Good to see that Shammi has made his debut on our blog. Thanks, Shammi.

So, what's been happening with everybody for the past few months? Speaking for myself, I've been thoroughly enjoying the self-imposed break that I took by quitting my job in Dec. '08. I've been concentrating on my IIM-K course, helping (or impeding) Ashwin with his studies, improving my cooking, catching up on some good reading, etc. I could go on a permanent break, if circumstances would allow.

Amma had a surgery to correct a problem she's been having for several years. At her age, it takes her a lot more time to recover, so she's been resting at home after returning from the hospital. So, last week was spent in shuttling back and forth from hospital to home and sharing caretaker duties with Subodh, Sachin, Pratibha, Sahana, etc.

Recently, Ashwin introduced me to FaceBook and I created an ID for myself there. It's been a lot of fun on FaceBook over the last few days.

Ashwin's exams have been going on for a couple of weeks now. He's done pretty well in all of them. He's come a long way from the days of 8th & 9th standard when he struggled a bit in some subjects. The important thing is he's started working hard out of real interest, rather than necessity. He enjoys all the subjects, although he tends to gravitate towards Math & Science.

Sneha finished a session with Shiamak Davar's dance classes. She participated in a group performance, actually a contest among many of the class groups from across Bangalore on Sunday. Her exams have also started this week.

I had been to Sringeri for a function on Sahana's side of the family. I went alone because Sahana had been to Shimoga the previous weekend for a different function.

I have my 2nd term exams coming up towards the end of April, following which I have to go to IIM-Kozhikode for a week long in-campus session, which will kick off the second (and final) semester.

I haven't been to Mysore in months and months, thanks to my weekend classes. Mysore is my favorite escape from the hustle & bustle of Bangalore and the tension it causes, so I'm really looking forward to my next trip, whenever it happens.

OK, that's about it for now. Ciao, pip-pip & toodle-doo.

Past few days have been heart-crunching for me, to say the least. Especially, as you might know, passing away of Anna. Though he was suffering a lot for the past few months and could not respond even a tiny bit, I was glad he was alive lying on the bed with his eyes staring at me while I used to work from Mysore.

Anyway, to get to some details. He died on July 21st at about 12.45 pm just when the Thithi Oota of his mom's was getting over at my uncle's house (Madhu Kaka) which is on the same street. What a coincidence! In fact, Amma returned from Madhu Kaka's house at about 12.20 pm after doing Namaskara and getting Mantrakshate. She even placed some on Anna's head. She had the presence of mind to call 3 doctors as soon as she noticed him having difficulty in breathing. Of couse, it was all over by the time the first doctor arrived.

Well, Suma and kids reached US on July 20th at about 10 pm (7.30 am IST). We got the news July 21st at 4.30 am US time a few hours after their arrival. I immediately booked the flight and reached Mysore on 23rd afternoon by which time 12-day rituals had already begun. I joined on the 4th day. During these harrowing days, these so called great Acharyas discuss - or should I say argue - a lot about which ritual is correct and which is not. It is really fun to watch how deep they go and argue about small things.

Today Viji Mava, Nagendra and Tata's never-seen, only-known-to-Subodh-or-Vedu cousin came from Bangalore for Dharmodaka, a ritual performed on the 10th day.

Well, what do you know? This blog is NOT being used, actually :( Anyways, been off the blog for some time now, owing to work-related pressures. But, last month was fun in the sense that we had a wedding to attend. Normally, weddings in the family (however distant) happen in Bangalore so frequently that we hardly ever have to cook our own meals. But, this one was special, right? It was Guruprakash's (aka Prakash) wedding with Naganandini (aka Nandini, aka Nanz). We had been to the Var Pooja which was the day before the wedding in the evening. It was great to see all (or most of them) the cousins, nephews and nieces all dressed up. On the day of the wedding (which I took off from work), it wasn't as crowded as the day before, because it was a working day. Shammi and family (who had gone on a trip to Mangalore till then) made their first appearance at the wedding. Meeting Raghu (Shammi's cousin) and family was a pleasant surprise. Anu/Ramesh, Divya/Arvind, Prashant/Vani, Vedu/Pushpa, Vadiraj (no Anjana), Shubha (of course)/Prasanna, Neelima, Papu, Vidya, Nalini/Prakash, Vijayasimha/Malathi, the not-so-terrible twins, Sukruth, Shashank were the stars on stage. I'm, of course, modestly leaving out moi and family, Subodh & family and Sachin & family. You can view pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/swaroop.rao/Guruprakash_Wedding?authkey=su1JvZOiG1M

Well, what do you know?!! This blog is actually being used. Thanks to Pratima, Anniyan (which I assume is John) and Anu for making this happen. I'll monitor this more frequently now and definitely post more regularly.

It's been a busy couple of months for us. We went on a North India trip along with Shammi's family, covering Delhi, Fatehpur Sikri, Mathura, Agra, Haridwar, Rishikesh & Mussoorie in 9 days! We had a great time mostly, with brief episodes that left a bad taste in the mouth. Memorable moments were Taj Mahal (beautiful at sunset), views from Mussoorie, waterfalls at Mussoorie and the Ganges at Haridwar. Low points were the unholy stench and dirtiness of Fatehpur Sikri, the episode of getting cheated by our guide at the same place, the bribing episode of the ticket collector on the train ride from Haridwar to Dehradun. Photos from our trip can be found here and here.

I had been to a couple of the IPL matches here in Bangalore and boy, it was a whole boatload of fun, I can tell you. The atmosphere in the stadium is fantastic and I completely enjoyed myself, screaming, jumping, shouting, etc.

Then, there was Sneha's birthday party, which we celebrated twice; first in Sahana's absence, for her friends & classmates, and again after Sahana returned, when we celebrated Sneha's birthday together with Sohini's last Monday by going out for dinner to an Italian-Mexican restaurant.

Sahana had been on a 15-day business trip to SFO recently. Photos from her trip can be found here. Life here in Bangalore was obviously thrown out of whack due to her absence. Its a good thing that the kids had their summer vacation, else I would be in NIMHANS by now.

We'd [Sahana, Sneha & self] been to Shimoga last weekend for a munji on Sahana's side of the family. It was good fun, with a LOT of eating and enough coffee to keep me awake for a few more months non-stop! Shimoga's a nice place on the foothills of the Western ghats and the views are really nice. The outskirts are sleepy and laid-back with acres of fields, coconut / arecanut trees and the river Tunga (or its canals) visible at almost all times. The roads are plain awful, though, so you need to prepare yourself for a bone-jarring ride everytime you go out. Shimoga is centrally located if you want to do sight-seeing in Karnataka's more scenic spots like Kemmangundi, Jog, Sringeri, Agumbe, etc. which are all within 150Km distance. Photos from our trip can be found here.

Hi all,

First thing, Pratima its great news for us too that you will be coming down. I guess its your longest trip ever? It will be a big gang of tiny tots!!!

We (amma and me ) have been busy getting things ready for Divya's D day. We are almost done except for a few last minute things. Getting things done with Sukrut around has taken a toll on us!!!! Hope all you guys in B'lore will attend all ceremonies.

The quote is goooood.

Take care,
Anu

A very nice quote...

Know your body...

This time, it put organs on the feet as they are.

Typically they are shown as points and arrows to show which organ it connects to.

It is indeed correct since the nerves connected to these organs terminate here. This is covered in great details in Acupressure studies or textbooks.

God created our body so well that he thought of even this. He made us walk so that we will always be pressing these pressure points and thus keeping these organs activated at all times.

So, keep walking...

Hi Guys,
This is my first blog ever, as Pratima said we are visiting India during April, since we have to shuttle between Chennai, B'lore and Thanjavur if any of you know how to get good deals from Kingfisher Airlines please let us know.

Thanks!

Hi all,

My first blog is happy news (for us at least). We are going to India in April end and this time for 4 weeks. Yay!!!!!

I am eager to meet Sukruth, Manas and Manya, to meet Mrs.Divya, to meet Ashwin and Sneha and ofcourse to show off Priyanka and Shreya ;)

Will write more next time
Pratima

Well, my first blog was a diaster, so to speak. It went under comments next to Swaroop's blog. Please read my blog there. Watching Herbie Rides Again, an old movie. Thats all, folks!I will try to write my blog at least once a week.

Joined Sterling Commerce yesterday (Thursday, 12/21) as a Technical Architect. Should be an interesting ride. Office is near Dairy Circle, so it's a 9-10km commute one-way from Malleswaram. Took me 30 minutes in the morning (8:45am) and 1 hour in the evening (6:30pm). Next steps are to find a house/flat to move to and buy a car.

Sunday is Ajji's 2nd thithi. Hope to meet all cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces & nephews.

We (Subodh's family, Sachin/Pratibha & us) are going on a trip to Kolhapur, Rathnagiri & Mahabaleshwar on Sunday, returning the following Friday, so I'll be skipping work for the rest of the year.

This is the first post to this blog for all 416ers.