Every drop counts!

I have had great, fun-filled birthdays full of surprises and gifts. I have been thinking of making this birthday different. People can live without gifts, but can they live without water? Instead of taking gifts from the loved ones, my birthday wish this year is raise funds to give clean and safe drinking water to some of the billion living without it. Every penny of the money raised will go directly to fund freshwater projects in developing nations. Even better, every dollar is “proved” when the projects are complete, and photos and GPS coordinates are posted using Google Earth. If you give me a gift, only 2 people can be happy – You & me! But, if you give a dollar or more here, more and more people are going to be happy for life long. A dollar or more, is your choice! Hope you all will make this birthday special for me and for many others. Every drop counts!

Water: Elixir of life; A basic need; Literary symbol of purification – Can we make some people live by giving them clean water? Make it happen, here:
http://mycharitywater.org/raji

Thanks a ton, in advance!

Inidhe Inime…

With Amma and Appa being here with me, I asked them to prepare something different for this New Year. The sweet that I can take to work and give it to my fellow teammates and friends. We call the sweet ‘Nei Urundai’ and it is called as ‘Pasiparuppu Urundai’ in some places as well. I am not a fan of this Urundai but everyone else in my family is.

Life has given good and bad times but calling friends and family on an occasion like this to wish, adds a ‘happy’ flavor.

May the sun shines and smiles endures always! இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துகள்!  Happy Tamil New Year!

The “Favourites”

“We were the favorites! We are the favorites! And we will be the favorites! Incredible team! You guys made it! Best moments in all Indian cricket fans life! In cloud nine…speechless!” – After the last sixer from the winning captain Dhoni, this is how I felt!

When the first innings was over and saw a score of 274 on the board, I was a bit dubious if Indian team can achieve it, because of the steady bowling line up that SriLanka had. Malinga – He’s the one whom I was scared to watch when he bowls. It seems that a batsman cannot judge where to place the bat when he bowls. I heard from friends that he used to bowl keeping the shoes and aiming at it during his net practices. So, whenever Malinga came to bowl and that too after taking Sehwag and Sachin off the ground, I said “Easy! easy!” to get the fear out. Could see Gambhir’s tense moments and some insensible running between wickets but finally he got settled when there was a matured man at the other end – Mr Uber Cool Captain! Felt disappointed for Gambhir missing a 100 after so much of pressure and toil. Undoubtedly, it was the leader in Dhoni which shined today and took India to glory. When he came to bat instead of Yuvi, I was telling my friends “Well, I am sure that this man has a plan in his mind”. And when he talked on the post match ceremony, it proved to be true.

Loved all the talks/speeches after the win. When Sachin was carried, When the man behind the act Gary Kirsten was carried, When Sachin, Yuvi, Bhaji all cried, When Virat said “Well, this man has carried the burden for 21 years and its time that we carry him”, When Bhaji said “It’s for the nation. We love you”, I had tears of joy. And what a gracious and matured speech from Sangakara – Salute you man!

Weekend fun and early morning cricket fun is over! Kind of getting emotionally attached esp. after a glorious win today! Happy to be a part of watching the World cup victory! Did not sleep the whole night. Screams, shouts, claps throughout the match and a big hug from all friends after the win – as if I was MSD, they were all hugging me. Now lost my throat and couldn’t talk bcoz of continuous shouts and painful hands. But no worries and regrets – Anything for Cricket, nation and a deserving team! Could not get the moments off my minds for now Hope you all had fun too!

For India it’s history and for all the Indian cricket fans, it’s an ever lasting memory! Magnanimous!

Image Courtesy: Sify.com

The Hoopla!

In the chronological order, my facebook status messages of today:
4 misses…Sachin’s way to century???
Prayers, wishes, blessings, expectations, anticipation for Sachin’s century after 6 costly misses – a let down
Yuvi, that’s ok! Prove your mettle with the ball
50-50…do or die…Punjab (k)singhs Yuvi n Bhaji – time to turn the match in our favor…chak de!!!
Glad that finals is on Saturday
Incredible India – Time for bash! Poor Pakistan – Time to pack! Hurrah

Well, all the excitement for today ended well. Its been years since I watched a cricket match with a circle of friends. I have not even got up so early (2:30 AM) for any of my exams. With a group of cricket fans and watching an India Pakistan match in a big screen added more enthusisam. For each ball bowled, there was a running commentary in our group. Ahs, Uhs, Shshs, claps, high fives, roars, thumb fists remained throughout the match. Although I had to opt out from watching the second innings because of work, I couldn’t resist myself in following the match online and updating my facebook statuses in replacement of not being present with friends.

Amazing overall performance from the Indian team! The history was not let to look back and change in terms of Pakistan winning against India in a world cup match. It was a sooper dooper feeling when India won.

And there we go to Mumbai…
Will the Master blaster be gifted with a 100th century on home ground?
Will India erode the trauma of 1996 Semi Finals against SriLanka?
Will India regain the glory of holding the prestigious cup after 28 years?

Waiting for some wonders to wave through…Wishing for a celebrating weekend! Hope the momentum and excitement continues…

The blogging staircase

Blogging…? Was an interest…Started as a hobby…Turned out to be a passion…Made to connect…and now bringing me new horizons. I do follow certain blog groups like indiblogger, blog-a-ton and I have heard about blogadda. When I read fellow bloggers’ posts, some of them make me admire and some of them make me think. Though I read and suggest topics for the largest blogging community’s monthly posts, I have not written for any blog contests. There had been times when I felt like writing for those contests but thoughts never geared up after few lines and had to be left out, the way it was. But today, a tinge of happiness has been added to my writing spirit – One of my recent blog posts has been picked up for ‘Spicy Saturday Picks’.

Source [What was picked?]
http://reflectionsraji.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/funtastic-times/
Channel [Who picked it up?]
http://www.blogadda.com
Destination [Where was it dropped?]
http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/03/26/indian-marriage-naxals-fraud-indian-blog-posts

When I saw the link showing ‘Indian-Marriage-Naxals-Fraud’, I was wondering if I had written any posts related to naxals or fraud or any recent posts on marriage. Then I realized that only the tag ‘Indian blog posts’ suited my recent post [Sigh of relief ]

Moving in with tiny tot steps into the blogging arena…Thanks BlogAdda & its editors, for choosing my blog post!

Who will it be?

After a series of unpredictable league matches which rolled me up till the edge of the chair many times, here I am predicting who will be in the Quarter Finals of ICC Cricket World Cup this time. The matches are still going to be tough and a roller coaster ride for Group B especially. Because its still not predictable on which team will be in and which team will be shown the back door in Group B. Group A is well settled with the four teams – Aussies, Newzies, Lankans and Pakistanis but who’s going to take which position  still leaves us with a question mark. You never know what will happen in the last few overs in the upcoming matches. Today’s match was another significant example of me making such a statement.

With my mathematical knowledge of Permutations and Combinations and my predicting capabilities, here’s what I think may happen. It’s solely from my instincts, I am presenting this prediction for the Quarter Finals.

AUS Vs WI
SL Vs ENG
NZ Vs IND
PAK Vs SA

Tough matches ahead…Looking forward for another Sunday with dreary eyes, a cup of hot tea early in the morning with hopes of India getting it through! My inner soul is longing to see a fiery Ind vs Pak match in Semis. How Ashes pride is for Aussies and British, winning against each other is India/Pakistan’s pride. Hope to see an edge over the seat, nailbiting great matches in the coming days.

Cricket anxiety period it is! Do you have it in you?

Moondru Mugam…

There’s something different in these 3 people. There could be some more people in this list of ‘being different’ but these 3 come to my mind always. Apart from their dedication, love towards their field, successes, there’s some quality that I admire in them – Modesty and humbleness. When successes soar high and reach minds, keeping the feet on grounds is not very easy…but these 3 does that simply without any efforts. That’s an unbelievable gesture of being down to earth. As the collage depicts, I am talking about Sachin Romesh Tendulkar, Shivaji Rao Gaekwad (RajiniKanth) and Allah Rakka Rahman.

When asked,
“After 21 years of success, how can you be still the one who comes first for practise? Doesn’t practise bore you?”
Sachin says “No, its not boring! I love the game and I enjoy it!”.

“How do you stay humble even after reaching heights of success?”
Rajini says “I don’t take efforts to be humble. God plays through me in being humble”

After receiving Oscar,
Rahman said “Ella pughazum Iraivanukke!”

I think all the below 3 videos are worth watching. Give it a shot!
Sachin – NDTV Indian of the year 2011:

Rajini – NDTV Entertainer of the decade:

A.R.Rahman – Oscar Winner 2009:

Vaazhga Valamudan!

Connexions – Part III (The End…)

B’lore trip: I would call this trip as the most cherishable trip for various reasons. When I landed @ B’lore, my friends were not yet there to receive me but called me and notified. I waited at the lounge and was praising the infrastructure of B’lore airport as it looked great! They even have rental car facilities as in US. Heard more details about how it works from friends later. Once friends reached, I was delighted. Being born in the southern part of India where traditions behold, hugging is not a thing that comes to me so easily unless I feel the impact of love to be shown In my lifetime, I remember doing it only 2-3 times…first time when my sis came from US and this time with my college friend Sridevi who I am meeting after 6 years. She handed a bouquet and it was so beautiful with red flowers embedded with white ones. After this comes the Volvo AC 4.50 part Headed to Shobana’s (good friend of mine) place where another friend from Chennai joined us. We gals had fun chatting late at nights. this, loved eating sweet boli from Sridevi’s mom since she knew that I love her bolis and can sit and eat that for hours in a day. Next day, we went to an amusement park which erased my yearning for adventure rides for a long time. Sri and I love adventure rides and with a companion like her, we did not leave any ride. Most of the rides turned my heads up and down and twisted my neck leaving my hands tightly closed on the ropes for safety but legs hanging loosely which instilled thrills. Loved those rides! But got rid of the water rides since I have hydrophobia For water rides, Sathya (my friend from Chennai) gave company to Sri and I was protecting their slippers watching them dive into water and splashing it On the way back, stopped by at my college friend’s house who came with us to the park. His parents could still recognize me and I was happy about it. As always, they gave lots to eat which made me remember the same thing that happened at his house @ Sivakasi during college days. The next day, It was a double delite from Shobana as she made Aapam and Veg stew for breakfast which is one of my favorites. It was so tasty that I took some time to finish eating. Then, went to meet my newly wedded college friend and from there, we went to shopping. I was in a shopping spree and got whatever I liked. Then went with all friends to Shobana’s house and had lunch with her and her hubby. It was a great get together as everyone got connected easily and shared all those memories we had. Then we had a photo session after which I had to pack things and got ready to leave. Shobana gifted me a ‘black’ color kurthi and I was elated 3 of my friends came to drop me at the airport and we discussed about M.A.D (Making a difference) – A small non profit organization that we formed recently. Want to write about M.A.D in a separate post and hence drifting away from that now. Reached airport and came to know that I had to give Rs.260 for the User development programme at B’lore airport. If they are going to have such a great infrastructure and improve it in the coming years, it’s worth giving the money to be spent for UDP. Nevertheless to mention – B’lore weather was great in the early mornings and evenings but pretty hot in day time.

Tirunelveli trip: Went with family to the ‘kuladheiva’ koil near T’veli. That’s the usual thing that is on the agenda if I plan for India trip. Few months ago, some of my cousin’s friends had come to Madurai for some
project and stayed at my home. They loved being at my home since they had so much of freedom and hence they treat my parents as the most loveliest people they have seen on this planet. From the day they left my home, they have been calling my parents and talking to them every weekend and I felt that it’s a beacon of love that’s paid back. For the same reason, these girls came to visit me after finishing their exams at my cousin’s place in T’veli. They got me packs of eatables too. I was happy to see them. Was asking them about their studies and what they wanted to do in future. On the way back, I was telling stories about the way we drive cars in US and the ticketing techniques to my dad and the car driver Got to eat the delicious ‘muscath halwa’ and ‘Saathankulam Sevu’..not sure how many people know about its popularity

Last meet @ Chennai: I was in Chennai two days before leaving to US. Visited a school friend who has got married and settled in Chennai. She has prepared lunch for me and my parents although she had a naughty kid who can keep her off from doing any activity. Then, had dinner with my ‘work’ friends @ Sangeetha, Adyar. Touched various topics during the talk and got to know what was happening in each of their lives.
A black top as a gift again this time from Chennai friends. Meanwhile, my friend was waiting to pick me up for a movie at Satyam. Oru mokkai movie called ‘Muthirai’. 3 of us went and I was wondering why Satyam
cineplex is always packed with people. Laxmi Rai proved her intensity of ‘GQ’ (glamour quotient) in the movie. The only thing in the movie that I liked was the beautiful locations that was shot for songs. The next day, went to the friend’s newly built house which I missed in my first meet. On the way, I was surprised to see so many IT/Tech parks at the OMR road and the toll gates that appear the same way as in US. Brands of cars and the types added interest to look at – I could see Audi, Volkswagen, Ford, Hyundai, Honda, Maruti, Toyota, Mahindra, Chevy, BMW, Mitsubushi. I remember my love towards watching cars on the roads while waiting at the bus stop few years ago. My favorites in India are Honda City and Octavia Lots of improvement In the later part of the day, few friends visited at the hotel room and I introduced everyone to my parents. Then packed things and went to airport since it was time to leave. Did not feel like coming back to US as I thought I may feel lonely here and will miss some of them very badly My EQ (Emotional quotient) has improved these days in a way that I don’t cry when I leave although I feel heavy at heart One of my friends came to the airport for send off. Few days ago, he asked me if he had to give a gift, what would I ask for? Without any doubt, I asked for a book. I forgot it completely but he had not. It was a surprise that he gifted me the book that I asked for, at the airport I did inscribe his name and the date with a pen after he gave it to me. Parents were with me and when I thought they are going to get emotional, I moved away from the place after uttering few soothing words and waved bye.

Mission accomplished: When I planned for India trip months ago, I had some agenda in my mind. I knew almost all my friends will get married by this year end or earlier next year. I may not be able to meet them like this time and cherish those memories once they get married since they would be tied up with more responsibilities and other priorities in life . Hence I wanted to meet all of them this time and I achieved
my target although I may have missed meeting 1 or 2. Also, I wanted to cook for everyone @ home when I was there and also buy what parents/paati asked for. I did all that and that’s about the trip! Mission Accomplished!!!

I personally feel that whomever I met during my stay showered me with love and care. Will miss India, family, friends and the fun I had…

Connexions – Part I

After a break, I feel rejuvenated and relaxed Three weeks before when I was boarding flights to reach India, I felt so weird that I did not have the amount of excitement that I anticipated. I felt like I was jus going to a trip to Seattle or LA nearby Usually when I travel anywhere, I just dream about how the trip is going to be and how I wanted it to be (the reason I call myself a powerful dreamer ) but this time, I was just browsing through movies and ended up watching 4 movies amidst the food served and a small siesta in between. The crew members were very handsome and that took some time too…jus kidding! While I was sitting on the lounge before boarding flights, there was a cute kid who came to me and was playing for a while. Then got introduced to a very proficient english speaking tamil paati who belongs to Chennai but was here in CA for her son’s graduation. She was telling me about her world tour and what makes her like the place I live now – Colorado Springs. She indeed specified few places here which I had no clue about…Wat a shame I was telling her that one of my dreams is to go for a world tour and visit as many places as I can. Although it may not be possible for a world tour, I told her that I would love to visit Europe and Singapore which looks like a feasible case. Her english was too good that I myself thought that I should keep in touch with books else I would end up lacking a good vocabulary…Grabbed the Norman Lewis’s ‘Word power made easy’ book from home after After landing in Chennai, I totally forgot her and was busy with the immigration formalities but she did come to me and wished me good luck. Such good personalities do exist in this world…After she left, I thought I should have got her email id to keep in touch with her but failed to do so…

That was about the to journey In return, got introduced to a man who works in Louisiana in IT and we were talking about Mainframes and Databases…I did not want to have a technical conversation and slowly it
turned to a personal formal conversation for few mins after which I slept. He did wish me good luck too…

In between these to and fro journeys, there were few other trips to Chennai and Bangalore by air. Most of my friends were making fun of me that I have become so sophisticated that I don’t even come by bus or train and just choose to fly even if it’s Chennai or Bangalore. It was not a show off…I don’t know if it I can do that in the coming years, so my point is when I have the luxury and if it’s time saving, I will definitely choose that option and that’s the reason here too. But I took pride in telling my dad that I have used almost all the flight services in India and abroad – Kingfisher, Jet Airways, Paramount and Emirates, British Airways, Lufthansa Next time if I have the same luxury, I would try some other service…Being an avid reader of Seth godin’s principles of marketing and other funda, I remembered reading a column of his about the customer feedback and did provide the same to all those services I used in India. I did receive some of the ‘Thank you’ notes from those services.

When I went to India last time, I could not notice the differences that people asked about but this time, I was apt with answers. Some of those looked sheepish when I thought about it later. Few of those here:
1. Reached B’lore and was looking at my watch to see what time zone should I set it to…(Rombave too much dhaan but I dont know why I thought so )
2. Got into a Volvo AC bus in B’lore and when the conductor asked for ‘four fifty’, I grabbed a note from my wallet and gave Rs. 10 thinking that it’s dead cheap for a Volvo AC bus like this for 4 rupees and 50 paise until
I noticed the conductor laughing for a while and said ‘Madam, four hundred and fifty rupees for 3 of u’. My friends and I couldn’t control laughter and so as the conductor
3. I was saying ‘Hi’ to everyone I see on the street, shops. People would have thought that I am some nut case
4. While riding on bike with friends at Chennai, was constantly telling them that they are not following the traffic rules and signals and they are speeding For which friends said, ‘Vaaya mooditu variya illa erakki
vitruven…Idhu US illa…’ I realised the essence later and could only laugh about it

There are so much more to come in this way….But the greatest thing on this trip is I met almost all my friends ranging from School friends, College friends and Work friends from India. And I did talk to my blogger
friend too. As always, people showed so much of hospitality which I am proud that India can only be the sole owner of that property and it just amazes me…

Will connect more in the coming blogs…