Songs in 5 languages

Friends,

I am very happy to say that I gave a performance for Diwali celebrations at USA at my place. The peformance included singing songs in 5 languages(Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam). I wanted to do this from long time, but I got the right time for Diwali having audiences from all places.

And the happy thing is that my performance was the first to start with. It went well and sounded pretty nice(per my frineds and audience:)). It was appreciated by my family and friends back in India as well. I hope I can get into the music completely sometime. Hoping for the best.

Here is the youtube link for the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vX0ClvSZoU

Infanticide

I hope you all have been seeing the incidents of killing infants and kids these days. It is so pathetic that they are doing it. I am amazed to even imagine how could they do it? How can they KILL(its a real big thing to do in life) a small life who is just seeing this world with little eyes.

Its absolute in-humanity and I dont consider them as humans at all. May be I cannot call them animals, because animals also might spare the little children.

And the most annoying thing is the fetacide and infanticide. Nobody in this world can determine if the child inside the womb can turn into a boy or girl. If we could determine, the whole world would have been filled with only the male species. Knowing this fact, how can somebody kill a fetus. And people, to be honest this is being done by some of the most educated section in the society. Its so in-human. People who are doing this should remember that they also came from a mother's womb. Ofcourse they wouldn't do it if they have such sense.

I think, by having stringent laws only doesnt do the justice here. There need to be some awareness in public as well. I have been reading those news these days and really moved. Atleast I thought I can help by spreading a word across the bloggers. So as a generic message for everybody - being educated or not, please dont do or plan for such things in the spur of a moment. Give a thought about what you are doing, you will understand how big crime you are going to do. Also please stop the incident if you know somebody is planning or inform the right authorities.

Back to US

Friends,

I am back to US after a long time from India. I had to stay in India for a long time than expected to sort out my visa issues. This is an unexpected stay extension with a mix of happiness and tension. I was happy one way that I am there for more time, but the other side was feeling tensed to get the things sorted out.

Anyway, overall it was a very nice trip to stay with parents, friends etc. Travelled a lot fo different places and especially spent some good time with my close friends at my old place. Also visited a nice temple this time which is also unexpected.

Finally I am back to US last week and started adjusting to the routine work life. As its winter here, I am really feeling pretty lonely and aloof. May be because I was spending the time with my kid till sometime back, I am clearly feeling that silence around me.

Hopefully I will get over with it by that time she comes here. I can't wait to see her...
I hope you are doing fine and please keep in touch.

India vacation

I dont know if you have laready forgot me or not:). I am still there hanging around with my busy life as our new baby grows. I am in India right now to share my happiness with my parents and all other relatives.
Its always good to be in India and the sad part is that the time just flies so fast here.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I am still there hidden and will be back with a bang soon as I will be back to US.

Urs,
Jaggu

Busiest time in life...may be...

Friends,

I just realized today that its been 2 months since I wrote something in my blog. Yes, there is a more valid reason this time. We are blessed with a baby girl in the month of May and since then pretty busy with the baby all the day and night.

Ofcourse we are enoying the parenting, but kind of out of touch with the friends and bloggers. Well anyway I am glad that I could write and share something with you. By the way, we have names her Goda.

We are also awaiting eagerly to go to India after 2 years. We will see how it goes. Till then, have a good time with your stuff.

Oneonta Gorge....Gorgeous

Three years being in the same place in US, we did not know that this Oneonta Gorge is pretty close to us. Also this is a place which is just next to another place which we visited "N" number of times. As you know Oregon is famous for water falls/bodies due to extensive rain and the climate.

Oneonta Gorge is a place where you can discover another side/style of a water flow. It was exceptionally beautiful and as the name itself tells that its Gorgeous. We kept seeing this gorge's photo in our own office and the most funny thing is that we thought this place is somewhere in South America(in Amazon river area).
It is just 70 miles away from us:)

Finally after seeing a video about Portland, Oregon we caught this place and decided to visit there. it was a challenging trip as we started crossing some heavy logs with freezing water flowing along. Thank god that the logs were formed in as order as if they are designed for us to cross. We may be the only people under the planet to do that adventure without any footwear. Believe me, the water was freaking freezy. Come on, there is no adventure if you go with proper equipment:)

However we crossed the logs and able to reach a place where wanted to go. It was a big gorge with water flowing from the top of the hills. In summer, we could surely walk in all that gorge way. I think "breath taking" is the right term here to explain how we felt there.

Some of the photos for you to feel jealous....

Hold on, before the photos, see the Portland(Oregon) video first and check the place between 1:24 and 1:28. Thats the place we went.

http://vimeo.com/41011190 ( watch in HD and full screen if you can)

Logs we crossed...

People at work...

The actual gorge inside...

Busy?

Are we really busy? I keep hearing this word a lot these days( even from myself sometimes ). To be honest I dont believe this word and I surely believe that using this word is just an excuse. Are we really so busy for not doing things that we are supposed to do. No, not at all. its all just an excuse or escape to do things which we dont like much.

Cant we call somebody for a few minutes atleast monthly once? Its not about a call, its about maintaining a relationshp with somebody. I know some people who doesnt call anybody at all, who doesnt visit any place and the funniest thing is they expect everybody to be in touch with them and visit them whenever they invite. Isn't it funny?

People who doesnt have 3 minutes of time per month in their time to call somebody, I used to do some analysis on them to see what they could be doing which makes them so busy. You know what, they would not have any real work. They just make all the work with others help who does it with courtesy.

People who does the work by themselves will have more time to talk to people and be in touch. Yes, its true based on my experience. There is a saying that a person who is busy for 24 hours a day willhave more time to do lot of stuff. People who doesnt do any work consider themselves as busy(infact they are lazy).

I am not saying that you should not say "Busy". But there is a limit for everything. We need to balance the time according to our priorities. Well with this class, I am here finishing my post:)
Stay cool, have fun.

Life along with Murphy's Law

I am sure everybody know what is Murphy's Law. Its simple, Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

I sing a lot and passionate about singing/movies etc. However I have to accept my mistake that I did not try much from my side to get into movies or what not. But I am feeling that I am missing a nice chance which is coming near to me. Ok, the thing here is that legend singer S.P. Balasubramanyam is coming to US in this summer for conducting Padutha Theeyaga(a telugu singing competetion/show) which is regarded as one of the best shows. And the show is being organized at Seattle also which is 2 hours drive from my place.

Exactly the sametime, it is my wife's delivery time. Obviously this is foremost important for me in life. But you know I felt really bad immediately after seeing the competetion dates. Oh come on, Why should it be in that time frame only? Please note that I am not a great singer and I am not feeling as If I am missing a chance to get selected. I am feeling bad that I may miss a chance to even participate.

Well life is all about Murphy's law.

5 Years in US

Friends,
I am happy to share that I have completed 5 years in US by yesterday(Feb 13th). Dont ask me what I have achieved by this time?;). I still remember the day I have landed in Chicago in the midst of peak winter(it was -30 C that day). We were thinking that we came to a different worlds and started liking it gradually.

5 yeears gone, lived in different places through out the country, married, what not lot of things passed away. We three friends came together to US and all are in different geographies right now. We 3 did not meet til now together. I am hoping that day also will come soon. What else?
Yep also met many friends and cultures acorss the country. Ofcourse missing India all the times and hoping for a good time to go back to the homeland with no regrets.

Thats all for now. Take care and stay warm.

108 Divya Desams(108 Holy Vishnu Temples)

Its really interesting to know about the holy temples and the places through out the world. The stories behind the places and the the history are really intesresting and inspiring. As part of that, there are 108 holy temples that are identified and dedicated to Lord Vishnu which are called as 108 Divya Desams(108 Premium Places to worship). These are pretty important especially in the life of Sri Vaishnavas(segment who dedicates the prayers to Lord Vishnu).

I am happy that I have visited atleast 3 of them(which are very important and stands at the foremost in the order). Its not tough to cover all of them, but one should have the determination and dedication to see them.

Out of 108, 105 are in India(most of them in South India), 1 in Nepal and 2 are outside of earthly realms. Tirupati is also one of them obviuously which most of the people might have visited. Each place has its own importance and the history. All these temples are kind of selected by Alwars(poets, saints who are dedicated their lives to Lord Vishnu and wrote the poems mentioning these temples).

Below is nice wikipedia article listing all of them and also links to each of them detailing out the history and the importance and forms of dieties worshipped in the respective temple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divya_Desams

Please enjoy reading. It will really give some pleasant information other than our regular work.:)

Happy New Year & Movie Reviews

Friends,

I wish you and your families a very very happy new year. Great to write a blog in the new year beginning. I hope you all have enjoyed the new year celebrations, now its time to come out of hang over and start working.:) Come on, its just another year, isn't it?

Wanted to write quick reviews about the recent movies I watched.

1. Mission Impossible - 4 - Ghost Protocol(English)



As usual, I was very excited to see this movie as its been long time watching a real good movie. As expected, the movie is nice and good. Although there are not lot of action sequences, but the story is gripping and not at all boring. One thing I could observe is that Tom Cruise is no more a young guy and this time his old lookd are kind of noticeable. Anyway, cruise is cruise. I am sure there will be another installment for this series.

The sequence of Burj Dubai is very well made and he lives upto the expectations and makes us think that he only is fit for those.

Verdict - Must Watch

2. Don -2(Hindi)



Similar to MI series, I am a fan of Don as well and was waiting to see Don-2. Somehow I feel that Shahrukh acts weel in this series.:). However the movie is a bit prolonged, but worth watching. Its not boring, so that makes it watchable. This time, its not any more action, but will all interesting story. The dialogues are nice and the action is good.
Shahrukh had all mischievious features/action that a Don should have. But I am pretty disappointed about the songs which were not there in the movie. I think Hindi cinema is following the foot steps of Hollywood, may be. I wish the songs were included as part of movie.

Verdict - Worth Watching

Will come back with more news later with another post. Till then, have a safe year ahead.