September 17, 2016

Our trip to the Grand Canyon

A travelogue by Bhargavi Singampalli

Grand Canyon! It is one of the spots worth seeing in the US, in the state of Nevada. It is somewhat of a long drive, about 7 hours by car from Chino Hills, LA.

Of course, we had taken a break at Vegas for a two-day stay with my nephew's family, it being a weekend. It is a 4-hour journey to there. On the way, we deviated from our route towards a remote place called Kelso. We traveled through a desert...a nice experience. Here and there, at a distance, we saw sand rising like a small cloud due to the wind. One or two times, it crossed our road also, making the road hazy for a few seconds. Rocky hills were brick-red sometimes, due to past volcanic effects. The succulent Joshua trees are spread all over, throughout, adding greenery to the desert.

Driving through the Mojave desert to Las Vegas

Kelso Railway Station bore historic memories dating back to the times of world wars, and was used for transporting arms and ammunition. There is a museum also, highlighting the incidents and personalities of the war time.

Kelso Depot

After two days in Vegas, we started our travel to Grand Canyon, a journey that takes 4 hours by road. Within an hour, we reached Hoover dam, a huge structure built to check the violent flow of the huge river Colorado. At Hoover dam, a bridge was built over the canyon, through which the river is passing- now peacefully, the dam curtailing its vigor.It is a sort of breath-taking sight, to see the bridge very high up, joining two hill-tops.



From there, we started to the Grand Canyon- some 3 hours ahead. Soon after, we entered Arizona state, after crossing the bridge. Most of the stretch of the journey passes over hilly areas and through canyons and sometimes plains. Beautiful dusk colors of the sky capture the  heart.

Finally we reached the destination by evening. We spent the night in the nearby village hotel. The next day morning we went to visit the Canyon. It is really a spectacular view. The majestic Colorado is seen flowing through the depths of the Canyon, now silently and serene, with twists and turns. People say that the Canyon is formed due to the constant flow of the river in its wrath of the highest degree, over the mountains for ages. The Canyon  stands as a nice habitat for nice flora and fauna. Some native tribes have also been living there, and had grown vegetation also. There is also a museum about the Canyon there.

Our hotel foyer




Anyway, it is a memorable gift of Nature to mankind.

By evening, we started back to LA, Except for the scorching hot weather, the trip went well.

August 16, 2016

My most recent trip to India: Part 1 of 3

The temples:

Hello everyone! I have just returned from a three week trip to India, the land where History is mixed up in tales of gods and goddesses and their wondrous powers. (Excuse my paraphrasing of the little known Larry Gonick. :-) ) I will be splitting the account of my adventures into three parts, the first being about the temples of India. I unfortunately could not visit all of the temples, so this account will be of  the temples which I visited and considered the most memorable.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was my many visits to temples. The first temple I traveled to was Tirupati, a temple famous for its long lines and huge crowds. When I was told of the long lines, I grew extremely frustrated, as it is considered sacrilegious to eat before visiting the god, and so, in order to eat, I had to wait for over one hour after waking up . As we waited in line, I vented my curiosity by asking Ma many questions, including Why the  temple was so holy.. When, after a long wait, we finally reached the statue of lord Govinda, I suddenly felt as if I were a tiny speck of dust cowering in front of an awesome power.  The next thing my mind traveled to was food. I was excited at the thought of prasad, as I had not eaten for around an hour. To my dismay, I discovered the sweet pongal offered for prasad was made with cashews, and so was impossible for me to eat. :_( I had to settle for one miniscule mouthful of curd rice, given by an old woman who was also at the temple. Only about thirty minutes later, was I able to fill my empty stomach.
A few days later, we traveled to Amaravathi, where we encountered the massive shiva lingam, which is believed to have actually been a large stalagmite with an interesting story. It is believed the lingam grew so large that the gods hit a nail into its head to prevent it from growing. It is said that you can still see the blood trails on the top of the lingam, but those are most likely water trails left by the priests. However, I did not feel the same presence as in Tirupati, most likely because I was there for an even shorter time.
Now, the final temple we visited was Mangalagiri, which is famous for two things: 1. being carved into a cave. 2. having a statue of Lord Narasimham which supposedly makes a burping noise once half of an offering of jaggery water is given to him. I was thoroughly excited by the prospect of hearing the statue of Lord Narasimham "burp". I watched as the offerings of jaggery water were poured into his mouth. I heard the "burp" distinctly all three times, but, to my dissapointment it did not seem to occur exactly halfway. The jaggery water was extremely sweet, and I enjoyed it, but, unfortunately, Ma did not allow me to drink any more of it, as she was worried it might upset my "fragile" stomach.
Unfortunately, those three were the only major temples that I was able to visit. :( I enjoyed being able to get more in touch with the history and religion of India, considering the lack of "authentic" and ancient temples in America.
More coming soon!
-Adi

July 16, 2016

HISTORY OF AP

The first A.P. HISTORY CONGRESS was in JAWAHARBHARTHI in 1977. Decision to write comprehensive history of A.P. was taken.
The last volume(up to 1990 )was released on 14-6-2016  http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/a-comprehensive-history-of-andhra-telangana/article8846200.ece?ref=tpnews


 It was MPR who was responsible for this conference. (of course supported by DR our rector )
MPR did great research on UYYALAWADA NARASIMHA REDDY which was pictured as SYERA staring CHIRANJEEVI.pity ,MPR sname was never mentioned anywhere
AP HISTORY CONGRESS JAWAHAR BHARATHI
PUBLICATION OF LAST VOLUME OF AP  HISTORY
http://www.sakshi.com/news/opinion/commentary-on-current-history-361610

May 7, 2016

MPR the great historian,principal and great human being

http://www.sakshi.com/news/opinion/congress-history-of-andhra-pradesh-on-may-6-1976-founded-by-mallireddy-pattabhirama-reddy-339277

His english was fantastic.When we were young lecturers entering great Jawahar Bharathi , a staff council takes place and we used to sit in back benches ,note down the words and check in dictionary.

May 4, 2016

HBD SWATHI

Many happy returns of the day.

KothaKodalu

కోమల  సౌగంధికా శిరీష  పుష్ప  సంజనిత పరిమళంపు  ప్రోవు
నూత్న సరసీరుహంబు  పోలు ముద్దు లొలికేడి ముగ్ధ వదనంపు రాలు
మధుకర ద్వయంబు  వదనంబు  నూనిన వాలు చూపుల  చంచల  నళిన నేత్రి
లక్ష్మీ స్థిత  హృదయ నారాయణుని హృదయ  వాసి  యౌ  ముద్దరాలు

యామిని  స్థిత  తిమిరముల్  పాలద్రోలి
వెలుగు వెన్నెల నిండించు కాంతు  వెంట
పూర్ణ సుధా  మధురిమ  లలరారు  మెట్టినింట
అడుగు  వెట్టెను అలర్మేలు  మంగవోలె

Written, Typed and Posted by Gowri ---- Translated by SLN
A waft of  sweet scent emenating from delicate Sweet smelling Sireesha ( dirisena but we mean different here) flower.
A maiden with a cute lovable face like a nascent Lotu.
A lotus eyed girl with flitting sidelong glances and eyes like a pair of  Thummedalu in her lotus face
The girl who resides in the heart of Lakshmi (sametha) Narayana

Driving away the darkness of the YAMINI (night)
Bringing bright moonlight and in the company of KANTH (husband)
Stepping into the Singampalli house endowed with POORNA (complete) SUDHA (vennela) MADHURIMA (sweetness)
She came into the house like Alarmelmangai (Padmavathi of Thiruchanur).


April 8, 2016

March 22, 2016

Hi, everyone, I made a few drawings and I would like you all to see them. :)
Here they are:



February 28, 2016

The Future

హలాలు పట్టి పొలాలు దున్ని
చెమట నీళ్ళతో నేలను తడిపి
ఆరుగాలము సేద్యం చేస్తే
వెన్నుల జారెను గింజలు చారెడు
రైతు కన్నుల కారెను పుట్టెడు

గుండెలు మండి కడుపులు కాలి
అప్పుల ఊబిలో కూరుకు పోయి
అమ్మక తప్పక అమ్మివేసెను
అమ్మ నేలను అంగడి సరుకుగ

తర్వాత

తల్లి గుండెను బద్దలు చేసి
రక్త మాంసములు రాళ్ళుగ మార్చి
పరచి వేసిరి పదముల కింద
రత్న గర్భ్హను ఛిద్రము చేసి
చల్లని తల్లిని వంధ్యను (barren) చేసిరి

ఏదో ఒక నాటికి

జానెడు పొట్టకు మెతుకులు లేక
మట్టి ముద్దలే అన్నము నీకు
తాగు నీటికి కటకట లాడ
కన్నీళ్ళే నీ దాహము తీర్చు
కడకు కాల్చుటకు కట్టెలు దొరకక కాకుల గద్దల  పాలే నీవు

A poem by GOWRI.
PS: GHMC wants water meters for every connection as there is no water in and around Hyderabad. We had no rains for 4 years in Kavali.--No trees anywhere around Kavali--Only plots and it is the same everywhere.

February 18, 2016

Now that Aneesh is here...

A lot has changed now that Aneesh is here...

Every morning - I wake up screaming at a snoozed clock, run through the house getting ready and go to the office on empty stomach.

Every morning - I wake up on time to a smiling face, have breakfast and have enough time to comb my hair!
A lot has changed now that Aneesh is here...

Every evening  - I get home, go out for meals .Talk with lavi about our day@the office(colleagues,
bugs, business trips) watch TV or a Telugu movie.

Every evening - I go home to the kitchen(we cook together) .We talk about our day(colleagues,
professors, bugs, enhancements, business trip, research) watch TV or Telugu movie with English
subtitles.
A lot has changed now that Aneesh is here...

Every weekend - go to Anna's or akka's for a kumbaya, 8 people­ a lot of noise, loads of fun

Every weekend - go to Anna's or akka's for a kumbaya, 9 people ­ a lot of noise, loads of fun
A lot has changed
Now that Aneesh is here...

Every visit - Arjun and we play'Superhero' where he is iron man or captain america, vadina would
be hulk, lavi atta would be spiderman., I would be batman and florida­dwelling aneesh mama
would be shadow fox (the enemy)

Every visit - Arjun and we play 'Superhero' where he is iron man or captain america, vadina is
hulk, lavi atta is spiderman, I am batman and the ca­dwelling aneesh mama is superman. shadow
fox (the enemy) is now imaginary.
A lot has changed Now that Aneesh is here...

Every visit - Aditya would regale me with new stories about what happened at quiz bowl
practices/competitions. He would then enthusiastically talk about the new gadgets on pixel gun or
new levels on angry birds or new fields on Minecraft.

Every visit - Aditya still regales me with new stories about what happened at quiz bowl
practices/competitions. He and aneesh then enthusiastically talk about the new gadgets on pixel
gun or new levels on angry birds or new fields on Minecraft. They then become friends in new-
game world and discuss strategies.
A lot has changed
Now that Aneesh is here...

Every skype call - usually a 5 min ­ how are the daughters, a 5 min ­ how is the son in law and 50
min ­ everything else.

Every skype call - usually a 5 min ­ how are the daughters, a 5 min ­ how is the son in law, 20
min­ oh is that so aneesh? That should be really cool aneesh! What do u think aneesh? And 30
min ­ everything else?!?
A lot has changed
Now that Aneesh is here...

Every hike - I would return along half the way because my body would start aching.

Every hike - my body still gives up half the way but aneesh keeps my mind going till we get to the
top.
A lot has changed
Now that Aneesh is here...

Every night - I fall asleep on a book with glasses and the light on.

Every night - I still fall asleep on a book with glasses and the light on, but the glasses and book
go sit on the bedside table, the light is switched off and my cellphone and kindle are plugged to
charge.
A lot has changed
Now that Aneesh is here...

I have changed. Bellow gone to mellow
Now that Aneesh is here...





---Long Overdue post

February 17, 2016

February 10, 2016

A.P.HISTORY CONGRESS

http://www.sakshi.com/news/opinion/congress-completes-40-years-of-history-312622

January 14, 2016

Bhogi at 10-6-4 Kavali


and listen to Bhogi Melam here.
                                                   
                             

                                HAPPY SANKRANTHI

January 5, 2016

The Newborn

మాధవ మాధురీ మధుర మాధుర్య మధు బిందు సారంబు నీవు
లలిత రసాల కోమల  పల్లవ ఖాద్య సుగాత్ర గాత్రి నీవు
కమల మాతృగృహ సంజనిత శుద్ధ తరళ మౌక్తికము నీవు
శ్రీకాంతు కన్నుల వెన్నెల విరియించు శారద రాత్ర శశిరేఖ నీవు
దుర్గమారణ్య  సంచరిత ధైర్య శౌర్యములుల్లవించు  సింహ శాబకము నీవు
అంగరంగ వైభోగములు అనుభవించుచు సౌఖ్యముల నోలలాడగలవు రాఘవేంద్రు చలువ.


చిట్టితల్లికి పెద్దఅమ్మమ్మ పెద్దతాత  ఆశీస్సులు .
గౌరీ మరియు నరసింహం

You are the essence of a honey drop  born of Maadhava and Maadhuri.
You have the beautiful voice (like a cuckoo) coming from eating the young, soft (Lalithamma here) mango leaves
You are the pure, fine pearl   born in the house of Kamala (Lotus pond)
You are the young moon of an autumn night lighting up Sreekanth's eyes
You are the brave and valorous lion cub moving in dense tough forests
You will experience riches and happiness and revel in  comforts by grace of Ranga and Raghavendra.
Blessings for the little one from peddaammamma  and Peddathatha
Gowri and Narasimham.