this and that...

News that interested me
whats up with Mccain paris hilton campaign..presidential race has become so cheap now..who wants a next president who gets into a childish fued with paris hilton?
Shouldnt presidential advertisements be serious specially with a bad economy, troubled war times..
cant even believe they have an add comparing obama with brittany and paris..shows how low they can stoop too.
This VP guess game, via cell phone announcements etc., good marketing move from obama, but doesnt it sound all commercial and jazzy...
whats up with anthrax scare..
a govt. scientist doing that cant even believe it..how can a scientist do this scaring people and putting someone at risk..
whats up with Anderson cooper..commenting on Lohans..
come on anderson you can do better than that..why are u talking about stuff like this..what happened to the anderson I adore who cares about darfur, cango,katrina victims,chimps in africa..
water on Mars finally..60 minutes has interesting news on our space programs..
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/04/60minutes/main3994925.shtml
on a easy new cancer cure from a cancer patient
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/10/60minutes/main4006951.shtml
what else..
Life has kept me busy..
too many new screens to develop at work for new diseases, important projects, people to train..work is leaving me exhausted..
busy volunteering every weekend..cant believe..every weekend I volunteer atleast one day...so weekends are also busy..
first salvation army food drive which went so so well, raised 400 dollars and two wagon loads food cans to keep the food bank from closing until christmas which was so good..heping some 500 families feeding them during this sad tough economy times.. I was very happy about this food drive..I donated a lot of my money too for salvation army food drive,least I can do helpthe people of this country who gave me a job and food to eat..
then a bone marrow drive again my third one this year last weekend which went well..hopefully cure for cancer patients..
then volunteering at temple.. even this weekend sunday I have a four hour volunteering at the temple..
Last weekend was vara lakshmi pooja , so i did pooja at home , one peaceful day..it went well.. with flowers, fruits, panchamrut, I did a very traditional lakshmi pooja at home and made jelebi and dahi vada and vada as naivedyam to goddess..One evening of quite prayer...
otherwise rest of the days were superbusy last four weeks..
Iam just a lil down and tired..
too much voluntary work and may be Iam missing having a family, having kids..now I finally feel like it is time for me to get married..all my girlfriends praying for my marriage are already coming up with middle names for my future kids since they are praying for my marriage , I have to give my kids middle names of my friends...too bad I dont even know how to find a guy for myself..Iam sure God is having a tough time
what else..
went to BOdies exhibition in Indy..
Bodies exhibition is not that scary, yes these are real deadbodies without skin and everything else, but they dont smell and they are not that scary..
Dont miss this exhibition, it is pretty good..
I thought I will freakout but strangely I did not freakout ..I didnot get scared..
may be it is scientist in me was looking at everything dazed and curious..learning about myself, my own body...
It was an education for me..
strangely though Iam a girl I am not conscious of my body at all, never dream of my wedding or anything that much..I dont think I ever understood my own body or beauty that much....
Iam like a little girl or a child sometimes...it is as if Iam in this extended phase of childhood for a long time and I liked being free, not being romantically involved, liked the adventerous and carefree life until recently..and then suddenly matured too much to become kind of prematurely senile after seeing so much pain specially my dads leukemia and all that..it is as if youth, romance, motherhood, dream of looking beautiful,marriage ,dreams slipped away somewhere...I dont think I ever understood my own body...
Iam kind of boy as most of my friends put it , I take 5 minutes to dress up, just wash my face with soap and Iam ready..I am not a typical girl..never been to beauty parlors and dont look at myself in mirror that long either, though have long hair I take 2 minutes to comb my hair like guys..only time I feel girlish is when I like chik flicks, soft romances, babies, cooking etc.,Iam very shy too like any other girl..
like all other girls strangely life has taught me not to dream...
so I kinda of never dreamed much about marriage, or having children or anything..I do miss not having a soulmate and not having children but never saw myself as a woman or bride or mother dont even know why..so never imagined myself with a big belly carrying a baby..
Until I saw bodies exhibition with small tiny babies who are 3 weeks to 8 months old, I didnot even realise that someday I will be carrying a baby in my womb too..the whole thing is just amazing. it makes u understand urself..it makes u understand what all ur body is capable of doing.
Bodies exhibition left me wondering what all amazing things our bodies can do..
I saw a lot of movies at home:
sarkar raj this weekend:
It was an interesting movie..kinda realistic in present day India..
Amitabh reminded me of my dad many times..
I remember growing up in a very tensed surroundings...my dad was stabbed because he stood for his ideals when I was barely 5 years old..then it would be the people who hated my dad for running single handedly his schools and colleges who tried to destroy his institutions by provoking students to go against my dad..me , grandma would hug when students through stones at our house for no issues, my dad struggled through out to keep up with his ideals with people trying to break him down allthe time until they could no longer stop his success..
I saw that in sarkar raj, everywhere struggles , life like a chess game people playing games all the time.
I kinda liked sarkar raj though it is sad..
just the story direction and amitabhs acting.. it was mumbai, saketu mehtas mumbai...u are reminded of political groups in mumbai..ram gopal verma seems to be a very fine director..I like movies sometimes with no romance..no song..no dance..just realistic ones with powerful dialogues which are contemporary..that youthful idealism that struggles with gundagiri,powerful political games...idealism dying in the hands of corrupt people..
good movie worth watching dont miss it..
then watched Singh is the king.
Singh is the king is just another masala movie, like the small town world innocence but it is just too loud..not a bad movie but it is just another movie..nothing special..katrina cannot act and is a beautiful glamour doll.. I think Akshay is ok as singh with turban...nothing memorable..just barely time pass.
I also saw bachna eh haseenon..
Ranbir kapoor movie who is ok ok actor, story is realistic and good..men finally repenting for dumping girls and saying sorry, I like that..all the girls except deepika look too old for Ranbir like elder sisters...too bad..deepika stands out and is cute..nice locations and shots..story is interesting..so a ok realistic movie to watch about todays romances..Iam like that deepikas character career oriented straight forward girl...Deepikas character reminded me so much of myself..
anyways..
Iam reading Salman Rushdies enchantress of florence..Iam at probably 280th page.
It has been an interesting ride unlike any rushdie novel I read before.
first 50 pages was good, then it became a history lesson next 50 pages that I almost could not even find the stamp of rushdies writing in those pages, pages 100 to 200 I could find rushdie again in those characters which are pretty unique and interesting, then again pages 200 onwards he lost me, in the same repetition , it gets confusing at the end where u tend to forget ur characters with so many new names that towards ending it leaves u bored to finish, leaves u confused.
None of rushdies earlier novels are like this, this is the worst of all but, probably he might land up with a booker for his historic attempt and unique imagination and story line connecting two continents.
what else..
I got a lot of new novels from library chetan bhagats hit indian novel "one night at call center"..some amitav ghosh, some this years bookers novels..so long list of books to read.
lots of books to read., ofcourse volunteering every weekend leaves me exhausted..so when I get time I read these days..so much to catch up..
life is superbusy workholic life and rest of time goes away in social service helping community..so there goes my life..less blogging, less internet,less socializing until may be soulmate comes sweeps me off my feet and just takes me to a different world which is more relaxing ..until then..woods are lovely dark and deep, I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep..

this and that this week..

News this week
sad about blasts in India..innocent people dying. I prayed for India and US safety last weekend..
mccains negative attacks on obama comparing him to paris hilton and brittany too cheesy..why negative campaigning. focus on yourself and your positives, thats my motto...sell urself and ur positives..if they are good enough u will win..
Abc news says studies show women are happy until their 40s and men are happy after 40s until old age.. too bad..next decades are going to be sad for women like me..older men happier than older women
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080801/sc_livescience/oldermenhappierthanolderwomen;_ylt=Ag6TS8QPCuJGq7BW6k3YtYus0NUE
lovely pictures of solar eclipse
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Total-eclipse-sun/ss/events/sc/080108solareclipse#photoViewer=/080801/481/1042d0bde5384f97864380cca569eb9f
books Iam reading :
salman rushdies enchantress- gets better after 100 pages, not as good as other rushdie books, feels like a history lesson but not too bad either, very creative
harikunzrus my revolutions - good through out, interesting story, characters, well written
I am reading a book on school system is US for our schools and colleges in India that my family runs..it is some personal business reading..
I am enjoying doing cross words puzzles too these days.. learning new words..
Dont have anyone to play scrabble with but whomever I marry Iam sure we will play lot of scrabble and do cross words puzzles and do word games together..and have lots of discussions on books we read..
movies I saw
love story 2050 - lovely picturization, scenic beauty, ok story, bad acting, bad music but romantic enough
jaane tu na jaane hum- very good acting, ok picturization, boring story, ok music, not romantic at all.
saw odd telugu movies nothing interesting just time pass ones..
I am looking forward to seeing sarkar raj this weekend..
music I listened to this week..shammi kapoor janwar songs total turn on for me, so so romantic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo1IGrPPrd8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhcACgr41AQ&feature=related
food I ate and cooked:
made upma, telugu kadi, alu+tindora+tomato sabji..had haldirams ready to go bhelpuri twice this week with evening tea..it is pretty good..
Ate punjabi restaurant khana..I have to admit I like punjabi food as much as I like telugu food..
weekend menu for me to cook - dosa, home made punjabi alugobi sabji and home made roti
what else
thought almost every weekend Iam volunteering I should take a break..
But then fox ran this story of a local food pantry having to close it because of lack of food donations and food pantry supports 800 families..so there goes me..
Next minute I knew I am talking to people, mobilising my volunteers and friends and running a massive food drive to keep this food pantry from closing.so there I go..next two weekends booked running the food drive..it ends august 9th.
August 16th is another bone marow drive. so there goes mylife...
Sometimes we want life to go one way, but life takes us the other way..
I know as all my relatives remind me its time to marry, settle, have kids, my life just seems to take me other way..
Most of my old school mates and college mates would be surprised if they hear about me as a scientist living in US and seeing me as a working girl last 13years in US.
One of my seniors met me in my company cafe some 3 years back and was shocked to see me. She was a big city girl. I was a small town/village girl. She naturally assumed I would marry by 20,have a whole bunch of kids settled in a remote village in India. I dont blame her. Because I was this silent girl wearing lungavoni with oiled hair and two plaits who rarely spoke and was so shy and so family oriented that you could bet on me to settle in marraige as soon as I finished degree.
No one knew I was college magazine editor twice before I turned 17, no one knew I wrote a mini novel before I turned 18, no one knew I wrote poetry in english when I was 19, no one knew by the time I turned 20 I read Aynrand and atlas shrugged became my bible and ramayana...and no one knew who I was at home either..
when I was 18 if you asked me what I wanted to with my life, I would have said I will be journalist or a IAS officer. All my teachers who knew me very well thought though I was good at science I would end up as an IAS or a IFS officer as I was so all rounded knowing everything about whats going on in the world..
But I ended up majoring in genetic engineering, became a scientist, now I dont do any more of genetic engineering or cloning, barely 10% of my job is biology, 30% is robotics and remaining 60% is computer data analysis..
I never thought I will be in US..here Iam now very americanized and very indianish too..and cant live without either countries and love both equally..
Here Iam a career woman, scientist by day time, event organizer and volunteer event chair by weekends and trying to be a writer if I have any more spare time to write, fighting on immigration causes sometimes, sometimes chairing odd events like picnics for 100people for free..
sometimes life takes u somewhere else..
13 long years with no boyfriends, no marriage, no soulmate living in US working and working..I know relatives tell me what is this life? I agree what a monastic life right...it is as if my youth just ran away and Iam still a child waiting for real love..
friends and family remind me to settle down often...
yap I want to get married, settle with a cute guy, have children which I cannot wait to have but kya kareen god seems to have other plans..may be girls like me need to have a guy come and sweep me off my feet from somewhere and take me away with him...until then volunteering will keep me busy I guess..
weekend activities:
brunch with girlfriends saturday morning
this lovely exhibition called bodies. scary but dont miss it, Iam scared to go but still will go..
http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/
http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/bodies.html
saturday afternoon bodies exhibition
glad Iam not a doctor, I dont like seeing bodies and I have made up my mind to never marry a doctor.
saturday evening is an art exhibition of a friend
sunday morning at the temple
then sunday evening biking and boating at the canal with a whole bunch of girlfriends.
for tonite, doesnot even feel like a friday with busy week at work and so much data to look at.. I just want an elachi chai, some haldiram ready to eat bhelpuri, a nice dinner