Manasa and Chaithanya's anniversary at Bitragunta

On the occasion, Chandana Alankaram and Poolangi Seva were performed to lord Venkateswara at Bitragunta. It was really great and was like " choodadaniki kannulu chala ledu". The family at bttr--

My Weekends...

Wait! Where did you go?? Hey come back!

A typical weekend for me starts on Friday night!! I am 26 - only married technically, no kids, no major responsibilities. So yeah you can imagine how crazy wild it can get :)

Den 1: Fremont

 If I'm in the mood for some music(we rock our bodies to Chitra lullabies people!!), dance(ranges from the over-the-top awesome 'bang bang' to the extremely groovy 'rose(4) roja puvva'), mickeymouse/calliou, late night movie screenings and sarcasm, I head out to Fremont.

The day ends with a promise to go hiking and be fitter people the following morning. I sleep after getting amped up. Inevitably the universe is against us the next morning - it is sunny or chilly or rainy or cloudy or late or early or ... or ... or... or... c'mon mother nature!

So after breakfast (usually wash down 4 pancakes and an omlette with some coconut water .. ) I watch vadina do chores around the house while toying with ajju for some entertainment!!  We then go to costco for some snacks in the form of samples and wait for the sun to set.

Come evening, the chromecasting starts and may it never end. Great comedians like brahmanandam, srilakshmi, jandhyala, sutti velu.. err the entire tollywood industry, visit us and entertain us. But usually we deliver the dialogues, the tv is just for the images :) After trying to teach a disinterested arjun a few crooked dance moves in vain, everyone heads to bed...


Den 2: Newark

If I'm in the mood for exotic (usually edible) food, documentaries (their specialty? they are abridged movies that challenge your imagination to fill the skipped/forwarded content), minecraft/spongebob and hours of taaaaaaaalk (interesting? always, long? duh!!) I head to Newark.

I try to keep up with kuppakka and stay awake (honestly, i did try using matchsticks to keep eyelids apart!). Eventually at around 2 am I give in and head to bed.

Come, saturday morning, I wake up with a pain in my shoulders or arms or stomach or legs or back (thank u adi, for pummeling me at night), usually late and to the aroma of coffee. Seenu bava being the awesome person he is always makes an extra cup.. Then adi makes up for his kicks in the form of waffles.. (he is a good chef).

After seenu bava and aditya set out on their schedule  - karate+swim+boys scouts+book reports+ science experiments+quiz bowl+everything else that grabs kuppakkas attention; we laze around for a bit and do some chores (put those eyebrows down now!)
We set out to go to costco but get distracted by posters of garage sales. After some pretty petty shopping at all local open garages and hope stations, we discuss at length on what to eat for lunch.

Once that gets out of the way, we sit to plan or do some research. Somehow there is always something that we need to plan for. Christmas parties, bommala koluvus, festivals (sankranthi, diwali, vinayaka chaviti), apartments to rent, houses to buy, books to read, events to attend, bussiness trips, holiday trips, family gatherings, immigration rules, cars to buy, auto insurance rules, taxes.. something!

Halfway through it all, we decide its not a big deal, do some online window shopping and skip through a couple of movies.. to be joined by the family from fremont. A kumbaya followed by a lengthy game of cards follows.

(Sundays are usually chore days! Office work, work at home, obligatory parties.. hence declared not part of a weekend)

Oh...
I wouldnt have it any other way!! :)

Krupa Singampalli or should I say "The Pastry Chef"

QUOTE: Coming to the Bay area has its perks! - Krupa Singampalli and Mrudula. 

Keeping aside the fact that technical opportunities are great here, the second best thing in Bay Area is probably getting a taste of Kuppakka's cakes and baked goodies. 

PREQUEL:

One thing I am sure everyone in the family agrees upon is the fact that Kuppakka is a perfectionist. When she hosts something she goes all out. (First hand experience from Dusshera bommala koluvu :D). Mrudula, me, kuppakka and sudha vadina were planning on hosting a White Elephant Gift Exchange party before Christmas this year (December 6th to be specific). So, as usual kuppakka's planning started a month early.

STAGE 1: 

She sat down and made an extensive list of recipes, decorative items and a theme. 

STAGE 2:

She went over the list a GAZZILLION times and finally finalized on a few. (:P) 

STAGE 3:

She wanted to make sure the recipes she selected were not completely out of our league. So like dress rehearsals we had cooking rehearsals yesterday. She wanted to time the entire process and make sure we could finish baking on time. (All this in preparation for the actual day)

Coming back to the post. Yesterday, during cooking rehearsals, was the first time I had the awesome opportunity to eat one of the very famous and highly talked about cakes that kuppakka makes. 

All I can say are two things.

1) If you have not tasted them, then, well........ Poor you!

2) Everything everyone ever said about the cakes, or in fact all the adjectives (good ones) ever used to describe these cakes are an understatement.  These are beyond awesome and beyond description. 

So, Kuppakka, I dedicate this post to you and all I am trying to do here is a little justice to the gigantic amount of effort you go through to make them for us.

THANK YOU! 

Love,

Lavanya.

First job :)

Hello everyone,




How is everybody?
I recently joined my first job at "INFORMATICA CORPORATION" :) My title is "Associate Product Specialist". I wanted to tell everyone after I joined and got a taste of what it feels like to work in a company, because this way there is more to say and share.




So, as expected everything is different and new and I am trying my best to fit in and get accustomed to a routine schedule. So far, its been a week and things are starting to look good. I wish the commute was better though because right now it takes me 45 minutes to get to my office and during rush hour it is over an hour. I like the work and I enjoy going to work everyday. My team mates are helpful and very welcoming. I am undergoing training now (for about six months).



Company URL:
INFORMATICA CORP.


That's all folks!! More pictures with team and office in my next post!

The case of the chiming clock

The case of the chiming clock

In our childhood we had a German clock in our house with beautiful chiming sound. It was gleaming chrome white and never rusted.There were many sweet memories about that clock. When we were allowed to listen to Bianca Geet Mala, father used to come for English news by the stroke of nine.

It started mal functioning and was finally discarded after many attempts of repair.

There was another chiming clock presented to SLN by the staff of Katteri Kuppam P.H.C at the time of his marraige.Though it is manufactured in Bandar, its sound was also pleasing and it also became a part of our house.

When SLN was shifting to Bungalow Street, he kept the clock in old town only.SRM used to wake up early in the morning for his Sandhya Vandanam and his vision was very bad. He can hear the chimes and wake up, he said. The clock stayed at old house after father’s death. I brought the clock to Hyderabad .Durga faith fully gives the key and it runs. I listen to the chimes and remember SRM

Happy Birthday Babai & Mani

And belated wishes to Pinnis.

PERRY MASON IN BIHAR SERVICE COMMISSION SITE

Please check this link

http://bpsc.bih.nic.in/Books.htm