Across time zones

I've missed calling my two v good Aquarian friends back home for wishing on their birthdays, not because I didn't want to, its the time zones to be blamed..

When I remember that I should call, its somewhere in the middle of the day, and it would be too odd to call them up and wake them up from slumber. By the time I am done for the day and sleepy, the day would be over for them! So , to precisely call the person somewhere during the birthday (in GMT + 5.30 timezone), there are only two options for calling from US:

a) call on the night before the birthday, so that means, that it will be like early morning on the big bday for friends,
OR b) Wake up early to wish dear friend.

Option a) is very good, but actually requires one to remember the birthday in advance.. For folks like me, when I see the date on laptop while adjusting the speaker volume, on the right hand corner below, thats when I remember that I gotta call... However, to make it in time, MAYBE I should push my laptop date to a day ahead... That may solve the problem temporarily, with the advantage that I can say that I am ''living ahead of my times'' quite literally.

Option b) is not really implementable for the simple fact that it requires lot of effort to get up early, something like say 4-5 alarms with snooze options. Given that me and Ess both hate the sound of a morning alarm, even if it tries to wake us up with melodious bird chirps (Chee-chee-chee, chee-chee-chee), this option seems far less practical than option a).

So for now, the winner is, Option a), hands down. But wait a minute, what if I mess up the date while checking weather.com, or what if I start making my payments like one day ahead of the date required... Nah, option a) is out too.

I hope that friends across time zones will be able to appreciate that its not like I didn't want to wish, its just that - I was living one day behind your times..

Bee-ism: Its the thought that counts, but then, who does all the counting?

pic of the day

getting senti about desh-bhakti

happy repuplic day .. so easy to say when back home, and so much nostalgic when away from homeland...

anyways , the least that I've done is dedicate some 'swades' songs on http://www.desi-radio.com/

bee-ism: Wave a tricolor if u can today, doesn't matter if its made-in-china!

thought of the day

Paradigm shift

Well its true that in the US of A, kuch bhi ho sakta hai... but still what I found surprising here while shopping the other day, is, not some funny invention mind you, but something even funnier: Haldiram's cookies!!

Now back home, the word Haldiram's brings to our minds all kinds of namkeens, savories, sweet n spicy mixtures, and of course desi sweets. But Haldiram's cookies? It was like being told MacDonald's will serve McPav Bhaji! Or Taco Bell selling Dosas!

To add variety to the sack, they have put flavors like almonds, chocolate chip, cashew, and well - here comes the true Haldiram's again - two totally desi flavors - JEERA and AJWAIN !! Having been a great Haldiram's fan from ages, I am usually too tempted to try out all the new stuff they bring out. So these last two ones - the desi flavors - have a full thumbs up from Bee and Ess. Yes folks, go for it , and avoid all the firangi flavors of the cookies.

Bee-ism: With or without the drink, food and love make a good cocktail ..

Easter egg (Minesweeper)

Check out this link of an easter egg , try it out on your desktop....It works!

http://www.lifehacker.com/software/friday-fun/xp-secrets-and-easter-eggs-148323.php

Easter Eggs (Definition) - A hidden message or feature in an application.

Check the link below for XP secrets you most probably don't know:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/XPSecrets.html

Definition of friends

attitude

doors of happiness

Fav Sites

Here's a list of some of my fav sites, will keep editing the list as I find great ones:

• http://www.jenee.net/blog.html
• http://www.dccomics.com/mad/ (Mad Magazine)
• http://www.jammag.com (India's closest answer to Mad Magazine)
• http://www.lazybone.co.uk (Truly unique stuff - whether u wanna buy or not, check out their products)
• www.shopathometv.com > Shop a store HGTV > I want that (Some hilarious and downright whacky stuff , this happens only in America types]
• http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/
• http://www.wikipedia.org/

Bloggy links:

• http://youthcurry.blogspot.com/
• http://jpostcards.blogspot.com/ (For reminding me of home sweet home)
• http://sidin.blogspot.com

Movie time

So its been one long weekend and been seeing one desi movie each for all the three days..

Hanuman (Animated) is the best of the lot, with a very cute baby hanuman.

Also watched the long time ago released 'Ramji london-wale', it was actually a pleasant surprise to see a feel good Hindi movie after so long!

The third which would surely put anyone's patience to test is the Vivek Oberoi starrer 'Kyon, Ho gaya Na'; firstly because of the tooo long duration and secondly, because one is left confused till the end what exactly does the hero want! But then, Bollywood is like that. At least this one didn't have unnecessary violence and stuff. The music was the only saving grace of this one..

So then, its three days gone away like three hours.. Again a big wait for Ess till Friday :-(

Bee-ism: Nothing is more important than happiness, and the chance to share it with the one u love

One day long ago

One day in a radio studio

So there's a totally different experience I've had, this country never fails to surprise me!

So I visited this desi Radio station's office, and guess what, there seemed to be a total of 2.5 people running the show! (2 full time and one part-time)

Also did auditioning for a radio ad, and came out right in the 2.5th time (first time - pronounciation needed to be changed + I was too soft spoken, second time - I went half way and corrected myself again, so the next one was a good take then). I think not bad considering that it was my first time in a radio studio!

Next: learnt to edit radio ads and do stuff like mix music, boost voice, etc. Interesting stuff actually. Lo and behold, I got to practice on my own voice, and had the broadcast-worthy ad ready!

Also learnt during the day how to edit playlists and keep them going even when no-one is present at the radio station. Basically the station's on 24 by 7, and is broadcast from NY, and heard even on Worldspace in countries like Kenya it seems.

So far so good.. So, the understanding was: if I like this stuff, I would have to continue this way as long as I wanted. Only one catch though, why had to leave this , it was way too far from the Bee N Ess-den, took like 3 hours to reach and similar time back! Phew! Mumbai was better , there used to be lesser commute!

To add to this, there was this guy who was a broadcaster for one particular regional show, and who also runs his own TV channel it seems. He asked if I wanted to act in his channel! Never thought of that ..Funny..

Hmm..so I am back to enjoying the break then, and am convinced that one day, given the resources, me n Ess can confidently run a niche radio station! Maybe Ess will be the DJ then or rather, RJ .......

As someone said - if music be the food of love, play on..

pic of the day

hello world

Fasting

While debating with Ess about the benefits of fasting, I have done my own little search on the topic.. Here is some info worth my two-pence:

Definition of fasting:

Fasting is voluntarily not eating food for varying lengths of time. Fasting is used as a medical therapy for many conditions. It is also a spiritual practice in many religions.

Longetivity: Apparently, long lived cultures like Tarahumara Indians of Mexico and Abkhazian of Russian lived on low calorie diet and fasted 1-2 days out of the week and lived to be on average 100-110 years old!

Reverence for food: “There is nothing routine about eating after a fast. Each meal is a celebration. After fasting, you tend to be very conscious about what you are eating, and why. Fasting heightens your awareness, as well as your appreciation for food. By fasting, we learn to eat with reverence. " (Anon)

Efficiency: In Plato's words, "I fast for greater physical and mental efficiency".

Medicinal benefits: Benjamin Franklin - "The best of all medicines are rest and fasting"

Paracelsus, another great healer in the Western tradition, wrote 500 years ago that "fasting is the greatest remedy, the physician within."

More gyan on fasting:

The ancient Greeks fasted for health and longevity, and were known for their robust physical health. Galen, Paracelsus and Hippocrates, who are recognized as the founding fathers of Western medicine, prescribed and practiced fasting for all serious ailments. Pythagoras required his students to fast for 40 days to purify body and mind prior to receiving his highest teachings. Plato and Aristotle, whose thought forms the very warp and woof of Western philosophy, fasted regularly to enhance physical health and stimulate mental powers.

Besides these benefits, there are spiritual benefits too as guidelined in most religions.

One school of thought is that fasting is not starvation, but rather the body's burning of stored energy. Starvation occurs when the body no longer has any stored energy and begins using essential tissues such as organs for an energy source.

One sure thing is : Plenty of water should be taken by fasters since dehydration can occur.

Types: There are lots of fasts : water fasts, juice fasts, power fasts, and even believe it or not, an air-fast, the most stringent it seems. Hmm... so any of these should be done only after an ok from the doctor and under supervision from a guide experienced in conducting these kinds of fasts..

Pic of the day

Wisdom gained

Its an amazing thing to suddenly have a wisdom tooth come out from nowwhere! Its like, where was it so long? I got this sometime last month, and it took a few days to get used to eating n all, with the new chewing participant. Its difficult and also funny to try and get this new tooth 'cleaned' up. But anyways, now we have 'grown' on each other...Got used to it finally.

While trying to find info on wisdom tooth on the net, most of the sites suggest a removal of the wisdom tooth... Hmm, I am sure they put they put that up for dentists to make more moolah out of it.

Another fact that comes to light is, this tooth is supposed to appear either during teens or upto the age of 25. So I am glad that this is actually a flattering thing that though my age is more, I can suddenly feel like I am on the right side of 20's! Yipee!!

When I mentioned to Mom that I got wisdom tooth, she said that I became wise because I got married it seems! So that means that all credit to Ess? No no, I became wise myself, like some enlightenment or something... :-)

http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/wisdomtooth/ has some general gyan on wisdom teeth..

Bee-ism: There is no unit of measurement for wisdom. Is that why wisdom is relative?

Instant world

Happened to go this weekend to a temple near a friend's place. The most surprising find out there was a book in the temple's bookshop 'Learn to speak Sanskrit in 10 days'.

Well, I see in this country that literally everything is available instant. If Instant noodles and soup was not enough, there is instant pastries, instant laundry, instant whatever... So with this new ínstant fever that we newcomers face, I have begun my quest to learn this ancient holy language in a jiffy.

I am on Day 1 of the lessons today, so far so good. Lets see how it goes. Even if it takes me more than 10 days, I am ok since there is no ''exam'' or something ...

Cheers to folks who come out with such things!

Bee-ism: Better now than never, better instantly than forever...

PS: Discovered this online Sanskrti to English (and vice versa) dictionary, something similar to Google Language tools, check it out: http://spokensanskrit.de

Pic of the day

Seasons of life

Well...its winter now - its cold everywhere, sometimes snows, sometimes rains, sometimes its just sunny.

Then's gonna be the spring - color and cheer everywhere...

Of course summer then - with its warmth and longer sunnier days...

Fall then - with the trees shedding their covers.

One can draw analogy to life right here.. we all have our own winters, our own springs, our own summers. Only most of us forget that life is nothing but a change of seasons, so to make the most of every season, all we need is to be dressed appropriately and welcome that particular season that we keep ourselves warm and comforted inside.. I wish someone had pointed out these seasonal pattern in real life earlier. I can see it now that I am in the warmest of times.. Better now than never though....

Bee-ism: Life's seasons are not as distinguished as the seasons in nature, just requires a discerning eye to figure out this pattern, and then - Hakuna - matata (as the Lion king said)!

The Big break - literally

Having worked right after college until sometime in October 05, this has been my biggest ''break" so to say, being in a state of unemployment now from about more than 2 months. Ess is kind of neutral towards the whole thing... and now, the Lazy monster in me is threatening to rule the rest of my days; not that it never ruled earlier...

Well, so to answer a lot of people's curiosities...here's a sample list of things that I do currently on weekdays, when most of you are slogging away at your respective projects in offices...this isn't exhaustive though:

1. Obviously - Blogging
2. Watch TV
3. Watch Movies - Foreign or otherwise
4. Go for shopping
5. Set up and maintain house
6. Chat with old time friends, my solo companion Mr Laptop giving me company all the time..
7. Surf randomly, in the hope for a really useful website... for example: Today's good finds are - http://www.fanstory.com/ and http://www.funnewjersey.com
8. Chat on phone - all possible folks whom I know in this country
9. Listen to music downloaded by Ess (yep he's got a good taste, definitely better than mine) and also to his iPod
10. Stare out of the window (yes sometimes as a break from break, you know)

So folks... this is my version of the fine art of doing nothing in this big break that I am enjoying currently. Suggestions welcome from you readers..

Bee-ism: Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Oops, lets finish off unfinished tasks rightaway..

Its already Oh-6

So as we are welcoming the year '06, getting back to our routines, back from vacations, back to computers, back from warm and happy times, let us hope that the new year brings lotsa wonderful things to all of us... especially good health and happiness in all we do..

There is something wonderful about spending new year's with folks you care and love - close friends and family. It somehow sets a very positive tone for the new year.. One crazy thing folks in and around New york should try out (we did thats why suggesting): Sit on the party bike going around in Times square, its the orange colored mutli-cycle where 5-6 people can sit at a time, the guy who controls it (Paul) is awesome, brakes at the right time, makes people sing, and makes the whole trip of 20 minutes more fun than any amusement park can provide...

So.... cheers to Oh-6 then!