some hindu philosophy, sambar salsa , some recipes..

When Iam down and sad I keep myself so busy that I dont have time to feel sad..vinays death definetely made me realise how transient life is..it brought back my dads leukemia struggles, sad memories..and most people dont realise but once u have a close relative or close friend go through cancer and you see their pain, it changes ur life forever..u cannot escape from a lot of those memories..Iam sure vinays wife Rashmi and sameers wife Reena are going through the same pain I went through for my dad..my heart goes for these two young brides..My only advice for them would be to keep themselves so busy that they dont have time to remember the pain because how much ever u try to forget those memories they never go away...
So I decided today to go for a discussion on hindu philosophy and Gita..
Iam not deeply religious but I like to call myself spiritual human being who likes peace, hates arguing and may be being a libran like all october born libran I like simplicity and serenity in life..
I compromise, understand my limitations and simplify my life whereever I can..last few years Iam trying to lead a life of minimum expectations and it is helping me a lot..I prefer simplified hindu philosophy and I read Herman Hesses siddartha many times, that book makes me take it easy in life..
Todays talk and discussion was nice..The speaker was very good , knew what he was talking about, recited sanskrit verses with a perfect clarity that you felt peace in his voice.. he had simplified philosophy and gave lovely examples like these
-surya helps us see the world by shining his light on all creatures alike.Our eyes are little suryas so we need to shine light on all creatures and love them.
-God is like fire, you go closer to fire you feel the warmth, if u choose not to go closer to fire or God, you are away from warmth or gods love..god shines equally on everyone..only thing is those who stand closer to him might benefit the warmth of him more just by the choice of being in his proximity.
-we need to give our children spiritual education continously in every day living. It could come out as stories that grannys tell us or it could be early on religious or spiritual education to inculcate good values in them. It is like a school curriculum..kids need to go through a spiritual curriculum too at home, otherwise u cannot teach them suddenly to be religious (I agree to that, I hope I can give my children some spiritual education if not religious education).
-rebirth happens until ignorance is gone.Ignorance will only go away when you have jnana of how to be a better human being. bhakti, karma , jnana are all important. when a spirit or human soul becomes pure it merges with the universal spirit.
- A man or woman with spiritual education can never do bad or say anything bad..
- Like in christainity ,the speaker said hindu couples also should be given or should attend a course on marriage, essential duties of man and woman in a marriage (I would definetely take the speakers course when I find my guy and get married, I strongly believe in this education as most of us who dont have time to think about marriage or understand the intricacies of what keeps marriages surviving should attend a course. I also believe that in real marriages u dont have to work hard on a marriage, if compatible people marry they dont have to work hard at a marriage).
that is the summary of todays talk and discussion I attended. I hope I can attend more talks like this one.. sometimes we all forget in this race and todays materialistic world that there is something more to life than work, partying, dressing up and those artificial conversations...
what else..
I saw this interesting movie called sambar salsa tonite..
A punjabi man and a south indian brahmin woman married together..their london son wanting to marry a spanish girl..all culture clashes..very interesting ....rishi kapoor is in this movie...mother becoming possessive of losing her son...very interesting..I dont know why there is culture clash as I have friends from all cultures and I get along great with everyone..most of my clashes are bec. people are out of my league or bec. nature is different from mine but I never had problems because someone is south indian or north indian..
My own cousin who is ofcourse a southindian brahmin like me married a punjabi girl from london and they are happily married for 5years now..my mama and mami love their punjabi daughter in law a lot...I never met her as Iam always here in US when they come for vacation to India but all my relatives adore her and all her relatives and adore my cousin..
so sambar salsa for me was an interesting movie..I dont if all that was due to culture clash or because of insecurities of women... I feel like in any relationship if each person keeps their own world independent of their wives, husbands, sons, daughters probably there wont be that much clash..I wouldnt want my hubby to give up his life or friends or hobbies for me..because that would keep him happy..same here too I dont think i would give up reading books or things I do to keep me happy and smiling..a little freedom and independence and space people give for each other goes a long way and avoids clashing and being too possessive.. on a whole an interesting movie about cross culture relationships..
today I made a sweet dish for the discussion I went to as everyone is supposed to get a snack..
my sweet dish is fruit salad : one can of fat free cream cheese, one can of condensed sweetened milk- mix them in a mixer. then add grated pinnapple, tropical fruits, raisins, canned peeled oranges and sliced almonds..this makes one delicious fat free fruit salad . everyone loved it.
An aunty made a salad which was yummy .I asked her the recipe..she grated lettuce, carrots,cabbage,carrots, green pepper, added lemon and salt to it..it was yummy and spicy..
what else..
this week I had dinner with my friends 70 year old mom and her 80 year old friend all americans..it was very interesting to converse with them..such independent women who have a hard time just getting up from a chair yet drive and keep fighting with life..sometimes independence of american women is amazing and inspiring...
I have a headache tonite...Iam tired after a long drive..
I want to do some crosswords for fun, read some vikram seths poems or some novel, have a glass of warm milk and sleep like a baby..
so much to do from tomorrow as usual tiring busy week at work..glad it is going to be a long weekend..

last two weeks...

sometimes there are some weeks which change your life, make you stop doing what u are doing and think..
last two weeks were such weeks for me..
jan 3rd 2005 a morning call from brother in law from India telling me my dad was diagnosed with leukemia on dec 31st 2004 and that he is in hospital..until then I never thought of cancers that much though routinely at work I worked on a lot of cancer drug screens..I was shocked for a couple of hrs trying to read on leukemia, then the next couple of hrs was crying, then as my friends were packing my bags for my india trip the following day I walked around work trying to wind up things like a zombie, lost and tired and did not eat anything as I got on the plane..I kept crying and praying through out my trip..It was gut wrenching, so painful I cannot put it in words..next 10 months I slept in cancer hospitals every day living in the fear of losing my dad, every nite fearing that that will be the last conversation I will have with my dad..
more than all that it was terrible pain to see the man you loved the most in this world suffer , with needles poked in his body all the time it was so painful I could not eat, sleep for the next ten months..And we got him treated at 3 best hospitals in India and nothing was helping him get cured..And me and my sis decided not to tell my dad that he relapsed and told him that he is almost cured. so it was also eight months of hiding this information from my parents, smiling bravely and laughing with him and coming out of his hospital room and crying like hell..I realised it is just so hard to hide the truth, but we did not have courage to tell my optimistic dad that the disease is not going away from him..Doctors told us that my dad will not live for more than 2 weeks and he survived ten months after that because he was in good spirits thinking that he was cured of the disease..it was a miracle he survived that long..
In those ten months too since doctors told us he had 2 weeks to live, he wanted to see my marriage so I got engaged to my dads doctor in US who was an oncologist, who fell in love with me it seems who told me he never saw a girl who is so dedicated to her family and never met anyone as nice as me. I didnot know the man but that moment I was in too much pain of losing my dad , the man I loved the most in my life that I decided to do anything to cheer him up including marrying a stranger..thank God I broke the engagement later as the guys family greedily asked us for dowry and to split property even before my dad passed away which was so uncultured of them..they wanted diamonds and gifts and a jazzy wedding while I was sleeping in hospitals and my dad was dying..I just could not take that anymore and canceled the wedding and Iam so glad in that sadness I was sensible not to marry that man and his family who were so greedy and insensitive...but I did make a mistake of getting engaged which I should not have but I was not in my senses that time and just the fear of losing my dad in two weeks was hitting me so hard that I would do anything to make my dad smile in those 2 weeks..
but in those ten months I and saw so much pain that till today I still have nightmares and I wake up thinking that my dad is bleeding to death and he needs platelets..
since my dad passed away from leukemia and stories of people with leukemia hits me hard and makes me cry...
when I heard about sameer and vinay I thought that they will make it as they are young and not old like my dad..I ran 3 bone marrow drives in indianapolis for them..I was so glad when they found matches..
when sameer passed away I mourned for him though I didnot know him at all for a sad young death..
Last week I learnt from a leukemia blog that another prof. relapsed after bonemarrow transplant..
this week vinay passed away of leukemia..I cried..my hope lost..I just started feeling that may be there is no hope for leukemia patients..I cried for a couple of days..
then It changed my life. I just decided instead of running bone marrow drives, as a scientist why am I not working on leukemia..so I talked to my boss, though right now we have lot of projects in hand , iam trying to see if we can work on leukemia, help develop a high throughput screen for it and help screen thousands of cmpds..who knows may be a cure will come...
I keep thinking of quitting science often as I see myself getting tired and having less and less stamina but then it is people like vinay and sameer who keep inspiring me..there are some weeks which truly change the way you think about life..
I also realise that my dad, sameer, vinay were all overworking individuals and I think sometimes we have no right to overwork and stress our bodies beyond redemption...Life is not all about being very successful or going up the ladder...
may be not postpone other things in life too...marriage , kids, family life etc., life is so full of uncertainities...may be we need to learn lessons from those people and make time for other things in life, slow down, take care of our health and bodies, enjoy little things in life, settle down..
my dads leukemia changed my life..vinay and sameers lives are changing others lives too...
what else..
I spent the week going slogging, working hard as usual on drug screens for various diseases..did go to a baseball game as a part of work team building activity..saturday I volunteered at the temple at the kitchen...went for a picnic for an hour, walked around broad ripple cute shopping area for an hour with a girlfriend talking about obama..came home exhausted , did a couple of cross word puzzles, read a lil bit and crashed..
sunday phone calls to home, then a three hour discussion on hindu philosophy and Gita I want to go this evening ( yap Iam trying to get into some spirituality these days)..then laundry , chores, cooking to do..
weekend is gone...
books Iam reading right now..same as last time..
punjabi century, audacity of hope, revolutionary wealth, my revolutions..
movies I saw
mangal pandey (aamir khan 1850s movie very interesting)
music I listened to
talaash songs, phir bhi dil hi hindustani movie songs
good food I ate
punjabi khana, south indian food.
news that interested me
obama hillary make up...a new cure for migraines with a instrument that desparks the brain electric impulses...a new invention that lets u device ur own cloud..no Iam not kidding about this one..it is in yahoo headlines today..
week looks hectic too..but glad it is a long weekend..
After two sad weeks Iam looking forward to some much needed good news..some optimistic news hopefully..

scientists world..

One of my writer brother D is writing a novel which is a science fiction..
D wrote to me today..."Madhavi, One thing I have been curious to ask you about is what kind of scientist projects you work on on a daily or monthly basis at work. I would be interested to know. Also, I am going to include some short chapters in my novel from scientist point of view. And how do scientists think and what do they think most of the time. this would help me write my novel"
hmm..
Last year I recommended a friend of mine to come to our group to work and said it is exciting productive scientific job where u get to work with cool hitech robots, u get a design high throughput drug screens and get a chance to figure out which is the right drug for a disease which ultimately goes to animal and human trials based on screens we design and do..so my friend who worked in our company for 15years and way senior to me came to my group, got a job in my group and accepted the job. I was happy for him..within two weeks one day he comes to my cubicle area and tells me he cannot deal with the job, pressure is too much and he wants to quit..I freaked out and felt bad that I recommended him to come and take this job and he left his old job for this one...I felt terrible..I told him to give it another month and told him that it is overwhelming the first few weeks but once u get used to the job it is exciting and productive fun..
After two months my friend told me he loves his job..it just took him time to get used to the pressure..I heard a lot of girlfriends tell me that my job is such a high pressure job that they can never do it..
so reality is my job is a high pressure schedule driven job..some 5o people wait for data for every project I work on..And if u are 15 minutes late in sending data people keep on calling...they all are waiting for the data until I analyse,summarise and send it to them..so u understand..even if Iam sick I have to go, if I dont go the job piles up and it is nonstop..And u have to multitask working on multiple projects at one time..sometimes I had ten projects I was working on at one time..and since fda inspections happen , u get audited for ur work, u need to be very very careful...thousands of numbers and yet every number is important..
It takes 10-15 years to find a drug for a disease, so the stakes are high..and there are patients hundreds of them waiting desperately for a cure..so u never know among thousands of cmpds u test which one is the miracle one..so u need to look at everyone of those thousands carefully...and if u look at 50,000 cmpds u might find one miracle drug..so u know the chances..so if u find that right one, that is the most rewarding experience, helping 150-200 million patients for each disease...
one great thing about my job is I get to work on all kinds of diseases and not limited to one..cancers, neurological disorders, musculoskeletal disorders,pain, infections...so many of them...personally after my dad had leukemia and passed away working on diseases started meaning a lot more to me..because I know how desperately I wanted a drug that would cure and save my dad..so my job that is very productive very rewarding despite lot of hard work and high pressure..
scientist job is also rational, discovering truths, discovering ur own body and its working...it is fascinating..
best part about my job are the robots, I love working with hitech gadjets and enjoy it thoroughly...and the new technologies I use costing millions of dollars is an amazing opportunity my job gives me...
my goal in my life is to lead to discovery of 2-3 breakthrough drugs and I will quit science then..some of my projects on cancer, musculoskeletal disorders are in human trials so Iam close to fulfilling my dream of finding cure for 100 million patients and quitting science for good..
then I want to write, read, have a big family with whole bunch of kids, cook ,settle as a proper wife and spend a lot of time with family...who knows it might happen in a year or two...
so how did my job change me..
In my personal life Iam opposite to what my job is..I am not schedule driven at all in my personal life, I take it easy most of the time, I relax a lot...while when Iam at work Iam totally schedule driven, always on time for everything, very strict so strict that my boss tells me Iam sometimes a perfectionist.. Iam more responsible at work than Iam at home though in general I am a responsible person even at home but at work since there are millions of patients involved...Iam more social in my job than Iam in real life I talk to guys at work a lot more in my personal life I barely talk to guys, may be because people at work are like brothers to me and it is easy to talk science than personal stuff with guys....Iam more open and more argumentative in my job than in real life where I hate arguing, at work if I see a scientific point I dont care and I argue but in real life I compromise and dont like to fight or argue..And at work Iam very rational, answer to the point,analytical but in my personal life Iam irrational,go with my heart whatever it tells me to do, Iam very romantic, soft and cry so often seing anything sad and so idealistic and not at all practical...so being a scientist makes me think differently definetely...and my real self is like that girl in movie bommarillu or santosh sivanandan, totally bubbly, non stop talker , effusive and all shy and all emotional but at work Iam so so different , Iam more balanced, more matured, so rational...I dont know how and why I change but all my scientist life I was always like that when Iam at work , but when Iam home I am a slightly different person...
I love art literature creativity so much that my scientist job doesnot give me an opportunity for all that...there is no art, creativity or linguistic beauty in science...I miss that..science is truth, brutal honest rational and Iam that too when Iam at work...so my scientific language is not floral, it is answer to the point, more analytical , so rational..though personally when Iam writing or blogging Iam all verbose, nonstop talker liking long sentences and long conversations...
so being a scientist makes me think differently making me use different part of my brain when Iam at work..
And what do scientist think all the time..I dont know about others..but when iam at work i think science when iam home I dont think of work..I used to work 7 day weeks before now I dont ..I just do a 9-5 fiveday week job...and when iam not working I dont think of science at all.. family, friends , hobbies, cooking, books and reading, movies, music, travel,volunteering take my thoughts..I like to give myself a break, go into other worlds and cannot be madame curie...Iam like any other ordinary girl once I come home, I forget Iam a scientist after 6pm in the evening until 8am next morning..thats me...
so that sums my scientific and nonscientific life..
I did not write to my friend a reply as yet..
but I doubt my scientist story would make it interesting for my friend to shape his novel character around me...
its just monday but i feel like the week is already long dont know why..may be it is me all nostalgic, missing home,family, soulmate, kids etc.,
weather makes it easy on me..Iam all wearing all my lovely spring skirts which make me feel so lighthearted...sunny warm weather is my kinda weather...
Iam going to a baseball game as a part of team building effort day after tomorrow so should be interesting..
weekend looks good with a picnic, discussions on bhagawad gita, some writing, reading, lots of indian and english movies to see..
And hopefully lots of sleep and some great food to eat...and hopefully some sweet dreams of special somene god knows where he is who he is...

madame curie...this and that..

more from the arts festival..very unique work.. the first two pieces of art work are made by women artists and the last piece is by a male artist scott...

u can see the difference between male and female artists..

what else..

I was asked to campaign for obama by a friend but had no energy to go...I didnot ...may be the next couple of weeks..

this years election is very interesting one..Iam still waiting for obama vp..I dont mind hillary...

what else interested me..

I saw this lovely movie this weekend " Madame Curie"

It was the most interesting movie I saw in a long long time..It was a cute love story too..the way piere curie proposed to Madame curie..a total scientist way..love in those days when only men were smart and women were not considered to do science...And it was amazing how hard they worked to isolate radium..their discoveries..amazing couple..sadly curie died young leaving madame curie alone..both one noble prize..even their daughter won noble prize..till today their children and great grandchildren all are professors, researchers in physics etc., whole generation of curie population all scientists and intellectuals..amazing family tree..

on the whole madame curie was a very well made movie...

I can never be like madame curie though.. I dont want to ever marry a scientist....when I come home I dont want to talk science..I prefer an engineer..someone who does something different from me..variety makes life more interesting..

but an inspiring movie..

I also saw travelogues..one of them was a cruise video of all sea cruises all over the world..americas, europe etc., alaska was breathtaking, europe was beautiful..seas scare me but I love to watch travel videos..I also saw travel videos of europe, asia, middle east...rome, istanbul impressed me the most..france too..I like reading james michenors novels..they are like travelogues but novels well researched about new places and cultures..my dad loved reading james michenors books so much that I burnt my dads body with james michenors book under his head...we both love reading..I never understood why my dad loved michener, history..older I get now I understand very well why he loved, he loved traveling but never could so he probably was happy reading travelogues..Iam becoming like my dad too though iam a lil luckier than him..I had an opportunity to travel a lot..wish my dad did..wish he lived longer and wish I had an opportunity to take him all over the world..

what else..

I did a lot of crosswords this week..I am not good at it..but I love word games, scrabble...my ideal date would be to watch some nice intellectual movie at home eating spicy indian food and play scrabble while we eat dessert..

what else..

my weekend didnot go as planned..I skipped both the parties I was supposed to go...

I had terrible stomach cramps so decided to give my tired body rest ..sometimes I dont even realise how tired my body is most of the days I forget Iam a woman too...13 years of working nonstop has its effects..weekdays I tell myself I need to find cure for diseases affecting so many people, I saw my dad desperately waiting for a right leukemia drug and I see so many more faces with different diseases suffering and I feel that as a scientist I need to work to find cures for atleast some diseases having the fortune of working in top ten pharma in US....weekends I tell myself I need to do something for the community and not work hard all for myself and I volunteer and help...and then weekend slips away the rest of the time as I need to do chores from grocery to cooking to laundry..and when I go to India for vacation I feel guilty that I didnot do my responsibilities to my family or our schools and I try to make up for all that I missed in those twenty days I stay in India..so when Iam on vacation in India I barely have time for meals, sleep 4hrs a day, travel, always rushing from one business deal to another..I come back from my vacation to India exhausted....There goes my life trying to balance life in two countries last 13 years..a typical working girls life..

this weekend I spent sometime thinking how fast life goes by..13 years in US..it almost seems like it was yesterday I came..I was in my early 20's when I came here to US..I dont even know how time passed, I was too busy surviving and working to think that much about soulmate, marriage ,kids and other things in life..the world was racing, I was racing with it without even realising where I was racing..may be it is time to slow down this race..

so I stayed home saturday with my stomach cramps and slept most of the day taking tylenol for cramps..And made the best by watching movies and documentaries..today when I had energy I went to Indian store and rented some 40 movies..yes 40 indian movies..the guy rents me movies for a dollar and lets me keep for 3 -4 months..so 40 indian movies for the next 3 months..old raj kapoor classics to 1980s movies to 1990s and 2008 movies..enough to make me feel less homesick and diverted..

sometimes I hear people saying they dont want to see any more Indian movies in US and they came to escape from Indianness here in US..but to me it is the opposite..when I am here in US I watch all indian movies and love indian things..when Iam in India I listen to tons of country music, english songs, seinfeld and english movies..I cannot live without both countries India and US..I love both equally...cannot part with both..I neither belong there in India completely nor belong here in US completely but it is the incompletes in both countries that completes me I guess..

Iam all nostalgic and home sick...may be Iam missing my soulmate and family..God knows where he is..dont I wish he appears like a allaudin genei from nowhere and sweeps me off my feet.. wishful thinking..

I heard this movie song from talaash which was haunting..but when I saw the song I have to say it was the most sensual song with so much longing in emotion..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2RGRK_IVZo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2RGRK_IVZo

finally friday is here..

lovely sunset from my 12th floor apartment balcony...lil lil crazy things I collected for my living room..stones with words written on them "humility, love, integrity, courage", then four marble chinese scribblings a friend of mine gifted me which have words "tranquility,wisdom, love and harmony" written on them and this sculpture I bought at the art festival that reads" A memory within" a palm holding a beautiful face...reminding me everyday to be all these things...

finally spring is here..me in an bright orange indian skirt with such lovely work on it..and me in a chinese gown my friend bought me from china which has literally no neck lining..not one single thread or stitch, it is so so light silk weightless, beautifully fits around the body and it is such a lovely english color with spring flowers and a nice cut to it..great tailoring and design to this dress, makes me feel summerish..

and finally it felt like friday nite after I made hot onion pakoda and elachi chai..nothing beats that...I was so so exhausted and had a rough week at work with robots crashing on me that I just wanted to take a long leave and take a break..it was exhausting all day seeing thousands of numbers trying to look at drug screens and making sense of them..but simple things like pakoda and chai made my day..

my life and needs are as simple as that..

pakoda, chai , abc world news with charles gibson ,watching sunset is my perfect quiet evening though I do wish my soulmate was around to give me a hug..god knows where he is..who he is..sacha pyar ko kaise pehchane e bhi is kambakth dil to nahin maloon...ye pyar akhir kya cheez hi..kaisa dikhta hi..aur jo dikhte hi unmese apna kaun hi..probably love and recognising love and feeling love is the hardest thing in my life..

weekend looks hectic

cooking party of a girlfriend..

graduation party of a girlfriends daughter..

5 loads of laundry to do..

cooking,cleaning ahead..

and need to write two new chapters of my novel to submit it to my writing group before 22nd sunday nite..

lots to do.

books Iam reading right now..

punjabi century, continous life, revolutionary wealth, my revolutions and audacity of hope...

movies for this weekend I rented from library

madame curie,goodnight and goodluck, Rome a travelogue,passport to europe a travel dvd..

music I listened to this week

shammi kapoors isharon isharon from kashmir ki kali..shammi kapoor makes me all romantic..

mahesh babu song from murari movie,my all time fav. telugu movie..

other news that interested me

water in mars..so so cool..potential life in another planet

google sergie signing up for space flight

obama and hillary campaigning together and obama saying no to federal election fund, wise move man..

salman rushdies interviews on his book enchantress..

glad it is a friday today..

never waited for weekend this bad..

all I want to do is cuddle in my bed , read, do crossword puzzles or play scrabble and sleep like a baby..

Arts festival...

Dosas I made this weekend at home with chutneys...and arts festival in Indy this weekend with great art work....

check out more art work at

http://www.seancorner.com/

the guy makes sculptures and had such creative titles to each one of them, I had to buy a small piece of his art..we talked a lil bit and told him he should try to go to paris..I hope the artist gets to go to paris and his art work becomes world famous..

such immense talent and such beautiful pieces of art..art is long , life is short..art lives for ever and makes the world so so beautiful...I bought a small wall hanging also with lovely flowers and another art piece called burrealism which has planets and space theme , makes me want to be there somewhere in a world of bright oranges, bright pinks, lovely yellows, voilets, blues, reds ...

weekend was busy and lovely..

I volunteered at the temple and help cook for 40-50 people..huge utensils never saw anything that big, never cooked and washed such big utensils, it was a wonderful experience..

went to art festival..

went to watch this cool priyadarshan movie " mere baap pahle aap"..genelia was supercute..it was ok ok movie...akshay khanna overacted, paresh rawal was good..one song was good..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffyz5NPnxtI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvEBMvb9qf0

watched "x in the city"movie it was lousy..horribly bad and grose...did not like the endings..guys get away with cheating and women still accept them..not right right...except for lovely clothes it was not a good movie..

I went to library and got "passage to India" movie..it moved me to tears..it was such a classy movie on british India..

what else..

books Iam reading..

finished poems of mark strand "man and camel"...so metaphysical and philosophical and layers and layers underlying meaning..I could not understand half of the poems..yet it is something about those abstract verses that moves me and wants to read reread and ponder..magic of poetry..

Iam also reading

punjabi century by Tandon

obamas audacity of hope

alvin tofflers revolutionary wealth..

work is keeping me busy yet bored strangely..

weekend looks busy with two parties of friends..

hopefully some reading, writing, catching up with chores at home, some soulmate searching finally as everyone is telling me I should look for a boy, a nice well educated never married boy made in India and living in america....so much to do as always..

chinese dances..this and that...

My first spring/summer new dress for this season..everytime I wear that dress with all those whites, peaches, pinks I feel so happy and sunny...

photos of chinese show for raising funds for quake victims..it was so so good,it moved me to tears...I never knew chinese music has such softness and melancholy in it..the lotus dance with those beautiful whites,greens and peachypink was so heavenly felt as if I was somewhere else..

then the final photo of a local road with sculptures playing music in Indy street..thought it was cute and creative stick figures..

I feel spring summer all around despite floods in Indy...two weeks from now Iam organising a fund raiser/drive for flood victims and hope we can help them..my thoughts are with all those families affected my floods...

tomorrow Iam organising a habitat for humanity event where we will help build two homes for homeless..hope it goes well..I will be painting and siding homes along with a whole bunch my volunteers..glad we can help...

interesting news..

obama looking for ex army officers for vp post..very Interesting choice..Iam ok with Hillary too as vp, a woman in me supports that thought though I wonder if the combination will be any good..

books Iam reading.

punjabi century, obamas audacity of hope, Tofflers revolutionary wealth, Hari kunzrus my revolutions..

too many books right..

but that is me..I need variety all the time..otherwise I get bored...

hopefully I get a hubby who is also colorful and lively and interesting..

what else ..

life is going on single busy working girls life as usual..feel so homesick sometimes..cant wait to go to India...without a family it is hard to live in US sometimes...hopefully will find a hubby soon and start a cute family here in US with a whole bunch of adopted kids..wishful thinking.....

other news that interested me this week...

Rushdies new novel and the buzz around it..some reviews are good, some reviews are bad..cant wait to read it..

Iam waiting for Rana Dasgupta novel solo too..

Iam looking forward to reading some poetry too...I read mark strands continous life poems last week I realised however abstract a poem is there is something about that abstractness and musical words that soothe the heart as nothing else..poems makes my soul so so happy..continous life narrative poetry and mark strands magical verses with deep layers and layers of philosophy hidden behind words and possibility of multiple interpretations fascinates me..

week looks busy with lot of new projects at work..

weekend looks hectic..

friday nite party at a collegues house

saturday volunteering to cook at the temple, saturday evening sex in the city movie with girlfriends, sunday talbot arts festival, sunday nite hindi movie mere baap with Genelia and Akshay khanna , priya darshan movie...sure to make this weekend interesting, less boring and fun..

this and that...

c rying woman a sculpture at the arts museum, sunsets and

2200... me with my number...I walked 5 k for a cancer walk today..my first walk for a cause..I walked with two girlfriends and a girlfriends sis and mother..so five of us walked together as a team it was fun..

Photographs of sunset yesterday from my apartment in 12th floor in downtown Indy..lovely sunset which makes me want to melt into sunset...

what else..

books Iam reading:

punjabi century by prakash tandon..a book on history of punjabis in india in 1850s very interesting..

Hari Kunzrus my revolutions about disillusioned youth..very interestingbook.

movies I watched:

santosh subrahmanyam - tamil movie , made from telugu movie bommarillu..Iam so much like the girl in these two movies.

I also travel videos of europe , Middleast and asia.. lovely..I liked Istanbul , turkey and Rome, Italy...It is so much fun to watch travel videos..

Also listened to tape of Jhumpa lahiris "unaccustomed earth"..yet another story of an indian man married to an american lady..story moves slowly, rather there is no story but only emotions..totally emotional narration of how the confused indian man feels..Jhumpa carved a niche for herself, iam glad she is successful, she manages to tell stories with just emotions and no story, some of those emotions are good, touchy , nostalgic.

what else..

obama clinches nomination, Hillary concedes..so more campaigning for me for obama in the next few months...

saturday is gone...cleaning, grocery shopping, and the walk

sunday looks busy- temple, then chinese acrobats show to raise money for earthquake victims..

some reading, movies, writing, cooking still to do..

life goes on...

gogh and picasso...this and that...

van goghs and picasso's paintings from MOMA NY...they are beyond me..modern art is not for me...

Museums in NY are very interesting and have unique collections...some highfi paintings and modern art ..good for the manhattan highfi people...

For ordinary small town folks like me Mademe Tussad is more appealing..

rest all are overrated like Monolisa in paris..

I was so excited to see Monolisa but when I went to louvre to see Monolisa , I realised it was so small, so overrated...I feel the same way about Goghs and picassos paintings..I feel they are overrated...may be Iam wrong..

what else..

obama is almost there ..just 2 delegates short of getting democratic nomination...finally...a man who was no where in news or political arena one year back and look at where he is in five months..that is what is all about charisma, careful planning, great campaigning and above all great judgement and maturity despite his younger age..Impressive...Iam glad the nominee I believed in and campaigned for is winning..I admire Hillary too being a woman making it so far in a mans world..great candidates..may the best win..

what else..

After a week of poor health, tired long days finally Iam feeling spring and summer..

Iam not getting to read that much..I watched a lot of silly movies,travel videos,tv shows, news...

books Iam reading : Hari kunzru, Alvin Toffler, obamas books still reading them..Iam also reading punjabi century written by prakash Tandon...

Salman Rushdie's new novel is out..cant wait to read it...

movies I watched : Nanny diaries ( chik flick),Egypt travel videos (on mummies,pyramids), bujjugadu ( telugu prabhas new movie in theatre with too many fights)..

I volunteered, went to museum to see Ansel adams and yosemite exhibition ( which was disappointing with not many photographs of Ansel adams and that too super small prints of Ansel adams), hung out with girlfriends, heard girlfriends problems in long phone conversations, totally wasted my week in trivial things..

week looks busy with new projects and work.

weekend looks busy...wedding of a friends friend, 5k walk for melanoma which Iam walking with 2 girlfriends which should be very interesting, sex in the city movie plan with girlfriends, lots of books to read, chinese show to raise money for quake victims..as usual lots of do..

same usual boring single life with no romance but lots of work and things to do..as usual..