Man in the Mirror

When you get what you want as your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn't your father or mother or wife
Who's judgement upon you must pass;
The person whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

He's the person to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end.
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass if your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of life,
And get pats on your back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you've cheated the man in the glass

Tears

Meeting abroad

Karthik and I in City Center, Dubai in 2003

Karthik and I in TimeSquare, New York in 2008 (After 5 years)

Naan Sutte Dosai

At laaaaaaaaaaaast naaanum Samayal ulagathirkul Nulainthu vitten!!!

I'm very lazy and hate to go to the kitchen. I have hardly helped mom in cooking. I had always thought that I could get into that after marriage, but Uma never let me. So Aaandavana paaathu aaapu vechutaan. Yes Uma went back to chennai and im alone here in US :( experimenting cooking.

The picture you are seeing is not just dosa... but a totally new variety called "The Samba Dosa". Very simple to do. When you have Dosai maavu (flour) that is little old, it would have become sour (pulichi poyirukkum). Normally people would either add onion or rava. I was lazy to cut onion, tried searching for rava. Takkunnu kannle pattathu Samba ravai. So thought why not try this. Added the samba ravai and little water to the sour dosa flour. Mixed it and tried it. Wow!!! it came out so beautifully and it tasted good as well.

I was so excited that i made something knew on my own and so called up Uma immediately to tell her about that. She was like "why did u mix samba rava". That would need more time for cooking and if taken raw it would cause stomach ache leading to ________. I'm writing this just after having the dosa. So got to wait for some time to see the results he he!!! I'm prepared with cyclopam tablet ready :)

If you want to experiment the same... I'm not responsible for any consequences

The Last Lecture

This is an excellent lecture (last) from Randy Pausch that inspires people to achieve their dreams. Randy was a professor in Carnegie Mellon university who became one of Time magazine's Top 100 most influential people in 2007. This video is about an hour and 16 mins but worth watching.

12 sustainable design ideas from nature

This is a speech from Janine Benyus about 12 sustainable design ideas from nature. Check it out for yourself.

Every road ends somewhere...

A Year after...

Ok this is how we look after 1 year of marriage...

So its been 1 year since we got married. Celeberated 1st anniversary on 30th August in simple manner by exchanging gifts. As a rememberance got a small fish tank with 2 fishes in it (red swodtail). We went to Ganesha temple in new york. For more pictures click on this

Time just flew away and couldnt believe that its already 1 year completed. Wanted to write in detail about this 1 year but keeping it simple for this moment. Its totally a different feeling, different life that everyone needs to face it. Lot of good things, few hickups here and there (without which life wont be interesting). As I moved to US, got an oppurtunity to look for seperate house, buy things and do all the thing for a newly married couple. Altogether this travel of 1 year was a wonderful experience with Uma (without whom it wouldn't have been so happy, exciting, adventourous and colorful).


This was 1 year before ...

From Godavari to Google on wheel chair

Naga Naresh Karutura has just passed out of IIT Madras in Computer Science and has joined Google in Bangalore .You may ask, what's so special about this 21-year-old when there are hundreds of students passing out from various IITs and joining big companies like Google?

Naresh is special. His parents are illiterate. He has no legs and moves around in his powered wheel chair. (In fact, when I could not locate his lab, he told me over the mobile phone, 'I will come and pick you up'. And in no time, he was there to guide me) Ever smiling, optimistic and full of spirit; that is Naresh. He says, 'God has always been planning things for me. That is why I feel I am lucky.' Read why Naresh feels he is lucky.

Childhood in a villageI spent the first seven years of my life in Teeparru, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, on the banks of the river Godavari. My father Prasad was a lorry driver and my mother Kumari, a house wife. Though they were illiterate, my parents instilled in me and my elder sister (Sirisha) the importance of studying..

Looking back, one thing that surprises me now is the way my father taught me when I was in the 1st and 2nd standards. My father would ask me questions from the text book, and I would answer them. At that time, I didn't know he could not read or write but to make me happy, he helped me in my studies!

Another memory that doesn't go away is the floodsin the village and how I was carried on top of a buffalo by my uncle.I also remember plucking fruits from a tree that was full of thorns.I used to be very naughty, running around and playing all the time with my friends.I used to get a lot of scolding for disturbing the elders who slept in the afternoon.The moment they started scolding, I would run away to the fields!I also remember finishing my school work fast in class and sleeping on the teacher's lap!

January 11, 1993, the fateful day

On the January 11, 1993 when we had the sankranti holidays, my mother took my sister and me to a nearby village for a family function. From there we were to go with our grandmother to our native place. But my grandmother did not come there. As there were no buses that day, my mother took a lift in my father's friend's lorry. As there were many people in the lorry, he made me sit next to him, close to the door. It was my fault; I fiddled with the door latch and it opened wide throwing me out. As I fell, my legs got cut by the iron rods protruding from the lorry. Nothing happened to me except scratches on my legs. The accident had happened just in front of a big private hospital but they refused to treat me saying it was an accident case. Then a police constable who was passing by took us to a government hospital.

First I underwent an operation as my small intestine got twisted. The doctors also bandaged my legs. I was there for a week. When the doctors found that gangrene had developed and it had reached up to my knees, they asked my father to take me to a district hospital. There, the doctors scolded my parents a lot for neglecting the wounds and allowing the gangrene to develop. But what could my ignorant parents do? In no time, both my legs were amputated up to the hips.
I remember waking up and asking my mother, where are my legs? I also remember that my mother cried when I asked the question. I was in the hospital for three months.

Life without legs

I don't think my life changed dramatically after I lost both my legs. Because all at home were doting on me, I was enjoying all the attention rather than pitying myself. I was happy that I got a lot of fruits and biscuits. The day I reached my village, my house was flooded with curious people; all of them wanted to know how a boy without legs looked. But I was not bothered; I was happy to see so many of them coming to see me, especially my friends!All my friends saw to it that I was part of all the games they played; they carried me everywhere.

God's hand

I believe in God. I believe in destiny. I feel he plans everything for you. If not for the accident, we would not have moved from the village to Tanuku, a town.There I joined a missionary school, and my father built a house next to the school. Till the tenth standard, I studied in that school. If I had continued in Teeparu, I may not have studied after the 10th. I may have started working as a farmer or someone like that after my studies. I am sure God had other plans for me.

My sister, my friendWhen the school was about to reopen, my parents moved from Teeparu to Tanuku, a town, and admitted both of us in a Missionary school. They decided to put my sister also in the same class though she is two years older. They thought she could take care of me if both of us were in the same class. My sister never complained. She would be there for everything. Many of my friends used to tell me, you are so lucky to have such a loving sister. There are many who do not care for their siblings. She carried me in the school for a few years and after a while, my friends took over the task. When I got the tricycle, my sister used to push me around in the school. My life, I would say, was normal, as everyone treated me like a normal kid.. I never wallowed in self-pity. I was a happy boy and competed with others to be on top and the others also looked at me as a competitor.

Inspiration

I was inspired by two people when in school; my Maths teacher Pramod Lal who encouraged me to participate in various local talent tests,and a brilliant boy called Chowdhary, who was my senior.When I came to know that he had joined Gowtham Junior College to prepare for IIT-JEE, it became my dream too. I was school first in 10th scoring 542/600. Because I topped in the state exams, Gowtham Junior College waived the fee for me. Pramod Sir's recommendation also helped. The fee was around Rs 50,000 per year, which my parents could never afford.

Moving to a residential schoolLiving in a residential school was a big change for me because till then my life centred around home and school and I had my parents and sister to take care of all my needs. It was the first time that I was interacting with society. It took one year for me to adjust to the new life.There, my inspiration was a boy called K K S Bhaskar who was in the top 10 in IIT-JEE exams. He used to come to our school to encourage us. Though my parents didn't know anything about Gowtham Junior School or IIT, they always saw to it that I was encouraged in whatever I wanted to do. If the results were good, they would praise me to the skies and if bad, they would try to see something good in that. They did not want me to feel bad. They are such wonderful supportive parents.

Life at IIT- Madras

Though my overall rank in the IIT-JEE was not that great (992), I was 4th in the physically handicapped category. So, I joined IIT, Madras to study Computer Science.Here, my role model was Karthik who was also my senior in school. I looked up to him during my years at IIT- Madras. He had asked for attached bathrooms for those with special needs before I came here itself. So, when I came here, the room had attached bath. He used to help me and guide me a lot when I was here.. I evolved as a person in these four years, both academically and personally. It has been a great experience studying here. The people I was interacting with were so brilliant that I felt privileged to sit along with them in the class. Just by speaking to my lab mates, I gained a lot.

Words are inadequate to express my gratitude to Prof Pandurangan and all my lab mates; all were simply great. I was sent to Boston along with four others for our internship by Prof Pandurangan. It was a great experience.

Joining Google R&D

I did not want to pursue PhD as I wanted my parents to take rest now. Morgan Stanley selected me first but I preferred Google because I wanted to work in pure computer science, algorithms and game theory.

I am lucky Do you know why I say I am lucky? I get help from total strangers without me asking for it. Once after my second year at IIT, I with some of my friends was travelling in a train for a
conference.We met a kind gentleman called Sundar in the train, and he has been taking care of my hostel fees from then on.

I have to mention about Jaipur foot. I had Jaipur foot when I was in 3rd standard. After two years, I stopped using them. As I had almost no stems on my legs, it was very tough to tie them to the body. I found walking with Jaipur foot very, very slow. Sitting also was a problem. I found my tricycle faster because I am one guy who wants to do things faster. One great thing about the hospital is, they don't think their role ends by just fixing the Jaipur foot; they arrange for livelihood for all. They asked me what help I needed from them. I told them at that time, if I got into an IIT, I needed financial help from them. So, from the day I joined IIT, Madras , my fees were taken care of by them. So, my education at the IIT was never a burden on my parentsand they could take care of my sister's Nursing studies.

Surprise awaited me at IIT. After my first year, when I went home, two things happened here at the Institute without my knowledge. I got a letter from my department that they had arranged a lift and ramps at the department for me.It also said that if I came a bit early and checked whether it met with my requirements, it would be good. Second surprise was, the Dean, Prof Idichandy and the Students General Secretary, Prasad had located a place that sold powered wheel chairs. The cost was Rs 55,000. What they did was, they did not buy the wheel chair; they gave me the money so that the wheel chair belonged to me and not the institute. My life changed after that.

I felt free and independent. That's why I say I am lucky. God has planned things for me and takes care of me at every step.

The world is full of good peopleI also feel if you are motivated and show some initiative, people around you will always help you. I also feel there are more good people in society than bad ones.

I want all those who read this to feel that if Naresh can achieve something in life, you can too.

Beautiful Kavithai's

Got these impressive kavithai's as fwd mail... Both the picuture and the kavithai are excellent.

First Wedding Anniversary

Its 1 year now since we are married but it looks like we have been living for years and I dont know how time flied. I thank god for giving you as my life partner...

I love you...

Does God Exist?

This is a beautiful conversation between a professor and a student on existence of God. I have read this through forward mail long time but received it again and thought will put it in my collections

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problemscience has with God, The Almighty.He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof : Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him.Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How isthis God good then? Hmm?

(Student is silent.)

Prof:You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?

Student:Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?

Student:No.

Prof:Where does Satan come from?

Student:From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student:Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student:Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student:Yes, sir.

Prof:So, who created them?

(Student has no answer.)

Prof:Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you.Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?

Student:No, sir.

Prof:Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student:No, sir.

Prof:Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student:No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof:Yet you still believe in Him?

Student:Yes.

Prof:According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science saysyour GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student:Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof:Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof:Yes.

Student:And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof:Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, megaheat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anythingcalled cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but wecan't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat.We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat sir, just the absence of it .(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof:Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student :You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if youhave no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof:So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student:Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof:Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student:Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there islife and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing theconcept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, sciencecan't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but hasnever seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as theopposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof:If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at workand cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain,felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, accordingto the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol,science says that you have no brain,sir.With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir? (The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student:That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH . That is all that keeps things moving & alive

Never Abandon

WHEN A LIZARD CAN DO IT, WHY CAN'T WE DO IT?

This is a true story that happened in Japan.In order to renovate the house, someone in Japan breaks open the wall.Japanese houses normally have a hollow space between the wooden walls.When tearing down the walls, he found that there was a lizard stuck there because a nail from outside hammered into one of its feet. He sees this, feels pity, and at the same time curious, as when he checked the nail, it was nailed 10 years ago when the house was! first built.What happened?The lizard has survived in such position for 10 years! In a dark wall partition for 10 years without moving, it is impossible and mind-boggling. Then he wondered how this lizard survived for 10 years! without moving a single step--since its foot was nailed!So he stopped his work and observed the lizard, what it has been doing, and what and how it has been eating. Later, not knowing from where it came, appears another lizard, with food in its mouth. Ah! He was stunned and touched deeply. For the lizard that was stuck by nail, another lizard has been feeding it for the past 10 years...

Imagine? it has been doing that untiringly for 10 long years, without giving up hope on its partner.

Think, will u do that to your partner?

Think, will you do it to your Mom, Who brought you after a big struggle of nearly TEN long months?Or at least to your Dad, Friends, Co-workers, brothers and Sisters? Imagine what a small creature can do that a creature blessed with a brilliant mind can't. As information and communication technology advances, our access to information becomes faster and faster. But the distance between human beings . . .is it getting closer as well? As for now, I don't think so ?

Please never abandon your loved ones.

Wrong Number

A sweet little story that I got through forward mail ...

It was the day of her son's XII results and she was so tensed. She sat beside him while he logged on the website with his registration no. "Ma", he screamed in excitement," I scored 1191, with centum in 4 subjects.I cant believe it. " She kinda became numb in my excitement. Her eyes became wet. She kissed him on his forehead and smiled.Soon they realized that he stood first in the state. Oh, her joy knew no bounds when Reporters and media persons soon swamped her house for interviews and photos. She was so honored to join him in the snaps.She wanted to call her "wrong-number- friend" to tell him the news......She was so excited. He was someone whom she has known for more than 20 years.

She still did not remember when they became friends, but certainly cannot forget the first day he called her when she blasted him for giving her so many wrong calls.....after that he had called up a week later asking apology, for he had now got the right no of his friend whom he wanted to talk to . They spoke for an hour that day...even without knowing each other's names.Though he kept pestering her to reveal her name she never did and so he kept a name...Sweety. She used to get so shy whenever he called her 'Sweety'. She was doing first year of BSc. Maths then, and he was a Computer Engineeringstudent.From then he used to call her very often . They almost discussed everything ..By the final year of her college, they probably were in love, but she had been cautious. She was in a dilemma whether to tell him. But what if he was of a different religion? Does she have the courage to talk to her parents about it? ........all these questions ran through her mind.She decided tat she'll not talk to him thereafter. When he called next time she lied to him that she was going to Delhi for her post graduation. He gave her his office number and asked her to ring him up once she reach there.She never called .......

A couple of months later her marriage got fixed with a guy of her parent's choice. She was not happy but she did not complain; rather accepted it as an obedient daughter. At times she felt she missed her wrong- number- friend...... .Her hubby was a moody person; she has hardly spent any good time with him- but he was genuine indeed and never bothered her personal space. After 2 years they had a boy... Yet,she was not very happy with her married life... One day she happened to browse through her diary and found that she still had her old friend's office phone no that he had given her. she dialed it and spoke with him. He said he was married and got a kid too. She was happy for him though in the bottom of the heart she felt bad that she could not marry him.From then she used to occasionally call him on that number. She never gave him hers as I felt that would put her in trouble.. And till today she almost shared everything with him including her relationship with her hubby..... today she was so happy and wanted to call him.

Just then she got a call. "Your husband met with an accident and died on the spot"She banged the phone down. She broke. She did not call her friend.....She somehow started feeling guilty. She has never tried to talk to him properly when he was alive or moved close with him.... She felt that she had been a bad wife........

A couple of years passed and one day her son brought home a Bengali girl and said they wanted to get married. She got them married as she did not want her son to go through what she did.She decided to give her son his father's room and started clearing it. There was a phone book. She gently opened it to find, "Wrong No Sweety -26579785"

Break your bond

From one of the forwards...

As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animal just stood there and made no attempt to get away. "Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to breakfree." I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

Gato amor

As mani (alias subramani) got up and was having his milk, he heard a female voice in the neighbour door. Unknowingly he got attracted to that and wanted to see who was it. Hurridly rushed to the outdoor pushing all the utensils kept on the kitchen shelf down. "Dei mani, Kalaile elunthiruche odene un velaiye kaatitiya...appadi enna avasaram, thala pora kariyama?" mom shouted. By the time he went out, she had gone inside and he felt just missed. He waited for a long time outside his house, then took a walk towards the end of street crossing the neighbours house couple of times but uhm hmm no signs of her outside, not even a glance. He started playing with his street friends and if he starts playing he wont know how the time goes. As he was playing his eyes was often going to the neighbour house side. But his hard luck there was no glimpse of her. By the time he finished playing it was late in the evening and he dint even go to house for lunch, anyways this wasnt the first time. As he silently entered the house, manju (his sister) started of slowly asking "Thorai enga poitu vararu? kalaile ponavaru ippo thaan veedu thirumbartho?" And then she raised her voice ..."unna pole thaane teenu'vum, avan evalo samatha veetliya irukaan paaru." Mani dint say anything but quietly went inside his room. "Po po... iniki nightu patni thaan"- added Manju. Its always Manju who scolds the most but then pours her love.

Next day, Mani gets up early this time trying his luck. All are surprised by the difference in him but then they think it might have been because of Manju's blasting last night. Now the voice of the female started growing more and so our Mani felt all the more good. As he walked outside the house She was standing there. Mani gave a look and at the same time she looked at him... Mani's heart pounded and he could hear the song in the background (Eyes'um eyes'um meet achu, high voltage shock achu...). He couldnt look at her for long and immediately looked somewhere else. She went inside with a blushing smile. Namba Mani mind kulara odene oru duet... "Nam thana nam thana kadhal varum, ethir kaalam varum". Earlier it was only her voice that was attractive, but then after seeing her, he felt she had the most pretty eyes, beautiful face. It was time to play with his gang on the streets. As he was playing he was looking at her, she was standing by her doors and they were exchanging looks. There was a small misunderstanding with the gang which lead to a fight and Mani feeling heroic this time dint give up that easily. Finally he almost chased the other one and felt a victory in his mind. As he was walking towards his house crossing the neighbours one, giving a look to her he felt another song in the background Maani, Maani, oh ho Maani (with the same tune as Maady, Maady oh ho Maady). Whole day he was dreaming about her.

Manju who was noting the difference in Mani and was watching his actions told her mom... "Mee (short form of mummy), namba mani enna panra theriyumaa? Pakkathu veetu poonai'ye sight adikuraan". Saying this she hugs both of her cats Mani & Teenu, she loves them so much and treats them like her brothers as she doesnt have one...

Path to Happiness

No one is born happy
But all of us are born with the ability to create happiness ..
So each day, make others happy ..
Flash your sweetest smile
Make every day full of smiles...

US Guide

Now that I have completed a month in a US and have got many of the basic things done (like SSN, Bank account, Mobile connection, Apartment...), I just thought will share the process and guide so that it would be useful for others who are landing new just like I did.

Applying for SSN (Social Security Number)

First and foremost thing to do is to apply for a SSN which is similar to our PAN. Its very simple. All we have to do is download the PDF form from the below site, fill it out and go to one of the SSN office directly.

http://www.ssa.gov/
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10120.html
http://www.ssa.gov/online/ss-5.pdf

Though the site says you need many information most probably they would ask only for the following Docs:-

• Passport with valid visa
• I-94 (Departure card)
  

To find out a near by SSN office use the below site and enter the zip code
https://secure.ssa.gov/apps6z/FOLO/fo001.jsp

For Jersey City the zip code is 07307 and the nearest SSN office is
SOCIAL SECURITY

3000 KENNEDY BOULEVARD

JERSEY CITY, NJ 07306

1-800-772-1213

This office is very close to Journal Square and we can take the Mini Bus shuttle that goes between New York and New Jersey along the JFK Boulevard. Within 2 or 3 weeks we would get the SSN mailed to the mentioned address. I gave my office address as I hadn’t shifted to an apartment by then. The SSN number would be in the format:- 999-99-9999.

Getting a Mobile Connection

There are number of service providers like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile etc. But most of them don’t give us a mobile connection without a Credit History [that refers to the transaction of payments that you have done in the country]. Obviously for a new person that is going to be difficult. But T-Mobile alone gives you a connection without any credit history. All you need is a Passport with a valid visa.

Documents Required:-
- Passport with valid visa

You should able to find many shops, can use the google to search. For Jersey City there is one in Journal Square. They have many plans for single or family use and depending on our option we can choose. I got a family plan which includes 2 mobiles free Samsung blast & Nokia 6263 (there are few mobiles in the free list and if you choose any other mobile apart from that you may have to pay extra depending on the model). The monthly rent is about $69 + tax and it’s a contract for a year. Normally the contract is for 2 years but the guy assures for 1 year. Unlimited calls to any T-mobile and 1000 mins free for other nos. This 1000 mins includes even the incoming calls. But generally (throughout US) all calls over the weekends and all calls after 9pm before 8 am over the weekdays are free.

Opening a Bank Account

If your company as a corporate account, then you won’t have any issues as the HR-Admin would do everything for you. I never thought opening a Bank Account in US is easy as well. But again it depends on the Bank. Bank of America has many branches and lot of ATM’s and so I would suggest opening the account with them. The Documents Required are:-

• Passport with valid visa
• Credit Card (can be Indian card - for second identity)

It takes about an hour to get all your details but instantly they give a temporary debit card and 3 checks each for checking’s and savings account. After a week you will get your Debit card with photo. You need SSN for opening a Credit card and for a new person the limit is only $500. It can be increased only on credit history for which you have to use the current card for couple of months and make the payment regularly.

If you hadn’t applied for SSN, there is an option in Citibank where you can pay $500 and get a Credit card (its like a prepaid credit card). Based on the credit history of this card you can apply for a permanent credit card later.

Searching for a House and stuff

Craigslist [http://newjersey.craigslist.org] is one of the sites where we can keep looking for posts on Rental apartments. We can also look for electronics and furniture on second sale in the same site. It has links to all states of US and so I’m sure it would be helpful whichever part of US you are in. You can search based on the type (Apartment, Electronics, Furniture), date, the range of amount etc.

For Apartments
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/apa/

For Electronics
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/ele/

For Furniture
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/fur/

Apart from this if you are looking at Laptops, Camcorder, Digital Cameras to purchase you have many discounts and sales. Keep looking at the below site for offers
http://www.deals2buy.com/

NewYork Times Building Climber

New York is full of adventure. Last year in July I happen to be part of the Steam pipe explosion [Check it out here]. And this time yet was another exciting adventure that I happen to see in NewYork.

On Thursday, June 6th Sanki and I took a walk to Port of Authority from office instead of the train as we started early. As we were walking we could see lot of police vehicles with sirens crossing us. When we were almost near the port of authority we saw huge crowd and everyone looking at the top. We got curious, joined the crowd and started looking in the direction where everyone was seeing. It was the NewYork Times building and guess what, a guy was climing the 52 storey building from outside without rope or any other equipment in hand. He was almost to the top when we saw and then realised it was for this that the police vehicles were going for. The place was crowded, surrounded by police, couple of helicopters were flying. We heard from the crowd that this guy climbed illegaly from the bottom till the top but dint know the reason at that time. Then on search of google and youtube came to know that 2 guys climbed it on the same day, Alain Robert at 12 pm for global warming and Renaldo Clarke at 6 pm for Malaria. It was exciting but very scary though. Check out the article for more details and couple of videos on you tube.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/nyregion/06climber.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

French daredevil scales New York Times building

New York Times Building Climber #2

Our house in New Jersey

If anyone likes to send me a gift or any parcel please send it to the address :-
236, Griffith Street, Apt #1, Jersey City,
New Jersey - 07307
because thats were I live now...

Looking at the picture dont ask me if the car is ours. No its not, its someone else'. This house has 4 apartments inside and we live in the first floor (Ground).

This is the beautiful Kitchen and Uma is posing with the Micro Owen (that was gifted by anna-anni). we have the Gas stove on the left. The room which uma loves a lot and spends most of her time... cooking :)

This is the living room as seen from the kitchen. We have the TV, Stand and the sofa on the side. This is ofcourse uma's favourite room as well because she keeps the Food channel on :) Obviously the most spent room for me as i love watching movies.

This is the same living room but took the picture from the opposite side to have the full view of the Sofa. It's pretty decent one, isnt it? Uma got those cushion on the sides that add to the beauty.

And finally this is the bedroom as seen from the living room. The rent is about $1100 + utilities (which includes heat, electricity and gas). Only the Gas stove and Fridge was in the house. We bought rest of the things. Mattress was new one but the TV & Sofa we got it on a second sale.

Check out more pics here But all of these were taken using Nokia 6263. Forgot the camera usb cable and so took it using the mobile.

The Country/City I would like to Visit

Its been quite a lot of gap (3 months) since I updated my blog. But here I'm back with the biggest one... Ooops!!! I forgot to mention that its 2nd anniversary for my blog. I started it on 5th June 2006 [Check out the first one] and here I complete 2 years and so new layout (matching the situation) and the biggest article of mine.

Year 1993, about 15 years back I was in the 8th standard. I was an average student and not so good at English (I can hear the background voices saying "As if good now..." Believe me I have improved a lot now). My favorite teacher was Sathy Achen who taught us English and as well as was the class teacher at that time. I liked her not just because of the subject but because of her nature. She was one of the best teacher I have seen in my life, not so strict, makes the class interesting, teaches very calm and patiently. She once gave us an assignment (used to call it as homework those days ;) and it was to write an essay on the topic "The Country or City I would like to Visit". Neither was I good in English nor had the creativity to write something on a given topic. More over I wasn't good at General knowledge, I mean I dint know many country names and where they were on the map (Of course we had geography and all the maps - locations but trust me it was very difficult to memorize them and remember them till the exam itself). I dint know what to write and how to write. Luckily Dad had some essay book (which I believe he would have never used it much) and asked me to use it. As I browsed the pages, I was surprised to see an article exactly on the same topic. Hurray!!! I was telling to myself and started copying from it. But as it was big, I skipped few lines here and there. Submitted the assignment next day and Mam returned the home work book after couple of days. I dint even look at it in the class but when I went home and as I vaguely turned the pages I could see something more than the tick mark. She had marked a V.Good and I was surprised, happy and amazed. Usually the top 3 or 4 rankers only get that and as I got that one, I felt a bit great. Guess what, after that only I started reading what I wrote :) It was about United States of America and more about the New York City - one of the busiest place in the world. I wont say that the essay was extraordinary but it was in simple english without any grammatical mistakes and to the point why I wanted to visit that place [Wanted to see how the people are in New york, what is their culture, what do they eat and how do they live ...] After all this is what is expected and not so easy for a 8th grade student. [Mam - If you get to read this... please forgive me for using a reference book but still I think this had encouraged me]

At that time I would have never even thought that I would travel to US. But the fact is, Yes Im in US right now (for those who dint know it, please consider this as an information). And Guess what, My office is in New York and I'm staying in New Jersey. I never had a dream to come to Newyork or any part of US. But ofcourse I wanted to travel in a Flight and wanted to visit foreign countries. I have travelled to few other countries before UAE, Ireland, Singapore, Hongkong, Thailand & Indonesia . I have also come to New york couple of times but all were short trips for a week or 2. This time its different, Im with Uma and this trip is for a year or 2. Its already a month now and I have been planning to write a blog about the udpates. I was thinking of a different start from the usual ones and the result is the one you are reading now ...

Here is the update starting from travel, stay, searching of house, getting stuffs for house, about the place, food, weather, people

From Chennai to New York

Let me start from the travel from Chennai. As usual did many things in the last minute for the travel. This time as uma was there she did most of the things, right from purchasing, packing and arranging. Major concern was the weight of the luggage. Each is one allowed to carry 2 checkin luggage each one not exceeding 23kgs plus 1 hand luggage. We had 5 checkin baggages, 2 hand luggages and still more stuffs. My manager and my collegue was also travelling together and so planned to give 1 baggage to manager and few stufs to my collegue. After doing all this we had to remove lot of things and rearrange everything to make sure the weight doesnt exceed 23kgs. I was very much concern about this as I already had an experience of excess baggage and removing things right in the airport when I had very less time to checkin. I was hoping that there was no issues. Reached the airport much ahead of time. Bid good-bye to all friends and family, went inside the airport and first level of security was the baggage screening. I never expected any problems there but to my surprise the security people found some thing in scanning and asked whose bag was that. I had to open the luggage for them and they searched for something. They asked me if I had something like Camphor or ***Sambrani***. Took the camphor out, they screened that seperately but said it is something else that was shown on the screening. Then they asked if I had similar bag and I had to open up the other bag. And that one had the sambrani which they removed. By the time I came out of the screening, I was sweating a lot and was telling to myself Aaramabame Ippothan!!! - This was adventure 1.

We had booked through Continental Airlines, Chennai-Mumbai & Mumbai-Newark. At the Checkin counter we asked for a through checkin to newark so that we need not take the baggage out and check it again in Mumbai. The guy at the counter did it in few mins for my manager but took a long time for me. He was saying that there was some issue in giving sequence tickets for me and uma. Then after few mins he said that his friend in next counter will help me. That guy took another 10 mins and my collegue (Sankar who had just come in) finished the checkin process. Finally he completed it but said that I had to get the boarding pass for Mumbai to Newark in Mumbai only but it is through checkin while my manager and collegue got both the boarding passes. This was adventure 2.

Then the security was all cleared. The moment we boarded the chennai-mumbai flight Uma was all in tears and was saying lets go back. She was also afraid about flight travel as this was the first time. As the flight took off she was all the more scared and was saying that her ears were paining a lot. Once the flight reached a reasonable height and the seat belt sign was off she was feeling better. Flight reached mumbai, we came out of the immigration, took the shuttle bus to the international airport and was about to join the security for mumbai-newark. All the way Uma was saying lets take the next flight to chennai. Just then we saw all our luggages kept outside which was suppose to be through check in. The Contentinal airlines security person was asking our L1 docs and we dint carry them thinking that L1 visa stamping in passport would be enough. But he said that they might send us back if we dont show the L1 docs and may charge fine to the airlines as well. Then they asked if we have some kind of invite letter from the client or us office. Sankar atleast had the appointment letter but I dint carry that as well. Manger contacted our mumbai office and luckily other manager was in mumbai. Our office was also near the airport and so asked him to get our L1 docs. But as we dint have much time we had to cancel the flight and were planning to take the next day flight. At this time I looked at uma as if things were happening her way :) We checked for other availabilities and there was a Air India flight at 1 in the mid night (two hours later) to JFK, New york. We tried for tickets and got them. Meanwhile asked the other manager to bring our docs, who had then left back home. This was adventure 3. Finally we boarded the Air-India flight from Mumbai to JFK. Normally I dont sleep much in the flight and used to watch 4-5 movies. Unusally this time slept a lot and just watched 2 movies but again not a good sleep, as the neck pained a lot.

Updates from US

Flight reached New York on Saturday after 16 hours of continous travel. We cleared all the immigration and no where they asked the docs. The moment we came out, uma was shivering. It would have been around 8 degrees and it was cold for me as well. I had atleast faced it earlier but for uma it was new. She used to shiver for the chennai weather itself, so just imagine. Took the taxi from JFK airport to Howard Johnson hotel in Newark. We stayed there for 2-3 days and shifted to another hotel Econo Lodge in Jersey City as it took long time to travel to office.

There was another adventure while shifting the hotel. When we shifted from Howard Johnson to Econo Lodge we asked the hotel for a cab. We were ready with all of our luggages in the lobby. As it was taking some time for the cab, I removed my laptop bag and kept it near the chair where my manager and collegue was sitting. I then took a walk outside to have a look outside. After few mins the cab came, it was van like vehicle. We loaded all the luggages and got in the van. This guy had GPS but inspite of that was taking some wrong directions and so had to roam a lot. And when we were near the hotel he exactly missed it and so he took a long u turn, trying to reach the back side of the hotel. He missed that as well, went again in the same road but finally made it to the hotel. We were unloading the luggages and then this guy asked $140. We were shocked because we had paid only $125 from the airport to previous hotel which was very far and more over the taxi to office was $80. We argued a lot with him but he was saying that it was companies rule (companikku katupidiyagatham). We got fed up and decided to give him the money but he dint have a receipt. My manager said that he wont pay unless he gets the receipt. Just then i realised that my laptop bag was missing which had the laptop, my passport and the currencies. I immediately tried to call the hotel Howard Johnson from Econo Lodge but the guy (indian) at the reception said he cant make calls unless I book the room. To book it I needed the passport which was in the bag. I was worried because my passport itself was in the bag. Explained him the situation and made a call to the hotel. They said there is no bag like that and i was tensed, shocked and upset. Then Sankar asked me to cool down and made a call again. Thank god it was there only. Meanwhile the van driver said he will pick the bag as he was anyways going back to get the receipt book. But we couldnt trust him and said we will take care of the bag. All the three of us went (sankar, my manager and I) took another taxi to the hotel. Good that Uma was in my brothers place otherwise she would have also got tensed. By the time we went there the Van driver had already taken the bag which shocked us all the more. We came back by the same taxi paying him $80. Thank God this driver had left the bag and the receipt. I had to take the same taxi ($25) to my brothers place to bring Uma to the hotel. This was adventure 4 - the biggest of all.

For 2 weeks we roamed almost all the streets of Jersey City looking for the apartment. Normally we used to search the craigslist, fix an appointment and visit the house to have a look. But on the way used to see the "For Rent" board and contact them. Thats how we found the apartment that we are staying now. It is pretty descent one, with a rent of $1100 + utilitites (that includes Heat, Electricity and Gas depending on our usage). It was 5 streets away from my brother's place and it was because of him that we easily found the place. Sanki's house was also 2 blocks away but had to cross couple of avenues. US is mosly with streets and avenues (that cross the streets perpendicularly). It was because of Sanki that I got many things quickly as he used to do a lot of research. In 3 weeks we got a lot of things done. Applied for SSN (Social Security Number) something similar to our PAN, Opened a Bank Account, Got a mobile connection, Found an apartment, Got basic things for house like Bed, TV, Sofa.

Travel to Office was already familiar to me as I have been here couple of times and have travelled from Anna's house to office in New York. Its a 2 mins walk from house to the Bus stop. There is this small bus shuttle, kind of van that keeps going from New Jersey to New York. The ticket rate is $2 and there would be lot of buses coming every 2 mins. It takes about 30-40 mins to reach Port of Authority in New york. This bus takes us through the Lincoln tunnel that goes under the Hudson River. From Port of Authority, we have to take the subway train. There are 2 levels of subways where these Metro trains run. The ticket again is $2, we got to get a Metro Card for any amount and keep charging it in the machine as and when in reduces.Just 2 stops and there is pfizer's office in 42nd Street, just opposite to the beautiful, skyscrapping Chrysler Building.

Adventure 5 : There is an interesting event that happened to me with the Metro Train. During the initial days when we (My PM, Collegue & myself) returning to the office, we took the subway to take the train. As we were going down the stairs I could see the Train and so I climbed down faster and entered the train. Its all automated doors and sometimes it will open for a 2nd time. I was thinking KK & Sanki would make it as well but by the time they came the doors got closed. I was feeling bad that they missed and was showing signals to Sanki. As the train moved Sanki was showing me the hand on the opposite direction and only then I realised I have taken the wrong train (that goes in the opposite direction). I hit my forehead with the hand, saying to myself Enna Kodumai Saravana!!! The adventure doesnt end here. It took a longer time to reach the station and as it reached I came out just to see that there is parallel platform to take the opp train just like we had it near our office. I had to go out of the subway to the main road, cross it and take the opp subway to come to the stop. I only 3$ in hand was wondering how am I going manage train and Bus (I needed $4, 2 for train and 2 for the bus. Was hoping Sanki and KK were waitig for me in the bus stop). I was doubtful If i taken the opposite subway or is it the same side one. Thinking about the same I took the wrong ticket (took some single ride ticket instead of Metro Card). I swiped the card couple of times and it dint work. Now all I have is $1 and dint know what to do. Then I searched my bag for coins and managed to get some. Used them and got a ticket finally. Then took the train to port of authority and luckily they were waiting for me :)

NewYork and NewJersey are quite opposite in terms of place & people. NewYork (esp Manhatten) is fully with skyscrapping tall buildings, while Jersey has small small houses so its like Vertical vs Horizontal. Newyork is one of the busiest place and you can see a hell lot of crowd walking in all directions especially when you get out of the train in the subway. Where as New Jersey is very very quiet, calm, hardly people come out. If you look at the picture you can see both sides cars parked but all houses closed and it looks as if bandh :) As far as food is concerned I have no issues as Uma cooks south indian dish all the 3 times a day. We get all groceries here, but have to take the Mini Bus to Journal Square where there is a street full of Indian restaurants & shops. There is another walkable place which leads to Central Avenue, where there are lot of shops but not much of Indian. We can get the vegetables, other house-old items etc. People are very disciplined and they greet you even if they dont know you. Coming to the weather, it was pretty cold when we landed like i have said earlier. After 2 weeks it suddenly got very hot touching 98'F thats about 32'C. Now its come to normal in 80's. (I'm slowly getting used to the US terms like Farenheit instead of celcius, Pounds instead of Kilograms, Miles instead of Kilometers etc). One good thing is the prediction of weather is accurate here and so you can plan your day well.

Have gone to few of the places like - Newport Mall- Bridge Water Temple

• Manhatten => Grand Central Terminal, Chrysler Building
• Bryant's Park
• Empire State Building
• Times Square
• Wax Museum
• Ferri to the Staten Island
• Ganesha Temple

I will update the details about the places along with the pictures in the next blog.

Stars on the Earth

Actor, Producer and now Director.... Aamir Khan prooved that he can be a great director as well. I had always admired his acting in movies, he choses the script so well that almost all of his movies are different and hit. And now as a director he has still gone ahead with a beautiful script. Hats off to him for this wonderful movie - Taare Zameen Par. This is definitely a director's movie and great that he chose this subject instead of some commercial aspect.

Coming to the movie, its the story about a Ishaant (8 yrs old) who has a unique problem called Dyslexia. Though his parents take care of him so much they dont actually understand his problem and put him into a boarding school. First half of the movie is fully about Ishaant and his activities. Its only then 2nd part that Aamir khan comes into the picture as an Art Teacher. He finds the problem in Ishaant and not only explains that to his parents but helps Ishaant to come out of it.

There are couple of very good scenes. One of the scene, when Aamir khan explains the class about Dyslexia he actually starts describing about the characters of such person and we get a hint that he is talking about the boy. But he gives example of famous persons like Einstein. It doesnt stop there, he again says that there is one more person with such problem in the class and that again reminds of Ishaant but finally after the class he explains to Ishaant it was him who also had this problem. The best part I liked in the movie was during the painting competition when ishaant shows his beautiful painting to Aamir and then goes around to see what his art teacher as painted, the camera takes a turn and then we see that awesome painting of Ishaant's face (the same one below).

The boy who has acted as Ishaant has done a marvellous job. Though Aamir khan selected his part of role as limited he did it so well. On the whole he has got the credits for direction. Altogether it was a very good movie ...

Evano Oruvan

One of the movie that I liked the most in the recent ones. Though the movie is bit like a documentary it shows the practical situation in the current world.

Its about a normal person Sridhar Vasudevan (who works as a Bank Officer has a small family with wife and 2 kids). He has his routine life and his own principles of doing things right. But he gets affected by the society and people when they bribe to get things done, when they dont follow rules, when schools ask for donations. Reaching the frustration level with a shopkeeper for selling things at a higher price (Rs 2 more) than others, smashes his shop, destroyes the place. With that same frustration hits the Water supplier guy when he refuses to leave water without extra money and stabs a minister for he redirecting the water to build a swimming pool, breaks a bike that was parked in a no entry section. He tries to solve things on his own but not realising that he has to give his own life.

The story is similar to that of Anniyan, only difference being the Commercial vs Documentary aspect. Madhavan has done is role perfectly fine and touches our heart in the last. Sangeetha has also done her role of middle class house wife perfectly. Director has done an excellent job but the movie may not be a commercial hit.

A Very touching realistic movie and impressed me a lot.