It was on some page 3 website I learnt about Nandita Das's wait for the rights of the book "The vine of desire" by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni... It was mentioned in that column that she had to wait for a long time before getting approved from the author to make it as a film. The tit bits had its piece saying, its a women based story..  A Nandita Das movie and a women based subject... I like Nandita Das's work a lot, so it interested me more to know what the story was all about. I searched my local public library and was happy to know the book was available. I couldn't wait a bit , so placed a hold so that no one takes the book. I knew I will be going to library the next day or soon once the library emails me saying its ready to take the book. But for my surprise Hari wanted to take me to library that day itself. I still did not receive any confirmation email to take the book. The book was neither in the fiction section nor in the collecting section. Its stuck in between both the sections, its in the office room.. ah!!!

Though I knew there is only one copy, still I wanted to check if there is one more by any chance.. So I went back to the fiction section...to add to my ignorance, I learnt this was the author who wrote the book " The mistress of spices".. I tell Hari, hey this is the movie Aishwarya Rai acted.. So she is the author!!! Hari gave a weird look, what the hell is wrong with my wife. she read some page 3 section and wants to read a book!!".. and he went of to search his kinda books...

Leaving behind all his reactions I glanced through all her books in the bookshelf. This novel "Sister of my heart" was the second one to notice.. Something told me that it would me similar to "The vine of desire". So opened the book and read the preface and what things are written on the front and back flaps.. It was interesting and as mentioned in the page 3 section the flaps had the names Anju and Sudha mentioned. So I decided I should take this book and read..

Now saying my opinion about this book

This book is about the Chatterjee girls Basudha and Anjali. The story starts with the birth of Anjali and Basudha, the sister whose heart is who!!... From their childhood to teens to their wedding, to the ups and downs they face in their lives are portrayed as a narration by Sudha and Anju to us.. The story has nothing extravagant.. Be the Chatterjee girls or for that sake any one can relate themselves atleast at once instance in this story.. I can relate myself with Anjali.. Anjali is always  concerned about  Sudha and cant stop herself from loving her sister very deeply and always thinking about her.. To add about Anjali's charachter, she argues for anything and everything in her way and very quickly become restless in doing and deciding things.. Basudha is the very calm girl who always believes in old fairy tales, where she is the princess in some forest and her prince will come and save her.. When I started reading about Basudha, initially I thought she is a mega serial type of girl who does anything to get a good name in the family.. Sacrifice, silence, more sacrifice and the soft susheel Bhahu... But towards the end can realize how strong a girl can be portrayed..

The author has brought the picture before our eyes how the Chatterjee family will look like.. Not to offend anyone,but for sure, if you happened to watch to many mamiyar-marumagal (saas-bahu)  mega serials you can for sure imagine the characters and how the scene would have been...

The novel had little cinematic characters but for sure not fully cinematic. Somethings can never be judged in this novel..While reading some of the chapters, I could guess what will happen next but for some, it was unpredictable..The portrayal of the husbands were amazing.. Why I say this because, I studied in a co-education. For most of the guys whom I have met as my classmates or collagemates had something in common when they talk about girls.. Nothing offending.. But there was a little bit of take for granted attitude in some sensitive issues.. I could see those in the characters of the husbands of the two girls..  The care by the chatterjee moms were very well portrayed along with their usual chit chats about the other ladies :)..

The novel talks about love, care, motherhood, betrayal, school time memories and for sure a lot of sisterhood..

Personally, I liked reading this novel.. I could relate me and my sister in various chapters..And if you want to read "The vine of desire", do read "Sister of my hear" first.. Else, it will be difficult to understand the former...

Sometimes its hard to believe,"Does something like this even exist?".. I gave one such expression when I went for my eye check up last year...
I always get my eyes checked every year and  I always do it in that particular optical shop in Chennai from the day I started wearing my spectacles.Last year during my vacation. I was in my in-laws place and they suggested me to check my eyes at  "Aravind Eye care".. I was so reluctant initially. But still went to that hospital. It was abt 45mins drive from our house. My first impression was, I could breathe some fresh air..The hospital was completely covered with garden and  it had a great ambiance. It made me  comfortable. After my enrollment the eye check up started with an eye drop . I was asked to wait for 15mins for my pupils to dilate followed by the usual  vision check up.Later a glaucoma check up(though this is usually not required) followed by a doctor's check up and finally a new pair of lens and spectacles. All this was completed within  two hours and  it cost me just Rs1400/-. Usually my lens alone costs Rs1500/-. Everything got over in a span of 3hours and I came home with a great satisfaction. Everything is updated in the system and it was more like I was in some hospital in USA..The hospital is very systematic and simple too. My opinion about this hospital is affordability and  good health care are  available at this place. More is explained in the TED talk by Mr.Thulasiraj Ravilla..I am lil poor in technicality .. So for profile details of Thulasiraj Ravilla click here..

Forgot to mention.. There is enough amount of dedication and care towards the patient and trust me there is no yelling at patient in this hospital..

Lately, I watched this movie called Rocket Singh.. Felt how well  and true the movie has taken an issue and projected it in a way everyone can relate!!

I wanted to pen down my views on the same topic.. "Buying a computer in India"..

Is it very easy and cheap or too costly and unaffordable??
I first wanted to ask this question to myself. Untill I was living in India, I had a laptop as well as a desktop. In 2003 we bought our first desktop. It was fun to have a computer in my living room. Proud too.. With a dial up connection, it was a double treat. The desktop was an assembled system. Since my cousin owned a computer dealers shop and was assembling computers for the big companies around, we could get a good configuration at a reasonable rate. But until 2years back, I really did not know what is the value of having a legal software.

The operating system was illegal so were the other softwares.. Nothing can be legally updated online. For every update  we had to call a service engineer from some X company and he does the monthly maintenance and charges  a minimal amount for it.. Yet we felt "OK" with it..I never realized the importance of having an original software. All that came to my mind was,when everything is available at a lesser cost, why should I go buy an original one for such a high price!!.. Most of the times I felt proud for my decision too.. But how wrong was I?

I was totally wrong.. When I came to US, for the first time I realized the importance of having an original software in my laptop.. Though  at a price, it was an one time payment for most of the original software.s From operating system to Microsoft Office to Adobe to all other softwares that are required, everything is legal. I can update my software reqularly without any hassle.

Of course there are some software like my Anti-virus which I have to purchase every year and keep updating..So what exactly, I wanna say..

Do u think its any endorsement for buying original softwares.. Certainly a big "NO".

I wanted to analyse what caused this major difference..

Most of the middle man from whom we buy our desktops have duplicated versions of OS. They come for a lesser price compared to the original. The lesser the price, the lesser the total amount, the more satisfied buyer. When one can get a good/better configuration assembled system for 25000-30000(correct me if I am wrong), why would people prefer a higher cost system!!

Also, when a software is available at the exact conversion rate wrt US dollars, obviously its going to be pricy. A simple Windows 7 Home edition costs approx $105 here, the same exact conversion of abt Rs 4925/-  in India. This is for sure Rs2000+ greater than what it is available thru the small companies.. The same exact conversion implies to all the other software..

For an average person in US, the cost of these software are affordable. But for an average person in India the exact conversion is not in the affordable range.. So naturally he/she prefers to choose the less pricy option with a regular maintenance which too costs less..

An grad student with a stipend of $1200 can afford a good configuration laptop with a good financing option. But the same is not possible for a Rs12000 stipend getting grad student in India.. This pushes them for buying a cheaper version.

My say here is

• India being a giant in IT, we should have more companies initiating similar softwares like these. Let us have our own softwares for anti virus and others. I am aware there  are few now.
  
• Biggies like Microsoft and Adobe when having their shops in India can have a reduction in price and not the exact conversion so that it can be affordable for an average person.

I would also wish if companies like these have collaborations or MOUs with Universities in India and give a student version of these softwares at more student affordable rates.. But make sure not more than one copy/student is implied so that piracy can be avoided. By doing this way we can have original software at affordable rates.. I would also suggest to friends who read this. If you have a trustable friend who can buy these softwares for you here in US and you can pay them later, do prefer that option.
You have various deals sites like www.deals2buy.com where good deals on various softwares are always available. Let your friend know who can buy for you.

For the betterment
Jai Hind...

In school I used to hate those classes which had huge amout of homeworks and  handwriting assignments. In college, writing the assignment and laboratory record notebooks , all those always made me feel only one thing, when will I ever get rid of these. Enough of pencil &  pen. let me have a easy way to do this.. Let me have a computer. But after finishing college it was just computer and more computer and no writing in a small notebook.. Not even an everyday diary writing...

After few years, I just took a small 90pages notebook and tried to write few of my memories in my mother tongue.. Damn it, I totally forgot how to write.. For a minute I was searching for characters in my mind.. Have I become that bad? Writing in Tamil using all those software available, literally made me out of touch to write it on a piece of paper.. The comfort has made the easy things more uncomfortable..

I always feel anything written by hand has been conveyed more powerfully  compared to typing it on a keyboard..But in this electronic world, if I still keep writing on a paper, my work is less  recognized. But comfort is always available in this modern world. For example a graphic tablet  pen  or a tablet notebook! Initially it was lil difficult to write. But now, I have learnt how to use it after few hours of practice. But still lit unhappy that the software does not support any Indian language as of now, So continuing to write in English..

Its been 3years since I came to Ames.. But never had an opportunity to keep கணுப்பிடி.. Finally, this year it happened happily... It was freezing outside at 7 am. Wanted to keep my கணுப்பிடி but the deck was completely covered with snow and ice.. Luckily the broken chair in my deck gave me some space..So put the kolam and waited for the sun to rise.. But it was way too cloudy..So no sunrise at all...But luckily there was no wind which helped  the vilakku not go off..

Just to write briefly about what I know  about a கணுப்பிடி actually is... From my childhood, the day after Pongal, early morning we keep this கணுப்பிடி in our terrace just before sunrises..  A hand full of chakra pongal and the rice made on  day of Pongal, for the next day.. The day after Pongal,just before sunrise, a surya kolam and chandra kolam is put on the floor and on it they place turmeric leaf. In a plate we make a pillayar is made of turmeric and decorate it with flowers. Later a deepam is lighted. Along with it sugar cane,betel leaves, half betel nuts, some akshathai and flowers are kept(Though nothing is available in this town only deepam was what left in my picture).. From the chakra pongal and white rice which was prepared on the Pongal day, we prepare 4 types ofsmall urundais(ball shaped) .
Chakra pongal urundai
Plain rice urundai
Rice mixed with turmeric urundais
Rice mixed with kumkum urundais.
Now each lady/girl of the family should pray for their brother's well being and good health and place one of each colored urundai one below the other on the turmeric leaf.. Once all the ladies in the family finish keeping the eldest lady of the family takes aarthi...

Lastly there is a small difference in keeping this கணுப்பிடி between the tamil Iyers and Iyengars.. I donno the exact reason why it is done like this.. But Iyers keep the கணுப்பிடி without taking bath and after keeping the கணுப்பிடி, they take an oil bath saying it is done so the kanuppidai leaves and only after taking bath the ladies can eat or drink .. Whereas Iyengars keep the கணுப்பிடி after taking bath..

This is what I know about கணுப்பிடி...

It all started as a fun search on You Tube.. The search word was "Karadi". Most of the abroad living tamil people know the meaning for this!! The random search left to this subscriber called "Karadi Online".

When I clicked that subscriber, found some interesting videos. All about Indian tales for children.  More search about Kardai tales lead me to their website. KARADI TALES.COM

What I like most about the website is the home page's karadi(Ballu from Jungle book ;)) .. A cute old  bear with a stick and baby monkey listening to the bear.. A very cute attractive picture for kids.. 

In future, these are sure gifts for my kids...

From Rhymes to tales, Karadi Tales is available in Tamil,English and Hindi. Famous people have lend their voices in their respective languages..  Apart from their website, karadi tales have a blog which constantly updates their activities.. We can follow them on Twitter  and Facebook..

Before finishing, I should say why Karadi Tales is a post in my blog.. Simple reasons..

• Its a good effort in the respective languages where children can learn all moral stories. I love moral stories and I believe in those morals very strongly.

• I have seen many other children related DVDs.. Those are more of an addiction. But I find Karadi Tales interesting .. I found my friends kids enjoying them rather than getting addicted.. Loved it..
  

• Apart from DVDs they have books.. This is the most favourite part. "Books". Most children are arrested in front of TV with something or other which has atleast a lil to more violence (ex: Jet X).. Books on the other hand helps parents to interact more with their kids. Instead of a stupid movie song/comedy , these story books help them more

But lastly, all good things are always welcome.. But I insist only one thing to parents.. First let us try to understand what the kid's interest is. Then let us help them developing it in the right way. Please do not impose our views into the kids..

Wishing all my friends a very Happy New Year..

Till few days back, I never thought about what are my strong likes and dislikes.. One day I read a chain of blogs by few bloggers who listed their likes and dislikes and chained their friend into that blog and they have to list their likes and dislikes.. It goes on...
It was very interesting to read..

After I finish reading it, I wanted to list my likes and dislikes.. But surprisingly i didn't know what are my likes and dislikes.. Till now I do not know which is my favourite color.. Every time someone asks I randomly say some color.Till this moment  I really donno which is my favourite color. May not  till my end. I really dont feel bad for it..

But after I started asking myself several times what are my likes and dislikes, I can now list a few..
My Likes
My favourite pass time :Photography & Knitting
My faourite Music: Illayaraja songs-preferably 80s
My favourite beverage : Filter Coffee
My favourite Singer : Shreya Ghosal, Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle,karthik
My favourite Carnatic Singer : Aruna Sairam, Sudha Raghunathan
My favourite politician : J Jayalalitha- a very strong administrator..(wrt Tamil Nadu only)
My favourite place : Ledges State Park, Iowa.. I love to sit on the single rock up on the trail and love to sit and watch the river all day...
My lifetime strong wish/like/ambition : To start a school in my mom's name and have free education for people who could not afford..

My Dislikes
Music Director/Singer : Himesh Reshamiyaa
Politician : Kalaingar Karunanithi

Finally, I could list my likes and dislikes..

I couldn't list my dislikes more than that.. I strongly feel I have very less dislikes because, that was my dad's way of teaching from my childhood!!! He always insisted and made sure that we should like everything and never say "I dont like this"!!!.. From food to dress to education, he always made sure we never say " I don't like it".. Donno if its right or wrong but it has never been wrong atleast for me...

மார்கழி மாசம் is always nostalgic. I know its first day of மார்கழி மாசம் and while getting up today, as usual I forgot and got up late... When I opened my Tweeter, came across Thirumati.ChirtaSri's tweets. While listening to those youtube videos she mentioned,later searched for Maragazhi maha utsavam concerts, all of a sudden it struck, I hit myself saying,"paavi as usual maranthutiya"...

The moment I remembered its மார்கழி 1, I started recollecting my primary school days.. We have a very famous Pillayar kovil in Kalpakkam... Its மார்கழி days bhajans and balavihar classes are so nostalgic..Balavihar students are asked to come early morning to say all the bhajans and slogams taught through the days in our classes... It always starts with Margazhi thingal.... I was lil irregular though.. Sometimes I miss the class but for sure go with my mom to temple. The classes starts at 6 am and I reach there at 6:30-6:45am.. My Balavihar Guru gives a look with a smile which has all the questions  asking me why I did not attend that day's class. Most of the times I hide behind my mom's thalappu... :).

I love the pongal in the pillayar kovil.. Donno who makes them, but it has one divine taste.. My mom was an excellent cook,but I never tasted such kinda pongal from her kitchen.. Maybe its coz its a prasatham and prasatham is always divine..

These  are  my nostalgic moments

I share my word in my small world I know for this lady who is sharing her  life with victims of human trafficking. . If I have an opportunity to employ them, help them, I give my word, I am here to support them.