tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71330612914369553712024-02-20T10:17:06.134-08:00Me, myself and AnuAnu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-10934109053242154622011-12-14T15:23:00.000-08:002011-12-14T15:23:01.662-08:00Ma men and their genes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have always considered my son to be a relatively shrewd individual. He is quite aware of his surroundings and of the people he interacts with. Or so I thought until today morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have been growing my hair out for a while now. I donated 10 inches of it yesterday and converted from a long braid/ponytail to a bob. My hair does not even reach my shoulders now. So it is a big change if you get it. My dear son and husband came with me to the salon as they wanted to see how it was done, then when I got home with the new haircut, not a single reaction from him (V I mean). I took a shower, came down and asked if he noticed my hair cut. Zilch, nada and nothing! So I figured ok maybe kids don’t notice these things and then went about our usual routine. I fed him dinner, took him to bed. And woke him up today morning and again asked him about my hair. Nothing still. Oh well.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Then we had breakfast and I took him to daycare. I open the door hardly a crack to the Giraffes’ room and I hear in a loud voice. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Seany* asks <i>“ Heyyy..your hair is short! You cut it?”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And my son just walks oblivious to all this towards him and shows Seany* his Spiderman toy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sigh..why are all the men ONLY in my family like this???</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">*Seany is V's best friend and Spiderman buddy at daycare</span></div></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-21460892686435422242011-11-07T09:32:00.000-08:002011-11-07T09:32:50.600-08:00Ten Ways to Bring the Zing Back in your life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here is an article I wrote for this month's - Nov 2011 issue of Spark. Very often we find ourselves stuck in a rut, not sure of what we are doing, wondering if we are happy. Here are some ways that one can constantly find happiness, live tension free and enjoy every minute of a life that is so short!</span><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://www.sparkthemagazine.com/?p=2704">http://www.sparkthemagazine.com/?p=2704</a></div></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-11576404796678696322011-07-27T13:12:00.000-07:002011-07-27T13:12:29.696-07:00For the love of knives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When you see the words "<i>Uma</i>" do you say it "<i>uma</i>" or "<i>Uuma</i>"?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Do the names "<i>Kill Bill</i>", "<i>Quentin Tarantino</i>" and "<i>Hattori Hanzo</i>" ring a bell?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you have no idea what I am talking about; then I am sorry that you have spent this much time of your life not knowing about this phenomenon. Please read <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_Bill_Volume_1">this</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattori_Hanz%C5%8D">this</a> before you proceed.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was introduced to QT and to Kill Bill not too long ago and though I normally don't watch gory, blood thirsty movies, somehow this was different. Somehow I could see myself rooting for <i>The Bride</i> and wanting her to taste revenge. And the build up for the <i>Hattori Hanzo</i> sword, I wanted to hold it in my hands as much as she did.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://2.gvt0.com/vi/gzZM_e3Wu6Y/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gzZM_e3Wu6Y&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gzZM_e3Wu6Y&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/az2dSNXRKOc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i>If on your journey you should encounter God, God will be cut.</i><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was looking for steel too, Japanese Steel. So, now let us not get carried away since I am no Uuma and not out to kill any vermin, the knife I was looking for was for my kitchen. And when I felt this knife for the first time and sliced it through that carrot, I knew my search had ended and I had found the knife of my dreams. I am talking about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santoku">Santoku</a>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I am sorry that I spent these many years not knowing the feel of this and not enjoying the way it slices through almost anything {yes, be careful of your fingers}. I have always enjoyed chopping but with this new find, it takes on a new meaning and I look forward to my cutting sessions every time. There are many brands out there (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="nobr" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS388US388&biw=1600&bih=799&q=wusthof+santoku+knife&revid=1317479973&prod_ref=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPiLU7MK8nPLlXIzstMSxViDy8tLsnITwMAQewiIhgAAAA&sa=X&ei=53AwTpLmJOzKiALkudiwBg&sqi=2&ved=0CFwQ9AsoAA" style="color: #2200c1; cursor: pointer; margin-right: 10px; white-space: nowrap;">Wusthof</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="nobr" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS388US388&biw=1600&bih=799&q=shun+santoku+knife&revid=1317479973&prod_ref=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPiLU7MK8nPLlXIzstMSxViCc4ozQMAhsL86RUAAAA&sa=X&ei=53AwTpLmJOzKiALkudiwBg&sqi=2&ved=0CF0Q9AsoAQ" style="color: #2200c1; cursor: pointer; margin-right: 10px; white-space: nowrap;">Shun</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="nobr" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS388US388&biw=1600&bih=799&q=henckels+santoku+knife&revid=1317479973&prod_ref=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPiLU7MK8nPLlXIzstMSxXi8EjNS85OzSkGABx0To8ZAAAA&sa=X&ei=53AwTpLmJOzKiALkudiwBg&sqi=2&ved=0CF4Q9AsoAg" style="color: #2200c1; cursor: pointer; margin-right: 10px; white-space: nowrap;">Henckels</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="nobr" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS388US388&biw=1600&bih=799&q=chicago+cutlery+santoku+knife&revid=1317479973&prod_ref=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPiLU7MK8nPLlXIzstMSxXid87ITE5Mz1dwLi3JSS2qBACCaMA7IAAAAA&sa=X&ei=53AwTpLmJOzKiALkudiwBg&sqi=2&ved=0CF8Q9AsoAw" style="color: #2200c1; cursor: pointer; margin-right: 10px; white-space: nowrap;">Chicago Cutlery</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="nobr" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS388US388&biw=1600&bih=799&q=calphalon+santoku+knife&revid=1317479973&prod_ref=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPiLU7MK8nPLlXIzstMSxXidE7MKchIzMnPAwA2mzO5GgAAAA&sa=X&ei=53AwTpLmJOzKiALkudiwBg&sqi=2&ved=0CGAQ9AsoBA" style="color: #2200c1; cursor: pointer; margin-right: 10px; white-space: nowrap;">Calphalon</a>)</span> and many stores that carry them (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="nobr" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS388US388&biw=1600&bih=799&q=amazon+santoku+knife&revid=1317479973&prod_ref=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPiLU7MK8nPLlXIzstMS5Vic8xNrMrPU9KG0DrOpSXJ-TrhmTk5mYm5xbrB-Xn5uYk64Yk5uYlFJTohiUXpqSUAZqsZ9UQAAAA&sa=X&ei=53AwTpLmJOzKiALkudiwBg&sqi=2&ved=0CGIQ9QsoAA" style="color: #2200c1; cursor: pointer; margin-right: 10px; white-space: nowrap;">Amazon</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="nobr" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS388US388&biw=1600&bih=799&q=cutco+santoku+knife&revid=1317479973&prod_ref=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPiLU7MK8nPLlXIzstMS5VidS4tSc5X0nbMTazKz9MB83TCM3NyMhNzi3WD8_PycxN1whNzchOLSnRCEovSU0sA_fTZwkMAAAA&sa=X&ei=53AwTpLmJOzKiALkudiwBg&sqi=2&ved=0CGMQ9QsoAQ" style="color: #2200c1; cursor: pointer; margin-right: 10px; white-space: nowrap;">Cutco</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="nobr" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS388US388&biw=1600&bih=799&q=williams-sonoma+santoku+knife&revid=1317479973&prod_ref=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPiLU7MK8nPLlXIzstMS5XiD8_MyclMzC3WDc7Py89NVNJ2zE2sys_TcS4tSc7XQZPVCU_MyU0sKtEJSSxKTy0BAP5hgPZNAAAA&sa=X&ei=53AwTpLmJOzKiALkudiwBg&sqi=2&ved=0CGQQ9QsoAg" style="color: #2200c1; cursor: pointer; margin-right: 10px; white-space: nowrap;">Williams-Sonoma</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="nobr" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS388US388&biw=1600&bih=799&q=walmart+santoku+knife&revid=1317479973&prod_ref=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPiLU7MK8nPLlXIzstMS5ViD0_MyU0sKlHSdsxNrMrP03EuLUnO1wnPzMnJTMwt1g3Oz8vPTdSBqtIJSSxKTy0BANWvEK5FAAAA&sa=X&ei=53AwTpLmJOzKiALkudiwBg&sqi=2&ved=0CGUQ9QsoAw" style="color: #2200c1; cursor: pointer; margin-right: 10px; white-space: nowrap;">Walmart</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a class="nobr" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS388US388&biw=1600&bih=799&q=target+santoku+knife&revid=1317479973&prod_ref=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPiLU7MK8nPLlXIzstMS5ViC0ksSk8tUdJ2zE2sys_TcS4tSc7XCc_MyclMzC3WDc7Py89N1AlPzMlNLCrRgSgGAOd_2XhEAAAA&sa=X&ei=53AwTpLmJOzKiALkudiwBg&sqi=2&ved=0CGYQ9QsoBA" style="color: #2200c1; cursor: pointer; margin-right: 10px; white-space: nowrap;">Target</a>)</span>- go find your perfect match and don't delay any further. It will be love at first cut I assure you!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTe0VLYXJO2VBgQJiPrqiq5ASHovSgwAIYMMvb5Bs0aicFmEB4x_aYic2Umn2-sK71SJ21shzfVHDlBCNafSjTsgZN67jez6vyMk45gGXiYCPZ2YdSgbI_nSXzWB7t3Cgurizmr59j1gp/s1600/IMG_9624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTe0VLYXJO2VBgQJiPrqiq5ASHovSgwAIYMMvb5Bs0aicFmEB4x_aYic2Umn2-sK71SJ21shzfVHDlBCNafSjTsgZN67jez6vyMk45gGXiYCPZ2YdSgbI_nSXzWB7t3Cgurizmr59j1gp/s400/IMG_9624.JPG" width="266" /></span></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>PS1</i>. Do not use a glass cutting board, it will dull the knife and abruptly end your love affair.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>PS2</i>. Thank you <a href="https://www.facebook.com/people/Mayuravalli-Mukunthan/507340543">Mayuravalli Mukunthan</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=581295849">Sangeetha Seshadri</a> for showing me what I was missing all along.</span><br />
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</div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-35443617944488386952011-03-29T13:14:00.000-07:002011-03-29T13:14:24.068-07:00Band Baaja Baaraat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>March 29th 2011</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-b0MUQi9GOfrOewlwNMO8OUT8HA0AQwYI2z_hhrU0NzpgqWFVkYhhZsmMAbpeqD2Jmbzbd3G179nWhNNjRWt52q6LKtCDp-FTkMJGAvZUK1VaWRKxQIERkZL9dg-0xSxjNxcXECOgzhH/s1600/Band+Baaja+Baraat+Wallpaper+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-b0MUQi9GOfrOewlwNMO8OUT8HA0AQwYI2z_hhrU0NzpgqWFVkYhhZsmMAbpeqD2Jmbzbd3G179nWhNNjRWt52q6LKtCDp-FTkMJGAvZUK1VaWRKxQIERkZL9dg-0xSxjNxcXECOgzhH/s400/Band+Baaja+Baraat+Wallpaper+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Three words. Anushka Sharma. Ranveer Singh. Chemistry.</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now if you have not watched the movie..go watch it for the above three.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And then I will say a few more words. I enjoyed this movie and totally fell for pretty much everything in it J It is a wonderful entertainer. I loved Anushka, I liked here in Rab ne but she owned the screen here. And the costumes…sigh! Now to Mr. Bittoo Sharma. He was not bad either, especially for a newcomer, he did wonderful. The thing that really appealed to me was the crispness of the dialogues and the way these two oozed confidence. They totally were the characters they played. Very nice. And their chemistry…less said, more felt the better.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Another thing that I liked about this movie and Hindi cinema off late is the fact that they explore new settings; such as this movie set on the background of wedding planning. I thought it was a nice way to infuse a newness in the age old romance of Bollywood movies. And for me my career choice after retirement is set! </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQeHpvX1vlSKY7A8e2CZbnM4e6CZmRUV59CiDrwVg4FuMdtLe2z3u9DD2fX3owsJ8ZjPfk1NBebEfnauBXyIKdWnfwR7JFcn9nkg0aH5ny2NI8VUlWk7UH_vQIyKN_S2p4WP3zYpKxr9g/s1600/band-baaja-baaraat-wallpaper-anushka-ranveer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQeHpvX1vlSKY7A8e2CZbnM4e6CZmRUV59CiDrwVg4FuMdtLe2z3u9DD2fX3owsJ8ZjPfk1NBebEfnauBXyIKdWnfwR7JFcn9nkg0aH5ny2NI8VUlWk7UH_vQIyKN_S2p4WP3zYpKxr9g/s400/band-baaja-baaraat-wallpaper-anushka-ranveer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-28024692920434686732011-03-08T22:16:00.000-08:002011-03-08T22:18:12.187-08:00Women - Let's empower Women<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Happy Women’s day to every wonderful woman I know!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As we celebrate the 100th anniversary for this women's day- What does it mean to celebrate women on one day in a year and not do much the other 364 days, not much I say! And when we as women don’t do much to empower other women, and are in fact the cause in most cases for how society treats us..well, I am not sure where to start, so many thoughts plague my mind and I’ll try to focus on a few. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em><strong>Obsession with the Male and all things associated</strong></em></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It has never stopped bothering me how most of the society we live in still unabashedly prays/wishes and blesses a pregnant woman that she birth a male child. Not a healthy child first and foremost mind you, but a male child. I can understand why the male child was so coveted in the past – easy enough to understand. Earning member in the family, progeny, no expenses for weddings, claim to dowry, bearer of all family burdens. The son is considered the one who will take care of parents, especially as they age and succumb to needing help. But correct me if I am wrong, it is the daughter in law or the son who *actually* does the taking care part, the tending to the whims and fancies part, the raising the children part, and finally giving up her own family to accept the new family as her own from the day she steps into the house. And in today’s world, add to all of this the paycheck she also brings home. So why why why is the female child not the one who is coveted? Should she not be the one who is a boon to have and the one whom every mother prays for? And pray why is it that a lady – who is a female is the one who prays/wishes and blesses for a son and not a man doing it? Why is it a mid-wife who is again a woman again who kills the female child. Maybe because she does not want another daughter to undergo what she underwent? Beats me.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><em>Marriage, Dowry and the associated</em></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It is sad that most of our society still looks up to a lady who has borne only sons. It is sadder that they look down upon women who only have girls. And what do these women who have sons do – demand a big fat wedding from these other women who have daughters..so it is a woman to woman dealing here?! And while the son will go to any length to procure that cell phone or the bike that he wants or the romance at college that he will lie to his parents about, he will not go against his parents’ wishes being the obedient boy when they ask the girl’s parents to bear the wedding expenses. How convenient. Really? If you have not watched the movie “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101862/">Father of the Bride</a>” please do and that is the kind of worry a father should have. About the kind of love his daughter will receive, about how he is going to share her, not how he is going to afford the wedding. And to be frank what bothers most parents our generation is not even the question of affordability but the fact that it is taken for granted or assumed that they foot the bill and the groom’s parents think it is their birthright to ask for the same. Worse even is when they don’t even realize that what they are doing is wrong and in fact laud themselves personally that they don’t ask for a dowry. Really?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So it is wrong to have a grand wedding one might ask? Most definitely not. Weddings are usually once a lifetime affair and who says you should not celebrate it when those memories are with you for all your life. But how you go about it, who foots the bill and what you request vs. demand vs. own yourself will make those memories even more pleasant and will set a precedent for every member who attends your D day too.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em><strong>Women – our own enemy</strong></em></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“My husband absolutely needs variety, he will not eat what I cook for lunch at dinner, I need to make something new every time.” </span></em></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></em></div><em></em><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Yes I come from a very modern family, we both work. But I still do 80% of the household chores too. After all that is the least I can do when I am allowed to work.”</span></em></div><em></em><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“My daughter already has a daughter, I pray that at least her next one is a son.”</span></em></div><em></em><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Yeah, she is a real hi-fi type. Always wears make up and jeans. I don’t think she is family oriented at all.”</span></em></div><em></em><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">“Stop it! Don’t keep crying like a girl. Buck up and be a man!”</span></em></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If any of the above sound familiar to you, just think about how you as a woman are putting yourself down. How you are empowering the male all the more in our society. How you personally by judging other women, are your own enemy. And the sad reality is much as we think we belong to a generation that is no longer facing these issues, if we take a moment and pause and think, it might not be these but I am sure there are other similar ones that you would have experienced. It would not hurt to stop a moment and think if each of us are doing anything consciously to hinder the progress women are making or actually helping it. Are we treating our own friends, our own children and our own parents –male and female alike? A small change personally will go a long way to change the ways of the world. </span></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">PS1: I have had the good fortune to be associated with some men and women who are exceptional in putting to practice what they preach, what they want to have, being the change they want to see. This post talks about the problems that plague us in general even in this generation and these individuals through their small ways impact the world around them in more ways than they know. Hopefully we can all be one of them!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">PS2: While these touch on some issues that come to my mind, the worst undoubtedly is child sexual abuse and there it is a boon to be born a female as they are the ones in demand for trafficking, in the most pitiful sense definitely. And in most of these brothels it is other women who are the matrons who break these young minds and hearts. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">While we may not be able to change everything in a day, with our thoughts, words and deeds let us help create a better world for the women of tomorrow. It is a pledge that every woman must make so that in the next 100 years, discrimination against the fairer sex will only be seen/read in history texts. It should never be ok that women are meant to be beaten and broken and violated - be it physically or mentally. And all this in many cases by another woman. And for that to change, the women must first take note and come together.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Is it too much to hope and ask that the women in our world come together so that *<strong>female</strong>* and *<strong>girl</strong>* become synonymous for how our scriptures intended us to be - revered and respected.</em></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Things that fueled this post:</span></em></div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">This <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/110307/international-womens-day-2011-study-india">link</a> shared by Gayathri, and <a href="http://www.hindu.com/op/2011/02/20/stories/2011022054731500.htm">this</a> one by Bhargavi on Facebook.<em> </em></span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Krish Ashok in The Alternative - <a href="http://thealternative.in/articles/a-mars-look-at-venus">here</a>.</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">These books - <a href="http://anu4karthik.blogspot.com/2010/12/half-sky.html">Half the Sky</a> and <a href="http://www.threecupsoftea.com/">Three cups of Tea</a>.</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">March issue of <a href="http://www.sparkthemagazine.com/?p=1430">Spark</a>.</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://tulir.org/">Tulir</a></span></div></li>
<li><div align="justify" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Many a conversation and personal experiences.</span></div></li>
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</span></div></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-67553395339225851142011-02-17T09:58:00.000-08:002011-02-17T09:58:21.202-08:00Overdue, Yet Again!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is not uncommon for a library to have more than one copy of the same item. In fact it is expected I would think. However when you start having more than one copy of the same book (3 to be precise) in your home, you surely have a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our son loves Spiderman. If you don’t already know that, sorry to have left you behind. So anyway, he loves Spider man and he looks books..in that order. So we visit the library like 5 times a week. Every day when Appa comes home, V opens the garage door lovingly, not to welcome dad home but to ask 1) If a book Appa had requested at the library is here and has he got it? 2) If that that did not happen, then please can we wear jacket and go immediately to library to see if they have any Spiderman book? And with the rain we get here in Portland, this is an activity that we allow him to indulge in gladly. Between Amma and Appa, I agree he has made one too many visits there.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ok Ok I am getting to the point. So on Wednesday last week I got a notice that some of the books were due and I remember checking and returning all 5. Friday I saw on overdue notice for a book called “<i>Spiderman Saves the Day</i>”. I was surprised because I thought I returned it but hey my memory is not too good anyway, so I searched his pile and I found it. So I took it and returned it tsk tsking myself and reminding self to be more lenient with the Mr when he forgot to return something the next time. And then again today I get another overdue notice for the same book. I was just shocked because I began to question my eyesight, my memory and also the fact that I could not rely on myself to do anything right. And just for the heck of it, I looked in his pile of books and there was yet another “<i>Spiderman Saves the Day</i>”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And finally I got it. Our son has been grabbing multiple copies of the same book on each of his trips to the library ?? As a result I was returning the book but not THE ONE book that was due!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As I was chiding myself for not being more watchful, I see Mr.V sitting in the middle of the living room, with 2 books in front of him – Identical Winnie the Poohs. And he points to Pooh bear calling me loudly, “<i>Amma, paaru adhiliyum idhiliyum</i>”. [Amma, see Poooh bear both in this and that]. Sigh..what do I do with this kid J</span><o:p></o:p></div></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-69778869090033195082011-02-16T13:47:00.000-08:002011-02-16T13:47:19.079-08:00A Mom's World<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"></div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">Losing their night’s sleep for what seems like forever and still continuing to smile and love the *<b>being</b>* that causes it <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Reading the same story for the nth time with the exact same intonations and still feeling joy every time it is read if only to see that smile and the eyes light up!</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Giving up taking strategic projects and influential roles just so she can come home to focus on her child learning his colors and abcs.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Not knowing which date/day of the week it is because her measure of morning and night are by the teeth brushed, the mouth fed and the snuggles felt.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Only a parent can understand that *<b>color TV</b>* literally means coloring the TV for some and take pride in the fact that their child can think cognitively.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Shopping now means buying diapers, toys, puzzles and clothes always for someone else.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Going through every hour of every day imagining the joy in picking up their child from childcare, searching for eye contact, in spotting that little head bobbing amongst the many others in the playground.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Anything that does not get done in the 1 hr nap time that her child takes can wait.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Joy and Sorrow take new meaning now because they are experienced through another being, in his/her smiles or tears. Being a mom is allowing a part of you to walk out of you.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Feeling more pride in the fact that her child is potty trained than in the fact that she helps Moore's law become a reality or that Obama is visiting her workplace.</li>
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<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraph"><o:p> </o:p>Yeah I know the last part got your attention, right :P</div><div class="MsoListParagraph"><o:p></o:p></div></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-80051857186102471272010-12-09T23:36:00.000-08:002010-12-09T23:36:18.725-08:00Half the Sky<div style="text-align: justify;"><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dec 9th 2010</span></em></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Content: Strictly "A" rated, not for children or under 18.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When I initially saw this video </span><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sunitha_krishnan_tedindia.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sunitha's TED talk</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> on facebook doing the rounds, I took a look at it, felt very violated that such violence could exist, and that man is capable of doing this to a child, and thinking that such people are not human but animals. And the thing that struck me the most about the whole video was that all these victims ask for is only acceptance after all they have been through, nothing more. This was more than a few months ago.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Our local public library displays books from current best selling lists at the entrance and also loans them out for 14 days with no renewals. I have gotten off late into the habit of picking up one book at a time from there; because otherwise I feel I get into a rut of reading the same author's books until I have read every one that he/she has written; because I don't want to experiment. But after I found <em>The Millenium Series</em> like that; reading Steig's book when it was on the best seller's list I have gotten bolder. And that is how I found "<em>Half the Sky</em>". And am I glad I did, because in a way it has changed everything in my world, in my mind, in how I comprehended "<em>gender inequality</em>", "<em>being in pain</em>" and "<em>what mankind is capable of</em>".</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0cPW-snJctYtm3uJ-ZhXRdCDwkVol2bTeYm0aTkIK6f7kXI8EixjINWvB0CKdBBFEivBBWIswKwLSFrv7h2Dst0q9s6qVQeBB-WAyJ61VtUzCjFFtkWyKWwYWWiZs7rUNcEbjRsaWguoS/s1600/half_the_sky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0cPW-snJctYtm3uJ-ZhXRdCDwkVol2bTeYm0aTkIK6f7kXI8EixjINWvB0CKdBBFEivBBWIswKwLSFrv7h2Dst0q9s6qVQeBB-WAyJ61VtUzCjFFtkWyKWwYWWiZs7rUNcEbjRsaWguoS/s400/half_the_sky.jpg" width="268" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">From their website;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><em><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">" Half the Sky lays out an agenda for the world's women and three major abuses: sex trafficking and forced prostitution; gender-based violence including honor killings and mass rape; maternal mortality, which needlessly claims one woman a minute. We know there are many worthy causes competing for attention in the world. We focus on this one because this kind of oppression feels transcendent – and so does the opportunity. Outsiders can truly make a difference."</span></strong></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I will say only this much. This is not a light read but that is precisely why you should read it. The suffering these women have undergone, and the spirit with which they emerge is truly inspirational and their courage is unbelievably commendable. It puts everything in perspective and one cannot walk away untouched.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">If we each think; there are ways in how we live our everyday lives that affect how we think, how we proclaim what is important to us. Similarly the society we grow up in is hugely responsible for who we are as persons, who we are as individuals, what we accept as right or wrong. Any which way you look at it, any which society we belong to, what happened to all these women who were brave enough to share their stories and to countless more is just gut wrenching. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">So what can I/you do? No one can have all the answers. But creating awareness is a step in the right direction because if one is aware, and one starts pondering about it, you will think of ways in which a positive change can happen. All these organizations and individuals need monetary help, need government support, need our support to succeed. I believe if we put our hearts into it, our minds will find a way to incorporate into our daily lives the lessons these women have shared with their indominatable spirit and find avenues to cheer them along!</span></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-62790617771319544762010-10-31T22:44:00.000-07:002010-10-31T22:45:48.469-07:00Naan Mahaan Alla ( I am not a saint)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUkPVuIhNVkpKUdD7Ol1VUtDdHljGjjzjwaMoUJT4IoBMLMCjkXrFE3jOcICdgysmbmXPqelxizpyN-AG1VsmbI7DJyDWx_OAwI36r7TWDbWdR_7-WYe10g8hun5RdPx6PC9FPb5N9WEV/s1600/Naan-Mahaan-Alla-wallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUkPVuIhNVkpKUdD7Ol1VUtDdHljGjjzjwaMoUJT4IoBMLMCjkXrFE3jOcICdgysmbmXPqelxizpyN-AG1VsmbI7DJyDWx_OAwI36r7TWDbWdR_7-WYe10g8hun5RdPx6PC9FPb5N9WEV/s400/Naan-Mahaan-Alla-wallpaper.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Oct 31st 2010</i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I sat to watch this movie because my husband said it was good and I did not have a choice; without having a clue what it was about. The last movie I had seen of Karthik's was <i>Paiyya </i>and I was sorely disappointed. The movie I saw before that <i>Paruthiveeran</i> was so gross it made me throw up and not sleep for weeks together. So one can imagine the mind frame with which I would have started and how wrong I was.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I would classify this in the same genre as <i>Anjathey </i>, if you thought that was good, you would love this. And this movie again reinforced how much new talent Tamil cinema so proudly showcases. It is a dark thriller that keeps one glued to their seats from the first scene to the last. Nothing is what one would expect in this movie, no regular villains, no larger than life hero, however in the dumb heroine who cannot act to save her life department Kajal Agrawal is dead on! She looks cute so I let it pass. If you do not like dark movies, please skip this. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you are the kind that can watch it as a movie without getting affected then don't miss it! </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It exposes you to a kind of evil that you wish did not exist, that which you cannot control and that which you fear and hope you don't ever come across. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Karthi is great in this role. He has a casual demeanor that suits very well and the comedy scenes come naturally to him. However all the scenes between him and Kajal Agrawal can easily be passed, that would be a good time to get a snack. The people in negative roles in this movie are so menacing and convey so much without much effort that I struggle to erase them from memory. The latter part of the movie is highly engrossing and very very well crafted. Every scene is so real and the background so apt you have no trouble believing where you are. The devastating visuals of Tsunami ravaged areas are very desolate and chilling.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The climax is very apt and one thing I can assure you of - As calmly as the protagonist walks away, no viewer can walk away from this movie.</span></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-46858723844364581452010-10-06T10:35:00.000-07:002010-10-31T22:46:57.698-07:00Endhiran<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3On6gjbAY3sUZsQcLFhV9kYc2o7y2qygLdWP2okWR7Jusq3UzfHS8DJ0Pi3iT6dIGn8MbgKt27IhCmECjNobXV2hCkIdYBUkH_RGLF19fVkRmbPmwlwTu20BhzpoEpG-FG8s8wyGwSGFa/s1600/p1-bg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3On6gjbAY3sUZsQcLFhV9kYc2o7y2qygLdWP2okWR7Jusq3UzfHS8DJ0Pi3iT6dIGn8MbgKt27IhCmECjNobXV2hCkIdYBUkH_RGLF19fVkRmbPmwlwTu20BhzpoEpG-FG8s8wyGwSGFa/s400/p1-bg.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT because you can BUT because you cannot not watch it :D</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT as a movie BUT for the experience of it</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT because you are a Rajni fan BUT if you are not and you will know why you should be one</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT as a Shankar or a Rajni film BUT for the sheer magnus opum that it is. Something you have never seen before and anything you see after will only be an imitation</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT for Aishwarya’s acting BUT for how she looks. So breathtaking that if I were a machine I would fall nut over bolt in love with her too!</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT for ARR’s music BUT for his singing. He rocks </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Irumbile oru Iruthaiyum mulaithatho</span></i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT for the mediocre second half BUT for the inimitable stupendous first half that makes you thirst for more</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT for the old age romance between the lead pair BUT for the techno age romance between Chitti and Sana</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT for the scenes between Chitti V2.0 and Dr.Vasi BUT for the scenes between Chithi V1 and Vasi that question the integrity of humans</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT NOT NOT for Santhanam and Karunas BUT so surely for Rajini’s trademark comic timing brought to life in his robot role (My favorites – </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rangusky </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Who’s that Chellaatha?</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">)</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT for the exotic locales in the songs BUT for the technical perfection and seamless editing in every scene with more than one of the same character</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT for Machu Pichu BUT for the heaven showcased in </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Kadhal Annukal</span></i></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT for the choreography BUT for the grace that Aishwarya showcases so effortlessly</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT for Aishwarya’s costumes BUT for Chithi’s makeup</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT for Peter Heins and Resul Pookutty BUT for Cochin Hanifa and Sujatha - talents who are no more and are sorely missed</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT for Shankar’s famed picturization BUT for the spell bounding scenes once Chithi V2.0 is born</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Watch it NOT looking for a screenplay BUT for the genre of SCI-FI that Shankar has so absolutely successfully brought to Indian cinema</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finally watch the movie to believe that there is such a thing called FATE. A movie that two stars in their own right refused only to be taken by one who with his larger than life image fits the role to a T and rocks it like no other!</span></span></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4TuG9mAMqQnsfpyha-Rn5v3YPy6uifgYUAxH99wgA7xMoAF6_yui8A_LYbmO8R6oQyeAwDYQHTQ5fH2H9aqyy6T6mqier9fYZA5lVXRz_bQzNYUfPy800-_IeiYlajQqOXLNdGnRYgaXB/s1600/p2-bg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4TuG9mAMqQnsfpyha-Rn5v3YPy6uifgYUAxH99wgA7xMoAF6_yui8A_LYbmO8R6oQyeAwDYQHTQ5fH2H9aqyy6T6mqier9fYZA5lVXRz_bQzNYUfPy800-_IeiYlajQqOXLNdGnRYgaXB/s400/p2-bg.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></div></span></span>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-90136064248879455902010-09-28T16:59:00.000-07:002010-09-28T16:59:37.238-07:00Why facebook still rocks my world<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sept 28th 2010</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ol><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For starters, you just have to press a button and like to stay in touch, you don't even have to type or say a word, it cannot get easier than that. C'mon lets get realistic here. I know the dislike button would complete it, but one of life's important lessons is to learn to be CONTENT:)</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You can really develop yourself as a person by having conversations from mutliple people from so many walks of life, all on your wall, just in one space. Where else can you do that without conflict?</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">With the number of explict updates some people provide, it is very much like watching a real time reality show, only this time you know it is true :P</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You can find out what happened to your ex-girlfriend's ex-boyfriend too, without appearing nosy :)</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Someone for once asks you what is on your mind and really allows you to say what you want.</span></div></li>
</ol><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Let's admit it, what else is going on in your life/work that is more interesting or addictive :D</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">P.S. I am impatient to think of more 'cos I have to get back to fb :)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-37732436346522064062010-06-07T15:57:00.000-07:002010-06-07T15:57:29.182-07:00S.M.I.L.E<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>June 7th 2010</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">S.M.I.L.E - why? Because you can!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How many times has your day been cheered up by a really full smile that a stranger in the elevator gave you? Or by the co-worker that held the door open as you come running in? Or the store keeper that goes out of the way to find that one ingredient you are looking for? Or the totally cherubic smile and “Have a nice day!” by the person in the wheelchair?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And still do we smile at every person we see and return this same kindness? And if we do, are we able to do it without expecting the smile to be returned? I often can’t and feel very let down when a greeting is not returned. But seriously, I don’t get how hard it can be to just smile back, even if you have not initiated it. And then again how do I know what is in the other person's head.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Having said that, I will continue to smile even if it rains all the time here, because I continue to be cheered on by the happiness and joy that strangers bring into my life by their open greetings and easy gestures. So I request you all to smile more and often too. This is another reason you need to brush your teeth twice now, seriously!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And when you SMILE real wide, you will make another person happy. And then when I smile at that person, maybe they will smile back, and it will come a full circle :)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">"Smile, be considerate, have good manners – if that does not work, then you at least know you tried your best and you can then come to the realization that perhaps the other person is dealing with many of their own struggles. If nothing else, you brightened up that person’s day in some small way - unknown</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">"</span></span></span></span></span></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-69713667825217354292010-06-07T15:40:00.000-07:002010-06-07T15:40:26.209-07:00Angaadi Theru - Market Street<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>June 7th 2010</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;"><i><b>Aval apapdi ondrum azhagillai;</b></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><b>Avalukku yaarum yinai illai.<o:p></o:p></b></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><b>Aval appadi ondrum color illai;<o:p></o:p></b></i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><b>Aanal athu oru kurai illai.</b></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Translates to<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“ She is not that very beautiful;<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>There is none equal to her.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>She is not so very fair;<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>But there is nothing wrong with that.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The lyrics of this song not only describe the heroine in my opinion but also the whole movie and the message it tells. In this wonderful movie Vasanth Balan takes on the challenge of telling the story and plight of the sales girls and boys working in the huge multiplex stores like Saravana that have changed the face of Chennai in a way.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I don’t mean for this post to be a review as first off it has been a long time since the movie originally released. Second off it has almost been a month since I have seen it but have been able to channel some time to pen my thoughts only now. What I do want to say is if you have not seen this movie, please do if you are able to and I guarantee you will look at shopping in these multiplexes and interacting with these workers in a whole new light.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are many heart wrenching scenes and some that make you outright want to throw up at the plight of the poor; but it is a beautiful tale told in a way that reinforces the strength of the human spirit and that it will survive all odds. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“<i><b>Pasi thaan miga perum mirugam</b></i>” –“<i>Hunger is the most terrible beast</i>”; and “<i><b>Kai Kaal illamal manushan undu aanal vaay um vayarum illamal manithan unda</b></i>”- “<i>There are people without hands and legs but is there anyone without a mouth to eat or a stomach to feel hunger?</i>” These questions rankle the viewer.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am very happy that Tamil cinema has such talented and conscious directors who bring these small stories to the forefront and highlight the plight of these nobodies. From each of us customers, a cheerful smile and a thoughtful word will do a lot to bring some respite into their otherwise prison lives. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">P.S. It does not hurt to think twice when we ask for another color or another shade of a saree or a kurta or a dress, whether we really will buy it and if it involves another useless trip to the godown for these poor workers.</span></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-61215294039837224832010-05-13T14:00:00.000-07:002010-05-13T14:00:55.907-07:00Indus Ladies Spl. for Mother's Day<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Indusladies.com wishes everyone a </span></span><b><span style="color: purple;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Happy Mother's Day!</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> It provides all of us the opportunity to reflect back on the special relationship we have with our kids and/or our </span></span><span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD11" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; font-style: normal !important; font-weight: normal !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">mothers</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (Also, see our </span></span><a href="http://www.indusladies.com/forums/parenting-and-kids/" style="color: #6633ff; font: normal normal normal 10pt/normal verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Parenting & Kids</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Forum). </span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For this Mother's Day, we are doing something special. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We at Indusladies.com have been consistently amazed by the incredible talent of Mommy </span></span><span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD9" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; font-style: normal !important; font-weight: normal !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bloggers</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. If you have read even a few of them, you would be awed by how they provide expression to the emotions and sentiments that exist in the unique relationship between a mom and her kids. </span></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div></span><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="color: purple;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We want this tribe to flourish.</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> For this mother's day, we want to pay tribute to our mommy bloggers and provide them exposure to the 1 Lakh members and Facebook/Twitter fans of Indusladies.com. Even if each of thesebloggers pick up a few regular readers as a result of this, we would consider this initiative successful. </span></span></span></div></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The attached E-Bbook has a list of over </span></span><b><span style="color: purple;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">50+ Mommy Blogs and over 250+ Blog Posts</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. Please download, enjoy and share! Pick it up here </span></span><a href="http://www.indusladies.com/forums/announcements/94830-happy-mothers-day-get-our.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">e-book</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. </span></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div></span><span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD12" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; font-style: normal !important; font-weight: normal !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"><span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD12" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; font-style: normal !important; font-weight: normal !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Thank you</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. </span></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Indusladies.com Team</span></div></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><br />
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</span>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-45231113045816844172010-05-11T11:55:00.000-07:002010-05-11T14:41:33.110-07:00Customer Service - Part I<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">May 11th 2010</span></i></span></span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: normal;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><br />
</span></span></i></span></span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: normal;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">I guess we all have our customer service stories to tell. Some great and some frustrating. In the land of Uncle Sam that is renowned for the saying<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>"Customers are always right"</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and with some stores having a six month return policy with or without a receipt , we as customers always expect fair treatment and satisfaction with a product. It is also not wrong to say that sometimes this system is abused and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>"customer satisfaction"</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>sometimes becomes overrated. </span></span></i></span></span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">With the availability of 24 hour customer service and in-availability of people to work 24 hours, most of the call centers and customer service requests are routed to places in India where labor is available cheaply and smart brains and English speaking natives are an added plus. Unfortunately, all of that seems non-existent and useless when you are getting help from a human who feels more like a robot reading answers from a manual for questions that you ask. Sometimes you can even hear the sound of pages flipping, sigh!</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Scenario 1</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">I am logged in with a customer service agent from HP trying to report an issue with a laptop I purchased less than a year ago.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Good morning Anu!</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Me</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Good morning and how are you?</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Thanks for asking, how may I assist you?</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Me</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Well, my laptop is not functioning and the keys on the keyboard don't work and the battery is dead, does not get charged.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: OK, so that I understand your issue , your laptop is not functioning and the keys on the keyboard don't work and the battery is dead, does not get charged.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, serif;">After repeating more or less everything I said again and again, and me spending more than 3 hours troubleshooting with him, I finally got that idiot on the other end to understand that I cannot login because I cannot type the password because the keys on the keyboard don't work. Yeah, and I would have repeated it only about 10 times.</span></i><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Finally, success and I got him to take it in for repair.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">A week passes and I get the laptop back. It turns on, does not beep and the battery seems to have been replaced. But no receipt or order form provided that actually tells you what has been done with the laptop. And there is a small dent on the case.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">And so back I am, talking to another Agent. Trust me, they are out to kill you.</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Good morning Anu!</span><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Me</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Good morning and how are you? [</span><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, serif;">thinking to myself, please keep my morning good</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">]<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Thanks for asking, how may I assist you?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Me</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: I have gotten my laptop back, but there is a dent in the case, near the right corner and I am wondering how to get it fixed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: OK, so that I understand your issue , your laptop has a dent in the screen?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">[</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, serif;">???$$$$##%*****</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">]<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Me</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: What? DENT IN THE CASE OF THE LAPTOP<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: oh ok ok. So I understand your issue, you have a dent in your laptop case? Correct?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Me</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Yes! [</span><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Thank God for small mercies</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">]. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: M'am we are the software dept. I have to transfer you to hardware.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, serif;">After being transfered between hardware, software and technical support about 6 times, I finally got to speak to one person and we were discussing how to get it fixed, finally!</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: So we can send you a pre-paid postage box and you can mail the laptop in and they we will fix it.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Me</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Yes, but that will take a lot of time. Is there a local HP service agent that I can take this laptop to?<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Yes, that can be done too, but there may be a charge.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Me</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Why? The laptop is still under warranty, why would there be a charge?<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Yes it is under warranty, so there will be no charge. But there could be, I am just saying.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, serif;">I am almost dead by now.</span></i><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Me</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: Fine. Can you tell me where I can find a local service agent here in Portland, OR?<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: How can I tell you where the agent is, how do I know who is available where you live? I don't know where you are!<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Me</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: [</span><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, serif;">in utter disbelief]</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Are you telling me there is no way you can look up who are authorized dealers here or a HP store that can fix this issue here when I am giving you a zip code? [</span><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Thinking to myself maybe the manual does not do the search for him</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">]<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Agent</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif;">: I already told you m'am, How can I tell you where the agent is, how do I know who is available where you live?<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, serif;">And I hung up.</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-44412978408319070202010-04-29T15:34:00.000-07:002010-04-29T15:34:00.032-07:00Single Parenting<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>April 29th 2010</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As someone who has had a mother who stayed at home and a dad who worked almost round the clock but mostly from our home, I have never been alone all my life. I have not known what it is to come to a home where hot tiffin is not ready. I have not experienced what it is to have only one parent or have someone you value very much living away from you for any period of time. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With K being away due to work for the first time for a week, I am a single parent to Mr. V. What was meant to be a couple of days ended up being a WHOLE 5 days. I know it is not that long but try pausing on the 55555555 and maybe it will seem like. And while it has not been physically taxing, emotionally it has been extremely painful to say the least. It is not something I want to do anytime again.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And while I prod along waiting for him to arrive tomorrow, I have been thinking this whole week of all the single parents in this world who have so become either by choice or because of a lack of one. I have been thinking of the strength and endurance they must have to not only earn a living but to also hold the family together with no emotional support that you so unconditionally get from a good spouse. And worse still I think of the people who have had to lose someone they love and worse a child who has lost his parent and how the family would deal with that. The thought is unbearable for me, I pray for those who live that reality.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And I continue to learn lessons in humility and be in awe of the supreme and say my prayers with more fervency. And also be more thankful for what I have today and that K continues to not mind taking the trash out. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">P.S. This week's trash waits for him too.</span></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-16271948065087803522010-04-12T11:47:00.000-07:002010-04-12T11:47:29.832-07:00Race Day<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>April 11th 2010</em></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As I sit typing this, my lower body is so sore, I could use a massage right now and a bath that I will never get up from :) I am feeling parts of my leg that I did not know existed. I did it and ran my first half-marathon today. This post is a rambling of my thoughts before, during and after the race.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I dreamt today morning that I had slept through the race and did not wake up on time and as a result could not run. Great beginning I thought when I finally woke up to the sound of the alarm. The race would start at 7 am, we had to be in our spots by 6:30 am, which meant I had to leave the house by 5:45 am ( to give leeway for murphy's law). Woke up at 4:50 am and finally left at 5:50 am. The drive was beautiful. I left a sleeping V and K, to drive in the dark morning. But the weather Gods had heard my prayers and it was not going to rain. Yay! I ate the very first CLIF energy bar in my life today morning. As I drove to the race, I was mentally telling myself that this was not worth it. I had to take time off from family to do my long runs, not what I wanted to do at all. And today, I was alone physically because K was on-call and of course V could not come on his own now can he? Even when I parked and walked in, that is what I felt.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">And then bam, it hit me as I walked into the exhibit hall A. It was ginormous, like a huge conference room. And the adrenaline level was so high. I saw people young and old, fit and not so fit, all ready to race. And so many athletic people, it was just too much in a nice way. And at that minute, I was so kicked that I had decided to do this and made peace that it would all be worth it. The enthusiam was so contagious. I have felt this many times when I trained and I felt it here again too that one should have a partner. It makes it so much fun. In my case, since I trained based on V's schedule I did not want to burden anyone else with my sketchy routine and hence refrained from searching for a partner. But the next time, when I do it..it will be with someone for sure. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The race was very well organized. We had drop off areas for our stuff and a stretch routine before we started. And right at 7 am we began. I lined myself between the 11:00 min/mile and 12:00 min/mile runners/walkers. When we finally took off, to my left and right every one was overtaking me :) Even walkers and that was shameful. But I did not want to tire myself out the first mile, I was being sensible I told myself. At some points, I just looked back to make sure there were some people behind me after all!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">I timed myself and was able to do a steady 12min mile for the first 10 miles for the most part. There was water and gatorade every 2 m, which I definitely needed and almost choked trying to drink while running like I have seen on TV. I should have realised I have seen it on TV and I was not on TV! Then on, I would rest a min, drink it and then continue. I was good for about 4 miles. I did overtake a few people and that felt awesome. The route was not spectacular, but I got to see parts of Portland Downtown I have not seen so far. For that matter, K and I have not seen any of Portland yet.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">And then at around mile 4, I got this crazy idea to pick a competitor who was my pace. What can I do, I am Indian and competion runs in my blood. And I overtook her and kept going. At least it gave me something to focus. And then at mile 6, my shoelace had to come undone. My hands were so cold that I just could not tie it back again for a while. And and and she overtook me :( And that was that. I tried, but I have to admit not too hard. And she was a good 0.1m ahead of me from then on. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Something wonderful happened after mile 8. There was a huge stretch of a straight road where people ran on both sides. So you would go one way and turn out at the end and run forward in the other direction like an U. This was about 3/4 a mile each way. It was just an absolutely wonderful feeling to see so many people running. I really could feel the energy, enthusiam and good will flowing. And I thought, if humanity can give you such good vibes from such a small deed, how much more we can do if we come together for important, crucial causes? And with that thought and volunteering, I saw her again coming towards me as I continued yet to reach the turn. And we smiled at each other. And then competitor became friend and I no longer cared. Couldn't care too as my butt was being kicked royally as is :)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The last 2 miles, the last mile was especially hard. I could really sense my mind taking over my body and telling me over and over that I was not prepared to do this as the longest I had trained was for 10m. In the end, I did finish and here are the <a href="http://www.racecenter.com/results/2010/res_rh10.htm#alpha">results</a>. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Running gives you a lot of time to think. And that I did for sure today. Some things really moved me during the race, I saw at corners spouses waiting with their kids, waiting for their mother/father to show up and cheer them along. It was lovely to see that. I saw women pushing strollers and running the 10K, one lady was pushing twins and I wanted to do a god-salute to her right there. I saw determinatoin, discipline and drive in the people I ran with today. And in all the volunteers who were there at every mile marker, in between mile markers, giving water, picking up cups, cheering us along at 7 am in the cold, I saw good people who inspired me to do something more than what I currently do. I missed having my boys with me today, but I wore on my hand the watch K gave me 10 years ago and felt his support throughout. And that timed me at 2h 40 min, humpf to the chip timer!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I know I have not won an Oscar but I want to thank my family and friends for their support and encouragement. For many this might be nothing, but for a non-runner like me it is a big deal and I thank God for making this possible.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Do's</span></div><ul><li><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Invest in a good shoe. I don't mean just buy one. Go to a runner's store and check out how your feet are and what kind of arches you have and what will suit best. I did not and I regret it.</span></div></li>
<li><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Find a partner, so you will feel motivated and enjoy the process at least for the long runs.</span></div></li>
<li><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Pick paths and routes that have highs and lows, flats are boring and tough.</span></div></li>
<li><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Get some kind of a waist strap or band to hold water on your long runs, you will need it.</span></div></li>
<li><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Pick good music to use when you run, create a peppy playlist.</span></div></li>
<li><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Morning long runs are great compared to any other time of the day. Also so you won't skip it.</span></div></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Dont's</span></div><ul><li><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Pick a time in your life that is stressful and don't skip training, invest the 8 weeks or 10 weeks that you need and you will enjoy the journey more.</span></div></li>
<li><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Carry too much on the day of the race, they will have all you need, unless you want to carry energy bars and such.</span></div></li>
<li><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Pick a training program that has only running, pick a varied one so you won't be bored.</span></div></li>
</ul>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-79637138021136191292010-04-12T11:41:00.000-07:002010-04-12T11:41:52.146-07:00My First Half Marathon - And I did it !!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Race planned: <a href="http://www.race4theroses.org/" style="color: black; text-decoration: underline;">Race for the Roses</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Training Plan: <a href="http://www.marathonrookie.com/support-files/10weekhalfmarathonschedule.pdf" style="color: black; text-decoration: underline;">Marathon Rookie's Training Plan</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gear: a supportive husband, 2 old nike shoes, ipod, water bottle, variety of t-shirts and tracks :)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Week 6</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Remember to check the wind when you run, I had a bad run on Monday with the wind blowing on my face and it was hard to even do the 3 m which I did.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Was a bad week as far as runs, I was quite inconsistent. I was hoping the blog post would actually motivate me but ended up having the reverse effect.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I almost did not do my long run this week. Thanks to K I finally shoved my fat butt up and ran in the afternoon while the little one slept. I even encouraged K to catch up on some sleep :) I ran, walked, ran and died running the 10 miles. The first few miles were good but the last few were very hard. Nothing helped, not the music or the lovely weather. Only the thought of coming to V drove me, but it is over and I am dreading the 12m next week. What was I thinking when I signed up for this?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The soreness all over on Sunday, I loved it!</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Something I have realized from running the past few weeks, pick a path that has slopes, more downs than ups and you will gain your energy some every time you run down a slope. If you pick a straight path then you will feel tired as you just have to keep running and there is nothing you can use to leverage or gain momentum, contrary to my initial thought that flat areas would be better.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><u>Week's tally</u></i>: 17 miles</span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Week 7</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Was a hard 4m on Monday, my legs hurt constantly and was feeling thirsty. My knees are still sore from the 10m on Saturday, maybe I am not cut out for this?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Did 6m on Wed, was long but good. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Walked 3.5m on Thursday. Was an idiot and left my WO clothes at home and could not teach my aerobics class.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Could not run any more this weekend, so very low mile count.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">3 more weeks to go and I better be ready!</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><u>Week's tally</u></i>: 10 miles run + 3.5 m walk</span></li>
</ul><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Week 8</i></span></div></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At this point, my energy and motivation level are quite low. Mainly because I think I am a little bit disappointed in not losing any weight or inches. It would definitely have been a nice side benefit :)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And I was getting bored of just running and running. I think I should have picked a trianing program where I would be doing other stuff also.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And to top it, this damn rain in Portland just won't stop. It is a getting a bit much where the last 10 days have been rainy and the next 10 too :) in fact there is forecast of rain on the half marathon day, sigh!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br />
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u><i>Week's tally</i></u>: ~12 miles</span></li><br />
</li>
</ul><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Week 9</i></span></div></div></div><div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Energy level is high again as I am so close to finishing. I signed up for the half-marathon on March 31st.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">I did a long run of 8m this week after 2 weeks of not doing it. I actually had a lot of energy and did not need a break almost till 5 miles. Did not go further than 8m as I did not want to tire myself out the week before the big one.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><u>Week's tally</u></i>: 14-15 miles</span></li>
</ul><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Week 10</i></span></div></div><div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was a nervous wreck this week mainly because I felt I had not trained enough. The longest I had run is 10m. That left me 3 miles short of the goal. That was a lot to put on race day running high. Suppose I felt too low and could not go beyond a certain point.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I decided worst was that I would walk.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ran 3m on Monday, rested on Tuesday, 3m walk on Wednesday and Friday, and taught my aerobics class on Thursday. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rested all day Saturday..ready to run at 7 am Sunday morning.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><u>Week's tally</u></i>: 9 miles</span></li>
</ul></div></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-30575730409963881862010-03-25T13:19:00.000-07:002010-03-25T13:19:21.361-07:00Elevator Summary<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>March 25th 2010</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you have never heard of what this stands for, here is the definition given in the Urban Dictionary:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">An extremely short summary. The kind of summary that can be used when you're going up or down in an elevator, and can explain the matter during those few seconds"</span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am referring to it esp. in the context of work and workplace. The answer to the questions "<i>So what are you upto these days?</i>", "<i>Howz work going?</i>", " <i>What do you work in again?</i>" and the like. How many times have you been in the situation when you are in an elevator and one of these questions pops up and you either respond in one word saying "<i>good</i>", "<i>great</i>", <i>"yah the usual stuff</i>" or go into geek talk where you say " <i>Actually..we are dealing with this, basically to solve this problem while acidically I should just die!</i>" while mentally thinking " <i>Darn, is that the best I can do?</i>" Or you are warming up food in the microwave and as luck would have it Paul Otellini walks in to warm his Michelangelo's Pasta and he says, "<i> Hi, how are you doing? What do you do here?</i>" And you just gape at the chapattis that are warming up and are tongue tied and there goes the one opportunity to make an impression and the chance of your lifetime.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Lesson Learnt</b>: Have an elevator summary ready, you never know when you will need it.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>P.S.</i> It does not also hurt to wear good and clean underwear. You never know when, where and how you will die.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-5884567490826197472010-03-10T12:41:00.000-08:002010-03-10T12:41:56.663-08:00Passion<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>March 1st 2010</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have already written about this emotion </span><a href="http://anu4karthik.blogspot.com/2009/11/passion.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">earlier</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. But this post is focused on a different meaning of passion. It is focused on '</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'. I talk about the passion that Rancho lives by in the movie '</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">3 idiots'</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After V, watching movies is a luxury and we allowed ourselves that when we watched 3 movies back to back on 3 nights a couple of weekends ago in the wee hours of the morning as he slept. The only noteworthy one was </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Idiots"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">this</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> . A totally feel good movie that made me want some more. I fell in love despite trying not to with Rancho and his passion and zeal for what he did. I could empathize with the characters of Raju and Farhan because much as we would all like to be Ranchos the reality is that we live in the shoes of Raju and Farhan with a dash of Rancho if we are lucky :P And that is where this post is headed.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If we really think about where we are in our careers and in our lives in general, it would be a place reached with a path taken that was based on a lot of planning, analysis and practicality. The trick is in understanding how much of an ingredient '<i>passion' </i>was in that mix. If it was not, then have you learnt to be passionate about what you have ended up with? If the answer to both part a) and b) is a clear NO then I am willing to bet that you are unhappy many times and are constantly searching for ways to enrich your life. Do I sound a bit like Dr. Phil, believe me I am not trying to.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At one of the workshops at work, I came across this session I took where they asked us to take the <a href="http://www.thepassiontest.com/TPT/Home/index.cfm">Passion Test</a>. It involved writing down things that you are passionate about and would do in an ideal situation and things you are doing with your current life or situation. And wonder of wonders those who were happy were those who were doing what they were passionate about at least to some extent. If you end up with 2 different lists totally and there is no mesh between what you would ideally be doing and what you are doing everyday, how can you be happy?</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In another instance, in a career development workshop, there was a discussion about how trying to be in a place where your talents, passions and work match is key to a person being successful in his/her job. Same deal, there too.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPDw-ICtMsuu02k8TojTBzEVxq9d0O0SFas2jjXIhCZClGUsMyFMUco8ks2RkyC0_9xitaCD6c-bymrQkWu1zriSApviDjCFojYRfyeKwiOBwgqK0npee6zlJF8LSIPYPSVpK6YQgcXfY/s1600-h/3circles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPDw-ICtMsuu02k8TojTBzEVxq9d0O0SFas2jjXIhCZClGUsMyFMUco8ks2RkyC0_9xitaCD6c-bymrQkWu1zriSApviDjCFojYRfyeKwiOBwgqK0npee6zlJF8LSIPYPSVpK6YQgcXfY/s400/3circles.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And I sat there thinking..how come no one ever taught this day 1 in school or in college even for that matter. Well, if your passion is to be a snake charmer then that might need some revisiting, but even then you could try to pursue it as a hobby, right?</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">Anyway, in my own personal experience I have found that I work well when I do things I am passionate about. Even if I have to do something I don't like, I try to offset it by doing other things that I care about. So end result is that one is still happy.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">Life is too short to waste, so go on and discover your passions and try to make it happen.</span></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-15419463250937683422010-03-08T11:38:00.000-08:002010-03-08T11:38:54.125-08:00My First Half Marathon - Halfway there<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The fact that I have always craved an athletic body is no surprise, we all want to look like supermodels and fit into size 4 clothing [I don't like size 0]. If you deny, you lie! Watching Athletics and Olympics always brings an adrenaline rush like no other though that is about the maximum I watch as far as sports go barring tennis. All around me everyone was running marathons and halfs and I just kept plodding along my usual life. When the first time I got the desire to train for a half, we wanted to have a baby, and so V happened. And now that he is there I wanted to do something to feel better about my body and my activity level, something to give me a focus. And so this is the first time I am training seriously for a half. Whether I ran in the end or not, I wanted to train for one. And so it started. I want to maybe do a marathon by the time I am 30, well lets not count the chickens before they hatch.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Race planned: <a href="http://www.race4theroses.org/">Race for the Roses</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Training Plan: <a href="http://www.marathonrookie.com/support-files/10weekhalfmarathonschedule.pdf">Marathon Rookie's Training Plan</a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gear: a supportive husband, 2 old nike shoes, ipod, water bottle, variety of t-shirts and tracks :)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Week 1</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I succesfully completed my first week. The first run is very memorable and I have recorded the experience <a href="http://anu4karthik.blogspot.com/2010/02/first-3miler-for-me.html">here</a>. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Since this is the first week starting out, the motivation is very high and I look forward to each run.However I worry that I should follow through and sleep and wake up thinking of the runs.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have found in this week that I run better on the road than in the gym. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The first ten minutes are the hardest, and then there is a plateau and then I just plod again.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have run more this week than in my entire life.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Villu rocks!</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am looking forward to week 2.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><u>Week's tally</u></i>: 14 miles</span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Week 2</i></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My shoes suck and I need to get new ones.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I ran lesser distance in the same time on the treadmill than on the road but burnt more calories and felt more tired- go figure!</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have a playlist for running and like it.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I missed one run this week because we were in Seattle but made up by running more on Thursday.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I ran 4.6 miles on Thursday, and that was really really long for me :(</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If I check the weather a day or a few hours before when I plan a run, there is lesser chance of me skipping it</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Made myself a playlist of 60 fast tracks so I feel more motivated to run</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><u>Week's tally</u></i>: 10.6 miles</span></li>
</ul><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Week 3</i></span></div></div><div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Motivation level is still high, am doing my upper and lower body workouts too every day (3 times a week for each) and abs everyday</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My shoes really really really suck</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Mr got me gloves from his cleanroom to use when I run, so my hands don't feel cold.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Started teaching Aerobics again this week (after close to 3 years) and it felt absolutely absolutely wonderful , but this means I am able to run only 3 times..and am still figuring out my schedule</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><u><i>Week's tally</i></u>: 7.15 miles</span></li>
</ul></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Week 4</i></span></div></div></div><div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Motivation level is kind of ok, this week and last was able to run only 3 times. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And it rained and rained and rained all week, so all my runs were on the treadmill which were harder and so boring.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was not able to do my long runs the past two weeks due to different reasons so I was dreading the 6m this Sat, but sucked up and did it, and it was so so hard. The weather was wonderful though</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I walked maybe 0.1 m a couple of times in between but I finished it and that felt gooddd</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It sucked that I had to leave V to go run so next Sat am gonna be up early so I don't miss out being with him.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><u>Week's tally</u></i>: 15.01 miles</span></li>
</ul><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Week 5</i></span></div></div><div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I can't believe I am close to halfway there and stuck with this plan</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Annoyingly my weight has not budged, zero, zilch..arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Did only 2 good runs this week, the other two were a combination of walk/run but got to spend some time with my boys, so that counts</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My runs during the week were hard as it rained all day and how much fun can you have on the treadmill, really?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The 8m on Saturday was killing, killing, killing. But I loved my new water bottle pouch (thanks to the Mr) and the weather was beautiful. I was sore the whole day</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Going to run earlier next week so I don't miss out on too much time with V, that will make me feel tons better</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><u>Week's tally</u></i>: 18 miles</span></li>
</ul></div></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-90823461420708372302010-03-01T14:01:00.000-08:002010-03-01T14:01:04.732-08:00Foie Gras<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>March 1st 2010</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I had not heard of this until last Thursday when I received a forwarded e-mail with some information about the same. This translates into '<i>fat liver</i>' and is a delicacy that is produced by force-feeding a goose and then purposefully fattening its liver. Maybe does not sound too bad in words but made me puke my breakfast almost when I saw the picture of the poor bird with the metal tube shoved down its throat and corn fed in. I cannot erase its eyes looking into mine ever I think, so helpless and as if making a plea. You can read more </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> . </span></span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To clarify, I am not trying to advocate vegetarianism as I am not qualified and commit many crimes of my own. This e-mail only made me look a little bit deeper into how even though I am educated, I tend to take the easy way out and ignore many things as long as I am not exposed to it head on! For example, have I ever wondered how the cows whose milk I drink and the hens who eggs I eat are treated in their farms. I don't think any cow was made to be machine milked. Just mere internet browsing enlightened me that the male calves are killed or disposed off as soon as they are born and in general calves are separated from their mother as soon as they are born because the mother has to be milked. I cannot imagine that I am a consumer of this product. You can read more </span><a href="http://farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> .</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Where am I going with this, I don't know. I am thinking and need to think some more. For starters-the killer whales in Sea World used for entertainment, the animals in the circus, the granites in our homes, the diamonds on our hands, the crackers at Diwali - all gotten subjecting another to misery to bring a smile on our faces. Is it worth it? How demeaning it is to see the king of the jungle jump to the tune of the ringmaster's whip? Why blame the whale for doing what comes to it naturally - it is not called a <i>killer whale </i> so it can eat small pieces of tuna, is it?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I had to vent because I don't have answers but I hope my body follows my mind as I need to make some lifestyle changes. Easier said than done. Some things are easy to give up while some others not so much but maybe I can atone for some of the sins I commit by exploring alternatives and giving back in other ways. I hope and pray.</span></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-38997270838084210232010-02-26T14:05:00.000-08:002010-02-26T14:05:25.167-08:00V's first bad word<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #464646; line-height: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Feb 26th 2010</span></i></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #464646; line-height: 17px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">So I swear I am not responsible for this. And though K might have used this in the past, he is a model citizen/ father these days. So we were baffled when for the first time we heard V use this word. It took all of my self-control and then some more to stop myself from laughing, but I had to or this kid would catch on and then keep repeating it. But K and I wondered where he would have picked it up, and today I found out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From a tomato. Yes '</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">thakkali</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'. V says the O word that rhymes with for '</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">thakkali</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'. He kept pointing to it today and just kept on saying '*</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">kkali *kkali'</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and wanted me to feed him some. So I asked him with a straight face '</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Vrushab ku thakkali venuma?</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">' and then gave him some. And then stifled my laughter and then came here to share it with you.</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">God, I love children and the joy they bring to our lives !!!</div></span></span>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-56338095981145273242010-02-18T10:13:00.000-08:002010-02-18T10:13:46.956-08:00Why I should have stayed in graduate school<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Feb 18th 2010</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<ol><li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy less meetings.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There were no *working* hours, I worked for as long as I wanted on some days and not so much on other days.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I mostly did not keep track of vacation days.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dress-code- what is that? most days I was happy to come in after taking a shower.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We got to use words like "</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ginormous</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">", "</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ground-breaking</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">", "</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">innovative</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">", "</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">path-finding</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">" etc. to describe our research unlike just "</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Get it done or you get fired!</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">".</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We were the cool nerds who knew how to have fun.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We could actually talk about our work to others and discuss it with our colleagues without having "</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">confidential</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">" stamped all over and getting sued and also not have our ideas stolen :)</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What pay was offered in our offer letter was what we got paid, and no one took away 1/2 of it in taxes, who cares that it was peanuts..at least you got what you were promised.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Work-life balance was there because work was life, had to get that doctorate remember?</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We got to travel to cool places for conferences, and present our </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">novel</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> work and win awards, ok just one also counts :P</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We got student discounts everywhere- on airlines, amusement park tickets, restaurants, you name it and we got it!</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You had time for your interests and your passions.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Life revolved around conference deadlines and paper presentations which was not too bad coming to think of it.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">People knew you (even because you were notorious counts) and you were not a nameless face lost in this whole sea of engineers</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Most important of all, we had a kinship with our research projects and kind of owned it and defended it left, right and center only to have it torn apart and start over all again :)</span></li>
</ol><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And the reason I left, so I could for once answer the question "</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So when are you done with your PhD?</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"</span></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7133061291436955371.post-21414518363143160262010-02-17T14:53:00.000-08:002010-02-17T14:53:00.248-08:00India<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Feb 17th 2010</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"India". When I hear this word, a few hundred thoughts run in my mind and I feel a sense of longing, pride and happiness that I never experienced truly as long as I was there. Another proof to the adage "Distance makes the heart go fonder". It is quite close to a decade that I have not lived physically in the country and am more a visitor, but I live there so much more mentally than I ever have in the 20 odd years I spent in my desh.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You can take yourself away from India but you cannot take the Indian out of you. Living in the land of opportunities has its pluses, in fact I think you crave your homeland more because of the peace and ease of every day life here. If you are faced with corruption everyday and frustrated because you are dependent on people to get your things done, you are not going to be in a mindframe to appreciate the beauty or feel sorry about the deprived around you. One is going to be too focused on the umpteen personal battles to be won everyday.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As an Indian living here, I have also been asked the question many many times "So are you going to settle here or go back?". The answer to the question that I always give which is the truth too is that "I don't know, I am living one day at a time." And I say this with the full realization that that is the truth and not in any way trying to evade the question. I am not ashamed to admit that my time here has made me a more compassionate person, has truly made me explore my potential to the maximum. It is living here that I have learnt to look beyond just my home and my family and share and volunteer. But it has also made me see India for what a great country she is and appreciate the people and the diversity in which they co-exist so much more. And it has also many a time made me feel sad about how most of her wonderful treasures are just not treasured.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why now? Well, I took a recent trip to India and this caused a surge of feelings during the onward journey, my time there and some realizations when I came back. I love it here and I love it there, but I can be in only one place at a time now right? But the key is to be physically and mentally in the same place at the same time, so I am not sitting in Oregon and wanting to go shopping in pondy bazaar and eating parotta chops in Saravana Bhavan! </span></div>Anu Karthikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08362380434865315221noreply@blogger.com2