Going green @ Pasir Ris park

Happy Deepavali

A very happy and prosperous Deepavali to family and friends.

Chinnu @ school annual day

Pratyusha participated in Bihu dance at her school's annual day - a joyous Assamese folk dance.

The last lecture

What wisdom would you impart and what message would you deliver if it were your last lecture to the world before you die - this is the concept of a lecture series they have it in Carnegie Mellon, where they invite eminent professors to talk on what matters most to them. This imaginary situation turned out to be real for Randy Pausch, the computer science professor dying from pancreatic cancer, who delivered a heart warming lecture that quickly became a sensation. The man died recently leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come with his simple wit and intelligence in this book titled "The last lecture" - an extension of the lecture he delivered at the university. The book was all about understanding life's priorities ("We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand"), overcoming obstacles ("The brick walls are there for a reason. They are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something"), realizing childhood dreams and enabling dreams of others etc.

Here is my favourite one liner from the book - "When you are screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means that they've given up on you".

Historical times

Perhaps we are witnessing history in making "live in colour" with investment banks falling like a pack of cards left, right and center and creating ripple effect worldwide. It is disheartening to see so many of banks' employees loosing jobs as the biggest bubble maker in history - "greed", created a bubble of epic proportions that started leaking last year and finally burst last weekend. Wall street has the knack to reinvent the so called "risk-free, high yield" instruments and the investors never lacked the insatiable appetite to lap them up. In the late 80's it was junk bonds, in the late 90's dot-com stocks and now sub-prime mortgages triggered the downfall. This time it is much bigger and there seems to be no end in sight at least for a few more months. Funny to think that banks as far as in Australia have exposures to these CDOs - shows how intertwined our economies are in this globalized world. The beacon of capitalism had to eat the humble pie of socialism as the US government started bailing out or nationalizing one financial institution after another - five so far and counting!

Audacity of hope

Abhinav Bindra has made us all proud by creating history at the Olympics - the first ever individual gold medal by an Indian. I am appalled to hear some of the comments made by both Indians and non-Indians alike "one billion people and one medal". Let us give this lad the due respect and credit. How ironic it is that India had to loose 3rd test on the same day. No need to mention cricket has such a big negative influence on all other sports in India, though I myself a big cricket fan. I sincerely believe Indians excel in individual sports rather than team games and it is high time Indians take up a variety of sports. I can only hope Abhinav's victory will be the tipping point for sports excellence in India.

Happy b'day amma

A Mother's love is something that no one can explain,
It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it or take that love away . . .

~ Poem by "Helen Rice"
What more can we describe you - may we continue to be blessed with your love and affection ! Happy 60th birthday - amma, attah, bamma, ammamma .......

Wings of fire

Over the past two weekends had the fortune of reading two simple books by Dr.Kalam - one his autobiography "Wings of fire" and the other "Ignited minds". While his autobiography portrays "Kalam - the man" and the other book portrays his vision for India. "Wings of fire" - which also serves as the history of Indian missile and space programmes reminded me of the many general knowledge questions faced at quiz contests attended at high school. The books are inspirational to the core with pearls of wisdom thrown in about things as diverse as project management, leadership, people management, mentoring, rocket technology and above all spiritualism and patriotism. His vision for a developed India and the unhindered growth it can achieve with workable ideas he proposed like urban infrastructure in rural India are awe inspiring. Salaam Dr.Kalam !

A Haven in a heartless world

Kids galore

Occasion: Vamsee b'day @ tatamma's house

Currently reading - "Ignited Minds" by Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam

Family reunion

आज खेलो, कल तो बड़ा बनना ही हैं |

Born exactly 1 year and 1 day apart (though Anjali seems to dispute), it is amazing how quickly they have grown up ! God bless you kids, many happy returns of your b'days. We love you !

Dads are cool

With the changing social landscape where nuclear families are increasingly becoming common and families are spread far apart sometimes globally with siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents coming together at the most once in an year or sometimes few years either for a family event or some kind of family get together, the role of dad in children's lives has changed drastically from a bread winner and a disciplinarian to a more approachable parent, sometimes more than Mom. Dads always have a special place in children's hearts as one of their childhood's earliest role models. Back when husbands were sole bread earners and jobs were more physical, Moms stayed home looking after their children's needs. Even now one cannot discount a child's almost entire dependence on Mom during first couple of years, Dads are sharing lot of household chores nowadays with some Dads giving up their careers too to become "stay at home" dads. I sometimes think how impossible it is stay away from kitchen (sorry Grandma ;-) and not participate in household chores + help kids do their homework and other activities. Happy Father's Day!

స్వదేశ గమనం

Hoping to have a fantastic time with family, friends and relatives...

Bricks and Mortar

Read a news story today about the shortage of civil engineers in India and felt nostalgic about my construction engineering background. It seems that India is in dire need of at least 70,000 civil engineers an year against a supply of 10,000 odd. Most of the private engineering colleges have stopped offering and it is a pity that most of those who graduate drop out and join the lucrative IT sector. Though the entry barriers to join professional courses like engineering and medicine are almost none nowadays, it hurts to note that there are not many takers. Who will take up construction engineering and struggle with the low paying and gut wrenching jobs?

India's future lies in nation building with a chance to grow at 10% just by building more roads, ports and airports - creating employment for millions of people non-stop for the next 20 years at least. Who is going to lead India in this direction? - with a heavy heart from my air conditioned office overlooking mega construction projects (a casino and 3 high rise office towers) out here in Marina Bay, Singapore - I salute to the spirit of the great builders of modern India like E.Sreedharan.

హ్యాపీ బర్త్ డే జానకి

Year 11

Visit to Ram temple, Jackie Chan's movie and home cooked dinner - celebrated our 11th anniversary in traditional style.

40 years together

How special... when two can experience such joys in life. May you warmly reflect upon this milestone and wish you many more happy returns of this day. Congratulations on a timeless chemistry! You couldn't possibly have known when you began your married life and how entwined your lives would become. Forty years have flown by... the treasured moments of your togetherness is a source of inspiration for us and we cherish the warmth, love and affection bestowed upon us in the form of you as parents.

Chinnu b'day collage

మా ఇంటి ఆడపడుచు - పుట్టిన రోజు

Food grain crisis

They blame it on several things - farmers switching to bio-fuel crops, increased speculation in commodities (food grains), increased per capita consumption, exploding population, curbing of exports etc. The global food crisis is real and becoming larger and potentially disastrous. The very fact that we had to switch between many different varieties of rice in the last couple of months - raw Ponni, Parboiled Ponni, Basmati, Thai Fragrant, Thai White etc.. reinforces the paradigm. If this is the case in affluent countries then one can imagine the situation in impoverished nations and importing countries. Are we facing the prospects of facing the famous "Bengal famine" in many parts of the world? Scary, is n't it?

Impulse

There is nothing worse than whining at someone when your thoughts and feelings are getting the better of you. Despite the tremendous progress we made in different walks of life, it always boils down to winning and achieving. We always give the lame excuse "not enough time / too busy / exhausted" when it comes to connecting with our near and dear. Too often we show our anger and frustration at our spouses and children as if it is their fault for the ups and downs we experience in our daily lives.

I had the fortune of having two very adorable grandpas (maternal and paternal) - never saw them vent their frustration or loosing their cool even when the chips were down. Faced with adversity they silently suffered and when it is bountiful never hesitated to extend their arms.

Life won’t always be easy sailing. We aren’t always on top of our game. It is time we control our impulses and start connecting with each other.

Portrait 2008

One more year older

One way or other life goes on and so do we !

Remember how much of an exciting adventure life was, when we were younger? We waste our time pondering at the missed opportunities - the closed doors. At the same time we remain so indecisive closing a few doors - I mean, we keep too many options open to make choices in life.

One of life's biggest lesson - don't fret over the closed doors and don't delay closing a few doors. Children do this all the time and that's why they get excited all the time. The trick is to recapture that fervour and life will move into much more exciting times.

ఉగాది శుభాకాంక్షలు

కుటుంబ సభ్యులుకి, మిత్రులుకి, తెలుగు వారందరికీ సర్వధారి నామ సంవత్సర ఉగాది శుభాకాంక్షలు!

Happy B'day Pravallika

Eat well, be well and do well. Have a very happy b'day !

One 'derful b'day

Happy first birthday to dear Aditya, lots of hugs and kisses coming your way today. Dig into the icing on your cake, God bless you!

Little Graduate

Vamsi's Kindergarten graduation photo

Singapore Airshow

Had the opportunity to witness Singapore Airshow, a good one, nevertheless an over-hyped one!

ఎదగడానికెందుకురా తొందర..వంశీ@స్కూల్ పెరేడ్

Sports day at Chinnu's school

Aussie visit

all smiles around and relaxed

sun burnt on the way to see the great barrier reef

who is the coach here?!

how come everything is smaller than us around here?!

Nani and Sukku with kids (Sydney Aquarium)

@ the controversial 2nd test at SCG Jan 2 '08

one for the camera @GAP with Sydney backdrop

all in the family

Inagurating 2008

Happy, joyous and a wonderful new year - 2008 to family, friends and relatives.