Friday night melodies

Friday midnight. Adi and IS asleep. A chance for me to peacefully enjoy a few melodies.
O Bangaru Rangula Chilaka - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDv8u3vYVRU&feature=related

Ae divi lo virisina paarijaatamo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ypnwyX-SJk&feature=related
Ennenno Janmala bandham http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-YVGSX3V7c
Saagasa Sangamame http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Wx5zxOxv0&feature=related
Chinukula Raali http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ1vLDQNbos&feature=related

Book report - 2

Just reread the book of stories "Rasika Raaja Thaguvaaramu Kaama??"  by Vasundhara. Vasundhara is the pen name for the couple, J.Rajagopala rao and R. Ramalakshmi.

A very moving story from that collection.
Allasani Peddana, the great telugu poet, just finishes writing "Swarochisha Manu Sambhavam" aka Manu Charitra. He is eager to dedicate the first Telugu Kavyam to Sri Krishna Devarayalu, and in on his way to Bhuvana Vijayam ( The name of SKD's court), when he meets the King mounted on his elephant. He is devastated when the King instead of inviting him as expected, postpones the reading to a later time.
Peddana returns home with a heavy heart, lamenting "Rasika raaja, thagu vaaramu kaama?", "o great literary lover, are we( author & book) not deserving your patronage?"
The next morning, the King sends a palanquin to invite Peddana to the royal court. Still stung by the rejection from the day before, Peddana decides to accept the invitiation but decides not to read the poems in the court. When he enters the chambers and the king fails to appear and greet him, he is even more resolute in his decision.
Presently, the King enters the court and requests Peddana to start reading the book. When Peddana gently refuses, the King requests it again, saying he is already sorry for the one day's delay because of his preference for the Palanquin over the elephant. Peddana is confused and asks the king why the Palanquin is superior.
Then the king replies," If I had asked you to accompany me on the elephant, how could I do justice to the greatest poet and his magnum opus, for I would not be able to carry them myself".
As a stunned Peddana, who then realizes that the King was one of the bearers of his Palanquin, opens his mouth, instead of words, the first poem of Manucharitra starts flowing, filling the court with its beauty.  

PHOTOS PLEASE

sudha and srinivas
photos of ARJUN needed
durga pinni

A Book report

I was re-reading Sripada Subrahmanya Sastry kathalu - volume 2 yesterday. The first story in that book is "Vadla Ginjalu" (Paddy Seeds). It's one of his most famous stories.

The language is very stylish, the descriptions are very flowery and while it is written in "Vyavaharikam ( common language)" there are quite a few words that are esoteric.

The summary of the story is below.( Spoiler Alert, but I suppose there is limited chance of those who have not already read it, to read at this time....Or am I being too presumptuous?? )


Tangirala Sankarappa, the hero of the story, is a poor, young Brahmin who is a champion chess player. He wants to play against "Vatsavai Thimma Gajapathi", the king of Peddapuram Rajyam, who is a great chess player himself. However, when Sankarappa requests an audience with the King, the Divan and Senapati of the kingdom make fun of his appearance and eject him from the palace.

The old lady inn-keeper encourages the dejected Sankarappa and shows him the path. Sankarappa starts playing with all the popular players in town and defeats everyone soundly. The king hears of his exploits, and invites him to a chess game. Sankarappa, with his prodigious chess skills, defeats the King.


When the King asks Sanakrappa on his wish for the spoils of victory, Sankarappa, very humbly says, " all I need is some food. Please give me as many paddy grains as it would be, if you started with 1 grain in the first square of the chess board and doubled it every square. ". Hence the name "Vadla Ginjalu".  The king's subjects calculate this number as the crop that all farmers in the kingdom would harvest in a 100-years. The king is impressed with Sankarappa's skill in chess as well as his intelligence and offers him an "agraharam" ( a whole town, kind of like a British Estate).

Some words from the story and their meanings: ( any corrections / resposnes are appreciated )

Chikili : Sharpen
Thosi Raju: Check
Aata Kattu: Checkmate
Bantu: Pawn
Sakatu: Bishop
Mussaddii: ???
Konja: ??? ( Door? )
Taabondu: Some kind of apparel
Nattu: Some kind of nose jewelry
Bulaki: Same as above

Introducing Aditya to Nature

With my busy weekend schedules finally behind me, we wanted to restart our Bay Area exploration that fell by the wayside nearly 7-years ago. Srinivas and I used to drive around and hike around the many open spaces and nature preserves around the Bay Area. With my pregnancy and then with a kid prone to skin allergies, followed by my intensely busy MBA schedule, we did not get many chances to resume our outdoor activities.

This spring, we finally decided that Aditya is old enough to walk trails that span 3+ miles and has developed enough resistance to pollen and other allergens.

Our first hike was the 3.2 mile round-trip walk to Deer Hollow Farm in the Rancho San Antonio Preserve. At the end of the 1.6 mile walk across a meadow filled with wild flowers, past big old oak trees, over small streams of water and near squirrels and coyotes, was a fully working farm. Aditya heard a rooster crow for the first time, saw two huge pigs, few lambs and sheep, and saw a cow graze from up close.

Deer Hollow Farm

We also spotted many wild flowers and trees. Our knowledge of California flora woefully inadequate, we gave them pretty names from our own imagination. However, faithful Google came to our rescue after we got home. There were California Poppies, Thistles ( Aditya knew them, don't ask me how!!!), Poison Hemlock, Oaks and Madrones.

 

California Poppy - Official State Flower of California

Our hike was followed by a sumptuous lunch at Bill's Cafe where Aditya emptied his plate in a restaurant for the first time in his entire life :-) where he ate 4- chocolate chip pancakes.

Srinivas and I shared some wonderful French Toast topped with Bananas, Strawberries and Blueberries and an omelet filled with lots of vegetables.

 

Garden Fresh Omelet with Potatoes

Very Berry French Toas

Aditya enjoyed both his hike and his lunch. We are looking forward to more such excursions this summer as we explore all the outdoors the Bay Area has to offer.

hanuman temple in vishnalayam in kavali

The ancient Hanuman temple, which was built hundreds of years back in Vishnalayam, was in need of renovation. Family funds were provided for Rs 50000 and Krupakar contributed Rs 50000 in memory of SVSR.Durga bhattiprolu, Vidya Madhuri also promised some money. There were other major donors who gave 1 lakh each. I advised Poojari garu to accept even Rs1o offered by devotees.The work was started on Feb 16th 2011. It was supposed to be the most auspicious day for the whole year. The coincidence is that it was marriage day of SSK and DMR and the same Muhurtam was fixed by doctors at Bombay for the delivery of Raghav Subbarao.In fact the Singampalli folks in the temple has to leave as they had “purudu” after 10-13am.Durga and my self were not fortunate enough to be present at that time, because Durga was not fit enough to travel after continuous fever for a month.Sankhu Stapana was done on 5th march, 2011. Gold and Silver along with Navatatnams were put in the pit. We hope to finish it in 2or 3 months.The temple is being built in the same place with almost same measurements.Dhruvamurthy or Mulavirat (Main Deity) is now resting in paddy and he will be reinstalled after the completion of the construction. The Garbha Gudi (Sanctum Sanctorum) will be covered with stone slabs which are being procured from a village near Chilakaluripeta.13 slabs will be used in 3 tiers and inner part will get the shape of Padmam (lotus).Other parts like MukhaMantapam will be built with RCC slab.Aadhara Peetham the stone on which deity will be fixed and SomaTheertham from where Abisheka Theertham will be collected are also being brought from there with measurements fixed by Agama Sasthras. Some experienced silpis from Rajahmundry are doing this work. Whole work is being done under the guidance of Agama Pandits of TTD.

Career Fairs and Life!!

ironically, that is what i did the last time!


Hate to agree!! but so very true... (am i generalizing here?)

Birds of Ragihalli Lake

After a while, I went birding this AM to Ragihalli Lake in the Bannerghatta area. Apart from the birds, I got to ride in 2 different mid level cars- a Skoda and a Civic: I think I will rate the Skoda better in riding comfort. Deepa, my energetic neighbor, had organized this trip and we were a group of six.

The whole reserve forest had a dried out look thanks to the summer days, and bird sightings were less than usual. The list:

 Drongo, Ashy
 Prinia, Ashy
 Drongo, Black
 Kite, Black
 Egret, Cattle
 Kestrel, Common
Tailor Bird, Common
 Treepie, Indian
Oriole, Eurasian Golden
Robin, Indian
Lark, Jerdon’s
Dove, Laughing
Magpie Robin, Oriental
Bush Chat, Pied
Sun Bird, Purple Rumped
Bulbul, Red Vented
Parakeet, Rose Ringed
Shikra
Bee Eater, Small Green
Dove, Spotted
Owlet, Spotted
Bulbul, White Browed
Wagtail, White Browed
Babbler, Large Gray
Drongo, White Bellied
Leafbird, Golden Fronted
Swallow, Red rumped
Pippit, Paddy field
White-Eye, Oriental

some snaps from the web:

Red rumped swallow

Gold fronted leaf bird

Kestrel in its classic hovering pose

అతడు -ఆమె

I have finished re-re-re reading of అతడు -ఆమె,may be one of best in telugu.The narration is superb using pure Telugu( not interposed with English words).The genesis of the book is in preface. (SRM once told and showed me that preface in"Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes" is more interesting,than the book).My description may not do full justice to the book.
When the authorUppala Lakshmana Rao was in Germany ,he followed and liked a serial featuring a tiff between a couple.It was described through their diarys .He came back to India and wrote a similar story which was printed .When shown his mother and pinnis,they literally threw it on his face.The comment was "what sort of novel is in which the great freedom struggle going on is not reflected?"That set him thinking , novel was rewritten with freedom struggle as back ground and the result is fabulous.Imagine the character of those women!!
The hero is lovable Sastry ,bar-at-పచడి, with his Machiavellian ideas.He is a pucca,hard corerightist.Heroin is Santham,a lecturer,with kind heart and is a congress activist,representing"right of middle".The episodes of their newly married life are so beautifully described.Gouri vadina said same when we were discussing it(may be20 years back) and Durga felt the same later.
The novel continues into 2nd,3rd and 4th parts.The heroins are Subha their adopted daughter who is a socialist,Lakshmi own daughter representing communists and her lover representing naxalites.The characters of Janarhanam ,a honest and upright govt civil engineer, his poor mother who earned lively hood by cooking and pouring drinking water from wells and educated him are unforgettable.His pinni who was brought up by his mother is another lively person.I wanted to put these charecters as the top best when there was discussion about top 10 charecters intiated by Krups.
Making of avakaya as instructed by Sastry .
- for andhra people avakaya is as important as the gun powder to the army.
-the mamidi kayas must be brought from vayyapuri modaliars garden only.
-they should not fall on ground while being plucked.fruits like that must be rejected(this i am implementing in our garden)
-malgova 100 for own
- for servants, varala abbailu etc pullakaya(2nd variety)300
-mukkaavakaya with garlic, ditto without garlic
-thurpu avakaya with garlic,ditto with out garlic
-thokkuu pachadi
-menthi pachadi
-magaya( tenkalu ,vepa ginjalu must be put)
3 golden rules to be followed by govt officials as told by senior to janardhanam.
1.నువ్వు పుచ్చుకో -ఒకడికి పెట్టు (you eat- let others eat)
2 కాంట్రాక్టర్ కామధేనువు మేత వెయ్యి -పాలు పిండు (contractor is a kamadhenu feed it -get milk)3.engineering లో ఎప్పుడు పదేళ్ళు వెనుకే వుండు(always be behind in subject at least by 10 years)

Progress in 5 weeks

April 12 2011

March 6th 2011

I am amazed at how fast Aditya picked up Telugu. Of course, much like SSV, he hates to practice writing. So I made him read and learn letters in a random order. 

For example: He learned "Pa" from "Krupa". Then "Va" and "Pa" are similar, "Pa" has a gap and "Va" has none. So, he learned "Va" etc. etc. He was also able to recognize patterns, so once I taught him how to do "vattu" or "stress" for "Kha" he was able to figure out how to write "CHha", "DHha" etc from "Cha" and "Da"

Simultaneously, I was teaching him the Vowels and the "gunintam" sounds for each vowel. So, when he learned the vowels Vu and Vuu, he also learned "Ku" and "Kuu". Once he figured out how to write "Ku", "Kuu", he figured it out for all other consonants he learned. So, he got "Ka" gunitam, "Da" gunintam etc etc.

Of course, I am teaching him the exceptions, such as "Pa", which are different.

He is making great progress and looks like he is enjoying it a lot too. He is now looking over my shoulder when I read Telugu books, getting super excited when he can read a word!!!!!!!!!

Coming to India in July!!!!!!!

Adi and I are coming to India for 3 weeks in July!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eco friendly living- 4: Dry waste management

In the last few months, no wet waste leaves the house as it all gets composted.  The next problem: what do I  do with the dry waste? If I dispose it daily, it just finds its way to the local dump where it gets mixed with all the wet waste and becomes non-recyclable.

THE PROBLEM:

Dry+wet waste of  neighbors: NON-RECYCLABLE

That garbage finds its way to the local dump (a stinky eyesore)
  

Since it is non-recyclable, it gets dumped like this outside the city, often contaminating lakes and groundwater. This is a snap of Belandur lake, once a pristine water body

THE SOLUTION:

1. For the last six weeks, I put all dry waste from the house  into a large plastic sack.
2. That includes everything: milk covers, packaging paper, pizza boxes, broken glass, cardboard, all sorts of plastic, useless bills, spam postal mail, tetra packs

3. In the case of plastic milk covers and other containers of wet materials, I wash and dry them  before I put them into the sack. Else it becomes stinky and non-recyclable.

Little cheese dip boxes set out to dry before they go into the garbage bag

4. The biggest problem is Sugami, the maid- who by now thinks I am an extra-terrestrial when she sees me washing milk packets and small cheese boxes! The moment I look away, she is apt to throw the garbage out. "Ye kya hai????" she often asks with part despair and part derision, pointing to the plastic cover.

5. Today, I took the now full garbage bag and phut-phuted my way to Jayanagar (about 4 km from here). Saahas (http://www.saahas.org/), is an NGO based in Bangalore. Their motto is "Nothing is waste", and they are a waste management firm. They take all wet and dry waste from households and offices and get each item to the right recycling source:

1. Plastics go to firms that roll all the plastic and make secondary plastic products like municipal garbage bins
2. Paper gets recycled into notebooks etc
3. Tetra packs are ground into road paving material etc
4. Everything gets recycled

The Saahas office in Jayanagar

6. So at the end of the morning, I had got rid of the dry waste in a way that minimizes the harm to the local eco-system- all it took was a small change in the daily lifestyle. 

The state of my garbage bin for the last 6 weeks: EMPTY!

NEXT STEPS: Convince my apartment mates to make the same lifestyle changes!

Happy Wedding Anniversary!!

Wish u a very very happy wedding anniversary vidyakka and madhav bava!!

P.S. madhav bava we would love to hear if u did anything in the 'rajini' style!! :-)

Raghav Namakaranam Video

Writing the names Govinda, Himavant (Nakshatra namam) and Raghav (usage name) in the rice. The last 2  names I wrote in Hindi so that everyone present can understand what I am writing. 

Everyone tells Raghav his name: Raghav Subbarao

Raghav's namam by Vijaya Pinni:

Belated Ugadi wishes!!

Ugadi subhakankshalu to all the tatas, ammammas, uncles, aunts

&

Aditya anna!!

From Raghav & Arjun

The Cousins

Did Sangakkara cheat?

watch
The toss

Arjun

More of Arjun.
Is the nose his mother's?  (peddadi, as per the tradition of the 3 DILs)

Is the grin his father's? (bit of vankara navvu)
Is the upperlip SRM (great grandpa)'s?

Opinions invited!

28years of wait over for loyal fans

The likes of SSV, SLN and SGK.