Hello Santa

Dear Santa, It was fun meeting you. Felt like a kid at the candy store. The elve is happy to know Santa is a true friend. Lets golf and fish some time soon and meet the boss at the country club. Hope to meet you today at Duke's estate :)

Funny Mummy

Some of my favourite shows on TV are the makeover shows. And I love the before and after shots that they show. Be it 'Monster House' or 'What not to wear'...I love the dramatics and the transformations they show. I wished and hoped to have a make over of myself.

I was at the parlour this weekend and I saw a new recruit who was quite enthu in whatever she was doing. I asked her what will be a good hair cut for me and she suggested something and also said it costed a 175 bucks (oh my). I got adventurous and said ok. She did a really good job and I was impressed with the results. Another lady waiting for her turn got quite impressed with her work and started asking for a hair cut for herself. I was soooo happy with the change that I could see a bounce in my step when I getting back home.

I was waiting for father and son duo to get back home and like a kid at candy store eagerly answered the door bell. My son enters and he doesn't notice a thing. I was heartbroken ..but remained hopeful and asked him how was amma looking, he still dint see a thing and said I was fine. I was upset and asked him how he liked my hair. He then started laughing so lound I dint know what to make out and Mahesha enters home and joins him in his laughter. By then I was too angry and dint know to laugh or cry with them and demanded an explanation.

The reply ..."funny mummy looks very young". Now what should I make of such a comment?? To add insult to injury a longtime friend did not recognise me when I met her the next day. With broken heart and the parlour setting gone..I am back to being my old self...I asked aadi if he like me better this way or funny mummy....You can guess the answer.

Can you hear a heart breaking :(

Lost and Found

I have been away from Jasmine Summer for a long time now and the primary reason ... I got lost in an online game. All my online time went into Toontown...something we subscribed for aadi to play during summer. I am not a great gaming person but this one is cute and the learning experience is good for young and old.

And I had to do paisa vasool , so I explored all levels in the game. I have done almost 80% now and I guess another month and we an close the subscribtion.

I like the concept of the jolly toons life (you can clearly draw parallel with your day to day life) is invaded constantly by bad robot cogs. The bots are organised just like our work place. Sellbots (governed by a VP), cashbot (headed by CFO), lawbots (with a cheif justice) and finally the lazy bossbots headed by CEO enjoying time at the country club.

You can play for free with limited access, but, the fun is beating the bots in their headqtrs, which you cant do unless you subscibe. There is a lot written in the net and vidoes posted that you should look - just google.

What I like about this game,
1. Safe for my kid
2. Improved his vocab and social skills greatly
3. Tremendous exposure to corporate world - some of the lines uttered by the bots cant be understood by kids but you will enjoy.
4. Helps understand the need for team work - it also tells helps learn when to save others and when to not to :)
5. Bigger risks give bigger rewards and also bigger losses.

I can go on and on..but i think it is a good investment for one summer and let your 7+ year olds to play. Once subscribtion lets 6 toons to be created so kids and parents can take turns and play. I like this better then second life :).

I hope to see more of myself here, now that I am closing getting out of toontown !!!

A summer in Delhi and Agra

This summer has been fun and the Delhi - Agra trip was another memorable and fun trip.

The Train:

Aadi and me boarded the Sampark Kranthi Express on 13th May. I was sooooo much looking forward to the train trip....It was like a long 36 hour picnic. I had packed lot of fruits and others eatables. Remembered to pack aadi's ipod shuffle, monopoly board game and ofcourse took DVDs and our philips portable player. I had planned everything to the last detail. I had booked by 1st A/C and the train trip costed me 4K less than the available cheap flights and I used all the saving to book the Ginger hotel near N.Delhi railway station. I think I will give it a 5star rating for a budget hotel. This is my first time at Ginger, I was quite happy. If you are out all day and you need a clean and quite place for your evenings Ginger just fits right in your budget.

With no one joining our bay in the train, we had occupied the whole place and were quite relaxed. The next day we had a young couple joining in and they were quite a help when we reached Delhi. They helped with the porter bargain and to find the Taxi from H.Nizamudin to N.Delhi. Aadi and me an excellent bonding time in those 36 hours.

Rajdhani Delhi:

Day 1:

I have flown through Delhi several times, but, this is my first trip to the great city. I am impressed with the place. When we reached there on Friday, 15th Mahesha had already reached there and was busy with his work. Myself and aadi decided to go to Akshardham and took a Taxi. I was disapponited on 2 counts. No camera allowed and also the main temple was closed for renovation. But, the temple complex is huge and the architecture is wonderful. We roamed around the complex and I am impressed at how we Indians have understood how to turn god into a commericial venture. I decided to skip the most talked about exhibition for lack of time and commericalization. The place looks immpressive but I didnt feel divine.

Day 2:

The Delhi Tour

I got to run now...will be updating this later

Off to Delhi

Last 10 days been busy...and off to delhi tomorrow. Gearing up for hot hot delhi and hoping it turns out a good vacation.

Friends...who are they??

Its been roller coaster times for me since 3 months...Feeling lonely in a crowd and searching for friends. It makes me think have I been a good friend to anyone?

Weekend to Kodaikanal

Bangalore - Palani - Kodaikanal weekend trip

It was my grandma's wish that we visit Palani along with her last December. My son had a dream within a week after her demise. She called him to temple and I knew I had to go to Palani.

Erode:
With my mom-in-law joining us, we had to plan something that doesn't strain her much. We hired a qualis and left Blr on Friday night at 7 pm. The peak hour rush was bad till we crossed electronic city. We had decided to reach erode by mid night for the night halt. But, managed to reach by 2 am. For dinner, the only good eating joint on the way is the adayar anadabhavan A2B after hosur. We stayed at Oxford Hotel at Erode. Definitely NOT VFM - value for money (1050 - b4 tax for a family room - no hot water came and they delivered it in buckets). But, we all loved the restaurant there. The traditional filter coffee was amazing. Kids loved the Mango Shake with chocolate (I have never had Mango shake with chocolate). We left Erode at around 9.30 and reached Palani by 1.30.

Palani:
Though I have been to Palani before, this was my visit after 15 years and the first one after I moved to Blr. The weather as expected was hot. The kids were finishing all the water we had packed. The rope car is closed between 1.30 & 2.30 for lunch. I find this really strange. So we took the winch. It was a strange transport system...but enjoyable. Had an excellent Dharshan. We finished the panchamrutha abhishekam. With a thin crowd the Dharshan went great. Took the rope car back, skipped lunch and headed to Kodaikanal by about 3.30 pm.

Kodaikanal:
Reached Kodai by 5 in evening. Another place I am visiting after 20 yrs...The place was lovely.The weather too good. And loved the early dinner at 7. I had booked two deluxe rooms at Hotel Mount view through makemytrip. (For the second room when I tried booking for one chilld and one adult, by default it added extra charges for child, I changed the age to 1 yr, so that extra charges were not added). Dont get fooled by the name Mount view..there will be no view from your room :). I liked the hotel and felt it was VFM. The rooms were neat and the boys made us feel welcome and gave us excellent service..(though the men at the front desk did not make any such effort).

Me and Mahesha went hunting for an ATM. We missed the nearest one and had to walk more than one km...I realised how out of shape I was walking on those steep roads in my high heels. At night I regretted not getting sweaters. The thick blankets were not sufficient and the room has no heaters. So be careful to book one with heater if you are going in off season.

We strated the day with boating at the lake and enjoyed it..I had a little chit chat with the boatman and realised it was best to hire a guide. Our driver acted ignorant of the directions...Mahesha tried his hand at rowing and I was busy praying ;). He almost lost one oar and our boatman quickly took the oars from him.

After boating we went to Byrant Park. The flowers were beautiful and I tried clicking a few snaps. We then hired a guide (at Rs.350 again NOT VFM). Visited the temple, upper lake view, pine tree forest, pillar rock, suicide point. saw the golf course and the 300 yr old tree from the car. Spent 500 bucks on spices, the customary shopping at hill stns in South India. With the rain starting as we began our late lunch at woodland, we were more than happy with the day's outing and my MIL and kids retired for the day...

Mahesha and myself went back to the lake as the sunset and enjoyed a nice cycle ride around the lake. The two seater cycle is the best I could come to cycling in this life. The mist on the lake was wonderful and so was buying sweaters for 70 bucks each. The next day we had to check out by 9.00 per the hotel rules and we headed back to Bangalore. After a couple of hours at my uncle's house in chennimalai, the long trip back to Bangalore ended at 10.00 pm. I guess the drive was for about 10 hours. The longest one in the trip.

Driving directions are available in mustseeindia site. Online hotel booking works and the user ratings and feedback were very helpful. I liked the feedback put up on oktatabyebye site. Travelling with kids - take lots of water, fruits and other eatables, napkins, a small knife to cut fruits. The mangoes sold on the way to Kodai were delicious.

I would give a 4/5 for this trip.

Crazy Summer Trips

We are off to Palani and Kodai tomorrow. The initial plan was to cover Madurai also, but looks like it is not feasible..hope to write all about it when I am back. But, I have a crazier plan for May...going to Delhi by train in mid May for a 4 days stay in Delhi and Agra. Can I get any better !!

Last year it was US of A...This year Delhi, Agra and Kodai at 1/6 th cost! It is indeed tough times..But I am happy that I can still have my annual outings. BTW, my original plan was to visit UK this summer. But......

Life lesson from a Pencil

I heard this interesting story on the Sri Sankara channel last night.

There was this guy who was manufacturing pencils. He would put best of the material to make the nice dark pencil leads and safely put them between fine soft wood and sell it. One day as he was packing a box of pencils, he asked on of the pencils, if he can give the pencil some lessons that it can remember when it is out in the world. The pencil was happy to hear what ever its creator had to say.

That man shared five life lessons that he wanted the pencil to remember,
1. The greatness of your existence is not because of you, but the person who uses you. Without him you cant write a single word. So be humble.
2. You will have tough time when your wooden cover is shaved off. But, remember it only makes you better and sharper, so you can write well. This is painful but important for you life.
3. You may be in the hands of an artist or a carpenter, but do a good job, else you will be replaced with a better pencil. So do your best whatever the circumstance is.
4. Be not afraid of your environment, it could be a hard surface like a wall or a smooth paper. Fear not of your environment.
5. What makes you is not the beautiful wooden cover and the colourful prints on it, but your inner self that makes you an excellent pencil. So be not proud of your colourful exterior but be happy about your inner soul.

Just like pencil God wants us to know the 5 life lessons,
1. Be humble
2. Life hardships are painful but essential
3. Do your best wherever you are
4. Fear not, god is there to take care of you. Do your duty.
5. It is your inner soul that makes you what you are

I loved this story....

Summer hols - 2009

With summer hols on, aadi is hooked on to games. Aadi loves playing monopoly... it definitely helps him stay indoor and also understand the game of "business". I am impressed to see how many times he has beat most of us!

The next best hit this summer is his new find on the net. Disney's toon town. Some time earlier I was so thrilled to learn about second life. toon town is so much better and so much more fun..though the more advanced stuff need subscription..the free version is also something kids will definitely enjoy.

And of course, he loves playing Wii, though i haven't seen this myself, from what i hear from aadi, it is a kool stuff to play with and also doesn't make aadi a couch potato. I guess with his summer camp coming up and all these games and his dance classes, aadi is a very busy kid this summer.

I donno if i can squeeze in cycling and swimming. Abacus will have to wait for next summer...

Goodbye Grandma

My Guardian Angel is gone. One more protective shield gone from my life. I hope you have found peace and met grandpa in the heaven.You also made me realise how short this life is and how fragile human life is. You made me understand how important it is to give, not just take all the while. I hope I will be a better human, lead a more meaningful life. Give me the mind & heart to do the right thing and strength & courage to fight the wrong.

I pray to god that he is with you.

Great photos

This madurai maami has great attention to detail...I was searching for images of jasmine flower for my blog...I am yet to get one to my specification ;)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lkamala/sets/72157606482757982/show/

She reminds me of Bhuvana..may be 30 years from now !!

Jatayu and Siddhartha

When I came to know the story of Buddha in high school, I was surprised that he was a person who was never exposed to life's hardships and pain. My first lesson on sacrifice was from Ramayana. Jatayu is my favourite character. I loved the fact that the bird was brave and fought the much feared demon king Ravana. Did everything to his best of abilities to stop him from taking away Sita. Not afraid to sacrifice his own life to protect the divine lady.

I want to visit Lepakshi, where I believe Rama saw the wounded bird who helped trace his wife in the southern side. Ramayana is filled with such inspiring characters.. the squirrel who helped Rama in building the bridge, the bear who helped devise the war strategy, the monkey who helped in saving Rama's brother life. I can go on and on. Valmiki was a great writer and my mom a great story teller.

Wonder if Siddhartha's mom read him the Ramayana...

யானை நாராயணன்

யானை நாராயணன் ...Elephant God. This is one of my favourite stories from school. I think this was told by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. I am not too sure.

A guru was preaching to his disciples about how paramathma (God) lives in all Jeevans (Living things). Why we should respect all lives and how every life is important in this world. One of his disciples took it it to his heart and was trying his best to do everything possible to respect all living things.

One day the elephant in the hermitage had become wild and was running all over the place and trampling anything that came in its way. One of the disciples sitting on the elephant tried hard to control but in vain. So he started screaming, asking people to stay away from the elephant. Soon everyone, except one disciple, spread out and took shelter on nearby trees.

The elephant gave that love disciple a hard kick and moved on. Later the elephant was brought under control and everyone was curious to know why that one person dint take any shelter. The guru asked him why and pat came the reply. All jeevans have god and I trusted the யானை நாராயணன் - elephant god, will not hurt the நாராயணன் (god) in me.

The guru had a hearty laugh and said. Why dint you listen to the நாராயணன் (God) sitting on top and yelling to get away from the யானை நாராயணன் (elephant god).

I keep remembering this story often. Esp when people say all that happens is for good. Did I miss the other god who kept warning me when I stood stupidly facing the யானை நாராயணன்....

Wanning innocence

Aadi's feedback at school has been "well mannered, well behaved, silent kid"...I sure the feedback will change this year. In general mothers complain about their naughty and I have been upset that aadi has not been naughty. In the last one year things have been changing. I can see aadi is silent but still a naughty kid.

Some of his words continue to make me laugh...and I have been hearing quite a few these days. Todays quotes,
1. hulla hup - Planet black hole
2. Zebra crossing - why zebra crosses the road (with a wink)
3. I want to do an experiment - Throws his dart on the rotating ceiling fan.
4. XABWE... - reading the whole cross word when I asked him to read every word, to prepare for the test and has a hearty laugh.

it feels great to see him this way :)

Outsider

There are several things I have enjoyed in the past year as I stood outside the full time working women community,
1. I never missed the long commutes and the Bangalore traffic. The days when I had to rush for a training I felt so good that I don't do it everyday.
2. Seeing Aadi score excellent grade in every test made me feel on top of the world. Aadi may still have got excellent grade but I would not have savoured it.
3. Getting to write my blog..I would have never discovered this part of the universe.
4. Enjoying a trip to US with Aadi and Mahesha. This would have never happened otherwise.
5. The coastal Karnataka trip...wow that is something that may not happen too often
6. Nursing my grandmom without worrying about clients.
7. My friends visiting my house more often than before.
8. Me connecting to many old acquaintance who I would have never bothered to catch up with.
9. Opportunity to understanding my family much better
10. Understanding a whole new world of scarcity and survival.

Well there is a lot more and ofcourse I miss a few things like freedom to spend and self indulgance, but I am positive it will be better in coming months.

A special thanks to my good friends diya's mom, r1, g3 and su

Hobby Time

I decided to try something to keep my mind away from the everyday stuff. I had bought lot of chart papers a year back, thinking it may be useful during brainstorming sessions at LeafSol. Since they were lying unused I decided to splash some colours on them. I pulled out the permanent marks, aadi's water colours and started scribbling. It took a good amount of time away from the mundane stuff and I was thoroughly enjoying. By 4 pm aadi came back from school and he wanted to participate as well. Since this was my first, after several years, I didn't have the heart to let aadi splash his colours on my canvas (he he hee).

I gave him the other half of the chart I had cut and he started to unfold his creativity. Being the lazy bum he is, he quickly wanted me to pitch in and complete for him. I was all determined not to do it and so both of us couldn't finish out work yesterday. We agreed to continue it today and hopefully we will have something to start filling.

This is something Aadi did with crayon in his drawing class...

SDM

Mahesha was really sweet. Since I am under house arrest virtually, he got Slumdog CD for me to watch. The only reason I wanted to watch it was, obviously, the awards that are showered on it. Personally, AB's Bhagban left a deeper emotion in me than SDM. Black (a movie that I dint like) left a much stronger feeling. This movie has a happy ending..so was Bhagban. I watched them both at home. Bhagban got tears in my eyes. Here, AB's visit, the child beggars etc somehow failed to bring tears, though I know this could be the hard reality.



May be SDM is made for the west and doesn't move the Indian emotions.

Things I loved,

1. I loved the young Jamal, the twinkle in his eyes is great. Other than him I couldn't connect with any character.
2. Merc minus accessories
3. Brothers dozing on train top with hands held

I think the movie said the story is happening in 2004. Were the news channels they show were available then? Also, not much attn to costume I guess. On the whole the movie can be watched once without getting bored.

Grand mom

With 90% of my mind frame occupied with thoughts of my Grand mom... there is nothing else I can think of to pen down...except about old age, family, elder care and everything to do with it. Me being a movie buff, the other thing that keeps popping in my mind is the Oscar nominated movie 'The curious case of Benjamin Button'. I have a mixed feeling about watching it when it comes to India. (Is it out already?)

Old age is definitely second childhood. With diapers, poor memory, liquid food, and all the nursing and care it is second childhood. But it was joyful when you do it for your new born as you know they will grow up one day and all this will stop and there is all hope and happiness. With Elder care it is not something you love to do. There is probably no reversal and things just move from bad to worse. Wonder what is the message God is sending across.

To me it is an awakening. I am thinking about my old age (if i get to live that long). Time to start planning though little late..as they say better late than never. A elder care nursing home today costs 18K+med exp+hospital exp. A home care unskilled is about 6K + food and acco+ ofcourse the medicine bills.

So wonder what that would be in about 30 to 40 years..may be I will need it much earlier.

Ring the bell

There has been ads on various channels campaigning to stop Domestic Violence(DV) by ringing the bell. I am pretty impressed by the ads. And hope it has positive impact. But it also raises doubts in my mind if it will work. I wonder if the man would answer the bell when it is ringing. Even if someone does, will he not be abusive at the person who is ringing the bell? I got to the Bell Bajao website and see similar question on their blog, no answers yet. http://www.bellbajao.org/blog_details.php?blogid=213. The other question is the campaign is aimed at the middle class and I believe lot of DV here need not be physical and a lot can be mental torture. Silence can also be a torture many times and wonder how one can tackle such situations.

In any case I like the campaign and wish it saves as many women as possible from DV.

Dear Grandma, Get well soon !

I have always shared a love-hate relationship with my grand mom. I love her for everything she has done for me all these years. My career would have come to a naught if not for her. My education went well only because she took care of us . I owe so much in my life to her I don't have words to describe it all. But then being a different gen..I had umpteen differences of opinion.

I donno if I can call her brave or timid. She went and stayed in the North, when no one did it in her family. She braved all odds to bring up my mom and then us. But now she is so frail and I could see fear in her eye. When I turn this old, I guess I will have similar fears. I pray to god she recovers fast and gets home soon. I hate it when doctors and even other patients ask her age and feel she has had a complete life I would love to see her around for another 20 years and hit a century.

CC2C - A poor copy of Kungfu Panda...

Aadi was waiting for CC2C and we got the tickets easily on the third day..that too a Saturday. I guess CC2C was inspired by the fact the Olympics was held in China and someone wanted to cash in on the China theme and then saw Kungfu Panda and decided to make a hindi version out of it and lifted the key themes...

1. Cooking as family business
2. Shooting to the sky and delayed gravity ...which looks good only in Cartoons
3. A teacher not willing to teach kungfu to the silly hero
4. One's strength comes from one's self belief etc.

With poor screen play I kept yawning several times. There is nothing that can make you say wow. Even the 'great wall' shots look very poor and there are no great out door shots of China...

The story of a 25 paise coin

Little Aadi had a science project. He went to the nearby kirana shop and got some Raggi seeds. Picked up an empty Srikand cup and filled it with mud to plant the seeds. As he gathered mud he discovered an unrecognisable coin. He put it aside as if it was some junk and went on to complete his science project. Watered his Raggi seeds and left it in the balcony so that nature can take care of rest.

His mom picked up the strange looking piece this morning and cleaned it with some water and soap and found it to be a 25p coin minted in 1988. 20 years of life only to end up in the mud with no one to bother.

She was wondering what is the story of this one?

TWENTY years back I came out shining and proud along with my brothers & sisters from the mints of RBI. I was all set to be part of the great Indian economy. Soon I realised there were shinier cousins made from steel and many were fascinated by. But I was still proud to be part of the growing Indian Economy.

I started changing hands from the Bank into the common mans hand. I went on several bus rides. Saw new pair of hands at the pan shops. Kids used me to buy mints, chalks and other fancy stuff. Soon I lost count on how many hands I changed but I kept rolling. Once in a while I ended up in a house wife change box or a kids piggy bank, where I met my siblings and cousins and shared interesting stories we had. How we had I had jumped off once to see world on my own, but a pair of hands soon grabbed me. I heard amazing stories from each one of them.

Once in a while I also met the biggies like 10 rupees and 20 rupees. The best was when I landed in the Tirupati Hundi. I met the humble 5 paise coin there and also the great Don - 1000 rupees note. I wonder how it feels to be made of paper where you cannot role.

Then one day to my shock a pair of hands refused to take me. This kept repeating several times in matter of few weeks and after that I ended in another small Hundi. Soon i heard similar stories from all my cousins and also from my big brother 50 paise coin. I saw that we had not moved many hands unlike before.

I decided this was the best time to see world on my own and jumped out. No one chased me this time. After rolling for some time I was tired and I decided to sleep. I kept seeing darkness for a long time and I waiting patiently for many many days.

Yesterday a kid picked me and woke me from my looonnnng slumber. And a lady even clicked a few photos. Guess I am becoming all important again :)))).

Newsmakers

So how does Mahesha spend his day?

Obviously, more than 90% of his his awaken hours get spent on office work. The next 10% is split between the newspaper and us ( me and aadi) in 70:30 ratio. We get 3 different papers everyday. Other than this, we also get Kannada Paper, Mid day and other tabloids randomly many times a week.

I wonder what can be different about the same news that is printed in all these papers. There have been many days when I have not seen that newspaper, though I pick it up from the doorstep everyday. Of late, in last couple of months, news seems to be pouring in just for our Newspaper. Starting with US election and its results, Mumbai tragedy, Satyam bust, Oil strike, Slumdog success...there is a constant stream of variety in the happenings around us. All this means more junk at home. What an impressive list of Newsmakers !!

PS: I should remember to call the radhiwala early this month.

மணல் கயிறு

மணல் கயிறு - One of the Tamil movies I loved a lot during my school days . Kittu puts 8 conditions that are to be satisfied by his bride, who his family will be picking for him. Obviously the girl whom he ends up marrying satisfies none and this lead to a hilarious and thought provoking drama.

I was watching the Telugu version of the same the other day. When I watched the movie many years back I was all supportive for the lead lady who doesn't meet the conditions, but happens to be docile and well mannered. When I watched it this time, though I enjoyed the humour I dint like the motive.

Even today a marriage is a life long commitment in any society. Though divorce is a possibility, the aim is to lead a HAPPY married life and not a aim at divorce. Making promises and not keeping them makes minds incompatible. And it takes a lot of effort to turn around such marriages and I guess such marriages just becomes marriage of (in)convenience in long run and affects everyone in that family. It is surprising to see Kittu accepting his wife so easily. Will it happen in real life?

I saw more elements of reality in KJo's Kabhi Alvidaa Naa kehana for that matter.

Another new year..another surprise

Mahesha surprised me today with dinner at Windsor Sheroton's Dakshin restaraunt. When I was all determined to have a quite day, Mahesha continues to surprise me.

Jeya Vijaya - Some facts that I din't know

Our year end vacation involved many temples and I was trying to give aadi more info on Indian Mythology. I forgot the names of gate keepers at Vaikuntum when I was narrating the story of Hiranyakasipu. But, managed to tell aadi about their 3 births as Hiranyashaka & Hiranyakasipu, Ravan & Kumbakarna, Kamsa & Shishupala.

Later, when we visited the srirangapatnam temple I was showing the Majestic statues of the gatekeepers at the temple entrance and my Mom-in-law quickly helped me with the names Jeya & Vijaya.

I was googling on their name today to find the name of the sage who gave them the curse. Only then I realised I got the names wrong in the last birth. Per Amarchitra kata, the story goes like this:

"Jaya and Vijaya, the guards at Vishnu’s abode, were vain and rude and were cursed to be born thrice in the world of mortals. The contrite guards were subsequently permitted one concession : they would be killed in each of their separate births by one of the incarnations of Vishnu.

Thus, first they were born as Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, next as Ravana and Kumbhakarna and last as Shishupala and Dantavaktra.

While the first two pairs were leading characters in their times, Shishupala remains a minor character in the Mahabharata and Dantavaktra, almost a nonentity.

Shishupala for all his show of valour remains a man of straw. In fact his only distinction was that he died at the hands of Krishna. He is also remembered as the jilted suitor of Rukmini."

Thats intresting....BTW, I also came to know there are two types of vaikuntam Sri Vaikuntham Or karya Vaikuntham a replica of Sri Vaikuntham in the material world!!
http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/bhakti-list/130857-jaya-vijaya-episode.html

I am yet to get the right name(s) of the sage(s) who gave the curse to Jeya Vijaya. The wikipedia is not too clear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaya-Vijaya

Trivia

I like this futuristic gadget. A portable personal media player. http://www.myvu.com/default.aspx. Also realised that there are USB wall adpters. Now i can charge the iPod without booting my laptop.

Rat-a-duet

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

After a good 2 week vacation its going to be back to the good ol' routine for Aadi and Mahesha. But, I need to start looking out for routine. My work for next couple of days have been set, all thanks to the rat we have been spotting off and on in our house. We had though we managed to chase it out once, but we were wrong.

The Jerries (T&J), Remmies (Ratatouille) and Stuarts (Stuart Little) look good in TV / Big screen but definitely not welcome in my house. When we left for Mysore last week I believe my unwelcome guest had made himself comfortable in the balcony and I had closed all the shutters and the garbage was obviously empty, leaving the little guest all hungry. He had managed to live on chewing my sons school shoes and guess it was not tasty or it dint give him his energy.

He had then climbed into our bathroom and gnawed on the bathroom door and made enough room to escape into our bedroom. I am sure after that he found enough food to stay alive and healthy.

When we returned home last night I was shocked to see heap of all the wooden pieces near my bathroom door and let out a war cry against the little enemy. By around 2 AM I heard screams in my house and I saw Mahesha and my Father-in-Law standing in the hall with brooms and talking strategy. I quickly ram inside the bedroom locked the door and snuggled near Aadi and waited.

I heard some major noise in our kitchen and later heard the victory cry. This time the rat was officially dead. What provoked a 2 am battle? Well I guess the RAT did not realise the humans were back to their territory and it ran on my FIL. That was the end.

But the dead rat doesn't mean RIP. I have a strong doubt that a RAT family may be in my storage. I need to get the whole place cleaned up and I am gonna be busy atleast for next couple of days. If more followup is needed I am gonna be busy much longer. he he hee.