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May I say, that this this is not a new feeling by now - because it seemed like the same story repeating, but with another person - I got the frantic call from India this morning, from my sister to be specific, that my cousin brother's MIL passed away due to cancer. She has a daughter younger to me, and 5 months pregnant. How sad and unfortunate is that ! My prayers are with her, may she rest in peace. Sai Ram.

Take care of your  thoughts  because they become  words . Take care of your  words  because they become  actions . Take care of your  actions  because they become  habits . Take care of your  habits  because they will form your  character . Take care of your  character  because they form your  destiny , and your  Destiny  will be your  LIFE . —  H.H.The Dalai Lama

As far as I live from 'Home', and by 'Home' now I am not sure if I should call US my home or India; I am beginning to realize that friends are becoming family. It has been 4 years since I knew my close tamil circle here in Houston. Although I do not see them frequently, when I do, the bond gets tighter. Not having blood-relations closeby, the phone and email is my only way of connecting back home in India. Whereas it is the same familiar faces that I see at each important event or hindu festival here that makes me feel the way I do. I told hubby last night, that I think slowly the bond will get stronger and our kids will know each other growing up. I like that I can speak tamil my way when I meet this gang, I like that we share a similar background in terms of familiarity with tamil movies, tamil songs, tamil festivals etc. It is that comfort level that I like despite having different personality types. I felt like penning this down, so I can remember this feeling

I casually clicked on a you tube link one afternoon. At first glance it didn't mean much to me but after reading a couple of articles about how this simple Tamil movie song has captured hearts across state borders that's when I went back to the video, and this time listened with concentration. I'm referring to the song "Why this kolaveri" from the tamil movie 3. Genuinely simple lyrics coupled with an air of youth spirited me up and I started to love it too. It made to nostalgic to listen to Tanglish (Tamil - English) which I don't often hear in the US. It reminded me of living in Chennai, talking tamil to the locals, ending words in a tanglish accent by adding a U (love -u, tire- U ) and so forth. Dhanush continues to surprise me with his talents, I never liked him as an actor but I think that this lad has belief in himself and has stuck to his faith in doing what he thinks he can and he is only getting better with age. This guy can pen down lyrics, sing

Imagine walking back to your parking spot and not finding your car. Initially you think you are crazy to forget where you parked, but then it occurs to you, that your car has been towed. For real. University of Houston has over 50K students who are enrolled, and parking is  nightmare. After circling the lots for about 25 minutes, I realized that I needed to park ASAP to walk all the way to business school and make it to class on time. There was the campus bookstore and I decided to park in the only spot I saw open. Little did I realize that I would be a victim of towing. It was 9 pm at night, I stayed calm, I knew I had to think through it. Bad things happen, and when you go through them, you become wiser and of course stronger. As for my car, we retrieved it from the impound lot for a hefty price. I had to call sathya, he drove with Archu at night to pick me up. I had to do all the explanation. I felt guilty. I had made a mistake. A costly one. I will never forget this day. O

There are so many things to be grateful for;  it's a great thing to write about because we can loose perspective sometimes with the mountains of responsibilities and concerns we face everyday. I'm grateful to be 'above ground' with good health and a family to nurture and take care of. I am grateful for the good people around me.  Appendicitis came as a sudden blow to me, as to everyone else that have experienced it. The purpose of my posting is to comprehensively bring together my feeling of gratefulness and care that the experience has brought with it, and for me to be there for each one of them in time of need.  Hubby, I am grateful for, first and foremost for staying right there with me throughout. I have to thank my friends for offering to take care of Archana through a couple of nights. If I named all the friends from wonderful acquaintances to tried and true friends, I'd have exceeding the limit on my posting. I do know there are a lot of good people, n

It was for the first time in years after moving into home sweet home, we began the painting project. I chose to start small, so just focussed on the half-wall in the kitchen. Color - light olive green. I was surprised that it was such an un-complicated task - just pick up the right tools and voila - you'll be done before you know it . Painting in India was such a huge task .. scraping & scrubbing; but here its totally a 'hands-on' easy approach ! Thumbs up to Hubby and I .. and of course can I forget my little helper who did more than was needed .. :) Colors - Orange as an accent over the fireplace, and madder red on the other walls. Never stop exploring, colors reflect your personality ! See my little helper -->

I found this a very interesting read, from yahoo posts .. TAX CODE EXPLAINED Suppose that every evening, 10 men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. So, that's what they decided to do. The 10 men drank in the bar every evening and were quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner said "Since you are all such good customers, I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." Drinks for the 10 men would now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected, they would still drink for free, but what about the other six men, the paying customers?

A layer of snow can be pretty, how about layers of slippery ice. This is the situation in Houston and surroundings for a day now. This is my first streak at sub zero temps, and boy does it suck :) I walked over my front lawn grass and heard the grass breaking beneath my feet, and same with the leaves on the were frosted with ice.  Good news is it will go away tomorrow .. So for me, no work today and I'm cozy at staying home with Archu. I can only imagine the plight of the north-east that has been submerged in snow for quite some time now! Stay warm folks. 

Silly me - I decided to make a Brinjal (Eggplant) dish, as hubby brought home fresh Eggplant from the store. It was a while since I made any Eggplant dish, and you know how busy it gets sometimes -- i knew there were 4 dishes that can be made, but it didnt quite strike me what was what -- -Kathrikai Pitla (Eaten with Traditional south indian meal) -Kathrika Gotsu (Eaten with Pongal etc) -Baingan Bartha -Baghara Baingan (My goodnesss, I always confuse with these two) So now you know, how I'm justifying my reason to mix up the recipes :-) Thanks to google and youtube, My Gotsu came out delicious !

I'm at my office desk, checking emails and getting work done .. and I realize it's time to check on Archu. (Her daycare has this Webcam facility that is viewable online) and it just makes my day .. everyday ... I mean its so cute to see tots play, there are no rules in their game - each lil one is busy in his or her own world, be it reading a book, or playing at a lego center etc etc. They all line up when its time for outdoor activity - swing, slide etc, you should see the glow in their eyes, so eager and excited, its so wonderful to see them. And when its food time, or gym time, they line up in pairs or singles, and go to the cafe/gym. Sweet little nothings, but makes me feel so warm. Love you kids, love you Archu !