongos- black birds with tail-ends bifurcated. Oh! Kingfishers, you know, very expertly catches the fish in a split second.

Next, we came across a lotus pond. Again, so many huge trees. We noticed some owls there. See, if they scent that somebody is watching, they quickly escape into the thickets. Of course, somehow our eyes caught hold of them. Even though they are scary, I think they are timid.

I could see a Pied Bush Chat with black back but white underneath. Little birds hopping here and there for food, with tails upright- they are none other than Indian Robins!

We saw another species, blackish color, with hood over, beak-red, called Red-Whiskered Bulbul. There are also Bee-Eaters, skilfully catching bees and insects in the air.

That is all for that day!

-Written by Bhargavi Devi (typed verbatim by Krupakar)

HBD

Happy Birthday SRN and Manasa!

Rains in Kavali

The November feature--usually we see this in November.
You need not draw water from the well. Just dip the bucket and fill it.

The motor in the well is almost being kissed by water.

HBD

birthday greetings Padma and Durga vadina.

Harry Potter World?

What happened to those promised snaps?

Target Accomplished!

Does anyone remember the following characters: Detective Moochwala, Gardhab Das? They were part of that fantastic teen magazine TARGET that used to be published when I was in my 7th or 8th standards. A top-notch product, it used to mix fun, creativity and knowledge so well, it was practically "unputdownable". Alas, like all good things, this too came to a premature end.

After a painstaking search, a fellow bibliophile hunted down a few editions of the magazine and bought them for the princely sum of Rs 250 each, and graciously gifted one to me. We had practically given up hope, after having tried every secondhand book store and having even written to the India Today group (who used to publish this) and to Ajith Ninan (who was the creator of Detective Moochwala and chief cartoonist for the India Today in those days).

Here are a few scanned images for your viewing pleasure. So tell me: is it just me or is that the pleasant whiff of nostalgia?  :-)

The cover page

The indomitable Detective Moochwala!

Those Campa Cola days...

And a few more pages are scanned and available at the link below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/svkrup/sets/72157625260217604/

So if anyone spots another Target anywhere (Lavanya: check out the second hand markets in Vizag), grab it and send it to me.

Some recent art/craft by Poonam

Snaps available at:

Imagine- My Creative Space

Birds of Bannerghatta Zoo

Poonam and I went to the Bannerghatta Zoo area today AM for birding. As it was a foggy AM, the bird count was less than usual. But we spotted 2 new birds, so the trip was well worth it. The list:

Flycatcher, Asian Paradise  (Female) 

Sunbird, Purple

Sunbird, Purple Rumped 

Sunbird, Loten's 

Tailorbird, Common 

Warbler, Greenish 

Honey Buzzard, Oriental 

Munia, Scaly-breasted 

Silverbill, Indian 

Bee-Eater, Blue-Bearded 

Bulbul, Red Vented 

Bulbul, Red Whiskered 

Dove, Little Brown 

Wagtail, Gray 

Drongo, Ashy 

Drongo, White-Bellied 

Kingfisher, White Breasted 

Kingfisher, Common 

Heron, Pond

Coucal, Greater 

Flycatcher, Tickell's Blue (heard) 

Drongo, Black  

Minivet, Small 

Wagtail, Large Pied
Water Hen, White Breasted
Robin, Indian
Koel, Asian

Snaps of some of the birds (not mine)

Blue Bearded Bee Eater

Loten's Sun Bird

Note the extremely long beak used to sucking honey from the flowers. 

Greenish Warbler

This last bird is a migrant, that comes from the Himalayas to the South every winter- it apparently completes the journey in 2 days flat! They are now back in Bangalore.

AGRICULTRE-PROFIT

1. An agriculturist never looks for profit. What he gets is only income. (Positive or negative)
2.If the ryot does the agriculture like any other and take into consideration inputs like cost of the land, his salary, in addition to other expenditures, the rice/wheat should sell at Rs 100/kg
3. If a business man incurs loss and company is broken, the banks (who lick the feet of big businessmen) or the people who lent him money are the losers. There is a saying in Telugu, if a fellow declared I.P., he should be invited and be married to ones daughter. The idea was that he would have stashed away money, making only public lose money.
What does ryot do if he loses crop due to bad whether or pests and cant repay the debts?
HE COMMITS SUICIDE
4. Mr. Duggal, member of Srikrishna committee. made an important observation about study made by them. In any village of A.P.(for that matter any village in India)Agriculture provides work for about 4 months, newly introduced work guaranty program for 2 or 3 months and people are forced to go to near by cities to earn livelihood for the remaining days and that is why Hyderabad has become bone of contention. The point here is that, agriculture provides employment to unskilled, un organized, uneducated population for 4 months.70% of India lives in villages. The ryot who provides employment is not recognized. Every body will have a good year if there is good monsoon and good crops. Stocks will go up, inflation is controlled, and even I.T. Companies will have good run. Indian economy is basically agriculture based.
5.Its only for a ryot decisions like what he should do about BT, height of dam, conservation of ecology are taken by total outsiders, with out any stakes in agriculture or knowledge about it.
6. Power is an important input in agriculture, and with free power provided by YSR in A.P., the production has increased by leaps and now there is problem of plenty exploited by millers .Neither the ryot nor the consumer are benifited.Its only middle men who get all the profits.
7.Devoloped countries give huge subsidies to agricultre and protect ryots ,but in india new economics(dictated by M.N.C s) discourages subsidies.There was famous quote by ChandraBabu Naidu , who was a great advocate of new policies ,vyavasayam danduga.

HBD to Vijaya Pinni!!!

Bommala Koluvu

A dying tradition. Many of the kids are unaware of what it means. What a pity! WE enjoyed it hugely and we think all the Perantallu and kids also did.We had several uninvited boy kids and men visiting to see it.
See here--Koluvu.

ps: Madhav! don't you do it at Chennai? I am sure you do. Share a few memories

Walt Disney Animal Kingdom

The first ride we went on was DINOSAUR!!!! It scared my grandma a lot!

The next ride we went on was a safari! Poachers came in and broke into the safari range. They captured a baby elephant! We also heard gun shots! But we scared the poachers off.

We went to a movie called "It's Tough to be a Bug". In that movie we saw all kinds of bugs and insects. We even saw a tarantula that shot acrons from a slingshot web. Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!

More later.........

A good day to be in the stadium

I was at the Chinnaswamy stadium today for the test match between India and Australia. My record at that stadium has not been good:

1. Day 1 of test match in the previous edition of the Border-Gavaskar trophy: Australia batted first, a whole day without a wicket and Ponting made his century
2. Two very boring IPL matches, with the Royal Chokers doing what they are best at

It seemed to be going the same way today also, with no wicket in the morning session. But what action after that!

In all, we got to see:

1. Marcus North make his century (and Paine his half century)
2. Five Australian wickets in a single post-lunch session
3. This included 2 stumpings and an excellent run-out by Pujara, all 3 of which we were in a perfect position to see, square of the wicket
4. A short but typical Sehwag innings
5. A good partnership between Vijay and Tendulkar, both looking solid
6. Tendulkar making his 14000 runs in test cricket!

What more can one ask from one day of a test match!

The MU-Puzzle

I am currently attempting to read a 740 page book called ‘Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid’, which seems a mix of mathematics, AI, philosophy and music. Right now, it reads more like Infosys technical certification material, wherein I have taken about an hour and half to complete 35 pages. But I came across an interesting puzzle, which I have put down here.

Objective of the puzzle: To produce the string ‘MU’

Rules:

• You are given a starting string MI
• Only 3 letters are allowed in any string: M, U, I
• Strings can be of any length (eg: MU, MII, MUI, MUIUIUII, UUIMUIMUIMUIMUIMII)
• The following rules can be used to transform one string to another:
• Rule 1: If you have a string whose last letter is I, you can add on a U at the end
• Rule 2: Suppose you have Mx, where x is a sub-string. Then you may transform Mx to  Mxx. For example: MIU->MIUIU, MUM->MUMUM, MU->MUU
• Rule 3: If III occurs in any part of the string, you can replace that with U. For example: UMIIIMU->UMUMU, MIIII->MUI or MIU, MIII->MU. The III have to be consecutive
• Rule 4: If UU occurs inside the string, you can drop it. For example, UUU->U, MUUUIII->MUIII
• The  transformation rules are not compulsory, you can choose to apply or not apply them
• Using all these, you have to convert MI to MU

I have just started trying it, so I am not sure how easy or difficult it is (or even if it is solvable!). It can probably be solved programmatically, which should be an interesting exercise too. 

If you figured the solution, please post it as a comment.

Response!

Responding to SLN's comment here, as response is too long for a comment:



No offence taken, babai:-) I guess I have become a bit of a bore about some of these things. But my responses:


Why I quote/talk about Gandhi: Just like knowledge of nature is low, knowledge of history is also low in my generation. Other countries lionize the smallest achievements of their heroes, we tend to be critical of our rather more accomplished founders. Our incredible and unique tradition of humanists (Buddha, Ashoka, Gandhi, Rajaji etc) is only matched by our ignorance of them. Since reading habits have gone down too, there is not much scope that the younger generation would discover these histories, and instead contemporary heroes, often with clay feet. Guess I hope for some revival through such quotes. I have even benefited from his techniques, by using them in solving (touchwood) the plot dispute I faced here in Bangalore. Shades of 'Well Done, Abba'! 


Why Gandhi now?: Because, with liberalization, we have 'cried havoc, and let slip the dogs of' destruction, greed and disparity in the last 15 years. You may not see it much in the town, but it is evident here. Since he spoke eloquently on these topics, guess he is more relevant now than before. 


Why IIT-IIMs talk of these?: I am not sure many do! I certainly do not find too many peers with whom I can discuss these topics. I have met many semi-Gandhians in recent times, but most were not mainstream folks like IIT-IIM crowd. But I guess he would appeal to anyone with an intellectual bent, and the IIT crowd does flatter itself on that count. My own fascination was through a purely personal route, a unique combination of the Hindu, history books and too much time on my hands.  

Organic farming, a western concept: Perhaps this should be called traditional Indian farming, because that is what it is. The speakers in the seminar were elderly South Indian profs with white handlebar mustaches, making statements like 'professor Sundaram has a tongue like a whip and heart of gold'. The methods were totally Indian, with cow dung+cow urine being primary ingredients. Other teachers were elderly ladies who showed us thier resplendent terrace gardens, something they have been at for the last 10-15 years. In fact, the so-called organic movement has its roots firmly in Indian and CHinese farming techniques of the past century. 


Why I like organic farming: The same reason you cited: not because I have to, but because I want to, for the pleasure of it. Of course, this is completely theoritical, since I am yet to do anything concrete. Since I don't have the skills, I go to such seminars to learn. But I also want to do it as a carbon offset, which is another post.


Why I should shut up: Because I have taken to preachy and whiny posts, like this. Ok, time to zip lips.

SINGAMPALLIS-SEDYAM

I brought current-Sarada (Kavali was electrified in 1955)
I brought sedyam-Viswam (own agriculture was started by SRM in 1960)
Such was the impact of agriculture even in the children in the family.
How SRM started own agriculture is another story, to be followed.
Agriculture is in the blood of singampallis.All the generations made living by agriculture only—SRM
When last piece of land in kavali was being sold for a huge price (ekaram koti like a film title) the reaction from all singampallis was not of elation but only resigned sad ness (think no family reacts like this)
SBD—Why sell now
KRUPS- why babai?
SASI-please continue. I will take over after 2 or 3 years
KUPPI, SEENU-buy fruit gardens
Vidya, Srikanth- don’t sell if not buy another land
We sensed that we will sell this land sooner or later.
SLN brought mamidi thota.
I bought wet land in kavali.
Viswam also tried but was discouraged by us.
Every body knows where the heart of SGK lies.
Sedyam was part of our family. It was a way of life for us.
Our community is not suited for agriculture (bapana sedyam),
SRM lost much of his earnings in agriculture. It was always running in loss. We would have been in much better financial position if not for sedyam.We hated that part, but loved the agriculture. Every body (including princeSVSR) in the family knows every thing about sedyam. I can plough; remove weeds, feed and milk cows, thrash paddy etc, like any other ryot.Even the urbanite like Durga learnt to milk buffalos and was managing affairs.( Mention of cows brings to my mind, the fond memory of SVSR drinking fresh milk (pachi palu)sitting by the side of cow)
One of my vivid memories was going to fields with my mother on the day of harvesting; eat muntha karjooram, verusenaga kayalu, brought to field by selling women.
Every family member has his//her memories.
I can never finish this.
The story is not complete without the mentioning of my mother.
She comes from a rich land lords family, who own more than 100 acres in Karakambadi, apart from many buildings in tirupati and tirumala. She used to go school in nearby renigunta by a jatka.She was well educated. She took to agriculture like a fish to water when it was started. She has to look after 6 children, demanding husband and scores of servants. She used to go to fields by walk crossing irrigation canals, supervise work, come back and do house hold work. She was kind and considerate to every body. Kalluri Veerabhadra Sastry, who did great work in collecting all Tyagarajas works, was living in our street and sanskritized her name as Kripavathi which aptly describes her. It is a great tribute to her that she is remembered even after 40 years of her death by ryots, coolies and old neighbors.

Birds of Bannerghatta Zoo

A quick trip to the Bannerghatta Zoo area (about 15 KM from home) on the mid-week holiday yielded a good list of birds. I got see 4 new birds, which was great. A very serene area with the only bird calls punctuated by the distant roar of lions as the ambient noise makes for a therapeutic morning.

The bird list:


Babbler, Jungle
Babbler, Tawny-bellied
Babbler, Yellow-eyed
Barbet, Coppersmith
Barbet, White-cheeked
Bulbul, Red-vented
Bulbul, Red-whiskered
Bulbul, White-browed
Bushchat, Pied
Cormorant, Small
Crow, House
Crow, Jungle
Dove, Laughing
Dove, Spotted
Drongo, Ashy
Drongo, Black
Drongo, White-bellied
Eagle, Short-toed Snake
Egret, Small
Flowerpecker, Pale-billed
Flycatcher, Asian Brown
Flycatcher, Asian Paradise
Flycatcher, Tickell's Blue
Flycatcher, White-browed Fantail
Francolin, Grey
Heron, Pond
Kingfisher, White-breasted
Kingfisher, Small Blue
Kite, Black
Kite, Brahminy
Lark, Rufous-tailed
Leafbird, Golden-fronted
Munia, Scaly-breasted
Mynah, Brahminy
Mynah, Common
Mynah, Jungle
Parakeet, Rose-ringed
Prinia, Ashy
Prinia, Plain
Robin, Indian
Robin, Oriental Magpie
Shikra
Shrike, Brown
Sparrow, House
Sunbird, Purple
Sunbird, Purple-rumped
Swallow, Red-rumped
Swallow, Barn
Swift, House
Tailor Bird
Tit, Great
Treepie,Rufous
Wagtail, Grey
Wagtail, Pied
White-eye, Oriental


Some bird snaps from the web (not mine):

Golden Fronted Leaf Bird

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Brown Shrike

Happy Birthday Sudha

Many happy returns on the day.

p.s. Calendar admin - please add to calendar

25 Facts You Should Know About Oracle - Spotlight news from Channel Insider

25 Facts You Should Know About Oracle - Spotlight news from Channel Insider
With @ guys in the family in Oracle (Madhava thru Peolesoft), I thought it might be interesting.
MBAs please note--Be aggressive, Devour and Engulf, Cheat where you can and get away with it, and come up on top.

Happy moment

Recently I went to tpt for Brahmotsavamulu. On Garuda seva that is on the 5th day, horticulture department arranged a flower show.In that they displayed some old photos .suddenly i saw one photo NTR (CM) pakkana subbarao bavagaru .Really i felt very happy and i told everyone that he is my bavagaru who worked there on Tirumala hills. I asked them for that snap .They told me to wait for a month becos next month brahmotsavams are there again.

Walmart Employee Starting today

Adi was quite excited that I was joining Walmart. He asked me which store I will be working in and whether I can checkout items he buys. When I told him I am not actually working at the checkout counter, but from an office, his disappointed comment: "What fun is that? Checkout job is way cooler!!!!"

Recent comments widget

Looks like it is broken and it is hard to see the latest comments, especially on posts from a while back. How about the programmers in the family take a hack at the Java Script code and fix it?

Calling IS, SSV, Sudha, Vidya, Srikanth, Mrudula and Madhav. Managers exempted :-)

My visit to Orlando ( narrated by Adi, typed by Amma)

I went to DisneyWorld Orlando for my birthday. I turned 6 on my birthday.

The first place I went to was Hollywood studios. There we were going to go to Toy Story Mania but we didn't go because they didn't have fast passes and the line was one hour wait. I went to a cars stunt show but I wanted to go back to the apartment after the first stunt because I wasn't feeling well. I had fever.

More later.....

ప్రశ్న

గోపాల్ కామెంట్ నా గురించి నేను ఇంటర్నెట్ లో మాట్లాడుతున్నాను కదా" మన ఫ్యామిలీ అందరు నెట్ లోకి రావటం మానేఅస్తారట " ఇది ఎంతవరకు నిజం మీరు చెప్పండి

new flat at hyderabad

We purchased a flat for Srikanth at Gayathrinagar,BoraBanda,Hyd.Its 5km from gachibowli,2km from cybertowers,3kms from father in laws house and 1street away from rameshs plots.formal joining was on 27-8-10.Here are some photos.Some photos with Santhi and Pavan are also added

http://picasaweb.google.com/ranganadhams/NewFlatAtHyederabad#

HBD ADITHYA

Many many happy returns of the day.Happy birthday Adithtya.

THE CASE OF THE HINDU

THE CASE OF THE HINDU

SRM was a great fan of The Hindu. (As are the other members of singampalli clan. refer Krups “peen of a news paper”).He reads from the banner "THE HINDU" to "printed and published by” at the end. (We used to think!!!).He reads it early in the morning, at break fast, at lunch, in the evening, at dinner and late in the night. . Coverage of sports was very good in it, we were eager to read and get no chance at any time. In the later stages, he became a little considerate and used to give sports page. (Here I am reminded of a scene from Missamma ,NTR is an unemployed person living in a park. He tries to peep into paper read by a tiptop person and the fellow contemptuously gives him some pages remarking" wanted columns ega ".NTR remarks” chadive rojullo, nenu guda sports column matharme choose vadini le brother” I have seen the picture many times. It evokes same kind of laughter every time)
Old town being a place where not many people read Hindu, there was some difficulty with regard to paper boys, who work part time. If the paper comes late, they deliver it in shops and some streets where circulation is more and go away .Invariably, Hindu is not delivered to us and difficulty starts. We are forced to go to 5 lanterns place at the north end of kavali and get the news paper from news agent’s house. If trekking the distance is one difficulty, going to some body’s house and ask paper is another. We were shy and diffident but have to do it. This was one of the several tasks we were forced to do. If you are asked to go to some body’s house, it’s not enough to come back saying, he is not available. We have to ask where he has gone when will he come back etc (Looking back may be it helped us to have right attitude in the later stages of life.).If the incidence of late or non delivery is repeated a postcard is dispatched promptly to Editor, The Hindu, Madras. The paper was very prompt and next day the agent comes to our home in a miserable state and apologies. This was repeated so many times that I lost count.
This fight with news boys and agents did not end with SRM. I too wrote many letters to Hindu starting with the sentence" we are subscribers for the last 50 years”___ But it was a losing battle. Recently when I was in kavali and sent for Hindu to Viswams home Padma said “I have stopped bavagaru.He is not delivering it regularly.”This is not first time for Viswam .
Here in Gachi Bowli we are delivered Deccan Chronicle one day, Hindustan times another day in place of HINDU .Durga fights bitterly, and phones immediately, the agent apologies, promises that it won’t happen (no going to agents place, new technologies)
But the story goes on

WWoHP

I am on vacation for a week and everyone suddenly decides to get active on the blog.

Visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter yesterday. Toured Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, embarked on a forbidden journey, escaped dragons, played quidditch, drank butter beer and bought a wand from Ollivander's. Detailed report to follow.

HAIKUS

Mother's Nature

Baby kicks the womb
God knocks heart door
Expectant Mother.

FONDLING

Golden silence mine tiny totter
Silvery speech heard by world
my grown up daughter.

ఆశ

వటువుకు శిశువుకు మూడడుగులు
కల్యాణానికి నిర్వాణానికి ఏడడుగులు
కనరాని దూరం ధనాగారం .

అడవి కాచిన వెన్నెల

మెరుస్తున్న పచ్చిక బయలు సెలయేరు హొయలు
అడివంతా పచ్చగా విచ్చిన వెండి వెన్నెల
చూస్తున్న ఆహ్లాదిస్తున్న మనోనేత్రాలేన్ని ?

Freshers party

Seniors here at tlh gave us a freshers party...it was amazing! had a great time!! Will upload the pics real soon.......
Tlh is a happening place... i was the one who took time in figuring the right places and the right people...
"MS is SERIOUS FUN" :-)

SAGES FOR AGES

Gales storms thunder above
Silver surf waves spray and splash
Rocks fearless stand alone

New Age Mantra

Some new age Kavee has said:

आज करे सो काल कर

काल करे सो परसोॱ (day-after-tomorrow)

जल्दी क्य। है यारोॱ

जब जीना है बरसौ (years)

(this one is from my all time favorite movie Golmaal :) )

Kabir Said

काल करोउ सो आज करोउ
आज करोउ सो अब्ब
पल में परिलय हो यी गया
बहुरि करौगे कब्ब
what you are(have to) to do tomorrow, do it today
what you are (have to) to do today, do it now
there will be Pralay (Tsunami, Great flood, Earthquake, Hurricane?) in a moment(second, jiffy)
when will you do it then (again)?

So. no postponements please! of anything!
Follow Pedananna's  motto  (incidentally I reserve the right "not to follow" my advice)
DO IT YESTERDAY.

OMG ITS FRIDAY!!

i hate weekends!! i hate sundays the most....
u can postpone stuff over the weekdays... but if its the weekend u got to finish them no matter what happens!
no excuses whatsoever!!
am i the only one suffering with this "weekend phobia"? or does anyone else share this view?
god..thou spare thee (i think i used thou,thee the right way!)

S--C--R--E--A--------M

MISSING ranganadham and sarada soooo much.Where are the promised cases?

Answers to G Babai's questions

My response was a little too large for a comment space, so posting here. Pardon my hogging the blog space on a single topic- but I think some of you are interested enough.

Good questions babai, and as you said, we had asked it too.

Longevity and strength: The architect says the mud blocks are stronger than normal red brick. They randomly test the bricks that are made at site to ensure consistency. They have built about 800 houses in Bangalore over the last 16 years, including the architect's own house and their office. We have been to both and they seem to have weathered well enough. In fact, on their roof they grow plants, rice and ragi, and have suffered no water seepage etc.

I think the curing process  (sun drying+ water absorption) gives the brick the required strength. The bricks tend to get a bit mossy with rain over time, but that is an easy fix if one wants to fix it.

Load bearing: Regarding load, they normally dont even do RCC frame structures like in the house we are building- the walls are usually load bearing, requiring no RCC columns. So yes, they can carry load of even reasonably large buildings.

Please see the link below- it is one of the largest buildings they have built- an eco resort.

http://www.ournativevillage.com/picture_gallery.htm

You can see it is pretty big, built using these mud blocks.

Panels: The panels also have been used in several of their houses, including the architect's- seem to be working well. We are not going with panels in all the rooms though. You can see the panels in the architect's house here (and the rest of the house as well):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/biome/sets/72157611551319532/


Space: The house is larger than the current apartment- should be good enough for the library :-)

The Hindu quoted me today!

There was a birding article in the Metro Plus section of the Hindu today. Unexpectedly I was quoted in the article- I had provided some data to the journalist earlier. Although a small bit, it was still a pleasant surprise to see my name in print :-)

http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article642909.ece

Also posting a snapshot of the article below.

1st part of article (click to enlarge) 

2nd part, where my quote figures! (click to enlarge)

Eco-friendly housing - II

Roof:

Normal roofs are made of concrete, reinforced with steel/iron rods. The steel rods are about 9 mm thick. Steel also is made by the use of high temperatures, as cement. So both have a high carbon footprint.

Besides that, steel+cement conducts heat into the house. In summers, this means use of fans, coolers and air conditioners, increasing the energy consumption of the house.

Paints are used to coat the roof- again, higher footprint.

Arch panel roofs: This is a colonial invention, apparently. Instead of one great big slab, the roof is composed of   rectangular sections of about 3 ft by 5ft. Each section is gently arched along the length, hence called arch panel. Once the panels are made, they are simply glued on to a row of horizontal beams to complete the roof. See below:

Panels resting on beams (diagram made by Poonam)

This means the roof is primarily clay rather than cement and steel. This has a lower footprint, and also keeps the room cool. Since the walls are also similarly made of mud, there will be practically no need for fans, AC etc. And it certainly looks cooler too :-). As a result, no painting required!

Panels in progress- the panel casting area on the RHS, gentle bulge can be seen

Each arch panel is a set of clay tiles glued together by a thin layer of cement. You can see the loose tiles on the ground behind the man (pic above). Thus, an arch panel is primarily clay. Each panel also has 2 thin (3mm dia) iron rods embedded in the cement, along the length.

Beams on which arch panels rest

The arch panel roof in amma's room

Eco-friendly housing - I

Walls:

Red brick is the typical material used for walls. Cement is used to bind the bricks. Both of these have a high carbon footprint. Red bricks are fire burnt, requiring either firewood or coal. Cement preparation also requires high temperatures.

Besides that, good quality red bricks are made near Mysore, implying an additional footprint for transportation to Bangalore. Cement factories pollute their surroundings significantly.

Chemical paints are used to coat the walls- also carry a high footprint.

Compressed Mud Blocks are made at site. They are composed of  around 50% quarry dust, 40% red soil, 10% cement (approx numbers). A wetted mixture of these materials is compressed in a hand operated machine to make a compressed mud block. After 3 weeks of curing, the mud blocks are ready for use. The cement acts as the stabiliser. No heat treatment required.

Quarry dust and red soil are usually considered waste materials. Red soil is recovered from the earth scooped out of the basement and foundation. These are local materials, requiring minimal transportation carbon footprint.

Since the process of block making is manual, the footprint of the blocks is restricted to the cement portion of it (10%).

Mortar: The mortar used to bind the bricks is also of the same material, restricting the cement content of the walls to under 10%

Paint:  The red soil gives a nice color to the bricks, requiring no plastering or painting of the walls. Again, that saves on the carbon footprint of the house.

The technique is being used by Biome Environmental Solutions, who are the architects for the Bangalore house-in-progress.

Snaps:

Quarry dust+Red soil+Cement

Maanav machine!

The mechanical hen lays a nice little mud block

Lots of blocks, and the house behind is also made of them

Red soil gives a nice tinge

 Short video of the process:

One month in Tallahassee

It’s been one month since I came to Tallahassee. During these 30 days I did a lot of things here, much much more than I ever imagined I could do! Here is a brief account of what, when and how I accomplished them!

Everyone knows about the fateful flight missing incident(not an accident by any means) because of which I reached Tallahassee a week later than I intended to! I arraived in tlh on 12^th - a day before my graduate orientation. Raviteja picked me up at the airport and dropped me at kavya’s place (temp accommodation). Later other new students and I were accompanied by a bunch of very very helpful seniors who helped me check-in and get my fsu card.

Orientations: I had to attend 5 orientations in total. Internationl students’ orientation, graduate students’ orientation, department orientation, TA orientations(2 sessions, 2 whole days!!) During these sessions they dump a lot of information at you. The problem lies in the fact that every bit of it is important. I had to come back home and read the books they gave to get a clearer comprehensive picture of what I had to do and what I shouldn’t. So practically the whole week starting 13^th to 21^st I spent reading and learning US and university practices.

TASKS!: Apart from these there was another big thing I had to do…open a bank account!! Thanks to nanna I have never been to a bank before! Now that I was on my own I had to go through the bank’s policies, its modes of operations and everything else before opening an account…if it wasn’t for sudha vadina… I would have been a dead duck!

As if this wasn’t enough I was faced with a very serious problem of looking for and finding a roommate. I am the “only” Indian girl who came over to FSU this fall. Those who were already here were pretty much settled and I didn’t know what to do..then somebody called ashavaree das contacted me through INSAT(Indian student association at tlh). She was phd student in the field of psychology and mass media communications who went to India to get married and was coming back to finish her phd.. She asked me if she could be my roommate and I said “YESS!!” Asha said she couldn’t come to tlh before 27^th so that left everything – leasing a house, subscribing for utilities (water, gas and electricity), getting the house cleaned etc., - entirely to me! By God…. Doing all that drove me crazy! Leasing and getting the house cleaned was the easier part, for the utilities I had to get to some “utility office” off campus and I didn’t have the slightest idea where that was! Meanwhile I came to know that if I had to get paid I have to have a SSN. Applying for one is such a big process. It starts with the department office – dept of graduate studies - university center – and ends at the Tallahassee social security department office, a days work. Luckily for me, I met a boy called Nikhil Gupta during the orientation sessions who took me to these two places (utility, ssn) and helped me get them done.

Just when I thought I did everything I have to, there came the issue of registering for classes – what I am actually here for. The classes I wanted to take didn’t have openings and the ones I was being forced to take were all highly time consuming according to my seniors. I talked a lot to seenanna, sudha vadina and my seniors…finally ended up taking the mix seenanna suggested!

FOI: In FSU, there is an organization called “Friends Of Internationals” who basically keep track of the needs of new students. People who graduate and leave tlh donate furniture to this society. Every year FOI conducts a “furniture giveaway” where new students can take home 6 furniture/other things home for free. This drive was conducted on 27^th, though it started at 8 am, I stood in the line from 5! I was one the 3^rd in line and so I got a mattress, a couch, a microwave, an electric cooker, a laundry basket and carpets!! :-) :-)

Kavya took me to walmart, Indian store and the shopping mall!

So finally I settled down!!

PUJA: Last Sunday ISCON, Tallahassee arranged a get together. We were invited to those Krishnashtami celebrations. There were bhajans and abhishekam of the idols followed by a talk about the “apprearance ok Krishna” on the earth by a guru and dances. I helped serve the prasadam later (and ofcourse helped myself to it too!!)

Today at home I did the vinayaka chaviti puja.. nanna downloaded the vrata kalpam and sent it to me… I collected leaves and flowers from trees in and around alumni village. I made payasam and panchamrutam and offered it to god.

Alumni Village: The place is so cool! There is no concept of "day and night" here. You can find people up and about at any time. 1'oclock , 3'0clock at night too! The people are very heplful and amiable... The weather is the only problem.. it's so unpredictable and highly humid. The sun is burning your neck one minute and you are drenched from head to toe the very next minute. We have a lot of sudden downpours...

Friends:
1. Abhishek Mukherjee, Aneesh Sharma, Abhiram Chintangal (A3) – these 3 arraived along with me this fall to fsu. Aneesh and abhiram are in the cs department and abhishek is in the eee dept. We did a lot of things together (attending orientations, fsu card, bank account, leasing a house etc.,) and became good friends. They live diagonally across my place.

2. Raviteja, chakradhar, rohit, anil – seniors who live in the flat just opposite mine and next to A3. Helped me in loads of things. Raviteja picked me up from the airport and arranged temp accommodation, chakradhar(chintu) and rohit – cs seniors – helped me with course registration. Chintu actually let go of his cryptography seat so that I could get into that class!! Anil – he is from vizag – helped me move the furniture, suitcases and other stuff and arranged it at my place.

3. Kavya – She is great! She made me feel so comfortable during my stay with her.. guided me on a lot of things like health insurance, India calling, shopping etc., A good cook! Introduced me to madhu and malathi, the other Indian girls in AV.We became very good friends in a very short time.. we went out shopping and to a movie together. She lives next door now. If she cooks anything special I always get my due!!! :-)

4. Asha – my roommate… she is amazing! We have a lot of things in common. She is a great great cook! Makes delicious curries and snacks! She has been living in the US for the past 10 years(did her undergrad and masters here) and knows great deal about what/where/when to shop! Extremely caring… from the time she has come, she has been cooking. Loves to read novels – her favourite pastime..delightfully! She brought along 50 novels with her(what more can I ask for) A fitness freak and makes it a point to take me on a 15 min walk after an early dinner everyday.. *(thank god she doesn’t have time for the gym!!)*

5.Frank Sposaro - My lab partner...one hell of a guy! A programming wizard! he recently developed android applications that got him and his professor 1.2M$ grant.. apart from this he is the ACM Predident for FSU. He also participates in social services... Jogs and swims daily and is extremely fit... i have a LOT to learn from him!

Apart from these people i have a few chinese-next door neighbours - friends. Few russian, jamaican and british friends.

Current Status: Now I have a 10hr TA(I have to grade Microsoft word, excel, spreadsheet assignments of about 100 undergrads and clear their highly confused brains) and a 10hr RA(under Sudhir Agarwal, he is working on email phishing and the project is funded by the National Institute of Justice NIJ). I have a bunch of homework assignments, journals and projects on hand too.

PS: *this is the format we use here to submit assignments* :P

WHEW! That was a long post :-)

hello

thanks to sln bavagaru who invited me to this blog

hai

andariki vinayaka chaviti subhakankshalu

"Mrudula in Hindu advertisement on main page 08-09-10"

Ekavimsati Patra Puja

"Respectfully requesting the learned contributors of the

blog to complete the list."---Haasyama?? I hope not. Show

me the location of your tongue.

Now to the matter in hand---


21 Leaves (Patri)

Machi -------- Machapatri. NOT Davanam-both are different.

Brihati -------- Vaka or vakudu--A sprig is put over the doorway in a house in which a delivery has taken  
                        place--to ward of evil obviously.

Bilva --------- Bilva or Maredu. ---   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bael

Durva Grass ------ Garika or grass

Dattura --------- Ummetta

Badari ------------ Regu---- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziziphus_mauritiana

Apa Marga --------Uttareni

Tulsi -------------- Tulasi. Yes, obvious.---http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocimum_tenuiflorum

Choota ------------ Mango or Mamidi.--- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mango

Karaveera --------- Ganneru.------  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerium_oleander

Vishnu Kranta -----  The small plants with little blue flowers that you see on the ground.

Daadimi ----------- Pomegranate or Daanimma ----http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate

Devadaru ---------- Devadaru ( any other common name???) --http://en.wikipedia.org
                                /wiki/Cedrus_deodara. It may not be available readily.

???Jambeera Patram--Gajanimma.

Maruvaka ---------- Maruvam or Marjoram --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjoram

Sindhuvara ---------- Vavili

Jaaji ---------------- Jaaji ----http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jasminum_species

???Gandaki---Balu Rakkasi---The plant with large leaves. see pic

Shami -------------- Jammi --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_arabica

Aswatham ---------- Raagi or Peepul -----http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_fig

Arjuna -------------- maddi

Arka ---------------- Jilledu --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calotropis_gigantea.







 ???Some people have mentioned Gandaki-  Balu Rakkasi instead of Jambeera.


see pic

 Gandaki (Balurakkasi or Balurakkisa)

I suggest you see this
site Patris etc.
Excellent one.

Ekavimshati Patra Pooja (21 leaf pooja)

With Ganesh Chaturdhi nearing, I wanted to gather information about the 21 types of leaves so I can gather the leaves ( ahem!!!) . Unforutunately, I cannot readily obtain Nimba or Bilva leaves and will have to make do with Oak Patram or Maple Patram.
But I made an attempt to translate the 21 types of leaves, so I could obtain what is avilable in US, but there are some gaps in my knowledge. Respectfully requesting the learned contributors of the blog to complete the list.

Machi -------- Machapatri or Davanam
Brihati -------- ????
Bilva --------- Bilva or Maredu?? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bael
Durva Grass ------ Garika or grass

Dattura --------- Ummetta















Badari ------------ Regu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziziphus_mauritiana
Apa Marga --------
Tulsi -------------- Obvious http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocimum_tenuiflorum
Choota ------------ Mango or Mamidi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mango
Karaveera --------- Ganneru???? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerium_oleander
Vishnu Kranta ----- ????
Daadimi ----------- Pomegranate or Daanimma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate
Devadaru ---------- Devadaru ( any other common name???) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedrus_deodara
Maruvaka ---------- Maruvam or Marjoram http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjoram
Sidhuvara ---------- ?????
Jaaji ---------------- Jaaji http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jasminum_species
Shami -------------- Jammi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_arabica
Aswatham ---------- Raagi or Peepul ?? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_fig
Arjuna -------------- ????
Arka ---------------- Jilledu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calotropis_gigantea
Nimba --------------- Vepa or Neem??? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azadirachta_indica