A plea - Contribute to Vaidehi ashram, Hyderabad

I frequently read blogs of Siri for cooking tips and interesting recipes. But this post in her blog moved me. This is about a fund drive organized by her to contribute to destitute girls in Vaidehi ashram which is in Saidabad, Hyderabad. Ashram works for adolescent girl child empowerment by providing education and vocational training for self reliance.


Some details about Vaidehi Ashram:
Ashram established in 1993, is home of 120 destitute girl children. The Ashram has two caretakers who bestow the children with motherly care. The girls are imparted education in Saraswathi Sishu Mandir High School, which has an exceptional academic record. 
Address:
Vaidehi Ashram 
17-1-473/v/3&4,
krishna nagar ,
Saidabad,
Hyderabad-500059.
Ph.no:(040)24075544
see more details :www.sewabharathi.org


This is how the Fund drive works..
1. Click on 'Chip In' button and contribute fund using paypal/ credit card. You can donate any amount. Each $10 donation will give you one raffle ticket towards a raffle prize of your choice. 1 raffle ticket = Rs.500
2. Check the list of 40+Raffle prizes to decide on which raffle prize you like.
3. Once the donation process is completed, please forward your payment confirmation message to info(dot)siri(at)gmail.com, clearly specifying which raffle prize(s) you are interested in.


Isn't the process easy?? Please contribute if you want to help the needy.

The event will close on 25th February and winners will be announced on 27th February via a random drawing by the Ashram kids. :-) 

Until next time..

A calendar too crowded - [Book review]

Book Name: A calendar Too crowded
Author : Sagarika chakraborthy
Publisher : Niyogi Books
Price : Rs.295
 I got introduced to this book through book review program by blogadda.com. If not this case, i would not have tried reading this book, considering it as a serious read from the book synopsis on the cover. Basically, iam not interested in books with serious note and love light reads like Chetan Bhagath's. But, from the day i completed reading introduction and first story, i felt like its worth reading. 


What this is about?                
         A calendar too crowded is a collection of heart touching and realistic short stories and poems on empowerment of women. The background theme of the book is to remind us international days dedicated to women and compare with the realistic world about how these days are forgotten immediately after celebration. It tells us that there is more to do for the welfare of women than celebrating some days dedicated on their name. Characters in this book are nameless, to signify that we can relate woman in each story to someone who is around us or even to us. 
                
Few words about the author and her writing style
         Sagarika, a law graduate have published and presented papers at international conferences on diverse subjects like corporate governance principles, monetary economics, religion etc., She is excellent in story telling with humorous, satirical and realistic touch. Even though it's a fiction work, each story moves you and makes you think about the concerned issue at least for some time. Personally, i felt writing style is good and interesting. 


Some of the best stories that i liked:
The gift called 'Life' - Excellent narration. Every woman can relate to each and everything mentioned in this story. Somewhere in life she might have faced any of those situations mentioned
Finding an Ideal mother to my unborn child - A good lesson for all those mothers who pamper their son from childhood  without letting him know their own problems, sacrifice their time, ideals and life for them and expect the same from their daughter in law. It emphasizes on imbibing good values in children and making them ready to understand and solve problems in life instead of taking all burden away from them.
Witch without a broomstick - This is about a story of a young window and the way Indian society treats her. 
Behind those whispers - It's such a nicely written poem which iam sure every Indian woman can relate to.
Selling a Body to gain a mind - Story is about a prostitute who doesn't want her child to be like her. Amazing spirit and positive attitude of the characters leave us spell bound. I appreciate the way characters are molded and the internal message they give to us. 
Naked - its a very realistic story about the way society reacts to a situation.
Knowledge beyond the printed letters - It's about an ideal house wife cum social welfare activist. This doesn't seem to be practical but we might see those kind of women rarely in our day to day life.
Living by double edged sword - this is about dowry law (IPC section 498A) and to show how it is being misused most of the times.


Even though it is very tough for me to chose best out of many good short stories, i tried to share some above. I liked the way author has explained or touched upon an issue in a very simple way and with subtle manner. I surely recommend this book to everyone, especially women. 
You can buy this book from here:

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Until next time..

Too busy to care for the society??

              There are many things in our life, which move us and seek our help, but we still ignore them due to our busy routine schedules. Sometimes, its not because we are busy, its because we don't give much preference to it or just that we don't care. 


              Today, found about a contest 'Too busy to care' by Jaagore in collaboration with blogadda.com. You too can participate in the contest, follow the below link:
http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/03/02/too-busy-to-care-tbtc-syndrome-tata-jaago-re
Iam too busy to care, but want to do something. Jaago Re and BlogAdda.com are helping me do my bit for the society.
Sharing my experiences -


               First thing that comes to my mind is removal of dead animals on roads. Many a times i have seen dead animals on Old bombay road (Knowledge park right from Gachibowli road) on the way to office. Everyone will be busy to go to office, so, no one does anything to move dead animal off the road. Many times, i wanted to call any animal welfare organization to remove them off the road, but i couldn't as i don't have number handy and i don't have time to Google for it. It seems bad and inhuman when vehicles go fast over dead animals and the rotten smell pollutes the air. 


Here are contact numbers for Hyderabad (got from google):
Blue cross for animal welfare: (0)40-244355 / 238071

GHMC (Great hyderabad  municipal corporation) : 9440448158

If we save these numbers and keep them handy, it will be useful.

           Second thing that comes to my mind is wastage of food in marriages. We, Indians celebrate functions/ marriages with at least 10 varieties in lunch/ dinner to show our affluence and prestige in society. When our estimates go wrong, many items are left out and they are thrown to dust bin. I always think,  it will be nice, if we can distribute these left overs to some one who are hungry. There are many non profit organizations set up these days to help hotels/ marriage parties to distribute these left overs to slums and orphanages. They will check that food is not spoiled before picking up.

Here are the contact details of an organization called RHEED - Rural health employment education development which does this in Hyderabad

I believe in this - whatever good we do as an individual will help the society, however small it is. 

Until next time..

Prajwala Foundation

This time, it is a serious issue that moved me after watching the below video in you tube. This lecture given by sunitha Krishnan is doing rounds in face book and emails from long time. This lecture makes us realize how lucky we are, to be born and brought up in a very good environment with all amenities and with various options in life to chose from. Please watch the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeOumyTMCI8 


          Dr. Sunitha Krishnan is a mental health professional, she has done extensive research and is essentially a field practitioner. She has been instrumental in rescuing hundreds of children from severely abusive conditions and restoring childhood to them. She co-founded 'Prajwala Foundation' with Bro Jose Vetticatil. 


Activity: Prajwala is an non-governmental organization in Hyderabad, India, opposed to forced prostitution and sex trafficking.Today, Prajwala runs over 17 transition centres in different areas of Andhra Pradesh for the sex workers’ children. Over 5,000 children have benefited from the second generation prevention programme. The organisation, so far, has rescued more than 2,500 victims with the help of the information provided by its partners and through police intervention. The organisation has 80 members in India and 25 members abroad.
Support: Sex-slavery, prostitution, rehabilitation, girl-child
Note: Financial support, volunteers
This post is a part of BlogAdda's Bloggers Social Responsibility (BSR) initiative. I am exercising my BSR. You can too with three simple steps. Visit http://www.blogadda.com/bsr/ and support the NGO's.


Here is their official website http://www.prajwalaindia.com/ 
We can contribute financially or volunteer ourselves for help. Please support the good cause, if you are interested.

Address:
Prajwala 20-4-34, III Floor, Behind Charminar Bus Stand Charminar,    Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh, INDIA Zip/Pin: -500 002 Ph: +91 40 24510290 Fax: +91 40 24410813 

Until next time..

Weekend gateways from Hyderabad

It's holiday season!! at least, it is for people like me who are working for US clients. Many of our clients will be on vacation from December last week to Jan first week and so we get time to plan long vacations. Iam thinking about how different we can spend this weekend, welcoming new year. 


This time, Dec 31st and Jan 1st are on weekend days, so there will be crowd in every party in city and in malls. What can be a peaceful, but a rejuvenating place away from city buzz? Browsed a lot on net about weekend gateways from Hyderabad. Following are a few good options within 300km range:
1. Srisailam
2. Nagarjuna sagar
3. Ananthagiri - Vikarabad
4. Wargal saraswathi temple
5. Basara
6. Yadagiri gutta 
7. Bidar 
8. Warangal
9. Kurnool
10. Mantralayam


Srisailam is located in Nallamalai hills in Kurnool district on the banks of river Krishna. Besides the Bhramaramba Mallikarjunaswamy Temple, clusters of minor shrines and Wildlife Sanctuary, there is the 512 m long Srisailam Dam on the River Krishna, which offers views of the Ghats, cliffs and forests. 


Nagarjuna sagar is around 150 kms from hyderabad. Nagarjuna sagar dam, Ethipothala waterfalls, Museum with Budhist excavations on Nagarjuna konda are some of the tourist attractions here.


Ananthagiri hills near Vikarabad is nice peaceful place away from city buzz. Lord Anantha padmanabha temple, Vikarabad forest, trekking in Ananthagiri hills are main tourist attractions.


Wargal saraswathi temple is located on a hill top in medak district on karimnagar highway. There is an idol about 10 feet high in front of the temple, which is a magnificent piece of art. The temple architecture is very good. 


Basara gnana saraswathi temple is located on banks of river Godavari about 205 kms. from hyderabad. This is famous place to do 'Akshara abhyasam' for children before commencing formal school education. Lord Shiva temple near Godavari bank is also a beautiful place.


Just 60kms from Hyderabad is holy shrine of Lakshmi narasimha swamy temple in yadagirigutta. Surendrapuri and Bhongiri fort are also good places to visit.


Bidar is a historic place in north-eastern part of Karnataka. It is a popular tourist destination for monuments and temples built in Bahmani era. Bidar fort and tombs of Bahmanis are popular tourist attractions. Black bug jungle resort is an excellent lakeside resort in the forest.


Warngal has many excellent places to visit. Ramappa temple, Ramappa lake, Thousand pillars temple, pakala lake, Bhadrakali temple , Warangal fort and Eturu nagaram sancturay are only a few to name.


Kurnool is a beautiful city on the banks of Thungabhadra river. Kondareddy buruju (kurnool fort), Belum caves, Ahobilam, sangameswaram, Alampur and Mahanandi are some of the important places to visit around Kurnool.


Raghavendraswamy temple ,Lakshmi venkateswara temple in Mutt complex and Panchamukha temple in Raichur are some of the tourist places in Mantralayam. Navabrindavan, an island in between two branches of River Tungabhadra, between the districts of Koppal and Bellary, is at a distance of 175 km from Mantralayam.


So, What's your plan for new year??

Until next time..

Book reading as a hobby

            My hobby of reading books started while I was waiting for my entrance test results to join engineering program. There was one novel 'The Hound of Baskervilles' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which impressed me a lot in my school days. So, I collected all short stories and novels by him and started reading them. The stories about Sherlock Holmes' cases were so good that I completed the entire collection in 2 months (Believe me!! there are 1200 short stories and 4 novels of Sherlock holmes). Then, I started reading the works of Agatha Christie, Sidney Sheldon, Jeffrey Archer, Paulo Coelho, etc. I have also read works of Indian authors such as Jhumpa Lahari, Chetan Bhagat, and Shoba dey. 

           In the early days, I used to keep a note of words that I couldn't understand, search them in dictionary and try to frame a sentence with those new words. In this way, I learnt many new words and improved my vocabulary. I had to give a break to my hobby after I joined college  as I couldn't spare much time for reading. I could take up my hobby again after I moved to a new job in Chennai. I took up membership in a library and read different kind of books.

I feel, everyone can improve their communication skills by just starting with a hobby like reading books and then try to develop other areas like speaking, grammar, and writing.

Revolution 2020 - [Book review]

This post may contain affiliate links, clicking on those links may earn some commission to us without any additional cost to you.          

    I recently read a book 'Revolution 2020' by Chetan Bhagat.I started loving Chetan Bhagat's books from the day i read his book 'One night at call centre'.Then, read  all his books - 'Five point someone', 'The 3 mistakes of my life' and '2 states'.Especially, i was impressed with his writing style in simple English.'One night at call centre' has a good message to follow one's own dreams and work hard for it.'Five point someone' and 'The 3 mistakes of my life' are easy going and interesting. My favorite has been '2 states' which shows the attempts of a couple from 2 states (Punjab and Tamil nadu) to convince their parents for their marriage.

             I would say 'Revolution 2020' is more matured concept-wise when compared to other books. 'corrupted education system' and Love triangle form main backdrop of story. Raghav, Gopal and Arti are friends struggling for success and love in Varanasi. Gopal  is relatively poor among friends and couldn't get a good rank enough in entrance test to enter IITs to do engineering. He feels money can give happiness in his life. He loves Arti very much. Raghav is a kind of guy who wants to fight against corruption, any wrong doing in the society and want to bring in revolution in the youth. Arti loves Raghav and Gopal is in deep love with Arti, though she considers him as only her best friend. 


             Unlike other stories of Chetan's , we feel this has more melodrama and emotions. One weak point i feel is author couldn't explain Revolution 2020 clearly. So, i didn't feel the title is apt. Another weak point is, the story seems to be predictable in the last few chapters. One plus point is the way author explained  education system, how students pressurise themselves to get an engineering seat in IITs, how private engineering colleges gain advantage due to this, how easy it is to start and maintain an engineering college in illegal ways with the support of power and money. Another thing i like is, Chetan wont project or judge his characters as heroes or villains. He tries to depict a common man, and it is for us to decide what is right and what is wrong. 


Overall, this is good read for time pass. I feel, '2 states' is the best novel of Chetan Bhagat till date.



 
Until next time..

Wise and otherwise - [Book review]

                   I love reading books a lot. Real life stories or experiences of people interest me. Recently i borrowed a book from library named 'Wise and Otherwise' written by 'Sudha Murthy'. Yeah.. Sudha Murthy is wife of Infosys founder Mr. Narayan Murthy. Heard a lot about her social work earlier and once even read a forwarded mail about her speech. It was inspiring. She is known for her Philanthropic work through Infosys foundation. She was the first woman engineer to be selected in Tata motors. She initiated a move to provide library and computer facilities to all government schools in Karnataka.

                 The book 'Wise and Otherwise' contains many short stories which are of maximum 6 pages each. Actually, they are not stories, but real life experiences of Sudha Murthy when she visited different places and met different people in her life. Mostly, all stories are around emphasizing the importance of moral values and about people's behavior in different circumstances. For novel readers, it may not sound like a very interesting book, but for people who like reading non-fiction, close to reality stories, this will be the best option. I feel, title is also apt and funny. 

So, if you get time, don't miss reading it! 

You can buy this book from here:

Until next time..

'The Namesake' - Life of Indian immigrants in US - [Book review]

 This post may contain affiliate links, clicking on those links may earn some commission to us without any additional cost to you.

'The Namesake' is an excellent novel written by 'Jhumpa Lahiri', who is a well known author and Pulitzer award winner. Her style of writing is different and she excels in explaining characters and their emotions in different layers and different perspectives. The first book written by her 'Interpreter of Maladies' is also a nice read. It is a collection of short stories.

Book Details:

Title: The Namesake

Author: Jhumpa Lahiri

Genre: Literary Fiction

Publisher: Mariner Books Classics

Print length: 336 pages

Purchase Link: 

Amazon

My Review:

       The story of Namesake is basically about a couple from Calcutta who settle in U.S, their experiences, their attempts to retain the roots of Indian culture and also to adapt US culture for the sake of their children. It also explains the conflicts that arise between Indian parents and their children grown up in U.S.

       Ashok and Ashima are basically from a joint family background and so it is difficult for them to adapt to US culture. In India, they were always surrounded by people; they used to celebrate festivals together with all family members. They used to live with elder family members, respect them, and take their advice in everything they do. Their marriage also happened only after the consent of their families. It was not their choice to marry one another. So, we could understand that family and Bengali culture have become integral parts of their lives. So, they try to create a small Bengali world in US. They celebrate festivals and poojas together with Bengali families.

       Ashima misses her family much when she is pregnant. As a young woman who didn’t move outside Calcutta in her life until her marriage, it is very difficult for her to cope up with things like taking care of a baby by herself. At one point, after her delivery, she tells Ashoke “I don’t want to raise Gogol alone in this country. It’s not right”. Somehow, she manages to bring up their children in US. Still, she tries to make their children know Indian culture and participate in Pujas etc., She carefully collects his father’s paintings sent through post and make Gogol play with them. She wants her children to know about their family in India. She doesn’t like when Sonia wants to cut her hair till jaws.

         As story moves forward Ashoke and Ashima change themselves to a large extent for their children. They celebrate Christmas only to make their children happy even though they are not Christians. They celebrate Thanks giving day too. Whenever they throw Gogol’s birthday parties, they invite his American school friends and serve them western food. When Gogol brings Maxine and her family to home, Ashima welcomes them and makes them feel comfortable even though she doesn’t like Gogol’s relationship with Maxine.

         Gogol and Sonia, as they were brought up in US, don’t feel a homely bond to India as their parents do. Gogol wants to be an American. Both of them don’t like to be in Bengali parties, get together with Bengali families and they don’t look forward to long trips to India. But, after his father’s death, Gogol understands the guilt that their parents carried inside, at being able to do nothing when their parents had died in India. He even appreciates his father’s courage to come to US and settle.

        Ashoke and Ashima gave more freedom to their children, because of which Gogol and Sonia don’t face much conflict. They were allowed to pursue the career in whatever way they wanted. Usually this may not be the case for many couples who move from India and settle in US. They won’t give much freedom to their children and force them to follow Indian culture, which brings constant conflicts between children and parents.

          I feel, it requires more confidence and courage to settle somewhere else which is not the country where we are born/ grew up. Adapting the culture of other country is most important of everything. We should have an open mind to understand foreign culture and accept things. Naturally, our behavior will get influenced by the religion and the society we were born/ grown up. So, it is not easy to retain roots and still accept a new culture. 

Another point is to get away with the insecure feeling that we are immigrant. Sometimes, local residents of country may look down to you, or tease or doesn’t help much. Couples who leave for other countries for professional reasons are fine until they get children. When it comes to children, they want to make them understand and respect their own culture, so few people will think of leaving their children with their grandparents in home town for basic studies to expose them to their country environment. They cannot accept their children to completely become a foreigner adapted to the new culture, forgetting their religion and culture.

Until next time..

Story of my camera

               

           I love traveling a lot and capturing excellent sceneries and emotions in a camera. This was my passion from childhood. After i got a job as software professional in the starting of my career, i have decided to save money and buy a very good digital camera with all nice features. Time has come to buy my dream camera :). Have done a lot of research in internet, read many reviews and at last selected one from Sony. It is Sony cybershot W55 in unique pink color, 7.1 Mega pixel with 56 MB internal memory, 6.2 cms LCD screen and 2 GB memory card. I made my friend to buy the camera in US and get it for me. I was very happy, as it was the first big thing that i bought with my salary.

             Started taking different photos. I have been to some good places in Tamilnadu and Andhra and could capture many nice pictures. My Picassa web album has occupied 988MB (96.5%) out of total available space which is 1024 MB :)

          I went to a resort one day with my family. By mistake, my camera fell into water :( Mistake was mine only. i wanted to take photos in water too, but i don't know swimming , so couldn't balance and dropped it. I searched for Sony service centers in internet. I was still confident that i can repair it and use it again. I was ready to spend any amount to get it repaired. Hurray!! i got it repaired. :) Another phase of photo sessions started with enthusiasm. 

        One day, i found a problem. My camera LCD light was going dim sometimes. At last, LCD light is completely gone. Cannot see any image or setting :( Again sent for repair. Now, there was a bad news.  LCD screen needs to be replaced and water went inside circuit too. They told it will simply cost around 7k to get it repaired. Oh.. we can get a new camera for that cost. What to do? I had to leave my camera without repair. It is still in my cupboard lying there without use. Story of my wonderful camera ends here sadly :(

       No problem.. My Passion for photography doesn't end here. Now, will try my research in internet for another good camera :)

Until next time..

Warangal trip II

         Fortunately, i got chance to visit Warangal again to meet my friend's family. So writing a second post in my blog about warangal. we visited such nice places that i cannot resist sharing this information. This time, i explored well about warangal before going, collected information on tourist places from google. This time, we are going by our car, so we have freedom to visit places at our own pace :)

        After collecting information in net, i wondered that Warangal is better place than hyderabad for tourists to enjoy. We have so many places like Ramappa temple, Ramappa lake, thousand pillars temple, Bhadra kaali temple, Warangal fort, Pakhala lake (50 kms from warangal), Laknavaram lake(70 kms from warangal), Eturu nagaram wild life sanctury etc.,

         Ramappa temple and lake near 'palampet' village is very good even though the road is worst. Thousand pillar temple is not that good now as government removed those pillars in the name of renovating the temple. Anyway, the temple is still good. Bhadrakali temple and warangal fort are worth watching. Pakhala lake is around 50kms from warangal, road is good. The place is so peaceful and good, but i think its still not a place much explored by tourists. No facilities are available (Food, lodge etc.,). No boating facility, which disappointed me :( Lake is near the Jungle which is dense. It will be very good if AP tourism can improve the place and provide facilities.

Warangal visit is a very good experience. Anyone, who wants to have short weekend trip can visit warangal. Two days will be enough to cover places in and around warangal.

Until next time..

A Tour to Tanjore

          Tamilnadu has its major share of most famous beautiful temples in India with great architecture. Recently iam fortunate to travel to Tanjore to attend my friend's marriage. I will never miss an opportunity to roam, as i love travelling, exploring and visiting different places.

         Only difficulty is travel time! From Hyderabad to Tanjore through Chennai, it takes 20 hours by train.. Gosh!! Anyway, we stopped in Chennai on the way, so it's not a continuous travel.

         We reached Tanjore or Tanjavur by 6 AM. The railway station construction also is peculiar, like a temple dome. After getting ready, we had sumptuous tamilnadu style breakfast (Idli, vada, pongal, sweet, sambar, chutneys) and started to Big temple (Brihadeswara temple) by cab.

        The important thing that you notice in temple is its surrounding wall which resembles a wall for fort/ palace. Architecture and the clarity of carvings are so good that it doesn't look like its built in 10th century. The temple dome rests on a single granite rock. The gigantic lingam and nandi are major attractions. It was built by Raja raja chola. Later, we went to The palace, Darbar mahal, Sarja madi, Bell tower, Grand Canon and handicrafts exhibition. These places are not maintained well by government even though they are charging pretty high price for entrance tickets. Tanjavur is famous for good paintings and we can see art everywhere in the Palace which is turned to museum now. Weather is not that comfortable as temperature is as high as that in Chennai.

           There are few more places around Tanjavur of tourist attraction like Thiruvarur (Place where Thyagaraja swamy was born), Thiruvayur on the banks of Kaveri river (Where Thyagaraja aradhana festivals will take place every year) and Trichy or Tiruchirappally (which is also a famous tourist destination). If you are interested in Oldest temples, architectures, paintings etc, this might be one of the best places to visit.

Until next time..

Emotions - depend on gender?

Emotions.. Emotions .. :) :(

What are these emotions?.. Sometimes, i feel it is very difficult to handle them.

              For me, emotion is expression of some feeling, may be sad, love, happiness etc., But, what is the difference between a man's emotion and a woman's?

           Yes! there is a difference. Men tend to keep their emotions mostly in their heart, they wont let them out until last minute. They wont cry if they are hurt, instead they just get drunk and let the grudge out :)

Women tend to have more patience in handling things, but they become sensitive when it comes to relations. They usually cry and let the sorrow go out. They wont keep sorrow in their heart.

The above behaviors are general, but not applicable to all.

You know?? this is also one of the reasons why men have greater risk of heart attack than women!!!

           So friends.. Just show the emotions without keeping in heart. Angriness is also an emotion, but don't show it on your loved ones often :)

Until next time..

A trip to Warangal

Warangal which is also known as 'Orugallu' or 'Ekashila Nagaram' is a city in Warnagal district in Andhra pradesh. It was the capital of Kakatiya kindom. It is famous for sculpture in Thousand pillar temple and Ramappa temple.

Fortunately, i got a chance to visit warangal recently which was a pleasant experience. We could see only Ramappa temple due to time constraint :( . Anyway i heard that government is reconstructing thousand pillar temple and construction was not complete yet.

Ramappa temple situated at Palampet village is very old Ramalingeshwara temple dating back to 1213. It displays the culture of Kakathiya kingdom with finest architecture. The enormous Nandi before the temple is excellent still. The sculpted figures on pillars and ceiling are finely chiselled. There is a Lake near the temple. We enjoyed boating there and the scenery was excellent.

Until next time..

Chennai sweet memories

This is after a long time i got time to write something. Atlast due to personal reasons i relocated to Hyderabad leaving Chennai. When i joined job in Chennai as a fresher, i didnt like the city that much, especially its weather. But now, after staying around 2.5 years in Chennai, i love the city :-) Most of the People i met here are friendly and very traditional. Eventhough iam not interested much in roaming around, i could see some good places in and around Chennai - Pondy, Besanth nagar, Dakshina chitra, VGP, Ascendas, Many good restaurants on ECR road, many famous temples including Kapaleeswar temple in Mylapore, Marundeeswaran in Thiruvanmiyur and Saibaba temple in Injambakkam. I got many good friends both in office and hostel. THose days will remian memorable and they will be like golden pages in my diary. Hope to visit Chennai again :-)
Until next time..

Chrisma - Chris child game Again!!!

In our company, they conducted Christma - Chrischild game for this year christmas also. But, there is speciality this year. Game is not with our colleagues but with sweet and innocent school children.

PC:www.pixabay.com

There is a corporate social activity club in our company called 'Pole Star'. This is to guide and support poor children for good education. The motto is ‘there is more to life’ …. !!!

Our Pole star team collected photos of children from selected schools in village area around Chennai like Thalambur and Egattur and stuck them on a big chart so that each employee can select a chris child. As usual, rule of the game is to gift chrischild as generously as possible. Some employees have selected more than one child. We bought many gifts to our child and waited for the D-day to meet them in our campus. 

Children from different schools came happily, we organised some cultural activities and snacks for them. My Chris child is studying fifth standard and she is a class toper. It was difficult to interact with her as I don't have much fluency in Tamil. But, it was a nice experience, especially to see the surprise and happiness on her face while opening the gifts.

I pray to God to give me many such opportunities in future.



Until next time..

'The Seventh Secret' by Irving Wallace - [Book review]

'The Seventh Secret" is a very thrilling book. I have read many books by Irving Wallace earlier like 'The Second Woman', 'The Fan club', but this is the best of his works. The story is about a historic research person and his daughter who are writing a book on Hitler's life. Mostly story revolves around investigation about the last days of Hitler. People from different walks of life like a museum curator, an architect, a journalist , security guard etc., help the lead character 'Emily Archsoft' to discover about a secret about the death of Hitler.
A nice book for all who are interested in reading a thrilling mystery novel.
You can get this book from here: very cheap in flipkart.com



Until next time..

Coorg Trip

I went to Coorg trip with my office team in August, 2007. Coorg which is also known as Kodagu and Scotland of India, is in western ghats of Karnataka. It is a small village with excellent scenic beauty of mountains, lush green valleys and coffee plantations.

In and around Coorg there are many cottages which will provide pleasant home stay for tourists with traditional food. We stayed in a cottage called 'Dyan's Den' which is nearly 5 kms from 'Abbey Falls'. 'Abbey Falls' is an excellent place to visit, there is a hanging bridge where we can stand very nearer to falls and experience splashes of water on face. Other famous places around Coorg are Tala Cauvery and Kushalnagar. Tala Cauvery is the birthpalce of Cauvery river which is near Bhagamandala. The journey to Tala Cauvery will be exciting through misty Brhmagiri hills. Kushalnagar has many tourist spots like Nisargadhama, Buddhist monastery (Golden temple), Elephant camp etc.,

Its a very nice place for tourists to visit and relax away from polluted city atmosphere.

Until next time..

A nice tour

It has been a long time i blogged something. Life is becoming mechanical with all daily worries. I left my good habit of writing dairy also.

But, tour to 'Thirunelveli' has really rejuvenated me and encouraged me to post another one after long time :-)

I went to attend my colleague's marriage near 'Tirunelveli' (in Tamilnadu, India)with office team. We booked all tickets before one month for Nellai express and Chennai Express. Happily started our journey on June 1st night in Egmore. We reached Tirunelveli junction by next day morning 8.30 and checked into nice lodge near to the station.

We got ready, took breakfast and started our journey to Kariar Dam in a cab via Amba samudram. Kariar is also a tiger reserve forest. Thamarabharani river is passing through it. After crossing the forest, we enjoyed boating to cross the river and reached the water falls. The scenery was wonderful with fresh water running down through rocks. We did a bit of trekking to reach there. Got tired very much by trekking. But as soon as we were under water, we forgot all pains and felt its worth climbing. Water was very fresh and tasting good and it was falling with much force. We played well in water, took some photos and came back to the forest side by boat. We heard there are many good places around like Agasthian falls, kutralam falls and Amba samudram but need to end up our trip as it was evening already.


We participated in marriage on the next day. We went to 'Nalliappar' temple which has a good historic background. The temple was constructed 1300 years ago. Architecture was simply superb and it was extended to nearly 20 yards. At last we have bought the famous 'Tirunelveli Halwa' which was very good. We started our return journey in the afternoon to Chennai with full of new energy.

Friends.. I feel these kind of trips once or twice in a year add spice to our life. Nature is most beautiful thing which makes us stress free and relaxed. It will give fresh energy. Without this, life will be mechanical, boring and routine.

Until next time..

Dhoom machale...

It has been a long time that i blogged something.. Actually i was thinking of the topic which i can share..
Festival season has come.. Christmas, New Year and Pongal are near by.. Hope all of you are busy with shopping !!! Dhoom machale Dhoom machale Dhoooooooooom :-)
Friends... Do you know the game of Christma and Chrischild?
now we are playing the same game in office. It is interesting and enjoyable game. It emphasizes the enjoyment of Give and Take policy.
The game starts with each person selecting a chit which will have the name of a colleague , who will be chris child hereafter for him/her. The person who selects chit is Christ-mom. Christmas is a season of gifts no.. So Christ-ma will give gifts to the child without revealing his/her identity. But the game is not only giving and taking gifts, but also the Christ- child obeying the commands of Christma, which may be like reading weather report in work stations, coming in traditional dress and inviting employees, imitating some actor, singing or dancing.. and so on.. many funny things... This will make the atmosphere friendly and lively..
Atlast, game will end with a party where identity of christ-ma will be revealed to Chris child on 'Christmas' day.

I wish you all have enjoyment and happiness in this festive season and also throughout your life.
Have a nice time :-)
Until next time..