MEINE CORNER IN THE BLOG WORLD!

 After a grilling 2020, 2021 started out with a mixture of emotions - grim but hopeful, distant from family but long WhatsApp calls, rainy but looking forward to the sunshine in the coming days. A lot of R&R is how we started our New Years, thanks to the long weekend. We read, watched tv, cooked and slept a lot!  Once work started, it didn't even feel very different from the past few weeks. Unfortunately a few days into the first working week, there was chaos in the DC Capitol and many State Capitols. A riot started by an infuriating and possibly out-of-work men and women wanting to display their passionate support of an incapable President. Back to feeling uncertain and grim about the future, we were surprised by Mother Nature providing us a rare snow fall day here in Austin, TX! It was simply amazing and a great 2nd Sunday of the year where we got 3.5-4 inches of snow ! The sights were remarkable during and after the snow fall. The entire city and neighbors were thrilled...

 To be fair, 2020 could have been documented much earlier in this year with more details fresh in my head as the year was passing by. But honestly, I am writing this piece to prove that even in one of the toughest and oddest year, there have been blessings - a lot more family time, time of looking inward, getting in touch with friends and growth indeed both individually and for my family.  The year kicked off with my MBA core classes at Baylor, since I had chosen the online program there was no worry about additional driving/commute time but it was certainly challenging to adjust to studying on top of juggling all the other aspects of life including work and dance classes as my side hustle. Once I made it through the first term (Jan - Feb), March was when the whole pandemic impact began in the USA. Closer to mid-March, I was panicking about COVID-19 with the rest of the world and since we have family back in India we had already been kept abreast about new actions being taken ...

Here's a quick list of observations from a recent trip to Chennai and Kerala. 1) First time noticed more posters of Karthik Sivakumar than Surya. He was all over the place - posters on local trains, bus stops and hoardings. Definitely looks much better now. 2) Hubby and me did the 5-second testing on the roads; no, not the bacteria, it's the honking. You're guaranteed a honk in atleast every 5 seconds, if not sooner. And it really didn't matter which part of Chennai we were in. 3) More metro construction mess all over the city, many areas still without real roads-- enough to give you a feeling you're riding a horse. 4) No shortage of mini Ganapathy temples in every nook and corner. 5) More malls in the city, checked out the City center one by the beach, had a beach view for food court area which was pretty cool. 6) As seen since the early 2000s, people are still spending a lot on foreign gadgets, foreign-branded food and cosmetics. Not to mention, no c...

Sometimes I am amazed. How does India and the people that live there tend to be so left behind...rather seem to be okay with things that aren't okay? I was in India during the Chennai floods that crippled the city , post the December 1 2015 rains. I was lucky to get a rescue boat and leave the apartment complex in Velachery the next day. I moved to Alwarpet as I had family there, apparently a posh area of the city where some shops were open and there wasn't crazy floods as Velachery. I was already planning on how to exit the city in a couple of days as per my itinerary, however I had to find a transportation as airports and train stations were shut down. I understand for most people leaving the city is not an option. The day after on the 3rd of December the rains stopped and we finally got the much needed sunshine which dried up the rain overtime. There was finally a cab that we could take to exit the city that day. Yes, I was lucky in spite of the situation and the whole in...

This post is a long time coming... I don't need to give any excuses though, I am a new mommy after all! After all that baking, my munchkin arrived on 20th September 2013...yes very much on time baby! The first 5 days were extremely stressful as my precious one was under monitoring in NICU, which meant I didn't have the luck of holding him close to me in the first few hours and also a lot of separation due to us being in different rooms...it was certainly difficult. But as far as I recall I didn't cry at all since he was doing great and was perfectly healthy. He confused the doctors with his heart pattern in the first 2 hours of his life and then came back to normal on his own. I strongly believe he didn't take labor process well and certainly not the pushing part... poor little baby. After we got clearance from all his tests (God is great!) ; we were allowed to take him home. It was a feeling beyond words, a realization of how lucky we all were as a family and with...

Day 1 Relaxing flight onto Lihue, we kinda liked the Alaska Airlines overall with the service, seating and happy staff. Lihue airport is tiny, very simple, hardly any shops on exit and here's the best part - no crowd! We easily rented our car and were out and about in no time! On our way to the Hotel, we were happy to find a Pizza Hut for lunch, because we didn't know what to expect in the Hotel area and the location of our stay (which actually turned out great). Our Hotel was right by coconut grove off the highway , nestled between other resorts and hotels, had a market place in a 2 minute walking distance with a ton of local cafes, shops and restaurants lined by the highway with a view of the Sleeping giant mountain. It was pretty close from the airport. We expected a garden view per our booking, but luckily had a good view of the ocean by the patio.The first order after we checked in and unloaded our stuff in the room was to walk by the beach. Ah! it was so easy to unwind l...

Mom has been sending pics of her lovely flower decors in the past week, so here's a collage to share! Hope you have a great Onam! I made some Semiya payasam....and along with is is a humble flower decor, with artificial petals.

So I finally dragged my lazy ass to this card craft class that I have  been wanting to go, but simply making excuses. It was well worth it and a nice way to end a working day. We ended up making a gift card holder and a pretty birthday greeting card, both hand-made. Here are the pictures (will take better pics next time)... But aren't they cool!! So inspired to make more fun stuff in the upcoming classes!

I am guilty of not publishing this post earlier, I was awarded my first ever blog award in March 2012. This cute heart locked was awarded by Urmi , Thanks very much! This is certainly encouraging! To keep this chain going, I have received the following rules :- 1. If you get the award, pass it on to 7 blogs 2. Put the picture of the award in your post 3. Don't pass this award back to me 4. Answer the questions below and post it on your blog. 1. What makes you feel great about yourself? This is definitely not a question that I can make myself sound humble! hahaha... Well, let's see I think  how I surprise myself at being able to learn and adapt quickly to people, situations and places would be the answer. Also, I am glad about the fact that I am not prejudiced before I hear and talk to a person, no matter what the topic and no matter what their culture and their background. I am known for my sense of humor also, which I think is always better than just being tha...

This collection written by Jhumpa Lahiri has 9 stories, most of them based on stories of immigrants living in the USA, mostly a picture set in 1970s or even early 1980s. As reviewed by a lot of publications, I agree that the author has the ability to put you in the situation. It was very easy to empathize, picture and feel close to the protagonists in these stories. This could be so because I am an immigrant myself, except that I wasn't so naive when I landed here. I did see a dark side in more than a couple of stories, which wouldn't be my pick,because I love happy endings and I am extremely positive about life.  Nevertheless, stories of similar backgrounds or endings won't be all that interesting, would it? The way the book ends with Third and final continent is so warm. Having read Namesake earlier, I was familiar with her writing and even if you're not, I would recommend this book. For me it was a good break to read a story right after work every night. On to ...

Here's a canvas painting that I did recently. It was so much fun with so many colors involved! I truly miss the arts and the crafts life!

It's becoming very easy to lose yourself in the competitive world. At least, I feel so, with the everyday rat race and just barely making every day's chores, I find a big need to take a break just to remind myself what's really around me and what makes me me. I am lucky to work in a campus that is very green. Taking afternoon walks has developed into a habit. In the beginning, the walks were all about admiring the garden, basking in the beauty of brightly colored flowers, butterflies, pretty little sparrows, mynahs and lovely palm trees. I have grown from just observing to drawing meanings from this big green patch. The daisies and lilies that lie in a stretch where there are at least 300 of them, tell me that there is always beauty in unity.  The multicolored flowers tell me that there is beauty in blending but not without the individual beauty in each of them. The butterflies that seem to be playfully moving from one end of the park to another, remind me that even th...

Here are our newest addition to home -- a cayenne pepper plant, a lovely sun dragon pot and spicy red carnations! :-) They make our patio pretty and bring so much happiness!! 

My dad is currently enjoying "retirement", he recently tells me that he is soon having a 1969 college reunion! While just hearing that got me excited, the stories of how he found his college mates after 42 years was even more interesting. To begin with, he bumped into one of them and that kick started the whole process. They chatted about what they have been upto so far in life and if they were in touch with others. From there on, one thing led to another, he tells me. He met up with a few who never left town and stayed on for all these years. Today, they have managed to arrange a gathering of 25 classmates, all this without the involvement of Internet at all! Dad tells me that a couple of never touched a computer! That just concludes that the Internet is overrated and its sad that even if we are equipped with more tools, no one has time for another. So meeting up is pretty much a big deal in today's world. So proud of the 1969 batch!

We always say/read that memories make life and how damn true did it turns out to be, specially with a lovely, warm weekend! Now when I say warm, it's not the weather, it's the the joy and warmth of friendship. One of my good friend's husband decided to host her out of state friends to their place for her birthday. He planned a huge list of surprises and we were one of it. Most of us plunged at the invitation and it turned out magical. I didn't know many of them, but we all connected well and had so much in common. The surprise was actually pretty big for her to take and she still couldn't believe we all came. The day of birthday was spent well with a yummy brunch, stopping at a park to see an almost frozen lake, chilling at her place with conversations and an evening party that ended with karaoke. I think I never even wanted sleep with all the fun. On the day of return, we had yummy South Indian food for lunch, chatted till the last minute of getting to the...

We are at a point where smart phones are the norm in the urban world. infact, if you didn't have one, you probably balanced it off with a smart tablet. I use a smart phone as well. But after my big excitement of having a tool that would "connect" me all the time through emails, chat, texts, Social network, games and more, I am not as thrilled. So I did ponder and I realize it's mainly cos I don't use my phone for its basic use as much, I mean calls. I have also noticed that I receive much lesser calls. Lack of the real human touch is missing. So I made more personal calls in the recent past and it felt good. I felt more close to the individual than writing an email or leaving a note on a social media site. The reason is because the conversations would actually develop and makes it more complete. Unlike a "how are things" on an email or text. Many friends agreed we should talk more, no matter how "busy" we agree life has turned out to be! ...

I am a fan of both Sherlock Holmes' stories and Robert Downey Jr. I love the thrill of mystery solving and subtle mannerism of tackling dangerous situations. Yes, I enjoyed this movie, no doubt!! Jude law was even better in part 2 as Mr. Watson. Robert as Sherlock is witty, clever and obsessed. Though it is a task to match a reader's imagination of Mr. Holmes, if you like the crazy ways of robert downey, you may enjoy; if not you may find the portrayal offensive. Jade Harris as Professor Moriarty does the evil part pretty well. Overall I give it a 7.5/10! Do watch if you liked part 1!

Applebees lunch (tomato basil soup ans ceaser salad) with girls from work; Rains since 3pm; light day at work since year end close is finally done; crazy drive back home; felafel wrap for dinner and watching Australian grand slam 2012. :-) Current favorites in tennis -- Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic

Day 4 in Maui : Just 1 adventure on the agenda called Road to Hana. Hana is a town in east Maui and though Hana itself is pretty, the roads, bridges and sights that you  experience is what makes the road to Hana a must do! We did fill the tank for our car and pack some lunch and drinks with us as we were told it will be tough to find food and even gas on the way. After a good breakfast we were off to Hana highway. We made about 6 big stops, based on a guide. 1- twin falls : where the trail was adorned with tropical plantation and We walked through a river stream to watch the falls. 2- 70' waterfall: I fail to remember the name, but at one of the bridges, we enjoyed the view and were trying to take in the peace and quiet! 3-Lava Tube right before the Wai'anapanapa State park (this was quite a sight, a volcano site where the lava had erupted about 960 years ago, walking inside the cave was quite an adventure) Amazingly, no bats or other such beings, just golden a...