Forced to go on a Honeymoon to Luang Prabang!

People who know us will understand! We have not gone on a holiday trip by ourselves in years!

Tara had first planned to go to Bangalore during the week long break at school, then she dropped the idea! We thought we should make good use of the break with a trip to Luang Prabhang. This trip has been on the anvil since last year. In fact, Rama and Prasad tired of waiting for us made the trip on their own last year and said they had a good time!

Tara made umpteen phone calls to see if she could tempt others to join us! While many were keen, they finally did not join for one reason or the other. This meant a delay in booking a hotel and some of the recommended hotels were full by the time I spoke to them.

It seemed that we were destined to go on a honeymoon! Imagine this, the first hotel that said they had vacant rooms offered us this room (See below)!

"Water lily rooms: Lotus Villa's largest rooms at a minimum of 24 square meters; feature the decadence of an open style bath in the bedroom, as well as a separate shower, air conditioning and fan, and wi fi access. Waterlily rooms are large enough to accommodate a third person on request.


We immediately had a palaver with our extended family about this room. As you can guess, no one really gave us a sensible advice. They were either aghast at such an arrangement, Gayathri said it was reminiscent of the decadent Louis the XIV days, while Madhu and Sethu were just making inane jokes. Only Aditi made a sensible suggestion! She said 'Aunty can probably hang a towel from somewhere to cover the view of the bathtub'.

I also voiced my concern: 'I may be in trouble in case we have an argument, I would probably be asked to sleep in the bath tub!' Luckily for me Rama and Prasad came to my rescue by giving us the name of the guest house they had stayed at. They said it should work even if the plumbing needed some work! (It still needed work!)

I was very happy to book a room at this guest house and when we reached the guest house we paid up after a cursory inspection of the room. Triple occupancy seems to be the rule in this town as the bed room had a double and a single bed in it. Anyway it was way better than getting sent off to a bathtub to sleep!

Later while we were getting ready to go out for lunch, we had reached around afternoon, I saw this notice stuck prominently on a wall of the room. It was an "Accommodation Regulation" created by the Police department, Luang Prabhang Provincial, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Peace Independent Democracy Prosperity.

(I am totally in love with this publication and will try to quote as much as I can from it. It is authentic as it has a chop of the director of the police department)

"Accommodating in hotels, guesthouses and resorts for domestic and international tourists is to make sure that safety and security procedures in place to response in emergency cases for both domestic and international tourists who have accommodated and promote the Lao PDR tourism policy.

The Tourism police office has issued accommodation regulation for tourists and accommodation provider to implement and follow as below:
1. Tourists have to your own accommodation at 2400 hrs (mid night).
( I had no issues with this mid night curfew, as I am the 'early to bed' type of fellow! You can see me nodding at 2200 hrs!)
2.( Says show passport!)
3. Every time, when you are check in hotels, guesthouses and resorts you must register your belonging. If there are value things you have to give to receptionist to look after for you and both party have to sign for acknowledgement. If not, in case something lost it will be your own responsible.
4. (Something about ammunition's!)
5. Do not any drugs, crambling or bring both women and men which is not your own husband or wife into the room for making love.
6. Do not allow domestic or international tourist bring prostitute and others into your accommodation to make sex movies in our room, it is a restriction.
(and so on)
11. If you do not follow this accommodation regulation, you will be fight based on Lao PDR law.
12. This regulation take effect with official signature and stamp."



The regulation no. 5 had me worried. It is still very fresh in my memory that Thailand consulate in Vancouver could not issue me a dependent visa. One of the reasons was that I did not produce a marriage certificate with my application. My pointing out to them that both our passports mentioned us as husband and wife did not work.

Here again we were in a predicament as we had not carried our marriage certificate with us. I was considering sleeping on the other bed, just in case there was a raid, but was fortunately vetoed!
I was also tremendously relieved that I did not carry a video camera. Luckily mine is an ancient model and I have stopped using it.

( By the way, I did take some pictures and I plan to write another blog highlighting some of the sight seeing trips we made and post a few pictures. Bye for now!)

'Language' Challenged!

I saw this in today's 'Animal Crackers' cartoon in B. Post! It is a conversation between two Ants watched by Leo: 'Are you my Aunt' asks one Ant to the other. 'I am an Ant' says the other 'But I am also your Uncle'. The first Ant says 'I am confused'.
My first reaction was to go AAGrrrhh! Then I thought, wait a minute this is me!
I am always confused about the correct accent to adopt while speaking English!

It took me back to a conversation with a friend on my first visit to USA years ago.
'My ant is visiting me.' She said.
'Your Aunt?' thinking I had heard her wrong!
'Yes my ANT!' with an unnecessary emphasis.
'Oh Your Aunt' not willing to give up.
I think we both were mystified and a bit irritated but decided to let go.

Mukund was narrating to us recently, how his daughters Aparna and Aditi were always correcting his accent. 'Hostile' to them was Hosteel and not Hostyle. Tile is pronounced as 'Tyle' in English and not 'teel'. I remember that 'Honda' in America is as in 'Honey' whereas for me it is as in 'Bonda'. (Bone-da)

When young we admired actors who had the correct 'oxford' accent. Being true anglophiles, god knows why, we were condescending to those with a different accent. I almost got into trouble with my American bosses on one occasion, when they made fun of my accent. It had gotten so bad that I had to tell them that they did not speak English but American.

It is not that I admire all Brits and their accents. While in UK, it was a shock to hear their 'midlands' accent. They were equally amused by my text book type of English and said I used words they had never heard before. I took it as a compliment!

In fact my confusion is not only in English, but it is in any language! Not just accent, it is also about grammar, pronunciation and often the word itself! People who know me well are of aware my language challenges. I successfully negotiated and paid Rs.200 for a tyre which I thought was quoted at Rs.250. The shopkeeper actually had quoted Rs.150. I had mixed up the two words in Hindi. (Dhed and Adai?) No wonder he carried the two tyres I had bought to my car!

I think I gave up learning Hindi when my colleague's young sister would start giggling whenever I spoke to her in Hindi. I used to think what a silly girl! It is only later I learnt that I used the wrong gender words while talking to her, addressing her as a male!

The latest one to make fun of my 'language abilities' or is it 'disabilities' was a dear friend of Tara known for her bluntness. She said you don't know any language, neither Hindi nor Thai. Anyway I chose to be silent, I was too surprised!

The word disabilities reminds me of a stand off with a Maharastrian colleague after the tyrewala incident. I narrated the story of how the shopkeeper took 'advantage' of my ignorance of Hindi. 'you mean disadvantage of' you!' It was a literal translation from Marathi to English and he would not budge! Most of us have this problem when translating from one language to the other. I smile when friends forward English sign boards created by Chinese for the Olympics. But my sympathies are with the Chinese.

In fact, my trauma goes back to my first year in college, when I was asked leave the classroom, because the B buzzed instead of being silent in 'suBtle' as I read a book for the class. I was once totally embarrassed by pronouncing 'facade' as in 'fact' while trying to impress an educated bahu of our neighbors and she corrected me very gently.

One has to cope with all these imports in toto by the English. It is not easy as they are not very consistent when adapting, 'appalam' became 'poppadam' and 'mulligatwany' is a insult to the delicate aroma of the concoction.

I felt a little better when I came to Thailand as I found that the Thais were equally challenged when the confronted by English. I think it is a story worth an independent blog.

This was my favourite till recently, my secretary gave me back my passport and said 'when you expire, you go immigration!' Of course I understood that she meant the visa! Then I had this conversation the other day with my taxi driver friend. He was surprisingly quiet and suddenly came up with, 'Yourwife drinks too much' and then asked me realising that I was alone 'where is mywife'. Figure it out!

While I love English language I wished sometimes that they simplify. I used to think the German language or our own Sanskrit was the key. Then I received this 'forward' about English modified as common Euro language using German pronunciations. Please read the following sentence: If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl.

It iz md! I am sure a propah Englishman would be upset and would probably say 'While it is a conundrum why they want to do it, I have nothing but contumely for their attempt'.

I am not sure if there is a word for my condition, a true 'Eka Basha Vrata', a monogamous relationship with one language. It seems my mind closed to other languages once one of them was entrenched. Like the human egg ?

I also feel, the importance of language is overrated! I saw recently two old movies, one in Italian and the other in French, without subtitles and had no problem in getting a drift of the story!

We do learn from Kids.

While speaking about my earlier blog on Leela and her question, Chandramouli mentioned that children could and did bring knowledge by their questions and actions. He spoke of Nachiketa and Dhruva and their impact. The conversation between young Nachiketa and God of death Yama is the basis for Kathopanishad. The story of Dhruva, (I remember my grandmother telling me this story) is about a 5 year old's great penance till God Vishnu pleased with his steadfastness appeared before him and blessed him.

In his opinion children must be encouraged to ask questions and should be allowed to find answers by themselves instead of lecturing them. Interesting idea, I hope he elaborates on this sometime. He retired as a schoolteacher in the US.

This suddenly reminded me about the time when Rohini told me that amma had read her the story of 'Rama and Ramana'. I tried to correct her by telling her that it was Ravana, but she insisted that it was 'Ramana'. I let it go with a smile and probably let go of a very important truth that should have been apparent to me then.

I believe it is in the nature of things that while existence of Rama (Pure Goodness) and Ravana (Total Evil) said to be in Tretayuga could be a possibility, I feel most of us in Kaliyuga fall into being something in between, in effect, a Ramana.

I belong to the cadre who having heard repeatedly that God is beyond our comprehension give up on trying to understand God and his inscrutable ways! Let alone the expanding universe I am challenged by our own solar system. Imagine his placement of the sun and the planets in such a way that I am here to write about it.

Having said that, I am constantly engaged in trying to understand his ways as it applies to us here on earth during our short stay here. I am tempted to use the statisticians approach and say that we are highly dependent on the normal distribution curve he seems to have applied. Well, most of the time.
I feel that in his creation there is normally a balance between different levels of Ramana in equal numbers.



Ramana ...................................... .ramanA



It is possible that there is less of Rama and more of Ravana in the mixture.
In which case the graph would be somewhat as below!


Ramana .............................. .ramanA

Some unanswered questions.

On the last evening of my stay at Vancouver, Leela and I watched a cartoon together. She snuggled up to me as we watched. I was flattered as she prefers to watch cartoons by herself and I suppose it was my going away present! Suddenly she turned to me with all the seriousness of a 4 year old and asked me with an indulgent tone: 'So! what do you want to be when you grow old?'

I was too surprised to answer and bought time by asking her ' What do you think?'. Her first answer was an attempt at a joke. She said 'You could be an elephant man!' She associates Bangkok with the elephants she saw and I suppose the mahuts' had impressed her. Then she became more serious and said ' You can be a good tata (at) baby take care.' (Anyway something to that effect as I was already lost in thought). I take it as a great compliment! Leela is an 'original' and I hope Rohini compiles all 'Leela-isms' together.

Then consider this: Nikhil and I were together in the family room. He was playing a game with his toy cars, typically for a 5 year old. The cars were moving at great speeds and with the sound effects of a engine revving up provided by Nikhil. My body was the race track and we were bonding and were having a great time. I was getting a sentimental that I would be missing all this soon.

Nandini walked in and she spoke to Nikhil softly and with sadness about the mother of his class mate. His friend's ailing mother had passed away and Nandini was trying to find the right words to tell him. She said 'J......'s mother passed away' and realising that he would not understand said 'she died and has gone to heaven'. Nikhil knew that his friend's mother was sick.

Nikhil knows what death is, I remember once he saw an insect which was squashed and was very upset. He is a gentle boy and he loves bugs and handles them very gently. He once asked me to close my eyes and put a slug in my palm. When I pretended to be scared he said, 'don't be scared tata, bugs are very nice and they don't bite you'.

As he heard the news, Nikhil became quiet and I could see he was absorbing the news. As Nandini walked back, I could hear him murmur, 'Died? ....why can't she live and go to heaven?' (Nandini tells me that he has a concept of heaven.)

I am relieved that he did not ask me.

Meet the new Disney Princess- a Fairy Tale.

Leela went on a trip to the Disneyland in California last week. This trip was treat given to her by her parents as she had just turned four.

She had great time, while she did not take the rides with her brothers Neil and Nikhil she entered the sleeping beauty castle and saw many princesses of the fantasy land.








She wished she could be a Princess like the ones she had seen. Minnie mouse heard her and told her to join a dance and MAY BE she would be selected to be one.



Leela joined the dance and did very well and was selected to be a princess for the day!


Leela the little princess for the day.

Then Minnie saw her sister Rhea and
wanted the royal crown tried on Rhea and it fitted perfectly!



Well almost!



Then Leela walked around and had a wonderful time. She sat with her parents, and grand parents and waited for the parade to start.



Soon the parade started and she watched many wonderful floats go by!










Then suddenly a princess standing on the float saw Leela and asked her to join the parade.



The memorable day ended with the sleeping beauty castle lit up and as the fireworks started Leela walked back to gate very very happy. (Leela does not like fireworks!)

Age appropriate holiday for Nidhi.

Recently I turned 70. Nandini & Raxit and Rohini & Sundeep gave me a special treat to celebrate the event ! All of us, a total of ten were at the Disneyland at LA. Some, I am sure, would be surprised that a seventy-year-old was given such a treat. But Nandini thought that it was appropriate. In fact, I had a whale of a time at the Indiana Jones ride. (Which means I was scared!)

I suppose I should go back to the time I turned sixty. Nandini with Raxit had arranged a trip to Yellowstone national park to celebrate my birthday. We were six of us then, Rohini and Sundeep joined us from Houston. Thanks to progress in medicine, getting to be sixty is no more considered a notable achievement. In the US you cannot even retire without a special reason, in fact they do not even think you are old.

It was different in India in the early days. The Shastabdhi poorti function when you turn sixty is also an abbreviated marriage ceremony which the children organise and the grand children have fun by sitting with the grandparents through the ceremonies. I do not know if the ritual has a Vedic sanction.

I suppose after this celebration the man would actually be all set to relinquish his worldly responsibilities and go on a pilgrimage with his wife. Could even be called a second honeymoon, except that there was no first honeymoon those days. In fact, it probably would be the first time the couple would go on their own for a holiday! For some reason we did not have this ceremony for my parents.

Walking on the fragile volcanic areas around the hot springs or having the darshan of the old faithful ( I had seven of them) was as fulfilling as a religious ceremony for me. Just being under blue skies and gazing at a horizon which stretched for miles in all directions was awe inspiring. I had just then decided to retire from my working life and the surroundings added to my feelings of being as vulnerable as the earth below our feet at the hot springs.

I am also reminded of two more events which influenced me. One was the view I had of a lone leafless tree surrounded by snow at a resort on Lake Superior one early winter morning. Hari and Anita had driven me to this resort, another treat I still cherish. I felt one with the tree at that moment. I thought it was mutely waiting having served what I deemed a purpose in life.
All of us want to know the purpose of life in general and more importantly our own. It is a very a confusing period when you have stopped working and are out of your comfortable routines.

Then it was the trip to Badrinath with Raghu and Vatsala. The Nara Narayana range behind the temple was very enticing. We did trek for an hour with Rohini behind the temple and could see the edge of the glacier. I had heard the story of Adi Shankara walking on towards the peak never to be seen again. It made sense to me at that moment that he decided to move on, and I did indeed feel the pull of the mountains. In fact in early days a Badriyaatra could well be the last one!

Having now reached another landmark, I realise the last ten years have been fulfilling in a very significant way. From a family of six we are ten. We are also fortunate to have been adopted by many more and thus we really have a much larger family. ( We do miss those who are no more with us.)

I have now realised that the lonely tree was trying to teach me acceptance of my circumstances. The enticing Himalayas were really telling me that I could walk away from routines and still find a meaning to my life.

Vedanta tells us to learn to be with the present always and experience it. There is no better way to do this than being with small children. Rhea who is seven months old has taught us acceptance. Every change in her mood is like a law for us. Leela who is just four does not let me think of either the past or the future when I am taking care of her.

I had the similar feelings when I was with Neil and Nikhil while they were playing with the waves at the Newport beach. There was no way I could move away from the present while keeping an eye on them and the same time having all the fun with them. I am indeed grateful to have the opportunity to learn from my 'baby' gurus.

Yes it was a fun holiday. I must add that I did participate in a Pooja (This would have pleased my elders!) at the Malibu temple and it was indeed wonderful to be with Malathi, Hari and Ambi who brought back so many memories of my younger days.



I must also mention about the dream wedding of Menaka and Chris we attended at an exclusive club on the Santa Monica beach. Wonderful setting for a simplified Hindu style marriage. Rama and Gopi, parents of Menaka had invited us as early as last year. This, in fact gave Nandini the idea to combine our family holiday with our participation at the wedding.

It was wonderful to be reminded of from our Pune days meeting Varadraj & Sharat, Geeta and Vinay and a very delightful Riya. The walk inside the Cal Tech campus was very enjoyable as was the attempt by the 4 year old Riya to scare me by pretending to read a book full of monsters and crocodiles! Nice also to meet Ram and Shakku there and dear neice Priya also at the wedding.

It was also a pleasure to spend time with Nandini and Raxit's friends Ketan and Shilpa, their parents and daughter Priya, and be part of Shaan's second birthday party.

It was indeed a good way to celebrate the commencement of living my bonus years. It is my first year and I hope I am able to retain the childlike enthusiasm my grand children have taught me thru the years which are given to me.

(I saw this news the next day we returned from LA: Earthquake Forces Evacuation Of Disneyland Rides. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake located near Chino Hills struck at 11:45 AM today and resulted in the evacuation of all attractions at the Disneyland Resort. This is standard operating procedure for Disneyland, and it is unknown when the attractions will reopen.

I think we were indeed lucky, It would have been a real let down to come back from the park without taking all those rides! Also worrying considering that we had kids ranging from 7 months to 8 years with us.)

Remembering the departed!

I was surfing channels on TV and had glimpse of a girl featured in Oprah's channel. She was on 'Oprah' talk show because she had written her own Obituary. A little odd, especially as she looked quite healthy. Any way I got distracted either by Leela or Rhea and missed watching it.

Also I had recently seen in the Vancouver Sun (at the hair cutting saloon!) pages titled 'Remembering' devoted to obituaries. The inserts were well written and with feeling about the people who had departed. A really a nice way to remember the departed.

Actually, I was prompted to write this blog while reading the 'remembering' pages again yesterday. They give us a very good view of the society here in Vancouver. While brief but poignant some of these biographies were even witty. Most of the departed were in their nineties and eighties, world war II veterans, men and women in various walks of life, in different social status and who had contributed to the society in their own individual ways. Many were immigrants from the old world as well from other parts of Canada. There were a few obituaries with pictures of the departed as an young person in addition to the recent ones . A nice way to show how gracefully they had aged with time!

Some inserts also inform us about a memorial service and 'celebration of life of the departed' that are arranged. They also include sincere thank you notes to those who had helped. Mostly flowers are declined with a suggestion that donations are made in the name of the deceased. While many had passed on peacefully, the type of donations suggested showed that some had gone through problems of health. Alzheimer's, heart problems and cancer had taken their toll. As one would expect, there were those who departed young, sadly to cancer or accidents or reasons unknown to us. Sad to read about an young man of 20 in these pages and about a nice looking young man in his thirties, who was a 'gentle person with no enemies but himself '.

It did bring me back memories of those who had departed from my life. It also reminded me of the recent email Sriram had forwarded me. It was written by his uncle and my good friend Prasan on 'fathers day' and it started with a lovely piece about his father who would have passed away quite a while ago. Wonderful to see nice sentiments (Pithru Devo Bhava) expressed after so many years.

It also reminded me about what, during our Vedanta classes, Jayshree our neighbour in Bangkok had said. When we asked her to comment about the lessons she had learnt from Vedanta, she said that while she understood more about our situation as human beings after attending the classes, she still could not deal with the fact that she was not there with her father when he passed away recently. She echoed, what I term the NRI's lament, our indescribable feelings about not being near our dear ones at the time of their passing away. I know time is a healer, but such wounds run deep.

Anyway, I was curious to see what this 30 year old had to say about her own 'obituary'. This is what she had to say. ' I pretended I was an 80-year-old woman looking back at my life, and I didn't want to have any regrets. So being older, looking back, what would I change?'
Interesting approach, you may like to read more about Jennifer. Here is the link: 'http://www.oprah.com/tows/slide/200701/20070125/slide_20070125_284_112.jhtml

Then, as you may surely guess, I wondered what I would write if asked to write my own.
Then I saw this obituary: '... Husband, Father, Grandfather, Brother and Friend. Doug enjoyed life to the fullest and was enjoying a game of golf with close friends when his heart failed.' He was 80 years old. Can anything be better than this?

Do Birds and Bees educate?

You may wonder what this septuagenarian is up to? I agree that at our age sex should be on our mind only when filling in the immigration form at the airport and our time should be spent on Vedanta contemplating more serious issues. But not so easy as it is all pervading, as news on the main sheet of a newspaper or as a brief note tucked away in the inner pages. For instance Rediff India Abroad, reminds you daily how to keep hale and hearty and also boost your brain with much researched and recommended morning activities not consisting of either yoga or art of living. In fact, these are the top emailed features since long. One need not even speak of the TV and the Bollywood and Tollywood movies.

Not to worry, I am only concerned about the controversy that is raging in India. Sex Education in schools. A little late to be getting into the fray as I see a lot has been written about it in the papers, not only in India, but in the west.

It was perplexing to see in the papers some months ago that the CM of Karnataka was opposed to SE as it was not in our culture! He did not elaborate then, but as he is now out of office, he has the time to explain now. Perhaps not, it is proven that most politicians have convenient memories and are prone to forget, statements and even promises made!

I remember asking Tara at that time whether her school, which is an international one, had this subject in the curriculum. She said yes, but was not aware of the details. My intention was to send a copy to the CM hoping that it could help him to re-evaluate his earlier decision and perhaps change his mind. Well it remained as an intention, as Tara kept forgetting to get me the details. Then, two things brought the subject back to my blogging mind.

One, was when a friend expressed shock after reading about a mother presenting a sixteen year old son with a packet of condoms on his birthday. Quite shocking and one wonders where indeed was the father. However, I cannot imagine this type of conversation with fathers as well.
This I thought was the ultimate form of SE.

Two, when the controversy shifted to Maharashtra recently. 'The Maharashtra state education minister had recently announced that sex education would be made compulsory for schoolchildren. However, this announcement is being greeted with heated opposition by other legislators in the House. There is a debate going on currently about the advisability of providing basic sex education to school children in the Indian state of Maharashtra.'

Obviously one can expect a lot of reaction. Here is one such: (It is somewhere in the web!) India has among the highest incidence of rape in the world. Moreover, not a single day goes by without newspapers reporting at least one case of sexual harassment or molestation.
I do not see a connection between this and sex education, but he does. I remember he does speak about 'taboos' and a lack of healthy interaction between boys and girls. Which I suppose is to be addressed, but his idea that this is achieved through sex education in schools is naive.

Then we see a claim that sex education brings down the incidence of HIV/AIDS. I suppose true, I recall crude ads advising safe sex on the National TV during a cricket match. One hopes all those careless truckers, their target audience, watch the five day tests. Here is also a link to a bizarre attempt at educating general public.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44IFYB1icx0

I know that it is a different world now. The years after the sixties, so called period of liberal attitudes, has changed the ways of the western world and is now moving to some portions of the east. Hence going back the memory lane may not be of much help. That was an era where it was more like 'If birds and bees with their tiny brains needed no sex education, humans with a more complex brain would definitely learn', and learn we do.

I suppose I should add this about parental concern. While no conversation ever took place, I remember discovering in my teens, two books which surfaced in my father's book shelf. One was about VD now STD, which was gruesome and another about 'Brahmacharya', it was all about self control from sinful thoughts and of course the ill effects of 'self abuse', the outcome being death by 'consumption'. Weird from today's point of view. I suppose it was my father's way of educating me with the books and knowledge available at that time.

Now for the surprise! It might appear that I am a supporter of SE in Indian schools. Actually, I am one with the netas for once. I do not think it is desirable to have SE as a part of school curriculum. I read that the text books published for the subject were very crude and were rejected. In addition, it is certain that there would not be many trained teachers available for this sensitive subject. I think we do not have the requisite culture yet, I am talking about our present culture and not of the times of Vatsayana or the erotic temple friezes.

I believe that many parents are worried and confused. They are not sure how to handle the situation in a fast changing world as their children reach adolescence. We all know that children are more aware now. There is also peer pressure on them, especially for Indian children away from home, exposed to different and in our view, permissive cultures.

Obviously, sensible books which parents can give to children when they feel the time is right would be of immense help. Very necessary especially for those parents who are shy or old fashioned to talk about it. (Definitely not the type of books my father chose.) Conversations with our children could perhaps focus on the more important aspect of values. It is also about our own lifestyle and habits.
I saw this on the Belief net:
Don't worry that children never listen to you. Worry that they are always watching you. -Robert Fulghum

I am quoting in full below what I consider as sensible:

Recently, there has been a great amount of discussion on the introduction of sex education in India. Naturally, this debate has been very heated. If anyone was thinking that sex education can be introduced in India without any resistance from society, he was living in a fools paradise. Three states of India have already banned this education and CBSE had to defer its plans to introduce it from 2007-2008 session.

Now, the real question that arises is what is the real problem behind all this fuss? I think, the real problem is the word "SEX" itself. Indian society is still not prepared to discuss these topics in the open with its children.

The main problem is the manner in which this education is being tried to introduce in this country. The educational planners ( or mis-planners) are trying to implement the western system of sex education as it is. What they are not able to see (or are trying not to see) is the cultural difference between west and India.

Sex education is being introduced as a separate subject. This is causing all the problems. Indian society is not able to accept it as a subject which can be taught to their kids. Actually, some of the topics related to reproduction in human beings already exist in the science books of children. No one raises objection over that. Because children learn these topics as a scientific terminology, which does not effect the moral character of society.

Wouldn't it be more appropriate if we introduce the sex education topics in other subjects instead of introducing it as a separate subject all together? I think it will be much better to integrate sex education with other subjects instead of introducing it as a different subject. In this way, the goal of providing knowledge about sex to children can be achieved without any resistance from Indian society.

Satya http://www.vshiksha.com/user/1/

June 15, 2008
Samachar/NDTV reports about a revised module on sex education. One hopes that this will meet the needs of educating children more sensibly.

http://publication.samachar.com/pub_article.php?
id=2112259&navname=General%20&moreurl=http://
publication.samachar.com/ndtv/general/
ndtv.php&homeurl=http://www.samachar.com

Some links of interest:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6928326.stm

http://www.avert.org/aids-picture.php?photo_id=1492

http://www.shvoong.com/law-and-politics/498339-sex-education-india/

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/24/africa/letter.php

http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102242304.html

Omnivore's mom's dilemma.

I read the book 'Omnivore's Dilemma' written by Michael Pollan, here in Vancouver. I am not writing about the book, which is eminently readable and very thought provoking. I have just borrowed the title!

What will you have for breakfast? The question confronts Leela as she gets ready to go to Montessori in the morning. Leela is going to be four soon and while she is not a complete omnivore, she being human, (as defined in Wikipedia) is primarily an omnivore and also opportunistic. An omnivore is defined as the one who eats everything, and she does like a lot of things, but she likes only those that her mother thinks is not suitable for her. Hence there is a drama enacted each day. The same drama continues for Lunch and Dinner as well.

Rohini is a modern mother, who likes to involve Leela in the process of decision making and is also a concerned one about what is right to ingest. She finds it difficult to deal with it as the problem is compounded by the fact that Leela has a brand new sister and we suspect she is being difficult due to sibling jealousy. Luckily it is not anti 'Rhea' but Leela wants to get back to being a child and get all the attention she used to get when she had no competitors.

It is not easy now for a kid to figure out what she would like to eat. There are so many things her taste buds have tried and liked. Many of them are not breakfast material and finally she makes a choice out of the two or three given to her. While it does not please her mother, she gets what she has asked for, however reluctantly. Then there is a problem when she starts nibbling, whatever she chose does not taste the way she imagined it to be! She dawdles over it and frustrates her mother with her sudden lack of interest in eating. She is not hungry any more or she does not like it! She may also regresses to being a baby and asks to be fed and it is already very late and they should be leaving for school.

In these moments of tension, as a grandfather, as profound as my experience is supposed to be, I am unable to give Rohini a 'mantra' to help. I am hoping Tara who is joining us soon will be able to do it with her grandmotherly wisdom!

However, trying to see if I can make some helpful suggestions, I tried to go back to being a kid of four myself. It was simpler those days. I do not remember being asked this question. Any way the choices were not that many.

I quote from the website of Michael Pollan: 'The omnivore’s dilemma has returned with a vengeance, as the cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet confronts us with a bewildering and treacherous food landscape'. I remember walking to one of these super-mega stores and was bewildered by the choices. The way it is here, you have to take your children along and you do get persuaded to buy things with different tastes and give it a try. I cannot imagine the effect this has on the taste bud of small kids. In any case they get hooked to some taste you have absolutely no clue.

I remember as kid we had a village boy working and staying with us. Once I offered him some kind of savory which I was munching. He would have none of it, his logic was that it did not fill his stomach like the Raagi he invariably ate and he did not want to corrupt his taste buds with what we ate, as he would not be able to get it all the time. I really admired his self-control.

There are of course controls parents do try. They are denied Coke or Pepsi for instance! I remember Neil when he was five or six wishing that he could grow up fast. I was curious to know what he wanted to do once he grew up. Of course, as you can guess, he said he would do whatever he wanted. I asked him what, for instance, he would like to do? He said 'I can drink Coke'.

The argument I get is that they would get hyper with sugar in the drink. A reasonable argument as you have to deal with hyper active kids differently here than what we would be meted out those days!

We have a proverb in Kannada which says, what you eat is your choice, what is worn needs others approval! But it is clear making a choice in this country is not easy. I remember that during the festival of 'Janmashtami' it was fun time after the festival but a tough one before that. We would see a lot of savouries prepared and stored during the week prior to the festival, but we had to wait till after the puja before we were able to eat it. Supposed to help our self control, but it was hell for us children.

Imagine the torture kids here goes through, they have to wait till they have grown up to eat all those forbidden stuff they are exposed to, not just a few days of wait we had. Then again they see kids in the class drink and eat all that cool stuff which are forbidden to them.

I wonder, as they sometimes accuse us, are we being mean to them? I know it is for their good, but how does one convince a four year old! You could reason with them, may work for a while but not too long. Bribe them with other things, no idea how good it is long term. Divert them with other ideas, they are not so easily diverted, these modern day kids are smart. We can punish them, a real no-no according to me.

It seems to be a real tough dilemma to resolve. You can see why I am waiting for Tara more eagerly than normal!

Freej!

(That is how I used to hear it called, till I read about Refrigerators! This is one more from my pre-blogging days!

Raji asked me on the day they were leaving ‘why have you stopped writing or did you stop sending them to us?’ I think it was a ploy to keep me busy, as I would surely be missing my grand children who were with us for the last two months! Life becomes really intense with kids around us and it is totally dull when they leave.

Today being home alone and bored I opened the refrigerator looking for a drink. All I could find was a can of beer stuck in an undignified manner between two plastic containers. I opened the freezer to chill the beer and was shocked to see three idlys in a transparent plastic container. Being unprepared, I could not stomach the sight of normally steaming soft idlys huddled in a box freezing! I had read gruesome stories about psychopaths using refrigerators to store dismembered bodies and that the mostly unmourned Idi Amin had kept severed heads in a fridge. While there is really no comparison between the two, staring at these innocent looking idlys stirred my south Indian soul to no end.

So thanks to Raji here I am trying to write about my encounter with Refrigerators, a boon to humankind. I read that there is one in almost every American household and I am sure also in most European homes and the rest of the world busy catching up. It is indeed a modern miracle that has changed life mostly for the better with some odd exceptions!

I am only talking about it as a home appliance to keep food cold. I will not talk of its use as a message board and so on. Neither am I going to examine other types used for Labs. Raghu possibly would love to talk about it. I am also not concerned with its technology, refrigerators that work on propane, thermo electric principles, on solar energy or the various refrigerants especially the eco friendly non-CFC varieties! May be Meghana could tell us about her special experiments in oxford on natural refrigeration! However, I am particularly indebted to refrigerators as it made my continued stay in Bangkok possible as 'Wireforms' sell parts to its manufacturers.

My first encounter with a Fridge was at my Bombay aunt’s home. Surprisingly it was in the storeroom and not the living room as was the fashion those early days. I was eleven years old at that time and was happy to see a machine that made ice at home. I recall taking out ice cubes surreptiously to suck on and that while the water was colder from the fridge I still preferred the 'cooja' water. However eating cold alphonso mangoes was heavenly. I also remember that storing cooked food in them was a no- no! It was 'ulupu' to store cooked food in it. I do not know how to explain this, except that we never stored cooked food those times.

Another encounter I remember was almost two decades later when I saw it on display at my colleagues wedding. He brought it home along with his bride and it was strangely symbolic as she was rather cold to us, his bachelor friends!

Soon it was my turn to buy a fridge and I could afford only the smallest at that time. Anyway I thought it was just right, all we needed was space to store water, milk and of course a few bottles of beer. As you would guess the process of my learning had started! There were more important priorities for storing in the fridge than beer. What about vegetables I was asked, there were umpteen other things that needed place in the fridge. The last straw was when our Bai started storing Dahi and leftovers in the fridge. While this was progress as a taboo was lifted, I was loosing ground or rather space! Tara complicated the situation further by keeping idol of Gods over the fridge. Soon I retreated and switched to rum, frankly as beer had got expensive. But I kept grumbling that only unnecessary stuff was being stored in it! My associating fridge primarily with beer would have made Pavlov happy.

My next real encounter with the refrigerator was in Seattle. I had to actually manage the fridge this time. I somehow shoved in all the curry powders and stuff sent by Tara as it was deep and big. Only problem was to find them again. We also needed space for Neil’s needs. Luckily we moved to a new place and decided to keep both the fridges. The old one was relegated to the garage and all the curry powders and of course Beer would go in there. I had a real problem when Nikhil arrived three years later as I had to create space for more curry and other powders sent again by Tara. I am certain if there is a way of carbon dating curries it could tell us the number of trips we made and when! There was no way Nandini could use the loads of curry powder sent to her.

Another complication in managing these huge cavernous fridges was due to expiry dates printed on the stored items. I had strict instructions to throw away without mercy anything that had passed the expiry date. Raxit told me that it was not worth the risk. I was in constant dilemma, as I would invariably find things that had gone hiding and would reappear only after the date of expiry!

(I think this invention would solve my problem of finding a dignified storage place for my beer and I have don't have to get up for it. Watch this video anyway, it is fun!)

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/445498/robotic_beer_launching_refrigerator
As usual I did a small google search looking for more ideas and found a few interesting trivia. It made my job simple as well. Read on and enjoy my ‘copy and paste’ work on refrigerators!

Some interesting facts copied from the web, Sorry I do not have the link:
-Dr. John Gorrie of Apalachicola, Florida invented mechanical refrigeration in 1851.
Electric refrigerators were first sold to American housewives in 1916, at a cost of $900.
In 1956, 80% of all U.S. households had a refrigerator, but only 8% of British households had one.
-The value of a new refrigerator rests on more than the initial price tag. The annual operating costs on the Energy Label can be considered the second price tag. Compare models similar in size and features.
-Refrigerators manufactured since 1997 are required by the Department of Energy to use no more energy than two light bulbs in order to qualify for the Energy Star rating. This translates into a 200% more efficient refrigerator than those of the Harvest Gold era.
-If your refrigerator/freezer experiences a power failure or malfunction, keep the door closed. A full freezer will remain frozen for about 48 hours; a half-full freezer about 24 hours. Refrigerated items will last 4-6 hours depending on the warmth of the surrounding room temperature.
-Keep the condenser coils clean to ensure an efficient refrigerator. This should be done yearly. They can be found usually at the back lower compartment. Use a gentle brush, so as not to disturb the tubing.
-To eliminate odors, place a bowl of cotton balls soaked in plain vanilla extract in the fresh food section. ( I hope it works for Indian food!)

Dishwashers--The American 'Bai'

(I blogged about Dishwashers a while ago. It is as relevant today as it was in 2008, did some corrections on typos though. I will add that today the boy friend brought in by a daughter would be asked to load the dishwasher machine to see whether he qualifies as a future husband....  Nidhi ,Sept 2017  )

Dishwashers in India are mostly the living kind, known as 'Bai' in Pune, even though they are expected to work like machines. I recall that while at my uncles' in Bombay, I was eleven, I was asked at dinner to eat fast as 'Rama' would be there anytime. I had no clue as to what they were talking about, but hurry up I did. Soon discovered that Rama was the contract dish washer, who walked in at 9 PM, worked super fast as evidenced by the noise he made while dealing with the metallic vessels. (Using ceramics was not used in our orthodox families.) Time was the essence of his contract and if we were not ready, too bad, he would wash whatever was there and move on.

I remember that Periamma, my grandmother, would wash vessels she used for her cooking and her dinner plate separately! It was a bit different for us, we were expected to wash our dinner plates, but a maid would wash the cooking vessels. It was sometimes my lot to rinse these vessels after the maid had washed them and stack them in the kitchen to dry. While I would do this grudgingly I did not even remotely imagine that there were machines out there to take care of this uninspiring chore!

My first encounter with the Dishwasher was at Cindy’s parents home back in 1969. I was tutored before I went to the States that if invited for dinner at an American home, you were not to just wash your hands and relax after dinner. You were expected to wash the dishes as well! So, after dinner while there was no need to wash my hands, I dutifully picked up my plates and the cutlery to the sink and washed them clean and looked around for a rack to keep them! Jean who was watching my heroic effort suggested that I put them in the dishwasher. I had no clue as to where the blessed thing was until she pulled down the door and I saw the insides of the dishwasher for the first time! I placed the plate on a rack and that was that! I wondered why she wanted me to put the clean plate there, but I assumed that this was as good a place as any for the dishes to dry!

The story would have ended here if I did not to manage the dishwasher at Nandini’s home in Seattle after Neil's (Saarung) arrival! I was irritating my cousin Prasad visiting us at Seattle with endless ‘how to’ (My dishes don’t get clean!) questions about the dishwasher. Luckily for him he saw a program on dishwashers on the TV and called me to watch it to get my answers! Before I could get there it was almost the end and I could not get much out of it except that dishwashers was a serious subject for study!

I spied on how others were loading and managing their dishwashers. I discovered there were as many ways as there were people! Some loaded dishes till the dishwasher literally choked, while others were gentler. A few rinsed vessels with hot water before loading (note this: not after the wash as I used to do at home!) and others in cold water and a few not at all.

I can see the day when a prospective mother-in-law, assuming she still holds sway, asking the potential daughter- in-law to load the dishwasher to check her personality traits and the culture of her family! (Will be different today!) It could also become an area of potential conflict. I have seen that some vessels do not get cleaned in spite of the prior rinsing. I have a suspicion that the dishwasher has a diabolical sense of humor and throws up a bit of the muck it has retained.

Here is a quote from a piece I saw on the internet. It is really sweet and will surely appeal to all the young mothers who chose to live in the US.
http://www.naturalchild.org/jacquelyn_delaveaga/banana.html
There is a Banana in My Dishwasherby Jacquelyn deLaveaga
"Other than reading to my children, I couldn't think of any one thing that I engaged in on a regular basis - so where was my time going? That's when I saw it. The banana in my dishwasher. Half-peeled, sitting in the silverware tray. What is that doing there? I thought as I pulled it out, wondering whether to toss it in the trash or save it for banana bread. Then, my two-year-old son walked over and said, "That's mine," and took it from my hand.
"Did you put it in the dishwasher?" I asked him.
"Yes," he replied.
"Why?" I asked (silly question).
"It's yucky," he assured me.
Next, he reached into the dishwasher and grabbed a wooden spoon that was still covered with chocolate-zucchini cake batter and started banging it against a kitchen chair, sending cake batter splattering all over the walls. "Ahhh!" I exclaimed as I grabbed it from his hand. "Messy, very messy," I instructed him. He simply smiled a very accomplished smile at me and moved into the living room where he had a small saucepan sitting on top of the humidifier fan."

Now from serious stuff:

I learnt the way the various plates and vessels are to be placed. (For some it is an art form and for others it is as rigid as a ritual!). There was also the embarrassment of discovering in the morning that the detergent was forgotten while starting the dishwasher or certain type of glasses were ruined because they had to be hand-washed! I loved the way the ceramic wares shone after the wash, looking as good as new! The same cannot be said of steel vessels and loading plastics into the washer is a waste of water and detergent! I loved unloading a dish washer as it is a form of therapy. Especially if you do it early in the morning when the rest of the family is asleep! I find it as sooting as a morning prayer!

I researched on the net and was surprised that the automatic dishwasher was invented by a woman named Josephine Garis Cochrane! She received an award for her invention at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. She designed the machine for the Hotel Industry but today it is practically in every home in the US and is about 2 Billion dollars a year business in machines alone. Detergents are specially made and adds further to the business.

I am sure she made the life of an average American much better and deserves a place amongst the great inventors. A machine if invented in India would have been deified on Dussera day and she as the creator would certainly be a goddess! (Or may be not, as the machine would only replace a lowly paid Bai.) Curiously I saw an ad for a 'dishwasher' on the web and the salary was about nine dollars per hour. That would cover my one round of golf at the pitch and putt!

If you desire to browse the net there is an enormous amount of Technical and Customer service data (e.g.,“The single most important factor in getting good results is HOT WATER!!”) that would certainly further your knowledge (Veda) on how the machine is being continuously improved to make it almost human!

There is also an astonishing report made in the year 2001 by a Management consultant appointed by one of the States to research the subject of dishwashers and its use, amazingly after more than a century of its invention. It was reported (quoting from my memory)  that before loading a dishwasher 40% of users rinse thoroughly, 35% rinse reasonably and the rest do not rinse at all! I remember the study was made to estimate power and water consumption patterns!

While I do not want to dwell more on all the gems I discovered on the web about dishwashers (may be I will for a small fee!)

Gayathri ‘US Yaaatra’ and more.

19 may,2008

Nidhi:
I am with Aparna, wondering what is going on! Probably you can call it some sort of Social Anthropology. Anyway best wishes to you from all of us here. I am sure you will be a very good teacher and a focused one! God bless!
Thanks also for mentioning Bisibele bath, I will be disowned by Iyengars here but I prefer Bisebele to Puliogre.
I think you should see this one on Indian food 'www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4A1xfHjyTA' .
I loved it.
I see that in all this ramblings some serious discussions are also happening re Gayathri's yathra, some questions asked and hopefully answered. Invitations being sent for parties. Those who invite should note that it is mandatory that there is a Bollywood dance in the agenda and Ambode with the drinks.

It is clear that Rail travel is postponed to a future date while more destinations are added. I am disappointed as I was thinking big term here. I thought of proposing that we book a bogie to ourselves as there seems to enough numbers to justify this. Raji and her family, Sethu and family included here, also Mohini and Vivek. We should probably hire a Madhwa cook, Gayathri I am considerate here and don't expecct you to cook all the time. If Mukund could be persuaded to join and Aparna can take a few days off from the school, we really can have a great time. We can stop in between to play golf, those who are not keen on golf can take bollywood dance lessons or play scrables. As there is enough talent for music in the group we can arrange concerts at stops on the way and make some money. May be Venki would be required to join to play mridangam for carnatic music, Pt. Ram can accompany Tara on the tabla. If men can be convinced we can even include a Bollydance show with gayathri's choreography. It would be a dream trip! I hope we can do it next year!...Think about it. Cheers


Ram:
And that is a GOOD QUESTION!!
Since Laxmi darts around the globe having breakfast in Berlin, lunch in London, dinner in Delhi and beverages in Bangkok so coming to Seattle for snacks would be a no brainer!!
So it is a done deal. We expect Raji to break away from "kalamkari" for a great week in Seattle while Laxmi continues to dart about the globe while touching base in Seattle as and when his schedule allows. That would simply be great.
Cheers

Gayathri:
Hi!!! Ok, my question is Why can't you? Look, we all belong to the fraternity that believes in the philosophy that calling 2 people to dinner is the same as calling 35 - mohini will vouch for that as that was the sincere advice that tara and i gave her when she arrived in bangkok as a new bride. so i don't think you should get into "feeling like" and "seems so exciting" and such. all you have to do is ask and you shall receive.
ok. now i have to introduce some more lovely lovely people. Raji and laxminarayan are this wonderful couple that were introduced to us by tara and nidhi who were their neighbours zillions of years ago in pune. Raji is this totally committed, highly energetic person that heads the store called dwarka in bangalore. This store has been set up as a suoort for the kalamkari artists whose work is on sale at dwarka. Laxmi heads MICO and is a dynamic as his hyper wife! Their daughter is Meghna and son is Nakul and their son-in-law is Arunabha and all i can say is WOW! They are all wonderful, warm individuals, high achievers - oxford, harvard and such. Mohini & Vivek are in London now but earlier spent 3 years in Bangkok. Vivek is with P&G. Mohini is a physiotherapist by profession and was actively involved with the Red Cross in Bangkok, then continued her studies in London and is currently working with ????. A sweet, sweet couple full of energy and intellect and enthudiasm.
which brings me back to the original question - why can't you join us?
and i have a few more questions:
* we reach seattle on sunday, july 6 and leave for vancouver on tuesday, july 8th? Right? and get back to seattle with all on thursday, july 10th?? Right?
* and is there any need to bring warm clothes? not that i own too many of those, but if i dig deep into the cupboards, i may be able to fish out a jacket or two!
* i know i brought up bollywood in my last email - has that shocked people into toal silence - there have been no replies to that AT ALL! oh my goodness. don't you dare tell me that the thought of a bunch of farangs AND gayathri doing bollywood numbers is that horrifying - actually, it is, but you are not allowed to say so!
ok - have to go now. planning a spot of shopping. y'all be good and keep those mails coming.
and raji laxmi - see you in seattle?? and yes, that is an excellent name for a bollywood movie except that it would be something like "See you in Seattle - doston ki kahani" or such since it is the trend to have these little blurbs under the main title of the movie these days!!!


i can't believe it is our daughters who are bringing all sorts of food into the mail - now bisibele. though I have to agree with apu there and say that what uthra made was pretty awesome.
more coming up!
Cheers.
gayathri

Raji:
Hi U.S. Travellers!!!
The Lakshminarayans really feel like bookings their tickets to the U.S!!! This trip seems so exciting. I wish we could be there in all this fun. Love

Apanra:
Dear All,
Priya, I can totally understand your predicament! I haven't checked mail for 2 days (am on a very very relaxing holiday in Nainital at the moment) and now suddenly I have no idea what's going on. All I got from the mails is tomato rasam and bisi bele bath. Actually I'm not sure if bise bele bath was mentioned or not, and if it wasn't then I think it should so totally be! Ramu uncle, i remember vising your house the last time in the States and stuffing myself on it. Hence, please do add it on the "to eat" list.
I really wish I could have come on this awesome trip. Unfortunately, I will be getting myself qualified to teach. Yes, for those who do not know, I have quit Mercer and am getting my teaching credentials. Figured this would be following in the family's footsteps. But I am sure that just my judging from this mail trail, you are all going to have an incredible time together.
I hope you are all doing well and hope to catch you some other time in the near future.

Love,

Gayathri:
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Nidhi, Happy Birthday to you!!!!
Many Many Happy Returns of the Day with Wishes of Health, Wealth, Happiness and Lots of Fun with Relatives & Friends!!!

We had a great time on Tara's bday at this place called Face which has an Indian section and a Thai one. the Indian section is called Hazara and is lovely - good food too.
Ram, Shakku, thanks a ton for the early invite! can I bring my bollywood music collection so that we can have a bollywood theme for the evening - I think i can teach this group a few moves!!!
Let me tell you the history before y'll start hyper-ventitlating there - our school has an annual fundraiser for charitable causes once every 2 years and the middle School teachers put on a show called the MS Follies where we do generally ridiculous stuff and have students pay to make us participate in it. We further send around a collection box during and after the show and collect some more. Well, this year someone had the bright idea of doing a bollywood number - since a number of the apartments in Bangkok have cable that brings in indian tv channels, practically everyone knows bollywood. so, we got this this teacher who is all of 24, a little tiny chap from bangladesh and had him teach us the steps to some medley! 9 male teachers and 9 female teaches doing bollywood - gayathri , the only indian in the group! all i can say is that we did raise a decent amount of money! so after the show, these teachers decided that it was just too much fun and had the guy come in every thursday for a session. i must say it is good fun and pretty good exercise. plus helps to make an ass of yourself in a very energetic and fun way.
what do you think???
st. petersburg to vladivostok - we are so on - just tell me where to meet you guys.
nandini, mukund is just to too sad that he cannot make it to seattle. he will talk to you pretty soon and tell you all about how golf-deprived he is even here!
come on guys - where is all the energy of the initial mails - we need to keep this going!! hurry up!! rajesh, manju: can we do malibu?? Love to all. be good. gayathri

Ram:
Dear Aditi and Gayathri:
Your schedule in Seattle will be so full that we (Shaku and I) have to think ahead to capture you and everyone on this email in Bellevue for at least one evening during your brief visit here. So I am hoping everyone will unanimously agree and set aside 12 July evening as reserved for a party at Ram Uncle and Shaku aunties house. Aditi dear, you absolutely must come and I am sure Priya will figure out how to get here during that weekend as well.

Aditi and Priya: you must have done some jadoo re: the weather here. Today we are 75 degrees and they are predicting record highs for tomorrow and day after. So I hesitatingly declare the arrival of summer in Seattle since you never know about this part of the world.
As regards the train trip Gayathri auntie, Sethu uncle and I are planning a separate trip from St Petersburg to Vladivostok since no one else wants to!! haHaha.
Cheers and keep cool ...summer is here

Priya:
With so much discussion and activity already via email I have decided to look at the calendar and see if i can make it, although it will be difficult for me to come during the week since I have so many weddings to be at this year my vacation time is limited. I have two weekends I think within your time frame in Seattle so maybe I can work some magic ;-) I will bring everyone some DIBS....hahaha

Gayathri:
i told you, Ram, sethu and I are doing that train trip. at some point of time. For sure.Alright aditi. papa is coming to NY on July 16th. Then he flies in to LA on Monday July 21st. Priya, Aditi, Manu, Eshwari, it would be great if you guys can coordinate in such a way that you are in Seattle over the same weekend.
And yes, those of you that did not send me addresses and phone numbers, send them on guys. I will put them in the master plan and send them on again. it might be easier for the out-station folk to call each other and coordinate dates?
Nidhi, I am sending more pics of the music evening. these took forever to go through and I did photoshop them as the lighting was not very good on those.
This is a short one as I have tow write up my exam. More later. Cheers. gayathri

Priya:
BTW (cell phone text-talk for - by the way) I am now craving Tomato Rasam.
Thanks,

15 may 2008
This promises to become my longest blog! I feel like 'sanjaya' and here I am not narrating but quoting:
Aditi uvaacha:
I’m on Ram Uncle’s side—it’s the middle of May and it’s still chilly-nippy-ish. NOT happy, i want the hotness/heatwave deal!
I really want to try to make it to Seattle that July 12-13 weekend, but it depends on my apartment-moving situation as well as Papa’s plans to be in New York for the IIT conference. Let’s figure that out.
Mummy you can come any date to Nyc, not a problem.
Looking forward to those Dibs,

Priya uvaacha
Ram Uncle (Dad),
There is currently a heat wave over here with not a drop of rain...isn’t it supposed to be April Showers?May Flowers? morel like April Hotness brings May Heatstroke!
daughter’s two cents....
....Sounds to me like you want to take the Train trip more than anyone else!
hehe
Ramarao uvaacha:
Hi Gayi,
More on the environment............naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah No more of that :-)))))))) Our environment should smell of Ingu (asafoetida) and Pacchu Karpoora.. Now does that kindle the digestive juices or what????
Gayi, I fondly remember your Dad & my favorite Uncle mention
that it’s such a waste of money to buy car perfume,
all you have to do is buy some fresh coffee powder and place it in a corner in the car. Every time we used to go with Dr. on his rounds and stop by at Chamrajpet to buy coffee powder the whole car would be filled with the aroma of freshly ground pea berry coffee which prompted him to to say that.

Speaking of Tomato Rasam as India’s National Drink, Uthra’s first order of business, if and when she acquires any semblance of power, continues to be to open a Mutt with Baale Yele Ooota next to every McDonald. Now that’s a good goal to have.
I see that the Train journey is slowly being resurrected. Just remember your age when you get on the train. That’s all I have to say on that :-((((
I am delighted that you are able to postpone your journey from our place. Fantastic.
Warm regards.

Gayathri uvaacha
You know Ram & Sethu, you are my soul-mates - though after Sethu’s little dig about the 180.5 work days - excusez moi, it is 182 - 188 days - i have to do a rethink. Let me know when, and we can do the train journey on our own. and ram, i have a feeling that you all plan to make me walk home from the airport - hand off and all - oh my goodness.
oops, i have a class wandering in - you all behave now, especially, you, mr. mere mortal. Let me tell you all, those 2 little smart-alecks, apoorva and anjali, they are so going to be as cheeky as our man here. of course, much cuter as well! so there!
Cheers.

I can’t believe the emotion that the mention of food can incite, the passion, the single-minded devotion. Lovely. It is such a wonderful means of breaking down barriers and transcends all caste, religion, ethnicity. Hilary would be doing much better if only she hosted a proper saapad and had everyone come vote. Without having them pay for it,of course - free food is always a great motivator. Shame on you Nidhi, feeling happy at Priya’s definition of dibs. and aditi & sethu for taking the focus away from the universe - aditi could never ever win a beauty pagaent as she would go up there and say “If I become Miss Universe, I will make sure that phad thai noodles are available in every grocery store in the world, and tomato rasam is made iNdia;s national drink” Anita, you are the only one with a legit excuse for thinking food. And shame on you Priya for evoking one more emotion - chocolate craving - which made me have some tiramisu at our weekly coffee chat. I had been off sweets for exactly 20 hours and you ruined it all. And how can you not be there is Seattle when we are there? I don’t remember seeing any mention of such in your dad’s mail. Yes, he did say you would have just been to seattle before we got there but there was nothing that said you would not be back for us. You just have to be a part of this “relatives & friends” do and participate in whatever, quoting anita, rambunctious activities we indulge in. i mean that anita used the r word when she was on chat. and if the word does not quite fit in my sentence, well too bad - i just liked the sound of it. so priya, you just have to make plans to spend some time with us in seattle. aditi is planning to come to seattle after we get back from vancouver so she can spend an extra day or two with all.
question: how do we get to vancouver from seattle? we reach seattle on July 6th. and we had planned vancouver for 7th & 8th. and for all to get to seattle on 9th. Tara said that rohini’s friend,anjali will be there on 7th? so should we plan to come to vancouver on 8,9? and all of us get back to seattle on 10th?
and ramu, oh my goodness! Fake glacier visuals - i am speechless! and i think it should be possible for me to leave for New York on 20th instead of 18th. What says, aditi?
so be good, all of you. and keep the mails coming.
take care!
Gayathri Mukund Rao

Sethu uvaacha:
Couldnt resist chipping in with all this fun stuff going around......
The train journey sounds awesome..... And since, unlike the rest of us mere mortals, teachers have all the time in the world (what was it again - 180.5 work days/year?), Gayathri should not let such an opportunity go by!

Ram uvvacha:
I agree with Nidhi!! FOOD is central. Where is all this global warming global shmarming!! Here it is past Mid-May and we are freezing our buns in the Northwest. In the 40 odd years I have lived here in Seattle, May has never been cold. This is supposed to be summer........enough said
Ok back to the track...and I mean railway tracks. Hahhahaha...So all of you thought my suggestions were finally squelched for good and in no uncertain manner, what with Gayathri auntie caving in, much to my grief...My view is that rushing around at 500 mph from BKK to WA DC and then back across the North American continent to SEA, wouldn’t it would be nice for Gayathri auntie to cool her heels on a train watching the sand dunes of Oregon, and the soothing Pacific Ocean lapping the cliffs of the Northwest, passing through the verdant valleys and red-wood forests, occasionally reading a book and contemplating the infinite as the sun sets over the Pacific listening to the clickety-clack of the Amtrak train taking her to her destination without worrying about rushing hither and thither with bag and baggage in tow.... just picture that dear Gayathri before you make up your mind!! And what is wrong in getting to know all the folks in your cabin....hmmmmm.I know all the youngsters will revolt with this line of thinking.... but I wanted to throw in my two cents for all it is worth.
As far as picking up Gayathri and Kamala at the airport I suggest a hand off at specified designated park-n-ride locations along the route similar to a relay....hahahaha just kidding.
Cheers

13 May 2008.
Nidhi uvaacha:
The yaatra is keeping to its potential and promises to be a lot of fun.
Thanks Aditi, Anita and now Priya for getting it back on track. The fundamentals of Indian travel is all about food! I don’t think madhwa’s need any reminding, but others better stock up with madhwa and Indian ingredients in plenty. With Aditi around motivating, Gayathri will be busy cooking. As to sight-see, she can always get a few authentic pictures from Raxit and I am sure Rohini will be too happy to use her photoshop skills to make it appear that Gayathri was indeed there! Thanks Priya for an other definition of ‘Dibs’. The one I prefer, being a sapatram.

(FYI Gayathri aunty Dibs are also tiny Chocolate cover icecream snacks ;-))
(for the ones that are going “Huh? what dibs”, thats american for “I reserve the right to .....”)
The other subject is too distant for me, in spite of the heat it has generated. Gore (gorey is how he would be known in Maharastra) did not impress me while I watched him give in so easily to Bush. The only foot print I know of is one of ‘Lord Rama’ near a temple in Karnataka (Devrayanadurga?) shown to me as a kid. Probably they were just kidding me.
Cheeers!

(Some more e-mails copied!)
Priya
Hello all,
SO I have not checked my email in 4 days and am only now catching up on the 7,459 emails entitled RE: US TRIP.
I did see that my dad mentioned that I would miss the visit as I am leaving Seattle before you all land. Is this true? I don’t remember reading the date of when all this “galata” will start ;-)
I am sooo soo sad if I am missing out on it! maybe I can sneak in a second trip home just to be included in all this exciting activity....
lots of love

p.s. someone needs to take a picture of the airport pick up convoy...hilarious.

Anita:
All I can think about is Madhwa adige and some good old bengaluru talk too!
Looking forward to seeing all of you in Seattle.

Aditi:
Hi all,
WOW I had no idea that one email about a summer holiday would result in an emotionally charged debate on the environment and politics!! I am trying to make plans to come to Seattle as well, but now I’m getting worried that I’ll have to start researching all the different perspectives on the environment and politics before I get there!! I thought this would be a relaxing vacation, but now I feel like I need to do homework before getting there!! And although I do realize the environment is important and all that good stuff, I feel the more important words on this email chain are “pucca madhwa food and masala dosas”, and we need to pay more attention to those interests as well. :)
Hope you all are doing well, and I hope I’m able to meet you all soon!
Take care,

Nalini:
Hi again! Yep..you will be with us first in Washington D.C. and since you started that Saroja Devi comparison stuff, I also remember how your dad would say, if your nose was a bit sharp and eyes bigger and mouth smaller, you would look like Saroja Devi’s grandma!!! and I would sulk for the rest of the day. And I remember his joke about Shabari restaurant in Madras...when he said they will “yenjal it” and give it to us...haha.I can never forget his jokes and your mom’s as well. What is remember very well is that you would dip kodbales in coffee as a kid and play chowka baara with me forever. Then we would hop in autos and go to the movies so frequently.Once I counted that I had seen 55 movies!!!!
More later.

Ramarao:
Gayi Gayi Gayi,
Forgive them my Lord for they know not what they doeth.
My sermon for the day.
1. The next time you watch the Inconvenient Truth - look for the melting glaciers. Looks so heartrending isn’t it??? Your unpolluted tear initiator Al Gore is being sued for lifting this scene from another movie frame for frame where in the original director had used a miniaturized Styrofoam model of a glacier. Al ‘Lifter’ Gore ‘Conveniently’ inserted this to make a point since he couldn’t find the real thing!!!!!!!
2. Carbon Foot Prints/Carbon Credits - the most widely thrown words these days. Carbon Credits is nothing more than ‘Prayashchitha’ (re-paying for bad deeds). There are companies selling Carbon Credits and making a ton of money and the most visible company in this arena is owned by Al Gore.
The purpose is - let’s say you take a Trans Atlantic flight and polluting the planet is inevitable, then you just write a check to this company who will supposedly offset it by using various methods. When you book a ticket on Priceline, just before check out it asks a question whether you would like to contribute towards Carbon Credit. Absurd!! And ofcourse Al Gore always uses the most inefficient private jet when newer and better ones are available. Do as I say don’t do as I do !!!! More can of worms being opened !!!!!!!
Just FYI, I am all for conservation,
clean environment etc. but just don’t make
it political particularly when Science
does not support the contentions
and rationales.

And, of course you are welcome on your own recognizance and the doors are always open but remember we will be taking a walk to Niagara Falls (just 430 miles) but then we will be exhaling more carbon dioxide. Can’t win either way :-(

W A R M unpolluted regards.

Gayathri:
i am loving it even more now - did you all see my two cousins taking two different standpoints and battling it out in the most articulate way possible??? and trying to sound polite at that - “I sincerely did not mean to elicit such a heated response (no pun intended) and my apologies for that” and “ Don’t mean to take a swipe at Manju but when it comes to Environmentalists or Environmentalism ...”. and guys, please don’t retire from the “email platform” - I love the term - keep it going - the group of people on this email listing are all more than willing to enter any kind of discussion, and that is the whole intent of these ramblers - to key people up so that they take a few moments to say hi through the waves and then keep it going. This is one wonderful way to stay in touch and hear about what people are doing and what they have to say. i have to add a couple more people to this - sethu and madhu who have been left out. sethu & madhu, there have been a series of mails zipping around - it all started with our US trip mails. you can read the rest on nidhis blog! sethu works with rohmenhaas - mukund, sethu - if you guys even dare MENTION that the company is spelled wrong or such - you have not seen the wrath of a woman ever!!! madhu is sethu’s wife and has worked for a very long time with an NGO in Bangalore. Right now, their claim to fame are their twin daughters, Anjali and Apoorva, all of 9 months old and absolutely delightful. They are our immediate neighbors in peters mansion.and you should do that as well - with intros please and may be later we can send pics to put a face to a name!!
ok now with that , at the risk of being banned from his house forever and relying on the presence of my mother to gain entry, Ramu, may I say that i am an Al Gore supporter. i show his movie to my students all the time and shed tears of unpolluted joy when he received the nobel prize. And Manju, I loved it “Nothing in my e-mail was meant to allude, or to be construed as a moralistic message on the social, ethical or environmental obligations to any of the recepients on the e-mail (and now, thanks to you, I am beginnign to sound like our legal counsel)”! As far as I am concerned, I think we all have social, ethical, and moral obligations towards our world and however much we fool ourselves with fatalistic approaches of “what is destined to happen will happen” or dishing out blame “it’s the developed countries that use the most energy etc etc”, we cannot ignore the impact of our actions. Actually, many of us are at a stage in our lives when we may not have to face the more serious effects in the future, but for younger people? I find it most encouraging that most of the younger generation are aware and willing to get involved in global and environmental issues. May be it is the science teacher in me and may be the fact that I teach 12 - 13 year olds, but it is difficult to ignore hard-core data and facts that these kids will have to deal with in their lifetime. So - long live environmentalists and all teachers!
And now if the others on this email list don’t sit themselves down and start getting more involved and respond to all this profound discussion, well, I’m going to, well, have a little tantrum???
Anita, Hari, where are you???
And just in case people forgot, we will be in the US in less than a month from now! So Nalini, you are our first stop, right? You are not to start throwing everything out of gear, like your mom does. For all, Nalini and Ramu’s mother is Madhuri Aunty and she is one of the most energetic, fun-loving, and talented people ever. She has this amazing sense of humor that shows up in every situation. We were at Udupi and eating lunch at one of the matts and it was taking them forever to seat everyone and get the food served. And my aunt starts this comparative analysis of the “aachars/poojaris” of the Udupi Mutt and those from Mantralaya! oh my goodness! we were in splits. She is this amazing cook who is the ultimate expert in pucca madhwa cuisine and a most warm and hospitable person. And a Karnatic vocalist who has released music cassettes and has sung for well-known Bharata Natyam artists as well.
Nidhi, it is hilarious that you put this correspondence on the blog - people will be so so confused. i am sure you are going to receive responses that go “Huh????” and thanks for saying I have lost weight - now I will have to get back to the treadmill - I had decided that since I am headed to the country of XXXXXLLLL sizes, I can relax. And I promise I will get the music program entry to you as soon as i get home tonight. The comp has been freezing up on me, but I think Mukund has fixed it last night.
OK. Now need to get some work done. You all be good and keep the mails coming. Have fun all. Love to all.
Myself, Gayathri Rao

Nidhi:
may 10, 2008
As I read the correspondence initiated by Gayathri (Mummy, Aunty, Love-of-your-life, etc etc), the original rambler, I have this feeling that her sojourn in US will get extended. I think the way she has rallied people around her would tempt Hillary Clinton to hijack ‘etc etc’ to help in resurrecting the dwindling chances of getting nominated!
In addition there are many issues to be resolved. For instance, how will we solve the subject of picking her up at the Seatac Airport. Actually those who take it literally and have not seen her recently, will be pleased to see a slimmer Gayathri! While there is no problem about Kamala aunty, she has been spoken for, I suppose Gayathri will have to switch cars periodically so as to make all those eager for this privilege happy! I am sure it will be quite a sight to see a convoy of desi-driven cars as they follow the lead car with Kamala aunty in it.
I thought of calling this blog ‘Gayathri Mantra’, but I suppose it is Mukund’s copyright and privilege. I have a strong suspicion that he has started uttering her mantra as he drives or putts while playing golf, as I see he has improved a lot since about a year. I know he started using his new clubs around that time, but the effect of GM is unquestionable!
I suppose that is enough rambling for now.
Cheers

(I have posted below the correspondence between us for records! Gayathri thanks for as they say ‘plugging’ my blog! The first letter is from Gayathri, when she announced her intention of a US Yaatra and the rest of them as they were received.)

Gayathri:
hi all! first all the intros of people this mail is going to - you definitely need to know and meet each other as all of you are so much fun and such great people.
starting from our point of entry into the US:
Ramu is my cousin - dad’s sister’s son - and uttara is his lovely wife. They are super hosts and in the true Indian tradition of inviting family and friends, may i invite, on their behalf, all of the others to visit them any time you want. you want more incentive? well, both of them are amazing cooks and the masala dosas and bisibele are truly authentic pieces of art.
nalini is ramu’s sister which makes her my cousin. umesh is her husband and they have two wonderful daughters, jaishri and tanushri. Nalini and the two angels sing divinely and Umesh provides complete support and is the appreciative audience.
To get to the next bit, I have to introduce Tara and Nidhi at this point. Tara and Nidhi are our family in Bangkok. Some of you on this mailing list know them as they are your parents/relatives! or you have visited us in Bangkok and there is no way you could have slipped through our house without meeting them.
Shakku is tara’s sister and Ram is her husband. Priya is their daughter. they all are super energetic and so much fun to be with.
nandini is tara nidhi’s daughter and raxit is her husband and they have 2 genius boys, neel and Nikhil. neel is a budding golf player and has won all sorts of tournaments and such. (are golf competitions called tournaments or matches????)
my childhood friend and soulmate is shubha who now lives in bangalore. she and i went to school together in Ahmedabad from 6th standard onwards, did our undergrad together and then did our masters as well. more importantly, our parents were very very close friends which is why, Suhas, shubha’s younger brother, was very much a part of our family as well. his wife is deepika and they have 2 daughters. They live in seattle
this is turning out to be a 2 daughters frat party!
Sandhya is shubhas sister and her husband is ram and they have - yes, 2 daughters!!!! and they are in ___???????
eshwari and manu are two wonderful kids, brother-sister, both in portland. They are my niece and nephew. manu is working and eshwari is studying. they have to fill in details of what, where and such!!!
rajesh is my cousin and his wife is sini and their son is roshan, roshan is this absolutely dynamic kid with vocabulary that is amazing and full of fun.
manju is also my cousin and he has 2 kids ellora and rohan, manju visited us on his way to and back from india a couple of months ago and met tara & nidhi too.
if i have left anyone out, well, fill us in please!!!!
(Rohini, Sundeep, Leela and Rhea are the reason for the Vancouver trip. Rohini is Tara Nidhi’s second daughter.)
so now you all know each other. and remember that the reason i did this was to make sure that since my mum and i will be spending time with you all, there is some networking required by which you know where we are and what we are doing!!!
so:
• I have not done any of the internal bookings, which would basically be the NY-Seattle flight OR Newark-Seattle and the journey from Seattle-LA
• NY - Seattle: Any particular timings that are more convenient for you guys in terms of pick up from the airport? Do let us know so we can try for the best fit.
• Seattle - LA OR Portland-LA: Since Manu and Eshwari live in Portland, one option is for Mum and me to go to portland from seattle, spend a couple of days there and then make our way to LA. The other option is for the 2 of them to come to seattle and meet us and everyone too! Hmmm???? What???? Logistically???? How strenuous would it be for Mum???? Let me know.
• The next bit is a tricky one: We thought it would be a neat idea to take the train from Seattle - LA or Portland - LA. The website says it is a lovely journey, very pretty,along the coast, It does take 35 hours but i thought it would be worth the time since everyone says it is a really nice journey. What says????
• Anita, make note of all the dates - just in case the seattle folk don’t know, the plan is for anita and hari and ananya to come to seattle while we are there.
• and we are trying to convince viji to join us there as well. (viji is a bkk connection ) - talk of family and friends!
• all of you have just got to fill in some the address, tel number etc and send our program back to me.
• you are allowed to comment on any/all of the above commentary. and hurry up - I still have to do some bookings, don’t I?
• Alrighty! I am all set.

Take care all and be good. Keep the mail coming.
lots of love to all.
Gayathri Aunty, Mummy, Gayi, etc etc

(We are now into the correspondance! You will need to navigate back and forth to understand fully!)
Ramarao:
Hi Manju,
Hope all is well.
I knew, I would be opening up a can of worms the moment I hit the ‘Send Button’. I was merely addressing a part of Gayi’s e-mail referenced below and as you can see she just wanted to hear of some of the current happenings and I felt compelled to expose some of the myths. There’s really nothing more to it.
• i am loving it - there’s a “global climate change” phrase worked into these
• mails - we are such an aware and conscious group! but truly, i think i
speak
• for all when i say we would like to hear of what’s happening on that
front -
• it’s not just for the environmentalist in you or the science teacher in me.
• so don’t can anything - do write up a mail when you find some time.

Best regards.

Manju:
Ramu: C’mon now, big man, chill out a little will ya? I do agree with you that the range of topics on these e-mails are all over the Richter scale. However, my reference to the global climate issues was only a sheepish attempt on my part to let Gayi know that that I was terribly busy at work and hence my late entree into providing input on her itinerary, thats all. Plus, Gayi’s plans for a train journey from Seattle to LA merely coincided with an environmental ‘hotspot’ we are dealing with in the same environs. Nothing in my e-mail was meant to allude, or to be construed as a moralistic message on the social, ethical or environmental obligations to any of the recepients on the e-mail (and now, thanks to you, I am beginnign to sound like our legal counsel). No one, least of all environmentalists, can afford to put on the “I am better than thy” facade as you allude to. History has taught us that that approach won’t work. Any obligation to do your best to cut down on your carbon ‘footprint’ is your own. The future will tell us if you as an inidvidual or as part of the human race survive this crises or go the “way of the Dodo”. Again, I sincerely did not mean to elicit such a heated response (no pun intended) and my apologies for that. Sheesh—I am exiting out of this e-mail platform lest I be drawn into future haranges—which would be counterproductive to the interest of this e-mail anyway.
Gayi - once again, my children and I are looking forward to seeing you here in Southern Cal.
Cheers to all,

Gayathri:
i am loving it - there’s a “global climate change” phrase worked into these
mails - we are such an aware and conscious group! but truly, i think i speak
for all when i say we would like to hear of what’s happening on that front -
it’s not just for the environmentalist in you or the science teacher in me.
so don’t can anything - do write up a mail when you find some time. Now that
we have this “rambler mail” chain in place, I think we should maintain it
and keep it going. Nidhi has a wonderful blog that he maintains and i think
when there are subjects like you mention, manju, it is worth it to send it
on to nidhi to put on his blog. and yes, just in case you folk want to check
out the blog (there are numerous very interesting topics), it is
http://nidhiramblers.blogspot.com/
Ok. So we will work in visiting your house, manju. Rajesh, you are in charge
of that. Alright, I have done my job, so there!
More coming up - I have a great story of Nalini’s fascination, when she was
much younger, for the actress Saroja Devi. And one on the antics of her
OLDER brothers, Ramu & Venki! More on that! P:S: I anyone has other
embarrassing stories to contribute, that’ll be fun - helps break the ice,
you know!!!
Cheers.

Ramarao:
Hi Gayi
I am quite nonplussed by the mosaic of topics being discussed in these e-mails. It almost looks like a big bash between Bush et al and Putin et al. Environment, Julliana Margolis, Pam Anderson literally in the same sentence.
This got me thinking. The aforementioned are things that can only be seen from afar and we ‘mere mortals’ can’t do anything about it or with it. Now don’t get ideas. I am referencing this in particular to the Environment :-))))
Don’t mean to take a swipe at Manju but when it comes to Environmentalists or Environmentalism, I am reminded of an old cartoon by R.K.Laxman - the scene is a busy factory with all kinds of activities, welding, lathes etc. you name it with busy bodies running around all over the place and the caption is “This factory does not actually produce anything - it’s a means to employ labor”.
In my humble opinion this pretty much sums up the the ‘feel right’, ‘I’m better than you because I care for the earth’ feeling of the Environmentalists. Keep in mind that one eruption of even a medium sized volcano can send the ashes to the stratosphere and cause more pollution in a short time than several developing countries combined and the Earth still survives it.
More importantly the Environmental regulations seem to tie the hands of the Industrialized Nations behind their back and provide an unfair advantage to countries like China and hmm hmm.... India whose regulations are at best loose. America has 22 different types of Gasoline concoctions to fulfill the idiosyncrasies of the different states and then to complain that the price of gas is trough the roof is unjust. If US has one kind and even the mention of its willingness to drill for its own oil in Alaska or Florida will send the price of gas spiraling down. But the environmentalists have to have their say with even a Nobel Prize doled out to its greatest but misplaced proponent viz. Al Gore. In the scheme of things we need to remember that we are mere mortals who
can neither increase or decrease the temperature of earth so let’s take a deep breath and calm down.
Now, what was the actual purpose of this e-mail??? Oh, welcome to Gayi and Aunty. Got carried away and ofcourse you asked for it!!!!!
Warm or may be Cold ‘Regards’ depending on where you live!!!!

Manju:
On Sun, May 11, 2008 at 1:59 PM, Manjunath Venkat wrote:
Dear Gayi:
I am sorry to be making this rather delayed entry into this rather interesting criss-crossing of e-mails dedicated to your trip. You know, it is rather typical and convenient to blame tardiness of any natureon the weather—in my case I would dare say it is not an excuse but a fact! Seriously, the global climate change issues has created an unprecedented amount of work and we are all burning the ‘midnight oil” these days. Coincidentally, the western sea board of the US, the Pacific Coast; which has been dissected pretty well in the e-mails in terms of your now defunct train journey, is at the center of the subject of a proposed study. Well, interesting tidbits, but nonetheless a subject that can be canned for a later dialog....so on to the important discussions regarding your wanderings in the US....
Rajesh informed me of your plans to go to Las Vegas (that contemptible but
most fascinating of Cities), the weekend of June 21, 22 and 23? At first I
got all excited about making the trip up to Rajesh’s place and Jamboreeing
with you all at Vegas. Regrettably- and we are somewhat in knots over this
this is coinciding with Rohan graduating from his Cub Scout “pack” that very weekend and it is a pretty big deal for him ....and, it means so much for Ellora and me to witness that. What a pity! But, as a reparation, I promise to bring the kids over and stay with with you all during your sojourn here in LA. Please let me know what your schedule as far as your stay here is in the Southland.
I have to remind you—a trip here to Southern Cal minus the surf and sands of Malibu is akin to making a visit to Agra and not seeing the Taj Mahal !! Plus, may I just drop in an ounce of temptation by stating that a certain star of tinseland, by the name of Juliana Margolis was sighted on my recent visit to the Marmalade Cafe in Malibu??? OK, all right, perhaps it is not worth the effort to be gaga eyed about a few celebrities.....but hey, the soothing surf and sounds of Malibu beach is definitely what the doctor ordered....the perfect respite for the weary traveler. Picture yourself laying back on the glorious beach, watching the sandpipers flitting across the surf, listening to the sea gulls and their cacophonous cries of joy, creating a sand castle with the kids ...and watching Ms. Pamela Anderson (of the infamous “Bay Watch”) strut her stuff.....sheesh..ok..ok...I will behave!!
Seriously, Gayi, you ought to consider heading out west on Highway 210 with Rajesh and family while you are here. Please come and stay with us. While I am on this propaganda on southern Cal, I may as well venture out intrepidly to suggest that Manu and Esh should head out south on I-5 to the southland. Now how about that? Gives us a chance to see Esh as well.
Hey now, you cannot argue with the warm surf and sands of the southern Pacific, can you?? From what I know, the ice bergs a re melting and the waters off Oregon are closer to the frigid waters!!
On a serious note - whatever the plans, my kids join me in welcoming all of you. BTW, Ellora has already started her crayon poster to welcome you—do note: she spelled Gayathri with the numerical “3”(what do you expect? She is a Millennium girl). It would be a pleasure to receive you all and we will certainly cherish whatever time we can get with you.
Suhas - it is great to hear from you and to know you are all doing well. Let’s keep in touch.
On the eve of Mother’s day here, I take this opportunity to wish all you wonderful Moms a “Happy Mother’s Day.”
Regards,

Rohini:
Hi Gayathri aunty,

While the Seattle gang fight over you I’m glad we have you all to ourselves in Vancouver :-). Since it will be such a short time Nandini suggested we come back to Seattle and join in the general galata! me thinks no one going to be sleeping those few days...which is good... more people to stay up and rock rhea to sleep.
Aditi hope you can make it.
love
Rohini
Rohini, Sundeep, Leela & Rhea

Gayathri:
Hi All!
Ram, Nandini, Suhas - you are all very generous people and i am thoroughly
flattered that you all want to come to the airport and pick us up from the airport!! i am loving it.
Deepika, what Suhas forgot to mention was that we also owned a 6 INCH big wire bicycle, one of those things that they make with 1 piece of wire with no attachments etc. So Suhas and Srinivas and Lalita’s son, Mukund, would fight over who gets the bicycle. The two of them were all of a meter tall!
The deal was that whoever married me would get the bicycle as their dowry! Suhas also threw in another offer - to stay home with Kamala Aunty and enjoy her coking and have me work for them forever! Isn’t it funny that I did marry a Mukund!
I love the responses I am getting about my planned train trip! Ramu even
wrote “ What were you thinking???? You can literally see yourself grow old during that journey “, which comment had the girls in absolute splits over the phone since both of them were absolutely amazed that somebody would want to admire scenery from a train window for that long - thanks Ramu, you pretty much made their day!!!
Jaishri drives??? and Tanushri is in grade 8? oh my goodness. For the rest of the mailing list, on our last visit to the US in 1999, these 2 girls and us went to some shoe place as our two wanted to do some shoe shopping. So there was tanushree with her hair in about a million little braids that aditi had made for her - and they were not braid braids but little pieces of hair jutting out in all directions - with about a couple of dozen hairclips on her head, and a huge handbag, and refusing to change or look a half bit more presentable. at some point, Nalini just loaded everyone into the car and off we went. once we reached the shop, both jaishri and tanushri had a little fit and hue & cry as they wanted to buy adult size shoes with 8” heels! we
had to restrain nalini - that’s all i can say now! jaishri and tanushri, I am so so excited that we get time with you. Since I am relating funny stories, might as well relate one more about my cousin Rajesh. Ha, you thought you were going to get away unscathed??
Whenever anyone passed by with an umbrella, Rajesh would sneak up and snatch it away - from perfect strangers and people just walking on the street! As R.K. Laxman showed so well in his caricatures, the average mysorian has to have an umbrella swinging alongside even in perfectly decent weather (though it is getting to be an extinct practice in recent times), so rajesh had a field day standing just outside the gate and targetting the unaware! it was hilarious. he was the ultimate umbrella snatcher!
manu and eshwari, so how does all of this fit in with your schedules? It would be fun for you to come up to Seattle and meet all.
Anita, Hari, Manju, how about you guys? what are your plans? i think i like this idea of relating stories - i have a few about nalini which i shall save for the next mail! and not to worry, i will tell a few with me involved just for fairness sake!
nidhi , i have the pics from viji and will send the blog soon. have to stop now - have to go play with madhu’s twins.
cheers and love to all


On 5/10/08, Suhas Uliyar wrote:
Hi Gayathri,
Sorry for the delayed response. In addition to your visit to Seattle we are equally excited that we get to meet more folks in Seattle. We have been in the Seattle area now for 4 years and did not know or come across Ram Prasad and family. Excited to meet you all via Gayatrhi’s email and hopeful to see some or all of you in Seattle or our travels. I do know Rajesh and Manju but have not seen them in a very long time. In fact I had no idea that Rajesh was in LA until I spoke to Kamala aunty last week. I have to let everyone know here that I reserve the right to pick up aunty (and of course Gayathri) from Seattle airport in “MY” car. This is a result of a promise made to Kamala aunty when I was very young where I told her that when I grow up, I would drive her around in a car – a foreign one. I think I told her impala at the time as that was my little dinky car that Prahalad uncle got me from one of his visits. While I did not live up to my dream career at that time – which was to be a driver, I am really thrilled that I can actually keep the promise I made to aunty. So Ram Prasad, you are welcome to join us at the airport to collect them but aunty gets to sit in my car J. We can then pick straws for Gayathri !! I love you too Gayathri but you did not give me the dinky car !!
My beautiful family is made up of my wife Deepika and two daughters Ananya (7 yrs) and Mahima (4). We live in Woodinville which is not very far from Ram Prasad’s house, so shunting between our house and Ram Prasads’ is not going to be an issue.
Relative to the Seattle to LA by train, I agree with Nadini’s argument wholeheartedly. I would suggest that you fly to San Francisco (SFO) or San Jose (SJC) and do a day trip to Big Sur or drive along the coast (towards Carmel from San Jose). This is my opinion – but honestly after about 30 mins driving at very high speed around the sharp bends with water on one side and mountains on the other, I kind of get bored. However the first 30 mins are awesome. So if you want to enjoy the coastal drive, this is something I would suggest you do – of course driving slowly and carefully. Question is who drives you there. Sandhya and family are likely to be in India during your visit. It appears that Mukund is going to be busy playing black jack, so if you would drive, Gayathri, this is certainly something worth doing.
The other alternative would be to fly into SFO or SJC and then driving to LA on Highway 1. Again driver may be the issue. Relative to flying from NY or EWR either are fine with us. We would like you to come for the 4th of July weekend but we are looking forward to whenever you can make it to Seattle. We are at your service. Deepika, kids and I fly to London for a 2 week vacation on the 16th of July. So the timing of your visit works perfectly for us.
Relative to Portland. Manu and Eshwari are welcome to visit Seattle and stay with us. If for whatever reason this option is not good, you could take the train or Greyhound to Portland and back. If it is a weekend trip and I am not traveling we could all go visit Portland as well. There are some awesome places to visit around the Gorge.
we are disappointed that Mukund, Aparna and Aditi are not coming to Seattle. I do hope they are able to change their minds or schedule and visit us.
Deepika & Suhas Uliyar
Please let us know if you need anything else.
Kind Rgds
Suhas Uliyar
Chief Technology Officer
Dexterra Inc
Manu, Eshwari & Mena.
Hi Gayathri,
It is good to hear that your plans are getting finalized, and we are looking forward to meeting you. We can certainly take a drive up to Seattle one weekend and get together.Let us know when works best for you. Also, if you have time, you’re still welcome to come to Portland and stay with us. It is an easy three hour bus or train ride away from Seattle.
To answer your question, Eshwari is currently studying economics at the University of Oregon in nearby Eugene. I’m working at Intel corp as a process engineer here in Portland.
BTW, mom is going to be here from late May until July 5th. If it works out, it will be nice if she also could meet you.

With Regards,

Gayathri:
Ok, now what has happened is that some of you voted for the train
journey and some against!
I found Nadini’s argument against the ride rather convincing - here I
quote her “ Seattle to LA by train: it’s beautiful and all but do you
really want to spend 3 days on a train. You’ll be bored out of your mind or you’ll make friends with everyone on the train. No, seriously, the beauty can be taken in on a drive on the Pacific coast in CA. I’d rather you spend that time hanging out it Seattle. From your email, it sounds like you already don’t have enough time. So, take in some nice breakfasts, enjoy some walks with long lost relatives, instead of the train.”!!!
I am loving it! and i am loving the idea of more time with all you
lovely people as against a train-load of unknown ones. and aditi and aparna
were totally shocked that I would want to ride a train in the US. so sandhya
and ramshakku, any time you plan to do that train journey, let me know and
i’ll join you guys! so as of now, I think i have voted out the train. But, i
may change my mind again, so there! Manu and Esh, do you think you guys can
come to Seattle and meet us there? What says?
Keep the mail coming.
Cheers.
Gayathri, Mummy, Aunty, Love-of-your-life, etc etc

Ram & Shakku:
Dear Gayathri:
Both of us are really excited you are finally going to come for a visit and but sad that it will be so short. I note that a whole army of people are waiting for you to arrive so we will all have to fight for your time and attention!! Hahahaha. Also we are delighted to meet via this lovely and most informative email of yours, all the folks that are involved in your fantastic tour. As far as picking up at the Seattle airport is concerned, you don’t need to worry about what time you arrive.....I am personally at your disposal whenever and whatever time you wish to arrive.
I took the liberty of adding Priya to the list of your email recipients however she will have just come and gone before you are in Seattle. Priya will be here for a few days in May then heads back to Oakland so she will miss seeing you here.
It would be great if Viji also decides to come here at the same time. We can hold a mini music session with all three of you famous BKK celebrities!!
Taking the train from SEA to LA is indeed a great idea. The scenery is superb as you go along the coast line for a major part of the journey. You will definitely enjoy it. It would also be worthwhile to stop for a day or two in San Francisco.
Make sure you have Canadian Visa because obtaining it here will cause you a loss of the better part of a day.
Let us know if we can assist you more in your planning and have a wonderful trip over. I notice that Shriman Mukund Rao has deliberately avoided coming to Seattle but will spend most of his time in Las Vegas....... hummmmm!! . I wonder why??
I have added our address and phone numbers to your itinerary.
Affectionately

Also added another blog for records. 

Gayathri your FB posting made me curious, surely I will not able to tackle the list. But here are some reviews. Enjoy maadi:
Swerve In the early 15th century Western Europe was just emerging from a couple of centuries of plague, famine, and conflict. .....so they looked back 1500 years or more to the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome. .. to relearn ..what had been lost during the Dark Ages. .. Poggio Bracciolini, a papal secretary whose Pope had been overthrown ...discovered On The Nature Of Things, by Lucretius ..a seminal document of the emerging Renaissance. .. who taught that the soul did not survive death and that all living things were made up tiny particles or atomi.
Epicureans called on people to enjoy a good life ... who did not concern themselves with anything so insignificant as human affairs. This has a modern ring to us, .. and those who followed his ideas were often in danger of perseuction or even execution....on the tumultuous political world the Church and secular powers struggled to dominate, ..whose development turned or "swerved" dramatically as a result of Lucretius and other classical writers renewed popularity.

The Swerve should become an essential part of the library of anyone interested in the late medieval and early Renaissance eras.

vs
 
...Greenblatt seriously overstates the role of Lucretius, whose influence, until the mid to late 18th century was arguably quite marginal. Peter Gay's The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism, .. deals at length with the influence of Lucretius on French Enlightenment thinkers, many of whom really were "pagans", i.e., materialists and epicureans.   ... Montaigne in his Essays, on the other hand, quotes Lucretius repeatedly, often without attribution, indicating that Lucretius's naturalism, if not his Epicureanism, was appealing to him.
 Greenblatt .. .. is a lively writer, but I think the public would have been better served by more balanced presentations, such as can be found, for example, in the writings of Anthony Grafton, who is especially good on humanism during transitional period between the Renaissance and the French Enlightenment. Grafton also traces the interrelationship of humanism and modern liberal ideas in a way that is attractive and convincing.
 Very profound probably you will sleep better as you nod off!
 The Fault in Our Stars
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

A review

... I am a Nerdfighter, and I watch John Green videos religiously. However, TFIOS fell a little flat for me. Most points I want to make have already been addressed, .. My main problem with the book is that the characters are just not believable. They do not speak like teenagers. They do not even handle situations like teenagers do.
 
another review
.. It covers a topic that is difficult to talk about and is often avoided. It has been challenging for me to get through; however, I feel like I should add my perspective. I was diagnosed with cancer at 10. I am now 15 years old and a teen-age cancer survivor. I am a volunteer and advocate for pediatric cancer awareness.
This book has gotten negative reviews based on several points:
 "The characters are not believable. They do not speak like teenagers. ..
......Have you spent time with any of us? They are believable as teen-age cancer patients/survivors. We may look like teen-agers, but in our heads, we are not.
..... I have seen my own parents (and siblings) and the parents of other friends struggle with this. Many times, they do not have their own identities anymore. ....
I hope everyone can read this with an open mind and an open heart. Then, reach out to the patients and survivors in your communities. They are wise beyond their years, funny, brave and inspiring.

A book probably written with the best intentions but may be over done! I guess overall a good book!

The Cuckoo's Calling (A Cormoran Strike Novel)

A brilliant debut mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel's suicide.

 A review:

This book is so well written that I suspect that some years down the road we will hear the author's name is a pseudonym of some famous writer. .. You could feel the weather, the tension, the pain, the atmosphere in the gatherings. .. It is a wonderful mystery with a surprise ending, and I look forward to more by the same author.

 You're right. It was just revealed that J.K. Rowling is behind this book. 
The Silkworm is her second book (following the Cuckoo's Calling) featuring the wounded military veteran turn detective Cormoran Strike and his trusted young assistant Robin Ellacot. The crime fighting dual get caught up with the murder of a known novelist. 

 

Look to borrow this. No point in making the author richer than she is!
 

Goldfinch

... The book is compelling and moving. Tartt is a master of foreshadowing, letting us know just enough of what is to come that we feel helpless to put down the book. I found myself staying up late for several nights, turning page after page to connect the dots. ..
This is not to say that the book is necessarily realistic; ... it constantly evokes earlier books rather than real life. ..
Tartt took over a decade to write The Goldfinch, and polished its language over that time. In Las Vegas, for example, Theo describes his new quarters as "the kind of room where a call girl or stewardess would be murdered on television." ..
What's not so perfect? Though Tartt captures the subtleties of several different kinds of relationships ..never quite ring true. ..
Finally, and this is not Tartt's fault, I'm sure, the paper in the hardcover edition is too thin. I suspect the publisher winced at receiving an 800 page manuscript and decided to print on thin paper in the hope of creating a less intimidating volume on bookstore shelves. When reading page 403, you have to ignore the backwards shadow of the words on page 404, overleaf.

Tartt tackles broad themes in this book: to what degree can we control our fate? Or does life unspool in response only to forces beyond our control, including randomness? .. Can humans create objects that have souls, and what obligation do we have to our creations, and is there any meaningful way in which artifacts make life worth living? .... In a profile of Tartt ....raises such questions as "whether it is possible to be good, what part love plays in our behavior and what in life is true and lasting."

It's a wonderful book, worth every penny and every hour needed to read it.

Sounds a good read. Esp for a Indain-epic-phile. But 800 pages?

 

 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister—dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA. Encapsulating Dominican-American history, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere—and risk it all—in the name of love.

 Meet Oscar de León. ... Oscar was a slick Dominican kid who seemed to have a typical life ahead of him. .. the time he hit puberty, Oscar gained a whole lot of weight, became awkward both physically and socially, and got deeply interested in things that made him an outcast among his peers...His few friends are embarrassed by him, girls want nothing to do with him, and everywhere he goes Oscar finds nothing but derision and hostility. And he's not the only person in his family suffering through life: his mother, a former beauty, has been ravaged by illness, bad love affairs, and worry regarding her two children; and his sister Lola, another intense beauty, has been cursed with a nomadic soul and her mother's poor taste in men.

The kicker about the de León family? They just may be the victims of a bona fide curse (a particularly nasty one at that, called a fukú) ..The de Leóns are on a collision course with disaster, but can they break the curse before it's too late? "you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in."

 "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" is a phenomenal novel that is hysterical, hypnotic, heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal parts (and quite often at the same time). The plot is a madcap high-wire act balanced with astonishing dexterity by Junot Díaz. If he has a misstep it is in the denouement, which is rather sudden and slightly lacking in clarity for an otherwise thorough novel. Nonetheless, I loved, loved, loved this book. And, naturally, I highly recommend it.

I have to think about it.

 

"Green Eggs and Ham."

As a certified elementary school teacher and practicing preschool teacher (3-year-olds), I highly recommend this book! There isn't a day when I don't hear "Ms. Molly, read 'Sam-I-Am!'" .. In later years, "Green Eggs and Ham" and other books as endearing (whether the children will realize it or not) may lead to a love of books and reading which may help them succeed in school.
I have no doubt that my students will forget who "Ms. Molly" is in their teenage years and beyond, but they will ALWAYS hold in their hearts a special memory that is "Green Eggs and Ham."

This book has been around for such a very long time and it is still going strong.
Aside from the simple words, the book portrays a very important message - do not be afraid to try new things. As a parent and counsellor, I can attest to the fact that message can be one of life's greatest learning experiences not only for children but for adults as well. We never know what we can accomplish or what we can achieve until we try. In addition, some things are not always what they seem. If you have never read a Dr. Seuss book, you have no idea of what you or your children are missing. Of all the Seuss books, this is an all-time favourite.

 I suspect Gayathri has already read this.

 

Omnivores Dilemma

When I bought this book for my dad he simply said, "A book about food?" I laughed and tried to tell him it is probably more about what is wrong with the country (government, business, foreign policy) than it is about food.

...For instance, I had no idea we used so much fossil fuel to get corn to grow as much as it does. The book provides plenty of other interesting facts that most people don't know (or want to) about their food.

 A lot of cool facts here that I never knew or took the time to care about (I never knew the mushroom was so mysterious). I would have liked him to talk more about trade, different areas' food specialties and also how preparing a meal such as his at the end seems a little too time consuming even for the outdoors enthusiast.

I think all Americans - conservatives, liberals, whatevers - can enjoy this book. Liberals for the "return to nature mentality," conservatives for the same reason: Pollan rails into Animal Rights' activists and shows how though they may have good intentions; they would rather upset the balance of nature before they kill anything.
A good read but frustrates as you can do nothing about the things that are wrong!

 

the Hunger Games

 Wow. I was barely able to put this book down for a second after the first few pages got me completely hooked. Suzanne Collins narrative here has an immediacy to it that, when combined with the very dramatic life-or-death plot, is incredibly compelling. It's entertaining, and incredibly disturbing all at once. If this was merely a good read, I would have given it 4 stars, but they say great art leaves you changed after you experience it... and this book definitely did that. Suzanne Collins has, with one amazing work, propelled herself onto my top shelf.

Parents, caveat emptor! The storyline is brutal. ..
The story is basically about a teenager who is forced to compete in a 24-man-enter-1-man-leaves event. I don't want to spoil it by saying any more, .... But take an old fogey's advice and read this book.

 

.. I think it's fair to say that we weren't really expecting something like The Hunger Games. At least I wasn't. But reading it gave me a horribly familiar feeling. .. Collins has written a book that is exciting, poignant, thoughtful, and breathtaking by turns. It ascends to the highest forms of the science fiction genre and will create all new fans for the writer. One of the best books of the 2008 year.

 .. Once a year the government chooses two children from each of the twelve districts to compete against one another in a live and televised reality show. Twenty-four kids and teens enter, and only one survives. .
I described the plot of this book to my husband, particularly the part where Katniss and Peeta fake being in love to gain the audience's approval and the very first thing he said was, "Oh! That's the plot of They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"
 .....
Oh! And did I mention the dialogue at all? The humor? Yep, there's humor. We're talking about a story where adolescents hunger for blood,....

It occurs to me that there has never been a quintessential futuristic gladiator book for kids. .. The future of this book will go one of two ways. Either it will remain an unappreciated cult classic for years to come or it will be fully appreciated right from the start and lauded. My money lies with the latter. A contender in its own right.

vs

You've got to hand it to Collins: No one can plot a fantasy novel like her. Nobody. She has you not from the first page or the first graf, but the first *word*. She creates believable, likable and riveting characters, ridiculously addictive survival scenarios and a rich world to boot. If you aren't up until 4 a.m. finishing this thing, you're a corpse.

My only problem with this novel also happens to be a very big problem: the overall premise. 

 

 I think I will give it a miss.

 

Golden Boy by Abigain Tarttelin

 

.. In almost all ways I have come increasingly to believe that the less you know about a book going in the better off you are. As general note, however, one should know that this is a circumspect style narrative in which we hear from five different narrators. Our protagonist is the eldest son in a family of four and each of the family members (plus a love interest) take it in turns to give their side of the story. This can make for a sometimes fractured but very illuminating style of reading once you figure out who all the names are attached to.

 In summary, this is a book to be treasured not only for its narrative flair but also what it has to say about us as a species and is sure to cause endless conversation in groups that read it. Golden Boy is one of those rare books that makes me wish I had more than five stars to give out.

vs

Golden Boy is the story of an intersex teen growing up as a boy in a family divided in how to deal with his birth defect. The story was definitely interesting and held my interest, but it was a bit melodramatic for me. ..
I didn't find the story all that believable and the end was a little too simplistic. As I said, it held my interest, but I wasn't moved emotionally by it. As I was reading I kept thinking it was a plot for a Lifetime channel movie.

 

 

 The gift of rain

The recipient of extraordinary acclaim from critics and the bookselling community, Tan Twan Eng's debut novel casts a powerful spell and has garnered comparisons to celebrated wartime storytellers Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene. Set during the tumult of World War II, on the lush Malayan island of Penang, The Gift of Rain tells a riveting and poignant tale about a young man caught in the tangle of wartime loyalties and deceits.
In 1939, sixteen-year-old Philip Hutton-the half-Chinese, half-English youngest child of the head of one of Penang's great trading families-feels alienated from both the Chinese and British communities. He at last discovers a sense of belonging in his unexpected friendship with Hayato Endo, a Japanese diplomat. ....
There is a tremendous amount of historical fact and, of course, as in any Malaysian novel aimed at an international readership, a great deal of information on the complex social background of the country. What is quite amazing is that despite this the pace of the story never becomes bogged down by a heavy load of background detail. Indeed where the novel succeeds best is in the strong drive of the narrative, and in the painstaking recreation of the setting.

 ..
"The Gift of Rain" is in every sense a "big" book, not only substantial in size, but also in theme, and in the amount of incident that is crammed into it. It's hard to know just how to pigeonhole it. Literary fiction? Thriller? Historical novel? Big screen kung-fu movie with Hollywood glitz and glamour translated to the page? The novel combines elements of all of these, yet succeeds very much on its own term, raising important questions about loyalty and betrayal, predestination and free will.
vs
 .. The Japanese in general singled out the British and the Chinese for humiliation and brutal treatment, but Philip is protected.

Naturally, such protection comes at a price. Philip collaborates with the Japanese and thus betrays his country and his people... It is an uneven novel, but it is a creative work that rings in many places both historically and morally true. Despite some false notes, it was on the "long list" for the 2007 Man Booker prize.

 

A bit too heavy for me.
 
Burial rites
Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.

Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard.

Riveting and rich with lyricism, BURIAL RITES evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question: How can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?
 
 .. The writing is beautiful, the research fantastic. - I am recommending it to all my family and friends.

vs
Burial Rites is a welcome rarity in that equal value is given to literary merit as storytelling. Unfortunately, Agnes's developing relationship with her jailer family is unconvincing, as is her friendship with the Reverend Toti. Her willingness to ignore warning signals about Natan is a bit too convenient.

 Burial Rites is a very worthwhile read and I'll be looking out for future works by the author

Different could be worthwhile.

The space between us
The author of Bombay Time,If Today Be Sweet, and The Weight of Heaven, Thrity Umrigar is at adept andcompelling in The Space Between Us—vividly capturing the social struggles of modern India in a luminous, addictively readable novel of honor, tradition, class, gender, and family. A portrayal of two woman discovering an emotional rapport as they struggle against the confines of a rigid caste system, Umrigar’s captivating second novel echoes the timeless intensity of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were WatchingGod, Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows inBrooklyn, and Barbara Kingsolver’s ThePoisonwood Bible—a quintessential triumph of modern literary fiction

Using turbulent India, with all its social, environmental and economic problems as a background, author Thrity Umrigar tells a very humanistic tale of love, loss and ultimately betrayal. Two very different women who, in their struggle to cope with their heartache and sorrow, discover an inevitable commonality, a spiritual unity, even though they are divided by the seemingly insurmountable gulf of money, opportunity and class.

 ..
The author excels in vividly bringing to life the sights, sounds and smells of Bombay, the street urchins, the stray dogs, the impoverished nut vendors, and the hollow-eyed slum dwellers, a city mad with greed and hunger, power and impotence wealth and poverty, where the weak and vulnerable are elbowed out of the way, and where the poor treat the middle class like royalty, when they should actually hate their guts.


vs
I was immediately drawn into this book which, at first, seemed so promising. 

 

Will look for it. I have a weakness for 'Indian'