Answer Needed

Can anyone tell me what can i do in winter season. Where can i travel and how do i spend my time with all the long holidays. Remember, i have a 5 month old son.

Amazing Videos

I was seeing arattai arangam that happend in pudukottai. There was one girl who does not have both the hands and she has written her 10th exam with the leg and she has got 62%. There was another girl who has polio and unable to walk and her father literally carries her to her classroom which is in second flooe. She is in 2nd year MCom and she wants to do Mphil and be a professor.

When people aew able to succeed with these kinds of constrainsts, so we have anything to complain about in life.,.....

By the way, watch these amzing videos on India. I am starting to Njoi YouTube, but i wont pay 1.4 billion dollars to buy it..What a funny thing.....All the videos in Youtube is posted by people like us and the owners get 1.4 billion dollas....waw.....the brains are really rewarded these days....


Vidoes to watch:

Jana Gana Mana by Bharatbala production (Instrumental and vocal)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXkZI8Eb4IY

Indian Traffic (You will be amazed to see this)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmR9YpHOYEE

We did these in this absence

Where were we...

Hari and Kavitha: We have not gone to Gym for more than a month
Rishi: I am smiling for every small thing
Home: Old clothes, paintings, stuff has given way to new things in home.
World: We visited houston and galveston
Dream: http://www.skydivesanmarcos.com/photo_gallery. Yes, i want to skydive

Hoston Trip

Houston trip was our first trip as a family. It was a wonderful experience with our little boy. We decided that our son will get a dress from Babies R Us if he behaves nicely during the trip. As per the promise , we have to buy the gift for him.

It took almost two hrs to pack everything for the trip. Car was full with all baggages. we stayed in Marriott hotel and it was very nice. Next day we went to meenakshi temple, galleria mall , swaminarayan temple. Morning bfast we ate in meenakshi temple , lunch at taco bell and dinner at balaji bhavan.

We ate masal dosa, pani puri, samosa channa and sambar rice. Our token no was 14. Hari went to the counter atleast 15 times to check whether the food is ready or not. We ate as if we never had indian food for years. Next day for lunch we went to mayuri andra hotel. It was a very nice lunch. Bread pudding and mysore bonda were excellent and so tasty. Hari filled his stomach only with these items. He said after 8 yrs he tasted a very nice bread pudding. First time he tasted the bread pudding in hyderabad.

After lunch we went to tiffiny & co, cartier and baby gap shops. We stopped our car in the parking place and were happily chating with AC on. It was 5PM and we decided to start to galveston , hari started the car and it didnt work. Battery was fully down. we called the simon security people to assist us and after 1 hr the person came and recharged the battery.

The travelling time to galveston was 1 hr. Around 7PM we reached the east beach and enjoyed the beach for 2 hrs. Rishi was fully cover with mittens, sock and head cap. We bundle him with thermal blanket and sat in the beach.

The beach was ok but we can't compare it with our marina beach in chennai. Hari wanted to stay in a sea facing room in the sea shore. We enquired the rate in holiday inn, ramada etc... Finally decided to stay in holiday inn resort.

It was a very lovely view of the sea from the room. We enjoyed the beach and the waves nicely. Morning we checked out and went to moody gardens.

Aquarium was the best in moody gardens. We saw Sponge Bob 4D film for 5 minutes. It was fun. Since the hotel in the moody gardens was closed on monday, we ate nachos and pizza in the corner shop.

Hari saw comet ride film and i saw mars ride film. We both went separately because we can't take the baby with us to see the ride film.

After finishing all the shows, we enjoyed in the bay area of moody gardens for 1 hr. We started to san antonio at 6.30PM and reached at 12 AM.

Rishi didnt like to be in the car seat during the journey and as a punishment i was holding him in hand continuously till we reached home

I just had Milk....Oooo So tasty !!!!!

My first tummy time play

Nenjil Nindravai...

After a long time, kavitha decided to take new dresses from inside the suitcase and put it on rishi. This is the Tigger dress we bought for him from walmart.

sardar jokes

Manager asked to sardar at an interview
Can you spell a word that has more than 100 letters in it?
Sardar replyed: -P-O-S-T-B-O-X.

When sardar was traveling with his wife in an auto, the driver adjustedmirror. Sardar shouted, "You are trying to see my wife? Sit back. I willdrive.

Sardar went in a hotel. To wash hands he went to the washbasin. There hestarted washing the basin. Seeing this, the manager asked what was hedoing. Sardar pointed towards the board "WASHBASIN"

Interviewer: just imagine your in 3rd floor, it caught fire and how willyou escape?Sardar: its simple. I will stop my imagination!!!

Run to work Vs Cycle to work

In africa, men run to reach their workplace. In America, men cycle to reach their workplace.

My car is under repair and my friend dropped me near the apartment entrace. INstead of walking from there, i started running towards home. Thats a 3 minute run. Then, i remembered this incidence.

During 2003, i was in south africa (Johannesburg) and i saw that people run 5-6 miles to reach their work place. In africa, most men are well built and very fit. They can run very easily for upto 10 miles without any stress or strain. I tried following one of the guy. When i look at him, his stressless face shows as if he is running very slowly. But when i tried to run with him, i got stressed out in 2 minutes. I guess it was not even 2 minutes.

News item that caught my heart's attention after a long time...

Infy founder Narayana murthy's son is Rohan. He graduated from Cornell last year, is a doctoral student in computer science at Harvard University. Narayanamurthy's daughter is Akshatha. She having just finished business school at Stanford, will go to work for ‘Lexicon’, the renowned branding firm in San Francisco.

Narayanamuthy takes obvious and deserved delight in his children saying “Once you turn 50, the biggest joy in life comes from your children.”

I am truly proud of father, son and daughter. Why did i leave the mother? Guess i have to read more of her.

Read the complete story at http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1929631.cms

Run for Life...

Kavitha has started running for 4 minutes continuously. Her peak speed now is 5.2 miles per hour. She is able to run continuously at this speed for 2 minutes. Overall she runs for 10 minutes at an average speed of 4.8 miles per hour. I am sure one day she will run more than me. Now i run 2 miles.

I was happy to hear that another friend of mine is running for 50 minutes a day (which should atleast be 4 miles) and has last 13.5 Lbs in 4 weeks.

Me singing & she listening

This is my dream life.

Very nice malayalam movie song

Joshua Sridhar has given yet another wonderful music in the malayalam movie Keerthi Chakra. Listen to the songs in raaga. http://www.raaga.com/channels/malayalam/movie/M0000973.html

The same movie is taken in tamil called Aran. If you want to listen to the songs in tamil, listen here.
http://www.raaga.com/channels/malayalam/movie/M0000973.html

However, i liked it in Malayalam, so sweet language.

My life is made of...

We are having a real good time. Rishi is 2 months now and he is slowly recognising us. He sees us and moves his eyes if we move around him. He is yet to see us eye to eye and give us his wonderful smile. He is, however, smiling to himself. He looks at a girl in a calender all the time. He smiles occasionally looking at her.

Life is beautiful

Life is beautiful is the best movie i have seen. I saw it today and will surely take some time to come out of the effect of this movie. I just love this movie. I consider myself lucky not to have missed this movie. Guys, dont wait. Rent this, or buy this or steal this...But see this movie.

My first best movie was "City of Angels"

Nexst best is "The Shawshank Redemption".

Genuine appreciation from husband

Kavitha motivated me to run. Now i have successfully lost 35 pounds, by running 2 miles a day. But she cana only walk in the treadmill. She feared running. Infact she could not imagine how to run. She wondered how can anyone run on the same place. What if you fall? How do you stop running in the treadmill. Though she had all these kind of apprehension, she set herself a mission. Loose 35 pounds like her husband.

Six weeks after delivering baby, kavitha took her first step towards her mission. She joined back gym. The first day, i was with her to tell how to run. She was so conscious that day that she was not even able to walk. She feared running in treadmill. So i told her that she can walk and i wont increase the speed. Then she started walking in 3.2 miles per hour for a minute. Then i asked her to slowly increase the spped. She went till 3.7 and her hands didnt press the 'increase' button. Then i increased the speed from 3.4...........3.5...........3.6..........3.7.........3.8......3.9....4.0 and her legs started to pace and she started running. Ho Hoooooooooooooooooo. Atlast she ran.

She ran for a minute in 4 miles per hour and walked for 2-3 minutes. Then she ran at 4.2 for a minute and walked for 2-3 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, she would have run totally for 4 minutes. This is day one.

On the second day, she ran for 1 minute and then walked for 2 minutes. The running was between 4.2 miles and 4.5 miles.

On the third day, she ran for 1 minute and walked for 1 minute. The running was between 4.5 miles to 5.2 miles.

On the 4th day, she ran for 2 minutes and walked for a minute for a total of 15 minutes. The running was between 4.5 miles to 5.2 miles.

When i started running, i used to get excited and run at 6 miles per hour for a minute and then get tired and stop running. But she is very calm and knows her ultimae goal. To run for 24 minutes at 5 miles per hour. That way she will run 2 miles a day. She hope to achive this target in 2-3 months time.

I hope one day, both of us will enjoy outdoor running.

I like my mom's shoulder

Sometimes Dad threatens me, but i don't get threatened by his gestures. His threatening does not stop my crying.

I like my mom best. I am so comfortable on her shoulders, i stop my crying. I know it pains her shoulders, but i like it so much.

Mom, please keep up with my demands, one day, i will stop troubling you and grow to become a big boy. I will keep you on my shoulders.

Dad, be careful. One day, i will grow to your size and will threaten you. 

Rishi Crying and how he gets soothed

Rishi is crying and how my magic fingers soothe him. Rishi is crying and how my magic fingers soothe him . See this video. This is taken from Sony DCR - HC21. It was saved as a DAT file on to my computer. I converted DAT to mpeg and split the mpeg into this small piece. Can someone tell me how to increase the clarity of the video. I am sure Sony can do better than this

You are my Sunshine

You fill up my senses like a night in the forest,
Like the mountains in springtime,
Like a walk in the rain,
Like a storm in the desert,
Like a sleepy blue ocean.
You fill up my senses, come fill me again.
Come let me love you, let me give my life to you,
Let me drown in your laughter,
Let me die in your arms,
Let me lay down beside you,
Let me always be with you.
Come let me love you, come love me again 

Soothe the crying baby - Magic Solution

My baby cries , i guess its usual for any baby. But if i put him on my shoulder, he feels comfortable and stops crying. So i was wondering why companies have not manufactured an item that resembles shoulders, so that one can put the baby there and be happy.

Then i did my own thinking and came up with this idea. I place the baby's chest and stomach on this leather sofa's handle / arm rest. Its soft and provides the needed pressure on baby. My baby goes to sleep very comfortably in this as it would do on my shoulder.

So, if you are wondering on how to soothe your baby, here is the magic solution. 

Nike and Me

I worked in a office close to a Nike Showroom. It was the only company operated store in Bangalore, India. I used to visit the store once a month and look for good models and dream of possessing a good pair. My eyes finally landed on this model and my mind was on it. I dreamt of it for a while.

I visited south africa soon and i ended up seeing this pair on someone's foot on an escalator. I was so impressed again by this, that i followed his footsteps for a while. After 7 weeks of staying in that beautiful city of Joburg, i came back to india and went to the Nike store and purchased this pair. This is my best pair of shoes. I use it for jogging in gym and i use it in office.

Do i have a crush on any other shoe, not really. So, i may not buy a next pair of shoe for atleast 2-3 years. 

Eat and Sleep is all I do...

Should i say, sleep and eat. I am drinking every three hours nowadays. I really like the milk. But i wish to have masala milk soon. May be hot chocklate from Starbucks(r) 

Does your baby spit after getting fed

Does anyone know the remedy to baby spitting out milk, sometimes after an hour of feeding.

I cant wait to start dancing

I like doing the worms, but i want to start with my hands. I am learning this new steps in break dance from my dream teacher. I hope to perfect this in 8 days with practice of over 1 hour a day.

See me in a week for my next lesson. 

Oru Tharavai sonna, Nooru Thadava sonna madhiri.

He tells one thing to me and another thing to his mom. What a son :) 

New Hair Style

I follow the footsteps, sorry hair steps of Chuck Stewart, Ryan Waters, Dario Perez and many more...

I dont know if i have got it right on the backside of my head, which i will validate with Dario on Monday.

This will not be my sustainable hair style. I will change soon and watch this space for my new one, who knowns, the next time it would have some color on it. BLONDE???????? 

Everything Grows until cut again

My hair is g rowing back....How dare??? I will cut it again this weekend. But this will not be a total cut. This will be a different style, inspired by Dario Perez. Dont think too much about who he is. He is not a celebrity. He is my office collegue. Guess he was in military before and hence that style. Keep watching this space fpr my new hairstyle. 

I created a Slide Show! Check it out!

My Night on July 15 2006

I shaved my head again at home to be neat. Following Jim, i have started to keep french beard. I am seeing a lot of google videos and am very impressed with a wave surfing video. Today i downloaded 20 songs of Ustad Ahmed and Mohd Hussain, my favirote Ghazal singers from emusic.com. Its a paid site, but they give a free trial of 20 songs and after downloading this, i cancelled my subscription. 

Where i shop

I go to CVS Pharmacy a lot. The reasons are

1. I get discount coupons atleast once a month, where if i buy for $15, i get $3 off
2, I have got 20 free digital photo prints
3. I get 2% cashback on non pharmacy items
4. Milk is cheaper compared to walmart ($3.19 against $3.84)

If you have a baby

If you have a new born baby, the following are must and very handy

1. Diaper changing mat
2.Diaper Disposal Bags - Plastic covers to put soiled / wet diapers
3. Dress that has a front opening, that can be tied (this is available in india, this is made of cotton and is very light)

My Mottai

I put mottai !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For the second time in my life. It is fun before putting and not so after putting. 

My son and me

On the day of my son's birth i noticed that i have a lot of hair fall. I decided to cut my hair,but all my relatived told that i should not do as it is not a good omen. But then, i looked at it more from a practical aspect. If the hair gets into baby mouth, i didnt know what would happen.

I spoke to the peditrician and she asked me to take it cool and see after some time. My relatives also agreed that i can shave my head after the punyajanam. So i went today to walmart to shave my head. I told them clearly that i want my head shaved. She agreed, but then she used 0 size clipper and she removed hair and i still had a good amount of stub. I asked her to shave and she said that they are not barbers, but beauticians and hence cant use rasors. I tried to show my displeasure to them and told that i have to go to another shop to perfect this. I did this thinking that they will not charge me. Again when i came to the billing section, i asked her to reduce the price, as i had to go to another shop. The lady asked the manager and the manager got irritated with me and she said, "call 911 and place a complaint". I got so scared, i pushed the credit card in their hand and told them not to call police and said "take money". Then i ran from there and came home. Though i was very angry with the manager, i appreciated her decision to call police. Thats the only way to put me in place and let them do their business.

What a lesson. I should have gone to my usual shop "headclips". I went to walmart thinking that it will be 3$ cheap. But they also charged the same price.

What makes me happy and sad

What makes me or has made me happy:

1. When i see a movie that i wanted to see for a long time
2 When i get something i have been dreaming to get
3. When i do some analytics work in office
4. When my analytics work get a recognition
5. When i hear to someone play a musical instrument
6. When i get into a mood and play veena / santoor or guitar
7. When i go through Barnes and Nobles
8. When i trek in western ghats
9. When Farouk Irani (Managing Director a company where i worked) appreciates me for my work
10. Walk with Soma in Marina Beach, Chennai (talking about music / movies / economics / life)
11. Stying with Pan in a single room in malleswaram
12. Eating nice foods (refer to my food post)
13. Company of Rajesh Nair

(People who read this, please remind me if i have missed something. I am writing it at 3.01 AM, i am half asleep and fully tired)

What gives me or has given me momentary joy:
1. When i read wikipedia
2. When i see a english movie and like a song and i get it from internet and save and play it
3. When my treadmill shows that i have run 2 miles
4. When i look at my life's success (Pudukottai to Puttaparthy to San Antonio / 9th halfyearly fail to MFM Gold medal)
5. When i sit in balcony and have cereal with Kavitha

What makes me sad:
1. When i have to go through something other than what i planned for.
2. When someone shakes my basic beliefs.
3. When i have to sit in office after office hours even when there is no work (doesnt happen often)

Moments of thrill - Part 2

Snake Searching

I studied in puttaparthy from 91-96 and that place has a lot of snakes. I used to see snakes in hostel, play ground, college campus and on the streets.

One day, i went to the mountain side seeking adventure and in the process of walking, i grew tired and went to rest on a bolder. There were thich bush around the bolder and i could see small canal little close by.

As i was seeing the water, i saw a snake head in the water coming towards me. I couldnt figure out if that was a snake or some other water being. When that came to the land, i figured it was a big snake. It was very close to me and what seperated me and the snake was the bush. The snake kept coming towards me and at one point i could no longer see the snake.

I was so tensed. I was afraid to jump from the bolder and get out because the snake could be anywhere in the bush and i could land right on its head if i try to jump out of that place. I would not tell you if i was seating because of the fear or because of the sun.

Suddenly, i saw the snake in the bush and was looking at me. This was a stroke of luck. So, on seeing the snake, i jumped and sprinted on the opposite side and reached hostel. After that day, i never seeked any adventure with snake.

Upcoming Posts

My Best body and head Massages
My Best walks

Moments of thrill

Bungee Jumping

First Jump - 1999:

Location: Hyderabad (from above hussain sagar)
I went to the site and was inspired after seeing a 12 year old girl do the bungee jumping. I did a forward facing jump.

Second Jump - 2002:
Bunjee Jumping in Bangalore. This was a rear facing jump.

Third Jump - 2005:
Bunjee Jumping in South Padre, US. This was a forward facing jump. This is 150 feet.
Location: 106 W Marlin in front of Loui's Backyard,
South Padre Island, Texas
Type: tower/arch
Height: 150 ft
Company: Recoil Inc
Phone: 956 761 8588Fax: 956 761 8588

Favorite Food

Hari's Favorite

Home Made
Breakfast
Vendhaya Oothappam (made by Patti)
Rava Pongal (made by Patti)
Venpongal & tamarind chutney (made in puttaparthy hostel)
Morekhoozhu (made by Patti)
Crispu Dosa (Kavitha)

Sidedish
Karunaikizhang Masiyal (made by Patti)
Cauliflower Kurma (Kavitha)

Main Dish
Sambar, Vathakkuzhambu and Rasam (Made by Kavitha)
Any cooking (Made by Kavitha's Mom)
Briyani (Made by Latha Manni)
Vethakkzhambu - Viji Chitti
Rasam Rice - Parthy Hostel
Sambar - Dheena, US

Drink
Chai - Vijay Patil, US
Coffee - Viji Chitti (only occasionally)

Hotel Made

Main Dish
Dhum Briyani - Hotel in Hyderabad (how can i forget the name?)
Chicken Briyani - Bheemas
Nandhini, Akshaya meals in Bangalore
Ramayya Mess meals in Vijayawada
Sai Mess meals in Hyderabad

Tiffin:
Bangalore
Ghee Masala Dosa - 11th Cross, Malleswaram, Bangalore (available always)
Idli, Sagoo - Bangalore near by home roadside shop (available 7-9AM)
Vada - Near Home Road side shop, Bangalore (available from 6-7PM)
Chennai
More khoozhu - Sarkarai pongal, North Usman Road, Chennai (This hotel is closed now)
Vijayawada
MLA Dosa - Hotel near Benz Circle, Vijayawada

Snack:
Pani Poori - Indra Nagar shop, Bangalore (available in evening)
Punugulu - Roadside shop, Vijayawada (available 4-7 PM)

Beverages
Chai and Samosa - Roadside shops all over Hyderabad
Coffee - Saravana Bhavan

Juices / Drinks
Banana Juice - Vijayawada
Ice B(^& and manchuriyan - Opium

Overall
My Puttaparthy Hostel Days food (channa, coffee, pongal&acid{tamarin chutney is called by this name}, nuggets)

Best Ambience
Opium, Carlton Towers, Airport Road, Bangalore: Live Music, Hot starters and drinks

Food Memories:
Eating ice cream walking in midnight in Hyderabad Lake
Eating Dosa in TCS guest house near Ooty
Sharing rasam rice with sai krishna janarshanan during midnight in parthy hostel
MIgnight Briyani - Greenpark, Hyderabad

Food Missed
Sai Krupa Aaloo parota in puttaparthy

KAVITHA's FAVORITE

Any food made by her amma
Omlette - Made by Saroja
Pizza - Pizza Hut
Cheese Casidilla - Taco Cabanna

Couuntries we have seen

Hari

2003 - Johannesburg, South Africa
2004 - Abu Dhabi, UAE
2004 - Bangkok, Thailand

Hari and Kavitha

2004 - New Castle / London, UK
2005 - Texas, US

Our Best place

New Castle and London, UK

My wish while joining TCS - Visit 5 countries in 5 years. I am happy to have achieved this.

If i could go back...

We always would want to do things a bit differently or tread a different path, if we had the option to go back. Some such thoughts:

1. I would have rented a decent house and lived a little more comfortably during my days in Vijayawada, Bangalore and Chennai during 1999-2003
2. I would have bought a bike in 1996 and roamed the city nicely
3. I would have travelled to Kerala more
4. I would have trekked more
5. I would have gone to a foreign / nicer location for honeymoon
6. I would have bought a car and plusly furnished home as soon as i landed in US

What i would not like to change
1. I would still work for the same companies (This is my 5th company)
2. I would still study B.Com and MFM
3. I would still study in same schools

My Prized Possessions

I have the habit of dreaming for certain items before i buy them. There is a joy in dreaming first and getting next. Following are such items that i dreamt and got (either by me or presented to me by Kavitha).

Job
My job with Tata Consultancy Services
(I dreamt to join this company since 1998 and ultimately joined in 2002). I strongly prayed and hoped and believed that i would work for atleast 1 day in TCS before i died.

Watch
Omega Seamaster - Bought in 2001
http://www.thewatchmaker.com/graphics/Bond-Seamaster.jpg
HMT Janatha - white dial - Boght in 2002 http://perso.orange.fr/bestak/MyWtch/sml/sm_hmt_janata_PC210054.jpg
Favre Leuba Seaking - Bought in 2002
http://www.artisanjewelry-finds.com/img/1127026800/_i/8203425/t_1.jpg

Bike
Yamaha R1 - Hand made over 2 years from 2003-2005

Jeans
Levis-501 Bought in 2000

T-Shirt
Lacoste - 2 Bought in 1999 and 2003

Belt
Mont Blanc - Bought in 2002

Pen
Mont Blanc fountain ink Pen - Bought in 2002
Mont Blanc Roller Ball Pen (for Kavitha) - Bought in 2003

Perfume
Kouros - gifted by Kavitha
Cartier
CK Obsession

Top 5 things my dad wanted me to do .......

Today my father is not available in the world but his wishes, thoughts and memories are always with us. Top 5 things he wanted me to do are

1. Be bold and face any type of hard situation in life
2. Study well and be in a good a position in life
3. Building a house - This dream was with my father and me for a very long time because my father couldn't build any own house. With his wish, we are constructing a house in bangalore.
4. Be helpful to my mother and brother's family
5. Wanted to spend his last days with me in bangalore but I was in UK on official trip.

Effective Motivator for weight reduction- Advice or Threat or Knowledge or Self Motivation

Advice: A friendly advice from your friend / relative who tells you to loose weight
Threat: You are threated with the fact that if you dont reduce your weight, you will die 20 years early (I am putting this in lighter sense, but the doctor tells this to you in a different way, but effectively meaning this). He may say that you have a high cholesterol or have fat in liver etc
Knowledge: Reading repeatedly about the goodness in excercise and diet and badness in laziness and overeating
Self Motivation: Reading inspirational stories and writing motivational statements in post it and keeping it on mirrors to constantly remind you to loose weight.

Threat seems to be the best motivator. I remember what once my friend said: "You change when the pain of not changing is greater than the pain of changing"

Diet and Exercise

I like eating and overeating. I like to experiment new food and new hotels. I like to eat as much as possible. I dont see if the food is fat. I dont care if the food is healthy. I dont see if the food is expensive. All that i am interested in is the experiment. My jouney on this experiment resulted increased weight over a period of time.

I have always been an indoor person. Though there have been quite a few opportunities to excercise my body, i have promptly ignored them and continued to rest my body. The Result: Public Friendly Humiliation.

Year: 1999
Location: Hyderabad
Laughed at by: Tejassvi (Collegue)

Year: 1999
Location: Pudukottai
Laughed at by: Sathya or Ammu, i dont remember (Relative)

Reason for Insult: Bloated body (Added 10 kilos to my body)

I took it to my heart and did 1 thing. I stopped overeating. I had 2 glasses of juice for my breakfast (banana shake on most days :)); Plate meals from Ramayya mess for lunch and salad for my dinner. I continued this for 6 months and reduced from 85 kgs to 70 kgs.

Most of my collegues felt this drastic change in my body and adviced me to eat normally. I forgot when i started regaining my weight. In 2003, i was back to 85 kgs and i oscillated between 82 to 88 kgs. I would have instant inspiration and instant motivation and start doing some diet when i reach the 88 kg mark. After dropping to 82 or 85, i will again regain.

Year: 2005
Location: San Antonio
Adviced by: Ramaprasad (ex collegue and a good friend)
Advice: Money and Honey and US is all good. But beyond 40, only health matters. Nothing else really matters.

Though this gave a new perspective to my life and inspired me to crash diet once in a while, i never seriouslly lost any weight over a long term.

Year: 2006
Location: San Antonio
Laughed at by: Doctor

Doctor adviced me that its high time that i do something to my weight. I took it so seriously. I started crash dieting and over did excercise. I enrolled in Gym and ran at 6 miles per hour, but only for 1 minute.

Kavitha adviced me one thing: If i have to see effect on a long term, then i should stop acting as if i have to reduce weight tomorrow. She adviced me on how to run (start with 5 mph for 5 minutes, then increase to 5.5 mph for 5 min and then to 6 mph for last 5 minutes). It took almost a month to do this, but i did this. I started running 2 miles consistently. Running 2 miles, never overeating and less rice for lunch and 3 chaapatis for dinner helped me. I ate only 4 dosas, 4 idlis, 3 Adas. From 188 pounds (Jan 1, 2006), i am down to 157 now (June 19, 2006) .

For some reason or other, i lost my consistancy to Gym going. I go 3-4 times a week from 5-6 times. I have difficulty in running 2 miles. I met with another friend (Mr Sunshine) who lost almost 40 pounds. He adviced me to start building muscle which has a long term gain than focussing more on near term weight loss (achieved through running).

My journey of pregnancy

Nov 2 , 2005 was a great day because the doctor confirmed to us about my pregnancy. My little sweet pappu's due date is July 13, 2006. From the time of confirmation, me and hari are very happy , excited and very very careful in doing things. After some 3 months, we started talking about the sex of the baby. I was confident that it will be a male child and hari was with 50%. We went to the second sonogram in 16 wks and doctor told us that 'It's a boy baby'.

Day by day our excitment was growing and atlast we started seeing his movements. We both started talking to our son from 6th month. Everyday hari has to tell one slogam and one good habit to him and he will also respond nicely by doing some little kicks or movements.

Next it is a time for baby shower. As per our tradition , we did valaikappu function on April 9, 2006 and seemantham function on April 30, 2006. Valaikappu function was hosted by our friend Mr. Arulnambi's family and we have invited around 100 people. It was a very great day with full of joy. My mom sent me all type of glass bangles, gold and silver and silk saree for the occasion. We did seemantham function on April 30, 2006 between 6Am to 7.30AM at Hindu temple of san antonio. Anu, Aruna and vel attended the function. We were very happy because both the traditional functions went on well with our friends and blessings from our parents from india.

Since the days were going fast, it was the time to shop for the new born. We have visited walmart, babies R us, Toys R us, Burlington coat factory and Target shop. We bought all the items very fast except the car seat. We did lots of research for the car seat ( almost 20 days) and finally got 'Graco Passage' from super target shop.


On 9th June 2006, hari came with a surprise saying his USAA friends decided to have a baby shower function on 13th June 2006. He showed me the invitation and I was very excited and happy.

13th June 2006 was another wonderful day in my life. The party was hosted by USAA and TCS friends. They got a big cake with two flavors ( white and chocolate ) and lots of gifts for Rishi. I got to know about his friends and office that day and enjoyed my time with them. We specially thanked Mr. Bill Vogl (Host) for the baby shower function.

Now , my doctor advised me to get admitted in the hospital on 28th June 2006 for the delivery. We were bit scared initially but now we are fine.

We are eagerly waiting to see our sweet little darling pappu Rishi ...................... on 28th June 2006.

Motherhood time is a fantastic time for every women in the world and I am truly enjoying it.

Thought for the day

I called it a good day when i saw 2 imax movies. One in 3D and another in 2D. This was followed by a nice window shopping and a open theater mexico musician performance followed by a sumptuous japanese meals in River Center Mall in San Antonio.