Last b'day of the year

Dearest li'l Anand,
Have a happy b'day, जियो हजार साल! Keep laughing and bring आनंद to everyone around you!

Happy B'day Bobby

Happy birthday and wish you many more happy returns of the day.... sip sip sip until you dip!

Vacation

School holidays can be burdensome for parents unless they have a lot of patience to engage the kids do meaningful activities. It can be tough to juggle your time and expertise in the entertaining department if you have more than child. Chinnu and Vamsi are missing their grand parents (they would have loved to see them back) during these Christmas holidays, instead spending time with cousins in Australia. Its funny to think this way - the most we would travel in my childhood during summer vacation is to "3 kms away maternal grand-mom's house in the same town". Looking forward to relive some of those moments when I travel to Sydney to be with Bobby, Nani & Co.

Tenth milestone wishes

Dearest Bobby and Kishore -

Many many happy returns of your tenth anniversary, wish you set many such milestones in your marital life.

(Sorry for the belated wishes though, it falls on 14th December !)

Let the fresh air sneak in

Ever wondered why shops in Singapore stock up winter wear? Why a tropical climate require people to wear jackets, fleece and other fancy eskimo dresses? It's the aircon stupid! The air conditioners in offices and shopping malls in Singapore are set at a much cooler 20 to 22 degrees celsius. In countries with colder climates people put their coats on to go out, but here, people put them on to get into offices. Singapore's climate is not that bad compared to much hotter climates elsewhere in Asia. The climate is humid, but not hot. Riches bring in these kind of extravagant habits and its hard to stamp them out. Refrained using the aircon for a month and it brought down the energy bill by a cool 60%.

Throw open the windows and let the fresh air sneak in!

Happy Anniversary

Dearest Padma and Uma Mahesh,
Many many happy returns of your anniversary, have a fantastic new year in your marital life!

Friends like family

Over the course of many years very lucky to have found many good friends who are like extended family. Happy B'day to one such good friend - Ramki (mama to chinnu and vamsi), may you lead a fantastic life!

Welcome little fella

It gives an immense joy to welcome the little one to this world (girl child born to Bulli today). Best wishes and hearty congratulations from all of us. May you be blessed with health, wealth and happiness! See you soon!

Right is always not right

Why are we afraid of making mistakes? Are we becoming too conformist afraid of taking risks, treading often traveled path? Our parents taught us that it is alright to make mistakes "mistakes are stepping stones to success", but what kind of message are we passing to our kids?

We put tremendous pressure on them to succeed, be smart, which leaves very little incentive for them to deviate from routine, learn new things and innovate. As employees we are rewarded only for good performance and the same is true for the society. So we are becoming increasingly reluctant to admit our mistakes and in the process stop acquiring knowledge or doing something new or different. We try to look only for the data that confirms our beliefs, try blaming others for our mistakes.

As IBM’s Thomas J. Watson, Sr., noted, “If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.”

Unconditional Love

Children must be loved unconditionally, no matter whatever expectations we have from them. They must be loved in the moment without which we cannot enjoy our lives. Kids have feelings too, again woke up to this reality when Chinnu wrote it on a paper and gave her mom that she needs to be told rather than being cursed.

Children teaches us too, only if we are willing to listen. They challenge and force us to look at ourselves, our imperfections. Salute the resilience of parents of challenged kids, the unconditional love they bestow on their wards.

Happy B'day Bulli

Sorry Bulli attaiah, don't have your photo! Since you like me the most, I asked daddy to post my photo. Wish you have a very happy b'day and may you be blessed with a wonderful little baby. God Bless You!

Global Warming

Let us all do our bit to stop global warming!

Self Denial

Everyone is in denial about something or the other, deceiving oneself to satisfy some one's ego. We deny being obese, while our tummies say otherwise. We throw a deaf ear to our partners and kids tantrums, trying not to estrange them. We wake up and go to the same job which we condemn every other day. We deny being in debt, while our credit card bills show otherwise. We preach our kids moral values, at the same time unapologetic about not practicing ourselves. It takes an external crisis to break the denial by which time the damage would already have been done.

Happiness

Despite all the wealth we accumulate - air conditioners, plasma TVs - true happiness has lagged our prosperity. Though happiness is related to economic achievement, the effect does not last. We will become envious of a new, richer set of people than before. We will keep on adding to the list of things we want to possess. But can we switch off from the materialistic world, not easy!

So the best thing would be do things that produce lasting changes in satisfaction levels - lend a helping hand and make difference in at least one person's life ?! My grandfather was a lot happier person and never showed an iota of ego or jealousy or greed and helped a lot of people in need.

हिन्दी में ब्लाग

यह बहुत ख़ुशी की बात है, that one can blog in their own language. Its amazing and heart warming to be able to write in one's own mother tongue. I wait for the day when Google offers the feature in Telugu. No doubt, it should be pretty soon. धन्यवाद Google !

Diwali Photos

Happy Deepavali

WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY DEEPAVALI.

Deepavali

Deepavali eve has already set in here (in Singapore) with Little India lit up, decorated and crowded with curious onlookers. Bought some sparklers (crackers are not allowed - good for the eardrums) and earthen lamps to be lit for this Deepavali. Thinking of childhood, it used to be the most anticipated festival for the whole year, celebrations used to begin at least a month before - the lobbying for fire crackers, boasting with other children in the mohalla, discussions about the latest in town and finally on the day of Deepavali - helping Amma to light up the entire compound wall with decorated earthen lamps...

Hope the festival, lights up the lives of every one and bring joy and fun to every home.

One year in Singapore

It has been an year since we relocated to Singapore. In retrospect, the year does not seem very eventful but we have a lot to be thankful for. First of all it is a gamble to relocate out of New York to a small place like Singapore. It did not make any big difference to our life style as we have never chased the "American Dream". The logic that went into the relocation process - Singapore is one of the good cities to live in, closer to India located amidst the exotic locales of Southeast Asia and it could bring us one step closer to the ultimate relocation to India - are all still valid.

Kalyani was circumspect initially, but she seems to have adjusted well. Both the kids have started attending the school which is a major achievement. I have joined Deutsche leaving CS, trying to resurrect a career that has stagnated for a while. On a sad note lost grandpa who passed away at the ripe age of 93 years.

Well, to talk about Singapore it is definitely a good city, very clean, well laid out. But the cost of living has sky-rocketed since we arrived here with the rentals almost doubling in one year. With more and more expats arriving here the demographic is slowly changing from yellow to more coloured.

Grind

Off late, not getting time to blog. Every day is a grind, really trying to trudge through the stuff. Time management is a very important aspect of life. With 12 hour work days becoming a norm, I should try to manage my time effectively. Perception matters a lot in this world, I cannot believe myself when my boss told me twice in a week that I am spending less hours at work. This is the situation in an MNC and it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain work-life balance!

Vijaya Dasami

Happy Vijaya Dasami to near and dear !

60 years

Great moment dad! Best wishes on the eve of your 60th birthday. It is supposed to be an occasion of great importance, with the entire family getting reunited to celebrate. Wish at least we can celebrate 40th anniversary of you and amma's anniversary next year.

To borrow from the Four Square advt - May you, "Live life king size"! Happy Birthday Nanna.

Chak De India

Congratulations to the 20 - 20 winners, my team, India. Felt genuinely very very happy after a long long time. My God! what a match it was ! Reminded me of childhood, where India used to play Pakistan more often. No doubt a fantastic victory to a new fearless India (and Pakistan too - poor Misba Ul Haq) with nerves of steel. Credit should go to Dravid, who sensibly kept himself and other ageing and heavily overrated players like Tendlya and Ganguly out.

Great stuff and hearty congratulations to Dhoni and team !

Every 14 days one language dies

Throughout human history, the languages of powerful groups have spread while the languages of smaller cultures have become extinct. As big languages spread, children whose parents speak a small language often grow up learning the dominant language. Depending on attitudes toward the ancestral language, those children or their children may never learn the smaller language, or they may forget it as it falls out of use. This has occurred throughout human history, but the rate of language disappearance has accelerated dramatically in recent years. Read more here about the study conducted by National Geographic.

Surprisingly the study did not list India among the endangered language regions, considering the fact that India once upon a time flourished with hundreds of more languages and thousands of more dialects. This makes me worried that I may not be able to pass on my language to my kids and through which the rich oral culture it embodies. Telugu may be one of the dominant languages and not endangered per the study, but it may soon be forgotten and less spoken by the onslaught of English.

Am I not hypocritical blogging here in English? Anyway let me at least remind myself of the sayings of two great Telugu persons ever born - SriKrishna DevaRaya and Srinadha Kavi about my mother tongue and feel good about it.

Jai Ganesha

Avignamasthu - Best wishes to family and friends!

Life of a vegan

Living a life of a vegan is sometimes tough, especially when you are in an alien country surrounded by meat chewing people who cannot relate to people like me. The vegans of more extreme variety do not even consider me as vegan, who do not use any animal based products like leather shoes, cow milk, honey etc.. :-). That's why the airlines (or whoever) coined the term "Indian Vegetarian" - which is close to lacto-vegetarianism in vegan terminology. Vegetarianism in India has no strict rules, but loosely based on the principles of compassion towards the animals - like milking a cow or buffalo after the calves have had enough, eating plant based food consisting mainly grains, pulses and vegetables.
Apart from other disadvantages like finding a vegetarian dining place while living or visiting another country there is this little known occupational hazard - participating in team lunches and undergoing the ordeal of eating Buddhist delight (uncooked vegetables in soy sauce and vinegar).

Collapse

Of late, I was reading this interesting book by Jared Diamond - Collapse. The author describes how societies around the world historically had chosen or choose to fail or succeed by adopting environmentally critical choices posed by mother nature. One of the factors he mentions, particularly comes to my mind - "massive application of toxic pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides in rich agricultural areas". Guntur district, the place where I come from, is perhaps one of the agriculturally most abusive regions on the environment. The heavy usage of pesticides including banned and adulterated ones, by farmers of commercial crops here has eradicated almost all the native birds like crows etc. I have noticed this in my recent visit, where we Hindus practice the ritual of feeding birds in memory of forefathers.

Chinnu Balinese Pose

Tom and Jerry

B'day Photos

Keep smiling

Dearest Kalyani -
Your smile is the source of our joy, so keep smiling! Have a happy b'day!

Nani Pani

Nani -
May you enjoy all the golden moments in the stream of life before they rush past us ! Have a happy b'day.

Cheers

Dear Nanna -
Happy B'day! Cheer Up, don't complain. Lots of love - Kalyani

Bliss

Dear Nani and Sukanya -

Remember the first flush of love and all the qualites about each other you found so endearing that drew you powerfully together? Do not fret and squabble, enjoy the day!

Lots of love and best wishes, have a happy anniversary!

Sub Prime melt down

In the last half dozen years of my career with an investment bank, I have only seen one aspect of it - Mortgage backed securities. These considered the golden years for American mortgage businesses, banks, lending institutions, home owners and builders has finally seems to have ended with the melt down of the Sub Prime business. No doubt it has created a culture of home ownership in America, but at what cost? The effect seems to have snow-balled and started affecting everyone else around the world.

Often used to wonder about the kind of innovative products they have created around these home loan obligations - ARMs, REMICS, Sub Prime mortgages, CMOs, RMBS.., and firms in New York added hundreds of thousands of jobs and have grown by leaps and bounds each year. Mortgage trading desks, the big bullies of investment banks over shadowed everyone else and used to dictate terms and everyone else's bonuses!

Is it a coincidence that my desertion caused this havoc, just kidding ?!

India at 60

Happy Independence day folks! (Hats off to A R Rahman)

Anniversary wishes

Sreenu and Leela -

Happy Anniversary to you both, have a bright and happy day.

May each year keep getting better, we hope the good times have just begun.

Art of Parenting

This weekend attended a discourse by a Swamiji attached to Chinmaya mission organised by the school authorities of Chinnu and Vamsi. Though does not have a particular likening for sadhus and sants, we attended it, as parenting is something that is bothering us a lot. Our feelings about raising kids seems to be true for others also, as there was a large gathering of parents.

The thoughts presented were simple yet effective -

• Parents should not use comparison and competition as stimuli for achievement and performance.
• Accept child as an individual and the relationship should be primarily based on love and freedom.
• Each child is unique, comes with some kind of gift or some treasure - may be academic or practical.
• Do not suppress a child's natural curiosity by saying "NO" to everything.
• Children look up to their parents in terms of moulding themselves, so beware of your actions!

Lalyet Pancha Varshani Dasha Varshani Thadayet
Prapte tu Shodeshey Varshey Putrey Mitravadacharet

Amma, the dearerst

There can't be anybody who is thought of more than you. Now that your birthday is here, wish you a very happy birthday, a wonderful one - just like you.

To prove all over all again :-(

Rationally I think I have the requisite skills and ability, but irrationally I feel like I have to prove myself all over again. I jumped into the fray knowing fully well, what is lying ahead - stop complaining stupid!

It is monday blues everyday, giving me jitters at the thought of landing like a pigeon among the cats. Stop denigrating yourself man - apply these simple rules !

• Borrowing from Tom Friedman "Curiosity Quotient + Passion Quotient >= Intelligence Quotient (I will call it knowledge quotient)". Knowledge is power, do not stop acquiring knowledge, it will be your ultimate saviour. Have the passion and curiosity to learn and continue to learn.
• Don't try to be a perfectionist, stop telling yourself "I am ignorant, Alas! Had I known that", make an attempt, a sincere one!
• Set a smart goal and achieve it - try setting one goal for yourself per week that is SMART - Smart, Measurable, Achievable, Rewarded and Time-limited.
• Whatever you do remember yourself and your family.
• Stop procrastinating, if you know you have to do it - do it now!

rising rupee

Rising rupee knocked off 10% of my net worth (in Indian rupees of course) as most of the earnings remain in foreign currency - un-hedged. You gain some, you loose some! Much ink and newsprint is spent by the media on the travails of exporters, but I can see and feel about the small income earners abroad, who must have been hit pretty severely indeed.

It is a whole new dimension to the effects of globalization!

odd man out !

It has already been 3 weeks at the new job, how fast time goes! It is still early days at the new job and so far it has been anything but extraordinary. I felt like working at the old job but with a sense of timidity. My troubles are compounded by the absence of boss and I have spent most of my time reading.

Had a strange feeling working on a computer that has only Microsoft office and Lotus notes mail client installed. The initial impression is that lot of people are logging minimum 10 hours on the job doing routine work.

I have n't actually got any real idea about - what's in store for me - bumpy ride or a ride free of turbulence. Pretty sure it will be an exciting war between mind and heart - a mind that won't let me overcome my innate fears and a heart which wants me to fly high.

Currently reading Fooled by Randomness

new endeavour

Embarking on a new endeavour from tomorrow joining Deutsche after leaving Credit Suisse. It has been eventful four and half years of my life working in CS.... made many friends, met wonderful people, learnt to some extent how to conform in an MNC. It will be sort of a career change... entering into a non IT career after fiddling with IT for close to 8 years. Wish me good luck !

Currently reading Rich Dad Poor Dad

sorry state of affairs

While coming back, at Hyderabad Airport an immigration clerk stopped me from boarding the flight citing that my passport was damaged. He was referring to a slight peel off of the laminated back cover of my passport. Initially I thought he was asking me to take care of it in the future, but slowly started asking me "what was I going to do, if he won't let me board the flight" ! I did not understand the language of bribery, as I was out of touch in the past 4 years or so. Instead, I started arguing ...., sensing that I did not understand his expectation he took me to another immigration clerk to help explain me.

That fellow initially told me to "manage" the person concerned. I did not understand what does he mean by "manage", I started arguing with him and gave him an impression of confrontation. He got terribly wild and scratched the immigration form with comments "not allowed due to damaged passport". Time was running out and I was the only person who had not reported at the boarding gate (15 minutes before departure). Then the wisdom dawned upon me and suddenly I realized the meaning of "managing a person". I rewrote the form at the suggestion of the immigration clerk and stuffed 1000 rupees in the passport and presented it. That did the trick - NO OBJECTION was raised, instead the clerk suddenly became very friendly and started suggesting how I can fix the laminated cover using a gum stick.

This is the sorry state of affairs at our immigration check posts, they would let smugglers and fraudsters to get away and escape from the country, where as people like me are harassed.

Happy B'day Sreenu

May each passing year be filled with love and affection, may your every wish be fulfilled, may your every dream come true and may you acquire all that you desire. Happy Birthday to you.

define:cute

Happy Birthday Anjali

Dear Anjali - many many happy returns of your b'day, God bless you !
Lots of love from chinnu, vamsi, Aamma and Pedanana

who is missing?

Mommy Daddy and Akka helping me ..

Happy Birthday Dear Vamsi

Many many happy returns of your b'day. Lots of love and best wishes from all of us. God bless you with fun filled life and a kind heart that is full of warmth.

Vacation

It has been a long pending vacation to India, everybody is excited at the prospect of visiting near and dear. I will be spending a hectic 10 days, whereas Kalyani and kids are going to spend the whole month of school holidays. The Indian Airlines flight that took us to Hyderabad is pathetic and when it landed at the small Begumpet airport from the majestic Changi, it reminded me of how much we have to grow as a nation. It took almost an hour for the baggage to arrive as the Customs guys have to screen each piece of luggage to identify small valuables in order to harass people for bribes.

Lots of things to do, only 9 days to go!

Happy B'day Dear Jaanu

Many many happy returns of your b'day and may God bless you with health and happiness.

Another career change in the offing

Finally got a chance to bid adieu to CS, it's been 5 long years with CS in US and Singapore. Looking forward to another career change and the challenges it brings with it. It has been pretty ordinary year with CS and probably could have spent another year doing nothing! Fingers crossed!

Happy B'day Umamahesh

Many many happy returns of your b'day (26th May) !

Happy B'day Sukanya

Wish you a very happy b'day. Here is a photo of your recent visit, sorry, don't have any better photo than this. (seen here with sun burnt faces as we visited the water park the day before)

A family portrait

Song of life

We have shared many laughs and stuggles, seen ups and downs in life with unwavering support from family and friends. Thanks a ton, may we see many more springs and autumns together.

All these ten years together, to borrow from "Ella Wheeler Wilcox", it has been like -

All in the dark we grope along,

And if we go amiss

We learn atleast which path is wrong,

And there is gain in this.

Best wishes to my wonderful wife and many thanks for all the wonderful memories and the memory of - the chuckles when the priest said "mangalyam tantunanena", when I have nothing in my purse.

39 years in matrimony

Amma, Nanna - Many many happy returns of your anniversary - Lots of love and best wishes

Inspirational quote

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Marianne Williamson in "A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles"

God bless you dear chinnu

B'day gal

Happy B'day Pratyu

Happy 8th Birthday to a cute, lovely, talented and fabulous kid.
We are so happy and blessed to have you in our life. We wish you a fun-filled and
joyous new year in your life. - Amma, Nanna and Vamsi

Happy B'day Padma

Wish you a very happy b'day Padma. May the b'day and the following year bring lot of happiness and wonderful moments to cheer for in your life. Lots of love from all of us.

Thank you Kalyani

Enjoying what we do?

Why do we do something which we don't enjoy?

Am I really enjoying what I am doing? If I say yes, it is a plain lie! Why am I feeling tired and uninspired? When did it turn from something I really enjoy to a chore? When did I begin yearning for the weekends and start dreading Sunday evenings?

Then the million dollar question crops up - why am I doing something, which I don't enjoy? The reason probably is the unwillingness to disturb the status quo! Also may be I have no courage to adapt to new challenges brought in by a change?!

We spend the vast majority of our lives working, and while it won't all be wonderful and satisfying, we need to make changes before we hit a point of no return -- when our dissatisfaction begins a downward spiral!

But do I know what I want to do, that makes me/keeps me happy?

new addition to the family

Leela gave birth to a baby boy this afternoon after undergoing c-section. Both mother and baby are doing fine. Pusapati family wish the new born a healthy and very good life ahead. Welcome to the world!

Sreenu, Leela and Janaki - Hearty Congratulations! Chinnu akka and Vamsi anna are very happy and sending their best wishes.

Happy Ugadi

Wish everyone (family and friends) a Happy Ugadi, may this year bring many more good things to all of us. Especially wishing Sreenu and Leela who are expecting a child soon. God bless you!

Happy B'day Sunny

We are very delighted to note that Sunny is celebrating her 4th B'day today per lunar calendar. Wish you a very happy and wonderful B'day Pravallika !

Obituary

Grandpa took his last breath on 6th March and died at the age of 93. He is sorely missed by all of us. It is unfortunate to note that his majestic presence and kind heartedness is a thing of past. The only saving grace for me (very unfortunate not to visit him in the past 18 months) was attending his funeral.

May your soul rest in peace Grandpa and we will not forget your ideals.

Happy B'day Chaitanya!

Chethu - wish you a very happy b'day and many more happy returns of the day.
May you be blessed with all the good things in life and make your parents happy and proud.

Blessings from all in the family.

Money

When Vamsi was spending more time in the shower this morning, I scolded him for wasting the water and ordered him to come out immediately. While chiding him, I threw the usual parental tantrum saying "water is money". Surprisingly he gave it back to me saying, "money, money, money, everything is money?!". I have never said this to him before and the retort from Vamsi made me think once again about the oft asked question - 'Is money everything?".

It was important for Vamsi to know the importance of water in our lives, but, I should not have compared water with money, not because water is precious than money( in some sense it is), but because money as a means of comparison is unnecessary for him to know. May be I am wrong! Kids understand money as they know that it takes money to buy toys and gadgets.

Just about every decision we make and much of our personality is formed in some way, shape or form by our beliefs around money. It is an incredibly good/bad vehicle for seeing our issues and vulnerabilities and shows up in issues of control, safety, self esteem and well-being. It is the language kids and elders both understand and unfortunately has become the language of choice this morning when communicating with Vamsi.

Jai Hind

Happy Sankranthi

Best wishes to near and dear on this auspicious day. One of the major hindu and telugu festivals symbolizing harvesting season and beginning of Sun's ascendancy into northern hemipshere - we have a lot of memories of Sankranthi from our childhood. To remember a few - Bhogi mantalu on a foggy winter morning, new clothes, exotic sweets (arisalu), Sankranthi holidays for school, gaali patalu (kite flying), bommala koluvu perantalu, blessings with bhogi pandlu - hope the tradition survives!

little rascal

Often wonder! Are we doing enough for our children to develop into responsible and mature individuals? Children today are under tremendous stress when compared with our childhood. No doubt they have all the comforts of modern life, but compare them with what we had - large families, no idiot box, grand parental care, lots of neighbourhood friends and most importantly "nothing in the life be taken for granted" approach towards life.

The stress brought in by the pace of the modern life in adults affects them in many ways - especially their emotional well being. Childhood is a critical phase of life and must be protected to be fully experienced. The question is, how can we do better to help them enjoy their childhood with respect as individuals?

Grandpa

It is sad and disheartening to see grandpa suffering from old age and Alzheimer's. We have fond memories of his ethics, good nature and love for grand children. Never shy of taking risks and always have a surprise up his sleeve, he taught us life's many great lessons and gave us good support to tide over many crisis situations typical to middle class families.

It is a pity, I have n't visited him in more than one and half years. He always wanted me to stay in Guntur with the family. My heart goes out to you Grandpa! I wish you good health and pray that you lead your remaining life with dignity.

Panic

Why do we panic? Many circumstances when we panic does not warrant us to be panicky at all. Lots of issues we encounter daily can be solved by being patient and let the problem solve itself. But there will many circumstances which require us to react. But lot of other circumstances can be avoided by being pro-active.

Thinking of being pro-active, how many of us really follow this great saying in Geeta - karmanye vadhikarasthe maa phaleshu kadachana

Remember the "good times/bad times" theory inherent in our culture, which our elders constantly remind us. By definition good times will not last forever and bad times will certainly end by definition.

Of course, medical emergencies are a cause for panic and there should only be a few situations that warrant panic. I know - saying is easy, but serving here myself a reminder not to panic for trivial things.

Resolutions - are n't they meant to be broken?

We keep making resolutions every new year day, only to break sooner or later. Even on Ugadi (Telugu New Year) day, Grand mother used to say, one's behaviour on the first day of the year would have an effect on the entire year.

Eventually, making resolutions turned into a reflection on past mistakes and a vow to do better in the future. It is always easy to start afresh, as it is easy to sweep past sins and mistakes under the carpet.

Do not want to disclose here but, again made a few new year resolutions - hoping to do better this time.

phone line grid lock ?!

Trying desperately since this morning to reach out to family members and friends in India to convey new year wishes, surprisingly not a single phone line got connected (always got the beep sound). Conveying our new year wishes again to all near and dear through this blog, though it is not publicized yet. At least hoping to convey our sincerity by recording my thoughts before the mid night.

HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2007

Singapore Zoo

Visited Singapore Zoo on 31st Dec (could not go anywhere else for the vacation). The zoo is pretty big and they have a large variety of animals. Kids enjoyed watching the animals in close proximity.

Could not contain the excitement of Vamsi as he started relating the animals to the characters in his stories, wherein each story has an animal family that contain 4 members.

Happy New Year 2007

We wish a very joyous and momentous new year to all our family members, friends, relatives and everyone out there.